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Softdisk Publishing

Softdisk Publishing

Softdisk is a software and Internet company based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Founded in 1981, its original products were disk magazines (which they termed "magazettes", for "magazine on diskette"). They were affiliated and partly owned by paper magazine Softalk at their founding, but survived its demise. Publications included Softdisk for the Apple II, Loadstar for the Commodore 64, Big Blue Disk (later On Disk Monthly and Softdisk PC) for the IBM PC, Diskworld (later Softdisk for Mac) for the Apple Macintosh, Softdisk G-S for the Apple IIgs, and Softdisk for Windows for the Windows platform. By the late 1990s, however, these publications were discontinued, although Loadstar had a continued life as an independent company catering to a cult following of Commodore buffs. Softdisk has also published some standalone programs, including screensaver creator Screen Saver Studio, which remains in print and under development now. However, they are probably most famous for being the former workplace of several of the founders of id Software, including John Carmack and John Romero, who worked on a short-lived game subscription product (Gamer's Edge) for Softdisk before going off on their own to found id. To complete their contractual obligation to Softdisk, they did a few more games for them including Hovertank 3D, Rescue Rover, and Keen Dreams (the "lost" episode of the Commander Keen series). Softdisk later published games by other developers using the game engines of the earlier games. Since 1995, Softdisk has been an Internet service provider as well, and this is now their primary business. They offer local dialup service in the Shreveport area, and Web hosting and development services. Names they have been known by at various times and for various purposes include: Softdisk Magazette, Softdisk Publishing, Softdisk Internet Services, Softdisk, Inc., Softdisk, L.L.C., and Magazines On Disk. Softdisk has always been officially written as one word, though it is often mistakenly written as Soft Disk or SoftDisk.

External link


- [http://www.softdisk.com Official website]
- [http://www.softdisk.com/sub/windows/ Softdisk Legacy Software Information (Official Site)]
- [http://store.syndicomm.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=19 Licensed collection of the Apple versions: Softdisk Magazine; Softdisk G-S and UpTime (includes Mac)] Category:Computer companies of the United States Category:Computer and video game companies Category:Internet service providers

Computer program

A computer program or software program (usually abbreviated to "a program") is a step-by-step list of instructions written for a particular computer architecture in a particular computer programming language. A layman equivalent example would be writing a step-by-step list of instructions in English instructing a human how to make a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the human being the specific architecture). More often than not, computer programs are compiled or assembled into non-human readable format. Executable uncompiled programs are referred to as scripts.

Terminology

The term "program" specifically refers to the blocks of instruction code that are loaded into memory for execution by an interpreter. (See Program Execution below.) In comparison, the term "software" refers to the computer program and any resources related to it. This would include static data, components (plugins), configuration files, and so on. These resources are usually bundled together into a software package to be distributed. Software programs (collections of programs and related resources) are most frequently referred to as applications by end-users, as most users are focused on the abilities of application software (application programs) rather than system software. (Users see things differently than programmers.) Note: The British English spelling programme is, for the most part, no longer used to refer to computer programs, as most internationally-used computing terms use the words (and spelling conventions) adopted in the U.S..

Program Execution

A modern day computer program is loaded into memory (usually by the operating system), interpreted and then executed ("run") instruction by instruction until "program termination", either with success or through computer error. Some primitive types of computers ran instructions encoded in various ways, an example would be punch cards. Before a computer can execute any sort of program (including the operating system which is also a program) the computer hardware must be initialized. This is done by a piece of software stored on programmable memory chips installed by the manufacturer called the BIOS. The BIOS will attempt to initialize the boot sequence making the computer ready for miscellaneous program execution.

Programs vs Data

A program has been defined. Data can be defined as information that is to be processed by some program. When the entire scope of a computer system is taken into account, there are regions where the distinction between the two is not so evident. CPUs sometimes have a set of smaller instructions that control the computer's hardware, data can contain a program that is executed (see Scripting programming language), programs can be written to create another program; all of which making the comparison largely one of perspective. Some deny that the distinction between program and data is useful altogther. Writing a program to generate a computer program is called metaprogramming. One application of this is have a program generate code according to a certain given data set. A single program might not easily be able to account for all the different aspects of the given data. Analysing the data to create a program that can handle all the aspects might prove easier. Lisp is an example of a language that provides strong support for this aspect of programming. The weights stored in a neural network are a form of data. It is precisely these weights that, combined with the topology of the network, define the network's behavior. It is unclear what the values of these weights actually represent or whether these weights can be programmed. This and other questions pertaining to artificial intelligence further test the comparison between program and data.

Programming

Creating a computer program is the iterative process of implementing new source code (or simply just "code") and testing, analyzing and refining the newly implemented code for syntax and semantic errors. One who practices this skill is referred to as a computer programmer. Since the evolution of computers is so rapid, the tasks of a computer programmer have become more diverse giving rise to different classes of computer programmers, each with a more specialized task. Two examples are a software developer and a systems architect. The lengthy process of computer programming is now referred to as "software development" or software engineering. The latter becoming more popular due to the increasing maturity of the discipline. (see Debate over who is a software engineer) Hence, a contemporary computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to the general mass of programmers working for a software company who implement the bulk of the code in large scale software. A group of programmers working for a software company maybe assigned a lead programmer and a project manager to oversee project development and deadlines. Large scale software usually undergoes a lengthy design phase by a system architect before actual development and cowboy coding is frowned upon. Two other forms of modern day approaches are team programming where each member of the group has equal say in the development process except for one person who guides the group through discrepancies. These groups tend to be around 10 people to keep the group manageable. The second form is referred to as "peer programming" or pair programming. See Process and methodology for the different aspects of modern day computer programming.

Algorithms

A formal methodology to solve a particular problem usually combined with a study of different degrees of performance constitute an algorithm. Algorithms can be purely theoretical or implemented by a computer program. Where theoretical algorithms are usually classified in categories according to complexity , implemented algorithms are usually profiled to test routines for efficiency. Note that although an algorithm can be theoretically performant, it can be poorly implemented wasting valuable computer resources. (see Algorithmic information theory for more information)

Example of a program (source code)

The supplied code is a small program in assembly language written for a virtual computer . The example shows a selection of instructions with the corresponding address in memory where each instruction will be placed. These addresses are not static, see memory management. Accompanying each instruction is the generated (by compilation) object code that coincides with the virtual computer's architecture (or ISA). For more examples, see the hello world program.

