Stray Pointers

Hosted by Jim Lawless

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Oct 2026

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About the show

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

Listen to episodes

40 recent

October 8, 2026Episode 240 min

Horror Novelist Angela Sylvaine Rejoins Us For Our 50th Podcast!

The YouTube (audio only) version of this episode can be found here: https://youtu.be/oxz77qF6HtQ Angela Sylvaine makes her fifth appearance on our 50th podcast! We discuss her recent writing efforts, we talk about the ideation process behind her stories, and we do our annual exchange of urban legend stories. Angela's Linktree Site https://linktr.ee/angelasylvaine Email: straypointers@gmail.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.libsyn.com/481983/rss Stray Pointers can also be found here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JL6502 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stray-pointers/id1713097752 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2dUPfppZtZfBehYy5Qx03k Amazon Music https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9fa7c117-b43b-4676-aced-99eae7b1ae91/stray-pointers Player.FM https://player.fm/series/series-3705378

January 19, 2026Episode 132 min

2025 Advent of Code Follow-Up

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/ Email: straypointers@gmail.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.libsyn.com/481983/rss Stray Pointers can also be found here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JL6502 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stray-pointers/id1713097752 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2dUPfppZtZfBehYy5Qx03k Amazon Music https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9fa7c117-b43b-4676-aced-99eae7b1ae91/stray-pointers Player.FM https://player.fm/series/series-3705378

December 2, 2025Episode 1258 min

Forth Systems Creator Tom Zimmer Joins the Show

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/ Email: straypointers@gmail.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.libsyn.com/481983/rss Stray Pointers can also be found here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JL6502 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stray-pointers/id1713097752 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2dUPfppZtZfBehYy5Qx03k Amazon Music https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9fa7c117-b43b-4676-aced-99eae7b1ae91/stray-pointers Player.FM https://player.fm/series/series-3705378

November 22, 2024Episode 1941 min

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: @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 Email: straypointers@gmail.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.libsyn.com/481983/rss Stray Pointers can also be found here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JL6502 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stray-pointers/id1713097752 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2dUPfppZtZfBehYy5Qx03k Amazon Music https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9fa7c117-b43b-4676-aced-99eae7b1ae91/stray-pointers Player.FM https://player.fm/series/series-3705378

November 14, 2024Episode 1828 min

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 @Wintermute_BBS@oldbytes.space Email: straypointers@gmail.com RSS Feed: http://feeds.libsyn.com/481983/rss Stray Pointers can also be found here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JL6502 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stray-pointers/id1713097752 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2dUPfppZtZfBehYy5Qx03k Amazon Music https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9fa7c117-b43b-4676-aced-99eae7b1ae91/stray-pointers Player.FM https://player.fm/series/series-3705378

November 9, 2024Episode 1737 min

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

October 30, 2024Episode 1650 min

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/ 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

October 26, 2024Episode 1537 min

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

September 30, 2024Episode 1422 min

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

June 7, 2024Episode 1342 min

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