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Who is Andrew Pennell?

Ian HamiltonIan Hamilton
edited May 2006 in Sinclair Miscellaneous
According to the What's New page, Andrew Pennell has granted distribution of his software. I was positive that he was a part of HiSoft, yet there's no mention of any of their programs on his Infoseek entry. Is it the same person or is there a different Andrew Pennell working there or have I gotten his name mixed up with someone else?

Necros.
Post edited by Ian Hamilton on

Comments

  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    edited May 2006
    Andy Pennell was a Sinclair deity. What he didn't know about the QL and the microdrives wasn't worth knowing. Wrote various articles for YS and the author of quite a few books.
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • GeoffGeoff
    edited May 2006
    He also wrote 'Print Utilities' for Sinclair Research and was privy to the third issue of the Interface 1 ROM. His permission letter mentions his blog

    http://blogs.msdn.com/andypennell/

    and for the last ten years he has been working on Microsoft C compilers.
    He has also been working on an HD DVD player.
    And he is the same Andrew Pennell who worked on Hisoft's compilers.
  • GeoffGeoff
    edited May 2006
    The Hisoft years

    http://blogs.msdn.com/andypennell/search.aspx?q=hisoft&p=1
  • Ian HamiltonIan Hamilton
    edited May 2006
    I knew it. :)

    HiSoft BASIC 2 was my favourite BASIC version on the Atari ST. I still have it actually. I used to spent loads of time writing small programs with it, which I may still have. I used to have fun calling the GEM libraries and seeing what havoc I could create with them. :)

    I also had Devpac and even succeeded in learning a (very tiny) amount of 68000 assembly and producing a few pointless programs (which did next to nothing :)).

    Necros.
  • GeoffGeoff
    edited May 2006
    The HiSoft BASIC text file on WOS says

    "Written by Cameron Hayne with routines by Andy Pennell"

    so it would be nice to add him to the authors. A variation of 'Clive Copier' appeared on the second 'Introduction' microdrive and was very good. I've even used it to copy between an emulator and real microdrive.
    One of Andy's suggestions was incorporated into the ROMs of most Interface 1 ROMs.
  • mel the bellmel the bell
    edited May 2006
    Necros wrote:
    I knew it. :)

    HiSoft BASIC 2 was my favourite BASIC version on the Atari ST. I still have it actually. I used to spent loads of time writing small programs with it, which I may still have. I used to have fun calling the GEM libraries and seeing what havoc I could create with them. :)

    I also had Devpac and even succeeded in learning a (very tiny) amount of 68000 assembly and producing a few pointless programs (which did next to nothing :)).

    Necros.
    even i fiddled with devpac on the ST :P
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • Ian HamiltonIan Hamilton
    edited May 2006
    His list has been updated to include his HiSoft programs. Cool. Back in the good old days (pre Microsoft), they were the best company producing programming languages.

    Necros.
  • ewgfewgf
    edited May 2006
    Blimey! A real name from the past - I remember the name Andy Pennell from the magazine Your Spectrum, all those (20+) years ago, along with Troubleshooting Pete, Terry Bulfib, Toni Baker and others. Wonder what they're all doing now?
  • Lee FogartyLee Fogarty
    edited May 2006
    Pete used to post here for a very short time.

    He's a web developer - http://www.peteshaw.com/
    My test signature
  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    edited May 2006
    I always wondered what happened to Toni Baker. She probably had kids and became a housewife...
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • GeoffGeoff
    edited May 2006
    Andy Pennell is credited in the manual so it is nice that it links from Infoseek.
    There is no doubt that Cameron is the main author and perhaps a little remark could clarify this. Toni Baker is also credited in the manual for the 128K keypad routines.

    When, in his blog, Andy says he wrote much of Hisoft BASIC he will be referring to the Atari and Amiga versions.

    It is nice that today Andy designs C++ compilers and Cameron teaches C++.
  • mheidemheide
    edited May 2006
    aowen wrote:
    I don't want to take anything away from Andy, but if you list two authors it implies an equal contribution. That's not the case here. Andy could be listed as a contributor if there is such a category though.

    While what you say is true, there's no such option in the Infoseek database. One was either involved, or one wasn't... it would get far too difficult to make distinctions, since in some case, a person "only" did the loading screen, or some "small" part such as the fonts or sound effects. Even simpler, how could I possibly classify the amount of contribution between, say, code, graphics and music (without stepping on too many toes, that is)?
  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    edited May 2006
    Was it a coincidence that Andy Pennell yesterday give permission and today Cameron Haynes did the same?
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • mheidemheide
    edited May 2006
    karingal wrote:
    Was it a coincidence that Andy Pennell yesterday give permission and today Cameron Haynes did the same?

    Read the permission slips and all will be revailed :wink:
  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    edited May 2006
    mheide wrote:
    Read the permission slips and all will be revailed :wink:
    Oh don't make the mistake of thinking I'm someone who makes sure he has all the facts and information before he posts :p

    *slinks off quietly to check the permission slips*
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • mheidemheide
    edited May 2006
    Well, don't think I'd know how to spell 'revealed' either. Ho hum...
  • DEATHDEATH
    edited May 2006
    How do us mere mortals get to read these permission slips then?

    Wouldn't mind a nosey at them myself....
    Oh bugger!<br>
  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    edited May 2006
    mheide wrote:
    Well, don't think I'd know how to spell 'revealed' either. Ho hum...
    Martijn IS human...
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • GeoffGeoff
    edited May 2006
    > How do us mere mortals get to read these permission slips then?

    Just go to the Copyright section, scroll down to the Individual permissions and click on the asterix to the right of most names.

    There are some great supporters there - Alfred Milgrom, John Lettice, Roger Valentine... One of the many interesting places to browse on WOS.
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