BBC Micro

The BBC Micro, affectionately known as the Beeb, was an early home computer. It was designed and built by Acorn Computers Ltd for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In the early 1980s, the BBC started what became known as the BBC Computer Literacy Project. The project was initiated largely in response to an extremely influential BBC documentary The Mighty Micro, in which Dr. Christopher Evans from the National Physical Laboratory predicted the coming (micro)computer revolution and its impact on the ...

Including:

• BBC Micro - Background
• BBC Micro - Market impact
• BBC Micro - Description
• BBC Micro - Hardware features Models A and B
• BBC Micro - Software and expandability
• BBC Micro - Successor machines and the retro scene
• BBC Micro - Specifications
• BBC Micro - Trivia

Read more here: » BBC Micro: Encyclopedia - BBC Micro

Four independent sound channels (one noise and 3 melodic) using the Texas Instruments SN76489 sound chip Built-in hardware support included: pluggable ROMs, directly or via "Sideways" daughterboard tape interface (with motor control), using a variation of the Kansas City standard data encoding scheme Centronics parallel printer (model B only) serial communication (using RS-423, a superset of RS-232) display output for TV, RGB or 1v p-p video monitor four analo ...

See also:

BBC Micro, BBC Micro - Background, BBC Micro - Market impact, BBC Micro - Description, BBC Micro - Hardware features Models A and B, BBC Micro - Software and expandability, BBC Micro - Successor machines and the retro scene, BBC Micro - Specifications, BBC Micro - Trivia

Read more here: » BBC Micro: Encyclopedia II - BBC Micro - Specifications

The cassette was a great step forward in convenience from reel-to-reel audio tape recording, though because of the limitations of the cassette's size and speed, it initially compared poorly in quality. Unlike the open reel format, the two stereo tracks lie adjacent to each other rather than a 1/3 and 2/4 arrangement. This permitted monaural cassette players to play stereo recordings "summed" as mono tracks and permitted stereo players to play mono recordings through both speakers. The tape is 3.18 mm wide (nominally 1⁄8See also:

Compact audio cassette, Compact audio cassette - Features of the cassette, Compact audio cassette - Cassette types, Compact audio cassette - Noise reduction and fidelity, Compact audio cassette - Playback length, Compact audio cassette - Write-protection, Compact audio cassette - Applications, Compact audio cassette - Audio, Compact audio cassette - Home studio, Compact audio cassette - Home dubbing, Compact audio cassette - Data recording, Compact audio cassette - Cassette equipment, Compact audio cassette - Successors to the cassette, Compact audio cassette - Present and future of the compact cassette, Compact audio cassette - Cassette in other languages

Read more here: » Compact audio cassette: Encyclopedia II - Compact audio cassette - Features of the cassette

The compact audio cassette medium for audio storage was introduced by Philips in 1963 under the name Compact Cassette. Although there were other magnetic tape cartridge systems at the time, the Compact Cassette became dominant as a result of Philips' decision (in the face of pressure from Sony) to license the format free of charge. It went on to become a popular (and re-recordable) alternative to the vinyl record deck during the 1970s. During the 1980s, ...

Including:

• Compact audio cassette - Features of the cassette
• Compact audio cassette - Cassette types
• Compact audio cassette - Noise reduction and fidelity
• Compact audio cassette - Playback length
• Compact audio cassette - Write-protection
• Compact audio cassette - Applications
• Compact audio cassette - Audio
• Compact audio cassette - Home studio
• Compact audio cassette - Home dubbing
• Compact audio cassette - Data recording
• Compact audio cassette - Cassette equipment
• Compact audio cassette - Successors to the cassette
• Compact audio cassette - Present and future of the compact cassette
• Compact audio cassette - Cassette in other languages

Read more here: » Compact audio cassette: Encyclopedia - Compact audio cassette

The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. It was released by Atari in 1985. The "ST" allegedly stood for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals. Atari ST - Overview. The Atari ST was a notable home computer, based on the Motorola 68000 CPU, with 512 KB of RAM or more, and 3½" floppy disks as storage. It was similar to other contemporary machines which used the Motorola 68000, the A ...

Including:

• Atari ST - Overview
• Atari ST - Origins
• Atari ST - Description
• Atari ST - The enhanced STs
• Atari ST - Future of the platform
• Atari ST - Software
• Atari ST - Screenshots
• Atari ST - Technical specifications
• Atari ST - ST/ST^F/ST^M/ST^FM
• Atari ST - ST^E
• Atari ST - Models
• Atari ST - Other models

Read more here: » Atari ST: Encyclopedia - Atari ST

The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer based on their own 32-bit ARM RISC CPU, and spawned a family of very capable machines with various options. Acorn Archimedes - Description; Early models. The first models were released in June 1987, as the 300 and 400 series. The machines differed primarily in that the 400 series included more expansion slots (four instead of two) and a ST506 controller for an internal hard drive. Both models included the Arthur OS (later ver ...

