Hugh Macdonald

Welcome to the November 2019 edition of PC Update. This edition marks the end of an era as we have a President’s report from John Hall for the last time. I’d like to thank John for the great work he’s done for the club. As others have noted, there is a definite positive, friendly atmosphere to be found at the club, and as culture always permeates from the top of any organisation, that can be attributed to John and the committees that he’s led. Also from a personal point of view, as a relatively new member, and relative unknown who joined the committee, John has always been very welcoming and very supportive of the activities I’ve undertaken within the club. So thanks John!

It’s also the beginning of a new era with my immediate predecessor as PC Update editor, David Stonier-Gibson, about to become President. David has been someone who has been equally welcoming and supportive of me in the time I’ve been around the club, and I’ve found that he brings enormous energy and enthusiasm to anything he seeks to undertake at Melbourne PC User Group. So I think the future of the club is in very good hands, and I look forward to publishing David’s first President’s report next month.

Other than that, this month’s edition of PC Update contains the usual array of goodies:

• There is a very informative article from Jan Whitaker based upon her presentation at the last monthly meeting, featuring tips about how to get into genealogy.
• Phil Lew has an interesting article along with some great photos by George Skarbek, of the recent Melbourne Society of Model and Experimental Engineers exhibition that several members from the Microcontroller Workshop SIG displayed their work at.
• I’ve reviewed software called CloudReady which can more or less turn any old laptop you might have into a Chromebook.
• A useful smartphone app called Emergency+ is reviewed.
• There are reports from the East SIG, Northern Suburbs Linux Group, Video Production Group and Science and Tech Projects Group.

Enjoy reading, and have a great month.