 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group PC (President's Comments) George Skarbek gskarbek@melbpc.org.au |
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Monthly Meeting at Clayton
Your committee has decided to hold the next three monthly meetings at Monash University in Clayton in order
to see if we can attract a larger percentage of the membership to attend these interesting
meetings.
Analysis of the database shows the centre of our membership is around the
Chadstone-Oakleigh area. Monash is virtually the next suburb to the south-east. As there were no suitable
venues in the Oakleigh area, Monash became our choice. The venue is great and there is plenty of parking
available in the evenings.
Currently we have at most 3% of members attending the main monthly meeting. What we don't know is how
many will not drive through the city at peak hour to get to the meetings at Pharmacy College but we
anticipate that many more will attend meetings that are held closer to the geographical centre of the
membership. In preparation for this we handed out a questionnaire at Parkville and it showed that very few
came after work from the city, but many members come in from the Eastern and South Eastern suburbs.
I am well aware that some members may be disadvantaged but equally we feel there could be many more who find
the Clayton location an advantage. The vote to try Monash was a very close decision by the committee, in fact
the closest that I can recall some years. If the numbers at Monash are about the same we will stay at
Parkville.
This is your opportunity to vote with your feet.
More Member Benefits
The uptake of the free Internet e-mail has been slow, possibly due to lack of information provided. To apply
for this e-mail account just send the details on the form to the office. Please be aware that while this
Internet e-mail account will also give you access to the newsgroups, there is virtually no Web surfing
available.
If you are already paying the $140 for the full Internet subscription then you could obtain the second
account for yourself or a member of your family who lives with you. Such family members must join Melb PC as
a "Family Member" for a cost of only $10. Our Internet help pages provide clear and detailed instructions on
the various options available for setting up your second mail account.
More Internet Benefits
Anti-virus scanning software has been installed on our mail servers to scan both incoming and
outgoing mail.
On detecting a virus in an e-mail, this software will quarantine the e-mail and advise both the sender and
the recipient. For most viruses this provides instant feedback to the sender so they can disinfect their
computer. Some viruses insert false headers, so the sender is not always easily identified. Two that are
currently very prevalent use the "From" addresses of: "Microsoft Corporation Security Center"
<rdquest12@microsoft.com> (the Worm/Gibe.1) and Hahaha hahaha@sexyfun.net (the W95/Hybris.Gen.1 virus).
On some days, more than 100 external e-mails coming into Melb PC contain these viruses.
This is an additional service provided for members. However, this does
not mean that you can stop updating your anti-virus software on your own computer. We do not claim
the installed product to be 100% effective. No ISP could possibly make such a claim. There will be the
occasional virus that will pass through the system and it is your responsibility to keep your anti-virus
software current. We are only preventing the majority of viruses, and assisting Internet users by reducing
the spread of these malicious programs.
Viruses can be also spread on floppy disks, CD-ROMs and especially from free mail sites such as Yahoo and
Hotmail. If have an anti-virus program on your computer, ensure that it scans mail you import from external
mail sites (such as Yahoo, Hotmail etc). Mail from these sites carries a high virus
risk. If you, your children or other family members insert an infected floppy into your computer, or download
mail from external free mail sites, our software which only scans mail passing though the Melb PC Mail
Servers, will not pick up these viruses. Therefore it is extremely important to run up-to-date anti-virus
software on your PC at all times.
We know that members who send viruses are unaware some program is in the background doing this without their
know ledge. So when a virus is sent from a Melb PC account, a member of the iHelp team may contact the sender
to inform them of what is happening, and offer advice on how to clean up their system. If the viruses
continue to be sent the member will be contacted by phone or e-mail. However, if viruses still continue to be
sent from that account, we will take steps to protect both Melb PC members and other Internet users. We will
have no option but to suspend that account for a week, giving the member adequate time to remove all traces
of viruses from their system.
Next Monthly Meeting
Wednesday 1 May 2002 at Clayton. Note the new starting time, 7.00 pm
The news behind the computer news. Garry Barker will talk about newspapers in a general way and
where he thinks information media may be going and what we might do about it. He will also talk about the
social and cultural effects (many of them not good) of the Internet, TV and the rest, gratification for the
consumer without the need to think. Garry Barker is The Age's technology editor and he was named Australian
Information Technology journalist of the year.
Your favourite Web sites: David Botherway has been collecting a list of Melb PC members'
favourite Web sites. Some you'll know, many you won't - come and join us for a fun bit of surfing with
Dave.
The rich new Web sites: The surf stays up when Macromedia unveil their exciting new Web design
programs. Brian Chau and John Ryan will show you how it's done.
This Monthly Meeting will be held in the Alexandra Theatre at Monash University. There is adequate free
parking near the theatre.
Have you been to the Monthly Meeting yet? You don't know what you're missing. There's information and fun,
entertainment and thousands of dollars worth of prizes. The meeting will also have our Random Access session
(your chance to ask the experts). Bring your membership card so you will be eligible for the raffle
prizes.
Reprinted from the May 2002
issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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