Info Manager for June 4, 2002

[*]  UG Academy Packs for New York;   [*]  The Rumors Begin;   [*]  WriteDVD Pro 4.0;   [*]  Obscure Apple Knowledge Web Site;   [*]  Intel steps back from InfiniBand;   [*]  Mac Servers in the Enterprise;   [*]  Virex;   [*]  Umax to charge for drivers;   [*]  OWC named exclusive Newer distributor;   [*]  MacFans.com;   [*]  Firewire official!;   [*]  Firewire to go mobile?;   [*]  Own your cable modem; pay more?;   [*]  Free Formatter For Email Newsletters;   [*]  Be a Beta Tester**;   [*]  MUG Site of the Week: AWUG;   [*]  Web Site of the Week: MacUnlimited;   [*]  Quote of the Week: Aneurin Bevan;   [*]  VOM - Aladdin Systems;  
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The UG Academy AWARDS packs for New York

Announced last week were the finalists in the User Group Academy Web Site Awards. The voting page has been posted and all User Group members and officers are invited to visit the top UG sites and then rank them for AWARD positioning. http://www.UGAcademy.org/Awards/

      Also, the 12th Annual User Group Soiree is planned for New York on July 17 where the winners of the 6th Annual UG Academy Awards will be announced. Included this year is a very special milestone in User Group history: the inauguration of the User Group Hall of Fame. Two individuals have been nominated by the User Group Community at large for induction to this, the highest honor in the community. The User Group Academy is in partnership with the Association of Apple Computer Users & Groups

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The Rumors Begin

NY MacWorld Expo is less than two months away and already rumors are spreading big time. In a Register article, Andrew Orlowski is predicting 1.5GHz G4 towers at Expo. Also it is to include a 266MHz PC2100 DDR-SDRAM as memory. Sounds interesting, but if you can wait two months, you probably are needing it that badly anyway. And of course, predictions of the specifics of a new computer are almost always off. But if you want to dabble in the rumors, then check out the full story at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/25421.html

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WriteDVD Pro 4.0

This is a program that allows Drag & Drop on to all recordable DVD media. Sounds truly interesting if you have one of the recorders. It is a great way to back up today's bigger hard drives. This story is available from Insanely Great Mac at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=462

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Obscure Apple Knowledge Web Site

ResearchBuzz newsletter, which I have mentioned here a number of times, has an article about theapplemuseum.com web site. I mentioned it a couple of years ago. It is truly the repository of all kinds of Apple trivia. For the story go to: http://www.researchbuzz.com/news/2002/may23may2902.shtml#obscureapple

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Intel steps back from InfiniBand

In story with the above title, the Register talks about the need for new bus technology in computers. The PCI slots currently being used are a real bottle neck when it comes to processing data. InfiniBand was one of the technologies that was suppose to come next. It would not only be a connector within a computer, but with the outside world as well. With Intel dropping back to support 3GIO technology, only IBM is developing InfiniBand. It will be interesting to see where Apple comes down on this, but they will probably wait until a little of the smoke has settled. Full story at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/25469.html

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Mac Servers in the Enterprise

NewsFactor.com take a pretty good luck at using the new XServe as a n Enterprise server. Read this story at: http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/17918.html

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Virex

When Disinfectant quit being enough to cover viri on the Mac, I purchased Virex. Since it was taken over by NAI though I was disappointed in the support on the Mac. I recently got an e-mail from a lady with the Triangle MUG in North Carolina that told me that NAI has announced that they will no longer do monthly updates for their pre-OSX version of the software. The update for May was the last one. (Virex 6) Since there are 10-15 million people still using OS 9 or earlier, this would seem to be an early departure in supporting people who have already purchased or could purchase their product. I guess now I will have to recommend NAV or Virus Barrier to all my user group members. I am really glad this was brought to my attention. NAI's web site is at: http://www.nai.com/

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Umax to charge for drivers

Ron Carlson in an article on IGM is reporting that Macintouch is stating that Umax has replaced it's downloads with an offer for a CD-ROM disk. So users will now have to pay for drivers for their scanners. It doesn't sound right to me, but when I checked for my Astra 1200S , I was offered a disk at a $15 charge with no way to download it. I think if I needed a driver for this machine I would look at VueScan or USB Overdrive. Umax's VistaScan wasn't that great any way. Full story at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=473

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OWC named exclusive Newer distributor

I know that Shawn King said "who cares" that Newer is back. But a number of us would still like to upgrade older machines and Newer is a good way to do it. They have some reasonable prices to get your ZIF socket Macs or your PCI Macs upgraded. Full story at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=474

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MacFans.com

About a month ago, I left the "s" off of a web site URL and wound up at MacFans.com. They announced at that time they were "Coming Soon".
Shelley, a member of Apple Corp of Dallas reminded me of that site this week. It now says that it will open on July 17. Their founding partner list is impressive with user group supporters such as PowerMax, Peachpit Press, MacAcademy, LeCie, Extensis, APS and more. They are offering free basic membership for the first 10K people to sign up. They don't say how much the other levels will cost. I assume they will let us know once they open. Check it and its benefits out at: http://www.MacFans.com (Thanks Shelley)

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Firewire official!

