G'day All....
G'day All....
Another frantic month - got back from a great 3 week NZ. S. Island holiday which was actually quite busy, and found that unfortunately we still did not have access to the new centre at Holder. That will teach me to take a break in the middle of a very busy time. Eventually we got the keys from Urban Services the day before we moved on Good Friday. And the rest (as they say) is history!
The superb turnout saved us a lot of money as we had removalists booked (2 vans - 6 people) for the following day. I was concerned that we would have to pay a substantial cancellation fee, but in the event, the firm (Atlantis Removals in Fyshwick - manager Adam Kirk - adam@atlantis.net.au Ph: 6228-1411) decided to waive any fees. An extraordinarily generous decision. I will really try to avoid commercials in these ramblings - but if a firm does something exceptional, they definitely deserve a plug. So if you or your friends have any removal needs - Adam is your man.
I have tried to emphasise in various Emails - that we are a long way
from the situation that existed before the move - loads more work needs
to be done, and the loss of Madeline has been a blow to keeping things
going. BUT I have been absolutely delighted to receive many extremely
positive Emails of congratulations and offers of help and support. So
now is the time to change positive thoughts into actions!
In a separate page The PCUG
needs you! we have described many of the positions that we need to
fill - perhaps one of them would suit you? Or perhaps another member
who you know who might be interested? In particular - we want to
recruit a new Office Manager to replace Madeline as soon as possible.
We advertised in the Canberra Times about 3 weeks ago and received
about 40 replies - only a couple would seem slightly suitable. But it
occurred to me that we should definitely ask the membership as well -
it's a great job for somebody wanting 12 hours a week! Checkout the
The PCUG needs you! page now - if not sooner.
Here's a short list of some of the items we need to complete - tip of
the iceberg really..... Please Email myself
jsaxon@pcug.org.au and Ann
Byrne
abyrne@pcug.org.au if you feel you can
help with any specific item.
1. We have too much furniture in the new centre - we plan to be there on
this Saturday (Apr 16th) from around 10am to try to rationalise and
put into the give away or sell area. So if you feel the need for some
exercise - and perhaps get "first dibs" at the surplus - come along.
2. We have what seems like 20 years of accumulated technical type junk.
PCs, accessories, strange cables and other items. Some items need
testing before we decide what to loose one way or another. If you feel
you could help with that task, please come along this Saturday.
Same "first dibs" rules apply.
3. We need to put up the various white boards and miscellaneous
pictures and posters - so if you are good with a hammer drill and wall
plugs etc. we would love to see you. Perhaps not on the Saturday for
other people's sanity....
4. We need to network the centre systems so we can re-establish the
training room and other centre systems connectivity (see The PCUG needs you! page). Ancillary work
might include 'in-floor' 240V and network outlets in the training room,
but I don't know how feasible that might be.
5. We need to document a combination of new and old procedures to form
the nucleus of a training course and reference material for volunteer
centre staffers and Office manager. I hope to get them done this week
so we can start running courses for volunteers ASAP. The somewhat
remote goal is to get close to normal centre manning hours by the end
of this month.
6. Some modifications need to be made to the premises. 'Partition' off
the storage area, and cut in and fit a new entrance door from the
corridor, etc. Assuming we can get the proposed modifications past
Urban Services - we hope this work can start soon.
Enough for now about how much needs to be done......
Just a couple or three more items.
If you missed the monthly meeting this month (ANU on Tues 5th) you missed a beauty. Terry Bibo giving a talk and demos of two freeware programs (Backup4all, Spybot S&D and Spyware Blaster). Terry even took up my challenge and actually restored some backed up data - very brave I thought. I told you he is a man of many talents! There was a reasonably good turnout - probably better than average. But the venue is quite expensive - so please try to get along to the meetings. And a reminder - they are held on the FIRST TUESDAY of each month.
We are trying to improve the help system for members with problems, and
at the same time - avoid the need for centre staffers to be experts, or
even technically savvy.
The first need is to regenerate the Help listing.
Members willing to help others with particular problems. "Users helping
Users". Word processing, digital photography, various operating
systems, etc. Right now I'd like to give Terry my name to help with
general Windows XP problems, PC hardware, and connection problems.
6161-1524 (before 7pm please :-).
You don't have to be a complete expert - almost no
one is. But if you have some reasonable experience with particular
software or hardware. Please let Terry know at tbibo@pcug.org.au. Once we have a
better list, it will be made into a web page accessible from the
members area, and that would become the 'first port of call' for
problem solving.
We are also developing another Web page where you
can request help via Email, in the home, via phone etc. One reason for
the form is to get the sort of information that might be needed for
someone to help you. So often we get requests that don't give details
of the operating system, error messages, etc. And if you can't access
the net (that could be the main problem....) - you can phone the centre
and the staffers can complete the form on your behalf. The form is them
sent to the help team who can hopefully get you going - one way or
another.
A bit of news on the TIP front.
The second 'doubling trial was due to end on the
31st March. Normally we would have made a 'make official' or 'revert to
the previous limits' before the 31st. But in view of the changes to our
upstream bandwidth (Since 1st April have 50% more), and a major
announcement from TransACT expected on the 19th April, we have decided
to continue with the trial for another 2 or 3 months. So enjoy
unlimited dial-up and some of the most generous broadband download
limits in Canberra for a while longer. We are also considering other
plans for members who are 'light users' now the financial situation is
much improved with the move to Holder.
All the best - John Saxon 13 Apr 2005