Something new online. (Compute/Net, a new online information source)
by Richard C. Leinecker
There's a new source of online information. It's called COMPUTE/NET, and it's found on GEnie, Q-Link, and America Online. What's ther? Back issues of COMPUTE and COMPUTE's other magazines, terrific programs that we've published, colorful picture files of official NASA photos, COMPUTE books, and more.
There's so much there that this month all I can squeeze in is an orientation tour. Exploring online services is fun. And you won't soon run out of places to go on COMPUTE/NET.
Let's start with the ligher side of our COMPUTE editorial staff. ON COMPUTE/NET you can read the biographies of our editors. Here are some fast facts that'll suprise you: Pete Scisco earned the Dantzler-Dantzler Award as an undergraduate. Clif Karnes has a master's degree in music theory, but he can program a computer with the best. David English has a B.A. and two M.A.'s and has nearly completed his coursework for a Ph.D. in cinema studies. Mike Hudnall was an assistant professor at Bery University, where his students often referred to him as Dr. Harbrace. David Sears loves music from the fringe by such artists as Skinny Puppy and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. Rob Bixby is a prolifically published author who likes rock-'n'-roll computer graphics, and artificial creativity. Tom Netsel plays the bagpipes for any audience who will supply him with malt whiskeys. Jill Champion is owned by her four-year-old cat, Liesl. And Denny Atkin was born to one of the last remaining families of nomads.
For the complete details, do one of the following: On GEnie from the main COMPUTE RoundTable menu, pick menu item 6, About COMPUTE and the COMPUTER Editors. On America Online, from the COMPUTER/NET window, click on the icon with the quetion mark and the text that says About This Area. If you want to really get to know these people, go to the COMPUTE Bulletin Board on GEnie, Category 1, Topic 2. On America Online click on the COMPUTE Letters to the Editor icon. Once in the message area, you can leave messages to the editors and make suggestions or ask them questions. They want to hear from you. GO ahead; make their day.
If you're on GEnie, after reading about the COMPUTE editors, you'll want to play our online games. (The games are only available n GEnie; all the other items mentioned are available on GEnie, America Online, and Q-Link.) They're easy to play--all multiple choice questions. And if you're really smart (or maybe lucky), you can win a prize. You could win a free subscription to one of several General Media magazines like OMNI, Four Wheeler, COMPUTE, or Longevity; a free COMPUTE disk product; a free COMPUTE book; or free connect time for GEnie. To play, make sure you're at the COMPUTE RoundTable main menu. Choose menu item 14 and then pick the game you want to play. There's a scavenger hunt in which you answer questions by scanning COMPUTE magazine, a computer trivia game, and a puzzle-and-riddle game that will perplex, entertain, and delight you.
Don't you love seeing photorealistic pictures on your screen? Don't you love pointing at them and telling your spouse "That's what I got for all the money I spent on this computer system"? You might even be a space buff and want official NASA photos for your collection. If you fit into any of the above categories (or just like cool pictures), here's how you get them. From the main COMPUTE RoundTable menu on GEnie, pick menu item 3, Software Libraries. From the COMPUTE/NET window on America Online, click on the COMPUTER Files icon in the upper left corner. Now, search the directory using the keyword NASA. You'll see a list of digitized photos that we scanned fro official NASA releases. They're all in GIF format. If you don't have a program that loads in GIF pictures, download VPIC from our software section.
If you're like a lot of readers, you often remember useful consumer information presented months back in COMPUTE. Maybe you would like to reread it because there was a lot of useful information about buying a monitor or about desktop publishing, or maybe there was a sidebar that made you smile. But you can't find the issue anywhere. You're in luck. You can download any of our back issues or read them online. By the time you read this, we'll have the magazines as far back as mid 1989 available. Within a couple of months, we'll complete the collection, and you can have a field day browsing the articles. From the GEnie main menu, pick item 11, Back Issue Database, and follow the prompts to find what you want. On America Online click on the Back Issue icon and follow the prompts.
You can ask questions or make comments in our Bulletin Board on GEnie or the America Online Message section. If you want to send me E-mail, my GEnie address is RLEINECKER, my America Online screen name is Rick CL, and my CompuServe number is 75300,2104.