 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Pres Said John Beck |
It may be appropriate to state the purpose of the President's page. It is similar to the publication of reports from a Managing Director, both being the chief executive of their respective organisations. The objective is to inform members of what is happening behind the scenes of their organisation. Last year the articles were rather few, hence members were not informed of what was transpiring. The content as far as present and future events are concerned, is action or intention of the Committee and not an individual expression of the President. However any occasionally expressed personal views can be recognised by being in the case of first person singular. On the other hand opinions expressed in the editorial are the personal ones of the Editor and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or intention of the committee. Occasionally there is a column called *.SEC which is usually some important announcement from the Secretary (generally very business-like) but may be replaced by the Stop-press on the mailing label if of an urgent nature.
As has probably been noticed by many, the BBS has been off air during the transition to the office in Cecil St. The maintenance on the board was done by Miklos Bolvary who also wrote the new screens. Additional work and transporting was done by Ron Lyth. Thank you both on behalf of BBS users. Ron has also undertaken to act as BBS SIG convenor, and has a get-together in the bar after monthly meetings. Any other helpers can contact Ron on the BBS. However Murphy struck and the PC will not boot from the hard disk, (I am led to believe it never did) so it is in the workshop for repair. It seems to be suffering from a fault which is defying a simple solution. It is essential that it should reboot unaided, so that if it goes down due to power glitches it will automatically restart. Means of overcoming overnight periods off air are being investigated so that even though unattended it will be more reliable than if in a place of residence. Hopefully by the time this article is received it will be up and running. As an interim measure the original BBS has been commandeered from its current use and put into service. It has been said in a previous copy of PC Update that the new sysops may have a different policy. Although sysops and SIG convenors are given plenty of latitude in how to conduct their activities, policy is set by the committee. Chaos would reign if everyone did their own thing with no accountability.
I am not a BBS user for many reasons. However I was given a copy of the message files which Charles requested before allowing any more downloads. (Pity you didn't initiate the idea earlier, Charles to gain consensus). It gave an insight into how users appreciated or otherwise the service available on the BBS. For non-BBS users a brief resume is given. There were many accolades to the Sysops for the time spent and efficiency in running the board. Also there were a few abusive remarks which appeared to be uncalled for. There were many who used the board only for downloading files, complaining their ratio could not be improved because they had no files to upload. One message suggested the Group should vet all files to ensure they were bug free and the best of their type for him/her to download. It doesn't seem to occur to this type of user that in exchange for the programs, they could run and appraise them (why else would they download them) then write a critique and upload it for the benefit of others. It could be published in PC Update for a double credit. They could even become well-known in the Group as prolific contributors. One message stated that as a member there was a right (privilege is a more appropriate word) to download as much as was wanted. To be equitable, with 3500 members this works out at 43 seconds per day. Another wanted half an hour per day per member. With two lines this represents a day 1850 hours long or alternatively install another 75 lines. Even taking into account that only about 25% of members use the board a factor of 4 in either of the above cases is still absurd. Many messages suggested paying a fee in various forms to cover the cost of running the board. The original intent in establishing the BBS was that it was a privilege for members, and a means of communication between themselves, other members and committee. Even though there was an investment of about $15,000 of members' funds, it was to be a no charge facility. Elsewhere will be a list of ground rules for use of the BBS. In conclusion the committee thank Charles and Colin for the two years dedicated service given to the members. Colin has told us that he will continue to offer some assistance with the BBS. If anyone has any comments or suggestions on the operation of the BBS address them to the BBS SIG either on the board or to the Box number.
June 7th to 10th is the time for PC 89. This year it starts on a Wednesday and closes on the following Saturday. Apparently this is to overcome the tendency of children attending on the first day and taking a disproportionate amount of advertising literature from the stands. It is amazing what they will collect. It is our intention once again to have a stand. We are looking for volunteers to help to set up on the Tuesday, and man (or woman) it for some part of the four days, and help with dismantling it when the exhibition is over. If you cannot be available during the day-time a few hours at night would be appreciated. It is an opportunity to meet a lot of people, as it is one of the more popular stands. The ones who have helped in the past have found it to be a very pleasant way to spend anything from a few hours to several days. Many of our country members manage to make a visit to Melbourne at this time, and it is interesting to talk to them and learn of their PC activities. One member even comes to spend time on the stand, and enjoys it immensely.
The auction scheduled for the June meeting will be deferred so that we can try to have a speaker or panel from PC 89. It might be difficult with it being the first day, and closing later than our meeting. We are large enough and in our opinion important enough for requests from the heavyweights to address our members. It is becoming quite common now to be contacted by people wishing to speak at our monthly meetings when they see the subject in PC Update.
Reprinted from the May 1989 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
