So, I was at the local Computer Fair today....

[Coelacanth]

...and one of the booths there was selling 19" and 21" monitors, and one projected display. All of the monitors were showing, you guessed it, Sachs Marine Aquarium. On top of one of the monitors was a big cardboard sign that read, "DO NOT ASK us about this screensaver, because we don't sell it!!"

And what was everyone around me doing nevertheless? Oohing and aahhing and asking about the screensaver. I finally jumped in and told them where they can get it.

It looks cool on a projected display

[Jim Sachs]

Thanks for the plug. What city was this in?

[Coelacanth]

Pomona, California. They have a big computer fair at the L.A. Fairgrounds there about every couple weeks.

[Jim Sachs]

Yeah, I have a yearly pass to that one. I'll be down there tomorrow.

[Coelacanth]

I just bought a new annual pass today.

So you'll probably see at least one of the booths that had the screensaver running -- mostly on real cheapie 19" and 21" monitors, but it still looked nice. The aquarium is a real attention grabber.

Yeah I see it in the UK on a lot of monitors at the Manchester (Bowlers) shows and they are regularly in use at all the Northern Computer Markets,

they used to have a yearly pass for those fairs but they get about 15,000 visitors a day now so they stopped the yearly passes and charge £4 to get in (Robbery) and man the queues are huge,

it's all gone off in the last few years used to be lots of cheap parts to build and sell from but now it's all mobile phones and DVD films (don't mind those too much)

[FishyBusiness]

I stopped going to the Pomona show a year ago because everything got so expensive. I could find hardware at small stores for the same price and be able to take it back without having to pay for parking.

I like to goto the Buena Park show. It takes me just as long and things are not priced as high as the Pomona show. The only draw back is there are not as many vendors.

[Coelacanth]

You have to know what you're looking for and know what the general price range of the item is supposed to be. You can still find deals there. I got an Epson Stylus 880 printer for $110. Not bad. Picked up an Afreey 52X CD-ROM (rated one of the best for DAE, and they weren't kidding!) for a mere $27. Got a pack of 50 eighty-minute silver CD-Rs for $22.

Of course you do have to factor in parking and admission, and sometimes that $7 parking fee just doesn't fly. You have to be going to pick up more than just a book and a couple of CDs to make it worth your while.

[feldon34]

I guess nobody went and hung out with Jim on the 10th?

[Jim Sachs]

I stopped and talked with Jeff Levy at the Pomona show. He has a local radio program on KFI here in Southern California, and mentioned the Aquarium a couple of weeks ago. He plans to put me on a TV show on the Adelphia cable network next Wednesday.

[feldon34]

Have someone set their TiVo or VCR to tape it I'd love to put a clip on the website.

[Jim Sachs]

I'll try. Currently, I don't even know anyone who gets the Adelphia network.

[ajlaban]

Jim,

I'm on Adelphia but in Pittsburgh, PA. Do you know if your interview will be just local California or natiionwide?

The local computer trade show in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is where my wife and I first saw the Aquarium, this last weekend. It was being shown on a mid-sized plasma screen and looked stunning... we were captivated!

Unfortunately one of the many propeller heads doing the rounds saw us gawping at the screen and immediately launched into a storm of tech-speak… thinking that we were interested in the monitor! He was enjoying himself so much that my wife and I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was the screensaver we were looking at!!!

I asked the guy on the stall what it was and he said it was just called “Fish…” he didn’t know anything else about it. Anyway, I put “Fish Screensaver” into Google and fairly quickly made it to Aquarium home page… my wife and I are now enjoying our virtual aquarium, and registering the ‘Basic’ version has got to be the best $10 I’ve ever spent!

As for the guys with the sign, I think that’s a pretty crappy attitude to take! They obviously use the Aquarium to demonstrate their systems, and equally obviously have been inundated with requests for it in the past.

You think they’d have the decency to put the Aquarium url on their nasty little sign as well!!!

[FrogMastr]

We are also computer resellers...

And for some time i Installed My Copy on the Demo computer .. since then we have 2-3 inquiry per day about this screen saver... son we put a Large Banner over the monitor that say " To get this screen saver go to WWW.SERENESCREEN.COM "

It is a Great attraction

Using Deluxe Version on a Geforce2 Graphic card !

Very nice!

I will tel you that also in Wroc³aw (Germ.Breslau) in one of the bigest shops you can find jour free demo on the screens, and nice guys from this shop gave me contact to your pages.

Best regards from beautiful POLAND

Wojtek Rynkowski

my e-mail rynki@hotmail.com

[FishyBusiness]

Are you going this weekend, Jim?

[Jim Sachs]

I may go tomorrow, to talk to Jeff Levy. He had me on his Adelphia cable TV show last week, and I'd like to find out when it will air.

[FishyBusiness]

Jim,

Let us know when and where it will air. I have a couple of friends that live in Hemet and have Adelphia cable. I want them to record it so that I can see it later.