VIBUG MEETING MINUTES

Date of Meeting: April 8, 2000

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. The minutes were read and approved.

Amy said that as Jim Roberts was not at the meeting that all people wishing to turn in membership checks should give them to her and she would get them to Jim. She also announced the VIBUG now has 44 official members for 2000.

The class prior to the May meeting will be a continuation of the Internet Explorer class for beginners and will be held at 11:00 A.M. Next month's meeting demonstration will be on the Braille Note. This is the competitor to the Braillelite, which runs under Windows CE; it has a Braille display and note taking abilities. Those wishing further information about this product can go to the Website at http;//www.Braillenote.com. She indicated that the structure of the meeting will be slightly different. Amy will do a short demonstration on this device, but there will be additional time so that people can do some "hands on" trials with this product.

Amy told us that there might be a problem with doing a chat with the Kansas City user group during one of their meetings because their facilities only have a 2400 baud rate. On Saturdays, however, they can access a different baud rate. Therefore the best option might be to do a chat during one of our meetings, but this is still being further explored.

Amy asked if VIBUG members would be interested in setting up a time when we could "chat" on the VIBUG site. After some discussion it was suggested that 8:00 to 10:00 on Thursday evenings be set aside. She said that the officers had agreed they would be available, and people could come explore the sight. She explained that right now the site is set up so that people talking get cut off after a minute, but Tim will fix that problem, thus making it easier for people to chat.

She stated that she had not yet gotten the TSI Navigator because she had been in a car accident, and the trip got delayed, but that she would make arrangements to get it this month.

Amy told people that it was time to look for a nominating committee. The job of this committee is to come up with a slate of officers to recommend for the next term of service. Anyone wishing to serve on that committee should contact one of the officers. Also, Jeff turner is forming a welcoming committee. People wishing to serve on that committee should contact Jeff Turner.

Pauline and Ginny announced that they were collecting recipes for a proposed VIBUG Cookbook which, when completed, would be sold as a fund raiser. They stated that people could send them recipes via e-mail, postal mail, or could contact them by phone and dictate recipes over the telephone. Their contact information is as follows:
Email Address: Pauline.Ginny@erols.com.
Mailing address: Pauline Downing and Ginny Alverson
25 highland Avenue, Apt. 1004,
Somerville, MA 02143.
Phone: 617 776 9706.

People were reminded about the importance of being sure that the recipes they submitted were not copyrighted, and if copyrights on recipes existed, people were advised to be certain they got correct permission to use them. Additionally, people were reminded that anyone sending recipes in should leave contact information with Pauline and Ginny in case there were questions about items submitted. As a group we discussed the format in which this cookbook should be produced. Thus far, we have suggested that the format would be on disk, but it was agreed after some discussion that other alternatives could be discussed later. Kobena did state that Vision Community Services might be able to assist with brailling the finished product.

Amy announced that a new patch beta release for JFW 3.5 is now available. It does fix some bugs. There is a problem in that it occasionally changes the screen from desktop to laptop layout. People who wish more information should go to the Henter-Joyce Website.

Amy highlighted a new publication in the NBP recently released catalog "Captured by the Net", stating that it might be a good resource for new internet users.

Amy advised all present that the officers were wishing to propose a bylaws change which would make the Webmaster officially an officer. She stated that the text of the change would be posted on the Website, and that all members would be advised of this change prior to the next meeting. She explained that officers were suggesting that this position should be an elected position. and understand that it is important that the person who fills this position have the necessary skills to maintain the high quality of our Website. The officers are recommending that, as with all other positions, there be certain qualifications that the elected person should have. Tim Comings advised that he would provide some description of those tasks that he currently performs as webmaster, and that he would be willing to assist anyone succeeding him so that the transition would be smooth and our Website could be properly maintained. Amy explained that the officers believe that our public presence is reflected through our WebPage for outreach and information and that our WebPage is an integral component of our organization and a powerful vehicle for our improvement and expansion. People were told that a committee could be formed to explore this option, to determine whether they would recommend this change, or to further examine the proposal to determine whether it should even be considered. Members present at the meeting determined that it was not necessary to form a committee to study the proposal. Don Breda questioned whether according to our bylaws Tim was already by default an officer. Amy read the section of the bylaws where it clearly states that there are only four officers. Jeanette further stated that those who wrote the bylaws did not realize that when VIBUG was a part of the Boston Computer Society the Webmaster had been an officer, and therefore did not include him. A motion was made by Al that the proposal should just be voted on at the May meeting; Judi seconded the motion, and all approved it unanimously. Members will receive copies of the proposal prior to the meeting, as required by our bylaws, so that they can study it prior to voting.

In our question and answer period, someone asked whether headlines could be placed on newsline. Kobena stated that he did not anticipate this would happen. There was a discussion about search engines. Amy stated that if you go to Open, with Control O, you can type in the name of the engine. Someone suggested that Seti-search.com was a good search engine to try.

Amy said that anyone who wasn't getting Email from her should check with Jeff to be sure that their Email addresses were updated.

Tim demonstrated the use of Gold Wave, and the meeting was adjourned at 3:40 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jeanette Kutash

Clerk