Hugh Harries - Tropical Tree Crops Agronomist

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COMPUTERS

My personal computing began in 1980 by writing Basic programs for a Sinclair ZX80, saving them to a hand held tape recorder, producing hard copy on a thermal printer and with a TV set as a screen (in an up-country part of Thailand where TV had not reached at that time). I took this set-up to an equally remote location in Papua New Guinea in 1983 but by the next year I became one of the first IBM desk top PC users in PNG. Started with Lotus 123, and Multimate, changed word processor to Wordstar and then Wordstar 2000 and got into dBase and FoxPro. By 1988 had six machines (IBMs and Compaqs) with Desqview multitasking. During the 1988-90 consultancy period travelled widely with various desk- and lap-tops to remote locations, clearing condensation from circuit boards and mildew from disk drives in wet climates; dust from everywhere in dry climates; and live mice, lizards and even snails from inside the casings. In Tanzania, between 1990 and 1996, taking on the unofficial role of computer fundi, I used a wide variety of peripherals from UPS's to scanners, every sort of printer, a range of connectivity equipment, a variety of software and I learned to live with or overcome power-cuts, surges and viruses. I now have a Pentium desktop, carry a Palm IIIxe for e-mail and internet when away from home and for hand-written notes and diagrams when going cross-country in a 4x4. I currently moderate internet groups on coconut - lethal yellowing (CICLY), cultivars (ICCRA), pests, etc. and I developed the web site that you are visiting now!

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[Parts of this Web site are still under construction. Ask me if you want to know more]