Alsop comes from staunch journalistic stock. He is the son of late Newsweek political columnnist Stewart Alsop and the nephew of late veteran journalist Joseph Alsop. The elder Alsop brothers rose to national prominence when they spoke out against Sen. Joe McCarthy. They also became experts on nuclear armaments and the Cold War.

His first way is to start the ``Stewart Alsop Social Registry,'' which, essentially, is a published list of Alsop's rolodex. It will include 600 computer industry people, their phone and fax numbers for $295, starting in April. In characteristic fashion, Alsop says, ``I'll include anyone I believe to be an insider. I decide who's in and who's out.'' Then he might try an electronic version of his P.C. Letter. Then...You get the picture, Alsop- ness.

Bio Born: Jan. 7, 1952 in Washington, D.C. Education: B.A. in English from Occidental College, Los Angeles in 1975. Hobbies: Collects wooden boxes. ``I just love them. They are such a wonderful substantiation of talent. And I love talent.'' Family: Wife, Valerie; and three children: Stewart Alsop III, 4 years old; Katharine, 8; and Nathalie, 9. Who has made the most impact on the computer industry: Steven Jobs, co- founder of Apple Computer Inc. and NeXT Inc., for ``being a stubborn visionary.'' Best call ever made: That Microsoft Corp. should team up with Apple Computer on setting a computer font format. One week later they did. ``I was out ahead on that.'' Worst call ever made: The Atari ST personal computer would be a hit. It sells well in Europe, but was a dismal failure in the USA. Alsop on himself: ``If I had my druthers, I'd sit around the house, not doing anything. I'm inherently a lazy person.''