MacWaves MUG
Topic List for Past Meetings

• Beginner: Sorting out your old Mac stuff: what to keep and what to discard.
• Intermediate: Simple and inexpensive Mac-related gifts.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• MacWaves Annual Holiday Party. This year we will meet at 7 pm in Room 175 of the High Tech High School. I will be bringing Cups, Plates and Napkins; the rest is up to you. Along with the snacks and non-alcoholic drinks, bring in anything you made with your Macintosh Computer, your predictions for MacWorld, Holiday Mac related gift ideas, and any Mac questions.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Automator, IMHO, the most neglected feature of the Macintosh OS System. Introduced in OS 10.4 and improved in 10.5 Automator makes repetitious tasks a snap. Task like renaming those digital camera files from something meaningless like "DSC000523 to DSC000544" into "Maine_2008_Trip_001 to Maine_2008_Trip_0021," and more! No scripting is needed to create you own Automator Workflow, Application, or Plug-in.
• We will also read the "tea leaves" for the future of Firewire.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: What is Spotlight and how it works.
• Intermediate: Did you know? Little-known features in Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard..
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Beginner: Changing the default firewall settings in Leopard to make the firewall more secure.
• Intermediate: The changing nature of threats (including trojan horses, spyware and social networking exploits) to the Macintosh, and how to effectively respond.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Photo Editing Software, we will be looking at Nikon's Capture NX Photo Editing Software. What are RAW Digital Photo files? Why are they different for each manufacturer of digital cameras? Why should we care? Capture NX is designed to handle RAW files from Nikon Digital Cameras (NEF) as well as JPEG and TIFF formats. How does it differ from Photoshop, Lightroom, or iPhoto? We'll also look at some tricks for Photoshop Elements.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

Combination MacWaves and MacFundamentals meetings:

• In preparation for the upcoming year and the MacFundamentals portion of the meeting meeting I would like to know what you have been doing with your Mac this Summer.
  • Are there any projects you would like to share?
  • Have you discovered any websites or Podcast that you want to let the other MacFundamentalist know about?
  • If so, reply to me, and let me know about them, so that I can share it with everyone at the meeting.
  • Also tell me what subjects you would like for us to cover this year.
  • Here's an example of what I would like...
    • "Bob I want to know more about iPhoto vs Photoshop Elements."
  • This is my Podcast discovery that I want to share, "In Our Times with Melvyn Bragg" from BBC Radio 4.
  • "In Our Times" is on Vacation for the Summer, but you can listen to their archives via Real Audio.
    • Whether talking about the science of Probability, The Metaphysical Poets of the 17 century, or the man who helped bring down the Soviet Union from within with his genetic pseudoscience; it is always an interesting 40 minutes.
    • These were some of my favorite podcasts of the last season.
      • Trofim Lysenko
      • The Riddle of the Sands
  • Here is a video I made with iMovie HD of our summer visitors, the pod of dauphins swimming in the Navesink shot from the Rumson Oceanic bridge and uploaded to the Mobile Me Site. This is not a masterpiece, and I don't like how the Mobile Me Gallery shrank down the viewing size of my movie.
• Booting up the Club's Intel MacBook using a flash drive.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• iPhoto - what you can do with the newest version of iPhoto. We will also work on bringing a couple of surprises as well.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: due to the combined meeting times, this section will not be presented
• Intermediate: New to Leopard: Setting up and using Spaces (one of two topics I had hoped to do, but iChat will wait for another time)
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Also, we are planning to hold a discussion sometime this summer on the future of MacWaves and MacFundamentals, and on how to reach out to the growing number of Macintosh users about who we are and what we do, with the goal to increase our membership and attendance.
  We invite all MacWaves and MacFundamentals users to participate in this discussion. If you are interested please contact Bob ( ) or Lee ( ), so we can coordinate a meeting time and place.

