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PCUGR General
Meetings 2001 …
These are the meetings held in 2001. Take a look at the topics we covered
last year. The December meeting is our Holiday Party and Silent Auction,
so the meeting topic was fun. What
to see the pictures?
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Index: |
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• Eric
Johnson from Microsoft, Windows XP |
November 8th,
2001 |
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• Cathy
Mulhern |
October
11th, 2001 |
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• Capture
and Share |
September 13th, 2001 |
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• Power
Quest |
August 9th, 2001 |
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• Joshua
Darnell |
July
12th, 2001 |
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• Computer Jeopardy!
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June 14th, 2001
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• Ask
Dr. Tech |
May 10th, 2001
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•
Make
PCUGR a Better Club |
April 12th, 2001 |
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•
Simple Office Solutions,
Santa Rosa |
March 8th, 2001 |
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• Sonic.net |
February
8th, 2001 |
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• eGems
Collector™
• Microsoft
Windows Millennium Edition™ |
January 11, 2001
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Microsoft •
Thursday November
8th,
2001
Eric Johnson, Microsoft Channel Marketing Representative.
We have heard a lot of negative comments about
it. We would like to hear Microsoft's side of it.
What size system
is needed to run XP? Will the same system that runs Windows
98 perform better after I convert to Window XP?
What programs
will run on it? We have been hearing rumors that some of our old
favorites will not run. Will DOS and Windows 95 run on it?
What hardware
problems would we watch for?
Will Windows XP
support USB2? If not, why not?
Who needs
Windows XP Professional? Is XP Professional the upgrade path for
Windows 2000?
What do you get
for the extra money you spend for the Professional version?
Why is the
discount for multiple home use so chintzy?
Please explain
product activation.
Come to the meeting and find out if
this upgrade should should be in your future!
Microsoft's
XP Home Page
Check
out what Lockergnome has to say about XP. 
Eric's Resume:
Eric Johnson is our Microsoft Channel Marketing Representative. He
currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and is looking forward to
working with some of the finest computer user groups in the country.
He is a
graduate of Sacramento State University with a degree in Marketing. Before
coming aboard with Microsoft in Jan 2000 he was employed at Compaq Computer
Corporation, fulfilling the duties of a Retail Support representative. His
experience in the computer field ranges from:
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Basic Networking
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Building Systems for Small
Businesses
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Marketing Computer
Technologies to Retail Establishments
Eric is looking forward to meeting everyone in our group and
sharing knowledge with us regarding Microsoft's new XP operating system and
other innovative products.
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Cathy
Mulhern, Proprietor of "Bytes to
Words! •Thursday,
October 11th
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Megahertz, gigahertz, SDRAM, RDRAM, DDRAM, Level 2 cache, front-side bus,
blah, blah, blah. We are inundated with a sea of acronyms and technical
jargon. What does it all mean? What's important and what's not?
Come to the October 11 PCUGR General Meeting and cut through some of the
fog!
Cathy Mulhern will give you the lowdown on the Intel CPUs, specifically the
differences, pluses and minuses between Pentium 3 and Pentium 4 technology.
Bring your questions and all those friends and neighbors who've been asking
you their questions! It should be an educational evening!
Cathy provides hardware and software consulting and training focusing on
stand-alone systems to small networking environments. She has over 15 years
of experience ranging from Mainframes to small computer systems and networks. Her business focuses on teaching "you specifically what you need
to know quickly and effectively, because you just don't have time to read
the manuals and weed through the information."
She has developed and presented training to the public through recreation
departments and educational institutions, to private industry and to
government agencies. She is a SRJC instructor teaching classes in
beginning and advanced web page design as well as an introduction to the PC class.
She is expert in computer and Internet hardware including modem/DSL installation-usage and real-time data acquisition systems. Her network
expertise covers Win9x/ME/NT/2000 and she is a Novell Certified CNA.
Cathy
was G R E A T ! |
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"Capture
and Share" Thursday,
September 13th
"Digital imaging, that is the
use of digital cameras, scanners and other visual input devices, is
a significant trend in computing today.
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The major benefits of digital imaging are the
ease of use, transferability of captured images, and the cost
savings related to going digital. How ready is the technology?
Realize that most of the images you now see in printed publications
are already digital images. Now, it's your opportunity to learn how
simple and inexpensive it is to capture and share your own
images.
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Ed Weber has been the North Bay's
HP representative for the past five years. His knowledge and
expertise in this area is significant. On Thursday, September 13th,
Ed will offer a straightforward presentation, demonstration and
valuation of digital imaging, with a focus on digital photography.
Be sure to attend this "Capture and Share" presentation to
improve your understanding of your own role the future of digital
photography.
For more information, you can email Ed
directly at netweber.
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Thursday
August 9th, 2001
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| Divide it, format
it, re-arrange it, make it more efficient, back it up and more!
PARTITION
MAGIC, DRIVE
IMAGE, DATAKEEPER and other utilities by POWERQUEST
make these tasks easy.
In technical terms, these are known as
Partitioning, Formatting etc. and there are many ways to do these
tasks. Some ways are difficult, others are easy. .Gene and Linda
Barlow from User Group Relations will visit our user group this
month and show you how.
After 34 years working for IBM Gene and Linda
created User Group Relations to offer professional presentations of
products. They've become well-known, respected and liked among the
user group community and regularly visit user groups throughout
North America.
From the beginning, Gene and Linda have been
strong and enthusiastic supporters of user groups (see
their website).
Much of their emphasis has been promoting
POWERQUEST products but Gene has also become a much-welcomed
presenter because of his ability and willingness to help us know and
understand our hard drives better. Gene's tutorials on How To
Organize Your Hard Drive, Running Multiple Operating Systems and How
To Protect Your Hard Drive are worth paying money for but he offers
them FREE in his presentations.
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As an organization tool, PartitionMagic V6
is
unique. Create, resize, merge, and convert partitions without
destroying data! Exceptional ease of use with wizard functionality
makes partitioning tasks effortless. |
DRIVE IMAGE complements PARTITION MAGIC. Using
DRIVE IMAGE after your system is set up makes the backup process
easy. DRIVE IMAGE V4 lets you write images directly to CD-R and CD-RW
devices. POWERQUEST's
DATAKEEPER feature adds another level of
protection for users' important data by including continuous data
backup.
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As time permits, Gene will demonstrate many of
the newest products from POWERQUEST and answer your questions.
There will be special User Group prices and
product will be available at the meeting so you can take it home
with you. Door Prizes and literature, of course.
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Thursday July
12th, 2001
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Joshua will be talking
about Linux, including the different distributions
and ways to configure them. This will include how to
tweak your video, recommended hardware, and a
description of the many applications available...and
also where you might find them. He will talk about
firewalling, DNS, DHCP, Web and data servers, and
Windows/Linux networking. |
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| Joshua is
currently a System Administrator and Programmer for HomeSeekers.com, a web-based
MLS service, Joshua has had much experience working
in a Windows2000/IIS5/SQL2000 enterprise. During this
time, he has also consulted with small businesses
looking to avoid the often restrictive licensing fees
that Microsoft charges. He has experience with Source solutions such as Linux, MySQL, and
GreatBridge's implementation of Postresql Database
Server.
Joshua attended the local Junior College and
then Berkeley as a Math/CIS major, but dropped out to
learn about computers and save enough money to attend
Reed College (a small, radical liberal-arts college
in Portland, OR.) His hobbies include: eating Thai
and Chinese food, building specialized workstations
and servers, traveling, playing Blues Guitar, playing
Arabic and Bulgarian Drums, reading, and sitting in
front of his computer all day. He couldn't survive
without a high-speed Internet connection. He also
enjoys watching movies and arguing with his friends.
