• Tag Archives commodore

  • Compute!’s Gazette (February 1987)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Compute!’s Gazette was one of the most popular Commodore 64 magazines and 1987 was quite possibly the Commodore 64’s peak year. The February 1987 issue of Gazette includes:

    Features

    • Deciding on the Right Printer – Features to consider when deciding on the right printer for you.
    • A 1987 Buyer’s Guide to Printers – Features are compared for tons of printers including the Aprotek Daisy 1120, Blue Chip 120/NLQ, Brother HR-20, C. Itoh Prowriter C-215XP, Canon A-50, Citizen 120D, Commodore MIPS 1200, and dozens of others.
    • Printing Commodore Graphics – A guide to printing Commodore graphics with various printing modes, interfaces, and non-Commodore printers. Includes some programming examples.

    Reviews

    • Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? – One of the most iconic educational games ever made.
    • Macbeth – An adventure game based on the Shakespeare play.
    • PaperClip II – A popular word processor with a 38,000 word spell checker that can be expanded.
    • Ace of Aces – The classic World War II flight sim from Accolade. This was one of the games I bought for my Commodore 64
    • Transformers: Battle to Save the Earth – While most licensed games aren’t very good, this one was produced by Activision and is better than average.

    Games

    • Collision Course – A type-in racing game in which you must clear a course of dots before the computer controlled car runs into you.
    • Pick-A-Letter – A type-in word game somewhat similar to Hangman but with some enhancements. For the Commodore 64/128, Plus/4 and C-16.

    Education/Home Applications

    • Division Worksheet – This type-in program creates math worksheets with division problems.
    • Computing for Families: Light! Computers! Action! – Training teachers to use personal computers to enhance videos for educational use.

    Programming

    • Hints & Tips: Replacing Arrays – Some tips for using arrays and alternatives in BASIC.
    • Power BASIC: Sanitation Engineer – A type-in machine language program that speeds up garbage collection.
    • MetaBASIC: The Programmer’s Assistant – A type-in enhancement for BASIC that was previously published by Gazette. A Plus version is included that has 11 new commands as well as a Commodore 128 version.
    • Mastering 128 Sound and Music, Part 5 – The final part of this long running series provides advice on different methods of transcribing music written for three or more voices.
    • 128 Wedge – A type-in utility to make it easier to use a 1541 or 1571 disk drive with the Commodore 128.
    • Data Formatting on the 64 – Some short programs for formatting data by performing such actions as rounding and right justification of numbers.
    • BASIC for Beginners: IF-THEN – A tutorial and some examples using IF-THEN.
    • Machine Language for Beginners: ML Mailbag – Answering a few machine language related questions from readers.

    Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes – Commodore introduces the PC10-1 PC clone to the U.S. market.
    • Gazette Feedback – Letters from readers about screen formatting, finding free disk blocks, 1571 bugs, upgrading CP/M, and more.
    • Horizons: Art or Science? – Pondering whether programming is an art or a science.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Commodore 64 Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Compute! (December 1981)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Compute! was one of the earliest home computer magazines. Early in its history, it focused on 6502 based machines. In 1981 that meant the Commodore CBM/PET, Apple II, Atari and OSI. The December 1981 issue includes:

    • The Editor’s Notes – The conflict between brick and mortar computer dealers and mail order.
    • Ask The Readers – Automatic line numbers, a Pet/CBM bug, the Atari BASIC COM command, and more.
    • Computers and Society – Using the computer as a tool for creativity.
    • Guest Commentary: The World Computer Revisisted – Why computer standardization would be a good thing.
    • The Beginner’s Page – How computers use checksums to ensure data is saved correctly.
    • Basically Useful BASIC: A Quick-Fix Approach To Calculating Tables – A simple program for generating conversion tables.
    • Window Analysis: Saving Fuel $$ With Your Computer – A type-in program to calculate how much energy you will save by shading windows in the summer.
    • Subscript Heap Sort – A BASIC type-in one-level-deep, ascending, alphanumeric subscript heap sort for the PET/CBM.
    • Review: SYZYGY RS-232 Condition Testers – A look at a couple of RS-232 line condition testers from SYZYGY.
    • Unscramble – A type-in game in which you must unscramble the words.

