My friend, Harry, was welcomed by Steve Perlman on 5/31/97. I met Harry when I ran into his Progressive Elite site while cruising the net. I found myself staring at every page with glee. I'm thinking, here is a guy who likes the same kind of music I do. Is that cool or what? After e-mailing him and mentioning how wonderful his pages were, we soon became friends. Ted, a friend of Harry's from his neighborhood, runs the electronics department at a "sell everything store" in the Bronx, New York City. It was there that Harry typed in the words "Library of Congress" and POOF, there it was. Harry says: "I suddenly had access to whatever documents the Library of Congress had on line. I was dumbfounded. I had heard of the Internet and of e-mail, but I had no firsthand knowledge of either. I've never owned a computer and am computer illiterate. This was my very first on-line excursion out of the Bronx and into the whole world. Here, suddenly, was a library so big I could spend a lifetime in it and barely scratch it's surface."
Now that is the way I felt when first entering Progressive Elite. I mean, how many people actually know who Kate Bush is? Harry tells me, "The second thing that caught my interest was the fact that there were services online that matched up men and women based on their interests and commonalties. I was divorced and had recently ended a relationship. It seemed like it was worth a try, and I'd be anonymous." Well, Harry, so much for "being anonymous." Don't worry, my friend, I will not show anyone this interview. Trust me. LOL!
Harry feels comfortable using online dating services and communicating with people he doesn't really know. He tells me, "There were several women with whom I seemed to hit it off and I even entered into a few relationships with women I had met this way. It's sad to say that many of the women I spoke with told me stories of deception and how they had been hurt in the past. That was why they used these dating services. There was at least some screening process before you could subscribe and you could retain your anonymity for as long as you wanted." Harry stated that it is this online dating that brought about the story of how WebTV helped save his life.
I can only imagine the shock Harry must of felt, upon hearing the gruesome news. As Harry tells it, "I met a woman through a dating service and we formed a relationship. It was a wonderful experience while it lasted. We were quite different in many ways but that made it more interesting for us. One of our differences involved routine medical visits. I never did them. She believed in periodic check ups." Harry had a small bump on his back since he was a teenager. The doctor told him what it was and said not to worry about it. "During the course of our relationship, I developed a lump on the front of my shoulder. I can say with certainty that I would not have had it looked at, I would not have given it a second thought, but for the urging of my lady friend. I begrudgingly went to the doctor's office with her at my side and learned that it was a tumor and it had to come out. I was actually angry with her for making me go through all this. I made the appointment, had the ambulatory surgery and was home the same day."
That sounds straightforward enough Harry. What happened next? "A week later, I went to the doctor for the routine follow up visit. The pathology report said that what I actually had was a very rare type of sarcoma."
Now this is where Harry tells me that WebTV has had the single biggest effect on his life. This is when, I suspect, my friend will always be grateful for WebTV. Harry goes on, "I did the research and learned that my surgeon was not at fault in the least. The literature said that surgeons typically don't devote much thought to this type of sarcoma since they will almost certainly never see one in their lifetimes." Harry said that with WebTV, "I found that the largest study of that particular sarcoma to date included only 29 subjects. The fact that this sarcoma masks itself as a benign tumor is what makes it particularly insidious and potentially fatal." He went on to say, "I set up four separate pathology reports and four separate consultations because I KNEW this could not be happening to me, but they all returned with basically the same results. I needed another, much more extensive, surgery and I needed it soon. This one was not ambulatory. In my short-term future, were several weeks in the hospital and radiation therapy if I intended to have a long-term future. I asked what would have happened if I hadn't gone to the doctor in the first place. The answer is easy to guess. Had it not been for the 'nagging' of this woman I met on line, I probably would not be writing these words right now." And that dear readers, is why Harry is still here. That I could interview him and ruin his life, is my pleasure.
I asked Harry to list the groups he belonged to and he said, "I am currently a member of ADH - Homepage Helper and their affiliate newsgroup alt.discuss.homepage, along with Homepage Opinions. Anything else Harry? "I receive regular updates from Javascript.com".
While interviewing Harry, I thought back to when I first made his acquaintance. At that time, I always needed help with one thing or another. (Hard as that is to believe!) Harry had answers, just swimming around in his head. I had questions and I needed to go fishing . I remember it only took one e-mail to get the right answer...all the answers, all the time! That's my friend, Harry.
So naturally, I asked Harry what does he get out of it? He answers, "As time permits, I help others with questions. It's always somewhat ironic and amusing when I'm asked a question that I, myself, asked just a short time previously." That must be a strange feeling, and a humorous one at that. So I asked Harry to continue. "I frequently include that fact in my answer and sometimes drop a hint that the respondent might want to stick around a little while and give back some of the generosity and time they were given when they had questions. I enjoy helping people very much and try to answer every e-mail I receive. If I know the answer to a given question, I will answer it. If not, I will direct the person to someone who is able to help. Personally, I get a sense of fulfillment and the knowledge that I made someone's study of HTML a little easier. Maybe I made it possible for someone to finish a project a little bit sooner." It is easy to see why, Harry has so many good friends.
