Amstrad Computer User

Amstrad Computer User was the official magazine for the Amstrad CPC series of 8-bit home computers. This monthly publication, usually referred to as "ACU" by its readers, concentrated more on the hardware and technical side of the Amstrad range, although it had a small dedicated games section as well.
ACU History.
"ACU" ran from August 1984 to May 1992, producing 90 issues in total. Originally a bi-monthly Amstrad User's club newsletter titled "CPC464 User", it was renamed to "Amstrad Computer User" when the CPC664 was released in 1985. Its successor was "CPC Attack", which was launched in June 1992.
August 1984 to April 1985.
Amstrad Computer User started out as "CPC464 User" (subtitled ‘The Official AMSTRAD Mirco Magazine’) and the first issue was dated August September 1984 and was 32 pages long. Published by Amsoft, a division of Amstrad, the first couple of issues were not made available to the general public, but only to members of the Amstrad User Club. CPC464 User’s only editorial credit in the launch issue was Consultant Editor Gareth Jefferson. Content in these early months included News, Overview (an in-depth look at the CPC464), Q&A, Software Reviews, Listings, Programming and more. Early games featured included "Roland in the Caves" and "Roland on the Ropes".
The Jan/Feb 1985 issue 3, with slightly renamed title, "Amstrad CPC464 User", was the first issue to go on sale to the general public costing 95p and 84 pages long. Simon Rockman is credited as editor along with other contributors.
From issue 4 onwards "Amstrad CPC464 User" went monthly. "Sorcery", from Virgin Games, is the first game to receive 5 stars in all ratings, Graphics, Playability, Addictiveness and Overall.
"ACU" - June 1985 to January 1986.
May 1985's issue 6 features the newly released Amstrad CPC 664 (basically a 464 with a disk drive instead of a cassette deck) on the cover and in depth analysis and features inside.
Following the release of the CPC 664, the June issue is the first to display the renamed title; the familiar "Amstrad Computer User". The Gallup software chart is published for the first time. Topping the top 20 chart is Virgin’s "Sorcery". Anne Coker joins the magazine as Assistant Editor.
A slight re-design for July’s issue 8. Credits list includes editorial and, for the first time, Production, Design and Advertising staff. Contents still include the regular Programming, Hardware and Software features.
October 1985's issue 10 looks at the new Amstrad CPC 6128; a new computer with a disk drive plus 128k of memory.
December 1985’s issue 12, and "ACU"’s 1st birthday, a bumper 148 page issue, featuring a re-design of the games reviews, again; which has a new ratings box that has marks out of 20 for Graphics, Sound, polish, First impression, lasting impression, value and a final comment.
A Year of Changes – February to December 1986.
William Poel, General Manager of Amsoft and Managing Director of "ACU", announced that he will be leaving to run a software company called New Star. A new Adventure feature ‘Seek and Ye Shall Find’ starts in the February issue
March 1986 and another re-design; clearer layout and main content sections include Regulars, Features, Listings, Reviews and ABC (Amstrad Business Computing). The long running column ‘Hairy Hacker’ debuts this issue; a feature that looks into getting the most out of the CPC including game pokes. Also a 5p rise in the cover price; now up to £1.00.
June 1986, issue 19, introduces new Deputy Editor Jeremy Spencer. Also reviews are given a much needed rework; three reviewers, Colin, Nigel and Liz, are credited as giving their views on the games along with their overall score (out of 20).
Starting October 1986, and "ACU" credits its publisher as Avralite Ltd.
November 1986 issue seems to be a letters page for professional programmers as Graham Blighe, Andrew and Philip Oliver write in to comment on recent "ACU" games reviews.
"ACU" Settles Down – January 1987 to December 1988.
A year of continuous fluidity. During 1987 several games are given special 2/3 page feature reviews, including the innovative strategy game "The Sentinel", "Ranarama", "Gryzor" and "Nigel Mansell’s Grand Prix".
The November 87 issue publishes the "ACU" circulation figures for Jan-Jun 1987; an impressive 63,599. This figure would turn out to be the only ABC figure that would be published.
"ACU"'s January 1988 and another redesign of the magazine layout. The cover logo has also changed along with the general look of the magazine; more colour and neater design. The regular features remain the same for the time being.
Auntie John is the character behind a new programming feature ‘Auntie John’s Machine Code’ which starts in June 1988’s issue.
A special cover feature on David Perry and his CPC game "Savage" features in the November 1988 issue.
Incorporation – January 1989 to February 1990.
January 1989 and "ACU" incorporates "CPC Computing" and the magazine goes through a redesign. The games pages get a new look with the introduction of the 'ACU Star Game' awards; 'ACU Gold Star Game' and the 'ACU Silver Star Game'.
Focus Magazines Ltd takes over the publishing of the magazine from March 1989. All change for the April issue as "ACU" has moved to a new publisher and new office. Mark Evans and Andrew Banner are the new Editor and Assistant Editor respectively. Many new reviewers are credited on the games pages including Matt, Adrian, Colin, Paul, Billy, Tony and Rik.
May 1989 - As quick as the new editorial staff arrived the quicker they left. New Editor and staff writer are Duncan Evans and Richard Henderson. Another redesign sees a new 'Neon Zone' section where the latest arcade games are featured. The games section is changed again; going under the 'Meltdown' title the games are rated by percentages; Grafix, Sonix, Gameplay and Overall.
June 1989's issue reviews "Emlyn Hughes International Soccer", by Audiogenic, and it becomes the first game to gain over 90% overall rating with a 91%.
July 1989 and a completely redesigned magazine with a new front cover logo. New credits mast (including new Editor Carlo Jolly, Sub Editor Harold Mayes, Designer Simon Pipe and contributor Mark Ulyatt. Even contributors have been credited for the first time. The Arcade feature is renamed 'Combat Zone'. 'Gameplan' is the new name for the games section and games are rated by using a bar indicator. The higher the indicator went along the bar the better the rating. Published, again, by Avralite Publications Ltd.
More changes for the October 1989 issue; Guy Matthews is the new editor while the games ratings change back to percentages.
The Forever Changing Face Of ACU – March 1990 to November 1990.
March 1990 and one of the largest Gameplan sections yet including, for the first time, a Budget Basement section.
April and the inconsistent game ratings are changed again. The overall rating has changed from the percentage to a picture that represents the score; e.g. "Laser Squad" gets a sparkling smile rating.
June 1990 and, after a longer than usual stint of stability in the editorial line up, there are more changes; Chris Knight moves up to editor and Marc Jones is the sole reviewer credited.
The publisher changes over to MCM Ltd starting August, still under the MCPC Ltd division as before.
A Turrican comic strip/players guide begins in the November 1990 issue.
The Final Incarnation – December 1990 to May 1992.
December 1990 and a completely revamped design; new main logo, a re-established 'ACU Gold Award' accolade which is given to Electronic Zoo’s table top game conversion "Subbuteo".
"ACU" continues unchanged until August 1991 when the games section is renamed 'Bomb Alley'.
The last issue in May 1992 of "ACU" is published by HHL Publishing. In the issue, "ACU" announces that this will be the last issue.
"ACU"’s successor, "CPC Attack" from HHL Publishing, which even advertises for staff in this issue and has a two-page preview slot, will concentrate more on the games playing scene.
External links.
 on the Internet Archive


Nemesis 2 (MSX)

 is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game released for the MSX computer in 1987 by Konami. The game is a sequel to "Nemesis", the MSX version of "Gradius", but is unrelated to the arcade game "Gradius II" (which used the Roman numeral 'II'). This version was ported to the X68000 computer under the name , with some graphical and aural enhancements.
In a departure from other games, instead of controlling Vic Viper, the available ship is called Metalion. Unlike other titles, this game has a heavier focus on story, which is told by cut-scenes. The gameplay is mostly unchanged from the rest of the series, though there are some powerups that temporally gives the ship some enhancements. Also, when the bosses are being defeated, if the Metalion flies where they are, a mini-level can be accessed in order to obtain new permanent upgrades, if the mini levels are successfully cleared.
Plot.
The Director General of Space Science Agency Dr. Venom was exiled to Planet Sard for a failed coup d'état. In the year 6665, he escapes and invades Planet Nemesis and the seven planets it controls with the help of Bacterion. The Nemesis High Council sends James Burton, ex-pilot of the Vic Viper, to pilot Metalion and attack Dr. Venom and the Bacterion invaders. The game takes place during the year 6666.
Nemesis '90 Kai.
This X68000 port is essentially an enhanced remake of "Nemesis 2" with graphical quality on par with "Gradius III".<br>
It includes two new stages exclusive to this version of the game, and four new bosses (two of which replace the rematches fought in the MSX version.)
Some people still prefer the original for its charm and color scheme.
Ports.
Aside from being remade as "Nemesis '90 Kai", "Nemesis 2" was also ported to mobile phones in 2006 and Sony PSP in 2007 as part of the Salamander Portable collection.
They were re-released for Wii's Virtual Console in 2009, for Project EGG in 2015, and for Wii U Virtual Console in 2016 in Japan.


PC Advisor

"PC Advisor" was a monthly computer magazine and website that ran from August 1995 to July 2017. It was published by IDG in the UK, which also publishes "Macworld" and "Digital Arts."
In June 2017 "PC Advisor" was rebranded "Tech Advisor", which continues to operate as a website and monthly digital magazine focused on consumer and small business technology buying advice"."
In April 2021, Tech Advisor moved from a UK ccTLD (.co.uk) to a gTLD (.com) domain, focused primarily on smartphones, tablets, laptops and wearables, but also covering smart home and appliances, entertainment, audio and gaming, tech accessories, security, software and services.
"PC Advisor" magazine offered advice on various aspects of PCs, related items such as digital photography, the internet, security and smartphones, and other personal-technology products and services.
"PC Advisor" was the UK & Ireland edition of IDG's "PCWorld". (Another discontinued magazine called Personal Computer World and a PC World retailer – neither related to the "PCWorld" magazine – already existed in the UK.)
Description.
"PC Advisor"'s slogan was "Expert Advice You Can Trust".
Each month "PC Advisor" ran tests on various areas of the IT world from new pre-built desktop computers and laptops, LCD displays, graphics cards, motherboards, PDAs, wireless network routers, printers and many more. The magazine also included many reviews from products across the IT board including phones and accessories, cameras, and software from a wide range of vendors.
Each issue of the magazine featured a cover disc - either a DVD or a CD. The discs contained full-version commercial software products, as well as commercial software demos. In 2010 "PC Advisor" also became one of the first UK ESD (electronic software delivery) vendors of Microsoft's Windows 7 and Office 2010 products.
"PC Advisor" 's website hosted one of Europe's largest online communities with its tech forums and was considered one of the most popular technology magazine websites.
History.
The print publication first appeared on UK news-stands in August 1995 with an October cover date. The website was launched in 1996.
In 2007, "PC Advisor" print magazine had an audited rate base of 65,160 readers (ABC audit: Jan-Dec 06) and a claimed 195,480 readers.
"PC Advisor's" editorial team routinely recommended best-in-class hardware and software products, while the "PC Advisor" Awards ran annually, with awards chosen by a combination of the editorial team and readers. In 2009 it also ran a UK Broadband Survey in association with Broadband Genie, and published Home Broadband Surveys annually.
In 1997, "PC Advisor" was given an official seal of Approval by the British Association of Criminal Experts. It achieved a '3-star' rating in three different categories, which is the highest level of rating for a non-forensic and expert publication. The magazine received 3 stars in each of the following categories; Academic Opinion, use as a Reference Source and use of Plain English.
The editorial team behind "PC Advisor" was awarded Content Team of the Year in the 2014 British Media Awards.
In 2016 "PC Advisor" was recognised as the UK's most popular tech website by Hitwise.
"PC Advisor" ran for 264 issues, with the last being July 2017.
On 24 August 2020 a formal announcement was made that the Tech Advisor forums would close permanently on Wednesday 2 September 2020


Wide area information server

Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) is a client–server text searching system that uses the ANSI Standard Z39.50 Information Retrieval Service Definition and Protocol Specifications for Library Applications" (Z39.50:1988) to search index databases on remote computers. It was developed in 1990 as a project of Thinking Machines, Apple Computer, Dow Jones, and KPMG Peat Marwick.
WAIS did not adhere to either the standard nor its OSI framework (adopting instead TCP/IP) but created a unique protocol inspired by Z39.50:1988.
History.
The WAIS protocol and servers were promoted by Thinking Machines Corporation (TMC) of Cambridge, Massachusetts. TMC-produced WAIS servers ran on their massively parallel CM-2 (Connection Machine) and SPARC-based CM-5 MP supercomputers. WAIS clients were developed for various operating systems and windowing systems including Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, NeXT, X, GNU Emacs, and character terminals. TMC released a free open source software version of WAIS for Unix in 1991.
Inspired by the WAIS project on full-text databases and emerging SGML projects, Z39.50 version 2 (Z39.50:1992) was released. Unlike its 1988 predecessor, it was a compatible superset of the international ISO 10162/10163 standard.
With the advent of Z39.50:1992, the termination of support for free WAIS by Thinking Machines and the establishment of WAIS Inc as a commercial venture, the U.S. National Science Foundation funded the Clearinghouse for Networked Information Discovery and Retrieval (CNIDR) to promote Internet search and discovery systems, open source and standards. CNIDR created a new, free open-source WAIS. This was the first freeWAIS based on the wais-8-b5 codebase of TMC, with a wholly new software suite Isite based upon Z39.50:1992 using Isearch as its full-text search engine.
Ulrich Pfeifer and Norbert Gövert of the computer science department of the University of Dortmund extended the CNIDR freeWAIS code to become freeWAIS-sf with structured fields as its main improvement. Ulrich Pfeifer rewrote freeWAIS-sf in Perl, becoming WAIT.
Inspired by WAIS' "Directory of Servers", Eliot Christian of USGS envisioned GILS: Government Information Locator Service. GILS (based upon Z39.50:1992 with some extensions) became a U.S. Federal mandate as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 ().
Directory of Servers.
Thinking Machines Corp provided a service called the Directory of Servers. It was a WAIS server like any other information source except containing information about the other WAIS servers on the Internet. A WAIS server with TMC WAIS code creates a special record containing metadata plus some common words describing its indexed content. The record is uploaded to the central server and indexed along with the records from other public servers. The directory can be searched to find servers that might have content relevant to a specific field of interest. This model of searching for (WAIS) servers to search became the model for GILS and Peter Deutsch's WHOIS++ distributed white pages directory.
People.
Two of the developers of WAIS, Brewster Kahle and Harry Morris, left Thinking Machines to found WAIS Inc in Menlo Park, California with Bruce Gilliat. WAIS Inc. was originally a joint project between Apple Computer, Peat Markwick, Dow Jones, and Thinking Machines. In 1992, the presidential campaign of Ross Perot used the WAIS product as a campaign wide information system, connecting the field offices to the national office. Later, Perot Systems adopted WAIS to better access the information in its corporate databases. Other early clients were the Environmental Protection Agency, Library of Congress, and the Department of Energy and later the "Wall Street Journal" and "Encyclopædia Britannica".
WAIS Inc was sold to AOL in May 1995 for $15 million. Following the sale, Margaret St. Pierre left WAIS Inc to start Blue Angel Technologies. Her WAIS variant formed the basis of MetaStar. Georgios Papadopoulos left to found Atypon. François Schiettecatte left Human Genome Project at Johns Hopkins Hospital and started FS-Consult and developed his own variant of WAIS which eventually became ScienceServer, which was later sold to Elsevier Science. Kahle and Gilliat went on to found the Internet Archive and Alexa Internet.
WAIS and Gopher.
Public WAIS is often used as a full-text search engine for individual Internet Gopher servers, supplementing the popular Veronica system which only searches the menu titles of Gopher sites. WAIS and Gopher share the World Wide Web's client–server architecture and a certain amount of its functionality. The WAIS protocol is influenced largely by the z39.50 protocol designed for networking library catalogs. It allows a text-based search, and retrieval following a search. Gopher provides a free text search mechanism, but principally uses menus. A menu is a list of titles, from which the user may pick one. While Gopher Space is a web containing many loops, the menu system gives the user the impression of a tree.
The Web's data model is similar to the gopher model, except that menus are generalized to hypertext documents. In both cases, simple file servers generate the menus or hypertext directly from the file structure of a server. The Web's hypertext model permits the author more freedom to communicate the options available to the reader, as it can include headings and various forms of list structure.


