From hungary-online-owner Mon Aug 21 14:06:10 1995 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id OAA24052 for hungary-online-announce-out31415; Mon, 21 Aug 1995 14:06:10 -0700 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id OAA24035; Mon, 21 Aug 1995 14:05:48 -0700 Received: from steve@isys.hu () via =-=-=-=-=-= for hungary-online-announce@hungary.yak.net (24033) Received: from gwarn.versant.com (gwarn.versant.com [192.70.173.14]) (fnord) by nando (8.6.5/8.6.5) with ESMTP id OAA24029 for ; Mon, 21 Aug 1995 14:05:21 -0700 Received: from kingzog.isyshu.net ([194.24.160.4]) by gwarn.versant.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with ESMTP id OAA06623 for ; Mon, 21 Aug 1995 14:04:27 -0700 Received: from [194.24.160.22] (bubba.isys.hu [194.24.160.22]) by kingzog.isyshu.net (8.7.Beta.11/8.7.Beta.11) with SMTP id XAA22543 for ; Mon, 21 Aug 1995 23:03:29 +0200 (MET DST) Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 23:03:29 +0200 (MET DST) X-Sender: steve@mail.isys.hu Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: hungary-online-announce@hungary.yak.net From: steve@isys.hu (Steven Carlson) Subject: (HOL-A) there will be MANY opportunities Sender: owner-Hungary-Online-announce@hungary.yak.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Hungary-Online@hungary.yak.net **there will be MANY opportunities Gyuri is a pretty ordinary guy. I've known him for a year or so - I drop by his office once in a while because another friend works there. The first thing I noticed about Gyuri was his PC. All tricked out with a cool desktop pattern, screensavers and other gadgets. Here's a guy that fools with his computer a lot. I had Gyuri over at my office the other night. He's heard all about the Internet and wants to try it out. Okay, I said, here's a computer. Here's Netscape and a few bookmarks to check out. Go for it Gyuri. For two hours he was completely incommunicado, clicking away at links, scrolling through screens of text, completely mesmerized. Afterwards we sat down for a beer at the Number One presszo next door to my office. Gyuri clutched his beer with a dazed expression. Information overload! "You know," he finally said, "when I was writing my thesis at the law university I put together a long bibliography. But it was a joke. Only two of those texts where actually available in Hungary at the time." He shrugged. Gyuri told me other stories. About a photocopy machine at his university the staff locked away during the anniversary of the 1956 revolution. About begging his first boss to buy a computer. "At university we waited weeks and months for a secretary to put together printed materials," he explained. "With this computer I could put together a custom brochure in less than an hour." And now the Internet. Gyuri's mind was burning with the possibilities. I don't know about you, but every so often I get like that. It seems corny, but I am awed by this great change we're all taking part in. It really _is_ a digital revolution. And sometimes I'm overwhelmed by what's taking place. **this one's for you, Martha One day in 1993 I witnessed US VP Al Gore addressing the public over an electronic conference held on CompuServe. Here I was in Budapest. I hadn't heard about this conference on radio or television. Yet here I was taking part. I was amazed. You have to know that I grew up in the post-Vietnam world of few ideals and even fewer heroes. I remember hearing people talking about how they were inspired by John F. Kennedy and wondering why my generation couldn't find anything worthwhile to believe in. Nor am I much of a flag waver. I've been living in Hungary so long I don't have much opinion of American politics. And yet I was inspired. Here was the Vice President of the United States speaking directly to me - on the medium I understand. And he was speaking directly with ordinary people. That was the cool thing. You didn't have to dress up and sit in a studio audience. I could imagine some of these people sitting at home in their underwear, typing away. Mispellings and all. One teenager kept on sending garbage characters until he realized his father had picked up the other extention. Can you imagine the scene at that house? "DAD! HANGUP THE GODDAMNED PHONE, I'M ONLINE WITH THE VICE PRESIDENT!" Ridiculous! But the most profound moment for me was a question from a disabled man. Here's what I saw on the screen: (#65,Larry H. Lewis) Mr Vice-President..........:-) (#65,Larry H. Lewis) Alta Loma , Ca (#65,Larry H. Lewis) I'm handicapped & spend (#65,Larry H. Lewis) a lot of time on the net (#65,Larry H. Lewis) Do you envision home computer jobs (#65,Larry H. Lewis) & how will that effect the economy? (#196,Vice President Gore) Yes. In fact you may be (#196,Vice President Gore) interested in knowing (#196,Vice President Gore) that the sysop of the White House (#196,Vice President Gore) Forum, Georgia Griffith, is deaf and (#196,Vice President Gore) blind. (#196,Vice President Gore) There will be MANY opportunities (#65,Larry H. Lewis) Thank you (#196,Vice President Gore) for the disabled to use (#196,Vice President Gore) their minds productively on (#196,Vice President Gore) networks. Deaf and blind? I found myself crying as I read those words. Like a panic, it hit me in the pit of my stomach. My God! I was thinking about a woman I knew at college, Martha. For one semester I was her eyes and fingers, retrieving books from the library shelves and reading texts into a tape recorder. Martha was always frustrated that she couldn't do these things for herself. She was confined to a wheelchair, and nearly blind. But her mind was sharp. She made it through that term on sheer will and determination. And this woman, Georgia Griffith, runs the White House forum on CompuServe. Her eyes and ears are useless, and yet she is USEFUL. She communicates with hundreds, perhaps thousands of people. That one fact means more to me than mountains of white paper studies and policies. Martha, your day has come. As the VP said, there will be MANY opportunites. **Welcome back This seems like a good way to say welcome back to hungary-online. It's been a long, hot summer and it's not over yet. Surely you've noticed the list has been quiet. The postings petered down to a trickle and then finally stopped. The most exciting thing this summer was when we were spammed by somebody inviting us to meet Russian girls through the classified ads. Oh boy. This summer I've been busy with a small team putting together a new company called iSYS Hungary. I'm now an Internet provider. Ironically I've been so busy I've spent very little time on the net. In the meantime, many things have happened in the Hungarian Internet world. In the days and weeks to come I'll tell you what's up. I've also like to introduce a few interesting people to the list. And since a few HOLers are over here in Hungary for the summer holiday it might be fun to convoke another physical meeting. The last one, at the Feszek, was pretty good fun. Anyway, back to work. We've got far too much to do over here, and never enough time. But that's nothing new. See you online - =steve= --- Steven Carlson iSYS Hungary steve@isys.hu ############# # This message to Hungary-Online-announce@hungary.yak.net # was from steve@isys.hu (Steven Carlson) # # To unsubscribe, # send "unsubscribe" to # For a full subscription (rather than this announcement-only subscription) # mail "subscribe" to # Send mail to for more information, # or to if you need human assistance. #############