The next meeting of the Visually Impaired Pittsburgh Area Computer
Enthusiasts (VIPACE) will celebrate the life of Willie Wilson.  The meeting
will be held on Tuesday, February 19, 2002, from 6:00 PM until 8:30 PM at
Pittsburgh Vision Services, 300 South Craig Street, in the Oakland area of
Pittsburgh.  Their phone number is 412-682-5600.  We will go out for
beverages and food afterwards at the Panther Hollow Inn at 4611 Forbes
Avenue, about a five minute walk from PVS.  Please plan to join if you can.

The bulk of the meeting will evolve around listenning to the internet
broadcast of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) Radio's program Main
Menu hosted by Jonathan Mosen in New Zealand.  The February 19th episode of
Main Menu is dedicated to Willie Wilson, the electronic bulletin board
system he began called Blink Link, and the early days of computer bulletin
board systems and gaming.  We hope that each of you that knew Willie Wilson
or were affected by his work will come be a part of this tribute.  We will
have an opportunity to dial in during the program and discuss our own
memories of Willie as well as other thoughts relating to the show.

Willie Wilson's work is what evolved into the forming of VIPACE.  To have as
many members together as possible to share in this meeting will be a
wonderful way of paying respects to a great person.

Prior to the broadcast, we will take some brief time to have a group
discussion on new technology, future meeting plans, as well as other items
of interest.

If you have any questions, please contact Mike Gravitt at 412-344-2313 or at
[log in to unmask]

For your information below is an announcement from ACB Radio regarding the
Main Menu episode.

Begin of message from host Jonathan Mosen:

This week on Main Menu, join us for a comprehensive two hour demonstration
and review of the Kurzweil 1000 OCR package.

We'd also like to give you advanced notice of a special Main Menu that will
broadcast next week at a different time.

Last week, we were deeply saddened to here of the death of Willie Wilson, a
man whose boundless energy, technical skill, and infectious enthusiasm
brought blind people together like never before through his Blink Link
Bulletin board and international Blink Link Fidonet echo. Next week, we'll
be dedicating Main Menu to Willie's memory. The show, which will air live,
will invite contributions via telephone and the Speak Freely Internet Phone.
We'll look forward to your memories of Willie. And although the focus will
of course be on Willie and his contribution, we'd also like to reflect a
little on the whole BBS era, the software that used to be around, the games
we played, the echoes we used to use.

What's particularly special about this is that the VIPACE group which Willie
founded will be holding a special meeting in Pittsburgh, so people there can
gather to hear, and contribute to, the show. For that reason, the time for
Main Menu next week will be different. It will be on Tuesday evening 19
February, at 23:30 Universal time, that's 6:30 Eastern, 3:30 Pacific, on ACB
Radio mainstream. This is one you'll want to hear live, and we look forward
to your contributions.

Jonathan Mosen


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