Operation Wolf

 is a light gun shooter arcade game developed by Taito and released in 1987. It was subsequently ported to various home systems. The game was critically and commercially successful, winning the Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year.
"Operation Wolf" popularized military-themed first-person light gun rail shooters and inspired numerous clones, imitators and light gun rail shooters over the next decade. It spawned three sequels: "Operation Thunderbolt" (1988), "Operation Wolf 3" (1994) and "Operation Tiger" (1998).
Gameplay.
Assuming the role of Special Forces Operative Roy Adams, the player attempts to rescue five hostages who are being held captive in enemy territory. The game is viewed from a first-person perspective, and is on rails, with the screen scrolling horizontally through the landscape. The game is divided into six stages, each of which advances the story when completed. For example, after the Jungle stage is completed, Adams interrogates an enemy soldier and learns the location of the concentration camp where the hostages are being held. This was one of the first shooter games to feature a storyline.
The game utilizes an optical controller housed inside a gun assembly scaled after and which bears a strong resemblance to an Uzi submachine gun. This, in turn, is mounted on top of a square base covering the pivot shaft which allows players to swivel and elevate the "gun". A geared motor inside the casing simulates the recoil felt by the player when they "fire" the weapon at in-game targets.
Pulling the trigger allows fully automatic fire, while pressing a button near the muzzle launches a grenade with a wide blast radius that can hit multiple targets.
In order to complete each stage, the player must shoot a required number of soldiers and vehicles (trucks, boats, helicopters, armored transports), as indicated by an on-screen counter. The player begins with a limited supply of ammunition and grenades, but can find more throughout the game, either openly displayed or revealed by shooting crates and barrels, coconuts in trees, and animals such as pigs and chickens. Dynamite bombs cause heavy damage to every target on the screen, both enemy and friendly, and a special machine gun power-up allows unlimited ammunition and an increased rate of fire for 10 seconds.
Enemies attack with gunfire, knives, grenades, mortar and bazooka rounds, and missiles; all but the first of these can be shot out of the air. The player has a damage bar that slowly fills as hits are taken; in addition, shooting friendly targets such as nurses and boys adds to the bar. Damage can be recovered by picking up health power-ups and completing stages.
The six stages, and their objectives and effects on gameplay after completion, are as follows:
Completing the airport stage with at least one hostage rescued awards a bonus based on the number of stages played and the number of hostages who boarded the plane. A new operation then begins at a higher difficulty level, with a fully healed damage bar and a fresh supply of ammunition.
The game ends if any of the following events occur, with each outcome showing a different "game over" screen:
Continuing the game allows the player to restart the last stage played.
When the language of the game is set to English, the six stages are always played in the above order. As a result, the effects of the communication setup and jungle are not obvious, and the number of enemies in a particular stage remains constant from one operation to the next. When the language is set to Japanese, only the first four stages are initially available and the player may choose the order of play, allowing for strategic planning.
The ported version to the Nintendo Entertainment System allowed for multiple endings depending on how many hostages were rescued. The player would be awarded points in the form of "combat pay" and be greeted by the President of the United States. The number of surviving hostages corresponded with the president's tone to the player:
Home conversions.
The game was ported to the Amstrad CPC, DOS, NES, Amiga 500, Atari ST, Master System, FM Towns, Commodore 64, PC Engine and ZX Spectrum. Most of these ports lack any kind of light gun support (with the exceptions of the NES, Master System, and the ZX Spectrum, which featured Magnum Light Phaser support) and must be played with a keyboard or a controller. The box for the Master System version features promotional art from "Operation Thunderbolt".
In 2005, "Operation Wolf" was released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows as part of "Taito Legends"; however, light gun support is unavailable. The NES version of "Operation Wolf" was released on the North American Wii Virtual Console in February 2008. Whereas the NES version allowed NES Zapper support, the VC re-release does not feature any kind of light gun support (including the Wii Remote's pointer functions), making the game only playable with the standard controller mode.
Reception.
Upon release in arcades, the game received wide acclaim from critics, particularly for its gameplay, graphics and controls. However, it also received some criticism for its violence, particularly in the UK press following the Hungerford massacre that had occurred a few months before its release.
"Commodore User" said it beats Sega's "After Burner" as "the game of the year and much of next year too" but that it may draw some controversy from tabloids for its "Rambo"-like violent content. Clare Edgeley of "Computer and Video Games" called it one of the best new releases, stating that, despite the excessive violence, it was an "extremely playable" and "powerful" fast-paced action game. "Your Sinclair" called it a "fast and furious" action game, and said it "broke a bit of new 'ground' for arcade games 'cos the 'nasties' fired directly at you through the screen." "Your Sinclair" also gave the ZX Spectrum conversion a highly positive review.
Commercial performance.
The game was commercially successful. In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "Operation Wolf" on their December 1, 1987 issue as the second most-successful upright/cockpit arcade cabinet of the month, and it was the 16th top-grossing arcade game of 1988. In Europe, it debuted as the top-grossing arcade game of October 1987 in the United Kingdom, and again topped the charts in December 1987; it held the top spot through March 1988, and remained in the top five through July, when it was number four on the "Coinslot" dedicated arcade game chart (below "Street Fighter", "Continental Circus", and "WEC Le Mans"). "Operation Wolf" went on to become the top-earning arcade game of 1988 in the United Kingdom.
The home computer conversions topped the UK sales charts for four months, from December 1988 through March 1989. In April 1989, it was number two on the Spectrum sales charts, behind "RoboCop" which was number one every month for most of the year.
Accolades.
"Sinclair User" gave the arcade game the "Over The Top Game of 1988" award, for the "shooting game most likely to push you over the edge" in 1988. The home computer conversions won several awards at the 1989 Golden Joystick Awards for 1988, including overall Game of the Year (8-bit) as well as Best Coin-Op Conversion (8-bit) and Best Coin-Op Conversion (16-bit). It was later voted number 26 in the ""Your Sinclair" Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time" poll. "Crash" awarded it a Crash Smash. "Computer and Video Games" awarded it a CVG Hit.
Legacy.
"Operation Wolf" was an influential game upon release. It is credited with evolving the light gun shooter genre. It was a departure from the shooting gallery, carnival and cartoon themes that had previously dominated the genre for decades, since electro-mechanical games in the 1960s up until Nintendo's "Duck Hunt" in 1984, and moved the genre towards a more realistic, violent, military shooter theme. In contrast to Taito's earlier gun games including "Attack" (1976), "N.Y. Captor" (1985) and "Cycle Shooting" (1986) which had simple cartoon graphics, "Operation Wolf" had more realistic graphics providing a sense of depth to the perspective (using different sized sprites).
Following the 1980s military themes of 2D run and gun games (such as "Commando", "Green Beret" and "Ikari Warriors") and action films (such as "Rambo" and "Commando"), "Operation Wolf" extended this to light gun shooters. It presented a prisoner of war (POW) rescue mission that involved a large amount of violence, with the player shooting and killing a large number of enemy soldiers, which was novel for light gun shooters at the time. It was also notable for its mounted gun; while mounted guns had been used before in Taito's "Attack" and even older Midway mechanical games from the 1960s, "Operation Wolf"s mounted gun incorporated an optical light gun sensor along with a geared motor that made the player feel the kick when pulling the trigger.
The game popularized first-person light gun rail shooters and inspired numerous clones and imitators during the late 1980s to early 1990s. Examples include SNK's "Mechanized Attack" and Sega's "Line of Fire" in 1989, SNK's "Beast Busters" in 1990, Namco's "Steel Gunner" and Midway's "" in 1991, and Konami's "Lethal Enforcers" in 1992. Light gun rail shooters continued to be influenced by "Operation Wolf" as the genre remained popular into the late 1990s, when the genre's popularity eventually declined following the rise of the first-person shooter (FPS) genre.
"Operation Wolf" itself spawned three sequels: "Operation Thunderbolt" (1988), "Operation Wolf 3" (1994) and "Operation Tiger" (1998).


GEM Write


Head (Unix)

head is a program on Unix and Unix-like operating systems used to display the beginning of a text file or piped data.
Syntax.
The command syntax is:
 head [options] <file_name>
By default, codice_1 will print the first 10 lines of its input to the standard output. The number of lines printed may be changed with a command line option. The following example shows the first 20 lines of "filename":
 head -n 20 "filename"
This displays the first 5 lines of all files starting with "foo":
 head -n 5 "foo*"
Most versions allow omitting codice_2 and instead directly specifying the number: codice_3. GNU head allows negative arguments for the codice_4 option, meaning to print all but the last - argument value counted - lines of each input file.
Flags.
 -c <x number of bytes> Copy first x number of bytes.
Other.
Many early versions of Unix did not have this command, and documentation and books used sed instead:
 sed 5q "filename"
The example prints every line (implicit) and quit after the fifth.
Implementations.
A codice_1 command is also part of ASCII's "MSX-DOS2 Tools" for MSX-DOS version 2. The command has also been ported to the IBM i operating system.


IBM Power Systems

Power Systems is a family of server computers from IBM that are based on its POWER processors. It was created in 2008 as a merger of the System p and System i product lines.
History.
Predecessors.
IBM had two distinct POWER- and PowerPC-based hardware lines since the early 1990s:
After the introduction of the POWER4 processor in 2001, there was little difference between both the "p" and the "i" hardware; the only differences were in the software and services offerings. With the introduction of the POWER5 processor in 2004, even the product numbering was synchronized. The "System i5 570" was virtually identical to the "System p5 570".
Release.
In April 2008, IBM officially merged the two lines of servers and workstations under the same name, Power, and later Power Systems, with identical hardware and a choice of operating systems, software, and service contracts, based formerly on a POWER6 architecture. PowerPC line was discontinued.
In February 2010, IBM announced new models with the new POWER7 microprocessor.
Systems.
IBM Power Systems models:
IBM PowerVM provides the virtualisation solution for Power Systems servers.


Dark Sceptre

Dark Sceptre is a strategy adventure video game by Mike Singleton's design team Maelstrom Games, for Beyond Software. It was published by Firebird Software for the ZX Spectrum in 1987 and for the Amstrad CPC in 1988.
Gameplay.
The task in "Dark Sceptre" is to recover the eponymous artefact. The player controls a company of warriors by assigning them specific tasks, and is hindered by six other computer-controlled factions. The main display shows a side-view of the currently watched warrior, which scrolls and tracks him as he moves through the game world. Each warrior has a rank, ranging from Thane, the team leader, to Thrall, the pawn of the game. Other ranks include Mystics, Heralds, Savages and Assassins.
Play is real-time, with the player pausing to issue commands in Plan mode and then viewing results in Watch mode. Commands are selected from a menu screen and range from character-targeting actions such as KILL, AVOID, BRIBE or STALK, object related actions like SEEK, TAKE, USE, or location-based actions like DEFEND or ROAM.
Critical reception.
"Dark Sceptre" was well received by critics on its release. "Your Sinclair" awarded "Dark Sceptre" 9 out of 10, highlighting "nifty graphics and sound" and the easy-to-play design. "Sinclair User" awarded it 10 out of 10, also impressed with the menu system, with the large variety of commands opening up an "almost infinite" number of strategies. The reviewer felt it was fascinating to issue commands and then watch what happens, concluding that it was an original and dramatic game. "CRASH" magazine awarded it 88%, highlighting the large, animated sprites that avoided the Spectrum's attribute clash. The only criticism was with the lack of detailed instructions, with the reviewer spending a lot of time trying to discover the object of the game and working out which characters are best to befriend.
Other versions.
Maelstrom Games had also designed a play by mail version of "Dark Sceptre". Players sent in their turns via ZX Microdrive cartridge, whilst Singleton adjudicated the whole game. This version of the software allowed two modes of display: Replay and Simulation. Replay allowed the player to select a character and watch events that occurred since his last turn, whilst Simulation predicts the events in the game based on the player's orders to his warriors.


