Hackers, once simply computer enthusiasts, are now tarred with the brush of illegality. However, computer communications is an enjoyable and rewarding pastime in its legitimate form. This week we offer the first of two extracts from The Hacker's Handbook, which will give you some idea of what you can do with your micro, a modem and a telephone.

• Dragon Back With A Flex Of Muscles
• SMC Puts Mouse In Commodore Wainscot
• In Brief
• Opus Adopts Wren In Prism Break-up
• Sinclair Aims To Make A Mint With Wafers
• Byte Drive Maker Follows Oric Under
• Microsoft Gives Mac Colour Hard Copy
• Witch At The Palace - Cauldron
• Aces Low - But Boldfield Plays On
• Hacking - A Threat Or A Red Herring? - Homefront
• British Micro Makers Mobilise Against IBM
• ACT Sets Its Sights Across The Channel
• Hard Centre
• Spectrums To Acquire An Artist's Touch
• Corona Jewels
• Budget Games Emerge From Atlantis Gold
• Toshiba Turns To Sord-swallowing - View From Japan

Get out your pens or priinters and unburden yourself on our letters page.

• Amsoft Points On Disk Drive Review
• No Memotech Means Fewer Readers
• A Memotech Case In Point
• New QL Software Is A Joy To Behold
• Amstrad CPC464 - From Being Left Out...
• Amstrad CPC464 - Owners Sitting Pretty

More problems solved by our panel of experts.

• Spot-the-difference Puzzle In Flexitext,
• Transatlantic Voltage Converter,
• School Project May Be Left Up A Gumtree, and
• Which Colour Monitor For My C64?

How to win friends, influence people and earn money - share your hints and tips here.

• Discover Your Mode On The BBC,
• Atmos Simulated ZAP Changes Volume, and
• Hires Screen Dumps For 1520 Plotter.

• Hacker's Handbook Part 1
  Exclusive to PCN - extracts from The Hacker's Handbook, by Hugo Cornwall, published this week. Revealed in two parts are the secrets and knowhow of the experts of computer communications.
   
• Sprite Control
  Setting up and using sprites on your Commodore 64 can be a chore in Basic. We take the pain away with an easy-to-use machine code program.
   
• Drive Master #1 (Sinclair QL)
  Get to the heart of Microdriving with the first section of PCN's two-part expanation of how to get the most from QL storage.
   

• Osborne 4
  From the father of portable computing comes a new business machine. How does it compare in a fast-moving sector of the computing market?
   

Subtitled Brig this week, as our adventure page takes to the high seas.

• Artsystematic (BBC Micro)
  Graphics at your fingertips with a new, creative package for the Model B micro.
   
• Software Preview
  A relentless march of new software releases is heading our way.
   

If you can't try before you buy, take the next best thing - our regular software reviews.

• Pastfinder (Commdore 64),
• Moon Cresta (Spectrum 48K),
• Dark Tower (Commodore 64),
• Osprey (Amstrad CPC464),
• Everyone's A Wally (Spectrum 48K),
• Sentinel (Commodore 64),
• Mr. Wong's Loopy Laundry (Amstrad CPC464), and
• Sorcery (Amstrad CPC464).

Softaid holds on to the number one spot - how have the others fared?

Sales without the jumble on our bargain basement page.

Corny Acorn tales, Laughline result and dates for your diary. Plus Syntax Errors.

Thanks to XXX, YYY and ZZZ for sponsoring the creation of this issue