President's File
June 2010

(The President's message will occasionally be writen by editor Patrick Libert)

Up. Up and Away!

by Patrick Libert

DACS’ Momentum

Those of you who read the Directors’ Notes column will sense the need to make DACS more ‘visible’ to the general public. This is an ongoing priority that needs constant input. As we review our monthly attendance figures and our financial reports, it is evident that DACS is underutilized and we must act to promote it actively.

This is not specific to DACS. Most computer user groups are in the same situation. Yes, a much larger segment of the population is computer savvy today than it was ten years ago but that doesn’t mean that DACS has become useless.

On the contrary, all the new applications and networking capabilities that we use increase the value of DACS.

After all, we’re not here to preach but to share our knowledge with you. Won’t you join us?

Let’s create a virtual chain letter. Tell everyone you know about DACS and how it can help them enjoy their computer experience even more. Ask them to “pass it on.” Mention it to your coworkers, your friends and family; write it in your blog. Can you imagine how much interest this would generate?

Program Preview

When I first read about YouTube, it was basically a vehicle with which to showcase one’s personal video files. That was yesterday!

Now, not a day goes by during which I open a link from a major company or broadcaster using YouTube as their tool to show video to the browsing public.

Scott Preston’s upcoming presentation will show us how to use YouTube to its maximum capabilities and help dispel any misgivings we might have about this genial application.

We look forward to seeing you at the next General Meeting; it’s FREE!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Danbury Hospital auditorium.

New and Notable

It’s Pandora all the way. I signed up for the annual membership and immediately noticed the higher sound quality that comes with the Pandora One membership. Plus, the Pandora desktop app negates the need to open one’s browser to listen to music.

When I upgraded to my new Mac I installed Windows Vista on a separate partition. I don’t use Windows but thought that it would fun(?) to play with the forever maligned OS. All worked as expected and after a few months, I cancelled the partition and returned to a Mac only operation.

I am going to try another approach using the VirtualBox app, which I use to explore Linux Ubuntu applications. I had forgotten that VirtualBox could also be used to “virtualize” a Windows application and I look forward to launching that diversion.

I will report next month on the experiment. Now, if I could only get my hands on Windows 7!