Re: From somewhere behind the sofa

> Never was a sink plunger so terrifying

Someone* recently said it was about the voices, and I have to agree - they go about committing acts of atrocity in a completely calm manner, basically until the Doctor comes along - and suddenly there's an "angered" upward inflection that wasn't there before.

* not sure, but a sufficiently insightful comment to have been Nick Briggs.

// "Eggs eggs eggs"

Re: It's a very personal thing...

"It's a very personal thing...

...But my own preference is Earl Grey left to stew until it's almost cold. No milk or sugar. Great in a hot climate."

I wouldn't leave Earl Grey to go cold deliberately, but it definitely benefits from not being rank when left.

I also wouldn't add milk or sugar to any other tea as a general rule - it seems to me that the desire to do so stems either from inappropriate selection (I've normally got two or three varieties on the go at any time) or poor preparation.

Re: perilously close to thinking it's the 1950s and rape jokes are funny

> Some Rape, Barly, and Wheat went into a bar...

A feed line like that *definitely* deserves a punchline.

Preferably something ...seedy?

Assembler

> For a lot of the old computers, a decent assembler was hard to get and we often had to write our own.

I remember that sort of thing. I typed in the assembler from INPUT magazine but don't recall ever getting it to work (it could have, in which case I lacked patience with it - and the commercial offerings we also had).

Ultimately, my machine code ended up finding its way into RAM courtesy of a short routine that read the target address/es and corresponding hex byte sequences from a BASIC program's REM statements ... and being small and simple, it ran from the printer buffer.

Re: Terrorists

"Encrypt the hard drive, and then the police probably wouldn't even be able to access restored data"

http://xkcd.com/538/ ?

// several icons applicable, but I'll take TWAJS.

Re: Procedures????

"Because line numbers are used, you can easily abuse procedures too - they use the subroutine stack like other handlers, so you could in theory jump in and out of them at will, without having to even call them. Not that I'd advocate that sort of code, but still"

I never felt restricted enough to need this, but did see it done. I liked the Spectrum 16/48K Othello game (CDS Microsystems, http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0003554) so much I had a go at porting it [to AMOS BASIC on the Amiga, for speed]. To save space for the 16K machine they had subroutines that were sometimes GOTO'd to in it - the routine to determine the computer's best move thus doubled as that for the player's help, except there was a priority order to check the empty spaces in the former case but no such favourable weighting for the latter. It took a few goes to get my head around the spaghetti, and I either I became very good at beating the game as a result or failed to port it sanely ... possibly both ;)

There is still something to be said for the simplicity of a phone that only makes calls.

Reminds me of the Stroustrup quote, "I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone."

;)

Re: Sad but true..

One of our systems doesn't even allow *any* characters to be repeated ...as I found out on the third attempt to pick a password it would accept.

Really. Would a "full list of rules" link have been all that hard to put *somewhere*?!

...I kept a record of what these rules were to avoid the same rigmarole when I'm obliged to change it in future (most likely after I've had it reset because I can't remember what it made me use in place of what I originally wanted...)

Re: Chinny Reckon?

> "the first proper quantum systems won't come online until late in the 21st century"

> I'd give it 20 years meself, and I'm not known for my optimism.

And even then they'll be online and not online at the same time (...er, if I've understood it correctly?)

Re: Tape errors

> One of the attractions of the Amstrads was that the built in tape deck took away all the hassle.

Allegedly. I remember a cousin having no end of trouble with the one in his Spectrum +2A, and ended up running wires outside the case to attach one externally.

Me? I had one of "Uncle Clive"'s original 128s and a WHSmith data recorder, complete with VU meter for instant feedback on whether the volume needed adjustment ;)

Re: I don't think there are any tables around here

Very few tables around here too, for shame, but at least there are some. Notably a Batman: Dark Knight [Gremlin Solutions/Stern] on which I got 90mil -nearly as much as the second replay value- without really trying (pint in hand, mate's band on stage adjacent ... as much as you might think both would scupper your concentration levels!).

Would have been an excellent effort had I played in tournament mode :(

RIP that man.

Re: Supergran!

No need to apologise.

Made me chuckle to have the following exchange in our local Fab Cafe:

Quizmaster: "Which TV theme is this?"

Me, to scribe: "Supergran"

Me, to team: "it's Billy Connolly singing this"

Quizmaster: "...and, for a bonus point, who's singing?"

Adjacent team: "they just said who it was. Did anybody hear it clearly?"

// Pint, 'cos we usually won.

As I read once...

"Any noun in the English language...

... can be verbed"

Verbing weirds language.

// as in http://madshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/calvin-and-hobbes.jpg

Re: Remember...

For the record, this was Formula One Simulator.

From http://zxspectrumgames.blogspot.com/2009/08/zx-spectrum-games-formula-one-simulator.html:

"Mastertronic (unwittingly hilariously) included this little gem in the instructions:

'Steering wheel - Use a sellotape tin or similar object, about 4 1/2" indiameter and 1" deep, hold it at the top and position it at the centre of top row of keys so that it nestles against the ridge at the back. Roll it to theleft or right with moderate pressure to steer. To begin with, a rocking motion on the wheel may help get the feel of the car.' - Priceless!"

See also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Widh72v-Wfg

Re: <waves dead chicken>

Chicken? After having "not killed its Usenet service, it's merely experiencing technical difficulties" it's *got* to be a parrot, surely?

// originally clicking through to "oblig. ..." the Dead News Server sketch (http://everything2.com/title/The+dead+news+server+sketch)

Re: Numeric keypad too?

