Digital animation has really become an artform in and of itself. In the current epoch these animations play out on fancy bitmapped displays, but it's origins are far more visceral. Or maybe we should say far more hacky. This episode we are diving in to BEFLIX: an early animation toolchain from Bell Labs that produced computer films on physical rolls of film. Selected Sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/363958.363993 - Paper on Zajac animation https://jimboulton.medium.com/studies-in-percepti...
Aug 07, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 88
Can a computer be creative? Can we program a machine to make art? It turns out the answer is yes, and it doesn't even take artificial intelligence. This episode we are diving in to the ILLIAC Suite, a piece for string quartet that was composed by a computer. Along the way we will examine the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, and how methods used to create the hydrogen bomb were adapted to create music. Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/experimentalmusi0000hill/page/n5/mode/1up - Exper...
Jul 24, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 87
What is a computer? A miserable pile of electrons! But... not necessarily. I have yet to find a fully satisfying definition for "computer" that encompasses the full grandeur of calculating machines. This episode we are further complicating that quest by adding fluid based computers to the mix. We will be looking at 3 machines that crunched numbers using nothing but fluids and tubes. There's actually a rich tradition of fluidics to talk about. Selected sources: https://archive.org/details/electro...
Jul 10, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 86
More Visi-fun ahead! Today we are looking at Visi On, a visionary user interface developed for home computers. Along the way we will discuss smalltalk, portability, and how the slick graphics over at Xerox were adapted to run on smaller machines. Selected Sources: http://toastytech.com/guis/vision.html - Toasty Tech's Visi On page, with screenshots and downloads for emulation https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-06/page/n255/mode/2up - A Guided Tour of Visi On https://archive.org/detai...
Jun 26, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 85
Today we are looking at VisiCalc, the original killer app. Hitting the market in 1979, VisiCalc was the first computer spreadsheet program. Through it's 6 year lifespan it was ported to everything from the Apple II to the IBM PC to the Apple III. It dominated the market and then... it disappeared. Selected Sources: https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/113026 - Oral History with Bricklin and Frankston http://www.bricklin.com/history/intro.htm - Bricklin's personal website https://sci-hub.se/1...
Jun 12, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 84
The Standards Eastern Automatic Computer was built by the National Bureau of Standards in 1948. It started crunching numbers in 1950 and stayed in constant operation until... 1964! This early machine, festooned with vacuum tubes, lived well past the first transistorized computers. So what exactly is SEAC doing so far into the semiconductor future? Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/circularofbureau551unse/page/n7/mode/2up - Circular 551 https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/85.238389 - EDVAC Dra...
May 29, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 83
In this episode I talk with Aaron Reed, author of 50 Years of Text Games. We discuss the history of computer games, interactive fiction, business "gaming", and why we all love Adventure. You can find Aaron's work here: http://aaronareed.net/
May 22, 2022•40 min
Multitasking: we all do it. For a feature of modern computing multitasking has surprisingly old roots. It started out as timesharing on vacuum tube based machines, reached ubiquity on large computers, then hit a wall: the microcomputer. Multitasking didn't smoothly transition over as soon as home computers hit the scene. It took some time, and it took some adaptation. Today we are looking at what made timesharing work, early changes to microprocessors that paved the way for multitasking, and one...
May 15, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 82
There's power in music, but not all tones are created equal. During the reign of Bell Telephone there was one tone in particular that opened up a world of possibilities: 2600 Hz. The devotees of this note were called phreakers, and in some cases they knew the telephone system better than Bell employees themselves. This episode were diving in to the early history of phreaking, how a bag of tricks was developed, and why exploring the phone grid was so much fun. Selected sources: http://explodingth...
May 01, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 81
When people talk about early computers Babbage's Analytical Engine is bound to come up. Designed back in the 1830's it's definitely older than any other example of the art. But it also has a lot of strikes against it. The machine was purely mechanical. It only really did math. It stored numbers in decimal instead of binary. Worst of all, it only ever existed as designs on paper. So should we call this beast a computer? Or is it something else entirely? Selected Sources: https://www.fourmilab.ch/...
