Al Charpentier, engineer and co-creator of the Commodore 64 – Interviewed by Dave McMurtrie Vintage Computer Federation 2024-09-06 | Dave McMurtrie, Expert Commodore Historian interviewed Al Charpentier on his experiences at Commodore Business Machines.
Lunar Lander and the GT-40: One Giant Leap for Video Games - Scott Swazey Vintage Computer Federation 2024-10-18 | A talk about the restoration of the DEC GT40 terminal and the history of the Lunar Lander game running on that device. Recorded during VCF West 2024 at the Computer History Museum.
Apollo Guidance Computer Roundtable - Frank O’Brien, Curious Marc, Carl Claunch, Ken Shirriff Vintage Computer Federation 2024-10-11 | Frank O’Brien - Author: The Apollo Guidance Computer: Architecture and OperationCurious Marc - YouTube Content Creator: youtube.com/@CuriousMarcCarl Claunch - rescue1130.blogspot.comKen Shirriff - righto.comA moderated roundtable discussion of the Apollo Guidance Computer Restoration
Reimagining the NABU: How I brought a vintage computer into the internet age - DJ Sures Vintage Computer Federation 2024-10-04 | DJ Sures delved into the intricate process of resurrecting the NABU computer, a task fueled by a deep family connection to its original creators. He embarked on a challenging journey of reverse engineering the machine, starting with recreating the internet adapter server. This pivotal component once again connected NABU to the modern world. This breakthrough was just the beginning. Inspired by the original vision of NABU, he ventured further, developing a suite of software that the creators had only dreamed of. This included an internet-connected operating system, interactive chat applications, engaging games, practical utilities, comprehensive internet access, innovative text-to-speech capabilities, and more. Each development paid homage to the original intent of the NABU but also pushed the hardware beyond its perceived limits, showcasing what could have been and now is. This presentation highlights the technical feats achieved and reflected on the significance of preserving and innovating upon our digital heritage.
#fujinet (State Of The Union) – Thomas Cherryhomes - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-09-27 | FujiNet has been steadily growing into a mature and stable project. Thom talks about the challenges of bringing up new platforms such as the Apple 2, and TRS-80 Color Computer. The FujiNet Game Lobby with 5 Card Stud will also be shown, with an explanation of how the server components integrate together. Finishing with what interested people can do to help the project.
Saturday Roundtable Dr. Rebecca Mercuri, Joyce Weisbecker, Burger Becky - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-09-20 | Roundtable discussion on Interactive Audio, Video Games and Controllers for Microcomputers during the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s, featuring a panel of distinguished speakers:Moderator: Dr. Rebecca Mercuri A renowned computer scientist specializing in electronic voting security. Founded Notable Software in ’81, she’s pivotal for the “Mercuri method” in voting.Joyce Weisbecker Joyce Weisbecker was the first independent video game developer and has worked as an actuary and as a radar systems engineer. Joyce continues to enjoy solving small yet challenging problems infusing video games with dramatic tension.Rebecca “Burger Becky” Heineman Video game pioneer Rebecca “Burger Becky” Heineman, known for programming and design, co-founded Interplay. Winning the 1980 Space Invaders Championship launched her career.
HomeComputerMuseum: The interactive computer museum as a business – Bart van den Akker Vintage Computer Federation 2024-09-13 | The talk is about the creation of the HomeComputerMuseum in the Netherlands. Why we started, how we started and what we became, being one of the largest museums in the world and running entirely independent.Bart was originally Linux system administrator with a high-level expertise on VoIP. Also a musician and a collector of retro computers. I’ve been collecting since roughly 2010 which ended up becoming a museum in 2018.
How to approach restoration of 1950-1970 IBM computers – Carl Claunch Vintage Computer Federation 2024-08-30 | There are many lessons needed in order to work on older IBM products in order to complement even the best general electronics and computer knowledge. First you must learn a new language with terminology that is unique to these systems. Next you must learn to deal with the peculiarities of the IBM documentation. Finally, as with any old system for which current parts are unavailable, a variety of techniques must be mastered to repair or replace whatever may be defective if you hope to successfully restore the system to full operation. Carl Claunch talks about his adventures in restoring an IBM 1130.
