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Demo Scene
The demoscene is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off programming, visual art, and musical skills. Demos and other demoscene productions (graphics, music, videos, games) are shared at festivals known as demoparties, voted on by those who attend and released online. The scene started with the home computer revolution of the early 1980s, and the subsequent advent of software cracking. Crackers altered the code of video games to remove copy protection, claiming credit by adding introduction screens of their own (" cracktros"). They soon started competing for the best visual presentation of these additions. Through the making of intros and stand-alone demos, a new community eventually evolved, independent of the gaming and software sharing scenes. Demoscene productions can be made with the latest consumer techno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Art
Computer art is any art in which computers play a role in production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, video game, website, algorithm, performance or gallery installation. Many traditional disciplines are now integrating digital technologies and, as a result, the lines between traditional works of art and new media works created using computers has been blurred. For instance, an artist may combine traditional painting with algorithm art and other digital techniques. As a result, defining computer art by its end product can thus be difficult. Computer art is bound to change over time since changes in technology and software directly affect what is possible. The term "computer art" On the title page of the magazine ''Computers and Automation'', January 1963, Edmund Berkeley published a picture by Efraim Arazi from 1962, coining for it the term "computer art." This picture inspired him to initiate the first ''Compute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demo Effect
Demo effect is computer-based real-time visual effects found in demos created by the demoscene. The main purpose of demo effects in demos is to show off the skills of the programmer. Because of this, demo coders have often attempted to create new effects whose technical basis cannot be easily figured out by fellow programmers. Sometimes, particularly in the case of severely limited platforms such as the Commodore 64, a demo effect may make the target machine do things that are supposedly beyond its capabilities. The ability to creatively overcome major technical limitations is greatly appreciated among demosceners. Modern demos are not as focused on effects as the demos of the 1980s and 1990s. Effects are rarely stand-alone content elements anymore, and their role in programmer showcase has diminished, particularly in PC demos. As for today, PC demosceners are more likely to demonstrate their programming skills with procedural content generation or 3D engine features than wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hacker (programmer Subculture)
The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy—often in collective effort—the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming the limitations of software systems or electronic hardware (mostly digital electronics), to achieve novel and clever outcomes. The act of engaging in activities (such as programming or other mediaThe Hacker Community and Ethics: An Interview with Richard M. Stallman, 2002 (gnu.org)) in a spirit of playfulness and exploration is termed ''hacking''. However, the defining characteristic of a hacker is not the activities performed themselves (e.g. programmi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compunet
Compunet was a United Kingdom based interactive service provider, catering primarily for the Commodore 64 but later for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST. It was also known by its users as ''CNet''. It ran from 1984 to May 1993. Overview Compunet hosted a wide range of content, and users were permitted to create their own sections within which they could upload their own graphics, articles and software. A custom editor existed in which the "frames" that made up the pages could be created either offline or when connected to the service. The editor's cache allowed users to quickly download a set of pages, then disconnect from the service in order to read them, thus saving on telephone costs. The user interface used a horizontally scrolling menu system, known as the "duck shoot", and navigation was essentially "select and click" with the ability to jump directly to pages with the use of keywords. Content could be voted upon by the users. The service had many features which wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antony Crowther
Antony Crowther is a former designer, programmer, and musician of Commodore 64 games. During the 1980s he worked for Alligata, Gremlin Graphics and later his own company, Wizard Development. Career The first computer game he created was a version of the board game ''Mastermind'', which was written for the PET 4032. Following the acquisition of a VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the ... Crowther began to learn machine code and wrote several games which he showed to software house Superior Systems. The company gave him a Commodore 64 on loan which he utilised to produce his first commercial title, ''Lunar Lander''. He gained high status among C64 users in the mid 1980s with his highly prolific output, developing complete professional games in only two weeks. Crow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Judges (c64 Group)
The Judges was a Dutch Commodore 64 group from Roosendaal known for being one of the earliest dedicated demogroups. The Judges released several demos for the Commodore 64 home computer between the years 1986 - 1988. Groups such as The Judges are regarded as early pioneers of what came to be known as the demoscene. In some respects they mirrored The Lords, a "rivaling" ZX Spectrum group also from Roosendaal, to the extent that concepts, artwork and even titles were identical between the two groups. A technical milestone often attributed to The Judges, particularly the programmer Bart "White" Meeuwissen, is the invention of the FLD (Flexible Line Distance) technique, which was used in the ''Think Twice'' series of demos. As the name implies, FLD made it possible to have a variable distance every eight pixels between the individual text or graphics lines generated by the VIC-II video chip. The group's musician Jeroen "Red" Kimmel went on to compose and sell video game music com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Deenen
Charles Deenen (born 15 January 1970 in Holthees), is a Dutch computer/video game audio director, music composer, sound designer, and mixer. He is also known for his music and sound efforts for games of the C64 and Amiga era. He was one of the first demosceners. Early career His first sound achievement was the self-written sound driver for Commodore PET, which he wrote at the age of 13. In the early 1980s he bought a C64. He often wrote graphical and musical demos on it and showed demos at game exhibitions, and through his hobby he met fellow composer Jeroen Tel. In 1987 he, with Tel and some others, started the sound and music group Maniacs of Noise and composed game music for platforms such as the Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST, being hired by such companies as Sega, U.S. Gold and Probe Software. Initially he was strictly a programmer for the group, working on audio drivers and sound effects while leaving all the actual composing to Tel, but after their first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consumer Electronics Show
CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typically hosts presentations of new products and technologies in the consumer electronics industry. History The first CES was held in June 1967 in New York City. It was a spinoff from the Chicago Music Show, which, until then, had served as the main event for exhibiting consumer electronics. The event had 17,500 attenders and over 100 exhibitors; the kickoff speaker was Motorola chairman Bob Galvin. From 1978 to 1994, CES was held twice each year: once in January in Las Vegas known for ''Winter Consumer Electronics Show (WCES)'' and once in June in Chicago, known as ''Summer Consumer Electronics Show (SCES)''. The winter show was successfully held in Las Vegas in 1995 as planned. However, since the summer Chicago shows were beginning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 8-bit Family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, and Atari XEGS, the last discontinued in 1992. They differ primarily in packaging, each based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU at and the same custom coprocessor chips. As the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, it has graphics and sound more advanced than most contemporary machines. Video games were a major draw, and first-person space combat simulator ''Star Raiders'' is considered the platform's killer app. The plug-and-play peripherals use the Atari SIO serial bus, with one developer eventually also co-patenting USB. While using the same internal technology, the Atari 800 was sold as a high-end model, while the 400 was more affordable. The 400 has a pressure-sensitive, spillproof membrane keyboard and initially shipped ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari, Inc
Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunnyvale, California, area in the center of Silicon Valley, the company was initially formed to develop arcade games, launching with '' Pong'' in 1972. As computer technology matured with low-cost integrated circuits, Atari ventured into the consumer market, first with dedicated home versions of ''Pong'' and other arcade successes around 1975, and into programmable consoles using game cartridges with the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS or later branded as the Atari 2600) in 1977. To bring the Atari VCS to market, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications in 1976. In 1978, Warner brought in Ray Kassar to help run the company, but over the next few years, gave Kassar more of a leadership role in the company. Bushnell was fired in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-molded plastic case, Rod Holt developed the switching power supply, while Steve Jobs's role in the design of the computer was limited to overseeing Jerry Manock's work on the plastic case. It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a personal computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists. ''Byte'' magazine referred to the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 as the "1977 Trinity". As the Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors. The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copy Protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. Copy protection is most commonly found on videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, HD-DVDs, computer software discs, video game discs and cartridges, audio CDs and some VCDs. Some methods of copy protection have also led to criticism because it caused inconvenience for paying consumers or secretly installed additional or unwanted software to detect copying activities on the consumer's computer. Making copy protection effective while protecting consumer rights remains a problem with media publication. Terminology Media corporations have always used the term copy protection, but critics argue that the term tends to sway the public into identifying with the publishers, who favor restriction technologies, rather than with the users. Copy prevention and copy control may be more neu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
