Let's try something different. Let's make today "make me a reasonable offer Friday". See something in my Tindie store, send me an email or a DM with a reasonable offer (please don't insult me) and where you are so I can include postage, and I'll see what I can do. www.tindie.com/stores/tynem...

#Somerville research cloud (host for much of Data Access Centre) has a new look, celebrationg @vrubinobs.bsky.social #FirstLook and the significant contributions of the famous Scottish mathematician and astronomer. Mary Fairfax Somerville. #capturethecosmos www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/whats-happen...

Commentary of ZX81-Forth (Tree #Forth) disassembly is complete. I may add some more detail in due course but every routine has an explanation to help people understand it - github.com/markgbeckett... #retrogaming

New blog post - Converting a ZX81 BASIC game to run in Commodore BASIC on the VIC 20 (and the PET, C64 and TED) blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/11/peri... BASIC is quite a portable language, so let's see how easily it ports.

Doing a bit more experimenting with ZX81 #Forth multitasking on #Minstrel4th. Combined several example programs from user manual to make a real-time clock. A must-have for a personal computer in 2025! #retrogaming

@lsstuk.bsky.social and @vrubinobs.bsky.social need your help to train our computing systems to sort through the tens of millions of alerts we will detect every night during the Vera C. Rubin Observatory #LSST survey. www.zooniverse.org/projects/ebe... #capturethecosmos

I have once again created a charity Retro Computer calendar for 2026!! Last year you helped raise £44 for charity by downloading my calendar. Let's try and beat that this year!! 🙏 Thank you!! loudscotsbloke.itch.io/retro-comput...

Am pretty happy with how ZX-FORTH is running on #Minstrel4th. But, before I tackle any significant projects, I need to get `LOAD` and `STORE` working. They're still expecting a #ZX81 cassette interface. #retrogaming

I have ported Tree Forth/ ZX-Forth from #zx81 to #JupiterAce/ #Minstrel4th. With no display generation to worry about, #Forth runs amazingly well on Minstrel 4th. It can find all primes in first 500 integers, using Sieve of Eratosthene, in well under a second. #RETROGAMING github.com/markgbeckett...

What is most odd with this screenshot of the Sieve of Eratosthenes (algorithm for computing primes), running in ZX-Forth in EightyOne emulator? #retrogaming

Did you know? When scientists began brainstorming @vrubinobs.bsky.social 3 decades ago, they had the title Dark Matter Telescope in mind? With its wide field of view and sensitivity to the faintest objects, Rubin will reveal how dark matter and dark energy shape the universe. 🔭 #darkmatterday.

Testing out my new #MinstrelInputMonitor from @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk for a game of #PerilousSwamp. #zx81 #retrogaming

Making good progress with disassembly of Tree Forth/ ZX Forth ROM for #ZX81 and #Minstrel3. Disassembly is about two thirds done and source now builds for PAL and NTSC, both original and improved code. #forth #retrogaming github.com/markgbeckett...

Very interesting read for #retrocomputing fans www.bbc.com/future/artic...

My shift is done, but there is still a couple of hours to catch #doorsopenday at #roeopen. Last entry at 4:15pm.

New blog post in which I give myself a lot of work combining Z80 code from several sources to build the enhanced Forth ROM for the Minstrel 4th. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/09/revi... An even more extra work by choosing to do it using an archaic assembler that I happen to like.

All set for @lsstuk.bsky.social at #DoorsOpenDay #ROEOpen #lsst

Have been delving into Husband #Forth, a replacement ROM for #ZX81. It would not run out of box on @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk #Minstrel3, so I have set out to find out why. A work in progress, but I now have both H Forth (and its TS100 predecessor, Tree Forth) running on the Mistrel3! #retrogaming

New blog post - a minimal implementation of the compute and display (or slow) mode display for ZX81 or Minstrel 3 hardware. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/08/mini... I got this down to about 200 bytes of Z80, so let's go through all of them and see what they do.

New blog post - blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/08/pet-... An update to the PET 2001 6540-010 character ROM replacement board, now with switch on the side to select between the versions for BASIC 2 and 4 or BASIC 1 (which was previously hidden under the chip)

Last day. Don't miss out.

Today is #embraceyourgeekness day, which I will celebrate with a game of #Centipede on the #Minstrel4D; written by Colin Dooley and ported (w/ sound and joystick support) to #Minstrel4D and code for spider finished by me - github.com/markgbeckett... #retrogaming

Bienvenue à Montréal! #poutine

Long shot, but I don't suppose anyone has an IBM Model M they would be willing to part with? Don't fancy risking a random one on ebay. Ideally within the UK to avoid shipping and things.

15 years ago this month, I set up Tynemouth Software. So all this month, there is 15% off everything at my Tindie store. www.tindie.com/stores/tynem...

Share this if this is how you spent Sunday afternoons when you should have been doing homework. #GenZX

New blog post - blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/06/zx81... My original attempt at writing a post about porting ZX81 BASIC to the Minstrel 4th. It went on far too long and into far too much detail. I decided to add more diagrams to it and my Patreon supporters seemed to like it, so here it is.

