Greetings

[Baskar]

Was poking around on yt and ended up here one way or another.  

 

I remember way back in 81-82 when my cousin Dan brought over a big heavy box and inside was our first puter.  The Commodore Vic 20.  Dad and Dan were lost in their own world setting it up and then I was exposed to my first game, GORF.  And thus, my life in games was born.  

 

I tried to pick up programming, but it honestly never took for me...and I did try.  To this day I still dream I'm stuck on command "poke 184, 1" (repeat).

 

First online game was lands of devestation.  Though I honestly can't recall what bbs it was on.  Can't expect me to remember everything from the 80s, can you?  

 

Can't remember who sang it, but our bbs (closer to home) was named after the song.  I haven't heard it in years...just remember some of the music, waves crashing.....and the 8 track player. 

 

Back then I mainly used the handle Blackwlng.  This handle was around, just not widely used till 90.  It rhymes with Nascar.  Imaginative, huh?  LoL. Apparently my handle is also a name used in India, but I only learned of that 7 years ago.  Go fig.

 

I remember Mike Brown, the Balloon Works.  Interestingly enough, he's the one that also got me hooked on Little Computer People for the Amiga.  I still dream of playing that game.  Thanks Mike, lol

 

Being a kid in the 80s I listened a lot..went to a lot of monthly meetings with my father for the 8bit (I wanted to go) and while I liked hearing about programming and the endless talk of fractals (Jaggy Lines, great game) when it came to applying myself to the task, it never took.  I don't regret it, but I also don't at the same time.  More than anything, I'm grateful I was never forced to do it.  

 

I remember one time I was at a monthly meeting and my hand got stuck in the vending machine.  Darn thing ate my money!  So there I am, 7 years old trying to get my father's attention (to no avail) as quiet as I could so I wouldn't disrupt the meeting.    Finally it dawns at him I'm not at the table and he tries to urge me away from the machine.  Obviously that wasn't going to happen.  So I ended up the focal point of the evening.  Boy was I embarrassed.  Didn't go to a meeting a while after that.  I miss those meetings.  Every 3rd Wednesday of the month, meeting starts at 8:15. 

 

 

I can't believe how long the bbs lasted on original hardware.  It was bad, though.  A lot of people wanted to get on, but not on the original hardware.  The Mouse (anyone remember her?  Not sure if I should give out her real name or not so I won't) was our most frequent user...  Dad tried it on emu, but you could tell...it wasn't what he wanted.   He dabbled here and there, but he no longer programs these days.  It's been almost 10 years now.  

 

There's still atari's around..here and there and hard drives to boot.  Have boxes and Boxes of games.  A few cartridges (submarine commander, love it) as well.  

 

I tend to recognize a bunch of names when it comes to programming and the 8bit...I mainly remember my father talking on the phone for hours on end with people.  Drove mom crazy.

 

I'm on the net on my phone these days.  Hate typing on this thing, but that's the way it is for now. 

 

Nice to see that people still remember my father, CODEMAN, aka Tom Hunt.  Cool beans.   

 

 

[+Stephen]

Welcome - enjoy your stay, you won't believe how much new hardware and software there is for our little 8-bit computer!

[_The Doctor__]

I was just asking about TERM80 earlier today... I haven't heard from CODEMAN (aka Tom Hunt) and hadn't seen the website or anything in ages, I really miss everything as do so many others. Glad to hear from you (his son) and wish to know all is okay or well.

[Baskar]

Just call me Thomas or Baskar.  Tom is my father's name.  

 

Dad is retired these days.  

[Mathy]

Hello Thomas

 

Your father wrote some great stuff.  Would be great if that would be made available again.

 

Say hi to your Dad for me.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

 

[Mclaneinc]

Hi Thomas, welcome to here, it's a fun blend of knowledge, friendliness and help on here, all are welcome and feel free to ask away..

 

Paul..

 

PS. Sorry, not aware of who your dad is, mixed him up with Tom Hudson, my bad but there's a thread on here from 2005 where your dads name gets mixed up with a load of other people. A search of Tom Hunt and ICD will show it.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Mclaneinc

[Defender II]

Welcome! Thanks for passing on your memories. I've found that Atari 8-bits have been a good stress reliever through life's struggles and that AtariAge members have kept up supportive human contact through the years and COVID-19 lockdowns. 

[Baskar]

Bah, I've been living as a recluse for the last 22 years.  COVID lockdown times is nothing compared from that.

[+Stephen]

2 hours ago, Baskar said:

Bah, I've been living as a recluse for the last 22 years.  COVID lockdown times is nothing compared from that.

I joked with friends, that nothing changed for me over the past 3 years, except maybe I had less excuses to NOT get together for anything!

[Baskar]

Nah, don't need excuses.  *Grins*. Just don't give out your number to anyone for any reason under any circumstances.  Works for me.

[Mazzspeed]

Welcome!

 

My first computer was a Vic-20. The funny thing is I can remember having Gorf, but I can't remember playing it - I can't even remember what it was about! There's some awesome stuff available for the A8 now, enjoy your stay.

[+bf2k+]

On 5/18/2022 at 6:02 PM, Baskar said:

Nice to see that people still remember my father, CODEMAN, aka Tom Hunt.  Cool beans.   

 

Right about the time your Dad got out of all this stuff, he gave me one of his last projects he was working on.. a BBS terminal program called AT-Telnet.  I have continued development of this program ever since and I use it every day to call other Atari 8-bit telnet BBSes... like my own (below).  Your Dad still has an account on my BBS although he hasn't visited for many years.  Your Dad helped me set up the Boot Factory BBS on the internet back in 1999.

 

Tell him I said 'Hello'.