Rob O'Hara

Rob O'Hara (born August 22, 1973) is an American author, blogger,[1] and podcaster.[2]

Rob O'Hara
Born	August 22, 1973 Oklahoma City, OK, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Author, Blogger, Podcaster
Years active	1991-Present
Website	robohara.com

Books

In 2006, O'Hara published Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie.[3] Jason Scott, director of the BBS Documentary, dubbed Commodork "the world's first BBS memoir," stating the book "does what my film couldn't; go front to end on one boy's story to turning into a man online. And for that, I thank him, and I think a lot of others will too." Brett Weiss, author of the popular Classic Home Video Games book series, says he "recommends the book without reservation. Initially I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's obvious that (O'Hara) is a writer and a gamer, not just a gamer who happens to write. His style is clear and unpretentious, and the hilarious anecdotes alone are worth the price of admission."[4]

O'Hara's second book, Invading Spaces: A Beginner's Guide to Collecting Arcade Games,[5] is a beginner's introduction to the arcade collecting hobby. Earl Green from The Log Book stated "Rob O'Hara knows a couple of things about collecting arcade machines. Invading Spaces is where he shares that obvious wealth of knowledge with coin-op newbies like myself."[6] Antique Week called the book an "amusing and informative tome."[7]

In 2018, O'Hara published his first feature length fiction novel, The Human Library.[8] The story was O'Hara's graduate project for his Master of Professional Writing degree at the University of Oklahoma.[9] The Human Library currently has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon.[8]

Published Articles, Essays, and Writing Positions

O'Hara began his career writing music, movie, and video game) reviews on websites such as Review to a Kill[10] and Review-o-Matic.com.[11] In 2000, O'Hara was paid to write several DVD reviews for IGN.[12][13][14][15] Recently, O'Hara has expanded into writing and submitting fiction.

• 2600: The Hacker Quarterly (Contributor)
• The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature (Contributor)
• Digital Press E-Zine and Website (Staff Writer)[16]
• El Reno Light (Intern/Reporter)
• El Reno Tribune (Intern/Reporter)
• IGN.com (Paid Contributor, DVD Reviews)
• Forever Retro (Paid Contributor)
• Memoirs of a Virtual Caveman (Foreword and Article Contributor)[17]
• Minco Millennium (Columnist)
• Retro Gaming Hacks (O'Reilly Books) (Paid Contributor)
• Retroist.com (Staff Writer)[18]
• TheLogBook.com (Staff Writer)[19]
• Video Game Collector Magazine (Staff Writer)
• Video Game Trader Magazine (Staff Writer)

Podcasts

O'Hara has hosted and currently hosts multiple podcasts. His first podcast, You Don't Know Flack,[20] began in 2008 and currently has a 5-star rating on iTunes.[21] In 2013, O'Hara co-founded the retro-themed podcast network Throwback Network[22] with his Throwback Reviews co-host Sean Johnson. The network currently hosts more than two dozen retro-themed podcasts.

Current Podcasts

• You Don't Know Flack[20] (Retro/Stories)
• Sprite Castle[23] (Commodore 64)
• Cactus Flack's[24] (Arcade)
• Multiple Sadness[25] (Bad/B-Movies)
• Throwback Reviews[2] (80s Movies)

Former Podcasts

• No Quarter Podcast[26] (Arcade) (Episodes 126-136)
• Rusted Metal[27] (Heavy Metal)

Guest Appearances

• Adventure Club Podcast (Episodes 59, 68, 72, 74, 75, 83)[28]
• Eight and a Half Bit (Episode 96)[29]
• Flux Capaci-Cast (Episodes 3, 13)[30]
• Retrobits Podcast (Episodes 71, 72)[31]

Presentations

O'Hara is a subject matter expert on Commodore computers, vintage video and arcade games, and self-publishing, and has spoken at multiple conventions on these topics.