Xargs

xargs (short for "eXtended ARGuments" ) is a command on Unix and most Unix-like operating systems used to build and execute commands from standard input. It converts input from standard input into arguments to a command.
Some commands such as codice_1 and codice_2 can take input either as command-line arguments or from the standard input. However, others such as codice_3 and codice_4 can only take input as arguments, which is why xargs is necessary.
The command has also been ported to the IBM i operating system.
Examples.
One use case of the xargs command is to remove a list of files using the rm command. POSIX systems have an for the maximum total length of the command line, so the command may fail with an error message of "Argument list too long" (meaning that the exec system call's limit on the length of a command line was exceeded): rm /path/* or rm $(find /path -type f). (The latter invocation is incorrect, as it may expand globs in the output.)
This can be rewritten using the codice_5 command to break the list of arguments into sublists small enough to be acceptable:
find /path -type f -print | xargs rm
In the above example, the codice_6 utility feeds the input of codice_5 with a long list of file names. codice_5 then splits this list into sublists and calls codice_9 once for every sublist.
xargs can also be used to parallelize operations with the codice_10 argument to specify how many parallel processes should be used to execute the commands over the input argument lists. However, the output streams may not be synchronized. This can be overcome by using an codice_11 argument where possible, and then combining the results after processing. The following example queues 24 processes and waits on each to finish before launching another.
find /path -name '*.foo' | xargs -P 24 -I '{}' /cpu/bound/process '{}' -o '{}'.out
xargs often covers the same functionality as the command substitution feature of many shells, denoted by the backquote notation (`...` or $(...)). xargs is also a good companion for commands that output long lists of files such as codice_6, codice_13 and codice_1, but only if one uses codice_15 (or equivalently codice_16), since codice_5 without codice_15 deals badly with file names containing ', " and space. GNU Parallel is a similar tool that offers better compatibility with find, locate and grep when file names may contain ', ", and space (newline still requires codice_15).
Placement of arguments.
: single argument.
The xargs command offers options to insert the listed arguments at some position other than the end of the command line. The -I option to xargs takes a string that will be replaced with the supplied input before the command is executed. A common choice is %.
$ mkdir ~/backups
$ find /path -type f -name '*~' -print0 | xargs -0 -I % cp -a % ~/backups
The string to replace may appear multiple times in the command part. Using at all limits the number of lines used each time to one.
: any number.
Another way to achieve a similar effect is to use a shell as the launched command, and deal with the complexity in that shell, for example:
$ mkdir ~/backups
$ find /path -type f -name '*~' -print0 | xargs -0 sh -c 'for filename; do cp -a "$filename" ~/backups; done' sh
The word at the end of the line is for the POSIX shell to fill in for , the "executable name" part of the positional parameters (argv). If it weren't present, the name of the first matched file would be instead assigned to codice_20 and the file wouldn't be copied to codice_21. One can also use any other word to fill in that blank, for example.
Since accepts multiple files at once, one can also simply do the following:
$ find /path -type f -name '*~' -print0 | xargs -0 sh -c 'if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then cp -a "$@" ~/backup; fi' sh
This script runs with all the files given to it when there are any arguments passed. Doing so is more efficient since only one invocation of is done for each invocation of .
Separator problem.
Many Unix utilities are line-oriented. These may work with codice_5 as long as the lines do not contain codice_23, codice_24, or a space. Some of the Unix utilities can use NUL as record separator (e.g. Perl (requires codice_15 and codice_26 instead of codice_27), codice_13 (requires using codice_15), codice_6 (requires using codice_31), codice_1 (requires codice_33 or codice_34), codice_35 (requires using codice_33)). Using codice_15 for codice_5 deals with the problem, but many Unix utilities cannot use NUL as separator (e.g. codice_39, codice_40, codice_41, codice_4, codice_43, codice_44, codice_45, codice_46).
But often people forget this and assume codice_5 is also line-oriented, which is not the case (per default codice_5 separates on newlines and blanks within lines, substrings with blanks must be single- or double-quoted).
The separator problem is illustrated here:
touch important_file
touch 'not important_file'
mkdir -p '12" records'
find . -name not\* | tail -1 | xargs rm
find \! -name . -type d | tail -1 | xargs rmdir
Running the above will cause codice_49 to be removed but will remove neither the directory called codice_50, nor the file called codice_51.
The proper fix is to use the GNU-specific codice_31 option, but codice_40 (and other tools) do not support NUL-terminated strings:
find . -name not\* -print0 | xargs -0 rm
find \! -name . -type d -print0 | xargs -0 rmdir
When using the codice_31 option, entries are separated by a null character instead of an end-of-line. This is equivalent to the more verbose command:find . -name not\* | tr \\n \\0 | xargs -0 rm or shorter, by switching codice_5 to (non-POSIX) line-oriented mode with the codice_56 (delimiter) option: find . -name not\* | xargs -d '\n' rm
but in general using codice_15 with codice_31 should be preferred, since newlines in filenames are still a problem.
GNU codice_59 is an alternative to codice_5 that is designed to have the same options, but is line-oriented. Thus, using GNU Parallel instead, the above would work as expected.
For Unix environments where codice_5 does not support the codice_15 nor the option (e.g. Solaris, AIX), the POSIX standard states that one can simply backslash-escape every character:find . -name not\* | sed 's/\(.\)/\\\1/g' | xargs rm. Alternatively, one can avoid using xargs at all, either by using GNU parallel or using the functionality of .
Operating on a subset of arguments at a time.
One might be dealing with commands that can only accept one or maybe two arguments at a time. For example, the codice_63 command operates on two files at a time. The codice_64 option to codice_5 specifies how many arguments at a time to supply to the given command. The command will be invoked repeatedly until all input is exhausted. Note that on the last invocation one might get fewer than the desired number of arguments if there is insufficient input. Use codice_5 to break up the input into two arguments per line:
$ echo {0..9} | xargs -n 2
0 1
2 3
4 5
6 7
8 9
In addition to running based on a specified number of arguments at a time, one can also invoke a command for each line of input with the codice_67 option. One can use an arbitrary number of lines at a time, but one is most common. Here is how one might codice_63 every git commit against its parent.
$ git log --format="%H %P" | xargs -L 1 git diff
Encoding problem.
The argument separator processing of codice_5 is not the only problem with using the codice_5 program in its default mode. Most Unix tools which are often used to manipulate filenames (for example codice_43, codice_72, codice_35, etc.) are text processing tools. However, Unix path names are not really text. Consider a path name /aaa/bbb/ccc. The /aaa directory and its bbb subdirectory can in general be created by different users with different environments. That means these users could have a different locale setup, and that means that aaa and bbb do not even necessarily have to have the same character encoding. For example, aaa could be in UTF-8 and bbb in Shift JIS. As a result, an absolute path name in a Unix system may not be correctly processable as text under a single character encoding. Tools which rely on their input being text may fail on such strings.
One workaround for this problem is to run such tools in the C locale, which essentially processes the bytes of the input as-is. However, this will change the behavior of the tools in ways the user may not expect (for example, some of the user's expectations about case-folding behavior may not be met).


Leica M8

The Leica M8 is the first digital camera in the rangefinder M series introduced by Leica Camera AG on 14 September 2006. It uses an APS-H 10.3-megapixel Kodak KAF-10500 CCD image sensor.
As of 15 November 2014, the most recent firmware version is 2.024.
Features.
The M8 body is slightly thicker than the classic MP and M7 (approximately ~14% thicker). It is an all-metal body made of a high-strength magnesium alloy. The top and base plates are cut from brass billets, before receiving a black or silver chrome finish.
The M8 supports all existing Leica M-mount lenses, however some older models might not offer all the functions due to mismatching cams. All lenses are multiplied by a 1.33x crop factor, hence a 28mm lens will act approximately like a 35mm when mounted to the M8. Because the infrared filter over the sensor is relatively weak, adding an IR-cut filter in front of the lens is recommended. In addition, Leica chooses to omit the Anti-Alias filter, citing the reason for higher resolution power of the lens. However, the moiré artifacts can occur in scenes with closely spaced geometric patterns, such as fabric or mesh, distant buildings, balcony railings, corrugated roofing etc.
The M8 uses modern metal-blade focal-plane shutter. It can fire flash synchronization at 1/250 second X-sync and has a top shutter speed of 1/8000 sec. The flash system used in the M8 is M-TTL.
The camera uses a 6-bit coding system that identifies the lens in use to the electronics built into M8 body. The code is included on all current Leica lenses. To prevent excessive vignetting due to closer lens mount than in a DSLR and thus higher light rays angle on the sensor periphery, offset micro-lenses are used on the CCD. The 6-bit code on lenses gives information about optic vignetting characteristics, permitting software adjustment. The M8 uses Adobe DNG as its raw data format and the raw converter Capture One LE (included with the camera).
Reception.
The Leica M8 suffered from some controversy on its release due to image quality problems reported by some users, especially an extremely high sensitivity to infrared light, which made black colors appear purple. Leica has since released a statement saying that it will send two free special UV/IR screw-on photographic filters to all future M8 purchasers, and upon request for all current M8 users. Users experiencing other image quality problems can apply to return their M8 for repair.
However, this sensitivity to Infrared light has inspired a niche of photographers who use photographic filters that block the visible spectrum of light to do infrared photography.
Upgrade program.
Leica announced a perpetual upgrade program on 31 January 2008. To keep a user's M8 up to date with newer releases, owners can send their M8 to Leica for upgrades. The first upgrade offered under this program is an improved shutter designed for quieter operation, at the cost of a slower maximum shutter speed of 1/4000sec. Leica subsequently announced additional upgrades:
Leica M8.2.
Leica announced the Leica M8.2 on 15 September 2008. The Leica M8.2 includes all the upgrades offered in the upgrade program, however the black version is coated with black paint (as opposed to the black chrome finish of the standard Leica M8) and black Leica branding dot. An auto S setting producing only JPEGs was added to the shutter speed dial.
Leica also introduced the M8.2 Safari edition package, limited to a production run of 500. The package includes an olive green painted LEICA M8.2, a silver finished LEICA ELMARIT-M 28mm f/2.8 ASPH.lens and a matching Billingham camera case.


System Ten


Pocket computer

A pocket computer was a 1980s-era user programmable calculator-sized computer that had fewer screen lines,
 and often fewer characters per line, than the Pocket-sized computers introduced beginning in 1989. Manufacturers included Casio, Hewlett-Packard, Sharp, Tandy/Radio Shack (selling Casio and Sharp models under their own TRS line) and many more. The last Sharp pocket computer, the PC-G850V (2001) is programmable in C, BASIC, and Assembler. An important feature of pocket computers was that all programming languages were available for the device itself, not downloaded from a cross-compiler on a larger computer.
The programming language was usually BASIC.


Macintosh XL

Macintosh XL is a modified version of the Apple Lisa personal computer made by Apple Computer, Inc. In the Macintosh XL configuration, the computer shipped with MacWorks XL, a Lisa program that allowed 64 K Macintosh ROM emulation. An identical machine was previously sold as Lisa 2/10 with the Lisa OS only.
Hardware.
Macintosh XL has a 400K 3.5" floppy drive and an internal 10 MB proprietary "Widget" hard drive with provision for an optional 5 or 10 MB external ProFile hard drive with the addition of a parallel interface card. The machine uses a Motorola 68000 CPU, clocked at 5 MHz together with 512KB RAM. Macintosh XL was discontinued in April 1985.
Upgrades.
Because of its roots as a Lisa — unlike all other Macintosh computers — the stock Macintosh XL used rectangular pixels. The resolution of Macintosh XL's 12-inch (30.5 cm) display was 720×364 pixels. Square pixels were available through the Macintosh XL Screen Kit upgrade that changed the resolution to 608×432 pixels. The CPU could be replaced with a new CPU board containing up to 8 MB RAM, called "XLerator 18". The maximum upgraded RAM with conventional add-in RAM cards was up to 2 MB – quadruple the maximum capacity of earlier Macintosh computers. (With modifications to the CPU board, the XL could accommodate up to 4 MB of RAM).
MacWorks.
MacWorks Plus was developed by Sun Remarketing as a successor to MacWorks XL in order to provide application compatibility with the Macintosh Plus computer. MacWorks Plus added support for an 800 KB 3.5" floppy disk and System software up through version 6.0.3. MacWorks Plus II extended that to the same System 7.5.5 limit imposed on all 68000 processors.
History.
The re-badging of the XL was a last-ditch effort by Apple to save the poorly-selling Lisa which had been usurped by the Macintosh line. After two years of marginal sales, Apple was unprepared for the record number of orders placed for the newest member of the Macintosh family.
Discontinuation.
Despite its relative success, Macintosh XL was discontinued because it was unavailable. Parts had not been ordered to keep the XL in production, and once the last of the parts ran out, Apple made the decision to shut down production for good. In 1986, Apple offered all Lisa/XL owners the opportunity to turn in their computer (along with US$1,498) and receive in exchange a Macintosh Plus and Hard Disk 20 (list price: US$4,098 at the time).
Sun Remarketing.
After Apple dropped the XL from their price list in September 1985, Sun Remarketing of Logan, Utah, bought a number of Apple's remaining inventory and continued to sell them under license with their updated version of MacWorks Plus, re-branding it as Macintosh Professional.
Although no new Lisas were available for sale, development continued on MacWorks Plus to support the installed base of Lisas, making them as relevant as their closely-related cousin Macintosh Plus.
Legacy.
Macintosh XL shares the same legacy as Lisa before it. However, the increased sales from the emulation of the Macintosh operating system proved that the Macintosh family badly needed a more professional environment which could support larger monitors, greater memory, and more expandability than Macintosh 512K offered.


Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ30

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ30 is a digital camera by Panasonic Lumix. The highest-resolution pictures it records is 16.1 megapixels, through its 25mm Wide-Angle Lens.


HP-34C

The HP-34C continuous memory calculator was an advanced scientific programmable calculator, produced between 1979 (cost US$150) and 1983 (cost US$100)
Features.
Root-finding and integration.
Significant to the HP-34C calculator was the capability for integration and root-finding (a first for any pocket calculator). Integration and root-finding worked by having the user input a formula as a program. Multiple roots are found using the technique of first finding a root formula_1, then dividing the equation by formula_2, thus driving the solution of the equation away from the root at that point. This technique for multiple root-finding is referred to as "deflation". The user would usually programmatically recall the root value from a storage register to improve its precision.
Programming.
The common method of converting registers to program memory allowed the calculator a maximum of 210 program steps. Programming features such as indirect jumps provided substantial capability to the calculator's programmer.
The HP-34C shipped with an "applications" manual that included two games (Moon Rocket Lander and Nimb). This made the calculator probably one of the first pocket game computers ever invented. The winner was announced via calculator spelling by turning the display upside down and the words BLISS or I'LOSE (55178 or 3507,1) were displayed. A game of blackjack was easily programmable by converting some of the registers to lines of program.
Pedigree.
The calculator was superseded, in 1982, by the HP-15C.
Although it is argued the HP-41C (introduced late 1979 and only a matter of months after the HP-34C) was a replacement for the HP-34C, they were in fact differentiated as much by price (the HP-34C being 50% that of the HP-41C) as by functionality and performance (the HP-41C being the first HP LCD-based and module-expandable calculator, with its standard functionality lacking the root-finding and integration capabilities as well as the gamma-function implementation of the HP-34C though). This price difference allowed those with economic constraints to still buy a high-end HP (HP-34C) scientific programmable within a reasonable cost. As such they were sold side-by-side for a number of years.
Design.
The HP-34C came in a number of variants, such as plastic- and metal-keyboard versions and those with soldered (later 1983 variants) vs pressure-mounted circuitry (earlier variants 1979–1983).


Transistor computer

A transistor computer, now often called a second generation computer, is a computer which uses discrete transistors instead of vacuum tubes. The first generation of electronic computers used vacuum tubes, which generated large amounts of heat, were bulky and unreliable. A second generation of computers, through the late 1950s and 1960s featured circuit boards filled with individual transistors and magnetic core memory. These machines remained the mainstream design into the late 1960s, when integrated circuits started appearing and led to the third generation computer.
History.
The University of Manchester's experimental Transistor Computer was first operational in November 1953 and it is widely believed to be the first transistor computer to come into operation anywhere in the world. There were two versions of the Transistor Computer, the prototype, operational in 1953, and the full-size version, commissioned in April 1955. The 1953 machine had 92 point-contact transistors and 550 diodes, manufactured by STC. It had a 48-bit machine word. The 1955 machine had a total of 200 point-contact transistors and 1300 point diodes, which resulted in a power consumption of 150 watts. There were considerable reliability problems with the early batches of transistors and the average error-free run in 1955 was only 1.5 hours. The Computer also used a small number of tubes in its clock generator, so it was not the first "fully" transistorized machine.
The design of a full-size Transistor Computer was subsequently adopted by the Manchester firm of Metropolitan-Vickers, who changed all the circuits to use more reliable junction transistors. The production version was known as the Metrovick 950 and was built from 1956 to the extent of six or seven machines, which were "used commercially within the company" or "mainly for internal use".
Other early machines.
During the mid-1950s a series of similar machines appeared. These included the Bell Laboratories TRADIC, completed in January 1954, which incorporated a single high-power output vacuum-tube amplifier to supply its 1-MHz clock power.
The first fully transistorized computer was either the Harwell CADET, which first operated in February 1955, although the price paid for this was that it operated only at the slow speed of 58 kHz, or the prototype IBM 604 transistor calculator. The Burroughs Corporation claimed the SM-65 Atlas ICBM / THOR ABLE guidance computer (MOD 1) that it delivered to the US Air Force at the Cape Canaveral missile range in June 1957 was "the world's first operational transistorized computer". MIT's Lincoln Laboratory started developing a transistorized computer the TX-0 in 1956.
Further transistorized computers became operational in Japan (ETL Mark III, July 1956), in Canada (DRTE Computer, 1957), and in Austria, (Mailüfterl, May 1958), these being the first transistorized computers in Asia, Canada and mainland Europe respectively.
First commercial fully transistorized calculator.
In April 1955, IBM announced the IBM 608 transistor calculator, which was first shipped in December 1957. IBM and several historians thus consider the IBM 608 the first all solid-state computing machine commercially marketed. The development of the 608 was preceded by the prototyping of an experimental all-transistor version of the 604. This was built and demonstrated in October 1954, but was not commercialized.
Early commercial fully transistorized large-scale computers.
The Philco Transac models S-1000 scientific computer and S-2000 electronic data processing computer were early commercially produced large-scale all-transistor computers; they were announced in 1957 but did not ship until sometime after the fall of 1958. The Philco computer name "Transac" stands for Transistor-Automatic-Computer. Both of these Philco computer models used the surface-barrier transistor in their circuitry designs, the world's first high-frequency transistor suitable for high-speed computers. The surface-barrier transistor was developed by Philco in 1953.
RCA shipped the RCA 501 its first all transistor computer in 1958.
In Italy, Olivetti's first commercial fully transistorized computer was the Olivetti Elea 9003, sold from 1959.
IBM.
IBM, which dominated the data processing industry through most of the 20th century, introduced its first commercial transistorized computers beginning in 1958, with the IBM 7070, a ten-digit-word decimal machine. It was followed in 1959 by the IBM 7090, a 36-bit scientific machine, the highly popular IBM 1401 designed to replace punched card tabulating machines, and the desk-sized 1620, a variable length decimal machine. IBM's 7000 and 1400 series included many variants on these designs, with different data formats, instruction sets and even different character encodings, but all were built using the same series of electronics modules, the IBM Standard Modular System (SMS).
DEC.
Developers of the TX-0 left to form the Digital Equipment Corporation in 1957. Transistorized from the beginning, early DEC products included the PDP-1, PDP-6, PDP-7 and early PDP-8s, the last starting the minicomputer revolution. Later models of the PDP-8 beginning with PDP-8I in 1968 used integrated circuits making them third generation computers
System/360 and hybrid circuits.
In 1964, IBM announced its System/360, a collection of computers covering a wide range of capabilities and prices with a unified architecture, to replace its earlier computers. Unwilling to bet the company on the immature monolithic IC technology of the early 1960s, IBM built the S/360 series using IBM's Solid Logic Technology (SLT) modules. SLT could package several individual transistors and individual diodes with deposited resistors and interconnections in a module one-half inch square, roughly the equivalent logic of the earlier IBM Standard Modular System card, But unlike monolithic IC manufacturing, the diodes and transistors in an SLT module were individually placed and connected at the end of each module's assembly.
Schools and hobbyists.
First generation computers were largely out of reach of schools and hobbyists who wished to build their own, largely because of the cost of the large number of vacuum tubes required (though relay-based computer projects "were" undertaken). The fourth generation (VLSI) was also largely out of reach, too, due to most of the design work being inside the integrated circuit package (though this barrier, too, was later removed). So, second and third generation computer design (transistors and SSI) were perhaps the best suited to being undertaken by schools and hobbyists.


