Episodes
52
Latest episode
Jan 2026
Language
EN
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
Juan Vazquez and Cameron Cunning rejoin the show to discuss how we fared with the 2025 Advent of Code competition. Website for the Advent of Code competition: https://adventofcode.com/ Cameron's GitHub Repo: https://github.com/ccunning2/AoC2025/tree/main/aoc-2025 Juan's Github Repo: https://github.com/javazquez/advent-of-code/tree/main/2025/aoc_2025_elixir Jim's AoC2025 GitHub Repo: https://github.com/jimlawless/aoc2025/
Tom Zimmer has implemented a variety of Forth compiler systems ranging from 8-bit commercial Forths to more modern implementations. Tom discusses his background with electronics, computing, and Forth. Tom's websites: https://photobubba.com/ https://tomzimmer.wordpress.com/ The Win32Forth Project Page https://win32forth.sourceforge.net/ The Forth Interest Group (FIG) historical page on Forth. https://www.forth.org/
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: @floppydays@oldbytes.space 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
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 @Wintermute_BBS@oldbytes.space
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
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/ Cameron's Github Repo for AoC 2024: https://github.com/ccunning2/AoC2024 Jim's Github Repo for AoC 2024: https://github.com/jimlawless/aoc2024 Here's the code for Jim Lawless' Stray Pointers Leaderboard, if you'd like to join in the local competition with us: 1178690-6f8a271f
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
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
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
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
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Jeremy Snyder
Richey Malhotra
Drive Electric Alabama
Proxify
Rupa Singh
The National Academy of Sciences