See also


- Turing machine
- Programming language
- Computer software
- Programmer
- Source code
- Extreme Programming
- Operating system
- Programming paradigm
- Firmware / Device driver
- Polyglot program

Bibliography


- Miles J. Murdocca & Vincent P. Heuring (2000). Principles of Computer Architecture. Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN 0-201-43664-7
- [http://iiusaedu.com/~murdocca/POCA Principles of Computer Architecture] (POCA) – ARCTools virtual computer available for download to execute referenced code, accessed August 24, 2005
- J.Glenn Brookshear (1989). Theory of Computation, Formal Languages, Automata, and Complexity. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co.Inc. ISBN 0-8053-0143-7

External links


- [http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/program.html Definition of Program @ Webopedia]
- [http://www.Agtivity.com/computer_program.htm Definition of Computer program @ Agtivity]
- [http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=software Definition of Software @ FOLDOC] Category:Computer science Category:Software
- ja:プログラム (コンピュータ) ko:프로그램 simple:Computer program th:โปรแกรม

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport, Louisiana is temporarily the second largest city and the third largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana, USA, once was the second largest city in Louisiana, but is surpassed by Baton Rouge. It is located in Caddo Parish, and as of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 200,145. As of 2004, the population given by the U.S. Census Bureau was 198,675. Bossier City lies across the Red River in Bossier Parish and the Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Area population exceeds 390,000. Shreveport is the commercial and cultural center of the Ark-La-Tex, the area where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet. Some call it the "Gateway to East Texas", others claim that Shreveport sits on the border between the South and the West. Shreveport exercises a great pull over this region. A good example of this is that people in East Texas watch and donate money to the Louisiana Public Broadcasting Service because there is not a PBS station in northeast Texas. Many people in the community refer to the two cities of Shreveport and Bossier City, which are separated only by the Red River, as "Shreveport-Bossier". In fact, they share an af2 arena football team: the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings. The area is the intersection of 3 Interstates, I-20, I-49, I-220 (Loop) and is the propossed hub for I-69 (NAFTA Freeway) connecting the area to Houston, Texas and Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis, Tennessee Memphis, Tennessee Shreveport hosts the NCAA football Independence Bowl each December.

Geography

Independence Bowl Shreveport is located at 32°28'5" North, 93°46'16" West (32.468003, -93.771115). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 305.1 km² (117.8 mi²). 267.1 km² (103.1 mi²) of it is land and 37.9 km² (14.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 12.44% water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 200,145 people, 78,662 households, and 50,422 families residing in the city. The population density is 749.2/km² (1,940.5/mi²). There are 86,802 housing units at an average density of 324.9/km² (841.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 50.80% African American, 46.66% White, 0.79% Asian, 0.31% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. 1.55% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 78,662 households out of which 30.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% are married couples living together, 21.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% are non-families. 30.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.48 and the average family size is 3.12. In the city the population is spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 87.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 82.1 males. The median income for a household in the city is $30,526, and the median income for a family is $37,126. Males have a median income of $31,278 versus $21,659 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,759. 22.8% of the population and 18.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 33.3% of those under the age of 18 and 16.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

History

The town was founded in 1836 by the Shreve Town Company, a development corporation established to start a town at the meeting point of the Red River and the Texas Trail. The Red River was cleared (and made newly navigable) by Captain Henry Miller Shreve, who commanded the United States Army Corps of Engineers. An 180-mile long raft of debris had previously clogged passage by Shreve's riverboat, the Heliopolis, that was specially designed to remove river debris. In his honor the company and the village of Shreve Town were named. On March 20, 1839 the town was incorporated as "Shreveport." In 1871, it became a city. Shreveport was originally contained within the boundaries of a section of land sold to the company by the indigenous Caddo Indians in the year of 1835. In 1838 Caddo Parish was made out of Natchitoches (pronounced "NACK-a-dish") Parish and Shreve Town became the parish seat. Shreveport remains the parish seat of Caddo Parish today. Originally the town was as large as 64 city blocks divided by eight streets running west from the Red River, and eight streets running South from Cross Bayou, one of its tributaries. Today the 64 block area is the city's central business district and is a National Register of Historic Places listed area. Shreveport and Bossier City have six historic districts and a plethora of NR listed landmarks. In fact, Shreveport is second only to New Orleans among Louisiana cities with many historic landmarks. In particular, the McNeill Street Pumping Station, an 1887 waterworks that is still in use, is a unique example of its type. Also located near Shreveport is Barksdale Air Force Base, opened in 1944 as Barksdale Army Air Field. It came into national attention recently when President George W. Bush was taken there during the September 11, 2001 attacks. It also came into national attention when B-52 bombers based from there participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Their attacks on fixed hard targets and the famed Iraqi Republican Guard Medina Division using state of the art JDAMs and other munitions marked a new era in U.S. air power where precision guided munitions were used more than "dumb" bombs with devastating effect. See Shock and Awe. The Red River, opened by Shreve in the 1830s, remained navigable until 1914 when disuse, owing to the rise of the railroad as the preferred means of transporting goods and people, allowed it to begin silting up. Not until the 1990s was navigation of the river again possible to Shreveport. Today the port of Shreveport-Bossier City is being developed once again as a shipping center. Shreveport was home to the Louisiana Hayride, a radio broadcast from the city's Municipal Auditorium that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 spawned the careers of the some of the greatest names in American music. The Hayride boasted names such as Hank Williams Sr., and Elvis Presley (who got his start at this venue).

