Macintosh Midnight Madness
PSS ID Number: Q11944
Article last modified on 10-13-1986
PSS database name: PRESS






MACINTOSH MIDNIGHT MADNESS
by Mitchell Waite, Dan Putterman, Don Urguhart, & Chuck Blanchard
Price: $18.95  Pages: 448
ISBN: 0-914845-30-6
Pub. Date: November, 1985
Companion Disk: $19.95

MACINTOSH MIDNIGHT MADNESS:
A Wealth of Useful Utilities, Amazing Games, and Creative Diversions

Special Companion Disk Containing All 17 Programs Offered

   The Waite Group, headed by Mitchell Waite, has gained widespread
recognition as writers of successful computer books.  The Waite Group's best
sellers include C Primer Plus, Unix Primer Plus, and Assembly Language Primer
for the IBM PC.  Lately, the Waite Group has focused their expertise on
revealing the full potential of Microsoft BASIC for the Apple Macintosh.  In
MICROSOFT MACINATIONS, they provided beginning programmers with a complete
introduction to Microsoft BASIC - the best-selling language for the Mac.  This
November, Microsoft Press will release MACINTOSH MIDNIGHT MADNESS, a
collection of 17 creative BASIC utilities, games, and "grand diversions"
designed to sharpen the skills of programmers who are familiar with BASIC on
the Apple Macintosh.  Because of its variety of well-designed, ready-to-run
programs, the book will also be a valuable addition to the software library of
any non-programmer.
   MACINTOSH MIDNIGHT MADNESS takes a program-oriented approach.  To give a
comprehensive overview, the authors explain how each program operates from a
conceptual level, and then provide a complete program listing.  They explore
particular aspects of the program, focusing especially on those that utilize
the Mac's unique elements, such as menus, windows, graphics, animation, and
multi-voice sound generation.  In addition, the authors suggest modifications,
so that readers can customize the games offered in the book, or adapt the
utilities for use in their own programs.
   The highly interactive programs in MACINTOSH MIDNIGHT MADNESS are both
useful and fun.  Among the utilities, the reader will find a graphing program
that produces line, bar, and pie charts, software tools for converting
MacPaint graphics to BASIC format, and a program for creating custom cursors.
The "diversions" include one program that turns the Mac into an organ with two
octaves and three Chords, and another that lets the reader actually compose
and play music on the Macintosh.  Among the innovative games found in the book
are a shoot-em-up space adventure with four-channel sound effects, a slot
machine that makes realistic sounds, and a game of darts requiring a high
degree of skill.  Perhaps the highlight of MACINTOSH MIDNIGHT MADNESS is
MacAnimate, which allows the user to create, modify, and then play back a
series of images, much like the frames of a strip of movie film.
   To save readers hours of typing, Microsoft Press has created a special
program disk for MICROSOFT MIDNIGHT MADNESS.  This companion disk includes all
17 programs, plus additional files containing sequences and cursor patterns.
The disk, priced at $19.95, can be ordered directly from Microsoft by mailing
in a special card bound into each book.
   Mitchell Waite has been active in the personal-computer industry since
1976, when he bought one of the very first Apple I computers from Steve Jobs.
For the past several years, his company, The Waite Group, has published dozens
of award-winning computer books used throughout the world.
   Don Urguhart is an instructor in Electronics Technology at the College of
Marin in Kentfield, California, where he conducts courses in analog and
digital systems.
   Chuck Blanchard is a consultant and engineer with several years of
programming experience.  He is currently working on a project aimed at
developing a visual programming language for the Macintosh.
   Microsoft Corporation, based in Bellevue, Washington, develops and sells a
wide range of operating systems, languages, applications programs, and
hardware products, as well as books, for the microcomputer marketplace.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1986.