 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Major Keary |
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Oops! and Other Things
A few things need mention. First the Oops! department. Last month's issue of PC Update encountered some typographical disasters. After having scanned the proofs and corrected typos the final camera-ready copy was printed. Between cup and lip a few strange things happened: in about four instances the font size changed in the first paragraph. Those eagle-eyed members who draw my attention to floating hyphens and other things were, on this occasion, very kind and chose to overlook the matter. Another mysterious change of font size caused part of the text to 'fall off the end' of the piece on page 30. And some frames were cast adrift on another page, causing minor, but none the less irritating, misplacement of text. Maybe the guardians of the language knew I had been interstate and had returned just three days before the copy had to be delivered to the printer - with some substantial parts of the magazine still to be finalised. Perhaps they were engrossed in the editorial.
Even though this issue has been subject to some last minute waiting for copy, I have high hopes that the gremlins have been driven out. The exorcists at Ventures provided a patch that seems to have fixed the problem.
Members' Free Ads
When using this service please send disks or copy to the office and marked 'MEMBERS FREE AD'. Provided hard copy (typed or clearly handwritten) does not exceed fifty words it will be accepted, but it should be mailed, faxed, or otherwise delivered to the office. Sending it to me direct (particularly by fax) invites delay. I have a free ad helper, Murray Nelson, and the office sends material directly to him. The BBS can be used for free ads, but they should be uploaded as a file to Area 'P'. Please don't upload as a message - it is a hassle for the editorial staff to download messages from the files BBS. There is no guarantee that ads left on the Message BBS will be picked up. There is no firm policy on what is acceptable as a member's free ad. I prefer to have flexibility rather than be restricted by formal boundaries. Provided there is something clearly defined that a member is looking for, or wants to sell, then that is acceptable. I am not so sure about offers of 'opportunities' that suggest some undefined commercial transaction.
Community Advertisments
From time to time I am contacted by people representing community groups that want assistance in seeking help for various projects.
PC Update is happy to accommodate such requests where possible and without charge.
An unfortunate result of our economic conditions is that governments, and business, are becoming tardy about many community services. Melb PC has, in its own quiet way, provided direct assistance in a number of cases.
Membership Survey For some time I have been advocating a survey of the membership in order to keep touch with your needs and expectations. I have an ulterior motive as
well - to establish a reader profile that is necessary to optimise PC Update's advertising revenue. While many of us would dearly like to have a magazine free of commercial advertising, the costs of production and distribution simply do not permit such a luxury.
The committee has decided to conduct a survey, but first wants to hear from any of our members who have experience in that kind of operation.
Those readers who would like to make suggestions, particularly as to the kind of questions we should be asking or the broad information we should be seeking, should write to the Operations Manager (bur mark the envelope 'Membership Survey'). Submissions can be on disk or left on the BBS as a file in Area 'P', but avoid leaving messages because they may not be picked up.
There are many advantages for the members, particularly in deciding what kind of articles we should be publishing in
PC Update. Also, it would help confirm (or otherwise) the oft-heard assertion that most members are raw beginners or experienced amateurs. I suspect there has been a change in the membership profile, but suspicions are no better than unsubstantiated assertions.
Of course, the greatest contribution to the success of such a survey is for you to complete and return the form. A high response rate would make the results so much more helpful.
Reprinted from the April 1993 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
