Watched it quite funny with the floppy disks. Quite popular on Twitter.
Deutschland '83
11 of 30
Originally Posted by miss buzzybee:
“Watched it quite funny with the floppy disks. Quite popular on Twitter.”
“Watched it quite funny with the floppy disks. Quite popular on Twitter.”
I loved the comedy "geeky" noises the East German computer made whilst studying the floppy disks... 😄
nice to hear Bowie's China Girl used in that episode given the week that's just gone by. Struggling to make sense of this now in places...like why was he having to buy old taping equipment to bug the general's new desk? Did the Stasi run out of espionage kit?? Ad was that bug able to relay back to Berlin what the typist was typing? Too confusing.
Another classic from the soundtrack (don't know from which episode): Goldener Reiter by Joachim Witt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXz96BX8UMY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0UAXn2lq3A
And from East Germany: Am Fenster by City.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se-8CsPBDF8
Karat were probably the GDR's most popular band. I don't think they were featured in Deutschland 83 but these are two of their biggest hits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxhX5U4oF2I
http://www.myvideo.de/musik/karat/je...ideo-m-9761877 (This was a live performance on West German TV!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXz96BX8UMY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0UAXn2lq3A
And from East Germany: Am Fenster by City.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se-8CsPBDF8
Karat were probably the GDR's most popular band. I don't think they were featured in Deutschland 83 but these are two of their biggest hits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxhX5U4oF2I
http://www.myvideo.de/musik/karat/je...ideo-m-9761877 (This was a live performance on West German TV!)
I like how the floppy disk discussion HERE appeared in the next episode,
credit to those who mentioned the different machine architectures making the floppy probably unreadable.
credit to those who mentioned the different machine architectures making the floppy probably unreadable.
Originally Posted by Dirty Rooster:
“I like how the floppy disk discussion HERE appeared in the next episode,
credit to those who mentioned the different machine architectures making the floppy probably unreadable.”
“I like how the floppy disk discussion HERE appeared in the next episode,
credit to those who mentioned the different machine architectures making the floppy probably unreadable.”
The machine they used had a 8" floppy disk drive(yes they did exist) and they tried to put a 5.25" disk in there. Both disks were on the table and you could see the difference in size. I've used a Sinclair Spectrum +3 to read IBM PC 5.25" and 3.5" disks, so with the right technical know-how you can write "drivers" to read them.
Originally Posted by vauxhall1964:
“nice to hear Bowie's China Girl used in that episode given the week that's just gone by. Struggling to make sense of this now in places...like why was he having to buy old taping equipment to bug the general's new desk? Did the Stasi run out of espionage kit?? Ad was that bug able to relay back to Berlin what the typist was typing? Too confusing.”
“nice to hear Bowie's China Girl used in that episode given the week that's just gone by. Struggling to make sense of this now in places...like why was he having to buy old taping equipment to bug the general's new desk? Did the Stasi run out of espionage kit?? Ad was that bug able to relay back to Berlin what the typist was typing? Too confusing.”
Yes, it did seem a bit strange that he had to buy his own surveillance equipment.
Regarding the typewriting, I thought maybe each typewriter key has a slightly different sound (which can be detected), so by asking her to type the words to the song, the Stasi can map the sounds to the typed letters and therefore use it later to decode other text that she types.
I liked the 'joke' about the drunk looking for his keys under the lamp. "So which one of us is the drunk?".
Some nice 80's tracks in this episode.
Wonder how easy it would be to get a US PC then? I can remember the company I worked for getting fined £500K for letting a machine with an 80386 processor to get behind he iron curtain, it was in an own brand PC so that it was easy to trace.
Did you see the BASIC code that appeared on the computer screen?
I don't know if it was an error by the producers as all it did was generate the random numbers that you saw on the screen or if it was part of the plot i.e. a western trick in that that was all that was on the disk and the East technicians were too dumb to realise?
And, what's with all the books at the end?
I don't know if it was an error by the producers as all it did was generate the random numbers that you saw on the screen or if it was part of the plot i.e. a western trick in that that was all that was on the disk and the East technicians were too dumb to realise?
