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UNIGROUP OF NEW YORK MARCH 2003 ANNOUNCEMENTS
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1. UNIGROUP'S MARCH 2003 GENERAL MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
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      When:  Thursday, March 20th, 2003

     Where:  The Chase Manhattan Bank
             One Chase Manhattan Plaza (1CMP)  <==(Our New Location!)
             Conference Center, 28th Floor
             Downtown, NYC
             **********************************************
             YOU MUST RSVP TO GET PAST SECURITY, SEE BELOW!
             **********************************************

      Time:  6:15 PM - 6:30 PM  Registration
             6:30 PM - 6:40 PM  Ask the Wizard,
                                Questions, Answers and Current Events
             6:40 PM - 6:50 PM  Unigroup Business
             6:50 PM - 9:30 PM  Main Presentation

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     Topic:  Python and Twisted
             ------------------

   Speaker:  Itamar Shtull-Trauring,        
             Chief Technical Architect,
             Zoteca, Inc.                   


   Introduction:
   -------------

   If you take a look at Python.org, you'll learn that a Python is
   "an enormous non-poisonous serpent"...  which speaks a "totally
   awesome language that will someday crush the $'s out of certain
   other so-called VHLL's".  Python (the software) is a freely
   usable and freely distributable, interpreted, interactive,
   object-oriented programming language, which is often compared
   to TCL, Perl, Scheme and Java. 

   Unigroup has addressed Java and Perl topics at previous meetings,
   and now the time has finally arrived to present Python!

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   SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:
   ---------------------

   * IN ORDER TO PASS THROUGH SECURITY AT CHASE, WE NEED YOU TO RSVP
   * PRIOR TO THE MEETING DAY, SO WE CAN GET YOUR NAME ON THE ATTENDEE
   * LIST.  ADVANCE REGISTRATION AND PHOTO ID ARE REQUIRED!
   * RSVP DEADLINE 19-MAR-2003 16:00.  <<<< PAY ATTENTION, DEADLINE!
   * Keep an eye out on the deadline date and time, as it may change.

   Please RSVP if you know you are attending or if you think you may
   be attending.  This will help us arrange for a letter to security
   for all of Unigroup.  It will also help us to determine the correct
   amount of food and refreshments.

   To REGISTER for this event, please RSVP by:

   a) If at all possible, please use the Unigroup Registration Page:
         http://www.unigroup.org/unigroup-rsvp.html
      This will allow us to have some automation in the RSVP process.

   b) If you must Email us, send an EMail containing the FIRST and
      LAST NAMEs of the persons attending to the Unigroup RSVP
      address:
         unigroup-rsvp@unigroup.org
      The Email subject should start with "RSVP".
      You may optionally include your contact phone number (that
      day) or other current information.

      DO NOT simply reply to this Email, sending us back the entire
      announcement (we already have it); leaving the subject as it
      was, and NOT containing the phrase "RSVP" as requested.  In
      that case, your message just looks like failed mail and it
      makes it impossible to automate the RSVP process and get
      you registered for our event.

      ALSO: Do NOT give us an Email address which is over quota
      and cannot receive any new Email.  This causes us to receive
      bounces from your address when we send out the RSVP-ACKs.
      You must have a working and valid Email address in order
      to get on the Unigroup Meeting Attendee List which will
      grant you access to our meetings.  Be sure to proof-read
      your Email address before submitting the RSVP request.

   Please continue to check the Unigroup web site:
        http://www.unigroup.org
   for any last minute updates concerning this meeting.  Please
   check your Email for any last minute announcements prior to the
   meeting.  Note that only the Attendee First and Last Names will
   be provided to Chase Security.

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   Description of Talk:
   --------------------

   This talk will be a quick overview of the Python programming
   language, it's uses, and the motivation for using it.  Twisted
   will then be presented, as an example of the power and flexibility
   of Python, and as a useful framework for a wide range of network
   programs.

   The Python-in-Business site tells us this about Python:
   ``Python is a very high level programming language that excels in
   clarity and simplicity of expression.  Python allows programmers
   to build their computing solutions using human modes of thought
   and logic.  While Python is relatively simple to learn and use,
   its extensive standard library, portability, and ability to
   integrate tightly with other languages make it a real power tool
   for many types of software development.''  Python is used by many
   organizations and companies, including Google, Industrial
   Light & Magic, Redhat, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories
   and others.   For information see  and
   .

