NOTE: Blimey! is no longer being updated. Please visit http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com for the latest updates about my comics work.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Your Identicode for the 21st Century

If you're as ancient as me you'll remember that back in 1965, TV Century 21 No.1 gave away a free Identicode to crack the codes printed at the foot of each story. If you held onto that free gift, as I did, then that's great, but if you're one of the many who didn't, or if you've bought back issues since, you might be a bit perplexed by those codes.
Well, technology has now caught up with the comics, and Blacktablet.co.uk have created an app you can download to your iPhone to crack those codes! You can also use it to create your own codes. 

Get set for adventure in the 21st Century by visiting this website to find out more:
http://www.blacktablet.co.uk/identicode

10 comments:

Colin said...

Only for iPhone, a niche market, but thanks for the scan of your card. Id forgotten the fun of decoding these pages!

Lew Stringer said...

Yes, I did say it was for the iPhone. Perhaps if it proves popular they'll devise one for Android too.

PhilEdBoyce said...

I'd hardly say the iPhone was a niche market Colin, it being the biggest selling handset by far and with the revenue the App Store brings to developers. Yes Android is across many different handsets and manufacturers, but that's also probably why this is appearing on iOS first, because only one version is needed, while multiple are needed to cover Android (I speak from experience with last employers). That's usually the reason for apps appearing first on Apple.

Lew Stringer said...

Good point, Phil. I didn't know enough about smartphones to know that various versions are needed for Android.

Manic Man said...

interesting but.. Phill, erm.. iPhones have only just gotten back to the top spot kinda.. and.. well.. if you are a programmer or know much about hardware, you'll know how pretty bad they are.. people buy Apple stuff for the brand name.. you pay two to three times the amount with comparable hardware.. Samsung which use android software, are mostly the top ranked worldwide with around a 20% marketshare compared to Apple which bounced between 15-18%. If you compare all the handsets which use Android to the ones which use iOS, you'll see that android has the much greater marketshare.

I don't know what your experience is but if the coders are any good, you don't design for the lastests and the only main issue you need to worry about with Android software from company to company is things like screen size and bonus features. code wise is all the same.. and iOS has the same with screensize and features. Core code is pretty much the same and even without being a programmer, you can probably confirm that yourself by checking out the standard Android SDK..

but anyway, this is beside the point. I still run on the Idea that a 'smartphone' is called that so atleast one partnet in the human-phone relationship can be called smart ^_^. Like tablet, they are fun toys in the same way as my Megadrive or Spectrum.. they just don't look a good (not that I can't make one look like a nice megadrive)..

Lew Stringer said...

Speaking as an Apple user for nearly 20 years, I support them because they produce a good product. Manic, not just for the brand name.

My phone's an Android though.

Manic Man said...

that's fair enough, the Lisa was a good machine, as well as the Mark 2 but when they started to do more and more pre-builds the specs went down.. sadly, they lost the high end graphics market a while back as they don't support the extreme range graphics cards because of the shift away from home computing.

But I should have made a comment about not everyone ^_^.. though I don't like the Beetles, I should say i'm still annoyed that apple computers broke the agreement with Apple label and due to money, they got away with it... oh well.. since the company started with Steve Jobs stealing money, I guess it's expected.. good businessman, knew nothing about computers.. Like Gates ^_^ but these days, Apple is even cashing in on the fact that are a very big brand name.. a lot of software is made for iOS first purely cause of money. People that pay the price for there machines, are more likely to pay for small applications because they have the money. I try to cheat when I want new applications for something.. I make what I can.. been the same for most things I guess.. patch and repair before replace

PhilEdBoyce said...

Even if accurate Manic, in no way does that mean it's a "niche". In recent years Apple have soared ahead in their tech with the likes of Metal etc, also Samsung have many, many lines of phones that all get updated every year, Apple only has one. It is still the biggest selling phone and no offence but it's silly to say millions upon millions of people buy something because of the name. (I actually feel quite offended by that, I simply wouldn't be that stupid. I buy them because they're excellent products.) Obviously you're not a fan, but don't let that cloud your view of the facts. Personally I don't care what other people own, but whether it's Apple or anything else, it's a bug bear of mine to hear incorrect remarks used just because of a personal dislike. The facts still stand as far as what I said about sales and developing for iOS compared to Android. But anyway, back to the comics! :)

Manic Man said...

yep, back to comics.. but while I agree it's NOT a niche market, market data isn't too great.. Since Jobs (who I had no love for as a tech guy because. he wasn't.. he was a marketer) left, they have been going down hill.. major upgrade to their phone (they have a number of ranges by the way.. each iPhone has about 3 versions, and there are price range variants with minor tech changes, which other companies normally give different names to, much like how AMD and Intel use the processors that fail the high end tests as the cheaper range, which means if you are into overclocking, you have a good chance) turn out to be minor upgrades. but again, it wasn't purely about PHONES but the OS software.. iOS vs Android. Apple use iOS, pretty much everyone else uses Android.. the OS isn't as different on different phones as you seam to think.. and I find the Android SDK much easier to handle anyway.. but I do give apple marks when deserved.. some people brought Apple MkII's purely for Karateka.. and look what other companies did to the game? shame..

no offense, as i'm trying not to be offence but some people seam pretty charged and I can be.. blunt, but.. not a software or hardware background?.. doesn't matter..

I wonder if comics will try the 'digital gifts' idea again.. I can't remember the last one to try it but it was a British comic..

PhilEdBoyce said...

Market data shows differently Manic, they had a dip after he left but they've been growing strongly in all fields, were even #1 company in the world. A discussion for another time and another place though, not Lew's blog.

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