Sign in

Arts
Technology
Jim Lawless
Stray Pointers is a podcast where seemingly ordinary people join us for extraordinary discussions. There are a lot of amazing people out there. I thought that it would be interesting to interview people accomplishing or having accomplished amazing things in a variety of subject areas including computing, BBS's, hacking, health care, music, comic books, writing, illustration, education, journalism, podcasting, startups, electronics, video games, astronomy, agriculture ... you name it. For more information about the podcast, please see Jim Lawless' Stray Pointers page at: https://straypointers.com Illustration is © 2023 by Rick J. Lundeen. Please visit Rick's sites : https://rickjlundeen.wordpress.com/ https://www.teepublic.com/user/rick-lundeen
Total 37 episodes
1
The Hosts of "ANTIC - The Atari 8-Bit Podcast" Join the Show

The Hosts of "ANTIC - The Atari 8-Bit Podcast" Join the Show

Brad Arnold, Randy Kindig, and Kay Savetz join the show to discuss their long-running podcast "ANTIC - The Atari 8-bit Podcast" ANTIC web site:  https://AtariPodcast.com  Kay’s BlueSky:  https://bsky.app/profile/savetz.bsky.social  Kay’s web site:  https://www.savetz.com/  Randy's Podcast (Floppy Days - Vintage Computing ) https://floppydays.libsyn.com/  Randy’s Twitter: @floppydays Randy’s Mastodon: @[email protected] ANTIC Discord:  https://discord.gg/XB5SpA9fuC  The list of Antic interview episodes: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1neIlWZQQYo_rdJO7XtcPrCtf_zgSquBzL9TA51Bocas/edit?usp=sharing  Book reference: "Endless Loop: The History of the BASIC Programming Language" https://amzn.to/40XWn3C  The BASIC 10-liner Games List https://gkanold.wixsite.com/homeputerium/games-list-2024   
41:1522/11/2024
Niels Haedecke discusses BBS software, Forth, and the RC2014 System

Niels Haedecke discusses BBS software, Forth, and the RC2014 System

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. Niels' GitLab Repo: https://gitlab.com/users/ufud-org/projects  Niels' drivers for My4th are published here: http://mynor.org/my4th_software.htm#uart  The Wintermute BBS entry in the Telnet BBS Guide: https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/wintermute-bbs/  The RC2014 BBS entry in the Telnet BBS Guide: https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/rc-box/  You can follow Niels on Mastodon as @[email protected]  
28:2214/11/2024
Discussing Perl with Jay Hannah

Discussing Perl with Jay Hannah

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. Jay's GitHub repo is here: https://github.com/jhannah    
37:5409/11/2024
Preparing for the 2024 Advent of Code programming competition with Juan Vazquez and Cameron Cunning

Preparing for the 2024 Advent of Code programming competition with Juan Vazquez and Cameron Cunning

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. Website for the Advent of Code competition: https://adventofcode.com/  Here's the code for Jim Lawless' Stray Pointers Leaderboard, if you'd like to join in the local competition with us: 1178690-6f8a271f
50:0630/10/2024
Discussing the Villisca Axe Murders with Daryn Richardson

Discussing the Villisca Axe Murders with Daryn Richardson

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. https://www.amazon.com/Man-Train-Discovering-Americas-Elusive/dp/1476796262  
37:2126/10/2024
Horror Novelist Angela Sylvaine Discusses Her New Book and Exchanges Urban Legend Stories with Jim

Horror Novelist Angela Sylvaine Discusses Her New Book and Exchanges Urban Legend Stories with Jim

Horror novelist Angela Sylvaine rejoins the show to discuss her new novel "Chopping Spree."  Angela and Jim exchange local horror-themed urban legend stories. Please visit Angela's linktr.ee page for her book order and social media links: https://linktr.ee/angelasylvaine     
22:5330/09/2024
A chat with Commodore computing enthusiast Bo Zimmerman

A chat with Commodore computing enthusiast Bo Zimmerman

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. Bo's website: https://zimmers.net 
42:1607/06/2024
Horror novelist Angela Sylvaine rejoins the show

Horror novelist Angela Sylvaine rejoins the show

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.    Please visit Angela's linktr.ee page to order / pre-order her books: https://linktr.ee/angelasylvaine 
30:3117/05/2024
The TechnoGals Join the Show to Discuss Their Podcast

The TechnoGals Join the Show to Discuss Their Podcast

Traci Gorman and Alicia Retzlaff join the show to discuss their own podcast ... The TechnoGals ! The TechnoGals linktr.ee site: https://linktr.ee/technogals  The TechnoGals Spotify Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/technogals  The TechnoGals on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/technogals/  The TechnoGals YouTube Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@TechnoGals      
39:4327/04/2024
Retrocomputing with Jim Brain

