{"id":36646,"date":"2026-03-04T19:44:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/?p=36646"},"modified":"2026-04-03T23:56:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:56:47","slug":"byte-october-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/byte-october-1979\/","title":{"rendered":"Byte (October 1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/magazines\/index.php?twg_album=Computer_Magazines%2FByte%2FByte_1979-10&amp;twg_show=Byte_1979-10_001.jpg\" class=\"keychainify-checked\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_001-751x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"751\" height=\"1024\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-36649\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_001-751x1024.jpg 751w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_001-220x300.jpg 220w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_001-768x1048.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_001-1126x1536.jpg 1126w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_001-88x120.jpg 88w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_001.jpg 1197w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 751px) 100vw, 751px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure if Byte was the first computer magazine but I think of it as the original computer magazine. It was around before home computers were even a thing. Nevertheless, Byte was covering &#8220;small systems&#8221; or microcomputers used by businesses and hobbyists starting in 1975. The October 1979 issue includes:<\/p>\n<h1>Foreground<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Tracing Your Own Roots<\/b> &#8211; A type-in program to aid you in your genealogical research.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Power Helps Analyze Electric Bills<\/b> &#8211; A type-in BASIC program to help you analyze your power bill.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Self-Refreshing LED Graphics Displays<\/b> &#8211; A guide to building LED displays of various sizes including a 4&#215;4 LED matrix.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Interfacing The S-100 Bus With The Intel 8255<\/b> &#8211; The Intel 8255 is a programmable peripheral interface chip that could be used, for example, to interface to a printer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The XYZ Phenomenon: Stereoscopic Plotting by Computer<\/b> &#8211; A way to print 3D images.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Curve Fitting With Your Computer<\/b> &#8211; Curve fitting multiple variable data tables.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Space Game<\/b> &#8211; A BASIC type-in Space War type game that will run on 8080 based machines like the MIPS Altair.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Easy To Use Hashing Function<\/b> &#8211; A tutorial on hashing and an assembly hashing function.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"\/wordpress\/?attachment_id=36648\" class=\"attachment wp-att-36648 keychainify-checked\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_005-751x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"751\" height=\"1024\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-36648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_005-751x1024.jpg 751w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_005-220x300.jpg 220w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_005-768x1047.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_005-1127x1536.jpg 1127w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_005-88x120.jpg 88w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_005.jpg 1198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 751px) 100vw, 751px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1>Background<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Picking Up The Pieces<\/b> &#8211; A guide to recovering from floppy disk errors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Variables Whose Values Are Strings<\/b> &#8211; A couple of methods for storing strings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>IBM Compatible Disk Drives<\/b> &#8211; The IBM PC was still in the future. IBM compatible in this case refers to the IBM 33FD 8-inch floppy drive which was originally create for the IBM 3740 Data Entry System.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The TRS-80 Speaks<\/b> &#8211; A guide to using BASIC to control the Speech Synthesizer Module for the TRS-80.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Low Level Program Optimization<\/b> &#8211; How to reduce the space required and execution time of your programs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Some Laws of Personal Computing<\/b> &#8211; Defining the personal computer experience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Budget Building On A Bare Board<\/b> &#8211; Building a budget machine in 1979 meant starting with a bare circuit board and adding all the parts yourself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Nucleus<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Editorial<\/b> &#8211; Designing a board for a 6809 processor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Letters<\/b> &#8211; Letters from readers about light based communication, mapping phone companies, converting hexadecimal to ASCII, and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Technical Forum<\/b> &#8211; Implementing a finite state machine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>BYTE News<\/b> &#8211; A look at the future of the S-100 bus and competition from Apple, Radio Shack, Commodore, etc.; a new image sensor using a photo diode array; a new online service called The Source, automobile makers researching computer controlled cards; and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Book Reviews<\/b> &#8211; Reviews of Practical Microcomputer Programming: The Intel 8080, Practical Microcomputer Programming: The M6800, and Practical Microcomputer Programming: The Z80.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Programming Quickies<\/b> &#8211; An assembly program for handling ASCII strings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>What&#8217;s New<\/b> &#8211; An alphanumeric calculator from Sharp, an encryption device for the TRS-80, an 8085 card, CAT acoustically coupled modem, Apple II Disassembler, Super BASIC for 6800 computers, and much more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_304-738x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"738\" height=\"1024\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-36647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_304-738x1024.jpg 738w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_304-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_304-768x1066.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_304-1106x1536.jpg 1106w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_304-86x120.jpg 86w, https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Byte_1979-10_304.jpg 1182w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 738px) 100vw, 738px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m not sure if Byte was the first computer magazine but I think of it as the original computer magazine. It was around before home computers were even a thing. Nevertheless, Byte was covering &#8220;small systems&#8221; or microcomputers used by businesses and hobbyists starting in 1975. The October 1979 issue includes: Foreground Tracing Your Own Roots &#8211; A type-in program to aid you in your genealogical research. Power Helps Analyze Electric Bills &#8211; A type-in BASIC program to help you analyze your power bill. Self-Refreshing LED Graphics Displays &#8211; A guide to building LED displays of various sizes including a 4&#215;4 LED matrix. Interfacing The S-100 Bus With The Intel 8255 &#8211; The Intel 8255 is a programmable peripheral interface chip that could be used, for example, to interface to a printer. The XYZ Phenomenon: Stereoscopic Plotting by Computer &#8211; A way to print 3D images. Curve Fitting With Your Computer &#8211; Curve fitting multiple variable data tables. Space Game &#8211; A BASIC type-in Space War type game that will run on 8080 based machines like the MIPS Altair. Easy To Use Hashing Function &#8211; A tutorial on hashing and an assembly hashing function. Background Picking Up The Pieces &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3488,367,486,2835,2362],"class_list":["post-36646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computer-arcana","tag-1970s","tag-byte","tag-computers","tag-magazine","tag-retrocomputing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36646"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36769,"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36646\/revisions\/36769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}