• Beginner: New to Leopard: New features in Apple's Safari
• Intermediate: New to Leopard: Understanding and using Parental Controls
  • Bonus Topic: how to safely download and install software from the internet
  • And, as a bonus, we will auction off a copy of the newest version of iWork, featuring Pages, Numbers and Keynote
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Besides looking at the news from Apple, we will be examining the ins and outs shooting and stitching photographic panoramas. We wonít be using any exotic or expensive software, Weíll just use Photoshop Elements 6ís PhotoMerge which, as I have found out in researching this meeting, turns an excellent panorama. Weíll also use PSE6 to fix and enhance the panorama. Iíll being in some panoramic prints, and a 24 by 36 blowup of one of the slides we scanned at the beginning of the year. Then weíll look at burning CDís and DVDs. That should keep us busy.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: What you need to set up an email account in email software
• Intermediate: New to Leopard: New features in Apple Mail
• We can also talk about using webmail versus an email client software, sending and receiving email attachments, whether you need worry about viruses coming from email, how to back up email, and more.
• DF's of the meeting:
  • The basics of setting up an email account, with no particular email program singled out -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
  • An overview of spam filter software for Mac OS X -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
  • An overview of new features in Apple Mail for Leopard -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Genealogy
• We have a special guest speaker for April's MacWaves meeting. Beverly Yackel, President of The Monmouth County Genealogy Society http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njmcgs/index.htm will speak to us about using the Internet for genealogical research. We will also talk about using Reunion 9 http://www.leisterpro.com/ for organizing your family tree with the information that you have gleaned from the Web. Attached is a handout from Ms Yackel to bring us all up to speed for the meeting. Do your homework and bring your questions MacWavers!
• We will also have a special auction! Two items of software will be auctioned off to the highest bidders. Apple's Macintosh OS X 10.5 "Leopard" and Roxio's Toast 8!
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: New to Leopard: Making a web clip a Dashboard widget
• Intermediate: What is Front Row and how can I use it?
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Troubleshooting and Tuning-up your Mac -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: New to Leopard: Stacks on the new look Dock: how they work -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• Intermediate: New to Leopard: Setting up Time Machine backup system -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• I will also feature a couple more of new Mac user's favorite mistakes, plus a look at other changes to the Dock in Leopard, and of course attempt to answer any and all questions.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• MacWorld Apple's Creative Suite iLife 08
• News from MacWorld 2008: the new AirBook and more
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: New to Leopard: Cover flow, and how it works -- presentation notes in PDF format
• Intermediate: New to Leopard: How to use QuickLook features -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Filemaker Pro
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: How to move and copy files in the Finder -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• Intermediate: How (and why) to open a file in another application -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Holiday Party

• Beginner: Why is this file icon look like a white paper, and what do I do about it? -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• Intermediate: How to burn a CD in the Finder and iTunes -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Leopard, the new Mac OS
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: How to navigate your hard drive and find things -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• Intermediate: How (and when) to download and install software updates -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• iWork '08 and how it differs from AppleWorks
  • It's time to find out as ApplesWorks days are numbered. (Look for AppleWorks on the Software Page of the Apple Store Website, see if you can find it!)
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Beginner: How to install Mac OS X Tiger -- presentation notes in PDF format [command or control click the link to download the file]
• Intermediate: Preparing your Mac to upgrade Mac OS X, which should be timely, since 10.5 aka Leopard should be out shortly after then.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Since the Battle of the GarageBand Bands was so successful at our June meeting, we are going to start off the Fall Season of MacWaves with another contest for our September meeting. This should be pleanty of time to put something together. This time it is going to be a SlideShow Contest.
• There will be a prize of some sort. SildeShow entries should be brought in on a CD, DVD, or a Flash Drive. There are only two rules:
  • Respect the copyright laws, and
  • The SlideShow needs to be authored with iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, or Keynote or any combination there of. A soundtrack can be added by using GarageBand. You do not have to have taken the photos, they can be old family photos, or any photo taken by someone you know and have given to you their approval for showing their work or are in the Public Domain.
• For those wondering about Copyright Laws and Fair Use, you may find this video of interest. But be forewarned it is a big download 21MB, but well worth it!
  • http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/biguploads/Fair(y)_Use_Tale_Stanford_Cut-21MB.mp4
• Here are some links for iLife tutorials to help you get started:
  • http://www.apple.com/support/iphoto/tutorial/index.html
  • http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/iphoto/ip4-1.html
  • http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/idvd/id2-4.html
  • http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/idvd/id3-3.html
• For help putting your slide show on your iPod:
  • http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/iphoto/ip4-6.html
• Keynote Tutorial:
  • http://www.apple.com/support/keynote/
• Here are a couple of links for Apple tutorials for GarageBand:
  • http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/garageband/
  • http://www.apple.com/support/garageband/
• What better to look at when discussing Slideshows than the Topic of Scanning Slides? Are Film Scanners worth the money? What kind of results can one expect with a Flat Bed Scanner that can scan slides? I?ll bring in my Nikon LS 4000 and compare it with my Epson Perfection 3200 Photo flat bed scanner.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Basic troubleshooting techniques.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Apple's Garage Band
• Here are a couple of links for Apple tutorials for GarageBand.
  • http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/garageband/
  • http://www.apple.com/support/garageband/
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Hidden secrets of Preview
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Apple's iWeb
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Mastering Safari and other web browsers.
  
