ICON’S July 16 th program featured Kathy Fritts, Director of Information Technology for City Utilities of Springfield. Kathy explained how computer technology has affected the utility industry, and where technology is taking our utilities in the future. Today, electronics help CU employees reduce errors in meter readings, and help them isolate problems and reduce down time when problems occur. As we move into the future, many of us may have electronic meters that will send a reading wirelessly to a device in the employee’s vehicle as he/she drives by our house. Think of the time savings this will bring. The micro-processor has truly revolutionized the way we work and play.

Kathy also shared with us some of the online security issues facing public entities all across America.

IT departments and staff rarely win popularity contests in the corporate world and Kathy assured us that City Utilities is no exception, but since CU has installed spam filtering software, the e-mail load on their system has been reduced by 87%. That is a staggering amount. For private users like most of us, e-mail and Internet baddies are little more than a nuisance, but Spam, viruses, and malware cost businesses huge amounts of time and lost productivity (that’s spelled M-O-N-E-Y). That cost is passed on to the consumer. I hope each of us will do what we can to avoid, and/or eliminate these burdens on Internet and e-mail servers, so we can all enjoy the Internet even more!

ICON thanks Kathy and City Utilities for helping us better understand how computer technology affects our daily lives.

As most of you know, ICON provided volunteer support for the Springfield Greene County Library’s outreach program at The Ozark Empire Fair. A big “ICON thank you!” to all of you who volunteered your time to help ICON give back to the Library for the meeting space they provide us with each month…and a special thank you to Sarah Marshall, who personifies the principles that make ICON successful by just being herself! Many thanks, Sarah, for working out the details of this important volunteer effort, and helping everyone understand exactly what we were volunteering for!

Mark your calendars now for ICON’S August 20 th meeting at Brentwood Library, when ICON member, Harold Hunton will share what he has learned about electronic scrapbooking. Harold has found that we can download the software, borders, backgrounds and themes online, all for free. Check it out by clicking “Monthly Program” in the blue navigation bar at the left side of any page on ICON’S web site.

Did you know that scrapbooking has become a huge share of the hobby market in America? People are making scrapbooks as keepsakes to commemorate special events in their own lives and to give to friends and loved ones as gifts. Producing a scrapbook utilizes the tools for digital imaging and desktop publishing as well. It is a fun and practical way to put our computers to work. Don’t miss it!

ICON’S annual picnic will be held on September 17 th, at Silver Springs Park. We always have lots of good food, fun, and door prizes…don’t miss this special ICON event!

Happy Computing,
Terry