I just spent some time converting a bunch of my old newsletters from the 90s and early 2000s called ComputerFAQs into PDFs and put them online. Most of the older files were in WordPerfect format, so they did not transfer over properly. Some of the fonts, outlines, and spacing got messed up, and a few images did not copy over at all. It is the best I have for now until I can find better copies. I know they are stored somewhere.

Back in the 90s, when I started my first company doing PC sales and service, I used to advertise with a fax newsletter. Yes, I actually faxed a newsletter to businesses in the Buffalo and Western New York area. Believe it or not, at one point I had over 30,000 subscribers. I had a bank of six old PCs with fax-modems running 24/7. It was nuts.

It all started with me randomly faxing businesses in the area. Word caught on, and more and more people started calling and asking for it. I even used to get calls from people complaining if they didn't get their newsletter that week. This was, of course, before the unsolicited fax laws that exist now. Back then, it was a gray area.

I never faxed anyone who did not ask for it. Well, at least not after the beginning. In the early days, I went through the phone book and added any business that listed a fax number to my database. There was a local publication called Business First that published a "Top 25" list every week for different business categories. The list included contact info including their fax number. To me that was gold! I know, I know. I was 23 and just trying to hustle. Anything to make a buck. I got a few complaints here and there, but most people were surprisingly cool about it.

Anyhow, if you want a walk down memory lane, there is a lot of fun old content in those newsletters. In the first issue, I was talking about running Doom 2 on a machine with 8 megs of RAM and an old operating system called OS/2 Warp. Good times.

So, if you are curious about my history or want to see some of the crazy stuff I used to do, check it out.

Live long and prosper.
RR