• Tag Archives apple

  • MacAddict (November 1996)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: MacAddict – Issue Number 3 – November 1996

    I was never really a Mac person. Mainly because I always felt they were overpriced and later on I enjoyed building my own PCs anyway. There also weren’t as many games available for the Mac which was a consideration for me. However, if you were a Mac fan back in the late 90s then MacAddict was an excellent magazine. It reminds me of Boot/Maximum PC for the PC. Sadly, it eventually degraded into MacLife, a much more generic and boring magazine. The November 1996 issue of MacAddict includes:

    Hightlights

    • 5 Steps to 3D Animation – A guide to developing your own animation. Their 5 steps include developing a concept, modeling the character, making the scene, animating the character, and post production. Some of the software demonstrated include Infini-D, QuickDraw 3.0, Adobe Premiere, and others.
    • 3Dilemma – A guide to 3D modeling and animation software. Some products reviewed include 3D World, Fractal Design’s Raydream Studio, StudioPro 2.0, LogoMoton 2.0, Extreme 3D 1.0, Infini-D 3.5, Poser, and more.

    • Us & Them – A comparison of Mac vs. PC. Here they compare a Power Computing PowerBase 200 to a Compaq Presario 8710. The Mac (clone) includes a 200MHz PowerPC 603e CPU, 32MB of RAM, 512k of L2 cache, an 8x CD-ROM drive, a 2.2GB hard drive, on board 3D accelerator including 2MB EDO RAM, and 3 PCI slots for $3,221. The Compaq includes a 200MHz Pentium CPU, 32MB of RAM, 512k L2 cache, 8X CD-ROM drive, 2.5GB hard drive, On-board 3D video with 2MB EDO RAM and 3 PCI slots for $3,299. They try to argue that the Mac is price competitive but this is a Mac clone which was allowed by apple for about 30 seconds and this is a very specific PC. There were other options with equivalent or better hardware that could be had cheaper. Apple choices were far more limited. Still an interesting comparison.
    • Every Trick in the Bookmark – A guide to organizing your bookmarks in Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

    How To

    • Create Web Graphics – A guide to creating graphics and images for web pages. This includes tips for aligning and sizing images, using GIFs, spacing, when to use JPEGs, and more.

    Every Month

    • Editor’s Note – A guide to e-mail etiquette and a suggestion to do without e-mail for a day or two.
    • Letters – Letters from readers that are mostly pretty goofy.
    • Get Info – A look at BeOS, an alternative OS that works with PowerPC based Macs (and other hardware); new Magneto-Optical drives (these used to seem so futuristic); some news about the upcoming OS 8; a look at AOL 3.0; and more.
    • Cravings – A look at interesting new gadgets, software and hardware, including Lightwave 3D, Tarpon (a ruggedized PDA based on the Newton), Xclaim VR (a graphics accelerator), PhotoTools 1.0, CD/Maxtet 1600 (a device that connects 16 hot swappable 8x CD-ROM drives to your Mac), and Photoshop 4.0.
    • Reviews – Reviews of Claris Home Page & golive Pro, Chromatica, QX-Tools 2.0/PageTools 2.0, Killer Transitions 1.0, Street Atlas 3.0, Phone Search 2.0, MovieStar 1.5, Movie Cleaner, Web-Motion, Myrmidon, Spell Catcher 1.5.6, RAM Doubler 2.0, QuicKeys 3.5, KeyQuencer, Zork Nemesis, AMBER: Journeys Beyond, Gabriel Knight II, Voyeur II, Close Combat, IndyCar Racing II, Don’t Quite Your Day Job, Catz, Sacred and Secular, Berlitz Think & Talk Spanish 2.0, Michael Jackson’s World Beer Hunter, The Ultimate 3D Skeleton, Origins of Mankind, Better Homes and Gardens Remodeling Your Home, Practice Makes Perfect Spanish, Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion, and more.
    • Ask Us – Questions answered about changing the Mac’s Trash icon, adding an additional monitor to a Mac IIci, keeping the Mac’s clock in sync, memory interleaving on PowerMacs, and more.
    • PowerPlay – An sneak peak at Starfleet Academy and an interview with Rusty Buchert, the producer of Starfleet Academy.

