 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group CPU (Club President's Update) Colin Lovitt colinl@melbpc.org.au |
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Congratulations to Peter Smith, Ash Nallawalla, Gary Taig and all others concerned in the production of the magazine. It was named Runner-Up (Feature Articles) in the User Group magazine awards (world-wide) in the category - Over 32 Pages. BRISBUG won this section, which gives the Australian User Groups a unique double. I must look at their magazine because, in my view, ours is first class and continues to improve. Last month's edition revealed a succession of readable features, all from Australian writers, with a spread of articles covering all stages of PC expertise - a great read! The time devoted by Peter, Ash and Gary and the quality of their output is extraordinary. A special mention to Stephen Davey who has designed the front cover since July 1989. He was the worthy recipient last month of the Volunteer-of-the-Month award. And let's not forget the dozens of regular and occasional contributors - even Dave Mitchell. .
Members' Survey
OK, I promised we would put it in this month's magazine and it ain't here! Fear not, all ye doomsayers, "the cheque's in the mail!" It will be in the September edition, and is in the process of having the finishing touches applied. Better to fine tune it and ensure that it encapsulates the aims of the Committee; better to ensure it is in a form which encourages members to respond and facilitates the compilation and interpretation of your answers.
Monthly Meeting Venue
Many thanks to all who have made suggestions regarding an alternative venue with the demise of Clunies-Ross House. We now have a number of interesting options which variously fit our requirements. A decision will be made shortly and will be publicised on the BBS, the August Monthly Meeting, which will be at the World Congress Centre, and in next month's magazine.
ONE BBSCON
The BBS team recently provided the Committee with its plan for the next few years, involving considerable improvements in the facilities currently offered. This will ultimately mean that the current Maximus software will be unable to meet future needs. New software and utilities need to be investigated to find a BBS system which meets our planned requirements. Put shortly, there is no BBS software which is distributed in Australia that will perform the sort of functions Barry and his helpers intend. At this stage for example, prospective packages include SyncroNET, MAJOR BBS 6.2, PC BOARD 15.1, VBBS 6.14 and LORA BBS. None of these are sold or distributed in Australia and we have been unable to find anyone with sufficient knowledge to assist with the evaluation of these packages.
ONEBBSCON is being held in Atlanta, Georgia USA on August 15-18th and we have decided to send both Barry McMenomy and co-sysop, Allan Michelmore, to attend and evaluate prospective systems in their working form and have the authors available to ask technical questions. It is a vast conference, necessitating two people to cover the BBS vendors and modem manufacturers attending and displaying at this event. It will be a fairly frantic few days, and we wish them well.
Name This Space!
Several members have pointed out that the title of the President's page has been rather idiosyncratic in the past. It appears that my predecessors have spawned various names for their respective columns. John Beck wrote "Pres Said"; John Drake, the rather unimaginatively entitled "President's Page"; Spen Ingamells "From the President's Pen" (think about it!); Joan Hegedus and Lloyd Borrett merely penned "President's Report"; Peter Smith "In the Saddle"; and Charles Wright coined the current title "CPU". Until this month, I was blissfully unaware that an original title was desirable, even mandatory. Now being like all lawyers, a notorious egalitarian, it occurred to me that we might ask our members to suggest a title. It will no doubt provide some of my foes on the BBS with an opportunity to make the sort of comments about my name and occupation that I have already suffered for many, many years .. Send me your suggestions by whatever means you desire. I'll donate a prize commensurate with the importance of this rivetting contest - say, a free Waffle. I promise to publish the printable ones. I kind of think I may eventually regret this idea :-)
melbpc.org.au
Well the eight modems are up and running, a terminal server has been obtained, and subscribers can now generally log on. Ash has kept those interested posted on the trials and tribulations he and the rest of the team have endured. It remains to express the heartfelt gratitude of the Committee to those who played a part in getting it all together. Ash himself put it down in a message some time ago on the BBS. I hope he does not mind if I quote it here. Peter Byrne wrote to Ash:-
"Ash, the real reason for my posting is to congratulate you and your unseen band of helpers on successfully getting the Internet service up and running (got my form today). I've addressed this note to you because of your prominent visibility but I direct my comments to all concerned. I don't know very much about Bulletin Boards - yet - but as an Electronics Engineer, I know the sheer workload involved in getting a number of different pieces of hardware, married to various software, up to a functional turn-key stage. This is particularly difficult when a number of 'What's happening', Why haven't I got access', 'How can I ... etc' messages are arriving daily.
IMHO the combination of PC Update, the multi line BBS and now Internet facilities have made Melb PC one of the best values for money anywhere. The effort contributed by your volunteers have provide a range of services that is making this non-involved observer feel decidedly guilty. Thanks again to everyone involved in the recent BBS transformation and the Internet team. This little - not "so" little - enthusiast is looking forward to using these facilities and getting more closely involved in the Club from now on."
Ash responded:-
"Thanks, but the main person to thank is Charles (Wright), for he urged me to resume something I had attempted some years ago. Next thank the committee which is far more comms-literate and enlightened than others we have had in the past. Without their confidence we would not have come so far. Then thank Andrew Herbert of APANA whose software we are using with cosmetic modifications for melbpc.org.au, which is attached to Werple via ethernet. Thank Keith Owens for the many hours he spent on a complex menu system. Thank the admins for keying in 300 forms and for minor software tinkering, which still continues. My involvement has been mainly of a clerical nature. It has certainly eaten into my PC Update editing time, which I'm eager to resume."
Ash was being a little modest, I'll warrant. He has been the focal point around which the whole project has evolved.
Reprinted from the August 1994 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
