Sinclair Miscellaneous - World of Spectrum

Magazines - Dutch speakers/readers required

hackersanon — Sat, 13 Aug 2016 15:05:58 +0000

Hello, all..

The magazine project continues, and I THINK I may have found a mistake with one of the folders on WoS?
Unfortunately, the magazines in question are in Dutch, so I'm not sure if one is perhaps a rename or something??

https://wos.meulie.net/pub/sinclair/magazines/DeSpectrum/

Appears to be a mix of a magazine called "De Spectrum" and "Het Computerblad SPECTRUM"

De Spectrum:
01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07,

Het Computerblad SPECTRUM
0404, 0405, 0502, 08, 09, 10, 11

De Spectrum appears to have a note of the month/year, but Het Computerblad SPECTRUM doesn't?

Any chance someone who can speak/read Dutch have a look at these to see if it's been a mistake, or if one is a rename/similar?
And if there's any clues about when the issues of Het Computerblad SPECTRUM were published?

All help gratefully received :)

Toodle-pip!
Gerard

Speccy image at ffffound.com

judasEZT — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 11:29:51 +0000

Searchng for some inspiration, and look what I found at ffffound.com

http://ffffound.com/image/f44ad8a1f7cc1c7f7836d261c02f41fdd74eca58

Pimania Vinyl Album

andrew_rollings — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:59:28 +0000

http://feedingtuberecords.com/

Awesome!!! :)

A Spectrum emulator for the C64

JuanF. Ramirez — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 10:02:55 +0000

Recently I found this, a emulator that runs ZX Spectrum BASIC on a Commodore 64. It was made in 1985. I remember reading about it in a magazine. Curious.

Mundo Spectrum magazine - date query

hackersanon — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 11:14:19 +0000

Another magazine, another date query :)

https://proyectobasiczx.wordpress.com/revistas/mundo-spectrum/

I know they were published in 1987, but does anyone know exactly which month?

Toodle-pip!
Gerard

Retro Gamer ZX Spectrum Book (30th Anniversary Special)

jonesypeter — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 18:36:16 +0000

Hello,

Does anyone know the differences between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition of this magbook? I have the 1st edition and just wondering if its worth investing in the others.

Thanks

Why Crashed fanzine closed

Dave Fountain — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 12:33:00 +0000

Maybe the true story has never been told, maybe nobody cares! but at least this forum can hold its collective chin and say... ahhhh thats why...

2000AD was slightly different from today. The internet was great (although certainly not as organised and focused) and most real Spectrum users had gone over to PCs. Those of us who were still peddling postal PD libraries and hands on fanzines (i.e. those still made out of paper) were facing the dwindling few. The future of our scene was on the internet, no argument, simple as.

During 1999/2000 I made a deliberate attempt to re-aim a Speccy fanzine away from the dwindling few and into mainstream society, this I did by getting Crashed into specialist retro shops on the high streets(of which there were a few in London). It was all going to plan, I reached upwards of 300 copies sold per issue. May not sound a lot but compared to the others who were shifting almost 50 if they were lucky it was quite a thing. Riding on the back of a wave of retro fever. I was upsetting the dwindling few by making a fanzine that was un-conventional in the strictest sense of a retro fanzine. I drove most of the old boys away yet gained a whole new nostalgic crowd.

I was also working part time at RETRO X in Sheperds Bush, one of these said retro shops selling boxed consoles, speccys etc. at big prices. I met people face to face, even met the guy from eBay and was lucky enough to sell him some advertising - ?60 for three back covers. Woder what I'd get now!

So far so great but then life threw something large and mishapen at me. Within the space of three weeks during July 2000 I'd met my future partner, moved 75 miles down the road and started a new job. As try as I might to keep Crashed going it couldn't be done. Issue 31 was complete but never got printed. Icabod has scans and so did Andy Davis at Alchemnist Research. In fact Andy knocked up an A5 version which I still have under my pillow.

