Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education
On February 26-27-28 1999, the Belgian HCC OS/2 User Group will attend the
"Hobby Microcomputer Dagen", the yearly event for computer hobbyists at
:
Bouwcentrum
Jan Van Rijswijcklaan
Antwerpen, Belgium
During those three days, we will be demonstrating the many exciting aspects
of OS/2 and native OS/2 software. We are offering a surprise gift to anyone who
becomes a new member of our group during this event. Check our website agenda for
further details: http://www.os2ugbe.org
In addition, anyone who wants to become a member of our organization can now
use our website to submit the membership application form. Please contact our secretary
Johan Driesmans (johan.driesmans@syscom.be)
with all your questions and comments regarding membership application.
Finally, we would like to draw our members attention that we are still continuing
our weekly IRC meetings each Friday at 22:00 cet on the UNDERNET.ORG server, channel
#OS2UGBE. We would like everyone member to join our weekly chat to discuss OS/2,
the user group, and much more...
The next meeting of the Southern California OS/2 User Group (SCOUG) will be
next Saturday, Feb. 20, at 9:00 AM PST, at the IBM offices located in Plaza Tower,
600 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa, on the 2nd floor.
CDS to show SCOUG the future of backup....
We've all seen the hard drives that we once backed up to 250MB tapes grow
much larger over the last several years. But the once-easy question of how to backup
those drives has grown very difficult. Brent Bowlby of CDS, Inc., makers of the
popular BackAgain/2, will help SCOUG members sort through this dilemma.
Brent has an interesting presentation planned about the current status of
backup media, and where things are going. Attendees will be able to see the future
of backup, and may even have an opportunity to leave with a nice piece of hardware.
After the presentation there'll be time for Q&A, so, as usual, you'll
have an opportunity to get your computer problems resolved. Next will come the raffle,
which is always a winner. And last, but not least, are the two Saturday SIG meetings:
General Interest Group - As always, something many people find useful and
interesting.
Programming SIG - Take a look at the goals for this SIG at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/1999/scoug902.2.progsig.html;
there is plenty to cover!
Afterwards: All those who just can't stop talking shop will want to go to
lunch. Probably at the same restaurant as last month, but that's subject to change.
Make suggestions to President Terry Warren (terry@scoug.com) if you have a better
location in mind.
Monday, Feb. 22, 7 PM PST meetings:
The Networking SIG and the OS/2 Help Desk, after a few months' hiatus, will
resume at a new location. Both will meet at Heritage Christian High School in Anaheim,
rooms B101 (computer room) & C102 (art room).
When, where, and how to get there:
SCOUG will be meeting on Saturday, February 20, at 9:00 AM (PST) at the IBM offices
located in Plaza Tower, 600 Anton Bl., Costa Mesa, CA, on the 2nd floor. From I-405,
exit onto Bristol northbound (one exit NW of the I-405/Hwy 55 interchange). Turn
right on Anton Blvd (the first signal north of I-405). Go east 2 signals and turn
right (you will see a TGI Fridays' on your right). Park in the open-air lot to your
left. Plaza Tower is on a diagonal from the open-air parking lot.
For the Networking SIG & the OS/2 Help Desk on Feb. 22:
The Heritage Christian High School in Anaheim is at 2530 W. La Palma Ave.
It is on the south side of La Palma Ave. (about 200 ft. E of Magnolia) on the property
of Grace Baptist Church. There is a 2-story office building close to La Palma Ave.
with the address of 2528 up near the roof. Turn in (south) there. Drive all the
way to the back and park along the chain-link fence. NOTE: There is a lot of freeway
construction north of the school on I-5 and the 91 freeways; some on/off ramps may
be closed and/or have detours. Check the SCOUG web site for updates, and leave yourself
plenty of time to find our new SIG meeting location.
Further information (including driving directions) can be found on the SCOUG
web site at http://www.scoug.com. The driving
directions also include maps for the general meeting that you can print off as needed.
We hope to see you there!
The Toronto OS/2 User Group will be meeting on on the 11th of February at
7:00PM in the Auditorium of the IBM Canada Building at 3600 Steeles Ave.E.
Everyone is welcome to attend and meetings are free. If you would like to
receive our Newsletter or take part in the raffle that is held at every meeting,
then you may join the group for a fee of $25.
The agenda for the next meeting is as follows : 7:00 - 7:30 Q&A on Hardware and Software Issues.
7:20 - 8:30 Announcements and OS/2 News.
Discussion Period to determine an Agenda for
the coming year.
8:30 - 8:45 Break.
8:45 - 9:00 Draw for Prizes.
9:00 - 10:00 Configuring OS/2 for Optimal Performance.
How best to apply Fixpacks and other Patches.
Demonstration of FAT32.IFS.
Hope to see you all there.
Greetings fellow OS/2'ers!
We meet in the BC Tel Building auditorium on the First Wednesday of Each Month.
The BC Tel Building is located at the corner of Boundary Road and Kingway in Burnaby,
B.C., Canada. The meeting starts at 6:45(ish). In the middle (somewhere), we take
a break for a chance to socialize and purchase tickets for the monthly draw. After
the meeting, we mosey on down to Earls to sample the great food!
If there are any programmers listening(?), we're always looking for packages
to demo. Drop me a line at: pedersn@ibm.net
The (Big) Blue Plate Specials are:
WarpFlash (tm):
- News and rumours from the OS/2 world (If you have interesting tid-bits of your
own, bring 'em along!)
Q & A:
- query the quorum, quantify your quandry, quadruple your qualifications...
- ponder the problem, provide prosaic pontification, prove your point...
- ASK A QUESTION, GET AN ANSWER! (Offer not available in all areas, results may
vary, warranty void where prohibited by law, etc.)
Software Demos:
Finite State Machine(?!)
- I have no idea what the heck this is!
- Presented by Johnathan
IBM WARP SERVER FOR E-BUSINESS!!!!!
- Son of a gun! We've got Beta2 of this new version of OS/2 Warp Server!
- We'll be showing off the new features and some of the things that have been around
forever (Warning - not available on other platforms!!)
- BRING YOUR QUESTIONS!
- Presented by Tim, Ron, Eric, & a cast of thousands...
On February 12th, the OS/2 User Group Belgium will be holding their monthly
meeting at the usual location in wezenbeek-Oppem: Kultureel Centrum "De Kam",
Beekstraat 172.
The meeting starts at 20:30 hrs. We will be showing off StarOffice 5.0, the
completely new and surprisingly cheap suite of office applications by Star Division.
Afterwards, we will of course take some time to discuss our recent merger
with the Dutch HCC organization, during the Q&A session. This would also be
the perfect time to submit the membership application form that was sent to you
and be awarded with a free admission to the "Hobby en Microcumputerdagen",
to be held in Antwerp on February 26, 27 and 28th.
Finally, we will of course be holding our monthly workshop, so we invite everyone
to bring his PC to the meeting.
A detailed agenda of this meeting can be found at our web site at http://www.os2ugbe.org.
Luc Van Bogaert
Webmaster OS/2 User Group Belgium
Organizations, large and small, are increasingly searching for a reliable
storage method for their mission-critical files. Optical storage offers and effective
solution, yet the key is to make certain that the system you choose today will work
for you tomorrow.
The Pegasus Optical File System for OS/2 is a complete file system and volume
manager designed specifically for optical technology, making it easy to maintain
a dependable data archive.
On Tuesday, February 9th, Pegasus Disk Technologies will send Roy Slicker
to demonstrate the system to the Phoenix OS/2 Society. He'll show us this compelling
application for OS/2 -- and Windows NT -- business users. (Besides, we know you're
curious about optical technology anyway.)
About Pegasus-OFS
This highly flexible software allows you to efficiently store and retrieve
vast amounts of electronic information. The Pegasus-OFS assures optical data cartridge
interchangeability between operating systems, eliminating the need for costly data
conversion.
In effect, by assigning a letter to the optical hardware, Pegasus-OFS provides
simple data access and treats each optical disk as a volume, and each side of a
disk as a subdirectory.
Each disk surface is directly accessible through the file system, so related
data can easily be clustered together. You can also reserve space on an optical
disk for adding related data later, which minimizes "thrashing" on a jukebox.
And, you don't have to use a special interface (such as ADSM), imaging system or
be a developer to use it.
This product isn't limited to high-end solutions. If you want to create long-term
storage and archive data, you can use CD drives and towers, and WORM and rewriteable
devices.
