the computer booter
TRANSCRIPT
Computer Booter
The
May 2012 Computer Booters of Sun Lakes http://www.computerbooters.com
I N S I D E
May newsletter highlights
Come hear Joe Bitz from Best Buy, our speaker for
the May 1 meeting. Joe is the Interactive Technology
Specialist for our local Best Buy store. Joe’s topic for
the evening is “Will Smart Phones/Tablets Eliminate
Home Computers?”.
Leading off our meeting, Rollie Baumann will spot-
light some topical computer Tips and Tricks.
Our meetings start at 7:00 PM sharp so that we may
close at a reasonable time. Check in by 7:00 PM and
receive a ticket for one of several door prizes to be
drawn at the close of the meeting.
Treasurer’s Report 1
From the President 2
Volunteers 2
SIG News 3
Membership Report 4
Program Update
Computer Technology
Conference
5
6
Club Information 10
Future Meeting Dates 11
Treasurer’s Report by Janet Quade, TREASURER
Fund Balances as of April 10, 2012:
Reserve Account $ 3,061.56
Bank Account $ 2,457.27
Total Funds $ 5,518.83
2
C l u b N e w s
S o far this season we have enjoyed some
quality presentations at our monthly
meetings, had record attendance at our
SIG classes and have awarded a number of
door prizes at the end of each general meet-
ing. Participation in the local Computer Tech-
nology Conference in late March provided our
club attendees with technical updates along
with some new ideas which will be investi-
gated for application to future Computer Boot-
ers needs.
Windows Vista users should all be aware, that
on Monday April 9, Microsoft announced the
From the President’s Desk by Ben Thompson, PRESIDENT
www.computerbooters .org /May 2012
Look Who’s Volunteering
by Marie Krula, VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
S ixty-four people came to our meeting full
of excitement for the eKindle was to be
raffled off & everyone who purchased
the raffle tickets was quite eager to be the
winner. The winner was Bryon Weston – con-
gratulations to Bryon. Volunteers Tony Cestare
& Jerry Weinert did a super job selling the raf-
fle tickets.
Eddie Schweitzer greeted all members and
guests as they came to our meeting. Again, Al
Behr & Vivian Berman helped Guy Laroche
process members, new members, & guests to
our meeting.
Ed Craze & Walt Scheidereiter set-up all the
equipment for the meeting and Bob D’Evelyn
helped handle the microphones along with
Walt whenever there was a question to a pre-
senter.
Nona Hove gave a raffle ticket to all who at-
tended. The meeting had an unusual amount
of items to give to lucky raffle ticket holders.
However, ALL who attended were given tea
packets as they left from the ‘Leaves Pure Tea
Company’, located in Scottsdale who owns the
internet site, Leaves.com & have teamed-up
with the presenter of the evening. This will
now be the new web address for the ‘Leaves,
Your Life Story Lives Here”, a free program for
those wishing to write their history that was
demonstrated at the meeting.
end of Mainstream Support and the beginning
of Extended Support for Windows Vista.
If you’re still using Vista, you won’t notice the
change. This Extended Support phase is
scheduled to last until April 11, 2017. Micro-
soft will still provide Security Updates during
this period. This places Windows Vista into
the same Extended Support phase that Win-
dows XP has been in now for some time. Mi-
crosoft will end the Extended Support for XP
on April 8, 2014.
2011 SIG Classes News
by Sue Klein, SIG COORDINATOR
Club News
www.computerbooters .org /May 2012 3
C l u b N e w s
I f you are not receiving club notifications it
could be for 2 reasons. One is that email
address on the membership form was not
clear and got entered incorrectly. Please con-
tact the membership director for correction.
Two is that you forgot to renew you 2012
membership. There are still SIG classes before
the summer and many after the summer. It is
never too late to renew.
Check the Calendar of events on our Web Site
(www.computerbooters.org) for regular SIG
Classes and one-time-shot sessions. Guests at
the general meeting who choose not to join
but wish to attend SIG Classes will pay a fee –
See the SIG Classes coordinator report for de-
tails. And don’t forget to check the junk mail
folder in case you don’t have the SIG coordina-
tor address in your address book. The notifica-
tions may end up there.
Technology advances never stop and they do
not even slow down. You will be left behind if
you do not keep up with the new develop-
ments. The Computer Booters is here to help.
The Computer Technology Conference was
held at the Fort McDowell Radisson late last
month. If you didn’t attend, you missed a lot.
Read elsewhere in this newsletter a summary
of the conference.
The dues for 2012 are as follows: $36.00 for in-
dividual and $48.00 for two persons living at
the same address and are for January First to
December Thirty-first. This covers general
www.computerbooters .org /May 2012 4
Membership Report
by Guy Laroche, CLUB RECORDS DIRECTOR
meetings, door prizes, and all SIG Classes
(Special Interest Group classes), not to men-
tion that you can always talk to someone in
the Club regarding specific problems. We have
a number of members who can answer com-
puter related questions
Membership forms for 2012 are available on
our website www.computerbooters.org (left
column of the home page, under membership).
Everyone is requested to fill out a membership
form, even if they are renewing. Print and fill
the form (make sure the email address is legi-
ble). You can also pick up a form at the mem-
bership table before the general meeting of
the Computer Booters of Sun Lakes. Attach (do
not staple or tape) your check to the form and
bring it to the meeting or snail mail it to the
address on the form (Membership Director).
As always, membership badges will be ready
to be picked up, at the membership table, be-
fore the general meeting following the receipt
of the application. If you attend SIG Classes
before receiving your badge, tell the presenter.
Please note: General meetings start promptly
at 7:00 PM on the first Tuesday of each month
(except summer time). Doors close when the
meeting starts and late comers will not receive
a door prize ticket. SIG Classes also start at
7:00 pm according to the schedule found on
the Computer Booters Web site. Mark your cal-
endar.
Some members have indicated that they are not receiving notices via e-mail. Make sure
we have your correct e-mail address. Also, notices are now being sent by the SIG
Classes coordinator Sue Klein at her new e-mail ([email protected]) . If you don’t have
her e-mail in your contact list, the notices may be filtered and go to the junk folder.
C l u b N e w s
Program Update
by Ben Thompson
www.computerbooters .org /May 2012 5
April 2012 Program
O n April 3
rd Michael O’Donnell provided
an interesting presentation on
“Leaves” (the extension of the
“branches” in our family trees.) “Leaves” is a
free social media website where people can
tell, share, publish and preserve their life sto-
ries and memorabilia. “Leaves” is user
friendly in that it provides guidance to help
you remember just about every aspect of your
life. You may then share it with only those
that you have invited to do so.
Investigate this interesting website at
www.leaves.us.
May 2012 Program
On Tuesday May 1 Joe Bitz will be our guest
speaker. Joe is the Interactive Technology Special-
ist for our local Best Buy store. He helps ensure
that fellow employees and customers both are
aware of, and are capable of, using the newest of
technology. His topic for the evening is “Will
Smart Phones/Tablets Eliminate Home Com-
puters?” Joe will give a brief history of tablets,
how they have developed to date, and where they
are headed. He’ll discuss some of the main appli-
cations used by tablets as well as additional
unique and interesting applications.
Joe will also demonstrate how to integrate tablets
with other technologies in our lives (televisions,
smart phones, computers, etc.).
VOLUNTEERS HONORED AT RECENT LUNCHEON
Computer Boosters honored it’s 2011 volunteers on March 15, 2012 at a luncheon at the Palo
Verde Country Club. Everyone agreed that the lunch was excellent. There were 3 door prizes,
stained glass panels, created by Nona Hove (the friendly ticket lady), which were highly prized
by the winners. And all attendees agreed that Marie Krula, the event organizer, had done an
outstanding job putting on the luncheon. Many thanks, Marie, for your excellent work!!
