The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Gary Taig editor@melbpc.org.au |
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The AGM & Election is Near
The AGM and election is just a few short weeks away. The Financial Statement and the meeting Agenda and Nomination Form elsewhere in the hardcopy of this magazine.
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This is my call to all members to seriously consider, how would you improve Melb PC? What good could you do for your group? How would you promote this group in an enthusiastic, honest and selfless way, such that prospective new members were attracted by your level of enthusiasm and wanted to join in some of the activities with you. Are you a natural leader? We need you.
If you can do more than lead a small crowd in silent prayer, and if you reckon you have ideas on how to make things better and make things happen, the group always needs people like you. Act now! Your nomination form and 100 word statement must reach the Returning Officer before 5.00 pm on 29 September so that details can be published in November PC Update.
I remind everyone that all dates to do with November PC Update are always shifted forward and that includes content submission dates. Please check the schedule on page 62. It all has to do with the delivery lead time, the period of notice for the AGM as required by our Rules, and a small built-in safety factor to cover any unexpected postal delays.
A Free Stall? Awesome!
AUSOM, the Apple Users Society of Melbourne, a local Computer User Group that was established some years before Melb PC. The guys are holding a Macintosh focussed Computer Market & Swap Meet on Saturday 14 October and they extend an invitation to all Melb PC members. As the text in the ad reads, you can put your items for sale on a shared table, or (no doubt for those who are especially quick) you can apply to have a free stall for the day.
Monthly Meeting Report
John Bade has commenced a regular column reporting on the monthly meeting. A wonderful contribution, not only to PC Update but to communications throughout the entire membership.
Language
It's bad when your trusted, local ABC radio not only joins in the abuse of the English language, but appears to be utterly confused. Recently I heard the usual plural "they" instead of "it" when the announcer was referring to a single entity — a football club — and then in the very next sentence the singular was used correctly "the club will continue its efforts to achieve <whatever it was>. Talk about confusion! Lord give me 10 minutes with the ABC rule makers who deliberately promote and encourage this chaos. Our ABC is one body that should always fight to uphold and maintain high standards, irrespective of any outside pressures or unfortunate trends.
Typing in Hebrew?
Were you able to help Frank Osowski last month when he asked for assistance with his project in Hebrew? Frank sincerely thanks those who responded — and reports that he is well on the way to solving his problems. However, he wants to speak with one particular caller whose phone number ends 315 110. If you called Frank and left a message, the recording of that call was truncated and he would love to talk to you. Please call him again on (03) 9367 1296.
If you're one of the diminishing few who still need convincing about the growing dangers on the Internet, read this report extracted from a recent Symantec press release. It highlights once again that simply by visiting a Web site you can be infected with malicious software. The heading was "Phony World Cup Web Site Distributing Trojan Horse Program".
In July 2006 hackers created a phony Web site that claimed to have information on the head-butting incident involving Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi, which occurred during the final game of the soccer World Cup. The Web site was designed to look just like an official FIFA World Cup 2006 site, although it had no real connection with the World Cup at all. If you were enticed to visit the malicious site, a Trojan horse program would have been downloaded onto your computer. Once it was downloaded, the Trojan horse program would inconspicuously install additional malicious software, which would enable the hackers who controlled the malicious site to gain access to your computer. If the hackers were able to gain access, they could read, change, or steal any of your files. The hackers could also keep track of everything you type on your keyboard and steal your e-mail address book contacts. To protect yourself against this type of Internet attack, you should be very careful about following Web site links that come to you through unsolicited email, or instant messages, or bulletin board Web sites. You should only follow a link if the purpose of the link is known and it comes from a trusted source.
Yes, it's all good advice and no doubt most people are always watching out for those sneaky attacks that come in every day of the week. But some people are not; have a look the story from Gordon Woolf. That one will cause you to think.
Reprinted from the September 2006 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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