Sinclair Basic for me :)

Started off playing with a ZX80 someone gave me in 1983, trying to learn coding from a manual. Didn't really get it... moved on to using various types of PC at work and home and got quite adept at creating batch files to automate certain things and later working with HTML code but still not my forte.

What does irritate me is learning to use a new device and two months later finding an update has changed all sorts of things; example my Samsung phone no longer gives you switch off options if you press the on button for N seconds, no, now you have to go and find an off button at the top of the screen...

My 99 year old aunt sends emails from a Chromebook and has done so for two years - people say "can't you show her how to do X, Y and Z". No, it's enough that she can do what she does, she'd never even used a typewriter before including during 40 years with the Tax Office...

The last time I came across FORTRAN was 1997. I think NASA still use it for talking to the Voyager satellites. I self-taught BASIC and I was one step ahead of you using the Sinclair ZX8x series, I was using a Commodore PET. At one time BASIC was universal, but I think it has gone the way of the dinosaurs, I think only hobbyists interested in ancient computer use it now.

If you want another bit of 8-bit era nostalgia, visit https://nmsceefax.co.uk .

I had the same, you can go into the settings and change it back.

If you tap that button at the top of the screen,
the next page has a "Side button setting" option that lets you switch it back on again.

Annoying when they give you a facility on an app, and then take it away again.

Ah, brilliant, sorted! Many thanks. Yes the alternate button use was to launch their Ask Gemini AI nonsense... these things should be opt in.

Dragging this back (kicking and screaming) to aviation, I recall when Gemini was a Ghanaian freight outfit operating a Britannia 9G-ACE... tho I suppose any self loading freight would most likely have been four-legged...

Given the amount of computer issues airports and other major companies have had recently, then a manual alternative is certainly needed. The damage caused by hackers is costing companies millions (never mind the inconvenience to their customers) and I can see it getting worse.. State sponsored hacking in particular seems to be on the increase too.
A manual alternative would certainly help these companies and would also benefit those not quite so savvy. Of course, I doubt it would be easy, but I think it would be a wise move.

I did that on a London Underground train. That wasn't the problem it might have been because I was on my way home 120 miles away. OTOH the roll of wet-ink drawings fresh off the computer's plotter were not in a protective tube and got squashed under my arm in the excitement, resulting in sharp creases right across them. The control console of the CDC6600 I was using is in the Science Museum and was on public view in 2018 but not now.

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The aeroports use Windows, so of course they are going to crash and be hacked. The City of London has used Linux since the days of RedHat5, and I've not heard of Lloyd's of London, the London Metal Exchange, or the London Stock Exchange experiencing crashes.

The NHS uses Windows 7 and fax machines, and I'm a bit concerned that my medical history is open to every hacker from Russia, China, or North Korea. What could they do with it? I don't know, but I'm sure it wouldn't be good.

Dunno if belongs here, but I am a windows guy though I started my career in Unix many moons ago. As I get older I sometimes struggle with web applications and phone apps perhaps because they're using newer ways of interacting with them. I still love programming for fun. Programming is actually a very creative process that keeps your brain fit whilst being very relaxing. I created this game for fun initially under lockdown: playmeyer.com. Backend is written in C# and runs on Ubuntu Linux on a rented virtual server. Frontend is in TypeScript and Angular using CSS.

I am perfectly happy with the thread drift. The references to such matters used by SLF and the airlines is more than enough justification. :ok: