In September 2001, Another baltimore Computer Users Group (ABCUG) celebrated 15 years. We were originally known as Another Baltimore Commodore Users Group and our members have focused on a number of platforms over the years. Currently, most of our users utilize Windows PCs and we exist as a group to provide assistance and share knowledge with our community.

A Quick History

Initially our members used Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 computers, and (later) the Commodore Amiga. Magazines, Bulletin Boards and free software libraries were major resources for the club. The club also produced a 'soft' newsletter on diskette. When Commodore closed shop the club shifted its focus to MS-DOS and Windows PCs. Today, many members use Windows 95/98/ME systems, but Windows 2000, XP and even Linux are present.

Resources

ABCUG maintains several resources for our members and the community at large.

Website: http://www.abcug.org

Newsletter:

ABCUG's original newsletter was electronic and distributed on floppy. In 1990 a print newsletter ("The Chalkboard") debuted. With the passing of Commodore Computers (1993), the club shifted its focus to MS-DOS and Windows PCs and Jim Topper began producing another printed newsletter ("The Readme File"). His work was appreciated right until he stepped down as editor in December 2001.

Currently, we do not publish a separate newsletter. Old copies are available on several editions of the Annual CD. Communication with members is facilitated by the web site and our mailing list on Yahoo Groups.

General Meetings

Our general meetings are open to the general public and feature a wide variety of topics. Club members may present information on a topic like 'genealogy on the internet' or we may invite a commercial vendor to discuss their product(s). The general meetings are held at the North County Library in Glen Burnie .

Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings

Our SIG meetings are hosted by individual members and are open only to club members. The SIG meetings often allow hands-on opportunities to work with hardware and software. The SIG meetings and their rotating schedule are below. Please note the schedules below are general and subject to change. You should always check the website and ABCUG e-mail for changes and updates.

PC SIG / Game SIG / Internet SIG

The PC, Game, and Internet SIGs alternate on the first wednesday of the month. The PC and Game SIG are held at Patti's place and Brian hosts the Internet SIG. The PC SIG covers general PC applications while the Game SIG focuses on computer games. The Internet SIG covers general use of the internet and related topics like safety and security.

Hardware SIG

The Hardware SIG is hosted by Joe on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. It covers upgrades and debugging techniques and is a great way to learn how to take care of a sick machine yourself.

Graphics SIG / Digital Photography SIG

These SIGs are held on the third Wednesday of the month at Susan's place. Susan leads the Graphics SIG in looking at 2d and 3d graphics applications. Jim leads the digital photography SIG as members explore digital photography and graphical processing of their pictures. Topics flow freely between these SIGs and both are often discussed at each meeting.

ABCUG E-mail list and yahoogroups.

ABCUG maintains mail lists on Yahoo Groups that allows e-mail to reach anyone who has signed up for the list. You can locate the lists by logging in at www.yahoogroups.com and searching on ABCUG. [Note that while Yahoogroups is a free service, registration is required.] The first list is our main discussion list http://www.yahoogroups.com/groups/abcug . Any late breaking information is posted on it along with general interest items. Another list is for the digital photography SIG. Both of these lists have related storage areas on the yahoogroups server. Be sure to explore files and other resources there.

Calendar

The Graphics SIG runs a contest for calendar art each year. ABCUG members enter original images and the whole club votes on the entries. The winners are used to produce a calendar for the next year.

Annual CD

The club produces an annual compact disk containing shareware and archives from the SIGs.

Executive Committee
President: Joe Korczynski
Vice President: Patricia Aiello
Secretary: Sharon Curtis
Treasurer: Anita Herron
CD-ROM Editor: Brian Dziki
Webmaster/Newsletter Editor: Don Crossman