Depending on where you live, you've probably: a.) just finished shoveling snow for the last time this winter, or b.) mowed your lawn for the first time this summer. (Or maybe, c.) you live in a maintenance-free condo in Florida and don't have to worry about shovels or lawn mowers.) In any case, January 1991 is likely the farthest thing from your mind. For us, magazine seasons being what they are, 1991 is peeking over the masthead and we want your help in zeroing in on our 1991 Editorial Calendar. What we're looking for is a list of general topics you'd like covered in next year's DDJ.
We're trying to make it easy on you. If you'll turn to page 16 (home of Frank Jackson's article "Generation Scavenging"), you'll find a tear-out card with a list of possible topics. We'd like you to check-off or rank in order of preference (1 being most preferred) those topics of greatest interest. If the topic you're particularly interested in isn't on the list, use the available space for write-in candidates. And, as a matter of curiosity (and because we had room on the card), tell us which article DDJ published over the past few months you liked the best.
Be sure to include your name, address, and phone number, tear out the card, and drop it in the mail. It's already addressed and stamped.
We're also trying to make it worth your while. To provide some incentive for your mailing in the card, we'll have a random drawing around the end of June. If your card is drawn, you'll get your choice of whatever developer's tools are available on the following list. The first person selected gets to pick from the list, then the second person, and so on, right on down the roster. The companies listed below have generously donated their software to help us out, and by the time the drawing actually takes place there may very well be more tools available.
Actor 2.0 -- Whitewater Group
After the drawing, we'll publish a complete list of all winners and the software you selected. You're responsible for any taxes or duties. You don't have to purchase any product to enter the drawing, nor do you have to be a DDJ subscriber. You do have to fill out the card, however. (M&T Publishing and Computer Metrics employees aren't eligible.) We'll also publish next year's Editorial Calendar and give you plenty of time to start thinking about and writing articles.
I'm happy to have the opportunity to share these tools with you and am grateful to the vendors who helped out. More than that, however, I'm looking forward to seeing what topics are important to you.
Yes, we're still horsing around ... It's now official. We made Dr. Dobbs, the quarter horse I wrote about here last month, our honorary mascot after he won his first race. (Note that he's no longer classified as a "nag.") Earlier this racing season, the good Doctor had three photo finishes, all ending on the short side of the wire. Last Saturday's race, however, shaped up as yet another photo finish, but this time with Dr. Dobbs out in front by a nose. The crowd, if not the DDJ staff, went wild.
PCX Toolkit -- Genus Microprogramming
Bounds-Checker -- Nu-Mega Technologies
Smalltalk V/Mac -- Digitalk Inc.
dbVista for DOS -- Raima Corp.
Smalltalk V/286 -- Digitalk Inc.
DDJ Bound Volume Set -- M&T Books
Stony Brook Modula-2 -- Stony Brook Software
QRAM and MANIFEST -- Quarterdeck Office Systems
Think C 4.0 -- Symantec Corp.
Think Pascal 3.0 -- Symantec Corp.
Formation -- Aspen Scientific
TopSpeed C or Modula-2 -- Jensen & Partners Intl. Greenleaf ComLib -- Greenleaf Inc.
HCR/C++ -- HCR Corp.
Turbo C -- Borland Intl.
Instant-C -- Rational Systems Inc.
TurboPower Library -- TurboPower
Microsoft C -- Microsoft Corp.
Watcom C or Fortran -- Watcom Corp.
Microsoft Basic -- Microsoft Corp.
Zortech C++ -- Zortech Corp.