Just a quick reminder that we have an RMIUG meeting this coming
Tuesday, July 14th.

I hope to see you there.

JZ

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The Tuesday, July 14th meeting of the Rocky Mountain Internet Users
Group (RMIUG) will discuss "Raise Both Hands and Say "Yeah:" Multi-
Touch Technology is Here"

Since the dawn of innovations, engineers have been devising ways for
the human body to interact with technology. Some have been quite
elegant (the round steering wheel in a car), others, awkward
(programming a VCR). For if it isn't "natural" for humans to
physically use the technology, the innovation will be abandoned.

To that end, interfacing with your computer has come a very long way:
* In the 1950s, the punchcard was king.
* In the 1970s, it was the keyboard
* In 1984, Apple introduced us to the mouse
* In 1996, the original Palm had a touchscreen with handwriting
recognition software called Graffiti
Considering where we started, it is amazing that we still have
computers today

One of the more interesting interfaces is multi-touch. Multi-touch
denotes a set of interaction techniques which allow computer users to
control graphicalapplications with several body parts
simultaneously . The idea is that if using one finger or a hand to
control a computer provides a natural interface (click the button on
the screen by touching it with your finger), using two or more could
afford more even more natural gestures. The Apple iPhone leverages
this technology to enable users, for example, to use two fingers zoom
in and out using only its 3 1/2" touchscreen and not any additional
buttons.

Beyond mobile devices, multi-touch is also gaining a lot of steam.
Nearly all of Apple's current laptops use multi-touch on
theirtrackpads enabling a pinches and pulls to minimize and maximize
your windows. Although seemingly esoteric, this additional dimension
of gestures can open up a whole new way that we interface with
computers.

During the next meeting, we will explore the world of multi-touch and
learn about:
* It's history
* The different types of multi-touch
* What it could be useful for
* When is it not useful
* How to build your own Multi-Touch system.

We will be bringing in an actual, home-built multi-touch system for
attendees to demo and experience!

Techie/hackers/makers, this is a meeting for you!

Our Speaker:
Laura Nichols (lnichols@...) is a Sr. Technology Lead at
Crispin Porter & Bogusky, a Boulder based advertising agency whose
clients include Microsoft, Volkswagen, Old Navy, Best Buy, and
American Express, among many others. Laura spends most of her time
there working on the Microsoft team providing leadership for the
development team, programming, and researching newtechnologies. She
specializes in .NET development and has developed a passion for multi-
touch technology. Prior to CPB , Laura was a Technical Lead at Texture
Media, a digital agency that prided itself on building brands online,
where she led the development team for clients such as Midas,
Celestial Seasonings, and NationalCinemedia.

Links:
Microsoft Surface: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
Crispin Porter + Bogusky: http://www.cpbgroup.com

The meeting is Tuesday, July 14th from 7:00 - 9:00 pm (with optional
6:30 pm start for refreshments and informal networking). The meeting
will be held at The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) at
1850 Table Mesa Drive in Boulder. To get to NCAR from the Boulder
Turnpike (US 36) or Broadway (US 93), take Table Mesa Drive west
towards the mountains forapproximately 2.5 miles into the foothills.
NCAR is at the top of the hill. For door-to-door driving directions,
go to MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com/), click on Driving
Directions, enter your starting address, NCAR's address, and voila!
Park in the NCAR lot, go in the main door, and ask the guard to point
you to meeting, which is held in the main auditorium, right off the
lobby. The meeting is free and open to the public, but we may pass the
hat to help defray expenses.

Our meeting location seats about 120 people. That is usually enough
room to accommodate all attendees, but it's impossible for us to
predict how many people will show up for any given meeting. Seating is
always on a first-come, first serve basis, and in the event of more
attendees than seats, we won't be able to admit additional people into
the auditorium after all seats are filled.

Thanks to our three sponsors who help make RMIUG meetings happen:
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MicroStaff (www.microstaff.com) which provides Creative and Technical
talent for Web, Interactive Media, Marketing Communications and
Software Development projects, is the sponsor of food and beverages
for RMIUG meetings.
ONEWARE (http://www.ONEWARE.com) -- a Colorado-based software company
that provides semi-custom web-based applications, sponsors the RMIUG
meeting minutes.
Copy Diva (http://www.copydiva.com) which provides marketing project
management, marketing communications consulting, and web content
development is the AV sponsor for RMIUG.

Consultants and companies are invited to bring Internet-related
Product information, brochures, and business cards which will be
displayed on an information table.

There are email mailing lists set up for this group. To subscribe or
unsubscribe, seehttp://www.rmiug.org/maillist.html. You can also reach
the RMIUG "Executive" Committee at rmiug-comm@.... Our web site
is at http://www.rmiug.org/

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Please note that RMIUG is hosted at NCAR and we are their guests. NCAR
has security regulations in effect that we must follow in order to use
the facility. If any RMIUG attendee is unwilling to follow these
simple regulations, I would ask that he or she not attend and instead
read the minutes after the meeting.

Here are the NCAR security policies that must be followed:

1. No weapons.
2. Must sign in at front desk and provide name.
3. Cooperate with security folks including providing ID if requested.
4. We are guests of NCAR so cooperation and courtesy are expected when
dealing with NCAR staff.

If there are any questions or concerns with this policy, please
contact me directly.
Thanks, Josh Zapin (josh@...).
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RMIUG, http://www.rmiug.org appreciates the sponsorship of
MicroStaff, http://www.microstaff.com , ONEWARE, http://www.ONEWARE.com
and Copy Diva, http://www.copydiva.com

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