More Old Basic Books

[ntech]

I was randomly browsing the internet when I stumbled across this collection of old Usborne BASIC books dating from the 1980's: usborne.com/us/books/computer-and-coding-books

Thought this might be interesting

[tenochtitlanuk]

Coincidentally.... Currently I'm sorting/throwing out memorabilia from that period. The article from which I built my Cosmac Elf 1802. BYTE mags featuring Forth, mapping, 3D projection etc. I also found a 1979 copy of the book shown below.

I wonder if anyone fancies recreating the cover graphic?

In those days I'd have typed the code up- now, for fun, I scanned the code for a Chi Squared example, cropped off the line numbers; did an OCR on it. Voila- after correcting the odd eror ( Y and V looked almost identical on the 9pin dot matrix printouts and confused the OCR) it ran perfectly.

I added quite qa few spaces to make it more readable- we didn't have much RAM in those days. First commercial computer I got to play on was a PET 4K...

10 PRINT "CHI-SQUARE TEST"
20 PRINT
28 REM - LIMIT SIZE OF CONTINGENCY TABLES TO V1( R*C), V2( C), A( R)
29 REM - WHERE R =NO. OF ROWS, C =NO, OF COLUMNS
30 DIM V1( 25), V2( 5), A( 5)
40 PRINT "NUMBER OF ROWS";
43 REM - LINES 50-150 INPUT CONTINGENCY TABLE
50 INPUT R
60 PRINT "NUMBER OF COLUMNS";
70 INPUT C
80 PRINT "CONTINGENCY TABLE: "
'
90 FOR I =1 TO R
100     PRINT "ROW"; I
110     FOR J =1 TO C
120         PRINT " ELEMENT"; J;
130         INPUT V1( (I -1) *C +J)
140     NEXT J
150 NEXT I
'
160 PRINT
169 REM - ADD UP MARGINAL FREQUENCIES FOR EACH ROW
170 L =0
180 M =1
'
190 FOR I =1 TO R
200     FOR J =1 TO C
210         A( I) =A( I) +V1( M)
220         M =M +1
230     NEXT J
240     L =L +A( I)
250 NEXT I
'
260 N =R *C
269 REM - ADD UP MARGINAL FREQUENCIES FOR EACH COLUMN
'
270 FOR I =1 TO C
280     FOR J =I TO N STEP C
290         V2( I) =V2( I) +V1( J)
300     NEXT J
310 NEXT I
'
320 Z =0
330 PRINT ,,"OBSERVED VALUE" ,"EXPECTED VALUE","CHI^2 CONTRIBUTION"
'
340 FOR I =1 TO C
350     PRINT "  COLUMN"; I
360     FOR J =1 TO R
369         REM - P =EXPECTED CELL VALUE
370         P =A( J) *V2( I) /L
380         X =I +(J -1) *C
389         REM Y =CHI-SQUARE CONTRIBUTION FROM THIS CELL
390         Y =( V1( X) -P)^2 /P
399         REM - Z =TOTAL CHI-SQUARE VALUE
400         Z =Z +Y
410         PRINT " ",, V1( X),, P,, Y
420     NEXT J
430 NEXT I
'
440 PRINT
450 PRINT "CHI-SQUARE ="; Z
460 PRINT "DEGREES OF FREEDOM ="; (C -1) *(R -1)
470 END

[Carl Gundel]

Jul 26, 2022 15:44:15 GMT -5 tenochtitlanuk said:

Coincidentally.... Currently I'm sorting/throwing out memorabilia from that period. The article from which I built my Cosmac Elf 1802. BYTE mags featuring Forth, mapping, 3D projection etc. I also found a 1979 copy of the book shown below.

If you're not using the Cosmac Elf can I have it?  ;P

Edit: When I was a kid I was dying to have an RCA VIP, which is a close cousin to the Cosmac Elf!

[Rod]

Not quite there, in fact miles away but cool effect nevertheless. Out of time for today. B+ will jump on this.

   nomainwin
   WindowWidth = DisplayWidth
   WindowHeight = DisplayHeight
   UpperLeftX = int((DisplayWidth-WindowWidth)/2)
   UpperLeftY = int((DisplayHeight-WindowHeight)/2)
   midx=int(WindowWidth/2)
   midy=int(WindowHeight/2)

   open "SpiralArc" for graphics_nsb as #1
   #1 "trapclose [quit]"
   #1 "down ; fill black ; color yellow"


   [circle]
   for m= 0 to 359
           startOrbit=midx-(1000*sin(m/57.29577951))
           endOrbit=midy-(1000*cos(m/57.29577951))
           [arc]
           orbit=startOrbit
           decrease=(startOrbit-endOrbit)/1000
           for n=1 to 1000
               x=midx-(orbit*sin(n/57.29577951))
               y=midy-(orbit*cos(n/57.29577951))
               #1 "set ";x;" ";y
               orbit=orbit+decrease
               scan
           next n
   next m
   wait



   [quit]
   close #1
   end



[tenochtitlanuk]

Serendipidy- happening on pleasing results by chance. Here's my first try.. at least the colours are similar to the original!


I also dug out my home-brew Elf- but doubt I'll be brave enough to turn it on.Even the toggle switches are almost seized.All wired by hand point-to-point, and I can't remember what the additional circuitry does!

[Carl Gundel]

Jul 28, 2022 16:54:31 GMT -5 tenochtitlanuk said:

Serendipidy- happening on pleasing results by chance. Here's my first try.. at least the colours are similar to the original!


I also dug out my home-brew Elf- but doubt I'll be brave enough to turn it on.Even the toggle switches are almost seized.All wired by hand point-to-point, and I can't remember what the additional circuitry does!

So cool! I love the bespoke look of it!

Did you run any flavor of BASIC on it?

[dan1101]

Great find, ntech! I love retro computer books and magazines. The best collection on the planet is at Archive.org. They have literally thousands of vintage computer books and magazines from the "type-in" era. The Commodore section alone has over 500 books. Everything on Archive.org is free and most of the books and magazines can be downloaded in .pdf format.

If you are in a nostalgic mood for the early days of computing, browse their collection here:

archive.org/details/folkscanomy_computer

This is actually only PART of the collection. Try searching for particular topics or specific computer brands to discover additional books and even individual program listings which can sometimes be downloaded as .bas files and loaded directly into Liberty BASIC.

[pablosl]

For some strange reason (ie: My ISP) I can't access to this wonder(I Guess) resource.
usborne.com/us/books/computer-and-coding-books
is changed as:
usborne.com/es/books/computer-and-coding-books
and an error saying file not found

Can somebody publish this books as PDF?
HELP please.



Regards.
PabloSl

[Rod]

It changes to GB when I use the link. I think it is the web site that looks at your location. It isn't just one book it is dozens of books. You might try changing your Windows location (Windows Help) but it may be too much bother.

[Rod]

Kinda similar but still way off.

   nomainwin
   WindowWidth = DisplayWidth
   WindowHeight = DisplayHeight
   UpperLeftX = int((DisplayWidth-WindowWidth)/2)
   UpperLeftY = int((DisplayHeight-WindowHeight)/2)
   midx=int(WindowWidth/2)
   midy=int(WindowHeight/2)

   open "SpiralArc" for graphics_nsb as #1
   #1 "trapclose [quit]"
   #1 "down ; fill black ; color yellow"

   'spiral initial size and decrement per degree
   sp=500
   dec=(500-25)/360
   flip=0
   a=180
   for i= 0 to 360

   [outsidecircle]
       x=midx-(500*sin(a/57.29577951))
       y=midy-(500*cos(a/57.29577951))
       #1 "size 2 ; color blue ; set ";x;" ";y

   [insidecircle]
       xi=midx-(25*sin(a/57.29577951))
       yi=midy-(25*cos(a/57.29577951))
       #1 "size 2 ; color green ;set ";xi;" ";yi

   [spiral]
       xii=midx-(sp*sin(a/57.29577951))
       yii=midy-(sp*cos(a/57.29577951))
       #1 "size 1 ; color blue ;set ";xii;" ";yii
       #1 "color yellow ; backcolor black ; circlefilled 249 ; circle 250"
       sp=sp-d
       d=d+.0072

   [moveangle]
       a=a+b
       b=b+.01




   next


   wait





   [quit]
   close #1
   end


[bplus]

Personally I find this old thing way better animation:
'Rotate colors on a sphere.txt for JB v2.0 bplus 2018-04-16
'2018-04-16 EDIT #1 Fix final circle drawn and add discard to clear memory

'from (extremely simplified)
' Double spiral.bas  SmallBASIC 0.12.8 [B+=MGA] 2017-03-28
'from figosdev post at http://smallbasic.sourceforge.net/?q=node/1684#comment-1955
'translating fig to SmallBASIC for alittle cross pollination...

global rrr, ggg, bbb, ccc  'mod
global  XMAX, YMAX, pi
XMAX = 600  '< actual drawing space needed
YMAX = 600  '< actual drawing space needed
pi = acs(-1)
nomainwin
WindowWidth = XMAX + 8
WindowHeight = YMAX + 32
UpperLeftX = 300
UpperLeftY = 40

open "Rotate colors on sphere     press q to quit " for graphics_nsb_nf as #gr
#gr "trapclose quit"
#gr "setfocus"
#gr "when characterInput charIn"
#gr "down"
#gr "fill black;flush"
cx = 300
ww = 3.14159 / 2  'fix to return back to this after each run
while 1
   scan
   #gr "discard" 'fix to clear memory
   call setRGB
   w = ww        'fix
   for r = 490 to 300 step -.25
       scan
       e = w - pi / 4 / (490 - 300)
       'swap w, e
       tmp = e : e = w : w = tmp
       for p = -1 * pi to pi step pi / 144
           scan
           e = int((cos(w) * 380) / 2)
           x = int(cos(p * 2) * e + cx)
           y = int(sin(p * 2) * e + r - 50)
           lc = lc + 1
           if lc mod 90 = 0 then
               ccc = ccc + .2
               call changeRGB
               #gr "place ";x;" ";y
               #gr "circlefilled ";12
           end if
       next
       call pause 10
   next
   '#gr "color white"
   '#gr "backcolor black"
   '#gr "place ";x-7;" ";y+5;";|";"B+"  'make new JB avatar
   #gr "flush"
   call pause 5000
wend
wait

sub quit h$
   close #gr
   end
end sub

sub charIn h$, k$    'mod
   if k$ = "q" then call quit h$
end sub

sub pause mil   'tsh version has scan built-in
   t0 = time$("ms")
   while time$("ms") < t0 + mil : scan : wend
end sub

sub setRGB 'mod
   rrr = rnd(0)^2 : ggg = rnd(0)^2 : bbb = rnd(0)^2
end sub

sub changeRGB 'mod
   c$ = 127 + 127 * sin(rrr * ccc);" ";127 + 127 * sin(ggg * ccc);" ";127 + 127 * sin(bbb * ccc)
   #gr "color ";c$
   #gr "backcolor ";c$
end sub



But could be modified I think to get close to cover.

I liked the above code so much it was my avatar with a little B+ in the naval.

[tsh73]

Jul 29, 2022 20:57:44 GMT -5 pablosl said:

For some strange reason (ie: My ISP) I can't access to this wonder(I Guess) resource.
usborne.com/us/books/computer-and-coding-books
is changed as:
usborne.com/es/books/computer-and-coding-books
and an error saying file not found

Can somebody publish this books as PDF?
HELP please.



Regards.
PabloSl

try web proxy
it makes sites think you are from another country

[tsh73]

While I wreck my brain on that picture I've got an impression that this picture might not be actually computed.
Proportions are a bit off with what I am getting, some angles are visibly off between last part of snail and inner part.
It might be that now said "artist impression" over something real.
(well, may be that's just a lame excuse
and all is explainable by some different formula used behind that curve)
These parts there lines make single mass - that just not looks like that on pixel monitor
And then they got I tend to get mess of pixels.
Asks for analogue oscilloscope-like thing, like military radar.
Hey! Now I remember reading such kind of monitors were used on first computers, first
Spacewar
was made on such one.

Anyway
Today I had a dream explaining how we got that picture

Not so distant future
Interstellar flight
Pilot on a long lonely night shift having a breakdown
Mate fast asleep in the chair beside
Suddenly pilot got an impression of all the crew sitting around him
And mate that actually sleeping commanding him to change a course

Obviously that picture made from the log of that ship.
A bit of time travel, pretty normal for a dream
(Why this picture connected to it anyway? But surely it all looked pretty logical in a dream)

[tenochtitlanuk]

Very much my thoughts too, Anatoly. High pixel screens that were digitally addressed didn't really exist then. Analogue x/y CRO screens did, but it doesn't look like it was photographed. And it looks unlikely it was hand drawn. Even plastic spirograph-type toys didn't yet exist. Meanwhile I've got as far as an arc routine.... I like the idea it is a record of a space ship's course- even if odd that it's 2D!!

[bplus]

Here is my hat into the ring... source is here:
justbasiccom.proboards.com/thread/859/hey-bplus


This one is trying to match magazine cover. I made the code so you could throw a "ToneDown" switch and avoid allot of the interference patterns that Yellow lines on Black make.

I too wondered what sort of drawing those lines were, too smooth! My guess was anti-alias Wu-lines? but I am taking no bets on that ;-))

My other guess was that it was taken from a very large screen.