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Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair or YS as it was affectionately known, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, specifically the ZX Spectrum. It was formed in 1984 as Your Spectrum, the title being changed to Your Sinclair in 1986 to include coverage of the QL computer. It was published by Dennis Publishing until 1990, when Future Publishing took over. It finally folded in 1993, after the Spectrum games scene diminished to almost nothingness, after 93 issues, having dwindled to less than 40 pages per issue. Like a lot of similar computer magazines, such as Zero and Amiga Power, it created an endearing sense of community with its readers, especially through the letters page (indeed, several regular letter writers, such as Rich Pelley, went on to become full time staff members), and it could be argued that YS had a language all of its own, culled partly from references such as Viz and Monty Python. YS often included irrelevance, not even mentioning the Spectrum on some pages. The main culprit was supposedly the news section, named 'Pssst', originally called 'Frontlines'. The news section regularly contained mock celebrity interviews (such as the 'At The Bus Stop With' series), trivial charts, and was basically an outlet for whatever the YS writers felt like talking about. Indeed, sometimes the only place within Pssst that you could guarantee to find any news about Spectrum games was the T'zers column, initially written and named after YS's longest reigning editor, Teresa Maughan. YS's quirky, in-joke laden, pop culture referencing writing style eventually culminated in the covertape-mounted YS2; a collection of some fifty or so 'extra' pages loaded into the Spectrum and viewed like teletext. This was largely written by then editor Jonathan Nash and regular contributor Steve Anderson, and served as a template for Nash's website, [http://theweekly.co.uk/ The Weekly]. Matt Bielby was carted off to the funny farm after declaring himself to be God, Andy Ide became a Green Party ambassador, and Andy Hutchinson left to design a skate park at Alton Towers. The majority of former-YS reviewers went on to work for Amiga Power. YS reviewers were often 'interviewed' in a column at first called 'Joystick Jugglers' and later called 'The Shed Crew' (although referred to internally as the 'Flannel Panel'). In particular issues of YS, games were reviewed by Jon Pillar, whom rembraced both extremes of the review scale, giving Count Duckula 2 a mere 9%, and Mercenary 99%. Games which were scored at more than 90% were awarded YS's coveted "Megagame" status, but this was undermined slightly when Duncan MacDonald gave his own Sinclair BASIC creation the status, Advanced Lawnmower Simulator, in a moment of surreality. Reader games were also reviewed for a while in the "Crap Games Corner". The Tipshop contained all the tips and cheats, and spawned its own book, the YS Tipshop Tiptionary. Dr. Berkmann's Clinic (renamed The YS Clinic With Dr. Hugo Z Hackenbush after Marcus Berkmann left for the Daily Mail) was a solution to reader's gaming problems, more often than not solved by Richard Swann. "Program Pitstop" contained type-in programs, and was the last column of its kind, the one remaining remnant of an era when magazines didn't contain reviews of games, but program listings. Spec Tec and its descendant, Spec Tec Jr, were where all the technical queries went, but even these were typically written as they were in the style of a Philip Marlowe monologue. Today it is hard to find the YS writers in the mainstream press. Dave Golder was the editor of SFX magazine until 2005 and Stuart Campbell created [http://www.worldofstuart.co.uk World of Stuart]. There are currently few magazines that share YS (and Amiga Powers) self-referential style, although the aforementioned SFX magazine and PC Zone share some stylistic traits. Some "YS Speak" has also filtered through to Heat magazine, and nonsense captions are almost ubiquitous, also used by FHM magazine.

See also


- Amiga Power
- CRASH
- Sinclair User

External links


- [http://www.ysrnry.co.uk The YS Rock 'N'Roll Years]
- [http://www.yoursinclair.co.uk Your Sinclair: A Celebration]
- [http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/avenue/db38/ys2/YS2_100.html YS2/100] Category:Home computer magazines Category:British magazines Category:Defunct magazines Category:ZX Spectrum

United Kingdom

:For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation). :For an explanation of terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country located off the north-western coast of continental Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of four constituent parts: three constituent countries—England, Scotland, and Wales—on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK has several overseas territories and the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands come under the UK's sovereignty. The UK also has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, as they all share the same head of state. The UK is also one of the largest member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN and NATO.

Terminology


- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The official name for the sovereign state
- United Kingdom: an abbreviation of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Britain: an informal term that sometimes means United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means Great Britain
- British: an informal term that sometimes means from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means from Great Britain
- Great Britain (as a geographical term): the largest island of the British Isles
- Great Britain (as a political term): England + Wales + Scotland
- British Isles (as a geographical term): Great Britain + Ireland + many smaller surrounding islands. This term is disputed, please see below.
- Ireland (as a geographical term): the second largest island of the British Isles
- Ireland (as a political term): an abbreviation of the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state on the island of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: a political region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ulster (as a geographical term): Often used to refer to Northern Ireland. It is derived from the Irish Language term 'Ulad.' It was one of the ancient Irish provinces (the others were Connaught, Leinster and Munster.). Although it is normally used to refer to Northern Ireland, Ulster also (traditionally) includes Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, which lie in the Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster is often favoured by the Protestant community.

History

Protestant Today's state is the latest of several unions formed over the last 1000 years. Scotland and England have existed as separate unified entities since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. With the Act of Union 1707, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to a permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was formed in 1922, after bitter fighting which echoes down to the current political strife, the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, with the latter remaining part of the United Kingdom. As provided for in the treaty, Northern Ireland, which consists of six of the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster, immediately opted out of the Free State and to remain in the UK. The nomenclature of the UK was changed in 1927 to recognise the departure of most of Ireland, with the current name being adopted. 1927 The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western world ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy - to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation. The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Its attitude towards further integration is conservative, and there is significant Euroscepticism in UK politics. It has not chosen to adopt the Euro, owing to internal political considerations and the government's judgement of the prevailing economic conditions.

Government and politics

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the Queen by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on customs and separate pieces of constitutional law. While the monarch is Head of State and holds all executive power, it is the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is drawn from this chamber of Parliament by constitutional convention. The majority of cabinet members will be from the House of Commons, the rest from the House of Lords. Ministers do not, however, legally have to come from Parliament, though that is the modern day custom. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past - most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms. The Prime Minister is chosen as the MP who can command a majority in the House of Commons - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in spite of recent controversies. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [http://www.mori.com/mrr/2000/c000616.shtml]. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed): hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England. established church]] The two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the-post. The constitution of the United Kingdom is un-codified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referenda for devolution succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002.

Subdivisions

The United Kingdom is a country that is divided into four constituent parts:
- England
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Wales The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:
- The regions and administrative counties of England
- The council areas of Scotland
- The counties and county boroughs of Wales
- The districts of Northern Ireland The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes. Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum. Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts. Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

Military

The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. Ministry of Defence The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. The United Kingdom fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in the World. Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Armed Forces. The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident Ballistic Missile Submarines, while the Royal Marines provide infantry units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries. The UK's special forces, principally the SAS, provides elite commandos trained for quick, mobile, military responses; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the World in terms of gross tonnage. Despite the United Kingdom's wide ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which military action was initiated by Argentina and the UK was fighting a defensive, rather than offensive, campaign. The British army has been actively involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, a programme of demilitarisation is being gradually implemented.

Geography

Troubles World Factbook Map of the United Kingdom]] Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater. Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon at 1085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in South Wales. Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain at 1343 metres (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The largest city is Glasgow. Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast ('Beal Feirste' in Irish) and Londonderry / Derry ('Doire' in Irish). The province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feett (12 m) high. In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.

Economy

artificial island The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. Over the past three decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state. Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world. The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.

Society

Demographics

At the April 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is mandatory from ages five through sixteen. referendum The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national religions in their respective countries, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom. Anglicanism is the state religion that has been established in England since 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. During his reign, England broke ties with the Roman Catholic church and established the Church of England as the offical religion of England. Reforms to the nature of the church's relationship to the state have been ongoing, especially concerning the nature of the House of Lords and the appointment of a fixed amount of the lordships going to Lords Temporal, bishops of the Church of England. A group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Although Celtic languages persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French.The other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep. Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Hindi speaking peoples outside of the Indian sub continent.

Culture

Urdu The United Kingdom contains many of the world's leading universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of London (which incorporates, amongst others, Imperial College and University College London), and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with many inventions including the locomotive, vaccination, television, vacuum, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine. The English language has spread to all corners of the world (primarily because of the country’s empire) and is referred to as a ‘global language’. It is now taught as a second language more than any other around the world. Over the next few decades, it is estimated that approximately half the world’s population will be proficient in the language. Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the history of the English language; other well-known writers from the United Kingdom include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, J. R. R. Tolkien, John Milton, H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson and William Blake. Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, William Lawes, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in the 19th and 20th. George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in England. The BBC is the oldest and perhaps the most respected broadcasting network on the globe, with the BBC World Service radio channel and its news output held in particularly high regard. The other main television networks are ITV, Channel 4, five (TV) and Sky Television. Popular programmes in the UK include the three soaps Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as the comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You and Reality TV shows Big Brother and The X Factor. Various British TV formats have been exported to other nations, notably Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and The Office. The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous rock stars, including the Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay gain international fame. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. The United Kingdom was also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK.

Sport

A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and boxing. The national sport of the UK is association football, but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as these are hosted in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate. The UK also hosts many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England and Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby League originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played all over Britain. In Rugby League the UK plays as one nation - Great Britain - whilst in union it is represented by the four nations. England are the current holders of the Rugby Union World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries. Cricket is also played in the UK, although it is focussed in England. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar. Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course.

Miscellaneous topics

External links


- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of the nations within the UK.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html CIA World Factbook: UK.]
- [http://www.direct.gov.uk Gateway to UK governmental services and websites.]
- [http://www.number-10.gov.uk Number 10 Downing Street]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]
- [http://www.opsi.gov.uk Office of Public Sector Information] Source for all UK legislation 1987-present (successor to Her Majesty's Stationery Office).
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of the UK.
- [http://www.royal.gov.uk The British Monarchy]
- [http://www.parliament.uk/ The United Kingdom Parliament]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5703&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272 Official Yearbook of the UK] factbook produced by the Office for National Statistics (years 2000 to 2005 available online).
- [http://www.ukcities.co.uk UK Cities] lists a variety of useful resources for every city in the UK.
- [http://www.justuk.org UK travel guide] United Kingdom for travellers.
- [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom World66 Guide to United Kingdom] A travel guide written by its users.
- [http://www.multimap.co.uk www.multimap.co.uk] provides online maps and aerial photographs of the UK.
- [http://www.streetmap.co.uk www.streetmap.co.uk] an alternative to multimap.
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/map.html Physical map of United Kingdom.]
- [http://www.upmystreet.com www.upmystreet.com] detailed localised information about places in the United Kingdom.
- [http://www.parks.it/world/UK/Eindex.html UK Parks] National parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas. ----
Category:British Isles Category:European countries Category:European Union member states Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Monarchies A als:Grossbritannien und Nordirland zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ko:영국 ms:United Kingdom ja:イギリス simple:United Kingdom th:สหราชอาณาจักร

Sinclair Research Ltd

Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961) to sell hi-fi equipment, calculators, radios and other products. In 1966 Sinclair created but never sold the world's first pocket television. In 1972 they marketed the world's first pocket calculator, the Sinclair Executive. In the 1980s Sinclair entered the personal computer market with the ZX80 at £99.95, at the time the cheapest personal computer for sale in the UK. In 1982 the ZX Spectrum was released, later becoming Britain's best selling computer, competing aggressively against Commodore and Amstrad. The combination of the 1984 failures of the Sinclair QL computer and TV80, and the 1985 Sinclair C5 electric vehicle bankrupted the company, and a year later Sinclair's products were sold to Amstrad. Sinclair still exists today, continuing to market Sir Clive Sinclair's newest inventions.

