Ideas for Article Submissions for QUANTA etc.

Thinking of joining QUANTA? Post any questions here.
Post Reply
User avatar
vanpeebles
Commissario Pebbli
Posts: 2816
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:13 pm
Location: North East UK

Ideas for Article Submissions for QUANTA etc.

Post by vanpeebles »

A Guide for QUANTA submissions

'Writers block' can kick in quite easily sometimes, sitting in front of a blank piece of paper and wondering where to start! (for paper, read computer screen). Indeed it may seem to many that SuperBASIC programming would be more prolific if it were not for the exact same reason.
With that in mind we think it is prudent to offer some guidelines to all, about what QUANTA would like our existing and potential contributors to provide us with as ‘copy’ (technical term).

Don’t worry about your spelling or grammar not being up to scratch, that is something we can correct or leave as necessary, the Editor's decision is final. The following is a list of topics or areas to give you some food for thought as budding writers for the QUANTA magazine. The list is by no means exhaustive but it will give you a starting point to go by and has been split in to three general areas for your convenience.

Hardware
  • A review of a piece of hardware you have recently seen, obtained or bought that is related or used with the Sinclair QL.

    A description of project that is large or small, something that you have, are undertaking or have completed. You could include the benefits of the hardware, the pitfalls, what could be improved if someone was to duplicate your work.

    An item you have repaired or replaced on your system or that you have adapted or improved.

    There maybe something you have a problem with, and that you are calling the QUANTA community for help. Even if this is resolved via other means (Forum/QL User list for example), do not assume every QUANTA member has access to other forms of support.

    You could write about your own setup that you use at home, what you have put together and use either on a regular basis or periodically.

    If you’re a collector of QL items, what are the reasons for your collection, what do you have?

    Repairs to microdrive cartridges that have worked for you for example, that seems to crop up a lot on the Forum.
Software
  • Small Listings - any number of lines really, from just a few to a couple of pages, single or multiple procedures and functions that you have written to either solve or explore a programming problem. Or even just for a bit of experimental fun.

    Long listings - no program is too big, no language too strange, whether its just concepts, SuperBASIC, block diagrams, Boolean logic, assembler, mnemonics (that's one for you George), C# C++ C- - or just plain C, Pascal, Fortran or even S*BASIC, anything about everything would be appreciated.

    Although the QL doesn’t have every one it was interesting to read on Wikipedia (the fount of all knowledge) that there are around 1000 different languages listed. You could even send us an adapted listing from the QUANTA software library that you have modified or improved in some way. Corrected errors or changed existing programs in order to suit emulators or screens/colours etc.

    Any reviews of software - whether it is games, applications or utilities would be helpful. These could be new or even old versions, remember that we do have new members coming back to the QL community and missed developments and releases over the years.

    You could write about your favoured method of what you use on a regular basis including extensions you load in as a matter of preference including the order and why you load them in (i.e. for what purpose).

    Any request for program needs or even if you are stuck and would like suggestions or solutions to programming anomalies you may have.

    Any wants or needs or help in software projects you are undertaking or hope to undertake.
Other Media
  • Reviews of any other media such as books, magazines or even leaflets that others may appreciate.

    New developments that our illustrious News Editor may have missed on the Interweb.
    We are also particularly interested in areas such as the Java based SMSQ/e from a software perspective, the Raspberry Pi does have some hardware potential, if you have you been able to get a uQLx emulator working on the RasPi for example. I haven't been able to do that as of yet, I don't know enough about Linux to resolve the 'nothing' that happens when I try. A simple step by step approach would be very very helpful assuming no knowledge at all for the reader.
QUANTA Communiqué
logo.png
logo.png (5.99 KiB) Viewed 12782 times


Post Reply