[10:34] dull and dreary that is how you spell dun leary [12:09] happy Friday! [12:10] * zxmpi has just copied micromen to my media player for later [12:11] ooh [12:14] now available on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM [12:42] first few mins suggest that will be fun [12:42] it is [12:43] hmm he beat the likes of casio to the calculator eh o0 [12:43] it's more about the bbc micro birth [12:45] yeah just didn't realise that wasn't a Japanese thing [14:32] ok i'm finally doing it, i'm walking over to the post office with the Psion gear! [14:33] good luck! [14:34] not sure how to really write out the customs form to not get clobbered with VAT on the way in, but ah well [14:43] "Electronic programmable calculator, c. 1991, requires 2xAA batteries (not included)" [14:48] the 3mx batteries have lasted 20 weeks so far :-) [15:29] decided to wing it with no cover in the end, declaring no value... ought to be fine [17:23] may it's journey be swift and true [17:31] just come to the end of Micro Men [17:31] cor it's really beginning to look naff outside of evenings [17:31] dull and dreary here today, had light on at lunch time it was so dark [17:51] what an incredible story overall, must have been one heck of a rollercoaster ride from start to finish [17:53] so many of the 8 bit systems of the 80s had similar from nowhere to millionaires to nothing again journeys [17:54] apart from acorn who invented arm [17:54] even commodore the behemoth of the 80s died a death [17:55] but fans still keep commodore, sinclair alive through sheer force of will and loyalty [17:57] yip, probably only fade once the generation goes [18:33] zxmpi: watched Micro Men last night. How I missed it when it first came out I don't know. [18:34] And I totally forgot that Acorn was responsible for the ARM processor [18:35] * m0nkey_ loved going into the computer room at school filled with BBC Micros [18:38] I'd love to get my hands on an Archimedes to play with. [18:40] * penguin42 flicks the big switch next to m0nkey_ and theirs a chorus of slightly mistimed Beeee......Beeep! [18:41] haha! yeah.. totally forgot about the master power switch in the room [18:41] and then the universe implodes from the simultaneous degauss on a rooom full of CUB monitors [18:42] lol [19:27] In that Micro Men movie, they talk about the QL.. my neighbour had one, complete with two working micro drives. [19:29] any good? [19:37] From what I remember. It was basically a 128k +3 with microdrives instead of a tape drive built in. The microdrives were pretty fast for their time [19:38] then when amstrad got their hands on spectrum, the 128k+3 was released with a floppy drive [19:39] i grew up on spectrums [19:40] i think it was one of the first spectrums that could be networked [19:41] m0nkey_: The QL was very different - it used a 68008 [19:42] sure, but the built in basic pretty much worked the same way as the original. the only difference is you didn't have to choose a function from the keyboard, instead of hunting around for the world 'print' you would type 'print' [19:44] on my original 48k, I fondly remember hitting J for LOAD and two quotes ... LOAD "" [20:03] the spectrum disk drive as 3" not 3.5" just different enough to make them awkward and fail [20:04] the microdrives were brilliant but first ones were made cheap by contractor iirc and the tapes stretched when it got hot. was fixed but never quite shook the bad start [21:15] a bag of skittles i got has a code which just won me a free bag, but it requires a colour printer and wants me to run an 11 MB .exe to print the coupon [21:16] easy! buy more skittles to win the laptop and printer to do it [21:16] xD [21:16] you could print to pdf and send that? [21:17] have a feeling they are able to detect PDF printing [21:17] as a qr code just to annoy them :-) [21:19] convert to jpeg and print at chemist as a pic [21:19] that's the whole thing behind the secure utility, is it won't let you see it ahead of time [21:19] it wants to squirt toward a printer direct [21:20] i last captured print output to a file in dos. only done it 1-2 times in windows [21:24] i wonder if there's a usb version of an interfaker :-D https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6069/6074303957_8d92001eb8_b.jpg [21:24] well, their software doesn't do anything [21:27] it does something, i daren't imgaine what [21:28] :D [21:30] it'd be nice if there was a hacking challenge page where you could upload the details of the skittle giveaway and see what they make of the 'offer :-) [21:30] the race for a free bag of skittles [21:33] having a real printer may well help, might have to victimise someone [21:33] see if there are any colour printers on your neighbours wifi networks :-D [21:34] oh dear i seem to have sent it to the wrong printer by mistake [21:34] but then they get my free gear! D: [21:34] however did that happen [21:34] they're british, they'd be too honest to not give you the printout [21:35] and of course if they didn't then that would mean war -bugs bunny [21:36] what % of houses don't have a printer at all anymore. it's getting quite high [21:36] and especially during the pandemic i have heard of people during lockdowns who needed to print 1 page with no printer available. [21:36] :D [21:37] was an issue in france during first lockdown where you needed to print off a form with reason you were out of house during lockdown [21:37] a couple a bit ago were trying to get fax going because of one lockdown task that they considered critical, i wasn't having anything to do with it [21:38] i have pondered using an old fax machine as a cheap thermal printer for grocery lists, directions/maps sorta thing. [21:38] the zx spectrum thermal printer was a simple genius device. some have made printers like it but they are not cheap [21:39] Dymo label printer! "here's my authorisation occifer, no you can't borrow a magnifying glass" [21:40] i have the mechanical version with a dial here somewhere. used to label all power suppliers and leads with it. now i just use postal labels [21:40] was never a fan of the electronic versions. fussy, expensive for a rarely used device [21:41] ah the office minions love 'em, i just resurrected one at a new client the other day whilst tidying up his office / setting up a new PC [21:42] i don't think the batteries in the one we bought at work lasted 3 months on batteries and did far less work then my psion :-) [22:47] small random devices really should just be USB powered these days [23:20] which usually means an unreplaceable rechargeable battery that will be dead in 2-3 years [23:20] electronic landfill [23:20] one of the reasons i love the psion. [23:22] i think penguin42 meant tethered devices like desk-ridden ones [23:27] usb-c is moving in that direction... slowly [23:28] well I meant actually small portable random things; get rid of the batteries in them, just put a USB socket on tehm [23:29] i'd be ok with that for the most part