 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial David Jitts |
Here I am, back again in harness after last month's respite. For the past several weeks I have been up to my proverbials in house renovations and it surprises me that my poor little work torn fingers can still manage to tap away at the keyboard! One of the aspects of the renovations was the incredible unreliability of building tradesmen; the painter loused up the doors and then walked off the job, the plumber was always two days late and the tiler was a complete disaster.
Unfortunately, this disease of unreliability seems to have spread to within our User Group. You may notice the absence of two of our regular features in this edition. This has been caused by failure, on the part of the authors, to submit any copy, and one gets tired of chasing them up. The same persons would probably complain loudly if we failed to produce PC Update on schedule.
But enough bitching for the moment. Let's talk about some good things.
First on the agenda must be to thank my stand-in editor, John Wilkins, for last month's edition. John put in many hours at the Olivetti to put it all together as I was really too preoccupied with my career as a builder's labourer. The result was, I must admit with some reluctance, a very fine edition. His innovative ideas have caused us to rethink the layout of PC Update and you may expect to see some changes in the not-too-distant future. Even the Treasurer, that careful custodian of the Group's funds, was proposing that we retain a Graphics Consultant to advise on improvements to our Newsletter. So if you have any ideas or comments on the format of PC Update, now would be a very appropriate time to make them known.
As a special reward (??) for his efforts, I twisted John's arm into agreeing to accept one of the two vacancies on the Committee. We still have to vote on this at Committee level, but I don't imagine that anyone will be fighting John for the job.
Next in line in the "thank you" queue is the entire membership for funding our new 19" Sigma Design LaserView Display Screen. This wonderful bit of technology (1664 x 1200 resolution) makes the task of preparing PC Update so much more enjoyable. Of course, the Committee also come in for thanks for agreeing to spend the money. The recommended retail price of the LaserView is over $6000 but, through the kind offices of Lloyd Borrett, we paid a good deal less than that figure.
The second vacancy on the Committee, by the way, has been created by the resignation of our Past President, Felix Hofman. Felix has spent a lot of time on the Committee, including a spell as President. We all thank you, Felix, for services rendered and hope that you will continue to be involved with the Group in other ways.
Finally, a word to my favourite people. They are, of course, those members that contribute to PC Update. It would make my life a lot easier if you observed the following requirements for the files which you submit for publication:
- Submit ASCII Text files or Microsoft Word files only.
- Text files should should not include any IBM Extended Graphics Characters
(i.e. of ASCII number 128 or higher).
- Separate paragraphs with a blank line.
- Do not attempt to format the text with such things as extra spaces and
underlines.
- Consider the use of the TAB character instead of strings of blanks to line
up your text.
- Try to use tables for data which lends itself to this format and refer to
the tables and text.
- A hard copy of the disk file would be much appreciated.
