Williamsport Area Computer Club

Newsletter & Meeting Minutes

January 2000

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 8, 2000, at 7 PM, in the JVB Library Technology Branch, 123 East 4th Street, Williamsport.

This will be a "Beginner's Night" when the floor will be open for any computer-related questions or discussions following the business meeting.

Our first meeting of the new year was called to order at 7:07 PM on January 11, 2000, by new president Geoffrey Knauth. Two first-time attendees introduced themselves. Longtime club member Dan Yoas, a library employee, spoke briefly about the purpose of the Technology Branch and the assortment of computer hardware on site. Then, we had an informal discussion of Y2K-related problems. Nothing major was reported locally, but a lot of websites reported the date as "19100". Geoff's Palm3 froze for some reason, but was fine after a soft reset.

New treasurer John Yarosz was absent, so Dan, the outgoing treasurer, gave an informal summary of our financial status. We have approximately $550 at present. No dues for the new year have been paid yet. The account is being transferred to John's name. He also believes that it is not necessary to file tax forms for the club because our income is less than $1000.

Committee Reports:

Advertising / Awareness / Public Relations / Home Page:

No action this month.

Computer Recycling (finding charitable uses for old computers):

No action this month.

Computer Show:

• Kathy would like to make sure the Show Committee gets off to an early start this year so that we can produce a better show than last time. We need four or five committed people to volunteer to plan the show.
• We should invite the local ham radio club(s) to get involved.
• Geoff suggested involving the people from the library's Senior Net training program.
• It was agreed that the parking deck was a good location for the show.

Computer Help:

No actions this month.

Other Business:

• Following up on an idea generated at last year's computer show, Geoff volunteered to meet with the Penn College computer club, run by Nick Vonada, so that our two clubs can become aware of each other's efforts.
• Future Program Planning: We are in need of guest speakers for upcoming meetings. We have contacted Hoyers about doing a presentation of digital video cameras, and are waiting for their reply. Kathy suggested a program about carpal tunnel syndrome, and Geoff mentioned that he had just met someone who seemed to be an expert on the subject. Lou suggested touring WKSB after they install their new automated operations system. It was also noted that Miele Inc. has been installing digital jukeboxes locally. We would also like to have a program about Visual BASIC, but need a volunteer to do it. Finally, Geoff mentioned that he might be able to get Richard M. Stallman of the Free Software Foundation.
• Kathy reported that SEDA-COG is forming a group to help nonprofit organizations incorporate cheaply. We might want to look into it.
• Geoff wants to contact the Williamsport Area High School to promote our club to their computer education programs. Dylan says they don't seem to have a computer club there.

Local Computer and Internet News:

• Geoff remarked that he hadn't thought that there was a lot of computer science research going on in the area, but he has been surprised to meet people doing interesting work by chance. On this note, Kathy reported that the Industrial Modernization Center was planning a monthly "technology mixer" gathering. No details were available yet.
• Dylan held a Quake party at his place during the Thanksgiving holiday. (See www.lanparty.com.) Kathy thinks it would be a fun activity for the club to try.
• The Susquehanna Valley Community Net meets the second Wednesday of each month (the night after the computer club) from 7 to 9 PM in the Technology Branch, 123 East Fourth Street, Williamsport. Upcoming program topics are:

February 9: How your organization can add events to the Community Calendar!

March 8: Planning a web site for your Non-Profit organization

April 12: Designing a web site for your Non-Profit organization

May 10: Building a web site for your Non-Profit organization

June 14: Preparing Images for the web

July 12: Marketing your Non-Profit web site (search engine submission and more!)

August 9: Maintaining your Non-Profit organization's web site

September 13: Digital photography - using digital cameras and digital camcorders

Program:

January's guest speaker was Debra Sanders from the Pennsylvania College of Technology. She presented a program about the various Microsoft office application and networking certification programs available through the Technology Transfer Center.