The first twenty years: 1961 to 1980

Sinclair Radionics

Amstrad Amstrad On 25 July, 1961 Sir Clive Sinclair founded Sinclair Radionics in Cambridge, England after raising funds to start the business by writing articles for Practical Wireless magazine. Sinclair Radionics developed hi-fi products, radios, calculators and scientific instruments. In 1963, Sinclair Radionics introduced their first radio with the "Sinclair Slimline" in kit form at forty-nine shillings and sixpence. A year later in 1964 Sinclair released the "Micro-6", match-box size radio which the company claimed was the "world's smallest radio". It could also be worn on your wrist with the "Transrista". In 1965 the "Micro-FM" debuted as "the world"s first pocket-size FM tuner-receiver", but was unsuccessful due to technical difficulties. Despite problems, illegal clones were produced in the far-east. Sinclair's final 1960s radio kit was the 1967 "Micromatic", it was billed as "the world's smallest radio" like Sinclair's earlier radios. The "Micromatic" was a reasonable success and was sold until 1971. In May 1971 Sinclair Radionics made £85,000 profit on £563,000 turnover; the following year profit increased to £97,000 on turnover of £761,000. In 1966 Sinclair Radionics entered the hi-fi market with the "Stereo 25", a low-cost pre-amp control system, production was halted in 1968 due to low supply of transistors which had been purchased in 1964 as rejects from other manufacturers. In 1969 it was replaced by the "Stereo Sixty", which soon became Sinclair's most successful audio product, being the second product of the "Project 60" range. The "Project 60" products sold well and were supplemented by the "Project 605" kit in 1972. It was eventually superseded by the more advanced "Project 80" kit in 1974. In September 1973 Sinclair purchased "Ablesdeal" so that he would be able to avoid the delay of incorporating a company if it became convenient for him to shift his ambitions away from Sinclair Radionics. In May 1973 Sinclair Radionics generated £1.8m turnover. hi-fiIn 1966, Sinclair Radionics developed the world's first portable television, the "Microvision", but never attempted to sell it because development costs would have been too high based on the complicated design the Microvision used. In 1976 it was sold as a revised version, the "Microvision TV1A/MON1A" at £99.95. Supply exceeded demand, and 12,000 units were left unsold until they were sold off cheaply. This resulted in a £480,000 loss for Sinclair. Sir Clive Sinclair was certain that the TV1B model released in 1978 would be more successful, but sales were disappointing. The technology was sold to Binatone. During the majority of the 1970s Sinclair focused on building the most affordable pocket calculators, with the best design. In 1972, Sinclair released the world's first slim-line pocket calculator, the Sinclair Executive, for £79.95. The calculator only included basic math functions, and the LED display required lots of power. It is often credited as being the world's first attractively-styled calculator, that didn't require mains power to be used like prior calculators. The executive was a phenomenal success, earning Sinclair £1.8m in profit. In 1973 the "Executive Memory" was introduced at a far cheaper price of £24.95. LED In 1975 Sinclair Radionics released the Sinclair Scientific, a scientific pocket calculator for £99.95. It used RPN, and displays only in 5 digit mantissa or 2 digit. In 1977 a revised model, the "Scientific Programmable", was released at £29.95. The Scientific Programmable Mark 2 was later released, reducing the price to £17.22. Sinclair attempted to capture the top-end calculator market with the Sinclair Sovereign, available in plated gold or silver, it was critically acclaimed for its excellent engineering and design and enjoyed short success. In August of 1975 Sinclair introduced the Black Watch at £17.95 in kit form and £24.95 ready-built. Including a 5-digit LED display, it suffered from technical flaws related with the battery and accuracy. The company began to see significant commercial losses because of the product. In August 1975, Sinclair changed the name of Ablesdeal to "Sinclair Instrument Ltd". Exactly a year later the National Enterprise Board bought a 43% stake in Sinclair Radionics for £650,000. Finding it inconvenient to share control of his company, Sinclair encouraged Chris Curry, who had been working for Radionics since 1966, to leave and get Sinclair Instrument started. Sinclair Instrument developed the "Wrist Calculator" to generate cash, it soon became a commercial success selling in surprising figures. In July 1977 Sinclair Instrument Ltd was renamed to "Science of Cambridge Ltd". Around about the same time, Ian Williamson showed Chris Curry a prototype computer based around a National Semiconductor SC/MP and some parts taken from an earlier Sinclair calculator. Curry was impressed and encouraged Sinclair to adopt this as a product; an agreement was reached with Williamson but no contract was ever signed, Nat Semi had offered to redesign the project so that it used only their components and they also offered to manufacture the boards.

Science of Cambridge

In June 1978 Science of Cambridge launched a microcomputer kit, marketed as the MK14, based around the National SC/MP chip. By July 1978, a personal computer project was already underway. When Sinclair learnt that the NewBrain could not be sold at below the sub-£100 price that he envisaged, his thoughts turned to the ZX80 instead. In May 1979 Jim Westwood started the ZX80 project at Science of Cambridge, it was launched in February 1980 at £79.95 in kit form and £99.95 ready-built. In November Science of Cambridge was renamed to "Sinclair Computers Ltd".

Success and then decline: 1981 to 1986

Home computers

Jim Westwood Jim Westwood In March 1981 "Sinclair Computers" was renamed to "Sinclair Research Ltd" and the Sinclair ZX81 was launched at £49.95 in kit form and £69.95 ready-built, by mail order. In February 1982 Timex obtained a license to manufacture and market Sinclair's computers in the USA under the name Timex Sinclair. In April the ZX Spectrum was launched, priced at £125 for the 16 kB RAM version and £175 for the 48 kB version. In July Timex launched the TS 1000 (a version of the ZX81) in the US. In March 1982 Sinclair made an £8.55m profit on turnover of £27.17m, including £383,000 government grants for flat screen. In 1982 Clive Sinclair converted the Barker & Wadsworth mineral water bottling factory at 25 Willis Road, Cambridge into the Sinclair Building to use it as the company's new headquarters. (It was sold to Cambridgeshire County Council in December 1985 due to Sinclair's immense debts and finance troubles.) In January 1983 the ZX Spectrum personal computer was presented at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show. In September the Sinclair TV80 television was launched, using flat-screen technology unlike Sinclair's previous CRT televisions, the TV80 was a commercial failure only selling 15,000 units and not covering its development costs of £4m. In late 1983, Timex decided to pull out of the "Timex Sinclair" venture, which had failed to break the US market as expected due to strong competition. However Timex computers continued to be produced for several years in other countries. Timex Portugal, with the TS 2048 and 2068, launched improved versions capable of displaying more colours, and a better circuit design. They also developed and launched the FDD 3000, a floppy disk system, that was not well received by the market. The Sinclair QL was announced on January 12 1984, shortly before the Apple Macintosh actually went on sale . This was a new computer, to be aimed at the business market and costing £399. However, at this point the final design had not yet been completed. Shipping finally started in May, with 13,000 orders taken, but only a few hundred units delivered at first. Because the initially supplied ROM had proved insufficient, early machines were shipped with a "kludge" hanging out of the machine with additional ROM space . Your Sinclair noted that it was "difficult to find a good word for Sinclair Research in the computer press". Fully working QLs were not available until late summer; complaints against Sinclair regarding delays were upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority in May of the year (in 1982 it had upheld complaints about delays in shipping Spectrums). Especially severe were allegations that it was cashing cheques months before machines were shipped. The QL was nowhere near as successful as Sinclair's earlier computers. In the autumn, Sinclair were still publically predicting it would be a "million seller", with 250,000 sold by the end of the year . QL production was suspended in February 1985, and the price was halved by the end of the year . Between 1981 and 1988 Sinclair created ten peripherals for their computers, including joysticks, a printer, hard drive, and memory expansion modules. Some of the peripherals were developed by other companies but still marketed under the Sinclair brand. External storage for the Spectrum was usually on tapes, as was common in the era. Rather than an optional disk drive, Sinclair instead opted to offer their own system, the ZX Microdrive, a tape-loop cartridge system that was rather unreliable. This was the primary storage option for the QL as well. The "ZX Spectrum+", a retooled ZX Spectrum with a plastic keyboard, was launched in October and appeared on WHSmith's shelves the day after release. Retailers stocked the machine in large numbers in expectation of good Christmas sales, however it did not sell in the numbers expected and, because retailers still had unsold stock, Sinclair's income from orders dipped alarmingly in January. The Spectrum+ had the same technical specifications as the original Spectrum. An upgraded Spectrum, the ZX Spectrum 128, was launched in Spain in September 1985, by the Spanish firm Investronica. January 1986 saw the machine launched in the UK, apparently in an attempt to generate cash.