Because a version of the software is available for both OS/2 and Windows NT,
you don't have to worry that about data compatibility across platform.
The clustering approach lets the imaging system developer group together documents,
in much the same way that documents are organized in paper file cabinets. Pegasus-OFS
caches recently written files, so a user can get at things that were scanned recently.
But more importantly, when data is retrieved from the archive, Pegasus-OFS only
needs to visit one disk rather than... who knows how many?
What do you need to get started? A Bus Logic or Adaptec SCSI adaptor, OS/2
2.x or later, 2-10MB storage per volume for directory caching and optimization,
and a 486/33 MHz computer (or better) with 16 MB of RAM.
You can find more information about the product at http://www.pegasus-ofs.com.
They're also enthusiastic about working with software developers, especially those
involved with imaging solutions.
When and where
The Phoenix OS/2 Society's general meeting is on Tuesday, February 9. Meetings
are held at the Mountain Preserve Reception Center, 1431 East Dunlap. A "random
access" Q&A session begins at 6:30pm, and the meeting gets underway at
7:00pm. Guests are always welcome.
You can find a map to the meeting site at the Phoenix OS/2 Society's home
page, at http://www.possi.org. And, while you're
there, feel free to request a sample copy of _extended attributes_, the user group's
black-and-white glossy magazine, which serves the OS/2 community. It's chock full
of how-to technical information, OS/2 product reviews, industry commentary, a novice
column, and even an occasional cartoon.
The Phoenix OS/2 Society is the world's largest user group, with members in
16 countries and 48 states. (Anybody know an OS/2 user in South Dakota or Alabama?
We're trying to complete the set.) We're here to support and help one another. Won't
you join us?
February 1999 Meeting Announcement for the Gotham NYPC User Group OS/2 SIG
Topic: "Widgets" for OS/2 (A bunch of nifty little utilities for
OS/2 that will make your computing life that much easier.)
Programs: InJoy, PM Calc, PM View, and Spell Guard
Special Guest: Bob Mahoney - Author of Spell Guard
Date: Wednesday, February 10, 1999
Time: 6:30 p.m.
R.S.V.P.: Henry Ferlauto (ferlauto@mindspring.com)
Location: IBM Building - 590 Madison Avenue, New York, NY - Southwest corner
of 57th Street and Madison Avenue Directions (via subway): 4/5/6 to 59th Street,
walk to blocks south to 57th Street and then two blocks west to Madison Avenue.
For bus and other subway routes, please visit the MTA home page:
http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us
And if you just need map, try Mapblast! - http://www.mapblast.com
Details:
This month's meeting will be a "themed" meeting. As stated above, this
is what we are calling "Widgets" for OS/2. Little utilities that will
just make your life easier.
All programs are availble for download and registration from BMT Micro (http://www.bmtmicro.com)
We will have four (4) such gems to share with you:
(1) InJoy
Why you need this program: The best Internet dialer for OS/2 has recently been upgraded,
and we will show you what's changed. Since we have access to an analog line we will
be able to show you some of the great session logging abilities of this tool that
certainly lives up to it's reputation.
Version: 2.0
Web Site: http://www.fx.dk
(2) PM Calc
Why you need this program: A great calculator with a twist - It has no equal...
button that is. Calculations are entered in spreadsheet fashion...
Example: 4*((4+3)-5) PM Calc just keeps an automatic total running.
Version: 3.0
Web Site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vrb/VIEREGG.HTM
(3) PM View
Why you need this program: The gold standard in OS/2 graphic file viewing and conversion.
It can read and write some 2 dozen-plus file formats. We are hoping that version
2.0 will be available to share with you, but if not, we will have a brief review
of the ol' reliable 1.x version.
Version: 1.04
Web Site: http://www.bmtmicro.com/pmview
(4) Spell Guard - Special presenter! - Bob Mahoney - The author himself!
Why you need this program: This program is a two for one special. One it can function
as stand alone "Franklin Spelling Ace." Two, it can spell check anything
on-the-fly. This feature is it's greatest asset. Ever fill out a web form, submit
it, get back a reply and you then realized you had a spelling error, and thus looked
like an idiot? Spell Guard will protect you. It has lots of customization features
as well, all of which will be demonstrated by the author himself.
