Liverpool Software Gazette was a short-lived computer magazine published by Microdigital, a company who were based in Liverpool, England and run by Bruce Everiss.

History

The magazine ran to only eight issues of which the last was a double. Issues were bi-monthly from November 1979 to February 1981 though the last was actually dated February/April 1981. Initially costing 50p the price increased to 75p by the fifth edition while the final double edition cost £1.50. The page count started at around 50 though by the fifth edition had reached 100 pages.

The pressure of running both Microdigital and the magazine soon took its toll on the company, and the magazine was put up for sale during the final edition. It was sold to and incorporated into an Apple magazine where, of course, all non-Apple content was immediately dropped.

The magazine was not for the computer newbie and tackled a wide-range of subjects from languages, machine code and CPUs, systems (both large and small), games, programming techniques, astronomy. In many cases the articles went far deeper than those normally tackled by the computer magazines of the day.

Content

There were some regular columns such as Pets Corner (for the Commodore PET), Apple Pips (for the Apple II), Nascom Notes and Nybbles (small BASIC tips and routines).

Below are some of the contents from each of the issues. Note the general term for computers back then was Microcomputers (sometimes spelt as two words). In some cases the original spelling/typos have been left intact.

Issue 1:

• Sargon meets the Nascom
• Programming Practices and Technics
• M5 System - an Interpreter for the Nascom One
• I'm Pilot, fly me
• Acorn
  Acorn Computers
  Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK. These included the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro, and the Acorn Archimedes...
  
   Mastermind
  Mastermind (board game)
  Mastermind or Master Mind is a code-breaking game for two players. The modern game with pegs was invented in 1970 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert, but the game resembles an earlier pencil and paper game called bulls and cows that may date back a century or...
  
  
• Pascal bytes the Apple

Issue 2:

• Dungeons & Dragons
  Dungeons & Dragons
  Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
  
   Revisited
• Numerical Accuracy of Microcomputer
  Microcomputer
  A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
  
  s
• Cesil - an introduction
• Acorn and the Kim
• Z-80 Processor Profile
• Revas & Zeap
• Application Software for Microcomputers
• Trekking by 'JTK'
• Byting more off your Disk

Issue 3:

• AIM 65 Assembler
• Graphics Shapes (Series)
• Pilot Takes Off
• Pascal - an Introduction (series)
• Algol 68C
  ALGOL 68C
  The ALGOL68C computer programming language compiler was developed for the CHAOS OS for the CAP capability computer at Cambridge University in 1971 by Stephen Bourne and Michael Guy as a dialect of ALGOL 68. Other early contributors were Andrew D. Birrell and Ian Walker.The initial compiler was...
  
   on the Z80
• Microcomputers and Biochemistry
  Biochemistry
  Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
  
  
• Sharp Machine Language
• Super Sort

Issue 4:

• Star Gate
• Jet Set
• 6800 Processor
  Motorola 6800
  The 6800 was an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System that also included serial and parallel interface ICs, RAM, ROM and other support chips...
  
   Profile
• A Forth Introduction
• A Useful Pascal Program (series)
• A Marvel Called the MC6809
  Motorola 6809
  The Motorola 6809 is an 8-bit microprocessor CPU from Motorola, designed by Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced 1978...
  
  
• A Number Processor for the Acorn
• Architectural Software on the Cheap
• Commercial Micro Software Fundamentals
• Social Effects of Micro Computers

Issue 5:

• Xtal Basic - The Extendable One
• Analysis of Systems Analysis
• Cesil Interpreted in Basic
• Algol 68
  ALGOL 68
  ALGOL 68 isan imperative computerprogramming language that was conceived as a successor to theALGOL 60 programming language, designed with the goal of a...
  
  
• Fortran 77
• Lisp
• Forms Processing
• Compiling Systems
• The Users View of Visicalc
  VisiCalc
  VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program available for personal computers. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool...
  
  

Issue 6 (Pascal special):

• 'Warning' Prolonged use of Pascal may seriously damage your mental health
• Integer Pascal on the Nascom
  Nascom
  The Nascom 1 and 2 were single-board computer kits issued in 1977 and 1979, respectively, based on the Zilog Z80 and including a keyboard and video interface, a serial port that could be used to store data on a tape cassette using the Kansas City standard, and two 8-bit parallel ports...
  
  
• Structured and not so Structured Programming
  Structured programming
  Structured programming is a programming paradigm aimed on improving the clarity, quality, and development time of a computer program by making extensive use of subroutines, block structures and for and while loops - in contrast to using simple tests and jumps such as the goto statement which could...
  
  
• TCL Pascal
• A Readers Contribution
• Alarming Your Computer
• The Romplus and Keyboard Filter
• Stargate
  Stargate
  Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
  
   Unlocked
• Tangerine Article
• MPL Language

Issue 7 (CP/M special):

• Microcomputer Disk Operating Systems
• CP/M
  CP/M
  CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
  
   on the Sharp MZ-80K
• Z0 Article
• Graphics Software for the Apple II
  Apple II
  The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
  
  
• Introduction to Hi Resolution Graphics on the Apple
• Sharp PC 1211
• Getting More From Your Genie
• Micro Chips in Use Now
• A Simple Machine

Issue 8/9:

• Curing 'Clear' Keys
• Systems Programming with High Level Languages
• Macro's and Micro's
• Pilot Takes Off
• A Useful Romplus Programme
• M.P.L. Language
• Connecting the General Instruments AY-3-8910 Programmable Sound Generator
  Programmable sound generator
  A Programmable Sound Generator is a sound chip that generates sound waves by synthesizing multiple basic waveforms, and often some kind of noise generator, and combining and mixing these waveforms into a complex waveform, then shaping the amplitude of the resulting waveform using...
  
   to the 6502/6800 bus
• Sharp Basics
• Flashy Graphics
• Writing Decent Basic Programmes
• Microcomputer Communications for the Hobbyist
• Introduction to the Main Features of Algol 68
• The TRS-80
  TRS-80
  TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
  
  's Hidden Keyboard
• Apple D.O.S. 3.3

Notable articles

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

The article on TCL Pascal in issue 6 was by Anne Scott and John Stout.

External links

• Article Architectural software on the cheap from Liverpool Software Gazette issue 4
• Computer magazine history featuring Liverpool Software Gazette
• Profile of Bruce Everiss
• PDFs of the first and third issues can be found here
• Microdigital in Liverpool from Bruceongames