The Stray Pointers Podcast
Illustration copyright © 2023 by Rick J. Lundeen - Licensed to James K. Lawless
https://rickjlundeen.wordpress.com/
https://www.teepublic.com/user/rick-lundeen
Illustration copyright © 2023 by Rick J. Lundeen - Licensed to James K. Lawless
https://rickjlundeen.wordpress.com/
https://www.teepublic.com/user/rick-lundeen
Nov 14, 2024
Retrocomputing enthusiast Niels Haedecke joins the show. We talk about his telnet/SSH access Wintermute BBS, FidoNet, the RC2014 Z-80 CP/M computer and the telnet BBS he's running on it, the Forth programming language, and the My4th Computer.
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Niels' drivers for My4th are published here:
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The Wintermute BBS entry in the Telnet BBS Guide:
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The RC2014 BBS entry in the Telnet BBS Guide:
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You can follow Niels on Mastodon as @Wintermute_BBS@oldbytes.space
Nov 8, 2024
Jay Hannah joins the show to discuss his long-time use of the Perl programming language. We also discuss Jay's prominence in several Omaha-based programming groups including the Omaha chapter of the Perl Mongers.
Oct 30, 2024
Software engineers Juan Vazquez and Cameron Cunning join the show to discuss the Advent of Code, an annual programming competition that takes place every December through the 25th of the month.
Here's the code for Jim Lawless' Stray Pointers Leaderboard, if you'd like to join in the local competition with us:
1178690-6f8a271f
Oct 26, 2024
Daryn Richardon rejoins the show to discuss the 1910 axe murders in Villisca, Iowa and how the event tied to similar events in the same era. We discuss the book The Man from the Train: Discovering America's Most Elusive Serial Killer.
Sep 30, 2024
Horror novelist Angela Sylvaine rejoins the show to discuss her new novel "Chopping Spree." Angela and Jim exchange local horror-themed urban legend stories.
Jun 6, 2024
Software engineer and Commodore computing enthusiast Bo Zimmerman joins the show to talk about his history with Commodore gear, BBSing, his other computing projects, and his website.
May 16, 2024
Angela Sylvaine makes a return appearance on the show. We discuss her first novel, Frost Bite, as well as her newest book The Dead Spot : Stories of Lost Girls.
Apr 27, 2024
Traci Gorman and Alicia Retzlaff join the show to discuss their own podcast ... The TechnoGals !
The TechnoGals linktr.ee site:
The TechnoGals Spotify Podcast:
The TechnoGals on LinkedIn:
The TechnoGals YouTube Podcast:
Apr 19, 2024
Long-time computing innovator Jim Brain joins the show to discuss his journey through electronics, Commodore computers, TRS-80 Color Computers, and the evolution of his company Retro Innovations.
The Retro Innovations Store
The Retro Innovations Facebook Page
Apr 6, 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.
Mar 24, 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.
Mar 1, 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.
Feb 21, 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 provide a number of extended Internet capabilities to those machines.
Feb 14, 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.
Mastodon: @christine@ruby.social
NDC London 2020 - 2FA Talk
.Net Rocks Podcast (taped at NDC London)
One Does Not Simply Add MFA - YOW! 2022
Feb 3, 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.
The Synchronet wiki:
The home page for SyncTerm, the preferred client for telnet BBS's:
The Synchronet IRC server: irc.synchro.net
Rob's uncut interview with Jason Scott for the BBS Documentary:
Jan 18, 2024
Jeff Dunteman 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.
Jeff's Blog
The Latest Edition of X64 Assembly Language Step by Step
Jan 16, 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.
Jan 10, 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".
Dec 26, 2023
Rick joins the show for a look at the final episode of Doctor Who for 2023 ... "The Church on Ruby Road."
Dec 10, 2023
Rick Lundeen joins the podcast for a review of the final of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials ... "The Giggle"
Dec 3, 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.
Dec 1, 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 during its existence.
The Endless Forest was one of the first BBS's that could be accessed via telnet.
Nov 26, 2023
Rick Lundeen returns to the podcast to continue the 60 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.
Nov 21, 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.
Nov 12, 2023
My friends and fellow Whovians Rick Lundeen and Neil Welch join 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.
Nov 10, 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 Blog:
Lyz's Wallace and Gromit Fan Site:
The Official Ubuntu Book ( Matthew Helmke, Elizabeth K. Joseph, José Antonio Rey )
Common OpenStack Deployments: Real-World Examples for Systems Administrators and Engineers ( Elizabeth K. Joseph with Matt Fischer )
The Tux image used along with the episode is licensed via the Creative Commons License. The copyright holder of this file allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed. Redistribution, derivative work, commercial use, and all other use is permitted. Attribution: lewing@isc.tamu.edu Larry Ewing and The GIMP
Oct 25, 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.
Oct 22, 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.
Oct 20, 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."
Oct 18, 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.
Oct 9, 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.
Oct 5, 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.
Sep 29, 2023
Musician Ron Gablehouse discusses the inculcation of tech into the music that he writes and produces in his home studio.
Aug 25, 2023
Long-time computing professional and entrepreneur Randy Carson discusses his career path in Information Technology.
Aug 17, 2023
Illustrator / writer Rick Lundeen discusses comics, Doctor Who, and his various creations including 100 Covers, The Swede, Super Unicorn Mega Chop, Where Have All The Heroes Gone?, and Merlin and the Nuclear Engine. A Chat with Illustrator Rick Lundeen
Designs at Teepublic
Thing Is blog
Mickey & Maj: the Selfies
"Where Have All The Heroes Gone?"
Rick's Amazon Author Bio
Aug 3, 2023
Author Eric San Juan discusses his interests in writing, the 12 books he's written / co-authored, and other media projects. His books include discussions of Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, and TV series such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead.