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Editor's Notes
Fred Showker,
Editor/Publisher, User Group Network News
__ This week's news brings some interesting items
including the end of an era in MP3 music, the demise of C&G's Sound Jam. We also
look at upcoming events at Macworld Expo, NY, and Apples further antics with DVD.
__When you see items you think the rest of the User
Group community benefit from, please send them along. It's easy to contact
us, or, if you've got details and links, try our easy "Announcement Submission"
page at: www.user-groups.net/resources/Submit.html
Currently:
_
* Apple gives hands-on training
to teachers ; _ *
Congress Aims To Can Spam ; _ * For UG Members with Kids... ; _
* Macintosh Virus Alert ; _ * Speaking
of making your kids smart... ; _ * The Suespammers Project: An anti-spam legal resource
; _ *
For Mac Pros who Bill by the Hour... ; _ * Pretty Good Solitaire Quest Edition (Windows) ; _ * Bux-Mont
MUG Major OSX event!
Apple gives hands-on training to teachers
- While the User Group Academy (www.UGAcademy.org) seems to be the only one in town
giving Apple iBooks to Teachers, Apple has decided to ante up a series of free seminars
for educators. The seminars will be held around the country later this summer for
all K-12 educators. Topics will focus on the iBook, and will include topics like
how to "effectively utilize technology to maximize planning and instructional
time, expand their individual areas of expertise, engage an increasingly diverse
student body, and discover new ways to individualize instruction." The seminars
are open to all K-12 teachers, regardless of grade level or subject area. Bravo Apple!
- Thanks to: Apple Propaganda for sending this in. File this one under:
Home & School, Education For more info go to: http://www.apple.com/education/institutes
.
Congress Aims To Can
Spam - As you know I've become a bit of a SPAM fighter, and met two
weeks ago with the honorable Congressman Robert Goodlatte who is heading up a committee
on cyber crime and privacy. We had much to talk about in a little time, but resolved
to put our efforts behind the new EMA #718. This is the latest version of Bill #1013
which stalled in Congress last year after having been passed by the house. Well,
here's great news from Internet Weekly:
* The House Energy and Commerce Committee
Wednesday approved spam legislation. Next stop: the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Commerce committee unanimously voted for the Unsolicited Commercial Electronic
Mail Act, H.R. 718, which aims to protect individuals, businesses and Internet service
providers from junk e-mail. Mary Mosquera - Thanks to: Mary Mosquera,
InternetWeek for sending this in. File this one under: For more info go to: http://update.internetweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eDCz0BdxAn0V30MJl7
.
For UG Members with
Kids... - "It's alive!" The LEGO MINDSTORMS robotics kits
let people of all ages have fun building real working robots with LEGO bricks, motors,
and a programmable controller. JOE NAGATA'S LEGO(r) MINDSTORMS(tm) IDEA BOOK shows
how to bring ten different robots to life with the MINDSTORMS kit, giving readers
ideas for creating many more along the way. Extensively illustrated with over 250
original CAD drawings, this tutorial/idea book makes it easy and fun to build robots.
Summaries of engineering principles and programming code help readers understand
how each robot works. And each project includes a parts list along with step-by-step
instructions for building each robot.
__I've been active with our school's TSA (Technology
Students Association) programs, and believe me the combination of LEGO MINDSTORMS
robotics kits and this book will be an award-winning combination! Get it! - Thanks to: Amanda Staab for sending this in. File this one under: Home &
School, Education For more info go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1886411409/thedesignpublish
.
Macintosh Virus Alert - A highly
reliable member of the user group community has reported first-hand experience with
this new virus... saying:
__"... be extra careful about any email that has
attachments. There is a virus circulating nicknamed the "spiral". There
have been several affected computers including one in our building and a macintosh
(yes, a mac) downtown!!!
__Personally, I would not open any attached email you
were not certain what the person is sending you. or send them an email asking them
if they sent it. Then, don't open anything with a .exe attachment.
__If you hear anything about this, or see articles in
other publications, please let us know! - Thanks to: an Officer of
SMUG for sending this in. File this one under: VIRUS warning for Macintosh For more
info go to: http://www.user-groups.net/contact.html
.
Speaking of making your kids smart...
- Got SOL testing? Got SATs?
__MathGo software aims to offer simple acces to practice
and exercises in the multiplicationtables and mental arithmetic in general. Simple,
user-friendly, and entertaining with a neat presentation. Automatic question generator,
very largely parametrable. For Mac and Win. Cross Platform versions available - Thanks to: Bernard ANDRE for sending this in. File this one under: Education
K-12: programs and edu games for children For more info go to: http://www.interactio.ch/mathgo/mathgo_e.html
.
The
Suespammers Project: An anti-spam legal resource - Last month's "SPAM"
article has been picked up no by 83 user group newsletters (that we know of) as well
as the CAUCE.org organization and "SueSpammers.org"
__You're deleted spam, you've complained about spam,
you've filtered spam... but if you've ever wanted to recoup losses because of spam,
The Suespammers Project at http://www.suespammers.org is for you. The Web site tracks
laws that are used in antispam litigation, cases, and other events that affect your
ability to recover damages from spammers, while the mailing list lets the community
trade tips and gather information. - Thanks to: Tom Geller for sending
this in. File this one under: ONLINE SOCIETY: web, email, news groups, references,
etc. For more info go to: http://www.suespammers.org/mailman/listinfo/suespammers
.
For
Mac Pros who Bill by the Hour... - PandaWare TimeCache 4.0 is a Macintosh-only
time and expense tracking application for consultants, freelancers and anybody else
who charges by the hour. It makes it easy to keep track of expenses and time (including
corresponding charges) for multiple projects for multiple clients.
* Lets you track time spent on projects
down to increments of as little as one minute
* Lets you track your project expenses
- Automatically times you as you work and optionally logs your start and stop times
* Data entry is easy -- just select
items from lists or let TimeCache auto-complete your typing - Automatically sums
your time and charges on every project
* Automatically creates summary reports
for any project - Lets you customize the data you record on each project - Lets you
print daily reports and project reports
* Lets you export data on projects to
database, spreadsheet or other applications for incorporation into your own billing
system.. MAC: OS/8 and above ONLY - Thanks to: Dennis Birch for sending
this in. File this one under: Business Helpers, accounting, billing, client tracking,
etc. For more info go to: http://www.pandaware.com/
.
Pretty
Good Solitaire Quest Edition (Windows) - This is an all-inclusive,
highly addicting package of 350 games of solitaire. It contains all of the most popular
games but also includes 38 original games constructed by the author. You can "undo"
your moves all the way back to the beginning of the game (if you're the occasional
cheater like I am!) The program allows you to create your own solitaire games through
the Wizard feature. Stats, online help, and tech support are all available for this
program. You can download a free trial for 30 days, and the purchase price of $24
is well worth the investment. I highly recommend this site if you're a solitaire
addict! Platform = PC: Windows all versions - Thanks to: Debi Newirth
for sending this in. File this one under: Games Puzzles: skill, word, card, board,
simulations For more info go to: http://www.goodsol.com/
.
END of transmission
Fred Showker
From Fred Showker, Editor/Publisher,
User Group Network News: December 15 User Group Network News Service at http://www.user-groups.net/news/index.html.
NOTICE TO EDITORS: ______________________
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