Ant Skelton
@ant.org
Building cutting edge spatial intelligence by day, farting around with Forth and z80 retrocomputers by night. A thrash metal bassist, but also rabid cribbage enthusiast.
https://blog.ant.org/
https://blog.ant.org/
LED headband manufacturers! I don't need 15 brightness levels and flashing SOS patterns. I want to press once for ON, and again for OFF, not play a fkn clarinet concerto.
October 25, 2026 at 4:30 PM
LED headband manufacturers! I don't need 15 brightness levels and flashing SOS patterns. I want to press once for ON, and again for OFF, not play a fkn clarinet concerto.
October 24, 2026 at 3:41 PM
What's better than 1-bit beepage on a MicroBeast or a NanoBeast? That's right! 1-bit beepage on a MicroBeast *and* a NanoBeast. Perfectly in time thanks to SynchroBeast (tm)!
youtu.be/0BKwF2iblig
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
youtu.be/0BKwF2iblig
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
MicroBeast orchestra
YouTube video by the anarchic collective
youtu.be
October 23, 2026 at 10:09 PM
What's better than 1-bit beepage on a MicroBeast or a NanoBeast? That's right! 1-bit beepage on a MicroBeast *and* a NanoBeast. Perfectly in time thanks to SynchroBeast (tm)!
youtu.be/0BKwF2iblig
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
youtu.be/0BKwF2iblig
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
October 23, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Dunno why everyone is raving about edu.morningdewmedia.com/product/morn...
I was attracted to the tracker interface, but i've yet to get even a couple of bars out of it in arrange mode without crashing or exhibiting super buggy behaviour. Marketting gimmick for their paid plugins?
I was attracted to the tracker interface, but i've yet to get even a couple of bars out of it in arrange mode without crashing or exhibiting super buggy behaviour. Marketting gimmick for their paid plugins?
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edu.morningdewmedia.com
October 22, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Dunno why everyone is raving about edu.morningdewmedia.com/product/morn...
I was attracted to the tracker interface, but i've yet to get even a couple of bars out of it in arrange mode without crashing or exhibiting super buggy behaviour. Marketting gimmick for their paid plugins?
I was attracted to the tracker interface, but i've yet to get even a couple of bars out of it in arrange mode without crashing or exhibiting super buggy behaviour. Marketting gimmick for their paid plugins?
I built an audio line out interface for my* Feersum NanoBeast out of scrap, and tested it with some classic one-bit beeping ("PhaseF" by utz of Irrlicht Project).
[* @lockfarm.bsky.social 's]
blog.ant.org/line-out-for...
#retrocomputing #z80
[* @lockfarm.bsky.social 's]
blog.ant.org/line-out-for...
#retrocomputing #z80
Line out for NanoBeast
Recently I was doing some one-bit beeping on my borrowed NanoBeast and comparing it to my MicroBeast. An unfair comparison because the MicroBeast has been modified to provide a line output, which is c...
blog.ant.org
October 20, 2026 at 2:53 PM
I built an audio line out interface for my* Feersum NanoBeast out of scrap, and tested it with some classic one-bit beeping ("PhaseF" by utz of Irrlicht Project).
[* @lockfarm.bsky.social 's]
blog.ant.org/line-out-for...
#retrocomputing #z80
[* @lockfarm.bsky.social 's]
blog.ant.org/line-out-for...
#retrocomputing #z80
Didn’t expect yesterday’s Sega controller mod to actually work. This was Plan B, another repurposed ebay bargain. This is a bit more like it!
#retrocomputer #z80 #nanobeast
#retrocomputer #z80 #nanobeast
October 16, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Didn’t expect yesterday’s Sega controller mod to actually work. This was Plan B, another repurposed ebay bargain. This is a bit more like it!
#retrocomputer #z80 #nanobeast
#retrocomputer #z80 #nanobeast
Against all the odds I have successfully modified a Sega Genesis controller to be Kempston+3 fire buttons compatible. the kind of fine mod work that *usually* ends in a tantrum.
#retrocomputing #z80 #retrobeast
#retrocomputing #z80 #retrobeast
October 15, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Against all the odds I have successfully modified a Sega Genesis controller to be Kempston+3 fire buttons compatible. the kind of fine mod work that *usually* ends in a tantrum.
#retrocomputing #z80 #retrobeast
#retrocomputing #z80 #retrobeast
Sometimes I need to annotate my copy of “Programming the z80”, so i use a transparent postit that i wrote on a less precious surface, and then another one on top to protect the facing page. no sacrilege here!
October 6, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Sometimes I need to annotate my copy of “Programming the z80”, so i use a transparent postit that i wrote on a less precious surface, and then another one on top to protect the facing page. no sacrilege here!
Full JKempston joystick 4 MicroBeast PCB write up: blog.ant.org/make-a-pcb-f...
#retrocompuiting #z80 #microbeast
#retrocompuiting #z80 #microbeast
Make a PCB for the Kempston joystick interface
The joystick interface we played with in Testing the Kempston compatible joystick interface works beautifully, but it is somewhat delicate. Even moving the MicroBeast a couple of feet or so runs the r...
blog.ant.org
October 3, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Full JKempston joystick 4 MicroBeast PCB write up: blog.ant.org/make-a-pcb-f...