• Def Con (2007): Self-Publishing in the Underground[32]
• Notacon (2009): The World of Free Book Publishing[33]
• Oklahoma Electronic Gaming Expo (2009): Collecting Arcade Machines[34][35]
• Oklahoma City Community College (2009): A History of Computer Games

Software

O'Hara has written and released several freeware programs, including:

• GP32 Renamer: a Windows utilitiy that converts long filenames to 8.3 filenames for the GamePark 32 handheld console.[36]
• ShadowPrint: a Windows utility for getting text directory listings.[37]
• Batch-O-Matic: a Windows utility for processing batch files with external variable lists.[38]
• eCoder Ring: a Windows message encryption utility.[39]
  • eCoder Ring included a coded message that users were challenged to crack.[39] In 2008, O'Hara offered a cash reward of $100 to anyone who could crack the code.[40] In the weeks following leaked information about the NSA's practices, eCoder Ring was downloaded an additional 3,000 times.[41] The code remains unbroken. In her abstract titled A Summary of Hacking Organizations, Conferences, Publications, and Effects on Society, Alisha Cecil called eCoder Ring a "fun, friendly, easy to use program that allows two people to send secret messages to one another" that "is capable of producing nearly unbreakable ciphers."[42]

Personal life

O'Hara currently resides in Yukon, Oklahoma with his wife, two children, and collection of vintage electronics.[43]

Work

During the day, he works for the Federal Aviation Administration, where he has worked as a "Helpdesk/Technical Support Analyst, Computer Specialist/LAN Administrator, Senior Network Engineer, IT Security Specialist, member of the IT Communication Department, and Domain Admin/Enterprise Administrator."[44]

Education

O'Hara graduated from Yukon High School in 1991. At Redlands Community College, O'Hara served as the editor of the school's newspaper and yearbook from 1991-1993. O'Hara graduated from Oklahoma City Community College in 2001 with an AA in Journalism, and earned a BS in Organizational Leadership from Southern Nazarene University in 2005. Most recently, O'Hara graduated from the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Oklahoma.[45]

Hobbies

O'Hara refers to himself as a "collector of collections," and is working on a book with the same title.[46] O'Hara frequently blogs about his Star Wars collection.[47] In an interview with Oxford Karma, O'Hara discussed his collection of 30 arcade cabinets located in his home arcade.[48] O'Hara was interviewed by the Associated Press about his arcade collecting hobby.[49]

References

1. "RobOHara.com".
2. "Throwback Reviews Podcast".
3. "Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie".
4. "BrettWeissWords.com: OVGE 2008 Report".
5. "Invading Spaces: A Beginner's Guide to Collecting Arcade Games".
6. "Invading Spaces Review".
7. "BrettWeissWords.com: Collecting Classic Arcade Games".
8. "The Human Library".
9. "I Just Published The Human Library on Amazon Kindle".
10. "Wayback Machine: Review to a Kill". Archived from the original on April 1, 2004.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
11. "Review-o-Matic.com".
12. "IGN.com: Beyond the Mat".
13. "IGN.com: Edward Scissorhands".
14. "IGN.com:Pantera's 3 Vulgar Videos from Hell".
15. "IGN.com: Lake Placid".
16. "Digital Press: Staff Writers".
17. "Memoirs of a Virtual Caveman: What's Inside?".
18. "Retroist.com: Author Profile Page".
19. "TheLogBook.com: Author Profile Page".
20. "Podcast: You Don't Know Flack".
21. "iTunes.com: You Don't Know Flack".
22. "ThrowbackNetwork.net".
23. "Podcast: Sprite Castle".
24. "Podcast: Cactus Flack's".
25. "Podcast: Multiple Sadness".
26. "Podcast: No Quarter".
27. "Podcast: Rusted Metal".
28. "Podcast: Adventure Club Podcast".
29. "Podcast: 8 and a Half Bit".
30. "Podcast: Flux Capaci-Cast".
31. "Podcast: Retrobits".
32. "YouTube.com: Self-Publishing in the Underground".
33. "YouTube.com: YouTube.com: The World of Free Book Publishing".
34. "TriplesDedicated.com: Rob O'Hara at OEGE".
35. "ClearlyOKC.com: Rob O'Hara to appear at Oklahonma Electronic Game Expo".
36. "OpenHandhelds.org: GP32 Renamer".
37. "RobOHara.com: ShadowPrint".
38. "CultDeadCow.com: Batch-O-Matic".
39. "RobOHara.com: eCoder Ring".
40. "RobOHara.com: Break this Code, Win $100".
41. "RobOHara.com: A Resurgence of Interest in eCoder Ring".
42. "Alisha Cecil: A Summary of Hacking Organizations, Conferences, Publications, and Effects on Society".
43. "CNN.com: Frogger, anyone? Old-school gamers revel in nostalgia".
44. "About Rob O'Hara".
45. "LinkedIn.com: Rob O'Hara".
46. "RobOHara.com: How (Not) To Get Rid of Things".
47. "RobOHara.com: Star Wednesday".
48. "OxfordKarma.com: Rob O'Hara Feature".
49. "FoxNews.com (AP): Classic Video Games Make Comeback".