Here's to you, the readers of 60-Second Window. Here's to the past ten years, and here's to the next ten years... #120 Ten years of 60-Second Windows ONE EVENING IN A BOSTON CAFE Don Rittner suggested I partner up with him to begin a monthly column in his Mug News Service project. Sure, I said. So from that day in 1990 until today I’ve produced the syndicated monthly column called 60-Second Window. (More about this was written in our 100th -- Centenial Issue) ___ In the beginning the columns were mainly about desktop publishing. Tips and tricks I learned as the industry began to stretch and grow out of its infancy. Things like how to get rid of scan lines in Thunderscan. (Remember Thunderscan? The very first desktop scanner?) Other topics dealt with how amateur computer club newsletter editors could improve their newsletters, or how to get labels out of the ImageWriter printer without jamming, or how to add a spot color to a newsletter without costing an arm and a leg. Those were fun and exciting days. ___ All of these articles were well received (on diskette) by the newsletter editors of nearly 1,500 computer clubs (called user groups) around the world. They would reprint the articles in their local newsletters as ‘filler’... rather than clip-art, this was clip-editorial. Don and I did it for free, but the rewards were in seeing our writings appearing in local newsletters benefiting the “rest of us.” ___ As the years passed and the computer industry got more complicated, user groups got more sophisticated so the column began to spread out and cover current issues. Both Don and myself were community minded spirits cut from the cloth of the ‘60s, so we always loved a good cause. I would tackle the hard ones... like a virus that shipped on a commercial software disk... or upgrade charges for meager upgrades... or the whole world of font problems once Adobe decided to implement Type 1 Postscript fonts. Yup there were lots and lots of great issues to write about. ___ Things have changed quite a bit since 1990, and today the readers of user group newsletters, as well as the readers of DT&G, around the world seem to be proficient with their computers and no longer really need how-to help like the old days. But judging by the amount of email we get for 60-Second Window, many people still enjoy reading the issues I bring up. I’ve strived to maintain the momma’s arms philosophy, and stick up for the little guy. I continually look for topics that aren’t quite in the news, but should be. I look for ways to give you a little smile, or perhaps even voice the unpublished sentiments that you feel too. ___ Most of the titles found in these past 120 columns have been inspired or suggested by you, the reader -- and I want you to stay just as you are. I want you to keep on sending your notes. Some critics would point and sneer because we don’t have millions of readers like some of the other columns out there do. But you know -- we really don’t want those millions, do we? Someone would probably just try to prevent me from writing the way I do. Somehow it just wouldn’t be the same for the rest of us, would it? Thank you for reading... and here's to the next ten years. Good day! Fred Showker A longer version of this with other notes is in the Business Department of DT&G Fred Showker is a designer, consultant, writer and speaker. He has published 60-Second Window and DT&G Magazine online since 1990, and is director of The Graphic Design Network which includes The Design & Publishing Center at www.Graphic-Design.com. (1994) He was a co-founder of both The User Group Forum on America Online (1987), The User Group Network at www.User-Groups.net, (1994) and the Designers' Bookshelf (1996) He originally founded Showker Graphic Arts & Design in 1972, has been an avid computer activist and supporter since 1984. Got Comments??? back to the 60-Second Window Index, 60-Second Lobby . . . or: The Design & Publishing Center. / . The User Group Network. / . Design University. / . The Designers' Bookshelf. / Would you like to carry the 60-Second Windows column in your newsletter or web site? Ask us about our syndication program... join hundreds of others who now publish 60-Second Windows! Thank you for visiting http://www.60-second.com/ DT&G: The Electronic Journal for Design, Typography & Graphics c/o Showker Graphic Arts 15 SouthGate, Harrisonburg, VA 22801 TAD, Voice, FAX: (540) 433-8402 Thank you for visiting 60-second.com, graphic-design.com, user-groups.net, and all of the sites including The Design & Publishing Center, The User Group Network, The Graphic Design Network. We bring you 100% spam-free content for designers, illustrators, publishers, photographers, and visual graphics arts professionals from all corners of the world. http://www.graphic-design.com/DTG/ -- Contents Copyright (c) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001. 60-Second Window is trademark, copyrighted since 1990. DT&G Magazine, and The Design & Publishing Center invite you to visit Photoshop Tips & Tricks at: http://www.graphic-design.com/photoshop/. Reproduction or reuse of parts or all of this manuscript without prior written permission is expressly forbidden.