APCUG 2018 Spring Virtual Technology Conference (VTC28)

ByAPCUG Administrator

See you at the August 18 VTC!

Thank you to all of the presenters and the VTC team: Joe Melfi, Jere Minich, Ray Baxter, Bill James, Orv Beach, and Bill Neves; David Williams, Jere Minich, John Kennedy, Jim Evans, and Francis Chao.

KUDOS

Create a Smart Home with Home Automation & Voice Assistants
Joe Melfi
Bravo — loved it. Great delivery and a great tour and summary of what’s available from well-known and emerging vendors. It included valuable information/suggestions/resources for everything from installing one smart light bulb or switch to complex Do-It-Yourself integration of unique components. Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor, Region 2

Synchronizing Your PC, A guide to – Bill James
 Bill James did a good job in his presentation, first he explains an application  and then he showed us a slide as to where to go to implement that application. There was no guesswork as to how to implement. I was disappointed to hear that there is no HomeGroup in the new Windows Version 1803, but he went on to explain how we can still share. The cloud services seem to be the way to go to synchronize our emails, calendar, etc. and he did a fine job explaining how that all works.  Good Job Bill!
Yomar Cleary, Big Bear Computer Club

Windows 10 / eBook
Jere Minich did a presentation long-distance to our Naples, Florida computer group recently, which was valuable, as usual.  His Windows 10 Update on Saturday was very well done and packed with useful information – which I will have to review so my tiny brain can absorb and use it productively.

Bill Neves claimed this was his first attempt at delivering information through a webinar.  Well, he sounded like a polished pro. Whether or not I sometime publish an eBook, the talk was very informative. I have shared it with my daughter who well may be writing an eBook soon. Many thanks to Bill for his interesting effort.
Bob Graham, PCBUG of Naples, Florida

General
Thanks again to APCUG for bringing we folks in the Islands a chance to appreciate the excellent presentations that I’m sure took a lot of time and effort to put together. As usual, the presentations were timely, professional and I at least learned a lot (I suspect my fellow TUG members did as well.) In order to get the full program, we need to “rise and shine” early and I personally found it well worth the effort {:-)

Mahalo nui loa to all who work hard to make these VTCs a success.
Lou Torraca, The TUG-MOAA

Smart Home, Win 10, eBook
I listened to Smart Home, WIn10 Spring Creators Update, and Publishing an eBook. I was blown away by the quality of the presentations, in content and style. Compared to the last VTC that I listened to a year or two ago (can’t remember which one), it was night and day. What an improvement. Last time I really didn’t gain anything I didn’t already know in the 3 presentations I picked, this time I learned a ton. For today, on a scale of 1 to 5, I’d give each presentation a 5, 4.5 and 5 respectively.

I wished I could have listened live to “Teaching Tech to Seniors”, something I do a lot myself. I’ll have to watch the recording when it’s made available. Can’t wait for the PowerPoints to be shared on the website as there was so much reference material.

Please pass my heartfelt thanks to Joe Melfi, Jere Minich, and Bill Neves, and to all the organizers.
Pierre Darmon, Westchester PCUG

The presentations were very nicely done. The speakers stayed on topic and were very well prepared.  The Smart Home presentation was a wealth of information to help use today’s new technology.

I particularly enjoyed the Windows 10 presentation to prepare us for what is to come in the update May 8 from Microsoft.
Joyce Steward, Sarasota Technology Users Group

Teaching Technology Topics to Seniors – Ray Baxter
Bravo — loved it; also, great delivery. Recapped many important lessons for effective teaching, will help anyone prepare and deliver valuable classes to help seniors enjoy, benefit from, and not be afraid of technology. Gabe Goldberg. APCUG Advisor, Region 2

What’s New With Ubuntu – Orv Beach
I had the opportunity to attend the recent VTC and sit in on the presentation that Orv Beach gave on “What’s New With Ubuntu.” I really enjoyed his presentation. Orv’s  speaking manner was very clear and he had a clear plan for presenting the material and was easy to follow He knew what he was talking about and was very comfortable when he switched from his talk/slide-show to the “live demo” of Linux where he was running unscripted. Even that part went smooth. I look forward to hearing him present more things about Linux.
John

Synchronizing Your PC, A guide to – Bill James
Bill’s synchronizing presentation was very informative and very timely. My data is spread out over several devices and I have been working on consolidating my information. I currently have  accounts with Dropbox, Apple and Google. All my digital photos go to Google photos. I use iCloud for my iPhone and iPad data, Dropbox for Photoshop, and other data. I also have a 4tb Western Digital drive to do Macrium images to restore entire partitions. Last week my HP laptop C drive crashed and I used Macrium installed on a flash drive to rebuild my system.

I was trying to join HomeGroup with an old Windows 7 PC and saw that Bill said it was removed from Windows 10 version 1803. That one is on my to do list.

Bill put a lot of work into this presentation and it is much appreciated.

