Comments on: How Lord Sugar taught me to hack stuff

By: alex

alex — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:21:00 +0000

that’s awesome, i do remember how it was from the begining

By: Rob Beschizza

Rob Beschizza — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000

But a 16-bit external data bus, among other things. These machines were widely held to be “16-bit” at the time, and trying to move the goalposts now is kinda pointless.

By: dnebdal

dnebdal — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:06:00 +0000

Ah, good. :) The downside to the short, written, form of internet comments it that sincerity and sarcasm is hard to tell apart; a long-standing joke is that it would be nice to have an HTML tag for it, much like we have for emphasis and the like. (Of course, it would be as successful as RFC3514.)

By: John Roberts

John Roberts — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:53:00 +0000

In the 1980′s, as the Timex/Sinclair Z80 was declining in popularity, I bought one at a clearence sale for $20. I was so excited that I could afford a real computer. I was in my first year of college and it provided me with hours of entertainment. There was a Sinclair magazine and lots of books as well. I also purchased a book on the Z80a microprocessor so I could program the chip directly and completed many of the exercises in the book. One of the books I had was about the operating system and the computer’s system architecture. I devoured all things Sinclair. Eventually I redesinged the operating system so that the graphics subsystem went from 32 characters across by 24 lines down to something like 10,000 pixels that I could individually address. I needed the 64K memory pack for that and could not afford the compiler for the machine. So I wrote a HEX loader in Basic and wrote direct HEX code using the Operating system book and the Z80a Microprocesor book. It took me about 2 days to complete. I would generate a graphic and store them in upper RAM at about 41K. I would generate as many “Frame buffers” (as they would eventually be called) as I could in RAM. Then I would change the address of the systems display address and make full motion video from the frame buffers. It was wonderful. I did many other projects as well.

Thanks for the memories.

By: scruss

scruss — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:30:00 +0000

You must’ve gone to a posh kids’ school. I went to a slightly posh kids’ school, and it was speccies to the max.

By: LightningRose

LightningRose — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:24:00 +0000

pssst…

The Motorola 68K CPU in the Lisa, early Macintosh, Amiga 1000/500, and Atari ST was a 32 bit chip with a 24 bit address bus.

By: Rob Beschizza

Rob Beschizza — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:19:00 +0000

It’s true! New technology is always wild magic for learning.

By: Rob Beschizza

Rob Beschizza — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:11:00 +0000

The BBC/Acorn Micro was an ancient tank that succeeded because schools bought it.

The BBC/Acorn Achimedes computer, though, now that was a damned fine computer. But again, if it hadn’t been for schools buying it, it would be even more obscure than it already is!

By: Mark Dow

Mark Dow — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:09:00 +0000

Absolutely sincere. I don’t know that emoticon.

By: dnebdal

dnebdal — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:39:00 +0000

The internet still needs tags for sarcasm – I really have no idea if you’re being sincere or bitingly sarcastic (for no good reason).

By: Grant Williamson

Grant Williamson — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:49:00 +0000

Aah brings back memories; at 7 years old I was rushing through my school work so the teacher would let me go to the computer room, where I messed around on Amstrad CPCs – eventually talked my parents into getting me one (yes, for “school work”), and great times were had. Locomotive Basic that shipped with Amstrads (it booted to it, in fact), was pretty advanced for its time, especially compared to the pile of crud you got on a C64. Direct access to graphics and sound (including simple basic commands to create volume and tone envelopes), in-built interrupt timer, multiple independent text windows, the ability to use “add-on” bar command libraries that ran machine code routines… I got one one a cover-tape on a magazine that operated the CPC as a simple 1-bit sampler, using the tape drive. Having a 6128, I plugged a microphone into the tape input socket, wrote a BASIC program that repeatedly sampled the microphone for a noise, and set off an alarm if it detected one. Left it running one day when I was at school, and scared the shit out of my mother when she came into my room. Goood times.

By: Beanolini

Beanolini — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:06:00 +0000
If you'd hung on a bit, you could have got an Amstrad-made Spectrum. I recently read an amusing anecdote about Amstrad (presumably Sugar himself) phoning a UK software developer and demanding free copies of all their products on the grounds that 'we didn't become millionaires by buying software from people like you'.

By: Evil Paul

Evil Paul — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:05:00 +0000

I hope the Raspberry Pi helps a new generation experience the joys of having a cheap hackable computer. Has it been featured on BB yet? http://www.raspberrypi.org

By: Mark Dow

Mark Dow — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:02:00 +0000

Now-defunct websites for general audiences are the new now-defunct hardware for general audiences. I hope you will write as eloquently about how the early web facilitated the unspeakably difficult task of learning (while avoiding formal education).

By: Jack Aubrey

Jack Aubrey — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:39:00 +0000

CALL&F1C4

By: Jack Aubrey

Jack Aubrey — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:37:00 +0000

I got as far as Deadly/em>

By: Brian Murtagh

Brian Murtagh — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:36:00 +0000

The BBC Micro ruled because it was designed from the ground up to be totally hackable, hardware firmware and software.

The graphics capabilities were flexible and advanced for 8-bit. BBC Basic included relatively advanced features like WHILE-WEND and DO-UNTIL, there was a 6502 assembler built in, you could drop PROMS in to the mainboard’s ZIF sockets to instantly add either other languages (Forth, Fortran, Lisp, Pascal) or office software.

The case was openable, you could easily do repairs and upgrades yourself, even to adding a second processor. You could use cassette-based storage or floppies, a television or an RGB monitor. It was a bit more expensive than either the Spectrum or C64, but its capabilities knocked them both into a cocked hat.

I frankly don’t remember even seeing an Amstrad at the time, but the C64, Spectrums and Beebs were everywhere.

By: Jack Aubrey

Jack Aubrey — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:31:00 +0000

Thank you. Beeb for the win. Ruling triumvirate my ass.

By: smurfswacker

smurfswacker — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:16:00 +0000

About computers for homework…I was already ‘grown” when the Apple II hit, so I had to buy my own computer. Back then the US airwaves were flooded with ads trying to sell parents computers to help their kids with school. The TV ad I’ve never forgotten was for the Coleco Adam…a lugubrious soft-focus story of how little Johnny(?) was failing in school. His parents consult in hushed tones with an earnest education expert. They follow his guidance. The sun breaks through and the camera slips into focus as Johnny’s mother fervently tells the boy, “Johnny, we’re getting you an Adam!” (Even though it’ll be orphan technology within two years.)

By: Shawn RIchardson

Shawn RIchardson — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:05:00 +0000

I got a coco in 1981 because I was spending too much time on my fathers trash80 and impacting work. Lol. Tandy ftw.

By: Daen de Leon

Daen de Leon — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:24:00 +0000

I bought up a bunch of remaindered Sinclair QLs from Dixons and the like in about 1986, about 10 in all, and managed to shift the lot to friends and colleagues of mine. The QL was a *much* underappreciated machine, all in all.

By: TimRowledge

TimRowledge — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:10:00 +0000

BBC B? Good grief, by 1987 I had an ARM powered Archimedes; 10 mips, 4Mb ram and whopping *huge* 20Mb disk drive. It was one of the hand made prototypes and it’s still around somewhere. Seem to have lost the weird keyboard.

By: eviladrian

eviladrian — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:21:00 +0000

Don’t you badmouth the 3-inch disk!
When I think about all the 3.5-inch floppies I had the metal “shield” bend and come off (sometimes inside the drive), it would have been a better world if the 3-inch form factor had taken over…

By: essential12939

essential12939 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:45:00 +0000

Protracker FTW. Tunes please Rob

By: Dr_Wadd

Dr_Wadd — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:21:00 +0000

You beat me to the punch. “Ruling triumvirate” nonsense, the BBC B was the true ruler. I’ve still got one kicking around somewhere in the spare room, must dig it out again some time soon to see if it still works.

By: Daneel

Daneel — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:17:00 +0000

No BBC/Acorn love?

My parents got my the Electron (in ’84, I think) in preference to the Spectrum that everyone else seemed to have because of the educational ‘benefits’. Still have it somewhere, actually. Aside from having very few people to swap games with, I loved it. Went from that to an Amiga 500 in ’90 (Flight of Fantasy pack – Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters FTW!).

Nobody seemed to have Amstrads or C64s at my school.

One kid seemed to have a knack for getting the odd computers, he had a Spectrum +3 and then an Amiga 600. Never knew anyone else who ever had either.

By: Flesh of Sadie

Flesh of Sadie — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:23:00 +0000

POKE 103,0 on a Mac 128K. Great sounds, spectacular crash.

By: Nadreck

Nadreck — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:19:00 +0000

Yes hexadecimal “peeks” and “pokes” are the only two statements that any *real* hacker needs. All of this new-fangled assembly language stuff is for wimps!

Someone in my building tossed out a complete owner’s manual and some sort of Basic developer’s kit for an Amstrad system. I fished it out of the garbage room as I was amused by it. I put it up on eBay but no one was interested in it so I re-tossed it. The oldest thing I have now is the Apple IIe version of F.C.M. (Filing, Cataloging, Mailing!) from someone called “Arrays Inc./Continental Software”.

By: Suzanne LaForest

Suzanne LaForest — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:07:00 +0000

I’ve commented about this before. Back when computers were first shaking the scene, the applications were just horrible. People assumed that we were going to use them to program things. My brother and I had a TRS-80 and we spent most of our time programming a “Wall Street” game. We taught ourselves all sorts of BASIC commands and programming trying to make our really stupid game more interesting. Now kids can’t program at all because the applications are too much fun!

By: Alan Bradley

Alan Bradley — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:03:00 +0000

Sitting here in my office/box room with my ancient CPC6128 (the posh model with the 3″ disc drive) peering over my shoulder…