What do you now know many years later

[vanpeebles]

I thought software developers used to develop on the actual machine, albeit with disk drives / microdrives (to reduce the ball-ache of reloading during Z80 crashes/debugging), and an assembler etc. I imagined that was where all the +3s were, I rarely saw them in the wild!

I now understand (from Bob Pape's book, I think) that they used higher-powered computers to assemble the code, then flashed it into the Speccy's memory via the I/O port at the back. Neat!

(It's a moot point for me though, as I was too young for even a paper round nor any form of income to afford me such toys!)

Tatung Einsteins!

[Alone Coder]

I thought software developers used to develop on the actual machine, albeit with disk drives / microdrives (to reduce the ball-ache of reloading during Z80 crashes/debugging), and an assembler etc.

In exUSSR, most software was written on the actual machine, with a disk drive. Even in the 2000's, having a PC, people continued to use native tools inside emulators, cross-assemblers were rare until circa 2008.

[Ralf]

Quite recently I read a comment that Clive Sinclair becoming sir Clive Sinclair wasn't as big, exceptional deal as sometimes presented.

Clive was knighted ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Bachelor ). "Knight" is the lowest possible rank in all this aristocracy system. It doesn't pass to your children. A kid born to a lord is a lord himself, a kid born to a knight isn't.

Each year several hundreds of people are knighted, including actors, musicians etc. Yes, it's something to be proud of but not that rare and exceptional as I believed being a kid.

[Guesser]

I once got offered a choice of redundancy or moving to a former telephone exchange building, working in the room where the old mechanical exchange used to reside. A huge place for a small team with great high ceilings, but the only windows were narrow slits some 3m up the wall as it was really the basement and half a floor above. Thanks but... cheque please!

Lovely parquet floor though?

[Joefish]

Quite recently I read a comment that Clive Sinclair becoming sir Clive Sinclair wasn't as big, exceptional deal as sometimes presented.

Clive was knighted ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Bachelor ). "Knight" is the lowest possible rank in all this aristocracy system. It doesn't pass to your children. A kid born to a lord is a lord himself, a kid born to a knight isn't.

Each year several hundreds of people are knighted, including actors, musicians etc. Yes, it's something to be proud of but not that rare and exceptional as I believed being a kid.

It's actually among the highest honours the Queen can bestow on a civilian. The ancient layers of aristocratic titles don't really have anything to do with the modern system of honours. These honours are dished out regularly, mostly in a batch in the New Year, and these are all the possible awards. But a Knighthood is the only one that conveys a title, 'Sir' / 'Dame'. The others are just titles you'd put after your name. (Though there are also ranks of Knights; 'Knight of the Garter' being the top, reserved for the likes of Churchill).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11990088 scroll down to 'Types of Honours'.
The guy who hired me for my current job was recently made an MBE. Supposedly for 'Services to Business', but really the Queen just thought it was such a smart move to give me a job it deserved a reward...

Lordships are political appointments, since traditionally (though not 100% recently) it entitled you to sit in the House of Lords and have a say on laws being passed. There are both 'Life' and 'Hereditary' peerages. Most 'Lords' made today are appointed as reward for political service and are only made life peers; their children do not inherit the title.

As for Dukes, Barons, etc. most are inherited titles from old families. There are loads of such titles where the line has died out; the Queen hands them out at royal marriages and they become hereditary if the couple aren't too inbred to have children of their own, but they're largely meaningless. They don't entitle you to any property or land you don't otherwise own.

There are also what are called 'Manorial Titles'; these are the ones you can buy and sell if you want to call yourself 'Lord of Barford' or something. Some are sold as an 'extra' to go with a big country house, but others come up when the owner has had to sell off their ancestral land, sold off the family manor house, tried to hang on to the title, but run out of cash on the horses again and would rather lose the title than have their legs broken:
https://www.manorialcounselltd.co.uk/lo ... ip-titles/
But they don't make you 'Lord Barford' or 'Lord' anything, you're just 'Derrick F*ckwit, Lord of Barford'.

[Alessandro]

Quite recently I read a comment that Clive Sinclair becoming sir Clive Sinclair wasn't as big, exceptional deal as sometimes presented.

Clive was knighted ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Bachelor ). "Knight" is the lowest possible rank in all this aristocracy system. It doesn't pass to your children. A kid born to a lord is a lord himself, a kid born to a knight isn't.

Each year several hundreds of people are knighted, including actors, musicians etc. Yes, it's something to be proud of but not that rare and exceptional as I believed being a kid.

Coming to think of that, in the Italian press there is a long-standing misunderstanding that qualifies as "baronetti", i.e. baronets, anyone who can be addressed as "sir", including knights. The mistake dates at least as far as 1965, when the Beatles were awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. The Italian press reported then that the Fab Four received the title of "baronetti", and this has been repeated ever since. Even when Uncle Clive was knighted, he was addressed by Italian journalists as a "baronetto". Being aware of this, I stated in the Spectrumpedia, p. 33, that he received the title of "cavaliere", i.e. "knight"; a similar honorific title, "cavaliere del lavoro" (lit. "knight of work"), is also bestowed by the Italian Republic, and like knighthood, it is not hereditary.

