COMPUTER CLUB COMMENTS

ByJim Murnane

President

 

This is my final month as President of the Computer Club.

 

I have enjoyed serving as President. An excellent Staff, Board Members and Committee Chairs have supported me throughout my term of office.

 

The Club has made much progress in: more and diversified classes, increased program attendance, improved equipment and software, increased interest and attendance in our Special Interest Groups, Mac and Genealogy.

 

I have special thanks for our many members who have volunteered for several years to help our committees, serve as instructors, class monitors, and class assistants, class signup personnel, membership help, monitors and newsletter distribution volunteers.

 

I joined the computer club to learn more about computers.  It is very pleasing to come to a monthly meeting and see 150 to 170 members there.  This means that members are interested and trying to learn more.  This is very gratifying to the Board and staff.

 

It was an exciting trip for three years.  Support your new president and officers; I am sure they will do an excellent job.

 

Push for your new Computer Room.  Let the CAM Board know that we started back in 1998 and they told us three to five years.  Here we are in 2003 and we have the room plan complete and the money to furnish it.  Lest they forget, you will notice that a computer club is listed in most of Del Webb’s advertising.

 

Executive Board: Photo Print Cost

 

The Executive Board has approved the following costs to print photos in the Computer Room.  This money is to cover the cost of the photo printers and print cartridges. Paper is not included in this cost.

 

           11 x 14.................................. $1.00

           8 x 10..................................... $.65

           5 x 7....................................... $.35

           4 x 6....................................... $.25

 

 

MAC SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

 

Our April meeting will be held in the Computer Room on Monday, April 7, 2003 at 7:00 pm.  Our guest speaker will be Al Kroll who will do a presentation on photo editing using Photoshop Elements 2 and Image Buddy.  Our meetings are open to any member of the computer club.'

 

GENEALOGY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

The Genealogy Group will meet on Wednesday, April 2, at 7:00 pm in the Computer Room.  We will see a "How To" presentation by Randy Holcom, of the Heritage Library.  Randy will walk through the construction of a family history book using Family Treemaker software.  It is always helpful to see the steps rather than just reading about them.  See you there!

 

For more information about the Genealogy Group, please contact:  Sharon Ede at 705-7987 '

 

MUSIC SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

 

MONDAY, MAY 19 - 7-8:30 pm

 

Are you interested in what you can do with music on the computer?  Is video editing of interest to you?  Would you like to have a forum to share multi-media information?  Would you like to enhance your music experiences?  Would you like to search for specific types of music or specific artists?

 

If you answer yes to any of these questions, join us for the first meeting of the Music Special Interest Group (SIG) on Monday, May 19, 7-8:30 pm in the Computer Room.  The program will be on MUSIC FILE FORMATS, including MP3, WMA, and WAV, and what they mean to you.  There will be time for computer related questions and answers, and a discussion on organization and topics of interest for the music SIG.

 

For information, call Diane Hutchings 705-7805 '

or dianehutch@aol.com.

 

PROGRAMS

 

WHAT TO DO UNTIL THE "DOCTOR" COMES

 

Our April program will be of interest to both the beginner and the experienced computer user alike.  Frequently something happens to our computer (and it is always through no fault of our own) and we are ready to call one of our local experts to find the problem and fix it.

 

Our panel of experts will give us many hints on what we might do before we call the "Doctor" to fix the problem.  The panel will consist of Bob Rasmussen, Robin Seaver, and Steve Koehl.

 

Please contact Bob at rasmussen@hargray.com with any questions or problems that you would like to have the panel address.

 

As always, there will be a question and answer session after the presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MARCH MEETING

 

Jim Murnane called the meeting of March 10 to order at 7:00 pm.  A motion was made, seconded, and approved to accept the February minutes as they appeared in the March issue of KeyStrokes.  Members and guests were welcomed to the meeting.

 

 

The Executive Board has developed a survey.  Its purpose is to recruit new and existing members to become more involved in the administration and operation of the club.  It is time for new people to get involved and help out.  Several hundred surveys were sent out with KeyStrokes.  They were to be put in Board member’s mailboxes or brought to the meeting.  Extra copies were available to be filled out at the meeting.

 

The Board passed the 2003 budget on Saturday, March 8.  Our operating budget will be $18,000.

 

Photo printing costs were reviewed by the Board.  These costs will be posted in the Computer Room and noted in the April KeyStrokes.

 

Julie Yale acted as chairperson for this year’s nominating committee for officers whose duties will begin May 1.  George Weyhrich assisted her.  Julie has promoted this club in a big way since she stepped into the presidency in 1997 and is responsible for getting the majority of the committees started,especially our Education committee that has been very successful.

 

The slate of nominees for officers is as follows:

 

President.......................... Phillip Shuppel

 

Vice-President.................. Sharon Cann

 

Secretary.......................... Pat Beaty

 

Treasurer.......................... Ron Garner

 

Nominations from the floor were requested.  There were none.  A motion was made, seconded, and approved that the nominations be closed.  The motion passed.  The official voting will take place at the April 14 Computer Club Meeting.

 

 

There were 148 members and 2 guests attending the meeting.  We currently have 539 members.  Members were reminded to pick up their nametags.

 

 

A monitor training class will be held on March 20 from 1-2.  In order to be a monitor, you must take this class.  The duty of a monitor is to be present in the Computer Room so members may have access to the room. Monitors may also use the Internet free while monitoring.  This class is held only three times a year.

 

 

Balance forwarded

January 31, 2003................................ $18,860.53

 

February Income.................................. +2,333.82

 

September Expenses................................ -916.62

 

Net. Operating Balance as of

February 28, 2003............................. $20,277.73

                                                                       

 

The technical committee meeting is held on the second Wednesday of the month at 7pm.  All members are welcome to come and help. Bob discussed viruses sent via e-mail.

 

 

Tonight’s program is being video taped to be shown at a later date on one of the SCHH stations.  The April meeting will be “What to do until the computer doctor comes.”  There will be a panel to answer questions. If you have any specific questions, please e-mail them to Bob Rasmussen at rasmussen@hargray.com.

 

George introduced the guest speaker, Walt Gnann from ISLC, who discussedhow e-mail works.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted

Pat Beaty, Secretary

 

Please Help

 

Tips and Tricks

There is a web site that is very helpful in answering some of your computer questions: 

 

www.helpanswers.com

 

Microsoft Word:  To quickly send an existing document as an email message, click on New E-mail message on the Standard Toolbar.

 

 

 

Haiku Poetry Replaces Computer Error Messages

Submission by John Bushman

In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages. (Haiku poetry has strict construction rules: each poem has only 17 syllables....5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third.) They are used to communicate a timeless message, often achieving a wistful, yearning, and powerful insight through extreme brevity.

 

Here are some actual error messages from Japan:

The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist
---------------------------------------
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
---------------------------------------
Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
---------------------------------------
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
---------------------------------------
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
---------------------------------------
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
---------------------------------------
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
---------------------------------------
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer

To a simple stone.

---------------------------------------
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred?
---------------------------------------
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
---------------------------------------
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
---------------------------------------
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
---------------------------------------
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
---------------------------------------

Now isn't that better than: "Your computer has performed an illegal operation?"

 

Last but not least

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim, your service as President of this Club is very much appreciated by all Officers, Committee Chairs and all members.  Applause for a job well done!