Date: 01 Aug 95 00:02:10 From: Richard Davey To : All Subj: Important News About Fog ----------| Area: N.ST.FORMAT |-------------| Message: 300 of 311 |---- The fog comes, on little cat feet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) TO ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN A MEMBER OF THE FALCON OWNERS GROUP (UK) =============================================================== Date: Saturday 29th July 1995 The purpose of this posting is to inform everyone of the situation regarding the FALCON OWNERS GROUP (UK). It is not meant as an 'excuse' for the poor service offered over the last two years or lack of response to letters, but it is meant as an explanation as to what happened and what is going to be done about it. For reference the club in mention is FOG (UK) based at 10 Oak Drive, Portishead, Bristol, BS20 8QS and no other club or organisation with a similar name or title. WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE ==================== When I first started FOG three years ago it was for one reason - to help and contact other Falcon owners. I wanted to have my own public domain library especially for them, I wanted to print and publish my own magazine just for them and I had great plans for the future of FOG. To be honest I did manage to partially achieve most of that I set out to do. I managed to get three issues of a magazine off a professional print run, set up and stock a large PD library and even offer support on-line. Anyone who was a FOG member from the very start will appreciate this. But problem came about when, quite out of the blue, I was accepted into Staffordshire University. I hadn't been planning on going to University but when the oppurtunity was put there for me I took it and don't regret it for an instant. What I do regret is the effect this had on FOG. I began University when FOG was in all essence in its 'peak'. I had a few hundred members, a potential joint European FOG in Denmark and Sweden, and a booming PDL. But all this took time, of which I had plenty before attending University. As anyone who has been to University will know it really does change your life, both socially and academically. I just wasn't prepared for the changes it would mean and sadly FOG suffered because of them. Letters went un-answered, disks un-returned, the PD started to loose out and the members became irritated (and rightly so). Rather than do the honest thing and close FOG down completely for the duration of my course, I stupidly tried to run the two in parallel. And as you all know it didn't quite work. But that was then. It was a period of FOG's life that will probably taint the club for as long as it exists, but my personal situation has changed now and I aim to rectify the damage I have done to Falcon owners moral. I still believe in the Falcon and its potential, I have had many oppurtunities to move over to the PC but have held back from it because the Atari machine on my desk, the Atari that I am using right this second means more to me than being able to run Doom or Word for Windoze. I know about my machine and am still amazed at some of the things new software can make it do. Plus I enjoy writing articles about it. The upshot of all this is that I am still here, I will now start to un-do the damage I caused to FOG over the past few years and make some essential changes to the club. At present I have enough free time to sit down and give FOG the overhaul it needs. Incase you were wondering I've graduated from University and my next step is full-time employment, but the way I'm planning on running FOG means that this will not effect it one bit. For a start there was the magazine. It began life printed and then turned disk-based. Issue 6 and onwards have been freely available from Floppyshop and the Internet and issue 9 is sat on my hard drive waiting to be finished off. I regret moving from paper to disk, especially as I usually enjoy reading my magazines in bed or on the train, neither of which you can do with Falcon Update unless you print the whole thing out. But for the time being I cannot afford the print Falcon Update again so it will remain disk based until I see it suitable to make any changes. Anyone involved in a club or business will know that printers charges depend on two factors - quantity and quality. The better the paper, the higher the cost, the more glossy the cover or the more pages you have - again the more it costs. Plus the minimum run they offer is 100 copies. This is fine if you have say 80-90 members, but what if you have 120? Then you are stuck with ordering 200 magazines and having 80 you are more than likely to never sell. Plus you have to plan for typesetting costs and printing times, plus postage on-top of that. It's not an easy business to be involved in which is a real shame because the overall result is just so much more pleasing. That is the main reason why I don't see Falcon Update going back onto paper in the near future, I hope its one you can all appreciate. Then there was the PD library. When ST Format ran its article on how to set up your own PDL they should have put in BIG BOLD letters across the page "DON'T DO IT IF YOU WANT A LIFE AS WELL!". Why? Well its not because of the costs involved or indeed the monosity of copying disk after disk after disk, but because of the _time_ it takes up. I truly never imagined how long it would take. Out of the time I was using my Falcon, about 90% of it must have been nothing but watching ECopy blip along the screen, swapping a disk, pressing RETURN, waiting for a few more minutes then continuing again and again. You will probably say that I should have known to expect this, well I'd agree with you, I should have. But you see in the start it was quite alright, perfectly manageable copying around 50-100 disks a week. But when you get say 20 orders each for 10 disks you begin to dread the post instead of waiting excitedly for it. This is the reason there is such a high turn over of PDL's. The ones that remain remain because they are not the main business of the proprietor. There is however another side to this, for although I let the service slip I didn't let the library slip at all. I had direct Internet access all day long and kept the library topped up with anything and everything I thought Falcon owners would like. Therefore I now have over 270 