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Behind The Sites: Charles W. Moore
By Joey Cooper
A Mini Series Profiling Mac Webmasters, #9
An experienced freelance writer, Charles W. Moore is well-known columnist and news editor at several Mac sites around the web. His Road Warrior and Moore's View & Reviews columns are just two of the many columns and websites he writes for -- but what's more amazing is how many other publications he writes for on the print side of things, on topics ranging from boating to religion. He took some time over the last couple of weeks to answer some of our questions...
Q: You've written for seemingly millions of Mac websites; could you tell us which ones you currently write for?
Well, hardly millions! The short answer to your question is that I currently write daily news and the Moore's Views & Reviews column for Applelinks; The Road Warrior and The Road Warrior Mailbag Help Files for MacOpinion; a weekly Miscellaneous Ramblings column for Low End Mac; and Moore's Machine for The MacJunkie. Dave Schultz and I are also in the embryonic stages of a cooperative venture which links my own The MacCave Journal domain to his Applelust.com Website with the new Moore's MacCave column.
In non-Mac journalism, I also produce four syndicated newspaper columns here in Canada each week; a column for my local weekly newspaper, two monthly columns for the Atlantic Fisherman trade newspaper, a column every second month for Canadian Yachting, and I am the Eastern Canada correspondent for the Australian/UK publications Fishing Boat World and Work Boat World. I write frequently as well for Great Lakes Boating in Chicago, West Coast Mariner, and have a monthly column in Continental Newstime magazine out of San Diego, plus the odd incidental magazine article. And I also moderate an international email forum list on theological matters.
Q: How did you get started writing about
the Mac?
I've been a freelance journalist for about 14 years, but in the Mac context, I first started writing for the original Mac OS Daily in April 1998. When Matt Linton closed down MOSD in the fall of '98, several other Mac Web sites approached me about writing for them. I initially signed on with The Mac Times Network as a weekly columnist, and soon also with Ben Garland at MacOpinion as well.
In December 1998, and Jonah Jones, who was then Mac Times news
editor, asked if I would be interested in writing news stories
as well as my column there. I agreed, and when Jonah left Mac
Times a couple of months later, I became acting news editor. In
the summer of 1999, The Mac Times Network's publisher of the was
experiencing some serious health difficulties, and the future
of the Website looked very uncertain. I had been contributing
columns to the Applelinks Website from time to time for several
months, and I approached Applelinks publisher Joe Ryan to see
if he would be interested in my becoming a regular staff member.
The timing was fortuitous, since Joe
was expanding the Website and getting ready to launch the new
companion MacLaunch site.
I signed on as a news editor and inaugurated the new Moore's Views & Reviews column on Applelinks. At around the same time, August 1999, Ben Garland at MacOpinion decided that he wanted to limit content on that site to pure opinion and commentary, so my Miscellaneous Ramblings news and technical topics oriented column no longer fit the site's editorial focus. Consequently, with Ben's blessing I moved Miscellaneous Ramblings to Dan Knight's Low End Mac Website beginning September 1, 1999. I had worked with Dan before when Low End was still part of The Mac Times network . Road Warrior remained at MacOpinion.
A month or so later, Matt Linton contacted me with the news that he was launching a new Mac Web site to be called MacSimple, and he asked me to come aboard. I was delighted to have an opportunity to work with Matt again, and it didn't take much arm-twisting to convince me to write the A View From The Bridge column on MacSimple.
Things rarely stay static for long on the Mac Web, and after a month's hiatus over last Christmas, Ben Garland decided that he would be shutting down MacOpinion permanently, and he advised me that I should look for a new home for The Road Warrior. Coincidentally, Matt Linton was looking for new material for the soon-to-be resurrected Mac OS Daily Website, and we came to mutually agreeable terms to move The Road Warrior there.
As it turned out, Ben Garland ultimately sold MacOpinion to Joe Ryan. Then, late last month, MacOS Daily shut down because of capitalization problems. I offered Joe Ryan first refusal on returning the feature to MacOpinion, and he accepted, so I've come full circle on that one.
The Applelust/MacCave and MacJunkie ventures are brand new, and I will be stretching my journalistic legs in slightly different directions with them.
Q: Do you have a favorite issue or topic
you especially enjoy writing about?
Well, I've carved out a bit of a niche for myself as a PowerBook specialist with The Road Warrior. I'm a big PowerBook fan, and I think, as I've said in several columns, that the PowerBook is "the logical Mac." However, my interests are fairly general and eclectic, and writing news you get to address a lot of different topics. It's often quite a educational doing research for stories. I do like to explore the philosophical and cultural aspects of the Mac orbit. I have also been doing a lot of book reviews lately on Applelinks, and software reviews as well. I'm getting a lot of positive response from readers pertaining to my in-depth approach to reviewing, and I enjoy that sort of writing, which is also educational for me.
Q: What kind of computer setup do you
have?
My workhorse computer these days is a PowerBook G3 Series II 233 MHz with a 2 GB hard drive and 96 MB of RAM. I've had it for 18 months and so far it's been is dependable as an anvil. The 2 GB hard drive is too small, and the 233 MHz processor doesn't have quite the muscle needed to run IBM ViaVoice satisfactorily, but other than that I've been very pleased with this computer, and I expect it will be at least another year before I think seriously about upgrading to a new PowerBook.
However, I couldn't resist purchasing one of the brand new leftover six-slot UMAX SuperMac S 900 tower chassis and case that Other World Computing had for sale a few weeks ago for $300 (sorry, folks, they're all gone). I haven't got it really set up yet, but it will become my backup machine, and will probably get a G3 or G4 upgrade as time unfolds. It's currently got the original 180 MHz 604e processor from Dan Knight's UMAX J 700 in it.