I had already made the decision to close Crashed at Xmas 2000 what with it being the correct end to the 20th century but I would have kept it going for three more issues had the situation been the same and then was going to go ONLINE for 2001 onwards. This of course never happened as young humans started coming out my now wifes front bottom. More disruption.

So there you have it. Any past Crashed writer dudes and ex readers please get in touch, Ive been 5 years out the scene!

Happinesses is....

jonesypeter — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 16:31:03 +0000

Successfully replacing my +3 Drive belt!

Program - The Magazine Of The Home Computer Club

deadpan666 — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 02:08:07 +0000

I found an old issue of the Home Computer Club magazine hidden away in a box, so I stuck it up on my blog...

Link!

Anybody else remember the club? I'd love to hear other people's experiences with it and what they thought about it! As I say on the blog, I remember it being particularly tricky to get them to stop sending stuff when you wanted to quit, but it was a great way to add to my games collection when it was getting trickier to find Speccy software out in the wild.....

Tape to +3 Disk

jonesypeter — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 21:14:57 +0000

Evening,

Can anyone reccomend the best way to convert tapes or tzx files to +3 Disks? I looked at Paul Jenkinsons tutorial but some of the apps he is using are 32Bit only and won't run on my 64Bit Windows. I'm happy to use a software copier but most seem MIA.

Thanks

Magazine dates - help required

hackersanon — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 21:09:05 +0000

Hello, all..

My attempts to record the month/year of each magazine page continues :)

Another one I've hit a brick wall with is Microdrive Exchange.
https://wos.meulie.net/pub/sinclair/magazines/MicrodriveExchange/

The issues don't have any mention of month, but some of them have Copyright 1984/1985/1986.
Does anyone happen to know if this was published monthly or bi-monthly?

Looking at the copyright page on the second last/last page, it shows:

01 = 1984
02 = Unlisted (but it's obviously 1984)
03 = 1984
04 = 1984
05 = Unlisted (but it's obviously 1984)
06 = Unlisted (but it's obviously 1984)
07 = 1984
08 = 1984
09 = 1984
10 = Unlisted (Could be 84, could be 85)

11 = 1985
12 = 1985
13 = 1985
14 = 1985
15 = 1985
16 = 1985

17 = 1986
18 = 1986
19 = 1986
20 = 1986
21 = 1986
22 = 1986
23 = 1986
24 = 1986

There are only 6 issues for 1985, which makes me think bi-monthly. However, 84 and 86 have more than 6 - which kind of scuppers that theory.

Does anyone have any information about this publication?

Toodle-pip!
Gerard

Screenshots PDF

jonesypeter — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 09:04:07 +0000

Can't remember where I downloaded this from, but its a rather nice PDF of all the in-game shots from WoS. I used to love using the screenshot browswer before it stoped working on WoS, but I find this a good alternative. It's great for picking a new game to play!

There is no details of who created it, so I am unable to provide credit. You can download from my OneDrive account.

https://1drv.ms/b/s!ArXoD_0XF-YLgr08XoUoXEDIVsqeAw

Who read announcements?

Speccyman — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 14:43:35 +0000

Had 23 views about a new issue of our magazine in two weeks, which really disappointed me. Maybe the announcement section is not the right place to "announce"?

Check out this thread:
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/discussion/52992/new-issue-suc-session-just-ready#latest

Or is there a way people read it without being counted as "view"? I hardly can understand that so many active people here are not even interested just to read the announcement about a new magazine that appeared. I gues most of you have overseen that because the announcement section is not often used. Am I right?

Regards

Thomas

Thinking of Frobush

grey key — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 11:50:57 +0000

Thanks to Karingal, Jonathan smith has his avatar back, it will be a comfort to some of us seeing his old posts and being reminded what a good friend he was to us, even when at first I was a little frosty to him and his response was nothing but kindness.

I also have one of the puzzle piece photos Jonathan was going to use in his film Testing Natasha, this photo is called " Spots " and it will be familiar.

I know your anniversary has passed, but I was away, you will always be a friend to me !

Anyone else pleased ?

