#VCF West

[photosbymajestic]

[commodorez]

Upcoming Vintage Computer Festivals

Do you like vintage computers, and want to interact with the community at large? Well, here are the upcoming events we know of for the United States in 2023: Vintage Computer Festival East: April 14, 15, & 16 - InfoAge Science Museum, Wall, NJ https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/

Vintage Computer Festival Southwest: June 23, 24, & 25 - Davidson Gundy Alumni Center at UT, Dallas, TX https://www.vcfsw.org/ Note: this one is returning after about a decade, and is being organized by a new team of people.

Vintage Computer Festival West: Tentatively, August 5 & 6 - Somewhere in Silicon Valley Details pending formal announcement https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/

Vintage Computer Festival Midwest: September 9 & 10 - Elmhurst, IL Details pending formal announcement https://vcfmw.org/

Vintage Computer Festival Southeast in (usually in Atlanta, GA) has not had any announcement yet, official or otherwise.

[agiraffewithacamera]

Be gentle

[plethoraworldatlas]

Though the nominees are locked in, the stakes of the remaining 2024 presidential primary elections are still gigantic. In fact, the health and evolution of American democracy may hang in the balance.

That’s because of this year’s protest vote phenomenon, as primary voters increasingly use their ballots to demand a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

In previous uncompetitive primaries where the front-runner was a shoo-in, protest votes ran around 7 percent. This year, as it became apparent that more than 1 in 10 primary voters were casting protest votes for a cease-fire, the Biden administration “freaked out” and changed course.

A majority of likely voters polled, including 76 percent of Democrats, have consistently called for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, but their demands went unheeded by U.S. policymakers. In fact, on Feb. 20, the U.S. vetoed a widely supported United Nations resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

Being deaf to voters’ foreign policy preferences is nothing new; it’s business as usual. The Constitution has no provision for national referenda on policy issues, and no formal mechanism to register voter preferences on policy issues in national elections, other than by voting for candidates. As democracy scholars have long observed, “the preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” 

But that pattern began to shift on Feb. 27, when more than 100,000 protest voters in the Michigan presidential primary checked “uncommitted” on their ballots, so delegates at the national convention would be free to call for a cease-fire. A week later, the Biden administration began calling for a six-week cease-fire. Then, as March primaries continued to rack up larger-than-expected numbers of protest votes, the U.S. dropped its opposition to a U.N. cease-fire resolution, allowing it to pass.

These are pyrrhic victories for Palestinians, as civilian casualties continue to mount in Gaza. On the other hand, protest voting may also be part of the reason why President Biden is disagreeing so publicly with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, and why Israel’s planned ground assault on Rafah, with its massive refugee camp, hasn’t happened yet. It may also have played a part in developments adjacent to Gaza, including Israel scaling back its counterattack on Iran under pressure from the U.S. and other allies, and the U.S. considering sanctions on an Israeli military unit occupying the West Bank. Whereas former President Trump vows lockstop support of Israel, Biden seems to be signaling willingness to pressure Israel to moderate its attacks in hopes of winning back protest voters’ support.

These signals may or may not have saved lives in Gaza. But they’re important and could yet have far-reaching consequences because they demonstrate protest voters are accomplishing something exceedingly rare in modern American history: moving the needle on U.S. foreign policy.

The shift began with the New Hampshire primary in January, when a small group of grassroots organizers mounted the Vote Ceasefire (VCF) campaign, which proved the concept that primary ballots could be used creatively to register demand for a cease-fire. Since Biden wasn’t officially on the ballot there, voters had to write candidates in anyway. From there it was an achievable step to get voters to write in “cease-fire” instead of the candidate’s name. Starting just a week before the primary and operating on a shoestring budget, VCF convinced 1,500 voters to do just that, and got state election officials to count and report those ballots. 

The idea that primary ballots could be used to convey demand for cease-fire struck a chord, and VCF got inquiries from groups across the country. Local groups in some states with write-in options on their ballots launched their own Vote Ceasefire campaigns. In other states, advocates found different techniques. The Listen to Michigan campaign got 13.2 percent of Democratic primary voters to mark “uncommitted” on their ballots. That stunning result spawned a national “uncommitted” campaign. Other variations emerged, like vote “uninstructed” in Wisconsin or “leave it blank” in New York.

What they all have in common is creative use of the primary ballot to demand a timely, permanent, meaningful cease-fire in Gaza. Taken together, they are converting the disaffection and sense of powerlessness many primary voters feel as their support at the polls is presumed while their demand for cease-fire is ignored to a sense of agency and power to make a difference. That represents a historic shift in U.S. politics, and perhaps in U.S. democracy.

More needs to be done to translate demand for a cease-fire into action. Protest vote campaigns in upcoming primaries in Maryland and Oregon will keep pressuring Biden to secure a cease-fire — not during the Democratic National Convention in August, not in November, by which time tens of thousands more Palestinians may die, but now. 

While this poses some risks for the Biden campaign, it’s also an opportunity. Widespread protest voting is a sign of disaffection, but also of how voters hope to be heard. If Biden is responsive and effective in demanding cease-fire and preventing wider war, he’ll win the vast majority of them back.

Either way, the ongoing protest vote movement is reinvigorating the 2024 presidential primaries. In terms of the race for the nomination, these elections are mostly alienating, irrelevant formalities. But as laboratories for showing how voter preferences can affect policy, they are now vital exercises in building a stronger, more direct American democracy.

[atariaction]

Kay’s 2023 Wrapped

Well, that about wraps it up for 2023, which means it’s time for my letter summarizing the computer history work that I did in the past year. I’ve been writing these letters since 2016, making this my eighth annual letter. I wish I had started this tradition in 1996, the year that my computer history efforts began when I launched the Digital Antic Project, which grew into Classic Computer Magazine Archive.

My goal this year was to publish six interviews on Antic: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast. I published just one. (It was a good one, with Rodrigo Castro about Atari in Chile. Why not six? My Internet Archive work and, simply, a lack of momentum on interviews. Once the process is going, it’s going! But getting that engine re-started is hard.) My goal for 2024 is to publish 15 interviews, which I fully expect to actually do. Between us over the years, Randy Kindig and I have published 436 interview episodes on Antic. Our collective goal is to reach 500 by the end of 2025. So to keep my end of the bargain, that means I’ll publish 15 interviews in 2024.

Scanning, though! I turned all sorts of rare paper material into easily-searchable digital material at Internet Archive. I scanned a lot of Atari newsletters, including many from Hughes El Segundo Employees Association Atari Computer Enthusiasts, South Bay Atari Computer Enthusiasts, and West LA Atari Users Group.

In other scanning news — let’s talk about MicroTimes. MicroTimes was a California-focused computer magazine that was published from 1984 through 1999. It was there in the thick of it, published in the state that brought us Silicon Valley. I wrote for MicroTimes for a few years starting in 1992. So I am especially proud of this: 41 issues of MicroTimes magazinewere added to Internet Archive in 2023, bringing the collection to 62 issues. Here’s the long-story-short summary of 10 years of effort: I made this happen. I willed it to happen. More issues will be added in 2024.

I also added two more books to the collection of Russ Walter’s Secret Guide To Computers at Internet Archive. The newest additions are hard-to-find editions from 1976, about BASIC programming and computer applications.

My Scantastix project (if you don’t know what that is, here’s a short article describing it) did some great work: we scanned 321 items totaling 22,577 pages. The scans include some rare Microsoft material, even rarer pamphlets and manuals for Compucorp computers (have you ever heard of them? The computer that came with them is on its way to Vintage Computer Federation) and so many Apple II manuals. Check out all the latest additions here.

Also, a weird scanning side-quest happened this year: My friend Cabel Sasser handed me a pile of more than 50 DAK catalogs, which I scanned for him, then he wrote a blog post about them that blew up the Internet for a few days. It’s a fun read.

Once again, I processed and edited videos of the presentations at Vintage Computer Festival West 2023and VCF East 2023. And I helmed a project to rescue audio from VCF West 2003. These were recordings that were made of talks twenty years ago, then the tapes were lost, then found, then given to me, then it turned out that the tapes were recorded terribly. It took a small team of people to get any sound at all from those tapes then turned into something listenable. They include the voices of C. H. Ting, Jef Raskin, John Ellenby, and Gary Starkweather, who have all passed since these were recorded.

When I interview a programmer, I ask the person if they have any source code. I interviewed Jay Jaeger, creator of the Atari Program Exchange version of Space War, in 2016. At the time he said he had the source code… somewhere. I contacted him from time to time to ask about that source code. (I have a “nag list” of people that I contact from time to time to ask them about some material or other.) Patience and persistence paid off. Just a few days ago, in December 2023, he found the assembly language source code and sent it to me to share.

A bit of personal archiving: I write for Juiced.GS magazine, which focuses on the Apple II. I uploaded all of the articles I've written for Juiced to Internet Archive, spanning 2015–2022. There are some interviews, some product reviews, and some nice little reminisces about the old days of microcomputers. (I released them under a Creative Commons license, so if you want to republish an article in a non-commercial computer club newsletter or something like that, go for it. My agreement with the magazine says that they get exclusive rights to articles for a year. So my 2023 articles will be shared online a year from now. In the mean time, it’s a good magazine: if you like Apple II, subscribe!)

My work at Internet Archive as the curator of the Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications is certainly one of the reasons I’ve had less time and energy for computer archiving. 2023 was my first full calendar year in this role. I hit my one-year anniversary in August! But there’s sometimes a nice overlap between the two efforts. For instance, in 2023 I archived several ham radio related programs for Atari computers and a few for DOS machines and even a handful for CP/M that were rescued from 8-inch floppy disks.

There’s something else, something that I’ve been teasing for years. In my 2018 letter I wrote “There’s a particular archiving project happening in 2019 that is really big and really important for microcomputer history. I’m not ready to talk about it, but hold your breath and cross your fingers.” Then at the end of 2019 I wrote: “That project depends on the help of one person who has been battling ongoing health issues. It is still very much at the front of my mind, and *crosses fingers* will move ahead this year.” It didn’t, and it couldn’t, but with patience and persistence, it’s finally happening. It’s already started, and I can’t wait to have something amazing to show you in 2024. Keep holding your breath and crossing your fingers just a little while longer.

If you support my archiving work on Patreon, thank you! Also please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Internet Archive, the non-profit online library that hosts all of my scans and interviews.

I hope we all have a pleasant and productive 2024. May your patience and persistence pay dividends.

[versicolour]

i love VCF West but mountain view is so shitty to get hotels in -_-

[commodorez]

Having seen @foone's exhibit at VCF West XIII & XIV, I can say with 100% certainty, she does a fantastic job. Hands-on experience with history is what a vintage computer festival exhibit should be all about, and this right here is a prime example.

removable storage fandom rise up

[naomithegiraffe]

Back from VCF West with a ton of stickers and also a pair of optical drives so Carrotjuice can hopefully have a functional and matching disc drive. Had a ton of fun at the show, met some cool people, already can't wait to go next year, hopefully on day 1 so maybe I can find some cool stuff in the consignment area

[cinquecolonnemagazine]

