tschak909 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Ben built my Atari XE portable. -Thom 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodCastler Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 I recently found out that Adam Gilmore ported the music of one of my favorite PC games "simon the sorcerer" back in the nineties. Which lead me to scroll through some nice written interviews out there, but ....none from Kevin or Randy. A8bits were a big thing for Adam I believe... I hope he is somewhere on your interviewing list! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Dan Reinhart, Yahtman http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-306-dan-reinhart-yahtman Dan Reinhart published one program for the Atari 8-bit computers: Yahtman, a Yahtzee-style game that was published by Atari Program Exchange. Yahtman first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. This interview took place on August 28, 2017. In it, we discuss Paul Cubbage, whom I previously interviewed. "Paul [Cubbage] had said, 'You know, you have good potential at this sort of thing but you really need to choose: are you going to keep building earth movers and equipment? Or do you want to live in programming and doing games?' ... And as it turns out, I chickened out." I played a few rounds of Yahtman, it's a _very_ well made Yahtzee clone! Lots of great little touches. -Thom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted November 9, 2017 Author Share Posted November 9, 2017 Guy Ferrante, S&S Wholesalers and Star BBS http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-310-guy-ferrante-ss-wholesalers-and-star-bbs Guy Ferrante worked for S&S Wholesalers, a Miami Florida-based computer mail order company, where he was in charge of creating magazine advertisements and managing the warehouse. He also ran Star BBS, a bulletin board system based in South Florida, for 11 years. This interview took place on August 25, 2017. "There's merchandise all over the place. I can't even walk in there. I'm stepping on the merchandise. ... And I said, 'Sandy, what's going on here?' He says, 'Guy, the advertisement was a success, I need you here full time.'" 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Guy Ferrante, S&S Wholesalers and Star BBS http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-310-guy-ferrante-ss-wholesalers-and-star-bbs Guy Ferrante worked for S&S Wholesalers, a Miami Florida-based computer mail order company, where he was in charge of creating magazine advertisements and managing the warehouse. He also ran Star BBS, a bulletin board system based in South Florida, for 11 years. This interview took place on August 25, 2017. "There's merchandise all over the place. I can't even walk in there. I'm stepping on the merchandise. ... And I said, 'Sandy, what's going on here?' He says, 'Guy, the advertisement was a success, I need you here full time.'" It sound like from the interview that Mr. Ferrante would enjoy hanging out here. Allan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 Alan Reeve, Reeve Software http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-311-alan-reeve-reeve-software Alan Reeve is the founder of Reeve Software, a company that stated in 1984, creating software for the Atari 8-bit computers. Reeve Software published a variety of applications including Diamond GOS, News Station and News Station Companion, Publishing Pro, The Business Manager, and Diamond Write. The company's games included Battle Tank, Bomber, Castle Attack, Space Hunt, and Star Intruder. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted November 18, 2017 Author Share Posted November 18, 2017 Paul Wehner, APX Saratoga http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-312-paul-wehner-apx-saratoga Paul Wehner created one program for the Atari 8-bit computer, Saratoga, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. The American revolutionary war game first appeared in the fall 1983 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the Entertainment category. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 (edited) Alan Reeve, Reeve Software http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-311-alan-reeve-reeve-software Alan Reeve is the founder of Reeve Software, a company that stated in 1984, creating software for the Atari 8-bit computers. Reeve Software published a variety of applications including Diamond GOS, News Station and News Station Companion, Publishing Pro, The Business Manager, and Diamond Write. The company's games included Battle Tank, Bomber, Castle Attack, Space Hunt, and Star Intruder. diamond_gos_10_1988_2.gif In your conversation with Alan about source code and programs being released, it was stated that News Station was not among those programs released. This is not the case. Both a compiled version and the source code for Diamond News Station were made available in the archive of recovered programs posted by AA user Bob1200XL on behalf of Alan. I put together a disk that contains News Station and various printer drivers for it and have it up for download on my website. I also put together a short PDF manual and a disk with 25 additional fonts for use with News Station (and other Diamond GOS applications). Diamond News Station v1.0 Edited November 18, 2017 by MrFish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 That's great! I didn't know that. I feel like there might be a lot of great source code and other unique stuff that's basically invisible because it's only posted in a message board. If it's something is on Archive.org, or not linked on AtariAge, that thing can be impossible to find or even know about. This is not the case. Both a compiled version and the source code for Diamond News Station were made available in the archive of recovered programs posted by AA user Bob1200XL on behalf of Alan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 That's great! I didn't know that. I feel like there might be a lot of great source code and other unique stuff that's basically invisible because it's only posted in a message board. If it's something is on Archive.org, or not linked on AtariAge, that thing can be impossible to find or even know about. Yes, things get hidden here on AA too, since it's not structured like an archive. Here's the post where all the Diamond GOS materials are: Alan Reeve - Diamond GOS Files 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 (edited) Frank Schwartz and Richard Lewis, Virtusonics http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-313-frank-schwartz-and-richard-lewis-virtusonics Last last year, I received a batch of Atari disks. One of the disks was labeled Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler — a music demonstration disk from Virtusonics, a company I had never heard of. Thanks to some old articles in Antic magazine, I learned a bit about the product and the company. In 1985, Nat Friedland first wrote about the Virtuoso