Les Player

Jack and I arrived at a German TV studio to present and demonstrate the very first Atari ST in Germany live German TV. Prior to the show we ran through with the producers and presenter what we were going to demonstrate- with Jack talking about his plans and dreams for Atari, and I would demonstrate the new GEM and TOS features of the Atari ST. All went well until the producer asked if I spoke German. My negative answer caused all sort of panic amongst the studio crew with only 2 or 3 minutes prior to the live broadcast. It was acceptable to interview Jack in English, but they wanted the demonstration in German.  So they decided to cut me out and extend the English interview with Jack and get him to demonstrate the Atari and GEM. At that time GEM was a bit temperamental and Jack did not know what was safe to demo and what would cause GEM to crash on live German TV. So I sat behind a screen, and operated the Atari off screen, while Jack used a “mouse double” to pretend he was operating it. Jack wanted to lead of course and describe what he was seeing on the screen, and I had to perform what he just said. We got out of sync a few times ending up with Jack
describing, what I had just done.  This was one of the longest 10 minute demonstrations of my career, trying replicateon screen what Jack was describing and at the same time avoiding features that I knew would crash TOS / GEM.  Fortunately
no crashes and a good first ever presentation of the Atari ST in Germany.

What I would give to see a video of that.

Somebody read my blog and asked how I can claim to have 40 years experience in the software / computer / games industry, i.e. somewhere in 1971 when they thought computers where not generally available and certainly not to play games on. (I don’t know where in this blog I claim this, but I do recall making the statement).

Well…  At the age of 18, my dream was to work for ICL (International Computers Ltd) and back in 1968 ICL was the UK’s answer to IBM, as a result of a merger with ICT and English Electric. I lived in Bracknell at the time and ICL was based a million miles away. ( in Stevenage I think). I got a place at University of London – Royal Holloway College to study Computing, but at the same time I was also offered an engineering apprenticeship with Ferranti Ltd.

The big difference is that going to the University of London would have only cost me money, although it was close enough to home, (the grants were negligible even then- but thats always been the case with grants), but with Ferranti, they would sponsor my entire 5 years of study and pay me at the same time. So I chose the money rather than the fun.

So at 18 I was a student apprentice with Ferranti Ltd.   Ferranti built weapons systems using the first micro processors, which was very attractive to me. As an apprentice, I eventually helped the engineers assemble and eventually test various  modules. Using a language called FIXPAC we of course wrote games to test the radar screens and other displays. So I think I was playing a version of Pong on a multi million pound weapons systems in about 1972, just after Nolan Bushnell / Allan Alcorn demonstrated their new idea. There was no internet then, so such news arrived slowly normally in the electronics or engineering magazines.

At college we had to use less capable hardware to learn programming on – the PDP11 from DEC. All input and output was via punched card, paper tape or teletype machines, and games were limited to OXO and Startrek and eventually Adventure (Colossal Cave) by the mid 170’s. But the real games were on the military systems which at the time were very secret and so could not share my deep enthusiasm with others, other than my work colleagues. This was also the time that my passion for Wargames established itself via the Ferranti Wargames Club- no computers, just lots of plastic soldiers and cardboard counters on maps. But my career and hobby were firmly established and I dreamed of combining the two.

Some days it takes over my life, but for most of the time I have learnt how to beat my tinnitus.

It started after a visit to Moscow in 2005, where I quickly caught and developed a cold. The result of an unavoidable 4 hour return flight home with this cold left my left ear blocked for about 6 weeks. Several trips to the doctor and a course of anti-biotic at least cured the pain and eventually after my ears became less blocked I was left with that horrible hiss. At first it appeared when I was tired or subjected to any stress, but as time passed the tinnitus free intervals became less and less. The doctor’s only solution was some advice “No cure, you will just have to live with it”. Ever since the start, I do believe that each bout of flue increased my level of tinnitus, until the ultimate December 2010 when I caught something resembling swine flu, and I was in bed for 3 or 4 days and off my feet for a week. Since that flu the tinnitus has been continuous. I used a 0 – 10 rating system to convey my discomfort level to my family. 0  = no tinnitus, and 10 being total distraction. Prior to the swine flu (if that what it was), I suffered between 4 and 7 on my tinnitus level. At level 5 you can almost forget you have a problem and you are only aware of the hiss, when there is nothing else in your head. They were the good times. Since December 2010 however I think my tinnitus distraction level has not ever dropped below 9.

I have tried many of the suggested solutions- none worked for me. In the last 12 months I have been able to become totally stress free. So the lack of stress did not solve.

The worse time is just before I go to sleep. If I’m not really tired, then it stops me going to sleep, and I have no option but to get up again and be busy again until I am tired. So to beat the tinnitus to allow me to sleep I must sometimes work till 2 am. Just sitting watching TV is no good, and casual reading is no solution, as I must be 100% concentrated on writing things like this on my blog or programming my C# Xbox game, or developing my CAD project, or programming my Windows 7 Phone, or playing a high level Civ 5 game. Fortunately I have quite a few options that allow me to become 100% concentrated that I forget the level 9 tinnitus raging in my head.

I need only about 6 hours sleep, and anyway to wake to the tinnitus gets me up and out of bed looking for something to concentrate on immediately.

There are a few other times that I can forget the noise. Standing under the power shower drowns the noise out completely. Another is so intimate that I won’t mention it here.
There are also a few things that irritate and will increasenthe level. One is being in a crowded room full of people talking over one another. I can handle a single conversation, but when there are several parallel competing conversations, you will find me retreating into a corner. (My wife says that I have always done that!). One would think that music would be a cure, but I find background music is an irritant. This results in the Classic FM On/Off War. My wife switches it on at every possible moment, and I switch it off- I usually lose. However, if I was to listen to the music through head phones – no problem. It is only when the music or talk is in the background.

So based on the above, the most obvious solution to my tinnitus problem would be to have sex in the shower late at night with no background music, while thinking about how to resolve my next 3D coding problem. But as I/we can’t spend all my/our time in the shower, just keeping 100% busy most of the time trying to solve problems in my head will just have to be my best solution.

There that did it- I think that I forgot about tonights level 9 tinnitus for at least 15 mins while writing this!. Next problem to concentrate on…..