peterson@vaxwrk.dec.com (PRINCIPLE#MI%1-%(1+(MI_APR%12))*12#YEARS) (02/27/88)
Does anyone out there still have the old issues of the magazine from the
People's Computer Company of Menlo Park, California? We're talking early
Seventies, here.
I am particularly looking to obtain copies of the episodic cartoon feature
"Fortran Man". It was punfully scripted and humorously drawn by Lee Schneider
and Todd Voros. I kick myself for not saving *at least* that feature from the
magazines.
My email address is PETERSON.VAXWRK@DEC.COM. Some people have trouble getting
to me that way and since I'm not network or gateway wiz I'll post my snail
address too, in case: 287 Oak Street, Clinton, MA 01510. Since I do not read
comp.misc I would appreciate only replies sent to me directly.
Thank you all!
\bob peterson
/\ Looking for FORTRAN MAN!
p.s.
Fortran Man, for the uninitiated (most of you, I assume), was a superhero
FORTRAN compiler (drawn as an F) and had a sidekick, Billy Basic (B). Between
them they battled such fiends as Count Algol (who sucked the bits from data
files and left them dry) to The Glitchmaster who had taken over Micro Land. As
a taste of the scripting, here is an excerpt from the Glitchmaster adventure,
first installment (the only F-man episode I have at all):
BB: No sweat, F-Man...this is Basic code...and if I can't
read this, no one can! It's a private line transmission
addressed to you, F-man...from Clan McIntel in Micro Land!
F-Man: The Land of the Little People? What does it say?
[And so Billy reads on]
A FEW CYCLES AGO, A DEMENTED NOISEMAKER CALLING HIMSELF 'THE
GLITCHMASTER' CAME TO OUR LAND, AND IMMEDIATELY ANNOUNCED HIS
INTENTION TO RULE IT!
F-man: Hmph! I've heard _that_ line of code before!
WE THOUGHT NOTHING OF THIS THREAT...UNTIL WE DISCOVERED HE
HAD MANAGED TO PENETRATE OUR FILE SECURITY AND MADE OFF WITH
OUR CLAN MASCOT, THE LOCKOUT MONSTER!
WITH OUT BELOVED MONSTER UNDER HIS CONTROL, THE GLITCHMASTER
HAS ALL LINES OF COMMUNICATION BLOCKED...WE WERE THEREFORE
FORCED TO USE THIS RATHER UNCONVENTIONAL MEANS OF
TRANSMITTING OUR MESSAGE!
THE UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE MOVEMENT, LED BY GENERAL
WIREWOUND, IS PUTTING UP A VALIANT TO PULL DOWN THESE LINES,
BY[PASS THE CURRENT REGIME AND RESTORE ORDER, BUT WITH LITTLE
SUCCESS...
And it goes on...