Ken Shirriff

On this episode of On the Metal, we interview Ken Shirriff, long-time computer programmer, retro computer aficionado, analog computer programmer, and miner of bitcoin by hand. Join us as we talk about breaking down silicon wafers, restoring old computers, what computers Ken grew up with, and even mining bitcoin on an array of different computers.

Show Notes

You can find Ken on Twitter at twitter.com/kenshirriff and his blog righto.com.

- Soyuz blog post:

    http://www.righto.com/2020/01/inside-digital-clock-from-soyuz.html

- IBM System/370: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/370

- Amdahl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahl_Corporation

- Build Your Own Z80 Computer:

    https://books.google.com/books?id=mVQnFgWzX0AC&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false

- Euler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler

- Commodore PET: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_PET

- TRS-80 (Trash-80): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80 https://techland.time.com/2012/08/03/trs-80/

- Visual 6502: http://www.visual6502.org/

- MOS 6502: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_6502

- Metallurgy microscope: https://www.amscope.com/compound-microscopes/metallurgical-microscopes.html

- AM2900: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Am2900

- MOS transistor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSFET

- Cray-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cray-1

- Intel 4004: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_4004

- Datapoint 2200: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datapoint_2200

- Intel 8008: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8008

- Endianness: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness

- TTL chips: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor%E2%80%93transistor_logic

- Big Endian and Little Endian:

    https://chortle.ccsu.edu/AssemblyTutorial/Chapter-15/ass15_3.html

- Xerox Alto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Alto

- Charles Simonyi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Simonyi

- Punched cards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card

- Why did line printers have 132 columns?:

    https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/7838/why-did-line-printers-have-132-columns

- Teletype 33: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletype_Model_33

- Analogue computer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_computer

- Analogue computer thread: https://twitter.com/kenshirriff/status/1223675683387265024

- Differential analyser: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_analyser

- Bitcoin mining on a 1401:

    http://www.righto.com/2015/05/bitcoin-mining-on-55-year-old-ibm-1401.html

- Mining bitcoin with pencil and paper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3dqhixzGVo

- Bitcoin mining on a Xerox Alto:

    http://www.righto.com/2017/07/bitcoin-mining-on-vintage-xerox-alto.html

- Bitcoin mining on the Apollo Guidance computer:

    http://www.righto.com/2019/07/bitcoin-mining-on-apollo-guidance.html

- Colossus computer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer

- Accounting machine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_machine

- Memory phosphor: https://www.britannica.com/science/memory-phosphor

- Rowhammer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Row_hammer

- Core memory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic-core_memory

- Williams tube: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_tube

- Core rope memory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_rope_memory

- Honeywell 800: https://people.cs.clemson.edu/~mark/h800.html

- Honeywell 1800: https://www.computerhistory.org/brochures/doc-4372956da1170/

    http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL64-h.html#HONEYWELL-1800

- SPARC delayed branching:

    https://arcb.csc.ncsu.edu/~mueller/codeopt/codeopt00/notes/delaybra.html

- IBM 360 Model 50: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/360_Model_50

- RR Auction: https://www.rrauction.com/

What is On The Metal?

As a part of starting Oxide Computer Company, Bryan Cantrill and Jess Frazelle decided to also create the podcast that they always wanted. Joined frequently by their boss, Steve Tuck, Bryan and Jess interview incredible guests retelling stories of adventure at the hardware/software interface. It’s unapologetically technical and as Jess says, “the nerdiest podcast on the face of the planet” -- but if you're their kind of nerd, you'll find yourself hanging on every word!