Interesting forums in pipeline

I BEGIN to wonder if some of the people at CompuServe are reading these articles. In my last column I mentioned the fact that there are various forums on CompuServe and now there is a host of them.

Some have already come and gone but there are quite a few interesting ones coming up. (I leave the times as they are given by CompuServe: in Eastern Standard Time, or EST, which is 13 hours behind Hong Kong.) On Thursday at 9 pm EST in the CompuServe Convention Centre (the command to get there is GO CONVENTION), there will be a talk with Greg Louganis, the American four-time gold medal winner in diving.

He will talk to CompuServe members about his autobiography, Breaking the Surface. He will talk about his homosexuality, his fight against AIDS, and his suicide attempts.

Also on Thursday, there will be Robert Fripp, founding member of KING CRIMSON. He will be on-line from 8 to 10 pm EST in the Recording Industry Forum (GO VIRGIN).

With the glitzy and totally superficial Academy Awards coming up you can chose to view it on CompuServe if you cannot stomach the television coverage.

CompuServe coverage begins on Monday March 27 from 9 to 12 pm EST (GO CONVENTION).

Last year, members were able to meet Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and many other winners. Perhaps you can meet Quentine Tarantino this year - at least we know that he can type.

For those of you familiar with one of America's comedic veterans, Joan Rivers will be in the CompuServe Convention Centre on Wednesday, March 29 at 9 pm EST.

Ms Rivers is sometimes called the 'Talk Show Queen of America' and is well known for her caustic tongue.

COMPUSERVE has always been one of the great centres for obtaining shareware and upgrades for software.

Recently, things really begun to take off. In the past 12 months activity at CompuServe's Shareware Registration Service has more than doubled. The number of registered software authors has risen to nearly 4,000.

It must be said that shareware is also available on the Internet, if you know where to find it.

The advantage of something like CompuServe is that they can also offer commercial upgrades and have the cost added to your CompuServe bill.

There is a distinct trend among software vendors to have software delivered this way. It makes it easier and quicker for both the customer and the software house.

CompuServe Hong Kong division manager Jean Ng said: 'Relationships between vendors and customers are changing, and becoming far more interactive.

'As well as getting a finished application as soon as it is ready, members now get involved as beta testers through the Shareware Beta Forum and give first hand user input at the development stage.' With more than 2.5 million members around the world, CompuServe is seen by developers as a very lucrative market place. It also has the potential of being a source for beta testers.

To access the shareware distribution and registration just type GO SWREG.