Info Manager for October 14, 2002

[*]  Bills would boost consumers' digital-media rights;   [*]  Classic memory limitations;   [*]  StarDock makes Windows XP look like Aqua - kind of;   [*]  $99 Palm;   [*]  Suitcase Plug-in for InDesign 2.0;   [*]  The Earth;   [*]  MacWorld Boston;   [*]  Power4;   [*]  Quark XPress 6.0 to be OS X only!;   [*]  Mac Night Owl now on Radio;   [*]  IMHO -- Buying members;  
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Bills would boost consumers' digital-media rights

The San Jose Mercury News on 10/3/02 reported that Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose planned to introduce the "Digital Choice and Freedom Act". This is in response to a host of Hollywood-backed bills that tilt toward the copyright holders. This bill would allow copying of CDs, DVDs and other digital works for personal use, in the same way that we can now tape TV shows and audio tapes.
Read the full story at: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/4192569.htm

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Classic memory limitations

Ron Carlson of IGM, reported that there is a Knowledge Base article entitiled: "Mac OS X: How to Set Memory Use for Class Applications." It says that Classic Memory is limited to 128 Megs for ALL running classic apps. So it sure is good that PhotoShop is now native.
Full article at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1048

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StarDock makes Windows XP look like Aqua - kind of

Our own Fred Showker put out this note about "Aqua Comes to Windows". There are a number of photos on the website at" http://www.stardock.com Their product is called WindowsFX.
Full story at: http://www.stardock.com/products/windowfx/media/index.html

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$99 Palm

Last week, Palm unveiled its Zire handheld PDA a no-frills machine that is the first in what Palm sees as a line of products aiming at consumers to cheap to jump into the PDA market before now.
You can read the InfoWorld story at: http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/10/07/021007hnzire.xml?1007mnam

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Suitcase Plug-in for InDesign 2.0

This plug-in uses Apple's FontSync technology for automatic activation of fonts used in InDesign documents. It is free to registered users of Suitcase 10.
Download it at: http://www.extensis.com/suitcase

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The Earth

Fred Sheffler of Apple Corp of Dallas reported: "This is the world, seen live on-line from various satellites, in real time, with all latitudes and longitudes. Click on any place and you turn the globe around. You can zoom, seeing the lights of cities. You see the part of the earth in daylight and the other part at night."
See it at: http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth?imgsize=1024&opt

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MacWorld Boston

Gosh it is nice to see those words together again. A number of sites are saying that on October 17, IDG will announce that MacWorld for the east coast will return to Boston in 2004. I attended about half of the events held in Boston and so far, only one of the NYC ones. Boston IMHO is a much friendlier city for Mac people.
You can read more details in Ron Carlson's article at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1081

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Power4

Meanwhile, Rem Davison at the same IGM web site is saying that IBM will show off a Power4 processor next week. It is a 64 bit processor that is suppose to use Motorolaās AltiVec graphic routines. The only problem I can see, is that Adobe and all the other major developers would once again need to rewrite their software to take advantage of the 64 bits.
Read Remy's story at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1086

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Quark XPress 6.0 to be OS X only!

Well, everyone has been critizing Quark for not making an OSX version of XPress. So now they are starting to complain that the new version forces them to change to OS X. Sorry Quark, you can't win.
[Editor's Note: rumor has it that version 6 is exactly like version 5 which is not OS X compatible. So, if they don't want to get Xorcised continue to use 5.]
Full story at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1087

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Mac Night Owl now on Radio

MacRadio, which is trying to become a true network of Mac OS radio shows has announced that Gene Steinberg is going to be on their line up on Friday's at 9 PM ET. I have subscribed to Gene's newsletter for several years, but have trouble finding the time to read it now a days. Enjoy it when I do. I bet he will do well on this show.
Full story at: http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1102

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IMHO -- Buying members

We had an interesting discussion last month on the AUGB mailing list concerning the use of vendor "freebies" to attract a crowd. I think one person (sorry, I didnāt copy the name) summed up my opinion with:
      "Somehow I think its a sad state of affairs if some MUGs are having to survive only by offering their users access to discounts, or software updates. If this is the only incentive that a MUG can offer their users, then the executives of those MUGs could likely reap greater rewards by focusing their energies elsewhere."
      In order to stay relevant and vibrant MUGs have to change with the times. Many groups are doing this (for example by focusing on new technologies like video editing etc), and doing an excellent job at it. Others are not adapting to change, and are trying to maintain a group membership base by relying on things like discounts. This is just slowing the inevitable death of a group.
      "If you are concerned about your MUG, find out what your membership wants. Lobby your members. Survey them for their interest. Tell them of your challenges. If your membership is unable to tell you what they want, but also unwilling to help make THEIR club relevant, then as a user group leader, again, you should question if you cannot enjoy your Macintosh hobby more by focusing your energies elsewhere."
      The primary purpose of a user group is to provide knowledge, not the latest first person shooter. What we do best is provide individual solutions for members. It is nice to have free stuff to give to members, and discounts add value to the membership, but those things shouldn't be the primary purpose of attendance. I really don't want to sit through a boring presentation to get a chance at a t-shirt of even most pieces of software. If your members are coming for the prizes, discounts and free updates, then perhaps you should look at your groups goals. IMHO"

BTW -- since I am talking about free stuff. I would like to thank Microsoft for recognizing that there is still plenty of potential for promotion in user groups for their shipment of coolers and OS X trial versions to our local group. I was beginning to worry that all they were sending out was .NET and Windows material.

     

Also see: MUG NEWS bursts

from the AACUG Mac User Guide (MUG)
     

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

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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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