in this issue Views From the Top From The Inkwell Upcoming PCCC General Meeting topics MS Office SIG - "beyond words and numbers" Special Interest Group (SIG) August 2003 Board Minutes Web Potpourri

Bill Barnes will be presenting the program and also giving us preview of his NEW MS OFFICE SIG

Views From the Top

Richard Kinkel, President

By the time you get this newsletter, Labor Day will have passed and the summer will have come to an official end. I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day. As I write this, we are having a heat wave and I'm looking forward to the start of fall. I really like the change of seasons. And just like the seasons bring change to the climate, so does our PC club have change. But I believe we are changing for the better.

About a year ago, some members were proclaiming that our club was dead, but not me. Since then, we are back on a regular schedule with our programs. This month, our own Bill Barnes will talk about his new MS Office Products SIG at the general meeting. In October Jack LaPointe will talk about Internet security. In November Brown Bobbit from Camera World will talk about "What's New in Digital Photography" and bring some cameras for us to see. And in December we have our popular Christmas party.

Also, we are in the process of developing a club Forum, Virginia Host is in charge of that. Eric is doing his PDA SIG, Paul Reiss is in charge of the Internet SIG, Bill Barnes is doing his new MS Office SIG, and me, the Digital Photography SIG. What a menu of choices. For $5.00 and the newsletter you get all of this! So if you haven't sent in your club dues, please do so now. Starting at the beginning of next year Galen Bolin and Dewey Williams will start a Graphics/Web Design SIG, details to follow.

At the last general meeting (Paul Reiss did the program) our attendance was the best this year. At the board meetings more and more members are attending. So you see, things are changing and I have to say I like the changes.

So I hope to see more of you at the next general meeting. And I recommend that you take advantage of the SIGS because they are conducted by experts. And let me remind you that for the cost of membership, you get access to these experts and learn a lot at the same time. I'm looking forward to the next meeting and I hope you see you all soon.

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	From The Inkwell
Keith Wales, Sr. Welcome to Edition 6 of Volume 1 of eBytes & Bits. I thought last month was interesting around here but trying to get people out to repair damage and doing some of it myself has been very exasperating. I sent my computer off to a repair facility in Illinois that my insurance company uses. After two weeks it came back. The ethernet card was dead and my sound card must also be fried because all I get from it is: "The Sound of Silence" Enough about my problems Pam got all the Memeberships totaled up and we are up to 35 paid members. As Richard talked about we are coming back and coming back "Stronger Than We Were Before". I have got to stop listening to that 70"s music. With all the very good SIG's that we presently have and the ones planned for the future isn't it time that those of you who have been members, "You Know Who You Are", rejoined and started taking advantage of all the things PC3 has to offer. Remember you are not eligible to attend our SIG's unless you are a member. We here in the ink stained hall of verbage need you support as well. I would love to have articles from our members to adorn these hallowed late night halls. We also need your MONEY. Although we ahve significantly reduced our costs of producing eBytes & Bits over the old printed version it is not free. So if you enjoy getting this newsletter please think hard about joining PC3. It is only $5.00 for one year and be eligible for all the benefits. Membership Levels »

	Upcoming PCCC General Meeting topics
September Bill Barnes introducing a Microsoft Office SIG October Jack LaPointe will introduce a speaker. November Richard Kinkel will introduce a speaker on Digital Photography December The Annual PCCC Christmas Party and Supper

	MS Office SIG - "beyond words and numbers"
Bill Barnes Office is more important to Microsoft than Windows. Office has completely crushed the competition except for Ted Hessberg. Office is probably more critical to businesses than their operating system. Office crosses over to the Mac side of the world. Office is a lingua franca second only to HTML 1.1. Office is a massive suite with capabilities no one can grasp completely. In our Special Interest Group We'll look at some of the more basic features just a little off to the side and show you how to get more out of the general purpose programs you probably use more than any other if you are doing real work with your computer. Not only will we discuss the topic du jour, but each night you'll go away with one tip you won't need handouts to remember that will make your life a little easier. This is a subject that will go on as long as we have the inclination - and not just because Microsoft is always changing it. Join the PCCC and come to the MS Office SIG. Bring your questions. Bring your tips. Bring your friends and coworkers. This SIG will be more valuable than the one-day class your boss spent $145 to send you to -- so get him to cough up your $5 per year. The PCCC MS Office SIG will meet (tentatively) the Monday after the general meeting (Monday after the second Thursday of the month) at CompUSA on South Blvd at I-485, starting October 13. Come to the introductory presentation at the general meeting September 11 at Piedmont Gas, 1915 Rexford Rd. in the SouthPark area. Some of the topics we will discuss will be: Own your PC Design your documents Working with Excel Link, link, link Ole! or not to Ole. Working with pictures Mail merge A look at Office 2003 Advanced design in Word Outlining in Word and PowerPoint Programming The Plan »

