Blast from the Past: I'm a longtime Atari Enthusiast.

This photo is a reminder of when when home computing was in its infancy, a realm of excitement and endless possibilities.

The vibrant red backdrop of the Atari banner sets the stage for the photo of this part of my collection. The logo is a symbol of innovation and the golden age of gaming and home computers.

Front and center, the Atari 130XE computer proudly displays its sleek, grey casing, ready to boot up classic games and educational software. Beside it, the Atari 1050 disk drive, a technological marvel in its day, hints at hours spent loading programs from floppy disks. An Atari 1010 cassette drive sits alongside the 1050 (now we're really talking about hours). Next to it is the Atari 1027 letter quality printer. The iconic Atari Touch Tablet, an early foray into touch-screen technology, lies to the right, inviting creative exploration.

A joystick, its red button poised for action, rests near the keyboard, hinting at countless battles fought in pixelated worlds.

Yeah, I'm a passionate Atari enthusiast, and I've happily preserved these relics of computing history. Countless hours were spent exploring virtual landscapes, writing my first lines of code, and creating digital art on the touch tablet.

It's a snapshot of a bygone era, a reminder of the technological leaps that paved the way for the modern computing world. It evokes a sense of nostalgia in me, reminding me of the joy and wonder of early home computing experiences. This photo is my affirmation of the enduring legacy of Atari and its groundbreaking technology.

#retrocomputing #atari

36 minutes ago

The Surprising Connection Between Atari Serial Ports and Modern-Day USB

Do you remember the iconic Atari computers from the 80s? They were revolutionary for their time and paved the way for modern-day computing. However, did you know that there’s a surprising connection between the Atari serial port and the ubiquitous USB ports we use today?

Back in the day, Atari computers used a serial port called SIO (Serial Input/Output) to connect to peripherals like floppy disk drives, modems, and printers. The port itself was called the “Serial Port', but I'm sticking to referring to the whole  system as "The SIO” for convenience.  

The SIO port was designed by Joe Decuir, a brilliant engineer who played a pivotal role in shaping the world of personal computing.  Unlike other systems at the time, the SIO was “smart" and could recognize various peripherals daisy-chained together to the computer.

With a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, Joe Decuir was a principle engineer at Atari from 1975 through 1978. While he worked at Atari, he helped design the Atari 2600, and of course, he developed the serial input/output system for the Atari 400 and Atari 800 computers. Following his years at Atari, he worked for Amiga Corporation, where he helped design the Amiga computer - and then for companies such as Apple, Silicon Graphics, and Hewlett-Packard.

So, let's jump to the 1990s when a group of companies, such as Intel, Microsoft, and IBM, were working together to develop a new standard for connecting peripherals to computers. The goal was to create a technology that was faster, more flexible, and easier to use than the existing serial and parallel ports. The result was the Universal Serial Bus, or USB, which is now an industry-standard interface used by billions of devices worldwide.

But what does this have to do with the Atari serial port? Well, it turns out that the design of the USB protocol was heavily influenced by Joe Decuir’s work on the SIO port. In fact, Decuir is often credited as a major contributor to the development of USB.

As mentioned previously, the SIO port was way ahead of its time and provided many of the same features that we now take for granted with USB, such as plug-and-play connectivity and support for a wide range of peripherals. It even had its own version of a device driver model, allowing peripherals to be automatically recognized and configured by the computer. In many cases, this meant that the peripherals themselves had to be smart, to communicate with the computer; generally using a MOS 6507 chip and associated coding.

In conclusion, the Atari serial port played a crucial role in shaping the world of computing as we know it today. So the next time you plug in a USB device, remember that you owe a debt of gratitude to the groundbreaking work of Joe Decuir and the Atari SIO port.

The lack of interaction is too damn high.

A long downward spiral

It started out pretty well

I have been online since the early days of personal computing. My 8-bit Atari computers and my 300 baud acoustically coupled Atari 830 modem spent way too many nights and weekends linked up to The Source, Dow Jones Information Service, and assorted early BBS systems. I later progressed to CompuServe and GEnie, and NNTP newsgroups.  Eventually, I ended up on the web in the early 90s. These were the good years, where I actually had fun most of the time that I was online, and contributed to the fun being had by others - with my own work, not just sharing something funny that had been posted elsewhere.

I realize that it is me

I have had social issues for a long time.  They were exacerbated by my time in the Coast Guard, and really came to a head during my tours onboard polar icebreakers, where I'd be cooped up with people for many months in the Arctic

USCGC Polar Star - from Wikipedia

and Antarctic, with no way to escape. However, in the eighties, I was still attempting to look normal.  Once the nineties arrived I'd pretty much given up all pretense of being normal socially, and most of my interaction with other people came through various online outlets.

This was reflected in my online life, I think.

The 1980s

In the eighties, everything was pretty carefree all over the place. Lots of jokes and discussions about everything under the sun.  As I mentioned earlier, these were the 'good' years. Computers and online communications were new to all of us. We could carry on conversations for months, sometimes after not having seen the other person for weeks. There was very little trolling that wasn't obviously meant as fun, and everything was good natured and laid back. 

The 1990s

The nineties were still pretty busy. Nowhere near as much in the way of lighthearted banter though.  This was the Clinton era, and the 2000 Presidential campaign.  There was a lot of communication with other people, but it was generally pretty serious, if not downright acrimonious. 

Democratic Underground

The 2000s

The Bush administration, 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still a lot of back and forth, but I was noticing changes. I was on a lot of online forums, since the newsgroups were dying down.  Things were OK, but I noticed big changes even then.  As the years progressed, it was harder to get actual responses to posts on places like Democratic Underground. Other people had great 'fan clubs' - they'd routinely get hundreds of replies to their posts, and people wondered where they had gone to when they were offline for a while.  I might get three to fifteen replies to my posts, and when I was gone and then came back, I'd be lucky to get an "Oh, I think I remember you." - even though I'd been a member since 2001 - almost the beginning. I pretty much stopped posting to all forums around 2007 through 2008.

The 2010s

Most of my attempts to deal with people, other than going to the store and having someone ask me a question, are done through various online avenues. I have this blog, and the one I use for my online store, The Wits' End. There is Facebook, of course.  I have to admit that I've never really liked Facebook very much and only hang

The Wits' End

around there because that's where my wife and kids (along with a family member or two on the wife's side) hang out. There are also members of the local Atheist group, and some retro computer related groups that I enjoy.  But I only have about 70-80 'friends' on Facebook, after having been on it for many, many years.

Social networks like Google+ and Twitter

Google+ and Twitter are different matters. I have two different Twitter accounts.  One for me personally, and one for The Wits End. Each of the two accounts have approximately 1,500 followers. My Google+ profile shows me that I currently have 1,732 followers. This sounds pretty good I suppose, but it's not really as impressive as a person would think. I have run tests on Twitter over the years, asking questions, saying controversial things, asking for help with something, replying to conversations being conducted and more.  I have never received a reply to one of my own posts that didn't involve a link to a page from someone else. I have had a few comments from a couple of individuals relating to the atheist related items in my online store and Etsy shop, so there is that I suppose.  I do; however, get loads of likes (well, favorites now) and the occasional retweet, so I do know that people are seeing things.

Google+ is a little better.  I do, in general get a little more interaction.  Nothing spectacular, but I enjoy it because it's the place where I actually feel like a human being that someone wants to communicate with.  My original posts look pretty sad compared to other people - there are a number of people I interact that have a quarter of the number of followers and yet they have five to six times the number of views on their posts.  About 20 percent of my posts probably get a reply.  On the average, those that do get a reply, get about one to three of them.  I look at the streams of friends and see that they're getting three or more replies on almost all of their posts. 

The blogs

Then there are the blogs. I've had this one for many years - July of 2008 was my first post. The other one, which is for my  online store - The Wits' End since July of 2015. While I will be the first to admit that I am not exactly a great blogger, it always seems strange to me that I don't get any sort of interaction on them at all, even when some of the posts might get fifty views in a day, and many hundreds of views overall. If I remember correctly, when you don't count the comments that originate on Google+ (and there have only been three instances of those), I've only had one comment on my blogs, and that was a SPAM comment.

The stores

Between my Etsy shop and the online store, I have receive many tens of thousands of likes, retweets, pluses and favorites on the items that I make and sell; these would be through Etsy, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. Those thousands of assorted likes and retweets in a month result in about ten to fifteen sales for that month, but that's a different matter.

So why am I posting this?

That's a good question. I don't really know, to be honest.  Judging from the very things that I have been talking about, I am unlikely to get any sort of reply. However, even with that knowledge, I'm hoping to buck the odds and get some insight from people into what I might be doing wrong, and what steps I can take to change direction.

13149 days ago, I purchased my first computer.

This is four days old now, so technically, it was 13153 days ago.

New: When Gamers Were Made of Iron, and Consoles Were Made Of Wood - Atari VCS tee

This shirt is 20% off for a limited time.

OK, made of plastic meant to resemble wood - but really - stop being so technical , it was meant as a humorous comment on the ancientnousositiness (that's an official caveperson word) of the Atari Video Computer System. You can get it here.

The design; however, is apparently made of stone and wood.

A little bit about the shirts

All shirts are hand screened and are printed on demand. This shirt will generally be screened, heat set, and shipped within one to three business days of your order.

At the moment, the shirts are sourced locally; and we attempt to use Gildans or Jerzees for the heavyweight 100% cotton ones; however, we will also use heavy weight 100% cotton Hanes or Fruit of the Loom tees if that is all that is available in a particular size. You can also request Hanes Comfortsoft cotton/poly blend tees (the hues will sometimes be slightly different on these).

