BoiseMacs MUG maclog

Two new links have been added to our online Mac help page: MacApper under “Third party software” and OS X Help under “Resources (hardware, tutorials”.

This came up in last night’s Boisemacs meeting, and it’s a common enough scenario: one woman (I’m sorry! I didn’t catch your name!) has set up a dot-Mac account and wants to share file access (or something like that–I don’t have a dot-Mac account) with some friends. However, they are having trouble getting in as they keep getting a notice they have to sign up and pay for something.

The woman is going to try and visit her friends to see what is happening on their PCs, but wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t always have to do that?

Jing is a project that the people at TechSmith have been working on for a year or more. (TechSmith make really well-reputed software for Windows OS like Camtasia.)

Right now, and for the foreseeable future, Jing is a free software download. I’ve not used it myself, because I have other* (paid for) software for screen video capture, but I’ve had good feedback from people I’ve mentioned it to. Maybe it’s something that would work for you.

* for the curious:
SnapzProX, iShowU, and ScreenFlow

-Cheryl

It was our first meeting in our new rendezvous and due to a little snafu we met in a smallish classroom but it’s quite a nice place. Rik took us on a brief tour and we peeked through the window at our usual meeting room: a lecture hall with desks. Wireless is supported.

Applause to Stevens-Henager College in Boise for hosting, to Carol (?) for suggesting the venue, and to Rik for checking it out and making arrangements. And thanks to everyone else who joined in the “where do we meet now?” discussion and checked out possible meeting spots.

Thanks to Jason who took us through a tour of iMovie (the version before iMovie2008) and showed us the video he uploaded to YouTube.

We had a good extended Q and A period touching on misbehaving browsers (a virus?!) and the mysteries of dot-Mac sharing. Members were reminded of the MEMBERS ONLY area which houses special offers our MUG gets notice of. Recommended web sites mentioned included: ifixit.com (supplier of parts and upgrade materials) and afterthemac.com (for if you’re going wireless and need some goodies).

There was a bit of discussion on future topics and that included: dot-Mac, iSync, Applescript. (All list members were sent the link to a survey; mention your suggestions there!)

Elaine and Bill are the proud new winners of a drawing for Popcorn 3 (and will be sharing their thoughts on the software in this Maclog in future months).

Rik tantalized us with a peek at the brand new Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0.

[news release to MUGs] Tracking time just became easier for Mac users converting to Leopard, OS X 10.5. OfficeTime’s latest release (version 1.3) now offers full Leopard compatibility with iCal synchronization for a visual display of your workday. iCal synchronization continues to be supported on Tiger and older versions of Mac OS X.

A MUG discount appears available. Contact your list/web officer for more information.

For those of you who didn’t make it to our meeting last night [Monday, Mar. 17] (perhaps you were out drinking green beer), I wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed the meeting. I was tired and almost didn’t come because I didn’t see an announced topic. It turned out that we stayed to nearly 9 p.m., because the meeting was so interesting. Rik and Lauren demonstrated iChat, iglasses, and other fun things on Leopard. We even surprised Tommy who was online paying his bills in Texas (?) and had his iChat open. Thanks so much Rik and Lauren!! It was also very considerate of you (Rik?) to have made us handouts.

- Leslie

If you like to go under the hood of Mac OS X, or if you’ve been forced to by quirky problems, you’ll want to check out our latest ebook, freshly revised for Leopard - “Take Control of Permissions in Leopard.” Written by Unix guru and Mac aficionado Brian Tanaka, the 87-page ebook mixes practical how-to details and troubleshooting tips with just the right amount of theory as it explains permissions in relation to how you keep your files private, copy files to and from servers effectively, set the Ignore Permissions option for external disks, repair screwy permissions, and delete those files that just won’t die.

For those who want to learn advanced concepts, the ebook also delves into topics like the sticky bit, symbolic versus absolute ways to set permissions, and how to work with bit masks. In particular, Brian looks at what’s new with permissions in Leopard, including the disappearance of the NetInfo database and the increased use of access control lists. Don’t worry if you’re not accustomed to using the Unix command line in Terminal, since Brian provides extremely clear instructions for that, along with how to manage permissions from the Finder’s Get Info and Inspector windows, and with more-capable third-party utilities.

It’s $10 but you can get a Members Discount if you use the link within our Members Only area. This holds true for all the Tidbits (”Take Control”) ebooks.

Thanks, Rik, for the post to our list. Looks like someone has sifted through and compiled a short list of significant points from the 2008 Apple shareholder meeting and one item of interest is that “Apple is looking at Idaho, Wyoming, and other more sparsely populated states to identify suitable locations for Apple Stores.”

Our February meeting will again be at the Boise Public Library! and again on Tuesday (due to the holiday). Last month was a really nice experience with us all being able to sit around a big table and talk. It was sort of one big question and answer session.

We should have an overhead available though we’ve heard to the contrary so checking that out. Meeting topics TBD.

Pending stuff:

(1) We’re still investigating locations and this will doubtless be a topic at the meeting.

(2) We want to put out a survey to the members and friends on our list so look for that in the next week or so.

(3) We are looking for another president! Three isn’t enough. That’s old hat. If you have questions about what being a president might entail, write to them. In brief, it’s organizing (not necessarily running) the meetings. “Many hands make light work” so join on in!

Of course, next month (February), I’m sure one of our Presidents (Rik) will give a good recap of what he saw in his sojourn to Macworld 2008, but in the meantime, get yourself the (free) ScreencastsOnline 5 minute overview [links to podcast in iTunes]. (What the heck was that Napping Lounge..?)

Rik was at MacWorld and sent along some photos!