ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Greg Gibbons, Automated Library II    Greg Gibbons was the creator of Automated Library II, software for running school libraries, which was available for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computers.   There's an article about the software in the April 1985 issue of American Libraries:   "The Automated Library II is a bar-code circulation system that runs on the Atari line of microcomputers. The progra...

Tom Snyder, educational software   Tom Snyder was the founder of Computer Learning Connection, which was later renamed to Tom Snyder Productions, a company that created many educational software titles for the school and home computer markets.   The company's home software included Agent USA and Bannercatch (published by Scholastic,) Halley Project (published by Mindscape,) Run For the Money (publ...

Bob Ertl, REWRITE Word Processor   In 1987, Bob Ertl's master's thesis was titled "Narrowing the Gap Between the Word Processing Needs of Teachers and the Capabilities of Word Processors for Atari 8-bit Computers." As part of that project, he created a word processor for the Atari computers, aimed at the needs of math teachers. The word processor is called REWRITE and was never widely available. I...

Ed Meyer, physical chemistry experiments with Atari computers   In the 1990s, Ed Meyer was a professor at DePaul University in Chicago, where he taught physical chemistry. In August 1990, The Journal of Chemical Education published his article, "An Inexpensive Computer Station for Undergraduate Laboratories Using the Atari 800XL" in which Ed showed how to interface the Atari controller ports with...

John Harris, APX Can't Quit   John Harris published one program for the Atari computer: Can't Quit, a game that was published by Atari Program Exchange. Can't Quit first appeared in the summer 1983 APX catalog. It was the only program published by this John Harris — although he has the same name as the John Harris who created Jawbreaker (whom I previously interviewed.)   This interview took place...

David Young, Omnimon   David Young was the creator of Omnimon, the popular hardware monitor/debugger for the Atari 8-bit computers. His other products included DiskScan, a floppy disk utility; Supermon, the predecessor to Omnimon; Omnicom, a terminal program; and Omniview, an 80 column E: handler.    This interview took place on June 11, 2018. In it, we discuss Wes Newell, whom I previously interv...

Rockie "RJ" Morgan, APX Piano Tuner   Rockie "RJ" Morgan published one program through Atari Program Exchange: Piano Tuner, which first appeared in the summer 1983 APX catalog.   This interview took place on June 5, 2018.   Piano Tuner in the summer 1983 APX catalog   Piano Tuner at AtariMania   Unix: An Open Systems Dictionary

Michael McInerney, physics experiments with Atari computers    In the 1980s, Michael McInerney was a professor in the physics department at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, when he wrote several journal articles about how to control experiments and gather data using Atari computers.    The articles included Interfacing the Atari Microcomputer in the Science Laboratory, which appeared in the sp...

Norm Draper, Draper Pascal   Norm Draper was the creator of Draper Pascal, a version of the Pascal programming language for the Atari 8-bit computers. Draper Pascal started as a commercial program sold directly though advertisements in computer magazines, then later became shareware.   This interview took place on July 3, 2018.   "I offered club members to pay them for every bug they would find in...

Brooke Alderson, Atari TV Commercials   Brooke Alderson was an actor in the 1980s and 1990s: she appeared in several television shows including Murder, She Wrote and Family Ties; and is perhaps best known for her role as Aunt Corene in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy. She also appeared in many TV commercials. She did a 30-second spot for Atari home computers, and was featured on Atari's in-store point-...

Dennis Koble: APX Avalanche, Imagic   Dennis Koble was an early Atari employee, where we would become manager of the computer and consumer divisions. He designed Atari's "Touch Me" handheld electronic game. He also wrote three programs that were published by Atari Program Exchange: Avalanche, an adaption of the coin-op game which he also created; and the text adventure games Chinese Puzzle and Sul...

Joe Hellesen: Deluxe Invaders, Pac Man, PQ: The Party Quiz Game Joe Hellesen programmed the Atari 8-bit versions of Deluxe Invaders (published by Roklan), and Pac Man (published by Atari,) Gyruss (published by Parker Brothers), and Mickey in the Great Outdoors (published by Disney.) He also coded PQ: The Party Quiz Game (for SunCom.)   This interview took place on April 14, 2018.   AtariMania's li...

Atari Computer Roundtable In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast: We got some of the biggest names of the current Atari computer community on a live, international conference call to ask: what's happening in your Atari 8-bit world? Guests Thom Cherryholmes, Ethan Johnson, Joe Decuir, Simon Wells, Curt Vendel, Jeff Fulton, Nir Dary, and Roland Wassenberg. The conversation went in...

