Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 5-2-2021: The ZX81, again!

5th March, 2021.

Yay!

I’m now a year and a day older … 

And frankly?

My left knee still feels painful!

At any rate?   Thank you all for wishing me me a happy birthday!

~≈¥≈~

Oh … just as a thought … ?

I had a blood test, a few days ago.

I’m diabetic, and have an underachieve thyroid: so monitoring things is a good idea.

I had the call from my surgery, yesterday.

Apparently, my blood sugar level had lowered from 118 to 93.

In other words?   It’s lowering: but not rapidly enough.   My surgery wants to make sure I get down to ~48*.

So they’ve asked me to double the dose of Metformin I’m on, and add one Alogliptin pill per day.

Given the antidepressants I’m on?   Along with the increased levothyroxine†, Atorvastatin and aspirin?

You’ll be able to hear me walking to the local shops.

I’ll be the man that’s rattling … 

~≈¥≈~

Let’s move on, shall we?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Trevor‡, Mum^, Olgaª, Edithº and Debbi¹, putting in their answers: with Trevor, Olga and Debbi on five out of five, Mum on four and Edith on two.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video … 

Q1)        The ZX81 computer was released in the UK: forty years ago, today.   In other words, on 5th March of which year?

Q2)        It had how much RAM, or memory: one, two or three kilobytes?

Q3)        You could boost the RAM with a very wobbly plug in module.   Up to how much: 16, 48 or 64 kilobytes?

Q4)        Programmes for the ZX81 were stored on what: punch card, cassette tape or CD?

Q5)        Finally … ?   To see what you were doing on a ZX81, you plugged it into what: a monitor, mobile phone or TV set?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers … 

Q1)        4th March is my birthday.   I share it with which former Emmerdale star: Frazer Hines, Patsy Kensit or Steve Halliwell?

A1)        Patsy Kensit.

Q2)        Which Australian musician was the singer for the Birthday Party: Kylie Minogue, Slim Dusty, Nick Cave or Jason Donovan? 

A2)        Nick Cave.

Q3)        Gollum called it his ‘birthday present,’ or his ‘precious.’   What was it: the One Ring, the Eye of Sauron or the sword, Narsil?

A3)        The One Ring.

Q4)        Birthday is a form of what type of card game: Patience, Rummy or Poker?

A4)        Patience: the Patience family are also known as solitaire games in the US.

Q5)        Finally … ?   In the UK, the Queen’s official birthday is on the second Saturday of which month?

A5)        June.   (That’s her official birthday: her real birthday is in April.)

Here’s a thought … 

“The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation.”

From the Wikipedia entry on the ZX81.

And, as a change of pace? A game that a huge hit on the ZX81 …

Mazogs

Today’s questions will be answered in tomorrow’s Teaser.

Feel free to share today’s video Teaser.

Have a good day.

*        From what I recall?   The ‘~’ symbol can turn the letter ‘N’ into the letter, ‘Ñ’: sort of a ‘ny’ sound.   But it can also mean ‘approximately.’

†        Some chemicals are chiral.   They’re like screws, in other words, having a left or right handed thread.   Apparently, Levothyroxine is the version with a left handed screw thread.   Dextrothyroxine has a right handed thread: it’s useless as an under-active thyroid treatment, but useful in lowering cholesterol.

‡        Trevor, I stand corrected!   But — correct me if I’m wrong — isn’t there at least one Halifax in North America?

^        Hello, Mum: see you all Sunday!

ª        If it’s any help, Olga?   The Windows version of MS Office is about 4gb, LibreOffice is about 1.5gb … off the top of my head!   At any rate, I’ll leave it to you … ! :D

Oooh!   Remember to check if those ports are USB C, or Thunderbolt 3!   You can use USB C peripherals with Thunderbolt 3 ports: but not the other way around!   It’s something to do with the amount of data they handle!

º        That’s ok, Edith², just having you here is fine!   :D   And cheers for the tune!   Did I tell you I was an usher at the Dominion Theatre in London?   We had Gloria Estefan playing one night.   It was great: but, BOY, they were loud!

¹        Yes: a lounge singer would be about right, Debbi: if I’ve understood it correctly.   Kind of like these guys, yes?

²        If I recall, Edith?   The concert Gloria appeared at was a Royal Variety Performance: and the last event Charles and Diana went to, before they divorced!