Il nuovo EA Sports FC 24, l'addio a fifa

Oltre 30 anni di onorata carriera ma per il videogioco calcistico il nome FIFA va in pensione. La fine dell'accordo di licenza con la federazione mondiale del calcio permette alla EA Sports di rinnovare il suo gioco di punta per quanto riguarda i videogiochi sportivi. A breve, infatti, potremo giocare al nuovo capitolo di questo leggendario titolo ed il suo nome sarà "EA Sports FC 24". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vL01jbgENE Quando esce EA Sports 2024? La fine dell'accordo di licenza con FIFA ha permesso alla EA Sports di regalare ai suoi fan una piccola rivoluzione al suo gioco più famoso. Il videogioco di calcio per eccellenza è un dibattito sempre vivo tra i fan della EA e quelli della Konami con il gioco eFootball (prima conosciuto come PES, Pro Evolution Soccer). Dal 29 Settembre, però, un "nuovo" capitolo verrà scritto visto che sarà la data di pubblicazione di "EA Sports 2024". Quali sono le squadre con licenze ufficiali nel "nuovo FIFA"? La lotta per il primato di miglior gioco di calcio si svolge soprattutto sul piano delle licenze ovvero gli accordi che permettono a determinato gioco di avere a disposizione nomi, maglie e stemmi di una determinata squadra. A suon di esclusive e non, i due giochi lottano fortemente ma la domanda sorge spontanea: quali sono i club presenti con licenza ufficiale su EA Sports 2024? Premier League - Arsenal - Aston Villa - Bournemouth - Brentford - Brighton - Burnley - Chelsea - Crystal Palace - Everton - Fulham - Liverpool - Luton Town - Manchester City - Manchester United - Newcastle - Nottingham Forest - Sheffield United - Tottenham - West Ham - Wolverhampton EFL Championship - Blackburn Rovers - Blackpool - Bristol City - Burnley - Cardiff City - Coventry City - Huddersfield Town - Hull City - Luton Town - Middlesbrough - Millwall - Norwich City - Preston North End - Queens Park Rangers - Reading - Rotherham United - Stoke City - West Bromwich Albion - Wigan Athletic Barclays Women’s Super League - Chelsea - Arsenal - Aston Villa - Brighton - Bristol City - Everton - Leicester City - Liverpool - Manchester City - Manchester United - Tottenham Hotspur - West Ham United Ligue 1 - LOSC - OGC Nice - Olympique de Marseille - Paris Saint Germain D1 Arkema - Olympique Lyonnais - PSG - Paris FC - FC Fleury 91 - Montpellier HSC - Stade De Reims - Girondins de Bordeaux - Le Havre AC - En Avant De Guingamp - Dijon FCO - Rodez Aveyron - ASJ Soyaux Bundesliga - Bayern Monaco - Borussia Dortmund - RB Leipzig - Union Berlin  - Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen - Eintracht Francoforte - Wolfsburg - Mainz 05 - Borussia Monchengladbach - Koln - Hoffenheim - Werder Bremen - Bochum 1848 - Augsburg - Stuttgart - Darmstadt 98 - Heidenheim 1846 Frauen-Bundesliga - Bayern Monaco - Wolfsburg - Eintracht Francoforte - 1899 Hoffenheim - Bayer 04 Leverkusen - SC Frieburg - SGS Essen - Werder Bremen - Koln - MSV Duisburg - SV Meppen - FFC Turbine Potsdam Serie A Tim - Bologna - Cremonese - Empoli - Fiorentina - Hellas Verona - Juventus - Lecce - Salernitana - Sampdoria - Sassuolo - Spezia - Torino  - Udinese Ekstraklasa - Lech Poznan Cinch Premiership - Celtic - Rangers LALiga Santander - Alvas - Almeria - Athletic Bilbao - Atletico Madrid - Barcellona - Celta Vigo - Cadiz - Getafe - Girona - Granada Las Palmas - Real Mallorca - Osasuna - Rayo Vallecano - Real Betis - Real Madrid - Real Sociedad - Sevilla - Valencia - Villareal Liga F - Athletic Bilbao - Atletico Madrid - Barcellona - Levante Las Planas - Granada - Levante - Madrid CFF - Real Betis - Real Madrid - Real Sociedad - SD Eibar - Sevilla - Sporting Club Huelva - UDG Tenerife - VCF Femenino - Villareal MLS - Atlanta United - Austin FC - Charlotte FC - Chicago Fire - Colorado Rapids - Columbus Crew - DC United - FC Dallas - Houston Dynamo - Inter Miami CF - LA Galaxy - Minnesota United FC - Nashville SC - New England Revolution - New York City FC - New York Red Bulls - Orlando City SC - Philadelphia Union - San Jose Earthquakes - Seattle Sounders FC - Sporting Kansas City - Toronto FC - Vancouver Whitecaps FC National Women’s Soccer League - North Carolina Courage - Portland Thorns FC - NJ/NY Gotham FC - OL Reign - Washington Spirit - San Diego Wave - Racing Louisville - Orlando Pride - Houston Dah - Angel City FC - Chicago Red Stars - Kansas City Current https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhP3Xh4LMA8 Quali sono le coppe ed i campionati licenziati su EA Sports 24? La "guerra delle licenze", però, non coinvolge solo le squadre ma anche coppe e campionati. Anche il poter sollevare il trofeo ufficiale ma soprattutto giocare con grafiche e nomi dei campionati più iconici del mondo è un punto fondamentale per il tifoso che deve decidere quale gioco prendere. Ecco, quindi, l'elenco delle coppe disponibili in FC 24 con licenza ufficiale: - UEFA Champions League - UEFA Europa League - UEFA Supercup - UEFA Conference League - UEFA Women’s Champions League - CONMEBOL Libertadores - CONMEBOL Sudamericana - CONMEBOL Recopa Passiamo, ora, all'elenco completo dei campionati che su EA Sports 24 avranno le loro licenze ufficiali: - Premier League - EFL - Barclays Women’s Super League - LALIGA EASPORTS - Liga F - Bundesliga - Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga - Ligue 1 - D1 Arkema - Serie A TIM - MLS - NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) - Liga Portugal - Belgium Jupiler League - Eredivisie - Liga Profesional de Futbol-Argentina - Roshn Saudi League - Korea K League 1 & 2 - Chinese Super League - A-League - Süper Lig - Liga 1 - Ekstraklasa - Bundesliga (Austria) - Credit Suisse Super League - Superliga - Scottish Professional Football League - SSE Airtricity League Premier Division - Allsvenskan - Elitserien - EFL League One - EFL League Two - 3rd League (Germania) Read the full article

[tomsynths]

Etudes:

Etude 1:

For this first etude we were asked to create a synthesiser with multiple oscillators tuned differently. 

I did this buy adding a few different oscillators and 2 vcfs for my left and right output. 

I added the volt p oct of the keyboard controller into the V/oct of the VCO. I picked a different wave shape for every VCO and patched them into the mixer. I patched them from the mixer into a VCF and then into a VCA, then into a reverb and then out of the Audio module. To control this, I attached the gate of the midi controller into an ADSR and to the VCA. 

I think this route does the trick demanded. The reverb sounds amazing as well. 

Etude 2 - Modulation:

I felt that this was a little more tricky, I did a similar process to my first project, but used clocks into a Shepard tone generator to try and modulate the harmony and levels of the Oscillators. 

Also putting the timbre of different Oscillators into the triangle wave of the shepards tone and changing the the speed of it cycling through the waveform. 

Etude 3 - West Coast:

For this patch, I used a random sampler module, into a rampage module and into a valley synthesiser module,  the random sampler sends pulses at random intervals and the rampage modulates them in interesting ways which gave it a sort of indeterministic feel, and then making sure it picked the correct notes in the scale using a QNT. 

I did the same approach with the rhythm section but using different modules and stand alone hat and snare modules. The piece reminds me of Reborn by Colin Stetson. 

Etude 4:

For this etude I wanted to emulate a backing string section with a soft attack. I used different voices with LFO to emulate all the different parts of an instrument. The original pluck to the vibration of strings on a violin being played for too long. 

This was all manipulated using LFO’s and ADSR’s.

[foone]

They don't have any upcoming ones listed right now (because midwest and west both just ended), but:

[commodorez]

going to VCF west this friday and just wanted to say thank you since i found out about it through you!

I am so happy to hear that, anon! I hope you have a blast, wish I could be there myself.

I haven't been since 2019, but it's a good time, I recommend seeing the IBM 1401 and PDP-1 demos, if you can. A number of members of the Retrotech Crew will be in attendance -- many of which are friends I made here on tumblr! I also recommend seeing @virescent-phosphor's exhibit on Mario Paint and other similar paint programs.

