GENIE & LAMP 11/12

[norman.dodge@techall.wa.com]

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and they hadn't had an Apple II column in their newsletter for quite
some time, so I started doing that, which was more frustrating than
rewarding. A few months later, I went to my first Kansasfest, and
discussed doing some writing with my roommate there, Bill Moore, who
happened to write for _GS+_ on a semi-regular basis.  That led to my
getting an article published there, a review of a Deskjet portable
printer, which was the first time I actually got paid to write
something.  I figured it would also look good for my resume to be able
to add some "professional articles published" to my work experience.
Unfortunately, that was also the _last_ issue of _GS+_.  However, that
did lead to both Steve Cavanaugh and Max Jones asking me to assist with
writing in their publications, so things turned out well after all.

GenieLamp>  Now that you have become the editor of GenieLamp, can you
tell """""""""   us about what that publication is, has been and will
continue to be?

Ryan>  GenieLamp is a freeware publication that is published by John
""""   Peters.  Originally, it covered the Atari areas of Genie;
eventually, several different computer RoundTables on Genie started
getting their own versions of GenieLamp.

     GenieLamp is put out on the first of each month.  It includes
highlights of things going on in the Bulletin Board of the RoundTable,
news, reviews, editorials, all the things you'd expect in a
publication.

     With the recent downsizing of Genie, GenieLamp A2 is the only
version of GenieLamp that is still publishing.

GenieLamp>  Considering the recent diversification of Apple II presences
in """""""""   several forms on Delphi and the Internet, can you
describe the role that the GenieLamp publication will play in the
expanded market?

Ryan>  GenieLamp's always been pretty freely distributable; in fact, it's
""""   already available on a lot of sites on the World Wide Web, and
it's usually posted on newsgroups (like comp.sys.apple2) within a day or
two of its release.  And several issues (if not all of them) are already
available on Delphi in the IIScribe Forum.

     The first few months I think I'll have my hands full just trying
to keep a production schedule going.  However, I do plan to make
GenieLamp A2 available in more places (like the A2 and IIScribe areas on
Delphi), and I'm thinking about putting up a World Wide Web page
specifically for GenieLamp A2.  That'll take time, though.  I'd guess
maybe as much as six months (time, as does not surprise anyone, is on a
premium here).

GenieLamp>  Do you have plans to carry information on cross-platform
issues """""""""   in GenieLamp?

Ryan>  I think that, as much as possible, I'd like to keep GenieLamp A2 as
""""   Apple II specific as possible; however, part of being Apple II
specific means doing cross-platform support.  That might sound weird,
and in some ways it is weird, but it's true.  Some examples of
cross-platform issues that are ery Apple II specific include Apple II
emulators (like Gus, Fast Eddie, and //e 2.0.1), scavanging hardware and
software (hard drives, floppy drives, monitors, CD Roms, fonts, sounds,
and more!).

     The other possibility for cross-platform issues in GenieLamp is
news from the general world of computing.  Things like Apple's
acquisition of NeXT, for instance, or the development of the BeOS, which
are not Apple II specific, might be material worth covering in GenieLamp
A2.

Ultimately, what the readers want will dictate what is included.

GenieLamp>  Will GenieLamp focus on IIGS issues or is there sufficent
"""""""""   information and interest in catering to the needs of the 8
bit II User?

Ryan>  That's a tough question.
""""
     There's not a lot of Apple II development going on right now, and
most of it is focused on the IIgs.  When we're talking "news", then,
what will be new tends to be IIgs products.

     This is not to say that the 8-bit Apple II is not still a viable
and usable platform.  Look at three Prodos 8 programs that come to
mind: ProTERM 3.1, Publish It! 4, and Appleworks 5.1.

     With those three programs, an online service or Internet Service
Provider, a //e, and a little hardware, you can cruise the Internet,
compose and receive email, manage your money, do your taxes, write
letters, print out newsletters, and use the latest inkjet and laser
printers. Moreover, those programs would take a fraction of the memory
and disk space that equivalents on a Macintosh would take, for
instance.

This is not to belittle what work you can do on another platform; this
is to point out that even 8-bit Apple IIs--late 1970's technology, at
heart--can still do serious work as we approach the late 1990's.

New products for 8-bit Apple IIs are always welcome, and any news of
the 8-bit world will be covered in GenieLamp A2.

GenieLamp>  Do you have time, and is there sufficient interest, in
"""""""""   producing  GenieLamp in all the versions that is has been
produced, recently?

Ryan>  Do I have the time?  Well, no, but that hasn't stopped me before.
""""
     Recently, Doug Cuff sent me some extremely detailed notes on the
historyand production of GenieLamp A2, including how to produce those
alternative versions of GenieLamp, including the Hyperstudio and
Hypercard versions.  I would like to continue to put these out, and that
is, in fact, the plan. However, I'm not sure if I can get all of them
out as promptly as Doug did.

     I'd expect, realistically, for GenieLamp A2 in its AWP and TXT
versions to be uploaded to the Genie A2 library (and possibly elsewhere)
sometime on the first of the month.  Note that this does not say
"released", it just says "uploaded".  Also note that it doesn't say
"Eastern time."

The other versions will be uploaded by the fifth of the month.

GenieLamp>  If the focus of GenieLamp becomes multi on line service
"""""""""   oriented will it carry a new name?

Ryan>  I've had a lot of opportunity to think about this.
""""
     I have concerns--I think we all have concerns--about Genie's
future. In my eyes, it's very tenuous.

     Provided Genie is still here and I still have access to the A2LAMP
account--the editor's account for GenieLamp A2--I'll continue to put
out GenieLamp just as it's been produced these last few years.  We may
expand in other areas as well--for instance, I've been considering
re-incorporating A2Pro coverage into GenieLamp A2, as it's been quite
some time since GenieLamp A2Pro's last issue.

     However, if Genie ceases to exist or the A2LAMP account itself
ceases to exist, I think we can safely predict that GenieLamp--_in its
current forms_--will also cease to exist.

     If that happens, I intend to continue to produce a freeware,
freely distributable online publication regarding the Apple II, which
I'll discuss later.

GenieLamp>  GenieLamp was until recently published by the DigiPub forum
on """""""""   Genie, which is now defunct.  Are there plans to create a
new, or merge GenieLamp into, Forum on Delphi?

Ryan>  GenieLamp A2 will have a home on Delphi--the II Scribe forum, which
""""   is a custom forum set up for people who write about the Apple II.
 I intend to maintain support there as well as on Genie's A2 Roundtable,
and to upload new issues there as well as on Genie.

     If, as I mentioned earlier, GenieLamp and/or the A2LAMP account
ceases to exist, I intend to continue with a GenieLamp-like publication.
 This
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