    …and more!


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  • Compute! (July 1982)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Compute! – Issue Number 26 – July 1982

    Compute! was one of the earliest home computer magazines. By 1982 it had already been published for a couple of years and was covering computers such as the Atari 400/800, Commodore PET, VIC-20, Apple II and others. The July 1982 issue includes:

    Features

    • Gold Rush! – A type-in game for the VIC-20 and Atari 400/800 in which you must mine gold while avoiding cave-ins.
    • IRA Planner – A type-in BASIC program to help you plan and calculate the future value of your IRA.
    • Maze Race – A type-in BASIC maze race game in which you can race the computer or a human opponent to the center of the maze.
    • Test RAM for Bad Bits, Non-destructively – A machine language program for testing memory. It does so non-destructively by copying existing data out of the memory location and back in after the test.

    Education and Recreation

    • Recursive BASIC Subroutines – A tutorial on using recursive programming in BASIC programs using the Towers of Brahma problem as an example.
    • Screen Graphics – A tutorial on manipulating screen graphics with specific examples for Atari and Commodore computers.
    • Answer Selection With Joysticks – A BASIC program for the VIC-20 and Atari computers that demonstrates how to use the Joystick to select items on the screen.
    • Apple Game Paddles – Think you’re a hardcore gamer? Gamers in the early 80s built their own controllers.
    • Computing Techniques for the Handicapped – Techniques for adapting computers for those with disabilities.
    • Multi-digit Addition – A BASIC program for the PET and VIC-20 that allows you to add numbers together that are up to 254 digits long.

    Reviews

    • Caverns of Mars – An action game for the Atari 400/800 in which you must fly your way through the tunnels of Mars battling Martians along the way.
    • Two Programs from the VIC Six Pack – Reviews of Car Chase, a game in which you race a car around a square while collecting dots and avoiding the other car; and Blue Meanies From Outer Space, a game somewhat similar to Space Invaders.
    • SoftBox: CP/M for PET/CBM – A CP/M emulator for the PET. It’s essentially a CP/M computer that plugs between the PET and disk drive that allows you to use the monitor, keyboard and disk drives of your PET.
    • SYSRES For PET/CBM – A programming tool that adds 33 commands including 6 improved BASIC commands and 11 extended DOS commands among other things.
    • Fun with Microcomputers and BASIC – A book that teaches BASIC programming and includes a bunch of entertainment oriented programs to type in.

    Columns and Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes – A brief look at the Chicago Consumer Electronics Show and National Computer Conference in Houston. Highlights included a bunch of new computers from Commodore, including the BX256, B128, “P” Series, Commodore 64, and Commodore MAX.
    • Ask the Readers – A conversation with readers about extending languages, Atari computer lock-ups, Fast-Find for the Commodore PET and VIC-20, using the GET BASIC command on Atari computers, and more.
    • Computers and Society – Achieving computer literacy with PILOT and LOGO, making music with computers, and more.
    • The Beginner’s Page: Making Files Work – File handling in BASIC using the Commodore PET/VIC-20, Atari 400/800 and Apple II.
    • Friends of the Turtle – Fractal graphics using Apple LOGO and Atari PILOT.
    • The World Inside the Computer – Kids and computers.
    • Learning with Computers – Comparing BASIC to LOGO and teaching kids to program.
    • Telecommunications: Choosing A Modem – A look at acoustic coupler modems, inductive coupler modems and various kinds of direct connect modems.
    • Machine Language: First Steps – The third and final part of a Machine Language tutorial in which a bar graph is created.
    • Insight: Atari – Part six of a series of articles on Atari BASIC. This part looks at strings and arrays among other things.

