President's File

It won’t be long now… It’s February, and I’m one step closer to that spring day when I’ll be able to dust off my whooping sticks and put a peg in the ground.

Meeting Cancellations
I was hoping we’d make it through the year without canceling a meeting. Unfortunately Mother Nature didn’t get that memo, so I thought this would a good time to remind everyone where to look for information about meeting cancellations.

Your first stop should be the DACS Website. We’ll post information about meeting cancellations or postponements on-line as quickly as possible. Second, check your e-mail we’ll try to notify members by e-mail as soon as possible.

Third, check major media outlets. The primary outlets we use are WTNH TV Channel 8, WFSB TV Channel 3 and WTIC Radio 1080 AM. Secondary outlets are WVIT TV Channel 30 and WLAD Radio 800 AM.

When all else fails, call me at the number listed in you newsletter or e-mail me.

News Bytes
E-commerce - According to a report from Goldman Sachs, Nielson/NetRatings and Harris Interactive online holiday sales rose 30% in 2005. The top five product categories were clothing and apparel, computer hardware and peripherals, consumer electronics, books and toys/video games.
In related news, Amazon.com reported its best holiday sales ever, with more than 108 million items ordered.

Sony Settles – Sony BMG Music has reached a settlement in one of the class action law suites filed in the wake of the DRM rootkit scandal. Under the terms of the settlement, consumers who purchased one of the affected titles can get free replacement, $7.50 in cash, and a free download from one of three music-download sites including Apples iTunes. Customers who don’t want to bother with the small check can opt for three free album downloads instead. Consumers who purchased CDs in 2003 and 2004 that contained an earlier version of Sony’s copy-protection software will be offered a free download of the disks contents.

As part of the settlement, Sony BMG will bring in an independent auditor to monitor its digital rights management software to ensure that it respects consumer’s privacy.

Next Generation Macs – Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed several new products at Macworld Expo in January. Among them were the company’s first computers based on Intel microprocessors, the Macbook Pro and a new iMac.

Both systems are based on Intel’s new Core Duo microprocessor. The Core Duo is essentially a dual core version of the Pentium M microprocessor. Apple claims the new Macbook Pro is roughly 4 times faster than the current Powerbook notebooks, while the new Core Duo-based iMacs are roughly twice as fast as the current iMac G5.

Will Windows run on the new Macs? No, not yet anyway. Apple’s new Macs rely on Intel’s EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) for boot-up, rather than the older BIOS that PCs use. Windows XP doesn’t support EFI, but the next version, Windows Vista, which is scheduled for release later this year, should.

End Notes
My winter reading list keeps growing the latest additions are:

• The Unknown Battle of Midway: The Destruction of the American Torpedo Squadrons, by Alvin Kernan
• Mary, Mary, by James Patterson

Unfortunately, I have to cut this month’s column short and head off to meeting.

Jeff Setaro


 
 
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