DACS Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, January 8, 2014

By Bruce Preston

Called to Order: 7:17 PM

Attending: Richard Corzo, Jim Scheef, Lisa Leifels, Bert Goff, Dick Gingras, Dave Green, Richard Teasdale, Bruce Preston, Andy Woodruff

Minutes of Last Meeting
Accepted with revision:
New Business #3: "Bert offered to look into options."
Change to :"Bert offered to look into policy coverage and limits."

Treasurer’s Report for December, 2013

Membership Report

Old Business

1. General meetings
• January 7, 2014: Richard Corzo—Apple Ecosystem.  Preview: Jeff Smith, Review: Frank Kromer
• February 4: Jay Ferron—Windows 8.1.  Preview: Bruce Preston, Review: Joan Galligan – Meet the SIG component – Mobile Devices/Windows 8 SIG
• March 4 - TBD
• April - TBD
• May 6: John Patrick—Confirmed for his annual "State of the Internet".  Preview: ________, Review: ________
•  Possible future topics:
• We've started to do a "Meet the SIG" segment between the Ask DACS session and the featured presentation? We did the Linux SIG in November. We should do Mobile Devices in February. Others available for future months: Drupal, Web Design.
• "LifeStream" monitoring. Mike Kaltschnee mentioned FitBit (currently available at BestBuy) or other 'wearable electronics.' Andy will speak with Jeff Schlicht, professor of Health Promotion & Exercise at WestConn, about a possible presentation at DACS re wearable electronic devices that monitor exercise and/or body functions. Bill may have access to someone who has Google Glass, and perhaps other health-related wearable devices.
• Sean and Bruce have agreed to put together a Saturday session, perhaps in January, more likely in February, on building virtual machines.  Participants would have to bring their own operating system. Bruce will talk to Sean now that we have passed the year end.
• Andy suggested a session on creating a web site of various types: blog, brochure, e-commerce site, etc.) – making use of such as products/services as site builder (online or on PC), turn-key sites, etc.  Andy suggested that as a computer group we should do some sort of session that would answer the question: "I think I need a web site, what are my options?"  This might involve a "high level" overview of the various approaches. Andy (and to some extent Bruce) wanted to talk about the entry level 'turn-key' systems where you must live within the constraints of the design, where Annette is more concerned about  "What happens if it doesn't do what you want it to do?"  Annette and Andy will discuss creating an outline that describes at a high-level what components might be a part of a web site and the repercussions they have upon the construction of the site.
• Lisa suggested a "decision tree" presentation – "What should I get?" – Windows or Mac, Desktop, All-in-One, Notebook, Tablet, or even SmartPhone – Android or iOS, etc. Lots of decisions - how to decide what meets your needs.  We think this would be a 'tough' presentation to pull off but a lively session. Bruce will concentrate on desktops, Richard Corzo will concentrate on mobile devices, Jim and Charlie will work on defining the metrics.
• Video production – putting something up on YouTube.  Vine, Instagram, etc.  Approach WestConn or Naugatuck to see if a student might do it.  Perhaps for a Senior project?  Andy is currently working on a project, he says he might be able to do it in 6 months or so.  Also "personal videos" that might be put on Twitter or Flickr.
• Google products? Android operating system, Chromebook, Google Plus, etc. Richard C. asked our previous Google speaker Millicent Branca but has not gotten a response.  He found someone through Meetup who specializes in tech startups, but hasn't heard back after his initial reply.  Richard will follow through on this lead as well as continue to search.
• Home theater systems.  Jim is in the process of assembling one, might put together a program based upon his experiences. Richard will write an article on watching YouTube on TV.  Andy will look for an independent home theater installations.  Comparison of services such as Xfinity, CableVision, DirecTV etc.  Carston Stereo might be a good prospect – Andy will talk to them.
• Digital cameras – higher end digital cameras.  Explanation of what they have that you don't get in a phone etc.  What is RAW mode, HDR, etc., sensor size, what causes noise, etc.  Andy says he could do this as early as March or April.
• 3D Printing – have not heard from Bill Saturno.
• Jim would like to see things like the Raspberry Pi, Ardolino etc.
• Andy suggested an overview of the "app development" process.  Discussion followed as to how it might be made interesting to general populace.
2. Opening/filled positions
• We are looking for an "evangelist" or someone to promote DACS on Facebook beyond what we are doing now (just posting our meeting announcements). We asked for volunteers at the general meeting and Tom Carruthers expressed some interest at the end of the meeting. Richard Corzo will follow up with Tom.
3. Bob Green has become very frustrated with trying to use CiviCRM to maintain our membership data and then generating his sign-in sheets for members and visitors to the general meeting.  Jim has been having trouble integrating Drupal and CiviCRM.  We discussed using Google DOCS or Zoho.  A quick check of Zoho indicates that it may support our needs so that we can get out of maintaining a home-brew Drupal and CiviCRM installation.
4. Dave Green has received a letter from our insurance carrier Zurich North America notifying us that the company providing us with small business insurance, Maryland Casualty Company will be replaced with a new one, Foremost Insurance Company.  Bert offered to look into options.  Jim reported that he had investigated with an agency where he has a contact, and our carrier at that time was the only one offering coverage appropriate to our needs. Is there anything further we need to do?  No, other than getting the address updated.
5. Bill DeRosa gave us some feedback on our Facebook page.  Richard C. needs to talk to Tom as reported above before we go further with this.
6. RC Phone circuit – Dick was going to look into alternatives for the phone line, which also supports the buzz-in, DSL, and the security system. In the meantime Richard C. called the phone company and we found we can drop the monthly long distance service charge for a savings of $10 a month.
7. Richard Corzo confirmed the hospital auditorium for the 2014 general meetings.

New Business

1. No new business.

Adjourned 9:20