§§§ Australia • Canada • France • Germany • Japan • United Kingdom • USA §§§
member organization
of
International Macintosh User Group
New Orleans Computer Society
Purpose
The National Home & School Macintosh User Group (aka GAMER Project), is an user group with international membership promoting the entertainment and educational qualities of the Apple Macintosh™ by offering support for game enthusiasts, educators, parents introducing their kids to computers, and shareware authors seeking convenient distribution of their software worldwide. The bimonthly disk-based magazine, Home & School Mac™ published by the GAMER Project fills a niche that the corporate oriented magazines neglect.
A focus on the "Home Mac" includes reviewing and exploring entertainment software whether it be game software proper or preschool software to amuse and teach the kids. The "Home Mac" involves exploring utilities to enhance non-computer hobbies, such as software for organizing one's album/CD, book, coin, stamp, videotape, and other collections. There are hundreds of shareware and commercial programs available for the Mac which can turn one's Mac into everything from a "home planetarium" to a "pinball machine" and these types of programs are not neglected.
A focus on the "School Mac" includes reviewing and exploring educational software for all subjects and all ages, whether it be the fundamentals of reading, grade school or high school math, college physics, or references on things as diverse as art masterpieces, beer breweries, and orchestral instruments. Also, teaching aids for educators, and learning aids for students are given coverage.
Representatives of the GAMER Project can be contacted in several countries on the following information services and networks: America Online™, CompuServe™, Connect™, Fidonet™, GEnie™, and Usenet.
Benefits
Members of the GAMER Project are mailed 6 issues of the organization's bimonthly publication, Home & School Mac, which features articles, reviews, and interviews covering Macintosh entertainment and educational/children's issues, information not readily found anywhere else. Each issue contains 100 - 150 pages of material. Along with each issue of this disk-based magazine, 1000k - 1200k of the best shareware game and educational software which has been released during the previous two months is included. Finally, members may call the GAMER Project BBS (which features an easy to use Macintosh interface) to access the largest known collection of Mac entertainment and educational shareware, as well as to participate in message bases created for discussion of Mac entertainment & educational topics. Several shareware authors also provide support for their programs on the GAMER Project BBS.
Shareware Authors (of game and educational/children's software) benefit by having a convenient centralized means of distributing their software to the widest possible market. Such software can be mailed to the Shareware Distribution Manager for prompt circulation throughout North America, Europe, and Australia via the major networks: America Online™, CompuServe™, Connect™, Fidonet™, GEnie™, and Usenet/Internet. Shareware authors have full access to the GAMER Project BBS whether they decide to join the GAMER Project or not, including a private "Shareware Authors Roundtable" to discuss techniques of programming and distribution with other authors. Also the GAMER Project BBS provides a forum for authors to support their programs, as well as to gather bug reports and suggestions for improvements or new games. Yearly GAMER Project "Excellence in Shareware Programming" awards for the categories of "entertainment" and "educational" software are presented (based on a poll of the membership). The honored programmers receive awards of cash and/or software.
Non-Profit User Groups benefit since newsletter editors have permission to reprint the articles and reviews contained within Home & School Mac for the enjoyment of their readers. Software librarians of non-profit user groups may distribute issues of the magazine Home & School Mac on their Disk-of-the-Month or include them within their shareware libraries.
Applying For Membership
Annual membership dues for the GAMER Project are: US/Mexico/Canada $15, All Other Countries $21. Dues for shareware authors are discounted 50% off the full membership rate. US applicants may send personal checks made out to GAMER Project (applicants outside the US must send an international postal money order or bank draft drawn on a US bank). A discount is available for those who register a game or educational shareware program. Contact the author about this discount which can be up to $3.00 -- but not to exceed the registration fee of the program registered.
GAMER Project - Organizational Info
The GAMER Project is registered with Apple Computer Inc. under the name: National Home & School Macintosh User Group. The group is governed by a 5 member Board of Directors whose talents and service to the Macintosh game & education community will insure that the GAMER Project responds to the needs of its members as well as promotes the prosperity of shareware authors & commercial developers alike. A Board of Advisors has been appointed by the Board of Directors, and additional advisors will be appointed as the need arises. Members of the Board of Advisors come from all backgrounds: educators, shareware authors, commercial developers, system operators on information networks, and volunteers from various user groups. The Board of Directors encourages close ties with representatives of every developer of Mac entertainment, educational software, favoring no particular developer or commercial information service.
Board of Directors
Chet Day - GEnie/Head Sysop Apple II Roundtable; developer of educational software for the Apple II including "Guide to Interactive Fiction"; developer of online games for Apple II based BBS software (GBBS); educator, formerly English, currently director of computer services; novelist (Halo, Hacker, and the forthcoming Little Boy Lost in 1992).
