Ian Smith

a woman has just given birth to a computer. a doctor wearing glasses with a white lower face mask is holding it up, power cord/plug on the ruffled up blanket. the mother is reaching for her computer baby. it's a big baby. text: computer modeling - lots of games - electronic tar baby birth of the computer is it the first of a new generation?

personal computing, magazine, cover (1977) archive.org/details/Pers...

Photo At a press conference on January 26, Nigel Farage embraces Suella Braverman, after her defection to Reform. Image: LEON NEAL/GETTY

There is now, at the very least, a competition between the "respectable" ex-Tories and the street populists - like Zia Yusuf and Matt Goodwin - over who will set the tone for Reform, and who are key to its outreach to the unashamed fascist plebs. The more its ethos evolves towards that of the shire Tories and ex-military types, the more it alienates the 100,000 drunk racists who followed Tommy Robinson into Whitehall last year.

“The truth is that Reform has no long-term answers for the structural, economic and geostrategic problems Britain faces. It has been, until now, held together by hate”

It cannot fix the problems we face because it’s a symptom of those problems, not a cure.

www.thenewworld.co.uk/paul-mason-w...

“The combined tuition fees of the entire Question Time panel would not cover my cost for 1 year of uni. Is that fair?”
Oli Dugmore

It’s absolutely NOT fair. This outrageous scandal must end

a man with a beard is wearing a helmet and wings and says [ laughs ] ALT: a man with a beard is wearing a helmet and wings and says [ laughs ]

Tomorrow! With @bibidahl.bsky.social

Sirin

It’s that time of the month…
When I play through BRUCE LEE for the millionth time! 🤣
#Commodore64 #C64
#FREEZE64 #Zine #Commodore64Ultimate

ROBIN OF SHERWOOD (1984): Michael Praed was The Hooded Man in Richard Carpenter's dark ITV drama, which fully leant into the mythology of the character. Magic, demons, the supernatural, pagan myth, and Robin's Obi Wan Kenobi, Herne the Hunter, all featured. Still the best Robin Hood ever!

On this day in 1963, the Beatles taped their appearance with Morecambe & Wise. The show was broadcast on the 18th of April 1964.

My hobbies include:

- Switching between the same three apps for hours
- Not speaking to anyone for days at a time
- Listening to the same songs I've been listening to for 15 years
- Imagining myself in situations that will literally never exist

Shocking article in the Sheffield Tribune. A solicitor, Andrew Milne, buying up freeholds of houses and then making (false) threats to the leaseholders to bully them into buying the freehold at a huge premium.

A London lawyer bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds. Then the ‘very aggressive’ letters arrived Exclusive: The Tribune can reveal that Andrew Milne has threatened leaseholders with high court action. It ‘broke my heart’ one woman says

“It broke my heart, that was my savings towards a new car,” one woman who paid Milne tens of thousands of pounds told us. “He has just wiped me out.”

Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners?

www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...

Wonder if this still keeps him awake at night

The #C64 A to Z

My Fave A Games No.5

Archon/Archon 2

Part chess, part arcade combat - 100% genius. In Archon, Light battles Dark across a shifting board where strategy meets real-time duels, while Adept expands the idea with elemental magic and smarter AI. Innovative and utterly brilliant titles.

Windows 10 is over forever. Microsoft may be leaving you behind, but we won't.

Meet #Commodore OS Vision 3.0: Linux-based, privacy-first, retro-futuristic and way more fun than Windows ever was.

✅ Free forever
✅ 200+ games
✅ Easy install

--> commodore.net/closewindows

#WeAreCommodore #C64

The #C64 A to Z

My Fave ‘A’ Games No.9

Aztec Challenge

Paul Norman’s Aztec Challenge is pure tension — sprinting through spear gauntlets, dodging traps, and surviving by split-second timing, all set to an atmospheric soundtrack. Intense and unforgettable, it's an early C64 classic.

The 1984 ALIEN computer game was excellent; I played the Spectrum 48K version after I saw ALIENS in 1986 and really enjoyed it.

It couldn't do much with the graphics or the processing power of the Spectrum so it focused on stressing you out, not knowing where the creature would be. It was good.

ChatGPT - Commodore Companion Commodore 64 guru: VIC-II quirks, 6510 tricks, 1541 logic, sprites, glitches, timing, and more.

Just a reminder: Martin Piper @martinpiper.bsky.social created a customised Commodore 64 and Commodore 1541 ChatGPT that should be able to answer coding related questions chatgpt.com/g/g-67f3e3ed... #Commodore #Commodore64 #C64

40 years ago, ZZAP! featured Skyfox on its cover. We rated it 91%. Other top reviews: Hyper Sports (90%), Summer Games II (97%), Frankie Goes to Hollywood (97%), Finders Keepers (90%), and Rescue on Fractalus (91%). An absolutely outstanding month for C64 games, it must be said!

THEATRE EUROPE (1985): Like Risk with mushroom clouds, this C64/ZX Spectrum strategy game allowed kids to launch nuclear strikes in a simulated WW3. The best bit? You had 30 seconds to ring a real phone line, complete with sounds of people screaming and babies crying, to get the authorisation code!

No matter what age they are, people often say they feel the same as when they were a kid, and wonder when they'll finally feel like an adult. But they never felt like a child - it's simply what it feels like to be alive, to be you, an awareness and nervousness of being.

Photo of a charging PlaySate in a purple case

Going to start a thread of micro-reviews for PlayDate games, since we’re pretty enamored with our tiny digital ice cream bar. It’s possible that these might turn into a full-blown article over time, but we’ll see how it keeps our attention + how many games we end up playing with it!

YouTube video by Hans Friedrich Gunther Lotte Lenya in Alabama Song by Kurt Weill recording 1930

For some reason it had never occured to me to look up the original of the Doors track until now. It's properly nightmare fuel in audio form, and a once heard you'll never forget it experience. Warning, if you're tripping, you best not go near this.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUj...

I started all the way back at the 3rd Gen.

How about you?

Last night I got access to a digitized film reel from 1969 that shows off a computer artillery game called Potshot. And to explain why that’s a big deal, I need to talk about Dartmouth and the BASIC computer language.

Featuring the music of #CrosbyStillsNashandAndYoung #TheBeeGees

♥️ MELODY (1971) 11:50am starring #MarkLester #TracyHyde #JackWild heart-warming drama #TPTVsubtitles

also, Yay! Wimblepong again #wimbledon

@danhayesjourno.bsky.social @psalocalpol.bsky.social @ariannagiovannini.bsky.social @helpsheffield.co.uk @chrisburn.bsky.social @yorkshirebylines.co.uk @pillmad.bsky.social @sarahlonglands.bsky.social @neilmcinroy.bsky.social @ruthmersereau.bsky.social @vineyzak.bsky.social @richaxe.bsky.social

1982: Commodore Computing International Vol. 1 No. 3 July 1982, page 52 Full mag --> https://archive.org/stream/commodore-computing-international-vol-01-03-1982-jul#page/n51

40 years ago, Ultimate was advertising this pair of C64 games, which featured their usual, high-quality, very distinctive art. Both were very enjoyable, especially Entombed, which I played pretty much non-stop until I completed it.

40 years ago, before EA had a European office (and indeed was still a really cool company), distributor Ariolasoft was marketing one of their early games. Archon is an absolute bona fide classic. A twist on chess that was extremely fun to play.