GEnie Livewire e-zine/LW9412MM.ZIP/WORLD.TXT

Text File | 1994-11-26 | 12.0 KB | 293 lines

Once upon a time, two cave people from distant
valleys bumped into each other in a small village.
"Hey," said one to the other, "small world, isn't
it?"

A few thousand years later, that expression has taken
on new meaning.

When Columbus finished what the Vikings had started,
the world was reduced to a ball that could be
travelled in a couple of years. In the early days of
planes, trains and automobiles, Jules Verne cut that
down to 80 days -- give or take.

Now, in the current virtuality of microchips and
fibre optics, when people can transport images and
information from one side of the globe to the other
in microseconds, GEnie has shrunk the world to the
size of a modem. And opened up a whole universe of
possibilities.

Information is the fabric that makes up that
universe, binding it together. GE Mail, GE Mail to
Fax, Internet access, research databases, market
sources and evolving technologies are just a few of
the informational tools you, as a GEnie member, have
at your fingertips.

With the number of companies, industries and people
worldwide embracing new information technology,
professionals on the cutting edge enjoy a huge
creative and competitive edge.

GEnie gives them that edge.

TheFog: The Ultimate 411 Call

Known around GEnie as TheFog, his bio states that his
real name is Foggy and that "he was born in Chicago
sometime after World War II but before Kennedy was
elected President." He says his IQ is roughly the
same as his bowling average; at 176, he's a pretty
average bowler.

Long before discovering GEnie, TheFog discovered the
world. As a child, he travelled to more countries
than most kids can find on a map, hanging his hat in
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Hong Kong,
Australia, the South Pacific Islands and Hawaii,
before finally settling in Ventura County, CA.

He also discovered a knack for diversity. He was a
chef at the age of 18, spent five years working vice
squad narcotics, and became an accomplished musician
-- singing with Cory Wells of Three Dog Night and
jamming with groups like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
Canned Heat, and Cream -- before settling down to
more arcane pursuits. Like building successful
businesses.

After only four years in the executive search
industry, TheFog founded his first company, the
Interalia Corporation, where he served as Chairman
until 1982. Over a 20 year span he became a pioneer
in database design and retrieval systems, and
developed the industry's first computerized online
interactive recruiting system.

Today, TheFog is President of a company with
interests ranging from executive search to commercial
advertising and publishing. He produces and directs
multimedia, creates computerized art, publishes the
animated DiscMas(tm) cards, and produces an animated
comic strip, 'Fog's View.' In his spare time, he's a
consultant for information technology systems,
interactive media training and research projects,
copyright investigation, and ethical standards and
procedures relating to privacy issues.

Succeeding in so many endeavors demands a serious
advantage. TheFog found one, in GEnie.

All of his businesses use GEnie for email and fax
services, and a growing number are using GEnie to
communicate through the Internet. He points out that
sending a fax through GEnie can actually be cheaper
than making a toll call. And GE Mail is so efficient,
he encourages all of his customers to use it. "GEnie
has made a big dent in our FedEx and overnight mail
expenses," he reports. "And I mean significant."

GEnie also plays a key role in research and
information retrieval. Whether it's historical,
legal, medical, business or marketing data, "GEnie is
the FIRST place we go for everything," he emphasizes.
"It's the ultimate 411 call."

There are many other uses -- art and animation
approvals, script developments, product demos. But
speed and security are GEnie's greatest assets. In
one instance, TheFog recalls sending revisions to a
report back and forth between a director in
Philadelphia, an East coast corporate office, and a
sales manager driving along a highway in Florida, all
in a matter of 20 minutes using GE Mail and faxes. "I
remember life in the fast lane in the 70's," he sums
up, "but this infobahn is awesome."

Kathryn Ptacek: No More Tired Fingers

Kathryn Ptacek's roots are less exotic, but no less
distinguished. She grew up in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, graduated with distinction from the
University of New Mexico in 1974 with a B.A. in
Journalism, and was a student of award-winning
mystery writer Tony Hillerman and well-known Young
Adult writer Lois Duncan.

She shares a 110 year-old Queen Anne Victorian home
with her husband, dark fantasy novelist Charles
Grant, and two cats. Somehow, she finds time for
other activities, like reading and needlepoint. But
just in case you think she's too conservative, you
should also know that she enjoys coloring books,
collects cat whiskers and unusual teapots, and has a
large collection of gila monster memorabilia.

Kathy sold her first novel in July 1979, and quit her
day job to become a full-time novelist. Her keyboard
has been smoking ever since.

A member of Horror Writers of America and Sisters in
Crime, she's the author of a historical fantasy
series, numerous historical romances, "The Hunted," a
suspense novel published by Walker Books & reprinted
by Berkley in paperback, and five horror novels,
including "In Silence Sealed" and "Ghost Dance."

She has been awarded both the Gold and Silver Medal
Medal by the West Coast Review of Books, and has been
a Bram Stoker nominee in short fiction. She has
edited no less than three anthologies -- the
critically acclaimed Women of Darkness and its
companion Women of Darkness II (both Tor), and Women
of the West (Doubleday). She's penned numerous
essays, articles and reviews, writes a quarterly
anthology review column for Cemetery Dance and does a
market report for Horror Magazine and the Horror
Writers of America.

