NABU roundtable stream Dec 16, 2023
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The NABU was a Z80-based PC designed and sold in Ottawa in the early 80s. Instead of storing software on tape or floppy disk, it connected to the cable TV network in Ottawa, which was continuously broadcasting all available NABU software in a continuous loop, and was continuously being updated with the day's news, recipes, etc, as well as a bunch of games. Many were ports, but there were a number of original titles as well that never appeared for any other platform. NABU hired a bunch of local programmers to write games for it, including a teenage Leo Binkowski, who saved everything he had access to when the company went under. Last year a bunch of these machines surfaced on eBay, curious retro computer enthusiasts snapped them up, and Leo worked with a quickly growing community to bring them back online with the original software. Today you can buy an inexpensive USB serial adapter, build or buy a simple cable with a standard DIN-5 connector, plug it into your PC or a Raspberry Pi running NABU "internet adapter" software, and the machine will come to life as though it's still 1983.
Leo recently announced that he's rounded up a few more NABU alumni to do a livestream on December 16. Feels like it may be worth checking out.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QoZTBNz47co
