Date   : Fri, 18 Jan 2002 22:42:44 +0000
From   : Jeremy Grayson <jeremy.grayson@...>
Subject: Re: mags, scans etc.

Hi Wouter,

> I saw an ad for a mag I never heard of before, 'the beebon', and got
> hold of 2 issues of 'Personal software' (BBC version) and 'The A&B
> collection, spring 1985'. Does anyone know more about these?
> I.e. what I want to know is:
>   - were any issues of beebon really produced? If so how many? 

Now here's a coincidence. A stash of BBC stuff I only recently acquired
included a copy of issue 2 of Beebon - I'd never heard of this
publication either until then. I can confirm that it was published by
Bugbyte / Argus Press and commenced in May 1982. The idea was that it'd
come out every two months for £1, but annual subscriptions for £7.50
were also offered. Maybe someone out there knows whether it ever even
saw out its first year of publication. If not, try mailing the British
Library (Trust a librarian to think of that!!)

A summary of Issue 2's contents follows. It purported to have 18 pages;
neither the front nor back covers were numbered;

Page 1 Contents
       Stop Press - Atari clamping down on Pacman clones reproducing
       the "classic" yellow slitty ball-shaped Pacman too closely.
       Had thus resulted in the withdrawal of Bugbyte's Vicmen (note,
       folks, a BBC-only mag mourning the demise of a Vic 20 game!)
Page 2 Editorial - asks for submissions; royalities paid at £10 per
       A4 page!
Page 3 More editorial and letters
Page 4 More letters
Page 5 Announcement of the release of Space Pirates and BBC Chess, plus
       the filing system BBC Multifile
PP 6/7 Exploration of the BBC's analogue interface
pp 8-13        A Font Editor for the Beeb incl. type-in listing
pp 14-17  Thargoids type-in game by JS Clegg   
p 18     Magazine-standard ad for Bugbyte's BBC, Atom, ZX81 and Vic20
         titles. BBC titles featured are Spacewarp, BBC Chess (both 
         £11.50!!!); Space Pirates, Polaris and BBC Backgammon (all
         £8); BBC Multifile (£25) and BBC Golf (£7). The Atom games
         are Chess (£9); Invaders, 747 Flight Simulation and
         Galaxians (all £8); Labyrinth (£7); Lunar Lander (£5.50);
         Golf (£5); Pinball (£4.50); Breakout and Fruit Machine (both
         £4). The ZX81 and Vic games are... well, who cares?

Hope this is of some interest. I've no facility for scanning the mag
here, but I could always whang some colour photocopies in the post if
needs be.

Tot ziens, meneer Scholten!

Jeremy