Trouble and Amstrad acquisition

In January 1985, Sinclair released the "FM Wristwatch Radio", an LCD wristwatch with a radio attached. The aerial was built into the strap and the battery was hidden in the clasp, presumably in an attempt to balance out the considerable weight of the watch. The watch had several usage problems, and never went into full production, making it one of the rarest Sinclair products. radioSir Clive had long held an interest in electric vehicles and during the early 1980s worked on the design of a single-seater "personal vehicle". A new company, Sinclair Vehicles Ltd, was formed in March 1983 (allowing Sinclair Research to concentrate on electronics) and its Sinclair C5 electric vehicle was launched on 10 January 1985. The battery powered vehicle aimed to solve environmental problems and be the first truly affordable vehicle at £399. It was a commercial disaster, selling only 17,000 units and losing Sinclair £7m, Sinclair Vehicles going into liquidation later the same year. The C5, combined with the failures of the QL and the TV80, caused investors to lose confidence in Sir Clive. On 28 May, 1985, Sinclair had announced that it wanted to raise an extra £10m to £15m to restructure Sinclair Research. Given the loss of confidence in the company, this proved hard to find. In 1986, the company sold its entire computer product range and the "Sinclair" brand name to Amstrad. This deal did not involve the company, merely its name and products.

The tireless inventor: 1990s to present

Today the company still exists, but in a completely different form than it did in the 1980s. In 1993, 1994 and 1995 Sinclair made continuing losses on decreasing turnover, and began to worry investors since Clive Sinclair himself was using his own personal wealth to fund his inventions. By 1990 Sinclair's entire staff had been reduced to Sinclair himself, a salesperson/administrator, and R&D employee. By 1997 reportedly only Sinclair on his own was working at his company. In 1992 the "Zike" electric bicycle was released, Sinclair's second attempt at changing means of transportation. The "Zike" was a commercial failure much like the C5 was, and only sold a total of 2,000 units. It had a maximum speed of 10 mph (16 km/h), and was only available through mail order. In 1997 Sinclair released the world's smallest radio with the "Z1 Micro AM Radio". In 2003, the Sinclair "ZA20 Wheelchair Drive Unit" was introduced, designed and manufactured in conjunction with Hong Kong's Daka Designs, a partnership which also led to the SeaDoo Sea Scooter, an underwater propulsion unit. Sinclair recently announced that they will release a folding bicycle, named the A-Bike, in 2005.

Cancelled projects

The following computer products were under development at Sinclair Research during the 1980s, but never reached production:
- LC3: standing for "Low Cost Colour Computer", the LC3, developed during 1983 by Martin Brennan, was intended to be a cheap Z80-based games console implemented in two chips, using ROM and (non-volatile) RAM cartridges for storage. A multi-tasking OS for the LC3 with a full windowing GUI was designed by Steve Berry. It was cancelled in November 1983 in favour of the QL .
- SuperSpectrum: SuperSpectrum was intended to be a 68008-based home computer, with built-in ZX Microdrive, joystick, RS-232 and ZX Net ports. Sinclair's SuperBASIC programming language was originally intended for this model, but was later adopted for the QL. SuperSpectrum was cancelled in 1982 after the specification of the ZX83 (QL) had converged with it. (Not to be confused with Loki, which was described as the "SuperSpectrum" in an article in the June 1986 issue of Sinclair User magazine)
- Pandora: this was to be a portable computer with an integral flat-screen CRT display. Initially, this was to be ZX Spectrum-compatible, with a faster Z80 CPU, a built-in ZX Microdrive and a new 512x192-pixel monochrome video mode. Due to the limited size of flat CRT that could be manufactured, a series of folding lenses and mirrors was necessary to magnify the screen image to a usable size. The project was cancelled after the Amstrad take-over, however, the Pandora concept eventually transformed into the Cambridge Computer Z88 .
- Loki: this project was an enhanced ZX Spectrum intended to rival the Commodore Amiga. Loki was to have a 7 MHz Z80H CPU, 128 kB of RAM and two custom chips providing much enhanced graphics and audio capabilities. After the Amstrad buy-out in 1986, two engineers who had worked on the project, John Mathieson and Martin Brennan, founded Flare Technology to continue their work .
- Janus: a picture of a mock up of a device with this code-name exists, but nothing more is known about it .
- Bob/Florin: according to Rupert Goodwins, this was a project to produce an add-on floppy disk drive for the ZX Spectrum .
- Tyche: this codename was assigned to a QL follow-on project running from 1984 to 1986. Among the features associated with this were increased RAM capacity, internal floppy disk drives, the Psion Xchange application suite on ROM, and possibly the GEM GUI .
- Proteus: this was rumoured to be a hypothetical portable version of the QL, similar to Pandora.

Facts and trivia


- Sinclair has famously had a fetish for the letters Z, X and Q in his product names. This is actually a canny piece of marketing psychology—those three letters are the least used in British English, so their use in a product name immediately catches attention.
- The Sinclair Executive advert described it as being "as thick as a cigarette packet", reflecting Clive Sinclair's stated belief that "One must always bear a packet of cigarettes in mind as the ideal size"; it was a running joke at the company that Sinclair, who smoked 40 cigarettes a day at the time, designed everything to be the size of a packet of 20 cigarettes.