Including:

• Acorn Archimedes - Description; Early models
• Acorn Archimedes - The A3000 and A5000
• Acorn Archimedes - A new range and a laptop
• Acorn Archimedes - Significance and impact

Read more here: » Acorn Archimedes: Encyclopedia - Acorn Archimedes

L is the twelfth letter of the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is el. L - History. The letter L is derived ultimately from the Semitic (crook/goad) which stood for the phonetic value /l/ as did the Greek letter Lambda Λ (upper case) or λ (lower case), as well as the equivalent Etruscan and Latin letters. In reference, it is spelled el or ell. L - Usage. In English, L can have several values, depending on whether it occurs before or ...

Including:

• L - History
• L - Usage
• L - Alternative representations
• L - Computing
• L - Things named L
• L - Things abbreviated as L
• L - Alternate meanings for the symbol L

Read more here: » L: Encyclopedia - L

Bolo is a video game originally developed for the Apple II computer by Synergistic Software in 1982. An update inspired by the original was created for the BBC Micro computer by Stuart Cheshire in 1987, and later ported to the Macintosh in its most popular incarnation. The original Bolo was a single-player game. Cheshire's Bolo is a networked multiplayer game that simulates a tank battlefield. It is thus a very early example of a real-time strategy game. While the graphics are somewhat primitive compared to modern video ...

Read more here: » Bolo computer game: Encyclopedia - Bolo computer game

Acorn Computers was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK. These included the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro and the Acorn Archimedes. Acorn's BBC Micro computer dominated the UK educational computer market during the 1980s and early 1990s, drawing many comparisons with Apple in the U.S. Though the company was broken up into several independent operations in 2000, it leaves an impressive legacy, particularly in the ...

Including:

• Acorn Computers - Prehistory
• Acorn Computers - CPU Ltd 1978–83
• Acorn Computers - The microcomputer systems
• Acorn Computers - The Atom
• Acorn Computers - BBC Micro and the Electron
• Acorn Computers - Acorn Computer Group plc 1983–85
• Acorn Computers - New RISC architecture
• Acorn Computers - Financial problems
• Acorn Computers - Olivetti subsidiary 1985–98
• Acorn Computers - BBC Master and Archimedes
• Acorn Computers - ARM Ltd
• Acorn Computers - Set-Top boxes
• Acorn Computers - Network Computers
• Acorn Computers - Final break up of Acorn 1998–2000
• Acorn Computers - Footnotes

Read more here: » Acorn Computers: Encyclopedia - Acorn Computers

CP/M is an operating system originally created for Intel 8080/85 and Zilog Z80 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc.. Initially confined to single tasking on 8-bit processors and no more than 64,000 bytes of memory, later versions of CP/M added multi-user variations, and were migrated to 16-bit processors. CP/M stood for either Control Program for Microcomputers or Control Program/Monitor. The name echos the prevailing naming scheme of its t ...

Including:

• CP/M - Hardware model
• CP/M - Components of the operating system
• CP/M - Command processor
• CP/M - Basic disk operating system
• CP/M - Basic input output system
• CP/M - File system
• CP/M - History
• CP/M - The beginning and CP/M's heyday
• CP/M - The 16-bit world
• CP/M - MS-DOS takes over
• CP/M - ZCPR

Read more here: » CP/M: Encyclopedia - CP/M

In abstract strategy games, players know the entire game state at all times, and random generators such as dice are not used. List of board games - Classic two-player abstract strategy games. Alquerque Chaturanga and its descendants: Chess Jangki (Korean Chess) Makruk (Thai Chess) Shogi (Japanese Chess) Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) Draughts or Checkers Fox and geese Go Gomoku Hnefatafl M ...

