A letter from Ulyanovsk to Samara: a ZX CD collection, a better viewer than X-COLOR, and restored newspaper issues

From Maxwell^Jurassic soft (Ulyanovsk, Russia) To Unbeliver^SPEED co. (Samara, Russia) 22 January 1998

A damaged DEJA VU disc and a request to send it back are discussed, along with friends' reactions to the RGB AGRESSION demo and the idea of writing a more advanced viewer to replace X-COLOR. A PROGRAF demo sent to the ZX.SPECTRUM echo group is mentioned, along with a drive to gather demand for a ZX software collection on CD-ROM: there are several confirmed buyers, and prepayment, warranties, and a possible in-person meeting in Samara are discussed. Also discussed are a trip cancelled "on a whim," a request for a phone number (with instructions on how to contact a neighbor if they're away), information about recovered newspaper issues, and interest in SCENERGY magazine.

HELLO, MAX! Thank you for the letter and the discs you sent me! I was disappointed, however, that the DEJA VU disc turned out to be dead, and I never got to see it. So, if you can, please send it to me again (just don't beat me up for starting the letter with a request). :))) I just wanted to say a few more words about RGB AGRESSION. The reaction of the other Ulyanovsk guys was pretty much what I expected. Or rather, the same as mine ("WOW! Wow! Where did I see that?" etc.). Everyone wants more. You wrote that you're looking for a better viewer than X-COLOR. What if we write one ourselves? Our team wouldn't mind taking it on. Just tell us what exactly you'd like to see in it. Since you brought it up, you get to speak first! The other day I visited my friend (that very same FidoNet user). It turns out he's already subscribed to ZX.SPECTRUM. And I saw a demo version of PROGRAF. Thanks for uploading it (and to my FidoNet user friend too)! All your suggestions will be taken into account, as well as what I read in echo (about how the menus are so hard to navigate). We'll keep writing and wait for everyone else's reactions. Now about the ZX CD-ROM collection: I asked everyone I've seen if they'd be interested in buying something like this. There were far more people interested than I expected. Four people (including me) will DEFINITELY buy the disc, and five more are still in the works (if they have the money). Overall, this is a really great idea! If you need anything else besides demand research, let me know. I'll be happy to help! Now, my question: if all this is prepaid (and people agree to that), how will I transfer the money to you? I'm actually planning to come to Samara to visit you (somewhere around the end of February or beginning of March), so I could bring the money with me. And I also need guarantees that the money won't be lost. That's assuming prepayment. Anything can happen (it looks like Inforcom has disappeared from Spectrum's life for good). So there shouldn't be any problems with a lack of customers here. We'll be waiting! You really screwed me over with the trip! :) I didn't receive your letter in time, and I was just about to go to you on a whim. Well, I thought I'd go on the 5th... And then on the 4th, I received a letter with such lines that my teeth started to ache and I was overcome with nervous tremors ("...I've been taking exams all January..."). :))) As they say, "Who has it easy these days?" Also, if you have a phone number, please text me. Sometimes I really need to get in touch quickly, and it's difficult without a phone. Anticipating a counter-question, I immediately answer: I don't have a phone, but if you really need to, you can call a friend (he lives three floors up) and tearfully ask him to run and get me (say something like, "PLEASE call Maxim Mineev from apartment 133") or just leave him a message (not on the answering machine). Phone: 25-56-49. I've burned the restored issues of the newspaper (10th and 11th) onto discs for you. I haven't restored issue 12 yet (I'm desperately short on time). I've sent you some other stuff (I don't know what) and a FIKUS/FLASH file. Maybe you already have it. One more request: I've heard a lot about the SCENERGY magazine from PROGRESS and DR, but I haven't had a chance to see it yet. If you have one, I'd be grateful if you could send it to me. Oh, and I also burned my music to a 3.5" disc (.s3m format), check it out. And thanks for the photos! But I still couldn't convert mine. Good Lord, is our city really so poor that no one has a decent scanner? A friend of mine never got his fixed... He found another one, but it was a manual one, and it was black and white... I just can't get it to convert. Well, that's all for now, I think. Happy New Year and Merry Christmas to you! (Soon, we'll have to start congratulating you on February 23rd... :)) P.S. Say hi to ALK and everyone else! P.P.S. Speaking of the weather: Damn! You can't figure it out! Sometimes it's -38°C, sometimes it's +8°C. We have a digital clock with a thermometer hanging above the entrance. It's started glitching in the cold: sometimes it'll show -89°C, sometimes it'll show -108°F, sometimes it'll show -128°F, sometimes it'll show -138°F, sometimes it'll show -148°F, sometimes it'll show -158°F, sometimes it'll show -168°F, sometimes it'll show -178°F, sometimes it'll show -188°F, sometimes it'll show -19 ... Sometimes it was +56, sometimes -06. Then the time got all wrong (sometimes 1:45, sometimes 37:23...). And when it got warmer, the electrons in the wires apparently started running in the wrong direction. Now the temperature is holding steady at -00. :))) 432031, Ulyanovsk Zavodskoy Ave. 27-133 Mineev M.B. MAXWELL JURASSIC SOFT TECHNOLOGY insys January 22.01.9... already 98