And, what's with all the books at the end?
Originally Posted by boksbox:
“Wonder how easy it would be to get a US PC then?”
“Wonder how easy it would be to get a US PC then?”
Basically, the Stasi could easily fetch everything from West Berlin. Western customs officers rarely checked the luggage of travellers, and diplomats' cars weren't examined at all. So for example, the Stasi could have sent a member of the Polish or Romanian embassy across the border, and he would have been back within an hour.
Having said that, I'm not a computer expert, so I don't know which kind of device they nedeed and if it was readily available in the west.
Originally Posted by stewboss:
“Did you see the BASIC code that appeared on the computer screen?
I don't know if it was an error by the producers as all it did was generate the random numbers that you saw on the screen or if it was part of the plot i.e. a western trick in that that was all that was on the disk and the East technicians were too dumb to realise?
And, what's with all the books at the end?”
“Did you see the BASIC code that appeared on the computer screen?
I don't know if it was an error by the producers as all it did was generate the random numbers that you saw on the screen or if it was part of the plot i.e. a western trick in that that was all that was on the disk and the East technicians were too dumb to realise?
And, what's with all the books at the end?”
I believe they were all banned books in East Germany. His mother's secret stash. The one on her bedside table was.
I wonder if Martin's girlfriend is going to report it, or start reading the books herself?
Originally Posted by solare:
“Yes, it did seem a bit strange that he had to buy his own surveillance equipment.
Regarding the typewriting, I thought maybe each typewriter key has a slightly different sound (which can be detected), so by asking her to type the words to the song, the Stasi can map the sounds to the typed letters and therefore use it later to decode other text that she types.
I liked the 'joke' about the drunk looking for his keys under the lamp. "So which one of us is the drunk?".
Some nice 80's tracks in this episode.”
“Yes, it did seem a bit strange that he had to buy his own surveillance equipment.
Regarding the typewriting, I thought maybe each typewriter key has a slightly different sound (which can be detected), so by asking her to type the words to the song, the Stasi can map the sounds to the typed letters and therefore use it later to decode other text that she types.
I liked the 'joke' about the drunk looking for his keys under the lamp. "So which one of us is the drunk?".
Some nice 80's tracks in this episode.”
I was curious about that, but apparently this was quite a widespread decrypting technique back in the day?!
Amazing that the inner most thoughts of Le Bon and Co can be deconstructed in such way
Liked the bit with the walkman, he didn't have a clue what the man was trying to sell him but loved it when he tried it out. I think it is a really good programme, my wife and eldest son who have no real interest in this kind of thing are watching it and seem to enjoy it although they both missed the first episode, and don't really know too much about the subject so I am trying to fill them in on parts of the plot.
Originally Posted by Essex Blue:
“Liked the bit with the walkman, he didn't have a clue what the man was trying to sell him but loved it when he tried it out.”
“Liked the bit with the walkman, he didn't have a clue what the man was trying to sell him but loved it when he tried it out.”
I thought that scene was rather unrealistic. Portable cassette players might have been unavailable in the GDR in 1983 but nevertheless almost every young man would have known about them - especially Martin/Moritz because he was a member of the border troops before becoming a spy, so he came into contact with western tourists.
Around 1984/85, the Sony Walkman was officially imported into the GDR and sold for M 1000 (a month's salary for the average citizen). And from the mid-80s, the GDR also produced their own cassette players under the RFT badge (LCS 1010) for M 399.
http://www.rft-geraete.de/Taschenradios
I thoroughly enjoy this type of drama. I think that the Germans are very good at this type of historical drama about their own recent past.
Das Boot was, of course, the best so far. Funnily enough I find that I do not like to view the dubbed into English version, preferring the original German. It helps create the correct atmosphere.
People seem to have forgotten another German classic, Heimat, about the history of a small village from before WW1 to the present (when made) day. It followed several characters and their families right through their lives.
For those complaining that it is in German they really should realise that their onw language comes from the same roots. Where do they think the Angles and Saxons came from?
