41–50 of 88 posts
those geniuses broadcast computer programs via airwaves during a radio show. listeners would record it on cassette and play the program on computer. anybody else did that ?
This happened in The Netherlands as well. Here's [0] a mostly English language link to the history of the Basicode system as used in the radio program Hobbyscoop. [0] https://www.hobbyscoop.nl/the-history-of-basicode/
Off topic, but ha, this funny. "Tito" and "anti-authoritarian" in the same paragraph, just LOLz. The intro is a bit off, politically. On a less off-topic note, checkout Bulgaria's wildly successful clone of the Apple II in 1979: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pravetz_computers
The introduction in the article is historically accurate, compared to the countries behind the so called “iron curtain” that land was indeed different. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain “Soviet-installed governments ruled the Eastern Bloc countries, with the exception of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which retained its independence and changed its orientation away from the Soviet Union in t…
While Yugoslavia was east of the iron curtain, it was never actually behind the iron curtain. It was never an eastern soviet bloc state, and it was never a part of the USSR. This whole page deserves a read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cominform#Expulsion_of_Yugosla...
There were inherent flaws in the soviet system from the beginning, that would ultimately be Achilles heels. For example, the Yugoslavian passport allowed you to effectively travel freely (without visas, usually) back and forth on both sides of the iron curtain.
Also, while Americans refer to Yugoslavia's government system as communism, it was technically socialism. Yes, it was effectively a form of communism, and Tito was recognized as "benevolent dictator", but there were differences compared to the soviet bloc states. I am not excusing the horrors and the suffering that went on in Yugoslavia or the soviet bloc states either.
It should be noted that the US would give funds to Yugoslavia to stir up conflict east of the iron curtain. The Yugoslavian system was no more economically successful than the soviet bloc states. It was inherently flawed.
There are also wild stories that come out of the Balkans too: After Tito refused to align with the soviet bloc, Stalin ultimately tried to assassinate Tito 22 times (that we know of). Tito sends Stalin a letter and tells him to stop sending people to Yugoslavia to assassinate him. Because if Stalin does it again, Tito will personally send an assassin to Moscow to kill him (Stalin), and it will only take 1 try.
those geniuses broadcast computer programs via airwaves during a radio show. listeners would record it on cassette and play the program on computer. anybody else did that ?
Off topic, but ha, this funny. "Tito" and "anti-authoritarian" in the same paragraph, just LOLz. The intro is a bit off, politically. On a less off-topic note, checkout Bulgaria's wildly successful clone of the Apple II in 1979: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pravetz_computers
The introduction in the article is historically accurate, compared to the countries behind the so called “iron curtain” that land was indeed different. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain “Soviet-installed governments ruled the Eastern Bloc countries, with the exception of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which retained its independence and changed its orientation away from the Soviet Union in t…
It is not.
> compared to the countries behind the so called “iron curtain” that land was indeed different.
Different, yes. Anti-authorian? A dictatorship? No.
Off topic, but ha, this funny. "Tito" and "anti-authoritarian" in the same paragraph, just LOLz. The intro is a bit off, politically. On a less off-topic note, checkout Bulgaria's wildly successful clone of the Apple II in 1979: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pravetz_computers
The introduction in the article is historically accurate, compared to the countries behind the so called “iron curtain” that land was indeed different. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain “Soviet-installed governments ruled the Eastern Bloc countries, with the exception of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which retained its independence and changed its orientation away from the Soviet Union in t…
It...didn't, though. It wasn't anti-authoritarian at all. Not was the NAM much of an alliance. Nor, as a number of countries closely aligned with the superpowers joined, was it even particularly even a group of non-aligned countries.
On flea markets you could buy latest games on packs of around 30 on one cassette. Yugoslavia had no copyright laws and breaking software protections became national sport.
Computer magazines weren't full of reviews like today but rather full of electronics, software sources (that you have typed to your computer - I still remember that some genius started to add checksum at the end of endless DATA statements and give you a message that you have done an error in line x).
My first computer (c64) was smuggled from Austria under fathers car seat, at age of 12 I have written my first software (due to the large amounts of cheap games I got bored) and one of the coolest things to see were pirate intros packed with games. At 14 I was fully proficient with Amiga and Atari ST.
Those were different times, we didnt have 30 types of chocolate bars, zillions of different toys but we had a lot of imagination. Now, my country... the consumption has completely destroyed public morale, innovation and will to actually do something else than be pretty (boys included) and fit and well dressed at youth time, having latest phone and likes on your FB account. I had unique chance to see two very different parts of how society functions and I think we, as humans, are on wrong path.
One needs to understand that at that time it was hard to buy a regular home computer in Yugoslavia because of market specifics and some import restrictions (in order to encourage local production and improve the local economy).
Many smuggled computers in personal luggage. Sinclair's ZX Spectrum was particularly target of jokes because of the rubber buttons, so people said it to the customs officer (when caught) that it was a programmer for the laundry machine (due to the use of rubber).
Later I bought a Commodore 64 via a official channel through the Commodore representative in the country. I waited several months for the import approval and shipping.
Off topic, but ha, this funny. "Tito" and "anti-authoritarian" in the same paragraph, just LOLz. The intro is a bit off, politically. On a less off-topic note, checkout Bulgaria's wildly successful clone of the Apple II in 1979: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pravetz_computers
Just a simple comparison to western democraties. In a typical democracy the parties list candidates and you vote for them.
Here candidates for representatives were proposed by interested members of the public on larger gatherings, by simple shouting someones name.
1. He was involved as a skeptic and wrote a well-received (among my friends at least) book debunking psychics and various kinds of nonsense. As a teenage boy in Serbia (in the late 90s?), I asked him to translate a portion of the book to English and put the translation on my website. He graciously allowed me to do so. Part of why I wanted to go through that massive effort was to convince an English-speaking girlfriend (whom I've met online!) that astrology is nonsense. You could say that relationship did not last long.
The book is now available as a free PDF on his website. [1] I don't know what happened to my website.
2. He moved to the US at 65 to work SV, and had some emotional things to say about the move. [2] It stuck with me.
(Both links are in Serbian.)
[1]: http://www.voja.rs/dpdl.htm
[2]: https://noizz.rs/intervju/voja-antonic-za-noizz-o-odlasku-u-...