The Info Manager.
- Info Manager for October 7, 2002
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[*] Doing a Find in OS X 10.2 (Reply);
[*] .Mac extended;
[*] Deals at Apple Store?;
[*] MacRadio.com;
[*] New All-In-One for less than $200;
[*] SETI@home alternatives;
[*] User Group .mac accounts;
[*] Internet Radio;
[*] Reunion 8;
[*] Cheap Office X;
[*] 180,000 Subscribers to .Mac;
[*] Apple Releases iPod Updater;
[*] Careful of that UID;
[*] VOM: Amazon.com;
[*] Quotes of the week: Colin Powell;
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- Doing a Find in OS X 10.2 (Reply)
- Dan Sailers, a good friend and the Executive Director of AACUG wrote concerning the question I asked last week that went: "According to one of the members of InfiniteLoop mailing list, in 10.2 you can place a little search window in the toolbar of the finder windows. And if you click on the word "search" underneath that search window the new apple-f search pops up. It's not Sherlock, its the Sherlock replacement for searching your HD. its faster than Sherlock. So, can anyone verify that for me?"
Dan's reply: "There are a couple of ways to do it. When in the finder window select "Customize Toolbar" from the View Menu, this will bring up a window with many icons on it. There are two that relate to find, a regular find icon (the magnifying glass icon) and a search box with search under it.
"These can be added to the toolbar in the finder window, either both or just one of them. When they are added to the toolbar clicking on the mag glass icon brings up the find window just like "command F" does allowing you to enter search criteria for a find.
"If you have the search window added to the toolbar you can enter text in it just like the find window, when text is entered a small icon pops up, clicking on it or pressing the enter key (not the return key) does a search on the text and displays the search results window."
Thanks Dan
- .Mac extended
- Well, if you haven't signed up yet for your .Mac account, you can still do it until October 14th and only pay the $50 fee for switching from iTools. I suspect that Apple is trying to get as many people on line as possible. Read more about it at:
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-959984.html
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- Deals at Apple Store?
- Ron Carlson reported in an Insanely Great Mac story, that most of the Apple Stores (Brick & Mortar) are having sales at the end of each month to unload returned and refurbished merchandise. You might check with the one in your neighborhood to see. (The closest one to me is only 70 miles away, so that is almost in my "neighborhood.")
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- MacRadio.com
- Shawn King might eventually get some competition. And I say, the more the merrier. According to IGM, MacTV has announce macradio.com. Among the programs offered are:
* The Gamesome Mac, with hosts Sean Smith and Omaha Sternberg on Monday
* Mac Help Radio with Dallas's own Dru Richman on Tuesday evenings. (I have known Dru for over 10 years. Knowledgeable and an entertaining announcer.
The plans are to have three additional evening broadcasts shortly so that the macradio.com can become a regular nightly fixture. (At least on weekdays.) Read the full story at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1031
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- New All-In-One for less than $200
- I was never a fan of Lexmark printers. Their color always seemed to "pastel". But this sounds like a machine that I could use. (I am willing to review it, honest.) It is the successor to the best selling All-In-One in the US. It has a flatbed Scanner, an inkjet printer and a fax machine. Full story at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1028
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- SETI@home alternatives
- Got extra cycles you want to burn on your Mac? Here are a couple of URLs to investigate thanks to the folks on InfiniteLoop mailing list: the Folding@Home project.at the University of Toronto: http://www.foldingathome.org Also available from Stanford at:
http://folding.stanford.edu/
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- User Group .mac accounts
- Be sure to let Garr Reynolds know how your group is using its .mac account. This is especially true if you have any major success stories. He will need to justify the accounts again next year. He can be reached at: usergroups@apple.com
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- Internet Radio
- The Radio Locator claims to be, the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the Internet. It has links to over 10,000 radio stations all over the world. (From Neat Tricks)
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/home
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- Reunion 8
- Leister Software has announce Reunion 8.0. It has major improvements including new Web output options and compatibility with OS X. See the details at:
http://www.leisterpro.com/
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- Cheap Office X
- Well, at least it is cheaper than it was. Apple and Microsoft are making a bundle offer for purchasers of new Macs. Purchase a new Mac and get Office X fo only $199. That seems quite reasonable to me if you need the power of Word, Excel and Powerpoint. See full story at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1033
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- 180,000 Subscribers to .Mac
- When the initial reports were that 2.2 million were signed up to iTools, the 180K doesn't sound like a lot. But it means that Apple nearly double their subscriptions in the last week or so of sales during their initial offer. Since it has now been extended, they might be able to get it over 200K. Still 10% doesn't seem like much. But when you consider how many people had multiple accounts and even take into account the spammers and pirates that Apple was trying to discard with this pricing policy, I would say that they probably got at lease as many subscribers as they had wanted. Now the will need some marketing to increase it more. How about a free account (new) for one year with purchase of a Mac. Sounds good to me. Read all about it at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1035
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- Apple Releases iPod Updater
- Apple has now released the updater software to bring the iPod up to version 1.2.1. Get full details and the software at:
http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/
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- Careful of that UID
- I often forget to mention the monthly 60-Second Windows column as a good resource for a UG newsletter column, but this one caught my eye. With all the spam floating around, it's a little unsettling to learn that your "UID" number which can identify you then cross reference you to online web site advertisers. Spammers no longer have to get your address from newsgroups or email harvesters. All you have to do is surf into one of the sites that employ "stalker" links. Scary.
