TIDBYTES & SCANNERS 

STORYBUILDER 
A Software Review 
By: Marsha Brandsdorfer 

NORTON ANTIVIRUS,  

SIRIUS BUSINESS,  
GETTING TO KNOW SIRIUS 
CONNECTIONS, INC. 
by: Judy Oliphant 

SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE 
Humor and More 
by: Judy Oliphant 

THANKS TO SANDY 

MEETING REVIEW 

CHECK OUR WEB SITES 

MEETING CALENDAR 

HOME TUTORIAL PANEL & 
EXECUTIVE BOARD

We now expect a fourteen year first for our club. Back in 1983, I never dreamed that we would have a comedy presentation about the "absurdities of the computer industry." Please bring your best smile to the September 10 meeting. Lincoln writes for publications such as Computer Currents and is a public speaker. He wants to try out some new material on our club members and guests. For more info about him, you can visit his web site at www.dnai.com/~lincoln. Come enjoy an unusual meeting and we'll see if we can pile-in some extra refreshments. 

Tidbytes & Scanners 

Yes, Matilda… we have another slight change in the look of the newsletter. Our club designer extraordinaire, Lee Hill, has again tweaked the design of our new club logo for the newsletter masthead. You will also find this logo on the club’s web site at www.sfpcc.org. It was a simple matter for me to appropriate it from the web site to my new masthead and incorporate it into my own design changes. I like the way the SF skyline helps to show our club’s location, notice the Golden Gate Bridge, and the friendliness of the font that Lee uses in the lettering. I hope you agree too, let us know. Is that a flying saucer floating above the west end of the bridge? Also, I have modified the font I use for the text you are reading now. It’s a more compact font, but the same point size. Let me know if you find it less readable, otherwise I’ll keep using it because it will allow more space for text in each newsletter. Such twiddling is important to us editors <grin>. 
Lets see…what do we have on the new toy front? I recently got a new flatbed scanner called the Visioneer One-Touch which comes bundled with basic versions of some great software. It was when Ernest told me about the Visioneer PaperPort software that I first became interested in the scanner. The software allows you to scan and file articles you read into a database that you can search later for future reference and read again. The articles can also be processed by the Visioneer OCR software so you can make them into editable text for a word processor. Of course, you can also scan graphics and photographs, and any of this is useable for incorporating into e-mail messages across the Internet. The scanner itself has pushbuttons on it to send documents to your printer, fax software, the Visioneer database/image processing software, or to any application you may wish to customize. You don’t have to bring up any applications beforehand…just push the appropriate button, and it all occurs magically on your screen. An amazing product. I hope we can have a demo at a club meeting because this is something we haven’t explored before. 
Lincoln Spector in Our Headliner Room 

We now expect a fourteen year first for our club. Back in 1983, I never dreamed that we would have a comedy presentation about the "absurdities of the computer industry." Please bring your best smile to the September 10 meeting. Lincoln writes for publications such as Computer Currents and is a public speaker. He wants to try out some new material on our club members and guests. For more info about him, you can visit his web site at www.dnai.com/~lincoln. Come enjoy an unusual meeting and we’ll see if we can pile-in some extra refreshments. 

StoryBuilder  
A Software Review 
by: Marsha Brandsdorfer 
StoryBuilder by Seven Valleys Software, PO Box 159, Glen Rock, Pennsylvania 17327, 1-800- 380-2717 retails for $129.95, plus shipping and handling.  This easy to use, easy to install program comes on two discs for Windows 95 and Windows 3.11, and a spiral user's manual.  The introduction to this workbook states in part, "Effective fiction needs... a solid structural foundation. The bricks and mortar are the elements of problem, characterization, setting and plot.  The storyteller needs to learn how to build a strong and level foundation....StoryBuilder is a CAD (computer-aided design) tool which helps you rapidly create outlines... The elements StoryBuilder works with are the pieces of good fiction: realistic, three dimensional characters who are engaged in meaningful and gripping problems; dramatic and suspenseful plots; and settings that appeal to the senses." 

