Episode 132 - The PDP-1

Advent of Computing

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محتوای ارائه شده توسط Sean S Haas and Sean Haas. تمام محتوای پادکست شامل قسمت‌ها، گرافیک‌ها و توضیحات پادکست مستقیماً توسط Sean S Haas and Sean Haas یا شریک پلتفرم پادکست آن‌ها آپلود و ارائه می‌شوند. اگر فکر می‌کنید شخصی بدون اجازه شما از اثر دارای حق نسخه‌برداری شما استفاده می‌کند، می‌توانید روندی که در اینجا شرح داده شده است را دنبال کنید.https://fa.player.fm/legal

Species Unite

1
Jeff Kerr: Our First Amendment Right to Receive Communications (from Monkeys) 30:14

12 روز پیش30:14

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دوست داشته شد

30:14

"It is a scientific fact that these macaques, like all other primates, including humans, are communicating. They communicate in much the same way we do - facial expressions, vocalizations, body postures, those kinds of things." - Jeff Kerr Jeff Kerr is PETA foundations Chief Legal Officer. I asked him to come on the show to talk about one of PETA’s current lawsuits against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Nathional Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). PETA is arguing that the monkeys being tested on in a government run facility are capable of communication (or “are communicating”). And that we have a constitutional right under the First Amendment to receive their communications. This could be a game changer in allowing us to see what’s really going on in labs that are funded by taxpayer money, and which have so far been censored from public view. PETA’s lawsuit follows years of NIH’s attempts to deny Freedom of Information requests banning PETA executives from its campus and illegally censoring animal advocates’ speech on NIH’s public social media pages. Through the lawsuit, PETA is seeking a live audio-visual feed to see and hear real-time communications from the macaques who have been kept isolated, used in fear experiments, and had posts cemented into their heads. Anthropologists and other scientists have studied macaque and other primate communications for decades and know that the monkeys communicate effectively and intentionally through lip smacking, fear grimaces, body language, and various cries and sounds—all of which constitute speech under the law. Primatologists can analyze that speech on a deeper level to share their stories with the world.…

حدود یک سال پیش 1:15:43

MP3•خانه قسمت

Selected sources:

https://americanhistory.si.edu/comphist/olsen.html - Smithsonian interview with Ken Olsen

https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf - Computing in the Middle Ages

https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decBooksBeng_37322315 - Computer Egnineerling, Bell et al.

172 قسمت

#Tech #History #Sean S Haas #Sean Haas #Computer

Advent of Computing

Episode 132 - The PDP-1

Advent of Computing

49 subscribers

published حدود یک سال پیش

اشتراک گذاری

MP3•خانه قسمت

Selected sources:

https://americanhistory.si.edu/comphist/olsen.html - Smithsonian interview with Ken Olsen

https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf - Computing in the Middle Ages

https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decBooksBeng_37322315 - Computer Egnineerling, Bell et al.

172 قسمت

#Tech #History #Sean S Haas #Sean Haas #Computer

همه قسمت ها

Advent of Computing

1
Episode 158 - INTERCAL RIDES AGAIN - Restoring a Lost Compiler 1:08:22

۹ روز پیش1:08:22

1:08:22

In 1973 the world caught it's first glimpse of INTERCAL. It's a wild and wacky language, somewhere between comedy and cutting satire. But the compiler was never circulated. There would be later implementations, but that original compiler remained lost to time. That is, until now. This episode covers how the original source code was found, and my attempt to get it up and running. Get the source code for INTERCAL72 here: https://github.com/rottytooth/INTERCAL72/ Read the original INTERCAL manual: https://3e8.org/pub/intercal.pdf…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 157 - Only S1 Users Will Survive! 1:04:40

30 روز پیش1:04:40

1:04:40

The S1 operating system can do it all! It can run on any computer, read any disk, and execute any software. It can be UNIX compatible, DOS compatible, and so, so much more! But... can S1 ship? Today we are talking about an operating system that sounds too good to be true. Is it another example of vaporware? Or is S1 really the world's most sophisticated operating system?…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 156 - RPG, a Different Paradigm? 1:04:10

۶ weeks پیش1:04:10

1:04:10

How do you make a computer act less like a computer? It sounds like some kind of riddle, but in the early 1960s it was an actual problem. As IBM customers transitioned from tabulators to computers they ran into all sorts of practical issues. Programmers became a hot commodity. But how do you find a programmer in 1959? And how can you even afford such a luxury? Wouldn't it be better if you could just use your new computer as a tabulator? Well, with RPG, all that and more was possible.…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 155 - LINC 58:21

۸ weeks پیش58:21

58:21

In the early 1960s a neat little machine came out of MIT. Well, kind of MIT. The machine was called LINC. It was small, flexible, and designed to live in laboratories. Some have called it the first personal computer. But, is that true? Does it have some secret that will unseat my beloved LGP-30? And how does DEC fit into the picture?…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 154 - ACTing Up 1:20:48

10 weeks پیش1:20:48

1:20:48

The LGP-30 is one of my favorite computers. It's small, scrappy, strange, and wonderous. Among its many wonders are two obscure languages: ACT-I and ACT-III. In this episode we are exploring the ACTS, how the LGP-30 was programmed in practice, and why I've been losing sleep for the last few weeks.

