Search results for tag #retrocomputing
This is what Doug Lenat's EURISKO AI program looks like on Medley Interlisp. The upper window, divided into panes, displays messages on the state of the computation grouped by type. Additional log messages show up in the lower, black window.
#interlisp #lisp #retrocomputing #ai
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Screenshot of the black and white desktop of a 1980s graphical workstation environment. The desktop has a gray background pattern and some windows with a white background and a title bar with white text on a black background. The two main windows show the output of an AI program. The upper window is divided into 4 panes that display status messages. The lower window, in reverse with white text on a black background, displays a series of log messages.
Spectrum 512 let you draw with all 512 colors of the Atari ST instead of just the 16 normally allowed.
#retrocomputing #atarist
The 2024 Medley Interlisp Project Annual Report is out with a summary of our work:
https://interlisp.org/project/status/2024medleyannualreport
The 2024 report aims in particular at people not familiar with the project or software. To achieve this the report tries to explain the rationale behind the work we did, introduces the major Medley subsystems, and links to further resources.
What do you think of the report? Would you like to contribute to the project? We look forward to your feedback.
#interlisp #lisp #retrocomputing
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The rectangular logo of a software preservation project. On a uniform white background the serif text Medley in red and INTERLISP COMMON LISP in sans serif black, smaller and beneath the red text, takes up approximately the lower right quarter of the rectangle. A series of partially overlapping black and white GUI window frame icons encircle the text along an arc-like arrangement that spans a little over 270° of the remaining rectangular area.
The diversity of and experimentation in the 1980s microcomputer industry, unknown and unthinkable to younger generations, is now echoed in the retrocomputing and homebrew computing spaces.
Droplet, Indigo, Quack, Simple Beep, Sosumi, Wild Eep
Huh, I never saw these Atari multilingual manuals before. Peak Atari design. These are way better than the early release booklets I got with mine, had to buy so many books, Compute!, Antic to catch up.
https://archive.org/search?query=atari+multilingual+manual
#atari #retrocomputing
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CONNECTING MORE THAN ONE DISK DRIVE
<amazingly aesthetic coffee, cream, chrome XL computer & drives & cassette>
@hairyvisionary I'm talking about the OS, trash like C64 didn't have one, but TRS-80 & Atari did. Apple, once ProDOS came out.
So I boot Atari without BASIC (hold down Option on XL), comes to a DOS menu or OS/A+ prompt. No easy way to edit config files or ASM or whatever, beyond COPY E: D:FOO.TXT which is only good for a few lines.
Even TRS-DOS didn't ship with EDIT originally, for years I had to load Scripsit, or write a BASIC text editor.
#retrocomputing
April Fool's.
#retrocomputing
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Special Condensed Programs Section
ADVENTURE
10 PRINT "YOU ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF A 20 FOOT PIT"
20 INPUT “NOW WHAT?";A$
30 X=RND(1)
40 IF X<.5 THEN PRINT "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO ";AS$:GOTO 10
50 IF X>.5 THEN PRINT "YOU WERE KILLED":END
60 IF X=.5 THEN PRINT "YOU WIN": END
ASTEROIDS
10 PRINT "HIT ANY KEY"
20 GET A$
30 PRINT "ASTEROIDS ##+ YOU LOSE":END
ELIZA
10 PRINT "HI. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?"
20 INPUT A$
30 IF LEFTS(AS,1)="I" THEN PRINT “"EGOTIST":GOTO 10
40 IF LEFTS (AS$,3)="YOU" THEN PRINT "YOU TOO":GOTO 10
50 PRINT "ARE YOU SURE ";A$;"?":GOTO 10
STAR TREK
10 X=INT (RND (1)*40):yY=INT (RND (1)+40)
20 PRINT "POSITION",X,Y
30 PRINT “PRESS 1 TO FIRE, 2 TO MOVE"
40 GET A$
50 IF AS="1" THEN GOTO 10
60 IF AS="2" THEN GOTO 80
70 PRINT "YOU HIT THE DESTRUCT KEY #++ BOOM":END
80 IF RND (1)=.1 THEN GOTO 100
90 IF RND (1)=.2 THEN GOTO 120
100 GOTO 90
110 REM
120 IF X=14 anCLSlIPUTRBIRBNTHENZZ227709Pl1l‘l'llr...(COS'llGHTs NEXTGOTORETURNFORFORFORCLSRIGHTS@@R@@RRONUSRCLEARRESTORE@#S) *!