Retrocomputing with Jim Brain

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 Website https://www.go4retro.com/ The Retro Innovations Store https://store.go4retro.com The Retro Innovations Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/go4retro     
58:4419/04/2024
Gunnar Gustafson Discusses JavaScript and Web Development

Gunnar Gustafson Discusses JavaScript and Web Development

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. Here are a couple of Gunnar's repos: https://github.com/GnarlyGnarGusta/storybook_msw_react  https://github.com/GnarlyGnarGusta/gilbertizer_v1  Unofficial JavaScript logo by Chris Williams, from GitHub logo.js ( https://github.com/voodootikigod/logo.js ) , under very permissive licensing (WTFPL). For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com 
01:05:1006/04/2024
Hijinks and Practical Jokes in IT

Hijinks and Practical Jokes in IT

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.
29:5824/03/2024
Bob Fulkerson discusses the Endless Forest BBS and Computer Science Academia

Bob Fulkerson discusses the Endless Forest BBS and Computer Science Academia

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. For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   
52:0301/03/2024
Hardware / Software Engineer Thomas Cherryhomes Discusses his Fujinet Retrocomputing Projects

Hardware / Software Engineer Thomas Cherryhomes Discusses his Fujinet Retrocomputing Projects

Thomas Cherryhomes joins to the show to discuss FujiNet ... a series of add-on direct-connect devices for 80's era home computers that provides a number of extended Internet capabilities to those machines. Thom's links: https://fujinet.online  https://irata.online/  For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   
47:4221/02/2024
A Chat with Software Engineer and International Speaker Christine Seeman

A Chat with Software Engineer and International Speaker Christine Seeman

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. Website https://christine-seeman.com/  Socials Mastodon: @[email protected] NDC London 2020 - 2FA Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTtZQVSnz2M  .Net Rocks Podcast (taped at NDC London) https://www.dotnetrocks.com/details/1676  One Does Not Simply Add MFA - YOW! 2022 https://youtu.be/adQZ6r3Y858?si=0IA5XIBzU0U8HOgj  For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   The Ruby logo is Copyright © 2006, Yukihiro Matsumoto. It is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License agreement. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ The Ruby Logo Kit ( https://cache.ruby-lang.org/pub/misc/logo/ruby-logo-kit.zip ) contains the Ruby logo in several formats (PNG, JPG, PDF, AI, SWF, XAR).
43:0914/02/2024
A Chat with Synchronet BBS Author and Sysop Rob Swindell

A Chat with Synchronet BBS Author and Sysop Rob Swindell

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. Rob's main site with links to source code repo's and his YouTube channel: http://synchro.net  The Synchronet wiki: http://wiki.synchro.net  The home page for SyncTerm, the preferred client for telnet BBS's: http://syncterm.net  The Synchronet IRC server: irc.synchro.net  Rob's uncut interview with Jason Scott for the BBS Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMFKU04YTk  For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com 
46:4003/02/2024
Chatting with Programmer, Author, and Former Dr. Dobbs Journal Columnist Jeff Duntemann

Chatting with Programmer, Author, and Former Dr. Dobbs Journal Columnist Jeff Duntemann

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. He was the Structured Programming columnist for Dr. Dobbs Journal for a number of years. Jeff had established his own publishing firm, The Coriolis Group where he wrote and published a number of books and two technical magazines. Jeff's Free  FreePascal and Lazarus e-book http://www.copperwood.com/pub/FreePascalFromSquareOne.pdf  Jeff's Blog https://www.contrapositivediary.com/  The Latest Edition of X64 Assembly Language Step by Step https://www.amazon.com/x64-Assembly-Language-Step-Step/dp/1394155247  For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com     
58:2518/01/2024
Discussing Programming Languages with Ben Hoyt

Discussing Programming Languages with Ben Hoyt

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. https://benhoyt.com/  https://github.com/benhoyt/ For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com    
38:2116/01/2024
Speaking with Screenwriter and Filmmaker Harrison Demchick

Speaking with Screenwriter and Filmmaker Harrison Demchick

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". More information about Harrison and his works can be found on his web site : https://www.harrisondemchick.com/ For more information about Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   
41:4410/01/2024
Reviewing the 2023 Doctor Who Christmas Special with Rick Lundeen

Reviewing the 2023 Doctor Who Christmas Special with Rick Lundeen

Rick joins the show for a look at the final episode of Doctor Who for 2023 ... "The Church on Ruby Road." This podcast contains spoilers for the episode. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com    
19:5726/12/2023
Reviewing the Doctor Who Special #3 with Rick Lundeen

Reviewing the Doctor Who Special #3 with Rick Lundeen

Rick Lundeen joins the podcast for a review of the final of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials .. "The Giggle" For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  
19:5510/12/2023
Discussing the Doctor Who Special #2 with Rick Lundeen

Discussing the Doctor Who Special #2 with Rick Lundeen

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. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  
23:3203/12/2023
Discussing the Endless Forest BBS with Dan Kenny

