Kathy O'Connell, jovial host of WXPN's Peabody Award-winning Kid's Corner, recently threw a baby shower for a friend. As the party progressed, the revelers expressed interest in watching a taped episode of "Mystery Science Theatre 3000." A good idea, with one glitch: O'Connell's VCR was broken.

Luckily, Scott Manning--one half of 'XPN's resident propeller heads, the CompuDudes--was on the guest list. And he wasn't about to miss an opportunity to see Joel and the 'bots wisecrack their way through a really bad movie.

"Scott Manning does not take the words 'it's broken' for an answer," O'Connell said, chuckling. "He sat there on my dusty floor, cleaned out the gunk, did whatever he had to do to fix the VCR, and we were watching 'Mystery Science Theatre 3000' by the end of the party."

Which just goes to show you: No technology is too complicated for a CompuDude.

Actually, fixing home electronics isn't the CompuDudes' raison d'etre; Manning and his partner-in-PCs, Peter Cook, have achieved fame through their proficiency with computer hardware and software. But, like all true techies, they love to tinker.

"I get my knowledge the hard way," Manning said. "I play with things and figure out how they work."

Manning and Cook got their start as radio personalities on O'Connell's call-in show for children, answering computer-related questions. A third CompuDude, video-game guru and all-around whiz kid Justin Roman, left "Kid's Corner" this month to go off to college. (See sidebar.)

Cook and Manning took to the airwaves in 1989, with Roman joining the show in 1992. They didn't have any formal training in radio. They didn't even have any formal training in computers. Cook's degrees are in political science and English. Manning is a college dropout.

The CompuDudes' hardwired wisdom comes from years of experience. They've been toying with computers since their teens.

In high school, Cook spent his spare time close to the computers in the career center. But instead of using the computers to access information on jobs and colleges, he secretly played games and taught himself the programming that made the software work.

Manning didn't have to hang out at school to use a computer. He owned one. "I was the first kid in my high school to buy a computer," he said. "You can imagine what kind of geek that made me out to be."

State of the art for its time, Manning's machine boasted 4K of memory, a black-and-white screen and a cassette drive. "Nowadays, my mouse has more horsepower," he said.

Cook and Manning have been friends for eight years. They met while teaching astronomy at the Franklin Institute. That's where they saw a posting for "Kid's Corner." The show needed volunteers.

Cook and Manning donated their time for nine months, screening phone calls for O'Connell. They broke into broadcasting in 1989. "They were these very nice guys, and we really got along," O'Connell recalled. "One day they said, 'We're really interested in computers. How would you feel if we did one computer segment?' "

O'Connell was excited by the offer. "A computer segment is something I always wanted because kids are so into it," she said, "but I don't know anything about it."

The spot was so successful, O'Connell invited Cook and Manning back on the show. The CompuDudes were born.

Originally monthly contributors, the 'Dudes quickly became a weekly part of "Kid's Corner." They can be heard every Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

O'Connell believes that the CompuDudes' ability to be themselves makes them popular with listeners: "One of the beauties with them is that while they know radio, they're still not radio people. They've kept their innocence of radio. They're there to give information. I'm there to be the dopey radio person."

Since the CompuDudes haven't created on-air personas for themselves, they can keep their act spontaneous and, above all else, honest. "We know the techniques of dealing with callers and picking up the flow," Manning said, "but we still pretty much do the shows cold. There's no preproduction work. There's no scripting."

While the CompuDudes never had to overcome stage fright ("Ignorance is bliss," Manning said), they did have to learn how to adjust to radio's fast pace. "We're on a timer for each question so we get the right amount of calls," Cook explained. "The challenging part is answering a complex computer problem in three-and-half minutes."

And when he says complex, he's not exaggerating. Just because the callers are children doesn't mean they don't know the intricate ins and outs of hardware and software.

"We have a regular who has been following us for seven years, named Julie, and we've tracked her development in computers," Cook said. "She is now learning how to do computer graphics. She started with a basic system years ago, and now she's going into advanced stuff. She's asking more and more advanced questions about 3-D computer animation that she's creating."

Julie is not unique. The young listeners, in general, have become more computer-savvy over the years, according to Manning. He noted that when the CompuDudes first started, children were asking questions like, "What's a modem?" "Nowadays, it's, 'I'm having trouble with my Internet browser connecting to a PPP site,' " he said.

Not that every caller is a future Bill Gates. Children still ask the 'Dudes to explain RAM and other basic techie terminology. "But they're much fewer and farther between," Manning said.

Why the increasing technological sophistication? Because computers are omnipresent in today's society. "Children are being born into it," Cook said. "They now have PCs around them all the time. You can't take two steps without tripping over one. And they're not afraid of it because it's just another tool, like a T.V., a washing machine, things around the house."

For adults, it's a different story. Computers are relatively new to many grown-ups, who don't always know where to turn for help--a fact not lost on the CompuDudes.

"We were getting questions once in a while from kids, and the questions were obviously from the parents because they were either written down and we could tell they were reading them off paper or we could hear loud whispers in the background," Cook said.

Since so many parents were using their children as proxy callers, the CompuDudes concluded that adults could use a phone-in show of their own. In 1992, Cook and Manning launched a monthly program just for grown-ups. The switchboards immediately lit up.

For a year, the phones rang like mad. Calls inundated the 'Dudes, who found that a monthly show just didn't provide enough time to answer all of the questions. The solution? A bi-weekly show.

Still, listeners demanded more. In April, they got it when the show went weekly. The hour-long program airs every Thursday night, right after "Kid's Corner."

The CompuDudes take 17 to 20 calls during the adult show--a third of which come from car phones. "We have one regular cab driver who calls us," Cook said. "We can tell he's moonlighting and he's going to move on to something else because he's talking about voice recognition. He's looking for equipment that can handle that, and that's real high-end stuff."

Indeed, you probably won't hear any adults ask, "What's a modem?" Many of the calls come from professional users in need of tech support. Their problems tend to be complicated showstoppers.

"We once got a phone call from someone who was doing prepress," Manning said. "She was having trouble with a graphics file. When she imported it into QuarkXpress, it got rendered out in a color mode that she wasn't expecting. That's kind of strange. You wouldn't expect that we would get questions that detailed, but we do."

The CompuDudes may be on every week, but don't be surprised if you still hear a busy signal when you call. Their advice is in demand. "People say, 'We can't get through,' " Cook explained. "We tell them, 'Start calling during the end of the kid's show.' "

If you can't talk to the CompuDudes live, perhaps you can find the solution you require in their column in the "tech.life@inquirer" section of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Published every Thursday, the column is full of useful tips and information from Cook and Manning.

If the CompuDudes' column doesn't have the answers you're looking for, then try e-mailing your question to Cook and Manning directly (compududes@phillynews.com). The CompuDudes have 400 people on their e-mail list, and they receive e-mail from 60 to 65 people per week.

"E-mail is part of the job," Cook said. "We answer each one personally."

That may seem like a tedious chore, but the CompuDudes are glad to do it. They haven't forgotten that the people who send e-mail are also the people who helped make them celebrated radio personalities.

"E-mail comes from our audience," Cook noted, "and we're really proud that the show has grown out of a loyal listenership."

Not any more.

On June 6, Roman made his last appearance as a CompuDude. He hung up his headsets to go pursue a degree in genetic engineering. The two remaining 'Dudes, Scott Manning and Peter Cook, won't be replacing him.

Roman was only in eighth grade when he became a CompuDude. At first, Kathy O'Connell, host of "Kid's Corner," didn't approve of having the youngster on the show.

"I hated the idea," she said. "But he proved right away that he is inept as Scott and Peter on the radio, so he fit right in."

All joking aside, O'Connell admits that Roman quickly impressed her. She developed a great deal of respect for the bright, young 'Dude. "We're all going to work for Justin Roman one day," she said. "It's truly frightening how smart that guy is."

Roman was Cook's find. They both worked together at the Academy of Natural Sciences. Cook coordinated Safari Overnight, a program that allows parents and children to spend the night at the academy. Roman was his assistant.

"I told him about my interest in video games and computers," Roman recalled. "He said, 'You know, we're on this radio show. If you think you know stuff about video games, then why don't you join us on the radio once a month?' I said, 'Sure, I'll give it a try.' They liked me, and I liked it, and the rest, as they say, is history."

Despite O'Connell's initial protests, Cook never doubted Roman's abilities. "He's very much an adult person in a young adult's body," Cook noted. "He's very intelligent and organized."

Intelligent, indeed. Roman not only scored nearly 1600 on the SATs, he took calculus courses at Penn while still in high school.

"The kid is somewhere in the genius level, if not beyond," Manning said.

Roman may be gone, but, as far as he's concerned, he hasn't left the show for good. He looks forward to making occasional guest appearances during breaks and summer vacation. "The greatest thing about the CompuDudes is that not only do you get to help people," he said, "but it's a lot of fun."

Return to Compass Features for June 18, 1996