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Ceefax Simulator

nathanmediaservices.co.uk

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Re: Ceefax Simulator

#31

Post by zeristor »

robin_reala wrote: post #25
zeristor wrote: post #19

Games reviews on 4tel, channel 4’s version. Holiday booking on another version. It used to be they stopped broadcasting during the afternoon, replacing it with “Pages from Ceefax” along with some bespoke muzak, the tune with the barking dogs made me smile. Angela Ripon explaining from 1975: https://youtu.be/ICoj8mxG0ww “BBC2 Pages From Ceefax - Mon 26 Aug 1996 - Slide Rule” https://youtu.be/j9Aiiekfqiw

The games section was Digitiser[1] and was remarkably popular: basically everyone I knew in the 90s that was vaguely into games read it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitiser

I guess even then I was a bit too old.

Was this archived? Or has it passed like tears in the rain?

Looks like there’s some of it from the Wikipedia link: https://www.teletext.org.uk/index.php?cat=30_Archived-nbsp~P...

Re: Ceefax Simulator

#32

Post by beardyw »

actionfromafar wrote: post #22
beardyw wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mm ... thanks, maybe, but doesn't feel quite right. Problem was it used a normal TV so when demoing it, if the line dropped you got whatever was on TV. Less than impressive!

Prestel?

Yes! Just came to me too. UK Post Office system.

We had one demo where we couldn't get a good connection to the computer. The operators rigged up a wire from the computer room direct to where I was doing the demo. It was 12 floors up in two different buildings, stretched across! I kept the blinds down so no one could see it!

Re: Ceefax Simulator

#33

Post by arrowsmith »

bartread wrote: post #29
arrowsmith wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I misremembering or could you play games on Teletext? I feel like I remember playing very primitive and janky videogames on the TV as a child in the 90s, but I might be making that up. My clearest memory of Teletext is how slooooow and unreliable it was to load anything. But I sat it out and waited. Compare that to now where if your website takes an extra second to load then you can lose like half your traffic. Ev…

There were definitely puzzles, quizzes, and jokes. You could reveal the answers by pressing the "Reveal" button on your TV remote. I don't remember games per se.

That might be what I'm hazily remembering.

Re: Ceefax Simulator

#36

Post by waihtis »

I forgot about that ”scrolling algorithm” that the teletext has. It instantly feels familiar but I wonder how its actually implement.

You input a page number and it seems to pick the right spot on the hundreds place, and then seems to arbitrarily drop into a loop for the right page number. Doesnt seem to have any logic, as if a spinner with the numbers 01-99 is constantly whirring in the background

Re: Ceefax Simulator

#37

Post by wizzwizz4 »

waihtis wrote: post #36

I forgot about that ”scrolling algorithm” that the teletext has. It instantly feels familiar but I wonder how its actually implement. You input a page number and it seems to pick the right spot on the hundreds place, and then seems to arbitrarily drop into a loop for the right page number. Doesnt seem to have any logic, as if a spinner with the numbers 01-99 is constantly whirring in the background

The page data is transmitted every blanking interval. The most frequently-accessed pages are transmitted most frequently, and the infrequently-accessed pages are transmitted least frequently (so you have to wait longer for them to come up).

Re: Ceefax Simulator

#38

Post by petepete »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #3
jjbinx007 wrote: post #2

This is great. Teletext was a big deal in the UK, a lot of people used to book cheap holidays from deals they saw on it. It was where you could check the news, the weather and maybe play a multiple choice quiz or two. Happy memories.

It was the best way of checking the score in a football match, in real time. When there were enough games playing to necessitate pagination, the wait for your team's page to come around added extra tension! Also, Bamboozle.

Bamboozle and Digitiser were fantastic, we visited most days.

Re: Ceefax Simulator

#39

Post by fecal_henge »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #3
jjbinx007 wrote: post #2

This is great. Teletext was a big deal in the UK, a lot of people used to book cheap holidays from deals they saw on it. It was where you could check the news, the weather and maybe play a multiple choice quiz or two. Happy memories.

It was the best way of checking the score in a football match, in real time. When there were enough games playing to necessitate pagination, the wait for your team's page to come around added extra tension! Also, Bamboozle.

At age 8 I realised my Uncle looked like the guy off Bamboozle. We didnt see my Uncle anymore at that point. Now in memory my Uncle looks pixelated and yellow.
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