Apr 17, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 80
We're getting back to my hypertext series with a big of an obscure tale. ZOG is a hypertext system what was first developed in 1972 at Carnegie-Melon University. It then stagnated until the latter half of the 1970s when it was picked back up. By 1983 it was cruising on a US Navy aircraft carrier. ZOG presents a hypertext system with some very modern notions. But here's the part that gets me excited: ZOG was developed after Doug Engelbart's Mother of All Demos. So, in theory, ZOG should take ques...
Apr 03, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 79
Programming doesn't have to be a very serious discipline. In fact, sometimes it's better if it's a little silly. Today we are talking about INTERCAL, the first esoteric programming language. Is it a joke? Is it a form of hacker folk art? Is it even a good language? To answer those questions we need to asses what makes a programming language "good" in the first place. Program INTERCAL online today! (https://www.tutorialspoint.com/compile_intercal_online.php) Selected Sources: https://archive.org/...
Mar 20, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 78
It's no secret, I'm a big fan of memory. Not only is memory crucial for the functioning of a computer, it's also plain weird. This episode we are looking at magnetic core memory; a technology that defined computing for more than two decades. We'll be talking about how it works, the impacts of ferrite, and the surprising controversy surrounding it's creation. Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_datamation_31792007/page/n161/mode/2up - Datamation coverage of the patent disputes...
Mar 07, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 77
This episode we blast off at warp speed! We're looking at Star Trek, a game written in BASIC in 1971. Examining this game gives us some insight into the early spread of BASIC. Along the way we will see the issue with paper, why strings matter, and how software was distributed before the Internet. Selected Sources: https://web.archive.org/web/20181106092235/https://gamesoffame.wordpress.com/star-trek/ - Games of Fame article with a few interviews https://www.atariarchives.org/bcc1/showpage.php?pa...
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 76
Cybernetics is broadly defined as the study of control and communications, with a special emphasis on feedback-based systems. Put another way: cybernetics is the study of the flow of data. Predating computer science by decades, cybernetics offers up an interesting view of computing. But of course, there's a lot more to the picture than just computers. This episode we are looking at Project Cybersyn, an attempt to automate Chile's economy via cybernetics. To talk about this specific case we are g...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 75
This is the conclusion to my exploration of why LISP is the "mother tongue of artificial intelligence". We pick up from the end of last episode and continue to cover the early days of AI. We follow the meandering path from the FORTRAN List Processing Language and IPL, up to pen-and-paper versions of LISP and into the first true implementation of the language. Along the way we will see just why LISP is called elegant, and how it was tailored for thinking machines. Selected Sources: https://sci-hu...
Jan 24, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 74
I'll let you in on a secret: I've never understood why LISP is so closely associated with artificial intelligence. I've decided to fix this. In this episode, and the next, I'm tracing the early roots of AI and why list processing is important in the field. This episode we dive into the Information Processing Language, a strange programming language that predates LISP . Along the way we discuss the origin of linked lists, chess playing machines, and a program that could solve logic proofs. Select...
Jan 10, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 73
Viatron's System 21 was the computer of the 1970s! ...At least that's what their marketing claimed. Started in 1967 Viatron was set to be one of the most exciting companies of the coming decade. They were offering a desktop sized computing machine, the System 21, that promised to break IBM's domination of the office. The System 21's heart, the so-called "micro-processor", was slated to be built from cutting edge LSI chips. It could automate data processing, replace bulky IBM hardware, and do awa...
Dec 27, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 72
No matter how you cut it the MOS Technology 6502 is an important chip. The chip was cheap, simple, and plentiful. This made it perfect for the home computing boom of the late 1970s. But how was this classic created? Today we are looking at Motorola's earliest attempts to seize the microprocessor market, how economic factors impact history, and how trends and forces can conspire to create better technology. Selected sources: https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2015/06/102702...
