President Milt Hull began by welcoming first-time attendees, who represented a larger portion of the audience than usual, partly because of effective publicity and partly because Microsoft also publicized the event.
Milt made a pitch for new memberships, explaining that dues are only $30 a year and bring many benefits.
Then he brought up Tom Anderson and Ken Hopkins to the stage to discuss Sacra Blue. The issue was not quite completed, Tom said, and Milt announced it was his fault. Tom, not one to accept blame if someone else will, agreed with Milt. However, the issue was almost complete, Tom noted, and should be on the Web by the end of the week.
There was almost no outside content this month, he added, except for the Deals Guy and an article by Steve Bass of PC World.
Milt mentioned that the group is run by volunteers, and noted that some volunteers are leaving their positions and replacements are needed. Stan Morris, Volunteer Coordinator, asked prospective volunteers to sign up for his e-mail list to learn about new opportunities in the group.
A new Membership Director is particularly needed, Stan said, along with a Publicity Director.
Milt pointed out that Stan had a free copy of Windows XP Professional, given to him by Microsoft for volunteering to help at an event, and suggested that such rewards can be won by those who volunteer to help the group.
Milt also invited all members to come to the regular meetings of the Steering Committee, which meets at the Sizzler Restaurant at Fulton Ave., and Cottage Way. The meeting begins at 6:30 and runs until 8:00 or 8:30, depending on the business to be discussed. Lurkers are welcome, and no one is obliged to take an active part in the meeting.
Milt also noted that all members of the group receive a free e-mail address, in the form of first initial plus last name @sacpcug.org. Mail can be configured according to the member's wishes; most members just forward that mail to their regular e-mail addresses. Anyone with problems can write to postmaster@sacpcug.org for assistance, he added.
Ken Hopkins warned about a new worm being spread by e-mail, that comes with an attachment called "Christmas.exe." It sends itself out to other people from your computer, then begins deleting files, he said. "DO NOT click on anything called Christmas dot exe," he warned.
Milt reminded everyone that the newest versions of Outlook and Outlook Express will prevent executable programs from running, and urged everyone to update their programs if they hadn't recently.
Ken and Milt Hull announced future programs, which include Webroot Software in January, showing Window Washer and Cache and Cookie Washer. Also in January is Richard Katz, who will be demonstrating Ulead's graphic editing and DVD recording software.
As a tentative alternative in case Webroot doesn't come through (and Ken had his doubts), David Caulkins of the Robotic Society of America might come to show off robotic competitions, somewhat like the robot battles seen on TV.
In February, Corel will be demonstrating WordPerfect. Corel had been scheduled last September, but cancelled their road trip after the World Trade Center attack. Ken plans to persuade Corel to show CorelDRAW as well.
For March, Ken is working on Serious Magic, a firm created by the former leaders of Play, Inc. The company has taken Play's $5,000 Trinity video editing system and managed to re-create it in a piece of software.
They have just begun contacting leads generated at Comdex.
