iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 23h

There's a certain charm to the extra bits that sometimes turn up in eBay parcels. Not sure anyone really needs a Home Computer Club invoice from 1987 though.

A photo of various Home Computer Club items.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Amazon's descriptions of me sound a lot grander than 'this guy sure buys some random crap'

Product Preferences
Strategic network infrastructure upgrades

Product Preferences
Concentrated photography equipment acquisition

Product Preferences
Invests in professional photography lighting

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Going through my recent Famicom arrivals and I do like the Namcot cart labels, with their mix of artwork and screenshots.. it's a nice touch.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

This should happen more often. "Thank you for your order of GTA VI. The game is now called Barbie Joyride, but is mostly the same game".

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

This reminded me of something I posted on Twitter a while back

"Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos with Ed Miliband"

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Just doing what everyone else does while on annual leave.. sorting out the spare Atari 2600 manuals (excuse the knees)

A photo of piles of Atari 2600 game manuals, arranged by letter

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

God. Amazon's subtitles for Solace are quite something. See alt text for details for their version versus what was actually said. Asian Cows.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

When the YouTube thumbnail makes it sound like the clumsy reporting of a celeb death.

YouTube thumbnail "LIVINGSTONE. 28. RUN OVER'. I'd have gone with '28-run over', but what do I know.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

An unused still from The Shining. Oh no, wait, it's just one of my childhood photos.

Two petrified kids sat next to their Dad who is inexplicably dressed as a panda.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I loved Zolyx, although the speccy version had a bug that let you fill the screen in two moves. Er, excuse the music - I forgot to pause Tidal before screen recording :)

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I thought I'd run the image through Google Translate to see what it made of the Japanese text

A copy of the original image run through Google Translate

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm not sure it's PC to call them that, but I'm glad they're popular.

Photo of Amazon Prime video, featuring The Mentalist, but 'trending' it's overlapping the 'ist'

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Lifelong friend of my Dad passed away this morning. Hadn't been in good health and was into his 90s, so not a shock, but still a sad day. This will always be my favourite photo of him (on the left) and my Dad - looking like a proud manager showing off the latest club signing :)

A black and white photo of my late Dad (on the right) standing next to his very good friend, Roland.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Chances are this nine would change as I remember other games, but Chaos will always be my number one.

https://my9games.net - My 9 games:
Chaos (Spectrum), The Binding of Isaac (PC/XBOX One), Out Run 2, Rocket League (PC), Turbo Esprit (Spectrum), Shining Force II (Mega Drive), Tetris (Game Boy), Wonder Boy III (Master System) and Captive (Amiga)

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Sometimes, eBay product descriptions are refreshingly honest.

A photo from an eBay listing of a rather battered BBC Micro Computer

From the product description:

"Acorn BBC Micro Computer. I plugged it into the main and smoke came out."

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

You're already partway to this.

A photo of a Try Your Luck fairground stall

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Damn, the Amstrad is a long 'un. Been trying to find somewhere to store it till I need it again and this is about the only place it fits.

A photo of a TV unit, with a CRT and Amiga 500 on top and the top drawer open, with an Amstrad CPC 464 inside

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Once all the console games are download-only, explaining this to a youngster will get you carted off to a home.

The FIFA 2001 game disc - featuring the text "SMELL THE PITCH - SCRATCH AND SNIFF"

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Something else they've been prone to do lately is announce something and then kill it off months later. I've had a support ticket open with them for six weeks trying to get Dataverse Intelligence working (with no meaningful reply yet) and today I see that the standalone feature is going away anyway

What is Dataverse intelligence? (preview)

Dataverse intelligence is now part of Business Applications in Work IQ. We recommend that you start using Work IQ instead of Dataverse intelligence because Dataverse intelligence as a separate service will no longer be available soon. For more information about Business Applications in Work IQ, see Business Applications in Work IQ.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Such attention to detail in this Amazon product image, including a rare, third spelling of Aluminium

AI toss being used to generate product images for some crappy darts.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Nothing says Chaos like Nick Faldo's Championship Golf (I'd have gone with Balls 'n' Bullets)

A photo of the Amiga compilation, Chaos, that includes three games that could maybe get chaotic.. And a golf game.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

On modern screens, the loading screen for Nightmare Rally looks a bit harsh with the colour clash going on, but I remember being impressed with it on a CRT TV back in the day.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Ah.. finally found a word in Outlier that hadn't been spotted yet. I was beginning to wonder how possible it was.