She may not have travelled to exotic places, but
editions of her books have journeyed to England,
Japan, Norway, Sweden and Germany, while her short
stories have appeared in countless anthologies and
publications.

Since discovering GEnie on the advice of a friend, it
has become an integral part of her professional life.
She is an active participant in the Writer's Ink and
the SFRT1 RoundTables, where she inspires other
writers with encouragement, hints and helpful advice.
And she uses GE Mail and information resources to
help compile and produce her monthly newsletter, the
Gila Queen's Guide to Markets.

Kathy's popular newsletter provides detailed market
information to writers and artists all over the
world. In the bad old days, before GEnie, guidelines
were sent to her and had to be re-typed manually.
Now, they're scanned and uploaded to her ready for
formatting, saving hundreds of hours of typing, "and
some very tired fingers."

The Guide's primary mission is to provide up-to-date,
immediate information on rapidly-changing markets.
Without GEnie, it would be next to impossible to
publish regularly. "GEnie has allowed me to get
information on magazines and book publishers almost
as it happens," Kathy explains. "The immediacy of
GEnie lets me get information first-hand and quickly,
so that I can make my deadline, and so that I can
update markets literally within minutes of sending my
newsletter to the printer."

She still uses print sources, but has come to rely on
GEnie more and more. "I'm not sure now how I managed
to work so long without GEnie," she says. Her
recovered fingers agree.

Howard Wooten: Music Production to Existential
Philosophy

Howard Wooten was born with a guitar in his hands & a
blues riff on his mind. He began his career in the
4th grade as a participant in an elementary school
program in Tucson, Arizona and never looked back.

Howard started out with the trombone, but switched to
the guitar when he was 15, "mainly because the girls
didn't dig Trombone players," he says with a grin.
Whatever the motive, he discovered a true affinity
with the new instrument, and was soon exploring his
talents with local garage bands -- an experience
shared by many talented musicians.

He went on to study music at the University of
Arizona, earning a Degree in Music Performance and
Composition before moving to the bright lights of
L.A. in 1973 to study guitar with studio musician
Howard Roberts. He returned to Tucson, joined up with
grammy award-winning jazz vocalist Diane Schuur in
1977, and set off down the long and winding road to
creative success.

He toured with Diane for 4 years, and continued
performing with her in concerts in the Southwest
until 1986. In 1989, Howard performed with Joel Grey
in the touring production of "Cabaret" and in 1990,
played in the Young Artists Festival at University of
Arizona. He is a member of the Tucson Jazz Orchestra,
the Arizona Commission for the Arts' Jazz Menagerie
and the Arizona Theatre Company, and is a regular
performer the Westin's La Paloma Resort.

Howard's formidable list of compositions and credits
include an electronic score for "Carthage, A Mirror
of Antiquity," a PBS presentation for the New York
Museum of Natural History; original compositions for
the La Jolla Human Services Institute instructional
video series; the theme for the PBS presentation,
"Mount Graham"; Synthesizer Variations, a PBS
Electronic Music Video; the original theme for the
PBS Astronomy series, plus original compositions for
over twenty commercial television productions.

"My next project is the Whales Alive benefit at Maui,
Hawaii this month," he says. "I've been hired to play
behind whatever acts are brought in, from Kenny
Loggins to Pat Boone." Meanwhile, he's started
writing music for a jazz oriented CD which should see
release next year.

In between odd bouts of sleep, he has found time to
do custom synthesizer programming for the Arizona
Opera Company and Arizona Theater Company, teach Jazz
History for the Arizona Commission for the Arts,
appear as a guest instructor in Music Theory and
Guitar for Project MORE, and give private guitar
lessons.

Fortunately, he found a place that gives him the
power to focus his creative energies, the opportunity
to explore new horizons, and the freedom to do it
whenever he wants -- GEnie.

Since joining GEnie over five years ago, Howard has
become an assistant sysop on the MIDI RoundTable, and
Music Direcor for LiveWire's multimedia production
team. But the MIDI Composers Workshop (MCW) on the
Bulletin Board has become his professional Nirvana.

"The MCW has developed into a tight-knit family that
discusses anything from music production to
existential philosophy," Howard says. "It's a
no-holds-barred atmosphere with an accent on music."
The Category is still quite new, still developing;
members have a voice in shaping the workshop to their
own needs. "I wanted an area where persons with
similar interests could freely share ideas, tips and
techniques," he explains. GEnie has done that,
bringing composers and musicians from all over the
world together in a dynamic, creative environment
dedicated to musical expression.

GEnie also serves as a huge resource base for things
like synthesizer patch banks, new audio samples,
and industry contacts. What used to be impractical or
even impossible is now as simple as turning on a
modem. And Howard manages to get a bit more sleep.

Three people with differing backgrounds, interests
and professions, all with one thing in common --
GEnie. Through GEnie, each has increased
productivity, saved time, improved performance, and
scaled new heights of artistic expression.

Someday, two aliens from distant planets will bump
into each other in a GEnie Real-Time Virtuality
Conference. One of us will adjust the image on our VR
headset, and say, "Small world, isn't it?"

Yes, but it's a big universe.