An Wang

An Wang (; February 7, 1920 – March 24, 1990) was a Chinese–American computer engineer and inventor, and co-founder of computer company Wang Laboratories, which was known primarily for its dedicated word processing machines. An Wang was an important contributor to the development of magnetic core memory.
Early life and career.
A native of Kunshan County in Suzhou Prefecture, he was born in Shanghai, China, His father taught English at an elementary school outside Shanghai, while his mother Zen Wan (Chien) Wang was a homemaker. He graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University with a degree in electrical engineering in 1940. He immigrated to the United States in June 1945 to attend Harvard University for graduate school, earning a PhD in applied physics in 1948. After graduation, he worked at Harvard with Howard Aiken on the design of the Mark IV, Aiken's first fully electronic computer. Wang co-invented the pulse transfer controlling device with Way-Dong Woo, a schoolmate from China who fell ill before their patent was issued. The new device implemented "write-after-read" which made magnetic core memory possible. Harvard reduced its commitment to computer research in 1951, prompting Wang to start his own engineering business.
Wang Laboratories.
Wang founded Wang Laboratories in June 1951 as a sole proprietorship. The first years were lean and Wang raised $50,000 working capital by selling one third of the company to a machine tools manufacturer Warner & Swasey Company.
In 1955, when the core memory patent was issued, Wang sold it to IBM for $500,000 and incorporated Wang Laboratories with Ge-Yao Chu, a schoolmate. The company grew slowly and in 1964 sales reached $1,000,000. Wang began making desktop electronic calculators with digital displays, including a centralised calculator with remote terminals for group use.
By 1970 the company had sales of $27 million and 1,400 employees. They began manufacturing word processors in 1974, copying the already popular Xerox Redactron word processor, a single-user, cassette-based product.
In 1976, they started marketing a multi-user, display-based product, based on the Zilog Z80 processor. Typical installations had a master unit (supplying disk storage) connected to intelligent diskless slaves which the operators used. Connections were via dual coax using differential signaling in an 11-bit asynchronous ASCII format clocked at 4.275 MHz. This product became the market leader in the word processing industry. In addition to calculators and word processors, Wang's company diversified into minicomputers in the early 1970s. The Wang 2200 was one of the first desktop computers with a large CRT display and ran a fast hardwired BASIC interpreter. The Wang VS system was a multiuser minicomputer whose instruction set was very close to the design of IBM's System/370. It was not binary-compatible because register usage conventions and system call interfaces were different. The Wang VS serial terminals could be used in data processing mode and word processing mode. They were user-programmable in data-processing mode and used the same word processing software as the earlier dedicated word processing systems.
In 1984, Wang and his family owned about 55 percent of the company stock, and Forbes magazine, estimating his worth at $1.6 billion, ranked him as the fifth richest American.
Wang Laboratories, which in 1989 once employed over 30,000 people, was headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts and later Lowell, Massachusetts. When Wang looked to retire from actively running his company in 1986, he insisted upon handing over the corporate reins to his son Fred Wang. Hard times ensued for the company and the elder Wang was eventually forced to remove his son in 1989.
Later years.
An Wang also founded the Wang Institute of Graduate Studies in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts which offered a graduate program in software engineering. He made substantial donations to this organization, including the proceeds of his autobiography, "Lessons". However, enrollment remained low, and in 1987, after nearly a decade of operation, Wang decided to discontinue funding the institution and transferred ownership of the campus to Boston University.
An Wang also made a substantial contribution for the restoration of a Boston landmark, which was then called the Metropolitan Theatre. The "Met" was renamed in 1983 as The Wang Theatre, and the Metropolitan Center became known as the Wang Center for the Performing Arts. Wang donated $4 million to Massachusetts General Hospital's ambulatory care center, which was renamed to the Wang Building.
Wang was one of twelve recipients of the Medal of Liberty in 1986. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1988. The An Wang Middle School in Lowell, Massachusetts, is named in his honor, as is the An Wang Professorship of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Harvard University, held by Roger W. Brockett and Hanspeter Pfister, the An Wang Professorship of Computer Science at Brown University, held by John E. Savage, and the Wang Professorship of Cognitive and Neural Systems at Boston University, held by Stephen Grossberg; see sites.bu.edu/steveg.
An Wang died of cancer in 1990. He and his wife, Lorraine (Chur) Wang, lived in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Lorraine Wang died on March 1, 2016, at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts. They had three children.
Aphorisms.
An Wang is known for a number of pithy aphorisms summing up principles based on his experience in business and life. Examples include:


Master of Monsters

Master of Monsters is a turn-based strategy game developed by SystemSoft for the MSX and NEC PC8801. It was later ported to a variety of consoles and PCs including the PC Engine, NEC PC9801, Sega Mega Drive (Genesis), Sega Saturn and PlayStation. While it never garnered the same success as its SystemSoft stablemate Daisenryaku, the game garnered a loyal following. Its success in the North American market on the Sega Genesis proved sufficient for a sequel on the Sega Saturn, and an anime art-style enhanced PlayStation version titled "Disciples of Gaia" with a Japanese role-playing game feel.
Gameplay.
Gameplay engages players by permitting them to summon and move monsters around a board in an effort to capture towers and to eventually defeat the opponents (which are controlled either by other humans or by the computer program). Moves are based on a hexagonal board structure, such that every tile on the board is adjacent to six other tiles. Other notable features were the large variety of monsters, upgrading ("leveling up") of veteran units and control of a "Master" character who, if killed, can end the game for that player.
The focus of the game is strategic, despite the fantasy-type characters that might imply an RPG element. Other than the existence of the Master character and magic in the game, the gameplay is very similar to System Soft's more hardcore modern warfare strategic wargame series "Daisenryaku", with the exception that some versions of the "Master of Monsters" (such as "Master of Monsters – Final") series allow equippable items, weapons and armor.
Comparisons.
The later "Lords of Chaos" by Julian Gollop of Mythos Games shares many of the same elements of summoning and tactics, along with the earlier title Chaos from 1985. David White, creator of the open-source turn-based strategy game "Battle for Wesnoth", cited "Master of Monsters" as an inspiration. "Master of Monsters" was also compared to later games such as the role-playing video game series "Pokémon" (which also revolves around commanding monsters) and the real-time strategy game "Starcraft".
Updates.
System Soft Alpha returned the game to its strategy-based roots, and the two entries in the "Master of Monsters" series as originally popularized on the NEC 9801 PC were updated by System Soft Alpha with new graphics and gameplay features. Two more sequels were made for Japanese Windows and hark back to the deep strategic gameplay of the NEC PC9801 versions (as opposed to the more casual Genesis and PlayStation versions). Available for Japanese language Windows-based systems, the remakes include "マスターオブモンスターズIII Special Edition", "マスターオブモンスターズ4 ～光と闇の争覇～", "Master of Monsters Value Edition ("the original game, updated and with expansion packs added in), and "真・マスターオブモンスターズ Final". A spin-off of the game targeted towards the younger audience was titled "Masumon Kids". A mobile version of the game is available in Japan.


The Home Computer Course

The Home Computer Course () was a partwork magazine published by Orbis Publishing in the United Kingdom during 1983 and 1984, covering the subject of home computer technology. It ran for 24 weekly issues, before being succeeded by "The Home Computer Advanced Course".
Each issue contained articles on various topics, including computer hardware, software, computer applications, a "Questions and Answers" column, BASIC programming and an in-depth review of a contemporary microcomputer, with annotated exploded view photos of its internals.


World Builder

World Builder is a game creation system for point-and-click adventure games. It was released in 1986 by Silicon Beach Software and had already been used for creating Enchanted Scepters in 1984. In 1994, World Builder along with Course Builder, SuperCard, and HyperDA was cited as the reason Appleton was "something of a legend". On August 7, 1995, developer William C. Appleton released World Builder as freeware.
Functionality.
The games World Builder created used different layers of code to manipulate the images the game contained: object code, scene code, and finally world code. The World Template included with the program contained default world code with default failure responses to standard text commands like north, south, up, down, and so on. Other than actions with characters (which were always combat oriented) and clicking on objects to pick them up everything had to set up through code and dialog boxes.
The map is organized in compass directions and up/down as was common in earlier interactive fiction. Characters can be defined to move around independently and interacted with. There is also a special provision for weapons, which have a stochastic impact just as the dice of role-playing games. The game system includes QuickDraw vector graphics, a scripting language and digitized sound. A large number of games were made and released in circulation, many after the application was made freeware in 1995. The software does not support 32 bit addressing and hence games created with it are not compatible with System 7 or later. A ResEdit hack was provided to allow the program (and its games) to run on System 7 to 9 but sounds would not play on Power PC Macs.
Ray Dunakin, author of numerous titles using the game development system, contributed various documentation and supporting files for the World Builder 1.2 release.
Reception.
The program was reviewed in 1987 in "Dragon" #118 by Hartley and Patricia Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers stated that "The variety of worlds, scenes, and characters you can create and motivate seems endless... We are really impressed with "World Builder"." In a subsequent column, the reviewers gave the program 3½ out of 5 stars.