Das Boot was, of course, the best so far. Funnily enough I find that I do not like to view the dubbed into English version, preferring the original German. It helps create the correct atmosphere.
People seem to have forgotten another German classic, Heimat, about the history of a small village from before WW1 to the present (when made) day. It followed several characters and their families right through their lives.
For those complaining that it is in German they really should realise that their onw language comes from the same roots. Where do they think the Angles and Saxons came from?
There was a glaring mistake in the last episode.
When Martin/Moritz pulled into the filling station on the Belgian border to make the rendezvous with Lenora and have his blood taken, he put the petrol nozzle into the tank, and presumably left it to cut off when the tank was full.
When General Edel emerged from the toilet, and Martin rushed back to the car, he jumped in, had the brief conversation about the smell of smoke in the car, then pulled away without removing the petrol nozzle from the gas tank.
I thought that it would stretch, then snap, but as he turned away from the pumps the nozzle and hose were not there.
I even rewound the film to check, and it definitely was still in the tank as they both got in.
When Martin/Moritz pulled into the filling station on the Belgian border to make the rendezvous with Lenora and have his blood taken, he put the petrol nozzle into the tank, and presumably left it to cut off when the tank was full.
When General Edel emerged from the toilet, and Martin rushed back to the car, he jumped in, had the brief conversation about the smell of smoke in the car, then pulled away without removing the petrol nozzle from the gas tank.
I thought that it would stretch, then snap, but as he turned away from the pumps the nozzle and hose were not there.
I even rewound the film to check, and it definitely was still in the tank as they both got in.
Originally Posted by Patrick_Hadley:
“I agree that the Smiley stories were closer to reality, after all John LeCarre was himself a spy in Europe for years.
However all the "adventure" spy stories need a lot of artistic licence to make them exciting - and I suspect that I would not enjoy them as much if they stuck closely to the truth.
I also like The Americans, and surely that has a great deal more far-fetched elements than D83. To my mind both have just enough contact with reality to make them worth watching.”
“I agree that the Smiley stories were closer to reality, after all John LeCarre was himself a spy in Europe for years.
However all the "adventure" spy stories need a lot of artistic licence to make them exciting - and I suspect that I would not enjoy them as much if they stuck closely to the truth.
I also like The Americans, and surely that has a great deal more far-fetched elements than D83. To my mind both have just enough contact with reality to make them worth watching.”
Le Carre is great.
Yes I agree; it's a very fine line. Both D83 and the Americans do carry it off
did they pay for the petrol at the station?
the idea that a massive table like the one he bugged could be moved without up- ending it to get it through doors without discovering the rather large bug is a bit daft
the idea that a massive table like the one he bugged could be moved without up- ending it to get it through doors without discovering the rather large bug is a bit daft
Originally Posted by Debrajoan:
“There was a glaring mistake in the last episode.
When Martin/Moritz pulled into the filling station on the Belgian border to make the rendezvous with Lenora and have his blood taken, he put the petrol nozzle into the tank, and presumably left it to cut off when the tank was full.
When General Edel emerged from the toilet, and Martin rushed back to the car, he jumped in, had the brief conversation about the smell of smoke in the car, then pulled away without removing the petrol nozzle from the gas tank.
I thought that it would stretch, then snap, but as he turned away from the pumps the nozzle and hose were not there.
I even rewound the film to check, and it definitely was still in the tank as they both got in.”
“There was a glaring mistake in the last episode.
When Martin/Moritz pulled into the filling station on the Belgian border to make the rendezvous with Lenora and have his blood taken, he put the petrol nozzle into the tank, and presumably left it to cut off when the tank was full.
When General Edel emerged from the toilet, and Martin rushed back to the car, he jumped in, had the brief conversation about the smell of smoke in the car, then pulled away without removing the petrol nozzle from the gas tank.
I thought that it would stretch, then snap, but as he turned away from the pumps the nozzle and hose were not there.
I even rewound the film to check, and it definitely was still in the tank as they both got in.”
So what? People don't seem to need the loo either perhaps thats a glaring mistake as well?