Even recently, the misuse of "baronetto" continues, as it can be seen in this recent article taken from a major Italian daily newspaper; by the way, even Moore's nickname has been erroneously reported as "Colonnello Tom" instead of "Captain Tom", probably due to his recent promotion to Honorary Colonel.

At least the authoritative Enciclopedia Treccani states here that "baronetto", from English "baronet", is a "hereditary noble title".

[TMD2003]

There are also what are called 'Manorial Titles'; these are the ones you can buy and sell if you want to call yourself 'Lord of Barford' or something:
https://www.manorialcounselltd.co.uk/lo ... ip-titles/
But they don't make you 'Lord Barford' or 'Lord' anything, you're just 'Derrick F*ckwit, Lord of Barford'.

Or Louis Theroux, Duke of Mansfield.

I'll have to dig through my old recordings of his 1990s programs and see if he did actually buy the title...

[Joefish]

Baronys and 'Lord of the Manor' Lordships can be bought and sold. But the former go for hundreds of thousands. The latter several thousand depending on popularity. For instance, Chris Eubank genuinely was 'Lord of the Manor of Brighton' having paid £45000 for it (but was forced to put it up for sale when he was declared bankrupt!)

I'm pretty sure Louis Theroux couldn't have bought himself a legitimate Dukedom.

Most websites offering cheaper titles are no more valid than those 'name a star' scams, or those 'Prestigious PhDs' handed out to the likes of Gillian 'Sh*traker' McKeith or Ben Goldacre's dead cat. You're paying hand-over-fist for a meaningless piece of paper and maybe - just maybe - if you're really lucky - a few square inches of mud in a field somewhere.

[MrBlaz]

I'm amazed at spechums like you having so deep knowledge about Knight lore.
Wait....

[Joefish]

I'm amazed at spechums like you having so deep knowledge about Knight lore.

[akeley]

Gosh, it's a great thing that we're on a retro computing site with "no politics" rule, and I don't have to say what I think about the "honours" system

[MrBlaz]

I'm amazed at spechums like you having so deep knowledge about Knight lore.

I know, sorry

[RWAC]

Quite recently I read a comment that Clive Sinclair becoming sir Clive Sinclair wasn't as big, exceptional deal as sometimes presented.

I bet he doesn't even know how to ride a horse.

[Joefish]

I never got the hang of the canter either, but the riding centre certainly knew how to charge!

[druellan]

I now understand (from Bob Pape's book, I think) that they used higher-powered computers to assemble the code, then flashed it into the Speccy's memory via the I/O port at the back. Neat!

Same here. It was interesting to discover Manic Miner was programmed that way, using a TR-80 if I'm not mistaken, an expensive machine, and I was really not aware of the widespread use of the microdrive in the industry.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

I knew many years later that Clive Sinclair was a member of Mensa, the high HQ society. I think I read it in a SU article.

[Alessandro]

I knew many years later that Clive Sinclair was a member of Mensa, the high HQ society. I think I read it in a SU article.

Not just a member, but the chairman of the UK branch of Mensa for 17 years, actually.

[bluespikey]

You can drive towards that smoking volcano on the horizon of 3D Tank Duel, but you'll never arrive.

[bluespikey]

Quite recently I read a comment that Clive Sinclair becoming sir Clive Sinclair wasn't as big, exceptional deal as sometimes presented.

I bet he doesn't even know how to ride a horse.

Clive sinclair never rode mere horses. Fnar fnar fnar fnar.

[schneil]

I could have saved myself a lot of lines at Geography with Mr Withit in Skooldaze.

There's not enough seats - so I always used to get lines for sitting on the floor or standing up.
The solution is to follow Mr Withit into the room and hide behind him as he turns around. The blackboard is a map, so he never clears it.
Then just stay there and catapult the class

[Sokurah]

I bet he doesn't even know how to ride a horse.

Clive sinclair never rode mere horses. Fnar fnar fnar fnar.

I think you'll learn that in the shown cases it's the horses that are riding him

[Juan F. Ramirez]

The brand of the petrol station in Everyone's a Wally, 'Bee Pee'. It got it after almost 30 years...

[bluespikey]

Theres this one screen in Starquake very near to where you begin (Just keep running left).



There is always something useful on the screen. In this case theres a core segment.

However to get back to a hoverpad you either have to expand all your bridges to get up to the screen above, or run a long way to the right and down.

I used to play Starquake a lot and could complete the game most goes without needing to refer to a map. BUT I had no idea there were secret passages. On this screen, you just simply run into the wall on the left, and on the next screen you are immediately given a hoverpad.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

In Robin of the Wood, a game in which that I've never progressed much, I thought the archery contest was the last level/stage.

But the aim of the game is only getting the three magic arrows that enables you to enter the contest.

[Ste Woz Ere]

That Chaos has combat tables for every creature. (found on the Tipshop entry)
Still doesn't help me figure out how the combat actually works, or why 80%-chance spells fail a lot more than that.