UGN Info Manager UGN Info Manager
IDG NEWS reported last Monday, that Microsoft and MCI announced a multiyear partnership to offer software and services that will allow Windows users to call from a PC to almost any phone in the world.
The new service called MCI Web Calling for Windows Live Call, will be available as part of the upcoming successor to Microsoft Messenger, called Windows Live Messenger. Read more...
Apple has made it pretty difficult for us to capture a screenshot while playing a movie. (Digital rights I guess.) Howver it is possible to do using Terminal. The Random Tech blog tells how and even list all the possible options for doing it. It sets the mouse up with crosshairs to get a shot. ... see the full story...
An estimated 750,000 U.S. customers have VoIP without 911 service. The issue is not all the providers fault as the 911 service centers have not been updated to receive the VoIP calls. But the fact that the FCC is mandating the 911 access should be good news to the industry as a lot of people will not subscribe until the emergency service is available. I am one of them. Perhaps by this summer when my DSL contract is over I will be able to switch.
However, Vonage announced last Wednesday that all of its customers have emergency service. ... see the full story...
The Recording Industry Association of America has filed lawsuits against 751 people suspected of illegally distributing copyrighted music, including students at Drexel University, Harvard University and the University of Southern California.
In addition, the industry trade group said it filed lawsuits against 105 named defendants living across a dozen states, including Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.
These are "John Doe" suits and now they will have to identify the downloaders. I guess iTunes Store isn't for everyone.
the journal Nature reported last Wednesday in an online article that in comparison to the on line version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is surprisingly accurate. Based on 42 articles reviewed by experts, the average scientific entry in Wikipedia contained four errors or omissions, while Britannica had three. ... see the full story...
As part of a slide show on possible new tech gear, Business Week mentions the Intel Viiv. It looks to me like a Mac mini that has an Intel processor. It is aimed at being a media center for the living room. (Sound familiar?). These machines are suppose to be available in 2006. See the complete slide show
A home in northern California that was owned for a number of years by Steve Wozniak is for sale. The 7100 square foot home has been completely refurbished. Asking price is $8 million. If you are interested, take a tour
Google has reportedly offered Time Warner $1 Billion for 5% of AOL. That would put the value of AOL at $50 Billion. WOW!
The deal would primarily deal with advertising revenue. It would enable sales of advertising across multiple Internet media -- it would also take Microsoft out and prevent them from seeking their own arrangement
Washington Post;
Reuters ... internetweek
Recently, there was a discussion on the AUGD mailing list about canceling meetings. Reasons suggested was a lack of presenters, cancellation by a vendor and others.
In my mind, there is only one acceptable reason to cancel a meeting. That is due to bad weather. Do not place your membership and leaders at risk to get to the meeting. Otherwise, if you have a meeting scheduled, it should happen. People easily change their attendance patterns if a meeting doesn't happen. There are other reasons for attending than just the topic of the evening.
That said, every program manager should have a back up plan. Some of the most popular meetings that we have presented are panel discussion by members or even Stump the Expert type Q&A sessions. Some of the topics handled by the panel are
* "What utilities do you depend on?";
* "What shareware programs do you recommend?" or
* "How do you..." use your Mac?, backup, etc.
The important thing here is to keep it fresh. If you setup a topic in January as a back-up go ahead and use it for a meeting by June. And then setup a new back-up. Also, the fact that the panel knows they will actually be doing a presentation, means that they will do some time planning.
If you need additional ideas, just take a look at Bill Achuff's great list of meeting topic ideas...
More News from the iTunes Music Store
Lawrence Charters of the Washington Apple Pi Journal, has written an excellent three part series on the many perils your computer may face.
Dave Girard shares an interesting look at "Aperture" from Apple...
actually it's been pretty boring ... see the full story...
Here's an important article for all Mac users... Giles Turnbull looks at Keychain Access and asks "Why should you care?" ... see the full story...
Boinx iStopMotion 1.8.4, the premier tool for stop motion animation and time lapse recoording on the Mac... Read more...
To celebrate the holiday season, Likno Software is offering its award winning software at award winning prices. Read more...
Xupport is a multipurpose system utility for Mac OS X. It provides many features to configure hidden Mac OS X and Unix options, to increase system security and performance, to maintain and backup Mac OS X, and to dig deeper into the world of Unix. ... see the full story...
Thanks to Apple eNews for this one... Apple eNews
in this week's User Group Network
"The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal."
- H.L. Menchken
"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three."
- Alice Kahn
"There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do."
- Freya Madeline Stark
Have a great week... (See last week)
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