Loadstar 220/220.d81/t.forum

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     L O A D S T A R   F O R U M

        You Write, We Respond


Dear Rev. Dave,

Hiya! From one good Methodist to
another...

Ijust wanted to tell you that I have
greatly enjoyed the last few issues of
LOADSTAR, and felt I should let you
know.

I came to C=dom late -- in the early
90's after most had left the platform.
In about '94, I came across a LOADSTAR
Pass-Around issue and was amazed when
Fender personally answered my query
letter. And I have enjoyed it ever
since then.

Now I am a power user with CMD
technology at my fingertips --
RAMLink, SuperCPU, 3.5" drive, etc. I
am very glad that Maurice Randall is
still supporting this level, though he
doesn't answer my letters!

Dave, I will continue to use this
venerable platform forever; I am in my
40's and replacement units are readily
available in the thrift stores. Thank
you for continuing the tradition of
LOADSTAR.

I do miss the LOADSTAR Forum and the
ProseQuest every other year. Just a
suggestion, Dave...

I am yours,

Bill Wells
Petersburg, VA



 Bill,

 Since you (and others) mentioned it
 -- the Forum is back. And how could I
 resist such a glowing letter to start
 it off! I am very pleased to hear you
 enjoyed the last several issues.
 Figuring out what to do each month is
 a shot in the dark.

 So far, we have always had something
 new in the mail or by email -- from
 Ken Barsky or the Derocher Brothers
 or Dr. James Jones or Lance Thomas. I
 put in most everything I get. Then I
 search the Internet for things that
 are perhaps a bit out of date, but
 still of high quality and interest.

 I am usually working on a
 MediaMeister production, so that can
 go into the mix. This month I got
 back into game programming. Then I
 look through the LOADSTAR Vault to
 find programs that are of some
 interest and/or are just plain
 excellent.

 On the other hand, unlike Fender, I
 am lousy at correspondence. I love to
 write, but I can't seem to get it
 into an envelope and sent off. Email
 is better, though I don't have the
 time right now to get into considered
 discussions.

 Anyway, the Forum is back. And next
 issue, we will announce a new Quest.
 And we will have REAL prizes. (That's
 why we are waiting until next month.
 I have to take Sheri two out of three
 at arm wrestling for those prizes!)

 We are having fun keeping LOADSTAR
 Alive and (we hope) well. We get
 behind on issues sometimes, and we
 apologize for the wait. Looking back
 over the last two years, we seem to
 be getting out ten issues per annum.
 That might be the way it is. The
 important thing is that we will never
 sell a subscription for an issue we
 won't publish.



Dave,

What happened? Issue 219 looks like
you planned to get it out by
Christmas. I did enjoy the slide show
of the manger scenes -- but we have
already put up our tree! Just
wondering.

Richard Drew
Cheyenne, WY


 Richard,

 The issue was ready to go on December
 20, but our 3.5" disk supply wasn't.
 And our supplier -- a local office
 supply company -- had to back order.
 Then came the holiday and a trip to
 Albuquerque to be with the family.

 OK -- so much for excuses. This
 enterprise has taught me a couple of
 things I didn't want to know:

 1. The devil is in the details.
    And I am lousy at details.
    Finishing a program is hard.
    Finalizing an issue is really
    tough. I sent a copy to Robin
    Harbron to beta check it, then
    lost his reply in an email snafu.

 2. I am not a business person nor a
    marketer. I used to think I would
    do a wonderful job, but the truth
    is that I get too many irons in
    the fire and none get really hot.

 But I enjoy putting together each
 issue and writing copy. And I am
 committed to supporting the Commodore
 in any way I can.

 There. That's more honesty than is
 probably appropriate.



RevDave6,

When are you going to have more
[useful] programs? Games are OK. Most
demos are dumb. I did like your
"Murder by Commodore." But I would
really like a good utility.

Jack Frantz
Springfield, CO


 Jack,

 We need to talk! What kind of
 utilities are you interested in? If
 you have any programming skills at
 all, we would love to see what you
 have in mind. I am a firm believer
 that just because The Write Stuff is
 the ultimate word processor for the
 C-64/128, that doesn't mean another
 one couldn't be better. And if that
 other one is your own, it is -- by
 definition -- much better!

 In a perfect world, where we had a
 thousand subscribers, I would move
 Lee Novak (from Moose Jaw, Sash.,
 Canada) down here to do what Jeff
 Jones did for Fender. Lee is the kind
 of genius who can make things hum.
 However, Lee has a real life and real
 work. We all are more or less
 volunteers in this scene.

 Utilities -- especially ones that do
 very useful things like handle disk
 access -- [must] be well written. I
 don't have the time to do such
 programs justice. Even though I write
 this on Mr. Edstar, I realize that
 several problems still haunt this
 little word processor. I should get
 back into it and fix it. I really
 should.


        ++++++++++++++++++++++

     The Forum is Your Place to sound
off. Ask questions. Give testamonials.
Vent your spleen. Keep those cards,
letters, and emails coming!

 DMM