Date: Fri 24-Jan-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

DACS-computer-society

Full Text:

DACS Finds That Computing Is About People

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

DANBURY - It doesn't matter if your fingers are itching to touch a computer

keyboard for the first time, or to build and configure computer hardware - you

will find camaraderie, support and knowledge at your level of interest and

ability through membership in the Danbury Area Computer Society. In order to

attract new membership, the non-profit educational group is offering new

programs and incentives.

"We kind of pride ourselves on being a very diverse group," said DACS

President Tom McIntyre. "There are people who have just bought a brand new

computer and join so they can learn how to use their computer, others are

members because they want to find out what's going on and keep current with

the latest software and changes, and others are technologically proficient and

gurus - we have a number of them. They are very wiling to share their

expertise with newer members."

DACS currently has 800 dues-paying members, and draws from a radius extending

to Greenwich, Litchfield, Waterbury, Cheshire, Bridgeport, and Pawling, N.Y.

To encourage people to join, the group has recently established a rotating

series of programs, "New-To-DACS," which includes "New-To-The-Net,"

"New-To-Windows" and "New-To-Office-Suites."

The "New" programs meet 6:30 to 8:30 pm on the first Thursday after the

monthly meeting, at Danbury Library, and are open to the public. The group is

developing a process for members to post their resumes on the Internet in

either plain text or in HTML (hypertext mark-up language) format.

Annual membership to DACS is $25 and includes a monthly newsletter, access to

a disk library and club bulletin board, and ability to participate in more

than 20 Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Some of the SIGs offered are Beginners

& DOS, to help beginners use computers and DOS; Community, which repairs

computers for Computers 4 Kids; CAD packages, for use in graphics,

architecture, GIS and engineering; coding HTML; Desktop Publishing; Financial;

Graphics; Internet; Lotus Notes Development Group; Macintosh; MASTT (stock

market charting software); OS/2; PowerBuilder Development; Virtual Reality;

Visual Basic; and Voice for Joanie, which provides special PC equipment and

support to people with Lou Gehrig's disease.

The monthly newsletter, dacs.doc , includes descriptions of and contacts for

each SIG, a calendar of DACS meetings, timely articles, letters to the editor,

classified ads and a list of HelpLine volunteers who field members' questions

by phone and offer free advice on 34 different programs.

The January issue has stories on US Robotics PIMs, POSs and PDAs, Fractal

Design's Painter 4 and Expression, Web Speed Test of America OnLine, Comdex:

Industry Hell Week, fighting work station aches and injury with Tai Chi, the

new technology of FireWire, the game software Explorers of the New World, and

a Q&A recap of the club's monthly Random Access session.

Random Access

The general monthly meeting is the first Tuesday of each month in Danbury

Hospital Auditorium. It begins at 7 pm with Random Access, a question and

answer session that invites the audience/membership to take part in posing

problems and offering solutions.

"Someone might ask, `I just connected a new modem and it's not working -

what's wrong?'" said Mr McIntyre. "Questions are answered at all different

levels - elementary and hi-tech. Everyone who comes to Random Access has the

opportunity to ask a question or help someone else."

This popular section of the meeting runs 30 to 40 minutes, after which DACS

business is briefly discussed. The main presentation is from 8 to 9:30, the

usual format being an explanation and demonstration of a new software program

by a major manufacturer's representative.

"For instance, John Patrick, vice president of Internet Technology at IBM,

addressed all the changes coming on the Internet and how it would affect us.

Others have shown us Windows 95," said Mr McIntyre.

"Ken Olsen, CEO emeritus of Digital Equipment flew into Danbury Airport on his

own airplane when he came to present the history of the computer - where it

began in the 1940s and how it developed, and took us right up until the

present."

Internet Access

DACS is not directly affiliated with any manufacturer or applications

developer, said Mr McIntyre.

"As a non-profit educational society, our goal is to provide value-added to

our members," he said.

To wit, DACS has arranged to offer members low-cost Internet access through

the service provider East Coast Internet (ECI), a Danbury-based company. ECI

president Sungjoo Kim wanted to help and work with the local computer society,

so he extended an offer of unlimited Internet access (usually $17.95 each

month) at $12.95 if 100 members sign up or $9.95 a month if 300 members sign

up. The new offer has attracted more than 50 members so far, and Mr McIntyre

expects to have at least enough interest to receive the 100-member discount.

Some people already have a service provider, and are gradually making the

transition to ECI.

"It's a good time to make the transition, especially for those with America

OnLine," said Mr McIntyre, referring to recent problems members have had

accessing the Internet. "Their network is not sufficient to handle the

capacity. If two percent of AOL subscribers are online at any one time, it's

gridlock," he said.

To make certain DACS members would not run into the same problems, the board

checked the usage and hardware available for ECI and found there was

"significant capacity to handle current and future needs."

Mr McIntyre got involved with DACS in 1990, the year a number of small Danbury

computer groups joined to incorporate under the name Danbury Area Computer

Society. He had been using digital equipment, and wanted to shift to the IBM

PC compatible platform because all the software he wanted to use was IBM

compatible. Although the transition was not as difficult as he had

anticipated, he joined DACS to have help at the ready if he found himself in

trouble. Within his first year of membership he was volunteering to do many

things, and was asked to be on the board of directors.

What Mr McIntyre likes best about being a member of DACS is "having a resource

pool of friends knowledgeable in the computer areas I have an interest in," he

said. "I also enjoy the programs, but I think it's the people that make DACS

what it is."

Information about the Danbury Area Computer Society may be obtained by writing

DACS Inc, 198 Main Street, Danbury, CT 06810; calling the DACS hotline,

791-2283, or Resource Center at 748-4330, president Tom McIntyre at 744-6000,

or vice presidents Jeff Setaro at 748-6748 and Allan Ostergren at 746-4242;

via e-mail at mcintyre@eci.com or wdavid@eci.com or dacseditor@aol.com; or by

visiting the group's website at http://www.dacs.org.

The non-profit club meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7 pm in the

Danbury Hospital Auditorium, 24 Hospital Avenue, Danbury.