The software has examples of five stories you can review while learning the software:  "Snow White," "The Old Man and the Sea," "A Doll's House," "Rocky," and "Danger Calls," which was a tutorial created by Seven Valleys and referred most to in the workbook. 
Since the program is user friendly, the workbook is an asset, but I liked that I did not feel I had to be dependent upon it.  However, the instructions and examples given in the workbook are very clear. The program itself also has a "Help" icon to answer questions regarding the workings of the program. 

The program works with a bunch of folders in each story.  An analogy might be imaging a stack of index cards where you would take notes and make references to concepts in your story. 

The top main menu bar consists of "File" (where you save and print documents), "Edit," "Story," "Problem," "Character," "Setting," "Plot," "Tools," and "Help."  I decided to open the story "Rocky" and work with that one for this review. 
Under the "Problem" menu, we are given five folders: "notes," "resolutions," "problem," "protagonist," and "antagonist"  Under notes, the author has written: 1) Rocky is an aging club fighter on his way down; 2) Adrian is too shy to go out with him; 3) Apollo's opponent is injured; the fight is off; and 4) Rocky needs to improve himself. 
 

Under "Protagonist," fighter Apollo Creed's name is listed.  Under this, there is a line for motivation, which says "greed, pride."  There is a line for goal, where the author has written "to find an opponent for his title defense."  His "resolution" states "He (Apollo) comes up with the 'local hero' idea.  There was nothing under method.  You can click on the side arrow and several suggestions are listed.  I did not feel any of the suggestions were appropriate, so I typed in my own.  I wrote: "Advised media he is seeking a challenger." 

Then, I decide to go to "Plot" in the menu bar by clicking on it with my mouse.  There were a whole list of "plot points" already listed, such as "Rocky discusses Adrian with Paulie," and "Apollo comes up with a plan."  You can then highlight each individual plot point, and you are given folders where you can type in more information.  For instance, for "Rocky discusses Adrian with Paulie," under "scene sketch," the author has written: "Rocky wants to know why she (Adrian) won't go out with him.  Paulie explains that she's afraid."  In addition, there was room, so I typed in: "Adrian is afraid that she will get to care about Rocky and then he will get badly hurt or even killed in a fight with Apollo Creed." 

Under "Setting" in the menu bar, the author can describe the settings of the various places he will have in his story.  For instance, for Rocky's apartment, under the listing for "props," the author states that there is a bowl of turtles in his apartment, as well as cockroaches in his bathroom. So, you know that Rocky is either not clean, or lives in an old building, maybe not in the best neighborhood.  Under a listing for temperature and season, I added "cold" and "winter" respectively.  Under "Notes, " I wrote that it is in Rocky's apartment that he first kisses Adrian. 

The "Tools" menu bar has a list of characterization aids, such as lists of suggestions in alphabetical order of male and female names, surnames, skills and abilities (such as acting, art, astronomy, boxing, carpentry, flying, gambling, etc.), and a list of  virtues and vices (examples are agreeable, arrogant, benevolent, bitter, spendthrift, trustful). 
The "Tools" bar also has plotting aids: lists of master plot suggestions, dramatic situations, and stock scenes.  An example of a stock scene would be a chase scene.  Click on chase scene and several suggestions are given such as "the pursued is hit by a car; the pursuer grabs and available vehicle or animal, such as a horse; the police join the chase; or the pursued goes down a dead- end street, etc."  The program allows you to copy one of the chase scenes as a plot point if you want or delete it if you change your mind. 
Under "Tools, " there are also inspirational random quotes, such as "A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the trust about its author" by G.K. Chesterton. 

I like that in the program, you can maneuver very easily and basically go in any order that you want. 

When you are finally ready to print, you go into "Print" in your "File" menu, and check off what it is that you want to print.  You ask it to make "reports" first of what you want to print and then a short time later it will print. 
I think this outlining program for fiction writing is a good, easy, useful program to use to help a person build their story.  Of course, like anything else, you can get as much out of it, as you put into it. 

Norton AntiVirus, Version 4.0  
A Software Review  
by: George Henderson  
Norton AntiVirus is an AntiVirus Program that is a product of Symantec Corporation, and is one of  most comprehensive AntiVirus Programs that is now available. This particular program is designed to be used with either Windows 95, Windows 3.1, or Windows NT operating systems. Its basic minimum requirements are a 486 IBM or compatible PC, with 8 MB of memory, and 10MB of free hard disk space. It gives excellent antivirus protection, good performance, and a simple user interface. 
The installation was relatively simple, and it went very smoothly. Since it is a sophisticated program, it is highly advisable that all the programs that are running in the background be terminated until the antivirus program is completely installed, in order to prevent any corruption of the antivirus files during installation. This program will not install over any earlier versions of Norton AntiVirus, therefore it is also highly recommended that one uninstall any and all earlier versions of Norton AntiVirus, or one will end up with 2 or more versions of Norton AntiVirus on one's computer. This not a desirable condition to have. It is also strongly advised that there be only one brand of antivirus program in any single computer, otherwise conflicts may arise. It is important to note that the older versions should be uninstalled, not erased, otherwise one may end up with old-version links that may corrupt one's new version. This is an important task that manufactures of application and utility programs should bring to user's attention, but they do not. 

There are many new features that Symantec has added since the earlier versions of Norton AntiVirus for Windows 95. The nicest and most welcome feature that is now available, is the ability to download ones antivirus definitions automatically, by merely pressing a button on the Norton AntiVirus window. You will be connect automatically to Symantec on the internet by means of your Internet provider, the program will locate where the latest antivirus definitions are that are compatible with the version of the antivirus program that is in your computer, automatically download these definitions onto your hard drive, and when the downloading is completed, activate the downloaded definitions so that your antivirus program is completely updated. The old method of updating one's program was to go through this entire sequence manually, one at a time. Trying to figure out what the name of the file was called for updating one's antivirus program was always a chore. Symantec would usually always have a list 20 or more files to select from, and selecting the right one became a guessing game. Changing the method of naming the files every 6 months of so, didn't help either. If one does not have an Internet provider, it can be done over a toll telephone line to the state of Washington, which the program provides. For those who do not have an Internet connection, the program provides a free 30-day Earthlink Network as an Internet provider, if one wishes to use this service. After one month of free service, there will be a monthly charge. 

It is again very important that one end all tasks and programs that are running before updating Norton AntiVirus, otherwise you may not obtain a complete update. After updating is completed, a dialogue box will appear on the screen stating that your antivirus updating has been successfully completed. However, be sure to read on, and if it also states that all of the antivirus definitions could not be downloaded because there was a program running in the background, it will also state that you must run the automatic updating feature all over again. It will keep saying this after each update until you have ended all tasks and programs that are running in the background. Not too big an issue is made of this by Norton AntiVirus, and one must read the final dialogue box completely in order to make sure that the download was completely successful. This is something that could be easily overlooked by the user. When one sees the encouraging boldface words "successfully completed", it is too easy to assume that everything went just fine and not read any further. However, the encouraging feature of this is that one's computer didn't lock up or their files became corrupted when the downloading was interrupted by something running in the background. This was not always the case in the past. 

During the process of installation, if one also has Norton Utilities installed, the installation process will detect the presence of Norton Utilities, which also includes an antivirus scanner, which then reports that the utility antivirus is out of date and recommends that one replace it with Norton AntiVirus. The antivirus program that comes with Norton Utilities is identical to Norton AntiVirus. However, the antivirus program that comes with Norton Utilities has no means for eliminating a virus, should it find any. 

Norton AntiVirus is bundled with Symantec's general-purpose scheduler, which can run any program, scan for viruses, or run the Live Update feature at any specific time and date one might choose. However, Norton AntiVirus requires one to enter such scheduled activities on the command line, a task that many users will find difficult. However, the command format is not described in the scheduler section of the manual and is omitted from the help files, which is a definite minus. 

There are several antivirus programs that are in the marketplace, such as Dr. Solomon's AntiVirus, McAfee AntiVirus, Safe Protect, F-Proof Professional, IBM AntiVirus, InocuLan AntiVirus, Pc-Cillan, ThunderByte AntiVirus, Vet Premium AntiVirus, ViruSweep, and others. From all these, PC Magazine has selected Norton AntiVirus as its Editors' Choice, which is an extremely good recommendation. 

