''Liverpool Software Gazette'' was a short-lived computer magazine published by Microdigital Ltd, a company who were based in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and run by Bruce Everiss.

History

The magazine was in print for only eight issues of which the last was a double issue. Issues were bi-monthly from November 1979 to February 1981 though the last was actually dated February/April 1981. Initially costing 50p, the price increased to 75p by the fifth edition while the final double edition cost £1.50. The page count started at around 50 though by the fifth edition had reached 100 pages. The pressure of running both Microdigital and the magazine soon took its toll on the company, and the magazine was put up for sale during the final edition. It was sold to and incorporated into an Apple magazine where all non-Apple content was immediately dropped. The magazine was intended for an audience of sophisticated and experienced computer users and tackled a wide range of subjects from languages, machine code and CPUs, systems (both large and small), games, programming techniques, astronomy. In many cases the articles went far deeper than those normally tackled by the computer magazines of the day.

Content

There were some regular columns such as Pets Corner (for the Commodore PET), Apple Pips (for the Apple II), Nascom Notes and Nybbles (small BASIC tips and routines). Below are some of the contents from each of the issues. Note the general term for computers back then was Microcomputers (sometimes spelt as two words). In some cases the original spelling/typos have been left intact. Issue 1: * Sargon meets the Nascom * Programming Practices and Technics * M5 System - an Interpreter for the Nascom One * I'm Pilot, fly me *

Acorn The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of th ...

Pascal Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to: People and fictional characters * Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name * Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** Blaise Pascal, Fren ...

bytes the

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

Issue 2: *

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

Revisited * Numerical Accuracy of

Microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PC ...

s * Cesil - an introduction * Acorn and the Kim *

Z-80 The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples we ...

Processor Profile * Revas & Zeap * Application Software for Microcomputers * Trekking by 'JTK' * Byting more off your Disk Issue 3: *

AIM 65 The Rockwell AIM-65 computer is a development computer introduced in 1978 based on the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor. The AIM-65 is essentially an expanded KIM-1 computer. Available software included a line-oriented machine code monitor, ...

Assembler * Graphics Shapes (Series) * Pilot Takes Off * Pascal - an Introduction (series) *

Algol 68C ALGOL 68C is an imperative computer programming language, a dialect of ALGOL 68, that was developed by Stephen R. Bourne and Michael Guy to program the Cambridge Algebra System (CAMAL). The initial compiler was written in the Princeton Syntax ...

on the

Z80 The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples were ...

* Microcomputers and

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

* Sharp Machine Language * Super Sort Issue 4: * Star Gate * Jet Set * 6800 Processor Profile * A Forth Introduction * A Useful Pascal Program (series) * A Marvel Called the MC6809 * A Number Processor for the Acorn * Architectural Software on the Cheap * Commercial Micro Software Fundamentals * Social Effects of Micro Computers Issue 5: * Xtal Basic - The Extendable One * Analysis of Systems Analysis * Cesil Interpreted in Basic *

Algol 68 ALGOL 68 (short for ''Algorithmic Language 1968'') is an imperative programming language that was conceived as a successor to the ALGOL 60 programming language, designed with the goal of a much wider scope of application and more rigorously de ...

* Fortran 77 * Lisp * Forms Processing * Compiling Systems * The Users View of

Visicalc VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hob ...

Issue 6 (Pascal special): * 'Warning' Prolonged use of Pascal may seriously damage your mental health * Integer Pascal on the

Nascom The Nascom 1 and 2 were single-board computer kits issued in the United Kingdom in 1977 and 1979, respectively, based on the Zilog Z80 and including a keyboard and video interface, a serial port that could be used to store data on a tape cassette ...

* Structured and not so

Structured Programming Structured programming is a programming paradigm aimed at improving the clarity, quality, and development time of a computer program by making extensive use of the structured control flow constructs of selection ( if/then/else) and repetition ( ...

* TCL Pascal * A Readers Contribution * Alarming Your Computer * The Romplus and Keyboard Filter *

Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...

Unlocked * Tangerine Article * MPL Language Issue 7 (CP/M special): * Microcomputer Disk Operating Systems *

CP/M CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/ 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. Initial ...

on the Sharp MZ-80K * Z0 Article * Graphics Software for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

* Introduction to Hi Resolution Graphics on the Apple * Sharp PC 1211 * Getting More From Your Genie * Micro Chips in Use Now * A Simple Machine Issue 8/9: * Curing 'Clear' Keys * Systems Programming with High Level Languages * Macro's and Micro's * Pilot Takes Off * A Useful Romplus Programme * M.P.L. Language * Connecting the General Instruments AY-3-8910 Programmable Sound Generator to the 6502/6800 bus * Sharp Basics * Flashy Graphics * Writing Decent Basic Programmes * Microcomputer Communications for the Hobbyist * Introduction to the Main Features of Algol 68 * The

TRS-80 The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of '' ...

's Hidden Keyboard * Apple D.O.S. 3.3

Notable articles

The article in issue number 4, "Architectural software on the cheap" was contributed by Paul Coates, then working in the School of Architecture at Liverpool Polytechnic. In the opinion of the author, this was one of the earliest examples of the serious use of cheap micros for CAD. In those days the conventional wisdom was that CAD required a much larger computer and expensive graphics hardware. The article illustrated the use of the relatively cheap combination of a PET micro and an A3 plotter for generating floor plans, shadow casting and daylight calculation. The work illustrated was funded by a small RIBA (The Royal Institute of British Architects) grant for teaching architecture using computers. The article on TCL Pascal in issue 6 was by Anne Scott and John Stout.

External links

Article Architectural software on the cheap from Liverpool Software Gazette issue 4

Computer magazine history featuring Liverpool Software Gazette

Microdigital in Liverpool from Bruceongames

Home computer magazines Defunct computer magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1979 Magazines disestablished in 1981 Bi-monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Mass media in Liverpool