We can accept special requests; if you want a different color or type of shirt or ink, if you'd like the graphic (when applicable) to be a different color than the text, we'll be happy to work with you, just send us a note and let us know.

For special orders, please understand that since we currently source our tees locally, we can't guarantee the availability of a particular color in all sizes. This is normally only a problem in sizes larger than XL. In addition, for the women's fitted shirts, we currently have no control over whether the shirt will be scoop neck or v-neck. Contact us and we'll do everything we can to get you the shirt you actually desire.

Bulk Buying Options

single $12.79
2 up to 3 $12.39 per item
4 up to 6 $11.99 per item
7 up to 10 $11.59 per item
11 up to 20 $10.39 per item

http://thewitsend.aliboom.com/When_Gamers_Were_Made_of_Iron_-_Atari_VCS_tee/p3224001_14232941.aspx

New: Start, Select, Option, System Reset - Atari 8-bit tee

Function keys? We had them way before the IBM PC Compatibles

Introductory price of $12.99 - coupon codes still apply.

So, what is this shirt about?

This shirt shows the four function keys on the Atari 8-bit computers, and those computers are listed in the bars meant to represent the "safety" on the 800, which helped keep you from accidentally pressing the System Reset button. The function keys were programmable and assigned various uses in different programs.

This shirt is available in a variety of color combinations, and you can request your own.

The basic design

Here's a close up of the bars.

Some details on the shirts

All shirts are hand screened and are printed on demand. This shirt will generally be screened, heat set, and shipped within one to three business days of your order. 

At the moment, the shirts are sourced locally; and we attempt to use Gildans or Jerzees for the heavyweight 100% cotton ones; however, we will also use heavy weight 100% cotton Hanes or Fruit of the Loom tees if that is all that is available in a particular size. You can also request Hanes Comfortsoft cotton/poly blend tees (the hues will sometimes be slightly different on these).  

We can accept special requests; if you want a different color or type of shirt or ink, if you'd like the graphic (when applicable) to be a different color than the text, we'll be happy to work with you, just send us a note and let us know. 

For special orders, please understand that since we currently source our tees locally, we can't guarantee the availability of a particular color in all sizes. This is normally only a problem in sizes larger than XL. In addition, for the women's fitted shirts, we currently have no control over whether the shirt will be scoop neck or v-neck. Contact us and we'll do everything we can to get you the shirt you actually desire.

Bulk Buying Options
single		$12.79
2 up to 3		$12.39	per item
4 up to 6		$11.99	per item
7 up to 10		$11.59	per item
11 up to 20		$10.39	per item

http://thewitsend.aliboom.com/Start,_Select,_Option,_System_Reset_-_Atari_8-bit_tee/p3224001_14211635.aspx

New: I still remember my first! (with heart) Atari tees Colleen/Candy/Stella/Pam

Are you an Atari fan?  What was your first experience with Atari hardware?  If it was the Atari 400, Atari 800, Atari VCS or the Atari 5200, we have a shirt for you.

So what is this all about?

For those that aren't aware, these were the project code names for these products.  The names were derived from certain well endowed Atari employees (yeah, we won't get in to that whole bicycle thing).

Stella was the Atari VCS

The video computer system would later be redesigned and marketed as the 2600.

Pam was the Atari 5200

The 5200 was Atari's next generation console, following up on the VCS.

Candy was the Atari 400 computer

Colleen was the Atari 800 computer

Some information on the shirts

All shirts are hand screened and are printed on demand. This shirt will generally be screened, heat set, and shipped within one to three business days of your order. 

At the moment, the shirts are sourced locally; and we attempt to use Gildans or Jerzees for the heavyweight 100% cotton ones; however, we will also use heavy weight 100% cotton Hanes or Fruit of the Loom tees if that is all that is available in a particular size. You can also request Hanes Comfortsoft cotton/poly blend tees (the hues will sometimes be slightly different on these).  

We can accept special requests; if you want a different color or type of shirt or ink, if you'd like the graphic (when applicable) to be a different color than the text, we'll be happy to work with you, just send us a note and let us know. 

For special orders, please understand that since we currently source our tees locally, we can't guarantee the availability of a particular color in all sizes. This is normally only a problem in sizes larger than XL. In addition, for the women's fitted shirts, we currently have no control over whether the shirt will be scoop neck or v-neck. Contact us and we'll do everything we can to get you the shirt you actually desire.

Bulk Buying Options

single $15.99

2 up to 3 $15.49 per item

4 up to 6 $14.99 per item

7 up to 10 $14.49 per item

11 up to 20 $12.99 per item

http://thewitsend.aliboom.com/I_Still_Remember_My_First_-_Atari_tee_-_ColleenCandyStellaPam/p3224001_14196762.aspx

Lots of new items in the store

The process of transferring items from the Etsy shop over to our new online store continues.  In addition, there are a number of items unique to the store.