Version: 1.2.2
Web Site: http://www.netusa.net/~rmahoney/
All four programs have one thing in common: They are all of high enough quality
to be included with OS/2 itself; and no OS/2 system is truly complete without them.
We hope to see you there.
Henry Ferlauto
Chairperson - Gotham NYPC User Group OS/2 SIG
OS/2 SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP
PHILADELPHIA AREA COMPUTER SOCIETY
http://www.phillyos2.org
The OS/2 SIG of the Philadelphia Area Computer Society invites all interested
computer users to attend the January meeting:
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1999 7:00 - 10:00 PM
The Episcopal Academy, 376 N. Latches Lane, Merion, PA
*** JANUARY FEATURE PRESENTATION ***
-- Small Simple Networks: Installation, Setup & Usage --
A great deal of interest has recently been expressed about small simple networks,
suitable for home and small office applications. You asked for it, so here it is!
At the January meeting, our two gurus, David Gentzler and David Moskowitz,
who conducted our highly acclaimed buildathon a few months ago, will demonstrate
how to install and setup a simple home network with 2 or 3 computers. Selection
and installation of network interface cards (NICs) will be discussed as well as
how to establish the proper configuration. This will be followed up by a demonstration
of what can be done with the network and how to share files and devices.
Installation of OS/2 over a network (without demonstration) will also be discussed.
And finally, after the coverage of basic OS/2 networking, they will show how to
network OS/2 with Windows 95.
Other agenda items include SIG business matters, OS/2 news and new product
announcements, Q&A session, software raffle, etc. An OS/2 system will be on
hand for demos of OS/2, Java, Internet, etc., as time may permit. Our customary
free light refreshments will also be available.
Mark the date and time: Wednesday, January 27, at 7:00pm. If you want to hear
about all the new and exciting developments, or have questions about OS/2 Warp and
Java, this is the place to see OS/2 in action and get all the answers to your questions.
OS/2 SIG meetings are open & free for all OS/2 users and guests, and all others
interested in learning about OS/2.
WE SUPPORT THE JAVA LOBBY: http://www.javalobby.org
Further information, directions to Episcopal Academy, and other useful information
about the OS/2 SIG activities may be found on our web site at http://www.phillyos2.org,
or contact SIG Leader, Larry Lavins: Tel: (215) 878-9609 or Internet: llavins@erols.com
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Larry Lavins, OS/2 SIG Leader, Philadelphia Area Computer Society
Visit Philly OS/2 on the worldwide web: http://www.phillyos2.org
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WarpUK; UK OS/2 Users Group First Official Meeting.
Following a successful planning meeting in September, a group of OS/2 users
is aiming for a formal launch of WarpUK, a user group for UK OS/2 SOHO users, hobbyists,
and developers at a meeting in January 1999. The meeting will be held on Friday
the 29th of January 1999. The location of the meeting will be at IBM's Bedfont Lakes
site.
The meeting is now in less than one week.
The Meeting will start at 1:30pm and will continue into the evening. We will
have the room from 1:00 onwards, earlier arrivals than this may use the IBM canteen
which is just outside the meeting room.
The meeting will run as follows:-
Admission will be 6ukp in advance,8ukp on the door with 50% discounts for
students. Included in this admission price is a special WarpUK CD.
For more details on this group, or for the current status on the meeting please
go to www.warp.in-uk.net
Details on how to get to IBM Bedfont Lakes are available from this site:
http://www.uk.ibm.com/locations/bedfont.htm
If you will be attending, wish to pay in advance, or require further details,
please email either Sid Gale on sidg@btinternet.com or Chris Lindley on chris@scotgate2.demon.co.uk
The Triangle OS/2 Users Group (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, NC) will hold
its January meeting on Tuesday January 26th at the IBM Sales Office, 4800 Falls
of the Neuse Rd, Raleigh at 7:30 PM.
Our invited guest speakers are Buck Bohac, Katy Ansardi and Howard Wood of
Indelible Blue, Inc.
They have agreed to share with us their view of what's happening with OS/2,
Java, Linux and other operating systems.
Hopefully, this discussion might lead us to consider changing (or expanding)
the name of our organization to reach more potential members.
Check out our web page at
http://www.ncneighbors.com
(search on OS/2)
I look forward to seeing you there.
Best regards,
Steve Kissell
Treasurer
Triangle OS/2 Users Group