[PLUG] Fred Stluka's giving a talk on Cloud Computing Thu 1/21 6-8pm...

[fred@bristle.com]

PLUG members, Cloud Computing fans, and Local Friends of Fred,

I'm giving my "Cloud Computing" talk again.  This time it's in 
Harrisburg Thu 1/21 6-8pm.

The talk is a repeat, plus additions, of the guest lecture I gave to a
computer class at Penn State in October, and to the Philly Linux Users
Group in November.

- When:   6-8pm Thu 1/21/2010
- Where:  Harrisburg Java Users Group (about 90 minutes from Malvern)
          Versatile Systems, Inc.
          100 Phico Way, Suite 307
          Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
          717-215-5020
          http://maps.google.com/?q=Phico+Dr,+Mechanicsburg,+PA+17050
- Who:    Free, open to the public (with free pizza too, I hear)

Please let me know if you plan to attend, so there are enough seats
and food for everyone.

Even if you're not a computer person, you may enjoy the talk.  I'm
pretty sure that every single person receiving this message is already
using Cloud Computing in one form or another (at least Google search,
Google mail, Yahoo mail, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Google Maps or 
Google Docs, if not any of the more advanced forms).  And your employers 
will be using it more and more in the next year or two, for virtual 
desktops, virtual servers, etc.  Come out and learn more!

You can preview the slides at:
        http://bristle.com/Talks/CloudComputing

BTW, since I've never been a fan of PowerPoint, I wrote my own free
open source HTML/CSS/JavaScript-based PowerPoint-like software the
other day, and I'm using it for this presentation.

Details of the software:

It's really simple.  Each slide is an HTML page.  You specify a list
of slide URLs in the master page.  Each URL can refer to any HTML
page: a page of your own, a public page, the results list from a
Google search, or even a complex parameterized URL that links deep
into a site.  In the master page, you can also specify an optional
header, footer, CSS styles for all slides, etc.

It automatically shows slide number and count, positions the footer at
a fixed location at the bottom of the page, can skip the footer on the
first page, etc.  Next/previous via mouse click, or Enter, or arrow
keys or Home/End, etc.  Slide files can be as simple as:

   <h1>What is Cloud Computing?</h1>
    <ul>
      <li>Next big thing</li>
      <li>Old technology</li>
      <li>Broadband</li>
      <li>Distance is irrelevant</li>
    </ul>

or as fancy as you want, even including their own JavaScript, Ajax,
etc.  

Long slides scroll, instead of being truncated like PowerPoint.
People in the back can't see?  Just hit Ctrl-Plus a few times, and
the browser scales the fonts and the lines wrap around so nothing
goes missing.  If necessary, scroll down via the arrow keys to see
the stuff that gets pushed off the bottom.  

You can have a single CSS file that sets the fonts, colors, background
image, etc. for the entire series, or you can have have every slide
different.

Still a lot of features to add, but I've been using it for public
presentations for months.  Works like a charm!  Let me know if you
want a copy.  Or download it directly from the presentation site.  
Or from my open source Bristle Software JavaScript Library at:
    http://bristle.com
 There you'll also find a sample master slide to get you started.

Enjoy!
--Fred
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred Stluka -- mailto:fred@bristle.com -- http://bristle.com/~fred/
Bristle Software, Inc -- http://bristle.com -- Glad to be of service!
---------------------------------------------------------------------

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