See also


- Sinclair BASIC
- Sinclair C5
- Sinclair Executive
- Sinclair Radionics
- Sinclair Scientific
- Sinclair Vehicles
- Timex Sinclair
- TV80

Statement sources

# [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr02/yr02_q2.htm Your Spectrum Issue 2, March 1984 - QL User supplement] # [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr05/yr05_47.htm#SinclairWatch Your Spectrum Issue 5, July 1984 - QL News / SinclairWatch] # [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr07/yr07_72.htm#Circe Your Spectrum Issue 7, September 1984 - Circe] # [http://www.zqaonline.com/Events/History.aspx zqaonline Timex/Sinclair history] # [http://www.crashonline.org.uk/22/editrl.htm CRASH Issue 22] # [http://www.crashonline.org.uk/50/sinchist.htm CRASH Issue 50] # [http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/sinclair/corphist.htm Planet Sinclair: Corporate History] # [http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/ql/ql_sst.htm The Quantum Leap - to where? — a chapter from Sinclair and the 'Sunrise' Technology] # [http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/ql/ql_sst.htm ibid.] # [http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.sinclair/msg/6bdb4bd808bdb3d6?dmode=source&hl=en USENET posting by Rupert Goodwins in comp.sys.sinclair describing Pandora] # [http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/loki/loki.htm#pandora Planet Sinclair: The Unreleased Sinclair Computers] # [http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/loki/loki.htm#loki ibid.] # [http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/loki/loki.htm#janus ibid.] # [http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.sinclair/msg/92cdbd9b554f978e?dmode=source&hl=en USENET posting by Rupert Goodwins in comp.sys.sinclair mentioning Bob/Florin] # [http://www.mail-archive.com/ql-users@quanta.org.uk/msg01982.html Message from Tony Tebby on the "ql-users" mailing list about a Tyche ROM image]

References and further reading

Books


- Adamson, Ian; Kennedy, Richard (1986). Sinclair and the "Sunrise" Technology. London: Penguin Books. 224 pp. ISBN 0140087745.
- Dale, Rodney (1985). The Sinclair Story. London: Duckworth. 184 pp. ISBN 0715619012.
- Tedeschi, Enrico (1986). Sinclair Archaeology: The Complete Photo Guide to Collectable Models. Portslade: Hove Books. 130 pp. ISBN 0952788306.

Magazines


- CRASH
- Everyday Electronics, various issues
- Practical Electronics, various issues
- Practical Wireless, various issues
- Radio Constructor, The, various issues
- Sinclair Programs, various issues
- Sinclair Projects, various issues
- Sinclair User
- Your Sinclair

External links


- [http://www.sinclair-research.co.uk/ Sinclair Research Corporate website]
- [http://www.interface1.net/zx/index.html Sinclair Nostalgia Products]
- [http://www.sinclair-heaven.net Sinclair Heaven website]
- [http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/045/sstory.htm The Sinclair Story book extract]
- [http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/ Planet Sinclair]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3125341.stm 'Move over Segway, I'm planning the C6', BBC News article]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4341280.stm 'Pocket TVs failed before. What's changed?', BBC News Magazine article] Category:Home computer hardware companies Category:Electronics companies of the United Kingdom Category:Computer companies of the United Kingdom Category:Defunct computer companies

ZX Spectrum

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was a home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research. Based on a Zilog Z80 CPU running at 3.50 MHz, the Spectrum came with either 16 KB or 48 KB of RAM. The hardware designer was Richard Altwasser of Sinclair Research and the software was written by Steve Vickers on contract from Nine Tiles Ltd, the authors of Sinclair BASIC. Sinclair's industrial designer Rick Dickinson was responsible for the machine's outward appearance. Originally dubbed the ZX82, the machine was later renamed the "Spectrum" by Sinclair to highlight the machine's colour display, compared to the black-and-white of its predecessors, the ZX80 and ZX81. ZX81

Description

Video output was to a TV, for a simple colour graphic display. The rubber keyboard (on top of a membrane, similar to calculator keys) was marked with Sinclair BASIC keywords, so that, for example, pressing "G" when in programming mode would insert the BASIC command GO TO. Programs and data were stored using a normal cassette recorder. cassette The Spectrum's video display, although rudimentary by today's standards, was perfect at the time for display on portable TV sets, and did not present much of a barrier to game development. Text could be displayed using 32 columns × 24 rows of characters from the Spectrum Character Set, with a choice of 8 colours in either normal or bright mode, which gave 15 shades (black was the same in both modes). The image resolution was 256×192 with the same colour limitations. The Spectrum had an interesting method of handling colour; the colour attributes were held in a 32×24 grid, separate from the text or graphical data, but was still limited to only two colours in any given character cell. This led to what was called colour clash or attribute clash with some bizarre effects in arcade style games. This problem became a distinctive feature of the Spectrum and an in-joke among Spectrum users, as well as a point of derision by advocates of other systems. Other machines available around the same time, for example the Amstrad CPC, did not suffer from this problem. The Commodore 64 used colour attributes, but hardware sprites and scrolling were used to avoid attribute clash. The Spectrum was the first mainstream audience home computer in the UK, similar in significance to the Commodore 64 in the USA. The Commodore 64, often abbreviated to C64, was also the main rival to the Spectrum in the UK market. An enhanced version of the Spectrum with better sound, graphics and other modifications was marketed in the USA by the Timex Corporation as the TS2068.

Educational Application

In 1980 - 1982 the UK Department of Education and Science (DES) had begun the Microelectronics Education Programme to introduce microprocessing concepts and educational materials. In 1982 through to 1986, the Department of Industry (DoI) allocated funding to assist UK local education authorities to supply their schools with a range of computers; the ZX Spectrum was very useful for the control projects.

Models

ZX Spectrum 16K/48K (1982)

Released by Sinclair in 1982 and available with either 16 kB (£125, later £99) or 48 kB (£175, later £129) of RAM and 16 kB ROM, the original ZX Spectrum is remembered for its rubber keyboard and diminutive size. Owners of the 16K model could purchase an internal 32 kB RAM upgrade daughterboard, which consists of 8 dynamic RAMs and few TTL chips. Users could mail their 16K Spectrums to Sinclair to be upgraded to 48K versions. Also available were third-party external 32 kB RAMpacks that mounted in the rear expansion slot. As with the ZX81, "RAMpack wobble" caused by poor connection with the expansion was the bane of many users, causing instant crashes and sometimes ULA or CPU burnout. ULA

ZX Spectrum+ (1984)

This 48 kB Spectrum (development code-name TB) introduced a new QL-style enclosure with a much needed injection-moulded keyboard and a reset button, retailing for £180. An upgrade package for older machines was also available. Most hard core users (programmers and gamers) disliked the new keyboard.

