If you would like to volunteer to speak at VCF West 2022 or if you would like to recommend a speaker please contact Erik Klein.
This year’s speakers are:
- Ben Zotto – Sphere 1: The First Modern Microcomputer (Slides) (Video)
- Bobby Livingston/Corey Cohen – Vintage Technology: Search, Identify, Authenticate
- Berger Becky – DOOM 3DO: Or how I survived hell
- Johan Grip – 128Neo
- Byron Stout – Developing 8-bit Commodore programs using a modern IDE.
- Bruno Marchon – Iconography of Early Apple Logos
- Mike McGann – Adventures in Emulation
- Leonard Tramiel – In Search Of … the original Wooden PET – (Slides) (Video)
- Logan Greer – My Journey in Electronics
- Lee Felsenstein – The Pennywhistle
- John Floren – Reproduction Depraz mouse
Saturday
10:30 am – My Journey in Electronics – Logan Greer
I wish to discuss my journey in electronics, and how I got to where I am today. I also wish to discuss my special moments and the people I have networked with. I believe that sharing this might inspire some people and maybe even also network with me as well…
12:00 pm – Iconography of Early Apple Logos – Bruno Marchon
This talk will focus on the genesis of some of Apple’s most iconic designs. I will discuss Rob Janoff’s Apple rainbow logo, John Casado’s 1983 superb Macintosh “Picasso”
artwork, JM Folon’s “Mr. Mac” which did not make it to the general public, some never
yet published Macintosh marketing proofs and sketches, and Susan Kares’ celebrated
32×32 pixel art. Some rare pieces from my own collection will be on display at the booth.
1:00 pm – Developing 8-bit Commodore programs using a modern IDE – Byron Stout
While you can still program directly on the original hardware, it sure is nice to have the conveniences of a software development environment running on a modern PC. Let’s
use CBM PRG Studio to write BASIC and ML programs for our favorite 8-bit Commodore
machines.
2:30 pm – The Pennywhistle – Lee Felsenstein
The geeky history of The Pennywhistle Modem.
3:30 pm – DOOM 3DO: Or how I survived hell – Burger Becky
After converting Wolfenstein 3D to the 3DO, Rebecca Heineman was asked to port DOOM for the 3DO, a game that was supposedly 90% complete. Listen to her tale of all the issues and problems that had to be overcome to get a game converted to a new platform in 10 weeks under intense pressure from multiple sources.
5:00 pm – In Search Of … The original wooden PET – Leonard Tramiel
The twisted story of the long and, ultimately, fruitful search for the original Wooden Pet.
9:30 am – Reproduction Depraz mouse – John Floren
A discussion of the design process, from 3d modeling to circuit design and programming, of the Depraz mouse.
11:00 am – Vintage Technology: Search, Identify, Authenticate – Bobby Livingston, Corey Cohen
Insight into the search for vintage technology artifacts and the efforts to identify their authenticity, historical context, provenance and value.
12:30 pm Sphere 1: The First Modern Microcomputer – Ben Zotto
Far from California’s homebrew counterculture, a visionary outside Salt Lake City created a fully integrated computer in 1975. Mike Wise’s scrappy company, with its sharp team and big heart, vanished only two years later, plagued by delays and other challenges. Sphere is today remembered unfairly as a footnote, but Ben will make the case that this early micro looked
firmly forward from the hobbyist world into serious computing. A historical and technical
presentation, including a demonstration of Sphere’s ambitious platform.
2:00 pm 128Neo (Virtual – live) – Johan Grip
Johan Grip will talk about the Commodore 128 and the story of how repairing the first computer he owned went a bit astray. Topics covered by the talk includes PCB reverse engineering, silicon reverse engineering, tools and techniques and other things learned during the process.
3:30 pm – Adventures in Emulation – Mike McGann
Do you enjoy using emulators to tinker around with computers of the past? Have you ever wondered what it would take to develop an emulator yourself? In this talk, Mike McGann will detail his adventures taken, from start to finish, in building a rudimentary Commodore 64 (6502) and Pac-Man (Z80) emulator. Topics will include memory layout, CPU instructions, text-based graphics, basic sound, and plenty of implementation bloopers. A demonstration and Q&A session will follow the talk. No quarters required.