+x=usr(1536) Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) I've uploaded a demo video to the website, it's also here: -Thom I'm watching the video now, and holy shit is this awesome. This is easily one of the most impressive things I've ever seen in the retrocomputing arena, and soon as I can free up the time I'll be signing up an account and exploring it. The one thing that strikes me about PLATO: it's clear where a lot of the inspiration behind Teletext came from. Many of the concepts are very similar, though PLATO has a level of interactivity that Teletext could never have achieved - at least, not without external connectivity. Out of curiosity, what is the terminal shown on the left-hand side of the video? Gonna say this right now: FUCK NO. For way....way.....WAY too many reasons. The biggest of which, Compuserve ran on a set of 36-bit PDP-10 systems, PLATO ran on clusters of 60-bit Control Data CDC Cyber systems. Data conversion problems would be unbelievable. -Thom That would literally be a lifetime project for one person. You'd have to start a company and hire people to make it feasible. Edited March 26, 2018 by x=usr(1536) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 I'm just looking to understand the protocol. There must be a way to interface Pro! with Plato. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 I'm just looking to understand the protocol. There must be a way to interface Pro! with Plato. And that's just it. There is very little low level documentation for interfacing mail, etc. There will have to be a sizable chunk of homegrown bits. This is doable, but it will take some serious focus and patience. -Thom Regarding the terminal in the video, that is a render of a PLATO IV terminal. It was a terminal that was designed by the PLATO team at CERL, and built to spec by Magnavox. It featured a 512x512 orange plasma display panel (the very technology of plasma display was DESIGNED AT CERL _FOR_ PLATO, because they needed a display with inherent memory characteristics!), with an infra-red based touch-screen array, a custom keyboard, and ports for hooking up external devices (such as a music keyboard). The panel itself was transparent, and there was also a special transparency projector that could be controlled by PLATO to display content on special cassettes for supplemental lesson content (the top door you see is the loader for the transparency projector.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 I decided to have a little bit of fun... Since we have different groups like atari, commodor, apple2, ti, amiga, etc... I decided to make logos for each, which will be shown on the main menu, depending on which group you are a part: You guys, of course, know the Atari fuji logo, but there is also, Apple Commodore 8-bit: (aka good ol' Chicken Lips) Commodore Amiga (this took FOREVER to draw!) Texas Instruments: And finally, because a friend specifically requested it: NeXT: :D :D -Thom 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troff Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 As I have alluded to before, I am willing to host a teleconference to show the system from a systems management and development perspective. PLATO had an INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT baked right into the service, long before such things became fashionable, and we can leverage this to make some truly unique stuff to put traditional BBSes to shame. Does anyone want to join in? -Thom Thom, You are truly working magic here, and I would love to jump in and take part in it. My time is very limited right now, and I'm afraid if I offered myself up now, I'd be more of an annoyance than helpful for the very near future. Possibly by this summer I'll actually have a little more time to participate. That said, if you wanted to do an overview I would be very interested. Troff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 That's the deal. I want to show what's possible, with a group of us able to discuss. At least 3 or 4 of us. I will bend over backwards to facilitate this, I am looking for interest. -Thom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozar Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 I’m interested, weekends would be best for a time. Also, I’m on EDT. :-) Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 I've been working on a new welcome screen for the system, to replace the old CYBIS one. This is how it looks on PTERM: This is how it looks on the Atari: What do you guys think? -Thom 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Would any of you be interested in attending a google hangouts session on either Saturday or Sunday, where I go through the system from not just a user perspective, but author and systems staff perspective? -Thom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SoulBuster Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I remember PLATO. I was a Computer Assisted Instructor (CAI) for the Sacramento Municipal Industry Education Council (SMIEC) in the 80s. My favorite thing to do on it with my personal time was the Mines of Moria. A great game where text was used for the graphics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I remember PLATO. I was a Computer Assisted Instructor (CAI) for the Sacramento Municipal Industry Education Council (SMIEC) in the 80s. My favorite thing to do on it with my personal time was the Mines of Moria. A great game where text was used for the graphics.It lives again, and yes, moria is there. If you want, you can sign up. -Thom Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Would any of you be interested in attending a google hangouts session on either Saturday or Sunday, where I go through the system from not just a user perspective, but author and systems staff perspective? -Thom What time on Saturday would you be thinking? I am in EST (GMT-5), might be available sometime after 8PM Sat evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 What time on Saturday would you be thinking? I am in EST (GMT-5), might be available sometime after 8PM Sat evening.Scheduled 9p to 11p saturday evening. See irata.online website. Also a demo on sunday from 4p to 6p Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozar Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Scheduled 9p to 11p saturday evening. See irata.online website. Also a demo on sunday from 4p to 6p Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk The calendar links aren't working. :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 calendar link doesn't really matter, how about the meet link? -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozar Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 calendar link doesn't really matter, how about the meet link? -Thom That one works. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Good, I'll have to find another way to do the calendar links. -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Just a reminder, it's on the site, but I will post it here. There will be an on-line meet to literally go through the system inch by inch, from 9p to 11p CDT tonight. And there will be another one tomorrow, from 4p to 6p. I will continue scheduling these for the foreseeable future, until people literally stop coming. -Thom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) Atarimania could probably add a few screenshots by now, eh? Learning Phone Edited April 7, 2018 by MrFish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 ABSOLUTELY! I will ping him. -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 By the way, there was a meet today (2018-04-07), from 10a to 12pm CDT, and there will be another one tomorrow (2018-04-08) from 11a to 1pm CDT. Details on the site. -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Atarimania could probably add a few screenshots by now, eh? Learning Phone Have tidied up and moved the page to the more appropriate utilities section: http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-learning-phone-_32571.html I'm having issues with the connection but if somebody is willing to provide some screenshots in .gif format, I'll be happy to add them (you can use the "Save Screenshot" option on Altirra by pressing ALT and F10). Thanks! -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 @www.atarimania.com: here ya go: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MN1yPztM0fi5VfA1tN5pGj2Bf8YMWdfj/view?usp=sharing -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Thank you, I also added a link to this topic -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 I've scheduled two more Google meets for: Saturday, April 14th, 10am to 12pm Sunday, April 15th, 10am to 12pm Details on the website. -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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