[nemosynth]

私を通り過ぎた電子楽器たち

AKAI S700　　　 　12bit QD, レゾなしVCF、変。 AKAI S950　　　 　ややハイ上がりなローファイ、変。 AKAI S1000HD　　　HDDファン音がサンプリングされてしまう AMDEK CMU-800　　同梱シーケンスソフトはカセットMTR同期可＝オーディオとシーケンスと兼備せしDAW先駆者！ ARP 2600 Rev.1　　ええ音やったのに１週間で壊れても〜た！ Arturia MicroBrute　変態VCO/VCF可愛いパッチング64ステSeq変態音色最高！ Arturia microFreak　　秀逸外観秀逸音色秀逸操作秀逸表示秀逸専用凹マイク、0-Coastと組合せてなんちゃってブックラ Ashun Sound Machine Hydrasynth Explorer　よぉ勉強したはるね、もちっと操作性を詰めたら文句なしアプデ大期待 CASIO CT-201 "CASIOTONE"　　初代カシオトーン、音丸い CASIO CT-403 "CASIOTONE"　　意外にこれしかない音色あり、モンドなアナログリズム最高 CASIO CZ-101　ミニ鍵でもPD音源８ステEG！ CASIO FZ-1　　DCFのレゾ上げてカットオフ上げ切ると元気！ CASIO VZ-1　　自作アルゴリズム部分音合成変調音源最高 CASIO VZ-10M　変調方式こそ純粋な音色創造 CASIO VZ-8M　変調方式こそ純粋な音色創造だが発音数が足りん編集非現実的 Clavia Digital Musical Instruments　nord lead　初代しかも12声拡張版、個性派な音！ Clavia Digital Musical Instruments　nord wave　初代サンプル読めて正体不明の音になるVAと最大６オペ簡易FMとマルチピークフィルターとオブジェクト指向なモーフィング最高！ Cre8audio　West Pest　あらゆる波形をフォールドできる西海岸セミモジュラーしかも音が良い！環境にやさしい段ボール箱の印刷技術もひそかに優れている Dave Smith Instruments　mono evolver keyboard PE　２連左右配置デジアナシンセ超変態 Dave Smith Instruments　prophet 12　５でなく12、最強��言者、私は前を向く！！！！！ Dave Smith Instruments　PRO２　モノ・パラフォ最強ハイブリッド超変態 ELECTRO HARMONIX MINI-SYNTHESIZER　歪んだ音ですぐ壊れた elektron SIDstation　　よく飛ぶらしい、リング変調３基すばらしい Emu Emax S.E 　　VCFがSSM系の音、E IIワンチップ化 ensoniq SQ-80　　アジのあるレゾるハイブリッド・シンセ ensoniq VFX　　　ひとめぼれ、デーハーのみならず幽玄な音も出る ensoniq VFX SD II　今も右腕、なくしたら相当に落ち込む ensoniq EPS16Plus　　メリケンな音の迫力とデモ曲グッド ensoniq TS-12　　　　エンソ最後の孤高の名機 ensoniq ASR-10R　　　エンソ最後の孤高の名機 学研　SX-150　本屋でシンセが買える、しかもそぎ落としの美学 HIkari Instruments Duos　ちっさいのに木製側板恐れ入り高精細ボディにパンキッシュなフォントと逝ってるチャネリングしかもゲームコントローラみたいな両手UI叫ぶシンセCV/Gate接続可能PRO2ハックするデバイスBOSS PSA-100ご推奨露西亜製Lyra-8買えずこっちにしたが正解 HOHNER D-6 "Clavinet"　　PU壊れたクラヴィどないすんねん KORG 700S "miniKORG"　真似できない音楽的なサイン波最高！と思ったら実は三角波 KORG 800DV　　少ないパラメで多彩な音が出る異形の黎明期混沌シンセ KORG MS-10　　東洋の哀愁、でもフィルターレゾナンス金属的歪み凶暴 KORG MS-20　　個体差でEGの立上がりが早くデジタルっぽかった KORG MP-4 "MONO/POLY"　やんちゃ坊主最高！　LFO２基あるのもいい KORG PS-6 "Polysix"　　　演歌みたいな泣きの音がトランスに合う KORG DW-8000　　正体不明の音が最高な鍵盤、エディットし倒した KORG EX-8000　　正体不明の音が最高なモジュール KORG DVP-1　　　５声ボコ、フォルマント操作可能 KORG DSS-1　　　でかい重いVCF２連モジュレーション・ディレイ KORG DS-8　　　 青春をついやしたFMシンセ KORG WS-1 "WAVESTATION EX"　おもろいけど難解、ニューエイジに人気 KORG 01/W FD　　音源波形に遊び心、でもパターントラックでパターン枠外さなあかんのは、あかん KORG Z1EX　　　 ���存シンセへのアンチテーゼは偉い！ KORG KARMA with MOSS Expansion　　シーケンシング革命���激楽しいけど難解 KORG monotron　これはどこでも遊べる純アナログモノシンセ、でも音階で弾きたい KORG monotron DUO　音階で弾くべく購入するも鍵域が狭すぎ実用的でなく KORG monotrol Delay　サイケにトリップする60sセンセーション再現 KORG KRONOS 61keys　すんげー多機能多芸、でも画面の文字が小さすぎ起動遅すぎサンプルRAM少なすぎ音色メモリー無さすぎ！ KORG minilogue xd　　初代はヴィンテ総括音、xdは未来的アナログ音かつp12廉価版の如し、multi-engineでDW-8000再現感涙 KORG NTS-1　　Shimmer Reverbデフォだけでも最高！　C++攻略前に頓挫笑 KORG wavestate　こなれたウェーヴシーケンス、操作性難解、エディター万歳 KORG modwave　　こいつもp12廉価版の如し、しかもKRONOS切売第３弾KURZWEIL PC361　　仮想モジュラー単体ハードシンセ、内蔵FXまでモジュラー、凄まじ！！ Make Noise 0-Coast　変態セミモジュラー、日影の西海岸シンセシスが逆襲！ modal electronics Cobalt5S　　キュレーター的VA、オサレ外観も新時代、操作お作法独特、バスパワー鍵盤コントローラーにVAと思えば超今風 moog 338BX "LIBERATION" WHITE　重たい、心斎橋クラブクアトロで弾いた novation mininova　ミクロKORG20年、ミニNOVA10年、ロングセラーにはわけがある nunomo　QUN mkII　グラニュラー＋ヴァーチャルアナログ基板シンセ緻密！ Oberheim XP-1 "Xpander"　フラクタルモジュラーええ音、サービスモードも楽し Pioneer DJ - Dave Smith Instruments　TORAIZ AS-1　ほぼp6モノ版すぐれて現代風かつ良質アナログ音で過去のしがらみ関係ない宜しい！ Roland System-100　　 セミモジュラー、実は螺���のイントロ Roland System-100M　　フルモジュラーど定番、100ともどもソフトシンク有 Roland SH-09　　　　　ハードケース付！日本の少年少女に夢を与えた名機 Roland JP-8 "Jupiter-8"　　ゴージャス！な外観。ユニゾンモードとクロス変調楽し Roland JU-6 "Juno-6"　HPF無段階連続可変！野蛮DCB改造済！外観バランス良し！ Roland JU-60 "Juno-60"　鍵盤タッチ改善、高完成度、外観バランス慌てぶりが垣間見える笑 Roland JP-6 "Jupiter-6"　MIDIつきVCO珍しい、音源波形を加算できるのも良い Roland JX-10 "Super JX" x 2　DCOでも深い音、Fence of Defenseの音 Roland MKS-100　　　日影のS-10モジュール、でもライブラリーたくさん持ってた Roland S-10 x 3　　 火を噴くくらい使い倒した青春のひとコマ Roland S-550 x 2　　CRTでフェアライト気分、RC-100とマウスもあっただよ Roland D-50　　　エイリアス万歳！！　永遠の名機、部分音合成っていいねRoland D-10　　　へんなリズムマシン内蔵がまた良い Roland D-5　 　　実は常にサウンド・パレット状態でエディットしやすいRoland A-50　　　エディット・バッファ無くて困る、手放したが買い直した Roland W-30sc　　音源波形がみんなつながっててお祭り Roland JD-800　　やわらかい音がやさしい、エディット快適！シンセはこうでなければ Roland JV-90　　 鍵盤数が多くて手ごろ Roland Rhodes VK-1000　　ハーモニック・バー・シンセ、上にもう１台載せれるけど邪魔 Roland S-770　　　けっきょくただの重し Roland DJ-70　　　タンテ型コントローラ付サンプラー、階層深すぎ、劇団ポン出し向け Roland SC-8850　なんでGS/GM音源がうちに？かなり壊れてる Roland XP-80　　　これはロングセラーやったな Roland XV-5080　　それまでにない柔らかい音もでて新機軸 Roland VP-9000　　当時は物真似ばかりだったソフト音源に喝ハード！ Roland VariOS/V-Producer III　デザイン秀逸、ミニ・プロツー的 Roland V-Synth　　ひさびさに出たイカれたシンセ Roland V-Synth XT　　ちょっと大人になったかな Roland VC-1 "D-50 for V-Synth/VariOS"　モノホンのソースコードまんま移植したそうな Roland VC-2 "Vocal Designer"　結構役立つ、歌詞つきで合唱隊を歌わせられるし Roland Fantom-XR　　 VFX後継者のつもり保険のつもりがエキパン再生機に Roland SRX-02 "Concert Piano"　めずらしくダークな音の生ピアノの音 Roland SRX-04 "Symphonique Strings"　大好きな弦楽のみのエキパンだから大好き！ Roland SRX-05 "Supreme Dance"　テクノ４人組３人組の追悼リズムセットよろし Roland SRX-09 "World Collection"　やっぱ民族楽器あってこその音色ライブラリ！ Roland SRX-11 "Complete Piano"　88鍵サンプリングでカミさんの練習用音源に Roland AIRA TB-3　変態DSPモノシンセ変態シーケンサーこそが本質 Roland JD-XA　デジアナ直列並列縦横無尽重層的16系統快適編集万歳 Roland SH-4d　ZEN-Core外伝独自音源11 Osc. モデル卓上電池駆動万歳 Sequential Circuits "prophet-5" Rev.3　 40メモリー、ポリモジュとPWMとVCFの相性よき個体差 Sequential Circuits "Pro-One"　　めっさ太いシンベ��秀逸デジタルシーケンサーたった40音 東京優勝 WHOLETONE Revolution　　弾きこなせず！！！！ waldorf microWAVE XT　　ヲタなのにポップでグレイト！ YAMAHA CS-15　　 古いのに二系統音源は流石、鍵盤タッチいいのも流石 YAMAHA CS01　　 シンセ基本形 YAMAHA DX7　　　2019年にもなってほんまにこれが来る日が来るとは！　KQ Dixieでエディット YAMAHA DX9　　　やっぱこれこそがDXですよ YAMAHA DX100　　やっぱこれこそがDXですよ YAMAHA TX7　　　DX7よりも賢いDX7音源モジュール据置型クール！ YAMAHA TX802　　変調方式を重ねてディチューン最高 YAMAHA V50　　　中堅機種のわりに、なかなかに手ごわい YAMAHA SY35　　 重量軽い、ええ音する

KORG monotribe　フルアナログ音源グルボ、MicroBruteとGate同期させると激楽しい！ KORG Kaossilator 2　よく考えられて楽しいけどおもちゃなので飽きる KORG volca modular　　よくここまで詰め込んだね♬　でも頓挫魂炸裂笑 KORG volca nubass　　ふっる～いホコリっぽ～い真空管サウンドも楽しい Roland D2　　謎のグルボ異端児　でもVariPhraseちゃうであの音色変化は Roland SP-404mk2　　実はVariPhrase搭載型サンプラー！独自変態FXも◎

AMDEK RMK-100 x 2　アムデックのトホホなDIYリズムボックス！ KORG DDD-5　長く使用。ベロシティ・パッドと音色カードが新しかった KORG DRM-1　　すぐ売り飛ばした。私にラックは合わない KORG PSS60　　なんで買ぅたんやろ？ KORG WAVEDRUM Mini 和太鼓　和太鼓とWaveDrum Miniとがニコイチ！和のこころとSondius XG！ Roland CR-78　　我が家のクロック・ソースでした！ Roland CR-68　　日影もんですが、良い音します Roland TR-606　　フォークソングおっさんが呉れた！！！！ Roland TR-707　　かなり故障中 Roland TR-626　　なんでうちにあってんろ？ Roland R-70　　　リズムパターン自動生成。エスノなのは下手。ポジショナルパッドよろし。外観ポップ Roland R-8 MKII　　永遠の名機。外観も硬派。'80年代後期はこれでしょう

KORG SQ-8 x 2　DW-8kワーステ化をもくろむも変態さを自慢して終わり KORG SQ-1　　これほしかった！S/H波LFOの代用になるし安いし USB-CV/Gate I/F になるし Make Noise 0-CTRL　これもなんちゃってブックラ素晴らしい！！！ Roland MC-500　バルクライブラリアン最高！　タイ航空ステッカー最高！ Roland MC-500 mkII　クロックが揺れず、ダイアル一発でリタルダントとかできて良いらしい Roland MC-50 mkII　最後の単体ハードシーケンサーSMF互換ロングセラー YAMAHA QX5　多機能やねんけど使いにくくて、と思ったらもっぺん来た笑 YAMAHA QX3　これ、はやりましたな！

novation SL MkII 61keys　オートマップ便利だが分かりにくい、SF的発光良い！ （Roland）EDIROL PCR-M1　移動中ノーパソと相性抜群 （Roland）Roland ED SK-500　内蔵音源ぷー、なんでUSB鍵盤のくせしてバス駆動せん？？

KORG MS-03 x 2　Pitch to CV変換機、謎リヴィジョン違い KORG KMS-30　　DIN同期とMIDIとを変換するレアなボックス貴重 Oberheim Cyclone　アルペジエイターのみの変態マシン Oberheim Strummer　ギター奏法を再現というが、なかなか半端 Roland ASC-1 "Arabic Scale Converter" x 2　知られざる変態MIDI変換マシン Sigboost “midiglue”　史上初MIDI/CV Programmable Processorメルカリ！

BOSS HF-2 "High Band Flanger"　高い周波帯だけフランジングするアイディア商品 BOSS MZ-2 "Metalizer"　その名も凄い、アナログ歪み＋デジタルかな？によるコーラス BOSS XT-2 "Xtortion"　その名も凄い、効果もエグい、でもアナログ歪み BOSS DM-2W "Delay"　　アナログディレイ技ペダル、あやしいBBDだそうでよくぞ頑張ってくださいました感涙 BOSS VT-1　　変態ボイスチェンジャー、某公共事業に寄贈 BOSS WP-20G　GK P.Uが要るのにどないすんねん BOSS RE-20 "Space Echo"　極上のテープエコーをモデリング、綺麗な音 BOSS SL-20 "Slicer"　シーケンシングに匹敵するツインペダル！

HeilSound Talking Modulator　　ほとんど使わず、めっさ重たい Ibanez SDR1000+　　２連MIDIタイム可変高音質デジリバ死語SONY製 KORG SDD-3300　　３連モジュレーション・ディレイで変態 Roland RE-101　　やっぱテープエコーですよ、800DV 等にかけっぱなし Roland RE-201　　名機なのは分かるけど、この機種のみ有名なのは何故？ Roland Revo30 x 2　　珍品レスリーFX、非常にチープな音 Roland SDD-320　言わずと知れたディメンジョン、プロ５と相性抜群、取っ手もかっこいい Roland SDE-3000A　ビット数が粗いのがかえって名機となるも、結局使わず Roland RSP-550 x 2　　当時ボコーダーがほしくて入手 Roland E-660 x 2　　中古で入手するにもほどがある、エディット時の反応が遅すぎ！ Roland EF-303 x 2　　友人にあげたらフォノイコになった！！ SONY DPS-F7　　ウソっぽいフィルターで硬い音のシンセにもなるがその音もウソっぽい、でもSONYシンセ！ YAMAHA REX50　　まともな使い方せず遊んだ青春、世界初デジタルディストーション なんやしらん緑の小さな Ring Modulator　　ただ歪むだけ なんやしらん光学式のワウ　　口に入れたり脇にはさんだりしてワウる

Roland A-880　MIDI��ージ重宝したMIDIパッチベイ Roland A-110　ただのにぎやかしになるMIDIノート表示板

Roland M-480　48chラック型ミキサー！　経年劣化でノイズ Roland M-240　24ch 据置型ミキサー！　経年劣化でノイズ KORG KMX-122　フロントにイレギュラー入力は便利だがすぐ歪む

（Roland）Cakewalk UA-1G　カミさんの Mac 用、借りて使って使いやすさにびっくり （Roland）EDIROL UA-101　私の Mac 用、大活躍だが生産完了になってから入手したので老兵 Roland UA-1010 "Octa-Capture"　UA-101 の後釜。Auto-Sens 機能便利 Roland Rubix44　Octa-Capture後釜、４ch充分、Generic driver充分

Fostex X-28H　VUではなくLEDレベルメーターに未来を感じた青春 TEAC TASCAM Porta One "MINISTUDIO"　ピンポン録音だ！ TEAC TASCAM Porta Two "MINISTUDIO"　入力端子が多くて当時アマにグッド！ TEAC TASCAM 688 "MIDISTUDIO"　　カセットで８トラ！　使い倒した！ Roland VS-1680 "V-Studio" w / CDR-88　ピンポンしても音が劣化しないのに仰天！　CD焼けてバックアップまでできて、また仰天！

Roland CD-5　　使わずじまい、っていうか使えずじまい？？

ableton Live w / various VST plug-ins　Ver.1.0から使ってておもろかったけど安直に曲できすぎて飽きた ableton Live Lite 8　のばちょんのオマケ、VSTホストとして使うつもりが使わずじまい Apple Garage Band　当時これで同時録音可能音声トラックが８トラあったら充分やったのに Apple Logic Express 9　ガレバンが↑だからこれを買うはめに。凄い万能ぶりにぼーぜん Apple Logic Pro 9　なんせ最上位機種がダウンロード販売で１万７千円しかせんのでぼーぜん Apple Logic Pro X　ゼロからの再出発 Apple Garage Band iOS　まさか８トラが32トラになって無償になるとは！

Arturia Pigments 3　これはあたらしい音がするねぇ Arturia CS-80V　ヴァンゲリス御大の神器、実物80kgもして所有不可なのでソフトで Arturia prophet-V　キャンペーンでタダで入手！！プロ５とプロVS合体がいい Arturia minimoog V Original　キャンペーンでタダで入手！！太い音しますねー Arturia Matrix-12 V　Xpanderの代わりに入手、やっぱ LFO ×５基は凄いねぇ DEXED　これは使いやすいDX７完全再現フリーウェアしかも今風の音もいろいろあり Garritan World Instruments　安い音質だが打楽器豊富、常にマルチ音源なのがちょっと KORG LegacyCollection MS-20　単品売りで安価、少々時代を感じる操作性だけど個性派 KORG M1Le　キャンペーンでタダで入手！！　レゾナンス無いし M1 そのもの Miroslav Philharmonik CE　格安キャンペーンで入手、原音忠実すぎて音域限定は使い辛い Media OverKill Waverazor　もっともぶっとんだイカれた壊れたイカしたソフトシンセ！！ Native Instruments Razor　この変態音源が最高、なんせリバーブまで 320 倍音加算合成！ Native Instruments Prism　変態打楽器物理モデリングシンセ、持続音にするとなお変態で良い Native Instruments Micro Prism　変態打楽器モデリングシンセ簡易版、遊ぶだけなら充分 Native Instruments Scanner　グラニュラーで遊びたくて、しかも安かったし Native Instruments FM8　まぁクロノスとDX互換させたかったので、って変な理由ですね PPG WaveMapper２　奇才ジジイ極変態ウェーヴテーブルを超越タイムコレクテッド音源、楽しい！ UVI　各種デモ版ばっか走らせるもスタンドアローンで弾けず waldorf largo　変態シンセメーカーの集大成的変態シンセが楽しい W. Taylor Holiday Audulus　おそろしく基礎から始めさせられるモジュラーシンセ じつは膨大なフリーウェア音源とエフェクトたくさんたくさん

