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Basic instinct: how we used to code • Reg Hardware

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/04/27/retro_week_basic_instinct/
I’ve recently caught myself, like some horrific solo re-write of the Monty Python Four Yorkshiremen sketch, waxing lyrical to my two iPod-wielding young ‘uns about the good old days; when men were men, computers were effectively clockwork, and computer games… well, come to think about it, they still cost about 69p. But you didn’t download them from an app store. Oh no. They came bound into computer magazines and had to be typed in by hand. And oh yes, they were in an arcane language called Basic.
#imported:pinboard #oldschool #programming #retro #to:fb
archive.org #32730

Basic instinct: how we used to code • Reg Hardware

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/04/27/retro_week_basic_instinct
I’ve recently caught myself, like some horrific solo re-write of the Monty Python Four Yorkshiremen sketch, waxing lyrical to my two iPod-wielding young ‘uns about the good old days; when men were men, computers were effectively clockwork, and computer games… well, come to think about it, they still cost about 69p. But you didn’t download them from an app store. Oh no. They came bound into computer magazines and had to be typed in by hand. And oh yes, they were in an arcane language called Basic.
#oldschool #programming #retro #to:fb
archive.org #22323

Escapes.js

http://256.io/escapes.js/
escapes.js is a small JavaScript library for rendering ANSI art, a form of computer art that flourished in the mid 90s. ANSI art was composed by colorizing sequences of characters and blocks drawn in the built-in system font, which made it easy to transmit across telephone wires. As a result, ANSI art was especially popular on Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes).
#ansi #art #imported:pinboard #javascript #oldschool #to:fb #webdev
archive.org #33191

Escapes.js

http://256.io/escapes.js
escapes.js is a small JavaScript library for rendering ANSI art, a form of computer art that flourished in the mid 90s. ANSI art was composed by colorizing sequences of characters and blocks drawn in the built-in system font, which made it easy to transmit across telephone wires. As a result, ANSI art was especially popular on Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes).
#ansi #art #javascript #oldschool #to:fb #webdev
archive.org #20864

Great Gifts: Computers on Christmas Morning - Slideshow from PCMag.com

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/291990/great-gifts-computers-on-christmas-morning
Ah, the anticipation of Christmas morning. Who could ever forget that frenzied level of excitement we felt as children as we climbed into bed on Christmas Eve, with our palms sweating and our hearts racing. If you grew up celebrating Christmas, it's likely that you've felt this way at least once in your life (maybe you still do). The experience of waking up on Christmas morning and discovering a cache of otherwise unattainable goodies is one that you will never, ever forget. I have to tell you that my heart is pounding right now just writing this.
#christmas #computers #oldschool #retro
archive.org #20350

robohara.com » The Commodore 64 Moves In

http://www.robohara.com/?p=4124
My parents bought my Uncle Kenny’s Commodore 64 for me back in 1985. If I remember correctly the sound chip had blown out, so the first thing we they did was have it fixed. Sixteen years later, I still own (and use) that same Commodore computer. I’ve owned dozens of other Commodore computers ov...
#burgertime #c64 #oldschool #retro
archive.org #20081

Watch THQ and Twitch.TV Tonight To Help Form Voltron Fan Event! | The Retroist

http://www.retroist.com/2011/11/30/watch-thq-and-twitch-tv-tonight-help-form-voltron-fan-event
Thanks to our friends over at THQ and Twitch.TV for having the Green Lion drop this press release off to share with you. Watch live video from THQtv on www.twitch.tv In celebration of THQ’s release of VOLTRON: Defender of the Universe (NOW available on XBox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network...
#gaming #oldschool #voltron
archive.org #20077

How to Rediscover the Obscure TV Shows and Movies that Made Your Childhood Weird

http://io9.com/5863935/how-to-rediscover-the-obscure-tv-shows-and-movies-that-made-your-childhood-weird
It's usually pretty easy to track down most big Hollywood releases and major TV shows on DVD, or on Netflix. But what about those works that aren't popular enough for mass production, such as old TV movies, pilots that never made it to air, or lost films that only a die-hard film fan could appr...
#odd #oldschool #retro #tv
archive.org #20075

