Another treat was arranged by Prentice Hall. They conspired with the Computer Literacy Book Store to organize a book signing for me. A couple dozen people showed up to hear me brag about The Standard C Library. A few even bought books and code diskettes. And a very old friend of mine popped up and invited me and my wife, Tana, to coffee later that evening.

The Computer Literacy Book Store, by the way, is huge. Sure, you can get most of what you need by mail order from The C Users Group. But if you're in the neighborhood and like to browse, this store is a blast. You'd be astonished at what resources are available in print to help the working programmer.

One particularly interesting resource that I left with is a Quick Reference C Programmer's Shirt. It provides a complete reference to the C programming language on the front. It's about the level of detail you get from those six-sided accordion cards designed to fit in your shirt pocket. Even better, I have yet to find any errors or omissions in the technical material.

What makes this T-shirt particularly cute is the layout. The detailed information is printed upside down on the front. That way, the wearer can read the shirt just by looking down. It helps to have eyes that focus close, which I now lack. It also helps to have a beer gut as a reading platform, which I mostly lack. For some women, the layout is a mixed blessing.

The author of this cotton opus is one Thomas J. Lindsey. You can order shirts from Computer Literacy or directly from him. He charges $15.00 plus $1.84 shipping plus $1.24 sales tax for California deliveries. Contact him at Brainstorm Corp., 1488 Kingfisher Way, Sunnyvale CA 94807, (408) 739-3710.

I get no payoff from this promotional message, by the way. (Well, Lindsey did give me a few free samples, but with no strings attached.) It's purely a kindness to the author. And, I think to a number of potential customers.

P.J. Plauger
uunet!plauger!pjp