    The Journal

    • A Direct Access File Editor – A type-in BASIC file editing tool for the PET/CBM and Atari disk users.
    • MicroDOS – A technique for optimizing your Atari DOS disks to reduce disk storage and memory requirements.
    • Whither VIC – A look at the brief history of the VIC so far (about a year old at the time) and its immediate future.
    • Super QuadraPET – A type-in program for partitioning memory on the PET and moving programs between those partitions.
    • Apple DOS Changer – A BASIC program that will rename potentially destructive DOS commands (like INIT which erases a disk). Useful in a classroom setting.
    • Atari Video Graphics and the New GTIA – In 1982 Atari computers got a graphics upgrade with the new GTIA chip. It included a new sixteen color mode, the ability to generate 256 colors, and much more.
    • All About PET/CBM Character Sets – An article describing all of the currently existing PET/CBM character sets in detail.
    • Language Lab – A type-in program to help you learn a foreign language on your Atari 400/800.
    • VIC Super Expander Memory Map – A memory map of most of the machine language routines included with the VIC Super Expander.
    • Atari Variable Table Refresh and Program Backup – A type-in program for Atari computers that helps to create automatic backups of your programming sessions and avoid data loss.
    • How to Use the 6560 Video Interface Chip – An article detailing the hardware of the 6560 VIC chip and how to use it.
    • Machine Language Compactor – A program written in machine language for the PET/CBM that will compress your BASIC programs. Compressing a 16K program takes about 5-6 minutes.
    • The FORTH Page: Headless Metacompilation – A program for the PET that compiles a FORTH program removing key words/commands that are unused thereby reducing memory requirements.
    • Resource Part 1: Mapping Machine Language Code – A tool (for OSI computers) that facilitates documenting machine language disassemblies among other things.

    …and more!


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  • Compute! (May 1983)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Compute! – Issue Number 36 – May 1983

    Compute! was probably the best magazine for home computer users in the 1980s. It covered a wide variety of machines and included reviews, technical content, type-in programs and more. the May 1983 issue includes:

    Features

    • the New Low-Cost Printer/Plotters – An overview of the latest (relatively) inexpensive printer/plotters on the market. Mostly they were in the range of $200-$400 but many of them were not much more that the equivalent of a receipt printer. Items covered include the Texas Instruments HX-1000, Radio Shack CGP-115, Commodore CBM 1520, and Atari 1020.
    • Jumping Jack – A type-in platform style game for the Commodore 64, Atari 400/800, TI-99/4A and VIC-20.
    • Atari’s New Add-On Computer for VCS 2600 Game Machine – For an extra $90 you could turn your Atari 2600 into a home computer. This package included a snap-on keyboard that plugged into the cartridge port (and included an expansion port to plug cartridges into), 8K of RAM, and built-in BASIC. Peripherals were planned such as a disk drive (which may have actually made it useful) but these were never released.
    • One On One – A type-in game that is sort of like pong but each player must protect a wall. For the VIC-20, Commodore 64, and Apple II.
    • Computers and Composition – The pros and cons of word processing.

    Education and Recreation

    • Deflector – A type-in game for the VIC-20, Atari 400/800 and Apple II that is essentially a very early real-time strategy game in which you must place deflectors to alter the trajectory of a bouncing ball to get it to go where you want.
    • Crosswords – A type-in computerized crossword puzzle for the VIC-20, TI-99/4A, PET/CBM, Atari 400/800 and Apple II.
    • Checkers – A type-in checkers game for the Commodore 64.
    • Programming Multicolor Characters on the VIC – A guide for the VIC-20 on creating multi-color characters including how to select colors for the screen, border, characters and more.
    • Atari Starshot – A type-in BASIC game for the Atari 400/800 that produces a Death Star trench run type game.
    • Guess That Animal – A type-in guessing game for the ZX-81.

    Reviews

    • Atari CX85 Numerical Keypad – An adding machine style numerical keypad with function keys for the Atari 400/800.
    • Three VIC Cartridge Games By Creative Software – Three games for the VIC-20 including Choplifter, Serpentine and Trashman.
    • Hescount for PET/CBM and VIC – A program profiler for the PET and VIC-20.
    • Micro-Systems’ VIE Cartridge: VIC to IEEE Interface – Allows you to connect your 4016, 4032, and 8032 PET/CBM disk drives, as well as other IEEE devices, to your VIC-20.
    • Microteach Teacher’s Aide for the Atari – Software for creating computer based lessons.