Stupid Raymond talent: Screaming carrier - The Old New Thing - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2011/11/11/10235970.aspx
Similar to Mike, I was able to scream (not whistle: scream) a 300 baud carrier tone. This skill proved useful when I was in college and the mainframe system was down. Instead of sitting around waiting for the system to come back, I just went about my regular business around campus. Every so often, I would go to a nearby campus phone (like a free public phone but it can only make calls to other locations on campus), dial the 300 baud dial-up number, and scream the carrier tone. If I got a response, that meant that the mainframe was back online and I should wrap up what I was doing and head back to the lab.
#300baud #funny #history #oldschool #retro #tech
archive.org #19663

Solar Realms Elite 0.995: Documentation

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/Articles/SRE-Documentation.html
"n Solar Realms Elite (SRE), you rule a solar empire. The goal is to become and remain the most powerful empire. You can gain strength by buying forces, and you can gain size by colonizing planets. You start with 6 planets, and a little bit of money. You are required to feed your people and army, and to pay to maintain your planets and army. If you fail to do these things, disastrous results may occur. You are given 20 years (“turns”) of protection, during which you can not attack or be attacked. You can not perform covert operations (except Spy). This provides a way for smaller empires to build up their defenses and planets before they enter the “real world”. "
#bbs #doorgames #games #gaming #oldschool #sre
archive.org #13944

Jon Combe | Experiments | Thrust: A classic computer game remake using

http://joncom.be/experiments/thrust
"Thrust was just awesome and it is that game which I have attempted to recreate here using just JavaScript and the HTML tag. I have 'cheated' a little in that I use Scott Schiller's excellent SoundManager 2 Javascript audio manager (which in turn uses Flash) to play the sounds, but I think that is fair game in the spirit of what I am trying to do."
#canvas #classic #gaming #html5 #oldschool #thrust
archive.org #13823

cbm-hackers mailing list: Professional-1541-DOS (was: Re: Big-PET)

http://www.softwolves.com/arkiv/cbm-hackers/0/0727.html
"The "Professional-1541-DOS" from Mikrotronic System is an add-on for the 1541 and a C64 or a C128 in C64 mode, which is supposed to speedup all read- and write-operations of the drive. The Professional-DOS is an expansion for an already installed speeder with a parallel cable, like SpeedDOS, SpeedDOS Plus, Floppy Flash User System and Floppy Flash Toolkit System."
#c64 #commodore #mikrotronic #oldschool #prodos #retro
archive.org #13137

The C64 Floppy-Speeder Professional-DOS from Mikrotronic

http://d81.de/ProfessionalDOS
"The Professional-DOS Floppy-Speeder from Mikrotronic for the Commodore home computers C64, C128 and C128D and it's peripherals C1541, C1541-C and C1571 was one of the Super-Floppy-Speeders. This class of speeder systems were mostly equipped with hardware modification boards and a parallel cable of course. Well known products are Dolphin-DOS from Dolphin-Software, Prologic-DOS (Classic) from Jann Datentechnik, Turbo-Trans from Roßmöller and Professional-DOS from Mikrotronic."
#c64 #hardware #oldschool #prodos #retro
archive.org #13136

Lallafa’s Blog » OpenCBM on Mac

http://lallafa.de/blog/opencbm-on-mac
"OpenCBM is a library and a set of command line tools that allow to control old Commodore IEC devices like the famous 1541 floppy disk drive. You can transfer disk image to and from old discs. As modern computers do not provide a IEC connector, OpenCBM allows to control adapters that attach to your PC. Older PCs use parallel port cables (like the XA1541 or XS1541) and newer ones use a USB adapter (XU1541 or XUM1541). This pages shows you how to use OpenCBM on your Mac. As modern Macs only support USB connectors and no parallel ones, we focus on setting up the XU1541 or XUM1541 devices."
#64 #commodore #hardware #mac #oldschool #opencbm #osx #retro #xum1541
archive.org #12931

FC5025 USB 5.25" Floppy Controller - Device Side Data

http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html
"Device Side Data's FC5025 USB 5.25" floppy controller plugs into any computer's USB port and enables you to attach a 5.25" floppy drive. Even if your computer has no built-in floppy controller, the FC5025 lets you read those old disks. And it's not just for IBM PC disks – it also understands formats used by Apple, Atari, Commodore and TI, among others."
#archival #backup #floppies #hardware #oldschool #preservation #retro #storage #wishlist
archive.org #12877

