Milt Hull introduced the audience to the Sacramento PC Users Group. He reviewed the activities of the Group over the past month. Specifically, six new members joined and the Group participated in the PC Super Show.
The request for participation came very close to when the event was supposed to happen. Tom Anderson, Milt Hull, Stan Morris, Dennis Duffy and Ron Lambert gave presentations and/or answered the questions from folks visiting our booth and handed out flyers. We think the show wasn't very well advertised as attendance wasn't anything to shout about.
They had made mention that we could continue to participate in upcoming computer shows. Later, however, the show's promoters contacted us, thanked us for our efforts, but said they've realized the market for computer shows has hit the saturation point. They also put on other kinds of shows and will continue to do so.
Sacra Blue
Brian Smither, Sacra Blue Editor-in-Chief (Editor-in-Chief sounds impressive but roughly translates to "gotta lotta work to do") said the January issue was real fun to put together because he had the means and motive to learn how to use the high-end desktop publishing program, Adobe's PageMaker 7. However, Adobe's efforts to keep PageMaker current with the requisite bells and whistles, squash bugs, and make compatible with Windows XP, have been less than spectacular.
"Over the month I was learning PageMaker, I stumbled across so many problems. I gave it the ol' college try, but it didn't work out for this month.
"Users of PageMaker are being pushed to upgrade to Adobe's InDesign 2.01. The problem is, both these programs are rather expensive but InDesign costs twice as much - $300 vs. $600.
"Fortunately, the SPCUG requested and received (Thank you, Adobe!) a complementary copy of FrameMaker 7. FrameMaker is the most expensive and most complex desktop publishing application in Adobe's line. I wrote a nice justification letter detailing our publishing needs might not have been met by InDesign based on Adobe's description of their applications on their Web site."
Brian tried using PageMaker to put together Sacra Blue, but the problems and inconsistencies he kept coming up against drove him back to Microsoft Word 97. Brian hopes to create a Sacra Blue layout that looks more like the front covers of magazines. Mike Zellmer is the group's PageMaker guru and has volunteered to help me in any way he can. While Brian will consult with Mike, the SPCUG's news-magazine will probably be put together using InDesign initially, then move up to FrameMaker.
A comment from the audience mentioned that Microsoft's Publisher is quick and easy for limited use. Yes, just like using Notepad instead of Word.
Brian is always interested in "filler" material for Sacra Blue. Your short, humorous story will make it easier for the editor to fill huge areas of white space.
Past Editors
Milt had Tom Anderson and Ken Hopkins come to the podium to receive gifts to thank them for their work at producing Sacra Blue for the past few years. The group manufactured and presented to each editor an official "SPCUG Press Pass." The group also had an "In Appreciation of." plaque engraved and presented a gift certificate to each.
Sacramento PC Users Group
Editor, Sacra Blue
2000 - 2002
In Appreciation of Your Valuable Services
(SPCUG Logo) Milt Hull, President
Tom and Ken produced 30 issues, tying Larry Clark and Eric Butow. The greatest number of issues produced by any editor(s) is 65 held by Tony Barcellos.
Ken says that producing 30 issues has historical significance. Legend has it that when reporters teletyped their stories to the Bureau Chief, the end of the article would be denoted by "xxx". In roman numerals, that would be 30.
Milt's Story
Milt manages a number of computer servers and firewalls for various clients, and during one particular installation, he set up the firewall's "content filtering" capability. The filtering setup can either be by subscription or by manually entering your own keyword list. The configuration can also be set to display custom messages when a user has triggered the filter. Milt set one system to say, "The firewall has blocked the site you are trying to get to. Your attempt has been logged and reported to your supervisor."