Sony Vaio P series

The Sony Vaio P series is a range of ultraportable subnotebook computers launched in January 2009.
It was marketed as a "lifestyle PC", although they share many characteristics with netbook computers.
Description.
The Sony Vaio P series features an 8" LED-backlit display with native resolution of 1600x768, coupled with Intel GMA 500 integrated graphics, an Intel Atom Silverthorne Z5x0 CPU with Intel Poulsbo US15W chipset, and up to 2GB of DDR2 memory. Notably, the P series sports non-upgradeable RAM that is soldered to the motherboard, with some models including just 1GB of RAM. It uses a pointing stick in the keyboard as its pointing device. Exact specs vary by region. An integrated "Motion Eye" webcam (optional in some models) is located on the upper right corner of the display bezel. Built-in GPS (some models), Bluetooth, 802.11 b/g/n wireless and 3G or HSDPA mobile broadband comprise its connectivity options. Like most ultraportables and netbooks, an internal optical drive is not present.
At launch, the pre-installed operating system was one of the 32-bit versions of Windows XP, which has lower resource requirements than Windows Vista. Several people have succeeded in installing various versions of Linux on the Vaio P, most notably Ubuntu Linux (Version 9.04, Jaunty). Ubuntu is arguably the best alternative due to its ease of installation and configuration, and the fact that it allows for full 3D graphics to be utilized. Since the release of Windows 7, the P series now ships with that OS installed. The P series has been criticized for poor performance in part due to the excessive pre-installed software, but also because of the poor performance of the integrated graphics.
Compared with most other Intel Atom-based netbooks, the P series was considerably more expensive. However, the Atom Silverthorne platform adopted by the P series sported lower power consumption and higher-clocked processor options compared to the more common Diamondville platform. Later models of the Vaio P included these faster CPUs. In addition, the P series is the lightest device in its class, weighing roughly the same as the Apple iPad 2 tablet and less than all 10" netbooks, and the 7" Asus Eee PC models. The 1600x768 resolution of the P series' 8" display is also comparable to that of much larger laptops, such as the 12.1" Thinkpad X200s and its 1440x900 resolution.
Launch specs.
The Vaio P was launched in five colour options: Dove White, Emerald Green, Glossy Black, Gold, and Sangria Red.
Dependent on the model, storage was a 60GB or 80GB hard disk drive, or 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB solid state drive.
Minor model updates included Windows 7, larger SSDs, and faster Atom processors.
May 2010 update.
The VPC-P11 series launched on May 2010 featured a refreshed exterior, an accelerometer to enable switching from landscape to portrait mode, a tiny 16mmx16mm touchpad built into the LCD bezel, and a choice of five colours - 'electric orange, neon green, hot pink, icy white and classic black'. In addition, a button was added to instantly switch the screen to 1280x600 resolution, in order to make text more readable, as well as a digital compass, ambient light sensor, and higher-capacity battery (2500mAh).
The 2010 revision was the last iteration of the P series, with Sony discontinuing the product in 2011. The P series clamshell format was incorporated in Sony's Tablet P, which was released in November 2011.
USA Models.
Launch dates.
VGN-P500 series - January/February 2009
VGN-P600 series - July 2009
VGN-P700 series - October 2009
VPC-P11 series - May 2010


Phalanx (video game)

Phalanx is a 1991 space shooter video game developed by ZOOM Inc. and Kemco for the Sharp X68000, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy Advance. The game was released for the X68000 in Japan in 1991, for the SNES in Japan on August 7, 1992 and in North America in October 1992, and for the GBA in Japan on October 26, 2001, in Europe on November 23, 2001 and in North America on December 27, 2001.
"Phalanx" is infamous for the incongruous box art in its American release: it displays a bearded, elderly man dressed in overalls, wearing a fedora and playing a banjo while a futuristic spaceship flies in the background. The popular media site IGN named it their fifth "Most Awesome Cover" in a top 25 countdown on their website. The advertising company responsible for the box art later admitted that they had deliberately chosen this theme in order to attract the customer with something original, considering there were many space shooters in the market that looked alike. The Game Boy Advance release redesigned the cover in favor of a prominent spaceship image.
A "mini" version called "Tiny Phalanx" was featured in the 1995 fighting game "Zero Divide".
Gameplay.
The player's ship can switch to different three speed levels at any time, allowing the player to move fast to avoid enemies and obstacles entirely, or slow down to weave between enemy bullets. An unusual addition for a shooter at the time is the ability for the player's ship to take multiple hits before losing a life: the Phalanx had three hit points which could be restored by a certain power-up, which is important as health is persistent between levels. A variety of weapons can be picked up from items that certain enemies leave behind, and up to three can be stored at a time; further weapons replace the currently-equipped weapon when acquired. The player can switch between these weapons freely, and sacrifice a weapon to produce a "smart bomb" effect, freeing up the slot to grab another weapon without waste. The Extend was set at every 300,000 points. Difficulty can be adjusted between three levels in the options menu (unavailable during play), and primarily affects the number of bullets fired by enemies; a hidden "Funny" difficulty is available through the use of cheat codes, and escalates the game's difficulty dramatically.
Weapons and Items.
L – Laser: Equips the ship with two stationary options, respectively above and below the ship, while changing the ship's attack to a piercing laser beam. Successive upgrades cause the options to fire beams as well, fore and aft, while increasing the beams' power. Its Smart Bomb attack causes the ship to spin rapidly, firing powerful bullets outward in a spiral pattern, while rendering the ship invulnerable.
H – Homing: Equips the ship with two options which orbit clockwise around the ship, while changing the ship's main weapon to a homing ball of energy. Upgrading causes the options to fire their own homing balls, and increases their power. Its Smart Bomb attack is a ball of energy that surrounds the ship, negating all damage and causing heavy damage to any enemy touched by the energy field.
E – Energizer: A charge weapon which fires energy bolts; charging increases the size and number of bolts fired; upgrades improve the maximum charge level. Its Smart Bomb attack is a full-screen antimatter reaction which causes continual damage to all visible enemies.
R – Ricochet: Equips the ship with two options which orbit the ship in opposing directions, while changing the ship's attack to a green ball of energy. Upgrading causes the options to fire similar balls of energy forward diagonally up and down, which bounce off flat walls or ceilings, and increases overall damage. Its Smart Bomb attack combines the two options into a single homing drone which engages enemies at melee range, killing them before seeking a new target. Unlike other Smart Bomb attacks, the ship remains vulnerable during this attack; additionally, the drone will frequently seek out invulnerable portions of enemies to attack, reducing its usefulness against bosses.
A – A-Type Missile: A standard side-weapon which launches homing missiles that detonate on impact.
B – B-Type Missile: A standard side-weapon which launches forward firing rockets that do not detonate, and damage all enemies along their path.
C – C-Type Missile: A standard side-weapon which launches guided missiles, mimicking the A-144's vertical movement as they fly forward, that detonate on impact.
P – Power-Capsule: The game's combination healing and weapon enhancement power-up; simultaneously upgrades weapons systems by one level, and heals one point of ship health.
Plot.
Taking place in the year 2279, a planetary research project is sent into the depths of space. One particular group of researchers lands on and partly colonizes the alien planet Delia. However, sometime after their stay, an emergency transmission is sent from Delia to their security force orbiting the planet. The only clue they are given is a message regarding a hazardous leak. The planet's space fighters had become possessed by an unknown space squadron of alien bioships that appear out of nowhere and soon make themselves a hostile threat among the possessed fighters. The player assumes the role of Wink Baulfield (named Rick in the Game Boy Advance version), an ace pilot assigned to investigate the disaster and possibly discover what is invading Delia in the assignment Operation Climax in the experimental space fighter the A/144 Phalanx.
Development.
Box art.
Phalanx's unusual SNES box art, featuring an elderly man (Bertil Valley) playing a banjo has been cited in examples of bizarre video game box art. In an interview with "Destructoid", Matt Guss, an advertiser who worked on "Phalanx"'s cover, stated that the idea for the art came from coworker Keith Campbell. Campbell, who didn't find anything in "Phalanx" that stood out, decided to make the packaging eye-catching, hoping a potential buyer would stare at the box art and wonder "what just happened." The box art itself has been described by "Destructoid's" Allastair Pinsoff as "Goofy and misleading" and by "ScreenRant"'s Ryan Lynch as "the most surreal video game box art of all time".
Release.
ZOOM Inc. announced that there would be a remake of this game for WiiWare at a cost of 500 Wii points. It was released in Japan on December 22, 2009.
Reception.
SNES Force Magazine gave the SNES version a review score of 74% stating: "Unorginal and frustrating gameplay saved only by clean, sharp graphics."


Truxton II

Truxton II is a 1992 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and Europe. It is the sequel to "Truxton", which was released earlier on arcades in 1988 and later ported to various platforms.
Taking place after the events of the original game, players assume the role of two fighter pilots taking control of the HyperFighter space fighter crafts in an effort to overthrow the returning Gidans alien race led by Dogurava and free the galaxy from enslavement. Initially launched for the arcades, "Truxton II" later received a conversion to the FM Towns by Ving and published exclusively in Japan on April 1993, featuring various changes compared with the original version.
"Truxton II" received positive reception from critics since its initial arcade launch and later on the FM Towns, garnering praise for the detailed presentation, graphics and sound design, though some criticized the length and noted it to be a standard shoot 'em up title. Nevertheless, it has since gained a cult following and as of 2019, the rights to the title are owned by Tatsujin, a company founded in 2017 by former Toaplan member Masahiro Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia alongside many other Toaplan IPs.
Gameplay.
"Truxton II" is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game that plays similarly like its predecessor, "Truxton", where players assume the role of two pilots taking control of the HyperFighter space fighter crafts through six stages, each with a boss at the end, in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the returning Dogurava and his Gidan army as the main objective. Several changes were implemented in the sequel compared to its predecessor such as an autofire mechanism.
There are three types of weapons in the game that can be acquired by destroying incoming carriers, ranging from red napalm bombs that act in a similar way to the red Bakuryu-housen-ka (Exploding Flower) shot from "Robo Aleste", the blue homing laser from "Truxton", and the wide-reaching salvos of green shots, which replace the red weapon from the original game and each weapon can be powered-up several times by collecting the respective color of each one. In addition, a set of two satellite "options" are activated after collecting any weapon type. There are only two types of collectible items; speed increasers for the ship and bombs capable of obliterating any enemy caught within their blast radius.
In some occasions, players can pick up a 1UP icon to increase their lives reserve. Similar to "Dogyuun" and "Gun Frontier", the game hosts a number of hidden bonus secrets to be found, which is also crucial for reaching high scores to obtain extra lives. The title uses a checkpoint system in which a downed single player will start off at the beginning of the checkpoint they managed to reach before dying. Getting hit by enemy fire or colliding against solid stage obstacles will result in losing a life, as well as a penalty of decreasing the ship's firepower and speed to its original state and once all lives are lost, the game is over unless the players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. As with previous shoot 'em ups from Toaplan, the game loops back to the first stage after completing the last stage and each loop increases in difficulty.
Synopsis.
"Truxton II" takes place after the defeat of Dogurava and his Gidan army in the original game, where volcanic eruptions have been occurring on a planet for some time, which ultimately culminated in an explosion that revealed the returning Dogurava from his previous defeat and the resurrection of the Gidan army as a result. Under a short time period, the Gidans quickly dominated the galaxy, while few surviving refugees were able to escape from their grasp to deliver news about the current situation to the astroport. Two fighter pilots taking control of the HyperFighter space fighter crafts are dispatched to counterattack the invaders and overthrow their dominance in the galaxy.
Development and release.
"Truxton II" marked the first time Toaplan made use of PCM for sound, although the company still made use of FM as well for the project. The soundtrack was composed by Masahiro Yuge and the team wanted to preserve Toaplan's musical style while challenging themselves with new ideas. Due to memory constrains, Yuge only used PCM for drums, prompting him to focus on FM sound instead. On October 28, 2020, former Taito designer Tomonobu Kagawa revealed to a Twitter user that he was involved during the game's development at Toaplan as graphic designer as well as creating the HyperFighter ship. Kagawa stated that he was one of the three graphic designers responsible for the pixel art, among them being Naoki Ogiwara as lead artist, who later worked on "DoDonPachi" at Cave.
"Truxton II" was released on arcades in 1992. Prior to release, it was showcased to the public at events such as the 1992 AOU Show. On September 18, 1992, an album was co-published exclusively in Japan by Scitron and Pony Canyon, featuring an arranged song composed by Yuge. The title later received a faithful conversion to the FM Towns by Ving and was published exclusively in Japan on April 1993, however, it features a cropped resolution and the parallax scrolling was removed. On April 2020, M2 announced a new version of "Truxton II" as part of their M2 ShotTriggers publishing label. It was first announced to be released on the Nintendo Switch.
Reception and legacy.
In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "Truxton II" on their August 1, 1992 issue as being the sixth most-popular arcade game at the time. In the September 1992 issue of Japanese publication "Micom BASIC Magazine", the game was ranked on the number five spot in popularity.
"Truxton II" has been met with positive critical reception from reviewers since its initial release in arcades and later on the FM Towns. Andreas Knauf of German magazine "Video Games" praised the elaborated and detailed presentation, regarding it to be better than "Vimana", although Knauf criticized its length. The four reviewers of "GameFan" praised the FM Towns port for the presentation, graphics and sound, regarding it to be better than the Sega Genesis version of "Truxton" but some ultimately noted it to be a standard shoot 'em up title. "Edge" magazine gave the FM Towns port high praise as well but also slight criticism for the use of infinite continues. Damien McFerran of "Retro Gamer" regarded the FM Towns port as one of the system's "perfect three" games. Kurt Kalata of "Hardcore Gaming 101" gave a positive outlook to the game in a retrospective review, praising the detailed presentation and graphics.
"Truxton II" has since gained a cult following, being cited as an inspiration for "Cho Ren Sha 68K", while the rights to the game and many other IPs from Toaplan are now owned by Tatsujin, a company named after its predecessor's Japanese title that was founded in 2017 by Yuge, who are now affiliated with arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia.