Elite Kickstarter Project

reegez — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 16:21:59 +0000

As some of may know Steve Wilcox of Elite is currently close to raising ?60k via Kickstarter to begin manufacturing a USB spectrum keyboard. I have grave concerns in regard to this endeavour not because of the nature of the project but rather because of Mr Wilcox himself. I signed an agreement with him over 3 years ago enabling Elite to use Dynamite Dan I & II in their mobile apps but since then I have not seen a single quarterly statement or received any royalties whatsoever. When I first caught wind of his Kickstarter ambitions I started getting in touch with other original devs and bingo! we've all had the same experience. I fear retro gaming fans may think they're investing in the device but in reality of course they're investing in Mr. Wilcox. Based on my experience and that of others I wouldn't trust him as far I could Kickstart him but to be clear this is not about vengeance, merely an attempt to protect members of the spectrum community from disappointment.
.

Death of the vega?

BiNMaN — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:04:26 +0000

This tweet has popped up I wonder what consequences it will have (if any) on those of us who have preordered the +

https://mobile.twitter.com/MarquisdeGeek/status/753242656457756672

A Gremlin in the Works

stupidget — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 08:14:55 +0000

Anybody got a copy of this:

http://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/a-gremlin-in-the-works?variant=10907382339

Looks like a cracking read.

Where did you learn about World of Spectrum from?

1024MAK — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 16:53:27 +0000

Was it a web site? Which one?
A friend?
A social media site?
A magazine? If yes, which one?
A book? Again, if yes, what is the title?
Or you did you discover World of Spectrum by a search on a search engine?

We would like to know, so rattle you brain cells please :)

If you do have details of any nice references to World of Spectrum on web sites, in magazines, newspapers or even better, paper books, please do post the details here ;)

Mark

Russian translation needed

hackersanon — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 22:02:16 +0000

Hello, all..

I'm in the process of trying to catalogue all of the non-SPOT indexed magazine files on WoS, so that we have a record of when each issue was published.

I've run into a problem with the magazine "ABZAC" :
https://wos.meulie.net/pub/sinclair/magazines/Abzac/

As the months are (unsurprisingly) not in English.

Could someone take a look at each of the PDFs, and tell me if you can see when each issue was published?

Toodle-pip!
Gerard

'Solaris' text adventure game - Softel 1983

paul2015 — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 17:56:12 +0000

Its a fairly trivial topic but I just wondered if anyone else has encountered this problem with this game. Played this text adv game many years ago in the 80's on original spectrum computer with the original game on tape and managed to get so far with it before giving up as it is a fairly difficult adventure. I downloaded the game from internet, probably this site, about 15 years ago, when I first went online, and using z80 emulator managed to get game up and running but got stuck at a fairly early stage and nothing that I typed in seemed to work. 15 years later I have looked at it again and this time looked up the solution using a walkthrough of game but doesn't work. its the 2nd screen of the game where you enter the airlock and need to stand on a pressure pad to open the airlock. on typing 'exam floor' this should reveal pressure pad but instead it just says 'nothing special here'. Either the walkthrough is incorrect or the game has been altered so that it can't be solved. Its very easy to change the coding as it was written in Sinclair Basic and just need to press break button to access program. I have looked at the coding and all indications are that the walkthrough solution at the 2nd screen is correct so that leaves the possibility that the coding has been altered before it was uploaded to the archve site. Has anyone ever played this game on an emulator and if so have they come across same problem ? if not maybe they have a different version of game and I would be interested in obtaining a copy, if possible.

Basin for Beginners question

Pyjamarama — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 19:15:26 +0000

I stumbled across Basin for Beginners website when I was searching for a simple BASIC to start teaching my kids during the summer (I myself learned coding in the Spectrum when I was a kid....)

I guess it is a revamped version of the classic Basin from Mr Dunn with learning material for kids...

Well, I fire it up and whatever i try to type anything after the line number, Basin pops up a strange error message

'''' is not a valid integer value

Lets say I want to type 10 PRINT "@"
After I type 10 and try to type P, the error message appears.

In BasinC I have no such problem.

What may be wrong?

Thanx

Why didn't I RTFM when I was a kid?!?!?!

stupidget — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 16:15:51 +0000

I've just been reading this:

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/ZXSpectrum128Manual/sp128p09.html

And it got me thinking 'Why didn't I Read The F*%^Ing Manual when I was a kid?'. One of the things I loved about the 128 was the huge step from BEEP to PLAY, but, I never thought about actually learning what could be done.

I've just read the manual and even playing 3 Channels at once would have been something I'd have been so chuffed to do. Maybe if I'd have RTFM at 13 then I'd now be some super rich DJ licking Ski yoghurt off the belly of some tanned strumpet on a yacht in Tenby!!!!! One can only dream eh :-)

WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED OF THIS? It's wonderful.

Dunny — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 23:00:51 +0000

https://soundcloud.com/binster/cybernoid

Pop on some decent headphones and crank up the volume. We need more of this sort of thing.

Quoting Wikipedia: WOS was...

TK90XFan — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 14:19:01 +0000

In the Brazilian discussion board, one member figured out that English Wikipedia article about WOS apparently considers the site is dead:

World of Spectrum was a website devoted to...

Near at the end of article the death of WOS is reinforced, citing existence of broken links and inaccessible files.
I don't customarily take Wikipedia too seriously but I think this article isn't aware of work done since Martijn's quit. What you think about this?
Note: I checked Portuguese article and there is no mention or suggestion of WOS being inactive.

Video about Spectrum machines in 3D

VectrexRoli — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 07:00:32 +0000

Hi, as I wanted to give an overview about the different Spectrum versions I made a video about the different machines and I wanted to share that also here:
https://youtu.be/cqq39YhI6Xc
Here you can also watch it in 3D:
https://youtu.be/hXhK3p1TsXQ

Cheers
roli

The Great North Meet III: A Good Day to Meet North

Marko — Sat, 20 Feb 2016 23:59:34 +0000

OK. Here it is: It's about damn time for another north meet. There wasn't one last year so we thought this year's would be a bit sooner than usual: June 25th to be exact, unless anyone thinks otherwise? It's near to midsummer's eve, so it's a a nice summer night etc. We're looking at Carlisle again atm. Please post your thoughts here and if you'd be willing to attend.

I love the smell of mags in the morning......

Pag — Tue, 10 Dec 2002 19:05:00 +0000

Maybe I have a problem (sexual?), but just the smell of an old issue of Crash or Your Sinclair can bring back great retro memories.

Does this happen to anyone else? Or am I plainly mad?

ROM disassembly of CAS disk interface

TK90XFan — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 00:30:55 +0000

I finished disassembling of the ROM with operating system of CAS (Cheyenne Advanced Systems) disk interface. This interface is a clone of Beta 48 and, among the clones produced in Brazil, is the most faithful copy. The listing is available here.

I hope this work helps somehow to increase emulator support for Beta 48 type interface.

Vega Plus Indiegogo Status

brownb2 — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 19:38:05 +0000

Over a month and they've gone quiet despite promises of prototype videos, progress etc. and they're ignoring comments and emails. All we know is tech staff (may have?) left, managerial staff hired and new premises getting rented. Sir Clive's reputation is on the line with this one.
Anybody got any insider info? Poll added because it's as good as guessing.

Sinclair sold the website?

Speccyman — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 07:50:21 +0000

Hi guys,
recently I was interested in if Sir Clive is still producing electro vehicles (besides being involved in the VEGA). However, the former official website www.sinclair-research.com is now owned by a bio-medial company. And the website www.sinclair-research.co.uk contains now a book-store, run by Paul Andrews, Sir Clives former partner at Retro-computer.

Does anybody have informations what happened? Did Sir Clive sell the websites or did it get part of Retro-computers and was sold after the former partners split?

At least not that important , but for me it was always nice to see that there is still a real Sinclair Research website...

Regards

Thomas