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Brendan Alford

@balford.bsky.social
278 followers 214 following 157 posts

Professional Code Monkey, part-time ZX Spectrum tickler. Opinions my own etc.

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Reposted by Brendan Alford
ZXDunny @zxdunny.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
So ZXSpin is back. Release soon.
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Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets.
A crowded broadsheet with way too many fonts. It says:
Forget ChatGPT Flyers
Say it with 
Broadsheets
Unlimited fonts
Stretch them
Or cram a really long sentence into one line for no good reason
No whitespace
Mix capital and lowercase
Pointing hands
(They're called manicules!)
Don't be left behind
Broadsheets are the future
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Kevin Teljeur @kevinteljeur.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This should be a headline item, @thejournal.ie and @news.rte.ie
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GigerPunk @gigerpunk.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Meanwhile, friends have suggested we set up a gofundme to help alleviate money worries while trying to get Flo back on her feet again. And then they did all the hard work setting it up as well. So if you'd like to help, please have at it. And if you can't that's fine too. gofund.me/d0d4004d7
gofund.me
Donate to Help Flo and Rob with Flo's Stroke Recovery, organized by Emma Leadley
Flo is an artist, sci-fi and fantasy writer and regular attendee at conventio… Emma Leadley needs your support for Help Flo and Rob with Flo's Stroke Recovery
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Time Extension @timeextension.com · 06/09/2026
If you want quality, human-created content then be sure to support the sites that do it properly and shun those that use GenAI - otherwise you're only going to be left with the latter (Sharing from the "other" place) @thedreamcastjunkyard.co.uk
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ChinnyVision @chinnyvision.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
People like you and me keep the flame burning for alot of the old IP. Nobody could give a shit about Manic Miner outside a few hardcore, let alone preserving it and keeping it alive. And then when there's enough momentum some corporate pricks come along and just create destruction for money.
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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 26/08/2026
I feel really downbeat about this Manic Miner remake. Games should be developed with a passion, not using "AI". And it'll probably end up being another title where downloading a legitimate copy of the original online to play will be discouraged, and fair use will be restricted by IP.
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Time Extension @timeextension.com · 25/08/2026
Manic Miner Is Back, But The Trailer Has The Suspicous Stink Of GenAI
timeextension.com
Manic Miner Is Back, But The Trailer Has The Suspicous Stink Of GenAI
"Authorized by original developer Matthew Smith"
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Brendan Alford @balford.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Sweet suffering Jebus
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Brendan Alford @balford.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Heh, good luck finding exploits in zx-diagnostics 😄
An email from a 'bug bounty' company offering to assess zx-diagnostics for vulnerabilities. Good luck with trying that on a 16K assembly codebase that runs on a 42 year old platform.
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Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Eclipse playlist open.spotify.com/playlist/6Wf...
Eclipse playlist
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RoseTintedSpectrum @rosetintedspectrum.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Look, sometimes I spend all day making things for no reason and I don't know why, okay? So here's "Murder, She Rapped"
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GrantMeStrength @grantmestrength.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Opcodes app got an update. The Quiz was debugged, and a new compact opcodes view added. Huh this screenshot does NOT do it justice. It’s free to download so go get it and see what I mean. apps.apple.com/us/app/opcod...
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The Grand Drawing In @theauldsthretch.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Something to put into your calendars… In the evening of the 12th August, there will be a partial solar eclipse visible from everywhere in Ireland (weather permitting). It will start at about 10 past 6 in the evening, and end at about a 5 past eight. 1/13
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Geoff Wearmouth @warmtoffee.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This is the Z80 source code for the ZX Spectrum 16K ROM 1982. The code was written by Steven Vickers and John Grant of Nine Tiles on the Zilog Development System. Hit the red button and enjoy a good read for a computer that is still being made today. www.timexsinclair.com/document/zx-...
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Sinclair Research @sinclairresearch.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I.. need to know more.
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Nanoraptor @nanoraptor.danamania.com · 02/07/2026
A picture of a keyboard with pictures stuck on each of the keys. There's Will Riker on the 1 key, Q on the Q key. the fonz on the A key, captain america with steve rogers in a headlock, or maybe the other way around, on caps lock, and shaft on the shift key.
