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Presentation
BASIC - Personal Computer Revolution Years (1975-1980'ish)
Presented by:
Cory Smith
Continuing from we left off during last year's presentation ("BASIC The First 10 Years."); we will dive deep into the BASIC's role during the birth of the personal computer revolution.
About the Presenter
A veteran software developer for over 35 years working on projects ranging anywhere from major e-commerce sites such as RadioShack and Interstate Batteries to applications that are at the heart and soul of over 4600 radio stations around the world. Continues to give back to the developer community as the founder/president of the BASICSIG and blogging through AddressOf.com. Previous developer community positions include past president of the Fort Worth .NET Users Group (10 years) and president of the Dallas/Fort Worth DNUX (Dot Net User eXperience) Group (6 years). He is also an alumni member of the INETA (International .NET Association) Speakers Bureau and the South Central Developer Guidance Council. He’s been repeatedly awarded as a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional)… 12 times (years).
Presentation
From Time-Sharing to the Desktop: Why Multitasking Took Over 20 Years to Come Home
Presented by:
Steve Lewis
Multitasking and time-sharing defined computing in the 1960s and 1970s, yet were largely absent from early personal computers. This presentation examines how those early principles were eventually incorporated into microcomputers, leading to a convergence by the late 1980s. Multitasking did not arrive on the desktop— it was incorporated from decades of prior mainframe experience. This is a historical journey of that progress, with some interesting stops along the way.
About the Presenter
Steve Lewis graduated from University of Florida, College of Engineering,
B.S. Computer Science and M.S. Computer Engineering. He has had an interest
in vintage computers ever since finding an abandoned Commodore PET in a
dumpster in 1988 while walking home after school. After college, Steve
has worked at Lockheed since 2001, working with both embedded processors
and raised-floor room servers for various aerospace applications.
Presentation
The Journey RLLs On: More Misadventures In Data Recovery with Dave Dowdy
Presented by:
David Dowdy
At the end of VCF Southwest 2025, there was much left to be done in the attempt to recover data from a long-forgotten RLL-formatted piece of spinning rust. In this presentation, we'll go over what's happened over the last year, and how far we've come. Suffice to say, there were many major wins, a few twists, and some disappointment. It's been said that often, the journey is more important than the destination - and while it's not over yet, the journey has certainly been worthwhile. Join me for a recap of where we started, where we are, and what's to come in 2026. See where we've been along the River of Bits, and how the journey RLLs on.
About the Presenter
Dave once heard from a friend that "the good thing about standards, is that there are so many to choose from." He feels the same way about hobbies. Ranging from art to music, gaming to hardware and software development, Dave does indeed do many things.
Enthralled by computer technology at an early age, Dave started with a pawn shop TRS-80 Color Computer 2. Within a year, he moved over to the Commodore 64 and expanded into more than just BASIC programming. Now, well into his 40's, his passion for homebrew hardware and software development shows no signs of stopping.
Presentation
The PDP-8: DEC's Value-Engineered Marvel
Presented by:
James Taylor
The PDP-1 was where "Spacewar!" was born. The PDP-11 was the native soil for UNIX. The PDP-10 was an AI hacker's dream machine.
The PDP-8 is less celebrated, and was designed with a different set of rules.
Join me for a deep dive into why I think the PDP-8 is an ingenious example of value engineering, and what we can still learn from it 61 years later. We will talk about its history, architecture, legacy, and the multiple ways you can run one today!
About the Presenter
James is a software engineer living in Conroe, Texas. He is a longtime lover of historical computing, with a particular love for minicomputers and their operating systems. On the rare occasions you don't find him tinkering, emulating, or designing, he is probably out pulling shenanigans with his nerdy family.
Workshop
Create TSR's (aka "drivers" for MS-DOS) using QuickBASIC!
Presented by:
Cory Smith
Did you know there was a time, with the right commercially available tools, QuickBASIC could produce executables that could be smaller / faster than similar applications written in other languages... all while using the BASIC language? In this workshop we will cover these tools and then set out to build a working TSR (terminate-stay-resident) application for MS-DOS using these tools and cover some of the nitty-gritty details of the process. (Note: Some understanding of software development is helpful for this workshop.)
About the Presenter
A veteran software developer for over 35 years working on projects ranging anywhere from major e-commerce sites such as RadioShack and Interstate Batteries to applications that are at the heart and soul of over 4600 radio stations around the world. Continues to give back to the developer community as the founder/president of the BASICSIG and blogging through AddressOf.com. Previous developer community positions include past president of the Fort Worth .NET Users Group (10 years) and president of the Dallas/Fort Worth DNUX (Dot Net User eXperience) Group (6 years). He is also an alumni member of the INETA (International .NET Association) Speakers Bureau and the South Central Developer Guidance Council. He’s been repeatedly awarded as a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional)… 12 times (years).
Workshop
Hands-On with QBasic
Presented by:
Cory Smith
Let's write some code... no previous experience necessary!
About the Presenter
A veteran software developer for over 35 years working on projects ranging anywhere from major e-commerce sites such as RadioShack and Interstate Batteries to applications that are at the heart and soul of over 4600 radio stations around the world. Continues to give back to the developer community as the founder/president of the BASICSIG and blogging through AddressOf.com. Previous developer community positions include past president of the Fort Worth .NET Users Group (10 years) and president of the Dallas/Fort Worth DNUX (Dot Net User eXperience) Group (6 years). He is also an alumni member of the INETA (International .NET Association) Speakers Bureau and the South Central Developer Guidance Council. He’s been repeatedly awarded as a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional)… 12 times (years).
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