Advent of Computing

This episode I face my greatest fears: computer bugs. We are going to dive into the origin of the term, and examine the origins of debugging. The simple fact is that as soon as computers hit the scene we start finding bugs. Debugging follows very soon after. That part's not too surprising, it's the specifics that get interesting. Modern debugging methods we still use today were first developed on...

It's Spook Month on Advent of Computing! Every October we cover the more spooky, scary, and frustrating side of computers. To kick off this year we are looking at viruses again, this time with a special eye to the first infections for IBM PCs and compatible systems. Besides the technical changes, this drops us into an interesting transitionary period. Up to this point viruses had been something of...

In today's episode we take a long hard look at the telegraph, and try to see how character encoding developed. We are dealing with 100% pre-computing technology, but there are some shocking similarities to later digital systems. Selected Sources: h t t p s : / / a r c h i v e . o r g / d e t a i l s / e l e c t r i c t e l e g r a p 0 0 h i g h r i c h / p a g e / 2 / m o d e / 2 u p - Early histo...

Today we are talking about computers in space! 1964 saw the launch of Gemini I, the first spacecraft to carry an onboard computer. The aptly named Gemini Guidance Computer was responsible for guidance, navigation, and safe reentry. Built by IBM it weighed in at a tiny 59 pounds. For 1960's technology there just isn't any comparison to make, it was an amazingly small machine. What secrets does it h...

This concludes my series on the distinctive shape of early home computers. In this episode we finally cover the Sol-20 itself, the first system on the market to be shaped like a wedge. More generally, we try to figure out if the Sol-20 was the progenitor of hundreds of machines that followed, or if the wedge was inevitable. For such a simple question, this has become a surprisingly complicated top...

Early home microcomputers have a very distinctive shape to them. From the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum, to the Commodore 64 and the Amiga, wedged were the order of the day. I've always wondered why that shape became so popular, and where it came from. Today we start a deep dive into that question, slowly tracing the origins of the first wedge shaped computer. Selected Sources: http://www.leefelsen...

Hypertext has really become a core offering of daily life, and defined the face of the Internet for decades. But the links and formatting we know so well only make up part of the story. Today we are looking at FRESS(the File Retrieval and Editing SyStem), a hypertext system developed at Brown University at the tail end of the 60s. What makes FRESS so crucial in the history of hypertext is that it...

It's here! My celebratory question and answer episode! Contains ramblings on my checkered past, why computer history is important, and why FOIA is so cool.

COBOL! Just its name can strike terror in the hearts of programmers. This language is old, it follows its own strange syntax, and somehow still runs the world of finance and government. But is COBOL really as bad as it's made out to be? Today we are talking a look at the languages origins and how it's become isolated from early every other programming language in common use. Perhaps most important...

ALOHANET was a wireless networking project started at the University of Hawaii in 1968. Initially, it had relatively little to do with ARPANET. But that relative isolation didn't last for long. As the two networks matured and connected together we start to see the first vision of a modern Internet. That alone is interesting, but what brings this story to the next level is the protocol developed fo...

This episode we take a look at the earliest days of computing, and one of the earliest forms of computer memory. Mercury delay lines, originally developed in the early 40s for use in radar, are perhaps one of the strangest technologies I've even encountered. Made primarily from liquid mercury and quartz crystals these devices store digital data as a recirculating acoustic wave. They can only be se...

Where did educational games come from? According to some, the practice of using games in classrooms started in the early 60s with the appearance of the Sumerian Game. However, the story is more complicated than that. This episode we dive into the Sumerian Game, some of the earliest educational games, and the bizarre legacy of a lost piece of software. Like the show? Then why not head over and supp...

The TI TMS9900 is a fascinating microprocessor. It was the first 16-bit microprocessor on the market, it has a unique architecture that makes it well suited to multitasking, and it was on IBM's shortlist to power the PC. Today we are looking at this strange chip, and the TI minicomputers that predated it's design. Along the way we will construct a theoretical TI-powered PC, and see how home comput...

Project Xanadu, started in 1960, is perhaps the oldest hypertext system. It's creator, Ted Nelson, coined the term hypertext just to describe Xanadu. But it's not just a tool for linking data. Nelson's vision of hypertext is a lot more complicated than what we see in the modern world wide web. In his view, hypertext is a means to reshape the human experience. Today we are starting a dive into the...

Even after nearly 50 years C remains a force in the programming world. Anytime you brows the web, or even log into a computer, C is somewhere in the background. This episode I wrap up my series on C by looking at it's early development and spread. We will get into the 1st and 2nd C compilers ever written, and take a look at how a banned book lead to generations of avid C programmers. Like the show...

C is easily one of the most influential programming languages in the world, and it's also one of the most popular languages in the world. Even after close to 50 years it remains in widespread and sustained use. In this series we are going to look at how C was developed, how it spread, and why it remains so relevant. To do that we need to start with background, and look at what exactly influenced C...

One of the great things about the modern Internet is the wide range of services and content available on it. You have news, email, games, even podcasts. And in each category you have a wide range of choices. This wide diversity makes the Internet so compelling and fun to explore. But what happens when you take away that freedom of choice? What would a network look like if there was only one news s...

Released in August 1981, the IBM PC is perhaps one of the most important computers in history. It originated the basic architecture computers still use today, it flung the doors open to a thriving clone market, and created an ad-hoc set of standards. The heart of the operation, Intel's 8088, solidified the x86 architecture as the computing platform of the future. IBM accomplished this runaway succ...

The Intel 8086 may be the most important processor ever made. It's descendants are central to modern computing, while retaining an absurd level of backwards compatibility. For such an important chip it had an unexpected beginning. The 8086 was meant as a stopgap measure while Intel worked on bigger and better projects. This episode we are looking at how Intel was trying to modernize, how the 8086...

Saga II was a program developed in 1960 that automatically wrote screenplays for TV westerns. Outwardly it looks like artificial intelligence, but that's not entirely accurate. Saga has much more in common with CNC software than AI. This episode we take a look at how the same technology that automated manufacturing found it's way into digital westerns, and how numerically controlled mills are rema...

Sometimes an idea is so good it keeps showing up. Electronic ping-pong games are one of those ideas. The game was independently invented at least twice, in 1958 and then in 1966. But, here's the thing, PONG didn't come around until the 70s. What were theses earlier tennis games? Did Atari steel the idea for their first hit? Today we go on an analog journey to find some answers. Like the show? Then...

Lars Brinkhoff has been spearheading the effort to keep the incompatible Timesharing System alive. Today we sit down to talk about the overall ITS restoration project, software preservation, and how emulation can help save the past. You can find the full restoration project at github: https://github.com/PDP-10/its And follow Lars on twitter: @larsbrinkhoff

Modern operating systems adhere to a pretty rigid formula. They all have users with password-protected accounts and secure files. They all have restrictions to keep programs from breaking stuff. That design has been common for a long time, but that doesn't make it the best solution. In the late 60s ITS, the Incompatible Timesharing System, was developed as a more exciting alternative. ITS was buil...

Hacker hasn't always been used to describe dangerous computer experts will ill intent. More accurately it should be sued to describe those enamored with computers, programming, and trying to push machines to do interesting things. The values, ethics, morals, and practices around those people make up what's known as hacker culture. Today we are digging into the Jargon File, a compendium of all thin...

BASIC is a strange language. During the early days of home computing it was everywhere you looked, pretty much every microcomputer in the 70s and early 80s ran BASIC. For a time it filled a niche almost perfectly, it was a useable language that anyone could learn. That didn't happen by accident. Today we are looking at the development of BASIC, how two mathematicians started a quest to expose more...