Colin Hoad
@colinhoad.com
Senior Data Engineer at cfc.com
"Vintage computing enthusiast" -- The Register
I run a YouTube channel and blog dedicated to the Beeb and all things Acorn, Psion and more:
https://www.colinhoad.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/zjvSBjG7rw
Art: VectorinID
"Vintage computing enthusiast" -- The Register
I run a YouTube channel and blog dedicated to the Beeb and all things Acorn, Psion and more:
https://www.colinhoad.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/zjvSBjG7rw
Art: VectorinID
Pinned
Colin Hoad
@colinhoad.com
· Oct 8
I know I post a lot of stuff about generative AI and how much I dislike it. So for a change I'm going to write this thread in celebration of the many creative people I've had the good fortune of getting to know and interact with over the past couple of years. Real human creators producing real art.
Reposted by Colin Hoad
Note that not only was it really quite fast, its 40 bit reals were unusually accurate and even its random number generation was pretty neutral. (The RNG was revised between Basics 2 and 4 so I'll have to check if it improved further).
November 14, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Note that not only was it really quite fast, its 40 bit reals were unusually accurate and even its random number generation was pretty neutral. (The RNG was revised between Basics 2 and 4 so I'll have to check if it improved further).
Reposted by Colin Hoad
A creditable showing for the BBC Micro against various souped-up Apple IIs, but no Second Processor versions which (by the end of 1984) included 65C02, Z-80B, 6809 and 68000 options. All would have been faster yet.
Later there'd be 65C102, 80186, 80286, 32016 and of course ARM.
Later there'd be 65C102, 80186, 80286, 32016 and of course ARM.
Ever wanted to know how your ZX81 ranked against a CRAY supercomputer from 1984? Assuming your eyesight is good enough, now you know.
November 14, 2025 at 10:02 AM
A creditable showing for the BBC Micro against various souped-up Apple IIs, but no Second Processor versions which (by the end of 1984) included 65C02, Z-80B, 6809 and 68000 options. All would have been faster yet.
Later there'd be 65C102, 80186, 80286, 32016 and of course ARM.
Later there'd be 65C102, 80186, 80286, 32016 and of course ARM.
Reposted by Colin Hoad
I still play this one regularly (on the original hardware). It holds up as an exceptional game…
cc @colinhoad.com
cc @colinhoad.com
Age yourself with gaming
November 12, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I still play this one regularly (on the original hardware). It holds up as an exceptional game…
cc @colinhoad.com
cc @colinhoad.com
Reposted by Colin Hoad
I hate this constant "Do you like this program". I did until I got a modal dialogue to stop me using the program to ask me whether I like it.
Stop it. No one cares about app reviews or notifications and stop using sodding cookies to track people, just assume "reject" and let people opt in.
Stop it. No one cares about app reviews or notifications and stop using sodding cookies to track people, just assume "reject" and let people opt in.
November 12, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I hate this constant "Do you like this program". I did until I got a modal dialogue to stop me using the program to ask me whether I like it.
Stop it. No one cares about app reviews or notifications and stop using sodding cookies to track people, just assume "reject" and let people opt in.
Stop it. No one cares about app reviews or notifications and stop using sodding cookies to track people, just assume "reject" and let people opt in.
I detest this recent UX trend where the options to a supposedly binary question are "Yes" and "Maybe Later" / "Not Right Now" / "Review Later". What's wrong with a plain "No"?
November 12, 2025 at 9:22 AM
I detest this recent UX trend where the options to a supposedly binary question are "Yes" and "Maybe Later" / "Not Right Now" / "Review Later". What's wrong with a plain "No"?
5 months in to the 5:2 diet and I've lost 7.5kg as of this morning 😊
November 11, 2025 at 8:33 AM
5 months in to the 5:2 diet and I've lost 7.5kg as of this morning 😊
Managed to Harry Potter myself on the corner of a kitchen cabinet this morning ⚡️
November 6, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Managed to Harry Potter myself on the corner of a kitchen cabinet this morning ⚡️
Reposted by Colin Hoad
FYI this is what you do when your business is great and you are very liquid and creditworthy
BREAKING: OpenAI is requesting US government support to help guarantee financing for the massive investments in AI chips and data centers it needs for expansion, per Bloomberg.
November 6, 2025 at 12:51 AM
FYI this is what you do when your business is great and you are very liquid and creditworthy
Reposted by Colin Hoad
You’re thiiis close babes 🤏
November 1, 2025 at 2:40 PM
You’re thiiis close babes 🤏
Reposted by Colin Hoad
My new game #Barbarians has a long history that predates my current interest in developing for #ibmpc with #cga graphics. Here's a composite image of it running on the #Psion Series 3 (2010), the ZX Spectrum (2012) and #msdos (2025). The MS-DOS version is at cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos
October 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM
My new game #Barbarians has a long history that predates my current interest in developing for #ibmpc with #cga graphics. Here's a composite image of it running on the #Psion Series 3 (2010), the ZX Spectrum (2012) and #msdos (2025). The MS-DOS version is at cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos
Well, I can now safely remove "Alien Earth" from my muted words list! What a great show, quite possibly the best thing to be made in the Alien universe since the first two movies. And with much of the beautiful aesthetic of the original, which pleased me greatly.
October 22, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Well, I can now safely remove "Alien Earth" from my muted words list! What a great show, quite possibly the best thing to be made in the Alien universe since the first two movies. And with much of the beautiful aesthetic of the original, which pleased me greatly.