Computer Technology Conference
by Patricia Hill, APCUG REP. & REVIEW EDITOR
C l u b N e w s
The Inaugural Computer Technology Conference
The CTC was held in the Four Diamond Radisson Resort and Casino,
Fort McDowell northeast Phoenix.
T he Executive Committee responsible for bringing this conference to a successful conclusion was as
follows:
Director: Patricia Hill; Registration: Sandy Hart; Treasurer; Albert Hill; Technical Support; Katie Gertz;
Digital Photo Contest; Dolores Bruno; Volunteers; Ed Zarr; and Webmaster; Jim Perry. In addition there
were many volunteers helping in the daily operation. All have to be congratulated for their hard work, and
successful first try.
There were 130 attendees at this first Computer Technology Conference. In addition to AZ residents, Cali-
fornia, Hawaii, Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas and Canada were represented. The pres-
entation and conference surveys came back exceedingly positive. Everyone loved the venue, presenta-
tions, food and resort. Wi-Fi was available throughout the facilities.
Almost 3,000 goodies were put into the welcome goodie bags. Everyone went away with door prizes.
The raffle had everything from ear buds to a Microsoft XBox, Acer laptop and Samsung tablet.
The Executive Committee is currently negotiating next year's contract with the resort and they
will notify everyone of the 2013 dates when they know them.
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www.computerbooters .org /May 2012 7
Nine members from the Computer Booters attended the conference. Their feedback was very
positive.
We were a little disappointed that there were not more Computer Booters club members attend-
ing the conference. It is to be noted that it was a Technology conference with presentations
made using a wide spectrum of programs - Windows, PCs, Linux, Apple, Photography, etc. It is
for a wide variety of interest related to technology.
I hope you will check next year’s date, when available, and maybe plan to attend. As attendees,
we had a wonderful time over there – great facilities, good presentation, great door prizes, excel-
lent food, and for the interested: golf, Casino, Spa, etc.
For a list of the presentations and presenters see the CTC Web site for details; the address is:
http://www.comptechconf.com
Following are Ben Thompson’s brief summaries of the presentations he attended:
Friday 03/23 at 10:00 a.m.; HP. The HP presenters, Marcie & Stephanie, were well versed in HP
products as you would expect from an Associate Sales Rep. I felt it was a good review of every-
thing new at HP. It helped clarify some of the new terms in printing that I have been hearing re-
cently. They covered new capabilities of efax on Inkjet and Laser printers as well as a new Laser
printer that will print from a Laptop without the benefit of a network.
I also attended the following presentations and learned a few things:
Friday 03/23 at 1:45 p.m.; Secrets of Safe Computing by Gary Stanley. Gary was a very good pre-
senter. His material was well prepared and provides numerous links to useful information. I am
inspired to prepare a SIG along the lines that he used, tailoring the research to our club's interest.
Saturday 03/24 at 9:00 a.m.; Microsoft Media Center by Harold Wong. I had heard Harold present
once before and was as impressed with him this time as I was earlier. He did an excellent job
and reminded me of all the things that I haven't incorporated into my media center. On a scale of
one to ten I give him an eleven.
I had seen his presentation before but he goes so fast and he is so entertaining that I was kept
interested. Unfortunately, TV reception inside the building was bad, so he
was not able to cover that part.
Saturday 03/24 at 10:30 a.m.; Microsoft Store by Gary Eastep. Gary was a
good speaker and provided a detailed review of the goods and services
available at their first store, located in Scottsdale. He is promoting a new
Premium Tech Support service that they offer.
Thursday my wife and I took the bus tour from the hotel to Scottsdale Fash-
ion Square for a visit to the Microsoft Store. There we had a presentation of
services provided and a preview of the new Windows 8. Very interesting!
After the Microsoft store visit we had an hour to ourselves for shopping at
the mall.
