• Tag Archives 1984

  • PC Magazine (March 20th, 1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: PC Magazine – March 20th, 1984

    PC Magazine was one of the two biggest magazines dedicated to IBM PCs and compatibles from the early 1980s into the 2000s (the other being PC World). The March 20, 1984 issue of PC Magazine includes:

    Cover Stories

    • Getting Your C-Legs – An introduction to programming in C with some simple program examples.
    • The MWC-86 C Compiler – A C compiler for the PC offering enhancements such as new data types, structure passing, nested comments, and longer identifiers.
    • The Whitesmiths C Native Compiler – A professional C compiler with idiosyncracies.
    • New Improved Lattice C – Version 2.0 of this compiler adds more memory, functions to the C library, and faster procedures.
    • C Into The Future – An interview with Tom Plum about the future of the C programming language.

    Features

    • PC Program Editors: The Next Generation – IDE’s weren’t really a thing yet but this article looks at the next genreation of editors including SPF/PC 1.6, micro/SPF 2.0, Professional Editor, and TED 1.2.
    • The Decision Makers – A look at two program, Decision and Decision-Analyst, designed to help make business decisions such as who to hire and what office equipment to buy.
    • PC-Powered Manufacturing – A look at MAX, a PC powered manufacturing system.
    • Packet Switching Puts You In Touch – An overview of packet switching networks and their advantage over other types of networks.
    • PC’s Powerful Cousin: The IBM CS9000 – A computer designed for the laboratory featuring a 68000 processor and an OS called CSOS.
    • When One PC Is Not Enough – A look at PC GT, an expansion card for the PC that turns it into a multi-user system.
    • Assembly Language: The Nature of DOS – An excerpt from “Assembly Language Primer for the IBM PC”.
    • An Illustrated History of The Chip, Part 2 – An excerpt from the book “State of the Art: A Photographic History of the Integrated Circuit”.
    • Office Writing: Word Processing for Business – A look at two word processors for business use, OfficeWriter and Form Writer Version 1.1.
    • A Gallery of Computer Art – A look at the Tech Graphics 2, a $50,000 machine (including various peripherals) for creating computer based art.
    • Taking The PC To The Cleaners – How laundries are making use of personal computers.
    • Checking Inns With The PC – Ramada Inn installs 635 PC’s, each equipped with 128K RAM, monochrome monitor, two 320K drives, printer, and Hayes 1200B modem, along with a centralized mainframe system for reservations.
    • MIT Goes On The 5-Year Plan – MIT is paying millions for PCs to help design bridges.
    • Waking Up To Computer Education – Wake County, North Carolina installs 135 IBM PCs across middle schools to help with computer literacy.
    • Beating The System – A look at an inexpensive kit that allows you to use a single expansion slot for two cards.
    • Exploring A Nonmanual Alternative – A look at IBM’s “Exploring the IBM Personal Computer”, a program designed as an alternative to manuals.

    Pro Columns

    • Getting Organized On Your PC – Using a database along with a word processor to help organize notes for writing.
    • Exploring Electronic Estimating – How PCs are being used to help contractors calculate estimates to outbid their competitors.
    • MUMPS Fever – MUMPS was originally a programming language for medical applications on mainframes. This article looks at some microcomputer version.
    • Two Boards In One – A look at Amdek’s Multiple Interface Adapter, a PC display card.
    • Educating The Individual – How the computers are making instruction more individual.
    • MUMPS: A Cure For Swollen Programs – A new medical oriented programming language, now available for PCs, offers more efficient programming.
    • Going By The Board – The keys to being a good BBS sysop.

