Title: ALG
1Good Evening and Welcome to
Technology Users Group Meeting October 17, 2007
2- Thank you for coming back!
- Please get comfortable
- Feel free to ask questions contribute
- Objective is to deliver real value to you
3Tonights Amenities
- Fresh-popped popcorn.
- Hot coffee tea, plus wide assortment of soft
drinks in the refrigerator. - Please make yourselves at home!
4Meeting Goal Value!
- Content
- Door Prizes
- Networking
5Introductions
- Meet ALG staff your hosts tonight
- Part of the value you will get from this meeting
comes from networking with each other - We encourage you to do that during breaks and
after the meeting
6Agenda
- Technology News
- This evenings topics
- An incredible, free phone management system that
everyone will want! - Free, quality Microsoft Office alternatives from
several different vendors. Including both desktop
and online offerings! - Break around 715pm
- RightQuickies
- Door prize drawing
- Summary conclusion adjourn by 8pm
7Technology NewsNew Microsoft Event Planner!
- Microsoft is jumping into the world of online
event planning with Windows Live Events,
scheduled to launch late tomorrow evening ---
watch out evite? - The free social event planning service lets you
invite friends to an event and creates a Web page
where people can share photos and stories with
blog entries after the event - It uses the same infrastructure as Windows Live
Spaces and lets you use your contact list there
or in Hotmail or Messenger - http//events.live.com
8Technology NewsMicrosoft Home Server!
- Coming within the next few weeks . . .
- Windows Home Server - new software that enables
families with multiple PCs to easily connect
their digital experiences, providing a reliable
and familiar way to protect, organize and share
treasured digital images, music, video, and
documents - integrated hardware and software solution
- Provides backup and restore of home computers,
centralized expandable storage, and access from
anywhere to your digital photos, music, videos,
documents and home PCs
9Technology NewsMicrosoft Home Server!
- OEMs will set the final pricing for their
products - Depends on the storage capacity and additional
capabilities - The HP MediaSmart Server, for example, will be
offered in a 500-gigabyte version for a suggested
price of 599 and 1-terabyte model for 749 - More information athttp//www.microsoft.com/win
dows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.
mspx
10Technology News
- And now on to tonights Topic 1
11Topic 1
An incredible, free phone management system!
12Topic 1Incredible Phone Management System!
- Thanks to Jeff Dutcher for suggesting this
topic! - This is an incredible, FREE service
- GrandCentral - Get all the same calls, but in a
whole new way! - GrandCentral doesn't replace your phones
- It just links them together and helps them do
more - GC gives you One Number...for Life!
13Topic 1Incredible Phone Management System!
- That one number isnt tied to a phone or a
location - Its tied to you
- With GrandCentral, you can
- Be reached with a single number
- Answer a call at any phone you want
- Seamlessly switch phones in the middle of a call
- Know whether a call is important before you take
it
14Topic 1Incredible Phone Management System!
- GrandCentral also lets you
- Check your messages by phone, email, or online
- Keep all your messages online for eternity
- Record and store your phone calls (just like
voicemail) - Quickly (and secretly) block an annoying caller
- Click-to-dial from your address book
- Surprise your callers with a custom voicemail
greeting - Forward, download, and add notes to your messages
- And more!
15Topic 1Incredible Phone Management System!
- Now owned by none other than . . . Google!
- This service is still being beta tested
- So you need to be invited to join until its
opened up to everyone - You can do that athttp//www.grandcentral.com/h
ome/reserve - As a registered user, I can get 10 people
immediate invitations
16Topic 1Incredible Phone Management System!
- If interested, email me your first name, last
name, and email address to Cary_at_ALG.cc - Lets take a look at it now . . .
17Topic 1Incredible Phone Management System!
18Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
Microsoft Office alternatives !
19Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
- Microsoft Office is the standard office
productivity suite for - Word processing
- Spreadsheets
- Presentations
- And others such as filing
- It typically costs between 200 and 600 per
user, depending on the package selected (basic,
premier, etc)
20Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
- The traditional alternatives to Office such as
WordPerfect, border on extinction - But there is a new breed of alternatives that are
grabbing a lot of attention - First, because they are completely FREE
- Second, because they are well designed, quality
products - Third because the offer easy import and export
with MS Office and export to PDF - And some include new collaboration features
21Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
- Tonight you are going to hear about FOUR free
alternatives to MS Office! - Two are standard desktop-based packages
- Two are online, collaborative packages
- Plus you are going to get a chance to try them
all yourself!
22Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
Open Office 2.3
23Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
- Open Office 2.3
- http//openoffice.org
- Word processor, spreadsheet, presentation
manager, and drawing program - Desktop software
- Familiar interface
- Import and export MS documents
- Free
24Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
IBM Lotus Symphony
25Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
- IBM Lotus Symphony
- symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/home.js
pa - There are three applications that make up the
Lotus Symphony tools Lotus Symphony Documents,
Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets, and Lotus Symphony
Presentations - Desktop software
- Familiar interface
- Import and export MS documents
- Free
26Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
Google Docs
27Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
- Google Docs
- http//docs.google.com
- Three applications - documents, spreadsheets, and
presentations - Online software
- Familiar interface
- Import and export MS documents
- Free
28Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
Zoho
29Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
- Zoho (my favorite)
- http//zoho.com
- None applications - documents, spreadsheets, and
presentations, plus wiki, notebook, planner,
creator, chat and meeting - Online software
- Very familiar interface
- Import and export MS documents
- Free
30Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
- Now for the hands-on part of this meeting!
- Have 8 computers set up for your use
- Each of the 4 MS Office Alternatives is on 2
computers - Please dont spend more than a few minutes with
each so that everyone gets a chance - ALG staff on-hand to help and answer questions
31Lets Take a Break!
32Topic 2MS Office Alternatives!
33RightQuickies
- Every month present 1 or 2 useful tips or tools
that arent meaty enough to be a regular meeting
topic
34RightQuickiesOnline Photo Editing!
- With Picnik you can quickly edit all your online
photos from one place - One-click photo fixing or in-depth tweaking
- Crop, rotate, and resize in real-time
- Tons of special effects, from artsy to fun
- Works directly with many photo sharing sites
- No download required, nothing to install!
- Works on Mac, Windows, even Linux
- Free version, premium version (soon)
- http//picnik.com
35RightQuickiesOnline Photo Editing!
36RightQuickiesOnline Photo Editing!
- Check out the web page import
- Identifies all of the graphics on a web page
individually and lets you save them great for
web developers - Basic features are free to use
- Premium features cost 24.95 for a year
- All premium features are currently free, but not
for long
37RightQuickies
Questions
38RightQuickies
- Lets start wrapping up tonights presentation.
- And then on to our door prizes!
39Next Meeting
11/15/2007
Thursday November 15, 2007
Meeting Topics
- Free online file conversions
- Free and easy video email messaging
- Thousands of free, quality fonts
40ConclusionDoor Prizes are Next!
- Thank you for being our guests at ALG this
evening! - If you got value from tonights meeting, please
tell others about these meetings and about ALG.
Even bring a guest to the next one - If you know a company that has computer problems
and needs help, please tell them about ALG!
Contact me at Cary_at_ALG.cc.
41ConclusionDoor Prizes are Next!
- Meetings are the 3rd week of each month
- If you didnt receive an email invitation, leave
us a business card or register online at ALG.cc - Remember to take your handouts
- Feel free to stay awhile and network
- And now lets go to the door prizes!
42Door prizes!
- Must be present to win.
- FinePix E550 Digital Camera! (Factory
Reconditioned) - Gizmo! 2gb Flash Drive!
- 19-in-1 USB Card Reader!
- 15 Panera Bread Gift Card!
- 10 Mitchell's Ice Cream Gift Card!
43Door Prize 1
- 10 Mitchell's Ice Cream Gift Card!
44Door Prize 2
- 15 Panera Bread Gift Card!
45Door Prize 3
46Door Prize 4
47Door Prize 5
FinePix E550 Digital Camera! (Factory
Reconditioned)
48Thanks for Coming!