February, 2002      Diablo Blue     Page 7

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Police Break up Window’s SIG:  Ron told us that the last Windows SIG meeting was quite a success. Ted donated a bunch of software which was enthusiastically received: so much so that fighting broke out over who would get what software. The meeting ran on and on until at 10:00 p.m. when police armed with tear gas and other riot control gear came in and broke it up. (See if you can guess which parts I made up — answer below.)

February Speaker:  We will have an FBI Special Agent at the February general meeting to talk about computer security and law enforcement issues. Members are urged to leave their knives, nail files, artificial hips, etc. at home for this meeting.

Website:  The server our website has been on is being retired and placed in the Smithsonian in the Early Technology exhibit. As of January 9 we are on a new server and it is fast! Give it a try!

Power Ball:  At last month’s Board meeting Alan got several of us to sprain our arms by trying out his Powerball which he got at Comdex. He got such a kick out of watching us and the fact that he was better at it than any of us that he brought his Powerball to the January general meeting where several members gave themselves carpal tunnel trying to work the thing and win a prize. I was so impressed that I went home from that Board meeting and surfed the web to order one for my wife and one for one of my sons for Christmas. I discovered there were not a lot of references to Powerball on the web. Apparently the main users of Powerball are golfers and badminton players. Google only found a dozen or so (tonight I got 83 hits), and only a few of them actually sold the balls. Once found, it was somewhat difficult to sort out which model was which. But I finally found the best price (a month ago! this may have changed) for the top end model, the one with the flashing lights, the Powerball (not, as one might otherwise think from the name, the DynaflexPro Plus). This was at http://www.backbenimble.com/new/pages/dynabee/dynabee_theraflex.htm. I ordered two along with the “optional digital speed meters”. They arrived within a few days, and we have all been happily throwing our arms out since. I also found http://home.freeuk.com/howkins/links.html, the “Unofficial PowerBall Record Website”. This guy keeps track of records made with the Power Ball including the current world record holder Martin Stutchbury with a truly amazing speed of 13,428 revolutions per minute, 428 greater than the top speed claimed by the manufacturer. Also listed are members of the 10K, 11K, 12K and 13K club. And, as a bonus, there are pictures of the webmaster’s car. All the record holders in these four “clubs” are from either Sheffield, UK or Braintree, Essex, UK. I think its time we show these Limeys

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