appleJAC Macintosh Users

President's Place

by George Kopp

Back to School . . . a Different School this time

With summer comes our appleJAC Meetings hitting the road from our normal home base of Lewis and Clark Middle School. This month we will be heading to Calvary Lutheran High School in Jefferson City. Calvary Lutheran is located at 2525 Route B just south of Jefferson City (see map at right). The easiest way to get there is to continue through Jefferson City toward the Lake of the Ozarks on Highway 54, then take the exit onto Rte 179 toward Wardsville. Continue south onto Rte B (at the Tanner Bridge Road stop light), and on to the school a half mile beyond. The school is marked on the map with the letter "A".

This month's theme will be computer and hardware maintenance. We will cover some good tips for maintaining your Mac including routine service and backup. We will also address the options when it comes to backup, and why you may need more than a single backup method to ensure you are safe. We are also planning to touch on printer maintenance and maintaining your iPhone and iPad devices. It definitely promises to be a great set of presentations.

Traditionally at this meeting, we also offer to assist people with minor Mac upgrades. So, if you have an interest in adding memory, replacing a harddisk, or just adding software to your machine, feel free to email us at applejac@mac.com, and we will talk with you about parts you may need to bring with you to ensure you have what is necessary to accomplish your goal.

iPad Class a Great Success

This last month, appleJAC held it's first ever iPad class with a full house of over 30 participants. This class covered the basics of iPad use and delved into the settings of the device to help users customize their iPad's to meet their needs.  

The class continues a long line of appleJAC classes. As your Board of Directors plans for the fall, we would like some input on what additional classes might be worthwhile to offer. Feel free to send us your interests and ideas at applejac@mac.com, and we will see what topics have a critical mass.

Upcoming Meetings

In August we continue with our coverage of iOS devices when we address iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch applications. This regular meeting will be held August 2 at 7:00 pm at Yanis Coffee Zone in Jefferson City. Since many of our Mac-Challenged (ie... windows users) friends use iOS devices, so feel free to bring them along to this meeting. We promise to be "operating system agnostic" and only talk about our handheld devices that evening.

Then in September . . . hold on to your hats . . . MacOS 10.7 Lion will be featured. Learn about the new possibilities in Lion, and if Lion is your next step in Macintosh nirvana.

And, one last thought . . . those of you running AppleWorks may want to reconsider Lion seriously before an update. Lion is reported to finally kill Appleworks (it won't work anymore without Rosetta), so a move forward may be a setback to you. But, your appleJAC leadership warned you of Appleworks demise over 2 years ago . . .

Be sure to join us for a skyrocketing time on July 5 at 7:00pm.

 

 

Presidents Place

by George Kopp

On the Road Again....

This month, appleJAC hits the road for a meeting in Columbia as we will enjoy the Annual appleJAC MUG Picnic (that's right, in warm June, NOT hot August). Friends and family are all invited to attend (bring a beverage, side dish and lawn chair) this opportunity to relax at the lakeside home of Kathy and Joe Mertzlufft, and enjoy food, fun and friends. RSVP is requested (if you haven't already). Directions to their house (just north and east of Ashland) show that they are less than 20 minutes away from most of where our members live (see map at right).

appleJAC Classes

Each year, appleJAC holds a number of classes for the membership that allow you to make better use of the tools you have. The iPad is a mobile device that you can use to watch movies, create documents, surf the Web, check e-mail, use as an eReader and more! This class will introduce you to the basic features and functions of iPad.

'Getting the Most from your iPad"
This class will cover the iPad and iPad2.
Tuesday, June 14, 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Learfield Communications
505 Hobbs Road, Jefferson City, MO 65109
Sponsored by the appleJAC Macintosh Users Group . . . Cost - $20

Signup your friends. Class is open to everyone.
Sign up to attend by emailing us at applejac@mac.com
appleJAC Members that preregister receive a $5 discount
Payment can be made the night of the class.

Hope to see you in Columbia at the picnic. If you would like to carpool from Jefferson City to Columbia that evening, you should plan on meeting at 5:30pm in the North Jefferson City commuter parking lot just northeast of the Jefferson City airport exit off Highway 54.  

Presidents Place

by George Kopp

On the Road Again....

This month, appleJAC hits the road for a meeting in Columbia. A few times a year we try to have a meeting in Columbia to make attendance easier for our members from the north. This time, it was not easy to find a location, but long-time member, Larry Garvin, found a location we could use to meet at no cost to the club. Our next meeting will be held on May 3, 2011, at 7:00 pm at:

Air & Water Solutions, Inc.
1400 Heriford Rd, Suite 101
Columbia, MO 65202
(see map below)

Join us that evening to learn about Jazzing your Photos. The main part of the presentation will be performed by Dan Walsh, who is a professional at using Photoshop tools and doing layout design. He plans on showing how to work with colors, removing objects or people out of photos, along with replacing and adding items into photos. Dan knows quite a bit about Photoshop, so he shouldn't have a problem answering all your questions.

Images do not always come exactly as you wish to use them. You may need to do some cropping, adjust their colors or luminosity (brightness), change their size (resolution), or modify their content (delete an ex-husband). Dan will be showing us some techniques he uses to make photographs really sing. While all of you may not be up to a high-end program such as Photoshop, Adobe also has a lower-end image software called Photoshop Elements for a much lower cost that is in reach of nearly all of us.

appleJAC Classes

Each year, appleJAC holds a number of classes for the membership that allow you to make better use of the tools you have. We are in the process of planning a class on Apple's newest and most popular product to date: the iPad. This class will cover setting up and customizing your original iPad or iPad 2 to do the things you want to with it. It will also include an array of iPad applications that make your iPad experience even better. Look for more details on this class coming soon.

appleJAC also has videos of past classes for sale. These disks have the video of the screen from the presentations and the audio of the presenter to follow along, all in QuickTime format that you can play on your screen. Available classes on DVD include:

• MacOS X Leopard/Snow Leopard - $15
• iPhoto '09 - $15
• iMovie '09 - $15
• iWork '09 including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote - $25

If you are interested in one of these disks, email us at applejac@mac.com, and we can make a copy of it for you and have it at the next meeting.

