Advent of Computing

Welcome to Advent of Computing, the show that talks about the shocking, intriguing, and all too often relevant history of computing. A lot of little things we take for granted today have rich stories behind their creation, in each episode we will learn how older tech has lead to our modern world.

Episode 154 - ACTing Up 03/30/2025

Episode 154 - ACTing Up The LGP-30 is one of my favorite computers. It's small, scrappy, strange, and wonderous. Among its many wonders are two obscure languages: ACT-I and ACT-III. In this episode we are exploring the ACTS, how the LGP-30 was programmed in practice, and why I've been losing sleep for the last few weeks. /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/35919240

Episode 153 - The Keypact Mystery 03/17/2025

Episode 153 - The Keypact Mystery When I was down at VCF SoCal I ran into a strange machine: the Keypact Micro-VIP. It's a terminal without a keyboard, covered in dials, with a speaker and a switch labeled "voice". This chance encounter with the unknown sent me down a wild path. It involved the creeping spread of computing, chicken feed, door to door life insurance salesmen, and at least one early hacker. /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/35717720

Episode 152 - LIVE at VCF - Reviving Retro Panel 03/02/2025

Episode 152 - LIVE at VCF - Reviving Retro Panel A special treat from VCF SoCal. While visiting I had the chance to host a panel on restoration and preservation. I was joined by: David from Usagi Electric ( Rob from Souther Amis ( Jim, Former Executive Director Computer Museum of America ( /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/35494340

Episode 151 - The Friden Flexowriter 02/03/2025

Episode 151 - The Friden Flexowriter Have you ever looked at an old computer and seen a weird typewriter thing tacked on? In most cases that's a device called a Flexowriter. It's half electric typewriter, half teleprinter, half tape reader, and all business! This episode we are chronicling the rise, fall, and weird business dealings of the Flexowriter. /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/35110580

Episode 150 - Starting Windows Up 01/20/2025

Episode 150 - Starting Windows Up In the modern day Windows is a power house, but that wasn't always the case. In this episode we are looking at the fraught development of Windows 1.0. During development it was called vaporware, it was panned in the press, roasted at at least one trade show, and even called... "eclectic". Through it all a vision in lime green would take form. /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/34902820

Episode 149 - IDRIS Is Not UNIX 01/05/2025

Episode 149 - IDRIS Is Not UNIX This episode we are taking a trip back to UNIX world. We're looking at IDRIS, the first clone of UNIX. It was supposed to be highly compatible, but use no code from Bell Labs. IDRIS ran on everything from the Intel 8080 up to the IBM System/370. There was even a version that could run MS-DOS programs. Sound too good to be true? Well, that may be the case. Selected Sources: - A Quarter Century of UNIX - Co-Idris disk images and executables /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/34722110

Episode 148 - Is BLISS Ignorance? 12/22/2024

Episode 148 - Is BLISS Ignorance? In 1970 a little language called BLISS emerged from Carnegie Mellon University. It was a systems language, meant for operating systems and compilers. It was designed, in part, as a response to Dijkstra's famous Go To Considered Harmful paper. It had no data types. It used the most bizzare form of the pointer I've ever seen. And it was a direct competitor to C. Sound interesting, yet? Selected Sources: - Readings on BLISS - A History of BLISS /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/34566285

Episode 147 - Molecular Electronic Computer 12/09/2024

Episode 147 - Molecular Electronic Computer In 1961 Texas Instruments unveiled the Molecular Electronic Computer, aka: Mol-E-Com. It was a machine that fit in the palm of your hand, but had all the power of a much larger computer. This was in an age of hefty machines, which made the achievement all the more marvelous. How was this even possible? It was all thanks to the wonders of molecular electronics, and a boat load of funding from the US Air Force. Selected Sources: - Invention of the Integrated Circuit, Kilby - Investigation of Silicon Functional Blocks, TI - Silicon Semiconductor Networks, TI /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/34329570

Episode 146 - The Z4 11/25/2024

Episode 146 - The Z4 The Z4, completed by Konrad Zuse in 1945, is a computer with a wild story. It was made from scrounged parts, survived years of bombing raids, moved all around Berlin, and eventually took refuge in basements and stables. In this episode we will follow the Z4's early days, and look at how it fits into the larger picture of Zuse's work. Along the way there is looting, rumors, and even... IBM! Selected Sources: The Computer, My Life - Konrad Zuse's autobiography - Plankalkul, F.L. Bauer and H. Wossner - Architecture of the Z4, Rojas /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/34125921

Episode 145 - Zuse's Mysterious Machines 11/11/2024

Episode 145 - Zuse's Mysterious Machines In 1933 Konrad Zuse, a German civil engineer, caught the computing bug. It would consume the rest of his life. According Zuse he invented the world's first digital computer during WWII, working in near total isolation within the Third Reich. How true is this claim? Today we are looking at Zuse's early machines, the Z1, Z2, and Z3. Selected Sources: The Computer -- My Life, by Konrad Zuse - Z1 Architecture paper by Rojas - Z3... Turing Complete? also by Rojas /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/33869502

