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Good morning, welcome back to the ValorosoIT channel, the channel dedicated to vintage computers and electronics.
It's nothing new within the channel, we already met him last year: Davide Barlotti, what good thing can you tell us about this year?
We have an expansion of what we saw last time, last year, where there was acquisition, printing. This year we will go further: we will have both data acquisition and transfer and photo editing.
Photo editing, good! So, here as we see now, the camera is taking images in real time. Yes, it's picking up on me too. You can choose black and white, grayscale... When we are happy with the image, we stop the frame, and here we now have the possibility to copy...
Memories? To copy?
Exactly, because last year I was bullied (can you say bullshit on YouTube? I don't know...) but because I said let's print, but no, we don't print.
Yes, there was a Copy command back then. Copy on paper. So here the Copy command has been taken, modified to do the transfer of the image from one Spectrum to another Spectrum.
Okay. How are these Spectrums connected together?
Yes, this is not a standard setup. There are two Opus Discovery units, which have a bi-directional parallel port that is used both for printing, and in this case for transferring data.
So, with this Copy command we send the frame to the other machine. In the other machine, in which there is a photo editing program with the optical pen, we are going to select Network in the menu.
Splendor! Oh, right, because you have to bring it from the net, not from the spot.
Exactly, and this icon that corresponds to loading...
The program has been heavily modified. In fact there is a call in BASIC, so there is the possibility of making other possible changes. In his own time.
Well, he did though! He transferred!
He did it. So, the image that you previously acquired on Spectrum number one - this one - via the camera, has now been transferred via connection to the second Spectrum.
Exact.
And now you can have fun drawing...
I could make my signature, for example. Let's go there now freehand. The pencil...
Ah, eh... I did it! Well, I did it! Well, this is a nice experiment.
Yes, yes. Then, as we also did last year, they are all peripherals of the time. So, this is something that could already be done in the 80s.
Putting my hand in my wallet... yes!
Because this one... each of these two must have had a nice price, eh. Consider: 800 euros per station, the interfaces another 200 euros... 200,000 lire!
Here, yes. Well, now we think in euros, but obviously once upon a time there were liras. But maybe, the equivalent of 1,500 euros. Normally you could afford one station, but not a certain two.
And for the first time on the ValorosoIT channel: Stefano Guida!
Stefano Guida, right. Pleasure! Hello, nice to meet you! He has some interesting news to show us.
Yes, then, let's say that the ZX Spectrum News magazine has already existed for a few years.
The only thing is that practically everything started when I started the site called The ZX Spectrum in Italy, which was a repository - let's say - of all the newsstand cassettes regarding the Spectrum.
Is the website still there?
It exists, but it cannot be reached, because it still uses the HTTP protocol, which is now disused.
Ok.
And there I started writing news, because I realized that in the Sinclair ZX Spectrum user community, people didn't know what was happening behind the Iron Curtain, for example.
On the other hand, by inquiring, I had discovered that there are many new things in Eastern Europe. For example, demo parties, meetings... then more Spectrums were built!
They also make a lot of clones, if I'm not mistaken. Lots of clones, that's right! And so I wanted, with the site, to try to spread this news, so that all Italian Spectrum enthusiasts could find out about what was happening across the border.
And so, I started writing some short articles on the site. Then I saw that there was a lot of enthusiasm from this point of view, and then I decided to start the magazine, which came out in 13 issues. Among other things, the imminent release of the 14th issue is scheduled. And I want to collect all the most important news about the Spectrum.
Yes, yes. I understand. But... and what format is this magazine in?
PDF format, and is freely distributable. Because it's copyleft, so...
I try to collect all the news, including... the interfaces, everything related to the Spectrum world.
So, when was this magazine born? What's the story?
So, let's say that this magazine was born together with the Spectrum website in Italy.
The only thing is that he then had a stop, due to family reasons.
So, after 12 issues I stopped production. But then I realized recently that the news relating to everything that happens in this IT underground - so to speak - is now spread via social media.
When someone publishes something, then with new posts, they end up in limbo, let's say...
And then we need a sort of container, where all the news is collected and so it doesn't get lost.
Certain. That's it, that's it. Ah, that's very interesting! Is there already a way to get this magazine?
Yes. So, on Davide's website there is the Sinclair ZX News section:
speccy4ever.speccy.org
...which is Davide's site, where there are all the particular ROMs, and there is the Sinclair ZX News section of the magazine, which can be freely downloaded in PDF.
Perfect! Okay, thank you very much.
Thanks to you!
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Until next time! HI! HI!