In terms of software, I do most of my writing and HTML editing with Tom Bender's wonderful little Tex-Edit Plus text editor, suitably customized with AppleScripts I've recorded to automate my particular work habits. I'm all so quite smitten with Marc Zeedar's new Z-Write word processor with its powerful sections-organizing feature, it's a very helpful writing tool. When I need a full-featured word processor, my first choice is Nisus Writer. For email I mainly use Eudora, but I'm very smitten with the new Nisus Email client. I use a variety of Web browsers including iCab, which is my favorite for all round surfing, as well as the little WannaBe text-only browser for speed-surfing, Netscape 4.73, Netscape 6, and Internet Explorer 5 in about that order of preference. My favorite FTP client these days is Vicomsoft FTP Client 3.0.1, and for instant messaging I use ICQ or Gerry's ICQ. I don't do much graphics work, but I find MicroFrontier's Color It! 4.0 a very convenient for my needs in that area.
Q: Your first Mac?
My first Mac was a 1988 Mac Plus that I purchased used in 1992. It was my first real computer, and I was moving up from a Wangwriter II word processor. The Mac Plus had a whopping 1 MB of RAM, and a capacious 20 MB external hard drive. I eventually upgraded to 2.5 MB of RAM which allowed me to run both HyperCard and Microsoft Word 5.1 simultaneously.
From the old Mac Plus I progressed through an '030 LC 520 to a PowerBook 5300 to my present WallStreet machine. All four of these computers are still in the house, and they all still work well.
Q: Do you have a favorite Mac author
or columnist?
There are several whose work I enjoy and admire very much. I think I will decline to name names here, because there's always the danger of inadvertently leaving someone out.
Q: What's your absolute favorite part
of writing about the Mac?
It's great to be able to make some of my living writing about the Mac. I am a dyed-in-the-wool aficionado, and it is a privilege to be able to combine business with pleasure. One other thing I enjoy very much about writing for the Mac Web is the people, both colleagues and readers, who have helped make this experience so rewarding.
Thanks to Charles for doing this interview!
PUBLISHED CREDITS
- Applelinks.com: Columnist, March 1999 - present; News Editor, Contributing Editor - August 1999 - present
- Low End Mac.com : Columnist, September 1999 - present
- MacOPINION: Columnist - November 1998 - December 1999; June 2000 - present
- AppleLust.com: July 2000 - present
- The MacJunkie: July 2000 - present
- The MacTimes NetWork: Columnist, Contributing Editor, News Writer, November 1998 - October 1999. Acting News Editor. January 1999 - October 1999.
- Mac OS Daily; columnist, May 1998 - November 1998; March 2000 - June 2000
- MacSimple.com: Contributing Editor, Columnist, October 1999 - March 2000
- MacToday magazine; feature writer, April-May 1998 - June-July 1999
- Atlantic Fisherman: columnist and Contributing Editor (freelance); 1987 - present
- Fishing Boat World magazine/Work Boat World magazine (U.K./Australia): Eastern North America correspondent; Dec. 1996 - present
- Continental Features Syndicate/Continental News Service (U.S.A.): syndicated columnist; October 1995 - present.
- Canadian Yachting: Technical Feature Writer - August 1999 - present
- The Interim - Columnist, News Writer - 1996 - present
- The Western Catholic Reporter: Columnist, 1998 - present
- The Ottawa Times/Conservative Times; former Editor and Associate Editor--Atlantic Edition (split run), columnist, correspondent, June 1996 - August 1999 (Ceased publication).
- The Fredericton Daily Gleaner; Columnist, April 1997 - present.
- The Guysborough Journal; columnist, feature writer, July 1994 - present.
- The George & Dragon magazine; columnist, summer 1997- present
- Spray magazine: columnist, feature writer, former Associate Editor; Feb. 1992 -- Oct. 1996
- Power Boating Canada magazine: feature writer, technical writer, June 1995 - April 1997
- Ocean Resources magazine: Feature writer, former Copy Editor; Sept. 1992 -- Oct. 1996
- Canadian Saltwater Sportfishing magazine: feature writer, Associate Editor; 1992-1996
- Halifax Dartmouth Metro Weekly: columnist, feature writer; July 1993 -- Jan. 1996 (Ceased publication).
- Guysborough Gazette: columnist, feature writer; 1991-1993
- Dalhousie Gazette: columnist, feature writer; 1971-'73
My work has also appeared in The National Post; Gravitas magazine; Canadian Business magazine; The Ottawa Citizen; The Toronto Star; The Montreal Gazette; The Calgary Herald; The Hamilton Spectator; The Moncton Times & Transcript; The Saint John Evening Times Globe; The Halifax Daily News; The Hants Journal; The Leamington Post; WestCoast Mariner magazine; WestCoast Fisherman magazine; Great Lakes Boating magazine (U.S.A.); Paddler magazine (U.S.A.); Professional BoatBuilder magazine (U.S.A.); Canadian Yachting magazine; Westcoast Fisherman magazine; WestCoast Mariner magazine; WoodCuts magazine; Natural Life magazine; Rural Delivery magazine; Atlantic Forestry magazine; The Health Post magazine; ALIVE magazine; ChristianWeek; Western Catholic Reporter; From The Right; MacroChef magazine (U.S.A.); Southender magazine; SARscene magazine; Quest Magazine; Dialogue; Micmac Maliseet Nations News; The Port Hawkesbury Reporter; The Pictou Advocate; The Halifax Chronicle Herald/Mail Star; and others.
Author: "BIBLICAL EDIBLES;
A lighthearted look at the significance of food, diet, and cuisine
in the Bible," published by The Anglican Catholic Convent
Society, Ottawa, Canada, May 1999.
-Joey Cooper is Editor-in-Chief of MacMilitia.com. By day he is a student and newspaper designer.
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