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Tynemouth Software @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk · 28/06/2026
New blog post - Adapting Lambda 8300 BASIC to run on the Minstrel 4th. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/06/lamb... Getting it running, loading and saving, making sounds, playing games and even a 10 PRINT maze. Happen to need an excessively long blog post to read? then this is the one for you.
Lambda 8300 BASIC running on a Minstrel 4th.Loading programs on Lambda 8300 BASIC for Minstrel 4th with data lines in the border and a bytes remaining countdown.Playing three C's10 PRINT maze using Lambda 8300 graphics characters.
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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 21/06/2026
Here are some words what I wrote.
breakintoprogram.co.uk
I Accidentally Wrote an Emulator (Part 1) - L Break Into Program, 0:1
If there is one thing for sure, I’ve got no shortage of projects on the go at the moment, so wasn’t exactly looking to start a new one. But sometimes inspiration sneaks up on you like a thief in the n...
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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 19/06/2026
In case anyone is interested, the code is here.
github.com
GitHub - breakintoprogram/emulator-z80: Speculation is my Sinclair Spectrum Z80 emulator written mostly as an exercise in C/C++
Speculation is my Sinclair Spectrum Z80 emulator written mostly as an exercise in C/C++ - breakintoprogram/emulator-z80
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James Kelleher @jameskelleher.pilcrow.ie · 19/06/2026
Finally some good news
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Olaf Falafel @ofalafel.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Forget Cruyff, Gullit and Van Basten this is the best ever moment in Dutch football.
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Brendan Alford @balford.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
It's not as if they were trying to hide it? www.rte.ie/news/ireland...
rte.ie
Closure order for Hole in Wall pub with holes in walls
Popular Dublin pub The Hole in the Wall is among seven premises that were issued with closure orders by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland last month.
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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 14/05/2026
Just been drawing some flowcharts for my next blog post. Was using draw.io which is fine, but it’s no Helix Computer Flowchart Template.
A Helix Computer Flowchart Template
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Rob Pilkington @robpilk.com · 11/05/2026
this looks like an extra tough captcha test
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Nomen Luni @nomenluni.ie · 10/05/2026
From Facebook. RIP Woody. 😢
RIP Mark Woodmass (Woody)
It is my sad duty to inform you all that the author of what is generally held to be the most accurate Spectrum emulator of all time, Mark Woodmass, has lost his fight against lung cancer due to complications arising from treatment.

He will be greatly missed by the Spectrum community worldwide and our thoughts are with his family.
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Eri!!!!! :03 ΘΔ @mandateofheaven.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
I can't stop thinking about this video since I saw it last night
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Pᴜʀᴇ Dᴇᴀᴅ Gᴀᴍɪɴɢ @puredeadgaming.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
This GTA: Titanic video is the best thing you'll see today.
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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 28/03/2026
I’ll be making sure I’m opting out.
theregister.com
GitHub: We going to train on your data after all
: As of April 24 you'll be feeding the Octocat unless you opt out
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Keezees!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @keezees.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Tonight I invented an abomination; A Battenburg cake, but made from white, black and red pudding, covered in beer batter and deep fried. I have Christened it The Batterburgh, pronounced Batter-burra, like Edinburgh. May God have mercy on my soul. #Glasgow #cuisine #cooking #scotland #prayformojo
This unholy wedding of black, white and red pudding moulded into a Battenburg cake configuration, covered in beer batter and deep fried, is unpleasant to behold.
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Craig Grannell @craiggrannell.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Today’s column. Sure to win me lots of fans in AI circles & on LinkedIn (which I take a pop at too, because why not?) AI is eating the tech world – and your favourite gadgets are next / From retro consoles to smartphones, nothing is safe from the relentless march of AI www.stuff.tv/features/ai-...
stuff.tv
AI is eating the tech world – and your favourite gadgets are next | Stuff
From retro consoles to smartphones, nothing is safe from the relentless march of AI as it consumes all the components tech needs.
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Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Watch with sound on
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Tynemouth Software @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk · 06/02/2026
It's like someone once saw a PET and was asked to draw it from memory. Things like that do make you sad. All of that dross polluting actual factual information and being given equal status. I saw someone call AI "digital asbestos" and talk of how much work is going to be involved in purging it all.
