★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ VINCE MERRELL ★ |
| Vince Merrell |
Having joined Micronet way back in 1985, Vince Merrell has graduated from Dragon 32 to a Prime EXL 1227 Minicomputer. Paul Needs found out what happened in between... Cagey 'Netter in his Prime Vince Merrell is a name familiar to readers of Micronet's "Amster's Cage", which is a Special Interest Group (SIG) for users of Amstrad CPC and PCW computers. Vince co-edits the area, adding his comments and replies to letters sent in by Cage readers each weekend. "The first time I heard of Micronet was at a Dragon show at London's Novotel. Someone asked me if I was interested in joining, but as I was too young I didn't at that time." When Vince had upgraded from the Dragon ("a great little machine") to an Amstrad CPC464 ("the one with the cassette deck"), and then upgraded further to an Amstrad PCW, he decided that he would join the 'Net, primarily so that he could use the HOBS home banking service. Once online, he became an avid reader of AMSNET, an Amstrad area run by former IPs Viewfax 258. Shortly after this, the Amster's Cage was launched by 'Netters Ian Hoare and Paul Needs, as an area to provide reviews and features of the CPC world. This expanded a little when Amstrad launched the PCW8256 and PCW 8512, and when Amsnet and Viewfax closed down their service on Prestel, Vince migrated fully to "The Cage". After simply reading articles on the Cage, and contributing to the letters area, he wrote several features for the Cage about the successful PCW range of machines - "In all, I must have been a contributor to the Cage for around three years, and in April of this year I became a co-editor of the area". Vince now works for Lloyd's of London Underwriters Hayter Brockbank plc as their Systems Administrator. The company keep a massive database which serves up to 48 users on a Prime EXL 1227 Unix minicomputer, and Vince has to make sure that the system (also including the terminals and network) is running at its best all of the time.
"It takes a lot of time", he told Log On. "I start quite early, and at the moment I often don't leave the office until 9 p.m. - and also have to put in some work on Saturdays". Between his commitments to his job and the Cage, Vince has little time to pursue his interest in music. He used to spend many hours in recording studios, and on one occasion his Micronet account played the part of an impromptu host for a "CelebChat" when he allowed members of one popular band of the time online to chat with 'Netters. These days, Vince uses an Amstrad 2086 at home, with Axis Professional software so he can edit Cage frames offline, and then bulk update them to Prestel's editing centre, "Duke". He also uses a Cambridge Z88 (in common with several other 'Net editors) for writing on the move. Like previous editors of the Amsters' Cage, Vince firmly believes that the SIG (Special Interest Group) belongs to its readers. "Without readers' letters, but also reviews and features, the Cage is far less valuable. It is run in our spare time, and obviously we cannot write everything about the Amstrad 8-bit computers ourselves". If you're interested in the Amstrad CPC or PCW machines, and can contribute the occasional review or feature, then do get in touch with Vince via the Cage (see box below). Remember, it isn't necessary for you to be a seasoned journalist, and your view on Amstrad software etc is important! Log on Issue 2.2 , Micronet Magazine
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