Well now Harry, please tell me, do you have a love life? Any family you can tell me about? Harry hesitating, replied, "I met someone over a year ago, with whom I felt an immediate closeness. We recently (finally) met and we now feel even closer and happier that we know each other. It might develop into something and I would not want to jinx it here." What are you saying, my friend? You don't think I would include that little morsel of fun, in this interview, do you? Go on please. "Yes, WebTV can and does bring people together, who would otherwise have never heard of each other. I found the woman mentioned above, in my e-mail signature so you never know where someone will pop up." And your family, Harry? "As to my family, I have a mom in Florida, and a brother and sister, both married, (not to each other) living here in New York. My brother and his wife have a two year old boy, who looks and sometimes acts like Einstein. He can be of a singular mind (lol). My sister is just now becoming an online person, while my brother has been online for a number of years. He is now a senior member of one of the cutting edge technology companies. They have just recently begun releasing consumer products in addition to industry only products. One of their consumer products is a CD-ROM that will do for your computer everything that a state of the art VCR does for your television. I'm very proud of him and his company's successes and affiliations. They are currently best known for their superior digital video compression software: The Duck Corporation."
Can you tell me, Harry, who might have influenced you in the beginning? Harry replied, "I'll start with Owens4 who helped me finish my first project, the F-Key˛. They have been so generous with their time and advice. Advice I can actually use. With their help, I made some wonderful advances in the ability to have more websites immediately accessible for webpage design or any other purpose." I have been using Owens4 for a long time myself, Harry, so how did he help you? A smiling Harry responds, "Owens4 created the most efficient design for storing many websites, on one easily accessible page. I just elaborated on their design by replacing their buttons with javascript pull down menus. I called the page the F-Key˛ in homage to Owens4 and their F-Key Saver. I have found "povertystricken" to be a wonderful and nice person, (even though he's from Brooklyn :-) ) and has helped me a good deal. Another great friend, who recently sent me a copy of the first letter I wrote to him, in which I was polite, albeit condescending, is Mike Chestney. This is truly a gentleman. I am honored to call him my friend. When I get upset at something petty and fly off the handle, it's usually a letter from Mike that brings me back to Earth. Thank you Mike. Your F-Key requires a shuttle bus to get from one end to the other but I love ya just the same." :-)
Anyone else Harry? "Furler...a one time stranger who has since become my partner in design and who knows more about this stuff than I do. When I was putting together the F@key, and had just figured out how to get more than one of Hootie's custom jumpboxes onto a page at the same time, Furler's aid was invaluable and tireless. I was going to put only one, then three, then nine custom jumpboxes on the page. I suddenly got an e-mail and an attachment from Furler, it was a prototype of a page with 24 jumpboxes on it. We went with that idea." hms56 F@ Key "I think of all the people who have shown me, by example...all the best about the WebTV community...Furler stands out like a beacon of morals and ethics. I don't get away with not giving credit where it's due when Furler's around." (Not that I would do such a thing anyway).
Do you remember, Harry, when I asked you to explain IRC's and Chat? Could you repeat that for me now? Harry responds, "I owned WebTV almost a whole year before I went to my first chat. Mainly, I'm a terrible typist unless you don't count speed and spelling, then I'm a fine typist!" LOL! Please go on Harry, tell me more. "I entered one chat and saw the text fly up the screen so fast that by the time I answered someone's hello, I no longer saw that text. I look at my hands when I type and when I would look up, I saw sentences like 'You still here?' 'HEY YOU!' 'Guess he has nothing to say.' I quietly left." LOL! You're on a roll Harry, don't stop now! "I eventually tried again and found a room called Literazi lobby. I thought it must have something to do with literature, so I entered. It was not about literature, but it was a small group of people from all parts of the country who have a pleasant discussion. They were very patient with me and my slow typing, and one person, named adirondack6, sort of introduced me around. I am still grateful for that gesture. I am not intimidated by chats though I do not attend them regularly."
You once wrote me Harry, about a chat on Sunday nights. What was that all about? And Harry said, "I do try to never miss Dudette's chat on Sunday evenings. It's the only one I know of which is text, audio, and video. That is a lot of information to digest at once! It's also great fun, and informative. I learn the latest news about WebTV, its competition, and of course, there's the trivia game portion of the evening, (I'm a finalist!) which is a great deal of fun. Mainly, it's Dudette who keeps things light, humorous and interesting." That would be Dudette of Net4TV fame, I asked? "Yes," Harry answered. "I think she is extremely talented and has a gift for making a difficult task like that seem easy. There is also an unspoken bond between many of those who attend. We are somewhat more serious about IRCs, HTML and WebTV in general and therefore, we attract a much more mature bunch of people."
We are just about out of time, Harry. How would you like to wrap this interview up? My smiling friend replies, "If Edward R Murrow were alive, he would be utterly amazed at the potential of WebTV. He wrote so many things about television and its potential power to change the way we live. This is so much broader in scope than he would have dreamed. This is interactive. With Internet access and this kind of immediate communication, we can theoretically put someone into or take someone out of office in a matter of hours and it would truly be, Vox Populi! The voice of the people rather than the current political system with all its drawbacks. Perhaps we are not yet ready for that much power. In the meantime, I'll be content watching this technology evolve from a toy, to a communication's device, to a more sophisticated toy, to a more sophisticated communication's device, etc., etc. I'm glad to be living in so dynamic an era."
[Community Editor's Notes: Thanks Harry, for sharing everything about yourself. And thanks for your support of chat on Sunday nights. It is a great group of people. Lots of fun. See you there!--ck]
Harry
