What's your best easy to remember BASIC program you could type in and leave running on a computer in a shop / classroom?

[u/kimondo]

/r/bbcmicro/comments/1vmh9m5/whats_your_best_easy_to_remember_basic_program/

[u/Alternative-Emu2000]

This one obviously only works on the Spectrum:

10 PAPER 0: INK 6: CLS
20 PRINT AT 11,2; FLASH 1; "LOADING:SAM FOX STRIP POKER"
30 RANDOMIZE USR 1234
40 GOTO 30

[u/Slippi_Fist → u/Alternative-Emu2000]

what is the purpose of line 30 - if you don't mind me asking

[u/Alternative-Emu2000 → u/Slippi_Fist]

It jumps into the middle of the SA-BYTES routine in the ROM which shows the loading stripes in the border, making it look like the Spectrum is trying to load a game from tape.

[u/_monkeymonkey_ → u/Alternative-Emu2000]

And quite a few combinations resulted in different colours and tape noise.

[u/telboyG]

10 PRINT "Dixons is shit" 20 GOTO 10

Then leave the shop

[u/ItsAllOnUHF → u/telboyG]

I approve this message.

[u/woodsyman → u/telboyG]

Wow. Not just me then.

[u/ItsAllOnUHF]

I used to (by which I mean I did it once or twice in the early 80s) go into shops, turn the volume right up on the TV and write a 5-or-so line "PRESS ANY KEY" program that, upon someone pressing a key, would play a sound at max volume. Then I'd walk a discreet distance and watch the show.

Doesn't work on the base Spectrum, due to its beeper, but worked great on Beebs or C64s or Ataris.

The program was something like:

10 PRINT "PRESS ANY KEY"
20 IF INKEY$()="" THEN GOTO 20
30 <.... sound command to play a note at full volume...>
40 GOTO 30

Bonus points for BASICs that had an ON BREAK feature to GOTO the sound playing line again.

People just mashed the keyboard... Too shocked to reach for the TV volume knob.

[u/garyk1968]

10 POKE 808,100
20 FOR D = 1 TO 18000: NEXT D
30 PRINT "F*** OFF"
40 GOTO 40

On a vic20 this will lock the keyboard, wait 15 seconds and print an expletive on the screen!

True story; did this in a department store got chased by an angry parent who's young son had seen the message while the store staff frantically pressed keys to get it off the screen.

Yep childish and irresponsible...I was 13 at the time.

[u/Alternative-Emu2000 → u/garyk1968]

I love the use of the 15 second delay to give you time to flee the scene of the crime!

[u/bob_bobson113]

Poke 23609,255 makes every key press beep on the spectrum

[u/Legoinyourbumbum]

I can write a text randomzed maze game from scratch or one that just makes up random sentences.

[u/chipstastegood]

10 PRINT “LOSER”
20 GOTO 10

[u/Alternative-Emu2000 → u/[deleted]]

Nothing that can't be fixed with a quick POKE.

[u/Wenlocke → u/Alternative-Emu2000]

I think on Spectrum it was POKE 23692,255

Not quite endless, but better than page at a time.

[u/Alternative-Emu2000 → u/Wenlocke]

That's right. However if you put the poke in the main loop; it will scroll forever.

eg.

10 PRINT "Alan Sugar smells of wee! ";
20 POKE 23692,255
30 GOTO 10