Editor’s Comments

September has been a bad month, and all this computer stuff doesn’t seem that important after the massive loss of life in New York City. Only a few of us have spent time in the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, but almost everyone has been on a commercial airliner and can picture the horror of the recent hijackings. That we were not on one of those planes is simply a matter of luck.

Since the Bits of Blue is really not the appropriate venue for coverage of stories that deviate much from computers, I will conclude this topic by noting that I have included two photos from trips to Manhattan the past two summers. The first was taken in July of 2000 and shows the World Trade Center Towers in the NYC skyline in a view taken from the Staten Island Ferry. The second photo is a close up of those towers taken in July of 2001. Both were taken in less than ideal conditions. It was hazy and overcast for the skyline photo, and the close up was taken looking directly west into the late afternoon sun. But they are all I have of those lost structures, so I will cherish them.

July 2000 - Manhattan from the Staten island Ferry

People talk of how the Twin Towers dominated the Manhattan skyline, but in over 300 photos that I took the past two trips, I only have two images containing the World Trade Center. The city is massive, and 300 photos just doesn’t cover that much.

The World Trade Center South Tower looking west on Cortlandt St
from Broadway, July 3, 2001, 4:45 PM.  It was just a quick snap
under poor lighting conditions. Now I wish I had taken more time.

We are changing the meeting day of the Microsoft Access SIG to the first Tuesday of the month from the first Monday. The Visual Basic for Application SIG continues to meet the third Tuesday of the month.

Attendance has been a bit at off the regular monthly meetings. Of course, that was understandable this past month with the meeting the day after September 11. I encourage you to attend the regular meetings. It will make the group stronger, and you will most likely learn something about computers that you didn’t know. u