Newsletter to Members
September 2008
Next Meeting:
Monday 1 September 6.30PM
The presentation by Luke McCormac from Epson, advertised on our web site for this meeting, has been rescheduled for November. Come along anyway and see what Colin has in store for us.
Raffle prizes include "The Mac OS X Leopard Book" by Scott Kelby (courtesy of Peachpit Press), 4GB USB Thumb drives, iTunes Cards, recordable CD/DVD media – and more!
STAY TUNED for news of our 30th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS in December.
Public Domain Software Discs
Our Disc-of-the-Month software compilation CDs are on sale at meetings for just $5 each (plus $2 postage if required). For more info and order form, log in to the AMUG web site members area, or view these recent PDFs:
- 'HobbyMac Vol.1' (NEW) – a collection of software that allows you to use your Mac to help pursue other hobbies (besides your Mac!). More than 50 applications for 12 categories of hobbies. (4-page PDF 512K).
- 'MacSecetary' – useful tools to help organise your business (2-page PDF 365K).
- 'AUDIOPHILE' – a huge collection of audio and music tools for the Mac (3-page PDF 144K).
- 'ARCADE MANIA' – a collection of over 50 classic, retro and modern Arcade Games that will provide hours of fun for all ages (2-page PDF 132K).
News from Apple
Apple opens second Sydney Retail Store at Chatswood
Saturday 9 August 2008 – Hot on the heels of opening its new George Street Sydney store, Apple has opened another Apple Retail Store, in Chatswood Chase Shopping Centre.
As with all other Apple Retail Stores worldwide, the new Apple Store Chatswood gives customers hands-on experience test-driving Apple's entire product line, including iPhone 3G, iPod touch, MacBook Air, the latest iMacs and more.
Every Apple Retail Store offers personal training through Apple's popular One to One program with in-depth sessions on a wide range of topics, from getting started with a Mac or iPod to advancing your moviemaking or digital photography skills. Visitors to Apple Retail Stores can also take advantage of free services from the most knowledgeable people around, including face-to-face support and creative help at the Genius Bar, plus workshops and special programs for kids.
Location: Chatswood Chase Shopping Centre |
Store hours: Mon - Wed, Fri: 9:30 am - 5:30 pm |
Workshop Schedule:
Full details of workshops and events are posted here:
www.apple.com/au/retail/chatswoodchase/
Apple premieres Movies on the iTunes Store in Australia
14 August 2008 – Apple has announced that movies from major film studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), Sony Pictures Television International and Lionsgate are now available on the iTunes Store in Australia and in New Zealand. Movie purchases and rentals feature iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying movies as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes has always been. The iTunes Store in Australia features over 700 films for rent or purchase, with new release titles available for purchase on the same day as their DVD release, including favourites such as 'National Treasure 2,' 'Jumper,' '27 Dresses,' 'Cloverfield,' 'Vantage Point' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.'
With iTunes Movie Rentals, once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store directly to iTunes or Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 48 hours to finish it – or watch it multiple times. iTunes Movie Rentals also feature over 100 titles available in stunning high definition, perfect for viewing on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.
Movie rentals can be previewed, purchased and watched on iPod classic, iPod nano with video, iPod touch, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.
Requirements
Movie purchases and rentals from the iTunes Store for Mac or Windows require iTunes 7.7.1, available as a free download, as well as a valid credit card with a billing address in Australia.
Pricing
| PURCHASES: | RENTALS: | |||
| Catalogue Titles | $9.99 ea | Library Titles | $3.99 ea | |
| Recent Releases | $17.99 ea | New Releases | $5.99 ea | |
| New Releases | $24.99 ea | High Definition | $1 more. | |
Prices quoted are RRP Aust. dollars inc GST.
MobileMe Subscriptions Extended
In July, Apple completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe, so that all subscribers who had an <apple.com/dotmac> account now have a <me.com> account. Unfortunately, the transition was rockier than Apple had hoped.
Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had some problems initially. Apple worked through those problems and the web apps were soon up and running.
Another snag was Apple’s use of the word "push" in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe "cloud," changes made on a PC or Mac took up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and other devices. So Apple has stopped using the word "push" until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.
