President's Message

At the April 10 meeting of the board, the DACS directors will elect their officers for the coming year. Our bylaws stipulate that half of the board is elected by the membership at our annual meeting in December, after which the board meets to draw straws. Under our original bylaws, this exercise would take place directly following the meeting, but a few years ago, the board chose to move the date of selection to April, so that its members would have more time to collect themselves and find candidates to run for the open positions.

Unfortunately, we've managed to collect no one else than ourselves, and the election date is getting closer and closer. Positions up for grabs include president, chairman, four vice presidents, treasurer and secretary, and except for chairman, none require that the candidate be a member of the board. In the end the only prerequisite is that the candidates be willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

So, if you want to do something for DACS and would like a title to go along with it, contact Bruce Preston (bpreston@mags.net) or let us know at the April General Meeting, and we'll put you on the list. We'll add a VP spot or two to accommodate you -or, if you happen to bump one of our weary officers aside, don't worry-they'll probably thank you.

Look Ma!-- No wires

As you sit in a restaurant or ride to work, do you wonder how you could ever have gotten through life without a cell phone? Do you dream of juggling that knife and fork with your mouse, or having Web cookies with your latte, all the while filling that space of time between bites or beeps with some productive moments doing e-mail or surfing the Web? If so, you'll love our next presentation on April 4, as Microsoft field representative John Stroiney tells us about the future of Internet connectivity.

If you think you've already had a glimpse of that brave new world from IBM's John Patrick or DACS' own Ed Heere, think again! This is the pearly Gates-a future according to Microsoft, dominated by, MSN Web communities, MSN eShop, MSN Money Central, MSN Mobile, FrontPage 2000, and WebTV. But it's still a future whose outlines look pretty much the same, only the names and the faces are somewhat different.

Nerds and techies wanted

A while back, DACS had an assistive technology special interest group, which was dedicated to finding new computer solutions for Voice for Joanie and other organizations serving the handicapped. Some of the SIG members have since moved on and the SIG itself fell on hard times. We would now like to revive the idea with a new SIG devoted to nonprofit uses of technology.

As a starter, Dr. Jack Fong, head of Pediatrics at Danbury Hospital, is looking to find ways technology can help in his work with needy children. This could involve finding wireless links for information transmitted from the field, evaluating data on children's visual development, or tamper-proofing digital photographic evidence of child abuse.

If you have experience in programming or computer hardware design, perhaps you could be part of this effort. Please contact me or Ed Heere. It could be the start of something great!

--Allan Ostergren
dacsprez@aol.com