Business

Shreveport was once the oil capital of the U.S. when Standard Oil moved its headquarters there in the early 20th century. In 2005, Steelscape annouced it would open one of the largest steel plants in North America on the Port of Shreveport-Bossier and be operational in March of 2006. General Motors has established a large plant in Shreveport. The Shreveport plant manufactures the Hummer H3 SUV and the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks. Softdisk, a software and Internet company, was founded in Shreveport in 1981 and published various disk magazines in the 1980s and 1990s. The founders of id Software worked there and lived in Shreveport in the early 1990s. Casinos in Shreveport-Bossier are Sam's Town Casino, El Dorado Casino, Horseshoe Casino, Boomtown Casino and Harrah's. Shreveport today is a very busy metro city, host to various riverboat casinos and second in Louisiana tourism only to New Orleans. Nearby Bossier City also is home to one of the only three horse racetracks in the state, Harrah's Louisiana Downs. The city boasts the world's largest rose garden, appropriately enough called The National Rose Garden. The Red River Revel is a yearly event featuring local music, food and entertainers and draws in hundreds of thousands of individuals from across the tri-state area. Other annual festivals include Mudbug Madness, a celebration of the crawfish, Holiday in Dixie, and the Louisiana State Fair. In May, 2005, the Louisiana Boardwalk, a 550,000 square foot (51,000 m²) shopping and entertainment complex, opened across the Red River in Bossier City, and features outlet shopping, several restaurants and nightclubs, a 14 screen movie theater, a bowling complex, and a marina. A new convention center is also under construction in downtown Shreveport. There is currently a plan to build an adjoining hotel despite hot criticism of the venture and a lawsuit. The city, after receiving no interest from the private sector, was forced to build what most deem an ill fated Hotel project. Shreveport was largely unaffected by Hurricane Katrina. Since Shreveport is nearly 200 miles (320 km) inland, some have speculated that some New Orleans residents and businesses (and some from coastal areas in general) who want away from the coast completely in fear of further hurricanes may relocate to the northern part of the state, centered around Shreveport. The city's current mayor is Keith P. Hightower, a car salesman turned politician. He has had a roller coaster ride as mayor, drawing particular criticism for the hotel project. Hurricane Katrina

Media

Newspapers

Shreveport is served by several newspapers. The major daily newspaper serving the Shreveport and Ark-La-Tex areas is The Times, its headquarters are located in Downtown Shreveport. Other smaller newspapers in the area include: The Shreveport Sun and the Caddo Citizen, the religious newspaper The Christian Times and a newspaper focusing on law, the Daily Legal News. Bossier City is served by the Bossier Press-Tribune. In addition, The Forum Newsweekly, CIty Lights and SB Magazine are newsmagazines in the Shreveport-Bossier area.

Television

Shreveport is served by several local television stations including: In 2004, KPXJ 21 became a UPN affiliate, it was originally an affiliate of PAX (now known as i). Shreveport is now one of a few markets which i does not have an afilliate station. i 's national feed can be seen on Cox Communications in Bossier City and on Time Warner Cable in Shreveport. Previously, UPN was broadcast on KSHV 45 sharing an afilliation with The WB network. UPN programming aired from 9:00 to 11:00pm. Syndicated programming airs at that time now on channel 45. KTBS broadcasts a newscast for KPXJ 21 airing Monday through Friday nights at 9:00pm. Before becoming a UPN affiliate in 2004, KPXJ aired rebroadcasts of KTBS 3 News daily at 5:30pm (rebroadcast of the 5:00pm newscast) and 11:00pm (rebroadcast of the 10:00 newscast). Shreveport and Bossier City is served by two major cable television systems: Shreveport is served by Time Warner Cable and Bossier City is served by Cox Communications. On 1 February 2005, Cox Communications Bossier City (along with Texarkana, Texas's Cable One) stopped broadcasting KTAL 6. Both companies claim the reason was that KTAL and it's owner Nexstar Broadcasting made unreasonable offers to keep the station on both systems. KTAL is still seen in Shreveport on Time Warner Cable.

Radio

The following is a list of radio stations in Shreveport. AM Stations FM Stations

Education

Secondary

C. E. Byrd High School

C. E. Byrd High School is the largest high school in Shreveport/Bossier and boasts the Yellow Jacket as its mascot. Byrd was the secomd public high school in Shreveport, following Shreveport High School, which is no longer in operation. Byrd is also recognized as having the largest alumni ssociation [http://www.byrdhighalumni.org/] of any high school in the nation. In 1892 Clifton Ellis Byrd came to Shreveport as the principal of the first public high school here, two rented rooms in the YMCA building, at a salary of $70 per month. By 1893 enrollment swelled to 70 students and in 1898 the school was moved to the Soady building on Crockett for one year. In 1899 it moved to the new Hope Street school, a large three story red brick building. The elementary students occupied the first floor, intermediate on the second and high school on the third. In 1899, when the new Hope Street Shreveport High School was built he became the City Superintendent of schools. He remained in this position until 1908 when he was named Parish Superintendent of schools, a post he held until his death. In 1910 Shreveport High School was built adjacent to Hope Street and the high school moved into this building. Though Prof. Byrd left Shreveport High, it remained his "baby". He stayed close to it, setting the standards for the school's curriculum, insisting that to be truly educated one must be familiar with history, math, English and Latin. While serving as Superintendent, he taught geometry, algebra, physics and chemistry classes at the school. He also worked hard to establish a library at the school. "In 1924 work began on the new high school for the eastern part of town. During construction, it was decided to name the school in Byrd's honor since it represented the fulfillment of his dream. ...On September 17, 1925, the school was dedicated with Prof. Byrd delivering the dedicatory address. He said it was the proudest day of his life." Five months later, February 26, 1926, Clifton Ellis Byrd died. His body lay in state in the foyer of the school that bears his name. From there he was buried in Forest Park Cemetery next to his wife of 32 years, Mattie McAfee Byrd. During the twenties, Shreveport's economy was booming. Construction projects abounded, the Slattery Building, Caddo Parish Courthouse, Market Street Viaduct, Kings Highway Christian Church, St. John's Cathedral, the Strand and the Municipal Auditorium were all built at this time. Concerned about overcrowding at SHS, the Caddo Parish School Board decided to build two new high schools. On February 23, 1923, the site on which Byrd was constructed was purchased from Justin Gras for $110,000. It is approximately 20 acres (80,000 m²). At the same time, the School Board passed a resolution to purchase four additional lots in Bon Air Subdivision, adjacent to the Gras property, from F.R. Chadick for $9,500. On March 19, 1924, Stewart-McGee was the lowest bidder and was awarded the building contract for $772,133. On October 3, 1924, with full Masonic ceremonies, Professor Byrd laid the cornerstone for the new million-dollar high school. Sealed in the cornerstone were a letter from C. E. Byrd; a boll weevil, symbolizing problems of the farmer; a bottle of oil, symbolic of the oil business; an ear of corn, representing agriculture; coins, representing the financial situation, and a Bible. The following year, the School Board authorized Superintendent Byrd to furnish and equip the building. The Board approved $40,000 for the furnishings. The building was accepted from the contractor on June 27, 1925. Because the furniture had not yet arrived, the opening of the school was delayed until October. When Shreveport High School students moved into the new building in October, 1925, they transferred all the traditions, curriculum requirements, clubs, organizations, academic and social activities intact Shreveport High Principal, since 1919, Grover C. Koffman and E. L. Albertson, Assistant Principal, moved to Byrd at this time. On the opening day of classes, students gathered in the auditorium and Mr. Koffman welcomed them and alphabetically assigned them to rooms, where they picked up their schedules. Only 9 - 11 grades came to Byrd, eighth graders stayed behind. (references: Glimpses of the City of Byrd, by Ann McLaurin; Byrd Archives. Author, Barbara Hodges) The Shreveport Hi Life, the student newspaper, came to Byrd (it later became the Byrd High Life) as did the Gusher, the yearbook. Featured in the Gusher were the Mardi Gras Courts, clubs, school plays and all the athletic teams. The prophesies of the Senior Class were also dominate in the early yearbooks. The Yellow Jacket mascot was continued from SHS as were the purple and gold colors. The early Byrd Yellow Jackets were Byrd's golden era for athletics, as they dominated football and baseball in the state. (ref. Byrd archives, Glimpses of the City of Byrd by Ann McLaurin, Byrd Gushers. Author Barbara Hodges)

Captain Shreve High School

Captain Shreve High School is one of the largest high schools in Shreveport and boasts Al E. Gator as its mascot. The school is a three-story circular building built in the round. The school is somewhat infamous for having actress Valerie Bertinelli perform at a talent show when two of her brothers attended school there. Other famous people to have passed through its halls include guitarist and singer Kenny Wayne Shepard and guitarist Ross Githens of the Christian Rock group Jolly Napier. Successful film and television actor Richard Folmer has also assisted in the instruction of theater at the school.

Caddo Parish Magnet High School

Also, Shreveport is home to Caddo Parish Magnet High School, whose mascot is the Mustang. Caddo Magnet receives high honors and national recognition yearly for its excellence inside and outside the classroom. Recently, Caddo Magnet's Quiz Bowl team, under coaches Thad Pardue and Cathy Sledge, won both state Quiz Bowl Championships. Also, their Academic Decathlon teams have won the state title for the past 22 years. Magnet has 17 merit scholars and is ranked in the top of percentile of the nation. Actress Lee Eddy attended the school, where she competed in forensic tournaments performing material from The Kathy and Mo Show, which she would go on to perform professionally. Several notable musicians attended CMH. The most well known are the renowned blues musician Kenny Wayne Shepherd and the turntablist and hip-hop producer, Quickie Mart. The school is also known for its high degree of personal freedom given to students. As of November 2005, no ID badges were required to be worn as in the case of other schools in the area,

Evangel Christian Academy

Evangel Christian Academy is a private, coeducational kindergarten to 12th grade Christian school located on two campuses in West Shreveport. Evangel has won eight state football championships in the past decade and has won the national championship. With such coaches as Denny Duron (also senior pastor for Shreveport's First Assembly of God), Dennis Dunn (former coach of Evangel College), John Booty, Phillip Deas (former quarterback for Evangel who set two national passing records for most touchdowns in career and most passing yards in a season and won two state championships), and Rick Berlin, the team has thrived. However, questions have arisen whether or not Evangel is involved in illegal recruiting of players from other schools. Since the school's inception in 1980, six students have won the statewide literary rally over the past two years. On the Iowa standardized tests, Evangel students scored 10 to 20% above the statewide public school norm, with many students working one to two years above grade level in reading and math. Graduates from the last few classes have consistently qualified for over $1.5 million in academic, arts, and athletic scholarships to major universities, pursuing such studies as law, politics, languages, business, communications, Christian service, scientific research, and medicine.

Loyola College Prep

Loyola College Prep [http://www.loyolaprep.org/] is Shreveport's Catholic high school for boys and girls. Founded as a school for boys in 1902 by the Rev. John F. O'Connor, S.J., from the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the school's original location was on Texas Avenue and its name was St. John's College. The school relocated to its present location on Jordan Street in 1938. During World War II, the school was a military academy. In 1960 the school's name was changed to Jesuit High School. In 1972 the Board of Trustees hired the first lay principal. In 1982, the Jesuits relinquished control of the school to the Catholic Diocese of Shreveport and the school took on its present name in honor of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. In 1987 the school admitted girls for the first time, following the closure of St. Vincent's Academy, a Catholic high school for girls. The school has won Louisiana state championships in baseball (1964 and 1974) and football (1967 and 1976) and girls softball (1996). Boys athletic teams are known as the Blue Flyers, girls teams are the Lady Flyers, and the mascot is Charles Schulz's character Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip. Loyola is the only school that Schulz gave permission to use Snoopy as its mascot. Recently the school built Messmer football stadium at an athletic complex on Clyde Fant Parkway. Additional facilities to be constructed there will be a baseball field, soccer field and tennis courts. The academic campus on Jordan Street consists of a three level classrrom building constructed in 1938 (including a cafeteria), a four level classroom building formerly serving as a residence for priests, a gymnasium including boys' dressing rooms, and the newest building on campus, a girls' dressing room adjacent to the gymnasium. There is also an alumni office/development center located in a converted doctor's office to the east of the main classroom building. Regular student publications are the newspaper, The Flyer, and the annual yearbook, Flight.

