Foreword

Few companies have the opportunity to display a living icon or mascot. One well-known company has a clown portrayed by various actors, another has a colonel, and others use animated animals or people.

On the other hand, JDR has been fortunate enough to be associated with a real, living icon through the years. Derick Moore is as rambunctious and fun as his High-Tech Corners have hinted. The picture you see in each article is the same guy who gently pokes fun at "follicly disadvantaged" (bald) people and even our Company President.

His sense of humor, combined with a ceaseless desire to understand the latest technology, makes him ideal for discussing the latest electronics topics. And as you may see from this collection of about 100 articles, Derick always demonstrates a strong ability to predict future trends.

Derick possesses a skill very unique in the technical trades. He can write clearly, concisely and still make the information fun and useful. Perhaps that is the reason people call us asking when the next catalog will arrive with new High-Tech Corners.

Over the last 5 years, some of the articles have become somewhat outdated. It is hard to believe how much the industry has changed, but this book will certainly spark a few poorly used synapses -- do you remember when 640 x 480 VGA was a dream and the rest of us had EGA, CGA or monochrome?

In his traditional style, Derick embellished many of the articles by adding recent afterthoughts. These views are only available in this book! Each follows the matching article and is in italics. We hope that each provides a greater understanding of the articles, the changes and Derick himself! (You'll also find out how a Dr. Seuss book influenced an article!)

Whether you're an experienced programmer, hardware developer, systems integrator, hobbyist or novice PC user, we're sure Derick's comments have some value in your computer world. So turn your system off, go to a more relaxing room, and get comfortable.

Enjoy!

Table of Content : Preface>