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:
---------------------------------------------------------------
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, see http://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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