 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group PC (President's Comments) George Skarbek gskarbek@melbpc.org.au |
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APCUG Report
(Association of Personal Computer User Groups)
Melb PC sent three members to represent the group at the annual meeting of APCUG where over 350 user group
leaders from around the world gathered to exchange ideas on how to improve the services to their members.
This year again we received much valuable information which is described in more detail - see separate article.
Internet Service Update
The group has signed a 12-month contract with Connect.com who will supply Internet data. They will supply
twice the capacity we have been receiving until now. We have also purchased a fatter cable in order to take
the increased volume. The cost of the new cable (not data) will be about 2/3 of the existing cost. New
equipment will be installed and further enhancements will be made to improve our service. Our annual fees
will not increase but the service will. It has already shown an improvement.
New Berwick SIG
Another SIG is being started. The inaugural meeting of a new SIG in Berwick will be the second Friday in
February from 10.00 am till 12.00 noon. This new SIG is organized by Noel Sealey. It is a daytime
meeting to cater for the retired and interested members in that area. The location is the Narre Learning
Centre (NLC) Hall in Webb St. Narre Warren. This venue is in the old Mechanics Institute Hall on the north
side of the Princes Highway towards Fountain Gate shopping centre.
Mornington SIG
This new SIG will meet at Mornington Community Information Centre on the first Monday evening and third
Monday morning each month. The centre is at 320 Main Street, on the corner of Elizabeth Street, about two
minutes away from the Nepean Highway.
New MYOB SIG
PC Update had closed for the last issue of 2000 when Vicki Apokis convened this SIG and its
inaugural meeting was held at the club rooms in South Melb on 22 November.
Are You Spreading Viruses Without Knowing It?
The Internet team is aware that many users do not update their antivirus software regularly. Some do not
have any antivirus software installed at all. If you are new to computers and have purchased a new computer
with some antivirus software on it you are being left wide open to hundreds of new viruses that have appeared
since the time of your purchase and you may be propagating these viruses via your mail reader without knowing
it. This is especially true of people who use Outlook Express or Outlook as their mail reader
as these are commonly targeted.
I would suggest that you carefully read the section on viruses in the Internet Newsletter 15 and follow
steps to keep your computer safe. In that article there is a reference to where you can obtain a good and
free antivirus program that provides regular updates to the virus detection files.
Training Room Computers Upgrade
All 13 computers in the training room will have their old 1 GB hard disks upgraded with new 15 GB disks. The
other 4 GB disk will remain. This will allow some of the new and large programs to be run and for more
courses to be given. The second disk is necessary to store the images for different operating systems and
programs.
If any SIG leader would like one of the 1 GB disks for their SIG computer to be used for backup, storing
images or data please put in your request to the committee.
Training Seminars
This year we have another series of Friday night seminars spread over five months commencing March 2001. The
topics cover many aspects of running and maintaining your computer.
Next Monthly Meeting
On 7 February at the Pharmacy College in Parkville, Adobe will present Photoshop 6.0 and MYOB will
demonstrate its newest products. The meeting will also have our Random Access session (your chance to ask the
experts), the usual giveaways and raffle with usually several thousand dollars of prizes being raffled,
shareware library sales, etc. Hope to see you there.
Reprinted from the February 2001 issue of PC Update, the
magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
