President's Message

With the approach of the millennium, prophecies of doom are descending like the trick-and-treat cries of Halloween goblins. Although word of the Y2K bug began to creep in with the thirty-year mortgage in the 1970s, reality has only just begun to descend on most of us during the last two years. If there is any substantial difference among the doomsayers, it is over the question of whether we will even get to see the millennium.

Among all his dire predictions, Nostradamus is not reputed to have foretold of the Year 2000 bug; but then he might not have felt it was worth mentioning considering the Armageddon that was to occur in 1999. Certainly, some investors suffering the indignity of declining portfolios may soon actually look forward to a Dow Jones average measured in 1900 dollars.

If you're still unsure what the Year 2000 holds in store for you, come to the DACS Y2K seminar on Thursday, October 15, at 7 p.m. The program, which will be held at the Ancell School of Business at the Western Connecticut State University west-side campus, is being jointly sponsored by DACS and W.C.S.U., with additional support from the Danbury Chamber of Commerce. A panel of experts from DACS and the information technology community will be on hand to present their particular views on the millennium bug and to answer questions from the audience.

This program is just another in an ongoing series of New-to events designed not for the professional, but for the rest of us. Don't miss the program on computer viruses by DACS' own Jeff Setaro, the only disinfectious agent with a license to exterminate. Other upcoming New-to events will include a post-Christmas "meet-your-new-PC/Mac," and topics on file management and Internet research and e-mail. Have an idea for a New to program? Tell us about it.

DACS Elections

While we're on the subject of dreaded predictions, the annual membership meeting and election of directors for the coming year will be held in December as part of the monthly General Meeting. Six of the eleven board seats will be up for election by the membership. Past president Tom McIntyre will be relinquishing his seat on the board to ascend to a higher plain of existence and has graciously offered to chair a nominating committee.

You will hear a lot from Tom and me over the next two months about volunteering to run for the board--or just plain volunteering. We have been fortunate to have an extremely talented board; but even the best stars inevitably begin to flicker out. Unlike some organizations whose directors are merely affirmed without challenge, we try to give our membership a real choice by running more candidates than seats to be filled. While for some running for the first time on a slate dominated by incumbents this can portend the sting of defeat, most contenders inevitably end up volunteering, getting involved, coming to meetings, and eventually getting elected. That, at least, is my own story.

Do old PCs have an afterlife?

Intel chairman emeritus, Gordon Moore, is best known for his prediction that the number of processors that could fit on a computer chip would double every year. While that prediction has been borne out over and over again, another prediction has become inevitable--that in the same time period the number of computers being superseded and decommissioned would also double. Do landfills have to also double in size to accommodate the ever rising number of scrap PCs?

For a number of years, DACS has helped local community groups get a piece of the computer revolution by refurbishing and donating used PCs. Among these groups are Voice for Joanie, the Danbury Senior Employment Center, and Computers 4Kids. And although the number of old and unwanted computers seems to be growing, the need for them in the community never seems to fade. If you know of anyone or any group that could use a used computer, or anyone who has one to give away, please contact Charles Bovaird (aam@mags.net, or 203 792-2752). Better yet--become a DACS volunteer, pull up your sleeves, and come down and get involved in our workshop. Just one condition: some PCs (386 and below) should really have the benefit of last rites and a decent burial in an appropriate landfill.

--Allan Ostergren
dacsprez@aol.com