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Geek Culture / Richard Vanner in the news!

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Michael P
19
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Joined: 6th Mar 2006
Location: London (UK)
Posted: 11th Mar 2011 15:58
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Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12703674

Quote: "The ZX81 was a first taste of computing for many people who have made a career out of it. Richard Vanner, financial director of The Games Creators Ltd, is one."


And there is an awesome picture of Richard from when he was a teenager

I'm no stalker, just came across this and was surprised!

DarkNet - multiplayer plugin
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Indicium
16
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Joined: 26th May 2008
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Posted: 11th Mar 2011 18:05
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Pretty amazing to read, as a programmer ( a bad one at that ), i'd be pretty screwed with only 1kb of memory. We are spoiled xD

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Mnemonix
22
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Joined: 2nd Dec 2002
Location: Skaro
Posted: 12th Mar 2011 19:28
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My zx81 has the 16k ram pack, as Rick himself puts it "Whoop SIXTEEN times more power"

Join us at www.devhat.net and in #lobby at irc.devhat.net
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Green Gandalf
VIP Member
20
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Joined: 3rd Jan 2005
Playing: Malevolence:Sword of Ahkranox, Skyrim, Civ6.
Posted: 12th Mar 2011 23:13 Edited at: 12th Mar 2011 23:14
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Quote: "My zx81 has the 16k ram pack"


I thought I was bad at clinging to the past. I've still got my Atari 800 XL. I wonder if it still works?

Here's the image concerned:



Is posting that against the AUP? If not then it ought to be.

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Libervurto
18
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Joined: 30th Jun 2006
Location: On Toast
Posted: 13th Mar 2011 22:46
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It's so true that people are wasteful with computer memory these days. There is so much sloppy software out there that it embarrasses me to be part of this generation. This is why I like to code on my calculator or on this BASIC emulator, to give myself a bit of a challenge. It is so easy to become lazy when you have 20 times more power than you could ever use, especially for hobbyists.


Everything worthwhile requires effort.
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Jeku
Moderator
21
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Joined: 4th Jul 2003
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Posted: 14th Mar 2011 01:16
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Quote: "It is so easy to become lazy when you have 20 times more power than you could ever use, especially for hobbyists."


That's perfectly fine with me It makes it easier to write code that, while it may not be the most efficient, may be easier to read and understand in the future when you come back to it. In my opinion that's the best kind of tradeoff to make. I will always choose to implement a strategy that's easier to read, in the long run. If I get hit by a bus my teammeates will need to carry on with what I'm doing, after all.


Senior Web Developer - Nokia
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Indicium
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Joined: 26th May 2008
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Posted: 14th Mar 2011 22:11
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Quote: "If I get hit by a bus my teammeates will need to carry on with what I'm doing, after all."


That's a nice way of thinking of things, but true I guess. Its about time I started making my code more readable, I come back to things 2-3 months later and I don't have a clue what the code is doing.
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Non Sequitur M
16
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Joined: 28th Oct 2008
Location: Where am I!? Where are YOU?
Posted: 18th Mar 2011 02:56
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Remark things, people! I still try to make my code as efficient as possible. If I make three equations that can be compressed into one with some complex math, I do. Then I remark the hell outuvit! Haha.

On topic: 69.95? What is that, like $100!? For 16k of memory! Even in the 90's that wouldn't even have been enough for RAM, let alone HD space! Haha. Thank God for 4G RAM, dual-core CPUs, and 230G HDs!

If life were like a box of chocolates, I'd know what I would get... The one that got dropped on the floor and put back in the box.

Iye nehvur yoose spehl chehk, ahn mie tippyng izz fiyne.
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Neuro Fuzzy
17
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Joined: 11th Jun 2007
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Posted: 18th Mar 2011 12:07
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Quote: "Remark things, people! I still try to make my code as efficient as possible. If I make three equations that can be compressed into one with some complex math, I do. Then I remark the hell outuvit! Haha."

I do that, minus the markings xD

If I have a diagram of an object, and say "index 1 represents this, index 2 represents this", then my code looks a bit obfuscated because of shortcuts if you take the diagram into account. Otherwise it's just like: "Why is he taking the floor(ln(some integer))???", when it's just a handy shortcut

Also... I love ternary operators.

int _=1; int __=2; int ___=3;
for(int ____=0;____<___;____++)
System.out.println(____<__?____<___?_:__:___);



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Non Sequitur M
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Location: Where am I!? Where are YOU?
Posted: 18th Mar 2011 21:56
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Quote: "int _=1; int __=2; int ___=3;
for(int ____=0;____<___;____++)
System.out.println(____<__?____<___?_:__:___);"

Excuse me? Is this Mad Gab? Ooh! Noun: Banana! Verb: Swam! XD

Yeah. I used to not remark my algorithms. But, when programming isn't your main facet(mine's guitar!), if you don't get on DBP for a week or two, and then come back, you're like: "What sadistic math was I trying to create!?"

If life were like a box of chocolates, I'd know what I would get... The one that got dropped on the floor and put back in the box.

Iye nehvur yoose spehl chehk, ahn mie tippyng izz fiyne.
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Nickydude
Retired Moderator
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Joined: 4th Nov 2006
Location: Look outside...
Posted: 20th Mar 2011 01:53 Edited at: 20th Mar 2011 01:54
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"FPSC actually works on this!? Get in!!"

lol!

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RickV
TGC Development Director
25
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Joined: 27th Apr 2000
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 5th Apr 2011 00:33
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Where did those 30 years go?

I did play 3D Monster Maze on the ZX81 - it was an FPS!

Rick

Financial Director
TGC Team
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MrValentine
AGK Backer
14
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Joined: 5th Dec 2010
Playing: FFVII
Posted: 8th Apr 2011 09:47
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Hi RickV, think this is first time I came accross you on the forums, HI! thank you for the great software and as you can see... Expect more orders from me in the near future just recovering from a big *** burglary in feb but should have some budget for the other things I need like STYX at the moment as I really want to make application interfaces (unless I'm wrong please correct me.. I got EncPack but can not make Dialogs work, and not enough Docu... got a lot to say to you ^^ but would rather dn with AWESOME PIC!)

I was thinking of going on to say, "hope I dont go off topic here", then rememberred this is a thread about Rick >.< hurray!

But yeah thats awesome! wish I reach similar status (in whatever sector) someday...

Cheers (yeah screw the beer would rather toss a GPU yur way ^^ if I could, and it would be like a present or something not a Lethal Flying Object ^^ )

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