
Development of Warajevo: ZX Spectrum Emulator Made During the Bosnian War - krige
https://worldofspectrum.net/features/warajevo/Story.html
======
jen729w
Wow, this page takes me back. Match Day! What a game.

[https://worldofspectrum.net/features/warajevo/Sshots4.html](https://worldofspectrum.net/features/warajevo/Sshots4.html)

I don’t remember how it came to be that my mam & dad bought me a ZX Spectrum+
– probably because I was about 10 at the time. Did I ask for it? How would I
have known? Either way, an eternity of thanks is due because that thing
changed my life. I mean, I just can’t imagine me without that foundation as a
kid.

I know it’s a bit clichéd but I really think it’s true that the fact that kids
today get iOS vs. a BASIC prompt is a real shame. Even having to manually LOAD
a game makes you think, huh, what’s going on there? Back in my early 20s I
worried that the next generation would come and eat my lunch, but it never
happened, and I think that BASIC prompt was why. It really was a golden time.

Good times. I wish we’d never sold that thing, but it made way for an Amiga
500 and who was to ever have known that it would be valuable, even if only
sentimentally, 30+ years later.

~~~
acqq
> I wish we’d never sold that thing

You have only 18 days left to stop wishing — a new reconstruction of the old
hardware, compatible with the old, with modern ports added:

[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spectrumnext/zx-
spectru...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spectrumnext/zx-spectrum-
next-issue-2)

Seen on HN:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24159462](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24159462)

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pmachinery
WoS has excellent content, but wouldn't suffer from an update (more responsive
aware, no dead links and better quality images).

Not that it detracts from the article, but anyone else wanting a clear(er)
view of the top two illustrations of how things can change in not too many
years:

[https://didyouknowfacts.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/08/sara1...](https://didyouknowfacts.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/08/sara11.jpg)

[https://www.geographicus.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/L/Sarajev...](https://www.geographicus.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/L/Sarajevo-
fama-1996.jpg)

And for anyone wanting a quick Spectrum fix:

[http://torinak.com/qaop/games](http://torinak.com/qaop/games)

[http://jsspeccy.zxdemo.org/](http://jsspeccy.zxdemo.org/)

~~~
input_sh
There's also a spot that was used to award medals for the Olympians and as a
place for executions not long after (Malo Polje on the top right of the first
photo):
[https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/5gmy1j/medal_p...](https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/5gmy1j/medal_podium_from_the_1984_sarajevo_olympics_that/)

This month it was supposed to be used as a place for the Red Bull 400 race
(400 meters uphill), but from what I can find, it appears as if the event was
cancelled.

Like someone said, the history of Europe in the 20th century can be summarised
as "from Sarajevo to Sarajevo", considering it's a place where an
assassination triggered WW1 and a place of gruesome aggression at the end of
the century.

~~~
acqq
> the history of Europe in the 20th century can be summarised as "from
> Sarajevo to Sarajevo"

...if you live there. In the broader historical perspective, Sarajevo was both
in 1914 and late in the 20th century a pretext used by orders of magnitude
bigger players making orders of magnitudes bigger moves, responsible for many
millions of deaths.

Somehow, this line concentrates the partial perception of that, including
somebody in Nigeria relating in the comment there:

[https://twitter.com/tejucole/status/463672671226429440](https://twitter.com/tejucole/status/463672671226429440)

------
TeaDude
Very interesting post. Stuff like the computer setup and the power generator
being a rigged up car engine is pretty cool.

I've always been interested in software development and electronics
engineering on "the edge" with woefully inadequate parts and little
documentation. This document gives great insight into those conditions in a
real world example.

------
Flex247A
This post has really inspired me as a young programmer!

------
jacobush
In the heart of Europe we let this go on for years. Still makes me furious,
the willingness to look the other way.

~~~
input_sh
As a citizen of Sarajevo, I just want to say thank you. <3

~~~
jacobush
A friend showed me the news that the war was over. He had a news poster (the
paper flyer kind) in his room. At that moment I could not properly express my
disgusted reaction.

 _How can we celebrate that something ended through sheer attrition?_

 _Why didn’t we do anything when it was on our doorstep?_

 _Why do we celebrate this war’s end when we ignore countless other wars all
over the globe?_

It was shown in the headlines of newspapers like it was WW2 ending and like we
had a hand in it ending and it was over through some great struggle on our
part, when in reality Europe watched in a “bring more popcorn” fashion.

AT THE VERY LEAST the siege should have been broken (through force) and a
humanitarian corridor opened.

This was right after the Cold War, the Western powers, including my native
Sweden were still armed to the teeth.

~~~
input_sh
A tiny tunnel was constructed that served as the entry point to the city
through which supplies were transferred (and a few thousand civilians fled the
city):
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarajevo_Tunnel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarajevo_Tunnel)

It went underneath the airport (controlled by the UN at the time) and is now
often referred to as the "Tunnel of Hope". Definitely not big enough to stand
upright, but the city was fortunate enough that the Serb forces never quite
figured out where the entrance is (a private home that looked quite ordinary
from the outside).

