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DACS members, mark your calendar for Wednesday, December 5th, to attend John Patrick’s presentation at the Danbury Hospital Auditorium at 7 p.m. The general meeting has been pushed to a Wednesday to accommodate John Patrick’s schedule.

John Patrick will talk about his new book "Net Attitude" published by Perseus. Patrick has been called a visionary on the subject of the Internet and has talked to DACS members about topics well in advance of their occurrence.

Reflecting on comments Patrick made at previous DACS meetings, some seemed very futuristic at the time. I have the following personal perspective that indeed he is visionary: In the era of the 25/56 Kps modems, Patrick talked about the "always on" concept. Now my home computer is "always on" with a cable connection; my work computer, with a DSL connection.

One night recently, coming back home, I asked my kids the usual question, if homework was done. I was told no. The reason was that the cable was temporarily down (a first, I admit, as the cable connection is very reliable). Older son needed a science article and younger son required the story of the U.S. flag. I told older son to pick up an article from a recent science section of the New York Times and handed younger son the encyclopedia, which surely would have the topic he needed. Instead of following my advice, both kids went outside to play. Upon their return, the cable was up and running, and guess what they used to complete homework that day! Kids’ lives are tightly intermingled with the Internet.

When older son comes back from school, his first step is toward the computer to check e-mail, the latest offerings on e-bay and to monitor the news on CNN. Younger son checks fashion on Gap Kids, www.gapkids.com or what’s the latest on sport shoes at www.shoes.com.

If I need directions to go some place, I will check Mapquest, www.mapquest.com rather than dig
up the maps. If a telephone number needs to be called, Switchboard, www.switchboard.com is consulted more often than the telephone book.

Word XP directs users to the web site that contains a large collection of cliparts, templates and help. Music is piped in from the web as soon as the computer is on. At work, blueprints can be checked on the customers’ web sites or e-mailed, when not long ago only faxed and mailed prints were available. The software that my employer recently acquired allows our customers to view the manufacturing status of their parts.

Similar models involving use of the Internet were introduced by John Patrick. At the time, they seemed distant in implementation and futuristic in nature.

John Patrick travels internationally, and his perspective is not only domestic. He presents concepts not necessarily found in the US. A couple of years ago, he was talking about hand held, remote debit/card machines that he had observed during a trip to Paris. Last summer, traveling to the same city, I was not surprised to see the waitress process my card right at my table. This technology brings a sense of security when your card is not brought into some dark corners of a restaurant to be processed. I found out that those debit/credit card devices not only process the types of cards that have a magnetic band but also the cards more commonly found overseas with the microchip embedded (called "une puce" in French).

I’m very interested to hear what concepts John Patrick will introduce DACS members to at the December meeting, as I know they will affect my life sooner or later. Secure your seat early, as this meeting usually is very well attended. For more information, please check DACS’ web site at www.dacs.org.