	Special Interest Group (SIG)
Special Interest Group Next week will be our SIG week and we will have several during that week. The schedule is as follows: Database/Graphics SIG -- aka PIG SIG Will meet at a new time Our regular General Meeting Night September 11, 2003 at 5:30pm At Ole Smokehouse, 1513 Montford Dr. Digital Camera SIG Tuesday, September 16, 2003, 7:00pm CompUSA, South Boulevard and I-485 PDA SIG (Formerly the Handheld SIG) Wednesday, September 17, 2003, 7:00pm CompUSA, South Boulevard and I-485 Internet SIG Thursday, September 18, 2003, 7:00pm CompUSA, South Boulevard and I-485 SIG Calendar »

	August 2003 Board Minutes
August 2003 Board Minutes The PCCC Board met August 25 at The Ole Smokehouse on Montford. Attending were Richard Kinkel, president; Pam Wales, treasurer; Keith Wales, editor; Dewey Williams, webmaster; and Galen Bolen and Bill Barnes, members. The Board accepted the resignation of Mitch Katowitz as president and accepted Richard Kinkel's stepping up to the position. Other open Board positions include vice president, secretary, membership, and publicity. Filling all of these positions is important to the vitality of the club. If you don't volunteer for one, you may be selected to contribute. Much of the discussion involved moving the pc3.org web page to highspeedweb.net. They are generously providing this service to the club for free. However, in the move, some features no longer work. If you come across any problems with the website, please contact Dewey Williams at webmaster@pc3.org. Better still, volunteer to help Dewey keep the website up-to-date. The September general meeting will be Bill Barnes introducing the new MSOffice SIG. October will be a presentation on security with digital photography coming in November. If you have any ideas, contacts, or suggestions for meeting topics; please pass them on to the board at board@pc3.org. Our Holiday party is just around the corner, planning-wise. Watch for details on prices and events and plan to buy your tickets for this December 11 event at the October meeting. If you'd like to help, contact Virginia Host at host@pc3.org. It's no coincidence that every topic of the Board meeting ends with "if you'd like to help". We need more members of the club to step up and contribute. You'll get to talk computers in a small group and maybe learn something one-on-one such as web page maintenance or rebuilding a donated computer to pass on to a charity. The more of us there are, the less each has to do. Remember that only Paid Subscribers may attend SIG meetings. Subscription is only $5 and you can pay at any meeting or mail it to PCCC Treasurer, Pam Wales, 15214 Millsview Trace Lane, Mint Hill, NC 28277, treasurer@pc3.org. The next Board meeting will be 5:30 September 22 the Ole Smokehouse, 1513 Montford Dr. If you have any questions, contact Bill Barnes at access@pc3.org or 704-607-6461. Submitted by Bill Barnes August Treasurers Report Beginning Balance............................$2795.33 Income (From Membership).....................75.01 Expenses (Newletter, Party Booking).......255.00 Current Balance...............................$2615.34 Submitted By Pam Wales Pay your DUES »

	Web Potpourri
I have put one link at the bottom that I feel is real interesting in light of what is going on in the heavens. Mars is the closest it has been in 60,000 years. Many of us grew up with the beginning of Science Fiction and how many times has Mars invaded earth or thought Earth Girls Were Easy and found out different. I will try to get more in next month but I am having problems with ftp'ing our new server. That really sounds bad doesn't it. Send me your favorite sites and you to could be in the spotlight next month. I do have one or two taht you have sent me and I will use them next month. Mars the Red Planet »

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