iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The Newsbytes archive now has the complete corpus!! 157,444 tech news articles, completely filling out the gaps in 1996-2002. www.savetz.com/newsbytes/

savetz.com

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Apple Computer announced the Apple IIGS 40 years ago today. www.savetz.com/newsbytes/st... "The new IIGS looks like an Apple IIC--it has the sleek lines of the smaller machine and its new 'platinum' color--but the similarity ends when you see it operate. "

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I created something I've wanted for a long time: a searchable archive of Newsbytes News Network articles: technology reporting from 1983 to 2002. www.savetz.com/newsbytes/ 73,000+ articles, and a fun image gallery.

savetz.com

Newsbytes Archive

Search 73,350 technology news stories from the Newsbytes News Network archive.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I did a new Atari interview for you: Walt Klappert, Atari Advanced Development Group/WCI Labs. At Atari, Walt worked on creating software for girls. He was director of Fisher Price Dance Fantasy, a dance choreography game for small children. He later worked authoring for CD+G. youtu.be/utW7-AIz8iU

youtu.be

Walt Klappert, Atari Advanced Development Group/WCI Labs

YouTube video by Kay Savetz

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Mail’s here - three boxes of Atari history sent to me to scan

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Today's distraction: building FujiGrid, a screenful of simultaneous Atari computer emulators. Pressing the S key enables sound for all of them at once, which is quite a cacophony

Screenshot of 30 different Atari 8-bit computer games running at once

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

A box of 8-inch CP/M disks sent to me in 2023 is finally preserved at @archive.org: source code for the MSC 8004 Z80 Monitor-Debugger, KA6M packet-radio and HDLC dev software, BDS C tools, Pascal/Z, Z80 FORTH, Workman utilities, Digital Research system disks.

A floppy disk labeled BD SOFTWARE C COMPILER
BY LEOR ZOLMAN
DISTRIBUTED BY
WORKMAN AND ASSOCIATES
COPYRIGHT 1982

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Games Computers Play reborn update: avatar movement, scrolling, multiple users, and inter-user communication, ability to change your avatar. navigating between rooms with local in-room communication.

Four atari800 emulator windows each showing a different Games Computers Play window, with cute little robots

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Reviving a long dead online service, like you do.

Two screenshots of an Atari 8-bit computer rendering of a city, with two robots

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Ha ha, I tricked @archive.org into letting me write about Atari computers on their blog... again blog.archive.org/2026/08/27/a...

blog.archive.org

A Computer History Time Capsule | Internet Archive Blogs

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I interviewed another Atari Program Exchange programmer, and it's a goodie. Bob Fraser worked at Atari for four years: on the early CX70 light pen, on specs for an unreleased database manager, and on 3-D graphics. He wrote a chapter of De Re Atari and programmed two APX titles. youtu.be/bTeflSqYjsk

youtu.be

Bob Fraser, APX Insomnia, Supersort, De Re Atari — interview

YouTube video by Kay Savetz

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I'm back on my bs, trying to find and interview every Atari Program Exchange programmer. Here's my interview with James W. Burley, the programmer of Data Base/Report System. He says Atari gave him a plaque but no money at all for his "award winning" software. ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interv...

ataripodcast.libsyn.com

ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast: ANTIC Interview 461 - James W. Burley, APX Data Base/Report System

James W. Burley, APX Data Base/Report System James W. Burley is the programmer of Data Base/Report System, which was sold by Atari Program Exchange beginning with the Summer 1982 APX catalog. It was ...