    Departments

    • PC News – IBM introduces PC/IX, a UNIX OS for PC; PC Bartendr, a bartending app with 101 alcoholic beverage recipes; Commodore cuts prices; Atari launches AtariSoft software label; and much more.
    • Pitfalls Of Corporate Copying – Illegal “sharing” of programs within corporations and the trouble with copy protection.
    • Letters To PC – Letters from readers about the Palantir word processor, Word Proof, computer furniture, MicroAstrology, Telex, Memex, assigning strings to keys, and more.
    • Phantom Ruling From The IRS – IRS may deny tax-exempt status to PC user groups.
    • Unearthing The PCjr’s Secrets – A look through the PCjr’s technical manual with Peter Norton.
    • The PC Compatibility Test – A guide to figuring out how compatible your computer is to the IBM PC.
    • Greed And Egyptian Adventures – A look at two new adventure games including Infidel from Infocom and Ulysses and the Golden Fleece from Sierra On-Line.
    • Help For Experts And Novices – A review of the book “dBase II in English I”, a book that is supposed to make dBASE II easier to learn.
    • New On The Market – The Sweet-P Six Shooter (a multiple-pen plotter), ENVAX 600 (an intelligent communications processor), DTC Style Writer (a daisy wheel printer), DXY-800 Plotter, SNA Encryptor 305 (a data encryption board for communicating between a PC and an IBM mainframe), HP Digital Wand (bar code reader), PLP-8 Matrix Printers (a series of 80 and 132 columnt dot-matrix printers), QumeTrak 142 (320K 5.25″ floppy drive), and much more.
    • User-To-User – A way to keep track of files on floppies in DOS 2.0, a BASICA bug, a simple way to view and delete unwanted text files, and more.
    • PC Tutor – An automated way to use DISKCOPY, using single and double precision numbers, power converters, friction feed with the Epson MX-80 F/T printer, and more.
    • Software Licensing Questions – How the courts might distinguish between licensed and sold software.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS 📎and tagged

  • Byte (February 1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Byte – February 1984

    Byte tended to be a technically oriented magazine that covered a large variety of computers. As the world moved more towards PC compatibility, its popularity faded. Some of the issues were massive, especially some of the earlier ones. This issue from February 1984 has nearly 550 pages and includes:

    Cover Story

    • The Apple Macintosh Computer – A review of the original Macintosh computer. The machine that popularized the GUI windowed interface and the desktop metaphor.
    • An Interview: The Macintosh Design Team – An interview with Andy Hertzfield, Chris Espinosa, Joanna Hoffman, George Crowe, Bill Atkinson, and Jerry Manock.

    Columns

    • Build the Circuit Cellar Term-Mite ST Smart Terminal, Part 2: Programming – Software for the terminal introduced in the previous issue.
    • User’s Column: Chaos Manor Gets Its Long-Awaited IBM PC – Reviews of the IBM PC, Dedicate/32, Disk Doubler, Eagle 1600 Series, Final Word, Logimouse, Magic Keyboard Write, Spellbinder, Tactical Armor Command, Turbo Pascal, Wordstar, Zenith Z-100 Computer, and more.
    • BYTE West Coast: A Business Computer, a Business Program, and More – A look at the Northstar Dimension, Microman integrated software package, and more.

    Themes

    • Don’t Bench Me In – An examination of the meaningfulness of benchmarks.
    • Beyond MIPS: Performance is Not Quality – A look at quality aspects of systems beyond just performance.
    • Software Performance Evaluation – Some guidelines for evaluating software performance.
    • The Age of Benchmarking Printers – Coming up with ways to measure performance of dot-matrix and daisy wheel printers.
    • Benchmarking FORTRAN Compilers – Comparing FORTRAN compilers.
    • Benchmark Confessions – A look at the subjective nature of benchmarks.
    • The Word-Processing Maze – Evaluating the various new features found in modern word processors.
    • Evaluating Word-Processing Programs – A 100-point checklist to help you choose the best word processor for you.

