2008 WORKSHOPS

Workshops Subject to change at time of conference.

KEYNOTE

Counterfeit or Pirated Technology Products. From your computer hardware to your software, batteries, electrical cords, microchips and surge protectors, all of these legitimate items are represented by counterfeit, pirated or illegal goods coming into the United States, as well as the rest of the world.
Dixie L. Faries, Mgmt & Program Analyst, National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, Immigration & Customs Enforcement Division / Department of Homeland Security

Storage - Where Will You Put Your Stuff So You Find It Tomorrow. Sometimes Andy wonders if the only thing that keeps him alive is the fact that his wife can't find anywhere to store the body.  Hiding stuff you may never need but it's nice to have, filing useful and really important material for use later or putting something precious away for safe keeping is becoming a growing concern for all of us.  Andy will give you an update on the current state of storage -- personal, home and small business -- portable, stationary and virtual.  You will learn the current state and trends for flash, hard drive, optical and today's hot topic "disruptive technology" virtual storage.  Storage...how big can it go, how low can it go?  This is your chance to learn about all of the news on big bucket technology so you can buy the solution today -- or tomorrow -- and live with for a year or two.  It's your opportunity to become a storage expert to amaze your friends and neighbors.  If it is digital and is important to your family and you Andy wants you to make the storage decision that's right for you.  The last thing he wants is another person searching for a place to hide his body!!!
Andy Marken, President, Marken Communications

MEAL PRESENTATIONS

Friday Dinner - Google. Robin Ziegler's presentation for Friday night will include Google Earth and Google Sky. It will showcase some of the more interesting uses of both products as well many of the new features in the latest 4.3 version of the software. This will include description balloons, ground, photo, and screen overlays, navigation, layers, 3D buildings, street views, and more. Much of this presentation was given last month during a 4 city launch of the Google Earth Outreach program in Europe. At the final presentation, in London, Robin was preceded by Sir David Attenborough.

TECH SESSIONS

Acoustica. The Easy Way to Convert Your LPs and Cassettes to Clean, Digital Recordings. Remember all those 'oldies but goodies'? They just don't make those classic vinyl LPs and cassette tapes on CD. Well, dust off your old 33's, 45's & 78's, because Acoustica's new software, Spin It Again™, can easily record any vinyl LP to CD or cassette to CD.  Not only will our software make the whole recording and track dividing process child's play, but it will also dramatically clean your recordings by getting rid of click and pop record noise, or by removing hiss and hum off old cassettes. You can also record your LP collection and cassettes to your iPod or portable MP3 player! So let your music come to life and Spin-It-Again™! If you have a Windows computer with a soundcard you're ready to use our software! 
David Raimondo, Director of Sales and Development

Ai Squared. Come see what’s new in the ZoomText product family - including ZoomWare, ZoomText USB, the ZoomText Keyboard v2, and the new ZoomText 9.18 with smooth panning and scripting.  Learn how these products allow low-vision users to see, hear, and use their computer with greater comfort, productivity, and success.
Cathy Gettel, Dealer Network Manager

Diskeeper.
Colleen Toumayan, Vice President of Public Relations

Google. Tricks, tips, and your questions answered about Google Earth and Sky
Robin Ziegler, Manager, Google Earth Community Development

Nero. Come join Darrick Bady from Nero Inc. for a fun and informative session where you will learn about the editing HD function that Nero 8 Ultra Edition has to offers. Topics to be covered: Menu structure that contains SD/HD templates, 3D menus and animating templates with video backgrounds; How to burn your content into AVCHD format and experience High Definition on your PC with Nero ShowTime, in Blu-ray Disc players, and on your PSP™; and how to Export your high-quality videos in your preferred format. Live demos will and Q & A will also be covered.
Darrick Bady, Customer Service / Tech Support Manager

