I wrote this article at a time of intense discovery… the crazy high-tech bicycle adventure was becoming a self-supporting enterprise, and the emerging toolset was hugely provocative. In 1984, there was much intense discussion about the viability of working at home via computers and network connections; this piece explored the notion that there was no…

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This article by John Hillkirk was hugely pivotal in my early media coverage… and it set the stage for a series that I wrote for USA Today over the next few months. The idea of staying connected with a portable computer while traveling was just starting to filter in to public consciousness, and my quirky…

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Computing Across America, chapter 31 by Steven K. Roberts Baton Rouge, Louisiana April 30, 1984 Where it is a duty to worship the sun it is pretty sure to be a crime to examine the laws of heat— John Morley Snapshots of God. To label an empty canvas thus is perhaps a bit ambitious, for…

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Computing Across America, chapter 30 by Steven K. Roberts Hammond, Louisiana April 26, 1984 If you go down to Hammond, you’ll never come back…— The Roches It was to be a basic one-night college-town layover, nothing more. On the way to SLU I stopped at a bike shop and was advised to get in touch…

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One of the many delightful memories that emerged from ancient file folders 36 years later was this… a little parting gift from James, my friend and host in Hammond. It captures the energy of the adventure, driven as much by romance as by gizmological urges and the allure of sweet asphalt… Let it hereby be…

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This is a short excerpt from a chapter in Computing Across America called “A Nomad on Sabbatical.” My Louisiana trek had brought me to Hammond, and I immediately met some interesting folks and settled in for a while… a much-needed layover to rest, write, and frolic with friends. New Orleans was just down the road,…

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This 1984 article was in one of my unexpectedly favorite towns. All I knew about Hammond before arriving was a song by the Roches, but before long I had met a fellow cyclist who remains a friend to this day, over 3 decades later. I stayed for two or three weeks, relaxed, getting to know…

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I had a most enjoyable visit in Slidell, Louisiana – including a visit to the National Weather Service center where my host worked. This led to a chapter in the book called “The Winds of Change.”  These two articles were published on the same day, and a longer one appeared earlier in the Slidell Daily…

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One of my fond memories of Slidell was getting a tour of the National Weather Service facility… which ended up becoming a chapter in the Computing Across America book. This is the local newspaper coverage of my visit to town in April, 1984… a couple of others are here. Timeline date adjusted to compensate for…

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Computing Across America, chapter 29 by Steven K. Roberts Slidell, Louisiana April 10, 1984 Science is spectrum analysis; art is photosynthesis Karl Kraus When you live on a bicycle, certain things take on larger-than-life significance. Hills, for example, never mattered much when I drove a car, and back roads were just that: back roads. And…

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