   The Twisted event-driven networking framework is a powerful,
   cross-platform tookit for creating networked applications.  It
   is being used to create server applications, GUI clients and
   peer-to-peer systems, both open source and in large
   organizations such as NASA.  Twisted's support for multiple
   protocols (TCP, UDP, SSL/TLS, Multicast, Sockets, HTTP, SSH,
   FTP, etc), multiple platforms (Unix, Win32) and integrated
   services make it a great choice for the next generation of
   networked applications.  Twisted is written in Python, and is
   licenced under the LGPL.  For more information see
   .


   Web Resources:
   --------------

   Python              http://www.python.org
   Python Newsgroup    news://comp.lang.python
   Python-in-Business  http://www.python-in-business.org
   Twisted             http://www.twistedmatrix.com


   Giveaways:
   ----------

   O'Reilly has been kind enough to provide us with some of their
   books, which we will raffle off as giveaways at our meetings.


   Speaker Biography:
   ------------------

   Itamar Shtull-Trauring has been programming since 1994.  He has
   worked on projects ranging from multimedia applications, to web
   sites, distributed servers and remote object protocols.  He has
   contributed to Python, Zope and is one of the main developers
   of Twisted.  Currently he is Chief Technical Architect at
   Zoteca.  For a full resume see .


   Company Biography:
   ------------------

   Zoteca  provides open source / open
   standards software solutions and consulting services.  Their
   technology solutions and expertise address a broad range of
   IT challenges including Enterprise Application Integration,
   complex web site back-ends and distributed network applications.
   Zoteca's key technology platform is a software workbench for the
   rapid development of efficient, safe, robust and scalable
   applications used in distributed, networked environments. 


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   Fee Schedule:
         Yearly Membership (includes all meetings):      $ 50.00
       * Non-Member Single Meeting:                      $ 20.00
         Student Yearly Membership:                      $ 20.00
         Non-Member Student Single Meeting (with ID):    $  5.00
         Payment Methods: Cash, Check, American Express.

       * Employees of JPM/Chase (with ID) can attend general
         meetings at NO CHARGE.

    ==>  Unigroup is the Greater NYC Regional Area Affiliate
         of UniForum - an International Unix Users Group.
         Our Joint Membership Program with UniForum is currently
         on hold due to circumstances at UniForum.  For information
         about UniForum visit http://www.uniforum.org.

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   Complimentary Food and Refreshments will be served.  This includes
   sandwiches such as turkey, roast beef, chicken, tuna and grilled
   eggplant.  Chase also provides us a very nice spread of treats,
   which include brownies, cookies, popcorn, bottled water and
   assorted beverages.

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   Directions:

     The 1CMP building is situated: South of Liberty Street, North
     of Pine Street, East of Broad/Nassau Street and West of William
     Street.  The building is one block east of Broadway, right
     behind 140 Broadway.

     The closest entrance to the conference center is from Nassau
     Street, first elevator bank from the Nassau Street entrance.

     The building is on a raised platform.  Walk up the outside
     stairs at Nassau Street and head for the guard's station at the
     south-west corner of the building.  Tell the guards you are
     heading for Unigroup.

     They will inspect your ID and carry-ins and direct you to the
     meeting facility assuming you are on the Unigroup RSVP list.

     Once you get upstairs, enter the conference facility through
     its main doors.  There is a bank of large monitors to the left
     of the entrance which should direct you to the Unigroup meeting
     room (the room may vary from month to month).  To the right of
     the main entrance is the concierge's desk, ask for help there
     if you need anything.  The conference facility has two levels,
     keep in mind that the Unigroup meeting may be up the staircase
     on its upper level.  Thus far, our meeting room has been
     upstairs, on the south side of the building.

     As always, also look out for Unigroup signs marking the path
     to the meeting room.  Also note, if you come early, we may not
     have our own signs in place yet (we have to commute there too).

