[7] Letters Letter from the Amateur Computerist Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 22:18:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Jay Hauben Subject: Amateur Computerist 15th Anniversary Dear Friend, Begun in 1988, 2003 marks the 15th Anniversary of the Amateur Computerist. For these 15 years the Amateur Computerist has championed love of computing, universal access, netizenship, defense of the net as a public domain and progress toward participatory democracy on and off the net. Sending out the Amateur Computerist for 15 years we have occasionally received comments, suggestions and criticisms from our readers. These are always welcomed and helpful in our work. We would be especially happy to receive comments and greetings via email from any and all of our readers on this occasion. In 1988 when we edited our first issue the whole staff lived in the Detroit area. Since 1994 we have edited our issues using the Internet because we no longer live close enough to meet in person. We did have a reunion in 1998 to mark the tenth anniversary. This weekend August 1-4 we will again have a reunion. This time to mark the 15th anniversary of our publication. The reunion will be in the Harrisburg region of Pennsylvania in the USA If any of our readers in that region would like to greet us in person, please send me email and I will try to make arrangements. I will be reading my email until Friday morning August 1. Take care. For the Amateur Computerist, Jay Hauben ---------- Letter from Germany Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 09:44:10 +0200 From: Ronald J. Bartle Subject: AW: 15 year anniversary To the Staff of the Amateur Computerist on the Occasion of the 15th Anniversary. Hi to you folks. I am a British (Royal) Air Force war disabled veteran who has generally speaking, been through a bit in life and as a result have some opinions and views that I had for many years not found much opportunity to express. Not many of us are blessed with the ownership of a newspaper-publishing house or have the wherewithal to set up a TV Station. On the other hand many of us have quite legitimate reasons to feel strongly about this or that matter of concern on the political front and are keen to see a bit more real democracy practiced. In the early 80's I was encouraging discussion by distributing progressive literature on the Streets of SW London and backing this up by regular debates via CB Radio. Then as if destiny had seen the frustrations of folks such as myself along came the Internet. Not surprisingly with my background in military and other professional communications I personally found it not too hard to get online and became one of the early subscribers to the Amateur Computerist. One had become well aware of the potential for real advancement in the lot of mankind that the net _could_ mean if it was maintained, preserved and defended as a modern-day Forum in the old democratic Tradition of Greece and Rome. Not only because of climate -- many of our modern industrial-nation cities do not really offer much of a physical forum where the citizens can sit around and discuss the affairs of the day and formulate a common position, which would then come to the notice of the ruling classes. If there is a widely accessible Forum -- today it would tend to be on-line and still needs to be made more accessible to a broader proportion of the general public globally. As you will be well aware -- it is just such considerations as these that the Amateur Computerist has been pursuing and upholding down the years and one can only hope that the readership will extend and that its influence will expand. I congratulate you folks on your faithful support for this important project down the years and trust you will find fulfilment and occasionally even some fun while continuing to do so. Ronald J. Bartle (Computer and Internet Consultant to the German Federal Association of Psychiatric Survivors -- www.bpe-online.de) -------- Letter from Australia Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 15:11:27 +1000 From: Geiselhart, Karin Subject: 15th anniversary Dear Jay and Ronda, Sorry I could not be with you for the anniversary of the Amateur Computerist. My thoughts were with you, and I hope it was a great pleasure for all concerned.... My latest work project (local broadband content) is at http://creativecanberra.net. My contract here finishes mid-September, then I might continue the project with community groups. Much love, Karin -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reprinted from the Amateur Computerist Vol 12 No 1, Winter 2003/2004 The whole issue or a subscription is available for free via email. Send a request to jrh@ais.org or see http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------