This is the first page of the INTRODUCTION for the FOUNDATION article. DATE: December 13, 1985. Press PgUp, Pgdn, Up and Down to look through it, and hit Escape when done. INTRODUCTION PURPOSE: To make unfriendly computers become much easier to use and understand. RESULT: A simple, menu-driven way of using any software without fuss on an IBM or compatible computer equipped with a "massive storage device". This device may be a hard disk of any size, a Bernoulli Box, a laserdisc, or any other storage device that stores more than a megabyte or so. This is accomplished by using the Disk Operating System (DOS) as a programming language. MY HISTORY. I would like to introduce myself. I'm a successful computer Tuner and Coach. I don't know of anyone else anywhere who holds these two jobs, so a little explanation is in order. First, here's how I began: I first touched a computer in March of 1983, and my entire formal computer training consisted of 1 month of "Beginner's BASIC" and 1 & 1/2 months of COBOL. I hated both classes, and stopped going to school at night. However, I kept on going to the school during the daytime, when we were supposed to be doing our homework. There were about 200 computers sitting mostly idle, and all but two of them had two single-sided drives and 64k of memory. The other two had double-sided drives and 256k of memory. I'd arrive early and snag one of the GOOD machines. I'd spend every spare moment at the school, greedily scouring other people's ideas for computer techniques that seemed to really WORK. As with every other beginner that I knew back then, I swapped copies of software with my buddies. When someone gave me a copy of Wordstar, (the first version available for the PC). I had no documentation, and no idea what it did. I had never even heard of a word-processor! I tinkered with it for awhile, and got it running. At the same time, the second issue of PC WORLD magazine came out, and it contained an article called "Wordstar Made to Order", by Emil Flock. It showed how to get inside the program and "tweak" it to my own tastes. It was a revelation! I made LOTS of mistakes and learned very quickly. After a few months of playing in this fashion, I looked around and noticed that there were three kinds of people there in the computer workshop: 1 - People diligently doing their FORTRAN and COBOL homework, 2 - 14-year-old kids who would sneak in and play Pacman and Frogger until everybody else became crazed from the beeping racket and chased them out, 3 - And then there was me. I was playing with the Disk Operating System, and snooping around inside programs that already existed, trying to find ways to make them faster and friendlier. I noticed that NOBODY else that I knew of had any interest in making things run better and faster as their main intent, and so I decided to go into business for myself. I KNEW I didn't know very much, but I could see that nobody else was ahead of me. I started out slow. I had previously worked for other people as a bartender, at a printing press, and as an "Electronics Tech" for the Navy, which meant I spent most of my time standing watch, chipping paint, and waxing floors. The most money I had ever made was $9.10 an hour, and I thought that charging $15.00 an hour for computer consulting was pretty bold. Somehow, I got very few clients. A close friend told me that I should raise my rates, because the amount I charged reflected my personal image of myself. I doubled my rates, and I started getting more clients. I continued to raise my rates, and found that $75.00 an hour has been a good valuation of my time. This may well change. I keep learning from mistakes and successes along the way, and I avidly read everything I can get my hands on. WHERE I'M AT NOW. I now make my living by setting up other people's computers to work the way they should have in the FIRST place (acting as a "Tuner"), and fulfilling my client's wish lists. I do this by LISTENING to every question, and treating it as a gift that helps me to improve my work. If someone criticizes something I've created, it's an imperative for me to listen and act upon their wishes. I'm now VERY firmly entrenched as San Diego's premier expert on making things work properly on IBM/Compatible computers. I only got to this point by giving free phone support to my clients (being a "Coach"), and swapping ideas with all of my peers. Each of my peers have their own specialties, and none of us try to know EVERYTHING about the computer. If someone calls and needs help with dBASE III, I send them to my friend Gary, who knows far more about it than I'll EVER care to find out. I tend to stick to my specialty. THE ORIGINS OF THESE ARTICLES. Back in March of 1984, I wrote an article on disk called TUNE_IBM.XT, subtitled "How to make your XT purr like a kitty". It was all of the things I had discovered about the Disk Operating System that worked in practical ways, rather than just theories. I gave that article to a few people, and it spread all over the electronic bulletin boards throughout San Diego, and then out to all over the United States. It raised a lot of people's consciousnesses, and made me a lot of friends who STILL haven't met me face-to-face. Since then, a LOT has changed. So, I'm starting a new concept: THE LECTURE SERIES ON DISK. These are a series of shareware electronic files that contain only the BEST and most USABLE goodies available for the IBM PC, XT, AT, COMPAQ Portable, Plus, Deskpro, and 286 Series, and any compatibles now or in the future. These goodies are lectures, concepts, sneaky ideas, freeware tools and toys, hints, recipes, batch files, gossip, and moneymaking schemes that actually WORK. This means I will NOT be including what I call "Electronic-Poodle-Clipper-Software". This can be identified as software that was created merely to show off how clever the author is, and provides no useful day-to-day function. WHO IS IT AIMED AT? I'm aiming my lecture articles at a SPECIFIC type of person. Here are this person's identifying characteristics: - Intelligent, curious and willing to play with the computer. (I combine these traits under one concept... "Curious like a monkey". If you can't leave anything alone, and always look to find a way to make something run better, you've got a better chance at doing well at these computer concepts than you might ever suspect). - Not afraid to try new things (I prefer people who "jump ahead", rather than wait for me to tell them to hit the Enter key). - Ready to do a little work to save a LOT of aggravation (There are two expenses when you buy a computer... the initial expense and the aggravation expense). - Creative (meaning a champion goof-off...the sort of person who hunts to find the way to do 8 hours worth of work in 43 minutes) - Also, it wouldn't hurt if the person studying from my articles was looking to get away from the traditional job market and become an entrepreneur. Personally, I've found my work as an independent computer tuner/coach to be pretty lucrative. If you ALREADY earn your living as a computer consultant, These new concepts will help solidify your position as a well-rounded troubleshooter. THE FOUNDATION ARTICLE. Since it's inevitable that many people have ALL of the above traits, but haven't even begun to learn yet, I've created this "FOUNDATION" article. You are welcome to give my articles in any form to any of your friends, provided my name is not removed from them. HOW YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE. If you appreciate these articles, I'd like to encourage to contribute to the upcoming articles in either or both of the following ways: 1 - PLEASE let me know how this information can be improved. The more we all can learn, the better! 2 - If you would like to be included on the mailing list for any upcoming articles, please send $25.00 to me: =========================================================================== Tony Lindsey 3752 Third Avenue San Diego, CA 92103-4112 (619) 295-2922 (Voice only - no modems listen to that line) =========================================================================== I'll send you the newest version of the current articles on a double-sided double-density diskette. Have fun, and let me know if I've helped you in any way! Tony