Nimrod
Some of you will be familiar with Elgar's beautiful variation on a theme. You will know that it is associated with valediction - farewells. After two years at the helm of Overload, I regret that I must move on. As a self-employed consultant with a strong, and time-consuming, involvement in international standards, I find less and less time to devote to Overload the dedication it deserves. Pulling the magazine onto a six-issues-a-year schedule has been challenging, rewarding and fun. 1996 saw only five issues and my last editorial indicated, I hope, my frustration at this impending state of affairs.
A couple of volunteers came forward to assist with editing, which I greatly appreciate, but both said they did not have the time to commit to overall editorship. Which means that someone needs to step forward, as I did two years ago, to ensure the continued growth of the magazine. I hope someone will do so. I will be on hand to assist with issue 19 but it is my intent to move to California in the next year or so and producing Overload from across the pond, whilst possible, might be less than satisfactory in terms of schedule.
Coffee. Tea or Me? 1
Java continues to progress on all fronts. It matures as a language, as raw technology and in pure popularity. More and more web sites are taking advantage of the sophistication that Java applets allow - not always successfully - and many UK companies are now investigating how they can benefit from using Java for some aspect of their business.
I'm writing this on a flight from Heathrow to Chicago, en route to San Francisco and the second Java Study Group meeting. The UK have formed an official panel, IST/5/-/53, to track the work of the SC22-backed JSG and provide input from UK companies and individuals. So far, only the UK and France have been this organised: France is generally following UK policy, with a few exceptions, and I hope we can continue close cooperation. The UK are providing a four-strong delegation to JSG and I am head of that delegation. If you are interested in contributing, contact the convenor: Derek Jones <derek@knosof.co.uk> of Knowledge Software Ltd. I'd like to think that this level of organisation shows how committed UK and French companies are to leading edge technology - if you are using Java for some aspect of your work, consider writing it up for future issues of Overload.
Looking forward
I expect to continue writing for Overload. I have a backlog of books to review for a start and I shall be writing more about Java and probably also about Smalltalk. I hope that future editors might find my submissions on non-C++ languages to be sufficiently interesting as to publish them in Overload. I have also been asked to write for other magazines and, if I have time and inclination, I shall probably do so.
The Outgoing Editor
sean@ocsltd.com
Joint issue number
A word from Francis:
Whatever efforts are put in by future editors during the remainder of this subscription year, we are not going to manage more than five issues of Overload (and it is going to need more involvement by the readership to achieve even that). There will be a suitable discount at renewal time to compensate for this shortfall in promised issues. However, for arcane technical reasons related to Overload having an ISSN number, this issue is numbered as both 17 and 18.
Francis Glassborow
francis@robinton.demon.co.uk
Stop Press!
Alan Griffiths has volunteered to edit Overload 19: please send submissions to: overload@octopull.demon.co.uk Thankyou Alan!
1 Does anyone remember this hilarious book about the trials and tribulations of Pan American airline stewardesses?