Cycle-Accurate 8088 Emulation – Daniel Balsom Vintage Computer Federation 2024-08-23 | Despite the age and popularity of the 8088 CPU, the secrets that allowed cycle-perfect emulation were only recently unlocked. In this talk I will discuss the various reasons for why cycle-accurate emulation of the 8088 is so difficult and describe the challenges faced and techniques used to develop MartyPC.
Bridging Past and Future: Enhancing Retro Computing with Modern Applications – Mark Fisher Vintage Computer Federation 2024-08-16 | A journey through the process of reviving vintage computing with modern tooling. Delving into practical cross-development applications for Atari and Apple 2 through the FujiNet platform and a common Network Library, the talk highlights how adding a ‘SmartPort over SLIP’ protocol to the Apple2 Emulator allows faster development, and brings together lessons from real hardware trials, programming challenges, and the future of retro-computing.
Games Development Back In The Day – Thom CherryHomes - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-08-09 | Game consoles such as the Atari 2600 and 5200 had no ability to develop software on itself, so the software had to be developed on systems with sufficient tooling, disk storage, and RAM. This talk shows how an S-100 based system is used along with a cross-assembler, a text editor, and an Intel HEX loader to produce software that can be uploaded to the target system via a simulated cartridge emulator.
Teaching Ghidra to disassemble your CPU – Maki Kato - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-08-02 | Ghidra is one of the best open source reverse engineering tools available today. Sometimes retro computing tasks involves disassembling old software. If a disassembler is not available for your machine’s CPU instruction set traditionally you had to write one. However now with Ghidra there is a plugin mechanism for CPUs so instead of writing a disassembler you can just describe the CPU to Ghidra. In this talk we will spend 15 minutes intro and demo of Ghidra’s features followed by details about how to create a plugin to disassemble a new otherwise unsupported instruction set.
Macintosh Collecting and Repair Tips - Steve Matarazzo, Ron McAdams - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-07-27 | Discuss vintage Macintosh repair strategies and tips as well collecting advice.Find slides from this talk and information from their previous talks here: mac84.net/web/getting-started-with-vintage-macs
Commodore History with Andy Finkel - Interviewed by Dave McMurtrie Vintage Computer Federation 2024-07-20 | Dave McMurtrie, Expert Commodore Historian, interviewed Andy Finkel, a former Commodore engineer, about his experiences at Commodore Business Machines.
Vacuum Tube PDP-8 - Mike Rieker - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-07-13 | Design and construction of vacuum tube computer that runs PDP-8 software called PDP 8/V. Find more details here: hackster.io/news/mike-rieker-s-pdp-8-v-swaps-digital-s-transistors-for-a-beastly-vacuum-tube-processor-e41f42a478e7
VCF West 2024 - Preview Vintage Computer Federation 2024-07-08 | Letting everyone know about what to expect and what will be happening at our show on August 2 & 3, 2024 at the Computer History Museum.
Streamer Roundtable - Action Retro, Amiga Bill, AshSaidHi, Lady Ailuros, Rons Computer Videos Vintage Computer Federation 2024-07-06 | A roundtable moderated by Sean Malseed of Action Retro as he chats with AmigaBill, AshSaidHi, Lady Ailuros and Ron’s Computer Videos as they provide valuable insights and tips on getting started with broadcasting retro game! Discover and learn about broadcasting with original hardware, explore innovative software solutions, and get guidance on essential budget-friendly tech for your setup. From understanding video connections like composite and component cables to mastering the art of capturing analog sound, we’ll have you ready to confidently share nostalgic gaming experiences in no time!Moderator = Sean Malseed of Action RetroGuests:Amiga BillA Commodore Amiga live streamer on Twitch, YouTube content creator and Founder/President of the Westchester Amiga User Group (WAUG) in Westchester County, NY since 1988. AmigaBill streams every Sunday on Twitch.tv/AmigaBill and brings the Amiga community together with over 1,000 unique viewers on each stream. He showcases all the latest Amiga news, games, software, and demos while interacting with the vibrant Amiga community. Guests are a big part of AmigaBill’s show as well. He interviews people in the computer industry about their current or past projects. Some of his guests have included Ken and Roberta Williams (Sierra Online), RJ Mical (original Amiga Dev team), David John Plesance (Commodore UK Director), Chris Huelsbeck (Video Game Composer), a plethora of modern game developers, computer artists, and many more.AshSaidHiAsh is the queen of retro streaming. As an entertainer, host and broadcaster her mission is to share her passion for video games. She is driven to connect with her audience through heartfelt conversation and enthusiastic live streaming gameplay. You can find her on Twitch where she broadcasts energetic, wholesome, and family friendly content. She loves Amiga!!!LadyAilurosKate the Cat, from Apple //c beginnings, now explores various retro platforms. She hosts RetroMetal on Twitch, playing games on vintage machines. Besides her gaming, she’s a high school English teacher, passing on knowledge to the next generation.Ron’s Computer VideosRon McAdams, creator of “Ron’s Computer Videos” on YouTube, is a vintage computing expert. He explores, restores, and teaches about the computers that built today’s digital world. His channel is a treasure trove for tech enthusiasts and historians.