Episode 144 - RABBITS 10/27/2024

Episode 144 - RABBITS :(){ :|:& };: /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/33624697

Episode 143 - The Haunted Hard Drive 10/20/2024

Episode 143 - The Haunted Hard Drive Have you ever felt like a computer just refuses to work? Like a machine has a mind of it's own? In 1970 a hard drive at the National Farmers Union Corp. office decided to do just that. That year it started crashing for apparently no reason. It would take 2 years and 56 crashes to sort out the problem. The ultimate solution would leave more questions than answers. Was the hard drive haunted? Or was something else at play? Selected Sources: - Computer Crime - Computer World article /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/33341512

Episode 142 - OS and JEDGAR 10/13/2024

Episode 142 - OS and JEDGAR This time we are diving back into the Jargon File to take a look at some hacker folklore. Back in the day hackers at MIT spent their time spying on one another's terminals. That is, until some intrepid programmer found a way to fight back. Selected Sources: - OS and JEDGAR - ITS restoration project /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/33340372

Episode 141 - Computer Ruins Grocer 10/06/2024

Episode 141 - Computer Ruins Grocer In 1962 Food Center Wholesale Grocers Inc installed a new IBM 305 RAMAC. That's when things started to go wrong. The faulty machine seemed to have a mind of it's own, and would spread chaos to grocery stores all around Boston. Selected Sources: - Computer Insecurity - Computers and Automation article - Computerworld /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/33340092

Episode 140 - Assembling Code 09/29/2024

Episode 140 - Assembling Code Programming, as a practice and study, has been steadily evolving for the past 70 or so years. Over the languages have become more sophisticated and user friendly. New tools have been developed that make programming easier and better. But what was that first step? When exactly did programmers start trying to improve their lot in life? It probably all started with assembly language. Well, probably… Selected Sources: - Coding for ARC - The EDSAC - IBM Applied Sci Tech Newsletter /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/33250927

Episode 139 - HUTSPIEL 09/15/2024

Episode 139 - HUTSPIEL The early history of computer games is messy, weird, and surprising. This episode we are looking at HUTSPIEL, perhaps one of the oldest games ever played on a computer. It's a wargame developed to simulate nuclear conflict... and it's 100% analog. Join us as we find out just what tax dollars were being used for in 1955. Selected Sources: - The HUTSPIEL paper /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/33050447

Episode 138 - Type-It-Yourself 09/01/2024

Episode 138 - Type-It-Yourself I'm finally back to my usual programming! This time we are taking one of my patent pending rambles through a topics. Today's victim: the humble type-in program. Along the way we will see how traditions formed around early type-in software, and how the practice shifted over time. Was this just a handy way to distribute code? Was this just an educational trick? The answers are more complex than you may first imagine. Selected Sources: - LISP for the PDP-1 - PCC Issue #1 - What To Do After You Hit Return /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/32820302

Episode 137 - Edge Notched LIVE 08/18/2024

Episode 137 - Edge Notched LIVE LIVE from VCF West 2024, my talk on edge notched cards! Since this is a live recording from an auditorium the audio is a little boomy, so be warned. Actually, I'm pretty sure this is the same space that CHM uses for some of their oral histories. What I have today is just the audio component. VCF will be posting a full video eventually, which I'll be sure to pass around. /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/32621262

Episode 136.5 - Data Center Disaster 08/04/2024

Episode 136.5 - Data Center Disaster I've gotten busy preparing for VCF West, so this time you get a short one! In this byte-sized episode we are looking at a short and strange story: that time a plane struck a software company, and the company turned around and used the crash in their own ads. /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/32377667

Episode 136 - Getting On TRAC 07/21/2024

Episode 136 - Getting On TRAC Have you ever formed a bad first impression? Way back when I formed a hasty impression of this language called TRAC. It's been called a proto-esoteric language, and for good reason. It's outlandish, complex, and confounding. But, after the urging of some listeners, I've decided to give TRAC a second look. What I've found is, perhaps, more confusing than I ever imagined. This episode we are looking at the wild history of TRAC, how it actually pioneered some good ideas, and why it feels so alien. Selected Sources: - 1965 TRAC paper - TRAC64 processor in "modern" C - 1966 TRAC paper, with more code! /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/32227897

Episode 135 - XENIX 07/07/2024

Episode 135 - XENIX In 1984 SCO released PC XENIX, a port of UNIX that ran on an IBM PC. To understand why that's such a technical feat, and how we even got here, we have to go back to the late 1970s. In this episode we are taking a look at how Microsoft got into the UNIX game, and how they repeatedly struggled to make micro-UNIX work for them. Along the way we run into vaporware, conspiracy, and the expected missing sources! /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/32032642

Episode 134 - Beyond the Punch 06/23/2024

Episode 134 - Beyond the Punch This episode I'm opening up my research vault to present some interesting pre-digital technology. Back before computers us humans used to write everything down on paper. Over time that lead to some organizational issues. By 1890 punch cards show up to solve one aspect of this problem, but that technology had it's limitations. We will be looking at other paper-based approaches to data management, as I slowly try and explain a realization I've come to about the early history of hypertext. /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/31849817

Episode 133 - LIVE from Intelligent Speech 2023 06/09/2024

Episode 133 - LIVE from Intelligent Speech 2023 I'm currently out traveling. Due to my poor planning I managed to score back to back trips, for both business and leisure. While I'm not able to get an episode out on time, I do have a replacement! In 2023 I was invited to speak at the Intelligent Speech conference. So, today, I present the audio of that talk. The topic is, of course, the wild path of the Intel 8086's creation and rise to power! If you prefer to watch, here's the video of the same talk: /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/31560737

Episode 132 - The PDP-1 05/26/2024

Episode 132 - The PDP-1 In 1959 the world bore witness to a new type of computer: the PDP-1. It was the first interactive computer to really make a dent in the market. Some say it was the first minicomputer: a totally new class of machine. But where did this computer come from, and what made it so different from the rest of the digital pack? Selected sources: - Smithsonian interview with Ken Olsen - Computing in the Middle Ages - Computer Egnineerling, Bell et al. /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/31466022

Episode 131 - Computer... Books? 05/05/2024

Episode 131 - Computer... Books? I've been feeling like rambling, so it's time for a classic ramble. This time we are looking at the origins of books about computers. More specifically, computer books targeted at a general audience. Along the way we stumble into the first public disclosure of digital computers, the first intentionally unimportant machine, and wild speculation about the future of mechanical brains. No sources listed this time, because I want the journey to be a surprise! /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/31132303

Episode 130 - ALGOL, Part II 04/21/2024

Episode 130 - ALGOL, Part II This is a hefty one. I usually try to keep things as accessible as possible, but this time we have to get a little more technical than usual. We are picking up in 1964, with the first proposals for a new version of ALGOL. From there we sail through the fraught waters of ALGOL X, Y, W, and finally 68. Along the way we see how a language evolves over time, and how people and politics mesh with technical issues. Selected Sources: - Successes and Failures of the ALGOL Effort - Cold War Origins of IFIP - The ALGOL Bulletin /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/30918138

Episode 129 - ALGOL, Part I 04/07/2024

Episode 129 - ALGOL, Part I ALGOL is one of those topics that's haunted the show for a while. It comes up any time we talk about programming languages, and with good reason. Many of the features and ideas found in modern languages have their roots in ALGOL. Despite that influence, ALGOL itself remains somewhat obscure. It never reached the highs of a C or LISP. In this series we are going to look at ALGOL from 1958 all up to 1968, keeping a careful eye on how the language evolved, how it's problems were addressed, and how new problems were introduced. Selected Sources: - Backus, 1958 IAL report - ALGOL 1960 Report - Cleaning Up Algol /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/30712593

Episode 128 - Cryotrons LIVE! 03/24/2024

Episode 128 - Cryotrons LIVE! Originally presented at VCF SoCal in February of 2024. The cryotron, a superconductive switch, almost revolutionized computing. It's one of those fascinating near misses. In this episode we are talking about the history of the cryotron, how the NSA and supercomputing factors into the mix, and the current state of research into the topic. Did the NSA actually construct a supercomputer that ran in a vat of liquid helium? The answer is... maybe? Video of this talk: /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/30511188

Episode 127 - Nim 03/11/2024

Episode 127 - Nim This is going to be a wild rambling ride. In 1939 a computer called Nimatron was made. It was one of the earliest digital electronic computers in the world. It did one thing: play a game called Nim. Over a decade later, in 1951, another Nim machine hit the scene. This computer called Nimrod, was designed to demonstrate how computers worked... by playing a game of Nim. These machines, humble as they may sound, end up deeply complicating the history of computing. Join me as I, once again, muddy the long arc of progress. Selected Sources: - Faster Than Thought - Faster Than Thought /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/30301558

Episode 126 - IBM Compatible (No, Not Those) 02/19/2024

Episode 126 - IBM Compatible (No, Not Those) This episode wraps up the System/360 trilogy by taking things back to where they started for me. We will be looking at System/360 clones, how they could exist, why they existed, and why IBM didn't crush them. We close with a discussion of how these earlier clones impact our understanding of the IBM PC story. The truth is, by 1981 IBM was no stranger to clones. This is the culmination of a wild story, so prepare! Selected Sources: - ICL: A Business and Technical History - Impact Report by INPUT /episode/index/show/adventofcomputing/id/29962808

Advent of Computing

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