You are the proud owner of a detailed collection of the internal workings of your Atari computer. By simply using the POKE and PEEK commands from BASIC, which we will explain in a few pages, you can change the numbers within many locations in memory. This book is a "map" to find where you are in the Atari's huge address space of 65536 memory locations. It is perfect for both beginners and experts. For the new computer owner, we start with simple explanations of computer terminology. Next come many examples of the various "tricks" we will show you. The more advanced programmer will find that the book is absolutely necessary as a reference to the large number of things you can do with the Atari. Few people can memorize over 1000 locations in a computer, and then recall what the individual bits in each location do.

If you are a beginner, start with the glossary to become familiar with some of the "computereze" necessary to understand the machine. Next, study the first few sections to learn about the POKE and PEEK commands and hexadecimal-to-decimal conversion. Now begin to read through the book starting with memory location 0. For many locations we offer a complete and lengthy explanation in an appendix, so you'll want to make sure you also check out the appendices.

Don't be afraid to put a number into the computer's memory. All you can hurt is your pride. The computer will just "go to sleep" if you tell it to do something impossible. If that happens, then all you have to do is turn it off and on again and continue to explore. We will provide you with examples to illustrate techniques and ideas. Try changing the numbers in each example to "see what happens if..." You learn best if you type in the examples yourself, but because there are so many, and we KNOW how valuable your time is, we have one more offer for you:


If you don't want to tire your fingers, send $9.95 to cover the traditional postage, handling, and media costs to


We will send you all of the programs in this book on your choice of tape or disk.

If you discover a new, unpublished use for a location in the computer, send it to us. In return, we will send you a free program.


The following sources were instrumental in understanding the purposes of some of the more esoteric locations:

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