FreeDOS 30th Anniversary with Jim Hall and Jeff Brace Vintage Computer Federation 2024-06-30 | The FreeDOS Project will turn 30 years old on June 29, 2024. This is a long time for any open source project, especially one like FreeDOS.FreeDOS is an open source DOS-compatible operating system that you can use to play classic DOS games, run legacy business software, or write new DOS programs. Any program that works on MS-DOS should also run on FreeDOS.And yes, lots of people really do run FreeDOS in 2024. There's a sizable community of retro computing enthusiasts who like to run classic operating systems like DOS. You can find many people online who restore old computers and put FreeDOS on them.But there's more than just the throwback aspect to FreeDOS. One thing I like about FreeDOS (or any DOS, but FreeDOS especially) is that it has so few "moving parts" that it's very easy for beginner computer users to understand how a computer works.And of course, there were just so many great DOS games from the 1980s and 1990s. And just because these games are old doesn't mean they aren't fun to play; I love going back to play classic shareware DOS games like DOOM, or Jill of the Jungle, or Commander Keen. These are still excellent in 2024.For more information, please visit our website at www.freedos.org
Palms WebOS - the mobile platform that almost was – Jon Wise Vintage Computer Federation 2024-06-29 | Palm’s webOS was their attempt to reinvent the once-great PalmOS for a more connected era, and briefly gave Apple and Google a run for their money as a more open alternative to their mobile duopoly. Based on a remarkably accessible Linux environment, with a beautiful and fluid user interface written in purely web technologies, webOS pioneered many of the user interface paradigms that we use today. Learn more about the architecture and development patterns from the legacy platform, as well as some of the apps and services that have been built to keep webOS alive and useful in 2024 — and beyond!
PDP 8/V - Vacuum Tube PDP-8 processor reproduction @ System Source Museum #systemsource Vintage Computer Federation 2024-06-29 | ...
The U.S. Army’s role in harnessing the transistor - Fred Carl - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-06-22 | The once classified history of the Army efforts and funding required to make the invention of the transistor into a usable component for military needs. The radio and television industry had no need for the device and were unwilling to make the investment. Fred Carl founder of InfoAge Science and History Museums tells the tale.
Something about the Mac - Ron Nicholson - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-06-17 | Ron Nicholson was one of the engineers working on the original Macintosh 128k. He created the disc controller ASIC and the CMOS clock chip. He tells his story and part in the creation of this machine.
The Ghosts of NABU Present - Leo Binkowski - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-06-08 | This talk about NABU present. A lot has happened in the NABU reconstruction world. Leo will be happy to present an entirely new cycle full of software, including some original games, many educational titles, and current information from 1985. Leo will update everyone on new findings of an almost completely intact NABU from 1985!Recorded on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at the InfoAge Science and History Museums in Wall, NJ where the Vintage Computer Federation Museum is located.vcfed.orgvcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-eastvcfed.org/museum-infoinfo@vcfed.org
MicroCore Labs Emulators how to build one, how they work - Crawford Griffith - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-06-01 | Ted Fried of MicroCoreLabs has designed and built a series of emulators that plug into CPU sockets of vintage computers. These emulators use Teensy (Arduino-compatible) boards and custom-designed PCB’s to emulate vintage processors: 8088, 6502, Z80 and 68000. The design and architecture of these emulators will be explained, and information will be shared how they can be economically built. Ideas for how these emulators can be used to debug and extend the capabilities of vintage computers will be discussed.Recorded on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at the InfoAge Science and History Museums in Wall, NJ where the Vintage Computer Federation Museum is located.vcfed.orgvcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-eastvcfed.org/museum-infoinfo@vcfed.org