Apple apologised to its MobileMe customers and expressed appreciation for their loyalty by initially giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge.
This was soon followed by a second extension of a further 60 days, with an Apple email stating “...While we are making a lot of improvements, the MobileMe service is still not up to our standards. We are extending subscriptions 60-days free of charge to express appreciation for our members’ patience as we continue to improve the service.”
For existing members (like AMUG Sydney), that means a 12-month subscription extends to 15 months before renewal is due.
Related stories:
TidBITS issue #942/25-Aug-08 includes two related articles:
- “Jobs Personally Acknowledges iPhone Bug and Upcoming Fix” – Read article.
- “MobileMe Web Interface Insecure, But Other Apps Get It Right” – Read article.
News from the Net
Extract from TidBITS #941/18-Aug-08 by Mark H. Anbinder, TidBITS contributing author
Microsoft Office 2008 and 2004 Updates
Microsoft released updates to both 2004 and 2008 versions of its flagship Microsoft Office for Mac, citing stability and performance improvements in both cases, as well as fixes for vulnerabilities in the applications. The updates are available immediately at the Microsoft Mactopia download page as well as via the Microsoft AutoUpdate utility (remember that each version of Office has its own version of Microsoft AutoUpdate).
www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx
Read the author’s full article here.
The Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.1 Update is a 15 MB download, and the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.2 Update is a 160 MB download. Because both updates repair significant vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office that could leave your computer open to attack, TidBITS recommends updating your copy of Microsoft Office immediately.
Computer Fair
at UNSW Roundhouse
This Sunday 31 August
(changed from 23 August)
10am-3pm
Computer Fairs Australia holds regular events in various locations around New South Wales, including two shows a month at the Roundhouse, in the grounds of the University of NSW, Kensington.
Computer fairs offer the public the chance to buy direct from smaller vendors – you can shop around, compare prices, and "haggle" on a wide variety of products from a large number of traders, all under one roof. With most items selling at prices 10% to 50% below recommended retail prices, computer fairs are a great place to buy computer hardware and peripherals.
Although mostly targeted to PC users, there are many products such as external hard drives and networking devices etc, that can happily work with Macs.
Entry to the fair is normally $3.00 for adults, with accompanied children (under 12) free. However, we have it on good authority from the organisers that free entry is available to AMUG Sydney members if you show a member badge – the wallet card with your AMUG web site login details and member number, mailed to members in March this year, will do the job (if challenged, the offer came from Hazel at Computer Fairs admin).
After this Sunday 31 August, the next fair at the Roundhouse is scheduled for Saturday 20 September. Check dates for future fairs on the Computer Fairs Australia web site:
Software Freedom Day
Software Freedom Day 2008 – Saturday 20 September – is a celebration of free and open source software and the community behind it.
This FREE event is held around the world and showcases the best that the Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) community has to offer, including live demonstrations of:
- Free applications such as WordPress, Drupal and Moodle that offer incredible functionality
- Free email and internet software such as Thunderbird and Mozilla
- Business productivity alternatives such as OpenOffice
- Linux and related operating system software.
Guest speakers also present on a wide range of topics, relevant to those who deal with technology in business, education, non-profits and community development.
Software Freedom Day hosts are friendly, speak in non-technical terms and will be happy to assist you to learn more about free and open source applications and software.
Last year, the Sydney event for Software Freedom Day 2007 was held at the University of NSW, one day later than elsewhere (Sunday 23 Sept) to coincide with the UNSW computer fair. If the same venue and reasoning is selected this year, that would likely be Sunday 21 September (not confirmed at time of writing). To give you an idea of what it’s about, the web page relating to the 2007 event can be viewed here.
For more information and to check the 2008 Sydney venue and date, visit
www.softwarefreedomday.org/
Saturday Workshop
Our monthly Mac Help Saturday Workshop – scheduled for Sat 6 September – may be deferred to the following Saturday, due to the 6th being Courses & Careers Day at UNSW. New date to be confirmed at Monday night's meeting.
Enquiries and bookings, phone Rob on 9387 2069 or email sydamug@mac.com
If you do not wish to receive any future editions of this online newsletter, please send an email to AMUG Sydney.