Newsletter to Members
December 2005
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December Meeting Hello AMUG members, Just a reminder that our 'Christmas' meeting – our last for this year – is on Monday 5th December at 6:30pm.
On behalf of your committee, we hope to see everybody there, and we wish you and your family a safe and happy Christmas. Regards Ken Driver |
The usual venue, usual format, but with a bit of extra time for special refreshments and Christmas cheer (soft of course). You could win a pre-paid iTunes Music Card or other goodies in the raffle. PS: Ivan Smith our new editor is working hard at putting together a printed newsletter for distribution before Christmas. Meanwhile, here is some recent news from the Macintosh community...
MUG Center Vendor Offers now on RSS
New service: RSS Newsfeed
This is The MUG Center's new, comprehensive and up to date listing of MUG discount offers, most of which are available to all Mac User Group members worldwide. Remember to follow only links that are "Available Globally". Why not bookmark this link:
www.mugcenter.com/rss/vendoroffers.xml
Vendor Offer codes
These special discount offers usually require a code or password to be entered when ordering the item online. To make it easier to find the relevant codes, the Apple User Group Advisory Board has created a password-protected web page of all current offers, with their codes. To access the offer codes, go to:
Vendor offers for user group members: homepage.mac.com/ugab/offers/vendorcodes.htm
and type in this access password: ugvendor
Please note this information is for AMUG members only.
News from the Net
Files Too Large To Email?
Sending files as attachments to emails, especially using free webmail services, can be a problem when the attachment(s) are over 7MB. What if you wanted to email a file to a friend or colleague that was up to 1GB (yes, 1,000MB)? And you didn't have access to an FTP server? YouSendIt is an amazing free service that allows you to do just that. Rather then sending the file directly to your intended recipient, you upload the file to YouSendIt, with the email address of the final recipient. YouSendIt automatically sends out an email, informing the recipient that you have sent them a file to pick up. This is how it works:
1. Choose who you want to send a file to. It can be anyone with an email address. You can specify multiple email addresses separated by commas.
2. Select a file to send. You can send photos, audio, documents or anything else. Your file will be stored by YouSendIt without ever filling up your recipient's mailbox.
3. Click on Send. YouSendIt will automatically email your recipient a link to your file stored on its server. Your file will be deleted after seven days.
No passwords to share, no software to install, no accounts to create, and no full mailboxes.
Caveat: When recipient goes to the provided link to collect the download, advertisers will put cookies in their browser and likely present them with those annoying "smiley" icons and other dubious (mostly Windows-specific) "freebies". Tell your recipient not to be tempted! – KD
Grandstand View from MacAnnouncements.com
A new Mac-centric web site originating out of Germany (in English) offers an instant insight into all recent events in the Mac-powered world.
"Our website has been designed with an average Mac user in mind," says Tomasz Trzebiatowski, webmaster at MacAnnouncements.com. "The new service should save a lot of time and make sure that users know about the best available solutions. The design of the page is simple and clear. A brief summary should give enough idea of a product to decide if it is worth a closer look. If so, you can follow the link to learn more. The site makes an excellent home page to start your day with."
Features of the site at a glance:
- Most up-to-date news in the Mac-powered world from a single page;
- Clear and simple page layout;
- Separate columns for software, hardware, and iPod;
- Brief summaries and elegant graphics;
- Highlights of the latest announcements;
- Color marks for new products and updates.
SWF to FLA conversion
Eltima Software has announced a Mac OS X compatible SWF to FLA Converter that delivers functionality to convert any Flash SWF movie file into its source code Flash FLA format. SWF to FLA Converter will parse a Flash movie file into components in a single click and save it as FLA which can be edited again in the native Flash environment.
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 or higher. SWF is an open format, but be aware that you can use this software only on those Flash SWF files that their author has given permission to edit.
Beginners Mac Workshop
Learn Mac OS X basics in a friendly, informative environment. Presented by AMUG Sydney.
Saturday 10th December 10am-2pm.
Room 136C (Computer Lab), Ground Floor, Webster Building, UNSW Kensington.
- One Mac per person
- No questions too silly
- Use one of the Uni's eMacs or bring your own Notebook
- Get Apple's latest Software Updates on CD, without the big downloads
- Free for AMUG members
To book, phone Rob on 9387 2069 or email sydamug@mac.com
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