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 71
NLS, or the oN-Line System, is often looked at as a mile marker in the development of modern computing. It was the first system to use a mouse, one of the first functional examples of hypertext, pioneered remote collaboration, and so much more. But how much do you know about NLS itself? In this series of episode I'm picking apart the system behind the legend. In Part 2 we are looking at the development of NLS itself. Along the way we talk timesharing, strange custom hardware, and complex program...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 70
NLS, or the oN-Line System, is often looked at as a mile marker in the development of modern computing. It was the first system to use a mouse, one of the first functional examples of hypertext, pioneered remote collaboration, and so much more. But how much do you know about NLS itself? In this series of episode I'm picking apart the system behind the legend. Part 1 deals primarily with the early roots of NLS, Augmenting Human Intellect, and Doug Engelbart's vision of hypertext. Surprisingly, a ...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 69
Make sure you have some extra batteries for your lamp, this episode we are delving into the depths of Zork. Written in 1977 Zork would quickly become the epitome of text based adventures, pushing aside all competitors. A lot of this comes down to it's simple gameplay, and the simple fact that Zork is fun to play. But lurking deeper into the game is a hidden treasure. Ya see, the other huge part of Zork's success was it's portability. That was made possible thanks to some sick programming tricks,...
Oct 31, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 68
This episode I face my greatest fears: computer bugs. We are going to dive into the origin of the term, and examine the origins of debugging. The simple fact is that as soon as computers hit the scene we start finding bugs. Debugging follows very soon after. That part's not too surprising, it's the specifics that get interesting. Modern debugging methods we still use today were first developed on ENIAC, a machine that's anything but modern.
Oct 17, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 67
It's Spook Month on Advent of Computing! Every October we cover the more spooky, scary, and frustrating side of computers. To kick off this year we are looking at viruses again, this time with a special eye to the first infections for IBM PCs and compatible systems. Besides the technical changes, this drops us into an interesting transitionary period. Up to this point viruses had been something of an in-joke amongst hackers and computer nerds, but with the creation of viruses like Brain and VirD...
Oct 03, 2021•1 hr 3 min
In today's episode we take a long hard look at the telegraph, and try to see how character encoding developed. We are dealing with 100% pre-computing technology, but there are some shocking similarities to later digital systems. Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/electrictelegrap00highrich/page/2/mode/2up - Early history of the electric telegraph http://www.samhallas.co.uk/repository/telegraph/b6_baudot_multiplex.pdf - 1934 pamphlet on the Baudot telegraph https://ia800708.us.archive....
Sep 19, 2021•56 min
Today we are talking about computers in space! 1964 saw the launch of Gemini I, the first spacecraft to carry an onboard computer. The aptly named Gemini Guidance Computer was responsible for guidance, navigation, and safe reentry. Built by IBM it weighed in at a tiny 59 pounds. For 1960's technology there just isn't any comparison to make, it was an amazingly small machine. What secrets does it hold? Did IBM crack some secret code to build such a tiny computer? https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/Ge...
Sep 05, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 64
This concludes my series on the distinctive shape of early home computers. In this episode we finally cover the Sol-20 itself, the first system on the market to be shaped like a wedge. More generally, we try to figure out if the Sol-20 was the progenitor of hundreds of machines that followed, or if the wedge was inevitable. For such a simple question, this has become a surprisingly complicated topic. Selected sources: http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/10/102702231-05-...
Aug 22, 2021•57 min•Ep. 63
Early home microcomputers have a very distinctive shape to them. From the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum, to the Commodore 64 and the Amiga, wedged were the order of the day. I've always wondered why that shape became so popular, and where it came from. Today we start a deep dive into that question, slowly tracing the origins of the first wedge shaped computer. Selected Sources: http://www.leefelsenstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/TST_scan_150.pdf The Tom Swift Terminal, or a Convivial Cyberne...
Aug 08, 2021•59 min•Ep. 62
Hypertext has really become a core offering of daily life, and defined the face of the Internet for decades. But the links and formatting we know so well only make up part of the story. Today we are looking at FRESS(the File Retrieval and Editing SyStem), a hypertext system developed at Brown University at the tail end of the 60s. What makes FRESS so crucial in the history of hypertext is that it was extensively studied. Multiple experiments were carried out to test if FRESS, and hypertext in ge...
Jul 25, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 61
It's here! My celebratory question and answer episode! Contains ramblings on my checkered past, why computer history is important, and why FOIA is so cool.
Jul 18, 2021•52 min