Saturday 03/24 at 1:45 p.m.; Fix and Speed Up Your PC. The presenter was terrible. She had ob-
viously memorized the pitch without really understanding the subject. She spoke much too fast
and continued to do so after being requested to slow down, twice, while I was there and I left
after the first ten minutes or so. A total dud.
C l u b N e w s
Friday afternoon, I attended Google + (It’s called Google Plus)
by Jim Perry. This service by Google is an attempt to compete
with Facebook. Personally, I find it easier to set up and use.
The “circle” concept for friends, family, groups, etc. is much
more user friendly.
This is Shari Thomson’s view on the presentations she at-
tended:
Workshops and Presentations: I attended HP, Frank Jones; The Unexpected Internet, J.B.
Burke; ABC’s of Digital Photography, Gary Stanley; Art of Composition, Energy Flow & Motion,
Peter Ensenberger; Microsoft, Gary Eastep and Navigate the Ever Changing Landscape of
Technology, Abby Stokes. All of these speakers presented interesting, useable, new (to me), as
well as confirming information. The keynote address by Dr. Bobis on Using Technology to Im-
prove Patient Outcomes expanded on his recent local presentation to us. Abby Stokes on Com-
puting Habits was an excellent choice for the Friday dinner.
Abby Stokes presented at one of our club general meetings and was a pleasure to hear. On Sun-
day morning she presented Navigate the Ever Changing Landscape of Technology. It was an
excellent, presentation, well done, and well suited to the members of our club.
Guy: “I did not get as much out of the” ‘Ask the Experts’ panel during the Saturday luncheon as
the sound system and panelists didn’t always work well together”. Adds Patricia: “I second
that too”.
Other presentations of interest not attended by our club members (who had to make decisions as
four tracks were running simultaneously).
The Ease of Using Linux, Larry Thiel; LifeLock, Cortney Lanik; Protecting Yourself Online, Bob
Gosticha; Fidelity Investments, Marty Bender; Organizing, Protecting & Sharing your Hard
Drive, Gene Barlow; Selling on Ebay, Kathleen Manning; Social Media & the Rest of Us, Kathy
Jacobs. Most had been presented during our Club general meetings.
This is not a complete list. You can see the complete schedule and the biography of each pre-
senter on the CTC Web site.
All in all I felt it was very well organized with so many details covered that helped attendees get
the most possible out of the Conference. I would certainly recommend it for future attendees and
look forward to their next event.
General comments from our Club members:
Hotel: Radisson Fort McDowell Resort had lovely, comfortable accommodations for the $139 +
tax considering it is the height of the busy season in Scottsdale, Phoenix, etc. The building de-
sign was impressive and distinctive depicting Native American design.
Our room was on the first floor opening to the landscape between the building and the pool. Each
room has a coffee maker and a small refrigerator, plus all regular amenities of a resort.
Food: A bonus for the price of the conference registration fee, the two lunches and two dinners
had quite good food with trained service and nice presentation. The adjacent Ahnala Restaurant
provided an impressive “Happy Hour” with $3 wine and excellent appetizers from 4:00 to 6:00.
The adjacent Casino also provided excellent choices from snack to buffet although quite a noisy
C l u b N e w s
www.computerbooters .org /May 2012 8
environment.
The conference food (lunches and dinners) were just perfect. The hospitality room was excep-
tionally well stocked with just about anything to keep you going. And it was opened almost all
the time, except during meals and presentations.
Conference: Power packed with excellent presenters on a wide variety of topics making the se-
lection of presentation choices a tough decision. The day-by-day outline of presentations and
speakers plus the in-depth bios and presentation descriptions were very helpful in these deci-
sions. The miniature listing to be tucked into the badge was a great innovation.
Having water, meeting note paper and pens in every session saved packing those around.
Prizes & Raffles: There seemed to be a great variety and something for everybody starting with
the first “goodie” bag to drawings each day at intervals.
It is worth mentioning that Westech Recyclers, Inc. had setup containers for recycling un-
wanted electronic devices that we all accumulate in the garage.
This article was compiled by Guy Laroche with inputs from Ben and Shari Thompson, and
Patricia Hill.
Computer Technology Conference Digital Photo Contest Winners Announced
Elsewhere in this month’s newsletter, you’ll read cover-
age of the recent Computer Technology Conference
(CTC). As you can see, you missed a good one and we
hope to see you there next year.
The conference held a Digital Photo Contest with four
categories and three winners in each category, in addi-
tion to Best of Show, voted on by all the attendees. Guy
Laroche, our Membership Director, won third place in
the People category. Congratulations, Guy. It’s a beau-
tiful picture!
Check out the web site for the other winners. .
Patricia Hill, Director
Computer Technology Conference
C l u b N e w s
www.computerbooters .org /May 2012 9
www.computerbooters .org /May 2012 10
The COMPUTER BOOTERS OF SUN LAKES is a non-profit organization established to aid per-
sonal computer users in achieving maximum results from their home or small business
computer. This newsletter is published monthly from September through June by the COM-
PUTER BOOTERS OF SUN LAKES. It is not connected with any commercial or private business.
The information contained in this newsletter is believed to be correct and accurate. How-
ever, the COMPUTER BOOTERS OF SUN LAKES assume no responsibility for inaccuracies or
omissions. Any information used from these articles is at the user’s risk.
The COMPUTER BOOTERS meets the first Tuesday of each month, except in July and August
when we do not meet, and in March when the date and/or location may change due to the
Sun Lakes One homeowners meeting. Call for the date and location of the March meeting.
All other meetings are held in the Arizona Room of the Sun Lakes One Country Club at 7:00
PM. which is south of Riggs Road on Sun Lakes Blvd. CB Board meetings are held on the
second Tuesday of the month at 2:30 PM in the Mirror Room at the Sun Lakes One Country
Club.
For membership information contact Guy Laroche at 480-883-0638 or
Other computer user groups have our permission to use the articles written by our mem-
bers as long as credit is given to the author and source and notice is sent to our Editor or
Assistant Editor:
Doug Fairbanks, Editor - [email protected]
John Wharam, Ass’t - [email protected]
Member of
C l u b I n f o r m a t i o n
PRESIDENT Ben Thompson 480-391-1262 [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT open
SECRETARY Colette McNally 480-835-9499 [email protected]
TREASURER Janet Quade 480-895-8178 [email protected]
BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE Al Hill 480-895-2196 [email protected]
CLUB RECORDS DIRECTOR Guy Laroche 480-883-0638 [email protected]
HARDWARE MANAGER Jon Inman 480-895-3674 [email protected]
MEMBERS WELCOME DIRECTOR Ed Schweitzer 480-883-1116 [email protected]
NEWSLETTER EDITOR Doug Fairbanks 602-538-2489 [email protected]
ASSISTANT EDITOR John Wharam 480-481-3464 [email protected]
PROGRAM DIRECTOR open
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR George Rodriguez 480-802-9080 [email protected]
PUBLICITY DIRECTOR Kc Coller 480-895-9509 [email protected]
APCUG REP.& REVIEW EDITOR Patricia Hill 480-895-2196 [email protected]
SIG COORDINATOR Sue Klein 480-895-3528 [email protected]
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR Marie Krula 480-802-7354 [email protected]
2012 Monthly Meeting Dates
Tuesday, 7:00 PM--Arizona Room, Sun Lakes 1
2012
May 1
September 4
October 2
November 6
December 4
11 www.computerbooters .org /May 2012
Meeting 7:00 PM Tuesday May 1, 2012
Feature Speaker: Joe Bitz, Interactive Technology Specialist from our
local Best Buy store, will give a presentation titled:
“Will Smart Phones/Tablets Eliminate Home Computers?”
Tips and Tricks: Our evening will begin with a 15 minute “Tips and
Tricks” technical presentation by Rollie Baumann.
2012 CALENDAR CORNER