President's Message December 2007 (v1.9) The Holiday Season is again upon us. With any luck, we might have our shopping AND wrapping done before December 24. It is interesting to me how people, despite the Internet, still rely on the in-store experience. In our household, about half to three-quarters of the shopping is done online—in part because the shipping boxes make it easier to hide things. The remainder is the brick-and-mortar "This would be perfect for Aunt Mabel!" ad-hoc items. Computer and tech enthusiasts are a little difficult to shop for—myself included. We're particular and the rest of our families and friends probably don't share the same appreciation we do. It's easy to find something for that techno-junkie at ThinkGeek.com or ComputerGear.com. Of course, a DACS membership or just a newsletter subscription makes a great gift, too! Resource Center Makeover Success! On two Saturdays, October 20 and 27, several members and helpers got together to clean up and organize the DACS Resource Center located at Ives Manor in downtown Danbury. We hauled out almost a half ton of metal! We took the metal to Dell's Wrecking and received $4 per 100lbs. That nabbed us $40.80! Two truckloads of debris that could not be tossed in the dumpster were taken to Danbury's 'Mom and Pop Recycling Center' which cost us $80 to dispose of. There are a few loose ends to tidy up, but the bulk of the work is completed. The partition walls may not be used, so if anyone is interested in them, please send me a note. We've added some coat hooks in the entryway, hung up a bulletin board, and opened up the main meeting room by repositioning the desks along the wall. The place is much more homey now! Thanks to about $140 in donations made toward the cleanup effort and the conversion of metal to cash, the total cleanup cost to DACS out-of pocket was less than $60.00. Due to our good fortune DACS was able to take advantage of a sale on a Brother HL-2070N networked laser printer available for just over $100! Our resource center now has two computers to be used as dual-boot Windows and Linux systems, two Macintosh systems, one networked laser printer, and all of it is now wired (as of the November Server SIG). Come on down and take a look! A huge THANKS goes to the following people for their help in making the cleanup possible: Jamie Yates Other news and reminders Remember that our General Meetings will be held on the first Monday of January through June of 2008 at the Danbury Hospital. The meeting dates will be the first Tuesday of each month from July through December 2008. Remember to check the DACS online calendar for updated information and changes. It is at http://www.dacs.org/calendar. The December 2007 General Meeting is the DACS 'Annual' meeting as defined in the bylaws. During that meeting, we will need to conduct two orders of business. The first will be elections for Directorship terms that expire this year. Our second order of business will be to vote on the proposed Bylaw changes. The existing Bylaws and proposed changes can be found on the DACS website at http://www.dacs.org/aboutdacs/bylaws.htm. The new "Windows SIG" makes its debut this month on December 20. This SIG is currently set to meet on the third Thursday of each month. This group is meant to be a sibling to our existing Mac and Linux SIGs. As such, we will discuss ways to get the most out of your system and applications, how to do new things, and other options in terms of hardware and software to help make life easier. All skill levels are welcomed and encouraged to attend. By the time this reaches you, the new "Tech Projects SIG" will have already had their first meeting on November 14. This group meets on the second Wednesday of each month. Initially, this group will work on the DACS 'Online Community' endeavors. We will also take time to look at other projects that could range from practical application solutions, to brainstorming, to tweaking commercial products. All skill levels and backgrounds are welcomed—including those interested in thinking 'outside the box'. Our aim in these meetings is to mix, match, and customize technology to fit our needs. In closing… Remember to be a part of the December 2007 meeting. You won't want to miss the drawings, or, what is more important, John Patrick! See you then!
ROB LIMBAUGH
|
Mugs and more, visit CafePress to order