     Transit By Train:  Take the J/M/Z to Broad Street and walk one
     block North to Pine St.  Take the 4/5 to Wall Street and walk
     North to Pine St., then East to Broad St.  Take the 2/3 to Wall
     Street, the North West exit is inside the Chase complex, else
     you will need to walk a block North and West.  See the MTA
     Downtown NYC Map (pdf) for detailed mass transit information:
       http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/mapdown.pdf

   -----

   Please mark this meeting on your calendar and join us!
   Please tell your friends about Unigroup!

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   -----------------
2. UPCOMING MEETINGS
   -----------------

   We have a series of meetings in the works:

   - Python and Twisted
   - True64/HPUX/Linux Futures (watch for a Field Trip meeting)
   - Zope (Web Page Development)
   - Unix Clusters and Clustered Databases
   - High Performance Internet Servers / Web Acceleration
   - Unix 30th Birthday Celebration
   - IPsec and IPv6
   - Linux Clustering Part 3: Beowulf version 2
   - Building a Firewall using FreeBSD and Linux
   - Unix Office Tools: Word Processors, Spreadsheets, Accounting Packages.
   - Emacs
   - Tex
   - PKI
   - GNU Development Environments
   - Meetings on a variety of Sun/Solaris/Java topics

   Please let us know about any other meeting topics that you may be
   interested in.  Potential speakers on Unix related technology topics
   should contact the Unigroup board at uniboard@unigroup.org.

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   -------------
3. PRIOR MEETING
   -------------

   Unigroup would like to thank our speaker Sharon M. Williams, from
   HP BCRS, for her presentation "IT Disaster Recovery - Running a
   Winning Relay Race".  Ms. Williams focused on the business aspects
   of the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
   and the processes of Respond/Recover/Restore/Resume.  Ownership (by
   departments, by people) of the various tasks along the way was critical
   to an orderly recovery.  The logistics of recovery "relay teams" and
   backup/recovery sites was also discussed.  Detailed planning and dress
   rehearsals are required such that everyone involved in the recovery knows
   the task they need to perform.  Key management personnel must know their
   roles in order to have proper decision making, and funding must also be
   available for use during the recovery process (car rental, air-fare,
   train-fare, hotel, computers, hubs, food, etc).  We also heard some
   interesting war stories concerning what can go wrong and just how
   probable the unexpected can be.

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   --------------------
4. UNIGROUP INFORMATION
   --------------------

   Unigroup is one of the oldest and largest Unix User's Groups serving
   the Greater New York City Regional Area since the early 1980s.  Unigroup
   is a not-for-profit, vendor-neutral and member funded volunteer
   organization.  Unigroup holds regular and special event meetings
   throughout the year on technical topics relating to Unix and the Unix
   User Community.  Unigroup is also the Greater NYC Regional Area Affiliate
   of UniForum - an International Unix Users Group.

   Thanks to Chase, Unigroup holds regular meetings planned for the Third
   THURSDAY of Odd Months at The Chase Manhattan Bank, 1CMP, NYC.
   Chase has been a long time sponsor of Unigroup, allowing us the use of
   a meeting room and presentation equipment.

   Planned meeting dates are: 3/20/2003, 5/15/2003, 7/17/2003, 9/18/2003...
   Watch for our Special Event meetings at the various trade shows in NYC
   as well as "field trips" to the facilities of local hardware and
   software vendors.

   =========================================================================
   = For Unigroup Information, Events and Meeting Announcements be sure to =
   = visit our World Wide Web Home Page:                                   =
   =       http://www.unigroup.org                                         =
   =========================================================================

   For further information or to get on the Unigroup Electronic Mail Mailing
   List send an EMail message to:
        unilist@unigroup.org

   To contact the Board of Directors of Unigroup, send an EMail message to:
        uniboard@unigroup.org

   To contact the Newsletter Editor, send an EMail message to:
        editor@unigroup.org

   If you have recently attended a meeting and you are not receiving
   Email announcements, please send us an Email and we will make
   corrections to our lists.

   Please Email the Board with any suggestions, especially potential
   meeting topics and speakers.  Unigroup welcomes contributions and
   content suggestions for our newsletter.  Unigroup is a volunteer
   organization and we need your assistance!  Please let us know if you
   can help!

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I hope to see you all at our next meeting!

-Rob Weiner
 Unigroup Executive Director
 unilist@unigroup.org
 http://www.unigroup.org

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