As your President, I get involved with many Melb PC activities and receive a wide range of e-mail messages. Read on to find out about some of the events and a recent message of interest.

Volunteer of the Year

Each month at our main meeting we recognise a particular member whom your Committee feels has been doing an outstanding job as a Melb PC volunteer. This covers effort in our Interest Groups, Internet teams, Office support, Swap Meets and all other volunteer activities. Then at the end of each year, the Committee reviews all contributions and decides who is the outstanding person for the whole year. We announce that special award at the annual Volunteers function, held in February.

Reflecting on 2004 activities, the award went to Sean Clarke. Sean has been a key member of our Internet Admin team for a number of years, and with our shift to Burnley last year, he played a key role in organising the transfer of our Internet Dial-Up systems. As well, with our office relocation to Chadstone, Sean took on the challenge of implementing the Chadstone PABX phone linkages, the Office network and the Chadstone Internet system, including a new Wireless system.

My congratulations to Sean. This award includes a family weekend away as a small recompense to his family for all the extended hours put in during 2004.

Chadstone Wireless Internet Connectivity

As part of our new facilities and NetComm sponsorship at Chadstone, we have implemented a Wireless hotspot across our floor - to be used by groups meeting at Chadstone and for ad-hoc use by Members who have their own Wireless enabled PCs.

The NetComm system we have implemented is usually deployed within a "Hotspot" Internet caf‚, where they sell Internet Connect time. For Melb PC members, initially it will be a free facility, although members will need to show their Membership ID to get a log on ticket from the office. We are also hoping to provide ad-hoc Internet connectivity (in the form of a more conventional Internet Café) for those not having their own appropriate PCs. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who might use such facilities once available, so that we can gauge interest and gear up appropriately.

Chadstone Open House & New Members Orientation

On 26 February, I conducted an orientation session and office facilities tour, and about 40 members attended. Overall, they found it valuable and suggested we have further sessions about 2-3 months apart. A repeat is planned for 9am, Saturday 14 May. All members are invited but so that we can plan for the numbers attending, we ask that you reserve a spot either by an e-mail to office@melbpc.org.au at least a week beforehand, by no later than Friday 6 May.

ADSL Cost Reductions

Members will have seen recent Press articles and advertisements showing further reductions in ADSL subscriptions. Our recommended service via WESTNET is included in this trend, with $19.95 per month now being the entry point.
 
While extra costs are incurred when data downloaded in a month exceeds 200 MB, it must be noted that this also occurs with the "low entry" offering of most other providers. Overall, Westnet's rates compare very favourably with a number of other offers now seen on National TV. More importantly, Melb PC has many members with free Associate Internet Accounts and when those members use Westnet for their ADSL feed they can be recognised by Melb PC and allowed direct entry to the melbpc.org.au servers.

NeverFail - Too Good to be True?

Like many others my e-mail address is publicly available and I receive a multitude of e-mails promising the earth on anything from how to get rich, to enhancing my anatomy or offering X-rated entertainment. However, one that caught my attention recently was the promise from a NSW company of 5-second recovery from ALL viruses, Trojans, system crashes, etc. They even promised instant recovery from Format C: (See http://www.duplexcomputer.com.au )

After initial skepticism, I responded to the claim and I am currently evaluating their offering. It is a combination of PCI hardware and software, with a retail price of $138 and could be available to Melb PC Members for $99. Early results have changed my thinking from "Too good to be true" to "How can it be?" I will update you on my testing in next month's PC Update, and would be very keen to hear from any other members who use (or have evaluated) this product.

April Monthly Meeting

For our April meeting, we return to the City. This time to the Richard Berry building at the University of Melbourne (Main Campus). ISYS will be describing its internationally acclaimed PC search system, and will be giving a free copy of its latest version to all attendees. As well, Canopus will be describing its new easy-to-use Video Editing system.

Overall, it promises to be a great night. Note the start time; being a City meeting, it starts at 6.00 pm sharp. I look forward to seeing you there.

Reprinted from the April 2005 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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