Originally Posted by Debrajoan:
“When General Edel emerged from the toilet, and Martin rushed back to the car, he jumped in, had the brief conversation about the smell of smoke in the car, then pulled away without removing the petrol nozzle from the gas tank.
I thought that it would stretch, then snap, but as he turned away from the pumps the nozzle and hose were not there.”
“When General Edel emerged from the toilet, and Martin rushed back to the car, he jumped in, had the brief conversation about the smell of smoke in the car, then pulled away without removing the petrol nozzle from the gas tank.
I thought that it would stretch, then snap, but as he turned away from the pumps the nozzle and hose were not there.”
I just put that down to editing : sometimes you have to take bits out to make the minutes fit.
The general is going to smell that smoking smell again and twig to the curly-haired woman ... sometime.
Originally Posted by nomad2king:
“The machine they used had a 8" floppy disk drive(yes they did exist) and they tried to put a 5.25" disk in there. Both disks were on the table and you could see the difference in size. I've used a Sinclair Spectrum +3 to read IBM PC 5.25" and 3.5" disks, so with the right technical know-how you can write "drivers" to read them.”
“The machine they used had a 8" floppy disk drive(yes they did exist) and they tried to put a 5.25" disk in there. Both disks were on the table and you could see the difference in size. I've used a Sinclair Spectrum +3 to read IBM PC 5.25" and 3.5" disks, so with the right technical know-how you can write "drivers" to read them.”
In the past I've used a 5.25 CP/M Computer that came with 64K memory and dBase. Simple database interrogation took forever but we were still impressed all the same. I also recall opening a steel cabinet on one occasion and finding boxes and boxes of 8 inch floppies.
I was puzzled last night as to why East German intelligence appeared confused by the sight of a floppy disk.
Originally Posted by Dirty Rooster:
“I just put that down to editing : sometimes you have to take bits out to make the minutes fit.
The general is going to smell that smoking smell again and twig to the curly-haired woman ... sometime.”
“I just put that down to editing : sometimes you have to take bits out to make the minutes fit.
The general is going to smell that smoking smell again and twig to the curly-haired woman ... sometime.”
A competent spy would not have smoked or worn perfume.
American GIs didn't use soap before going on operations in order to ensure that their VC opponents did not pick up the scent of freshly scrubbed grunts.
Originally Posted by Debrajoan:
“There was a glaring mistake in the last episode.
When Martin/Moritz pulled into the filling station on the Belgian border to make the rendezvous with Lenora and have his blood taken, he put the petrol nozzle into the tank, and presumably left it to cut off when the tank was full.
When General Edel emerged from the toilet, and Martin rushed back to the car, he jumped in, had the brief conversation about the smell of smoke in the car, then pulled away without removing the petrol nozzle from the gas tank.
I thought that it would stretch, then snap, but as he turned away from the pumps the nozzle and hose were not there.
I even rewound the film to check, and it definitely was still in the tank as they both got in.”
“There was a glaring mistake in the last episode.
When Martin/Moritz pulled into the filling station on the Belgian border to make the rendezvous with Lenora and have his blood taken, he put the petrol nozzle into the tank, and presumably left it to cut off when the tank was full.
When General Edel emerged from the toilet, and Martin rushed back to the car, he jumped in, had the brief conversation about the smell of smoke in the car, then pulled away without removing the petrol nozzle from the gas tank.
I thought that it would stretch, then snap, but as he turned away from the pumps the nozzle and hose were not there.
I even rewound the film to check, and it definitely was still in the tank as they both got in.”
You're right,well spotted,but its such good viewing,well have to allow them that one.
I just wondered if the book stash had been confiscated by Moritz, just doing his job on border duty. I have a friend who was on border patrol as part of his GDR national service, so am curious as to what his library at home is like.....
Originally Posted by Justabloke:
“So what? People don't seem to need the loo either perhaps thats a glaring mistake as well?”
“So what? People don't seem to need the loo either perhaps thats a glaring mistake as well?”
So you think that driving away with the nozzle and petrol hose still firmly lodged in the gas tank is a shrug, "so what?" thing do you?
Not a mistake at all?
Happens all the time.
Yeah, right.
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