Advent of Computing

Make sure you have some extra batteries for your lamp, this episode we are delving into the depths of Zork. Written in 1977 Zork would quickly become the epitome of text based adventures, pushing aside all competitors. A lot of this comes down to it's simple gameplay, and the simple fact that Zork is fun to play. But lurking deeper into the game is a hidden treasure. Ya see, the other huge part of Zork's success was it's portability. That was made possible thanks to some sick programming tricks, and a virtual computer called the Z-machine. Selected Sources: https://sci-hub.se/10.1109/MC.1979.1658697 - Early article from IEEE https://web.archive.org/web/20060427000213/http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/NZT/zorkhist.html - Tim Anderson's Zork history https://archive.org/details/a2woz_Zork_I_1981_Infocom_r75 - Go play Zork

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 ENIAC, a machine that's anything but modern.

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 an in-joke amongst hackers and computer nerds, but with the creation of viruses like Brain and VirDem we see them start to enter public awareness. Selected Sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/358198.358210 - Reflections on Trusting Trust http://web.archive.org/web/20060427081139/http://www.brain.net.pk/aboutus.htm - Brain Computing on Brain Virus https://archive.org/details/computervirusesh0000burg - Computer Viruses: A High-Tech Disease

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: https://archive.org/details/electrictelegrap00highrich/page/2/mode/2up - Early history of the electric telegraph http://www.samhallas.co.uk/repository/telegraph/b6_baudot_multiplex.pdf - 1934 pamphlet on the Baudot telegraph https://ia800708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/22/items/crossref-pre-1909-scholarly-works/10.1049%252Fjiee-1.1901.0058.zip&file=10.1049%252Fjiee-1.1905.0034.pdf - Murray's comprehensive article on telegraphy

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 hold? Did IBM crack some secret code to build such a tiny computer? https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/Gemini.html - Overview of the Gemini Guidance Computer https://history.nasa.gov/computers/ch1-1.html - Official NASA History https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/Documents/GeminiProgrammingManual.pdf - How the thing was programmed

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 topic. Selected sources: http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/10/102702231-05-01-acc.pdf - Lee Felsenstein, oral history at CHM http://www.leefelsenstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/I_Designed_the_Sol.pdf - Article about the Sol-20's design process http://www.leefelsenstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Felsenstein-Tabloid-BW.pdf - Tom Swift Lives! Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputing

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.leefelsenstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/TST_scan_150.pdf The Tom Swift Terminal, or a Convivial Cybernetic Device https://archive.org/details/levy-s-hackers-heroes-computer-revolution "Hackers", by Levy http://www.s100computers.com/Hardware%20Manuals/Processor%20Technology/VDM-1%20Manual.pdf VDM-1 manual

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 was extensively studied. Multiple experiments were carried out to test if FRESS, and hypertext in general, had a place in classrooms. Some useful sources from this episode: https://sci-hub.do/10.1162%2F109966299751940814 1999 paper on FRESS and hypertext in general by Andres van Dam https://archive.org/details/VanDamFinalReport1976 Final experimental report https://archive.org/details/AndyVanDamHypertextFilm Short film on the FRESS experiment

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 importantly for me, we will see is Grace Hopper should really be blamed for unleashing this beast onto mainframes. Selected Sources: https://archive.org/details/historyofprogram0000hist - History of Programming Languages, contains Sammet's account of CODASYL https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_codasylCOB_6843924/ - COBOL 60 Manual https://sci-hub.do/10.1016/0066-4138%2860%2990042-2 - FLOW-MATIC/MATH-MATIC usage paper