    • Maze Generator – A type-in BASIC program for randomly generating mazings on the Commodore PET and Atari 400/800.
    • Part Two: An Introduction To Binary Numbers – The second part in a seven part series on basic computer arithemetic.
    • Book Review: Microprocessors For Measurement and Control – A book on real-time control applications.
    • Console Input/Output – Non-serial console input and output on the KIM.
    • MTU-130: A New 6502 Microcomputer – A look at a new 6502 based computer from Micro Technology Unlimited.
    • Animating Applesoft Graphics – A method for animating high-resolution and low-resolution graphics in Applesoft BASIC.
    • Programming The Reset Key The Easy Way – Making the RESET key do anything you want on an Apple II+.
    • A Simple Printer Interface For The Apple II – A guide to building a simple printer interface for the Apple II along with a driver program that works in DOS 3.3.
    • INSIGHT: Atari – A look at extended disk operations on the Atari and a disk file manager.
    • Discovering Atari’s Hidden Graphics – Experiments in undocumented graphics commands on the Atari 400/800.
    • String Art – A type-in BASIC program that will generate art based on mathematical patterns using basic characters.
    • Billiard Bounce – A type-in program that generates patterns by simulating the movement of a billiard ball.
    • Blinking Characters – A more efficient way to produce blinking characters and other text effects on the Atari 400/800.
    • Make Your Atari Keyboard A Little Friendlier – Some tips and tricks to help prevent you from accidentally entering inverse video mode, locking the keyboard into character graphics mode, clearing the screen, etc. while typing on the Atari keyboard.
    • Adding High Speed Vertical Positioning to P/M Graphics – A small gneral purpose vertical positioning routine written in 6502 assembly which can be called via BASIC’s USR instruction on the Atari 400/800.
    • A Poor Programmer’s Word Processor – A very simple word processor written in BASIC for the Atari 400/800.
    • Super Cursor V1.3 – A type-in program to give you more advanced editing functions on the Ohio Scientific Superboard II.
    • Memory Recall Test – A type-in program for the OSI to help test your memory.
    • A Look At SuperPET – A look at Commodore’s latest and last major entry in the PET lineup of computers. This interation included both a 6502 and 6809 CPU, 96KB RAM, a variety of programming languages, and more.
    • Supermon: A Primary Tool For Machine Language Programming – A machine lanugage monitor for later PET machines.
    • PET To PET Communication Over The User Port – A guide to creating a simple interface between two PETs using the parallel user port, 12 wires, and BASIC.
    • Replacing The INPUT # Command – A machine language routine to replace the built-in INPUT# command to allow all characters and improve performance.
    • Typing Foreign Language Text With The Commodore Printer – Printing special characters with the CBM series 2022 and 2023 printers.
    • Three Reviews: Superchip, Spacemaker, Sort – Superchip: new firmware that adds 18 new functions to the PET; Spacemaker II: a device that plugs into an empty ROM socket on the PET and allows you to switch between up to four different ROMs; Sort: A sort routine on EPROM for the PET.
    • Machine Language Jumbo Numbers – Techniques for handling large numbers on the PET by using multiple bytes.
    • File Recovery – Recovering deleted files on the 2040 or 8050 disk drives.
    • Looney Line Numbers – A guide to fixing bad line numbers in program on the PET.
    • Mine Maze – A two player maze game for the PET. One player tries to make it through the maze while the ohter controls a minse that is trying to stop them.
    • COMAL: Another Language? – A look at this public domain programming language.
    • New Products – A collection of 10 programs from Advance Operating Systems; TSMART terminal program for the Atari; TRW opens 38 service centers for Commodore computer repair; Okidata offers IEEE 488 and current loop interfaces for its printers; EduWare releases Counting Bee for kids 3-6; new educational software for the PET; and more.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged