President's Message

As the countdown to Year 2000 proceeds, anticipation is rife over what the millennium will bring. (OK! I know some pedants are protesting that the millennium doesn't really start until 2001, since we only began counting at Year 1. Perhaps we can call Y2K the beta version of the millennium.)

However, for all the fears of digital disaster when date codes roll over to zero next January, a louder chorus is beginning to proclaim the technological bounty that awaits us when we get it all sorted out. True to its mission of providing its members a portal to the digital future, DACS continues to offer the very latest in bells and whistles. If past is prologue, these will soon be overtaken by even greater rush of innovation.

Take your pics

At our next General Meeting on October 5, we will get a snapshot of the future of video with a presentation by MGI Software of their twin products PhotoSuite III and VideoWave. PhotoSuite promises to be the best thing since 3D, offering users the ability to stitch their images together for a panoramic view, or to perhaps even rotate around an object photographed from all directions. It's all part of a technology that will make everyone a studio director, but not necessarily an Emmy-winning one.

Windows on the road

Another glimpse of what may be in the cards will come on October 20. That's when Microsoft tips its hand on Windows 2000 (your call on whether it's a stacked deck). The presentation, to be held in Southbury's Hilton Hotel, will give the latest tips and tricks on the new operating system that brings NT into the next century and promises to make business computing and the Internet just like bagels and cream cheese. While it's not certain how Win 98 will morph through the millennium or whether the Windows operating system itself will survive the expected migration of PC applications to the Internet, it is almost guaranteed that if you don't get to the meeting early it will be standing-room only.

Recycle/reuse

Also in October, don't forget the HRRA recycling fair, to be held on the 17th (Sunday) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Danbury Green. A group of DACS volunteers will be on hand to evaluate used hardware and decide whether it is reused or refuse. Salvageable products will be donated to schools, charities or needy individuals. Bring your old stuff down and roll up your sleeves.

Elections

The first Tuesday of December is the annual business meeting and election of directors for two-year terms. About half the board turns over or is reelected each year. We will be forming a nominating committee next month and looking for candidates. Won't you volunteer to serve on the board, so that some of us can rest our tired old bones.

--Allan Ostergren
dacsprez@aol.com