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  • PC World (April 2010)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    By 2010 PC World and computer magazines in general were already in a state of decline. The Internet was taking over. PC World still had some decent content but the page court was barely over 100 pages. The April 2010 issue includes:

    Features

    • Fantastic Freebies – A look at some of the best free software in various categories. Includes things like desktop customizations, web browser enhancments, productivity, and more.
    • Find Your Windows 7 Desktop – A look at some of the latest Windows 7 ready PCs in various categories. This includes Core 2 Duo and early Core i5/i7 machines in a variety of form factors including all-in-ones, towers, small form factor and others.
    • The Subscription Trap – How people are tricked into signing up for subscriptions. I hate subscriptions in general.

    Departments

    • Techlog – The difficulty of choosing a new smartphone from the vast sea of choices. It really does seem like there was a much greater variety back in the day.
    • PCW Forum – Comments from readers about the upcoming Apple iPad, Windows 7, Botnets, portable hard drives, and more.
    • The Back Page – A Commodore 64 desktop theme, a fan boy chart, and more.

    Forward

    • 3G Wireless Speed Tests – AT&T finishes at the top in this round of 3G speed testing.
    • Beta Watch – A look at some of the latest beta software.
    • GeekTech – An examination of nVidia’s new Optimus switchable GPUs. These were only briefly popular and tended not to be well supported in later versions of Windows.

    Consumer Watch

    • Do Kodak Printers Save Cash – HP challenged Kodak’s claims of cheaper operation. I had a Kodak printer for a while and liked it. Ink was definitely cheaper and seemed to last as long as in other brands. Of course, that all changed when Kodak discontinued their printers.
    • Skeptical Shopper – Six mobile apps that will help you save money.
    • On Your Side – Problems with the Dell XPS 730 and shipping via FedEx.

    Business Center

    • Switching to the Cloud – Advantages and disadvantages of using the cloud and a look at Microsoft’s upcoming Azure cloud-computing platform.
    • Net Work – How to analyze network problems with Wireshark.
    • Tech Audit – A use case in which an old business server was virtualized.

    Security Alert

    • Guard Data On Portable Drives – Options for encrypting portable hard drives.
    • Privacy Watch – Theft by hacking now the top cause of company data losses.

    Reviews and Rankings

    • Ten Essential Android Apps – Apps in this list include AppManager, Astrid Task/Todo List, Google Sky Maps, Google Voice, Last.fm, and more.
    • Bookeen Cybook Opus – This E-Reader beats out Sony’s latest.
    • Top 10 Ultraportable Laptops – At the top of this list is the Sony VGN-Z598U/B featuring a 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo SP9500 CPU.
    • Lenovo ThinkPad Edge – The ThinkPad Edge features a 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo SU7300 and 4GB of DDR3-1066 for $799.
    • Top 10 Solid-State Drives – At the top of this list is the Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB drive for $800.
    • Top 10 Color Laser Printers – The top color laser printer this month is the Dell 5130cdn for $1549.
    • Canon SD940 IS – This compact $300 12 megapixel digital camera gets a decent review here.
    • Download This – A look at some downloads that will customize your desktop including GleeBox, YoWindow, and Download Statusbar.

    Here’s How

    • Tech Support Survival Tips – Tips for getting the best results when talking to tech support.
    • Answer Line – How to reduce Windows Vista user account control messages.
    • Rick Broida’s Hassle-Free PC – Tips for creating a system-repair disk, removing crapware from your new PC, and keeping your PC secure.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Byte (April 1986)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    I’m not sure exactly when Byte peaked in terms of page count but at nearly 500 pages, this issue from April 1986 has to be among the largest. Contents form this issue includes:

    Features

    • Ciarcia’s circuit Cellar: Computer On Guard! – An amusing tale of security taken a bit too far.
    • Programming Project: A Simple Windowing System, Part 2: Implementation – The second and final part of a programming project implementing a windowing system. This part includes pseudocode and code samples.
    • Build The Emulo-8 – This project guides you through building a device that will let you develop EPROM programs in RAM.
    • Making UNIX Secure – A guide to securing UNIX against known methods of attack.
    • Data Design – A guide to designing data files.
    • Programming Insight: DRAGON – A FORTH program to recursively draw a dragon curve on the Macintosh.

    Theme: Number Crunching

    • A Micro-Based Supercomputer – An article about a distributed computer system being build at Columbia University that is made with microcomputer like nodes and special math coprocessing chips.
    • Computer Approximations – Techniques for quickly and accurately approximating mathematical functions.
    • The Inversion of Large Matrices – A solution for inverting matrices on a computer.
    • The Runge-Kutta Methods – Approximating ordinary differential equations.
    • The ATOMCC Toolbox – Using the Taylor series to solve ordinary differential equations.

    Reviews

    • The Panasonic Exec Partner – A “transportable” computer featuring a gas-plasma display and built-in thermal transfer printer. Specs include a 4.77/7.16 MHz 8086-2 CPU, 256K RAM, and two 360K floppy drives for $2595 or $3795 with optional 10-megabyte hard drive.
    • KAMAS – An outline processor and programming language for Z80 based CP/M computers.
    • Professional Debug Facility and Advanced Fullscreen Debug – Two DOS based debuggers.
    • MicroTSP – A PC conversion of a mainframe program used for time series statistical regression.
    • PCTeX and MicroTeX – Two typesetting programs for DOS.

    Kernel

    • Computing at Chaos Manor: Jerry’s Best of 1985 Awards – Some items in the awards list include Excel, FTL Modula-2, the Kaypro 286i, the Hardcard, the OmniTel 1200-Baud Internal Modem, Ancient Art of War, and Wizardry. Also mentioned are the Amiga, Atari ST, and more.
    • BYTE U.K.: Xenophilia – Apricot announces the XEN, their answer to IBM’s 286 based AT. While it shipped with Windows it was not 100% PC compatible and required a BIOS emulator which ran more slowly to run a lot of PC software.
    • According to Webster: Clearing the Backlog – A look at a variety of software products including TML Pascal, Max C, M-Disk, Soft Spool, MichTron Utilities, Mudpies, Flip Side, Mirage, DEGAS, and Deluxe Paint.
    • Applications Only: A Couple of Winners – A look at two software packages including Mirror (a Crosstalk XVI clone) and Framework II.
    • Microbytes – New version of Visi On on the way; UNIX V port coming to 80286/80386 based computers; Modula-2 for the Apple II; Turbo Pascal for the Mac; and more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about visual copyrights, robots, ZBasic benchmarks, conferencing systems, and more.
    • What’s New – A brief look at new products including Apollo’s Domain Series 3000 Personal Workstation, CD-ROM based encyclopedias, PCBoard Designer for the Atari ST, Harvard Presentation Graphics, MacMovies animation system for the Macintosh, Drafix I CAD software for the PC, Synthestra MIDI sequencer and controller for the Apple II, and more.
    • Ask BYTE – Questions answered about EERPROMs, light sabers, home control systems and occupancy detection, and more.
    • Book Reviews – Reviews of The FFT: Fundamentals and Concepts, Designing Digital Filters, Macintosh Revealed Volume Two: Programming With the Toolbox, and Exploring The Pick Operating System.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged