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- Amiga *StarShip* RoundTable
- by Jim.Meyer
-
- Whew! A brand new year! Time to ring in the new and ring out the old, right?
- Well, maybe just the new. After all, there's a lot to be said for the "old,"
- whether it's an ancient Amiga 1000 or a wise *StarShip* veteran like Steve
- Plegge -- who isn't exactly old!
-
- Ring Them All
-
- Sometimes you'll find new and old in the same place. *StarShip* Bulletin
- Board Category 1 is often the first spot new members visit. It's chock-full
- of help for new members and information about the *StarShip*. One of my
- favorite sections is topic 13 (Howdy! I'm...), where folks get a chance to
- introduce themselves to everyone else.
-
- I'm always fascinated when learning about the people behind the names on
- Bulletin Boards, and *StarShip* members are as varied a group as you're
- likely to find anywhere. For example, Ed Gordon (E.GORDON) is a food
- manufacturer who uses his Amiga for things like product formulas, flyers,
- faxes, business cards, and shipping labels -- the works. Ed is a perfect
- example of an old -- well, let me say veteran -- *StarShip* member; he's
- been on GEnie since 1987, and has owned an Amiga since 1986. Says Ed, "The
- Sta rShip is where the Info Flows and I'm glad to be here."
-
- Then there's Doug Michelsen (D.MICHELSEN), who bought an Amiga 4000 and
- stopped by to say hello. Doug is a TV broadcast technician who "obviously
- doesn't get enough play-time at work." Peter B. (NTH.DEGREE), editor of his
- school's newspaper, uses his Amiga to experiment in programming and
- graphics. What does Peter do when he's not visiting the *StarShip*? He
- reports, "I backpack, canoe, hike, and sail as much as possible." Which is a
- neat trick; Peter lives in Chicago!
-
- For brand new, you can't beat the message left by Chuck (GUMBO), who dropped
- in to say, "I'd like to announce the birth of a bouncing baby A4000
- delivered to me today by Dr. Chrispy!" (Dr. Chrispy, also known as Chris
- Papademetrious - CHRIS.P - is a member of the erstwhile *StarShip* crew.)
-
- Lurkers Unite
-
- Some folks, whether new or veteran members, are too shy to actually come out
- and post anything in the introductory topic, and Jeb (J.BAKER16) decided to
- do something about it. Jeb started Topic 17 in Category 1, where he
- specifically invited lurkers -- people who read messages but never post --
- to "come out of the woodwork" and honk. Which is exactly what they did!
- Some even went a little further. Joe (J.SOUTH3) left two beeps, saying,
- "That's about all my A1000 can muster." And Rob^R (R.RAIMAN) let us know
- that he has owned an Amiga 1000, 2000, 3000, and now has a 4000 and two
- 500s! All that in the first message he ever left!
-
- What all the folks I've mentioned have in common, beyond their Amigas, is
- the fact that they've discovered that the *StarShip* RoundTable is the place
- they can get to know fellow Amigans; a place they can share hints, questions
- and suggestions, and find out what's new, what's hot, and what's not.
- They've discovered that there's a vast community out there on the
- "electronic superhighway" that's willing to welcome them like old friends.
- And the best part is that you can spend time with your friends, old and n
- ew, whenever you want.
-
- New Year Picks
-
- My Library pick for this month is file #21564 MONED2B.LHA. This handy
- utility (for AGA machines only) is the Screenmode Preferences Editor that
- Commodore left out. It uses sliders or keystrokes to let you adjust all the
- sneaky parameters, like horizontal or vertical beam start and stop, that you
- need to tweak for the perfect display. And once you've gotten rid of your
- black borders, check the *StarShip*'s main menu for the latest 5-MINUTE
- Weekend News and our monthly magazine, ViewPort; they'll help you wel come
- the new year in style!
-