Atari 1200XL vs. Dell Inspiron 1525

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/bill/photos/atari1200xl_vs_dellinspiron1525
"I decided: why not ignore the fact that my first computer and my latest computer are 27 years apart? Why not stack them on top of each other, take some silly photos, and put up a chart comparing how many kilo-whatsits of X the Atari had to how many giga-whosits the Dell had. So you have it... a brief comparison of the classic and short-lived Atari 1200XL to the modern and also short-lived Dell Inspiron 1525."
#atari #computers #history #oldschool #programming #retro
archive.org #12569

A trip down memory lane and beyond at Vintage Computer Fest - Ars Technica

http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2009/09/a-trip-down-memory-lane-and-beyond-at-vintage-computer-fest.ars
"A photo essay featuring some hardware you may remember, some you may have only heard of, and a few things that you were probably never aware existed. One thing we learned: the older a computer is, the more likely it is to be blue."
#computer #east #festival #oldschool #retro #vintage
archive.org #12554

Good Deal Games - Classic Videogame Games ARTICLE - Activision Patches ( Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision )

http://www.gooddealgames.com/articles/Activision_Patches.html
I had no idea these existed. I so totally would have had a full set of Starmaster patches. "To obtain any of the coveted Activision patches, a player would need to play a particular game, reach a pre-determined score, and mail a photograph prooving the accomplishment to Activision. Weeks later the Activision patch would arrive in your mailbox compliments of Activision, accompanied by a nice letter from the company congratulating you on your game-playing skills and welcoming you to the club."
#2600 #activision #atari #gaming #oldschool #retro
archive.org #12531

Source Code of Several Atari 7800 Games Released! | ProgrammerFish - Everything that's programmed!

http://www.programmerfish.com/source-code-of-several-7800-games-released
"Remember the Dig Dug or Centipede or Robotron? They used to be favorites wheimagen Atari’s 7800 series was still around. Now since the era of those consoles is over and a different world of interactive reality gaming has taken over, Atari Museum, a site run by Atari enthusiast, has got hold of has unofficially source code of over 15 games for the coders and enthusiasts to admire the state-of-the-art (because this is what it was back then) of game development."
#7800 #assembly #atari #code #gaming #oldschool #programming #retro #source
archive.org #12397

Internet Archive: Free Download: Apple II Forever

http://www.archive.org/details/CC605_apple_ii_forever
"Today they're called "mac heads", but way back in the 1980's, Apple users were in love with the Apple II. Despite the introduction of the Mac in 1984, the Apple II continued to have its devoted fans. This program looks at the Apple II culture during the early Mac era. Included are the Apple IIc+, the Apple II-GS, and a rare Apple I. Guests include John Sculley and Gary Kildall. Software demonstrations are of Math Blaster, Paintworks Gold, and Microsoft Bookshelf. Also a look at the newest Macintosh at the time, the Mac IIx. Originally broadcast in 1988."
#apple #archive #computing #history #oldschool #retro #via:stlhood #video
archive.org #12384

Raph’s Website » The perfect geek age?

http://www.raphkoster.com/2009/05/14/the-perfect-geek-age
"Looking back on it, it makes me feel a bit sorry for those born ten years later. And I can’t judge ten years earlier, but so much of that seemed to hit at the right age. Looking back at history, it seems like the last big waves of popular invention like this were decades ago. Teens with hot rods? Engineering in the 20s? I see my kids now, and they are so clearly getting the finished products of so much, not the products in the process of invention… Am I wrong?"
#70s #80s #age #geeks #oldschool
archive.org #12225

A Tribute to Fallen Sodas | Gunaxin

http://www.gunaxin.com/a-tribute-to-fallen-dead-discontinued-sodas/11115
"Ecto Cooler was the Hi-C tangerine and orange flavored drink featuring a picture of Slimer plastered on each box or can. Unfortunately, it’s long since ceased production, or at least ceased to exist under the Ecto Cooler brand. But the reminiscing of all drinks got me thinking, why not profile some of the hits, or more accurately misses, of the drink world? Good or bad, sometimes remembering such things can be fun. So this is a great look back on some of the sodas and soft drinks of years past:"
#beverages #oldschool #pop #retro #softdrinks
archive.org #12017

ASCII by Jason Scott / What Is BBS?

http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1789
"In its most fundamental form, the BBS was simply a computer connected via a modem to a phone line. On the computer was software that, when it detected that someone was calling the modem, would pick up, connect, and then provide the calling person with a menu. From this menu you could post and read messages from other users, send or receive files, or play games. What happened to BBSes, especially as it looked like they’d be around in some form forever, was multi-threaded connection to the Internet, especially Trumpet Winsock, a program that allowed PPP (Point to Point Protocol) on Windows systems."
#bbs #dialup #internet #oldschool #retro
archive.org #12006