Fair Park High School

Fair Park High School is a national historic high school. It is on record with the Department of the Interior. First opened in 1929, Fair Park has seen many changes as a result of the natural course of history. Predominantly an all white school from 1929-1970's, the mandatory desegregation orders forced students, particularly African-American students, into the school by bus. This became known as "busing". Today, Fair Park High is a school of ever-increasing excellence. Each year, the school gains progress in the areas of Math, English, Science and the Arts. In addition, the school emphasizes medicine. Medical Careers Magnet is a program based at Fair Park, but separate from the actual high school. The program has its own set of admission requirements, as you do not have to attend the high school to attend the program for a half-day for the medical classes. The program became active in 1982. It currently is a member of the Vocational and Technical Idustrial Association of America. The program produces leaders in the field of medicine, especially in the Shreveport area. Graduates from the program go on to attend Howard University Medical School, Louisiana State University Medical School, and Tulane University Medical School. The proram also produces those who follow different paths to public service, such as politics and law. In the 1990's, Fair Park's band was known as one of the top in the state and has continued throughout the early part of the 21st Century to live up to a band of excellence. The band is referred to as a Discipline Pride Organization (DPO). The Sequoyah Indian mascot is a regular at the athletic events. The school's graduates go on to attend top universities, such as Loyola University-New Orleans, Tulane, etc. As well, many notables in the community have graduated from there. Rev. Theron Jackson, City Councilman, Rev. Timothy Jones, as well as Rev. Patrick Dennis are all Fair Park alumni. Fair Park remains a historical and technologically-advancing, Caddo Parish high school.

Caddo Parish Magnet Middle School

Caddo Parish Middle Magnet School is commonly known as Caddo Middle Magnet (CMM). Caddo Middle Magnet, home of the Stallions, ranks first among public middle schools in Louisiana on state standardized test scores for 2003-2004. Caddo Middle Magnet is a performing arts magnet school. Located in Shreveport, Louisiana, Caddo Middle Magnet serves students from across Caddo Parish. Caddo Middle Magnet includes sixth through eighth grades. Annual festivals include Colonial Days, Oktoberfest, Mardi Gras, and the Renaissance Festival.

Post-secondary

Shreveport is home to four colleges: Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Centenary College of Louisiana, Southern University at Shreveport, and Louisiana Baptist University. Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport is a medical school.

Points of interest


- The Gardens of the American Rose Center

External links


- [http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/ official city site]
- [http://www.shreveport.net/ Shreveport/Bossier Page]
- [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/shv/ National Weather Service Shreveport office] Category:All-America City Category:Caddo Parish, Louisiana Category:Cities in Louisiana ja:シュリーブポート

1981

1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January-February


- January - Sarawak chamber found
- January 1 - Greece enters the EEC
- January 1 - Palau becomes self-governing
- January 4 - Sheffield police arrests Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper
- January 13 - Donna Griffiths, a schoolgirl in Pershore, Worcestershire, UK, begins a uncontrollable series of sneezes that end September 16 1983 - after 978 days
- January 16 - Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and her husband
- January 19 - United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity
- January 20 - Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter as President of the United States of America. Minutes after Reagan becomes president, Iran releases 52 American hostages that had been held captive for 444 days - Iran hostage crisis ends.
- February 4 - Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes the Prime Minister of Norway
- February 9 - Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski resigns and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski
- February 10 - A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198
- February 14 - Australia withdraws recognition of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia
- February 23 - Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies, and stops the session, where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was going to be named president of the government. The coup d'état would fail thanks to King Juan Carlos.

March-April

Juan Carlos.]]
- March 1 - Bobby Sands, an IRA member, begins hunger strike for political status in Long Kesh prison - he dies May 5, the first of ten men.
- March 6 - After 19 years hosting the CBS Evening News Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
- March 7 - Colombian guerillas execute US bible translator Chester Allen Bitterman for being a CIA agent
- March 11 - Chilean president Augusto Pinochet sworn in for an eight-year term as president.
- March 19 - Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
- March 30 - President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., whose family had connections with the vice president. Two police officers and James Brady are also wounded.
- April 11 - Riot in Brixton, South London - rioters throw petrol bombs, attack police and loot shops.
- April 12 - The first launch of a Space Shuttle: Columbia launches on the STS-1 mission.
- April 15 - The Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock resigns from cabinet accusing the Australian Prime Minister Fraser of gross disloyalty.
- April 18 - A Minor League baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning was not played until June 23rd).

May


- May - Daniel K. Ludwig abandons the Jari project in the Amazon Basin
- May 6 - A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- May 10 - In the second round of the presidential elections in France (French presidential election, 1981), François Mitterrand beats Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
- May 13 - Pope John Paul II is shot at and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman, as he entered St. Peter's Square in Rome to address a general audience. (Two days after Christmas in 1983, Pope John Paul went to the prison to meet and forgive his would-be assassin)
- May 21 - In France, socialist François Mitterrand becomes president of the Republic.
- May 22 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, imprisoned for life for 13 counts of murder
- May 25 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- May 26 - The Italian government resigns over its links to the fascist Masonic cell P-2
- May 30 - Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman assassinated in Chittagong.

June-July

Chittagong return to Buckingham Palace following their wedding watched by over 1 billion people worldwide.]]
- June 5 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (these were the first recognized cases of AIDS).
- June 6 - Seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train fall off the tracks into the River Kosi, in Bihar, India - about 800 dead
- June 7 - Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor
- June 13 - At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager Marcus Sargeant fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.
- June 22 - Hamas attacks a travel agency in Greece - two dead
- June 22 - Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr deposed
- June 29 - Morris Edwin Robert armed with a machine gun holds hostages in the FBI section in Atlanta Federal Building. After three hours the hostages are rescued - Robert is shot
- July 17 - Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby killing 114
- July 17 - Israeli bombers destroy the PLO HQ in Beirut
- July 27 - Wheel of Fortune premiers in Australia on the Seven Network.
- July 29 - Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.

August-October


- August 1 - MTV (Music Television) is launched.
- August 5 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
- August 7 - The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
- August 12 - The original IBM PC released in the United States.
- August 19 - Gulf of Sidra incident (1981). Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi sends two Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two US fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets destroyed the Libyan fighters.
- August 19 - US President Ronald Reagan appoints the first female US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.
- August 28 - South African troops invade Angola.
- August 31 - A bomb explodes at the US Army base in Ramstein, West Germany injuring 20 people.
- September 4 - An explosion at a mine in Zalizin, Czechoslovakia - 65 dead.
- September 10 - Picasso's painting "Guernica" is moved from New York to Madrid.
- September 15 - The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world, at 150 years old, when it operates under its own power outside Washington, DC.
- September 18 - France abolishes capital punishment.
- October 6 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a parade by army members who were part of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, who opposed his negotiations with Israel.
- October 10 - The Ministry for Education of Japan issues the jōyō kanji.
- October 14 - Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt one week after Anwar Sadat was assassinated.
- October 21 - Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece.

