Post by tschak909 on May 4, 2018 18:50:27 GMT
Hello, everyone.
The PLATO system that I’ve been putting together for retro-computing users is now open for testing. Yes, things will be broken, yes, things will be weird, but I will help work through them, and I urge those interested in digging deep into the system to contact me about getting sign-ons in the staff group to help manage this thing.
And to get to the point, I am trying to promote the service, because I want to get interested Commodore 64/128 coders to get the technical information from the site, to write a terminal emulator to access the service. As I am finishing up the implementation for Android devices, I have the entire protocol specification fresh in my head, and can help.
This system is a public utility, that I am paying for, out of my own pocket, my own electricity, and internet connection, as well as DNS registration, but I will NEVER ask for subscription or access fees. This is a free service, and I am providing it to provide something truly unique to the retro-computing community.
This system stands alongside Cyber1 dot org as another PLATO system that users with PLATO terminal software can connect to. We have a terminal emulator for Atari 8-bit computers, and we’ve discovered a TI 99 4A emulator that also works with the service. WE WANT HELP FROM INTERESTED PROGRAMMERS TO WRITE MORE TERMINALS FOR MORE COMPUTERS TO ACCESS THE SERVICE. To this end, there is a “Tech” section on the website, that provides everything needed to write an implementation for your favorite retro computer, including protocol specifications, and no less than two complete C implementations, as well as a 6502 disassembly of the Atari PLATO cartridge, and as of last week, have the start of an implementation of a Commodore 64 terminal in github, and we could use some help!
The web site is here: www.irata.online/ and has everything you need to get started.
What is PLATO? It’s a long story, but imagine finding deep in the jungle, a village of people who were building jet engines decades before the Wright brothers flew their first airplane. It was a system for education, for social use, for playing games. It was multi-user, graphical, interactive, touch screen oriented, and presented an integrated usage and development environment the likes of which you rarely see, even today.
This whole project was literally possible, because the good folks at Cyber1 dot org spent years finding a completed copy of the PLATO software, and acquired permission by the current copyright holder to release it for non commercial use. I stand on the shoulders of their efforts.
This system was borne from both a need to provide a customized service for interested retro-computing users who wanted a PLATO experience, and because I wanted to provide a more user friendly experience than what is currently provided by cyber1 dot org out of the box.
As of now, it’s in alpha, early beta. Things will be wonky, things will be weird. Bear with me as I try to come to grips with running a massive time sharing system that traditionally was run on massive supercomputers from Control Data Corporation.
I also do weekly virtual meets meets from 10am to 12pm Central Time, every Saturday and Sunday, to demonstrate the system, and show what it can do, and why I am doing this. The meet links are on the website.
I have also been scheduled as a speaker for VCF East on Friday, May 18, 2018, time forthcoming, to talk about PLATO and IRATA.ONLINE, as well as doing a demonstration.
Again, The web site is here: www.irata.online/ and has everything you need to get started.
Please let me know what you think,
Sincerely,
-Thomas Cherryhomes – IRATA.Online
p.s. The next two IRATA.ONLINE demo meets are:
Saturday, May 5th 2pm-4pm Central Daylight Time
Sunday, May 6th 10pm-12pm Central Daylight Time
Meet links on the website: www.irata.online/
As usual, for now, these are demonstration meets, to show the capabilities of the system, and to excite potential users, content developers, and coders wanting to write terminals for their vintage computing platform.
I hope to see you all there.
The PLATO system that I’ve been putting together for retro-computing users is now open for testing. Yes, things will be broken, yes, things will be weird, but I will help work through them, and I urge those interested in digging deep into the system to contact me about getting sign-ons in the staff group to help manage this thing.
And to get to the point, I am trying to promote the service, because I want to get interested Commodore 64/128 coders to get the technical information from the site, to write a terminal emulator to access the service. As I am finishing up the implementation for Android devices, I have the entire protocol specification fresh in my head, and can help.
This system is a public utility, that I am paying for, out of my own pocket, my own electricity, and internet connection, as well as DNS registration, but I will NEVER ask for subscription or access fees. This is a free service, and I am providing it to provide something truly unique to the retro-computing community.
This system stands alongside Cyber1 dot org as another PLATO system that users with PLATO terminal software can connect to. We have a terminal emulator for Atari 8-bit computers, and we’ve discovered a TI 99 4A emulator that also works with the service. WE WANT HELP FROM INTERESTED PROGRAMMERS TO WRITE MORE TERMINALS FOR MORE COMPUTERS TO ACCESS THE SERVICE. To this end, there is a “Tech” section on the website, that provides everything needed to write an implementation for your favorite retro computer, including protocol specifications, and no less than two complete C implementations, as well as a 6502 disassembly of the Atari PLATO cartridge, and as of last week, have the start of an implementation of a Commodore 64 terminal in github, and we could use some help!
The web site is here: www.irata.online/ and has everything you need to get started.
What is PLATO? It’s a long story, but imagine finding deep in the jungle, a village of people who were building jet engines decades before the Wright brothers flew their first airplane. It was a system for education, for social use, for playing games. It was multi-user, graphical, interactive, touch screen oriented, and presented an integrated usage and development environment the likes of which you rarely see, even today.
This whole project was literally possible, because the good folks at Cyber1 dot org spent years finding a completed copy of the PLATO software, and acquired permission by the current copyright holder to release it for non commercial use. I stand on the shoulders of their efforts.
This system was borne from both a need to provide a customized service for interested retro-computing users who wanted a PLATO experience, and because I wanted to provide a more user friendly experience than what is currently provided by cyber1 dot org out of the box.
As of now, it’s in alpha, early beta. Things will be wonky, things will be weird. Bear with me as I try to come to grips with running a massive time sharing system that traditionally was run on massive supercomputers from Control Data Corporation.
I also do weekly virtual meets meets from 10am to 12pm Central Time, every Saturday and Sunday, to demonstrate the system, and show what it can do, and why I am doing this. The meet links are on the website.
I have also been scheduled as a speaker for VCF East on Friday, May 18, 2018, time forthcoming, to talk about PLATO and IRATA.ONLINE, as well as doing a demonstration.
Again, The web site is here: www.irata.online/ and has everything you need to get started.
Please let me know what you think,
Sincerely,
-Thomas Cherryhomes – IRATA.Online
p.s. The next two IRATA.ONLINE demo meets are:
Saturday, May 5th 2pm-4pm Central Daylight Time
Sunday, May 6th 10pm-12pm Central Daylight Time
Meet links on the website: www.irata.online/
As usual, for now, these are demonstration meets, to show the capabilities of the system, and to excite potential users, content developers, and coders wanting to write terminals for their vintage computing platform.
I hope to see you all there.