ZX Spectrum 128 (1986)

Sinclair developed the 128 (code-named Derby) in conjuction with their Spanish distributor Investrónica. Investrónica had helped adapt the ZX Spectrum+ to the Spanish market after Spanish courts decreed all computers with 64 KB RAM or less must support the Spanish alphabet (including ñ) and show messages in Spanish. New features included 128 KB RAM, three-channel audio via the AY-3-8912 chip, MIDI compatibility, an RS-232 serial port, an RGB monitor port, 32 kB of ROM including an improved BASIC editor and an external keypad. The machine was presented at the SIMO '85 trade show in Spain, with a price of 44.250 pesetas (266 €), where it was subsequently launched. A UK release followed without an external keypad available although the ROM routines to utilise it and the port itself, hastily renamed "AUX", remained. The Z80 processor used in the Spectrum has a 16-bit address bus which means only 64 KB of memory can be addressed. To facilitate the extra 80 KB of RAM the designers utilised a bank switching technique so that the new memory would be available as 6 pages of 16 KB at the top of the address space. The same technique was also used to page between the new 16 KB editor ROM and the original 16 KB BASIC ROM at the bottom of the address space. The new sound chip and MIDI out abilities were exposed to the BASIC programming language with the command PLAY and a new command SPECTRUM was added to switch the machine into 48K mode. To enable BASIC programmers access to the additional memory a RAM disk was created where files could be stored on the additional 80 KB of RAM. The new commands took the place of two existing user-defined-character spaces causing compatibility issues with some BASIC programs.

ZX Spectrum +2 (1986)

The +2 was Amstrad's first Spectrum, coming shortly after their purchase of the Spectrum range and "Sinclair" brand. The machine featured an all-new grey enclosure featuring a spring-loaded keyboard, dual joystick ports, and a built-in cassette recorder dubbed the "Datacorder" (like the Amstrad CPC 464). Production costs had been reduced and the retail price dropped to £139-£149.

ZX Spectrum +3 (1987)

The Spectrum +3 looked similar to the +2 but featured a built-in 3-inch floppy disk drive (like the Amstrad CPC 6128) instead of the tape drive. It initially retailed for £249 and then later £199 and was the only Spectrum capable of running CP/M without additional hardware. CP/M The +3 saw the addition of two more 16K ROMs, now physically implemented as two 32K chips. One was home to the second part of the reorganised 128K ROM and the other hosted the +3's disk operating system. To facilitate the new ROMs and CP/M, the bank-switching was further improved, allowing the ROM to be paged out for another 16 KB of RAM as well as offering three 16 KB pages for the display RAM. Such core changes brought incompatibilities:
- Removal of several lines on the expansion bus edge connector (video, power, ROMCS and IORQGE); caused many external devices problems; some such as the VTX5000 modem could be used via the "FixIt" device
- Reading a non-existent I/O port no longer returned the last attribute; caused some games such as Arkanoid to be unplayable
- Memory timing changes; some of the RAM banks were now contended causing high-speed colour-changing effects to fail
- The keypad scanning routines from the ROM were removed Some older 48K, and a few older 128K, games were incompatible with the machine. The ZX Spectrum +3 was the final official model of the Spectrum to be manufactured, remaining in production until December 1990. Although still accounting for one third of all home computer sales at the time, production of the model was ceased by Amstrad in an attempt to transfer customers to their CPC range.

ZX Spectrum +2A /+2B (1987)

The +2A was produced to homogenize Amstrad's range. Although the case reads "ZX Spectrum +2", the +2A/B is easily distinguishable from the original +2 as the case was restored to the standard Spectrum black. The +2A was derived from Amstrad's +3 4.1 ROM model, hosting a new motherboard which vastly reduced the chip count, integrating many of them into a new ASIC. The +2A replaced the +3's disk drive and associated hardware with a tape drive, as in the original +2. Originally, Amstrad planned to introduce an additional disk interface, but this never appeared. If an external disk drive was added, the "+2A" on the system OS menu would change to a +3. As with the ZX Spectrum +3 some older 48K, and a few older 128K, games were incompatible with the machine. The +2B signified a manufacturing move from Hong Kong to Taiwan.

Clones

Sinclair licensed the Spectrum design to Timex in the USA which produced their own, largely incompatible, derivatives. However, some of the Timex innovations were later adopted by Sinclair Research. A case in point was the abortive 'Pandora' portable Spectrum, whose ULA had the high resolution video mode pioneered in the TS2068. 'Pandora' had a flat-screen TV monitor and Microdrives and was intended to be Sinclair's business portable - after Alan Sugar bought the computer side of Sinclair, he took one look at it and ditched it. (A conversation between him and UK computer journalist Guy Kewney went thus: GK: "Are you going to do anything with Pandora?" AS: "Have you seen it?" GK: "Yes" AS: "Well then.") In the UK, Spectrum peripheral vendor Miles Gordon Technology (MGT) released the SAM Coupé as the natural successor with some Spectrum compatibility. However, by this point, the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST had taken hold of the market, leaving MGT in eventual receivership. Many unofficial Spectrum clones were produced, especially in Eastern Europe and South America. A non-exhaustive list at [http://www.nvg.org/sinclair/computers/clones/clones.htm Planet Sinclair] lists over 50 such clones. Some of them are still being produced, such as the Sprinter.