Seeing people watermark their AI "art" on LinkedIn... where to even begin 🙄
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Seeing people watermark their AI "art" on LinkedIn... where to even begin 🙄
Reposted by Colin Hoad
Another weekend, another retro event! Here's my little report from ABUG South, October 2025:
youtu.be/B6TegM0ffns
youtu.be/B6TegM0ffns
ABUG South - October 2025
YouTube video by Colin Hoad
youtu.be
October 20, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Another weekend, another retro event! Here's my little report from ABUG South, October 2025:
youtu.be/B6TegM0ffns
youtu.be/B6TegM0ffns
Stop scrolling & post 2 characters who bring you happiness 😀
October 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Stop scrolling & post 2 characters who bring you happiness 😀
Reposted by Colin Hoad
Anyone who has (or can make!) *original format* tape images (HQ UEF, WAV, etc) of Acorn Electron games that have tape protection and/or custom tape loaders, please get in touch 😎
Examples of games I am looking for in next post...
Examples of games I am looking for in next post...
October 21, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Anyone who has (or can make!) *original format* tape images (HQ UEF, WAV, etc) of Acorn Electron games that have tape protection and/or custom tape loaders, please get in touch 😎
Examples of games I am looking for in next post...
Examples of games I am looking for in next post...
Colleague appears to be eating what I can only describe as Onion Five Ways 🥴
October 21, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Colleague appears to be eating what I can only describe as Onion Five Ways 🥴
Another weekend, another retro event! Here's my little report from ABUG South, October 2025:
youtu.be/B6TegM0ffns
youtu.be/B6TegM0ffns
ABUG South - October 2025
YouTube video by Colin Hoad
youtu.be
October 20, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Another weekend, another retro event! Here's my little report from ABUG South, October 2025:
youtu.be/B6TegM0ffns
youtu.be/B6TegM0ffns
Reposted by Colin Hoad
It is 2005, the internet is a distributed network of servers designed so that no one outage can take down the entire network
It is 2025, the internet relies on three companies, problems with any one of which can cripple a significant proportion of the global economy
It is 2025, the internet relies on three companies, problems with any one of which can cripple a significant proportion of the global economy
there’s a major AWS outage going on right now that’s taken down Fortnite, Alexa, Snapchat, Perplexity, Roblox, and lots more of the internet. US-EAST-1 is down and impacting a lot of services that rely on AWS www.theverge.com/news/802486/...
Major AWS outage takes down Fortnite, Alexa, Snapchat, and more
A chunk of the internet has been taken offline.
www.theverge.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:34 AM
It is 2005, the internet is a distributed network of servers designed so that no one outage can take down the entire network
It is 2025, the internet relies on three companies, problems with any one of which can cripple a significant proportion of the global economy
It is 2025, the internet relies on three companies, problems with any one of which can cripple a significant proportion of the global economy
Reposted by Colin Hoad
Great day at the ABUG south meet yesterday, nice to meet @colinhoad.com and to experience a game loading from a real tape! Lots of great chats and I even managed a bit of coding on Astoraid. Looking forward to the next one now.
October 19, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Great day at the ABUG south meet yesterday, nice to meet @colinhoad.com and to experience a game loading from a real tape! Lots of great chats and I even managed a bit of coding on Astoraid. Looking forward to the next one now.
"might" 😂
BREAKING: Microsoft, $MSFT, leaders worried that meeting OpenAI’s rapidly escalating compute demands could lead to overbuilding servers that might not generate a financial return, per the Information
October 19, 2025 at 7:05 AM
"might" 😂
ABUG South is go! #toomanymachines #nosuchthing
October 17, 2025 at 3:55 PM
ABUG South is go! #toomanymachines #nosuchthing
Realising I have now reached the stage of attending retro events where I pack things *to give away* 😆
October 16, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Realising I have now reached the stage of attending retro events where I pack things *to give away* 😆
Reposted by Colin Hoad
When I see a twitter handle on a van, or on an advert, it looks like an 0181 phone prefix. It's aged so badly
just finished Yellowface and my takeaway is just how irrelevant Twitter has become. The way it is used by creatives, commentators and consumers is central to the novel. Now, the idea that an artist would care about Twitter feels dated. Tweets used to make the news. Truth Social gets more press now
October 15, 2025 at 1:47 PM
When I see a twitter handle on a van, or on an advert, it looks like an 0181 phone prefix. It's aged so badly
Reposted by Colin Hoad
I see foldable phones are still an utter menace that shouldn't exist. youtu.be/8uS90jakOuw?...
MY PIXEL 10 PRO FOLD EXPLODED -- CAUGHT LIVE ON CAMERA!
YouTube video by JerryRigEverything
youtu.be
October 15, 2025 at 11:53 AM
I see foldable phones are still an utter menace that shouldn't exist. youtu.be/8uS90jakOuw?...
This is a professor at the University of Illinois.
Why on earth are the big tech companies being given this kind of priority over every other energy need? It's totally mad.
Why on earth are the big tech companies being given this kind of priority over every other energy need? It's totally mad.
I am being asked to tell my department which pieces of lab equipment should be supported with backup power because they expect rolling blackouts and brownouts in 2026 due to increased energy demands from AI. In case you're wondering how my day is going.
October 14, 2025 at 3:54 PM
This is a professor at the University of Illinois.
Why on earth are the big tech companies being given this kind of priority over every other energy need? It's totally mad.
Why on earth are the big tech companies being given this kind of priority over every other energy need? It's totally mad.