    Columns and Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes – The Eighth West Coast Computer Faire, new Compute! editors, and more.
    • Readers’ Feedback – Reader letters about light pens, simulating a clock for the TI, using Atari’s Player/Missile graphics, VIC PILOT, random numbers for the TI-99/4A and more.
    • Computers and Society – The future of domestic robots (meanwhile we still don’t have anything practical except Roomba).
    • The Beginner’s Page – Computer Aided Instruction, home computer applications, and more.
    • Questions Beginners Ask – Questions answered about joystick programming for the Atari 400 and what accessories you need when buying a computer.
    • The World Inside The Computer: Software for Toddlers – The future of software for kids.
    • Friends of the Turtle – The introduction of the Mattel Aquarius computer at the Winter CES and available Logo cartridge; a preview of a turtle graphics package from HES; and a robot called B.O.B.
    • Machine Language: Numeric Output, Part I – Part one of a tutorial for outputting and formatting numbers using machine language.
    • Insight: Atari – Part 2 on writing your own interpreter plus more info on the Atari 1200XL.
    • Programming The TI: Graphics – Drawing pictures, using colors, creating user-defined graphics characters and more.
    • Guest Commentary: Is RAM Memory a Status Symbol? – An argument that the less scarce (and cheaper) RAM is, the less effort should be put towards economizing its use. Plus, ideas for usage of large (like 1 MB!) amounts of RAM.
    • News & Products – Some new games for the TRS-80 Models I and II as well as the TRS-80 Color Computer; a 27K memory upgrade for the VIC-20 for $169; Voice Box II speech synthesizer for the Atari 400/800; and much more.

    The Journal

    • VIC Kaleidoscope – A type in program for the VIC-20 that provides a kaleidoscope-like graphical display and music.
    • Instant Commodore 64 Art – Two type-in programs for the Commodore 64. One creates random art for you, the other lets you create your own.
    • Graphics on the Sinclair/Timex – A graphics tutorial for the Timex/Sinclair with examples.
    • PET/CBM POP – Using the POP command to cancel a GOSUB in BASIC.
    • Bootmaker for VIC, PET and 64 – Automating the boot process.
    • Basic Atari BASIC Sorts – Bubble Sorts, Insertion Sorts and other sorts for the Atari in BASIC.
    • PET Super Editor – A screen editing subroutine for the PET with numerous options.
    • VICSTATION: A “Paperless Office” – A type-in text editor for the VIC-20.
    • Screen Printer for the Atari Wedge – A new command to send screen output to the printer.
    • Commodore 64 Video – A Guided Tour, Part IV – Part 4 of a detailed guide to the Commodore 64’s video capabilities.
    • VIC File Case – A type-in program to help you keep track of your files.
    • The Atari Musician – A couple of type-in programs to compute pitch values to play major and minor chords, generate scales, and more.
    • Visiting the VIC-20 Video, Part I – The first in a multi-part series about the VIC’s video chip, it’s structure, and how to use it.
    • General-Purpose Data Base, Part II – The second part in a two-part series on creating a database for the TI-99/4A and TRS-80 Color Computer.
    • TCON: The Apple Writer Processes Programs – Use the search capabilities and other functions of Apple Writer to help you with your program.
    • Apple Fast Sort – A sort routine for the Apple II that can sort 1000 random strings in one minute and 45 seconds (whereas a standard bubble sort takes it 8 hours and 57 minutes).
    • 64 Odds and Ends – Several tips and tricks for the Commodore 64.
    • Atari Times – Knowing the time it takes the Atari to perform various operations to help you improve the speed of your programs.
    • Versatile Data Acquisition with VIC – Adjusting the speed of the VIC-20’s internal clock to match timing needs for data acquisition hardware…or to speed up games.
    • Optimizing PET Speed – Making your programs faster my carefully choosing the line numbers for GOSUB and GOTO routines in BASIC.
    • TI BASIC One-Liners – How to use the TI BASIC DEF statement.
    • Disassemble to Printer or Disk for Atari – How to store disassemblies of machine language programs on disk or print them out.
    • The Apple Hi-Res Painter – A type-in art program in which you can use one of 6 colors (or combinations) and three different drawing pens.

    …and more!


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