Archive for the ‘Recent Developments’ Category

You know you’re a Mac addict when you get up Tuesday morning and wait for the Apple store to come back up after their weekly Tuesday update.  This time, Apple brings us a deep price slash on the little bitty iPod Shuffle.  I’ve had one of them since the pre-order time when they first came out (Thanks, Brent!) and I think they introduced them at $89, or maybe $99.  The 1GB model is now $49, and the new 2GB model is $69.  Now’s the time to pick one up, and I know TechConnect can retail these so you can get instant gratification here in Homer.

These things are now super affordable, almost disposable.  I find mine great for batching together podcasts from NPR and listening to them later, anywhere!  I can’t get KBBI inside the building at work so this allows me to get my fix of public radio.  Sometimes I throw in an audiobook.  And 1GB is plenty of room for all that.  For music I have my old standby iPod (from 2003) that still works wonderfully in spite of the abuse I have given it.

These things get any cheaper, they’ll start selling music albums on them instead of CDs!  Your kids will be digging to the bottom of the Cracker Jack box for it! One at every drive-thru in the latest McDonalds Happy Meal in place of the apple pie!

We are now a registered group with O’Reilly, who is a leading publisher for all types of computer books and products.  As indicated in our Welcome packet from O’Reilly:

Your group members receive a 35% discount on O’Reilly, No Starch,
Paraglyph, PC Publishing, Pragmatic Bookshelf, Rocky Nook, SitePoint, or
YoungJin products purchased directly from O’Reilly. The discount code
your members should use is DSUG. Orders can be placed online at
http://www.oreilly.com/store/ or by calling 800-998-9938. Your members
are also entitled to a discount on O’Reilly conferences and tutorials.
Other special discount offers may also be forwarded to your group from
time to time.

I encourage members to take advantage of these discounts.  As mentioned in the Reviews section, O’Reilly has been so kind as to provide us with some review materials, and I am already getting good feedback from a Kachemac reviewing one of the books.   I have used O’Reilly (“In a Nutshell”) books in the past and have found them well organized and very helpful.  Free shipping over $29.95 too!

Check out the latest MacHeist bundle!  It’s $50 for a number of shareware apps.  If you’ll use 2-3 of them, it’s worth getting the whole bundle and trying something new.  I ordered it and now I’m set for HOURS of fun checking out all my new goodies.

I wonder if those things have a heat problem like the old MacBook Pros?  Where would you put a fan, anyhow?  And check out that knife-like edge.  How comfortable is that going to be?  If all else fails, you can serve up fajitas on it, no kitchen tools needed. 

The judging is out.  Look and see the hottest new products Apple and third party vendors have to offer.

Neo Office users can pick up this patch here.  Neo Office is an open source office program that was highlighted at the December meeting.

Where are the posts?

I’d also like all members to download an application called Chicken of the VNC if you don’t have it.  Make sure to follow the prompts and download the .dmg (disk image) version.  This will allow us to use an option called Screen Sharing because we probably won’t have projector access next meeting.  It’s free, and will enable everyone to connect to the presenters’ desktops to see what is going on.  At the meeting you will be instructed on how to use this powerful software.

A benefit of being a member of a users group is the power to request, as a group, items for review.  This benefits the group in that members can have access to peer reviews of the newest and exciting software, hardware, accessories, and books available for Mac users.  The Anchorage group has extensive access to these resources, and I’d like to see us follow their lead.  A website lends credibility to our existence as a group, and that is in development granted I get some assistance from experts.  I will be putting out feelers for items we can receive for review.  Reviewers would receive items “for keeps” in exchange for reviews to be presented to the group and a written synopsis for the provider to use on their website.  If anyone has something they are looking at purchasing, but wants to try first, let me know.  I’ll try to get it for us at no charge to the member.  I’ll also ask that users who have purchased items they like produce reviews on the sellers’ websites.   Later on, I’d like to pass the responsibility for acquiring review items to a motivated member.