Welcome to PC Update for 2006.  An exciting and challenging year lies ahead for us all. Many new PC products and changes are expected this year and we will try and keep you updated on our reactions to them.

APCUG and CES

As managers in a User Group, one of our key needs is to learn from other groups - what have they done successfully, what have they done that didn't work? APCUG (Association of Personal Computer User Groups) is one of the key vehicles through which to share such information, and while much of that information and knowledge exchange is done via e-mail and through Web sites, an annual conference is a key event. To maximize opportunities it is held in conjunction with a major industry event, now being the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January each year.

Lyn Goodall and myself are the Melb PC delegates for 2006, with Ash Nallawalla attending courtesy of Microsoft as part of its Featured Communities program. Ash has provided a detailed report on the three events we attended elsewhere in this issue.

Phishing Scams - Again

On Boxing Day, yet another round of "phishing" scams was launched. These spam e-mail messages purported to come from a local bank and asked people to reconfirm their account details, including passwords. They emanated from Web sites in Turkey and Poland and as soon as Federal police closed offending sites, they re-emerged from Korea and China. A number of our members received these e-mails, but hopefully, everyone is now aware of this trickery and will have quickly deleted them without responding or linking to the Web sites embedded in the messages.

Offering warning advice to less knowledgeable neighbours and friends would always be appropriate, and should some have already succumbed to the requests, you should advise them to contact their bank by phone urgently.

Transferring to Broadband

There has been some confusion with Members upgrading to Broadband. Let me reiterate some specifics.

• Currently the group provides two levels of Internet Dial-Up access. Associate access is part of the basic $55pa group membership - and provides Melb PC only browsing, a single e-mail address and 20 minutes access per day, Full Internet members pay an additional $120 pa and get world wide browsing, two e-mail addresses (soon to be expanded), Unlimited Downloads and "nearly" Unlimited connection time. They may also have 10 MB of space for a private Web page. When the $120 is unpaid, we can only assume full Internet Members no longer want that service, and we remove their details (including Mailboxes) from the Internet system.
  
  
• Due to the Telstra "last mile" monopoly into the home, we have yet to find an economic way to offer full broadband access to Melb PC ISP facilities, but we are still searching. In the interim, we have entered into an agency arrangement to promote WestNet Broadband as displayed in this PC Update. They are a separate, independent organization, and if members join WestNet without nominating us as their agent, we cannot know their status.
  
  
• Thus if members convert to broadband and seek to maintain their existing Melb PC e-mail account (via the Associate category), it is important that the office be specifically advised. Not doing so results in service cancellation as above and frustration for all.
  
  
• There are now many ADSL offerings - but be aware of the "fine print". One ISP advertises a $9.90 per month service (when coupled with the Home Phone), with a traffic allowance of only 70 MB and 18c per MB thereafter. Luckily, the fine print also defines a ceiling of $69.90/month.

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