Remembering… BASIC

David Hayward recalls writing programs that insulted classmates

There’s a popular educational movement at the moment to get the current generation of students back behind keyboards and programming. The likes of the Raspberry Pi and the attention attracted by the BAFTA Young Games Designer and Concept awards has somewhat helped to force a change in the curriculum.

Top 5 Laws Of Platform Games

Where would Mario and Sonic be without these?

1 Leaps And Bounds

More than anything, a platformer needs platforms, things to jump on, leap off and hop over. That, without doubt, is an absolute must. What’s not so necessary, however, is that these obstacles stick to the rules of physics. How often, for example, have you seen games where the things you jump on are just floating in the air, as if held there by magic? Imagine, though, if platform games were based on real life. The biggest hurdle you’d probably have to get over would be when you climb the broken-down escalator in the tube station, on your daily commute. Or perhaps your greatest struggle would be just dragging your tired bones out of bed. Wouldn’t make for much of a game, though.

HP Deskjet 3630

HP brings the Deskjet brand to a new generation of personal printers

Ifirst used the Deskjet Plus in 1989, and 26 years later, we’re not a long way from that original highly successful concept. HP’s new Deskjet 3630 is still built around a combined ink head and reservoir in the cartridge, and produces reasonably rapid output on a good range of stock. And in this variation, it also comes with a scanner to add extra scan and copy functionality to the standard printing skills.

Speedlink Strike NX

Can this budget gamepad compete with more expensive alternatives?

Some time ago, I reviewed the Speedlink Torid gamepad, a wireless controller bearing more than a passing resemblance to the official Xbox 360 pad. As well as dual support for Xinput and DirectInput, and compatibility with the PlayStation 3, the Torid is comfortable to use and feels comfortingly robust. Currently, available for around £20, it's also a bargain.

Photo Commander 12

Sort out those folders full of images with Ashampoo’s Photo Commander 12

If you’re an avid snapper like me, then I’m sure you also have folders full of unedited and in the main unorganised images that you're going to sort out 'some day'. The trouble is that day never comes, unless you can find a utility that will take some of the strain out of doing the job for you. After a quick look at Ashampoo’s latest release, Photo Commander 12, it seems I might have found a likely candidate.

Seagate Personal Cloud 2-Bay 4TB

Seagate makes a NAS box for those who don’t live and breathe computers

Not everyone wants total control when it comes to personal storage. Many people want a plug-and-play solution with the technical aspect, and the Seagate Personal Cloud is built just for them.

Seagate makes the Personal Cloud in single- or dualdrive enclosures in a range of capacities, and here I’ll be looking at the 4TB (2x 2TB) model. In many ways, this is the successor to the Seagate Central that arrived two years ago, although it’s obvious that Seagate has learned plenty from that, which it chose not to repeat here.

Philips E-line Monitor (227E6E)

Not True blue but SoftBlue features in this next review

Not everybody has the space or need for one of the larger monitors that are currently available. For those who fall into this category, Philips offers its E-Line 227E6E display. This monitor features SoftBlue LED technology, which has been designed to help combat the problems that can be caused by blue light rays emanating from LED displays. These rays can pass through the cornea and crystalline lens, causing deterioration to the retina and adversely affecting vision.

Magix Movie Edit Pro 2016 Premium

Edit like a professional with Magix Movie Edit Pro 2016

The procedures and sophistication of modern video editors, together with the speed that our PC systems are now capable of, means that video editing is not such a chore as it used to be. Whereas professional editing was originally carried out on very expensive editing suites costing thousands of pounds, today you can get pretty close with a single PC and a software editor, like this latest release from Magix.