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The Grand Drawing In @theauldsthretch.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
One whole hour!!!
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bowdie @bowdie.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
I am done with software that gives cute error messages. I don't need "Ooops! Something went wrong" and a cartoon of a monkey scratching his head. FUCKING TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED. TELL ME WHAT YOU DID AND WHAT THE ERROR WAS. YOU ARE SOFTWARE, DETAIL THE WAY YOU FAILED TO WORK CORRECTLY.
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🎃👻⛓️MatnEEEK!!!⛓️👻🎃 @matneee.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
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Brendan Alford @balford.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
16 years since A Man Slipped on Ice. www.rte.ie/archives/201...
rte.ie
Slipping On Ice
Freezing weather brings potential legal issues, water shortages and public attention for one unfortunate man who slips on an icy Dublin footpath.
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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 07/01/2026
This keyboard is actually an entire computer. Just plug it into a monitor and you’re set.
Picture of a rubber keyed Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K.
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Dave Bagpuss Forsey ☕️ @bagpuss.org · 06/01/2026
In "celebration" of thr Pepto Bismol ad now being on the radio, I took some popular radio-friendly songs and added the "Diarrhea" guy.
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Nanoraptor @nanoraptor.danamania.com · 03/01/2026
It's fascinating to see the changes in one company's logo over the years.
A bunch of microsoft logos from the 70s, 80s, 90s and today but instead of saying Microsoft all of them spell Microslop in the vibe of the original logos.
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ZXGuesser @zxguesser.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
This isn't news to regular users of my online teletext viewer as it's been online for ages, but one of the channels has a service from this evening 40 years ago. This was recovered from a VHS tape and every page painstakingly repaired and turned back into a packet stream zxnet.co.uk/teletext/vie...
Ceefax index page from the 28th of December 1985
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James Kelleher @jameskelleher.pilcrow.ie · 24/12/2025
How about they fire the execs who made this disastrous bet
opentools.ai
Salesforce Steps Back from AI: Executives Reveal Overconfidence in LLMs, Pivot to Deterministic Automation
Salesforce is rethinking its AI strategy after laying off 4,000 employees and deploying Agentforce, an AI-driven automation tool, to streamline operations. Executives are moving away from large langua...
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Brendan Alford @balford.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Question for the UK folks. My daughter’s discovered Interceptor and has become slightly obsessed 😀 Only have the low quality YouTube episodes to work from though. Anyone know where I might source some higher quality ones?
The Interceptor about to pounce on an unsuspecting contestant, who’s had his backpack lasered to hell at this point anyway.
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Brendan Alford @balford.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Just heard the most awful news that Ben Versteeg (owner of bytedelight.com) has passed away. He was an absolute gentleman and he will be missed by the Spectrum community.
bytedelight.com
Site is undergoing maintenance
Dear ByteDelight customers. We are sad to share that ByteDelight's founder Ben has passed away. His family is in the process of arranging his affairs. This means the webshop has been closed for orderi...
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Brendan Alford @balford.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
YAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSS
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The Grand Drawing In @theauldsthretch.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Hi all. Are ye ready? 2 important notes: - Today's sunset will be the earliest, but the grand adult sthretch in the evenings doesn't start until tomorrow's sunset. - Will you help get #TheGrandStretchIsBack trending?!! (whatever that might mean on this network!)
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Brendan Alford @balford.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
“Are there any women here today?”
Three ladies in the crowd at the World Darts Championship, dressed as the women in fake beards from the stoning scene in Life of Brian.
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The Grand Drawing In @theauldsthretch.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Are you all ready?!?! The earliest sunset of 2025 in Dublin will be at 16:05:43 on the 13th of December. You know what that means? The #TheGrandStretchIsBack on the 14th!
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Dan Tootill @dantootill.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Stuff like this makes the Internet worth all of the fake and toxic stuff that comes with it.
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James Kelleher @jameskelleher.pilcrow.ie · 06/11/2025
Digital Artist: In my work I invented the Gowl Detector as a cautionary tale Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Gowl Detector from classic art installation Don't Create The Gowl Detector
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