Small paperback book on BASIC? Kind of sounds like a TAB book to me, maybe "A to Z book of BASIC Games", or something of that sort?
Not familiar with the cover art so I can't help much further. though as another tip, eBay is a great place to start, search for BASIC GAME* and you will find a few books listed.
Here are some that grace my bookshelf, some may be way out of date. But in genral they are all interesting.
Computer history & Culture:
Hackers - Steve Levey (an all time favorite!)
Fire in the Valley - Frieberger & Swaine (also a favorite)
Hacker's Dictionary - Eric s. Raymond (give to your techno-poser friends)
Computer - a history of the information machine - Campbell-Kelly and Asprey
Digital Deli: The Comprehensive, User-Lovable Menu of Computer Lore, Culture, Lifestyles and Fancy - Lunch Group, Steve Ditlea (late 70s - 80s computer Lore)
the Compleat Computer - Van Tassel (60s - early 70's computer lore!)
Tabletop Fare:
High Score! Illustrated History of Video Games - Osborne Books
Arcade Treasures - Bill Kurtz (hard to gdet but a good one for arcade buffs)
Computers - Ain illustrated History - Christian Wurster
Cookbooks:
Giga Bites - the official guide to hacker cuisine - Jenz Johnson (hacker oriented recipies)
Quick Bytes: Computer Lover's Cookbook - Diane Pfifer (more traditional recipies with computerish sounding names)
Alternative Reading (when you are in tech overload):
The Big Book of [Urban Ledgends|Hoaxes|Vice|Loosers|Conspiracy| etc.] - Paradox Press (these are comic anthologies covering various fringe subjects, very fun!)
the Book of Zines, readings from the fringe - Chip Rowe (zines are limited-run home-made magazines, zine anthologies pluck out some of the more interesting/juicy bits).
ZINES! vols. I and II - V.Vale or V/Search
Temp Slave - Jeff Kelly (Great for the out of work or recent graduate! from the Zone of the same name))
Thrift Score - Al Hoff (the guide to being an informed thrifter, from the Zine of the same name)
For Movie Fans:
Golden Movie Retriever - Gale Group (love the genre lists in the back)
the Phsychotronic Video Guide - Michael J Weldon (a good Fringe cinema Guide)
Nightmare of Ecstasy: Life and Art of Edward D. Wood - Rudolph Grey (about Ed Wood, the most notable hacker of the film industry, his work may not be pretty, but he did it.)
Some Fiction:
Colossus, Fall of Colossus, and Colossus & the Crab - D.F. Jones (one of the better computer ruling the world tales).
Wizard's Bane - Rick Cook (Sword and Sorcery Fantasy with a computer hacker bent, entertaining)
Microserfs ~ Douglas Coupland (a semi-fictional view of the Microsoft Culture)
Totally Retro:
Basic Computer Games (series) - David H. Ahl - (Lots of simple terminal-based BASIC games, maybe give to the PHP/Perl programmer looking to put something fun on thier site)
Starship Simulation - Roger Garrett (a bold multi-computer Star Trek like, simulation concept written in pseudocode)
What do you do after you hit RETURN - or the P.C.C.'s First Book of Computer Games - People's Computer Company (retro Whole Earth Catalog meets BASIC Computer Games tabletop fare!)
If it makes Windows more compatible with everyone else I'm more for it. If it enables commercial developers to develop with QT or other open (cross-platform) libraries insead of ActiveX that is a 'Good Thing' in my book, and will help pave the way for easier migration for said commercial houses to transition to Linux and other OSs for the added benefits (COUGH security) and add to thier user base, etc.
Also the argumant that Windows is better (read different) may become a moot point, when the popular apps are the same from one platform to the next. It's like having Office on Linux, except the other way around, it helps both communities.
I used to do similar back in '88-90 gave out Commodore 64 5.25" Xmas Disks, included a holiday greeting as the first program with a menu to access SIDPlayer music (mainly christmas & sing-alongs) and various games and graphics/sound demo programs.
I would think similar is a really great Idea, don't stress it being Linux though, let them explore it if they wish, the hook is to have a disc of goodies the non-techie would want to boot and play with again and again.
Suggestions would be:
Xmas theme background, and appropriate holiday colorings
Greetings in the form of an MPEG or web card (or OOo Impress file!)
Here are some that inspired my imagination, or taught me some hard-earned wisdom...
Chemistry Set (my brother had this)
Erector Set (loads of fun and minor cuts)
Creepy Crawlers (back during the hot-plate era; burnt fingers anyone?)