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April 1982 Creative Computing
Lindsay, 10
Amazing hand-drawn computer
"it also has a clear outer coting so people see how it works"
I don't think it entirely caused this, but I like anyone who blames Commode-odor for the fallen state of the world.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/03/reevaluating_basics_legacy/
BASIC isn't that bad, if you have a good one.
#basic #retrocomputing
Now I know I was wanting to build a VDU circuit that used only 74 logic and ram that gave me say a resolution of 512x256 mono minimum but this is very tempting indeed. 🤔
You know what's weird about 8-bit OS's, is the lack of basic tools. Why is there no text editor?
Also, I realized (probably "rediscovered" 40 years after the first time) OS/A+ can run Atari's Program Editor, but I have to rename MEDIT to MEDIT.COM. Dunno if that'll fuck up anything else, but it helps.
#atari #retrocomputing
So I'm idly paging thru CC, in between videos and whatever.
Book reviews! I need to read Lucifer Key.
Graphic Software for Microcomputers sounds interesting… not on Archive. Well, elsewhere? Turns out he has a 41-years-later edition, in Python. Tho rather hard to get, because Apress is imploding/being taken over by fucking Springer, so… find a source how you can.
Serious science plotting *and* a python on Enceladus looking up at Saturn!
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/python-graphics-a/9781484296608/
#books #retrocomputing
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Steve Gray and David Ahl
The Lucifer Key by Malcolm MacPherson. E.P. Dutton, New York. NY. 338 pages, hard cover, $13.50, 1981. A real page turner, The Lucifer Key is tautly written and almost believable. The book centers around a young computer scientist. Stark Rousseau, who has developed a "formula" that could disrupt computer/satellite communications and bring to a halt nearly all the computers of the nation. Rousseau naively presents the concept of the formula at a computer science symposium and the race is on! The Russians are after it, unscrupulous industrialists are after it, and even a group of well-meaning anti-computer fanatics are after it.
…
Graphic Software for Microcomputers. by B.J. Korites. Kern Publications, 190 Duck Hill Road. Box 1029, Duxbury. MA 02332. 188 pages. paperback 519.95. 1981. This "self-teaching guide," as the introduction calls it. contains 61 programs for two- and three-dimensional graphics. all in Basic and all written on an Apple II Plus 48K system. A disk of the programs in the book is available for $18.95. Like Shakespeare's comedies, this book can be enjoyed at several levels. You can just run the programs. which start with placing points and lines on the screen, move on to drawing pictures using points and lines, then show how to translate, rotate, scale and clip 2D and 3D drawings. Programs are given for shading. hidden-line removal and perspective
…
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Python Graphics
A Reference for Creating 2D and 3D Images
Second Edition
Bernard Korites
![Chapter 1 python essential Commands and FunCtions
Figure 1-16 shows arrows. In (A), a red line is put down first and then a green arrow. The line overplots the arrow. Then a blue arrow is drawn. The red line still takes precedence and covers the blue arrow. In (B), a dark blue dot is plotted first and then a red arrow. The arrow covers the dark blue dot. Then a blue dot is drawn. The arrow still takes precedence and covers the blue dot. In (C), a red arrow is drawn first and then a blue one. The new blue arrow covers the old red one. As a result, we can conclude that
• Lines cover arrows even if plotted after the arrow.
• Arrows cover dots.
• New arrows cover old ones.
Figure 1-16. Overplotting with lines, arrows, and dots
In general, we can say that lines overplot everything, even older lines; dots don’t overplot anything except older dots; and arrows overplot dots and older arrows but not lines.
