It's not often you find a common bond between the
war-torn land of Zagreb, Croatia, hot video games,
and motorcycles made in Germany. But like so many
other things on GEnie, they all have a common
ground right here.
  
Help Where It's Needed
  
Larry Ledlow, Chief Sysop of the Radio, Electronics
and Broadcasting RoundTable (keyword RADIO) and the
Consumer Electronics RoundTable (CE), is putting
action behind his beliefs.
  
Since mid-January, Larry has been a volunteer radio
technician for the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) in Croatia. He is installing
voice and data communications equipment in both
fixed locations and vehicles. Although he is based
in Zagreb during his 100-day volunteer tour, Larry
will be in Sarajevo and other hot spots.
  
"Good luck and keep your head _DOWN_ partner,"
Sully Sullivan wrote in the Radio RoundTable. The
sentiment was echoed by Bill Newkirk, "Well, don't
get shot. After all it's not the bullet with your
name on it to be worried about but the ones
addressed 'to whom it may concern'...."
  
Danger was not on Larry's mind when he answered an
ad last summer. The UN High Commissioner for
Refugees was seeking skilled radio and
telecommunications professionals for short-term
assignments world-wide. Larry heard nothing for
months, then a call came, followed by more waiting.
Finally, he received an offer in a location he had
never considered -- Croatia.
  
"I suddenly realized this could have grave
consequences," Larry says. "I became introspective,
but in the end I had to follow my heart. It 'feels'
like the right thing to do. UNHCR's activities are,
by definition, in some pretty awful places, and I
didn't sign up for a vacation. I told myself that
if I was serious about lending a hand, I couldn't
be selective about when or where, so I look at this
as the next personal challenge laid before me.
There has never been a better time in my life to do
this. Physically, mentally, and financially I can
afford to take the risks. I look forward to coming
through it enriched and knowing I made a little
difference to folks who really need help right
now."
  
Until his return in April, Larry is keeping in
touch through Internet mail. You can write to him
through GEnie's Internet mail gateway using regular
GE Mail at the address lledlow@rujan.srce.hr@INET#
There also are topics in both the Radio and
Consumer Electronics RoundTables for messages.
  
Explosions of a Different Kind
  
While the gunfire Larry Ledlow may hear is real and
has deadly consequences, many GEnie participants
like to relax to the sound of explosions of a
different kind. Video game fans crowd arcades for
"Mortal Kombat II" or unwind at home as "Street
Fighters." No matter what game they play, one thing
is certain -- the action is fast and furious.
  
At one point, not all was well for GEnie video game
fans. Squeezed into one Category in the Games
RoundTable, they felt cramped until Chief Sysop
Scorpia took their concerns to heart and created a
separate Videogames Bulletin Board.
  
The new Videogames Bulletin Board is still part of
the Games RoundTable. Avid gamers can get there
directly with the keyword 'VIDEOGAMES' or by moving
to Page 806. There is room to grow and discussions
of console, CD, and coin-op video games by Sega,
Nintendo, Jaguar, 3DO, and other game manufacturers
are flourishing.
  
Mysterious Scorpia was pinned down long enough to
answer a few snoopy questions. She reports that she
has always liked games but when she bought her
first personal computer it was with the intention
of learning to program. "This, of course, explains
why the first thing I did after the system arrived
was to go out and buy about $100 worth of games,"
she comments wryly.
  
That expenditure has been benefitting game fans
ever since. Scorpia started GEnie's Games
RoundTable, one of the original GEnie products. A
year ago she added the Multi-player RoundTable. But
Scorpia's sting extends beyond GEnie with her
popular Scorpion's View column in Computer Gaming
World. While she is recognized as one of the
country's foremost game experts, she backs away
from the claim: "I do know a lot," she admits, "and
generally if I don't know something myself, I can
figure out where to find it. Well, most of the
time."
  
Video gamers on GEnie are happily plunging into
discussions, sometimes heated. As GASMAN commented
in a topic discussing VideoGames magazine, "People
who play computer games view cart games as
infantile, and people who play cart games view
computer games as boring." So the explosions
continue in the Videogames Bulletin Board, only now
they have a lot more room.
  
Legendary Motorcycles of Germany
  
There were explosions of the verbal kind when Bob
Higdon (BMW.BOB) joined GEnie shortly after the
Motorcycling RoundTable (keyword MOTO) began in
1991. Well known as a writer, long-distance BMW
rider (over 50,000 miles in one year), lawyer,
activist, and member of the Board of Directors of
the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, Inc. (BMW
MOA), Bob pulls no punches when he has something to
say.
  
That's typical of BMW riders. They are known as
individualists with a passion for BMWs, the
legendary motorcycles of Germany that have an avid
world-wide following.
  
When Bob was elected Vice President of BMW MOA last
fall, he began telling other members of the Board
about GEnie. MOTO Chief Co-Sysop Bill Muhr, BMW
rider and BMW MOA member, was delighted to help.
  
It didn't take long for a majority of the BMW MOA
Board to become GEnie participants. Rather than
waiting days for postal mail to arrive, or playing
expensive telephone tag, they discovered the
convenience of GE Mail for conducting Association
business.
  
It was through GE Mail that the MOTO Sysops went to
the Board with the suggestion the Motorcycling
RoundTable become the official online service for
the BMW MOA. Within a week, the decision was made,
and in February, over 20,000 BMW MOA members
learned that GEnie was a new benefit for their
association.
  
As the official online service for the BMW MOA,
members can communicate directly with the Board and
the association office. GEnie participants can join
the BMW MOA online, or renew their memberships. And
Board members are considering regular Real-Time
Conferences where they can discuss issues with
members and other motorcyclists.
  
"The BMW MOA is the first of the major motorcycling
associations to make GEnie their official online
service," says Bill Muhr. "We're looking forward to
welcoming others in the future." 
  
Zagreb, video games and motorcycles -- they all
come together on GEnie!