We'd love to have you stop on by, visit us at http://thewitsend.aliboom.com.

Have any questions, comments, or requests for designs?  Just leave a comment.

Here are just a few of the most recently added items:

Perfect for both secular and intact friendly familes

This one is mixed case

Note this is all upper-case

Modula-2 is awesome

That would be Werner, not Walt

Their consoles were great, but their computers were awesome

A little play on words

New Atari computer shirt up in the shop

Many people are not aware of it, but Atari was a major player in the computer market for many years. Starting with the 400 and 800, on up through the ST, TT and the Falcon; they put out an impressive selection of quality gear.

I have been using Atari computers since 1979 (and I still use them to this day).  Invariably though, if I mention that I like Atari, people assume that I am talking about their gaming consoles (I never even owned one of those until the late 90's).

Today, I put a new Atari related shirt up in the shop.  It's a generic "I heart" tee.

I heart Atari Computers tee

You can get one at I heart Atari Computers tee at The Wits End.

New item: MOS Technology MOS 6502 tee

Are you a fan of the MOS Technology 6502 or one of the many variants? Atari, Apple, Commodore and many others used this chip in their 8-bit computers. It was also used by consoles such as the Atari 2600 and Nintendo's NES.

I cut my teeth on variants of the 6502. I well remember poking code into page 6 to add machine code to my Atari 8K BASIC programs.  I still have some of my Atari Macro Assembler programs floating around on cassette and 5.25" floppies.

This design is currently on sale for 25% off of the regular price.  It's only $11.99 and bulk discounts are available.  Check it out at:
http://thewitsend.aliboom.com/MOS_6502_tee/p3224001_13871179.aspx

You can also request a special order, if you desire your own color of shirt and ink.

First sale at the new online store. Yay me!

Just had my first sale at http://thewitsend.aliboom.com! Technically, it is the second sale; however, the other one was handled via email and phone call and doesn't register as a sale in the records on the site.

The sale is significant to me (thanks Herb!), because I'm actually paying for a storefront, and I want to make sure that I am at least getting that money back.  Being on a fixed income, I want to be able to show my wife that opening an actual store (as opposed to our shop on Etsy) was a good decision.

This is the item that was sold:

Atari 8-bit 'Ready' prompt tee

I sure would like to figure out the pattern.

Running an Etsy shop is interesting. I do screen printed tee shirts and onesies, and I never know, from month to month, how things are going to go.

Take February, for example. It was one of my best months ever, it tied December, which had all of the Christmas sales. Yet that was only through the 24th.

Then take March, which at the moment, is the worst month I've had since the very first month that the shop was open. I had one sale between February 25th and March 8th, when I would normally have  had something in the range of 10-15 (the beginning of the month is when I get the majority of my sales.

I have tweeted one of the shirts and have gotten four sales off of that tweet. Two days ago, I tweeted the same shirt, the tweet got over thirty favorites and was retweeted twenty-six times; to a potential audience of over 165,000 people (yes, I know, the audience is not really anywhere near that big) and not a single sale. I would have been thrilled to get 1/100th of one percent of that audience!

A little while ago, I was doing a brisk business in Atari related shirts. I decided to run a sale, which would have really given people an excellent break on the price. That was a bad move; I have not had a single sale on Atari related shirts in a month and a half now, ever since the day the sale started.

I'm really just curious about how this all works. I love that people like my items, and buy them. However, being on a fixed income, I also look forward to the sales to help me stretch my money through the month. Understanding how it works would help ease my stress.

New sections up in the shop

In order to make it easier to find things as our inventory of designs grow, we have started putting sections up in the shop:

For tees related to atheism, visit View Atheism.

Example from the Atheist section.

For tees related to Atari computers, visit View Atari.

Example from the Atari section.

For tees related to the military (with a liberal bent), visit View Military. There are quite a few new shirts up in this section.

Example from the Military section.

All of the other tees are currently uncategorized.  There are also sections for onesies, tote bags, bumper stickers, etc..

Atari related items on sale at The Wits End

Just wanted to let everyone know that my shop is having a sale on all Atari related items from midnight (I'm in the Central timezone, GMT -6) tonight through the end of Friday. This includes shirts related to the Atari 8-bits, Atari ST/TT/Falcon, programming, Zork, MOS 6502, etc. The tees will be $11.99 each (there's also a buy 3, get one free option). Coupon codes also still apply. You might give FUJINUTS a try for 20% off.
https://thewitsend.etsy.com

New Atari ST related shirt available in the shop.

There is  a new Atari ST shirt up in my Etsy shop.  It features the busy bee mouse cursor and the "Power Without the Price" slogan.