One has been able to download antivirus definitions at no charge in the past, but with this version of Norton AntiVirus, the annual renewal fee will be $3.95 after one year of free use of the updating service. This is a very nominal fee in comparison to McAfee, who charges an annual fee of $53.00, after one year of free use of the updating service. 
The book that came with Norton AntiVirus is quite a bit thinner than the documentation that had come with the programs in the past. Besides being thinner, it is divided into three sections, in order to give support for Windows 3.1, for Windows 95, and Windows NT. The Windows 95 section comprises of only 30 pages, with very few illustrations or step-by-step guides. This is a practice that many companies have taken in order to save paper and make the product a little less costlier. The programmers of these products feel that all necessary helpful information can be found in the help files. Not only is this incorrect, but such help files take up precious space on one's hard drive, which can be utilized for more useful purposes. Having three sections to accommodate each of Microsoft's operating systems, developed into a lot of repetition. Almost 90 percent of each section is repeated in the other two sections, which makes for a lot of wasted space. 

Norton AntiVirus is a very impressive program. It is a user-friendly program in which almost anyone can operate it, with the very least of difficulties. One no longer has to search throughout the Internet to try and find one's antivirus definitions updates. Its features are far superior than any other antivirus on the market today. However, it has some problems. Norton AntiVirus and its companion program, Norton Utilities, spreads files not only within its own antivirus and utility folders, but also throughout the Registry of the operating system. Many of these files cause conflicts with other files in the system, especially with the Windows 95 operating system. These conflicts at the beginning will cause nuisance errors to occur, such as dialogue boxes will pop up stating that it can not find a certain file or files. Most of these problems occur primarily in Norton Utilities, rather than Norton AntiVirus. The Utilities program will eliminate files occasionally which the operating system needs to run properly. These problems will continue to gradually get worse as one is using one's computer, until some day one may not be able to get back onto the desktop. Uninstalling Norton AntiVirus and Norton Utilities does not uninstall everything that was installed. Most all of the files in the Registry will still be there, which will continue to have conflicts with the operating system, even after one has discontinued using Norton AntiVirus and Norton Utilities. It is not that Symantec has not been working on this problem, because they have. The notice that Symantec informed BugNet, which is an Internet information service of bugs in various programs, was that fixes for all these problems have been made available through Live Update Services of Norton products. If all these problems were suppose to be solved, why is it that I haven't notice any improvement after downloading all of these so called fixes? However, I do feel that most of these problems are caused by Norton Utilities, rather than Norton AntiVirus. 

If the user also has Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 installed on his or her system along with Norton AntiVirus 4.0, you definitely have a conflict. However, there is a patch from Microsoft for correcting this problem, which is called Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01. Unfortunately, this patch contains the entire Microsoft Internet Explorer program, so one has to download and update the entire program which will take about two hours. In this case, do not uninstall the old version of Microsoft Internet Explorer first, because it very likely will corrupt your operating system. Just install the patch over the existing program. The new version overwrites Version 4.0 just fine. Do not install Version 4.01 over any version other than 4.0. You must uninstall any version older than 4.0 first, before installing 4.01. The patch can be obtained from http://support.microsoft.com/. 

The sad part of all this is that no one notifies anyone that these problems exist, that they are working on it, or that there are patches available for correcting certain problems. They just let the user eventually get into trouble or ruin his operating system. This is not only Symantec that does this, but almost every company that turns out computer products does this, including Microsoft. Several years ago, when one called up a computer company with a problem, the computer company would mail the user a diskette with the patch in it., if it were available. Almost no one does this anymore. It seems that the marketing and good will towards the users of their products is deteriorating, which is definitely a bad sign. The only thing that a computer company has that keeps them in business is their users. There is no one else. Any economic expert in marketing will tell you to in order to be profitable and exist, one must keep their clients happy. It seems that the entire industry has gotten too greedy lately, and thinks this free ride is going to last forever. Don't depend on it! There are several companies out there who would love to take over the whole thing, including a new and stable operating system. 

Most of us fill out the Registration Cards that come with the various products, and mail them back to the vendor who sold us a particular product. The primary purpose that we do this is for the vendor to notify us of any new versions of their product when they come out, to inform us if there are any patches that are required for the product that they sold to us in order to keep our computer running smoothly, and to let us know if they have discovered any problems with their product and what we should do to correct them. At least that is the impression that is given to us when we make out the Registration Card. Unfortunately, this is not what the vendors do with the information that we send back to them on these Cards. What happens is our names and addresses are sold to many other vendors who bombard us with literature about things to buy, which we don't need or want, including their own literature. In almost all cases, the users never hear from their vendors again about the product that they bought from them, which was our understanding for filling out the Registration Card in the first place. However, your name does go on file in their database, so when you telephone them they will confirm your registration, which really means absolutely nothing, except that the vendor has more names to sell, if your name is not there. 

In order for Symantec to have a viable, dependable, and useful utilities and antivirus programs, it must take the necessary steps to clean up their programs, so that it will operate without conflicting with the Windows 95 operating system. It has all of the features of being the best antivirus and utility programs made, but nobody wants them if it is going to mess up their operating system. Before turning out any further revisions, Norton should give their complete attention to having their programs run error free with Windows 95. When they have done this, these programs will be real winners. 

Sirius Business, Getting to know Sirius Connections, Inc.  
by: Judy Oliphant  
Many of you may know that our club has a web page hosted by Sirius Connections in the city as well as the one at SlipNet...and many of you may not know about our other web page.  Since no one seems to mention it any more. I decided that I would myself. Since   I   am the only one that seems ever think about the other web page.. It's time that it   be talked about.  Recently it had a face lift . A web page is always work in process and its never complete. So if you haven't logged onto it in awhile now is a excellent time to do so. Its not difficult and its fun. And I think you will enjoy seeing what has been done. Since  I am the only one that manages it. I am going to write about the ISP that is hosting our web page. The address is www.sirius.com/~jlo. Follow the links and you will see some of the photos from my recent trip to Columbus Ohio for the GT Power Network gathering. 

How Sirius Connections got developed:  
When Andreas Glocker graduated from SF State in 1972 he imagined his life different then it is now. He figured that he would be a successful venture software development person working in the Silicon Valley driving fancy cars and living good. However his life changed. His venture with a software company called NeXT Inc. faltered four years ago. Bills still had to be paid, he still had to eat and have lights and a phone. This Swiss born computer scientist decided to change his life again. He gambled and bought a TI computer line to start his own ISP (Internet Service Provider) business. 
 

Today his company, San Francisco based Sirius Connections, is on the cutting edge of the ISP industry. Repositioning itself to try and capture more of the commercial customers, but still keeping the environment for the home dial-up customer. Like many other ISP's in the Bay Area and across the country, Sirius enables 13,000 Bay Area customers to e-mail and surf the World Wide Web, but has discovered it can no longer survive and thrive by providing just basic dial-up service to residential consumers for a mere 18.95 a month. Businesses which require more Internet service is the new target market. 

Some Sirius Particulars: 
Andreas states that businesses can use more Internet Service than dial-up customers can. For instance, companies are more likely to need their own web page sites or send faxes over the Internet then a residential home customer would. Sirius charges $295.00 a month for T1 lines which are 26 times faster than modems. Sirius charges $495.00 to house and maintain a company's computer server, (the hardware that stores data for that company). To sell more of these big ticket services, Sirius just hired 12 new technical support workers, who answer customer service questions. The company also moved its server site known as a co-location site to a bigger space on Mission Street away from its headquarters on Connecticut Street. Sirius would like to sign up 100 new business customers a month...more then double its current number, as well as 600 new dial up customers to reach some of the company's financial goals. 

Where is Sirius Connections Headed?  
They're going towards Internet Fax and Internet Phone. You diversify or you are no longer in business. Pac Bell Internet division which has 265,000 dial up customers also has a few thousand business customers also sees a brighter future in serving small and medium sized businesses. 
Sirius Connections will continue to serve the dial-up customers because we are their bread and butter. If you are interested in switching or getting started with an ISP you may want to try calling Sirius Connections at 415-865-5000. Tell them that Judy O. sent you. Or, if you are a small or medium size business you may be interested in using Sirius Connections. Call them at 415-865-5009 or e-mail at dedicated@sirius.com. 

SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE  
Humor and More  
by: Judy Oliphant  
One ring , two rings, three rings "waiting for the sounds of Tech Support to answer the phone". Sitting in my Real Sysop chair along side me is my "Get Plugged into GT Power" coffee mug... Sipping it ever so slowly so as not to spill a drop over the keyboard while I'm waiting. The sound in the back ground is the toaster popping the toast up...its ready!  Carrying the cordless phone with me I get my toast...back to my chair. Just in time, "hello and thanks for calling Network Associates formerly McAfee Associates can I have your name please, your operating system, and the name of your browser". "What speed is your modem...what browser are you using?...who is your ISP?, and where are they located?" I'm sure all of these are standard questions they have been trained to ask the people that call in on a daily basis seeking support on their products. 

Sipping my coffee, I am waiting for the next round of questioning. Is it just me that feels like I'm in a courtroom about to be asked some line of questioning that I really don't want to answer, like have you ever lied on your drivers license application about your hair color? "Yes your honor,  I plead the fifth, I decline to answer that question." "OH" this is Tech Support and they're supposed to be HELPING YOU and this isn't Judge Judy's court room making you feel like a talking head. Yea, OK!. Next round of questioning. Sipping my coffee, eating my toast, I am sitting patiently waiting for the next round of questioning. Do I have time to check my e-mail? 
When I hear "how can I help you", sipping fast...burning the tongue is part of it. You speak ever so slowly for the tech support person. We'll call him Brian, who can understand your frustration and dismay. "Saturday afternoon I logged on to your BBS system to only find out that the host is no longer available. "Why did it connect if the host was not available"...I speak to the tech support person Brian. The McAfee Network Associates BBS will no longer be in operation. It was an executive choice. The cost factor to maintain it was part of this. Their BBS has not been in operation for about the past 8-9 months. "Please logon to www.mcafee.com for your dat file updates and to order any products via the Internet." 

But there are problems with this as I went on to explain to Brain.. A total of six attempts were made over the weekend of "8-21-8-22-8-23" to download their latest scan files and dat files. As I later explained to Brian, I too have a log file, and the times that I attempted to download them. Pause, silence on the other end of the phone line, "were waiting!..." "Hello Brian..."Hello Brian," "ET phone Brian from Tech Support". "What is the name of your browser? Who is your ISP?" Not this again, I've been there, done this line of questioning, and it's getting US nowhere. "Your honor, I mean Brian," if I am committed to getting the file, why is it that it dumps me at  775K of a file that is 452,673 bytes? Your honor, the person that is doing the questioning doesn't understand the testimony that I am giving...what is the name of his browser and who is his ISP AND WHILE WERE AT IT, WHAT IS HIS MARITAL STATUS? Oh, that line of questioning isn’t allowed? Sorry!. How about rank and serial number e-mail address? And, where did he get his training, <grin> and can I speak to his supervisor? "How can I help you, what is the name of your browser, who is your ISP and what brand modem do you have"? Oh no, not this again! You swear that they’re taking lessons out of the "Bill Gates Microsoft manual." 

Chapter one, "How to drive a customer to drinking Bailey’s Irish Cream at 10:00 a.m. With their coffee in two easy steps…ask them what browser they are using, and who their ISP is. That glass of White Zen that I have in mind for dinner tonight is looking better and better. Perhaps this cup of coffee would taste better if it was not already cold from trying to answer his line of questioning. 
After six attempts at trying to download the latest McAfee files and update my dat files, Eureka!…I was successful. SCN-318E.ZIP, VSH-318E.ZIP, WSCI319E.ZIP are now posted on the Bay Window BBS, 650-871-0359 open 24 hrs. Please call! They are also posted on the Peninsula BBS, 650-571-9259, open 24 hrs. May the Lite of GT Power Shine Bright!. 

I guarantee to all of you who are reading this, downloading files from a BBS is much easier and faster then downloading files from the Internet. This lesson is attempting to tell all who care to read in the glory of the Internet. It’s slow, it is filled with trash, teens trying to find the cure to zits, making-out manuals, homework cheat sheets… If you were to logon to a BBS like the club’s BBS (Peninsula BBS, 650-571-9259) you would be able to get one or more files with the care and ease and the accuracy that is built into GT Power with far less frustration and time than it took for me to download the files from www.mcafee.com. Sure, there are other mirror sites, but why bother when you have a BBS that has a friendly Sysop that can help you. And won’t make you feel like you are giving testimony to the Grand Jury under oath, or be made to lie about your hair color. 

The ingredients to download files from the club’s BBS is simple. PART 1, Modem, 1. Use a comm. program such as ProComm, or if you’re using Windows version 3.1, its Hyperterm. Use a phone line connected to a wall and to the back of the computer. It does not have to be a dedicated phone line just for the computer. Note here though that if it is your only phone line you will be tying it up. You might want to check and see if anyone else is wanting to use the phone. If you’re using call waiting you may want to turn that off as well. Once you are connected to the club’s BBS or to the Bay Window BBS, and I surely hope that you will call either or both BBS’s, we’ll be glad to have you. If you can follow instructions, answer a few brief questions. I promise you won’t be made to feel like you’re giving Grand Jury testimony. We just want to know who you are and where you came from. We’ll give you a simple IQ test, but if you have been paying attention to the logon process, you’ll pass that with flying colors. Have fun! www.sirius.com/~jlo. 

Thanks to Sandy  
You may remember from my last newsletter for May/June that our previous Host and Program Chairperson, Susan Faulk, moved to Idaho. Let us all personally thank Sandy Rowland who has stepped-in to take over the Host part of the job. The Host is responsible for purchasing, setting-up, and cleaning-up the refreshments for club meetings. A big job, and we all get to enjoy her gastronomical efforts. Please give her a helping hand before and after meetings! 

Meeting Review  
Many thanks again to Marsha’s friend, Helmut Burger, for the WebTV presentation in July. A fascinating concept for those who may be afraid or cannot afford to tackle a computer, but who still want to use the Internet. The August potluck had a surprisingly large turnout for a "high vacation month" and we all stuffed ourselves on many delights and had good conversation and a couple of guests too. I just wish I had the time and skill to cook so many good dishes from scratch. We had a nice balance of favorite dishes this time, and they weren’t all desserts! 

Check our Web Sites  
Things have been changing on our web sites. The club’s officially registered web site at www.sfpcc.com, run by master Lee Hill, has great pictures of recent meetings, info about past club presentations to give prospects an idea about what we do, current and past newsletters, meeting info and more. Check out Lee’s new design changes too! 
The club’s first web site, run by master Judy Oliphant, and been recently redesigned too and contains info about the club’s officers. The address is www.sirius.com/~jlo/pcc.5htm.Contents: 

Sep 10:  
A Comedy Night.  Lincoln Spector, a comedy writer for Computer Currents, will make observations and satire about the computer industry. This is a first for our club, so please bring your open mind, a fun disposition, and your best coat of armor. We may have many guests, (let's hope not toooo many for our little room), because Lincoln has announced this on his web site. See the front page for more info. 

Sep 25: 
Executive Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m. in the club meeting room. All members are welcome. We discuss future programs, club activities, etc., and have a good time talking about computer industry issues. 

Oct 8: 
A Mystery Night.  That is, we're not sure what's it's going to be yet!  Maybe something about scanners, video editing software for your camcorder, or label printers. Maybe a Free Forum Night?  We're working on it and hope you will enjoy. Perhaps you have a suggestion or would like to do a presentation? 

Oct 23: 
Free Forum With Pizza at the Round Table.  An informal social occasion where we have a good time conversing about the computer industry and hardware/software issues. Call ahead to order your pizza to be ready by 7:30 p.m. when we begin. Round Table Pizza, 240 El Camino, San Carlos; a short distance away from our regular club meeting room.