Advent of Computing

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Episode 153 - The Keypact Mystery 55:07

12 weeks پیش55:07

55:07

When I was down at VCF SoCal I ran into a strange machine: the Keypact Micro-VIP. It's a terminal without a keyboard, covered in dials, with a speaker and a switch labeled "voice". This chance encounter with the unknown sent me down a wild path. It involved the creeping spread of computing, chicken feed, door to door life insurance salesmen, and at least one early hacker.…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 152 - LIVE at VCF - Reviving Retro Panel 1:00:06

14 weeks پیش1:00:06

1:00:06

A special treat from VCF SoCal. While visiting I had the chance to host a panel on restoration and preservation. I was joined by: David from Usagi Electric ( https://www.youtube.com/@UsagiElectric) Rob from Souther Amis ( https://www.southernamis.com/) Jim, Former Executive Director Computer Museum of America ( https://computerhalloffame.org/home/about/)…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 151 - The Friden Flexowriter 1:00:33

18 weeks پیش1:00:33

1:00:33

Have you ever looked at an old computer and seen a weird typewriter thing tacked on? In most cases that's a device called a Flexowriter. It's half electric typewriter, half teleprinter, half tape reader, and all business! This episode we are chronicling the rise, fall, and weird business dealings of the Flexowriter.…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 150 - Starting Windows Up 1:05:06

20 weeks پیش1:05:06

1:05:06

In the modern day Windows is a power house, but that wasn't always the case. In this episode we are looking at the fraught development of Windows 1.0. During development it was called vaporware, it was panned in the press, roasted at at least one trade show, and even called... "eclectic". Through it all a vision in lime green would take form.…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 149 - IDRIS Is Not UNIX 58:47

22 weeks پیش58:47

58:47

This episode we are taking a trip back to UNIX world. We're looking at IDRIS, the first clone of UNIX. It was supposed to be highly compatible, but use no code from Bell Labs. IDRIS ran on everything from the Intel 8080 up to the IBM System/370. There was even a version that could run MS-DOS programs. Sound too good to be true? Well, that may be the case. Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/aquartercenturyofunixpeterh.salus_201910/page/n196/mode/1up - A Quarter Century of UNIX https://github.com/hansake/Whitesmiths-Idris-OS - Co-Idris disk images and executables…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 148 - Is BLISS Ignorance? 1:03:21

24 weeks پیش1:03:21

1:03:21

In 1970 a little language called BLISS emerged from Carnegie Mellon University. It was a systems language, meant for operating systems and compilers. It was designed, in part, as a response to Dijkstra's famous Go To Considered Harmful paper. It had no data types. It used the most bizzare form of the pointer I've ever seen. And it was a direct competitor to C. Sound interesting, yet? Selected Sources: https://bitsavers.computerhistory.org/pdf/dec/decus/pdp10/DECUS-10-118-PartII_BlissReadings_Dec71.pdf - Readings on BLISS https://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/cs257/archive/ronald-brender/bliss.pdf - A History of BLISS…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 147 - Molecular Electronic Computer 54:48

26 weeks پیش54:48

54:48

In 1961 Texas Instruments unveiled the Molecular Electronic Computer, aka: Mol-E-Com. It was a machine that fit in the palm of your hand, but had all the power of a much larger computer. This was in an age of hefty machines, which made the achievement all the more marvelous. How was this even possible? It was all thanks to the wonders of molecular electronics, and a boat load of funding from the US Air Force. Selected Sources: https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071831/http://corphist.computerhistory.org/corphist/documents/doc-496d289787271.pdf - Invention of the Integrated Circuit, Kilby https://archive.org/details/DTIC_AD0411614/page/n15/mode/2up - Investigation of Silicon Functional Blocks, TI https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0273850.pdf - Silicon Semiconductor Networks, TI…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 146 - The Z4 58:00