VCF Southwest 2024 Preview #2 (livestream) Vintage Computer Federation 2024-05-26 | An update on what's new with the Vintage Computer Festival SouthWest taking place June 14-16, 2024 at Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas. More info can be found here: vcfsw.org
New VCF Outro (Daisy Bell Vocals) Vintage Computer Federation 2024-05-26 | This is the new bumper that will appear on all VCF videos as the outro. I hope that everyone likes it! It was voted on by the public and received the 2nd most votes.Adrian Wilson created this bumper on the Quantel Paintbox. You can reach him @quantelpaintbox on Twitter and Instagram. This is the "Making of" video: youtu.be/niSN84bG3PUThe vocals and music is from IBM 7094 which sang the first computer to "sing" sounding like a human voice: youtube.com/watch?v=41U78QP8nBkThe song was Daisy Bell originally written in 1892 by Harry Dacre: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Bell
An engineers GUI journey, VAX to DOS to WIN to WEB - Byron Stout - VCF East 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-05-25 | Take a walk through a progression of User Interface standards and advancements from a Software Engineers perspective from 1986 until the early 2000’s. The GUI we use today wasn’t always the only path as we’ll see from demos and real world application examples used on a variety of platforms.Slides to his presentation can be found here: vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/VCF_East_2024_An_Engineers_GUI_Journey.pdf.pdfRecorded on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at the InfoAge Science and History Museums in Wall, NJ where the Vintage Computer Federation Museum is located.vcfed.orgvcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-eastvcfed.org/museum-infoinfo@vcfed.org
VCF Down Under (Canberra Vintage Computer Exhibition 2024) Preview #1 (livestream) Vintage Computer Federation 2024-05-18 | The Vintage Computer Federation is supporting the Canberra Vintage Computer Exhibition 2024 in Australia @ Radford College. The show is Saturday June 29, 10AM to 3PM AEST. More details here: facebook.com/events/s/canberra-vintage-computer-exhi/693500242752070
VCFs new Intro! Vintage Computer Federation 2024-05-13 | This is the new bumper that will appear on all VCF videos as the intro. I hope that everyone likes it! It was voted on by the public and received the most votes.Adrian Wilson created this bumper on the Quantel Paintbox. You can reach him @quantelpaintbox on Twitter and Instagram. This is the "Making of" video: youtu.be/niSN84bG3PUThe SID that appears at the beginning was created by Aldo Chiummo of Italy who made this for a friend (Dan Roganti) and I for a game we were making for the C64.
VCF Southwest 2024 Preview! Vintage Computer Federation 2024-05-12 | The organizers of VCF Southwest will be letting everyone know about the upcoming show in Dallas, Texas on June 14-16, 2024. More info here: vcfsw.org
VCF Swap Meet in Wall, NJ on June 22, 2024 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-05-07 | A quick reminder about our swap meet. For more info: vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet
VCF East 2024 Final Update before the show Vintage Computer Federation 2024-04-07 | Vintage Computer Festival East 2024 Preview with guests:Ron's Computer VideosUsagi Electric Nibbyles and Bytes Action RetroMac84Curious MarcAmiga Bill
VCF East 2024 Update #4 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-03-31 | Jeff Brace the showrunner for VCF East will be giving updates on the plans and progress for the upcoming VCF East 2024, which will took place on April 12, 13, 14 in Wall, NJ at the InfoAge Science and History Museums.Guest Bil Herd joins Jeff for this livestream
Multi-User Dungeons for Education with Barry Kort interviewed by Eric Rangell Vintage Computer Federation 2024-03-23 | Eric Rangell graciously allowed VCF to repost his interview of Barry Knot.
VCF East 2024 Update #3 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-03-10 | Jeff Brace the showrunner for VCF East will be giving updates on the plans and progress for the upcoming VCF East 2024, which will take place on April 12, 13, 14 in Wall, NJ at the InfoAge Science and History Museums.
VCF Chat: educating with vintage computers Vintage Computer Federation 2024-02-25 | Jeff Brace moderates a discussion with Liza Loop, Wil Lindsay, Cynthia Solomon and Brian Silverman talk about educating with vintage computers.
VCF East 2024 Update #2 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-02-11 | Jeff Brace the showrunner for VCF East will be giving updates on the plans and progress for the upcoming VCF East 2024, which will take place on April 12, 13, 14 in Wall, NJ at the InfoAge Science and History Museums.
NABU employee livestream #2 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-01-28 | Hosted by Jeff Brace of the Vintage Computer FederationSpeakers:Leo Binkowski – NABU DeveloperTim Ranger, author of Laser Attack and Leo and Q*BertBrian Johnson - Developer of a NABU emulator.
VCF SoCal Update Vintage Computer Federation 2024-01-22 | The showrunner Micki will tell what to expect for the premier show for Vintage Computer Festival Southern California!
VCF Chat: Educating with Vintage Computers Vintage Computer Federation 2024-01-21 | Jeff Brace moderates a discussion with Liza Loop, Margaret Morabito, Byron Stout and Jim Hall talk about educating with vintage computers and relate that to modern education.
Moving an Apollo DN570 up the stairs Vintage Computer Federation 2024-01-20 | How we move heavy computers up the stairs to our workplace.
VCF East 2024 Update #1 Vintage Computer Federation 2024-01-14 | Jeff Brace the showrunner for VCF East will be giving updates on the plans and progress for the upcoming VCF East 2024, which will take place on April 12, 13, 14 in Wall, NJ at the InfoAge Science and History Museums.
VCF East 2023 Stamp Hunt Drawing Vintage Computer Federation 2024-01-13 | A presentation at Vintage Computer Festival East — April 15, 2023Please consider the creation and preservation of presentations like this one by donating to Vintage Computer Federation, which is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. vcfed.org/donate
What Can Vintage Computing Tell Us About the Next Generation of Engineers? — Byron Stout Vintage Computer Federation 2024-01-06 | A presentation at Vintage Computer Festival West — August 4 2023 Please consider the creation and preservation of presentations like this one by donating to Vintage Computer Federation, which is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. vcfed.org/donate
On Jeri — Jeri Ellsworth Vintage Computer Federation 2023-12-30 | A presentation at Vintage Computer Festival West — August 4 2023 Please consider the creation and preservation of presentations like this one by donating to Vintage Computer Federation, which is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. vcfed.org/donate
Modern Tools for Commodore 64 Sprite Animation – Byron Stout Vintage Computer Federation 2023-12-23 | A presentation at Vintage Computer Festival West — August 4 2023 Please consider the creation and preservation of presentations like this one by donating to Vintage Computer Federation, which is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. vcfed.org/donateSlides: vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023_Sprite_Animation_-_VCF_East.pdfSample Code: vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/BILLinSpriteLandDemo.zip
NABU employee reunion with DJ Sures, Leo Binkowski and more! Vintage Computer Federation 2023-12-17 | Confirmed speakers:Leo Binkowski – NABU DeveloperDJ Sures – Executive and son of the founder of NABUJohn Shortt – Director of Content Development, formerly Games Development Manager, author of Flashcards and one of the major developers for Dig Dug, as well as Manager’s Baseball)Donna Shortt – Education software Developer, responsible for Seasonal Gardening and NABU BasicTim Ranger, author of Laser Attack and Leo and he also made Q*BertEric Mesdag, Engineering Developer, author of MACBETH and one of the main NABU Cable IOS developersMK Marsden – NABU marketingEd Myers – NABU Educational MarketingBob McNally – former NABU sales and later Director of Operations of NABUWarren Belkin, developer of the original NABU Main Menu, and my inspiration for buying a motorcycleBill Bourne – NABU Engineering. Was involved in so many details about the hardwareMike Slinn – one of the two people that designed and built the NABU prototype boards that were used inside the NABU 1100 before they had a NABU PCAnd more!
VCFW 2023 Webcaster’s Roundtable Vintage Computer Federation 2023-12-16 | Kate Fox, Dave Plummer, Marc Verdiell, Jeri Ellsworth, Ben Jordan, June Tate-Gans, Bil HerdA presentation at Vintage Computer Festival West — August 5 2023 Please consider the creation and preservation of presentations like this one by donating to Vintage Computer Federation, which is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. vcfed.org/donate
Unboxing of VCFs DEC AlphaServer ES 40 at our Festivus Holiday Party! Vintage Computer Federation 2023-12-10 | We had a DEC Alpha that was donated about 5 years ago and we opened it up live to see what we found inside.
My Journey Through Moore’s Law – Bob Welland Vintage Computer Federation 2023-12-09 | A presentation at Vintage Computer Festival West — August 5 2023 Please consider the creation and preservation of presentations like this one by donating to Vintage Computer Federation, which is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. vcfed.org/donate