A screenshot from today's Outlier game, showing that I'd found a word that hadn't been spotted before.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Before the days of QR codes and websites. Not even a phone number. Having to write to them to find out about their upcoming game.

The loading screen for World Championship Boxing Manager on the Amstrad, inviting the player to write in to find out more about their upcoming Subbuteo game

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The woman on the Super Monaco GP loading screen looks a lot more gothy in green screen

The loading screen for Super Monaco GP on the Amstrad

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Although I've not used my CD32 in a long time, it's a console I have a soft spot for, and I've ended up with a few of the controllers as a result :)

A photo of five official Amiga CD32 controllers.. all pining to be used in favour of the better Competition Pro controller

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A bit of hair dye and additional text will fix things.

An image of a male torso with 'Hello Mumm-Ra' above Lion-O's hair.. and no, it wasn't worth the time to make this.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

It's the weekend, so it's time to party! No, wait.. it's time to test more Amstrad cassettes.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

In my younger days, this was the version of Pac-Man I played.. a more threatening than thirsty Pac though

A photo of Mastertronic's ZX Spectrum game, Gnasher

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Nosferatu...boring women to death

The loading screen for the Amstrad game, Nosferatu

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Some more green screen goodness tonight.. Although not sure about that Ikari Warriors loading screen.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Although I've ordered a scart cable, I'm rather enjoying the loading screens in green screen

The loading screen for Duet on the Amstrad

The loading screen for The Sacred Armour of Antiriad on the Amstrad

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

In the last 24 hours, I've gone from deciding to get a 464 to actually owning one, thanks to a coincidental message from someone looking to sell theirs. And curiously, Wild Streets works fine, which suggests the miSTer core isn't 100% accurate yet

An Amstrad CPC 464 and green screen monitor loading Wild Streets

A photo of the same 464 running Wild Streets

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Although it didn't load in the end, I do rather like the Wild Streets loading screen

The loading screen for the Amstrad version of Wild Streets, running on the Amstrad core on a miSTer

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Yep :) Although no actual instructions it seems.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I ended up picking one of these up and it's working pretty well so far :)

A photo of Fairlight loading on the Amstrad core on the miSTer

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Not sure I want to know why Andrew has no clothes on here.

The loading screen for Flunky on the Amstrad.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I used to pronounce it incorrectly too. I blame this game from my youth.

A photo of Hyperbowl for the ZX Spectrum

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Already checked (had to be done) and only the sequel has the poster)

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

In case anyone was curious as to what was in the parcels...

A photo of rather a lot of Amstrad cassettes

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

When the eBay seller sends your eight orders in eight separate parcels instead of one box, making your living room look like a drugs bust photo op

A photo of eight parcels, containing potentially wondrous delights, but more likely containing Amstrad cassettes.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

After lots of battling with old tape players over the years, I bit the bullet and bought a cheap modern one instead. Wasn't sure how well they work with old computer tapes, but it's two for two so far.

A photo of a modern tape recorder loading a spectrum game into a miSTer, alongside some defeated old players.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Go on... you know you want to.. there's free shipping :)

Screenshot from the Atari website, with the pricing of the Ultimate Deluxe Set of Atari carts at £745

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Finally received my invite to join the illuminati. I knew they'd get around to me eventually.

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are reaching out on behalf of the Illuminati Society to individuals interested in membership within our prestigious organization.

The Illuminati Society offers opportunities for wealth, well-being, and prominence.

If you wish to learn more about membership and its benefits, please contact our Illuminati Recruiter at: ....

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
The Illuminati Society

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Although I don't have many Coleco games, it was bugging me that I didn't have some dedicated storage for them, so I rectified that this afternoon.

A photo of a plastic container that's being used to store multiple Colecovision cartridges.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Something from this pack, most likely Horace Goes Skiing, because I'd have been around 8 years old :)

A photo of the Spectrum Six Pack of cassettes given away with Spectrum 48ks back in the day.

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Post a picture that should have been an album cover I don't take many photos, let alone good ones, but I was pleased with this one from Norway last year.. (I didn't even notice the difference between the left and right side of the photo till I got home after).

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John Phillips @underlogic.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Testing Electron tapes this afternoon (with very limited success) and I guess if I squint hard enough, I guess I could see Geoff Capes there.

The loading screen for Geoff Capes on the Acorn Electron, featuring a digitised Geoff

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