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Putting your Video on the Video iPod, using Mac the Ripper and iMovie. Demo of getting your personal DVD movie to your iPod and a movie from a camcorder to the iPod via iMovie.
• presenter: Suzanne Thomas
• Windows on a Mac! - Show and Tell
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Using Apple Mail and Address Book
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Introduction to audio software for the Mac.
• presenter: Ken McGee

• Troubleshooting Keychains
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Report on MacWorld San Francisco.
• It's movie time! I'll show the video I shot in and around MacWorld. Be amazed as Ted Landau boots his MacBook Pro from a 1 Gig Flash Drive! Thrill as Graham Nash tells you how he pioneered fine art digital printing. Check out Andy Ihnatko's true geek driving directions!
• After the video, tell me what do you think of the events there? I want to hear from you. Does Apple dropping the word "Computer" from its name scare you?
• Was the coolest new Mac not from Apple? Check out the ModBook.
• Who's first for an iPhone?
• Where was Leopard in the Keynote?
• Do you really need the Apple TV?
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• TApple store field trip - Store Info:
  - <Apple's Directions - Freehold Raceway Mall>
  - Apple Store Phone #: 732-358-8426
  - <Freehold Raceway Mall - Home Page>
  - <Mall - Directions>
  - <Mall - Store Directory> the Apple Store location should be highlighted in yellow.
  The Apple Store is located on the lower level near the Center Court. It is situated between The Limited and Bath & Body Works.
• arranged by iPresident: Bob Shindel

• The importance of downloading and installing software updates.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Hands on iMovie demo.
• presenter: Tom Reu

• Permissions and OSX, are they more than a note from your Mom -- what are they; Myths and Misunderstandings.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Advanced Finder features.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Keyboard Shortcuts will free us from the tyranny of the Mouse! No more will you be held captive of the Drop Down Menu! We aren't talking about the lightweight Command-S to save your file, we're talking heave lifting here! There's a secret Cocoa second clipboard!
• Open your Utilities Folder, bypass your Start-up drive and boot from the next available bootable drive (Not necessarily the CD/DVD Drive.)
• Zoom in out out of your screen, or invert their colors on screen! (Why would you want to do that you might ask, well I'll tell you!)
• Next we take a closer look at iTunes.
  • How to use Smart Playlist, clean up and organize your files, and import your Audio CDs the way you want.
  • Do you want to listen to that ACC Podcast on your car, but you don't have iPod or other portable MP3 player, only your car's CD player? We'll show you how you can.
  • And finally no discussion of iTunes is complete is without a discussion of iTunes DRM.
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• Customizing the desktop and window appearance and features; tips of the month; some mini-instructions.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Good RAM gone bad
• What use is the Terminal and why would you use it?
• TextEdit tips.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Tentative: the latest product announcements from Apple
• presenter: Representative(s) from the Apple Store in Freehold, NJ
• Alternative: About Intel Macs, booting Windows on an Intel Mac.
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• iLife '06: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb.
• presenter: Alice
• Cost-effective backup solutions
• presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Printers: Laser vs. Inkjet; photo paper vs. plain paper; networking printers, USB Sharing vs. Ethernet (Maybe even sharing printers between Macs and PC for those of us in mixed marriages.), cleaning clogged inkjet heads on Epson printers, and updating drivers.
• a Google tip or two.Think about a picnic this Summer too!
  
• presenter: Bob Shindel

• How to use your Mac OS X installer CD to solve a variety of problems
• Iinexpensive but effective backup strategies.
• How to add, use and manage services.
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Microsoft has announced that it is no longer supporting its Windows Media Player for Macintosh. So what are we to do when Uncle Mike forwards a must see wmv file to you? You have to Flip 4 Mac. Microsoft is offering a link on their site here.
• Ninety percent of what I know about Macs and their applications, Local Area Networks, Digital Cameras still and video, the Internet, and now Current Events I learned on the Web! Now with Podcast, Streaming Video and Colleges offering Courses OnLine (Both credit and non-credit, fee and free.) there is even a greater opportunity to learn more.
  -- presenter: Bob Shindel
• Here are some sites to Explore:
  Mac Notables
  Thompson and Peterson?s College and University Feed Directory
  MIT Open Courseware
  Princeton Main Channel
  Stanford on iTunes
  Harvard's Understanding Computers and the Internet

