NAME:
John Marchant

COMPUNET ID:
GNOME (formally JM44)

WHAT HE DID:
Most things except art and music. I wrote some utility programs and customized logon scripts etc for other netters. I did REVIEW every Tuesday around 1990 onwards, for two spells with an interval. I led a 3-man committee who ran the "30+" area. This included programs, mag reviews, gardening notes (by Ken Davey), jokes, serious articles such as an account of my experience as a disk jockey - which gained me an ICC award for "Memorable Upload". I was one of several "hosts" on TECH (Technical Chat) on Saturdays. I played FED a lot, and at one point my phone bill was £200 in one month. I argued with Dral. He was very friendly on the phone, but he sure knew how to wind me up on the net :-) I made some very good friends, Jean and Snoopy being still close friends. Also Bil and Top-Cat, though we don't correspond much these days. Get yer' finger out Dave!

CLAIM TO COMPUNET FAME:
ICC Award for "Compunet Personality of the Year" (1990). Member of the ICC Committee until I resigned after an argument. A few entries in "Hall of Fame". Monthly "Nosegays", being a collection of funny things seen on Cnet. Co-Editor (with BIL) of ICC News on Sunday - previously just called SUNDAY, after TJ gave up doing it. Member of the REVIEW team for a while. Ha! but you didn't win a Nobel peace prize!

WHAT'S HE UP TO NOW:
Well I've been retired since 1992, when I was working part-time on a local school pupils database system I designed & programmed (on PCs). They're still using it for want of anything more suitable to their needs. They tried one commercial system and it couldn't cater for a school that works on Saturdays! (It's a boarding school.)

OTHER STUFF:
I run a BBS. I do gardening. I read & watch TV. And I travel at least once a year.

TOP THREE FAVOURITE PROGRAMS/HARDWARE:
Eddy Carroll's EdTerm terminal program. Eddy Carroll's File Viewer. Top-Cat's ProChat (I disassembled it and figured out how it worked) there were some very interesting features. Maybe I should add Top-Cat's new C64 terminal software which was 90% completed when Nick said he couldn't pay for it. At that point TC and Prat lost all interest. But it was usable on line, and I tried it out on 2 occasions. I also logged in through Fastrak, after Istel pulled the plug, using a logon script from Top-Cat. Fastrak also pulled the plug after about 3 days.

BETWEEN WHICH DATES WERE YOU A MEMBER OF COMPUNET:
Late 1988 to when it folded.

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