The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

April 1995

Out and About (Con't from page 3)

occurred since our last meeting. Here’s just a few

Forget “The Computer Chronicles”, “Home Office

Computing”, and all those other TV computer

shows. On April 5, a new show, “Cyberspace”,

debuted on The Discovery Channel. Topics that will

be consistently be addressed include everything

from the InterNet to Virtual Reality. AT&T is under-

writing the show, so you also get brief glimpses into

the future of communications during the commer-

cials. This is a very powerful show that doesn’t

deserve to be missed. So check out your local

cable listings and tune in.

CompuServe, one of the nation’s largest online

services, will broaden the access it provides to the

Internet and invest more than $300 million in new

equipment, software, and security, the company

announced on April 10. C’Serve will allow its 2

million subscribers to have three hours of access to

the ‘Net as part of its regular $9.95 monthly fee. It

will also upgrade its software to allow access to the

World Wide Web, a part of the ‘Net where docu-

ments and services are easily linked. One of its

competitors, Prodigy Services Co., has provided

Web and ‘Net access since January.

According to the latest FoxPro AdvIsor (May issue),

the tnumverate announced at DevCon has in-

creased to eight Mike Feltman (Neon!

FoxExpress), V. Alan Griver ("YAG" of CodeBook/

Flash Creative Management fame), and Alan

Schwartz (Micromega Systems, Inc.) have been

joined by Hentzenwerke, Performance Dynamics

Associates, Korenthal Associates, SBT Account-

ing Systems, and Cascade Interactive Designs as

vendors who will be developing the next versions of

their products based on the Codebook specs for

design and code reuseability. “Products from the

companies will be evaluated and certified as

Codebook Compliant or Code book Compatible and

will bear an appropriate logo.” The really interesting

part of all of this maneuvering is that it portends a

common class library and “unification” within the

Visual FoxPro community, departing from the “roll-

your-own” methodologies some FoxPro developers

have been using for years.

Speaking of FoxExpress. . . .Version 2.6, the up-

grade, is about to be released. Among the many

enhancements are 23 security levels, built-in

GENSCRNX support, data dictionary enhancements,

improved reporting options, and an event-driven

interface. Current users can upgrade for $39. And

this time, it even comes with documentation. (Visual

FoxExpress is in the works and on the horizon.)

Those interested may call Neon at (419) 255-NEON.

“Further Adventures of Mr. Bill” Department. Bill

Gates has joined forces with the Hollywood “dream

team” of Steven Spielberg et a! by announcing his

involvement in the first major Hollywood Studio to

come along in years. One of the more “silenr inves-

tors in this venture is Paul AlIen. If the name doesn’t

sound familiar, he and Bill co-founded Microsoft.

He’s still one of the major shareholders in MS. Most

everyone is up-to-date on Gates, Spielberg, and

company but what about Paul Allen?

Besides being involved in the Dream Team Venture,

Allen is funding an effort by Al Hendricks, the late

Jimi Hendrix’s father, to regain control of Jimi’s

publishing rights, catalog, etc., that Al claims to have

unknowingly signed away. The case goes to court in

June and is further compounded by James

Sundquist, 25, recognized by the Swedish Supreme

Court as Jimi's son, who has filed suits to be recog-

nized as Jimi’s rightful heir and claim damages.

Allen is a Hendrix fanatic. But he isn’t doing this all

out of the goodness of his heart. Allen wants to build

a Hendnx Museum to immortalize the rock icon and

very much needs the court’s favorable decision to

open the doors. Furthermore, if the suit is decided in

Hendricks’ favor, the museum will have exclusive

rights to exhibit Jimi’s name and likeness, create and

sell merchandise, mount interactive displays, and

open a theme restaurant. It has sought these rights

for 100 years for free.

To get to the bottom line, Allen brings more to the

Dream Team table than just financial support. He

stands to profit on three different levels if all the

pieces of the puzzle fit together.

[For those who want to see just how busy cyber-

space is with Jimi, and what the potential market is,

try the Usenet group, alt.music.)imz.hendrir.)

The Orange County FoxPro Developers Group has

put together an education committee comprised of

Larry McQuerrey, Frank Picchione, Barry Lee, and

(Con't, page 7)

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