The code that produced Figure 1-16 is
#——————————————————————(A)
plt.plot([20,60],[20,20],linewidth=5,color='r')
plt.text(13,21,'1')
plt.arrow(30,30,0,-20,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='g')
plt.text(22,10,'2')
plt.arrow(50,30,0,-20,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='b')
plt.text(54,10,'3')
#——————————————————————(B)
plt.scatter(40,60,s=800,color='midnightblue')
plt.text(39,51,'1')
plt.arrow(20,60,60,0,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='r')
24](https://cdn.masto.host/appdotnet/media_attachments/files/113/769/016/490/867/575/original/deec655cdb516b77.jpg "Chapter 1 python essential Commands and FunCtions
Figure 1-16 shows arrows. In (A), a red line is put down first and then a green arrow. The line overplots the arrow. Then a blue arrow is drawn. The red line still takes precedence and covers the blue arrow. In (B), a dark blue dot is plotted first and then a red arrow. The arrow covers the dark blue dot. Then a blue dot is drawn. The arrow still takes precedence and covers the blue dot. In (C), a red arrow is drawn first and then a blue one. The new blue arrow covers the old red one. As a result, we can conclude that
• Lines cover arrows even if plotted after the arrow.
• Arrows cover dots.
• New arrows cover old ones.
Figure 1-16. Overplotting with lines, arrows, and dots
In general, we can say that lines overplot everything, even older lines; dots don’t overplot anything except older dots; and arrows overplot dots and older arrows but not lines.
The code that produced Figure 1-16 is
#——————————————————————(A)
plt.plot([20,60],[20,20],linewidth=5,color='r')
plt.text(13,21,'1')
plt.arrow(30,30,0,-20,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='g')
plt.text(22,10,'2')
plt.arrow(50,30,0,-20,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='b')
plt.text(54,10,'3')
#——————————————————————(B)
plt.scatter(40,60,s=800,color='midnightblue')
plt.text(39,51,'1')
plt.arrow(20,60,60,0,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='r')
24")
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Chapter 1 python essential Commands and FunCtions
Figure 1-16 shows arrows. In (A), a red line is put down first and then a green arrow. The line overplots the arrow. Then a blue arrow is drawn. The red line still takes precedence and covers the blue arrow. In (B), a dark blue dot is plotted first and then a red arrow. The arrow covers the dark blue dot. Then a blue dot is drawn. The arrow still takes precedence and covers the blue dot. In (C), a red arrow is drawn first and then a blue one. The new blue arrow covers the old red one. As a result, we can conclude that
• Lines cover arrows even if plotted after the arrow.
• Arrows cover dots.
• New arrows cover old ones.
Figure 1-16. Overplotting with lines, arrows, and dots
In general, we can say that lines overplot everything, even older lines; dots don’t overplot anything except older dots; and arrows overplot dots and older arrows but not lines.
The code that produced Figure 1-16 is
#——————————————————————(A)
plt.plot([20,60],[20,20],linewidth=5,color='r')
plt.text(13,21,'1')
plt.arrow(30,30,0,-20,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='g')
plt.text(22,10,'2')
plt.arrow(50,30,0,-20,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='b')
plt.text(54,10,'3')
#——————————————————————(B)
plt.scatter(40,60,s=800,color='midnightblue')
plt.text(39,51,'1')
plt.arrow(20,60,60,0,linewidth=5,head_length=4,head_width=2,color='r')
24
![Figure 10-9. Python enjoys the view from Enceladus, Saturn’s sixth largest moon. Enceladus is covered by a layer of pure ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies in our solar system. Beneath the ice there is thought to be water, making this moon of great interest to the scientific community. This image was produced by Listing 10-2
Listing 10-2 uses code that was developed in previous chapters. Saturn is the same
as before except it is positioned off-center and the axes definitions have been changed (increased) to produce a more distant view. Earth in the distance is just a large, light blue scatter dot. Enceladus uses the same sphere-producing algorithm as Saturn but without the rings. The distant stars are just white scatter dots placed and sized at random. Every time the program is run, the pattern will change. The section of code that produced them is
for ns in np.arange(1,20):
x = random.randint(0,300)
y = random.randint(0,175)
t=[.5,1,1.5,2,2.5,3,3.5,4,4.5,5,5.5]
ss = random.choice(t)
plt.scatter(x,y,s=ss,color='white')
#--------20 stars
#--------random x position of
each star
#--------random y position of
each star
#-------size picked at
random from this list
The green Python was produced using splines as shown in Chapter 8. The spline is set up and then a line passes through points that have been specified. The line thickness equals 7. This produces a reasonably smooth curve.](https://cdn.masto.host/appdotnet/media_attachments/files/113/769/020/519/100/072/original/2c7af82e6c6a0a95.jpg "Figure 10-9. Python enjoys the view from Enceladus, Saturn’s sixth largest moon. Enceladus is covered by a layer of pure ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies in our solar system. Beneath the ice there is thought to be water, making this moon of great interest to the scientific community. This image was produced by Listing 10-2
Listing 10-2 uses code that was developed in previous chapters. Saturn is the same
as before except it is positioned off-center and the axes definitions have been changed (increased) to produce a more distant view. Earth in the distance is just a large, light blue scatter dot. Enceladus uses the same sphere-producing algorithm as Saturn but without the rings. The distant stars are just white scatter dots placed and sized at random. Every time the program is run, the pattern will change. The section of code that produced them is
for ns in np.arange(1,20):
x = random.randint(0,300)
y = random.randint(0,175)
t=[.5,1,1.5,2,2.5,3,3.5,4,4.5,5,5.5]
ss = random.choice(t)
plt.scatter(x,y,s=ss,color='white')
#--------20 stars
#--------random x position of
each star
#--------random y position of
each star
#-------size picked at
random from this list
The green Python was produced using splines as shown in Chapter 8. The spline is set up and then a line passes through points that have been specified. The line thickness equals 7. This produces a reasonably smooth curve.")
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Figure 10-9. Python enjoys the view from Enceladus, Saturn’s sixth largest moon. Enceladus is covered by a layer of pure ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies in our solar system. Beneath the ice there is thought to be water, making this moon of great interest to the scientific community. This image was produced by Listing 10-2
Listing 10-2 uses code that was developed in previous chapters. Saturn is the same
as before except it is positioned off-center and the axes definitions have been changed (increased) to produce a more distant view. Earth in the distance is just a large, light blue scatter dot. Enceladus uses the same sphere-producing algorithm as Saturn but without the rings. The distant stars are just white scatter dots placed and sized at random. Every time the program is run, the pattern will change. The section of code that produced them is
for ns in np.arange(1,20):
x = random.randint(0,300)
y = random.randint(0,175)
t=[.5,1,1.5,2,2.5,3,3.5,4,4.5,5,5.5]
ss = random.choice(t)
plt.scatter(x,y,s=ss,color='white')
#--------20 stars
#--------random x position of
each star
#--------random y position of
each star
#-------size picked at
random from this list
The green Python was produced using splines as shown in Chapter 8. The spline is set up and then a line passes through points that have been specified. The line thickness equals 7. This produces a reasonably smooth curve.
Allegedly there's an Apple version, but of course no Apple ][ stuff really gets preserved or has any retrocomputing fans.
I dunno what that's about, I've noted it before, there's tons of early Mac fans. There were millions of Apple ][ users… and they just gave up entirely.
Also yet another cover design in the ad, with Chucky ripoff kid and shitty box computer drawing of Einstein?
#retrocomputing #appleii
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Special editions for Apple, Atari and TRS-80 Computers. Hey kids, are the folks out of the room? have to take my word on that. Just listen to Good, ‘cause I've got a secret to tell you. what these top educators have to say You know that computer they fuss over? about it Well, kid, between you and me, this whole Donald T. Piele, Professor of Mathe- programming thing is a lot simpler than matics at the University of Wisconsin- they realize Parkside says, “Computers For Kids is the What's that? Sure, you can learn. Just best material available for introducing stu- get a copy of Computers For Kids. It's a dents to their new computer. It is a perfect super book, and it tells you everything you tool for teachers who are learning about need to know. Huh? You have an Apple? computers and programming with their No problem. There's a version just for the students Highly recommended.” Apple. One for the TRS-80 and one for the Robert Taylor, Director of the Program Atari too, with complete instructions for in Computing and Education at Teachers operating and programming College, Columbia University states, “it's a The book will take you through every- good idea to have a book for chidren." thing programmers learn. Its easy to Not bad, huh?
Computers for Kids!
Atari: https://archive.org/details/Computers_for_Kids_Atari_Edition/mode/2up
TRS-80: https://archive.org/details/Computers_For_Kids_1980_Creative_Computing_Press/mode/2up
#atari #retrocomputing
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Semi-realistic drawing of boy & girl looking at a very non-Atari one-piece terminal, with an elephant under a bed.
COMPUTERS FOR KIDS
ATARI EDITION
SALLY GREENWOOD LARSEN
A Basic programming manual written just for kids.
Special section for teachers and parents.
$3.95
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Bizarrely abstract red-headed kids staring at an abstract pattern on a… screen? Box with red panel in front? In a blue void.
TRS-80 Edition
COMPUTERS FOR KIDS
Sally Greenwood Larsen
A Basic programming manual written just for kids.
Special section for teachers and parents.
Spreading out and organizing a stack of index cards to outline and write a paper. It's the metaphor behind this 1986 demonstration of NoteCards, the pioneering hypermedia system developed in Interlisp at Xerox PARC. At the workstation is NoteCards co-creator Frank Halasz @fghalasz who now contributes to the Medley Interlisp project.
https://archive.org/details/Xerox_Notecards_Robert_Spinrad_and_Frank_Halasz_1986-06
For an overview of NoteCards see:
Ah yes, the two stream genders.
#lisp #retrocomputing
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Streams have two ends; they connect two things. One end is connected to Lisp, and the other end is connected to some sort of device. An input stream brings data from the device into Lisp, whereas an output stream sends data from Lisp to the device.
The device might be a disk, magnetic tape, network, terminal, or some other kind of device. In this example, we support disk and mag- netic-tape devices. The following stream types are related to the device connected to the stream:
disk stream Transmits data to and from a disk device
tape stream Transmits data to and from a magnetic tape device
The CLOS texts I'm told are good are from 1989, 1991, oh, and here's a REAL current one, 1993.
I sure do love retrocomputing.
LDD #$FFFF ; set all bits
CLRD ; 6309 opcode that runs as 8 bit on 6809
TSTB ; did it clear B (16 bit)?
BNE skip ; if not... not a 6309
LDMD #1 ; enable native mode
skip:
#os2warp #retrocomputing
Sometimes a pin is not just a pin. This bag will NEVER be opened.
asm6809, a09 and lwtools, So I'll have to see if they build on my #FreeBSD laptop. Feel free to mention any others if they exist and or boost this post. #RetroComputingAs is tradition!
I still didn't finish the snowman game from 2023, but maybe I will before snow goes away?
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ATARI NEW YEAR 2025
<slightly demolished by fireworks pixels>
The computing pioneers who passed away in 2024.
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3617308/tech-luminaries-we-lost-in-2024.html
An Atari New Year!
https://mdhughes.tech/2022/12/31/an-atari-new-year/
I spent a little time this evening making some fireworks for tomorrow night!
nanorog.atr-2022-12-31.zip
Download, unzip, launch in your favorite Atari 800 emulator, like Atari800MacX
Pick Y from the menu, ESC to end, reboot to get back to the menu. See you in a year!
(I didn't get around to putting an emulator page on my site; I will before my next actual game)
TEdit, the WYSIWYG rich text editor of Medley Interlisp, does equations too. This is the demo document of the EQUATIONS module that extends TEdit with equation editing.
#interlisp #lisp #retrocomputing
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Screenshot of the black and white desktop of a 1980s graphical workstation environment. The desktop has a gray background pattern and some windows with a white background and a title bar with white text on a black background. The main window is a word processing program with an open document containing mathematical equations.
#RetroComputing
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A photo of a HD63B09P CPU
The Medley Interlisp manuals contain screenshots usually inserted by capturing a portion of the screen and embedding it into a document created with the TEdit WYSIWYG rich text editor. To demonstrate how to do it I recorded a screencast.
The video doesn't show it but the embedded bitmap is editable, middle-click on it for options. Medley did this a decade earlier than Windows OLE.