Smart Computing. The Smart Computing staff will begin with a walk through of the most recent issue of Smart Computing and introduce you to the helpful and timely information that can be found each month.  We will also give a demonstration of SmartComputing.com to show how you can put these powerful tools to work for you! These tools include Search All Articles, My Personal Library, the Q&A Board, and the Tech Support Center.
But wait, there's more...As always Smart Computing will also be testing your knowledge with some trivia and of course we wouldn't let you go home empty handed so there will be all sorts of goodies and a fun time had by all!
Jaime Lynn, Territory Manager

Symantec. Norton PC product manager Jeff Kyle will be discussing some of the threats common to PCs and talk about what’s on the horizon for Internet security. He will be demonstrating some product features and functionality of the new Norton 360, Version 2.
Norton Mac product manager Mike Romo will be discussing the Mac security landscape and the need for comprehensive security protection, even for Mac users that think they’re immune. He will be demoing new Norton for Mac products, including the recently released Norton AntiVirus for Mac.     
Jeff Kyle Group Product Manager, Consumer Business Unit
Michael Romo, Product Manager, Macintosh Solutions, Consumer Products and Solutions

The Most Innovative & Wacky Gadgets of the Year. Get ready to laugh and be amazed, entertained, educated, stunned, and perhaps crave products you never even knew existed-BUT, you'll want them after you see them in action! Bruce Pechman, The Muscleman of Technology is the most prolific Freelance Consumer Technology television personality in the country and will be demonstrating live his top 20 product picks of the year in this interactive hands-on extremely entertaining session. There will be a few great giveaways in this session!
Bruce Pechman, The Muscleman of Technology® 

User Group Relations. Backing up your hard drive is the most important thing that every user must do on their computer. This session will show you the best way to backup your computer using the latest technology available today. It will identify what is the best hardware media to use to save your backups on. It will also cover the best type of backup utility to use to give you the easiest and best protection. Also included will be a discussion of how to get the most out of your backups in the least amount of space needed. A demonstration of how easy it is to do full backups of your computer will follow this discussion. Then we will cover how to restore your backup to build a new main hard drive. We will also cover how to find and restore individual files from your backup and get them back on your main hard drive. A demonstration of this useful restore function will be shown. Finally, some advanced backup considerations and ideas will be discussed at the end of the session. Everyone that has a computer should attend this session to see what is the best way to backup their computer. Don't miss it.
Gene Barlow, User Group Relations

COMPUTER CLUB / USER GROUP WORKSHOPS

Fundraising. Many groups need to supplement their dues with fundraising projects. This workshop will give you proven ideas that other groups have used to do just that. Bring your ideas to share!
Marian Radcliffe, President, TUGNET

Growing & Maintaining Your Membership. Many of us are having problems recruiting new members as well as retaining current members. This workshop will give you some innovative ideas on how to accomplish both of the topics. This is a must-attend workshop -- bring your ideas to share. Attendees will go home with a CD full of ideas.
Judy Taylour, President, Santa Clarita Valley Computer Club

Help!! the Speaker Didn't Show. Oops, the presenter contacted you at the last minute and said he/she couldn't be at your meeting and you need to have something ready to go at a moments notice. This workshop will give you many ideas on last-minute presentations and you will go back to your user group with a CD full of ideas & presentations.
Cheryl Wester, Program Chair, Temecula Valley CUG

Is there a Digital Photo SIG in your group's future? Have you thought about starting a digital photo SIG but didn't know where to start? Harry and Susie both lead their group's DP SIGs and will tell you how they work. It might be easier than you think and a DP SIG might help you grow your group.
Harry Isaman, Program Chair & Digital Photo SIG Leader, Thousand Oaks Personal Computer Club
Susie Phelps, Digital Photo SIG Leader, TUGNET

Video Podcasting - recording meeting presentations. Terry Currier has video recorded several of his user group's meetings. He uses a simple video camera set up to record the presentation. He takes it home and views it (several times), edits it, and uploads it to the windowsusers.org web site. Several members have commented how much they appreciated the videos for meetings they missed, but really wanted to be at the meeting. Come and see how he does it to see if it can benefit your members. You can use the same approach with recording and emailing short videos to friends and family.
Terry Currier, Vice President & Webmaster, WINNERS - WINdows usERS

PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY WORKSHOPS

eBay. YOU can buy or sell just about ANYTHING on eBay and it’s easy! In this session Charlotte will show you how she set up her own eBay store. Go to the eBay website, http://www.ebay.com, and surf through the list of categories (located down the left side of eBay’s home page). It’s amazing what’s for sale. Even more amazing --- people do buy this stuff. You, too, can set up an eBay store. Charlotte has a CD of her presentation for all attendees of this workshop.
Charlotte Semple, Treasurer, Los Angeles Computer Society

Getting 60 Minutes from Every Hour. Bruce Carl Aronson will discuss the basic principles of time management using various computer programs and tools like Outlook. Learn what to look for in a time management program. After hearing his presentation, you may not wish to buy a calendar.
Bruce Carl Aronson, Freelance Trainer

Green screens, blue screens --  hoo--ray for scene screens!  Virtually anyone with a digital still or video camera can add astronomically varied backgrounds any time and any place. Below are a few examples shot in a very SIMPLE office studio taking up virtually no extra space.
George Margolin, Vice President, California Southland AITP

Have FUN With Your Digital Photography.  Photography used to be taking photographs with your camera, having them developed, sticking them in frames and/or albums and sharing them.  Now you can do soooo much more!  Learn about some fun things I do with my digital camera and computer.
Helaine Cummins, TUGNET

History of Computers. Man has been using tools to augment computation for thousands of years, starting with the abacus. The History of Computing traces the major enabling developments, and examines the evolution of computing technology. Do you know who discovered logarithms, what the Bunch was, and how Apple avoided extinction? Along with these, discover many more forgotten bits of computer trivia in this workshop.
Jim Perry, Vice President, Prescott Computer Society

Setting up a Home Network. One computer, two computers, three computers & they all need to be networked. Garry will show you how easy it is to do -- step-by-step. Each attendee will receive a copy of the Smart Computing April issue featuring home networking.
Garry Sexton, President, Greater South Bay PC Users Group

Using Windows to Transfer Programs from XP to Vista. Transfer your programs from XP to Vista, using LapLink’s PCMover or the Windows Easy Transfer Companion (WETC). These are programs that you can use to help transfer programs from a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 to a computer that is running Windows Vista. WETC does not replace Windows Easy Transfer. Instead, WETC is an independent program that complements Windows Easy Transfer. You can use WETC to transfer many kinds of programs between two computers that are connected by an Easy Transfer Cable or by a network connection. PCMover is easier to use and allows much more control over the transfer process. We will discuss both.
Howard Hoyt, Mentor, Computer Connection Club

Wireless Security: Facts and Myths. The fact is, laptops have been outselling desktop computers for several years. Many users may think that surfing at home is safer than surfing in a public place, but just because you've taken steps to make your wireless connection more secure doesn't mean your computer is safe. What are the myths and facts about security on wireless connections? Are you really in danger? The reason malware succeeds is because users may not have knowledge to thoroughly protect themselves. Know your enemy! There are three basic types of bad guys to guard against: thrill seekers and war drivers, bandwidth thieves, and knowledgeable attackers. Thrill seekers and casual war drivers are the folks who drive around with a laptop, looking for wireless networks to hop on to. They often don’t do any damage; they’re motivated by the thrill of trespassing electronically. The simplest of security measures is usually enough to deter them, particularly if there are other open networks around. Bandwidth thieves link images on your computer to their web information, stealing your bandwidth. The knowledgeable attackers trespass for profit. So let's chat about networks (home and public), firewalls and filtering, print and file sharing, quick tips for safety at home and in public, and what to do if you are a victim.
Elaine Brysktar, Temecula Valley CUG

Workshops Subject to change at time of conference.