#retrocompuiting #z80 #microbeast
#retrocompuiting #z80 #microbeast
October 1, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Surprisingly passable breakfast at an outdoor laundrette attached to a garage forecourt in the arse end of nowhere innCambridgeshire.
October 1, 2026 at 7:28 AM
Surprisingly passable breakfast at an outdoor laundrette attached to a garage forecourt in the arse end of nowhere innCambridgeshire.
I tried out the uc80 C compiler for z80 + cp/m with surprisingly good results:
blog.ant.org/uc80-c-compi...
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
blog.ant.org/uc80-c-compi...
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
uc80 C compiler for z80 CP/M
Recently I covered the Minz retro-compiler which made some grand claims about code size and performance, but wasn't quite able to back them up. Not yet at any rate, but it's exciting technology that I...
blog.ant.org
September 30, 2026 at 9:34 PM
I tried out the uc80 C compiler for z80 + cp/m with surprisingly good results:
blog.ant.org/uc80-c-compi...
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
blog.ant.org/uc80-c-compi...
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
Birthday haul! Hello my pretty…
September 28, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Birthday haul! Hello my pretty…
Got some noise out of Furnace! youtu.be/HROZ5MXthSM
Yes, yes I know, it's quite the racket. Gimme a break, I started with nothing! I had to make the drums!
#chiptune #retrocomputing
Yes, yes I know, it's quite the racket. Gimme a break, I started with nothing! I had to make the drums!
#chiptune #retrocomputing
Terrifying Furnace tracker chiptune debut
YouTube video by the anarchic collective
youtu.be
September 28, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Got some noise out of Furnace! youtu.be/HROZ5MXthSM
Yes, yes I know, it's quite the racket. Gimme a break, I started with nothing! I had to make the drums!
#chiptune #retrocomputing
Yes, yes I know, it's quite the racket. Gimme a break, I started with nothing! I had to make the drums!
#chiptune #retrocomputing
Entity Component System framework in Forth
YouTube video by the anarchic collective
youtu.be
September 28, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Right, that's it, I'm giving up on Renoise. It is actively user hostile, and gets in your way every chance it can. Gonna give Furnace a go...
September 26, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Right, that's it, I'm giving up on Renoise. It is actively user hostile, and gets in your way every chance it can. Gonna give Furnace a go...
Restarting my attempt to master the 1-bit beep in all its forms, studying the work of the incomparable utz, and testing my understanding by porting them to the MicroBeast/NanoBeast! Also experimenting with YouTube shorts - clumsily! Here we have "nanobeep2".
#z80 #retrocomputing #microbeast
#z80 #retrocomputing #microbeast
September 24, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Restarting my attempt to master the 1-bit beep in all its forms, studying the work of the incomparable utz, and testing my understanding by porting them to the MicroBeast/NanoBeast! Also experimenting with YouTube shorts - clumsily! Here we have "nanobeep2".
#z80 #retrocomputing #microbeast
#z80 #retrocomputing #microbeast
I tried out the Miz retro-compiler! (with mixed results...) blog.ant.org/minz-retro-c...
#retrocomputing #z80
#retrocomputing #z80
Minz retro-compiler
Recently I've been on a mission to find relatively modern languages that compile to z80 (and bonus marks for compiling on a z80), my most promising candidate so far being Cowgol. While trawling throug...
blog.ant.org
September 15, 2026 at 7:27 AM
I tried out the Miz retro-compiler! (with mixed results...) blog.ant.org/minz-retro-c...
#retrocomputing #z80
#retrocomputing #z80
Trying to get Cowgol running on the Feersum MicroBeast: blog.ant.org/adventures-w...
#feersum #microbeast #z80 #retrocomputing #cowgol
#feersum #microbeast #z80 #retrocomputing #cowgol
Adventures with Cowgol
I've written two languages so far for the MicroBeast: AntForth, which I use heavily every day for experimentation, and another Lua-like language which is part of a super-secret future project that is ...
blog.ant.org
September 4, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Trying to get Cowgol running on the Feersum MicroBeast: blog.ant.org/adventures-w...
#feersum #microbeast #z80 #retrocomputing #cowgol
#feersum #microbeast #z80 #retrocomputing #cowgol
Made a quick Snake game in AntForth to test out my new joystick interface: vimeo.com/1222194736?s...
Repo: github.com/blowback/for...
#retrocomputing #feersum #microbeast #forth
Repo: github.com/blowback/for...
#retrocomputing #feersum #microbeast #forth
Forth Snake
This is "Forth Snake" by Ant Skelton on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
vimeo.com
August 28, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Made a quick Snake game in AntForth to test out my new joystick interface: vimeo.com/1222194736?s...
Repo: github.com/blowback/for...
#retrocomputing #feersum #microbeast #forth
Repo: github.com/blowback/for...
#retrocomputing #feersum #microbeast #forth
I made a Kempston-compatible joystick interface for my Feersum MicroBeast: blog.ant.org/beast-user/b...
Build your own joystick interface
In this series of posts you'll learn to build a set of joystick interfaces for the MicroBeast/NanoBeast, each more capable than the last.
blog.ant.org
August 25, 2026 at 8:35 AM
I made a Kempston-compatible joystick interface for my Feersum MicroBeast: blog.ant.org/beast-user/b...
Woke up early, did a quick 10K.
August 24, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Woke up early, did a quick 10K.