Practical Computing - November 1982, Volume 5, Issue 11

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Publication Date : November 1982

Publication Contents :

Page Item
43 Editorial [Article]
Peter Laurie
Preparing for a leap into the real world
45 Feedback [Article]
User's letters covering topics including Machine intelligence, Cryptanalysis, CP/M password
48 Spectrum's delays [News Item]
Sinclair Research entered the record books with the success of the ZX-81, a micro which has now sold half a million worldwide. Yet the success of that machine is thrown into deep contrast by the supply difficulties associated with the new ZX Spectrum. At the time of going to press the expected delivery date for newly ordered Spectrum's is January 1983 - a delay of around three months from receipt of customer's orders.
48 Coming events [News Item]
Listings for Expert Systems course, IT Year Conference, Localnet '83 (Europe), and a computer convention at North-East London Polytechnic.
48 Eyes for the micro [News Item]
Visual recognition hardware is becoming less expensive. For under £2,000 Digithurst has brought out a system suitable for use with the Apple, Acorn, the BBC Micro or Commodore Pet with high-resolution graphics card.
48 Full-scale APL [News Item]
The programming language APL has an enthusiastic following in the world of mainframe computing, but until now no full implementation had been available to run under CP/M. Viz-APL, from a company called Inner Product, conforms to the proposed ANSI standard and closely matches the IBM definition of APL.
48 Home health advice [News Item]
If you miss the Radio Doctor, you will be pleased to learn about the Home Doctor Series from Eastmead Computer Systems. The series consist of six cassettes, each containing about 18 programs. The subjects range from Basic Medicine to 101 Nursing Tips.
49 HP joins portable battle [News Item]
1983 looks like being the year of the truly portable computer. Following the announcement of the £500 Epson HX-20 portable computer, the giant instrument, minicomputer and calculator manufacturer Hewlett-Packard has launched its own portable computer. The HP-75C is scarcely bigger than a reporter's notebook and can run for 30 hours off its own internal batteries while in its maximum power mode.
49 Fast 256K pseudo-disc [News Item]
As the cost of RAM chips falls, products which emulate discs in RAM memory can be expected to become a very popular way of enhancing the performance of computer systems. The Basram card provides 256K of pseudo-disc space for the Apple II, and is compatible with DOS 3.3, Pascal and the Z-80 Softcard.
50 Torch discs for BBC [News Item]
The Torch Z-80 based disc unit for the BBC Micro turns this powerful home micro into a "real" computer system capable of running CP/M software.
50 Real-time clock [News Item]
Varuna's real-time clock is designed to fit inside the case where its on-board battery back-up enables continuous operation for up to six months without the host computer being switched on.
50 New products in brief [News Item]
Sirius Forth, TRS/Genie Electric NoteBook, Victor 9000 Tabs, Fortune 32:16 micro, Apple abstracts, and Select on Xerox 820.
50 Versatile printer [News Item]
The Daisy System M-45 printer has been designed so that it can be used with a large number of computer systems - anything from a mainframe to a mini or a micro.
50 Hewlett-Packard [News Item]
At the same time as launching the new portable HP-75C, Hewlett-Packard has brought out a totally new product, for the well-defined desk-top personal-computer slot. The HP-86 runs all HP's Series-80 software as well as CP/M products.
53 Unix OS at root of new name [News Item]
CDS Computers Ltd is so taken with the Unix operating system that it has changed its name to Root Computers Ltd. Root was the first UK company to be granted a licence for the Unix System III operating system and is now established as one of the world leaders in this field.
53 Checkmate to Boss [News Item]
In a recent competition the VIC-20 chess program Boss confounded the opposition. Set at a level of skill where the average response time was 60 seconds, the VIC-20 game managed to beat Sargon II on the Apple II, Petchess, and Chessmaster on the Texas TI-99/4A.
53 Biosis now on CP/M [News Item]
Bits is a new information distribution service designed for use with desk-top computers. It consists of regular deliveries of diskettes containing indexed citations or abbreviated text selected from Biosis, the world's largest English-language life-science information service.
53 Sirius software [News Item]
