Jim Lawless

Stray Pointers

Stray Pointers is a podcast where seemingly ordinary people join us for extraordinary discussions. There are a lot of amazing people out there. I thought that it would be interesting to interview people accomplishing or having accomplished amazing things in a variety of subject areas including computing, BBS's, hacking, health care, music, comic books, writing, illustration, education, journalism, podcasting, startups, electronics, video games, astronomy, agriculture ... you name it. For more information about the podcast, please see Jim Lawless' Stray Pointers page at:https://straypointers.co...

Author

Jim Lawless

Category

Technology

Podcast website

sites.libsyn.com

Latest episode

Jan 19, 2026

Where to listen?

Podcasts in the app Replaio Radio Coming soon

Podcasts are coming to the app soon. Install now and be the first to see a whole new take on podcasts

Get it on Google Play Install for free Android 5M+ downloads · 4.8 rating iOS soon

Episodes

Gunnar Gustafson Discusses JavaScript and Web Development 06.04.2024

Gunnar Gustafson walks us through the timeline of using web development tools such as JavaScript and React.js.  He touches on going to college at age 15 and his early front-end development with Flash / Actionscript. Here are a couple of Gunnar's repos: https://github.com/GnarlyGnarGusta/storybook_msw_react   https://github.com/GnarlyGnarGusta/gilbertizer_v1  Unofficial JavaScript logo by Chris Wil...

Hijinks and Practical Jokes in IT 24.03.2024

Since April Fool's Day is coming up in about a week, I thought I'd tell a few stories about pranks and funny situations from working in IT.

Bob Fulkerson discusses the Endless Forest BBS and Computer Science Academia 01.03.2024

Computer Science professor Bob Fulkerson joins the show to discuss his BBS days including his stewardship of the Endless Forest BBS in Omaha. Bob also discusses facets of teaching Computer Science and his love for the Perl programming language. For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com    

Hardware / Software Engineer Thomas Cherryhomes Discusses his Fujinet Retrocomputing Projects 21.02.2024

Thomas Cherryhomes joins to the show to discuss FujiNet ... a series of add-on direct-connect devices for 80's era home computers that provides a number of extended Internet capabilities to those machines. Thom's links: https://fujinet.online   https://irata.online/   For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://s...

A Chat with Software Engineer and International Speaker Christine Seeman 14.02.2024

Christine Seeman joins the show to discuss a variety of programming languages including Java, Ruby, and Go.  We also discuss her live international speaking events. Website https://christine-seeman.com/   Socials Mastodon: @christine@ruby.social NDC London 2020 - 2FA Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTtZQVSnz2M   .Net Rocks Podcast (taped at NDC London) https://www.dotnetrocks.com/details/1676...

A Chat with Synchronet BBS Author and Sysop Rob Swindell 03.02.2024

Rob Swindell, author and sysop of the MS-DOS and telnet versions of the Synchronet BBS joins us to discuss the genesis of the BBS, running his own BBS company, and the journey to an open source Internet version of Synchronet. Rob's main site with links to source code repo's and his YouTube channel: http://synchro.net   The Synchronet wiki: http://wiki.synchro.net   The home page for SyncTerm, the...

Chatting with Programmer, Author, and Former Dr. Dobbs Journal Columnist Jeff Duntemann 18.01.2024

Jeff Duntemann joins the show to discuss his experiences with various technical and non-technical endeavors.  Jeff was the first editor of Borland's In-House Magazine "Turbo Technix" which was supplied to purchasers of early editions of Turbo Pascal, Turbo C, and similar Borland products. He was the Structured Programming columnist for Dr. Dobbs Journal for a number of years. Jeff had established...

Discussing Programming Languages with Ben Hoyt 16.01.2024

Software engineer and engineering manager Ben Hoyt joins the show to discuss his experience with various programming languages.  Topics discussed include assembly language, Forth, C, CGI Programming, Python, Go / Golang, and awk. https://benhoyt.com/   https://github.com/benhoyt/ For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visi...

Speaking with Screenwriter and Filmmaker Harrison Demchick 10.01.2024

Writer / editor / screenwriter / filmmaker Harrison Demchick joins the show to discuss his background in writing.  We discuss the process that led to his feature film "Ape Canyon". More information about Harrison and his works can be found on his web site : https://www.harrisondemchick.com/ For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information,...

Reviewing the 2023 Doctor Who Christmas Special with Rick Lundeen 26.12.2023

Rick joins the show for a look at the final episode of Doctor Who for 2023 ... "The Church on Ruby Road." This podcast contains spoilers for the episode. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com    

Reviewing the Doctor Who Special #3 with Rick Lundeen 10.12.2023

Rick Lundeen joins the podcast for a review of the final of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials .. "The Giggle" For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  

Discussing the Doctor Who Special #2 with Rick Lundeen 03.12.2023

Rick Lundeen joins us again to discuss "Wild Blue Yonder", the second Doctor Who 2023 special.  Please note that there are spoilers in this discussion. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  

Discussing the Endless Forest BBS with Dan Kenny 01.12.2023

Dan Kenny joins the show to discuss the Endless Forest, an Omaha area electronic bulletin board system (BBS) that began life on the Apple II in the 1980's.  Dan, was responsible for creating the next incarnation of Endless Forest using the C programming language.  This version ran initially on a DEC VAX 11/750 hosted at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, but it moved to other Unix/Linux machines...

Discussing the Doctor Who Special #1 with Rick Lundeen 26.11.2023

Rick Lundeen returns to the podcast to continue the 60th year celebration of Doctor Who.  In this edition of the podcast, we discuss "The Star Beast" ... the  first of three weekly 2023 special episodes of Doctor Who.  Please note that there are SPOILERS for The Star Beast episode in this podcast. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact informati...

Discussing The Beatles and News Journalism with David Helling 21.11.2023

Former 1970's Beatles Trivia radio show co-host David Helling joins us to discuss his Beatles knowledge and his long career in political news journalism. Audio from the final episode of Beatles Trivia: https://youtu.be/l8IoruHKtys   Dave's retirement video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDXNNmHfsGY    

The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special 12.11.2023

My friends and fellow Whovians Rick Lundeen and Neil Welch joined me for a roundtable discussion of the series.  Neil presents a unique perspective as he saw the very first episode air on UK television on November 23rd, 1963.

Chatting with Linux on the Mainframe Specialist Elizabeth K. Joseph 10.11.2023

Elizabeth K. Joseph leads the Open Source Program office for IBM Z series mainframe systems.  She's published books on Ubuntu Linux and OpenStack. She was the 2012 winner of the O'Reilly Open Source aware.  Lyz discusses the history of her involvement with the Linux community and her current position at IBM. Lyz's Website: https://princessleia.com/   Lyz's Blog: https://princessleia.com/journal/  ...

A Discussion with Artist and Teacher Keith Howell 25.10.2023

Keith Howell joins us for a discussion on his long background in art, comics, modern and classic pulp texts, and his ongoing art publications.  Keith also discusses his work and friendship with writer Philip José Farmer. Keith's Portfolio https://www.behance.net/keithhowell   Keith's Website https://www.profchallenger.com/   The Meteor House Press Website https://meteorhousepress.com/   For more i...

Chatting with BBS Sysop and Software Engineer Ben Kimball 22.10.2023

Software engineer Ben Kimball discusses learning BASIC programming at age seven, writing and running his first BBS using Turbo Pascal, telnet BBSing, and the creation of Nebraska's first production wireless Internet services provider.   Ben's web-based telnet client for the ISCA BBS http://iscaclient.llabmik.net/     For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group a...

Speaking with horror novelist Angela Sylvaine 20.10.2023

Horror novelist Angela Sylvaine discusses various elements of the writing process and the journey that led her to write her new book "Frost Bite."   Angela's Linktree Site https://linktr.ee/angelasylvaine   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   Please visit the companion blog at https://str...

Monster Hunting with Daryn Richardson 18.10.2023

In this episode, illustrator Daryn Richardson describes how art permitted him to deal with PTSD and how a coupling of art and his interest in supernatural stories might help others. Daryn's art can be seen on his Facebook art page here: https://www.facebook.com/sylvershutter   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: htt...

Speaking with Electronics / Computer / Audio specialist Bob McCoy 09.10.2023

Bob McCoy joins us for a discussion about his lengthy career in various kinds of electronics disciplines and his path to programming in Perl and PowerShell.  Bob also discusses his work in voice audio and audiobooks. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   Please visit the companion blog at h...

Interviewing BBS user and shareware author James Christie 05.10.2023

During the first half of the episode, James discusses his usage of Omaha-based electronic Bulletin-Board Systems ( BBS's ) and his experiences marketing software using the shareware try-before-you-buy concept.  At the halfway point, he turns the tables and interviews Jim on his dalliance with shareware marketing.   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and...

Interview with musician Ron Gablehouse 29.09.2023

Musician Ron Gablehouse discusses the inculcation of tech into the music that he writes and produces in his home studio. Links: Ron's website http://solarianstudios.com An archive of Ron's MP3's https://archive.org/download/solarianmp3   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   Please visit th...

Microcomputers, mainframes, and more - chatting with Randy Carson of C2C Consulting, LLC 25.08.2023

Long-time computing professional and entrepreneur Randy Carson discusses his career path in Information Technology. https://www.c2caz.com/   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog        

Listen to the Stray Pointers podcast in Replaio

Radio and podcasts in one app - free, with no sign-up. Install today and do not miss the launch

Get it on Google Play

Replaio is not a podcast publisher; show names, artwork and audio belong to their authors and are distributed through public RSS feeds.