Old-School Gazette: Your source for the "latest" in technology and entertainment.
Friday, November 5, 1982.
Technology
Yesterday, Compaq introduced the Compaq Portable PC. This is a portable device that's the size of a medium-sized suitcase and weighs 28 pounds, but it's IBM-compatible and runs the same software as a regular IBM computer. It has an 8088 CPU that runs at 4.77 MHz, has 128 kb of RAM, and has a 5.25-inch disk drive, capable of holding 320 kb each. The screen is only nine inches, but that's the price you pay for portability. An individual unit will cost the consumer $2,995, but the price that Compaq had to pay to create a BIOS compatible with IBM's system without violating their copyright was one million dollars.
Video Games
Gottlieb has released a new puzzle arcade cabinet called "Qbert". The game uses an isometric graphics to appear as a three-dimensional pyramid. The player controls the titular Qbert, a strange alien creature, and the goal is to change the colors of all of the tiles on the screen by jumping on them. All tiles need to be the same color to progress to the next stage, but jumping on the tiles will change the color even if it's to a color that the player doesn't want to change it to. Meanwhile, Q*bert must avoid enemies. Both the sprites and the background are quite impressive and the game is well-received by critics.
Konami has released a new arcade game called "Time Pilot". The player travels in a time-traveling fighter jet and fights enemies from different time periods, from as early as 1910 to as late as futuristic flying saucers in the distant year of 2001. The player can travel in any direction, unlike the older games such as Space Invaders or Galaga.
Film
A week ago, National Lampoon released a new movie called "Class Reunion". The black comedy centers around the tenth reunion of a high school class of 1972 when one member of the graduating class escapes an insane asylum and turns the reunion to a murderous rampage. "No class has less class than this class."
Piranha II: The Spawning was released into theaters today. Directed by James Cameron, this independent horror film centers around a Caribbean resort that is attacked by piranha that can fly (oh, good grief, seriously?).
Television
Last Thursday, the second season of Cagney and Lacey premiered with a change in the cast. Det. Christine Cagney, formerly played by Meg Foster, is now played by Sharon Gless. Foster was removed by CBS because she was considered to be too aggressive in the role.
Sources, all of which are awesome and worth exploring independently:
http://kpolsson.com/comphist/comp1982jul.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rPr2JSKeQ0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_in_video_games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q*bert
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Pilot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_OzRECVOk8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_in_film
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lampoon%27s_Class_Reunion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_II:_The_Spawning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_in_American_television
This was supposed to be out over a week ago, but things have been nuts for me lately!
This is a not-quite-official announcement of the Discord server I just created. Completely free. Don't need to be a supporter on Locals. Don't even need to be a member.
It's definitely not a secret that this community hasn't been active since Matt Hartley hasn't been involved. I think there are a few reasons why (one being that I had a lot less time to devote to it than I realized), and I think that making a completely free alternative would help, and I unfortunately don't think I can do that on Locals! You have to pay if you want to post. Discord should be free (unless I did it wrong).
Feel free to come join! It's still kind of experimental at this point, and I don't know how well I'll handle content moderation, which will probably be the biggest challenge.