    Reviews

    • ProDOS – A new DOS for Apple II computers that adds support for hard drives and much more.
    • Knowledgeman – An integrated management system that includes database and spreadsheet functionality.
    • The IB CS-9000 Lab Computer – A machine from IBM consisting of an 8-MHz Motorola MC68000 CPU, 128K RAM, and more, designed for a lab environment and real time OS.
    • The Rixon R212A Intelligent Modem – A Hayes compatible 1200bps modem for $499.
    • Savvy – An intuitive suite of business applications in a unique hardware/software system for both the Apple II and IBM PC.
    • The Micro-Sci Gameport III for the Apple III – An add-on card for the Apple III that makes the Apple III compatible with most Apple II games.
    • The Videx Ultraterm – An add-in card for the Apple II that allows the display of up to 160 columns or 48 lines of text.
    • Apple Disk Emulators: Axion, Legend, Pion, and Synetix – A comparison of four RAM disk emulators for the Apple II.

    Features

    • Apple Announces the Lisa 2 – The Lisa 2 was more of a revision to the original Lisa. It was marketed as the Macintosh XL.
    • IBM/Apple Communications – Simple programs to transfer text files between the IBM PC and Apple II.
    • A Low-Cost, Low Write-Voltage EEPROM – An inexpensive EEPROM that can be programmed with your PC.
    • Foot Control – Adding a foot-operated control key to your keyboard.
    • Inside a Compiler: Notes an Optimization and Code Generation – An article on compiler optimization with a particular look at evaluating Pascal/MT+86 and Pascal-86.
    • Writing Device Drivers for MS-DOS 2.0 Using Tandon TM100-4 Drives – Being able to create your own device drivers was a new feature of MS-DOS 2.0.
    • Deciphering Word Games – Two BASIC programs that can be used to solve cryptograms and anagrams.
    • Five Original Graphics – Creating graphics with mathematical curves.
    • Bubbles on the S-100 Bus – Make Micropolis MDOS and CP/M work with a bubble memory project from the previous issue.
    • Calculating Overhead Costs by Computer – An arithmetic procedure for determining the distribution of indirect costs.

    Nucleus

    • Editorial: The Compatibility Craze – Concerns about IBM’s affect on innovation in the PC market.
    • MICROBYTES – Commodore plans UNIX like operating system for Z8000 based computers; IBM boosts production; Seagate and Vertext announce 100 megabyte hard drives; Intel introduces new RAM; and more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about Morrow Micro Decision, ANSI standards, public domain software, Supersoft, Radio Shack’s TRS-80 Model 16, and more.
    • Programming Quickie – A PASCAL program to validate input.
    • Technical Forum – Using discrete Fourier transforms to benchmark your computer.
    • Ask BYTE – Questions answered about interfacing the Apple II with robots, New Zealand TV standards, Dvorak terminals, Apple II display issues, upgrading an Exidy Sorcerer, modifying arcade games, power supplies, and more.
    • Book Review – A review of Legal Care for Your Software by Daniel Remer.
    • What’s New? – Micro-Tax tax prep software, The Individual Tax Planner, Accountant’s 1040 Preparation System, Northland Accounting’s Taxiad for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64, and much more.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Personal Computer Games (April 1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Personal Computer Games – Issue Number 5 – April 1984

    Personal Computer Games is a computer gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. in the 1980s. It covered the various personal computers available there including the Commodore 64, BBC/BBC-B, Spectrum, Amstrad, and others. The April 1984 issue includes:

    Features

    • Adventure Competition – Submit the correct answers based on the clues and you could win one of 101 prizes for the Commodore 64, BBC, Electron, Dragon, Oric, Lynx, Spectrum, or Nascom.
    • Which Stick – Reviews of various joysticks available at the time including the Starfighter, Tac 2, Competition Pro, QuickShot, Le Stick, Dragon Data, Slik Stik, Joy Sensor, The Boss, Command Control, Arcade Professional, Triga Command, Atari Joystick, TrickStick, and more.
    • Scramble Unscrambled – A detailed look at Scramble clones and other Scramble-like games including Rocket Raid (BBC), Airstrike 2 (Atari 400/800), Scram-20 (VIC-20), Whirlybird Run (Dragon 32), Penetrator (Spectrum), Skramble (VIC-20), Skramble (Commodore 64), Scramble (ZX81), Skramble (Dragon 32), Super Skramble! (Commodore 64), Scramble (Spectrum), and Rocket Raider (Spectrum).
    • Driving Force – An interview with Andy Walker, managing director and chief programmer of Tasket Ltd.
    • 100 New Games – Ratings of 100 different games on a variety of systems including the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Spectrum, BBC, Dragon, Oric, Atari, Lynx, Electron, and others.
    • Games to Buy – A list of available games for all systems including price, system requirements, publisher, and a brief description.
    • Laxy Programming – Jeff Minter on game design. The basic thrust of this article is how you should spend as much time as possible on design in order to minimize programming time.
    • Program Listings – Type in games including a version of Frogger for the Spectrum, Solitaire for the Dragon, Mad Bath for the VIC-20, and Robotank for the Commodore 64.

    Regulars

    • Buzz – 48K Lynx to be phased of of the U.K. market (96K and 128K versions remain available); new Marvel Comics adventure games from Adventure International (these are the adventure games Scott Adams wrote); Atarisoft releases ports of Atari games for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 (Defender, Donkey Kong, and more); Paintbox released for the Commodore 64; Spectrum emulator for the Spectrum QL; and more.
    • Byte-Back – Letters from readers about Lunar Jetman, games for the VIC-20, Ultima Zone, adventure game coverage, Manic Miner, the Aquarius computer, and more.
    • Screen Test – Tons of game reviews including Galaxy, Stellar Dodger, Genesis, Gridtrap 64, Jumpin’ Jack, Cybermen, Bonka, Xerons, Manic Miner, Vultures, Wildfire, Quasar, Haunted House, Siren City, Hunter, China Miner, Cosmic Convoy, Neptune’s Daughter, Dancing Feats, Supa Catcha Troopa, Mega Hawk, Aztec Challenge, and Forbidden Forest for the Commodore 64; Cosmonaut!, Star Defence, Hell Gate, Outback, and Chariot Race for the VIC-20; Banana Man, Cybertron Mission, Zarm, The Pen and the Dark, Challenger, Adventureland, Birdie Barrage, Lemming Syndrome, Zombies Revenge, Light Cycle, Martian Attack, and Horserace for the BBC/BBC B; Dallas, Abyss, and Airline for the Electron; Poo-Yan, Loki, Starship, Vanquisher, Paragram, Two-Gun Turtle, and Galaxy 5 for the Oric; Pi-Eyed, Mutant Ant Attack, Gobstopper, Cybo Run, Alchemist, Killer Knight, Hawks, 2003, Kosmik Pirate, Monkey Bizness, 3D Seidab Attack, Bear Bovver, Rommel’s Revenge, Brag, Doomsday Castle, Mrs Mopp, Oligopoly, Here Comes The Sun, Bowls, Denis Through The Drinking Glass, Pi-Balled, Cavern Fighter, Dinky Digger, and Loony Zoo for the Spectrum; Captain Sticky’s Gold, Batty Builder, Hyperblast!, and Bombastic for the Atari 400/800; Protector, Alert And The Monsters, Cyclops, Avenger, Galactic Raiders, Pinball, Lazer Zone, Hooked, Air Traffic Control, Space Fighter, and Kriegspiel for the Dragon 32; Colossal Adventure, Backgammon, Gobble-De-Spook, and Pit of Ignorance for the Lynx, and probably a few others I missed.
    • Book Test – Book reviews for Writing Strategy Games On Your Atari – Techniques For Intelligent Games by john White, 101 Tips for the Vic 20 and CBM 64, The Spectrum Game Writers’ Pack by P K McBride, and The Complete Sinclair Database.

    …and more!


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