November-December

Prime Minister of Greece
- November 1 - Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom
- November 13 - The first Friday the 13th event held by motorcyclists in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada
- November 23 - Iran-Contra scandal: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua
- November 25-November 26 - Group of mercenaries lead by Mike Hoare take over Mahe airport in the Seychelles in a coup attempt. Most of the mercenaries escape by a commandeered Air India passenger jet, six are later arrested
- November 30 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on Thursday, December 17)
- December 1 - A Yugoslavian DC-9 crashes into a mountain while approaching Ajaccio Airport in Corsica killing 178
- December 4 - South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized outside South Africa)
- December 11 - El Mozote massacre - in El Salvador, army units kill 900 civilians
- December 13 - Wojciech Jaruzelski declares the state of martial law in Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity
- December 15 - A car bomb destroys the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 61 people. This is the first modern suicide bombing. Syrian intelligence is blamed.
- December 20 - The Penlee lifeboat disaster off the coast of South-West Cornwall
- December 28 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born (Norfolk, Virginia)

unknown dates


- Millennium Renactment of the translation of Saint Edward the Martyr's relics from Wareham to Shaftesbury
- Mauritania abolishes the institution of slavery.
- James Tobin wins the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
- Mike Cooley, Bill Mollison and Patrick van Rensburg / Education with Production win the Right Livelihood Award
- The counter-culture wire service LNS ceases operations.
- Public funding of election Campaigns introduced in New South Wales, Australia
- The State Council of the People's Republic of China listed the four cities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guilin) as where the protection of historical and cultural heritage as well as natural scenery should be treated as a prior project.
- Cuba suffers a major outbreak of Dengue hemorrhagic fever, with 344 203 cases. [http://w3.whosea.org/en/Section10/Section332/Section521_2454.htm]
- Computer and Video Games (magazine) begins publication.

Births

January-March


- January 1 - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
- January 3 - Eli Manning, American football player
- January 6 - Mike Jones, American rapper
- January 12 - Quentin Griffin, American football player
- January 15 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- January 15 - Howie Day, American singer and songwriter
- January 17 - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
- January 20 - Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- January 20 - Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born footballer
- January 21 - Dany Heatley, German-born hockey player
- January 22 - Chantelle Anderson, American basketball player
- January 22 - Willa Ford, American singer, television hostess, and actress
- January 22 - Beverley Mitchell, American actress
- January 25 - Alicia Keys, American musician
- January 28 - Elijah Wood, American actor
- January 31 - Justin Timberlake, American musician
- February 3 - Alisa Reyes, American actress
- February 10 - Natasha St-Pier, Canadian singer
- February 11 - Kelly Rowland, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- February 14 - Erin Torpey, American actress
- February 15 - Jenna Morasca, American television personality
- February 17 - Paris Hilton, American actress and heiress
- February 18 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
- February 22 - Jeanette Biedermann, German singer and actress
- February 24 - Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
- February 27 - Josh Groban, American singer
- March 1 -Ana Hickmann, Brazilian model
- March 2 - Bryce Howard, American actress
- March 3 - Lil' Flip, American rapper
- March 9 - Antonio Bryant, American football player
- March 11 - David Anders, American actor
- March 11 - Lee Evans, American football player
- March 11 - LeToya Luckett, American musician (Destiny's Child)
- March 16 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
- March 28 - Julia Stiles, American actress

April-June


- April 1 - Hannah Spearritt, British singer (S Club 7)
- April 2 - Bethany Joy Lenz, American actress and singer
- April 10 - Michael Pitt, American actor
- April 14 - Mary Castro, American model and actress
- April 17 - Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer
- April 19 - Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor
- April 19 - Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress
- April 19 - Troy Polamalu, American football player
- April 22 - Ken Dorsey, American football player
- April 28 - Jessica Alba, American actress
- May 5 - Craig David, British singer
- May 5 - Danielle Fishel, American actress
- May 11 - Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
- May 13 - Sunny Leone, Canadian entertainer
- May 15 - Jamie-Lynn DiScala, American actress
- May 19 - Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
- May 20 - Sean Conlon, English musician (5ive)
- May 20 - Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
- June 1 - Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- June 7 - Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
- June 7 - Larisa Oleynik, American actress
- June 9 - Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress
- June 13 - Christopher Robert Evans, American actor
- June 12 - Adriana Lima, Brazilian model
- June 21 - Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist (The Killers)

July-September


- July 8 - Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- July 23 - Michelle Williams, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- July 24 - Summer Glau, American actress (Firefly)
- August 4 - Marques Houston, American singer and actor
- August 5 - Carl Crawford, baseball player
- August 5 - Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer and actress
- August 8 - Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer and songwriter
- August 8 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- August 8 - Meagan Good, American actress
- August 16 - Taylor Rain, American actress
- August 24 - Chad Michael Murray, American actor
- August 25 - Rachel Bilson, American actress
- September 1 - Clinton Portis, American football player
- September 4 - Beyoncé Knowles, American singer (Destiny's Child) and actress
- September 8 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
- September 16 - Alexis Bledel, American actress
- September 21 - Nicole Richie, American actress
- September 22 - Rocco Baldelli, baseball player
- September 26 - Christina Milian, Afro-Cuban singer, songwriter and musician
- September 26 - Serena Williams, American tennis player
- September 30 - Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast

October-December


- October 1 - Jamelia, British singer
- October 3 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Swedish footballer
- October 11 - Beau Brady, Australian actor
- October 15 - Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
- October 20 - Willis McGahee, American football player
- October 22 - Michael Fishman, American actor
- October 28 - Milan Baros, Czech footballer
- October 29 - Amanda Beard, American swimmer
- October 30 - Ivanka Trump, American model
- October 31 - Irina Denezhkina, Russian writer
- October 31 - Frank Iero, American guitarist (My Chemical Romance)
- November 1 - LaTavia Roberson, American musician (Destiny's Child)
- November 3 - Jackie Gayda, American professional wrestler
- November 4 - Vince Wilfork, American football player
- November 8 - Azura Skye, American actress
- November 11 - Natalie Glebova, Canadian pageant winner (2005 Miss Universe)
- November 26 - Natasha Bedingfield, British singer
- November 26 - Aurora Snow, American actress
- December 2 - Britney Spears, American singer
- December 3 - Brian Bonsall, American actor
- December 4 - Lila McCann, American singer
- December 7 - Ben Adams, British singer (a1)
- December 13 - Amy Lee, American singer (Evanescence)
- December 15 - Kyle McKain, American Club DJ
- December 15 - Thomas Herrion, American football player (d. 2005)
- December 21 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
- December 27 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
- December 28 - Elizabeth Jordan Carr, first American test-tube baby
- December 28 - Sienna Miller, American-born actress
- December 29 - Angela Via, American singer
- December 30 - Haley Paige, American actress

