The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Pres Said John Beck

On entering the building and enquiring of the person in a little office if he was the SIG convenor, he replied that the SIG had not met on that night for months. Producing the latest PC Update the date given for the meeting was for that night (as it also was in that week's Age). "There is a list of meeting dates in the notice on the wall" said my new friend, which incidentally went back to April. Alas the large number of cars belonged to the members of the pigeon fanciers club which meet next door. Many will now recognise the venue of the Geelong SIG. I am amazed that as one of a computer group's activities is to do with communication, that advising the change of meeting night to the Office or Editor was not done. I have since learned that residents of Geelong had arrived on the published dates only to find the meeting was on another night. In their case however the journey to and back home did not take three hours.

Other Regional SIGs take great pains to ensure that their meeting times and dates are publicised as it helps to increase their attendances and membership. Failure to do so also reflects on efficiency of the Group as a whole. The committee are constantly looking at how country members can be served in some way to compensate for their distance from activities in Melbourne, but this type of omission detracts from their efforts. A SIG report for PC Update is generally appreciated, as it keeps members abreast of what is being done. Whilst addressing Regional SIGs, by the time this is published I will have visited Bairnsdale Region, and in October I will visit Ballarat, and in November Bendigo. At this stage they will be in that order, but if it is changed I will advise the convenors.

Dial Help 

Some of the Dial Help volunteers have advised that they suffer occasional discourtesy from the people to whom they are giving free advice. One even had a grizzle from someone having difficulty installing Lotus® which with its install batch file is one of the easiest programs to set up. As it happens the enquirer was from a commercial outlet. One would expect that such organisations would have competent staff, or if not train them. Sellers of personal computers do not give a very good after sales service, and some don't want to know you after you have left their premises.

Random Access 

In last month's Random Access an answer to the question of Technical Reference manuals suggested Melb 343 as a source of information. This is incorrect. The programs relate to service or maintenance activities to persons or parts. An example of 'person' would be relating service calls to individual mechanics, then later creating separate reports for each mechanic. To relate to 'parts' would mean grouping maintenance calls by asset or machinery. With this method, you could look at all maintenance done to a printing press, a lathe, or a hotel room for any period of time. IN-CONTROL 2™ allows you to select either method and lets you design your own screens to customize this program to your business. With this feature, you can identify how each screen would look for any one piece of equipment, say a Bus, or for any person, such as a mechanic. A useful program if it is your kind of business. However if you want the best Technical Reference I have seen for PCs read MELB 1343, a review of which is overdue from N.W. If this is not a reminder he may have a call at 2 am, which is usually a good time to find them at home. (Only joking as it would mean that I would have to stay up late or rise very early).

More Reviews Please On the subject of software reviews the following are outstanding :- PC-Graph, Freepress, Melb 1253 File Utilities, Dancad 3D, Keydraw, and NY Word. These were obtained at the PD SIG some months ago. Please send your reviews as outlined in the Editors article in the September PC Update, or pass to me at a PD SIG meeting. I will ensure that it reaches the correct destination. There is an Oops in the sending of disks ordered at the last meeting. One member ordered and paid for three disks. Somehow it was lost from the envelope in which things are stored for further action. If this member will phone the Office with Name, address and the three disks ordered they will be despatched immediately. We must apologise for this glitch in our service.

The Age Green Guide 

The Age Green Guide on 14th September had a section on home computers. Apart from several glaring errors in the articles, prices were given in $US, which could cause confusion if you hadn't noticed the articles were syndicated from The New York Times, and The Baltimore Sun. There are plenty of Australian sources where articles can be obtained which are more relevant to locally available equipment and software. In fact the Age publishers produce a PC magazine themselves. I wonder if local dealers will be accused of overcharging if prices in the articles are used as a yardstick. New disks this month cater for language users with updates and new programs in C, Modula-2, and Forth, a big program for graphics users, and a word processor from Jim Button. There is also a selection of other goodies depending upon your particular bent, and a disk with virus detection.

Committee Vacancy 

The committee are looking for someone with accounting knowledge to assume the mantle of Treasurer, as Norm Super is finding it difficult to find the time for overseeing of the Group's accounts. The daily upkeep of the ledger, and banking is done by the Administration Officer, so the Treasurer is required to present the financial statement at the monthly committee meetings, and prepare the annual financial statement. This is a simplistic outline of the job, as accountants will realise. This is a very important office, especially as our growth is continuing, and we have introduced budgetary control. It is not essential for the Treasurer to be a qualified accountant, but it probably helps.

Reprinted from the October 1989 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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