Technical specifications

Sprinter
- CPU
  - Zilog Z80A / NEC uPD780C @ 3.50 MHz (Spectrum 16K, 48K, +) or 3.5469 MHz (Spectrum 128K and later)
- Read-only memory (ROM)
  - 16 KB ROM (BASIC: Spectrum 16/48K, +)
  - 32 KB ROM (BASIC, Editor: Spectrum 128K, +2)
  - 64 KB ROM (BASIC, Editor, Syntax check, DOS: Spectrum +3, +2A, +2B)
- Random-access memory (RAM)
  - 16 KB RAM (Spectrum 16K)
  - 48 KB RAM (Spectrum 48K, +)
  - 128 KB RAM (Spectrum 128K, +2, +3, +2A, +2B)
- Display
  - Text: 32×24 characters
  - Graphics: 256×192 pixels, 15 colours (two simultaneous colours - "attributes" - per 8×8 pixels, causing attribute clash)
- Sound
  - Beeper (1 channel, 5 octaves: Spectrum 16K and 48K via internal speaker, others via TV)
  - General Instrument AY-3-8912 chip (3 channels, 7 octaves: Spectrum 128K, +2, +2A, +3)
- I/O
  - Z80 bus in/out
  - Tape audio in/out for external cassette tape storage (all except Spectrum +2, which had an internal tape recorder)
  - RF television out
  - RS-232 in/out (128K models)
  - MIDI out (128K models)
  - RGB monitor out (128K models)
  - Joystick inputs × 2 (Spectrum +2, +2A, +3)
  - External numeric keypad port (Spectrum 128K and +2)
  - Auxiliary interface (previously keypad port) (Spectrum +2A, +3)
  - Parallel Printer port (Spectrum +2A, +3)
  - Second disk drive port (Spectrum +3)
- Storage
  - External cassette tape recorder (all except +2)
  - 1–8 external ZX Microdrives
  - Built-in cassette tape recorder (Spectrum +2, +2A)
  - Built-in 3" disk drive (Spectrum +3)

Peripherals

Several peripherals for the Spectrum were marketed by Sinclair: the printer was already on the market, as the Spectrum had retained the protocol for the ZX81's printer. The ZX Interface 1 add-on module included an 8 kB ROM, an RS-232 serial port, a proprietary LAN interface (called ZX Net), and the ability to connect up to eight ZX Microdrives – somewhat unreliable but speedy tape-loop cartridge storage devices. These were later used in a revised version on the Sinclair QL, whose storage format was electrically compatible but logically incompatible with the Spectrum's. Sinclair also released the ZX Interface 2 which added two joystick ports and a ROM cartridge port. There were also a plethora of third-party hardware addons. The better known of these included the Kempston joystick interface, the Morex Peripherals Centronics/RS-232 interface, the Currah Microspeech unit (speech synthesis), RAM pack, and SpecDrum (Drum machine), and the Multiface (snapshot and disassembly tool), from Romantic Robot. There were numerous disk drive interfaces, including the Abbeydale Designers/Watford Electronics SPDOS, Abbeydale Designers/Kempston KDOS, Opus Discovery and the DISCiPLE/PlusD from Miles Gordon Technology. The SPDOS and KDOS interfaces were the first to come bundled with Office productivity software (Tasword Word Processor, Masterfile database and OmniCalc spreadsheet). This bundle, together with OCP's Stock Control, Finance and Payroll systems, introduced many small businesses to a streamlined, computerised operation. During the mid-80s, the company Micronet800 launched a service allowing users to connect their ZX Spectrums to a network known as Micronet hosted by Prestel. This service had some similarities to the Internet, but was proprietary and fee-based.

Software

The Spectrum family enjoyed a very large software library of at least 20,000 titles. Despite the fact that the Spectrum hardware was limited by most standards, its software library was very diverse, including programming language implementations (C, Pascal, Prolog, Forth, several Z80 assemblers/disassemblers (eg: OCP Editor/Assembler, HiSoft Devpac, ZEUS, Artic Assembler), Sinclair BASIC compilers (eg: MCoder, COLT, HiSoft BASIC), Sinclair BASIC extensions (eg: Beta BASIC, Mega Basic), databases (eg: VU-File), word processors (eg: Tasword II), spread sheets (eg: VU-Calc), drawing and painting tools (eg: James Hutchby's OCP Art Studio, Artist, Paintbox, Melbourne Draw), and, of course, many, many games. A number of current leading games developers and development companies began their careers on the ZX Spectrum, including Peter Molyneux (ex-Bullfrog Games), David Perry of Shiny Entertainment, and Ultimate Play The Game (now known as Rare, maker of many famous titles for Nintendo game consoles). Other prominent games developers include Matthew Smith (Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy), and Jon Ritman (Match Day, Head Over Heels). Most Spectrum software was originally distributed on audio cassette tapes. The software was encoded on tape as a sequence of alternating pitches, similar to the sounds of a modern day modem, using Frequency-shift_keying. Standard speed was 1500 baud (in this case 1 baud = 1 bit per second) but higher speeds were possible using custom machine code loaders instead of the ROM routines. Complex loaders with unusual speeds or encoding were the basis of the ZX Spectrum copy prevention schemes, although other methods were used including asking for a particular word from the documentation included with the game - often a novella - or the notorious Lenslok system. This had a set of plastic prisms in a fold-out red plastic holder: the idea was that a scrambled word would appear on the screen, which could only be read by holding the prisms at a fixed distance from the screen courtesy of the plastic holder. This relied rather too much on everyone using the same size television, and Lenslok became a running joke with Spectrum users. A standard 48 K program would take about 4.5 minutes to load: 49152 bytes
- 8 = 393216 bits; 393216 bits / 1500 baud = 262.14 seconds = 4.36 minutes. Curiously, experienced users could tell the type of a file, e.g. machine code, BASIC program, or screen image, from the way it sounded on the tape. One very interesting kind of software was copiers. Most were piracy oriented, and their function was only tape duplication, but when Sinclair Research launched the ZX Microdrive (later with a diskette system), copiers were developed to copy programs from audio tape to microdrive tapes or diskettes. Best known were the LERM copiers produced by Lerm Software, Omni Copy 2, and others. As the protections became more complex (e.g. Speedlock 1-8) it was almost impossible to use copiers to copy tapes, and the loaders had to be cracked by hand, and unprotected versions produced. This was, of course, illegal, but in the 1980s most of South and Eastern Europe didn't have software copyright laws. The Spectrum was intended to work with almost any cassette tape player, and despite differences in audio reproduction fidelity, the software loading process was quite reliable; however all Spectrum users knew and dreaded the "R Tape loading error, 0:1" message. Typical settings for loading were 3/4 volume, 100% treble, 0% bass. Audio filters like loudness and Dolby Noise Reduction had to be disabled, and it was not recommended to use a Hi-Fi player to load programs. There were some tape recorders built specially for digital use, such as the Timex Computer 2010 Tape Recorder. In addition to tapes, software was also distributed through print media, fan magazines, or books. The prevalent language for distribution was the Spectrum's BASIC dialect Sinclair BASIC. The reader would type the software into the computer by hand, run it, and save it on tape for later use. The software distributed in this way was in general simpler and slower than its assembly language counterparts, and lacked graphics, but soon, magazines were printing long lists of checksumed hexadecimal digits with machine code games or tools. There was a vibrant scientific community built around such software, ranging from satellite dish alignment programs to school classroom scheduling programs. One unusual software distribution method was a radio or television show, in Poland or Czechoslovakia for example, where the host would describe a program, instruct the audience to connect a cassette tape recorder to the radio or TV and then broadcast the program over the airwaves in audio format. Other unusual method were 33⅓ rpm floppy or soft disks, not the hard vinyl ones, that were played on a standard hifi pickup of a record player. These disks were known as "floppy ROMs,". This method was used in France by some magazines. See: "Unusual types of gramophone record#Unusual materials". A few pop musicians included Sinclair programs on their records. Ex-Buzzcock Peter Shelly put a Spectrum program including lyrics and other information as the last track on his XL-1 album. Festival favourites Hawkwind put a Spectrum database of band information on their 1984 release, 'New Anatomy'. Also in 1984, the Thompson Twins released a game on vinyl. The Freshies had a brief flirtation with fame and Spectrum games, and the Aphex Twin included various loading noises on his Richard D. James album in 1996 - most notably the loading screen from Sabre Wulf on Corn Mouth. As audio tapes have a limited shelf-life, most Spectrum software has been digitized in recent years and is available for download in digital form. One popular program for digitizing Spectrum software is [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/taper.html Taper]: it allows connecting a cassette tape player to the line in port of a sound card or, through a simple home-built device, to the parallel port of a PC. Once in digital form, the software can be executed on one of many existing [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/emulators.html emulators], on virtually any platform available today. Today, the largest on-line archive of ZX Spectrum software is [http://www.worldofspectrum.org The World of Spectrum] site with more than 12,000 titles. The Spectrum enjoys a vibrant, dedicated fan-base. Since it was cheap and simple to learn to use and program, the Spectrum was the starting point for many programmers and technophiles who remember it with nostalgia. The hardware limitations of the Spectrum imposed a special level of creativity on game designers, and for this reason, many Spectrum games are very creative and playable even by today's standards.

