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Anecdotes On the Creation of TI Logo


pixelpedant

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From my analyses back when I packed the ZIPs, I found that Logo 2 (German) lacks a proper CRC16 at the end of the ROM, and GROM4 and GROM5 are the same as in Logo 2 (English).

I wonder if there is an official translation guide. From the table above I learned that leaving Logo 2 (German) is done with "ADE", which is somewhat cute, and only common in the south-west of Germany ("ah, you're from Stuttgart?"). It is borrowed from old French.

 

The "AN" corresponding to "TELL" is also interesting. This is obviously not a translation, as "an" means "at" or "to", "towards". It seemed to be difficult to find a single verb in German that is used in the same sense as telling someone to do something. The nearest one could be "befehlen" ("command", "order"), which was possibly deemed unsuitable for a childrens' language.

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Something interesting I saw on youtube today: The Nabu PC which was a Z80 network computer that used a TMS9918 video chip.  What does this have to do with Logo?  Well, it had a version of Logo that ran on it.   I wonder how close that was to any of the other TMS9918 Logo versions.  Maybe someday they'll be able to reconstruct the network environment.

 

 

https://museum.eecs.yorku.ca/nabu

 

https://museum.eecs.yorku.ca/collections/show/6

 

 

https://ottawa.citynews.ca/remember-this/remember-this-the-nabu-network-4547078

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Initially, the service was only available to Ottawa Cablevision subscribers, i.e. people who resided west of Bank Street. One could purchase the NABU home computer for $950, or rent the unit for $19.95 per month, plus an addition $9.95 for NABU's 'lifestyle software.' For this price, one received the NABU 80K personal computer, a cable adaptor, a keyboard, a games controller, and thirty lifestyle games and programmes; the inventory of games and programmes later rose to roughly one hundred. For an extra $4.95 per month, subscribers had access to LOGO, an educational-based programming language, and LOGO-based programmes. 

 


https://archive.org/details/nabu-personal-computer-users-guide/page/48/mode/2up

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The Practical Programs
Your cable company will have a great variety of programs covering the general areas of education, business, information services, and games.


You may decide, for example, that you want to capitalize on the kids’ enjoyment of the NABU PC, by using it as an educational tool. Learning to program a computer in LOGO, a language specifically designed for children by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is among the educational programs available on Cable.


Another popular program is word processing, which has both home correspondence and business applications. Or you may want a package that helps you solve such problems as loan and mortgage calculations or what to consider when buying a car or a home.

 

 

 

Edited by Golden Child
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4 minutes ago, Golden Child said:

Something interesting I saw on youtube today: The Nabu PC which was a Z80 network computer that used a TMS9918 video chip.  What does this have to do with Logo?  Well, it had a version of Logo that ran on it.   I wonder how close that was to any of the other TMS9918 Logo versions.  Maybe someday they'll be able to reconstruct the network environment.

@matthew180 recently got one of these.

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Thanks to @arcadeshopper I learned about the NABU, and since it uses the 9918A VDP I had to get one to test the F18A compatibility (it works).  The information on the system is limited, and the computer itself is useless without the cable-network or a floppy drive (unobtanium).  The York University Computer Museum has the most complete set of resources, they had access to some of the original engineers, they have the full software library, etc., but they appear to be a one-way door and do not share anything.  Unless a bunch of hobbyists decide to build new hardware interfaces for the system, and they write a bunch of all-new software, it is just a curiosity that could have been a nice computer.

 

However, the NABU is mostly off-topic, so let's not derail this thread further.  Someone should make a NABU thread if there is interest in discussing the system.

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  • 3 weeks later...

And one other logo that uses the tms9918, TLC Logo for CPM Kaypro with a MicroSphere Color Graphics Board addon.  (Interestingly, Microsphere still exists in Bend, Oregon).

 

TLC Logo (TLC=the lisp company) was for CPM and a version was made for the Mattel Aquarius.  (Also there's some mention Commodore was going to publish TLC Logo for the Amiga but changed its mind).

 

It is an interesting dialect of Logo, it uses a concept of the question mark to query properties, for example:  POS [0 10] to set position 0,10   and POS ? will return the current position.

 

The version for the tms9918 board supported sprite graphics.  I am unable to find any version of the Kaypro, but mame will run aquarius logo in the aquarius driver.  The aquarius has terrible graphics because it uses character graphics and a 2x3 sixel pattern, but it does have 16 colors.  The character graphics are fixed but you can set the turtle to be any character (shape 65 will make the turtle the A character) and "paint" using any character (tile 66 will paint using the B character).  There was a nice manual included with aquarius logo and you can find it on archive.org.  Due to rom space restrictions on the aquarius, a lot of keywords are shortened, like hd for heading, tf for "turtle family" (the list of active turtles).  The keyword ask will direct commands to a specific turtle.

 

The advertisements below came from Profiles magazine, (7/1984 and 4/1986) as well as Micro Cornucopia #16 (Feb 1984)

microspheres_color_graphics_bw.png

logo_kaypro_profiles_1984_07bwposter.png

Edited by Golden Child
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