AtariLab

AtariLab was a laboratory instrumentation system and related computer software for the Atari 8-bit family intended to be used in a high school science classroom setting. The concept was developed by Priscilla Laws, a physics professor at Dickinson College, and developed in partnership with Atari, Inc.. The AtariLab Starter Set with the Temperature Module was released in late 1983, and followed by the add-on Light Module in February 1984. Several other modules were planned for future release.
The system was just coming onto the market when Atari was sold to Jack Tramiel and all development on the system ended. By this time the development company organized by Laws had ported the system to the Commodore 64 and Apple II. Small numbers of the Atari and C64 versions were sold commercially, but the Apple II version was never completed. The company went on to produce a professional version of the system for the IBM PC platform, which sold tens of thousands of examples.
History.
Impetus.
AtariLab came about after Laws saw a thermistor dipped into ice water being sampled and graphed on an expensive laboratory system. Instead of having to periodically sample a thermometer and then use the data to produce a graph, the computer was creating this in real time, and "it blew me away." Considering a common experiment carried out by students, producing a cooling curve for hot water, the system would reduce perhaps 15 to 20 minutes of work to a few moments. This would free up so much time the students would be able to carry out multiple experiments in a typical lab period, perhaps testing the effects of insulation, or producing curves for different materials in a single sitting.
Development.
Laws began using similar devices in her teaching lab, and as Laws's son owned an Atari 8-bit computer, began development of a recording and graphing system on that platform. The Atari was ideal for the task for two reasons. One was because it had a high-resolution graphics mode that was, at the time of introduction, one of the best displays available and easily accessed through Atari BASIC. Another was that the engineers had equipped it with joystick ports of unusual flexibility, which allowed them to be used as a general purpose voltage sampling input. Combining a simple sampling board with software written by a 15-year-old middle-school student, David Egolf, the basic concept was quickly developed.
Laws approached Atari with the idea of commercializing the system, and found a receptive audience in Leslie Wolf, Atari's product manager for Atari Logo and other educational materials, and a middle manager, Mike Nalblah. Forming a company to develop the concept, Laws received some funding from the University and began development. Laws flew to Atari several times to discuss the concept, how to package it and what sort of course material to include.
The AtariLab Starter Set with the Temperature Module was released in late 1983, with the Light Module following soon after in February 1984. The system received considerable press, and won the Software of the Year Award for 1984 from Classroom Computer Learning magazine. Articles written at the time talked about Biofeedback, Timekeeper, Lie Detector, Reaction Time, pH, and different Mechanic modules. but the only other module under active development at the time was a Motion Module that used an ultrasonic motion sensor for various dynamics experiments.
By early 1984, the effects of the video game crash of 1983 left Atari in turmoil, and the company was losing over a million dollars a day. The owners, Warner Communications, became desperate to sell the company, and eventually did so to Jack Tramiel, on 1 July 1984, for $50 cash and $240 million in promissory notes. The AtariLab system was caught up in the confusion, and Wolf was laid off. Production continued only because Wolf noticed that no one knew who was paying the salaries of the small production team, and she told them to keep working until their paychecks stopped arriving.
After Atari.
By this time, Laws's holding company had released the Commodore 64 version, but Commodore was soon in similar turmoil. The Apple II version never shipped. With the market rapidly moving to the IBM PC, they decided to refocus on that platform.
Continuing work on the basic concept, Laws began to develop Workshop Physics, an introductory physics course based entirely on computerized labwork instead of lectures. She partnered with Ron Thornton of Tufts University and Robert Tinker of the Technical Education Research Centers, and began development of the coursework. Looking for someone to build an adaptor, she contacted a former Atari colleague, Ron Budworth, who had since semi-retired in Silicon Valley. As it became clear that the program had wide appeal, Tinker and the TERC claimed ownership over the design. Laws's attorney ultimately relied on a recent Supreme Court case about a sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr., in which the court decided that basic descriptions, i.e. "a sculpture of MLK", did not imply ownership of the ultimate expression of the idea. Accordingly, as Budworth had carried out all of the actual development of an idea amounting to "an analog adaptor for the Atari port", the design was considered his.
Development of the interface continued and they ultimately made a distribution deal with friends who had recently formed Vernier Software and Technology to market into this field. Budworth produced the boards and sold them through Vernier as the ULI, short for Universal Laboratory Interface. Sales ultimately ran to 40,000 units before newer designs made it obsolete. Vernier remains the leading worldwide supplier of computerized data collection equipment. The courses originally developed as part of the Workshop Physics program have since developed into a whole suite of similar programs and books.
Description.
The Atari computer's POKEY chip includes eight potentiometer ("pot") input lines, connected to eight capacitors and then in pairs to four joystick ports, each port containing two input lines. (Number of ports was later reduced to two in newer computer models). These lines were originally intended to connect up to eight paddle controllers. A paddle consisted of a potentiometer, whose two terminals would connect to the joystick port's +5V pin on one side, and a pot input pin on the other. Thus the paddle's setting influenced time it would take the capacitor to charge fully. POKEY would measure these times for each of the eight paddles, and present them as values (between 0 and 228) in its POT0-POT7 registers. Writing to POKEY's POTGO register would reset the chip's counters, allowing to repeat the measurement.
The AtariLab hardware consisted largely of a single circuit board that broke out the pins in the joystick port into RCA jacks. The adaptor was about the size of a contemporary multimeter, and like those, had a stand on the back so it stood up at an angle on a desktop. The RCA jacks were color coded and matched the colors on the ends of the plugs on the probes. Setting up a probe required nothing more than plugging into the same-colored socket and then running the associated software, supplied on ROM cartridge. The only other feature of the adaptor was a red LED that indicated power was available, which was true whenever it was plugged in and the computer was turned on.
The associated software had a variety of modes, including a real-time display and a recording chart. In the case of the Temperature Module, for instance, the system could display a thermometer showing the instantaneous temperature, or a strip chart continually recording the temperature over time. The system was controlled mainly through a joystick plugged into one of the other ports. Since the POT0-POT7 registers could also be read from Atari BASIC using codice_1 commands, writing custom software for the system was a simple task.


Vector-06C

Vector-06C () is a home computer with unique graphics capabilities that was designed and mass-produced in USSR in the late 1980s.
History.
Vector-06C was created by Soviet engineers Donat Temirazov and Alexander Sokolov from Kishinev, Moldovan SSR. On 33rd National Radio Exhibition the design was honoured with the grand prize.
Shortly after that several factories started production of Vector-06C. In 1988 Vector was honoured a prize on
Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy.
There were modifications adopting Zilog Z80 CPU or the unique Soviet KR580VM1 CPU. A commercial project called Vector Turbo+ with a Z80 CPU, clock frequency increased to 6 or 12 MHz, RAM sized up to 2 MiB and a variety of other improvements was in development. However, according to the InVector e-zine, a prototype of this system never left the work bench due to economical reasons.
Vector has gradually become less popular with the increasing flow of IBM PC-compatible computers on Soviet and then CIS markets. Presently Vector-06C enjoys loyal following of the few remaining fans.
Hardware.
CPU: KR580VM80A (8080 clone), factory overclocked to 3 MHz (standard frequency was 2.5MHz);
Busses:8-bit data bus, 16-bit address bus;
Memory: 64 KiB RAM, up to 32 KiB can be used as video memory; 2048 bytes of ROM (512 bytes in earlier models);
Video.
Video system supports following modes:
The frame buffer of Vector-06C is unusual for home computers. The memory is organized as 4 bit planes, palette index of each individual pixel is formed from individual bits in 4 planes. Thus the highest colour mode has 24=16 simultaneously displayed colours. The bit planes are defined as follows: a byte represents a horizontal span of 8 pixels. Next byte in video memory represents a span of 8 pixels above it and so on. Thus a bit plane in 256×256 mode can be viewed as 8-pixel wide columns, growing bottom-to-top, left-to-right; whole screen is thus covered by 32 columns.
Sound.
3-channel sound system based around KR580VI53, Soviet clone of Intel 8253 timer. Third party modifications allowed use of
General Instruments AY-3-8910 or YM-2149.
Storage.
A generic household tape recorder was used for persistent data storage. There were 2 modulation methods used, FSK and PSK. Standard 60-minute cassette could hold:
FSK was primarily used in compatibility modes, which allowed reading data written on Microsha, Radio-86RK and ZX Spectrum. Native tape format used by original software is PSK.
Software.
Vector-06C had no built-in software, the tiny ROM only contained a boot loader. The computer could thus only be used with external storage.
Vector-06C was sold with a tape containing system utility and game programs. Third party applications could be obtained through various companies. Original software titles were games, programming languages (BASIC, Pascal, a monitor/debugger, Assembler), text and graphics editors, etc.
Due to the versatility and wide hardware capabilities Vector can be used for education, work and entertainment. As a gaming system it surpassed most of the other Soviet PC thanks to its unique multi-color palette and reasonably fast graphics, smooth hardware vertical scrolling, capabilities of the hardware overlay up to 4 image plans, 3-voices sound chip, a fairly large amount of RAM.
It was created hundreds of games in assembler and thousands in Basic for Vector. Many games ported from the MSX standard, and almost without any changes (Rise Out, Putup, Alibaba, Eric, Binary Land, Pac-Man, Pairs, Stop the express, and others), and less from the ZX Spectrum and IBM PC (Exolon, Color Lines, Boulder Dash, Cybernoid, Filler, Best of the Best, and others). Many games developed specially for Vector: Ambal, Adskok, Grotohod, Polet (Flight), Planet of Birds, Sea Hunter, Death Fight, Cyber Mutant and others. Wide graphics capabilities in many cases allowed with absolute accuracy to simulate the MSX, Spectrum, IBM PC and other PCs.
With optional floppy disk extension, CP/M version 2.2 was adopted. This allowed a broad range of CP/M software to be used on Vector.
It was also possible to run some Radio-86RK, Microsha, Specialist software items. Also, a method of low-level adaptation of ZX Spectrum and MSX titles was developed and some software items were ported. In particular, Vector User magazine mentions a software package consisting of a disassembler, a processor that substitutes Z80-specific instructions that 8080 was lacking with macros and a set of macros. The package was used to port several ZX Spectrum titles, namely "Chess Master", "West Bank", "Jumping Jack"
User community.
Although Vector-06C was foreshadowed by more mainstream home computers such as BK-0010, ZX Spectrum and its clones, it enjoyed a considerable loyal following of fans. Enthusiasts developed and produced software and hardware extensions for Vector. Among hardware extensions there are RAM-disk, floppy and HDD controllers, sound synthesizers, realtime clocks and others. Both commercial and public developments existed. There were electronic and hardcopy publications, most notably "Invector", "Vector User", "Coman Info". Several software contests were held among Vector users, notably DemosFan that used to take place in St.Petersburg, Russia.


Dragon-Quest Adventure

Dragon-Quest Adventure is a 1980 video game published by The Software Exchange for the TRS-80, programmed by Charles Forsythe.
Contents.
"Dragon-Quest Adventure" is a game in which the dragon Smaegor has kidnapped the king's daughter and set a deadline of nightfall before he eats the princess.
Reception.
Dave Albert reviewed "DragonQuest" in "The Space Gamer" No. 44. Albert commented that "Pick up a copy and try to rescue the princess. She needs your help."


Pack (compression)

Pack is a (now deprecated) Unix shell compression program based on Huffman coding.
The unpack utility will restore files to their original state after they have been compressed using the "pack" utility. If no files are specified, the standard input will be uncompressed to the standard output.
Although obsolete, support for packed files exists in modern compression tools such as gzip and 7-zip.
Description of program.
Files compressed by "pack" are typically given the extension ".z" (not to be confused with the ".Z" of compress). Files can be returned to their original state using "unpack". In addition, there may also be a "pcat" command which reads in a compressed file and sends its output to stdout.


Delta (computer)


Frodo Adventure Camera

Frodo Camera is a wearable (strap-on) adventure camera which is accompanied with Mobile Applications to automatically sync and edit videos. It is designed by Nexgear Technology Pvt. Ltd, founded in 2014 and based out of Andheri Saki Naka, Mumbai, India.
History.
Frodo Adventure Camera was conceived to address the problem of lack of skill and time to edit videos, and bulky video-making gadgets and accessories. Frodo was launched by IIT Bombay alumni, Amardeep Singh and Panjab University alumni, Rahul Vats in 2014. The first working prototype of the camera was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, 2016 in the Eureka Park section. Frodo was listed in the Top 5 Hardware start-ups in the Q-Prize competition by Qualcomm for the Make In India campaign.
Concept.
Frodo Adventure Camera works by shooting a video, and connecting it to the mobile application, which automatically syncs the videos, and intelligently edits videos as per your choice. The app’s uses evolutionary algorithm to scan the clip, and choose the best parts for the kind of video the user is looking for. It offers different styles to create the video of the pace and tonality required by the user. The video can then be shared through the mobile application itself. The camera supports HD recording.
Funding.
Nexgear raised an angel round of funding in 2015 from Powai Lake Ventures and GrowX Ventures to build Frodo.


Amiga Power

Amiga Power (AP) was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future plc, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996.
It was in many ways the spiritual successor to "Your Sinclair", which shared many of the same staff and had a similar sense of humour.
Philosophy.
"Amiga Power" had a number of principles which comprised its philosophy regarding games. Like almost all Amiga magazines of the time, they marked games according to a percentage scale. However, "Amiga Power" firmly believed that the full range of this scale should be used when reviewing games. A completely average game, neither overly good nor bad, on this scale would therefore be awarded 50%. Stuart Campbell offered some rationale for this in his review of "Kick Off '96" in the final issue of the magazine:
Amiga magazines at the time (as with most games magazines right up to the present day) tended to give "average" games marks of around 70%, and rarely below 50% except for very poor games. Because most people - including game publishers - were used to this method of grading, "AP" gained a reputation among publishers for being harsh and unfair. "AP" occasionally hinted that game reviewers were being given incentives by game PR divisions to mark games highly.
In fact, fairness was a central part of their philosophy. They despised cheating, and frequently berated their own readers for using cheats to gain advantages in games. (They also believed that this applied in reverse; that games should not be allowed to cheat the player, either.)
They also believed that above anything else, games should be fun to play, and that if this criterion could be met, other factors such as graphical quality, age or heritage were unimportant.
Style.
"Amiga Power" developed and maintained a familiar style throughout its six-year run. The writers were very fond of in-jokes, obscure references and running gags, and popular phrases or literary devices would become absorbed into "AP"'s culture (such as, for example, using capital letters for dramatic emphasis).
AP reviews were written in a very personal, informal manner, as though the reviewer were casually talking to the reader. Writers would sometimes even embark on anecdotes of recent happenings in the "AP" office, or of their interactions with the other "AP" staff. This contributed to "A"P's reputation for self-indulgence, but it also created a sense of familiarity that most of its readers enjoyed.
Writers.
Unlike many games magazines, "AP" policy was to hire people on the basis of their writing skills, rather than their aptitude for or knowledge of games (although most of its staff were also very knowledgeable), on the premise that it was easier to learn about games than to learn to write. Many video game journalists like Kieron Gillen and Stuart Campbell used it as a first step in their career. Gillen, now a successful writer for Marvel Comics, was one of several writers who started off as an "AP" reader and letter-writer (under the name "C-Monster") before being employed by the magazine as a freelance contributor (retaining the "C-Monster" name even in his professional capacity). Another was Mil Millington (known to "AP" readers as "Reader Millington"), who would go on to become a successful novelist, selling over 100,000 copies of his debut "Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About".
Throughout its 65 issues, "AP" went through several editors. The editors, roughly ordered by time, were:
Issues 56-58 were published with no designated editor, and subsequently referred to as "the anarchic collective era".
Ed Comment.
One of the most recognisable "AP" devices was the Ed Comment, which, although not invented by them nor indeed used exclusively by them, was employed extensively and inventively. Over time it evolved into a multi-purpose review device.
An Ed Comment is intended to be an interjection from the editor, inserted into a body of text as if spoken in real-time. The comment is italicised and bracketed, and the suffix " - Ed" is attached to the comment to show that it is from the editor. For example, the comment "This is a comment." would appear as "(This is a comment. - Ed)".
To include a comment from anyone else, the "Ed" can be replaced with the name of that person; however, this was rarely done. In actuality, most Ed Comments were never from the editor at all, but merely presented as such.
After the "Apocalypse" review (see Concept reviews below), the Ed Comment particularly came to be used as a device for humorous or ironic censorship. To censor a word or phrase, the offending word can be replaced by an Ed Comment, which usually provides a non-offensive alternative enclosed in quotes. For example, the word "bastards" could be replaced with "("Bus stops" - Ed)".
As well as censoring violence and profanity, the Ed Comment also provided "AP" with a means of referring to rival magazines, by incorporating a rhyming pseudonym into the comment. For example, mentions of "The One" became "("Currant Bun" - Ed)" and mentions of "Amiga Action" became "("Michael Jackson" - Ed)".
Capital letters.
Approximately halfway through the magazine's life, the practice of using capital letters for dramatic emphasis became increasingly common. An example of this would be a sentence such as "You must ELIMINATE DISSONANT ELEMENTS". Capitalisation was always used for the magazine's catchphrase, "DISSEMINATE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION".
While capitalisation in text is usually interpreted as shouting (and indeed "AP" did shout on occasion), the tone of this style of emphasis was meant to be more booming and sinister, judging by the contexts in which it was used. Capital letters were also separately used to represent the words of regular contributor Rich Pelley, who wrote the magazine's tips section for a long time and apparently had a very loud voice.
"Yesterday" and "natch".
Among "Amiga Power"'s running gags were ending screenshot captions with ", yesterday", for example: "Quik dying of thirst, yesterday", using traditional sub-editor parlance as an expression of dry indifference towards the goings on in the game.
From issue one, another word, "natch", was often introduced to the bewilderment of the readership. For example: "It seems that Dynablaster doesn't run on the A500+ or A600, natch." Various readers sent in letters guessing what the word "natch" meant, until one finally got it right: it is simply a contraction of the word "naturally".
Characters.
Like its spiritual predecessor, "Your Sinclair", "Amiga Power" had several joke characters who would make irregular appearances in reviews and features. These included Uncle Joe Stalin, who made occasional Ed Comments in an attempt to erase Stuart Campbell from history; The Four Cyclists of the Apocalypse, the only minor deities committed to rigorous consumer testing; Doris Stokes, who returned from the dead as an even worse medium than before, and several others besides.
One "character" who actually did exist in real life was Bob the Hamster, whose owner - one David Ripley - asked "AP" to wish Bob well, as he was ill at the time. This resulted in issue 44 of "Amiga Power" having the words "BOB IS A HAMSTER" printed down the spine. Bob made a full recovery, during which a vet discovered that "he" was actually a "she". The story was immortalised in the magazine's letters page, "Do The Write Thing", and Bob became a minor celebrity overnight. There followed numerous letters, including one from another hamster named Sparky. Bob died before the publication of issue 55, leading to that issue's spine reading "BYE-BYE BOB. YOU WERE A GIRL HAMSTER".
David Ripley later purchased New Bob.
Concept reviews.
A concept review is a review conducted in an abstract manner - basically, any review which deviates significantly from the usual practice of describing a game and analysing its strengths and weaknesses. Usually it takes the form of a work of fiction (often a screenplay) which indirectly reviews the game through allegory. "Amiga Power" featured concept reviews on a regular basis. The term itself (never actually used in the magazine) was an ironic play on the "concept albums" released by prog rock bands of the 1970s.
Examples of "Amiga Power" concept review themes include:
The final issue was composed entirely of concept reviews and articles, with the author of each one dying gruesomely. The final page of the issue was a script which revealed that they were all now in Heaven, with the exception of editor Steve Faragher and art editor Sue Huntley, who were shown on the back cover attempting a "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"-style shootout with The Four Cyclists of the Apocalypse.
House ads.
Like most magazines, "AP "was required to put advertisements in its sister publications. Unlike most magazines, it eschewed the traditional, half-hearted splash page with pictures of video game characters. Instead, it came up with bizarre, sometimes interactive, ads that were rarely to do with the Amiga itself. The most memorable of these was the O.J. Simpson guilt game, which allowed readers to select OJ's verdict at random.
Competitions.
Competitions, a regular feature in practically all games magazines, were also run in "AP"'s distinctive style, often challenging the readers' wit or creativity. "AP" also frequently provided strange additions to the normal competition rules, such as making peculiar threats to people who were ineligible to enter the competition if they tried to, or specifically disallowing reader Stuart N. Hardy from entering the competition.
"Amiga Power" regular features.
Oh Dear.
One of the earliest "Amiga Power" features which appeared in True Stories was Oh Dear, a small monthly feature showcasing truly terrible Amiga games. Oh Dear was removed very early on in the "Amiga Power" series.
Kangaroo Court.
Through their long computer gaming experience, the "AP" reviewers had developed a number of pet hates about video games. One of the more frequently mentioned ones, for example, was "slippy-slidey ice worlds" - levels in platform games with slippery, ice-covered floors, thus making progress haphazard. (The phrase "slippy-slidey ice worlds" was adopted by many of its sister magazines and appeared long after "AP"'s death.) Another pet hate was the habit some game designers had of including a power-up that reversed the player's controls.
To address these, "AP" began a regular feature called Kangaroo Court, which presents the so-called gameplay "crime", followed by the "case for the prosecution", which is a section illustrating why the crime is a bad thing.
Finally there was "the penalty", which was usually an execution that evolved into something increasingly bizarre over several months.
In reflection of the nature of a real kangaroo court, there is no "case for the defence".
In The Style Of.
An "In The Style Of" is, as the name implies, a depiction of a game in the style of something else; most often another game. It started out as a Back Page feature, but was soon thrown open to readers as a kind of competition, and moved to the news section.
Readers could send in floppy disks containing their In The Style Of drawn in "Deluxe Paint", and every month "Amiga Power" would select the one they liked best and feature it in the magazine. They would also award the picture a score out of ten, and send the contributor £20 worth of Amiga games for every point scored. As a running gag, they nearly always found a contrived excuse to halve the point score.
Perhaps the most unusual entry was "It's a skull", a dance-style music track with all the vocals taken from the Amiga game "Valhalla and the Lord of Infinity".
The Disseminator.
This feature appeared toward the end of "AP"'s life. It was simply a table of recent games, and the percentage scores that they received from "Amiga Power" and the two main competing Amiga games magazines of the time: "The One Amiga" and "Amiga Action".
AP hoped that by doing this they could perhaps highlight "disturbing trends" in the scores awarded by other magazines (usually the competitors reviewing unfinished versions of games – or even, on some occasions, versions from other platforms – in order to obtain the 'exclusive').
The Disseminator also contained annotations on some of the games, such as which magazine covers they had featured on, or if they had even been released at all.
Just Who Do We Think We Are?
While other magazines used at most a modest box (the "flannel panel") to introduce their reviewers, "Amiga Power" dedicated a full page to their staff, with photographs and short sections for each member. Sometimes a topical subject (for example, football) would be put to each of them to offer their opinions.
This page saw many variations and mutations over the months, becoming such things as "Who Do We Think We're Going To Be?", or "Who Drew We Think We Are?" (in which the team members drew cartoons of each other). A few times it was turned into a story featuring the "AP" staff in various guises.
Points of View.
Points of View was a table summarising each "AP" reviewer's opinion of the main games reviewed that month, if they had played them. The reviewers had room to make a short comment and give their personal score from one to five stars.
Latterly the section would feature at least one "guest" reviewer – usually a recently deceased celebrity or political figure, whose comments would inevitably culminate in the feature's standard disclaimer "Haven't played it".
Do the Write Thing.
"Do the Write Thing" (an obvious pun on the movie "Do the Right Thing") was the magazine's letters page. One distinguishing feature of the letters page was that the magazine gave the letters titles by taking excerpts of the letters' contents out of context, often by going across sentence boundaries or cutting in the middle of a clause. The most celebrated example of this was when a reader wrote in humorously bemoaning the lack of national media attention given to "AP"'s then-editor Linda Barker being seriously ill (she had suffered a brain haemorrhage and was absent from the mag for over a year, but went on to recover) compared to the blanket coverage of the trivial ailments of the Queen Mother. "Are the newspapers concerned [about Barker]?", queried the reader rhetorically. "No! But the Queen Mother swallows a fishbone and we get three days of media panic.". "AP" headlined the letter with the quote "THE QUEEN MOTHER SWALLOWS". Another example was the headline "Commander/Dangerous Knob, er, sorry", derived from a letter criticising two games Commodore bundled with the CD32, "Wing Commander" and "Dangerous Streets".
The letters, and the magazine's replies to them, started out fairly normal in style, but later became more and more bizarre. Readers even started writing in about things that had nothing to do with video games, to the point that the magazine once had to specifically ask for letters on appropriate topics. "AP" philosophy was that a magazine's letters pages defined both its character and its relationship with the readers, and it therefore devoted more space and attention to the letters pages than most magazines, often in the form of lengthy responses to more serious letters, explaining and justifying issues of policy.
"Amiga Power" was avowedly a magazine for games only, unconcerned with the Amiga's productivity uses, and it frequently advertised this fact on the letters page. If a reader wrote in with a question about hardware or productivity software, the magazine staff replied either by flaunting their ignorance, employing sarcastic mockery, or supplying blatantly false information. These letters would commonly be saved up and used as the bulk of a special irregular round-up section called "Ask Amiga Power".
A well-known contributor to the letters page was Isabelle Rees, a British woman who first started writing letters to the magazine at the age of 15 years. Her letters, which were usually fairly long, had a cheerful tone about them, and many other readers took a liking to them.
Rees signed her letters as "Isabelle, L'Elf", and sometimes prefixed the signature with "hugs". Another of her trademarks was excessive use of exclamation marks. One reader pointed out that he had seen Isabelle having been 15 years old for more than two years, and thus suspected her of being a pseudonym. Another reader jocularly compared her to Bob, a female hamster (despite the name), who was also a famous character on the magazine's letters page.
The Back Page.
The back page was traditionally reserved for something fun and irreverent, or at least, less reverent than all the preceding pages. In the first third of the magazine's life it featured profiles of Amiga game characters, interviews with people in the Amiga games industry, In The Style Ofs and other random articles of interest.
Midway into "AP"'s run, the Back Page tended toward articles that blurred the boundary between Amiga games and real life. For example, there were a series of "Wish You Were Here" articles, which were written as holiday guides to famous Amiga game locations (such as the "Rainbow Islands", or "SimCity"). These articles often lampooned games and mixed them other culture, for example, one issue contained the classic opening scenes of light-hearted comedy "Monkey Island" done in the style of a John Woo film, complete with excessive violence.
Toward the end, the Back Page became increasingly bizarre, sometimes lacking any apparent context or relevance whatsoever. It has been implied that this is largely the result of Jonathan Nash having taken over doing them.
Notable examples of bizarre Back Pages include Hoi hup la! from issue #58, advertising a fictional fitness exercise treatment, and the Bexhill theatre playbill from issue #60, advertising a fictional circus show, including such "famous" performers as Miss Kempley Toog, Disturbo, Hettie O'Jings and The Amazing Sweffo. Both of these advertisements were drawn to imitate real-life advertisements in 19th-century Britain. Neither, of course, has anything to do with video games.
Other Back Pages have dealt with T-shirt slogans, cows, and the mystery of the "Ed".
Next Month Strip.
Nearly all games magazines, "AP" included, have a Next Month page, which offers a brief insight into the contents of next month's issue. However, for "AP"'s first 30 issues or so, they had a thin strip on the back cover upon which they wrote a few lines on next month's issue, and included a very small screenshot of an upcoming game.
This enabled them to have a running joke for several months regarding the game "Hired Guns". For several months, the game failed to arrive for review, as the publishers kept moving the release date back. In response, "Amiga Power" put the same screenshot of the game on their Next Month Strip every month for about six months, with repeated humble reassurances to the reader that they might, possibly, have it by next month.
When the game did finally arrive, they used the screenshot again on that issue, to illustrate their relief at having finally been able to review the game.
The next month, the screenshot was still there, because "AP" claimed it was stuck and they couldn't get rid of it.
Amiga Power irregular features.
APATTOH.
APATTOH, meaning Amiga Power All Time Top One Hundred, was a yearly rather than a monthly feature. It originally started in "AP" issue No. 0 (a special "preview issue" of "Amiga Power" given away as an addition to an issue of "Amiga Format"), and later appeared approximately in every issue whose number was divisible by 12, plus 1.
APATTOH, true to the "Amiga Power" philosophy, ranked games depending on how the staff liked them, not on how well they were selling or how much advertising spend the publisher lavished on them. This meant that games which were massively hyped at the time when they came out could end up very low in (or entirely absent from) the list. A notable example is "", which every other magazine touted as the greatest space flight game ever, but "Amiga Power" ranked #100 in their top 100 list (emphasising the point by placing it one place below a public-domain version of "Pong").
There were two games which held an iron grip on the #1 spot in the list. The first was "Rainbow Islands", a coin-op conversion platform game which the magazine controversially deemed the Amiga's finest game for the first two years of its existence. The second was "Sensible Soccer", which took over the top position in the first "AP" Top 100 after its release (the game came out too late for the 1992 chart), and never relinquished it (except to its own sequel "Sensible World Of Soccer") for the rest of the magazine's existence.
Whatever Happened To....
Usually a two-page feature printed on black pages, which discussed something that was in one state in the past and is now in a different one. The subject would vary, but it was not always about video games.
A notorious example was "Whatever Happened To... Game Reviews?", in which "AP" suggested that there might be a correlation between incentives given by game publishers to game reviewers, and the score subsequently given to the company's latest game. They suggested, if this was the case, that 73% was the lowest mark a reviewer could give to a game without falling out of favour with the game's publishers, effectively making this the mark of an "average" game in other magazines.
Diary of A Game.
There were four instances where a series of consecutive issues of "AP" had a feature called "Diary Of A Game", where the development of a new game in progress was monitored in the form of a diary, written by the game's programmers. The games were:
F-Max.
In its later years, "Amiga Power" started advertising a fictional refreshment beverage called "F-Max, the lightly sparkling fish drink", with the slogan "an ocean of refreshment".
Amiga Power: The Album With "Attitude".
In early 2019, an "Amiga Power" fan launched a Kickstarter campaign to create an officially-licensed "AP" tribute album containing remixes of assorted Amiga game tunes, accompanied by an extensive liner notes booklet featuring contributions from former members of the magazine team. The campaign was successful, and in July 2020 the finished album was officially released.
The physical album took the form of a small hardback book, with two CDs attached to the inside of the front and back covers, and the 100-page "Mighty Booklet" sandwiched between them. The first CD – subtitled "AP's Pick Of The Pops" – featured remixes of tunes personally selected by AP team members (including former editors Matt Bielby, Mark Ramshaw, Linda Barker, Stuart Campbell, Jonathan Davies, Cam Winstanley, Tim Norris and Steve Faragher, plus others), while the second CD – subtitled "The AP Bonus Coverdisk" – featured remixes inspired by games and demos that appeared on the magazine's cover-mounted disks over the years.
Most of the remixes were created by the original composers; among those who contributed to the album were Alistair Bowness, Allister Brimble, Fabio Cicciarello, Mike Clarke, Adam Fothergill, Olof Gustafsson, Jon Hare, Chris Huelsbeck, Carl Jermy, Barry Leitch, Jogeir Liljedahl, Alex May, Anthony Milas, Jason Page, Matthias Steinwachs and Tim Wright.
The "Mighty Booklet", meanwhile, contained detailed information about each of the tracks featured on the album, including interviews with the musicians, behind-the-scenes facts, anecdotes and asides from the AP team and full song lyrics; a special "The Last Resort" section written by Rich Pelley; adverts for "F-Max" and a "Canoe Squad" movie; a feature entitled "The 'Bum Line", based on "The Bottom Line", listing other albums of interest; and an ongoing storyline (following on from the events of AP65) in which the AP team are restored to life by "The Four Cyclists Of The Apocalypse" so they can attend a concert in their honour.
As of August 2020, the album remains available to buy via the original Kickstarter homepage and also on the websites of C64Audio.com and 010101 Music.


Dark Side (video game)

Dark Side is a 1988 video game published by Incentive Software for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, ZX Spectrum, and Sharp MZ-800. The game is a sequel to "Driller", set in the Evath system but this time on Evath's second moon Tricuspid.
Plot.
The game is set on the alien moon Tricuspid orbiting the planet Evath. Terrorists (the Ketars, the villains of the previous game "Driller") hijacked the moon's facilities and built Zephyr One, an immense beam weapon on the moon's dark side with the purpose of destroying Evath. The player is a government agent, sent secretly to the moon's surface with the mission of deactivating the weapon before it becomes fully charged. This is accomplished by destroying a power network in the form of ECD (Energy Collection Device) columns, dotted around the moon and connected with power lines all the way to the beam weapon.
Gameplay.
To complete the mission, the player has an arsenal of beam weapons mounted on a jetpack-equipped pressure suit. The aim is to destroy all ECDs in a specific order and avoid capture or death by the traps left by the terrorists. ECDs are connected to power lines and can only be destroyed when all preceding ECDs have been deactivated, otherwise they will instantly regenerate. The player has a limited amount of time available to complete the game, based on the energy accumulated in Zephyr One. When the weapon is fully charged, the beam is fired, destroying Evath, and the game ends. As the player destroys ECDs, the charge accumulation rate is reduced, allowing more time for the player to complete the mission.
The game's environment is displayed in first person view with the player seeing the world through the suit's helmet. A targeting crosshair displayed in the helmet's HUD allows the player to fire the suit's weapon at specific locations. The player can move in all directions by walking or activating the jetpack. The suit is powered by an energy source that is depleted with every movement and it is allocated between "shields" and "fuel". When the shield's charge is depleted, the player is vulnerable to enemy fire and simply bumping into walls can end the game. Fuel is vital for horizontal and vertical movement and the game ends as soon as it is depleted. There are a number of "recharge" points (in the form of columns) hidden in the game where the player can replenish the suit's energy supply. There are also a number of energy conversion devices that allow the player to transform shield energy to fuel and vice versa.
Enemies.
A number of enemies exist in the game in the form of tanks and flying turrets. Their purpose is to slow down the player and deplete the energy resources of the suit. Most enemies can be dealt quickly without causing much damage, however the flying turrets tend to appear more often when the player is running out of energy.
Development.
"Dark Side" was the second game to use the Freescape engine, which allowed the production of full three-dimensional environments using filled polygons in which the player could move around freely. It also gave the player the ability to look up and down, as well as rotate left and right, something which was rare amongst 3D games of the time. The same engine was used for "Total Eclipse", "The Sphinx Jinx", "Castle Master" and "".
Reception.
The ZX Spectrum version of "Dark Side" was awarded 9/10 by "Sinclair User".


Diamond Mine II


Olympus PEN E-P2

The Olympus Pen E-P2 announced on 5 November 2009 is Olympus Corporation's second camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system design standard. The E-P2 succeeds the Olympus Pen E-P1 a little over five months after the introduction of the EP-1.
Features.
The EP-2 addresses some of the concerns that critics had about the EP-1: slow autofocus speed and difficulty seeing the LCD panel under certain (e.g., bright, sunny) conditions.
The autofocus speed was addressed with a firmware update, and the introduction of new lenses, although critically, the autofocus speed does not improve much with the originally issued 14–42 mm ƒ/3.5–5.6 kit zoom lens (28–90 mm equivalent), or the 17 mm ƒ/2.8 (34 mm equivalent) pancake lens.
The EP-2 added an Accessory Port, a power and communication port, which allowed the use of various accessories, such as an external stereo microphone for HD video recording. However, the principal use of the accessory port was a new, high resolution, optional hotshoe mounted VF-2 electronic viewfinder (EVF). The VF-2 had a flip angle eyepiece, allowing viewing from 0–90 degrees. The high resolution VF-2 had specifications that matched the highly acclaimed built-in EVF on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, the first MFT camera ever introduced.
In the United States the E-P2 MSRP with 14–42 mm kit zoom lens, and VF-2 EVF, was US$1,100. The accessory VF-2 EVF was also available separately for $280.00. Available body colors were black and silver.
Differences from predecessor.
The primary differences between the E-P2 as compared to the E-P1 which it replaced are:
Successor Model.
The E-P2 was replaced in Olympus' PEN line by the Olympus PEN E-P3 which was announced in June 2011.


Motos

 is an arcade game that was released by Namco on September 20, 1985. It runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware but with a video system like that used in "Mappy", "The Tower of Druaga", "Grobda" (without the DAC) and "Dig Dug II".
Gameplay.
The player must take control of the eponymous Motos, a bumper car whose goal is to force enemies over the edge of the playfield by bumping up against them; however, all the enemies are capable of doing exactly the same thing to it. "Power parts" and "jump parts" can also be collected during the 62 rounds, which will give Motos extra bumping power and the ability to jump over gaps in the playfield.
Ports.
The game was ported to the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum, and was also released in 1998 as part of "Microsoft Revenge of Arcade" for Windows PCs - the first known appearance of the arcade version in North America. More recently, the game was released in 2005 as part of "Namco Museum Battle Collection" for the PlayStation Portable, as well as "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade" for the Xbox 360 on November 4, 2008. The game is also present in two "Namco Museum" compilations that were originally released exclusively in Japan: "Namco Museum Encore" for the PlayStation, in 1997, and "Namco Museum Volume 2" for the PlayStation Portable, in 2006. The latter also features an updated "Arrangement" version of the game (made in the spirit of the 6 original "Arrangements") with 3D graphics.
A "remixed" version of the game featuring Namco's signature character, Pac-Man, was released as part of "Namco Museum Remix" under the name of "Pac-Motos" - and "Namco Museum Megamix" also included the original game along with the remix.
Reception.
In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "Motos" on their October 15, 1985 issue as being the fifth most-successful table arcade unit of the year.


Surface Book 2

The Surface Book 2 is the second generation of the Surface Book, part of the Microsoft Surface line of personal computers. It is a 2-in-1 PC which can be used like a conventional laptop, or the screen can be detached and used separately as a tablet, with touch and stylus input. In addition to the 13.5-inch screen available in the original Surface Book introduced two years before, it is also available in a 15-inch screen model. It was released in November 2017, and replaced in Microsoft's product line by the Surface Book 3 in May 2020.
Features.
Hardware.
The Surface Book 2 features a full-body magnesium alloy construction. The device comes in two distinct portions: a tablet that contains the CPU, storage, wireless connectivity and touchscreen, and a hardware keyboard base that contains a high-performance mobile GPU, supported by its own active cooling system.
The device contains two USB 3.0 Gen-1 ports, a USB-C port, 3.5 mm headphone jack, full-sized SD card slot, and two "Surface Connect" ports (one of which is always occupied by the keyboard base for communication between the two hardware portions, unless the tablet is detached from the base). The front-facing camera contains an infrared sensor that supports login using Windows Hello.
From a hardware perspective, this device marks Microsoft's first time to provide USB-C natively in any Surface device, also supporting USB-C Power Delivery. It was the only Surface computer equipped with USB-C until Microsoft's introduction of the Surface Go, in August 2018.
Software.
Surface Book 2 models ship with a pre-installed 64-bit version of Windows 10 Pro and a 30-day trial of Microsoft Office 365. Windows 10 comes pre-installed with Mail, Calendar, People, Xbox (app), Photos, Movies and TV, Groove, and Microsoft Edge. With Windows 10 the "Tablet mode" is available when the base is detached from the device. In this mode, all windows are opened full-screen and the interface becomes more touch-centric.
Accessories.
The Surface Book 2 is backward-compatible with all accessories of its direct predecessors, such as the Surface Dock, Surface Dial and Surface Pen. The device's native pen computing capabilities are based on N-trig technology Microsoft acquired in 2015, but major improvements were made to reduce input latency, add tilt support, and capture up to 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. Following the device's general public launch, Microsoft has also published a series of software updates that further improved the device's palm rejection and pen computing accuracy.
Reception.
The Surface Book 2 received broadly positive reviews, often compared favorably to Apple's MacBook Pro lineup. Most reviews applauded the Surface Book 2's keyboard for offering a class-leading 1.55 mm of key travel, significant performance improvement, well-controlled thermals, and new hinge - now redesigned and built as one singular component that increased device rigidity, improved overall docking reliability, and reduced screen wobble.
Other improvements include an improved IR camera that activates faster and supports enhanced anti-spoofing Windows Hello facial recognition, a faster solid-state drive with full drive encryption from first-boot, a built-in TPM chip, and two new cooling systems (for the CPU and GPU) that produce less high-pitched noise. The finger scoop has also been reshaped to avoid breaking the glass screen when the lid is being closed, which is a problem its predecessor suffered.
Devindra Hardawar of Engadget said of the 15-inch model, "The Surface Book 2 is exactly what we've wanted from a high-end Microsoft laptop. It's powerful, sturdy and its unique hinge doesn't come with any compromises." Hardawar also directly compared the Surface Book 2 to Apple's Macbook Pro saying, "It's the closest a PC maker has come to taking on the MacBook Pro, both in style and substance."
Tom Warren, of The Verge, also gave the Surface Book 2 positive notice, praising its performance, keyboard, and touchpad. He did, however, express reservations about the hardware design being largely unchanged, noting "I’d still like to see Microsoft refine the design more to address the hinge and screen wobble fully, and pack in a better power supply. It’s surprising to see the same design after two years, and I was expecting bigger refinements and changes."
Issues.
The Surface Book 2 faced a number of early production issues when it was first launched in November 2017, including defective operating system images, split key caps, misaligned hinges, overuse of adhesives surrounding the tablet screen, and coil whine when under load. Most issues were gradually resolved as production continued.
One issue that remains unfixed, however, is battery drain during high intensity workloads. When the 15-inch Surface Book 2 is set to "Best Performance" in the Windows 10 operating system power settings, specific scenarios like extensive gaming or video transcoding could lead to high usage across both the CPU and GPU, and cause the device to draw over 105 W of power. This would unavoidably lead to battery drain until depletion. This issue first appeared in review units shipped to reviewers and other outlets, all of which were accompanied with official 95-watt power supplies.
Microsoft eventually responded to inquiries, and despite acknowledging no fault, proceeded to partially rectify it by bundling retail units with newer chargers capable of continuously providing up to 102 W of power, which was also the theoretical maximum electrical input supported by the Surface Book 2's charging port without a broader redesign. The official Surface Dock, however, remains unchanged and only provides up to 90 W.


Sony Alpha 57

The Sony Alpha 57 (model name SLT-A57) is a Digital single-lens reflex camera that replaced the A55 in 2012. The camera features an electronic viewfinder and a translucent mirror. The main advantage of a translucent mirror is that it needn't flip up out of the way when taking a picture in order to expose the sensor, but the camera can focus and capture images simultaneously. The camera's 15-point autofocus system can be set to single, continuous or automatic and is arranged towards the centre. The 12 fps burst mode is available only in "speed priority" mode but can reach up to 5.5 fps burst rate in combination with any other settings.


Commodore 64x

The Commodore 64x is a replica PC based on the original Commodore 64, powered by standard x86 Intel processors ranging from the Intel Atom to the Intel Core i7. It was sold by Commodore USA starting in April 2011. Because Commodore USA went out of business after the death of its founder, Barry Altman, this machine is no longer available.
History.
The case of the C64x was designed to resemble the popular Commodore 64 in response to "overwhelming demand" from Commodore USA's customer base.
Volume production started in May 2011, with machines being released on to the market in June 2011 at a starting price of US $595 for the "Basic" model and up to US $895 for an Ultimate model, and as of August 13, an Extreme version fitted with an Intel Core i7 chip with 8 GB DDR3 RAM and 3 TB hard drive for US $1499. There was a case-only version of the C64x called the Barebones available for US $295.
It shipped initially with Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition, and in November 2011, Commodore USA released their own Linux derivative called Commodore OS.
Software.
The C64x is said to come bundled with Ubuntu 10.10. There is no hardware compatibility with the original C64, with software compatibility provided through the use of an emulator. Ubuntu is able to run VICE, an open source program which emulates 8-bit computers, such as the Commodore 64. VICE is available for free for almost all operating systems currently in use.
As of 18 August 2011, Commodore USA announced it would be providing international keyboards and keys for its customers worldwide for the C64x, with new keyboards made with additional keys for countries/languages if it is needed. For customers outside of its main US support area, keys and keycap pullers will be provided for easy self-installation.


Nikon D70

The Nikon D70 is a digital single-lens reflex camera, introduced at the 2004 PMA Annual Convention and Trade Show, as Nikon's first consumer-level digital SLR, and a competitor to the Canon EOS 300D. It was often sold in a "kit package" with the Nikon 18-70mm AF-S lens. The Nikon D70 was succeeded initially by the Nikon D70s and more recently by the Nikon D80 and Nikon D90, announced on August 9, 2006 and August 27, 2008 respectively. The Nikon D70 is the first DSLR camera built by Nikon's factory in Thailand. It debuted at a price of US$999.
Features.
The D70 features include:
Due to its hybrid electronic/mechanical shutter, it is possible to flash synchronize the D70 and D70s beyond their published 1/500 maximum synchronization speed up to the maximum shutter speed of 1/8000.
The Nikon D70 has been considered superior to its predecessor, the D100, despite the higher price of the latter. The D70 is backward compatible with most of the older Nikkor lenses. Sigma, Tokina and Tamron are other popular lens suppliers of Nikon F-mount lenses.
D70s.
In early 2005 Nikon announced the D70s. The D70s is essentially an update of the D70, adding a larger LCD screen ( instead of ), though still having 130,000 pixels. The D70s also comes with the newer EN-EL3a battery with slightly higher capacity. While the battery performance is increased, the new version of the D70 lacks the previously included MS-D70 battery holder, which allowed users to mount three CR2 batteries in the camera in case of a dead battery (notably the adapter is not compatible with CR123 batteries). The camera is also equipped with a terminal for a proprietary remote release cable (MC-DC1).
In addition, the D70s features an increased 18 mm angle of coverage from its built-in flash; the flash on the D70 could only be used with lenses as wide as 20 mm. All other updates to the D70s are available for the D70 through a firmware update, which include improved auto-focus performance, updated menu design and updated in-camera printer support.
The Canon EOS 350D (known as the Digital Rebel XT in the US) was its then-competitor when the D70s was introduced.


Nikon D2H

The Nikon D2H is a professional-grade digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by Nikon Corporation on July 22, 2003. It uses Nikon's own JFET-LBCAST sensor with a 4.1-megapixel resolution, and is optimised for sports and action shooting that require a high frame rate. In 2005, the D2H was replaced by the D2Hs, which added new features derived from the 12-megapixel D2X digital SLR. The D2Hs was discontinued after the introduction of the D300 and D3 models.
Like most early Nikon Digital SLR cameras, it uses a "DX Format" sensor, which applies a crop factor compared to 35 mm film of approximately 1.5×.
D2Hs.
The D2Hs was announced on February 16, 2005, adding several improvements to the D2H design, although with the same sensor and body. Nikon added an improved light metering system, faster subject acquisition and tracking algorithms to the Multi-CAM-2000 Autofocus module, and expanded both the JPEG and RAW continuous shooting buffer.
Nikon also reported improved noise reduction at high sensor sensitivities. The ASIC image processing was changed to 12-bit from the original D2H 8-bit. Auto White Balance was altered with improved low color temperature lighting, mixed ambient, and speedlight lighting. SYCC color space was added, and Exif compliance was adjusted from Exif 2.2 to Exif 2.21, DCF 2.0, and DPOF.
GPS support and improved wireless support (with WT-2 transmitter for 802.11b/g) were also added. A new LCD screen of the same size but with increased resolution and a higher refresh rate was added to the body. The screen's playback mode now supports 15x zoom instead of the 8x of the D2H, with RGB Histogram.
The menus have been expanded to include an additional 5 languages for a total of 10. Like the D2X, it features a recent settings list, world time function, and modified vertical shooting buttons and CompactFlash card door opening.
The D2Hs features a continuous burst rate of up to 8 frames per second, with a buffer capacity of 50 JPEG files or 40 NEF (Nikon Electric Format- Nikon's proprietary Camera RAW image format) files. The 4.1 megapixel sensor has an ISO sensitivity equivalency of ISO 200–1600, in 1/3, 1/2, and 1 stop increments, as well as Hi-1 and Hi-2 ISO boosts (3200 and 6400 equivalency).
It offers full compatibility with AF-S, VR, DX, D and G type AF-Nikkor lenses, all functions except autofocus and some exposure modes with D-type Manual Focus Nikkors, with AI-P Nikkors all functions except 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 3D Multi-Sensor Balanced Fill-Flash and AF possible.
The D2Hs, like the D2X, offers compatibility with Non-CPU AI Nikkor lenses, which are usable in aperture-priority or manual exposure mode with Matrix-Metering, Center-Weighted and Spot metering available.
Reaction to improvements over the D2H.
Although the D2Hs has been considered by some to be obsolete from its very introduction due to its relatively low 4.1 megapixel resolution, the D2Hs has a reputation for extremely high image quality and excellent detail rendition.
The D2Hs offers a noticeable improvement over the D2H in overall image quality and many users have reported that color rendition is improved in JPEG files (raw is the same), while the camera manages to offer a great improvement in noise at high sensitivities versus the D2H
Infrared contamination.
The D2H series has a relatively weak infrared (IR) filter, allowing infrared photography with the use of an IR bandpass filter, but contaminating regular images by causing certain dark-colored fabrics to take on a slight magenta color cast. Skin tones may also appear slightly ruddy. Use of a No. 486 digital UV/IR blocking filter can help resolve the problem with lenses that are at least 50 mm or longer. Lenses shorter than 50 mm are not recommended for use with a No. 486 filter due to a tendency for the corners of the image to take on a cyan color cast.


Sony NEX-7

The Sony α NEX-7 is a digital camera announced 24 August 2011 by Sony. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and as such inherits a smaller body form factor than a traditional digital single-lens reflex camera, while still retaining the sensor size and features of an APS-C-sized model. It is targeted at experienced users, enthusiasts and professionals. It is replaced by the ILCE-6000 (α6000).
Features.
Being targeted at experienced users, enthusiasts and professionals, the Sony NEX-7 offers features relevant to them. Mainly, it integrates a 24.3 megapixels APS-C sensor, videos 1920×1080p at 60 frame/s in AVCHD 2 and 10 fps stills shooting. It's built in a robust magnesium alloy and incorporates an XGA OLED electronic viewfinder with 2.4 million dots resolution.
The camera's specifications are as follows:
Reception.
Albeit being delayed for a few months because of 2011's Thai floods, the α NEX-7 was very well received by critics and users. In regions like Hong Kong, α NEX-7 was always running out of stock. DPreview.com and PhotographyBlog gave it their highest awards, with the highest score ever attained by an APS class camera. α NEX-7 also won the best camera in Camera Grand Prix 2012 under professional catalog, which was voted by a professional community consisting of 57 council members from the professional press field of the Camera Journal Press Club.
Image quality.
At the time of its release, the Sony Alpha NEX-7 had the best image quality among any mirrorless interchangeable-lens compact camera which had been tested by DxO Labs and also the best APS-C Sensor camera from Sony. Sony α65, Sony α77 and NEX-7 have similar sensors and received DxOMark Overall Scores of 74, 78, and 81, respectively. The image quality of NEX-7 can be comparable with Nikon D7000 (score 80) and Pentax K-5 (score 82).
Hasselblad Lunar.
In September 2012, the Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad announced a collaboration with Sony and a mirrorless compact camera at photokina 2012 in Cologne, Germany. This camera, named Lunar, is based on the Sony NEX-7 with identical key specifications, but with aesthetic differences in exterior design and menu system. In January 2014, Hasselblad announced another cosmetic variant of the camera, limited to 200 units, named the Lunar Limited Edition.


Grandstand Tutor


MSX-Engine

An MSX-ENGINE chip is a specially developed integrated circuit for home computers that are built according to the MSX specifications.
Generally, such a chip combines the functions of many separate, older/simpler chips into one. This is done to reduce required circuit board space, power consumption, and (most importantly) production costs for complete systems.
The first MSX-Engine chip, the T7775 operated next to a standard Zilog Z80-clone chip, the main CPU of the system, but most later versions of the engine also included the Z80 (clone) CPU in a same single chip package. The S-1990, is a special case, as it's not really an MSX-Engine, but a chip that was used as "glue logic" between the MSX-engine and an external R800 CPU.
The T9769 is used in MSX 2 computers, while in MSX 1 computers mostly the T7775 and T7937 are used. You can also find the S-1985 and S-3527 in these systems. After the MSX 2 generation (from MSX2+ onwards) Toshiba took over the complete production of MSX engine chips. The last generation of MSX, the Turbo-R used the NEC S-1990 "TurboR bus controller" together with a R800 CPU.
MSX engine chips from Yamaha were mostly used in MSX-computers from Sony and Philips, while the Toshiba chips were mostly used in computers from Sanyo and Matsushita (Panasonic/National).
Overview.
Here is a short overview of MSX-Engine chips.
MSX 1.
Note that this IC is also used in many MSX2 computers, but does "not" include any MSX2-specific functions. In such machines, these are implemented using additional IC's
MSX Turbo R.
The S1990 is not in itself an MSX-engine but acts like "bus controller", it is the combining element that combines
the Z80 inside the T9769C (the actual MSX engine) and a R800 CPU, and the memory and slot logic and other hardware inside the T9769C.
It also contains hardware to assists in the debugging of software.


Star Trek (arcade game)

Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator is a space combat simulation arcade game based on the original "" television program and movie series, and released by Sega in 1983. "Star Trek" uses color vector graphics for both a 2D display and a 3D first-person perspective. The player controls the Starship Enterprise and must defend sectors from invading Klingon ships. The game includes synthesized speech
The game was manufactured in two styles of cabinets: an upright standup, and a sit-down/semi-enclosed deluxe cabinet with the player's chair modeled after the ""s bridge chairs with controls integrated into the chair's arms.
"Star Trek" was ported to the Commodore 64, TI-99/4A, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 5200, Atari 2600, VIC-20, ColecoVision, and Apple II.
Gameplay.
The player is presented with multiple views of the play field. Survival depends on the player's ability to effectively use and manage shield energy, photon torpedoes, and warp energy. These are replenished by docking with starbases, which sometimes must be saved from destruction at the hands of the Klingons.
The controls use a weighted spinner for ship heading control and buttons to activate the impulse engines, warp engines, phasers, and photon torpedoes. The phaser button is simply marked "fire."
Reception.
"Electronic Games" stated in August 1983 that ""Star Trek" is sure to be a top-grosser in the arcades this year. If you can squeeze through the crowd around the machine, you may never want to leave."
"ANALOG Computing" wrote in January 1984 that the Atari 8-bit version "sounds a lot like Star Raiders (a classic worth aspiring to). Purists will shake their heads and say 'The first is always the best,' and in this case I must agree with them", adding that the arcade version was superior. The magazine concluded that "This incarnation of Star Trek probably won't impress a hard-core Atari computer gamer".
About 500 arcade machines were given away as part of a promotion for Halfsies cereal between 1982 and 1983.


Ray Kassar

Raymond Edward Kassar (January 2, 1928 – December 10, 2017) was president, and later CEO, of Atari Inc. from 1978 to 1983. He had previously been executive vice-president of Burlington Industries, the world's largest textile company at the time, and president of its Burlington House division. A member of the Board of Directors, Kassar had spent over thirty years at Burlington.
Career.
Ray Kassar was hired in February 1978 as president of Atari Inc.'s consumer division by Warner Communications, who at the time owned Atari. By this time, rifts had begun to develop between the original Atari Inc. staff (most of whom had engineering backgrounds) and the new hires brought in by Warner (who, like Kassar, mostly had business backgrounds).
In November 1978, when Atari Inc. co-founder Nolan Bushnell was fired after a dispute with Warner over the future of Atari Inc., Kassar became CEO. Kassar's twenty-five years at Burlington Industries had given him a taste for order, organization, and efficiency and his efforts to revamp Atari along similar lines provoked substantial animosity. Atari Inc. began to promote games all year around instead of just at the Christmas season. Kassar became unaffectionately known to many at Atari Inc. as the "sock king" and the "towel czar" (due to his previous years in the textile industry) after he once referred to Atari programmers as "high-strung prima donnas" in an interview with the "San Jose Mercury News" in 1979.
During the Kassar years, Atari Inc.'s sales grew from $75 million in 1977 to over $2.2 billion just three years later. Though Atari enjoyed some of its greatest success during this period, the stifling atmosphere and lack of royalties or recognition to the individual game designers angered employees, many of whom quit. During this period, nearly all members of the original Atari Inc. staff, including Al Alcorn, quit or were fired. Atari Inc.'s upper management also suffered severe turnover rates. Many blamed Ray Kassar's autocratic management style, but Kassar was not held accountable.
One of the most notable turnovers was when four programmers were unsatisfied with their paychecks. They felt they were making a very paltry salary for someone who actually "designed" the games that made the company millions of dollars. They wanted a small commission, but when they asked Kassar about that, David Crane recalls that Kassar responded, "You are no more important to that game than the guy on the assembly line who puts it together." Crane and three others resigned from Atari and formed their own company: Activision, which became the first ever third party developer.
In 1981, the highly popular and successful game "Yars' Revenge" was released for the Atari 2600. Howard Scott Warshaw, the game's designer, got the names "Yar" and "Razak" by jokingly spelling "Ray Kassar" backwards. Warshaw claimed that the game was "Ray's revenge on Activision".
In 1982, Kassar donated a sum of money to Brown University, his alma mater. In recognition, the university named a university building the "Edward W. Kassar House" after his father. The Kassar House is currently home to the university's mathematics department.
Contrary to popular belief, Kassar was "not" responsible for the deal to make the "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" game from the blockbuster movie. Steve Ross, CEO of Atari's parent company Warner Communications, was the one who was in talks with Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures. Kassar's response to Ross' query of how he liked the idea of making an "E.T." based video game was, "I think it's a dumb idea. We've never really made an action game out of a movie." Ultimately though, the decision was not Kassar's to make and it went through, and it was reported that Atari Inc. had paid US$20–25 million for the rights—an abnormally high figure for video game licensing at the time. The game was not only poorly received and sold poorly, but demand had been widely overestimated.
In July 1983, Kassar was fired due to continuing massive losses at Atari. In December 1982, Kassar had sold 5,000 shares of stock in Warner Communications only 23 minutes before a much lower than expected fourth quarter earnings report would cause Warner stock to drop nearly 40% in value in the following days. The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Kassar and then Atari Inc. vice-president Dennis Groth of trading stock with illegal insider knowledge. Kassar settled, returning his profits without acknowledging guilt or innocence. The shares that Kassar sold actually constituted only a small amount of his total holdings in the company, and the SEC later cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Upon Ray Kassar's resignation, James J. Morgan, formerly of Philip Morris, replaced him as CEO of Atari Inc. in September 1983.
He was a collector and private investor and sat on the Board of the American Hospital of Paris Foundation.
From December 2, 2000 until February 11, 2001 a series of photographs culled from Kassar's significant personal collection were on display at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The exhibition, entitled "Painterly Photographs: The Raymond E. Kassar Collection", presented 33 works made for exhibition from 1900 to 1910, featuring some of the most important camera artists of the time, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Heinrich Kuehn, George Seeley and Clarence H. White. Portions of the collection have been lent on only two other occasions, in 1994 to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and in 2012 to the Neue Galerie New York.


Fit-PC3

The fit-PC3 is a small, light, fan-less nettop computer manufactured by the Israeli company CompuLab.  Several fit-PC3 variations are available - fit-PC3 was introduced early 2012. The device is power-efficient (about 6 - 18 W) and therefore considered to be a green computing project, capable of using open source software and creating minimal electronic waste.
fit-PC3.
The fit-PC3 has been released early 2012, CompuLab fit-PC3 includes:


Stone of Sisyphys

The Stone of Sisyphys is a 1981 video game developed by Chameleon Software for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, and TRS-80, and published by Adventure International.
Gameplay.
"Stone of Sisyphys" is a solo dungeon.
Reception.
Russ Williams reviewed "Stone of Sisyphys" in "The Space Gamer" No. 49. Williams commented that "I would say this is a good program and a reasonable game, but consider your financial situation before getting it."


ST Format

ST Format was a computer magazine in the UK covering the Atari ST during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Like other members of the Future plc Format stable - PC Format and Amiga Format, for instance, it combined software and hardware reviews with columnists, letters pages and a cover disk.
The magazine was launched in 1989 when its predecessor, the short-lived ST/Amiga Format was split into two separate publications. Most of the staff went on to work at "ST Format" with "Amiga Format" essentially being a whole new magazine.
Latter on, the magazine was kept alive by enthusiastic freelancers such as Frank Charlton and Andy Curtis, as well as dedicated staff writers and editors such as Clive Parker and Nick Peers.
"ST Format" continued publication until 1996, when production of the Atari ST and Atari Falcon computers was all but over. The final issue was published in September 1996, and was the eighty-sixth issue of the magazine. Fan sites for the magazine still exist on the internet, some featuring archives of features from the magazines.


Manager (Mac OS)

A Manager was any of a set of specialized components of the classic Mac OS operating system, including those that comprised the Macintosh Toolbox. Each of these Managers was responsible for handling system calls from applications running on the Macintosh, and could be built into the ROM or be loaded into RAM by the system.
Many of these Managers and their functions have been ported to or re-implemented in the Carbon application frameworks. Some of the Managers included in various versions of the Mac OS include:


Mi Notebook Air

The Mi Notebook Air is a portable computer introduced in 2016 by Xiaomi Corporation. There are two versions of the computer, which differ in screen size (12.5-inch and 13.5-inch) and some other hardware elements. The first 12.5-inch generation used an Intel Core M3-6Y30 microprocessor, which was later upgraded to an Intel Core m3-7Y30 microprocessor. Both models feature a Full-HD screen with a back-lit keyboard.
Specifications.
Operating system.
The Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air is configured with an OEM activated Windows 10 operating system. However, it supports the most recent Linux distributions, as demonstrated by the Deepin Linux Team.
Processor.
The Mi Laptop Air 13.3" version comes pre-installed with the Intel® Core™ i5 processor and the 12.5" version comes with the Intel® Core™ M3 processor.
Motherboard.
The motherboard installed in the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air is manufactured by Timi Personal Computing Co. Ltd.
Power Management.
The Mi Laptop Air features a 7.4V/5000mAh 37Wh battery.


Kvorum


TV Typewriter

The TV Typewriter was a video terminal that could display two pages of 16 lines of 32 upper case characters on a standard television set. The design, by Don Lancaster, appeared on the cover of "Radio-Electronics" magazine in September 1973.
The magazine included a 6-page description of the design but readers could send off for a 16-page package of construction details. "Radio-Electronics" sold thousands of copies for $2.00 each. The TV Typewriter is considered a milestone in the home computer revolution along with the Mark-8 and Altair 8800 computers.
Sometimes the term was used generically for any interactive computer display on a screen; until CRT displays were developed, the teleprinter was the standard output medium.
TVT I.
Don Lancaster was an engineer at Goodyear Aerospace designing a high resolution video display for the military. Don was also a prolific author of hobbyist projects for "Popular Electronics" and "Radio-Electronics" magazines. The video project gave Don the inspiration for his most influential project, a low cost video terminal known as the TV Typewriter.
Build in the era before widespread availability of low-cost microprocessors or solid-state computer memory, the system used small-scale integration TTL digital logic and shift register memory. Much of the circuitry was involved in timing the output of the analog generator with the memory, which had to be shifted bit-at-a-time to the output.
The article appeared in the September 1973 issue. In addition to the six-page article, they also offered to ship out a larger 16-page version with complete layout plans for a mail-in fee of $2. Given its limited functionality, they initially estimated that the magazine would sell about 20 copies of the plans for $20 each. Instead, they were flooded by requests and eventually sent out 10,000 copies. With professional terminals costing over $1000 this $120 kit looked like a bargain.
In the November issue, the editors apologized for the delays in shipping the TV Typewriter booklets to the thousands of readers that ordered them. They also listed electronics parts sources for the difficult to find components. Don Lancaster also answered a series of reader questions and gave ideas for additional functions and uses for the TV Typewriter. The December issue had a page of corrections for the TV Typewriter booklet. Both of the notices were included in later printings of the booklet.
The compact design and complex circuitry made the TV Typewriter a challenging project for hobbyists. But many finished the project and some even connected it to their Intel 8008 based computers. The April 1975 issue of the "Micro-8 Newsletter" has 6 pages of user modifications and interface designs to connect the TV Typewriter to Mark-8 or SCELBI computers. The original TV Typewriter design did not include a serial interface, modem connection, or offline data storage on cassette tape. Don Lancaster wrote about these in the September 1975 issue of "BYTE" magazine and his TV Typewriter Cookbook. A serial interface board designed by Roger Smith was published in the February 1975 issue of "Radio Electronics".
Keyboards.
 Today keyboards are readily available and inexpensive, and they have a standard interface. In 1973, new keyboards were only available to computer and terminal manufacturers. Surplus keyboards were available to hobbyists but they often produced codes other than ASCII, such as baudot or EBCDIC. The TV Typewriter project and kit did not include a keyboard. The unit on the September cover shows a keyboard project Don Lancaster did in the February 1973 issue. This project involved hand crafting 55 key-switches including fabricating the springs for each key-switch. Most hobbyists chose to use a surplus keyboard and modified it to produce ASCII codes. Don Lancaster's prototype TV Typewriter which is now on display at the Computer History Museum has a surplus keyboard with an ASCII encoder circuit that was published in the February 1974 issue of Radio-Electronics. The plans for this encoder were also included in the TV Typewriter booklet
"Popular Electronics" (April 1974) featured a complete keyboard kit designed by Don Lancaster and available from Southwest Technical Products for $39.50. The first version used simple RTL ICs to decode the key matrix. The design was soon improved to use a full featured keyboard encoder IC.
TVT II - CT-1024 Terminal.
Southwest Technical Products got their start selling sets of bare circuit boards for $27 and the eight major integrated circuits for $49.50. The hobbyist had to acquire the rest of the components on their own.
The original TV Typewriter was difficult to assemble and some of the ICs were going out of production so Southwest Technical Products decided to redesign the kit. The replacement was featured in Radio Electronics as the TV Typewriter II. This time readers did not have to order a set of plans, since the complete design was published in 6 issues starting in February 1975.
Daniel Meyer of SWTPC enlisted Ed Colle, an engineer who had worked at Datapoint on terminal design, to design the new TV Typewriter. The SWTPC CT-1024 Terminal displayed 32 characters by 16 lines without scrolling. It used common TTL parts and 2102 static RAMs. The boards were laid out with very loose part spacing and wide traces to make it easy to assemble. A complete set of option boards was offered including a serial interface. The keyboard was based on Don Lancaster’s design. The rest of the terminal was done by Ed Colle.
The design was finished by late 1974 and the kits were ready for sale by December 1974. The first advertisement for the CT-1024 appeared in the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics on the page facing the Altair 8800 computer article. The CT-1024 was very successful because a complete kit with options cost only $275. It was replaced in 1977 by the improved CT-64 that offered scrolling and 64 characters per line of upper and lower case.
TV Typewriter Cookbook.
By 1975 Don Lancaster had written over 100 articles in magazines such as "Popular Electronics" and "Radio-Electronics". He had also written a digital design book titled the "RTL Cookbook" in 1968. Resistor–transistor logic (RTL) was an early IC technology that was replaced by TTL, so in 1974 he published the "TTL Cookbook". This book was in print for 20 years and sold a million copies.
The original TV Typewriter was designed before low cost RAM was available and the design was soon obsolete. Don had made many design improvements and published them as the "TV Typewriter Cookbook" in 1976. Portions had been serialized in the first issues of Byte magazine. The book was a guide on how to design a video computer terminal.
This book guided many hobbyist and professionals in designing video displays for home computer systems. The cassette interface design from chapter 7 was the basis for the Kansas City standard. The circuits in this book did not rely on a microprocessor, just TTL. The "TV Cheap Video Cookbook" (1978) showed the TVT 6 5/8 that would work with a 6502 or 6800 microprocessor. The design was targeted at the KIM-1 Microcomputer.
The original TV Typewriter book cover shows an ASCII keyboard designed by Don Lancaster and sold by Southwest Technical Products. An early computer store chain, the Byte Shop, had the publisher add their logo to the covers and sold the "TTL Cookbook" and the "TV Typewriter Cookbook" in their stores. A later edition cover was designed for Radio Shack stores. The ninth printing of the first edition was in 1983.