Byte High no Limit

The Lost tapes: Ghosts & Witches from Old Essex

Discovered from some reel to reel tapes made in the early 1970s was an account of a Roman ghosts in West Mersea in Essex as well as the unfortunate treatment of 'Witches' in Thorpe Le Soken, Saint Osyth and strange goings on in Great Leighs in 1944!
Enjoy a Rural Essex Accent and a well told story recovered from old technology! 
 
The second recording was taken from 'Essex witches SA 6/289/1 side A part 1, Essex Records Office. Speaker was Peter Bibby 1970
Used under Creative commons BY-NC-SA 3.0

Teletext 50: The History of the first 50 years

Teletext50: The Stories
A Byte High No Limit / illarterate co-production
 
In 1974, a brand new technology called teletext was being rolled out. It would, over the next few decades, have far-reaching implications, not only in the UK but worldwide.
 
These are the stories of those involved in the production, restoration and art of the blocky medium that graced UK TV screens until 2012. You’ll hear from the pioneers, those who made teletext tick, and the newcomers keeping the medium alive 50 years after its inception.
 
This is a social record of teletext, and these are the teletext people.
Sonic credits
Sound effects courtesy Pixabay
“Seesaw” by Aretha Franklin, cover by Pixelblip
“Tip Toes” by Myuu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJKeIzPzrWE 
“Waltz For a Cat” by MondayHopes https://pixabay.com/music/introoutro-waltz-for-a-cat-8089/
“Wicked Annabella” by The Kinks, cover by Pixelblip
“Jumping Jack Flash” by The Rolling Stones, cover by Pixelblip
“The Ballad of Sir Clive Sinclair” by Mr Biffo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVnv1tVmmjk 
“The Wozniak Song” by Mr Biffo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZvoFHkmolk 
“Ambient Classical Guitar” by William King https://pixabay.com/music/solo-guitar-ambient-classical-guitar-144998/ 
“Dance Off” by All-rights-reserved https://pixabay.com/music/dance-dance-off-8843/ 
“Long Hot Summer” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, cover by Pixelblip
“Resistance” by Gvidon https://pixabay.com/music/beats-gvidon-resistance-170918/ 
“Orange Juice on the Table” by MondayHopes https://pixabay.com/music/bossa-nova-orange-juice-on-the-table-8024/
“Cognoscenti vs Intelligentsia” by The Cuban Boys (light mashup) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXJ5oaU940U 
“Road to Nowhere” by Grand Project https://pixabay.com/music/dance-road-to-nowhere-long-188064/ 
“A Villain’s Redemption” by Katzen Tupas https://pixabay.com/music/solo-guitar-a-villain39s-redemption-12976/ 
“Bossa Nova Dreams” by HD-Studio https://pixabay.com/music/bossa-nova-bossa-nova-dreams-182163/ 
“Clock Cracker” by Caboose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBcCts2nlbA 
“Road Rash” by Octosound https://pixabay.com/music/rock-road-rash-172665/
“Heroes” by David Bowie, cover by Pixelblip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_HzlaIxnHg 
“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” by Elton John, cover by Pixelblip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ_Ed-d2dD8 
 
The Teletext People
Carl Attrill (Episode presenter)
Mort Smith (Ceefax, Intelfax)
Julie Morton-Smith (Intelfax)
Ian Irving (Ceefax, Intelfax)
Colin McIntyre (Ceefax) - via archive interview from Channel 4
Steve Rosenberg (Intelfax, Russian Teletext, BBC)
Gareth Herincx (ORACLE)
Graham Lovelace (Ceefax, Teletext Ltd)
Paul Rose (Teletext Ltd)
Sara-Scott Rivers (Teletext Ltd, Videotron, Datasolve)
John Earls (Teletext Ltd)
Ricardo Autobahn (The Cuban Boys)
Ian Westbrook (Ceefax, BBC News)
Paul B Davis (VBI Microtel)
Dan Farrimond (Teletext Artist, Episode Editor)
Jason Robertson (The Teletext Archaeologist)
Alistair Cree (ZXNet browser-based teletext editor)
James Domestic (artist)
Count Binface (Space Politician)
Nathan Dane (NMS Ceefax)
Additional clips courtesy
 
BBC, ITV, WFLD Channel 32, Teletext Holidays, Peter Kay Live at the Top of the Tower, Q Radio, Hit n’ Run
Misc.
 
