 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group CPU (Club President's Update) Stan Johnstone stanj@melbpc.org.au |
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One of last month's highlights for me was the presentation of IPIX by Interactive Pictures Australia at the monthly meeting. Previously I had seen these images used on some Web sites featuring cars and buildings, but this was the first time I had seen how these images were prepared.
The system uses two photographs, taken back to back with a fish-eye lens, which are then translated to a digital image. When viewed on your screen, purely by moving your mouse you are able to look up and down, and all around as the full 360-degree picture slowly pans before your eyes.
Already some real estate agents in Australia have started to use this method of displaying properties on the Web, which must be a real boon for anyone looking for a new home. But then they usually spoil the picture by listing the price!
Over the years there have been some magical presentations at the monthly meetings, and often the ones I find most enjoyable are in those fields that I know nothing about. At the same time, it is always more interesting if the product is in your area of interest.
Unfortunately our attendance tended to fall away in the months when the topics were not published in PC Update. This has been most unfortunate, and it takes some time to recover the lost numbers once again. We are working to provide new, interesting and different topics in the coming months. But most importantly, we realise that we must make sure they are announced well in advance.
Attracting new members
In the December issue of PC Update we announced a prize of a Hayes 56K modem for a winner to be drawn from those members who introduced a new member before the end of March 1998. The lucky winner as a result of the draw was Jimmy Jamasji, and by now he should be downloading faster than ever. Once again, our thanks to Hayes for their generous donation.
Over the next months we will be running a membership drive with the added incentive of a major prize for some lucky new member, as well as a significant prize for the introducing member. Details are being finalised, and full details will be in next month's PC Update.
We believe that increased membership enables us to increase the benefits and reduce the costs to all members. The main reason for our continued success is due to the quality of our membership, but our size and financial stability also mean that we have been able to encompass all the new developments in the computing field.
Internet legal matters
Together with some government entities, banking and credit companies, communications and Internet companies, Melb PC has been invited to attend a seminar conducted by the Victoria Police during the coming month to discuss many of the issues that affect all Internet providers and users. Subjects planned for discussion include fraud, responsibilities and preventive controls, and the roles of all participants.
Melb PC probably has a closer association with its Internet subscribers than any commercial provider because they are our members. We welcome this opportunity to voice our opinions and provide information and knowledge gained from this close relationship with our members.
I hope to report back to you on developments and actions arising from this seminar in future months.
Untimed Intranet access
While on the subject of Internet - have you tried the Intranet access currently being trialed on the 9686 5644 rotary group?
It is much too complex to try and explain all the benefits and details here, beside which by the time you read this it may have been extended still further. Basically it is intended to provide additional time to users beyond the normal 120-minute quota, with practically the only restriction being that you cannot make direct access beyond our cache and that of the Mel-NAP peering group.
You are able to send and receive e-mail, read and post news, download files available online and read web pages already cached on our proxy server. All this is at no extra cost to you, and also with no additional cost to us resulting from traffic charges. Keep reading the "Message of the Day" for the latest news as it happens - at http://hww.melbpc.org.au/motd/
George Skarbek and Richard Solly have been investigating many different approaches for delivering to you wider and more extensive resources, while at the same time controlling the increasing traffic charges.
And now Netshow Player has just been added with some sample home movies complete with sound so that you can sample some of the new developments on this front. Remember, your probably saw it first at Melb PC!
Yellow cards
No, unlike soccer umpires we don't send these cards out to those members who
commit a foul. From our Internet logs each day we get a list of users who have failed during the login phase
due to a username or password error. Usually it is a simple thing like mixing "real name" and "username" when
configuring your dialler software, or using the wrong password.
It is not due to a modem or line problem. It means that when the user data is sent from your machine for
verification against the password files, a match is not found and you are dropped off. One subscriber
recently dialled in 104 times in one day with a misspelt username, and so was cut off every time! This would
have provided a nice $26 donation to Telstra's coffers in one day!
Yellow cards are good for you - it is our polite way (and it is sometimes a bit of a guess to find the right
user) to let you know there is a problem at your end, and to give you a possible cause of the problem. There
is no need to apologise as it's not causing us any hassles, but it is nice to get a message afterwards that
you were successful in finding the problem. If you can't find the problem, please seek help immediately.
Shareware and freeware
Everyone who enjoys Glenn Webster's pages in PC Update will know that shareware is far from dead, in
fact there seem to be more listings each month!
At the last orientation day I asked if everyone knew what shareware was, and whether they used it. I was
surprised that many did not know what it was, and spent some time explaining how it worked, and what gems
were waiting to be used.
An example I used was Vern Buerg's LIST which I first registered about 12 years ago, and is the single
most-used program on my computer. In fact, in the time it has taken me to write this far in this column, I've
used it three times to access information! (No wonder I and many others were completely fooled by that April
article in PC Update and wasted hours trying to find out more details!)
All of a sudden, for some reason or other, my computer's clock now stops when I shut down each day, causing
all manner of confusion with the time/date stamp on my e-mail. Fortunately I found a freeware program that
connects me to the CSIRO atomic clock in Sydney when I first login to the Internet each day, and my computer
clock is reset automatically.
With shareware the philosophy enables you to try before you buy, whereas freeware comes with the writer's
compliments. If you don't normally read it, have a look at Glenn Webster's pages for this month and you can
then order disks through the office. Better still, go back and read last month's pages to see what you may
have missed.
Volunteers
Why is it that each month John Morris has me writing about volunteers? The main reason is that John is
such an active volunteer himself, and works in so many fields that he can always find a need that requires
filling.
Many thanks to Jenny Stosser and Charles Caddy who responded to my (i.e. John's) request last
month for volunteers to assist with IRC Chat. John wasted no time and their names have been added to the Dial
Help listings.
This month the call is for help at swap meets. Volunteers are not giving up, it is just that there are more
and more swap meets. All that is asked is attendance at a swap meet near you for a couple of hours on a
Sunday morning. Here you get an opportunity to meet the public, answer some questions, and hopefully recruit
new members. Please contact either John or myself if you are able to help.
Orientation day
The usual orientation day will be held on Saturday 16 May 1998 at the office at 27 Dorcas Street, South
Melbourne, starting at 10 am and running until about noon. Last month's was on Easter Saturday, which was
fortunate for one member who was here from Adelaide just at the right time. Bring a friend if you like, and
see the benefits of being a Melb PC member.
Ring the office on (03) 9699 6222 to make a booking purely so we can control the numbers.
Seminar night
With Windows 98 just over the horizon I suppose most questions that arise in the future will be about that
new operating system, and those of us who are a little more wary may not be able to get the solution to those
unanswered Windows 95 problems.
"The last Windows 95 tips" is the title of the May Seminar Night. To learn those extra or undocumented parts
of Windows 95, come along on Friday 15 May 1998, starting at 6.30 pm in the SIG Room at 27 Dorcas Street -
your last chance to learn about Win 95 before the jump to Windows 98.
A real bargain at $20 for the three-hour course, reservations are essential on (03) 9699 9222.
Until next month
March and April are two of the busiest months in our office due to the majority of membership and Internet
renewals occurring in those months. Just to bundle and mail out all those forms is an enormous task handled
so well by Tricia, Margi, Kerry and the wonderful volunteers.
Not that things ever really slow down, but it is nice to get back to normality once again.
Reprinted from the May 1998 issue of PC Update, the magazine
of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
