Info Manager for May 6, 2002

[*]  eMac, education only?;   [*]  Online Video Learning;   [*]  New iPhoto;   [*]  A dot US Boom?;   [*]  Macs now can get MSN dialup;   [*]  Another Fun Site;   [*]  Mac sighting;   [*]  100 Years Of Popular Mechanics Covers;   [*]  Federal bill would REQUIRE biometric driver's licenses;   [*]  "Paintable" LCDs coming?;   [*]  VOM - Interstate Batteries;   [*]  MUG Site of the Week: Tyler Area MUG;   [*]  Web sites of the Week: Mac WebMaster Free;   [*]  Quotes of the Week: J. Ogden Armour;   [*]  Quotes of the Week: Winston Churchill;  
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eMac, education only?

A number of web sites and publications have commented on Apple limiting the sale of the new eMac to education only. But none of them mention that a school only machine isn't new to Apple several of their pre-iMac, all-in-one Macs were education only. I recently purchased two PowerMac 5200s at a flea market that a local school system had sold. Those were educational machines and there were several others of this type over the years. It probably isn't to hard to get one of the eMacs if you are willing to stretch the truth a little. Although there are some indications that the individual sales are higher priced than the ones to the schools. For the Wired version of the story go to:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,52181,00.html

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Online Video Learning

In the last issue of the InfoManager Specials, I mentioned a user group offer from Atomic. (The Atomic Learning Library offers MUG members individual subscriptions for only $25.00 (regularly $49.99), which gives you year-long access to all the training materials in The Atomic Learning Library. For more information, contact me.)
__ Meanwhile, a couple of other web sites have been suggested to me. Lynda.com and VTC (at http://www.vtc.com/usa2.lasso.) These two are more expensive than Atomic, but are worth looking at for your training needs.
http://www.vtc.com/usa2.lasso

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New iPhoto

According to Ron Carlson of Insanely Great Mac, Apple is now providing iPhoto 1.1 for download. He says that it provides "improved editing tools, easier album creation and the ability to send pics via Apple Mail." One more reason to go X. His full story is at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=344

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A dot US Boom?

Infoworld asked that question in a newsletter article and then proceeded to show that we are. If you are interested in getting a .us address, here is a list of companies that will do it for you. (You must qualify by being a citizen , permanent resident or a US based "entity." Here:
http://www.about.us/

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Macs now can get MSN dialup

Don't know why people think this is significant. In my mind, there are a number of better ISPs than MSN. Especially for the Mac world. However Qwest is allowing their customers to hookup with MSN. But you must be in that area. Qwest.net itself only has 500,000 subscribers. So I would guess that at best that give 50K Mac users access to the system. With the alternatives available, they will be lucky to get 10K which means they would probably consider the sell rate poor. Except that they really don't have anything invested since unlike the Windows users, Mac users don't get a propriety front end, but must use one of the generic browsers. (Netscape or IE.) Also maybe they will be able to expand beyond that amount. Story from ZDNet at:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-896470.html

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Another Fun Site

It is great getting feed back from readers. Roy of demug.org sent this fun site in response to my joke site last week via the UGN Talk mail list.. It is Three Dead Trolls in a baggy. Has some fun streaming audio and video as pictures and text. See it at:
http://www.deadtroll.com/

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Mac sighting

Fortune magazine for May 13th has an article titled: "Can This Man Solve America's Energy Crisis?". In it, Amory Lovins is referred to as a "Hero for the Planet". The lead photograph shows this energy efficiency expert sitting at a table behind an Apple PowerBook. Given is stance on energy efficient products, it would appear that he feels that the Mac is the most efficient computer around. At least in terms of power consumption. The article without the photos is on line at:
http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=207774

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100 Years Of Popular Mechanics Covers

Once again, our friend at ResearchBuzz* has come up with an interesting web site. While the covers are quite interesting. It would be nicer if we could print them in high resolution and if they also had links to some of the cover stories. See the site at:
http://popularmechanics.com/albums/index.phtml

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Federal bill would REQUIRE biometric driver's licenses

Computer World is reporting that two Virginia Congressmen have proposed a program that would require that all driver's licenses add a biometric marker. (A retinal scan, finger print or other typeof marker that is encrypted on the card.)
__ Meanwhile the ACLU is accusing them of trying to create a national ID card that most citizens oppose. This we will need to watch. Full story at:
http://www.computerworld.com/storyba/0,4125,NAV47_STO70721,00.html

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"Paintable" LCDs coming?

My nephew David once again proves that one person can't find all the good stories. CNN.com is running a story with the title of: "Research may make a screen scrollable - Flexible "paintable" LCDs could turn clothes into displays."
__ This involves a new technology being developed by a number of companies that would enable a process similar to painting to put a LCD screen almost any where. This could be on your sleeve. Or on a wall. This may make affordable big screen monitors and TVs for everyone. Full story at:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/05/01/paintable.lcd.ap/index.html

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VOM - Interstate Batteries

This month's vendor is different. Instead of a traditional software or hardware vendor, I am going to mention a battery retailer. Interstate Batteries has a program where they give a 1/3 discount to groups who sign up at any of their stores. Your members don't need a membership card, just the knowledge that your group is registered. This is a good way to get your members an additional reason to renew their membership, without costing the club anything just an officer's time. They need a contact person and additional address information. Go for it.
http://www.interstatebatteries.com/

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MUG Site of the Week: Tyler Area MUG

This week's site is from the Tyler Area Mac Users group. (TAMU) They do a good job of showing what happened at previous meetings. They also have a number of links to other useful Mac web sites. But the link I think is the most interesting is to the Tyler Chamber of Commerce that lets us know that Tyler is the Rose Capital of the US. See it at:
http://www.cox-internet.com/tamu/

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Web sites of the Week: Mac WebMaster Free

Interested in some FREE software? I have been getting the newsletter called MacWebMasterFree for sometime now. But since I don't have a web site, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention. But the latest one got my interest. (Free word processor.) But there are lots of other things as well including a database called MacCatcher that contains detailed technical information on every Mac model + printers, scanners, cameras, iPod and Newton as well as the various OS versions. Plus it automatically updates.

Mac Catcher provides detailed technical information on every Apple Macintosh model along with information on Apple displays, printers, scanners, digital cameras, the iPod, Newtons, and Mac OS versions. A built-in update engine ensures the database is always up-to-date. Version 1.6.4 changes the update engine to work properly. See all this at:
http://www.macwebmasterfree.com/

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Quotes of the Week: J. Ogden Armour

"Whoever admits that he is too busy to improve his methods has acknowledged himself to be at the end of his rope." - J. Ogden Armour (via Information Week)

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Quotes of the Week: Winston Churchill

"We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill (via the Houston Chronicle)

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News and Info you can use...

The Info Manager invites user groups to use his column in full or in pieces in their newsletter. He would appreciate word that you are doing so however and if you can, please send a pdf version of the newsletter for his perusal. Or just provide him with the link. Use this address: Infomanager@user-groups.net or... our online Information form

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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