Stephen Romejko: APX Melt-Down, Moon Marauder   Stephen Romejko published two games through Atari Program Exchange: Melt-Down and Moon Marauder. Melt-Down was first available in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. Moon Marauder was first available in the fall 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the consumer category.   This interview took place on April 14, 2018.   "Melt-Down was causing s...

Allan Moose, Atari Assembly Language Programmer's Guide   Allan Moose was co-author of the book Atari Assembly Language Programmer's Guide, which was published by Weber Systems in 1986. He wrote the book with his wife and writing partner, Marian Lorenz. She passed away in 1992. The two also wrote many articles for Antic and A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazines.  Their articles included many about disp...

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast:  In this five-year anniversary episode of ANTIC, we reminisce back to show #1 all those years ago, our friend Nir Dary tells us all about Atari Invasion, Jeff Fulton of the Into the Vertical Blank Podcast gives us a game review of Star Island, plus all the Atari 8-bit news that we could find.  Happy 5-Year Anniversary to us! READY! Recurri...

Larry Breakwell, Toronto Atari Programmers Society Larry Breakwell was founder of the Toronto West Atari Computer Support Group, then president of the Toronto Atari Programmers Society, which was the largest Atari user group in Canada. He adapted the Atari version of the book " Academy on Computers Hands-On Atari 400/800 Beginner's Manual " from a version of the book focused on the Commodore PET....

Mike Sandau, Atari-CB Radio Hacking   In the mid-1980s, Mike Sandau and his friend connected their Atari 8-bit computers to their citizens band radios to create a small radio-telephone computer network. Their "DIALOG" project combined the radio hardware with custom software (first in Atari BASIC, then later in Action!) to allow chatting, broadcasting messages, and binary file transfers over the ai...

Charlie Kulas: Musical Pilot, UpN Down   Charlie Kulas published Musical Pilot, an educational game, through Atari Program Exchange. Musical Pilot first appeared in the fall 1983 APX catalog, where it was awarded third prize in the Learning category. He later worked at McT (AKA Microcomputer Technologies), a company that was contracted to program games by Sega. There he programmed the game UpN Dow...

Youth Advisory Board: Yoon Park   This is the sixth in a series of episodes featuring interviews with the kids of Atari's Youth Advisory Board. This time, I got to talk with Yoon Park.   In 1983, Atari formed a Youth Advisory Board, selecting teenagers from around the United States to share their opinions about computers and video games, test software, and promote Atari's computers at events. The...

Youth Advisory Board: Musa Mustafa   This is the fifth in a series of episodes featuring interviews with the kids of Atari's Youth Advisory Board. If you're just joining us: In 1983, Atari formed a Youth Advisory Board, selecting 20 kids, aged 14 though 18, from around the U.S. to share their opinions about computers, test software, and promote Atari's computers at events.    This is an interview...

Youth Advisory Board: Robert Allbritton   This is the fourth episode in a series of interviews with the kids of Atari's Youth Advisory Board. Robert Allbritton was one of the 20 kids who, in 1983, were accepted into the Youth Advisory Board, a group of teenagers who were able to take a trip to Atari's headquarters in California, enjoy free 1200XL computers, and he even got to work at Atari's booth...

Youth Advisory Board: John Dickerson   This is the third episode in a series of interviews with the kids of Atari's Youth Advisory Board. A quick recap: In 1983, Atari formed a Youth Advisory Board, selecting 20 teenagers from around the United States to share their opinions about computers and video games, test software, and promote Atari's computers at events. The group consisted of kids aged 14...

Youth Advisory Board: Anneke Wyman   This is the second episode in a series of interviews with the kids of Atari's Youth Advisory Board.    In 1982-1983, Atari invited 20 kids, aged 14-18, to be on its new Youth Advisory Board. Atari was looking for well-rounded, computer-literate kids, with equal representation of sexes and a mix of ethnic groups. Anneke Wyman (now Anneke Wyman de Boer) was one o...

Youth Advisory Board: Kerrie Holton and Tina Bartschat   This is the first in a series of episodes featuring interviews with the kids of Atari's Youth Advisory Board.    In 1983, Atari formed a Youth Advisory Board, selecting 20 teenagers from around the United States to share their opinions, test new software, and promote Atari's computers at trade shows.   The group consisted primarily of regula...