Alan Goldberg, President
Platina Computer Club

General
I watched three presentations of the APCUG Virtual Technology Conference (VTC) on May 5. I am finding it hard to keep up with all the new technology; these VTCs really do help. I attended three presentations. The other three choices were Create a Smart Home with Home Automation & Voice Assistants, What’s New with Ubuntu, and Write and Publish Your eBook on Amazon Kindle… for Free. If you had to miss them, or want a review, you may see the slides at www.apcug2.org.

The first session I attended was Synchronizing Your PC by Bill James. Since I have a PC, laptop, and a smartphone, I want to get them working together to be more efficient. Bill explained setting up cloud storage as the easiest way to access your data files across all your devices. You can also save your data where it is available off-line.  Services like Dropbox, Apple’s iCloud, Google Drive, and Microsoft’s OneDrive keep your folders in sync.

Then I watched Jere Minich’s Presentation, Windows 10 Update 2018, known as Redstone 4 version 1803. It will start appearing May 8. He discussed some of the new features like a timeline display, Settings app updates, user interface improvements, Disk Cleanup added to Settings, changes to Windows Defender, Progressive Web Apps (PWA), Edge updates, clutter-free printing, and much more. This session should help me be a little more prepared for what’s to come.

The third session I attended was Teaching Technology to Seniors by Ray Baxter. There are many seniors  who didn’t grow up with computers, nor use them in their jobs. They are having a hard time keeping up in our world. Ray gave many helpful ideas from his own experience and from others for when friends and family ask us for help. He emphasized the KISS approach: Keep It Simple Stupid
Leah Clark, Editor, Los Angeles Computer Society

TRACK 1

1:00 PM ET

Create a Smart Home with Home Automation & Voice Assistants
Joe Melfi, Strategic Technical Marketing Engineer

Joe’s presentation will cover the following topics:

  • Home Control & Automation
  • Home HVAC & Energy Management
  • Home Security & Surveillance
  • Home Entertainment
  • A.I. Smart Voice Assistants: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Microsoft Cortana, Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings
  • Automation Communication Technologies: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave wireless, Zigbee, Insteon, Serial, X10
  • How to get started; where to buy
  • Caveats, Security

Presentation: Create_Smart_Home_&_Voice_Assistants-JoeMelfi-APCUGVTC-May_2018

YouTube Video – https://youtu.be/FKuO1VYTqLc

2:00 PM ET

What’s new in the Spring Windows 10 update
Jere Minich, Program Chair, Lake-Sumter Computer Society

Microsoft is readying the release of its semi-annual update to Windows 10. The upcoming update is expected to be called Spring Creators Update – Windows 10, version 1803. There are several new and useful features coming your way with Spring Creators Update. Here are the headlines, they will all be covered:

  • Timeline
  • User interface improvements
  • Near Share
  • Quick Bluetooth pairing
  • Progressive web apps
  • Edge improvements

Presentation: Windows 10_April_Update-JereMinich-APCUG-VTC_May_2018

YouTube Video – https://youtu.be/lD7JR09JSGA

3:00 PM ET

Teaching Technology Topics to Seniors
Ray Baxter, Payson Computer Meet-Up Club, APCUG Treasurer

“Teaching Technology Topics to Seniors” can require a different approach as compared to instructing typical school age persons. Ray will share some of the tips he uses as well as input and suggestions he has received from other professionals in this field.

Presentation: Teaching_Computer_Skills-RayBaxter-APCUGVTC-May_2018

YouTube Video – https://youtu.be/b78oNEfsDq8

TRACK 2

1:00 PM ET

Synchronizing Your PC, a Guide to…..
Bill James, VP, Computer Club of Oklahoma City; APCUG Advisor, Region 8

There are numerous ways to sync desktops, laptops, tablets and phones.

From the complex to relatively simple solutions, this presentation will cover sharing over a network, local file sync programs, LANs, Cloud services and more.

Presentation: Synchronizing_Your_PC-BillJames-APCUGVTC_May_2018

YouTube VIdeo – https://youtu.be/PQ9UweBaKrc

2:00 PM ET

What’s new with Ubuntu?
Orv Beach, Training Chair, Southern California Linux expo – SCALE

Named “Bionic Beaver,” it is a Long-Term Support release with 5 years of support for both the desktop and server version. What’s new?

  • Minimal install option
  • Faster boot speed
  • Easier live patching
  • New Linux Kernel
  • GNOME desktop environment
  • New default apps
  • New way to install apps

Presentation: What’s_New_in_Ubuntu_18.04-OrvBeach-APCUGVTC-May_2018

YouTube Video – https://youtu.be/3kQbeomZuBE

3:00 PM ET

Write and Publish Your eBook on Amazon Kindle… for Free
Bill Neves, Member, Silvercom Computer and Technology Club

In this session you’ll learn how to easily and quickly do the following:

  • Research your book
  • Write your book
  • Name your book
  • Format your book
  • Set up your Amazon Kindle account
  • Upload your book
  • Offer your book for sale, or free
  • Rinse and Repeat

Presentation: How_to_Write_and_Publish_an_eBook-BillNeves-APCUG_VTC_may_2018

Info on downloading Bill’s eBook: Write and Publish an eBook_download from Amazon

YouTube Video – https://youtu.be/VB40jNhy4Z0