Hydrodynamics Experiments Set (never owned one but saw an old one recently, pretty different and interesting)
Electronics Experiments Set (circuits and build your own radio/motor etc.)
Office Building/skyscraper playset (white and clear wall panels, and snap-together beams, pretty interesting)
Computer planning models (you know like those ones the IBM sales rep used) never had one but looks like it would be a good boy companion to sis' Barbie set.
Matchbox, Hotwheel and Corgi toys especially the articulated fire engine with the extending ladder.
Wood Burning Set (no nned to comment on the potential flesh/home burning potential)
Die-cast Midevil seige weapondry (don't know who made them but really fun)
Legos (ah, I remember as a kid the refreshing feel of the 2x2 brick corners stabbing into my bare feet in the middle of the night)
King Ding was just one of the Ding-a-Ling robots, there were different ones. Never had a new one but as a kid I did get my mits on one from a Salvation Army (I was thrifting as a kid, never stopped!)
I had a later one which was the Vertibird "Star Trek" playset where the enterprise was in the place of the helicopter! Talk about ubergeek sci-fi retro cool.
Two years ago it was three people on Commodores (PET, C64 and VIC-20), Last year VCF had C64, Apple II and Apple IIgs competitors. Are there no Atari 8-bit coding fiends left???
C'mon crack open an old computer programming book, boot up an emulator (or for us collectors, dust off one of those micros you have stacked in the corner.) and practice writing your three-hour masterpiece.
Not much of any on-line accessible resources for Apple IIs, where are all the real Apple II fans!!???
As a retrocode winner, I would sugest looking at the stuff in the Atari Archives (the BASIC Games books) to get ideas of the type of games that are doable in three hours (no, not Super Star Trek, the smaller ones!) But I wouldn't write any of 'em verbatim, you get points for making it more modern, flashier, and/or vintage computer related.
However, I'd be tempted to say that he's even made himself a target of Microsoft lawyers, as he has made allegations which could be, if false, be taken as libelous (or otherwise defamatory). (Not that I believe they are false.)
Yeah all Microsoft is to do is to produce evidence to point that he was being leiblous... like emails from... oops.:-/
Probably what will happen is Microsoft will go to court, and say "We've had a bad deade, and we're sory, here's our hand, go on and slap it and we'll do better next time."
How about $100 to $140 every few months for a new version upgrade. I've been a Mac user for several decades but I think Apple is looking more like MS in marketing (It's an upgrade not a bug fix; send check to...).
With the transition to X, Apple lost a bit of it's legendary OS versatility, ease of use and friendliness (Mac OS pre-X may have its problems but it was certainly more dynamic and intuitive for than OS X.), though Apple still rests on those laurels. They also lost a bit of the wide range of applications that were running on the Mac as many of the apps were made by companies that have dropped out of the market (or bought out by others like MS) prior to OS X. There are a few companies hanging in there but they don't have the numbers to keep the prices competitive. (some of oyu say "well you can run on classic" but the word from the mac side says classic is dead and a security risk give em up. Not really a winning situation for people tied to some legacy apps.)
I'm on a Linux box at home, my outlook from this platform seems brighter than OS X.
First it was firecrackers then dynamite, then you learned to split the Atom, and now the h-bomb - where you explode the very air itself! When will you stop!
I find the Red Hat Linux Bible to be a good crash course, everything on the book is in the distribution on the cover (except possibly sources which you can download). Does a general overview of all the aspects. Though like the others you sould take a few days hands-on which would get yourself quickly in sync with the system and make the reading less tedious.
But soon they will need more power, and you know that that means, prescription drugs! Better contact Old Glory today and make sure your insurance covers "Robot Attacks!"
Have them back up thier data on thier hard drive, repartition it, and then install Linux.... Maybe also have a "problem system" around as a lab excersize (one with some wierd video or sound card that requires some research and extra effort to get running. (this is real world experience here, I've experienced it many times...)
Decided to look at the pricing and specs, even though the list Suse Linux as an option all the pages say "HP Reccomends Windows XP Professional/Home Edition" and you can't get to a configurator with an OS selection to even see what the price difference would be.:-(
I think MS marketing goons h^h^h^h^h er... partners got to HP not too long after the story broke.
How about a database of "things that work with Linux without problems"
Such a list will reward those who have written in specific drivers for the Distros and make the people looking for stuff to run with Linux happier (as well as help quell they naysayers who always gripe that they cant find some notebook or something that's Linux compatible.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think I've seen as many Anonymous Cowards pluging^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h.. er.. suggesting thier products. :-)
Not familiar with the cover art so I can't help much further. though as another tip, eBay is a great place to start, search for BASIC GAME* and you will find a few books listed.
Computer history & Culture:
Hackers - Steve Levey (an all time favorite!)
Fire in the Valley - Frieberger & Swaine (also a favorite)
Hacker's Dictionary - Eric s. Raymond (give to your techno-poser friends)
Computer - a history of the information machine - Campbell-Kelly and Asprey
Digital Deli: The Comprehensive, User-Lovable Menu of Computer Lore, Culture, Lifestyles and Fancy - Lunch Group, Steve Ditlea (late 70s - 80s computer Lore)
the Compleat Computer - Van Tassel (60s - early 70's computer lore!)
Tabletop Fare:
High Score! Illustrated History of Video Games - Osborne Books
Arcade Treasures - Bill Kurtz (hard to gdet but a good one for arcade buffs)
Computers - Ain illustrated History - Christian Wurster
Cookbooks:
Giga Bites - the official guide to hacker cuisine - Jenz Johnson (hacker oriented recipies)
Quick Bytes: Computer Lover's Cookbook - Diane Pfifer (more traditional recipies with computerish sounding names)
Alternative Reading (when you are in tech overload):
The Big Book of [Urban Ledgends|Hoaxes|Vice|Loosers|Conspiracy| etc.] - Paradox Press (these are comic anthologies covering various fringe subjects, very fun!)
the Book of Zines, readings from the fringe - Chip Rowe (zines are limited-run home-made magazines, zine anthologies pluck out some of the more interesting/juicy bits).
ZINES! vols. I and II - V.Vale or V/Search
Temp Slave - Jeff Kelly (Great for the out of work or recent graduate! from the Zone of the same name))
Thrift Score - Al Hoff (the guide to being an informed thrifter, from the Zine of the same name)
For Movie Fans:
Golden Movie Retriever - Gale Group (love the genre lists in the back)
the Phsychotronic Video Guide - Michael J Weldon (a good Fringe cinema Guide)
Nightmare of Ecstasy: Life and Art of Edward D. Wood - Rudolph Grey (about Ed Wood, the most notable hacker of the film industry, his work may not be pretty, but he did it.)
Some Fiction:
Colossus, Fall of Colossus, and Colossus & the Crab - D.F. Jones (one of the better computer ruling the world tales).
Wizard's Bane - Rick Cook (Sword and Sorcery Fantasy with a computer hacker bent, entertaining)
Microserfs ~ Douglas Coupland (a semi-fictional view of the Microsoft Culture)
Totally Retro:
Basic Computer Games (series) - David H. Ahl - (Lots of simple terminal-based BASIC games, maybe give to the PHP/Perl programmer looking to put something fun on thier site)
Starship Simulation - Roger Garrett (a bold multi-computer Star Trek like, simulation concept written in pseudocode)
What do you do after you hit RETURN - or the P.C.C.'s First Book of Computer Games - People's Computer Company (retro Whole Earth Catalog meets BASIC Computer Games tabletop fare!)
Also the argumant that Windows is better (read different) may become a moot point, when the popular apps are the same from one platform to the next. It's like having Office on Linux, except the other way around, it helps both communities.
The C64 is under one of the blobs (big one I think)...:
a tad blurry view of the 64 game's PCB
some more pics of the C-1, Jeri, and the 64-DTV at Vintage Computer Festival 7.0.
I would think similar is a really great Idea, don't stress it being Linux though, let them explore it if they wish, the hook is to have a disc of goodies the non-techie would want to boot and play with again and again.
Suggestions would be:
Xmas theme background, and appropriate holiday colorings
Greetings in the form of an MPEG or web card (or OOo Impress file!)
Maybe MIDI Karoke songs and a player
Games: Frozen Bubble, Kickity, Pysol, Tux Racer, Argamentron (all the addictive ones...)
Include some popular anims and stuff (pong swf, ayb swf, etc.)
Choice humorus MP3s, picture slideshows, etc.
(yeah, I know you have oks for all that stuff already.. ;-)
Chemistry Set (my brother had this)
Erector Set (loads of fun and minor cuts)
Creepy Crawlers (back during the hot-plate era; burnt fingers anyone?)
Hydrodynamics Experiments Set (never owned one but saw an old one recently, pretty different and interesting)
Electronics Experiments Set (circuits and build your own radio/motor etc.)
Office Building/skyscraper playset (white and clear wall panels, and snap-together beams, pretty interesting)
Computer planning models (you know like those ones the IBM sales rep used) never had one but looks like it would be a good boy companion to sis' Barbie set.
Matchbox, Hotwheel and Corgi toys especially the articulated fire engine with the extending ladder.
Wood Burning Set (no nned to comment on the potential flesh/home burning potential)
Die-cast Midevil seige weapondry (don't know who made them but really fun)
Legos (ah, I remember as a kid the refreshing feel of the 2x2 brick corners stabbing into my bare feet in the middle of the night)
King Ding was just one of the Ding-a-Ling robots, there were different ones. Never had a new one but as a kid I did get my mits on one from a Salvation Army (I was thrifting as a kid, never stopped!)
Here's a link with the pics.
Can even lead to computer related experimentation... Like building your own Differential Analyzer! You could have seen it last weekend at VCF
C'mon crack open an old computer programming book, boot up an emulator (or for us collectors, dust off one of those micros you have stacked in the corner.) and practice writing your three-hour masterpiece.
Resources for Retrocoders:
Atari Archives bookshelf, includes many 6502/BASIC related books
Project 64's C64 Manuals & Programmer's Reference Guide
Here's some Apple IIgs manuals. :-/
Not much of any on-line accessible resources for Apple IIs, where are all the real Apple II fans!!???
As a retrocode winner, I would sugest looking at the stuff in the Atari Archives (the BASIC Games books) to get ideas of the type of games that are doable in three hours (no, not Super Star Trek, the smaller ones!) But I wouldn't write any of 'em verbatim, you get points for making it more modern, flashier, and/or vintage computer related.
Yeah all Microsoft is to do is to produce evidence to point that he was being leiblous... like emails from... oops. :-/
Probably what will happen is Microsoft will go to court, and say "We've had a bad deade, and we're sory, here's our hand, go on and slap it and we'll do better next time."
With the transition to X, Apple lost a bit of it's legendary OS versatility, ease of use and friendliness (Mac OS pre-X may have its problems but it was certainly more dynamic and intuitive for than OS X.), though Apple still rests on those laurels. They also lost a bit of the wide range of applications that were running on the Mac as many of the apps were made by companies that have dropped out of the market (or bought out by others like MS) prior to OS X. There are a few companies hanging in there but they don't have the numbers to keep the prices competitive. (some of oyu say "well you can run on classic" but the word from the mac side says classic is dead and a security risk give em up. Not really a winning situation for people tied to some legacy apps.)
I'm on a Linux box at home, my outlook from this platform seems brighter than OS X.
I'd really to hate to clean up any core dump it leaves on the carpet!
You See that! Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Eros
First a 30 year old OS is new again and now relay memory tehnology is the big thing! Wow!
I find the Red Hat Linux Bible to be a good crash course, everything on the book is in the distribution on the cover (except possibly sources which you can download). Does a general overview of all the aspects. Though like the others you sould take a few days hands-on which would get yourself quickly in sync with the system and make the reading less tedious.
But soon they will need more power, and you know that that means, prescription drugs! Better contact Old Glory today and make sure your insurance covers "Robot Attacks!"
So much for Apple style. :-/
Boogie-Grease - made with bitchin' bad-ass polyester technology. Our Boogie-Grease will make your hard drive run longer and faster.
So don't come up "short and slow" in the server department and be the laughing stock of the tech lab. Buy Boogie-Grease Today!
P.S. Nerd chicks dig it!
I think MS marketing goons h^h^h^h^h er... partners got to HP not too long after the story broke.
Such a list will reward those who have written in specific drivers for the Distros and make the people looking for stuff to run with Linux happier (as well as help quell they naysayers who always gripe that they cant find some notebook or something that's Linux compatible.
Actually later distros have mproved my situation, but I seem to pick the turkeys right off the bat.
(A promo video by the now makers of the now defunct LARP SwordTag.
As for gaming movies, I can reccomend:
Death Race 2000
America 3000
Hawk the Slayer
Lord of the Rings (Bakshi)
Beastmaster
Ator: The Fighting Eagle
Conan & Red Sonja Flicks (starring our fave Governator)
Krull
Ice Pirates
Cloak & Dagger
Masterminds
Escape from New York
That's a good start. :-) Don't forget the popcorn!