Toybear Robobear　変態グラニュラーフィルター VST FX、PowerPCのみ対応残念

AQ Interactive KORG DS-10 @ NINTENDO DS Lite　やっぱ物理鍵盤で弾きたい DETUNE KORG M01 @ NINTENDO DS Lite　「Lore」音色をカオスパッド演奏すると楽しい

IK Multimedia iRig MIDI　30pin-Lightning アダプターケーブル併用だがMIDI Thruに拍手！ IK Multimedia iRig MIDI2　前のがOSアプグレで非互換しょぼ〜ん対策

apesoft iVCS3　シンセ混沌の黎明期ラヴ＆ピースなウッドストック＋現代サンプラーでにこにこ Arpie　休日にやってると廃人になる AudioKit Analog Synth X　カスタマイズできる無償アプリらしいが、勉強する時間が AudioKit FM Player　サンプルベースだが使えるしレゾナントLPFもあるし無償やしええ時代 CASIO CZ　やったー、この調子でぜひともVZ-1もアプリにしてくださいお願いします！！ Compasso　方位磁石を操作子に使う変態シンセ Konaka Lab Fourier Synthesizer　教育的サイン波加算合成 KORG iElectribe　リズムパターン勉強用だから私には珍しくプリセット命KORG iKaossilator　ナウいねー KORG Gadget　iPadでこんな楽しいDAWができるなんてええ時代 KORG iDS-10　アナモデのワークステーション・アプリシンセもここまで来たか KORG iWAVESTATION　初めてWaveStationの真価を発揮できる操作性、次は構造そのものを改善して下さい KiraQ Tech KQ Dixie　DX７フルコンパチが480円って、もう時代はどこまで行くの��� moog Animoog　老舗が８音色ベクター合成ポリアフタータッチ対応のナウいポリシンセを！！ moog Animoog X　ベクターが三次元に！　もはや異次元シンセ！！！ moog model D　　ミニモーグが神々しすぎて手に入れるのが恐れ多い私に moog model 15　老舗ご謹製だけあってガチええ音すんで♬ Native Instruments iMaschine　ナウいねー、サンプリングできるのもいい Peter Vogel CMI　IIxとIIIの音が全部入ってPageRも世界遺産ですな、サンプリ���グもできるし PPG minimapper　これは変態ですねー、生楽器をハイブリッド合成できる Procyon Studio Handy Harp　ごっつー気合い入ったリアルなハープグリスができる Propellerhead Figure　ナウいねー、パラメータを簡単オートメーションできるのもいい Propellerhead Thor for iPad　なんでもありな万能シンセだけどバグ多し Pulse Code Modular　美しいモジュラーシンセ Reaktable Mobile　あまりに先端的すぎてなかなか使いこなせないけど凄い ROLI NOISE　ポリアフタータッチと物理モデリング音源との変態組み合わせが楽しい Seaquence　水族館グルボ、クラゲ的シーケンシングUIすげー Super Manetron　メロトロンを24/96で全鍵サンプリングした真打ち TANSU Synth　松武秀樹の意地をご家庭で Vio　変態ヴォコーダー waldorf nave　同社総決算ソフトしかも見た目も使い勝手も抜群 Wizdom Music Geoshred　ジョーダン・ルーデスがライヴで弾きまくる iPad、ギターなUIと物理モデリングで最高の表現力！！

Brian Eno Bloom　これは楽器なのか？　楽曲なのか？　進化し続ける先端的作品

[evilmadlinks]

Here's an update on the MOnSter 6502, which will be exhibited at VCF West this weekend at the Computer History Museum: https://www.evilmadscientist.com/2019/monster-in-a-box/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B0jeHUWHAkL/?igshid=n7umanvney5

[pizza-and-ramen]

I picked up a copy of Open CIrcuits from VCF West!  Highly recommend!  It’s beautiful!  I’ve already flipped through it twice!

Open Circuits

I'm kickstarting the audiobook for "The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation," a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and make a new, good internet that picks up where the old, good internet left off. It's a DRM-free book, which means Audible won't carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

Every trip to Defcon – the massive annual hacker-con in Las Vegas – is a delight. Partly it's the familiar – seeing old friends, getting updates on hacks of years gone by. But mostly, it's the surprises, the things you never anticipated. Defcon never fails to surprise.

I got back from Vegas yesterday and I've just unpacking my suitcase, and with it, the tangible evidence of Defcon's cave of wonders. My gear bag has a new essential: Hak5's malicious cable detector, a little USB gizmo that lights up if it detects surreptitious malicious activity, even as it interdicts those nasty payloads:

https://shop.hak5.org/collections/omg-row2/products/malicious-cable-detector-by-o-mg

(In case you're wondering if it's really possible to craft a malicious USB cable that injects badware into your computer and is visually indistinguishable from a regular cable, the answer is a resounding yes, and of course, Hak5 sells those cables, with a variety of USB tips:)

https://shop.hak5.org/collections/omg-row2/products/omg-cable

But merch is only a sideshow. The real action is in the conference rooms, where hackers update you on the pursuit of their obsessions. These are such beautiful weirdos who pursue knowledge to ridiculous extremes, untangling gnarly hairballs just to follow a thread to its origin point.

For the second year in a row, I caught a presentation from Joseph Gabay about his work on warshopping: slicing up shopping cart wheels and haunting shopping mall parking lots during resurfacing to figure out how the anti-theft mechanism that stops your cart from leaving the parking lot works:

https://www.begaydocrime.com/

And of course, I got to give one of those presentations, "An Audacious Plan to Halt the Internet's Enshittification," to a packed house. What a thrill! It was livestreamed, and if you missed it, you'll be able to catch it on Defcon's Youtube page as soon as they upload it (they've got a lot of uploading to do!):

https://www.youtube.com/@DEFCONConference/videos

After my talk, I went back to the No Starch Press booth for a book signing – which was amazing, so many beautiful hackers, plus I got to share a signing table with Micah Lee. As I was leaving, Bill Pollock slipped me a giant hardcover art-book, and said, "You're gonna love this."

I did. The book is Open Circuits: The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components, by Windell Oskay and Eric Schlaepfer, and it is a drop-dead gorgeous collection of photos of electronic components, painstakingly cross-sectioned and polished:

The photos illustrate layperson-friendly explanations of what each component does, how it is constructed, and why. Perhaps you've pondered a circuit board and wondered about the colorful, candy-shaped components soldered to it. It's natural to assume that these are indivisible, abstract functional units, a thing that is best understood as a reliable and deterministic brick that can be used to construct a specific kind of wall.

