Those who consider themselves to be 'Friends of Softalk' have a special place in their hearts and in their memories for why Softalk was, and remains, an important part of their lives. Once identified as a Friend of Softalk, we often hear detailed anecdotes from others testifying to the impact that simply reading this great magazine had on their youth, or at an otherwise formative time in their lives. Now, The Softalk Apple Project is going to have some "serious fun" finding out just "What Softalk Means to Me" by virtue of our new content type for contributions to the STAP website.

"The mission of The Softalk Apple Project is to preserve, explore, and extend the content legacy of Softalk magazine," explained STAP Research Director Jim Salmons, "As part of our extend mission we want to capture, and include in the historical record that will eventually be donated to the Stanford Libraries digital collections, these readers' tales of life-shifting impact. Even when reading Softalk did not dramatically change the trajectory of someone's life, Softalk had tremendous influence on its readers' perceptions of their roles in the technology revolution. While other magazines largely portrayed the bits and bytes of technology, Softalk championed the people and technology applications that were changing the world around us. By doing so it helped us to change the way we thought of ourselves in relationship to the emerging technological future. So many of us were inspired by Softalk; these anecdotes need to be part of the permanent record of the Softalk digital archive."

To contribute a "What Softalk Means to Me" story, simply create a new free user account or use your existing account to log onto the STAP website. Once logged on, you will find the 'Add content' link in your Navigation block on the left sidebar of most pages. Click the "What Softalk Means to Me" link and tell us your story. As visitor stories accumulate, you will find them easily accessible from the main menu bar which will take you to the "What Softalk Means to Me" summary page.

BTW, any STAP community member who later becomes a FactMiners game player will have his/her player account credited with gamification scoring and achievements consistent with whatever content contributions they make which later fall within the domain of FactMiners gameplay dynamics. So, don't hold back. There will be no penalties for being a STAP content contributor in advance of the launch of the FactMiners social game.