Atari’s 1984 Touch Tablet: A Retro-Unboxing | Technologizer

http://technologizer.com/2009/01/19/ataris-1984-touch-tablet-a-retro-unboxing
"The next time you use your shiny new Wacom tablet and Adobe Photoshop CS4, think back to a time before time–a time before blends, morphs, heal brushes, and 10-megapixel images. A time like 1984, which, for computer graphics, was darker than the Dark Ages. It was a time when you could buy an $89.95 Atari CX77 Touch Tablet for your Atari 8-bit home computer. Luckily, I bought mine for considerably less last year, although it was still in new, unopened condition. Safely sequestered in the official Vintage Computing and Gaming computer lab, I recently began the task of unpacking the antique peripheral and documenting the process. Here’s an account of the experience."
#atari #hardware #oldschool #retro #tablets
archive.org #11911

Unreality - Ten of the Most Devastating Weapons from NES Games |

http://unrealitymag.com/index.php/2009/01/12/ten-of-the-most-devastating-weapons-from-nes-games
"Obtaining a new, more powerful weapon during the course on an old-school NES game was always a rush. Tough enemies were suddenly wusses, and an upgraded or new weapon leveled the playing field tremendously. It was tough not to take pleasure in the increased body count of your foes. For this article, I’m not writing about standard or default weapons - like, say, Pit’s bow in Kid Icarus - no matter how cool they may be. Instead, here’s a look at ten of the most devastating weapons that one can acquire in games for the original NES."
#gaming #nes #oldschool #retro
archive.org #11869

95 Old School Games You Can Play Online | AMOG - Alpha Males of the Group

http://amog.com/tech/gaming/oldschool-videogames
"Remember the classic video games? The 8-bit masterpieces of our sweaty-palmed youth. Inviting some friends over for a Maniac Mansion all-nighter, huffing asthmatically into a cartridge to clear out the dust, or the thrill and crushing disappointment of rescuing a princess, only to discover you’ve really just saved a fungus. ... These games aren’t lost forever. You can still play many of them online. If you love the old classics, this list should have you busy for months. Below is a list of 95 old school video games that you can play online. Click on each title to link directly to the game. Also, we’ve reviewed and rated each game for you, our loyal AMOG readers."
#arcade #gaming #nintendo #oldschool #retro #videogames
archive.org #11800

The Video Game Systems of the 1983 Sears Wishbook - The Retroist

http://www.retroist.com/2008/12/17/the-video-game-systems-of-the-1983-sears-wishbook
At the age of 8, I can clearly remember staring for hours at every page of this wishbook, and I wanted everything in it. "1983 was the year of the video game crash and that year’s Sears Wishbook was chock full of the detritus of a bloated dying industry. You got the handhelds, Vectrex, Gemini, Colecovision, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 in this issue. Along with some great games and accessories. My favorite is the Handsome Hassock storage system on Page 9. I would love one of those now."
#1983 #80s #awesome #gaming #nostalgia #oldschool #retro #sears #videogames
archive.org #11796

Marshall Alexander

http://marshallalexander.net
"Growing up in the seventies and eighties, my childhood memories basically consist of videogames, bright plastic toys and TV cartoons. Any time that was left I spent drawing and programming games for my Commodore 64. At a later age a few of my childhood dreams became a reality when I temporarily moved to Melbourne, where I worked as a videogame programmer, did oil-painting in a studio and had my work displayed in one of the local galleries. After a course in Graphic Design I made a career-switch and became a graphic designer/illustrator. Currently back in The Netherlands I work at a small design company and spend my spare time illustrating my childhood memories and designing papertoys. I specialize in one-piece papertoys that consist of a single flat piece of paper, which by intricate folding is transformed into a 3-dimensional model."
#diy #gaming #oldschool #papercraft #retro #toys
archive.org #11728

ATARI SDrive

http://raster.infos.cz/atari/hw/sdrive/sdriveen.htm
"The SDrive is a device that connects to Atari XL/XE's serial (SIO) port and simulates an Atari floppy disk drive with full read/write access to programs and data stored on a SecureDigital flash card (SD)."
#atari #flash #hardware #oldschool #retro #sd
archive.org #11625

Atari 2700 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_2700
"The Atari 2700 (also referred to as the Atari Remote Control VCS) was an unreleased console by Atari. Intended for release in 1981, its main standout features were wireless controllers that featured a combination of a joystick and paddle. The fire button was touch-sensitive, as were the buttons on the console. The Reset and Select buttons were relocated to the controllers themselves. The 2700 also featured a storage bin at the top of the console to store the controllers. Focus groups used to test the system noted that the controllers were comfortable, sleek, responsive, and very easy to use."
#atari #atari2700 #gaming #oldschool #retro
archive.org #11406

The Stupid Gamer » Extremely rare Atari 2700 prototype sells on eBay

http://stupidgamer.com/2008/09/11/extremely-rare-atari-2700-prototype-sells-on-ebay
"It’s pretty awesome seeing ultra rare and collectable stuff show up for sale, and this one is a true gem. Earlier today, an Atari 2700 prototype sold on eBay for over $5,000. It sounds crazy that someone would bid that much, but the winning bidder is definitely going to be in possession of something they don’t have to worry about finding over at their buddy’s house any time soon. The seller apparently was a game developer from Atari and was given the 2700 as a gift from Leonard Tramiel himself. "
#atari #atari2700 #ebay #gaming #oldschool #retro
archive.org #11405

Legend of the Red Dragon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Green_Dragon
"Legend of the Red Dragon (LORD) is a text-based role-playing game written in Pascal and run on Bulletin board systems as a third party door game. It was created by Seth Robinson of Robinson Technologies and is currently maintained by Michael Preslar. The player's goal is to improve his or her skills in order to defeat the Red Dragon which has been attacking the village"
#bbs #gaming #oldschool
archive.org #11360

pagetable.com » Blog Archive » How MOS 6502 Illegal Opcodes really work

http://www.pagetable.com/?p=39
"The original NMOS version of the MOS 6502, used in computers like the Commodore 64, the Apple II and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), is well-known for its illegal opcodes: Out of 256 possible opcodes, 151 are defined by the architecture, but many of the remaining 105 undefined opcodes do useful things."
#6502 #c64 #hacks #hardware #oldschool #opcodes #programming
archive.org #11145

1st Church of Pac-Man

http://www.flamingmayo.com/firstchurchofpacman/index2.htm
"Anyway, let me state this again for the record...THIS IS NOT A RELIGIOUS PAGE, OR AN ANTI-RELIGIOUS PAGE, OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. It's a JOKE. And in all honesty, if that wasn't immediately obvious to you, you should do some deep soul-searching and consid
#funny #gaming #oldschool #pacman
archive.org #6954

The Elite Club

http://www.eliteclub.co.uk/faq.html
"This site was created with the intention of it becoming the hub for various projects based around the Elite series of games, particularly Frontier and First Encounters - including the release of the source code of the latter two games."
#gaming #oldschool
archive.org #5099

GI JOE cartoons edited

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/gijoe.html
"These clips are dubbed over with new dialogue and even some of the animation is changed and remixed. The result is so hilarious that I almost wet my pants the first time I saw them."
#funny #oldschool
archive.org #2676

Orn

http://www.cs.rit.edu/~tjh8300/Orn
"Orn is my "Capstone Project" for the Masters in Multidisciplinary Studies degree offered at RIT. It is side-scrolling action game demo for the Game Boy Advance, unofficially based on the first area (Brinstar) of the original NES Metroid released by Nin
#gaming #gba #nifty #oldschool
archive.org #2279

Kempa.com: Vinyl Data

http://www.kempa.com/blog/archives/000053.html
".. there were a handful of records released in the late 70's and early 80's that contained computer programs as part of the audio." I had a lot of fun using a C64 and a 300 baud modem to decode the Information Society track when it came out
#music #nifty #oldschool
archive.org #2076

Gallery: Commodore 64 is Alive!

http://www.analogik.com/gallery_64_myer.asp
"Believe it or not, Commodore 64 is still being used for commercial purposes. Analogik has discovered this truly rare occurrence at MYER Centre main bus station terminal - Brisbane, Australia"
#oldschool
archive.org #1912

Papal blessing for break-dancers

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/01/26/pope.breakdancers.ap/index.html
"In an unusual spectacle at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II presided over a performance of break-dancers who leaped, flipped and spun their bodies to beats from a tinny boom box."
#odd #oldschool #pope
archive.org #1612