Hands-on Activities @ 33rd Trenton Computer Festival at College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ
Jacob
This year's Trenton Computer Festival (TCF) will provide numerous
opportunities for hands on experiences. Bring your lap top computers
to TCF as many of the presenters will be providing opportunities for
the audience to become involved in their talks and workshops. The
robotics competition was designed for entries to have hands on
experience with robots. There will be games displays that will allow
visitors to have a hands on experience with different games. Many of
the TCF vendors will provide opportunities for hands on evaluation of
their merchandise.
Some talks and workshops will provide the information needed for hands
on activities: Neil Cherry will tell you how to automate your home.
Douglas Ferguson will tell you how to build a home theater. John
LeMasney will tell you how to lose weight using a computer. Irene
Weissman will tell you how to refill laser cartridges. Mike Barlow
will tell you how to develop a web site. Paul Bergsman will tell you
how to control the world (electronically). Donn Fishbein will tell
you how he makes money on the stock market using computer analysis.
Donald Hsu will tell you how to find a job using your computer. Mark
Streitman will tell you how to make a gadget. David Ciotti will tell
you how to convert audio to MP3 and other digital
files.
Amateur Radio at the Trenton Computer Festival
Have you ever considered getting an amateur radio license? The hobby
of Amateur (Ham) Radio is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people
all over the Earth. It is easier than ever before to become a radio
amateur or ham, since the requirement of learning the Morse code was
eliminated. It is a good way to make friends, talk to interesting
people from all over the globe, learn about technology, and prepare
for and assist in emergencies. Over 50,000 messages were transmitted
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and many Amateur Radio
operators in Central Jersey received citations for their work at the
Princeton Red Cross during the 9/11 crisis. The equipment needed to
get started can be inexpensive or you can spend hundreds or even
thousands of dollars on state-of-the-art amateur radio station. Even
with relatively inexpensive equipment, you can communicate locally,
around the world, with satellites (such as the International Space
Station), or by bouncing signals off of the surface of the moon.
Amateur Radio information and license testing will be provided on
Saturday at the Trenton Computer Festival. Members of the Delaware
Valley Radio Association (DVRA) will provide basic information on
Amateur Radio and tell how to get your license on Saturday between
11:20 am and 12:40 pm in room SSB-105 of the Social Science Building.
They will provide license testing at 1 pm. Amateur Radio Licenses no
longer have a Morse code requirement. For those taking exams, there
will be a license testing fee of $14 that must be paid with a check or
cash [no credit cards!] and 2 forms of ID with at least one being a
photo ID are required.
Information on Amateur Radio and preparing for the exam can be found
at: http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html. A basic orientation on getting
a license is at: http://www.hello-radio.org/, and license preparation
instruction books at: http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/. Online
tutorial information and links to practice exams is at:
http://www.hamradioinstructor.com/. The Web site of Delaware Valley
Radio Association is at: http://www.w2zq.com.
The 33rd TCF will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 26th and 27th
at TCNJ in Ewing, New Jersey, and offers a weekend of computer
entertainment including shopping, socializing and essentially free
education (at no extra charge) in the form of seminars (50 minutes),
workshops (110 minutes) and interactive demonstrations. TCF also
includes a Friday Information Technology (IT) Professional Conference
with Saturday sessions open to regular TCF attendees. More than 75
seminars and workshops will be presented over the TCF weekend. A two-
day TCF admission pass is $12.50 if purchased in advance, but will be
available at the door for $17. Passes for Sunday only are available
for $12 at the door. For information about all of the events and
activities at this year's TCF including the TCF IT Professional
Conference, and to buy advanced tickets please visit http://www.tcf-nj.org/
or call the Trenton Computer Festival show management office at (201)
825-2229.