If it works as a numeric keypad, then you could also use shift-ctrl-numlock to control the mouse pointer with it... ;)

// Tux: depending on your choice of OS, obv.

@N'n'G

+1 parable of the cow, the bird, and the cat (if I'm not mistaken)

...although my train of thought went via The Plan ("It is a crock...") first, d'oh! ;)

@Allicorn

The top screenshot has the tree trunk rendered one character-cell wide (in red/yellow) with red/green cells immediately above and yellow/green below. There's no confusion here - look across to the garden and you'll see where the cell boundaries roughly lie.

Agree about the other one though.

Re: Final Barrier?

I reckon it's from a Beeb from the look of the fonts used.

...and a quick google confirms this level was indeed one that was "introduced (or modified) by non-Spectrum versions of Manic Miner" on the Beeb: http://members2.boardhost.com/jetsetwilly/msg/1240870196.html

// Terminator because the icon reminds me of one of the baddies

...possibly more appropriately:

"After very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your system sucks"

Decapitated ... or disassembled?

Could be - in which case the hands are on this one:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/03/students_build_rubik_bot/

...there's supposed to be a Mac?

I can't see it.

Oh wait, there's one here on this peg ;)

Re: ...brother

> Its young James they should be speaking to.

This morning's Metro said they have.

Online reference (albeit less confusing about whether it's in the same film*): http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/05/pippa-middleton-courted-by-vivid/

* apparently not

Re: Blimey

Metro even captioned a vidcap to that effect (yesterday, I think, but don't have it to hand).

This article dithers between deciding which names to use quite "effectively": http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/857046-menacing-charlie-sheen-loses-twins-to-ex-wife-brooke-mueller

Quality research though :)

Defined depth?

http://www.prstubbs.btinternet.co.uk/olist.htm:

"An Olympic Pool must be 25m wide with a depth of 2.0m (min) at all parts of the course and must be 50m in length - between touch panels if they are used. The 25m width is to allow for 8 lanes to be 2.5m wide minimum with 2 spaces of 2.5m wide outside lane 1 and 8.

So this is 2.5 x 8 lanes = 20m + (2.5m x 2) = 25m in total."

Works for me.

(And raises the suggestion they don't use touch panels at this one, surely...?)

Re: LOL

Not only that, but the "only one [...] to be both female and passably attractive".

I've not seen the others, but evidently it's not worth the bother googling.

<--- worth two thumbs up but not possible in one post (as in +1 per use of "attractive", pervs!!)

Re: 200 days?

...at which point it'll be September, more or less, right?

Interesting coincidence, if unintentional!

Re: May as well...

> the indignant tone of the quoted Aussies is a bit rich I think. Didn't they ever learn to ask nicely?

Maybe they did but the AQI made it impossible to tell(...?)

;)

Re: I can't but feel a trick is beuing missed here

> Big Trak, need I say more?

I had one of those first time round. Bit disappointing looking back - it wouldn't turn by the specified angles on tiled floors, and it wouldn't turn by the specified by the specified angles on carpet. It's probably still packed straight back up in my parents' loft (unless my nephews have pestered my brother for one, in which case it's probably gone walkies).

I remember delightedly discovering that the trailer could be made to tip by shorting the connector with a paperclip, so maybe there is at least some mileage in the idea though.

// is it me or do the new ones look small?

Re: Durrrrr

"TBH, that Ad just made me think rugby players are idiots"

Things don't bode particularly well for the girl either if spangly new laptop (plus data) ultimately suffers the same fate, does it? [hence Paris ] ;)

...not particularly convinced "to the cloud! [Windows logo appears Batman-style]" necessarily conveys the intended impression either, but at least it's passably amusing either way.

@umacf24 "Do you rinse it out between uses?"

It's been done. Not long(?maybe) after "don't die of ignorance" we had this: http://www.wellcomecollection.org/explore/sickness--health/topics/aids-posters/video.aspx?view=geronimo

Got a spectacular "ewww" from cinema audiences, did that - and was almost certainly all the more effective for it.

Re: ...and you did exactly what he wanted:

"Why give the moron the oxygen of publicity?"

I'm not happy with him having the oxygen of oxygen!

// Linda Smith RIP

@Velv

"Didn't Chris Evans once have a feature on his Sunday show about songs with a bit of silence in them"

Missed that, sadly, but I do remember Simon Mayo shouting "mind the gap" in the pauses various records had. And the "Simon Mayo 12in remix" versions of things

// Hurgh!

Re: opt out?

"I imagine NoScript would have the same effect(?)"

Apparently not. The requestpolicy.com FAQ recommends the use of both, and explains why. See https://www.requestpolicy.com/faq#faq-noscript

// I've got multiple personal accounts on my machine to enforce a degree of separation but am starting to think a review of my minimum list of FF plugins is in order (overdue?) as well :/

Motorcyclist?

> assuming he can avoid the inevitable motorcyclist weaving between the cars

Ambulance, so^Hurely?

// http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_series#Horace_Goes_Skiing :)

Re: Hooray!

> ROTM...

BOFH.

<checks> ...just not yet :(

Re: Well, strangely enough

"I was in WHSmith the other day and near the blank DVDs they had not only cassette tapes but floppy disks, both of which I'd been led to understood they stopped stocking many years ago. Presumably the tapes were intended for audio, but I did glance around hopefully for the latest ZX Spectrum release from Code Masters."

Likewise I was in Leeds' Clas Ohlsen "usefulshopp", saw saw floppy disks, and did a double take ... although I'm fairly sure that every newspaper report I saw on "[the] death of the floppy" suggested complete unavailability but before the Chinese whispers of modern reporting started out as "another manufacturer ramps down/stops production" - including the latest.