I was reminiscing with some of the younger developers at my workplace about the systems that they grew up with, and rather predictably it seems that most of them have grown up knowing nothing else but x86 architecture (with possibly the odd Amiga or Atari ST thrown in for good measure).

All this got me thinking about the 8-bit machines I cut my teeth on, and started to make me feel really old in the process!

ZX80

This is the first computer I ever laid my hands on while I was at The Pilgrims School in Winchester. I must have been about 10 when our Maths teacher (a certain Captain Roberts if I remember correctly) showed us this wondrous machine at the end of the summer term in 1981. I remember blagging a couple of hours on the unit and working through some of the BASIC examples in the manual.

ZX81

But when we came back for the winter term 1981, miracle of miracles, instead of the one lonely ZX80 the maths lab was now equipped with an entire room of ZX81s!

As the intention was to use these machines for educational purposes, there was the issue of loading the maths quiz du jour (written by Captain Roberts) on each machine. The solution that the school came up with was to have one cassette player by the teachers' desk with the output signal split to all ten ZX81s via cables trunked around the room. All the machines would therefore load from the same tape at exactly the same time. Ingenious!

ZX Spectrum

My initial Speccy was a 16k unit (I'd gone halves with my Dad to buy the machine, and I couldn't afford the far superior 48k machine). However, after enduring the chronic wait for the machine to arrive it eventually turned out to be faulty - part of the onboard RAM wasn't functioning and I was only left with approximately 13k usable.

This machine was sent back to Sinclair Research, and arrived back about three months later with a full complement of 48k. After quickly getting bored with "Hungry Horace" and "Penetrator" what else was left to do with rubber keyed wonder? Well, learn BASIC of course.

BBC Micro Model B

A new school brought new computers; the Beeb was the ultimate educational machine - just about anything that you could imagine at the time could be attached and controlled. But the coup de grace with the machine was the quality of the onboard BASIC interpreter. Not only was the dialect ahead of its' time (DEFPROC and DEFFN anyone?), but it also included a full 6502 assembler.

BBC Micro Model B+ 128

This is probably my favourite 8 bit system of all; the B+ 128 had Sideways RAM (ROM images could be loaded into memory and behave as though they were physically installed in the machine), the more advanced 1770 DFS (which caused no end of problems with some of the more 'interesting' disc copy protection systems). This was coupled with my very first personal non-tape based storage medium; a Pace Electronics 5.25" 40/80 track switchable unit. The luxury!

I kept my beloved Beeb until about 1994 by which time I'd collected the Z80 Second Processor (which allowed you to run CP/M) and the Teletext Adapter. Of course, by this stage I'd already been firmly entrenched in x86 development.

Ahh, memories...

For some time now I've had an issue with the Steam server search facility and my Netgear DM602 ADSL Router.

To cut a long story short, whenever I did a search for any online Counter Strike:Source or Half-Life 2 Deathmatch servers I'd get about 50 - 60 servers listed and then my router would die. I was normally lucky enough to end up with a couple of local servers listed that would work once the router had sprung back to life.

Anyway, I found the following instructions on a Steam forum thread which have solved the issue for me completely:

Telnet to your DM602 using the network address assigned to it. In my case

telnet 192.168.0.254

You'll be prompted for your username and password (the same as for the web management interface). Once done issue the following commands:

modify nbsize maxipsess 512
modify nat global udptimeout 10
commit
reboot

Hopefully you'll find that everything now works! However, please bear in mind that this procedure is undocumented and although it worked for me without a problem, I cannot be held responsible if it causes irreparable damage on your own unit.

I know you shouldn't mock the afflicted, but Mediawatch really have a knack of making complete pillocks of themselves. From their site:

More outrage as Dr Who 'crucified'

An episode of Dr Who is set to cause outrage by showing a sado-masochistic style torture scene with characters using inappropriate sexual language.  Media watchdogs last night condemned the sixth part of the BBC series, which will go out before the watershed at 7pm later this month.  It will depict the central evil character ordering one of his cronies to "canoodle and spoon" the Doctor’s assistant, Rose.  In one scene, viewers will watch Van Stratten torturing Dr Who to try to work out his identity by binding the topless time traveller to a crucifix with metal shackles.  John Beyer, director of mediawatch-uk, branded the BBC "irresponsible" for including such inappropriate imagery and language in a pre-watershed show.  "This is not a programme designed for children", he said. "I’m surprised the BBC have gone with this, they should have been more attentive to youngsters.  It seems that the broadcasters are taking the view that if youngsters are offended or disturbed by the show, then hard cheese."  He called on the BBC to review the scheduling so that it is shown after 9.00pm.

For crying out loud - they're complaining about the words "canoodle" and "spoon" as being inappropriate sexual language? It seems to me that John Beyer needs to get in touch with reality.

The Vatican denies rumours that the process of electing a new pope has been dumbed down...