Notable titles

Your Sinclair top 10

Between July and November 1991 Your Sinclair published a list of what they considered to be the top 100 games for the ZX Spectrum. Their top 10 were: # 3D Deathchase # Rebelstar # All or Nothing # Stop the Express # Head Over Heels # R-Type # The Sentinel # Rainbow Islands # Boulder Dash # Tornado Low Level

Crash top 10

Between August and December 1991 Crash published their list of the top 100 ZX Spectrum games, including in the top 10: # Rainbow Islands # Chase HQ # RoboCop # RoboCop 2 # Dizzy # Target: Renegade # Magicland Dizzy # Batman - The Movie # Operation Wolf # Midnight Resistance In Crash's Top 10 all but the Dizzy games were published by Ocean Software. It is also interesting to note that all but one of the Your Sinclair Top 10 games were released in 1987 or before (the conversion of Rainbow Islands did not appear until 1989, although the original was released in 1987), in comparison to the Crash Top 10 which exclusively features games released in 1987 or after. 1987 was the year in which use of the newer 128K architecture and of the newer AY-3-8912 sound chip began to take off. Indeed, all of Crashs Top 10, with the exception of Dizzy, made use of these new features with enhanced sound and preloaded levels (eliminating the need for a multiload), reflecting a difference in the attitudes of the editorship and readership of the two magazines. See also: [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/bestgames.html World of Spectrum top 100]

Screenshots

Notable authors


- Matthew Smith
- Pete Cooke
- James Hutchby
- Jonathan 'Joffa' Smith
- Mike Follin
- Jon Ritman
- The Oliver Twins
- Mike Singleton

Magazines


- Your Sinclair
- Sinclair User
- Crash!

See also


- History of computing hardware (1960s-present)
- ZX Spectrum demos
- ZX Spectrum character set
- Sinclair BASIC
- List of cancelled ZX Spectrum games
- Microelectronics Education Programme

External links


- [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/ World of Spectrum] – Run by a Dutch fan and officially endorsed by Amstrad; many resources available for downloading
- [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/faq/ comp.sys.sinclair FAQ]
- [http://dmoz.org/Computers/Systems/Sinclair/ZX_Spectrum/ Category at ODP]
- [http://www.twinbee.org/hob/ Hob - An online spectrum emulator written in Java]
- [http://www.spectrum.lovely.net/ Jasper - An online spectrum emulator written in Java]
- [http://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/ RWAP Software - second hand items and spares]
- [http://zxplanet.emuunlim.com/ ZX Planet - Spectrum Heaven]
- [http://www.zx-spectrum.net/ XZX-Pro - A ZX Spectrum emulator for UNIX/Linux/Mac OS X]
- [http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=223 old-computers.com - page on the spectrum]
- [http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory.asp?memID=87 ZX Spectrum memories and memorabilia]
- [http://www.clive.nl/p/sinclair-zx-spectrum/ Sinclair ZX Spectrum books, software, hardware and peripherals]
- [http://www.interface1.net/zx/index.html Sinclair Nostalgia Products]
- [http://www.breezer.demon.co.uk/spec/webring.html ZX Spectrum Webring]
- [http://www.woodcock88.freeserve.co.uk/zxf/zxf.html ZXF magazine]

1984

:For George Orwell's novel, see Nineteen Eighty-Four. For other uses, see 1984 (disambiguation). 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January


- January 1 - Brunei becomes a fully independent state.
- January 1 - AT&T is broken up into 24 independent units.
- January 5 - Richard Stallman starts developing GNU.
- January 7 - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- January 9 - Clara Peller is featured in the "Where's the Beef?" commercial campaign for Wendy's for the first time.
- January 10 - The United States and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.
- January 23 - Hollywood Hulk Hogan defeats The Iron Sheik to win the WWF Championship, thus beginning Hulkamania.
- January 23 - Pop star Michael Jackson's scalp is seriously burned by pyrotechnics during filming of a Pepsi commercial.
- January 24 - The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

February


- February 1 - Medicare comes into effect in Australia.
- February 2 - Melbourne newspaper The Age publishes phone taps incriminating an unknown judge.
- February 3 - Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on the tenth space shuttle mission.
- February 6 - A bomb blast wrecks the Belrose Sydney home of high