CONNECT THE WORLD WITH MERLIN UPDATE #6 June 7, 1996 Dear Merlin volunteers, PROJECT STATUS 1. VOLUNTEERS As many of you know, we released a "Call for Volunteers" last Monday, June 3rd. This was e-mailed to representatives from Team OS/2 and OS/2 User Groups around the world. It was also posted on the Internet at: USENET NEWSGROUPS Team OS/2 news & discussion alt.org.team-os2 User Groups, planning and meetings comp.org.user-groups.meetings OS/2 News & Announcements comp.os.os2.announce Australian discussion on OS/2 aus.computers.os2 Germany supporting OS/2 de.comp.os.os2.advocacy Japanese discussion of OS/2 fj.os.os2 Systeme OS/2 d'IBM (France) fr.comp.os.os2 WORLD WIDE WEB The Best of OS/2 on the Worldwide Web http://www.aescon.com/bestofos2 Also, on America Online (Team OS/2 section) and CompuServe (OS/2 User Groups and Team OS/2 sections). In addition, Peter Lazenby's Team OS/2 Projects web page in Kitimat, BC (http://www.teamos2.org/projects/index.html) now has links to our sign-up sheet. In the four days since the announcement was released, the response has been overwhelming! In that short time, we received over 100 new applications for volunteers. OUR VOLUNTEERS NOW INCLUDE: +300 volunteers representing 30 countries - We would like to welcome volunteers from Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Mexico, Slovania, and Taiwan to the project. In particular, the Brazilians have enthusiastically embraced the project. BUT WHERE IS ITALY AND SOUTH KOREA???? We now have 39 of the 50 United States participating. BUT WHERE IS?: Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming BUT WE CAN'T STOP HERE. WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS FOR THE PROJECT. PLEASE KEEP RECRUITING! 2. EVENT DATE Unfortunately, we have not set the date for the event yet. I am still having discussions with the Merlin launch team. We have ruled out September for a variety of reasons (including Jewish religious holidays). Most likely in will be in October. I hope to resolve this soon. 3. SCRIPT I have begun work on the script which will be delivered in both INF and HTML formats. I have determined that it will be necessary to divide the script into two parts: Part I - for site selection, determining personnel requirements, and other preparatory items. Part II - the actual script for the presentation. We will not know exactly how to to write this until we get the beta-code (now scheduled for mid-June). One of our volunteers has come forward to offer his services; David Moskowitz, who is no stranger to demonstrating OS/2, has offered to help prepare the script (Part II). We welcome his advice. I hope to get Part I out very soon. By the way, many thanks to the people who suggested various web sites to visit during the demo. This will be included in the script. 4. VENDORS As most of you know, we are hoping to demonstrate the latest offerings from Lotus in the event. However, I have also been in contact with other vendors to solicit the use of their native OS/2 based products during the event: * Volunteer Joel Krautheim of SPG is considering a special demonstration version of his ColorWorks product (v2.0). * Bryan Minor of Mt. Baker Software may be able to give us a demo version of his company's new Money Tree product for OS/2 (also scheduled for release this Fall). Money Tree is a financial planning/management application (a la Quicken). * For games, I hope to have a real surprise for you; a state of the art OS/2 based killer app which I just saw the other night. 5. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS IBM is still in the process of specifying the hardware requirements for the demonstration (which will be included in Part I of the Script). This will include requirements for speech navigation (e.g., microphones). 6. WEB PAGE Work on the web page is progressing nicely: * IBM is still in the process of selecting a suitable web site/server for the event (possibly equipment left over from the Olympics). * We also have to resolve (with IBM) which web browsers to use and how to access the web site. * Lyne Eaker & Jim Whitelaw of the Central Alberta OS/2 (CAOS/2) Users' Group in Edmonton, Canada have graciously volunteered their web site as our back-up. * Breckan Morris & Craig Andrew Bradney of Sydney, NSW, Australia have been diligently putting our web map together. They have a working prototype in place. If you would like to see what they have come up with so far, point your web browsers at: http://www.usyd.edu.au/~bmorris You can also access our original mock-up from there. PLEASE REMEMBER, THE WEB PAGE IS STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT; BOTH THE WORLD MAP AND MOCK-UP ARE JUST THAT: "WORKING MOCK-UPS," AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE FINAL VERSION. I think Breckan & Craig are doing an outstanding job. I hope you do too. 7. THE LOGO The logo developed by Algis Zakarauskas of Winston Hills, NSW, Australia has received rave reviews from both the volunteers and IBM. However, we cannot use the word, "Merlin" in the logo and we will, consequently, have to eliminate it from the logo. PLEASE REMEMBER THE MERLIN LOGO WE RELEASED A FEW WEEKS AGO IS STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT. IT IS NOT "OFFICIAL" YET. Hopefully, Algis will have something for us soon. Also, due to the laws governing trademarks, the name "Merlin" will not be used in the final product (the final name is yet to be announced by IBM). "Merlin" is the code-name for the project, not the final product. 8. ADVICE Based on the last update (May 24th), I have heard from various user groups who have already met to plot their strategy locally: - Las Vegas users have already organized a project team and begun to select demo sites. - Connecticut users are contacting local computer stores. - And within our own Tampa Bay OS/2 Users' Group (TBOUG), we have already targeted four computer stores and a local university. Like I mentioned in the May 24th update, NOW IS THE TIME TO GET ORGANIZED! - Contact and meet with local volunteers participating in the project. Attached, please find the latest log of volunteers by e-mail address and telephone number. - Recruit additional volunteers from your area. Please register your volunteers with me by e-mailing their: Name, Address, Telephone, Fax, Web page (if any), BBS (if any); also, please indicate if he/she is a member of an OS/2 user group and/or Team OS/2. Remember, you can also register through our web page at: http://warp.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/connect/review.html - Start selecting sites for the demo (e.g., computer super stores and universities). Again, I will provide advice for these items in Part I of the Script. 9. Please note: a copy of this file is available on our BBS (+01-813/786-4567) as MERL0607.ZIP That's all for now. I'll keep you abreast of developments as they occur. Stay tuned! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Regards, Tim Bryce Editor, OS/2 CONNECT M. Bryce & Associates, Inc. (MBA) 777 Alderman Road Palm Harbor, FL 34683 United States Tel: 813/786-4567 Fax: 813/786-4765 BBS: 813/786-4864 E-Mail: TimB1557@aol.com CompuServe: 76235,2364 IBM Link: MA00890 WWW: http://warp.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/connect/ Since 1971: "Software for the finest computer - the Mind"