User group Newsletter Editors: Utilize this content in your newsletter -- PLEASE ... reference UG Network Channel ... Shareware Manager is coming: YUM! Show us the shareware! The Info Manager is looking for your rumors and tidbits... give him a post! ...or subscribe... see subscription notes below Info Manager - 09/28/Y2K iBOT FireWire Camera; Palm Virus; Pentium 4; PocketZip; Soapbox . iBOT Camera Insanely Great Mac is reporting that Orange Micro is now selling a new FireWire Desktop Video Camera called the iBOT. The images are up to 16x better than USB and serial desktop cameras that we have grown to know and love. The iBOT will begin shipping in October and will have one version that includes a microphone. I had really wondered what Orange Micro was going to do since they had announced the end of their development of Pentium/PCI cards for the Macintosh. I believe they found that they couldn't compete against the much lower price of Virtual PC and SoftWindows. This certainly gives them an exciting new category. Full story at: http://www.orangemicro.com/products.html . Palm Virus McAfee has announced that they have discovered a new PalmOS virus. It fills the screen with a gray box and then stops the current application from running and infects all other applications on the device. However, McAfee says it has not been discovered outside of controled inviroments and therefore currently poses little risk. For more: http://www.avertlabs.com/ . Pentium 4 While the folks at Intel won't comment, ZDNet is saying that the Pentium 4 will ship in time for Halloween and will come in at 1.4 and 1.5GHz. The chip will be used in high-end, multimedia-orientd applications such as video editing, digital photography and games. Lots more on the Pentium 4 at: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2631345,00.html . PocketZip Iomega has finally dropped the name of its quarter size storage media. They really made an obnoxious intro 2 years ago at MacWorld by handing out clickers when they announced the Clik drive. It is now being marketed with the HipZip, Iomega's new digital music player as the PocketZip. They say the 40 meg disk is a cheaper alternative to solid state memory. At least they won't be marketing it with clickers any more. The Register has more info at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/2/13502.html . Soapbox One of the benefits of having a forum such is this is that occasionally you can talk about something that comes from the heart. I have been involved with Apple II and Mac user groups since 1982 and with a couple of PC groups as well. The last 3-5 years I have noticed that the emphasis seems to be on the beginners. While beginners are obviously the people that are going to be the people who become the new members, we can't forget to take care of the older members as well. If not, they will disappear. Additionally by concentrating on the new members, groups must continue to replace them. Beginners are becoming a smaller and smaller part of the market. Currently over 50% of the households in the US have at least one computer. If groups want to continue to grown, they must address both the beginners and those who have had their machines for awhile. __ I know at Apple Corp of Dallas, we recently had a presentation by of REALbasic. Our attendance at this particular meeting was lower than the previous couple of ones. But the ones there seemed to be paying closer attention. Even if a member does not currently have a desire or a need for the "advanced" technology being demonstrated they need to know that they don't know it all at the end of their first year. Even though they may have learned everything they wanted to learn when they joined the group. __ In Tulsa I got good responses to presentations of 3D graphic software and of the music scoring program Finale. Even though less than 50% of the people in attendance had any use for those pieces of software. It really is cool to know what you could do on your computer if you so desired. Let get those number growing again. __ Video would seem to be an area that would be logical for user groups to address since that is the area that Apple and Sony and Canon are marketing so strongly. I bet that also less than 50% of the membership will ever get a digital camera. But we can dream. BTW - The User Group Academy is currently sponsoring a contest where a user group that produces its own commercial using iMovie can win an iMac. There will also be additional prizes for 2nd and 3rd place winners. That could be a very fun project for a special interest group. __ Additionally it would be possible to put it on a CD and distribute it to local dealers and let them show what is possible for individuals to do while getting some advertising to the group. Thanks for listening. . Quotes of the Week: "Nonsense, man! They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--" The last words of U.S. Gen. John B. Sedgewick as he sized up the Battle of Spotsylvania in 1864. "#5. Revert your computer back to normal." Number 5 of Microsoft's Top Ten reasons to "upgrade" to Windows ME. . Web site of the week: This weeks site lists all kinds of things you can get for free for your Macintosh. Mostly software, but also info about Free ISPs. (Both US and UK) Some example of topics: Free AppleScripts, Free ClipArt, Desktop Pictures Fonts, and more. So check it out at: http://macfreewares.myspot.com/ . pau **** Don't forget ... the Info Manager invites you to use all or part of his column in your user group newsletter. Please let him know, and if possible send an electronic copy for the old scrapbook. Any suggestions for topics and reports of rumors are always welcome. Please me know. Thanks The Info Manager is a veteran of the UGN (AOL User Groups Forum) and User Group Network. He's been a supporter and volunteer on many, many UGNet and User Group Academy projects. As a long time user group member, he's served as volunteer from Honolulu to Boston and many points in between. Currently working with the Apple Corp of Dallas, the Dallas Mac Pack, Cowtown MUG of Ft. Worth and TUMS (the Tulsa Users of Macintosh Society) doing newsletter articles and the monthly CD-ROM Update. Post a lead Rumor Manager should follow up on. Subscribe to Rumors@lists.user-groups.net rumors-on@lists.user-groups.net for more information go to: http://www.user-groups.net/ugcommunity/subscribe.html UG Network Channel _ / _ NEWS _ / _ UG Library _ / _ UG Bookshelf Article Reprints -- User Group Network Affiliates may reprint articles as long as full credit is given. Other Non-profit or non-commercial publications should contact us. The UGNN cannot guarantee accuracy or timeliness of articles. Many have been forwarded to us by field correspondents, or press release services. 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