But peering inside these sealed packages reveals another world, a miniature land where things get simpler – and more complex. Inside these blobs of resin are snips of wire, plugs of wax, simple screws, fine sheets of metal in stacks, wafers of plain ceramic, springs and screws.

Truly, quantity has a quality all its own. Miniaturize these assemblies and produce them at unimaginable scale and the simple, legible components turn into mystical black boxes that only the most dedicated study can reveal. Like every magician's trick, the unfathomable effect is built up through the precise repetition of something very simple.

A prolonged study of Open Circuits reveals something important about the hacker aesthetic, a collection of graphic design, fashion and industrial design conventions that begins with this realization: that the crisp lines of digital logic can be decomposed into blobby, probabilistic lumps of metal, plastic, and even wax.

It reminds me of George Dyson's brilliant memoir/history of computing, Turing's Cathedral, where he describes how he and the other children of the scientists building the first digital computers at the Princeton Institute spent their summers in the basement, hand-winding cores for the early colossi their parents were building on the floors above them:

https://memex.craphound.com/2012/03/12/george-dysons-history-of-the-computer-turings-cathedral/

You can see my hacker aesthetic photos in my Defcon 31 photo set:

https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&safe_search=1&tags=defcon31&user_id=37996580417%40N01&view_all=1

In this video, Eric Schlaepfer illustrates the painstaking work that went into decomposing these tiny, precise components into their messy, analog subcomponents. It's pure hacker aesthetic, and it's mesmerizing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byKyJ0b04Lo

But Open Circuits isn't just an aesthetic journey, it's a technical one. After all, Oskay is co-founder of Evil Mad Scientist Labs, one of the defining places where hardware hackers gather to tear down, pick apart, mod, improve and destroy electronics. The accompanying text is a masterclass in the simple machines that combine together to make complex assemblies:

https://www.evilmadscientist.com/

Defcon is a reminder that the world only seems hermetically sealed and legible to authorized parties with clearance to crack open the box. From shopping cart wheels to thermal fuses, that illegibility is only a few millimeters thick. Sand away the glossy outer layer and you will find yourself in a weird land of wax-blobs, rough approximations, expedient choices and endless opportunities for delight and terror, mischief and care.

Back my anti-enshittification Kickstarter here!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/14/hidden-worlds/#making-the-invisible-visible-and-beautiful

[atariaction]

Kay’s 2022 Wrap-Up

Greetings from the tail end of 2022. This is my annual letter summarizing the computer history work that I did this year.

When I wrote last year’s letter, I was in a bit of a funk. I wrote:

I doubt I will be as productive in 2022 as I was in 2021 … I can’t predict how much energy I will have to devote to these projects in 2022. I need a break from so many interviews (each is more time-consuming than you might guess), and spending hours processing piles of scanned documents does not appeal to me at the moment.

In retrospect, I was right — I produced less in 2022 than 2021, and I really did need a break from interviews and so much scanning. But 2022 ended up being a fairly successful year for my computer history efforts, some of it in ways other than interviews and scanning. 2023 promises to be at least as productive.

I published just four interviews on ANTIC: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast. There was Tom Zimmerman, who worked in in Atari's Corporate Research Lab on the unfinished AMY audio chip; Anthony Ramos, creator of the type-in game Creepy Caverns and the software for the Parrot audio digitizer; Michael Park, programmer of the Swan and Fujiboink demos; and Scott Savage, who built “Lefty,” a robot that played checkers. All four people gave great interviews!

I’ll certainly continue doing interviews in 2023. I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses, but I will say that with 400+ interviews in the bag, finding people to interview is much harder than it used to be. The people who were findable have been found; the people who were agreeable to an interview have been interviewed. There are still more stories to be told, but the path only gets steeper. Let’s shoot for at least six interviews in 2023. 

I did some solid software preservation work in 2022. With the help of 4am and John Keoni Morris, we preserved the only known copy of Glutton, an unreleased game for the Apple II. 

I digitized the entire library of the Ol' Hacker's Atari User Group over a period of two months and made them available at Internet Archive. That collection weighs in at 1,281 .atr files, or 130 megabytes! My thanks to John Hardie at the National Videogame Museum for lending me that collection. You can find discussion of that collection in the AtariAge forums.

The scanners got a bit of a workout in 2022 as well. I scanned the complete run of ITEC (Information Technology Electronics Computers), a partwork magazine published by GEJ Publishing Ltd. in the United Kingdom from 1983–1984, as well as 11 issues of AppleLink Update magazine. I also found a cheaper way to scan large-format posters, which I used to make hi-res scans of a 1989 Ukraine Computer Exhibition poster and the 1984 Atari Final Legacy poster.

The rest of my output, I can only lump into an overarching category I’ll call Miscellaneous Computer History Preservation:

My pal in the Atari 8-bit world, Sal Esquivel, died in December. I did what I could to preserve his memory by archiving his YouTube videos into a collection at Internet Archive. I’m working with Allan Bushman to create a complete collection of Atari Program Exchange manuals and catalogs at Internet Archive. I put several of the Phoenix Software source codes (preserved by me years ago) up at GitHub for easier access: Adventure in Time, Queen of Phobos, and Birth of the Phoenix.

I edited the videos of the all the presentations at Vintage Computer Festival East 2022 and VCF West 2022, and made them available at YouTube and Internet Archive.

Having finished scanning every issue of Mid-Michigan Atari Magazine and Michigan Atari Magazine, I created a “complete collection” 1000+ page PDF which is either a) very handy or b) will hopelessly choke your PDF viewer.

Russ Walter has been writing and updating Secret Guide to Computers (later renamed Secret Guide to Computers & Tricky Living) since 1972. Currently in its 34th edition, Mr. Walter has kept the book updated as hardware, software, and operating systems have evolved. I worked with him to get as many editions as possible preserved and free to download from Internet Archive. Thanks to the Kahle/Austin Foundation for funding the scanning of those books.

A surprise came late in 2022 when I was offered a role at Internet Archive — it turns out that my years and years of preserving computer history taught me a few things, so now I am Internet Archive's Program Manager, Special Collections. My role is to curate the Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications. I’m having a great time doing that work. It’s the same sort of work as computer history, in a slightly different, but just as nerdy, field. It takes away from the time I can devote to computer history preservation, but it’s a change that I needed.

But! I’m excited for computer history projects in 2023! Having found the guy who wrote the line “Have you played Atari today?” I plan to publish an article or print interview about him and that famous tagline. I’ll continue filling out the Atari Program Exchange collection at Internet Archive. There are a lot of Apple II and Atari documents in a pile to get online for the Scantastix project. And, as I wrote above, I’ll shoot for six interviews. 

Here’s to a productive and fun 2023. Let’s do this.

-Kay

P.S. Like many others in 2022, I moved from Twitter to Mastodon. You can follow me at @savetz@oldbytes.space.