dm_gsxr
Tue Jan 20th, 2009, 07:38 AM
In Unix, on line help is requested via the "man" command (short for "manual pages"). So "man Carl" is a post about Carl :)
Yea yea, geek humor.
Back in 1987 or so, I was learning C (computer programming language). I'd picked up a copy of Borland TurboC because I was an employee of a tech company. It was nice and quick, easy to use and I was able to make it work (very important as you'll see).
I was in the process of learning C by converting a program I'd originally written in Basic on a Timex:Sinclair (around 1979) and converted to Megabasic to C. One thing I wanted to do was use a text windowing library to better organize my program. So I checked out the various BBS's I regularly logged in to and found several different DOS based libraries that would let me use such windowing features for my program. As a newbie to C programming, I really wanted a simple library and after several tries, found Mike Smedley's C Extended Library (CXL).
At the same time, Peter Norton came out with his Norton Guides. It was a tiny memory resident popup help system. It was excellent for programming. You would have a C norton guide and press Alt+F1 to bring up the window, find the function and be able write the right bit of code. Well he provided a compiler so you could create your own Norton Guide.
I used that compiler to convert Mike's CXL into a Norton Guides system so I could pop up the application programming interface (API) while I was learning C and using Mike's library to extend my program.
API's tend to have hidden functions that really aren't supposed to be used by programmers. Microsoft DOS has an undocumented call (for example) for a bunch of neat features that Peter Norton took advantage of to create his original programs. Well one of the programs I'd written (free) discovered some bit of functionality of the hidden API call and I sent it over to a guy who was maintaining the undocumented calls. As such, I was credited in the guys book, Undocumented DOS.
Anyway, I did the same with CXL. I rooted out the hidden functions and put them in my Norton Guides database and even posted it to his BBS so others could use it.
Due to some family problems, Mike sold the rights to his library to IDC, a company that specialized in TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs and the library became TeSseRact CXL (TCXL).
I followed and continued with my guide and documenting the hidden calls. I even provided examples and better documentation of the real functions. Again, because I wanted to be able to use it more efficiently. Well, the owner of the company (Chip) contacted me and told me he was getting ready to release 6.0 of TCXL and asked if I would proofread it _before_ it shipped. That way he wouldn't get all these typo posts I'd make :D
Yea, I'm a real geek :D
I didn't get paid for it however he did pay for me to come up to his place in Pennsylvania to tour the offices, stay for a couple of days and visit with the folk and he even paid for me to go to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire which was pretty cool.
===========
Sort of an aside. Back around the same timeframe, I picked up a new role playing game called Shadowrun. It was a mixture of Fantasy with spells, monsters but also included cyberpunk like cybereyes, weapons, and The Matrix (which is a trademark of the company; FASA).
Since then, the intellectual property that is Shadowrun has changed hands to Wizkids based out of Germany and published by Fantasy Productions (FanPro) also out of Germany. A few years ago, Topps bought Wizkids. Last year, FanPro went under and a couple of fantasy book writers got together to create InMediaRes Productions and they got the rights to publish Shadowrun as Catalyst Game Labs. Recently, Topps decided to close down Wizkids due to financial reasons. InMediaRes is currently in negotiation to buy the rights to Shadowrun.
===========
With Catalyst Game Labs (CGL) now publishing the game books, several have been published in the past two years. They are also publishing 6 or more this year. I like organization so I've been extracting the PDF's to straight text and moving the rules around to make it easier to find stuff (I'm a command line person and can search a file for something a _lot_ quicker when it's straight text). As part of my reorganizing, I've been finding errors in the text. Typos and missing stuff. I've been posting the errors to the Dumpshock forums for the past year or so just so they could correct them in the next printing of the books.
I was checking my e-mail a couple of weeks ago and I received an e-mail from one of the line editors asking if I'd be interested in being a proofreader for the company and sent a nondisclosure agreement.
Again, no pay but since I'm doing it anyway (not at quite such a pace though), I figure no problem. I have flexibility on what I work on depending on my availability and I get to see the new books before they're published. I also get to support the company with more than just the few dollars I spend on the rule books.
Carl
Yea yea, geek humor.
Back in 1987 or so, I was learning C (computer programming language). I'd picked up a copy of Borland TurboC because I was an employee of a tech company. It was nice and quick, easy to use and I was able to make it work (very important as you'll see).
I was in the process of learning C by converting a program I'd originally written in Basic on a Timex:Sinclair (around 1979) and converted to Megabasic to C. One thing I wanted to do was use a text windowing library to better organize my program. So I checked out the various BBS's I regularly logged in to and found several different DOS based libraries that would let me use such windowing features for my program. As a newbie to C programming, I really wanted a simple library and after several tries, found Mike Smedley's C Extended Library (CXL).
At the same time, Peter Norton came out with his Norton Guides. It was a tiny memory resident popup help system. It was excellent for programming. You would have a C norton guide and press Alt+F1 to bring up the window, find the function and be able write the right bit of code. Well he provided a compiler so you could create your own Norton Guide.
I used that compiler to convert Mike's CXL into a Norton Guides system so I could pop up the application programming interface (API) while I was learning C and using Mike's library to extend my program.
API's tend to have hidden functions that really aren't supposed to be used by programmers. Microsoft DOS has an undocumented call (for example) for a bunch of neat features that Peter Norton took advantage of to create his original programs. Well one of the programs I'd written (free) discovered some bit of functionality of the hidden API call and I sent it over to a guy who was maintaining the undocumented calls. As such, I was credited in the guys book, Undocumented DOS.
Anyway, I did the same with CXL. I rooted out the hidden functions and put them in my Norton Guides database and even posted it to his BBS so others could use it.
Due to some family problems, Mike sold the rights to his library to IDC, a company that specialized in TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs and the library became TeSseRact CXL (TCXL).
I followed and continued with my guide and documenting the hidden calls. I even provided examples and better documentation of the real functions. Again, because I wanted to be able to use it more efficiently. Well, the owner of the company (Chip) contacted me and told me he was getting ready to release 6.0 of TCXL and asked if I would proofread it _before_ it shipped. That way he wouldn't get all these typo posts I'd make :D
Yea, I'm a real geek :D
I didn't get paid for it however he did pay for me to come up to his place in Pennsylvania to tour the offices, stay for a couple of days and visit with the folk and he even paid for me to go to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire which was pretty cool.
===========
Sort of an aside. Back around the same timeframe, I picked up a new role playing game called Shadowrun. It was a mixture of Fantasy with spells, monsters but also included cyberpunk like cybereyes, weapons, and The Matrix (which is a trademark of the company; FASA).
Since then, the intellectual property that is Shadowrun has changed hands to Wizkids based out of Germany and published by Fantasy Productions (FanPro) also out of Germany. A few years ago, Topps bought Wizkids. Last year, FanPro went under and a couple of fantasy book writers got together to create InMediaRes Productions and they got the rights to publish Shadowrun as Catalyst Game Labs. Recently, Topps decided to close down Wizkids due to financial reasons. InMediaRes is currently in negotiation to buy the rights to Shadowrun.
===========
With Catalyst Game Labs (CGL) now publishing the game books, several have been published in the past two years. They are also publishing 6 or more this year. I like organization so I've been extracting the PDF's to straight text and moving the rules around to make it easier to find stuff (I'm a command line person and can search a file for something a _lot_ quicker when it's straight text). As part of my reorganizing, I've been finding errors in the text. Typos and missing stuff. I've been posting the errors to the Dumpshock forums for the past year or so just so they could correct them in the next printing of the books.
I was checking my e-mail a couple of weeks ago and I received an e-mail from one of the line editors asking if I'd be interested in being a proofreader for the company and sent a nondisclosure agreement.
Again, no pay but since I'm doing it anyway (not at quite such a pace though), I figure no problem. I have flexibility on what I work on depending on my availability and I get to see the new books before they're published. I also get to support the company with more than just the few dollars I spend on the rule books.
Carl