28 weeks پیش58:00

58:00

The Z4, completed by Konrad Zuse in 1945, is a computer with a wild story. It was made from scrounged parts, survived years of bombing raids, moved all around Berlin, and eventually took refuge in basements and stables. In this episode we will follow the Z4's early days, and look at how it fits into the larger picture of Zuse's work. Along the way there is looting, rumors, and even... IBM! Selected Sources: The Computer, My Life - Konrad Zuse's autobiography https://web.archive.org/web/20090220012346/http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/370000/361515/p678-bauer.pdf?key1=361515&key2=3342588511&coll=&dl=acm&CFID=15151515&CFTOKEN=6184618 - Plankalkul, F.L. Bauer and H. Wossner https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9787324 - Architecture of the Z4, Rojas…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 145 - Zuse's Mysterious Machines 1:00:39

30 weeks پیش1:00:39

1:00:39

In 1933 Konrad Zuse, a German civil engineer, caught the computing bug. It would consume the rest of his life. According Zuse he invented the world's first digital computer during WWII, working in near total isolation within the Third Reich. How true is this claim? Today we are looking at Zuse's early machines, the Z1, Z2, and Z3. Selected Sources: The Computer -- My Life, by Konrad Zuse https://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.1886 - Z1 Architecture paper by Rojas https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/85.707574 - Z3... Turing Complete? also by Rojas…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 144 - RABBITS 21:20

32 weeks پیش21:20

21:20

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Advent of Computing

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Episode 143 - The Haunted Hard Drive 21:42

33 weeks پیش21:42

21:42

Have you ever felt like a computer just refuses to work? Like a machine has a mind of it's own? In 1970 a hard drive at the National Farmers Union Corp. office decided to do just that. That year it started crashing for apparently no reason. It would take 2 years and 56 crashes to sort out the problem. The ultimate solution would leave more questions than answers. Was the hard drive haunted? Or was something else at play? Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/computercrime0000mckn/page/98/mode/2up - Computer Crime https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1972-08-02_6_31/mode/1up?view=theater - Computer World article…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 142 - OS and JEDGAR 19:10

34 weeks پیش19:10

19:10

This time we are diving back into the Jargon File to take a look at some hacker folklore. Back in the day hackers at MIT spent their time spying on one another's terminals. That is, until some intrepid programmer found a way to fight back. Selected Sources: http://www.catb.org/esr/jargon/html/os-and-jedgar.html - OS and JEDGAR https://github.com/PDP-10/its - ITS restoration project…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 141 - Computer Ruins Grocer 18:36

35 weeks پیش18:36

18:36

In 1962 Food Center Wholesale Grocers Inc installed a new IBM 305 RAMAC. That's when things started to go wrong. The faulty machine seemed to have a mind of it's own, and would spread chaos to grocery stores all around Boston. Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/computerinsecuri0000norm - Computer Insecurity https://bitsavers.computerhistory.org/magazines/Computers_And_Automation/196805.pdf - Computers and Automation article https://archive.org/embed/sim_computerworld_january-01-08-1969_3_1 - Computerworld…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 140 - Assembling Code 1:03:46

36 weeks پیش1:03:46

1:03:46

Programming, as a practice and study, has been steadily evolving for the past 70 or so years. Over the languages have become more sophisticated and user friendly. New tools have been developed that make programming easier and better. But what was that first step? When exactly did programmers start trying to improve their lot in life? It probably all started with assembly language. Well, probably… Selected Sources: https://albert.ias.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d47626a1-c739-4445-b0d7-cc3ef692d381/content - Coding for ARC https://sci-hub.se/10.1088/0950-7671/26/12/301 - The EDSAC http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf//ibm/periodicals/Applied_Sci_Tech_Newsletter/Appl_Sci_Tech_Newsletter_10_Oct55.pdf - IBM Applied Sci Tech Newsletter…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 139 - HUTSPIEL 1:06:25

38 weeks پیش1:06:25

1:06:25

The early history of computer games is messy, weird, and surprising. This episode we are looking at HUTSPIEL, perhaps one of the oldest games ever played on a computer. It's a wargame developed to simulate nuclear conflict... and it's 100% analog. Join us as we find out just what tax dollars were being used for in 1955. Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/hutspiel-a-theater-war-game - The HUTSPIEL paper…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 138 - Type-It-Yourself 1:03:15

40 weeks پیش1:03:15

1:03:15

I'm finally back to my usual programming! This time we are taking one of my patent pending rambles through a topics. Today's victim: the humble type-in program. Along the way we will see how traditions formed around early type-in software, and how the practice shifted over time. Was this just a handy way to distribute code? Was this just an educational trick? The answers are more complex than you may first imagine. Selected Sources: https://s3data.computerhistory.org/pdp-1/DEC.pdp_1.1964.102650371.pdf - LISP for the PDP-1 https://archive.org/details/DigiBarnPeoplesComputerCompanyVol1No1Oct1972 - PCC Issue #1 https://archive.org/details/Whattodoafteryouhitreturn - What To Do After You Hit Return…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 137 - Edge Notched LIVE 52:33