Deaths


- January 5 - Harold C. Urey, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- January 5 - Lanza del Vasto, Italian-born philosopher, poet, and activist (b. 1901)
- January 6 - A.J. Cronin, Scottish novelist (b. 1896)
- January 10 - Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
- January 23 - Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- February 1 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
- February 9 - Bill Haley, American musician (b. 1925)
- February 15 - Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
- February 20 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor, socialite (b. 1904)
- February 26 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
- March 6 - George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
- March 7 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (b. 1914)
- March 9 - Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)
- April 7 - Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
- April 12 - Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
- April 27 - John Aspinwall Roosevelt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
- May 9 - Nelson Algren, American author (b.1909)
- May 11 - Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- May 11 - Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
- May 18 - William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)
- June 1 - Carl Vinson, U.S. Congressman (b. 1883)
- June 19 - Lotte Reiniger, German-born silhouette animator (b. 1899)
- June 28 - Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)
- August 14 - Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
- September 1 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (b. 1905)
- September 2 - Dame Enid Lyons, Australia politician (b. 1897)
- September 8 - Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)
- September 8 - Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- September 9 - Sir Robert (Bob) Askin, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1907)
- September 12 - Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
- October 2 - Harry Golden, American journalist (b. 1902)
- October 6 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1918)
- October 16 - Stanley Clements, American actor (b. 1926)
- October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
- November 7 - Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
- November 22 - Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
- November 29 - Natalie Wood, American actress (drowned) (b. 1938)
- December 28 - Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur Leonard Schawlow, Kai M. Siegbahn
- Chemistry - Kenichi Fukui, Roald Hoffmann
- Medicine - Roger W. Sperry, David H. Hubel, Torsten N. Wiesel
- Literature - Elias Canetti
- Peace - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Templeton Prize


- Dame Cicely Saunders Category:1981 als:1981 ko:1981년 ja:1981年 simple:1981 th:พ.ศ. 2524

Disk magazine

A disk magazine, also known as a diskmagazine, diskmag, magazine on disk, or magazette (a portmanteau for "magazine on diskette"), is a magazine that is distributed in electronic form to be read using computers. These had some popularity in the 1980s and 1990s as periodicals distributed on disk, as the name implies. The rise of the Internet in the late 1990s caused them to be superseded almost entirely by online publications, which are sometimes still called "diskmags" despite the lack of physical disks.

Defining characteristics

A unique and defining characteristic about a diskmag in contrast to a typical ASCII "zine" or "t-file" (or even "g-file") is that a diskmag usually comes housed as an executable program file that will only run on a specific hardware platform. A diskmag tends to have an aesthetically appealing and custom graphical user interface (or even interfaces), background music and other features that take advantage of the hardware platform the diskmag was coded for. Diskmags have been written for many platforms, ranging from the C64 on up to the IBM PC and have even been created for video game consoles, like scenedicate for the Dreamcast.

Precursors

Early home and hobby users of personal computers in the late 1970s and early 1980s sometimes typed in programs, usually in the BASIC language, which were published in the computer magazines of the time. This was a lot of work, and prone to error, so the idea of publishing a magazine directly on a computer-readable medium so that the programs could be run directly without typing came independently to several people. Some ideas of putting bar codes into paper magazines, which could be read into a computer with the appropriate peripheral, were floated at the time, but never caught on. Since the common data storage medium of the earliest home computers was the audio cassette, the first magazine published on a physical computer medium was actually a cassette magazine rather than a disk magazine; CLOAD magazine, for the Radio Shack TRS-80 computer, began publication in 1978, named after the command to load a program from cassette on that computer system. CLOAD was not the first electronic periodical, however, because various ARPANET digests had been published as text files sent around the network since the early 1970s. These, however, were pure ASCII text and hence were not diskmags by the current definition. Also, at the time, few people outside of academic institutions had access to this forerunner of the Internet.

Disk magazines in the 1980s

In September, 1981, the first issue of Softdisk was published for Apple II computers; coming out monthly on a 5 1/4" diskette, this was the first floppy-disk-based periodical. This was the first publication of a company also known as Softdisk which would later bring out similar publications for the Commodore 64, IBM PC, and Apple Macintosh. Other publishers produced a variety of competing publications, including Diskazine, Window, I.B.Magazette, Uptime, and PC Life. Some publishers of paper magazines published disk companions, either polybagged with the magazines or available as separate subscriptions. (See Covermount.)

Disk magazines in the 1990s

In the early 1990s, id Software founders John Carmack and John Romero had some of their earliest works published on disk magazines while working for Softdisk. A short-lived game subscription called Gamer's Edge published side-scrolling and 3-D games written by the team that would later create Commander Keen and Doom. By the mid-1990s, CD-ROMs were taking over from floppy disks as the major data storage and transfer medium. Some of the existing disk magazines switched to this format while others were founded as CD-based magazines from the start. The higher capacity of this format, along with the faster speed of newer computers, allowed disk magazines to provide more of a multimedia experience, including music and animation. Such things as movie trailers and music samples could now be provided, allowing a disk magazine to target fans of the entertainment industry rather than the computer hobbyists of the earlier times. Many disk magazines of the 1990s and later are connected with the demoscene, including Grapevine, for the Amiga computer. Demoscene diskmags have been known to cross over into the closely neighboring underground computer art scene and warez scenes as well. Some of the more commonly well known English diskmags include: [http://www.hugi.scene.org/ Hugi], Imphobia, [http://pain.scene.org/ Pain] (IBM PC), Jurassic Pack, RAW, Upstream, ROM, Generation (Amiga), Undercover Magascene, and Maggie (Atari ST). In the late 1990s, the Internet became popular among the general public, which had the effect of killing the market for disk-based publications because people could now access the same sorts of material through the net. As a result, disk-based periodicals became uncommon, as publishers of electronic magazines preferred to use the Web or e-mail as their distribution medium.

Disk magazines in the 2000s

The occasional CD- or DVD-based multimedia magazine has come out since 2000, though more often as a promotional gimmick than a self-sustaining publication. More effort has lately gone into creating and promoting Web sites, e-zines, blogs, and e-mail lists than physical-medium-based publications. Some publications that are termed "diskmags" are today distributed through the internet (FTP, WWW, IRC, et cetera). The longest-lasting disk magazine is, surprisingly enough, for the long-obsolete Commodore 64 computer; Loadstar, originally published by Softdisk starting in 1984, and later an independent company, has continued publishing well into the 2000s for a "cult following" of Commodore buffs.

Types of disk magazine content

Disk magazines differed in the sorts of material they emphasised. Several distinct sorts of things could be published in an electronic periodical, and different ones might have all or most of their content in one or another of these categories:
- "Static" articles similar to those of paper magazines, including text and illustrations (though, if that's all that is present in a publication, it is usually termed an "e-zine" or "ASCII-zine" rather than a "disk magazine")
- Multimedia features such as video and audio
- Interactive features such as quizzes and surveys. In some cases you could send disks back to the publisher with your responses and other feedback so that it could be published in a later issue, making it into a (rather slow) user forum.
- Software you could run or install; either original software created by staff or freelancers specifically for the publication and usable unrestrictedly by the subscribers, or copies of freeware, shareware, or "crippleware" that might be limited in functionality unless the customer pays more for a registered copy
- Files and add-ons to be used with other software, such as clip art, sound clips, and fonts.

See also


- List of disk magazines

External links


- [http://www.pouet.net/ pouet.net] – Contains a wide selection of diskmags for all sorts of hardware platforms
- [http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue48/286_1_Learning_With_Computers.php Ready-to-Run Magazines] – Descriptions and reviews of early disk magazines including Cursor, Microzine, CLOAD, and Window Merged material from Diskmag Category:Demoscene
- Disk magazine Category:Home computer software

Softalk

Softalk (ISSN 0724-9629) was a magazine of the early 1980s which focused on the Apple II computer. Published from 1980 through 1984, it featured articles about hardware and software connected with the Apple platform and the people and companies who made it. Unlike other computer magazines that generally focused on a specific, narrow subject matter or market segment (e.g., business applications, games, or professional programming), Softalk gave broad coverage to all parts of the Apple world of the time, from programming tips to game playing, from business to home use, including computing as an industry, a hobby, a tool, a toy, and a culture. As a result, it developed a loyal fan following. A regular feature was a monthly chart of the most popular software in various categories, which was the Apple community's equivalent of the Billboard charts for pop music. There were also contests encouraging the participation of readers. Originally, Softalk was sent free to all registered Apple owners, but later it required paid subscription. Softalk underwent rapid expansion in its early history, with issues getting very thick (largely from advertising), but it underwent a slump in 1984 which caused it to cease publication. Towards the end of its run, its publisher also launched an edition for the IBM PC, as well as one for the Apple Macintosh (named St. Mac) and one devoted to computer games (St. Game). The disk magazine Softdisk was originally partly owned by Softalk, but survived on its own. Category:Defunct computer magazines Category:Apple II family Category:Home computer magazines

Apple II

. As can be seen, the Apple II came with an integrated keyboard, common with early personal computers, but very uncommon today. The one pictured is shown with two official Apple floppy disk drives and a monitor.]] The Apple II family was the first series of microcomputers mass produced by Apple Computer, in the late 1970s through to the early 1990s. Completely different from Apple's later Macintosh computers, the Apple II was a predominantly 8-bit architecture based on the 6502-series microprocessor. The progenitor was the Apple I, which was a hand-built machine sold to hobbyists. It was never produced in quantity, but pioneered many of the features that would make the Apple II a success. The first large-scale production computer was the Apple II. It became popular with home users, as well as occasionally being sold to business users, particularly after the release of the first ever spreadsheet on any computer, VisiCalc. See the computing timeline for dates of Apple II family model releases – the 1977 Apple II and its younger siblings, the II Plus, IIe, IIc and IIGS. The "II" portion of the name was alternately rendered in a variety of creative ways using punctuation symbols. For example, the II and the "unenhanced" IIe was most commonly written ][ and ][e, and the IIc and enhanced, platinum IIe models were written as //c, and //e. Finally, the IIgs and IIc plus were rendered in the form used in this article.

History

The original Apple II

The first Apple II computers went on sale on June 5, 1977 with a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1 MHz, 4 KB of RAM, an audio cassette interface, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs. The video controller displayed 24 lines by 40 columns of upper-case-only text on the screen, with NTSC composite video output for display on a monitor, or on a TV set by way of an RF modulator. Third-party add-on cards were available for 80-column and lower-case support. Users could save and retrieve programs and data on audio cassettes; other programming languages, games, applications and other software were available on cassette too. The original retail price was $1298 with 4KB of RAM and $2638 with 48KB of RAM. Later, an external 5¼-inch floppy disk drive, the Disk II, with controller card that plugged into one of the computer's slots (usually slot #6), enabled much more convenient data storage and retrieval. This disk drive interface created by Steve Wozniak (Woz) is still regarded as an engineering masterpiece. Where other controllers had dozens of chips for synchronizing data I/O with disk rotation, seeking the head to the appropriate track, and encoding the data into magnetic pulses, Woz's controller card had few chips; instead, the Apple DOS used software to perform the functions. The controller also used a form of Group Code Recording, which was simpler and easier to implement in software than the more common MFM. According to legend, Woz laid out the circuit board several times as he realized that moving one more function to software would allow him to remove another chip. In the end, the low chip count of the controller contributed to making Apple's Disk II the first affordable floppy drive system for personal computers. As a side effect, Woz's scheme also made it easy for proprietary software developers to make the media on which their applications shipped hard to copy by employing tricks such as changing the low-level sector format or stepping the drive's head between the tracks; however, other companies eventually sold software such as Copy II Plus and Locksmith that could foil such protection. The approach taken in the Disk II controller was typical of Woz's design sensibility. The Apple II is full of clever engineering tricks to save ha