• File types and file extensions.
• Flip4Mac as an alternative to Windows Media Player. Flip4Mac is a QuickTime plug-in that allows QuickTime Player to play WMV movies.
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• The Activity Monitor utility application and what it does.
  -- presenter: Bob Shindel
• Malware, including viruses (virii), worms, Trojan horses, and other nasty stuff, and what you can do to prevent them from ruining you life.
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Music on the Mac:
  - Different file formats AAC to WMA with MP3 in between.
  - File compression with no pocket protectors needed!
  - Discuss Digital Rights Management (DRM) or Digital Restrictions Management.
  - How to rip a Music CD with iTunes.
• About the "new" security threats to Macs. How serious are they?
  -- presenter: Bob Shindel

• Using and adding Widgets to Dashboard; using Amnesty Widget Browser.
• How to use freeware tools to run Unix maintenance scripts.
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• An introduction to making movies on the Mac.
  -- presenter: Bob Shindel

• How to safely download and install a update to MacOS X.
• Discussion of new products at MacWorld 2006.
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Setting up your digital darkroom. A discussion of photo image editing applications, digital cameras, scanners, and printers.
• The importance of backing up, and why I got a new Hard Drive for Christmas.
  -- presenter: Bob Shindel

• What to expect in the Macintosh world in 2006
• Highlight a worthwhile shareware application.
• Raffle: Plextor Convert XPVR with Elgato EyeTV, which lets you watch TV on your Macintosh, a device I reviewed in the October issue of BCUG Bytes.
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Holiday Wish list for Mac Beginners. What to look for in asking for a Mac Centric Gift.
• A look at DVD/CD burners and what all those numbers mean.
  -- presenter: Bob Shindel

• Cheap Graphics Software, those MacOS X-based alternatives to QuarkXPress and the Adobe/Macromedia products that cost so much.
• Some of the software titles we will look at include: Blender, Cenon, Desktop Publisher Pro, EazyDraw, Graphic Converter, Intaglio, Swift Publisher and Stone Studio. This will be a whirlwind tour, but I will make some recommendations and have a list of recommended applications to hand out (most are downloadable on a trial basis from versiontracker.com)
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• First, we'll answer, or bluff, our way through any and all questions while you fill our our survey.
• A look into Permissions and Preferences. Where are they hiding in OSX? Why do we repair former and throw away the latter?
• Adventures in used iBook land. Which is cheaper, a $300 500 Mhz G3 iBook or a $700 1.2 Ghz G4 iBook? What are the warning signs to look for to avoid a used Lemon Laptop?
  -- presenter: Bob Shindel
  

• New products announced by Apple only hours before we convence.
• Some favorite Mac websites.
• The future of the Macintosh and MacWaves.
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Selecting good passwords. Why is 'password' bad, 'password123' fair, 'PassWORD369' better, 'WwMo4695iLV' good, and 'm$$i3YoTmD@' best; and how do you remember those last two without using Key Chain?
• Apple's .mac service. Is it worth the $100 a year? The short answer is "it depends". For the long answer you have to show up at the meeting. We will look in to what .mac has to offer and does it fit your needs. Then we will discuss whether this will make it worth the price of the ticket.
• Podcast -- what is it, and how to access and play them. We will look where to find them, what topics are available, do you need an iPod to listen to them, and if you do have an iPod, or other portable MP3 player, how to listen to them over your car radio.
  -- presenter: Bob Shindel

• "Intel inside Macintosh: What Does It Mean?" We will discuss the announced shift of Apple Computer from the IBM PowerPC chip to Intel chips and what it will mean for the average Mac user, including will Macs be faster, can you operate Windows XP and MacOS X on the same computer, is it worth it to buy a PowerPC-based Mac, and will all your software still work, among others. We will do our best to cut through the hype and rumors to get to the facts available, and discuss the questions that remain unansswered.
  -- presenter: Lee Maxwell

• Steve Jobs said "there are no more excuses for Windozers not buying a Mac", albeit the Mini, and he was right!. That Jobs fella is some smart salesman.
• PC veteran, moi, will demo the Mac Mini up close and naked. I may not speak fluent MacEEZe, but armed with my two-button mouse, I will show "Can't-Live-Without" 'right-mouse' clicks for short-cut context menus. But where did the Alias short-cut go to? I will explain what an Alias is and demo how and why to create one. Audience participation is welcomed to determine why a PC Guy is messing with a Mac and how Mac Beginners can help him out. You may even learn who has a direct line to Steve Jobs, or at least to his office and his secretary."
  -- presenter: Fred Kagel

List of Software covered:

• MenuCalendarClock <http://www.objectpark.net/en/mcc.html>
• Synergy <http://wincent.com/a/products/synergy-classic/>
• MacPac <http://www.macxware.com/candypress/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=30>
• Radical Squeeze <http://www.radicalbreeze.com/squeeze/index.html>
• Studiometry <http://www.oranged.net/studiometry/>
• OmniGraffle <http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/>