software: "Virtuoso is such a unique new approach to musicmaking that it's not easy to describe. ... Virtuoso gives you a user-friendly method of tapping the extremely fast and powerful changes that a computer can control in every aspect of music performance. It bypasses the limits of traditional musical notation and uses an almost self-explanatory color graphic display that delivers mathematical insights into the structure of music. ... In technical terms, Virtuoso is a sound generator that produces four voices from the POKEY chip. You can make instant real-time changes in the voices in any of six parameters. Four computers running Virtuoso can be linked together to have up to 16 independent channels controlled by one Atari." Virtusonics was primarily three people: Frank Schwartz, the programmer; Joseph Lyons, the music guy; and Richard Lewis, the CEO. I have interviewed two of them. First you'll hear my February 15, 2017 interview with the programmer/R&D director Frank Schwartz. Then, you'll hear the February 10, 2017 interview with CEO Richard Lewis. I haven't been able to interview the other partner, Joseph Lyons, who is serving 24 years to life in prison. After our interview, Richard Lewis sent me an envelope of Virtusonics papers and disks. The material includes the preliminary version of Virtuoso Software, and the final release which by then was called Virtuoso Desktop Performance Studio, boxes, manuals, flyers and advertising slicks, and stock prospectuses. I scanned and digitized all of the material, which is now available at the Internet Archive. Teaser quotes: Frank Schwartz: "Change the curvature of the sine wave just via software. And that was a concept which was revolutionary in those days." Richard Lewis: "We were criticized by a lot of the top names in computers back in the '80s. As, how that this small company in an apartment in New York City come up with something that we've been working on for years and we cant do?" Lots of great relevant links in the show notes. Edited November 21, 2017 by Savetz 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 I haven't been able to interview the other partner, Joseph Lyons, who is serving 24 years to life in prison. Dang! I wonder what the story is behind that? Usually programmers don't get into trouble to that sort of degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Dang! I wonder what the story is behind that? Usually programmers don't get into trouble to that sort of degree. You may wish you hadn't asked. This is probably him: http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0627h.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 You may wish you hadn't asked. This is probably him: http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0627h.htm Oh.... I didn't think about something like that. I was thinking more of the violent crime end of things. Sorry I asked... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggn Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Dang! I wonder what the story is behind that? Usually programmers don't get into trouble to that sort of degree.You may wish you hadn't asked. This is probably him: http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0627h.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Reiseralso comes to mind..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Reiseralso comes to mind..... True, but lets not get off topic here. I asked, I got my answer, and that's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 A lot of the people I met along the way on the various computer scenes were very odd people, some totally dysfunctional life wise, very good at programming but not good with people.. Possible autistic traits etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 Randall Lockwood, Choose-A-Pooch http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-314-randall-lockwood-choose-a-pooch There's an article in the August 1984 issue of Family Computing magazine, by Bill Camarda — Behind The Screens: Family Dog. It's about Choose-A-Pooch, an Atari computer program created by Dr. Randall Lockwood, to help match people with the breed of dog that will work best in their living situation. I interviewed Dr. Lockwood on November 10, 2017. "Trying to get away from the fact that people were often choosing dogs based more on just appearance, without knowing that much about the breed." 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Aww... I want a cat version of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Aww... I want a cat version of that. But cats have no souls - they kill sleeping babies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted November 27, 2017 Author Share Posted November 27, 2017 Sarah Haskell, Computerized Weaving http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-315-sarah-haskell-computerized-weaving There's a column in the November 1983 issue of Family Computing magazine, by Jon Zonderman: "Home Business — Compute, Control, and Create. A weaver combines the traditional skills of her craft with a computer and reaps more than one reward." The article is about Sarah Haskell, a weaver who used an Atari computer to design patterns for weaving, and also to computer-control her loom. My interview with Sarah took place on November 13, 2017. Teaser quote: "But with the electronic system, you did not have to get down on the floor and physically re-configure all of the treadles with these little metal hook things. You would basically just change it." Article in Family Computing magazine 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savetz Posted November 30, 2017 Author Share Posted November 30, 2017 Dave Comstock: E.T. Phone Home!, Superman III, Cloak & Dagger http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-316-dave-comstock-et-phone-home-superman-iii-cloak-dagger Dave Comstock worked at Atari from 1980 through 1984, first as a software and hardware tester, then as a programmer. Dave worked on three games for the Atari 8-bit computers: E.T. Phone Home!, Superman III, and Cloak and Dagger. This interview took place on November 8, 2017. "He said 'We've got to go out tonight, and it has to be a comedy.' ... He's like, 'I have something to tell you, and if I tell you we could both be fired.'" A video version of this interview is also available. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdslx Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 thanks for your great work savetz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Thank you for this, a different time and a nice surprise. What a trip, I think I'll stay here a while and just enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilaskey Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 I've downloaded the Dave Comstock one twice from iTunes and it's truncated, both times around 1:15. Anyone else getting that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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