Welcome to the first edition of the club magazine produced by the new publisher. There have been a few changes in deadlines to ensure that the magazine should be in your hands on the Friday before the monthly meeting. As I write this column nearly a month in advance I cannot be sure that these changes have been bedded down yet so we might still have the June issue late but not for the want of trying. With the change in publisher you will see some changes in the appearance and content of the magazine. While some sections of the magazine (for example the SIG reports) have shrunk in the print issue the full content of those sections will be available on the clubs web site and very soon on the new community server that we are going to trial. We should see the return of some popular items such as Book reviews. We are still very keen to see articles and reviews from members.

I also want to extend a warm welcome to our newest SIG group The Macedon Ranges Computer club have elected to join us and function as a SIG under our umbrella. This club has been successful in their own right having a membership of nearly 30 who will become members of MelbPC this month. They see the potential to grow into a much larger group under our aegis. With a new group meeting in the outer north east the club may gain more members from further out of town. There are two other new SIGs as well, Programming and Basic training. More on those next month.

MelbPC has joined with AUSOM to create a new self appointed peak body for users of digital technology called Australian Digital. This body will actively promote and lobby on behalf of all end users of all forms of digital technology in Australia. It has become apparent that, as the Federal Government will only consult with peak bodies, our voices are not being heard over matters of great importance to club members. Government policy is being shaped by commercial interests in ways that disadvantage us the end users. An example of this is the debacle of the clean feed.

The Federal government is about to spend 47 billion dollars to create a super fast network that it will cripple with the censoring software to ensure that we cannot see any site on a secret blacklist With the largest PC club and the largest Apple Club as foundation members we expect other groups will be keen to join with us to have their voices heard. Membership will be open to any not-for-profit group that uses digital technology. This includes but not is limited to Radio, PDAs Smart phones, GPS systems and Cameras.

The club has also applied to install an internet kiosk in the clubhouse funded by the Broadband for Seniors program. This would bring seniors into the clubhouse from the shopping centre and once here we have the opportunity to involve them in other aspects of the club's operation.

In the near future the club will be operating as a Prometrics testing centre which will be a new source of income and potential members. While installing the necessary hardware for this operation we will also be upgrading the equipment in the training room together with the level of training courses offered. Look for minor changes to the layout of the milling area in the near future.

John Talbot who for many years has assisted Ian Rankin in the preparation of the monthly Disc has decided to have a well deserved rest I extend the thanks of everybody who has used a monthly disc to John.

The president's competition for Winter is for a winter photograph. The picture must reflect some aspect of winter in Australia. Closing date is the first of September and entries can either be forwarded to the president's e-mail or to the office.

To steal Michael Poloni's tagline: "Have some fun". Til next month.
 

[ About Melbourne PC User Group ]