Our meeting started with the Windows SIG. Just like the news this month, the "Love Bug" virus was the first point of discussion. Following that was a discussion on setting up a network to share a high-speed Internet connection at home. It was suggested a Road Runner connection can be run straight into a hub with the other computers connect to the hub to get on the net. One possible problem was two computers might not be able to access the net at the same time. Another option would be to run your Internet connection to the network card that came with the RoadRunner package, and then add a second network card to connect to the hub. To connect the other computers to the Internet through your first computer, connect them to the hub and install proxy server software on the main computer or install Windows 98 SE with its Internet connection Sharing enabled on that computer. Of course, these solutions require knowledge of how to implement a small local network. With the growth of high-speed Internet connections, security is a growing concern also. Road Runner is an always-on connection that shares a network environment with all other Road Runner customers in your area. Anyone with basic hacking skills can "surf" the network and see your hard drive. Another security issue that is also common to DSL is a static IP address. Hackers can find this and either attack you directly or become you when your connection goes down. A precaution would be to install a firewall on your computer. I’m not talking about the stand-alone machines that filter e-mail and web sites you’d find in large companies. Firewall programs are available for the home user and are installed directly on your machine.

The general meeting started at 6:30 PM with our president passing out sign up sheets and making announcements. Our demonstration of scanning devices didn’t go far due to a software issue with the computer Office Depot brought in. We did have our door prize drawings. Brian Lance won a Visual C++ and a gardening program, William Coleman won a T-Shirt, Nellie Lim (one of our guests) won a resource CD, and Gary Ennis won a copy of Drive Image.

The meeting closed at 8:00 PM. u