Popular Computing Weekly (July 7th, 1983)

Popular Computing Weekly was, as the name suggests, a weekly publication covering computers. It was published in the U.K. is a sort of tabloid newspaper form factor and covered the popular computers of the time. The July 7-13, 1983 issue includes:

News – Psion negotiating with Timex to sell Spectrum software in the U.S.; Eleven year old has successful video game column in several newspapers in the U.S. (Vid Kid); Commodore and Atari fight in court over Pac-Man; Acorn’s BBC ready to launch in the U.S.; and more.

Letters – Letters from readers about programs that circumvent copy protection, compilers for the ZX Spectrum, Timex vs. Sinclair computers, and more.

Star Game – Mini Pacman, a type-in game for the VIC-20.

Street Life – Interview with Robert Branton and Geoff Boyd of Memotech, known at the time for creating add-ons for the Sinclair ZX-81, they were working on creating their own computer, the MTX500.

Software Reviews – A look at various word processing, filing and graphics programs for the BBC including View, Alphabeta, Wordwise, EDG Graphics Package, Artist, Grafkey, BBC Multifile, and BBC Database Filing System.

Hardware Reviews – A brief history of the mouse as well as a look at a few including the Apple Lisa mouse. The cheapest mouse available at the time cost about $149 plus another $100 for the interface.

Programming – A look at the Oric’s graphics capabilities via a type-in game called ‘Bombs away!’.

Spectrum – In this third part of a five-part series, program execution on the Spectrum is explained.

Dragon – Storing graphics in memory on the Dragon 32 and displaying them on the screen.

BBC in Education – Logical vs. actual colors on the BBC and various ways to draw shapes and change colors.

Open Forum – Programs from readers including a Math test for the VIC-20; Cruiser, a game for the BBC model B in which you pilot a space ship through an obstacle course; a program for creating a scrolling display on the Lynx; Space Wasps for the Spectrum; Deathrace 2000 for the VIC-20; River Cross for the ZX-81; and Wink (a program for drawing then displaying a hidden image) for the Dragon 32.

Adventure – A look at The Ring of Darkness for the Dragon 32 plus some help for computer adventurers who are stuck.

Peek and Poke – Questions answered about the history of computers, controlling Spectrum ports, the Lynx computer; the Comex Home Computer; making programs break-proof on the Spectrum; finding computer related articles; converting Spectrum programs to the VIC-20, and more.

New Releases – New and upcoming releases include Gridrunner for the Dragon 32, Dlan Display Language for the Spectrum, The Oric I Program Book, Breakaway for the Spectrum, Cyrus Is Chess for the Spectrum, Poker for the VIC-20, and more.

…and more!