42 weeks پیش52:33

52:33

LIVE from VCF West 2024, my talk on edge notched cards! Since this is a live recording from an auditorium the audio is a little boomy, so be warned. Actually, I'm pretty sure this is the same space that CHM uses for some of their oral histories. What I have today is just the audio component. VCF will be posting a full video eventually, which I'll be sure to pass around.…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 136.5 - Data Center Disaster 18:08

44 weeks پیش18:08

18:08

I've gotten busy preparing for VCF West, so this time you get a short one! In this byte-sized episode we are looking at a short and strange story: that time a plane struck a software company, and the company turned around and used the crash in their own ads.

Advent of Computing

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Episode 136 - Getting On TRAC 1:14:40

46 weeks پیش1:14:40

1:14:40

Have you ever formed a bad first impression? Way back when I formed a hasty impression of this language called TRAC. It's been called a proto-esoteric language, and for good reason. It's outlandish, complex, and confounding. But, after the urging of some listeners, I've decided to give TRAC a second look. What I've found is, perhaps, more confusing than I ever imagined. This episode we are looking at the wild history of TRAC, how it actually pioneered some good ideas, and why it feels so alien. Selected Sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/800197.806048 - 1965 TRAC paper https://github.com/gmilmei/trac64 - TRAC64 processor in "modern" C https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/365230.365270 - 1966 TRAC paper, with more code!…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 135 - XENIX 1:07:04

48 weeks پیش1:07:04

1:07:04

In 1984 SCO released PC XENIX, a port of UNIX that ran on an IBM PC. To understand why that's such a technical feat, and how we even got here, we have to go back to the late 1970s. In this episode we are taking a look at how Microsoft got into the UNIX game, and how they repeatedly struggled to make micro-UNIX work for them. Along the way we run into vaporware, conspiracy, and the expected missing sources!…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 134 - Beyond the Punch 1:04:10

50 weeks پیش1:04:10

1:04:10

This episode I'm opening up my research vault to present some interesting pre-digital technology. Back before computers us humans used to write everything down on paper. Over time that lead to some organizational issues. By 1890 punch cards show up to solve one aspect of this problem, but that technology had it's limitations. We will be looking at other paper-based approaches to data management, as I slowly try and explain a realization I've come to about the early history of hypertext.…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 133 - LIVE from Intelligent Speech 2023 41:15

1 year پیش41:15

41:15

I'm currently out traveling. Due to my poor planning I managed to score back to back trips, for both business and leisure. While I'm not able to get an episode out on time, I do have a replacement! In 2023 I was invited to speak at the Intelligent Speech conference. So, today, I present the audio of that talk. The topic is, of course, the wild path of the Intel 8086's creation and rise to power! If you prefer to watch, here's the video of the same talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ud8LK3-eAM…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 132 - The PDP-1 1:15:43

1 year پیش1:15:43

1:15:43

In 1959 the world bore witness to a new type of computer: the PDP-1. It was the first interactive computer to really make a dent in the market. Some say it was the first minicomputer: a totally new class of machine. But where did this computer come from, and what made it so different from the rest of the digital pack? Selected sources: https://americanhistory.si.edu/comphist/olsen.html - Smithsonian interview with Ken Olsen https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf - Computing in the Middle Ages https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decBooksBeng_37322315 - Computer Egnineerling, Bell et al.…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 131 - Computer... Books? 1:03:05

1 year پیش1:03:05

1:03:05

I've been feeling like rambling, so it's time for a classic ramble. This time we are looking at the origins of books about computers. More specifically, computer books targeted at a general audience. Along the way we stumble into the first public disclosure of digital computers, the first intentionally unimportant machine, and wild speculation about the future of mechanical brains. No sources listed this time, because I want the journey to be a surprise!…

Advent of Computing

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Episode 130 - ALGOL, Part II 1:15:32

1 year پیش1:15:32

1:15:32

This is a hefty one. I usually try to keep things as accessible as possible, but this time we have to get a little more technical than usual. We are picking up in 1964, with the first proposals for a new version of ALGOL. From there we sail through the fraught waters of ALGOL X, Y, W, and finally 68. Along the way we see how a language evolves over time, and how people and politics mesh with technical issues. Selected Sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/1061112.1061118 - Successes and Failures of the ALGOL Effort https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/MAHC.2010.8 - Cold War Origins of IFIP https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/algol/algol_bulletin/ - The ALGOL Bulletin…

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