Microcomputer Associates, Incorporated

Microcomputer Associates was founded by Manny Lemas and Ray Holt. It produced the low cost Jolt Microcomputer, released in 1975. It was later acquired by Synertek, a second source manufacturer of the 6502, and renamed Synertek Systems. It then created the SYM-1, a 6502-based single board microcomputer and successor to the KIM-1. Holt designed the JOLT microcomputer. In 1978 the company offered a number of processor and peripheral modules.


Transmission control unit

A transmission control unit (TCU), also known as a transmission control module (TCM), or a gearbox control unit (GCU), is a type of automotive ECU that is used to control electronic automatic transmissions. Similar systems are used in various semi-automatic transmissions, purely for clutch automation and actuation. A TCU in a modern automatic transmission generally uses sensors from the vehicle, as well as data provided by the engine control unit (ECU), to calculate how and when to change gears in the vehicle for optimum performance, fuel economy and shift quality.
History.
Electronic automatic transmissions have been changing in design from purely hydromechanical controls to electronic controls since the late 1980s. Since then, development has been iterative and today designs exist from several stages of electronic automatic transmission control development. Transmission solenoids are a key component to these control units.
The evolution of modern automatic transmission and the integration of electronic controls have allowed great progress in recent years. The modern automatic transmission is now able to achieve better fuel economy, reduced engine emissions, greater shift system reliability, improved shift feel, improved shift speed and improved vehicle handling. The immense range of programmability offered by a TCU allows the modern automatic transmission to be used with appropriate transmission characteristics for each application.
On some applications, the TCU and the ECU are combined into a single unit as a powertrain control module (PCM).
Input parameters.
The typical modern TCU uses signals from engine sensors, automatic transmission sensors and from other electronic controllers to determine when and how to shift. More modern designs share inputs or obtain information from an input to the ECU, whereas older designs often have their own dedicated inputs and sensors on the engine components. Modern TCUs are so complex in their design and make calculations based on so many parameters that there are an indefinite amount of possible shift behaviours
Vehicle speed sensor (VSS).
This sensor sends a varying frequency signal to the TCU to determine the current speed of the vehicle. The TCU uses this information to determine when a gear change should take place based in the various operating parameters. The TCU also uses a ratio between the TSS and WSS which is used to determine when to change gears. If either the TSS or WSS fails or malfunctions/becomes faulty, the ratio will be wrong which in return can cause problems like false speedometer readings and transmission slipping. To test these parts, check the resistance to make sure it's within manufacturer specs.
Wheel speed sensor (WSS).
Modern automatic transmissions also have a wheel speed sensor input to determine the true speed of the vehicle to determine whether the vehicle is going downhill or uphill and also adapt gear changes according to road speeds, and also whether to decouple the torque converter at a standstill to improve fuel consumption and reduce load on running gear.
Throttle position sensor (TPS).
The TPS sensor along with the vehicle speed sensor are the two main inputs for most TCUs. Older transmissions use this to determine engine load, with the introduction of drive-by-wire technology, this is often a shared input between the ECU and TCU. The input is used to determine the optimum time and characteristics for a gear change according to load on the engine. The rate of change is used to determine whether a downshift is appropriate for overtaking, for example, the value of the TPS is also continually monitored during the journey and shift programmes are changed accordingly (economy, sport mode, etc.). The TCU can also reference this information with the vehicle speed sensor to determine vehicle acceleration and compare this with a nominal value; if the actual value is much higher or lower (such as driving uphill or towing a trailer) the transmission will change its gearshift patterns to suit the situation.
Turbine speed sensor (TSS).
Known as an input speed sensor (ISS). This sensor sends a varying frequency signal to the TCU to determine the current rotational speed of the input shaft or torque converter. The TCU uses the input shaft speed to determine slippage across the torque converter and potentially to determine the rate of slippage across the bands and clutches. This information is vital to regulate the application of the torque converter lock-up clutch smoothly and effectively.
Transmission fluid Temperature sensor (TFT).
This may also be known as Transmission Oil Temperature. This sensor determines the fluid temperature inside the transmission. This is often used for diagnostic purposes to check ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) at the correct temperature. The main use of this has been as a failsafe feature to downshift the transmission if the ATF becomes extremely hot. On more modern transmissions this input allows the TCU to modify the line pressure and solenoid pressures according to the changing viscosity of the fluid based on temperature in order to improve shift comfort, and also to determine regulation of the torque converter lock-up clutch.
Kick down switch.
One of the most common inputs into a TCU is the kick down switch which is used to determine if the accelerator pedal has been depressed past full throttle. Traditionally this was required on older transmissions with a simple logic in order to ensure maximum acceleration. When activated the transmission downshifts into the lowest permissible gear based on current road speed to use the full power reserves of the engine. This is still present in most transmissions though is no longer necessary to use in most circumstances because the TCU uses the throttle position sensor, the rate of change, and driver characteristics to determine whether a downshift may be necessary, thus eliminating the traditional need for this switch.
Brake light switch.
This input is used to determine whether to activate the shift lock solenoid to prevent the driver selecting a driving range with no foot on the brake. In more modern TCUs this input is also used to determine whether to downshift the transmission to increase engine braking effect if the transmission detects that the vehicle is going downhill.
Traction Control System (TCS).
Many TCUs now have an input from the vehicle's traction control system. If the TCS detects unfavourable road conditions, a signal is sent to the TCU. The TCU can modify shift programmes by upshifting early, eliminating the torque converter lock-up clutch application, and also eliminating the first gear totally and pulling off in 2nd.
Switches.
These simple on/off electric switches detect the presence or absence of fluid pressure in a particular hydraulic line. They are used for diagnostic purposes and in some cases for controlling the application or release of hydraulic control elements.
Cruise control module.
If the vehicle is fitted with cruise control the TCU may also have a connection to cruise control system. This can modify shift behaviour to take into account the throttle is not being operated by the driver to eliminate unexpected gearchanges when the cruise control is engaged. This is also used to inform the cruise control system about the position of the selector lever so that the cruise control can be deactivated if the lever is shifted out of a driving range.
Inputs from other controllers.
A wide variety of information is delivered to the TCU via Controller Area Network communications or similar protocols (such as Chrysler's CCD bus, an early EIA-485-based vehicle local area network). In older vehicle designs, as well as in aftermarket TCUs sold into the racing and hobbyist markets, the TCU receives only the signals needed to control the transmission (engine speed, vehicle speed, throttle position or manifold vacuum, shift lever position).
Output parameters.
The typical modern TCU sends out signals to shift solenoids, pressure control solenoids, torque converter lockup solenoids and to other electronic controllers.
Shift lock.
Many automatic transmissions lock the selector lever via a shiftlock solenoid to stop a driving range being selected if the brake pedal is not depressed.
Shift solenoids.
Modern electronic automatic transmissions have electrical solenoids which are activated to change gears. Simple electronic-control designs (such as Ford's AOD-E, AXOD-E and E4OD) use the solenoids to modify the shift points in an existing valve body, while more advanced designs (such as the Chrysler Ultradrive and its follow-ons) use the solenoids to control the clutches indirectly, by way of a greatly simplified valve body.
Pressure control solenoids.
Modern electronic automatic transmissions are still fundamentally hydraulic. This requires precise pressure control. Older automatic transmission designs only use a single line pressure control solenoid which modifies pressure across the entire transmission. Newer automatic transmission designs often use many pressure control solenoids, and sometimes allow the shift solenoids themselves to provide precise pressure control during shifts by ramping the solenoid on and off. The shift pressure affects the shift quality (too high a pressure will result in rough shifting; too low a pressure will cause the clutches to overheat) and shift speed.
Torque converter clutch solenoid (TCC).
Most electronic automatic transmissions utilize a TCC solenoid to regulate the torque converter electronically. Once fully locked, the torque converter no longer applies torque multiplication and will spin at the same speed as the engine. This provides a major increase in fuel economy. Modern designs provide partial lockup in lower gears to improve fuel economy further, but this can increase wear on the clutch components.
Output to ECU.
Many TCUs provide an output to the ECU to retard the ignition timing, or reduce the fuel quantity, for a few milliseconds to reduce load on the transmission during heavy throttle. This allows automatic transmissions to shift smoothly even on engines with large amounts of torque which would otherwise result in a harder shift and possible damage to the gearbox.
Outputs to other controllers.
The TCU provides information about the health of the transmission, such as clutch wear indicators and shift pressures, and can raise trouble codes and set the malfunction indicator lamp on the instrument cluster if a serious problem is found. An output to the cruise control module is also often present to deactivate the cruise control if a neutral gear is selected, just like on a manual transmission.
Other Applications.
Semi-automatic transmission.
The transmission control unit (TCU) in older automtobiles with a clutchless manual transmission (without a clutch pedal) typically consists of an electrical switch connected to the gearshift, that is activated whenever the internal transmission control unit senses driver touching the gearshift to switch gears, which then primes a sensor or solenoid to impel a clutch servo, and in turn, disengages the clutch actuator so the driver can change gears. The internal clutch actuator in a semi-automatic transmission can be powered by either hydraulic, pneumatic, or electric means. Later examples of clutchless manual transmissions used in road cars include the Saab "Sensonic" transmission, used in the 900 NG, and the Ferrari "Valeo" auto-manual transmission, used in the Mondial T. Both systems used a computer-controlled ECU or microprocessor, connected to a sensor embedded in the gearshift, that would detect when the driver was going to change gear (i.e., by touching the gearshift), and would actuate the clutch automatically, allowing the driver to change gear. Saab's "Sensonic" system was electro-hydraulic, using an electric motor or solenoid connected to a hydraulic clutch actuator, whereas Ferrari's "Valeo" system was electro-mechanical, using an electric motor or solenoid, connected to the mechanical clutch system.
Similar TCU or GCU systems are used in racecars with paddle-shift transmissions. These electronic systems typically work in conjunction with the engine control unit (in a similar way to road cars), and are responsible for operating electronic throttle control, clutch and gearshift actuation (via an electric, hydraulic, or pneumatic actuator), gearshift time and speed, sensors, switches, solenoids, and other hydraulic, pneumatic, and electronic sub-systems that control and constitute the transmission control unit in a racecar.


