The ZX Spectrum in a time of revolution:
Gaming the Iron Curtain offers the first book-length social history of gaming and game design in 1980s Czechoslovakia, or anywhere in the Soviet bloc. It describes how Czechoslovak hobbyists imported their computers, built DIY peripherals, and discovered games as a medium, using them not only for entertainment but also as a means of self-expression.
This could’a, should’a, would’a been a great blog post.
March 1981: Shakin’ Stevens was top of the charts, Tom Baker was leaving Doctor Who and Clive Sinclair was bringing computers to the masses. Britain was moving into a new age, and one object above all would herald its coming.
Happy birthday to the first computer I ever used.
It had 1K of storage. 1K! (When I got the brick-like 16K RAM pack to expand the storage, it was like gaining access to infinity.)
Update: Brendan has written down his ZX81 memories.
The best review of The Hobbit.
The manual that came with the ZX81 has been lovingly converted to HTML. This was my first contact with programming (or computers, for that matter).
Holy crap! A ZX Spectrum emulator built entirely in JavaScript. I cannot adequately describe the Proustian sensation I get from playing Manic Miner in a browser.