The sky isn't falling

There are however some substantial cracks. Unfortunately there's a real danger that the endless uninformed and often inaccurate hype about the millennium bug, and other pending computer problems will immunise regular computer against acting on real warnings.

I know many ignored early warnings about Happy99 and Melissa because "GoodTimes" and other hoaxes taught them to ignore virus warnings. What they should have learnt was how to tell the difference between a legitimate warning and a hoax.

This month we have more about real threats, a new Net nasty, "Melissa" and a follow up on Happy99.

George Skarbek goes over the process for removing a Happy99 infection in his selection of questions and answers, so there is no need for panic if you missed Chris Stubbs' article on the Ska virus (PC Update, April 1999).

Your hard drive will fail!

Brian K Lewis assures us that the title of his article isn't a curse, but that's not meant to reassure you. If you doubt the need for frequent backups or the usefulness of hard drive repair utilities (such as Hard Drive Mechanic Deluxe, reviewed in this issue by Bernadette Houghton), Brian's article may be the wake up call you need.

Even if you're smug, secure in the knowledge of a recent backup, there is much to learn in Brian's article. Along with motivating readers to take precautions that can minimise the effects of the inevitable, he also high-lights some subtle pitfalls that can snag the unwary or unprepared when a hard drive fails.

Having just gone through the process of installing a SCSI device, I sympathise with Brian's experience. In my case I could have saved myself two days worth of headaches, swearing, and online research if--when I first spotted the dreaded exclamation point within its cheery yellow circle--I had just stopped, uninstalled the device and started over again.

But Bernie isn't the only one to experience occasional bouts of arrogance. I was determined to discover the cause of the problem. I wanted to understand the error messages. I thought I wanted to know why I had a problem. What I really wanted was to be able to use the SCSI drive. It just took me two days to realise that. When I finally gave up and started over from scratch, the installation went without a hitch. I don't know what went wrong the first time. Now that everything is working again, I don't care.

I've already made special mention of several articles, of course I still expect everyone to read every word on every page. However, I want to close my editorial by asking every member, yes every member to think about the question, "What is a user group?". In late March Detlef Pelz posted a question in melbpc.general, with the subject line "What is Melb PC?" and expressed his views on the subject quite compellingly. He looked beyond the obvious (and too vague to be useful) "common interest in computers" and touched on individual and societal issues that draw people together.

Detlef closed his message saying he hoped to provoke some debate and had more thoughts on the matter, but wanted to see what others thought first. There was some follow up but not a lot. Maybe the timing was wrong. The message came not long after discussion about new newsgroups. Some members may have thought that he was writing about melbpc.general, rather than Melb PC generally.

To be fair there were at least 20 messages posted in the thread. But that's still not much discussion on what should be a topic of interest not just to subscribers to our Internet service but indeed to all members. (I'm hoping he will ] share some of his other ideas on the subject with PC Update readers. And no, he doesn't know I've dobbed him in, or he didn't know until now.)

Rather than put him in the hot seat, I've printed a message from a member of the Komputer Enthusiasts of Greater Seattle (KEGS) user group, and sent to the APCUG Board of User Group Advisors Mailing List. It poses similar questions. I think it makes an easier and less threatening introduction to this subject, because it's not specifically about Melb PC. I hope it will stimulate ongoing contributions from members, without sparking (old or new) turf wars.

Bob also closed his message with a call for members to share their thoughts on the issue. I hope it inspires our members to respond with their thoughts and opinions about what Melb PC is, and what it can be.

If you're tempted to sit back and let others have their say, because, "every-one knows that user groups are about...", think again. The first two responses to Bob's message contained diametrically opposed views. I'd like to think that with more than 10,000 members, of varying age, length of membership, computing experience and computing interests, there should be hundreds if not thousands of different views.

What is your "experience" of Melb PC?

What do you think Melb PC is?

What do you think Melb PC can be?

What did you expect when you joined?

How is it different from what you expected?

This is your user group. This is your magazine.