Bob Mulligan - America Online/Forum Leader "Macintosh Games & Entertainment Forum"; co-developer of one of the first ONLINE play by scenario games for GEnie called RIM World WARS; currently developing new Play-by-Mail games for online services.
Bob Nordling - Fidonet/Moderator "Macintosh Entertainment & Education Echo"; America Online/Forum Consultant "Mac Games & Entertainment Forum"; CompuServe/Staff "MAUG(R) Forums"; Nautilus CD/Contributing Editor; a Founding System Operator of both the New Orleans Mac User Group Multi-line BBS and the GAMER Project BBS; Founding Editor of Home & School Mac™ magazine; shareware and Mac user group promoter.
Neil Shapiro - CompuServe/Chief Sysop and Founder of MAUG(R) Forums; Editor/Publisher of Personal Mac™ magazine; Past (and Founding) Editor-in-Chief of MacUser™ magazine; Past Editor-at-Large of MacGuide™ magazine; Awarded the MACINTOSH 100 AWARD by Macintosh Buyers' Guide™ magazine; novelist.
Fred Showker - America Online/Forum Assistant "User Group Forum"; Associate Editor for the Mug News Service™; Associate Editor of Home & School Mac™; prolific reviewer of entertainment, education, and children's software; shareware and user group promoter; graphic artist/designer for Showker Graphic Arts & Design studios.
Board of Advisors
John Calhoun - prolific author, including shareware games (Glider, Glypha, Glypha II, Mac Tuberling, Pararena, Stella Obscura) and the commercial game Glider 4.0.
Bob Grubb - prolific shareware author (entertainment/educational/kid's software - ClickMoire!, Express Lane!, Gold Bug!, HangMan!, Jacks!, Life Sentences!, Noteables!, PyreWorks!, Show Times!, StarShip Mac!, Surgery!, That's Your Opinion!, and others).
Qualitative Analysis (Group 1), Shapes of Molecules, The Mole, and others).
David Nicholsoncole - System Operator of MacTel-HQ, the United Kingdom's premier Macintosh Bulletin Board Service with locations in London and Nottingham (and a test site in Oxford); Official Apple Partner; Project Manager of "user interface" for Prisma (a CAE/CAD/CAM product).
Darryl Peck - Founder of Inline Design, a Mac-Only developer/distributor of entertainment and educational software: Bomber, Darwin's Dilemma, Mutant Beach, Swamp Gas, Tesserae, and 3 in Three.
Joe Sparks - VP of Research and Development, Reactor, Inc.; Co-Developer of the Spaceship Warlock CD-ROM; an experienced virtual reality and simulation artist, as well as an electronic musician and programmer.
Rod Whitten - America Online/Forum Assistant "Mac Games and Entertainment Forum"; Assistant System Operator of Draco's AIS BBS, a popular Apple-Mac BBS in San Francisco; member of BMUG.
GAMER Project Representatives
Publication Staff
Editor: Bob Nordling
Associate Editor: Fred Showker
Staff Reviewers: Dave Dumanis, Jan K. France, Robert Lewis, Bob Nordling,
Geoffrey Parsons, Carla Rose, Fred Showker, Tony Small,
Dennis Thieme, Cary Torkelson
MUG Associates
MUG Associates provide the GAMER Project with materials appropriate for reprinting in Home & School Mac, and in return receive all materials (text/graphics) which each issue of Home & School Mac is composed of to facilitate reprinting of articles in their own newsletters. Below are listed the participating MUGs and their representatives:
Arizona MUG - Michael Bean - President
Houston Area Apple User Group - Robert Lewis - Games SIG
New Orleans MUG - Nicholas Kempf - Editor
Northern Nevada Apple II & Mac UG - Dennis Thieme - President Pro Tem
Savannah MUG - Jim Alley
Shenandoah MUG - Fred Showker
Periodical Connection
The GAMER Project distributes (D) the publications listed below in their entirety and/or reprints (R) individual articles and reviews from the publications.
Personal Mac™ - Editor, Neil Shapiro (D)
RevUser™ - Editor, Joe Sewell (D) (R)
TidBITS™ - Editor, Adam Engst (R)
Developer Connection
The following developers support Home & School Mac by providing timely information about their products, as well as review copies of software, so that we might keep our readers up to date with developments within the Mac entertainment & educational industry.
Bungie Software - Alex Seropian
Changeling Software - Pete & Andrew Sispoidis
Eastgate Systems - Mark Bernstein
Inline Design - Darryl Peck
Intellimation - Charlene Blohm
MECC - Patricia Kallio
Pelican Software
Spectrum Holobyte - Marisa Ong
Sphh! Software - Mark Fong
Strategic Studies Group - Gregor Whiley
GAMER Project Bulletin Board Service
BBS Telephone: (504) 467-0574
BBS Software: TeleFinder™ Host
Files Online: 12,000+
System Operator: Bob Nordling
Sysop's Telephone: (504) 464-6985
Network Distributors
These representatives distribute the latest issues of Home & School Mac as well as Mac oriented entertainment and educational shareware software sent by authors to the GAMER Project for worldwide distribution. Shareware authors may mail their entertainment and educational programs to the "Shareware Distribution Manager" for forwarding to all the "Network Distributors", or if faster distribution is desired, to the "Network Distributors" for each particular network.
Shareware Distribution Manager
Name: Bob Nordling
Mailing Address: 15 Everglades St., Kenner, LA 70065, USA
America Online™
Name: Bob Nordling
Title: Forum Consultant, Mac Games & Entertainment Forum
Electronic Address: AFC MacFun
Mailing Address: 15 Everglades St., Kenner LA 70065, USA
CompuServe™
Name: Bob Nordling
Title: Staff, MAUG(R) Forums
Electronic Address: 70521,1327
Mailing Address: 15 Everglades St., Kenner, LA 70065, USA
Connect™
Patricia O'Connor
Electronic Address: OCONNOR
Mailing Address: 932 Riesling Dr., Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Fidonet™
Macintosh Software Distribution Network
MSDN International Coordinator
Name: Duncan McNutt
Electronic Address: 2:243/100 (Rhein-Main BBS)
Mailing Address: Am Bier 9 D-6000, Frankfort 50, Germany
MDNGAMER Distribution Coordinator
Name: Bob Nordling
Electronic Address: 1:396/13 (New Orleans MUG BBS)
Mailing Address: 15 Everglades St., Kenner, LA 70065, USA
GEnie™
Name: Kirk Wallbillich
Electronic Address: Wabaki
Mailing Address: P. O. Box 8150, Metairie, LA 70011, USA
Usenet
Name: Ken Hancock
Electronic Address: kenh@eclectic.com
Mailing Address: 9C Jacqueline Rd., Waltham, MA 02154, USA
The GAMER Project BBS, official BBS of the National Home & School MUG, has been online since July 1, 1991. Our BBS software is TeleFinder™ which provides us with a complete Macintosh interface. For example, downloading a group of files is as easy as dragging them to your hard drive icon. Messages are entered and edited with a Mac-like text processor. This is the friendliest BBS software on the market. However to access the BBS, a special terminal program called TeleFinder™/User is necessary. There are 2 ways you can get this software:
1) Call the BBS, and at the prompt, you will be given a choice between logging on or downloading the TeleFinder™/User terminal software. Choose to download the user software (which comes complete with docs). Download time is 4 minutes using a v.32 (9600 bps) modem, 16 minutes using a 2400 bps modem, and 32 minutes using a 1200 bps modem. Before allowing you to download the terminal software, you will be prompted to enter the Name you wish to use on the BBS as well as to choose a Password (3 - 8 characters). The BBS DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT, so you may have to wait as long as 48 hours before the System Operator uses the information you provided to create your account. During that 48 hour period, until your account has been manually created by the System Operator, you will have to use a "temporary" account by entering the following information into the terminal program: for your Name, enter GUEST and for your Password, also enter GUEST. But after 48 hours has passed, be sure to enter the "permanent" Name and Password you indicated to the System Operator that you wished to use. If you ever have any problems with the BBS, feel free to call the System Operator at the Help Line listed below.
2) Send $1.00 to: GAMER Project BBS, 15 Everglades St., Kenner, LA 70065. I will rush to you the terminal program, the TeleFinder™/User docs, and some additional docs with information about navigating the BBS. Also in your BBS application letter, indicate which Name and Password (3 - 8 characters) you wish to use on the BBS, and the System Operator will use that information to create your account. When the TeleFinder™/User software arrives, enter the Name and Password which you originally chose (and which the System Operator will confirm in writing) into the terminal software. Your account will have been created and be available for your use by the time you receive the TeleFinder™ software. If you ever have any problems with the BBS, feel free to call the System Operator at the phone number or any of the electronic addresses listed below.
The phone number of the GAMER Project BBS is: 1-504-467-0574. If the traffic on the board becomes heavy enough, we will add a second incoming line. Our modem is a Telebit T-2500 supporting 300/1200/2400, v.32 9600bps, and PEP 18031 bps. We now support MNP 1-5, and a notice will appear in Home & School Mac when we add new capabilities (extra phone line or new modem features such as v.32bis, v.42, v.42bis.
The GAMER Project BBS features Arizona MUG's "BBS in a Box" online, so callers will be able to choose from over 9,500 files to download from that source. But there is also a hard drive online which contains over 1,500 files from the GAMER Project's library, the largest known collection of Mac shareware entertainment & educational software in the world.
Members of the National Home & School MUG (and authors of Mac games educational, and children's software) receive 60 minutes of access each day on the BBS and have access to the files on both the Hard Drive and the CD-ROM. Non-Members can apply for a "30-Day Trial BBS Account", however access is limited to files on the Hard Drive.
We look forward to having you online. I can be reached at the following electronic addresses if you have any questions.
Bob Nordling User Name: ______________________
System Operator, GAMER Project BBS Password: ______________________
AOL: AFC MacFun GEnie: R.Nordling1
CIS: 70521,1327 Usenet: nordling@macgate.mn.org
Fidonet: 1:396/13 Voice: (504) 464-6985
__________ Membership Application (Printable)
Name __________________________ I am/am not interested in having an
account on the GAMER Project
Address __________________________ BBS (in the USA, New Orleans LA).
Enclose $1.00 extra if you want the
___________________________ special terminal software mailed to you.
Enclosed is: $15 for US/Mexico/Canada, $21 All Other Countries.
(Shareware authors deduct 50% from full membership price.)
* For the discount for registering a shareware program, you MUST have the coupon you received from the "participating" shareware author filled out. Only 1 discount coupon can be applied per year toward one's membership dues. If you encounter a shareware author which knows nothing of this special discount program, please have them contact the GAMER Project. US applicants may send personal checks made out to GAMER Project (applicants outside the US must send an international postal money order or bank draft drawn on US bank).
GAMER Project
15 Everglades St.
Kenner, LA 70065, USA
__________
*Survey* (This will be used to guide the selection of the software included on the disk with each issue of Home & School Mac™
MACnificent 7.0 - Education & Games CD-ROM (1rst Edition)
MACnificent 7.0 CD-ROM
Education and Games
December 1,1991 Grand Rapids, Minnesota -- Wayzata Technology Inc. P.O. Box 807, Grand Rapids, Minnesota 55744, (621) 326-0597; National Home & School Macintosh User Group 15 Everglades St., Kenner, LA 70065; and Digital Diversions Software P.O. Box 641133, Kenner, LA 70064 announced the publication of the MACnificent 7.0 CD-ROM.
MACnificent 7.0 CD-ROM contains nearly 280 megabytes of System 7.0 tested games and educational shareware, including a vast encyclopedia of information about the programs: descriptions/reviews, ratings, hints/tips, and compatiblity reports. Over 2500 hours of research, testing, and programming have gone into creation of "The Librarian" which provides easy access to all this information, including powerful search/find and cross-referencing features. Most programs can be launched directly from "The Librarian".
The following have been gathered by the National Home & School Mac User Group through their worldwide distribution network with the cooperation of over 100 shareware authors:
800+ Games * 450+ Educational Programs * 50+ Commercial Demos
1500+ Game Support Files * 150 Sounds/Sound Stacks
and more . . . nearly 5,000 total files on the disk
Features include:
* "The Librarian" HyperCard stack that allows for easy
browsing of the shareware offerings, including powerful
search/find features and cross-referencing of programs.
* Most programs can be conveniently launched right from "The
Librarian" stack, or copied to another hard drive or
floppy with the click of a button.
* Descriptions/Reviews, Rating System from 1 to 5
* Registration info about many programs, including the
ability to print a registration letter to the author with
A portion of the proceeds will benefit the National Home & School MUG, an Apple(R) registered user group which fosters Leisure & Learning on the Mac. The National Home & School MUG will provide support for the MACnificent 7.0 CD-ROM on America Online, CompuServe, Fidonet, GEnie, and Usenet.
MACnificent 7.0 CD-ROM is available immediately with a suggested list price of $79.00.
National Home & School MUG (GAMER Project) Discount Offer
* For Readers of Home & School Mac *
MACnificent 7.0 - Education & Games CD-ROM (1rst Edition)
$ 79.00 List price
- 24.00 30% Discount
_______
55.00
+ 3.00 Shipping & handling
+ Orders outside the US or Canada add an extra ($4.00) for shipping
+ Louisiana residents add 4% sales tax ($2.20)
+ Jefferson Parish, LA residents add 4% sales tax more($2.20)
_______
Total (per copy)
x Quantity
_______
Total for Order
(check/money order payable to: Digital Diversions Software)
* Orders from outside the US must be accompanied by an International Postal Money Order in US $ or a check drafted on a US bank.
Send to: Digital Diversions Software
Nat. H&S MUG - Discount Offer
P. O. Box 641133
Kenner, LA 70064
Name: ______________________________
Mailing Address: ______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
Macintosh User Groups, Educational Institutions, and Shareware Authors (of Mac game, educational, children's software) can write for information about additional discounts. More information can also be obtained by sending electronic mail to the following addresses:
