Before Alien: Isolation, a 1980s Commodore 64 Game Nailed First-Person Terror

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Released shortly after the US version, the UK-made Aliens: The Computer Game for Commodore 64 and other platforms took a distinct approach by stepping away from the film’s plot to deliver a more intense and frightening experience, pioneering first-person terror gameplay in the 1980s. Developed by Southampton-based Software Studios, this version differentiated itself through its atmospheric design and gameplay style, predating later survival horror titles like Alien: Isolation.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/before-alien-isolation-a-1980s-commodore-64-game-nailed-first-person-terror/

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A Brief History of the Internet’s Favorite Scam

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The advance-fee fraud or “419 scam,” often epitomized by emails from supposed Nigerian princes needing help to transfer large sums, traces back centuries to confidence tricks like the 19th-century Spanish Prisoner scam. Adapted over time to fit evolving communication technologies, these scams exploit narratives of corruption and political chaos, playing on stereotypes and Western cynicism about globalization and African nations, while often involving low-level scammers who are themselves marginalized in corrupt systems. Despite their notoriety and cultural impact, the scammers are usually minor actors, with the greatest profits flowing to higher-level figures engaged in complex fraud and corruption.

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-brief-history-of-the-internets-favorite-scam/

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More Emulation Goodness, an Intel Itanium (IA-64) Emulator That Boots Windows!

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An Intel Itanium (IA-64) emulator named SKI, developed by Yufeng Gao and collaborators, has reached version 0.1 and is capable of booting the Itanium versions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP 64-bit, though performance is currently slow. While support for OpenVMS, HP-UX, and Linux/BSD is not yet available, this marks a significant milestone in emulation of the Itanium architecture, historically used mainly for HP-UX and OpenVMS systems, and no commercial emulators have existed so far. Additionally, a QEMU fork reportedly running Server 2008 on Itanium has emerged, pointing to ongoing developments in IA-64 emulation.

https://raymii.org/s/blog/Intel_Itanium_IA-64-Emulator_that_boots_Windows.html

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Amiga Freeware Archive

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The Amiga Freeware Archive offers thousands of classic Amiga games, applications, demos, graphics, music, and tools from the 32-bit home computing era, all available for free download. It features extensive collections from notable public domain libraries, scene groups, user groups, and disk magazines, preserving a wide range of software and digital culture from the Amiga community of the 1980s and 1990s.

https://amigafreeware.downer.tech/

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The Zilog Z80 Has Turned 50

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The Zilog Z80 microprocessor, launched in July 1976, achieved significant success in early 8-bit personal computers and numerous embedded applications, remaining in use in industrial systems until its discontinuation in 2024. Developed as a binary compatible, enhanced successor to the Intel 8080, the Z80 introduced added registers, new instructions, simplified bus design, and flexible interrupt modes, enabling simpler system interfacing and higher performance. Its design lineage traces back to the Datapoint 2200 terminal’s TTL-based CPU and Intel’s 8008 and 8080 processors, with the Z80 influencing later architectures and maintaining relevance for nearly five decades.

https://goliath32.com/blog/z80.html

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Jurassic Park Computers in Excruciating Detail

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The article provides an in-depth analysis of the computers and software featured in the original Jurassic Park film, highlighting authentic hardware such as the Apple Powerbook 100, SGI R4000 Indigo, SGI IRIS Crimson, Thinking Machines CM-5 supercomputers, and peripherals like the Motorola Envoy PDA and PLI Mini Arrays. It details how real systems and software, including the IRIX operating system and the fsn file explorer, were used or simulated onscreen to create a convincing depiction of the park’s control room, with notable product placements and historically accurate technical details verified by production accounts and period documentation.

https://fabiensanglard.net/jurrasic_park_computers/index.html

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Tiny Emulators

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Tiny Emulators is a collection of web-based emulators for classic 8-bit computers and arcade systems, including the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, KC85 series, and more. Hosted on GitHub, these emulators support running original software, demos, and games from the retro computing era, providing accessible preservation and interactive experiences through modern browsers. The project features various user interfaces and modules to replicate hardware behavior, enabling enthusiasts to explore vintage systems and software digitally.

https://floooh.github.io/tiny8bit-preview/index.html

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Retrotechnology Media – Typewritten Software

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The Retrotechnology Media site presents a comprehensive collection of screenshots showcasing a wide range of vintage operating environments and graphical user interfaces from 1983 to 2007. It documents the evolution of classic desktop systems, including SunTools, GEM, NeXTstep, BeOS, Mac OS versions, and others, serving as a visual archive for retro computing enthusiasts. The site also includes resources such as a software library, restoration projects, and historical articles dedicated to preserving and studying early computer technology.

https://typewritten.org/Media/

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Old Icons

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Reflecting on Apple’s 50th anniversary, the article revisits early Mac application icons, which were simple 32×32 black-and-white images featuring tilted rectangles with symbolic hand images to indicate functionality, as seen in MacWrite and MacPaint. It highlights how these constraints and design patterns influenced both Apple’s and third-party software icons before evolving into less constrained, more whimsical designs. The discussion connects these early icon styles to current debates about Mac icon design and the so-called “squircle jail.”

https://leancrew.com/all-this/2026/07/old-icons/

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Starring the Computer

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Starring the Computer is a comprehensive online database documenting computers featured in movies and television shows, cataloged alphabetically by brand and model. The site provides detailed listings of various historic and modern computers like Acorn, Apple, Amstrad, and Acer, along with the specific films and TV episodes where each computer appeared. It serves as a resource for enthusiasts interested in the portrayal and use of vintage and contemporary computing devices in popular media.

https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computers.html

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