Knight Tyme

Knight Tyme is a computer game released for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and MSX compatibles in 1986. It was published by Mastertronic as part of their Mastertronic Added Dimension label. Two versions of the ZX Spectrum release were published: a full version for the 128K Spectrum (which was published first) and a cut-down version for the 48K Spectrum that removed the music, some graphics and some locations (which was published later).
It was programmed by David Jones and is the third game in the "Magic Knight" series. The in-game music was written by David Whittaker on the C64 version and Rob Hubbard on the Spectrum and Amstrad versions. Graphics were by Ray Owen.
Plot.
Having rescued his friend Gimbal from a self-inflicted white-out spell, the Magic Knight finds himself transported into the far future aboard the starship USS "Pisces". Magic Knight must find a way back to his own time, with the help of the Tyme Guardians, before he is apprehended by the Paradox Police. On board the USS Pisces, the Magic Knight is first not recognized at all by the crew of the ship, and must create an ID Card, which he receives a template of from Derby IV, the ship's main computer. After getting his ID completed, he then takes command of the ship, first arriving at Starbase 1 to refuel the ship. After refueling, the Magic Knight collects the pieces of the Golden Sundial from Monopole, Retreat and Outpost. Returning to the ship with all the pieces of the sundial, he discovers that a time machine has appeared inside the USS Pisces to take him back to his own time.
Gameplay.
Gameplay is very similar to "Knight Tyme"'s predecessor, "Spellbound". Once again, the game's wide range of commands are carried out using "Windimation", a system whereby text commands are carried out through choosing options in command windows.
The importance of watching Magic Knight's energy level and keeping him from harm is rather different this time around. Whilst "Spellbound" required the player to be vigilant about his health and needed the player to occasionally avoid flying objects that could sap his strength, "Knight Tyme" is much more focused on the puzzle-solving aspect (although there are still some "death rooms" as in "Spellbound"). For this reason, it should be regarded as a true graphic adventure.
As before, the gameworld features a large number of characters that our hero can interact with. This time around, however, he is not so responsible for their welfare and they are more there to help him on his quest. They do, after all, belong to the time Magic Knight has found himself in. He is the only displaced person this time around.
"Knight Tyme" also involves some space travel, with Magic Knight commandeering the USS "Pisces" and using it to journey to various planets and star systems. All of these planets can be communicated with and some can be beamed down to via the USS "Pisces" transporter system. Magic Knight also needs to keep note of the ship's fuel as if it runs out both he and the starship will be stranded which means the end of the game. Refuelling can take place at many of the planets the USS "Pisces" visits.
Sequels.
One further Magic Knight game, "Stormbringer", was released in 1987.


IBM 632

The IBM 632 was a valve-and-relay driven basic (very basic) accounting machine, introduced in 1958, that was available in seven different models. It consisted of an IBM Electric typewriter and at least a punched card unit (like the IBM 024) that housed the "electronics" in two gates (a relay gate and an electronic gate). Some machines also had a card reader unit (like the IBM 026). A small core memory provided storage for 8 numeric 12 digit words.
The machine was programmed primarily with a plastic tape that moved synchronously with the typewriter carriage. Each tape would typically handle one application. The tape mechanism was mounted behind the carriage in the typewriter unit. Further programming was provided in the card machines program drums. Programs were only executed as the machine typed or spaced over a column - tabbing or carriage returning was not recognised.
As the typewriter carriage moved from field to field three program entries were available in the last three columns of each field - as I recall they were Calc1, Calc2, and Pgm. One calculation was allowed in each Calc column. The PGM field allowed a program instruction - a jump in the form of a "jump" to a new column then auto printout of a calculated field (including decimal place control) as well as punched card control, etc. The PGM column was actually the column the typewriter would space to after typing the last character in the field (either under operator or PGM control).
For example, after entering "price" then tabbing and entering "qty", the machine could automatically space through a dummy field, calculate the $amount on the way and then continue to print it out. The PGM field could then have dictated a carriage return, ready for the next entry.
Two programs were allowed on each tape: primary and alternate. But by resetting the tab-stops it was possible to overlap programs in amazingly complex ways.
Adding was carried out electronically, but multiplication was electro-mechanical. The machine gave off a characteristic kerr-ick-kit-i-tic, kerr-ick-kit-i-tic sound as the relays worked furiously. Multiplication took 3 or 4 seconds, addition, on the other, hand was immediate.
Most machines were used for some type of order-entry/invoicing application, providing a hard-copy invoice and a punched card that could be processed further on some other system. Those with a card reader could do some of that processing themselves, especially if augmented with a sorter.
Cost, price and rental rates.
Maintenance/service was included in all monthly rental prices.
Maintenance/service for purchased machines was additional.


Lords of Karma

Lords of Karma is a text adventure that was produced by Avalon Hill in 1980. Written in machine language, it was released for the Apple II, Commodore PET, Atari 8-bit family, TRS-80, and Commodore 64.
Gameplay.
"Lords of Karma" differed from many text adventure games of the time in that it introduced an element of randomness to the game. The exact layout of the land changed subtly between plays (and sometimes even changed during play), and encounters with characters friendly and unfriendly and the obtaining of items and treasure were also a matter of random chance. Actions performed by the player could also affect character interaction. Non-player characters (both friendly and unfriendly) could also follow (or chase) the player from location to location; an unusual feature in text adventures of the day.
The game borrows from Eastern mythology as it places the player in the mystical land of Golconda. The player begins the game Golconda's central square. He or she must then explore Golconda and complete tasks that are presented, periodically returning to a temple to pray or give offerings. Areas included redwood, pine, and oak forests, a swamp, a central town, a sewer system, and several underground areas.
The purpose of the game is to accumulate "karma points", which are necessary for the character to go directly to Heaven. The player is never informed how many karma points are needed, and the chosen number of points is another example of the game's randomness as it changes from game to game; some games end nearly instantly due to a very low karma point goal being randomly chosen, while others can last for hours.
The accumulation of points is affected by the player's ability to complete tasks (such as retrieving a rare object or returning a kidnapped princess to her father), the offering of treasures to the gods and praying, and the treatment of other characters in the game (killing a friendly character results in a substantial drop in karma points, for example). If the player is killed before the needed number of points is accumulated, the player is "reborn" atop a mountain, and his/her inventory of goods is scattered randomly around Golconda. (If a player's karma points are in the negative range, he or she also briefly "burns in hell" to cleanse any sins.)
A major flaw in the game was its load time. Even after it had been loaded via data cassette, which was a lengthy process in itself - the game manual warns that it can take as long as 10 minutes - the game would require some time to set itself up for every play (the manual refers to this as "setting up the board"). Depending on the processing speed of the computer, this load time could last five minutes or more. However, the game only needed to do this once per play. One could also argue that the element of randomness that seemed present in the map was actually a flaw, as exits seemed to appear and disappear spontaneously. Leaving and entering the room from a different exit or simply typing the look command repeatedly would usually resolve this. The game's parser also caused a number of grammatical errors.
Reception.
"Electronic Games" in 1981 stated that "Lords of Karma" "provides an unusually wide variety of adventuring experiences in a single program. Definitely a stand-out among text adventures."
Dave Albert reviewed "Lords of Karma" in "The Space Gamer" No. 43. Albert commented that "All in all, "Lords of Karma" is a good adventure. There are plenty of locations and a fairly wide variety of situations to face. The program is done in machine languages and executes quickly. It is well written and thematically consistent, and requires no esoteric knowledge on the part of the user. If you like this type of computer game, then I would recommend "Lords of Karma". It is really quite enjoyable. However, if you are expecting more than a simple adventure, then you may be disappointed. Avalon Hill has not broken any new ground; they have only covered known territory well."