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| You can
contact Joshua at jdarnell |
Computer
• Thursday, June 14th, 2001
That's right, computer users and game show fans. PCUGR is presenting, for
your entertainment and edification, Computer Jeopardy! We will have some of
our computer whizzes available to be contestants, but if *you* think you
know something about computers terminology, hardware, software or history,
step right on up and show us your stuff!
We *will* be asking for audience
participants. It will be loads of fun to see who knows what and we guarantee
you will learn something in the process as well.
Come on out. Invite your
friends. Root for you favorite contestant and marvel at all of their arcane
knowledge.

William Lam President & CEO of
"Ask DR. Tech"
•
Thursday, May 10th, 2001
Mr. Lam founded Ask Dr. Tech in April 1999, and serves as President and Chief Executive
Officer. The lack of available quality computer support became evident to Mr. Lam as his many
friends and family members came to depend on him for technical help. Realizing the
opportunity, he quickly began building both his team and vision to launch a company that will
revolutionize the computer support industry by making sure everyone has the support they need
for worry-free computing.
If you join Ask DR. Tech you will get a comprehensive set of support
resources for your computer. Phone
Support for members is toll-free phone call. The doctor is always in, 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, 365 days a year to provide you guidance and answers to keep you and your computer up
and running. Just call 1-800-ask-dr-tech.
Online Support is also available for members either online and via email or use the Online Call
Back feature where a support specialist contacts you by phone.
Online Help Tools are available. They provide members with easy-to-understand "how-to's" and
other automated support tools. Learn all about your PC, from maximizing performance to
customizing your system.
Make
PCUGR a better Club • Thursday, April 12th, 2001
This
was our
Annual Evaluation
event! At
this meeting we
started the process of forming more SIGs.
Like minded people
meet to expand
their
knowledge of computer related topics. SIGs are an easy inexpensive way to learn more about something that is quickly becoming a required household appliance.
In a SIG, you don't have to be an expert to join, but you do need to be willing to share your knowledge however small it may be. Don't get left behind.
Check out
our SIG listings.
Simple Office Solutions,
Santa Rosa • Thursday, March 8th, 2001
Demystifying
Printers, Scanners, Fax Machines and Their Relatives in the Digital Age
The presentation was by Lee Hall, co-owner and service department manager of Simple Office
Solutions in Santa Rosa. Lee told us about the evolution in office machines
from “the crude to the resolute” and will explained
how many of the output peripherals we commonly use such as printers, scanners,
fax machines and copier machines function.
We learned about the differences
between inkjet and laser technology and the similarities between the printers,
scanners, fax machines and copiers of today and how they work together in the
new multi-function units such as 4-in-1 printer/scanner/copier/fax machines. Lee
also discussed the selection, repair and cost effectiveness of these machines
for the business and home user.
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February
8th, 2001
Sonic.net
Was Here to Answer Our Questions
Our February presenter was
Matt Kirk from Sonic.net. Sonic.net is Santa Rosa's own locally grown
national ISP and the official ISP of the PCUGR. Matt
talked
to us about many different aspects of the Internet. He covered
basic topics such as the function of an ISP to spam email and how one
can reduce it. Matt also covered
availability of high speed access in
Sonoma County such as DSL, cable access, T1 and the specifics of what these
products are.
PCUGR's own Jeff Basham, Technical
Support Representative at Sonic.net, join ed
Matt to host a question and
answer session
at the end of the presentation.
eGems
Collector™ • Microsoft Windows
Millennium Edition™
•
January 11,
2001
Our January meeting will be double-header beginning with
Russell Jacobsen from eGems
Software. eGems is a simple, graphical
application which helps users to organize and maintain
facts, quotes, images or any other type of electronic
information while maintaining links to the reference sources
allowing a convenient retrace when desired. eGems can be
used by anyone doing research through the Internet or email
including hobbyists, students and researchers.
Our second presentation
will be given by Eric Johnson
from Microsoft
Corporation
who will demonstrate the newest operating
system for the home PC, the Windows Millennium Edition
(Windows ME).
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