Remember, the 60-Second Windows column is probably the longest continually running column in the entire user group community. It was originally part of Don Rittner's "Mug News Service" (MNS) and has continued for the past 147 months. Your group is invited use it as filler or even as a monthly column in your newsletter.
Check it out at: http://www.60-Seconds.com/articles/index.html
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- VOM: Amazon.com
- Surprised to hear me call Amazon.com a "Vendor of the Month"?
Think about it for a moment and you might agree. While they're not an "Apple" vendor, they are a vendor of an entire gamut of products your club members buy -- everything from books to CDs to scanners, printers, peripherals, hard drives, and yes, even Apple Macintoshes! And, they have an open arms policy that will allow your group to pick up some change each quarter -- depending on membership -- which could be sizable. I've heard tales of groups averaging in the $200 to $400 per quarter range without much problem. The network Amazon account partially pays for the servers and bandwidth which hosts UGN, the Academy, and AACUG web sites.
An Amazon.com "Associate" account is easy to set up and is a no brainer to operate. All the group needs is a valid credit card account. You can even set up the Associate Account to automatically transfer your commissions directly into your bank account.
Next, you search the Amazon site for popular products that your members want and buy, code your web site links properly and voila -- commissions. They also offer a web-based wizard that allows you to set up your own "search" engine in your web site with 'hints' on popular software, books and other Mac related products. Your members simply search Amazon directly from your group's home page.
Most products only carry a 5 to 7% commission, but some carry as high as 15%. Take for instance printers. Fred Showker wrote to say he just purchased an Epson 1650 scanner, and an Epson 860 color printer. The total tab was just over $300 -- commission: $22. Consider all the products your members buy. Fred's purchase earned nearly a membership fee for the club. An active group with lots of members could feasibly pay for the newsletter printing each month. The sweet part is no one in the group had to do anything for it.
If you market the program properly to club members, you can even inspire them to purchase through Amazon because it's earning a club commission. Publish the member reference code in your newsletter and make sure every one in the club knows how to modify the product link in Amazon so that the group gets credit. Then the product doesn't have to be linked at your web site and no matter what they buy from Amazon, so long as they insert the group's Associate ID, the group gets the commission. (For an example see the UG Bookshelf "Mac" books page.
Finally, Amazon also offers a "Gifts" feature to the Associate account. Members can either openly donate money to the club, or pay for group sponsored products using the "free donation" function. At that point your group can offer product -- CDs, tshirts, books, etc., and accept major credit cards without having a merchant account nor fussing with any of the hassles associated with maintaining a merchants account. Amazon takes a small percentage (smaller than the standard merchant account fee), you get your money, the member gets the product and everyone goes home happy.
Now consider all the online shopping predicted for the upcoming holiday season. If you've got 25 members, and they each spend $20 for gifts from Amazon during November and December, that could mean a $40 to $65 check to the club in January.
Find out about it by selecting the "Associates" link at http://www.amazon.com/
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- Quotes of the week: Colin Powell
- "The day people stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them."
Colin Powell
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
Sir Winston Churchill
"Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet."
African Proverb
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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
pau
- Note: Features schedule
- The InfoManager invites user groups to use his column in full or in pieces in their newsletter. Or add a link to their web site. 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 provide him with a link. The address is InfoManager@user-groups.net. You can also use that address for feed back.
Note: Features schedule
1st Monday Vendor of the Month; (VOM)
2nd Monday "InfoManager's Humble Opinion (IMHO);
3rd Monday TBA (What would you like to see?)
4th Monday: User Group Tips. (Send them in)
5th Monday: Nothing extra - my day of rest. ;-)
Of course I could make adjustments to this schedule as I see fit and will take suggestions. Have a great week! Note: In light of the new AACUG MUG tabloid publication, I may be changing the above schedule. Please send me your input.
Pau
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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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