Letter from Sergius in Kovrov: Oberon Is Over, Waiting for a Reply from Samara

Hello, Maxim! It's Sergey again, aka Sergius. I hope you're doing well. It was sad to learn that Oberon_5 was the last issue. I simply have no words… A real shame. Although I understand the reason. Please accept my condolences. Still, it's good to know your writing talent won't go to waste and we'll still be able to read your work in the pages of Born. Sorry, but it looks like you didn't read my previous letter — or you skimmed through it at top speed. I was hoping to get answers to some of my questions. But don't tell me you have absolutely no time. To write me a reply, half an hour with pen and paper is enough, no more. And since you prefer handwriting, I decided this time to use paper too. Paper only, though — I'm too lazy to write by hand. I'm sending you one of our Kovrov newspapers, Trud i Zhizn ("Labor and Life"). It has an article by Paracels about FT'98. I liked it. Alexander really has a journalist's style. Now let me go through your letter. Honestly, your handwriting is terrible. At first reading I can make out only 8 letters out of 10. I have to reread it a couple of times — maybe that's your trick, so your letters aren't read in a single day and something new reveals itself each time. About the quality of my disks, I agree with you: they weren't made yesterday, and the previous owner wore them out thoroughly. But I've never had any trouble reading them, and this time was no exception. I don't know whether you formatted them, but they still read from start to finish without a single bad sector. I don't have any better blank disks, and in Kovrov we've had trouble buying new ones for about a year now. I recently installed a 3.5" drive, so you can send programs on any kind of disk. I don't have any of my own 3" disks yet (they're too expensive here), except one for MS-DOS. Thanks, by the way, for Oberon_5 and the other software. I hope you still have the first Oberon — I'd like to read it. We only have issues 2 through 4, and now 5 as well. As for the quality of the .jpg photos, I can't really argue — I don't know much about that. Shotgun handled it, so any complaints go to him. Thanks for the photos, but we haven't looked at them yet. We'll go over to Kulibin's place soon and "pic-view" them (most likely I'll have seen them by the time this parcel goes out). Once again, please tell me about the members of Speed Co. — at minimum (birthdays, role on the ZX scene) — and about anyone else in Samara besides you who is into the Spectrum. And in general, write about yourself: your interests beyond Speccy, whether you're studying or working, or maybe just loafing around :) . Do you read fiction, and what genre do you like? Just write about the weather in your city. I need to look at a map and check exactly where Samara is. I only remember that it's on the Volga. And Kovrov is on the Klyazma, for your information. If you're passing through, be sure to stop by — you have my address. Please copy the best Spectrum emulator you know of, in your opinion and at your own risk :) — one that can work with TR-DOS disks. I think you have one (Kulibin asked — he has a PC at home). I didn't understand: do you have a real Spectrum, or do you use an emulator? It's getting late, time to wrap up. Goodbye! Write back. We're waiting. See you in inter-sector space! SP. P.S. A huge, warm HELLO from Kovrov to all of Samara!!!!!!!! P.P.S. Please copy the full version of Magnetron with the title screen. Sergius Puzzler / Proxima Hackers Team