"I am willing to make you die for my country."
Corporal Punishment, "Phallus in Wonderland" (Gwar)
AN INTERVIEW WITH JULIAN RESCHKE
by Richard Karsmakers
One of the pillars of the German Atari scene is Julian Reschke.
To some of you his name might ring a bell, and to some perhaps
not. From January 1988 up to its demise he was the author of a
monthly column in the German "ST Magazine" about TOS programming,
he is the main supporter (and inventor?) of the XBRA protocol,
co-author of Sybex' semi-biclical "Atari Profibuch" and
programmer of stuff like "Bigscreen", "Flydials" (not "GfA
Flydials" though) and Hard'n'Soft's "SCSI-Tool". The Atari world
would be a poorer one without him, I think, so he more than
deserves to have his intestines laid out for the world to
examine.
Can you give us a short biography of your life and a run-down
of your social status?
I'm 28, born in Bremen (1965) and live alone with my Ataris :-)
Can you give us a short description of the surroundings where
you live?
I live in Muenster, which has almost 300,000 inhabitants and one
of the largest universities of Germany. The large number of
students (fortunately) makes it an interesting city.
Can you give us a description of your home, most specifically
the room where you do your work or another room that you perhaps
think deserves to be known better?
One room is a 'normal' living room with lots of books, CDs etc,
the other is smaller and full of computers, peripherals,
documentation. You wouldn't want to enter it...
Do you do any other work except for that through which most
people tend to know you?
Nope.
What is your local ST/TT/Falcon scene like?
Shrinking, sadly.
Which programs in your AUTO folder or ACC directory would you
rather not be without?
AUTO folder: "Maccel III", "NVDI", "Selectric", "TempleMon",
"Magxboot" and of course "MiNT". From the ACCs: Probably only
"XControl".
What is the latest program you've done? What kind of program is
it? What was the first program you ever wrote?
I'm currently working on CD-ROM drivers for MetaDOS, Mag!x and
MiNT. The first program I ever wrote was an attempt to write a
small game in ZX81-Basic.
What program(s) can we expect from you in the near future?
Only updates of what I've been working on all the time.
Which book(s) have you read recently that made most of
an impression on you?
The Star Trek novel "Q-In-Law" from Peter David was very funny.
And "Anvil of Stars" (Greg Bear) was very interesting.
What's your favourite music for flipping out (if ever you do)?
Working?
Flipping out? Prince or Rupert Hine played very loud works very
well. During work: Nothing, most of the time.
What computer hardware do you have?
Besides the ancient 8 Bit Ataris, I have a 260 ST, a TT and a
Falcon.
What computer tools do you use for your work?
"Gemini", "Pure-C", "QED", "TempleMon", "SysMon" and my
commandline tools.
What is the computer game you play most at the moment? What's
your all-time fave game?
Currently: hardly any. All-time-favorite: "Star Raiders" or
"Ballblaster".
What is the film you've been to recently that made most of an
impression on you?
"Fearless" (directed by Peter Weir, with Jeff Bridges and
Isabelle Rosselini).
Do you remember a film that struck you as being especially crap,
a film you was tempted to get a refund at the cinema for?
"Highlander 2" .-)
Who do you think is the most stunningly beautiful female to roam
the earth?
For example, I try not to miss pictures or shows with Michelle
Pfeiffer or Sherilyn Fenn.
What is to you the 1993 music release?
The The, "Dusk". But that was 12/92, as far as I remember.
What is your favourite holiday destination, and why?
Greece. Nice country, nice people.
Most cliché question of the interview (possibly): What's your
favourite food? And favourite drink?
Not potato chips. And not Cola.
Now for the "words to react to to", a section designed to raise
a sweat.
Former Yugoslavia.
Crazy.
The ozone layer.
There will have to be a hole over Europe before people will
really start to do something about it.
Software piracy.
Kills the Atari business.
MTV.
Except for "Unplugged" and Ray Cokes: Boring.
Guns'n'Roses.
I can live without them.
Michael Jackson.
No comment.
42.
There are other writers beside Douglas Adams :-) Try Pratchett.
Shareware.
Good thing - when people understand the concept.
And...er...ST NEWS.
I didn't know it until now.
Well, that's it. Thanks to Julian Reschke for the not very
verbose but nonetheless interesting replies.
Disclaimer
The text of the articles is identical to the originals like they appeared
in old ST NEWS issues. Please take into consideration that the author(s)
was (were) a lot younger and less responsible back then. So bad jokes,
bad English, youthful arrogance, insults, bravura, over-crediting and
tastelessness should be taken with at least a grain of salt. Any contact
and/or payment information, as well as deadlines/release dates of any
kind should be regarded as outdated. Due to the fact that these pages are
not actually contained in an Atari executable here, references to scroll
texts, featured demo screens and hidden articles may also be irrelevant.