Meeting Preview: We will have a presentation of Quicktionary Readingpen & QuickLink Pen - pens that scan and upload text to your computer. As usual, Mary Sheridan will conduct a computing and Windows discussion for the first 30 minutes of the meeting.

The June 13^th meeting was a big success. It’s been a long time since we’ve had as large of a turnout. People who arrived before 6:30 PM began setting up the tables and chairs. After some minor changes, we started the meeting at 6:30 sharp. The acoustics aren’t the best in the world, but we hope to be able to arrange the chairs and tables to maximize everyone’s ability to hear the presenters.

William LaMartin wanted to get the newsletter assembled early this month, so I’m writing this on June 20^th. My daughter gave birth to a 6 lb. 14 oz. little boy on Sunday. He’s my fifth grandchild, but it’s still the most exciting thing in the world to me. Mom and baby are doing fine.

I bought my airline tickets yesterday for the APCUG (Association of Personal Computer Users Group) fall event in Las Vegas. The APCUG event is for the officers of user groups to get together and find ways to make their groups better. They hold the event in conjunction with Comdex, and this is the second time I’ve been able to attend. The APCUG event starts on Saturday, November 10 and is over Wednesday November 14^th. Comdex starts November 12^th and runs through the 15^th (Monday through Thursday).

Our July meeting will be on Thursday, July 12^th.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out at the Microsoft Extreme on June 2nd. For those who didn’t attend, when we arrived at the Causeway Hyatt to set up the event, we found that Microsoft had sent all the supplies and the AV equipment to the Hyatt Downtown. The Causeway Hyatt was gracious and found us a room that accommodated 600 people. They set up chairs and a serving area outside the room. They put up registration tables and signs for us. They were simply wonderful.

The AV people arrived and had the feed from Seattle, Washington ready to go in a short time. They had to leave most of their equipment at the downtown Hyatt, so the show was much less than it would have been. They had to leave behind additional speakers to make it easier to hear the event and additional monitors so that everyone could see. If you attended and had problems either hearing or seeing, now you know why.

The TPCUG people were amazing. Jenny Lind Olin, Mike Hodges, Bruce Register, Kevan Sheridan and Herb Atwood jumped right in and helped anywhere they were needed with little or no instructions. I’d especially like to thank my children: my daughters, Marcia Bennington and Michelle Hominsky and my son-in-law, Jay Hominsky. I was supposed to bring ten people to the event with me and without my kids, I would have been in trouble.

Microsoft contacted me after the event and said it planned to send everyone who helped a free copy of Office XP. I went to Microsoft.com and the price for the standard version is $479.00 and the upgrade is $239.00, so Microsoft is giving us a pretty nice "Thank you."

Jenny Leitzke has agreed to be our program chairperson. We our hoping to set up a table in the back of the room at Jan Platt Library for the following reasons: The membership person or our treasurer will be there to hand out badges in the beginning of the meeting, sell raffle tickets before the meeting and during the break, and handle any renewals or new members who wish to join the group.

I’m looking forward to the next meeting. I’ve wanted a scan pen for some time and I’m hoping to get a good deal at the meeting.

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer! u