Info Manager for March 18, 2002

[*]  Reason to choose a PC;   [*]  Tri-State MUG;   [*]  Earth at night;   [*]  Turbo Tax;   [*]  Verizon & XP;   [*]  Firewire;   [*]  Now Up-To-Date;   [*]  New Home Networking ;   [*]  Apple Remote Desktop;   [*]  Amiga;   [*]  IMHO;   [*]  User Group Site of the Week: Cowtown MUG;   [*]  Quote #1 of the week: Ernest Hemingway;   [*]  Quote #2 of the week: Robert C. Gallagher;  
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Reason to choose a PC

Last week I mentioned a web site that gave the pros and cons in the Mac vs. PC decision. Here is a story via the EvangeList that gives a reason to pick a PC that wasn't covered in that session. It really gives one pause.
See at: http://www.tekforums.co.uk/posts.php?threadId=8414

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Tri-State MUG

The Tri-State MUG sent out a press release last week about how they have expanded from the 1999 Delaware Valley MUGs to now the Mid-Atlantic MUG Team. (MaMUGs).
Really a great idea. More groups should work together to get things going in their areas. There is of course a group of user groups in Florida. (Not just MUGs). Are there any others? I wonder if we can get the Dallas groups to have a more formal connection. (They work together informally now.)
MaMUGs now incorporates MUGs from CT to VA. MaMUGs also works in cooperation with other User Group organizations worldwide (User Group Network, The MUG Center, the UGAB, User Group Alliance and others) to act as a resource for services and information. MaMUGs also maintains the "1AppleFreeTech" free technical support e-mail list as well as a list exclusively for MUG leaders in the region. For more information, contact info@mamugs.com
or visit http://www.mamugs.com

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Earth at night

On the Apple Corp of Dallas BBS, a member posted this picture that NASA put together. It is a photograph of the earth that shows what each region looks like at night. It is pretty coo. It is at:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg

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Turbo Tax

I have used Turbo Tax for a number of years. (A.K.A. MacInTax) This year I tried something different. I used TurboTax.com and did my taxes on line. Of course it helps that this year I have DSL. I found easy to use although even with a DSL account it was a little on the slow side as it stops to save data with each page change and seems to take too long to do so. However it did a good job and even did the Earned Income Credit on my step-son's return when I did his. It was certainly cheaper than purchasing the full blown package. In the past I would have figured that the two or three returns I did would make the retail package cheaper. However Sam's return was for income of less than $25K, so Intuit actually did it for free. (Have to start from a special page though.)
__ So if your taxes aren't too complicated give it a try. I got my refund back in 14 days. 
click here: http://www.turbotax.com

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Verizon & XP

Thomas Green, The Register's correspondent in Washington, D.C. has an interesting story concerning the fact that Windows XP shut him out of his DSL account.
You can read it at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24376.html

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Firewire

According to Remy Davison in an Insanely Great Mac article, we can expect 800 Mbps Firewire soon (Double the current speed) and a 3.2 Gbps version is possible in the future. So maybe USB 2.0 won't take that much business after all. Although, it does worry me that Intel is not supporting Firewire (IEEE 1394) and concentrating on USB. Full article at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=127
or the original Initio article at: http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/16720.html

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Now Up-To-Date

My company has banned MacShowLive from our Internet. Probably because it is streaming only.
However I was able to listen to Shawn King on YourMacLife as he talked with a gentleman from Power On Software. They announced that there now is a public beta of the OSX version of Now Up-To-Date and Contact. It will even sync to Palm devices. You can read more from Insanely Great Mac: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=129
Or download the software at: http://www.poweronsoftware.com/beta/beta.asp

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New Home Networking

Marco Boerries who developed StarOffice and sold it to Sun is now trying to make our life easier in the home. At least when it comes to setting up a home network that includes Internet capable appliances.
IDG has the full story at: http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=651036

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Apple Remote Desktop

As I was preparing the final version of this column, Apple announced a new software product called Apple Remote Desktop. It works on OS X and enable users, teachers and administrators to remotely manage other Mac desktops on a local network (including wireless) or across the Internet. It will handle up to 250 Macs. It sounds like something that could really hurt the sales of Timbuktu.
Apple has more info at: http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/

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Amiga

Amiga make make a come back yet. Amiga Inc. announced that they will have software for a Nokia set top box and also that they are doing a deal with Microsoft to work on Microsoft PDA, phones and web pads. It is going to be very interesting to follow this story and see if all our Amiga fans will be happy with the results.
Article on the Register at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24432.html

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IMHO

Recently, Eisner of Disney and other executives of companies that record video and music have hit at the computer industry in general and Apple in particular for "basing their business on theft of intellectual property." (Or words to that effect.) This is part of the effort to get Congress to pass a bill that will charge each of us a fee for each CD-R; audio cassette and devices that use them. This fee in theory would go to the artists to make sure they get paid for the use of their material. In reality, it would probably go to the bottom line of the recording company. This will penalize those of us who have continued to purchase and make legitimate copies for our own personal use. (Which is quite legal.) You should ask your congressman to protect your rights and not increase your entertainment expense. Of course it is possible that such a fee is not Constitutional, but it could take years to prove that in court. Wired has an article on this subject at: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50995,00.html
ZDNet has a story at: http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2854528,00.html

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User Group Site of the Week: Cowtown MUG

Going through the alphabet, I couldn't find a CMUG.com, but our local group could be called that. It is a small group of less than 60 members that has a bang up web site at: http://www.cowtownmug.org
It has some interesting pages, such as a classified and a place for members to advertise their business.
Visit Cowtown at: http://www.cowtownmug.org

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Quote #1 of the week: Ernest Hemingway

"I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen."
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Quote #2 of the week: Robert C. Gallagher

"Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
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News and Info you can use...

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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 Info Manager should follow up on.

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