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Author Topic: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names (Read 16665 times)

Offline BruceTanner

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Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« on: 2013.February.15. 11:24:04 »
In various posts I have mentioned the names of most of the Intelligent Software people who appeared in the developers photo in Your Computer Jan 1984. In summary, here is the photo again with names added. If there is no name I can't remember! They did not all work on the Enterprise - some worked on chess programs and computers.

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Offline Zozosoft

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #1 on: 2013.February.15. 11:32:34 »
Thanks, great idea!
Also you can write a list who worked on what part of Enterprise (and TVC)?

Offline Zozosoft

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #2 on: 2013.February.15. 11:42:55 »
At this page lot of informations about the Intelligent Chess Software Ltd. With few other photos and names, someone of them also worked on the Enterprise?

Offline BruceTanner

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #3 on: 2013.February.15. 19:29:10 »
Quote from: Zozosoft
At this page lot of informations about the Intelligent Chess Software Ltd. With few other photos and names, someone of them also worked on the Enterprise?

Thanks for posting that - lots of pictures of faces I once knew!

David Levy and Kevin O'Connell you of course know of. David Levy had a big input to the "expertise" of the chess programs but was not actually a programmer. Kevin O'Connell was also a chess expert but was more the businessman of IS I think.

Mark Taylor and Richard Lang appear in the Your Computer photo but didn't actually contribute to the Enterprise - I think they just came along to the pre-launch event for the free food! They kept the chess side of things going. The article suggests that resources were diverted from chess development to the Enterprise but that is not true - they employed more people to do the Enterprise work (eg me!)

But Mike Johnson who is mentioned a lot in that article is the same "Mike" who started writing BASIC in C - I couldn't remember his last name in my other post. I did not know him well and have only just learnt from reading that article that he was quite deeply connected with the computer chess world!

For the techies, one interesting item mentioned that I remember was Mark Taylor's chess program that ran on a 4-bit processor running at 400kHz, with only 2k x 10bits ROM and 160 nibbles (80 bytes) RAM. A truly impressive feat!

Offline BruceTanner

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #4 on: 2013.February.15. 20:15:34 »
I've just realised the third initial on the status line after SET STATUS 42 is there - Nick Vincent.

Offline Zozosoft

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #5 on: 2013.February.15. 21:09:16 »
Quote from: BruceTanner
I've just realised the third initial on the status line after SET STATUS 42 is there - Nick Vincent.
Does he have a middle name for the letter M?
« Last Edit: 2013.February.15. 23:05:39 by szipucsu »

Offline BruceTanner

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #6 on: 2013.February.16. 12:39:52 »
Quote from: Zozosoft
Does he have a middle name for the letter M?
Sorry I don't know any of the middle names. Except my own of course, but my middle initial doesn't appear for some unknown reason!

Offline Zozosoft

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #7 on: 2013.February.20. 12:20:37 »
I'm collecting the mentioned names from your posts and found one contradiction:
Quote from: BruceTanner
GNH is probably Gavin who wrote the graphics routines in his summer holidays from university. Sorry I can't remember the others! In the "Your Computer" photo Martin is on the bottom row 4th from the left, and Gavin with long hair is next to him.
But at here you named he Gary.
Which is the right?

Offline BruceTanner

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #8 on: 2013.February.20. 12:40:59 »
Quote from: Zozosoft
I'm collecting the mentioned names from your posts and found one contradiction:But at here you named he Gary.
Which is the right?
Oops well spotted - I couldn't quite remember but I'm about 80% sure it is Gary!

Offline BruceTanner

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #9 on: 2015.November.06. 14:15:23 »
Oops well spotted - I couldn't quite remember but I'm about 80% sure it is Gary!
I'm now 100% sure - I have just found a comment in an old video-related source file. His full name is Gary Hood, GNH on the SET STATUS 42 status line.

Offline AndyStraw

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #10 on: 2022.January.08. 16:58:18 »
The person between Bruce and Nick Vincent i sme, Andy Straw. I worked on a very basic shoot em up space game during my university holidays back in 1983. Amazing to see there is still interest in the Elan/Flan/Enterprise after all these years - it was great fun back in the day deciphering the specs of the Nick and Dave chips and writing Z80 assembly language code that was compiled on an Apple II and then downloaded to an emulator board over a ribbon cable poking through the top of the Apple machine. Somewhere I think I have an original of this picture and will try and scan a better image if and when I dig it out.

Offline Zozosoft

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #11 on: 2022.January.08. 17:06:34 »
Welcome here Andy!

Offline BruceTanner

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #12 on: 2022.January.08. 18:02:04 »
Hi Andy! Amazing after all these years... but I am most embarrassed that I didn't remember you when I wrote the names on tbe photo! But if you were around just for the holidays perhaps I can be excused... it was 39 years ago after all!

Do you remember that day? We had all been up all night and ambled down from Bedford Square to the Hippodrome at Leicester Square - a shambolic group as everyone can now see at this quite posh event. I recall having quite a job persuading the doorman to let us in!

Anyway hope you enjoy looking around the site - there have been some amazing and astonishing developments to the Enterprise!

Offline Tuby128

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #13 on: 2022.January.09. 04:45:58 »
...writing Z80 assembly language code that was compiled on an Apple II and then downloaded to an emulator board over a ribbon cable poking through the top of the Apple machine.

 Just for curiosity which Apple II did you used back than?

According to Wiki:
"The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by Apple II+, Apple IIe, Apple IIc, and the 16-bit Apple IIgsā€”all of which remained compatible. "
« Last Edit: 2022.January.09. 16:50:07 by Tuby128 »

Offline AndyStraw

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Re: Your Computer Jan 1984 photo with names
« Reply #14 on: 2022.January.09. 19:38:49 »
Yes you can certainly be excused for that Bruce - I think I came back in the december holiday after doing the summer of 83 on the space game (it was kind of Galaxians themed and even had a mocked up cartridge package for the launch).

I didn't even remember we had gone to the Hippodrome - I just assumed when I looked back on that photo that it was in the Bedford Square basement. But I do remember it was after an incredibly long night (again I can't remember what we were doing unless it was last minute testing).

I do remember Nick Vincent quite well - I think he was doing some final testing on that Bond movie game for the Atari and developing another Atari game of his own. I always remember that when he worked late he'd have a box of red wine that he'd sip away at. I also remember one night that Robert Madge came in and was quite disapproving of drinking on duty :).

Great to see there is still so much enthusiasm.

To answer the question on the Apple II - I'd like to say it was the IIe but I really don't remember - I do remember that the top was off most of the time to allow the ribbon cable out and probably to cool it down a bit.