Discussing the Endless Forest BBS with Dan Kenny

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. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  
55:4501/12/2023
Discussing the Doctor Who Special #1 with Rick Lundeen

Discussing the Doctor Who Special #1 with Rick Lundeen

Rick Lundeen returns to the podcast to continue the 60th 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.  Please note that there are SPOILERS for The Star Beast episode in this podcast. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com    
34:4426/11/2023
Discussing The Beatles and News Journalism with David Helling

Discussing The Beatles and News Journalism with David Helling

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. Audio from the final episode of Beatles Trivia: https://youtu.be/l8IoruHKtys  Dave's retirement video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDXNNmHfsGY   
38:4521/11/2023
The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special

The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special

My friends and fellow Whovians Rick Lundeen and Neil Welch joined 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.
58:5912/11/2023
Chatting with Linux on the Mainframe Specialist Elizabeth K. Joseph

Chatting with Linux on the Mainframe Specialist Elizabeth K. Joseph

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 Website: https://princessleia.com/  Lyz's Blog: https://princessleia.com/journal/  Lyz's Wallace and Gromit Fan Site: https://wallaceandgromit.net/  The Official Ubuntu Book ( Matthew Helmke, Elizabeth K. Joseph, José Antonio Rey ) https://www.amazon.com/Official-Ubuntu-Book-9th/dp/0134513428  Common OpenStack Deployments: Real-World Examples for Systems Administrators and Engineers ( Elizabeth K. Joseph with Matt Fischer ) https://www.amazon.com/Common-OpenStack-Deployments-Real-World-Administrators/dp/0134086236  For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com   Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog   The Tux image used 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: [email protected] Larry Ewing and The GIMP    
29:0010/11/2023
A Discussion with Artist and Teacher Keith Howell

A Discussion with Artist and Teacher Keith Howell

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. Keith's Portfolio https://www.behance.net/keithhowell  Keith's Website https://www.profchallenger.com/  The Meteor House Press Website https://meteorhousepress.com/  For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog 
01:11:0225/10/2023
Chatting with BBS Sysop and Software Engineer Ben Kimball

Chatting with BBS Sysop and Software Engineer Ben Kimball

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.   Ben's web-based telnet client for the ISCA BBS http://iscaclient.llabmik.net/    For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog 
30:1922/10/2023
Speaking with horror novelist Angela Sylvaine

Speaking with horror novelist Angela Sylvaine

Horror novelist Angela Sylvaine discusses various elements of the writing process and the journey that led her to write her new book "Frost Bite."   Angela's Linktree Site https://linktr.ee/angelasylvaine  For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog 
29:5920/10/2023
Monster Hunting with Daryn Richardson

Monster Hunting with Daryn Richardson

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. Daryn's art can be seen on his Facebook art page here: https://www.facebook.com/sylvershutter   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog     
43:0418/10/2023
Speaking with Electronics / Computer / Audio specialist Bob McCoy

Speaking with Electronics / Computer / Audio specialist Bob McCoy

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. For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog   
42:1709/10/2023
Interviewing BBS user and shareware author James Christie

Interviewing BBS user and shareware author James Christie

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.   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog   
42:4905/10/2023
Interview with musician Ron Gablehouse

Interview with musician Ron Gablehouse

Musician Ron Gablehouse discusses the inculcation of tech into the music that he writes and produces in his home studio. Links: Ron's website http://solarianstudios.com An archive of Ron's MP3's https://archive.org/download/solarianmp3   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog     
29:2029/09/2023
Microcomputers, mainframes, and more - chatting with Randy Carson of C2C Consulting, LLC

Microcomputers, mainframes, and more - chatting with Randy Carson of C2C Consulting, LLC

Long-time computing professional and entrepreneur Randy Carson discusses his career path in Information Technology. https://www.c2caz.com/   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog       
52:4325/08/2023
A chat with illustrator Rick Lundeen

A chat with illustrator Rick Lundeen

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. Links: Online Portfolio: https://rickjlundeen.wordpress.com/ Designs at Teepublic: https://www.teepublic.com/user/rick-lundeen Thing Is blog : https://thingis.home.blog/ Mickey & Maj: the Selfies:    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CHR7WJK "Where Have All The Heroes Gone?":   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BCL1W3HK Rick's Amazon Author Bio: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rick-J-Lundeen/author/B07CL8LQWR   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com  Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog         
01:02:3817/08/2023
Speaking with author Eric San Juan

Speaking with author Eric San Juan

Eric 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. Links to Eric's sites: https://ericsanjuan.com/ https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eric-San-Juan/author/B003E2C1PI https://www.youtube.com/@NerdOutWithMe/featured   For more information on Stray Pointers including the link to the Facebook group and contact information, please visit: https://straypointers.com Please visit the companion blog at https://straypointers.blog           
50:0603/08/2023