From: Allan Mikkelsen

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:09:33 +1000

Just a reminder that the next PCUG meeting is the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 3rd October where the annual reports will be presented, a new committee elected for next year, and we hope to have a special guest speaker who should be of interest to most members. Watch the PCUG home page for more details.

Several of the current committee have indicated that they will not be standing for re-election and the group really needs new blood to keep moving forward. If you can contribute, as either a committee member or other volunteer we would like to hear from you.

The big news on the TIP front is that we have ordered a new server to replace our aging Sun server, supreme. This will provide more disk storage and more power enabling us to introduce some new services for members. One of the planned changes is to split the groups web server away from the members web server. This will not happen for some time, but the required user changes can start now.

The address www.pcug.org.au will continue to be the PCUG website, while members' sites will be referenced as members.pcug.org.au/~username rather than the www.pcug.org.au/~username used at present. The existing URL will work for some time and then be automatically redirected for a time, but we suggest that you start using the "members" version now if you are publicizing your website.

Earlier in the month I was privileged to attend the annual conference of the Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association (of which the PCUG is a member). I will be presenting some information gained at the conference in future editions, but recommend that you have a look at the ASCCA website http://www.seniorcomputing.org/ - particularly the newsletters, which contain lots of useful information.

Those who have attended recent Main Monthly Meetings will know that we have sometimes suffered from less than ideal access to the ANU facilities. These are also costing the group a significant amount and we are seeking an alternative venue for our meetings in 2007. If you are aware of any venues that are available to community organizations, are reasonably central, and reasonably priced, we would like to hear from you. Any suggestions can be sent to me at presidentATpcug.org.au or to the whole committee at committeeATpcug.org.au.

Finally, another reminder that the PCUG Office is just that - an office supporting the administrative functions of the group. It is NOT a source of help on general computing matters and requests for such help should be directed to the volunteer helpers listed on the group help page. If you have some expertise on some computing subject, it is an opportunity for you to enter the spirit if the group motto "Users Helping Users" by offering your name to the list.

Allan Mikkelsen
President, PCUG