February 22, 2005

The Sinclairian Generation? First Micah Dubinko, now Ted Wallingford -- Can I please have a show of hands from anyone else who wrote their first line of code in TS-Basic?

Skype Looks More and More Like a Baby Microsoft

At the end of this linked article you will find a brief introduction into Ted Wallingford's Information Systems career that reads as follows:

Ted Wallingford began working with information systems at the age of 7, when his father brought home a used Timex Sinclair 1000 computer and a notepad of hand-written BASIC programs from a garage sale.

Let me introduce you to a piece of the introduction to my resume:

...My passion for software development began in 1983 when my father, looking for a way to help satisfy his 11 year old sons infatuation with computers and technology, purchased a Timex Sinclair 1000 (with the 16k expansion pack of course!) and further bribed, threatened, or in other ways unknown to me secured from my brother and sisters possession an old 11-inch black and white TV to plug it into. I was HOOKED! I enrolled in my first programming class in Jr. High in 1984 and in one form or another have been hacking ever since.

I was running through Micah Dubinko's archives the other day and discovered this post entitled "From the manual of the T/S 1000, my first computer".

Any more Sinclairians out there? ...

Although it's only two these are the very first instances of other 'Sinclarian' hackers I have discovered since that fateful date in '83 when Code and I first met ("It was like Peas meetin' Carrots and realizin' a destiny had just been fulfilled!"). With the closeness in discovery I wonder if maybe we are entering a "Generation of Sinclairians" with similar "first line of code" stories. Mine, by the way, was a "Fireworks" program that I tapped onto the flat plastic surface via some programming magazine my Dad bought. He probably thought it would be necessary, not realizing that a true blooded hacker at the age of 11 has no need for a manual. He just needs to be left alone in a room for about ten days and eventually after enough pounding he'll get something to compile (yep, the whole "Room full of Monkeys" analogy fit my early days to a T -- Wait, hold on... If after reading this last line your first reaction was "what do you mean, early days? Does yesterday still count as 'early'?" your'e a mean jerk and I don't like you anymore! I'm taking my blog and going to hack somewhere els--- You know, maybe this isn't the proper place to be having an "insecure hackers" episode :) Ok, I'll let you play with my Timex Sinclair :) (If I can find it that is... For all I know it was *MY* T/S 1000 that Ted's father purchased at a garage sale as it seems the last time I remember seeing that thing was round about the same time I picked up my first TRS-80 (Oh Glory Day!) that became my T/S 1000's replacement, or about 1985 if I am remembering my dates correctly...

If you are one of the "lucky ones" enjoy your T/S 1000 induced hacking day!