President's Message

January 1998

AT the December General Meeting, six Board directors were elected for two-year terms. We welcome (or welcome back, as the case may be) Bruce Preston, Allan Ostergren, Marc Cohen, Jeff Setaro, Frances Owles, and Larry Buoy. The talents and energies of these directors will enable DACS to continue to grow and provide exciting programs in the years ahead. Snowed out The downside of planning programs between December and February is what makes Santa's sleigh glide -- snow. It came a little faster, a lot heavier, and lasted longer than we expected on Wednesday, December 10. That was the day of our advanced e-mail meeting. For the few who managed to dogsled in, we apologize for the late cancellation. If there is an upside to this, it is that we learned there is a great interest in e-mail, so much so that we have rescheduled the advanced e-mail program for Wednesday, January 14. If we get the slightest hint that the weather will be nasty enough to force us to cancel, we'll e-mail you to let you know. "New-tos ..." revisited and revamped Since the "New-to ..." programs have been so well received, we have decided to add to the series by offering a "New-to ..." program each month, weather permitting. February will open with a New-to-Windows program. You can expect to be guided through the basic interface and the management of files and documents, learn how to customize the interface and how to use the tools found in the Control Panel, and much more. In March, we will be circling back to the Internet with our New-to-the-Net program. Starting with a discussion of the Internet's origins, you will then learn how you can set up a dial-up icon to your network provider, followed by an overview of browsers, search engines, bookmarks, and e-mail. The new-to programs provide an excellent opportunity to introduce a spouse, neighbors, and friends to the Danbury Area Computer Society. We hope you'll take advantage of the programs and share them with potential new members. Bring in the noise With the advances we're expecting in the computer industry in 1998, we look forward to a year of exciting programs. The trade presses suggest we can expect to see Moore's Law continue its outreach. Chips are being developed to perform at 1000 MHz, and bandwidth for many will expand to fractional T1 service via xDSL and cable alternatives. This may spur new interest in videographic and digital communications. The controversy of the viability of the Internet or network computer may continue, but we will invariably see many new Internet communications devices appearing. The new materials that are able to retain nonvolatile memory suggest it won't be too far into the future before we see the computers of the next millennium. They will likely have no boot requirements. Complete operating systems, programs, and data will all be resident instantly, as soon as power is applied. All will reside within a single chip instead of in the hard drive, thus reducing the power requirements and shrinking the size of the computer. The devices that will bear intelligence capabilities and their potentials can only be imagined. On a more personal note, we trust that you had a safe, happy and fun holiday with your family and friends. The DACS Board, our officers, and I wish you the best of the new year and all it brings. - Tom McIntyre mcintyre@eci.com

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