Eleven Labs (synthesised voices)All interviews from Teletext People by Byte High No Limit
Steve Horsley Teletext Holidays segment from the Teletextr Podcast
Colin McIntyre Interview courtesy Channel 4
Timecodes
 
0:00 ACT 1: Ceefax, the world’s first teletext service (Beginnings) 1974-1980
15:22 Teletext expands abroad (Keyfax and Russian teletext) 1980-1992
26:29 ORACLE, the UK’s other teletext service (Debbie’s Diary) 1992
31:15 ACT 2: Deregulation (launch of Teletext Ltd) 1992-1993
40:13 Digitiser and sick worms 1993-2003
47:25 Teletext Holidays 1993-2009
51:30 Emergence of the Web and Interactive TV 1993-1999
59:07 Princess Diana 1997
1:04:17 The Music Men: Planet Sound 
1:11:15 Teletext sports and the Ceefax Striker
1:13:50 The end of teletext in the UK 2009-2012
1:18:06 ACT 3: Teletext rises again! Teletext art 2005-2015
1:25:58 Hidden teletext (teletext recovery) 2010-
1:30:46 Recreating teletext (Ceefax for the 21st Century) 2016-2024
1:39:50 Teletext today 2024
1:43:21 Tributes & memories
 

In Conversation with James Domestic, Punk Poet

James Domestic grew up in Essex, is a compulsive songwriter, a musician, occasional DJ, painter, poet, and punk.
He holds a doctorate from the University of Essex, has toured the world and elsewhere with The Domestics, and made records with more bands than is healthy or sensible.
He was kind enough to speak to me in his Local, The Brewers Tap, Sudbury.
We cover a range of subjects and when it came to edit, I unashamedly did not leave an awful lot out as I found the whole interview engaging. Look out for the exclusive teletext Poem!You Can follow James on his facebook, or go to jamesdomestic.com for updates and books.

Bob Pape's Deadlights - Curious, Forgotten and Unusual films - vol 1

Bob Pape's Dead Lights,
Bob and I discuss Curious, Forgotten and Unusual films.
In this Episode
12:01pm (1990)
He Never Died (2015)
The Giant Claw (1957)
I Woke Up Early The Day I Died (1998)
 
Please do leave us feedback on the discord or X twitter 
You can also support the show via ko-fi.com/bytehigh 

Randy Kindig and his Floppy Days podcast

This Episode I had the pleasure of the host of Floppy Days, Randy Kindig.
11 years and 141 episodes so far and his quest to cover every home computer chronologically has only got him to 1984's Grundy Newbrain! what dedication.
Randy Speaks to me about his motivation and collection of vintage computers and we share our observations on how computing has changed since the days of individual quirky machines.
 
Please visit www.floppydays.com to listen to his show.
Thanks also to Warren (Woz) Pilkington for the opening segment.
Theme is by Mr Nissness, get him on youtube and bandcamp @mrnissness
You can support the podcast with hosting costs by buying me a kofi
www.ko-fi.com/bytehigh  if you wish, but a like or a rating is just as welcome.
 
Keep it blocky!

Bob Pape Part 2 - Bob and the unpublished chapter

Yes, The Unpublished chapter!!
Bob Pape is a computer game coder that came into prominence in the 8 bit world with his conversion of the Irem coin-op R-type to the humble ZX Spectrum.
Around ten years ago he wrote an account of how he made the game and described a less than glamourous world of coding that surrounded it in 'It's Behind You' 
This book is available on www.bizzley.com for free and is highly recommended.
Part two covers Bob's views on the games industry, the magazines and also his humble appraisal of his other projects and also his love of Cinema.
 
I hope you enjoy, please do leave feedback in the usual places.
 

Bob Pape Part 1 R-Type, Computers and programming

Bob Pape is a computer game coder that came into prominence in the 8 bit world with his conversion of the Irem coin-op R-type to the humble ZX Spectrum.
Around ten years ago he wrote an account of how he made the game and described a less than glamourous world of coding that surrounded it in 'It's Behind You' 
This book is available on www.bizzley.com for free and is highly recommended.
Part one of this interview, or chat covers Bobs background, the computers he used and other industries he worked in. 
Subjects discussed - R-type- ZX Spectrum, TRS 80, Dragon 32 and many more!
I hope you enjoy, please do leave feedback in the usual places.
 
 
 
 

Ceefax is still alive in 2024 - Nathan Dane

At 23:32:19 BST on 23 October 2012, Schoolboy Nathan Dane witnessed the close down of BBC's teletext service CEEFAX. The following years a pursuit to revive the abandoned service was realised with NMS CEEFAX, a fully working and up to date teletext service that can be used by anyone with an internet connection. Nathan's endeavours were now a national talking point from Radio Two, The press including The Guardian & TV's BBC One Breakfast wanting to find out more.Join me in conversation with the inventor and curator, the man himself, Nathan Dane who explains how he done it and what he has in mind next for the 50 year old medium.
you can X me @tetetextR
you can join the discord at https://discord.gg/GQyka9Wt2Byou can help me off set the cost of hosting by buying me a Ko-fi.com/bytehightheme song is by @mrnicness kEEp it BLocky!