See also:

List of board games, List of board games - Two-player abstract strategy games, List of board games - Classic two-player abstract strategy games, List of board games - Modern two-player abstract strategy games, List of board games - Two-player games of chance, List of board games - Multi-player elimination games, List of board games - European race games, List of board games - Multiplayer games without elimination, List of board games - Games of physical skill, List of board games - Children's games, List of board games - Generic game sets

Read more here: » List of board games: Encyclopedia II - List of board games - Two-player abstract strategy games

List of home computers by category - MOS Technology 6502-based. Acorn Computers Ltd Acorn Atom Acorn Electron BBC Micro (plus an optional, faster, 6502 in external coprocessor module) BBC Master (65C02) Apple Computer Apple I Apple II, II+ (incl Bell & Howell), IIe Apple IIe Enhanced, IIe Platinum (65C02) Apple IIc, IIc+ (65C02) Apple III, III+ (Synertek 6502A)

The player is represented by a small, insect-like character at the bottom of the screen, which is actually a gnome. The player moves the character about the bottom area of the screen with a trackball and fires laser shots at a centipede advancing from the top of the screen down through a field of mushrooms. Shooting any section of the centipede creates a mushroom; shooting one of the middle segments splits the centipede into two pieces at that poi ...

See also:

Centipede video game, Centipede video game - Description, Centipede video game - Legacy, Centipede video game - Ports, Centipede video game - Clones, Centipede video game - Song

Read more here: » Centipede video game: Encyclopedia II - Centipede video game - Description

Acorn Electron - Acorn Plus 1. The Acorn Plus 1 added two ROM slots, an analogue interface and serial and parallel ports. The analogue interface was normally used for joysticks, the parallel for a printer and the serial for a modem. Access to ROM memory occurred at 2 MHz regardless of graphics mode so theoretically programs released on ROM could run at least twice as fast as those released on tape or disc. Despite this all of the games released on ROM were packaged as 'serial ROMS', from which the micro wo ...

See also:

Acorn Electron, Acorn Electron - History, Acorn Electron - Popular upgrades, Acorn Electron - Acorn Plus 1, Acorn Electron - Acorn Plus 3, Acorn Electron - P.R.E.S. Advanced Plus 3, Acorn Electron - Slogger/Elektuur Turbo Board, Acorn Electron - Slogger Master RAM Board, Acorn Electron - Jafa Systems Mode 7 Display Unit, Acorn Electron - Technical information, Acorn Electron - Hardware, Acorn Electron - Quirks, Acorn Electron - Tricks, Acorn Electron - Popular games, Acorn Electron - Screenshots, Acorn Electron - Emulation

Read more here: » Acorn Electron: Encyclopedia II - Acorn Electron - Popular upgrades

Doctor Who merchandise - Board and card games. Doctor Who - The Game of Time and Space (1980) This boardgame from Games Workshop came in a bookshelf style box that featured Tom Baker as the Doctor in front of several Daleks on the cover. The game involved two to six players moving around the board attempting to collect pieces of the Key to Time. Along the way the players face classic Doctor Who aliens and villians and collect various companions and items to help them. Doctor ...

See also:

Doctor Who merchandise, Doctor Who merchandise - Games, Doctor Who merchandise - Board and card games, Doctor Who merchandise - Roleplaying games, Doctor Who merchandise - Gamebooks, Doctor Who merchandise - Computer games, Doctor Who merchandise - Picture cards, Doctor Who merchandise - Action Figures

Read more here: » Doctor Who merchandise: Encyclopedia II - Doctor Who merchandise - Games

History of computer and video games - Coin-op Games: Dawn of a Golden Age. Main articles: Golden age of arcade games, and [[]], and [[]], and [[]] ...

See also:

History of computer and video games, History of computer and video games - The Beginning, History of computer and video games - The 1960s, History of computer and video games - The 1970s, History of computer and video games - Coin-op Games: Dawn of a Golden Age, History of computer and video games - Games on University Mainframe Computers, History of computer and video games - Early handheld games, History of computer and video games - Gaming on home computers, History of computer and video games - The first home video games 1972-1977, History of computer and video games - Early 8-bit home consoles 1977-1983, History of computer and video games - The 1980s, History of computer and video games - Bulletin Board Systems and early online gaming, History of computer and video games - Handheld LCD games, History of computer and video games - 8-bit era or 'Post-crash/Late' 8-bit era 1985-1989, History of computer and video games - The 1990s, History of computer and video games - Decline of arcades, History of computer and video games - Handhelds come of age, History of computer and video games - 16-bit era 1989-1994, History of computer and video games - 32-bit / 64-bit era 1994 - 1999, History of computer and video games - The 2000s, History of computer and video games - Sixth generation era 1998 - 2004, History of computer and video games - Seventh generation 2004 - present

Read more here: » History of computer and video games: Encyclopedia II - History of computer and video games - The 1970s

List of BASIC dialects by platform - Apple I/II/III. Apple Business BASIC Applesoft BASIC — Based on the same Microsoft code that Commodore BASIC was based on. Standard on the Apple II Plus and Apple II Europlus. Integer BASIC — Steve Wozniak's own creation. Was originally known simply as "Apple BASIC". For the BASICs available at the time, it was extremely fast and memory-efficient. Only supported intege ...

See also:

List of BASIC dialects by platform, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Platforms, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Apple I/II/III, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Apple Macintosh, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Atari 8-bit 400/800/XL/XE/etc, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Atari TOS, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Commodore Amiga, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Commodore 8-bit VIC-20/C64/etc, List of BASIC dialects by platform - CP/M, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Microsoft DOS and clones, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Microsoft Windows, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Newton OS 1.x/2.x, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Palm OS, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Sinclair computers derivatives and clones, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Texas Instruments, List of BASIC dialects by platform - TRS-80, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Unix / Linux, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Categories, List of BASIC dialects by platform - DEC derived, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Embedded devices / microcontrollers, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Embedded inside other software, List of BASIC dialects by platform - HP derived, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Scripting languages based on BASIC, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Video game consoles, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Multiple platforms, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Miscellaneous BASIC dialects, List of BASIC dialects by platform - Notes

Read more here: » List of BASIC dialects by platform: Encyclopedia II - List of BASIC dialects by platform - Platforms

The MOS permits textual output intended for the screen to be directed instead of the printer, or both at once, allowing for very trivial printing support for plain text. Graphics printing is not supported and has to be written separately. Graphics and in general all screen output is handled in a very unusual way. The ASCII control characters are almost entirely given new significance under MOS: known as the "VDU drivers", they are interpreted as video control characters. VDU 30 (i.e. ASCII 30) moves the cursor to (0, 0), VDU 4 and 5 s ...

See also:

Acorn MOS, Acorn MOS - User interface, Acorn MOS - Extension, Acorn MOS - Text graphics printing, Acorn MOS - Sound, Acorn MOS - Other I/O and second processor support, Acorn MOS - MOS 3

Read more here: » Acorn MOS: Encyclopedia II - Acorn MOS - Text graphics printing

List of BASIC dialects - A. ABasiC (Amiga) — Relatively limited. Initially provided with Amigas by MetaComCo. ABC BASIC (ABC80/800) BASIC for Luxors ABC line of computers. ACE (Amiga) — A Compiler for Everyone — A freeware BASIC compiler that is AmigaBASIC compatible and contains extra features, some of which exploit the Amiga's hardware and operating system. [1] [2] Advanced BASIC: See 'BASICA' Altair BASIC (aka MITS 4K BASIC, ...

See also:

List of BASIC dialects, List of BASIC dialects - Dialects, List of BASIC dialects - A, List of BASIC dialects - B, List of BASIC dialects - C, List of BASIC dialects - D, List of BASIC dialects - E, List of BASIC dialects - F, List of BASIC dialects - G, List of BASIC dialects - H, List of BASIC dialects - I, List of BASIC dialects - J, List of BASIC dialects - K, List of BASIC dialects - L, List of BASIC dialects - M, List of BASIC dialects - N, List of BASIC dialects - O, List of BASIC dialects - P, List of BASIC dialects - Q, List of BASIC dialects - R, List of BASIC dialects - S, List of BASIC dialects - T, List of BASIC dialects - U, List of BASIC dialects - V, List of BASIC dialects - W, List of BASIC dialects - X, List of BASIC dialects - Y, List of BASIC dialects - Z, List of BASIC dialects - BASIC extensions, List of BASIC dialects - Related languages

Read more here: » List of BASIC dialects: Encyclopedia II - List of BASIC dialects - Dialects

The Lord of the Rings - The Lord of the Rings on radio. The BBC produced a 13-part radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings in 1956, and a 6-part version of The Hobbit in 1966. It is uncertain whether Tolkien ever heard either series. No recording of the 1956 series is known to exist, but The Hobbit has survived. It is a very faithful adaptation, incorporating some passing references ...

See also:

The Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Rings - Books and volumes, The Lord of the Rings - Writing, The Lord of the Rings - Publication, The Lord of the Rings - Publication history, The Lord of the Rings - The books, The Lord of the Rings - The Verse of the One Ring, The Lord of the Rings - The storyline, The Lord of the Rings - Criticism, The Lord of the Rings - Praise, The Lord of the Rings - Adaptations, The Lord of the Rings - The Lord of the Rings on radio, The Lord of the Rings - The Lord of the Rings in film, The Lord of the Rings - The Lord of the Rings on stage, The Lord of the Rings - The Lord of the Rings in video gaming, The Lord of the Rings - The Lord of the Rings in art, The Lord of the Rings - Pop culture references to The Lord of the Rings

Read more here: » The Lord of the Rings: Encyclopedia II - The Lord of the Rings - Adaptations