disks of 100% Falcon software from all over the world and this list continues to grow daily. Some of the new software is quite amazing! Anyone who doesn't use the new utilities like Freedom or Kivi must be mad! There are new games available (Killing Impact, Bubble Bobble 2000, Moon Speeder & Super Bomber Man spring to mind) and some stunning demos (EKO System, Lost Blubb etc.). I see and hear people voice their concern over the lack of new software coming out but if they would only open their eyes and look, it is there and some of it is amazing. But you see they have to have somewhere to look, FOG members used to be able to rely on the PDL for the latest demos and applications. It is my aim to make this happen again. While at University I was very hard to contact and track down, I was jumping to a new address from term to term and all my parents could do was suggest a time to call a public phone when I might be around. This too has changed now. I am living back at the 10 Oak Drive address and will remain here for the foreseeable future, you can contact me by phone or by post (indeed I still help out at least 2-3 people per week with general enquiries about their Falcons) and you can now also get me by Internet email and through the usual NeST channels. I might only check my mail and news once a week but I will respond to anything I get sent as best I can. THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW ========================== "Yes, Yes, we appreciate this plea from the heart story but what are you going to DO about it now?" I know this is what some of you may be thinking, I'm not playing for sympathy, just trying to clearly explain the situation as it was to you. Something i've not done before. But this is what I'm going to do about it :- * The magazine will still be produced, albeit on disk. * The PD library will re-open, but not for trade, for free. * Membership fees are to be dropped completely. * I'll start supporting my local BBS again, and properly. * I'm offering you a special package to apologise for whats happened. Issue 9 of the magazine will probably come on two high density disks. It will be released on August the 12th 1995 and sent to the following BBS's - 42 BBS, Chameleon & Ad-Lib, from where it will hopefully be available for download. I also send copies to Floppyshop and Goodmans PDL so if you don't want to download it you are free to purchase it from them. Or if you prefer you are welcome to send two _formatted_ HD disks in a STAMPED self-addressed envelope to the main FOG address and I promise to get the magazine out to you within a fortnight. The PD library catalogue needs a very big overhaul, something which will take many weeks to complete, but in the meantime you can obtain a disk list that catalogues the early software in detail and has all the new software listed by title only. This catalogue should be available for download from Chameleon BBS and 42BBS from August the 1st onwards. Or you can send a single blank disk in a stamped self addressed envelope and I'll return a copy to you. Sorry but no stamp means no reply. There have also been some changes with the amount I'm charging per disk. Since Escom took over the Rumbelows stores I've been able to buy my HD disks for around 18 pence each. Therefore if you wish to purchase PD from me I will only charge 1 per disk (which includes postage). I also ask that you allow TWO weeks for delivery. It will probably turn up before then but I've got to allow myself a safety barrier. To try and thank all the Sysops who supported FOG in the early days and indeed still do, I will copy you any disk from my catalogue for free so long as you send enough blanks & stamps (except for Maz @ Chameleon, you'll just have to drive over here and plug your hard drive in and download away! :-). That goes for anyone else who lives in my immediate location, if you'd like to come and visit some time then you are more than welcome, just give me a call beforehand and we'll arrange a time (Sunday afternoons are best). Finally I have put together a compilation of the most essential Falcon software available. It is all very highly compressed onto 10 HD disks and offers over 29 meg worth of solid Falcon applications in total, from utilities and applications to games and graphics tools. There are no pictures or modules or animations to fill the space, just over 150 assorted and mainly Falcon-only programs. It has a custom installation program which lets you install any of the programs you like. This software bundle is available to ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN A FOG MEMBER for the price of 9.99p inc P&P. If you'd like more details then mail me. If you'd like to contact me then please do so, the following address is 100% safe. I hope to hear from any interested people soon and to get this show well and truly back on the road. Richard Davey Club Chairman Falcon Owners Group UK 10 Oak Drive Portishead Bristol BS20 8QS England Telephone: 01275 843241 Email: richard.davey@cbbs.centron.com OR requiem@armory.com SUMMARY: Copy of issue 9 of Falcon Update - send 2 HD disks & postage or contact Floppyshop or Goodmans PDL. PD Library - send disk for list or download one. Software only 1 per disk, first 5 disks copied FREE of charge for previous FOG members (you must supply the disks & postage) Falcon Software Bundle. 29meg of software, over 150 programs packed onto 10 HD disks. *Hard Drive Required* 9.99 but ONLY if you were a FOG member in the past. Any cheques/postal orders made payable to the 'Falcon Owners Group' This account is a Girobank Club Account and not a business account. Non of the officials involved in the club account are allowed to be paid from its funds. My thanks to Colin for listening to me when I needed someone to do so. My thanks to you for bothering to read this, I hope it clears up a few loose ends. Best regards, Rich Davey -- Richard Davey - (01275) 843241 Falcon Owners Group (UK) richard.davey@cbbs.centron.com Village Software Limited --- * Kivi (unregistered) 1.37 * To boldly go where no one has gone before. --- Hqwk V6.5 [JetMail 0.99beta9] [JetMail 0.99beta9] # Origin: Chameleon BBS +44-01454-881095 (777:200/0@fishnet.ftn) * Origin: Gated from FN.STFORMAT at (90:100/400@nest.ftn) A Again B Backward F Forward G Goto K Kludge Q Quit R Reply S Scan W Write < Original > Answer Select: