iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 11m

This is just wonderful. I love it!

L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 10h

Been a bit of a busy and weird month. Not had much time or energy to do any retro stuff. But it's the end of the month and I've got brass in pocket and a brimful of ideas so not complaining.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 29/09/2026

One of the best TV show intros ever shot.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 29/09/2026

This e-bike has been an absolute game-changer. I'm putting 20 miles a day on it commuting, saving £6 in train fares, and I'm still getting light exercise. So far no mechanical issues to report. Currently getting around 100km (3 round trips) on a full charge, which I estimate is costing around 30p.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 28/09/2026

The two space games that first caught my imagination were early Star Trek games, usually written in BASIC with simple graphics and text-based navigation. And of course Star Raiders on the Atari 8-bits, similar premise but with exciting 3D shoot-em-up action and a starfield that worked really well.

youtube.com

Atari 800 Game: Star Raiders (1979 Atari)

YouTube video by Old Classic Retro Gaming

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 26/09/2026

Local petrol station now selling diesel for over £2 a litre. Thankfully, I rarely drive. It’s going to push prices up for everyone.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 26/09/2026

I mentioned Gauntlet III in a previous thread, musing on how it was only Gauntlet in name. I'd forgotten that, in addition to the Amiga, ST, Spectrum and Amstrad versions, there was also a C64 port by Martin Howarth. www.lemon64.com/game/gauntle... Screenshot from the above lemon64 page.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 26/09/2026

They had this cabinet in our college student union bar. It's an awesome game to play with your mates. I later got the opportunity to write a sequel to Gauntlet II on the ZX Spectrum for US Gold. I wanted to do a top view scroller in homage of the original but with new enemies. Bill Barna wanted 3D.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 24/09/2026

Film night. Watching Dune pt II. Thought I’d watched it but I hadn’t.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 24/09/2026

Think I'm getting over my cold now thank goodness. Just sound a bit croakier than usual. Managed to assemble my e-bike and took it on a quick test run. It's the equivalent of seven-league boots. Planning on doing the full commute, weather permitting. Should pay for itself within a year.

A box of tools and spares, and some kind of air tag clone.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 23/09/2026

Bike arrived this afternoon. Had arranged for a neighbour to receive it because work. Wasn’t expecting it today, but here it is. Full of a cold and sore throat so will probably assemble this at the weekend.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 23/09/2026

Researched and bought a bike online, so all I'm seeing now are adverts for bikes. Not bike panniers, locks, helmets or tools. Just bikes.

Weird Spongebob with the caption 'Algorithms'

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 22/09/2026

I like the fact that in Star Trek the crew can suffer all manner of exotic workplace incidents. Lt. Paris has just had a brain engram superimposed on his own and he’s just shrugging it off.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 22/09/2026

." I'm " 2026 1982 - . ." years old!" CR

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 21/09/2026

Mazogs. It combined clever bold graphics, a procedurally generated maze and different skill levels.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 21/09/2026

One machine I've always had a bit of a soft spot for is the Cambridge Z88. If you like this review then please subscribe to my channel.

en.wikipedia.org

Cambridge Z88 - Wikipedia

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 21/09/2026

Bought my iPhone 17 at the old price just in the nick of time after Apple upped their prices. I don't recall them mentioning the increase during their next gen product launch. Wouldn't pay an extra £100 for lasts year's technology whatever the device. Thankfully rarely see the need to upgrade.

theguardian.com

‘RAMageddon’: tech crunch hikes the price of your next iPhone by £100

Shortage of memory chips and other critical components reverses trend of electronics becoming cheaper

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 21/09/2026

Mrs B has a year-old entry-level laptop for occasional use. Probably a dual-core Intel with 8GB of RAM sold with Win 11. If it's not used for a month or so it can be crippled for at least an hour whilst everything tries to sync and update at once. www.theregister.com/os-platforms...

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 21/09/2026

Chasing movies and shows around an increasingly fragmented number of expensive streaming services is bad enough. Adding adverts just furthers the enshittification.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 21/09/2026

Mike Lamb did a cracking job converting snooker to the 8-bits and it held its own even after later more elaborate versions of the game were released on 16-bit machines, like Jimmy White's Snooker, designed & written by Archer Maclean. Iain's article below adds some context to the game's history.

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Reposted by L Break Into Program

JamHamster @jamhamster.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I got up at bonkers o'clock this morning and did a deep dive into the state of C64 .tap files. I also documented the process and results. Long story short, get your taps from uta.pokefinder.org ☺️ jamhamster.wordpress.com/2026/09/19/c...

jamhamster.wordpress.com

Commodore Tap File Quality. (Or why the flustering heck doesn’t this C64 game load!)

Hi, I’ve been working on a games loader device since lockdown and I’m getting really close to getting this working properly. C64 loading has often been problematic. One .tap file wouldn…

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Reposted by L Break Into Program

Daphne Blake @itscrapcontent.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

While doing this chart show i found this proper brilliantly cool game on the PS3 which once they turn off the shop will be lost ….so if your a fan of the master system Castle of Illusion then check out the 2013 version its amazingly good youtube.com/watch?v=5RFT...

youtube.com

#That-Retro-Chart-Show June - 1991

YouTube video by Daph Blake

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 18/09/2026

For me the competition is about fun not winning. Who cares? Sam went out there and did just that. He better represents the UK than any pop mogul manufactured band.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 16/09/2026

Just passed a nearby petrol station and £1.97 for a litre of diesel is ridiculous. To fill up my car now costs an extra £35. And it's not a particularly large tank, only 60 litres. Glad I don't rely upon my car.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 15/09/2026

When prologues used to get to the point...

3D Monster Maze start screen. One page of glorious text that reads

ROLL UP, ROLL UP, SEE THE AMAZING TYRANNOSAURUS REX KING OF THE DINOSAURS IN HIS LAIR. PERFECTLY PRESERVED IN SILICON SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES, HE IS BROUGHT TO YOU FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT AND EXHILARATION.

NEW GENERATION SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT M.E.EVANS

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 15/09/2026

Had a brainwave last night whilst trying to locate the clock pin on the Dragon 32's MC6847 for the umpteenth time. Just bought a fine white acrylic pen so I can mark on top of the chip the pins of importance. For more top tips please read the Internet.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 15/09/2026

Watch and phone upgraded to IOS27 last night. First impressions. - I can disable that awful liquid glass nonsense - Has the battery icon changed? - Adding custom membership cards to wallet is neat I'll be giving the "AI" features a miss. If you like this review then please subscribe to my channel.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 14/09/2026

We usually have at least one unexpected firework at Retrofest. It adds to the fun. Does it stop us using these old machines? Never! There are exceptions of course for extremely rare or delicate machines, yet tantalums can be replaced.

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L Break Into Program @breakintoprogram.co.uk · 14/09/2026

IOS 27 is being released today. I've never been less interested in an Apple software update. I won't use Apple Intelligence on principle, and the update is mostly about integrating AI into the phone.

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Reposted by L Break Into Program

Tynemouth Software @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk · 13/09/2026

New blog post - The second ZX81 board repair. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/09/zx81... This time with an internal 16K RAM upgrade, an EPROM ROM replacement and a switching regulator 7805 replacement.

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