The 1394 Trade Association announced that they are adopting the Firewire name and logo as the official name and logo of the high speed technology. See the full story at: http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0205/29.firewire.php

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Firewire to go mobile?

A News.com story tells about the testing of a combination Firewire and cellular network in Palo Alto, Calif. Wi-Fi Metro on Tuesday, May 28th began letting people automatically switch to carriers that offer Internet capabilities, such as Verizon Wireless or Cingular Wireless, once they leave the range of the company's Wi-Fi equipment. (Customers must subscribe to both services.) It will be interesting to see how this 3 month test goes. Full story at: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=70&70&e=13&u=/cn/20020529/tc_cn/923716

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Own your cable modem; pay more?

According to an article on ZDNet, AT&T cable modem subscribers who own their modems will start paying more for their subscriptions in June than the subscribers who "rent" their modems. Well, not exactly if you read the story. What really is happening is that an increase in charges will result to people who own their modems while people who lease will continue to pay the same price. So those who own will see their rate increase $7. But will still be paying $3 less than their leasing counter parts. Does seem strange that the increase will effect owners more than lessors, but what can you do? Both charges are still less than I pay for ADSL. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-923692.html

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Free Formatter For Email Newsletters

One of the many newsletters I subscribe to and have mentioned before is the LangaList produced by Fred Langa. While this one is mostly PC oriented, here is a useful web site. It enables you to format a plain text email newsletter easily. (If you use copy and paste). It is produced by Judy Vorfeld. Could make producing a newsletter for your user group easier as well, or at least helpful in getting one started. Check it out at: http://www.ossweb.com/ez- ezine-template.html

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Be a Beta Tester**

This just in from CMS CMS Peripherals(R) last week announced it is now accepting a limited number of beta testers for its next generation bootable version of the Automatic Backup System Plus (ABSplus) and ABSplus for Desktops on Mac(R) OS X. ABSplus is designed to defy extreme travel conditions, able to withstand a non-operating shock of up to 800Gs and operating temperatures ranging from 5 degrees C to 55 degrees C. Both ABSplus solutions can be used as an additional drive volume with high-speed FireWire providing enough throughput for streaming audio and video files. Send email to: absbeta@cmsproducts.com Check them out at: http://www.cmsproducts.com/

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MUG Site of the Week: AWUG

I have been talking about a lot of really small to average size groups that are members of UGN. But this is probably the largest user group in existence at this time. (Boston Computer Society used to be larger.) The AppleWorks Users Group is based in Plymouth, MI, but it was one of the not the first group to take advantage of the Internet. All of their services are at their web site. They even give discounted membership to members of other user group. Their bio on the UGN says that they have 15,200 members, scattered around 52 countries. Both Mac and PC users. They publish a 24 page monthly newsletter with tutorials, tips and project for AppleWorks. (formerly ClarisWorks.) The also have a bunch of templates available for download on their site. They also have discounts on other items that you normally wouldn't connect to user groups. Their web site is at: http://www.awug.org/

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Web Site of the Week: MacUnlimited

This new Mac site is run by the former editor of MacFormat a British monthly magazine and one of the first to include a CD with every issue. Lots of interesting material at: http://news.macunlimited.com/

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Quote of the Week: Aneurin Bevan

"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over" ~ Aneurin Bevan

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VOM - Aladdin Systems

The Vendor of the Month this time is Aladdin. As I was putting this to bed, I got an email that was apparently sent out to user group leaders in their database. It introduced a new user group coordinator at Aladdin Systems. She is Shannon Rose.
They have a list of special prices for user groups good until October 1, 2002
Spring Cleaning 5.0 is now shipping along with iClean, TechTrackerPro and Secure Delete. All for only $30!! Got to: www.aladdinsys.com/usergroup/springcleaning.html
iClean by itself is only $15 at: www.aladdinsys.com/usergroup/iclean-special.html
Secure Delete also is only $15 at: www.aladdinsys.com/usergroup/secure-delete.html
Information on the products are available at: http://www.aladdinsys.com/
They do provide demo material complete with scripts. Welcome to the club Shannon!
For information on Aladdin Systems' user group support program or to register/update registration of your group go to: http://www.aladdinsys.com/support/usergroups/index.html

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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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