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

@syntaxerrorsoft.bsky.social are you the Paul Nicholls who programmed National Flags for Atari Program Exchange? If so I'd LOVE to interview you for ANTIC: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

A tiny victory: for decades, Allan Bushman and I have been trying to find and scan every Atari Program Exchange (APX) software manual. Today I added one to the done ✅ list: Diskmenu, by Al Harberg, 1982. archive.org/details/apx-... Now I just need to find Harberg for an interview :)

archive.org

APX Diskmenu Manual : Al Harberg : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Manual for Diskmenu published by Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1982

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

At the INIT HELLO Apple II conference last weekend, there was a "make a Print Shop graphic" contest. Rather than ... you know, draw something ... I decided to see if I could make a QR code into a Print Shop graphic image. It worked! This sign is certainly the first QR code in the 1984 software

A letter sized paper that says GREETINGS FROM INIT HELLO 2026 with a QR code in the middle

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

New Jumpman level editor! It 10 years since @playermissile.com and I began reverse engineering Jumpman. Life's gotten in the way but the project has never been forgotten. I've built a new Jumpman level editor (for the Atari 8-bit version) that works in your web browser. www.savetz.com/jumpman/

savetz.com

Jumpman Level Editor

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

I’m a guest on this week’s This Week in Retro. Fun time!

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

I forgot to mention that ANTIC: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast episode 126 is published. Title: "All Atari All The Time" ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-episod... Also we've started doing a video version on YouTube, though I'm not sure how I feel about those. #facesforradio www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HmQ...

youtube.com

(video) ANTIC Episode 126 - All Atari All the Time - special guest Paul Garcia (Fujisan author)

YouTube video by ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

That time MacAddict magazine called me a slut in print

From the letters page of the Jan Mary 200 issue of MacAddict:

KEVIN, YOU IGNORANT SLUT!
K Savetz may want to throw out his lowly puzzle in the Apple Menu ("ANALize Your Mac," Nov/99, p44), but I love it for something quiet and slow to do while talking on the phone. Of course, I don't keep the silly map picture—I use more interesting pictures such as Jackson Pollock's "White Wall" or illustrations from Where the Wild Things Are.—RUTHALICE ANDERSON

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Not surprised, but disappointed

A conversation with ChatGPT 5.1

Assignment: write a stern letter to Hilton corporate cancelling my hilton honors membership and saying that I will no longer be choosing hilton hotels for my travel. ICE is a United States secret service that kidnaps and kills people without cause

Answer:
I cannot include false or defamatory claims. ICE is not the United States Secret Service, and alleging kidnapping or killing without cause is not factual. I can draft a stern cancellation letter that condemns the company's actions and states your boycott without those claims.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

FaxZero, my internet fax service, delivered 1.11 million faxes in 2025! The top elected officials reached via my free Fax Your Reps service were: Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Ron Wyden, Dick Durbin, and Tammy Duckworth, all Democrats. faxzero.com/fax_congress...

faxzero.com

Fax Congress

FaxZero lets you send free faxes to your congressional representatives with no subscription or sign-up.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Here's my annual letter taking stock of the computer history archiving work I've done over the past year. Kay's 2025 Wrapped: three interviews, thousands of artifacts, and a surprising amount of computer history rescued one disk, page, and binder at a time. www.patreon.com/posts/kays-2...

patreon.com

Kay’s 2025 Wrapped | Kay Savetz

Get more from Kay Savetz on Patreon

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

I've avoided the Y2K bug 27 years in a row! Whew.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

In 2016 I wrote an article for Pro(c) magazine (RIP) about the process I went through to find Randy Glover, creator of the best game for the best computer (Jumpman on the Atari 8-bit). I'm not sure they ever published it. Here is Finding Randy, online for the first time. archive.org/details/save...

archive.org

Finding Randy Glover : Kay Savetz : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Kay Savetz describes the process of finding Randy Glover, creator of the classic computer game Jumpman, for an interview.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Getting my recent-ish articles online, continued: my review of The Trail To Oregon by Jeff Blim, performed at Oregon's Chapel Theater in 2024. archive.org/details/save...

archive.org

The Trail To Oregon Review : Kay Savetz : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Kay Savetz's review of The Trail To Oregon by Jeff Blim, performed at Oregon's Chapel Theater in 2024.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Continuing my effort to get my recent written work online for the first time, here's a fun piece I wrote last year: "Chasing the Dragon — In Search of the Tic Tac Dough Dragon". Featuring a popular game show, nine Apple IIs, Bob Bishop, and a scary animated dragon. archive.org/details/save...

archive.org

Chasing the Dragon — In Search of the Tic Tac Dough Dragon : Kay Savetz : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

History of the animated dragon, controlled by Apple II computers, on the New Tic Tac Dough TV game show.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

I've been working to get some articles that I've written in the last few years online for the first time. Here's the first, which I'm proud of—an interview with Ron Jaenisch, a Universal Life minister who used an Apple II computer called "Reverend Apple" to marry people. archive.org/details/save...

archive.org

"Reverend Apple" performed nuptials on an Apple II : Kay Savetz : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

An interview with Ron Jaenisch, who used an Apple II computer called Reverend Apple to marry people.

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Reposted by Kay Savetz

Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Chris lent me the APX Dragon Quest disk and I was able to flux image it. Is it now preserved!

Screenshot of Dragon Quest title page which features a green dragon flying towards the viewer

A 5 1/4 inch floppy disk labeled DRAGON QUEST 1.1

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

There’s a retrocomputing newsletter that I want to like. On the most recent issue cover, there is an AI generated Atari computer that’s just so terrible. If you have a hobby, do the hobby. Don’t let an LLM create it for you. I’d rather see a 3 year-old’s crayon drawing over this monstrosity.

AI-generated atari 800XL. The colors are right, but the shape isn’t right, and the keyboard has blurry buttons. The keycaos are wrong. There are two letter I keys. Etc.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

When someone is trying to hack my Facebook account I'm secretly rooting for them. Please take away the misery

Screenshot of a Facebook password reset email. "One more step to change your password"

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Reposted by Kay Savetz

xot @xot.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

This issue is notable for an Atari BASIC program, written by Tom Hudson, that displays 3D graphics. Two years later, Hudson would release Cyber Studio CAD-3D for Atari ST, and a few years after that, it was reborn as 3D Studio for DOS, and finally, the ubiquitous 3DS MAX.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

New episode of ANTIC: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast just dropped! Find out the latest news in the world of 8-bit Atari computers! Hear me say "dongle" in a way that makes my co-hosts uncomfortable! ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-episod...

ataripodcast.libsyn.com

ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast: ANTIC Episode 121 - Dongle Disaster

ANTIC Episode 121 - Dongle Disaster In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… Special guest Brent Carroll joins as we bring you the Atari news and narrowly avoid disaster with our don...

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Harry Stewart (ex-Atari employee who programmed PILOT, WSFN, and other stuff) has died. His daughter sent me his Atari documents. Some of these I scanned years ago when he lent them to me. Others seem to be unpreserved.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

In 1984 someone had their Atari 800 repoed 😭 (Also, what's a Vector 2600?)

Ad in The Daytona Beach News-Journal - April 27 1994. PUBLIC AUCTION - Vector 2600 Computer - Comet II Printer - Atari 800 with communicator package.

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Microsoft open-sources its 6502 BASIC from 1976 www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/m...

theregister.com

Microsoft open-sources 6502 BASIC coded by Bill Gates

: GOTO 1976

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

ATARI in today’s NYT crossword puzzle

66 across: console for the game Pitfall!

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

My automated searches for Atari 800 turn up weird things sometimes. Uploaded to @archive.org yesterday: Le Journal De Mickey - Album N°130 #1858 (2 février 1988) archive.org/details/jour... (translation in alt text)

In French: A computer soon...
A few weeks ago, Vincent was wondering how to persuade his parents to buy him a computer.
Many of you responded, and here's your advice.
"I had the same problem as you about a computer. My parents told me that when I got at least 15 out of 20 in a modern language, they'd put a hundred francs in a box for me. So, eventually, I managed to buy one, and now I'm typing away on an Atari 800 XL. You could possibly suggest this solution to them.
Katia Volpatti, Saint Marcel."

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Kay Savetz @savetz.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

It followed me home, mom, can I keep it? I promise to feed and play with it every day.

A pile of three Atari eight but computers, two Atari STs and various old software displayed on the floor

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