Coinciding with its television advertising campaign in which a robot mutates into a woman, ACT Sirius has brought out 'Exhibit One', a catalogue designed to show that plenty of software exists for its 16-bit machine. ACT claims to have sold over 3,000 systems and is clearly going all out to establish a strong user base before the IBM Personal Computer arrives officially in the UK.
53 Date is set for Northern fair [News Item]
Personal computer enthusiasts in the Greater Manchester and Merseyside area are to have their own computer exhibition, the Northern Computer Fair, which is being held at Belle Vue, Manchester from November 25-27.
55 Torch: a tool for the 80s? [Article]
Bill Bennett
Bill Bennett finds that the Torch is more than just another micro.
58 Commodore 64 [Review]
Jack Schofield
Jack Schofield takes a look at the latest micro from CBM.
60 TI-99/4A - TI's Home Computer. Unbeatable value. Unrivalled software. [Advert]
61 dBase II [Review]
Peter Wood
A relational database for programmers is investigated by Peter Wood.
65 Zenith Z-120 - the 16-bit Micro with 8-bit compatibility and colour graphics [Advert]
66 Bit Stik [Review]
David Watt
A high-resolution graphics package for the Apple is put through its paces.
71 SDS and Microcache [Review]
Chris Bidmead
Chris Bidmead finds there is more than one way of storing large quantities of data.
73 ZX Spectrum [Advert]
Four-page, colour advert.
77 Preview: Compec '82 [News Item]
What to look for at the year's foremost computer show.
85 Tandy TRS-80 Word Processing System [Advert]
86 Using the BBC Micro as a colour graphics terminal [Article]
John Ferguson & Tony Shaw
John Ferguson and Tony Shaw combine the BBC's graphics facilities with the versatility of CP/M
94 ACT Sirius 1 - The 16-bit Personal Computer [Advert]
Double-page, colour advert
96 The BBC Microcomputer System [Advert]
98 Store the lit pixels ignore all others [Article]
Graham Kirby
Large numbers of pixels quickly devour disc space, but Graham Kirby explains ways of reducing the amount of storage required.
102 The new Dragon 32. So well designed, you'll even understand this ad. [Advert]
Double-page, colour advert.
106 Tuscan S100 - Designed for expanding minds [Advert]
110 The 64 from Commodore - At £299 it's very little. At 64K it's very large. [Advert]
Double-page, colour advert.
113 Shapes of molecules to come [Article]
David Brown
David Brown programs the Apple II to display molecular structures.
117 Fourier transforms on VisiCalc [Type-In Listing]
Jonathan Reed
A technical application of the popular software tool, devised by John Read.
121 VIC-20 - How to make the best home computer in the world even better [Advert]
124 The Galaxy 1 Computer [Advert]
127 Death by Fear [Article]
Simon Williams
Fiction.
128 Wise men follow the star. The North Star. [Advert]
130 The small Business Computer by the Biggest in the Business - the IBM Personal [Advert]
134 Timetable options [Type-In Listing]
Clive Bulmer
Take the pain out of timetable planning with Clive Bulmer's Pet program.
139 Torch The World Beater [Advert]
141 Flexible files for mailing-list package [Type-In Listing]
David Oborne
A program from David Oborne that will upgrade the Pet word processor.
147 Huffman code [Type-In Listing]
Bob Mackay
A technique which allows you to store text without eating up memory, by Bob Mackay.
150 Tron [Review]
Bill Bennett
Practical Computing's Bill Bennett goes to the cinema - could this be the shape of films to come?
153 Open File [Article]
17 pages of microcomputer software for the serious programmer.
157 LSI System M-Three and M-Four [Advert]
Three-page, colour advert.
166 ORIC-1 [Advert]
Double-page, colour advert.
173 Superbrain II [Advert]
178 "When I sell a Xerox 820 Business Micro, I'm happy because I know my customer will be." [Advert]
191 Book Reviews [Review]
'A Practical Introduction to Computer Graphics' by Ian O Angell, 'The Gateway Guide to the ZX-81 and ZX-80' by Mark Charlton, 'Applesoft Language' by Brian D. Blackwood and George H. Blackwood, 'Microcomputer Buyer's Guide to 1981' by Tony Webster, 'Introducing Computers' by Ron Condon.
193 Puzzle [Article]
Tony Roberts
Knight's square route.
195 Buyers' Guide - Software [Article]
219 Never mind the quality feel the bandwidth [Article]
Boris Allan
Boris Allan asks who benefits from the cabling of Britain.
233 Triumph Adler Alphatronic [Advert]
238 Jupiter Ace - Probably the fastest microcomputer in the universe [Advert]


ISSN Number : 0141-5433

Creator : IPC Electrical Electronic Press

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH3930. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.
 

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