From later this year, @vrubinobs.bsky.social will produce 10M #kafka alerts per night, capturing the dynamics of the night sky. Here in @lsstuk.bsky.social, we're getting ready. The #lasair Alert Broker is being put through its paces with test streams. #capturethecosmos

The first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will be revealed today. This image of the Virgo cluster, which incudes 2 spiral galaxies and 3 merging galaxies, gives a sneak preview of what we can expect. Read how EPCC is supporting Rubin's Legacy Survey of Space and Time: edin.ac/40f1n2F

Kid-at-xmas levels of excitement (did I wake up at 5am - yes I did!) #RubinFirstLook The Virgo cluster is an inspired choice: three-cheers for Sinclair Smith and his 1936 observations of it which helped Zwicky conclude there must be invisible #darkmatter out there! 🤓 🔭🧪 📷 @vrubinobs.bsky.social

It's the longest day of the year, so let's check the sunrise and sunset times at Edinburgh Castle. #summersolstice #zx81 #minstrel2 #retrogaming github.com/markgbeckett...

On 23 June 2025 the first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will be revealed to the world in a ‘First Look’ event. A collaboration between EPCC and the University of Edinburgh's Institute for Astronomy will be central to the decade of great science that will follow. edin.ac/40f1n2F

My work here is done. #zx81 Perilous Swamp on @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk #Minstrel4th #retrogaming

This weekend, I took a step back into the 1990s, when my desktop looked at little like this. #retrogaming

Finally. Unmodified Tut-Tut for the ZX81 running on ZX81 BASIC for the Minstrel 4th running on a Jupiter Ace emulator running on a Windows 7 emulator running on a Linux PC. I am sure I will write an excessively long blog post about it. Thanks to @zx81keyboardadventure.com for helping sort this.

New blog post - Hints and tips for building and troubleshooting Minstrel kits. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/05/some... Sorry if it reads a little ranty in places, don't think I was having a very good day when I wrote it. Also, did I mention the Minstrel 4th kits now support ZX80 and ZX81 BASIC?

As @vrubinobs.bsky.social nears completion, we're bracing ourselves for the onslaught of data. The UK is hosting one of Rubin's data facilities, in @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social and RAL. Find out more about Rubin's data challenges here: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-d...

Really enjoyed chairing this afternoon's #Archer2 #CelebrationOfScience session with three amazing early-career researchers modelling ocean spray, Antarctic ice sheet, and new metal-organic materials, plus talk about helping UNHCR predict migration of refugees. #supercomputing @epcc.bsky.social

Retro hack of the week, thanks to @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk. I've been struggling to load WAV files into my Minstrel 4th from my current laptop, so had to keep pulling out old (circa. 2015) laptop. Turns out all I needed was cheap, simple USB audio interface (£6.99 from local electronics shop)!

Final #forth game is an odd one. I think, based on opening screen, it is called A-mouze-in-mase: a maze game for #JupiterAce with very little provenance, including an unknown author. github.com/markgbeckett...

The second #forth game for today is 4D Monster Maze, a port of Malcolm Evan's classic maze game to @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk #Minstrel4th. For purists, there is a 100% Forth version, though display routine defaults to using m/code to make game more responsive. #retrogaming

Seems an appropriate day to revisit some #forth -based games on #Minstrel4th, starting with #Tut-tut, which @zx81keyboardadventure.com inspired me to port to 100% Forth on #Ace / #Minstrel4th, here loaded from cassette tape cronosoft.fwscart.com/product/tut-...

New blog post - Minstrel 4th is back, with some new tricks blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/05/mins... * Z80 based kit, 49K RAM, 2K video RAM. * Jupiter Ace Compatible Forth * Z80 machine code monitor * ZX80 BASIC * RC2014 expansion slot May the 4th be with you. www.tindie.com/products/tyn...

Wild garlic! A heady smell you either love or hate. #spring

Some #spring #bluebells to brighten up your Saturday #dalkeithcountrypark

Happy birthday to #sinclair's #ZXSpectrum. Forty three today. #retrogaming

Finally got around to building my @tynemouthsw.bsky.social ZXpand card, having bought it nearly six months ago! Needed for project I am working on. Sadly, I didn't notice soldering iron was scuffing plastic case of edge connector when finishing board 🤬. Hasn't helped me beat Rex though! #retrogaming

@planetrockradio.bsky.social Sitting here in Edinburgh, I think you've got your regions wrong tonight. Enjoyed the show though. 🎸

Work on Colin Dooley's #JupiterAce port of #Centipede is complete. #retrogaming github.com/markgbeckett...

Odd request, but I am looking for something which is a sort of "USB stick emulator". Something that I can plug into a piece of equipment that normally writes files to USB stick, but instead have those files appear directly in a folder on my PC. Sort of like the FlashAir SD, but in reverse, and USB.