I hope to see you in Columbia in May. If you live in the Jefferson City area and would like to carpool to Columbia that evening, you should meet at 6:20 pm in the North Jefferson City commuter parking lot.

From Vandiver, turn South on Westfall, just East of River Mist Spa.
From Westfall, turn Right, or West on Heriford
Air and Water is in the same building as Bright City Lights.

Fix Mac Defender Malware Problem

MAC Defender shows fake virus infection alerts in an effort to convince users to give up money and credit card numbers to an insecure server.

Security firm Intego announced Monday that a fake antivirus program for Mac OS X has been discovered in the wild. The fake antivirus software calls itself "MAC Defender," perhaps the first hint that it should not be trusted (Apple makes "Macs," not "MACs").

LINK TO READ MORE . . .

The best solution to remove Mac Defender appears to be:

• Boot to safe boot (hold Shift on startup)
• Remove from login items and start up items
• Removed from downloads
• Remove from Applications folder
• Restart computer.

Presidents Place

by George Kopp

Apple's iPad 2 event didn't disappoint. While there were no real surprises for people following the iPad 2 rumor mill, iPad 2 looks like a great upgrade over the original iPad. It is thinner, lighter, and faster than the original iPad. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that it was available in just 9 days after the announcement.  But, "available" is another story.

Thinner - 33% thinner. The iPad has gone from 13.4 mm to just 8.8 mm. The iPad 2 is now even skinnier than the iPhone 4 which is 9.3 mm thick.

Lighter - Up to 15% lighter claims Apple. This should come as a relief to those who felt the original iPad was too heavy.

Faster - The iPad 2 is getting a new dual core processor dubbed the A5. Apple says the new processor is twice as fast as the old one, and claims the graphics performance is 9 times faster.

Cameras - The new iPad comes into line with the rest of the iOS family by getting front- and rear-facing cameras. The front camera is a VGA camera that can be used for FaceTime chats with other iPad, iPhone, iPod, and Mac users. The rear camera can shoot 720p HD video.

iOS 4.3 - The new iPad will come with the newest version of Apple's mobile operating system iOS 4.3. This update enables better performance while using the Safari Internet browser, iTunes home sharing, Airplay improvements, and you can now turn the iPad mute switch back into the rotation lock if you so wish.

Other stuff - The iPad 2 also gets a gyroscope and will now be available in black or white. Apple demonstrated new apps for iMovie and GarageBand for iPad. Both apps looked very impressive and both are available now. Finally, Apple announced new ‚ "smart covers" for the iPad which act as a screen protector/case. The new cover is very interesting in that it attaches to the iPad with magnets. It really shows that it was designed alongside the iPad 2, and works like a charm,

Read more: http://www.theipadfan.com/ipad-2-thinner-lighter-faster-march-11/#ixzz1HBbGkVrb

While the iPad was available for order (delivery started in 3 to 5 days, but is now at 3 to 5 weeks), it was also available at Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. I went to all the stores in Jefferson CIty and found that in total, there were only about 30 iPads in Jeff CIty for sale, and they all sold immediately.

Our next meeting will be held on April 5, 2011, at 7:00 pm in our regular meeting room at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Jefferson City. Join us that evening to learn about Chatting with Video. Part of the presentations will also cover Apple's new Macintosh Apps Store and, of course, the iPad 2.

While we all hope the bulk of winter is over, I will once again give a reminder: if the Jefferson City Public Schools are closed on our meeting day due to inclement weather, we will not hold the appleJAC meeting that night.

Have a great month and join us for the presentation on Chatting with Video at the April meeting.  

 

Macworld Treasures: A Collection of Expo Gadgets

a review by Tom Piper

It is a well-known fact that I am a collector of gadgets . . . some cool, some odd, some exciting, and some just downright strange! This year is no exception as I open my suitcase of treasures brought home from Macworld 2011. Some of these I purchased, like Apple-logoed items from the Apple mothership in San Francisco, but most from cheerful and generous vendors who want their products reviewed.

At the March 1 meeting, I presented two dozen of these gadgets showing a variety including iPad accessories, iPhone chargers, and many other things. I have also have provided a review below of some of the most interesting of these items to help you see some of the newest goodies, and perhaps get a few of your own.

President's Place

by George Kopp

Sometimes things don't work out as planned! Who would have thought that we would get a blizzard in Missouri? 

Unfortunately, for the first time in many years, we were forced to cancel the appleJAC meeting due to Lewis and Clark Middle School being closed. 

The planned program to talk about the sights and sounds of Macworld 2011 will be held over for the March Meeting. There were many new things that were released at the expo, and we will be prepared to show and talk about many of the most exciting things.  

Macworld Expo was different than the last time that we attended. This year's expo was a much smaller event, but that didn't mean it wasn't exciting. Unlike years past when the sheer size of the event caused us to keep moving the entire week, this year's smaller show provided for plenty of time to roam the isles and really look at some of the products. appleJAC's gadget guru, Tom Piper took full advantage of the smaller size to sample some truly interesting products. At the March meeting, he will be showing many of these, and we will show some of the photos we took at the show. All in all, this was a great trip that left some time for sight seeing too.  

In addition to Macworld, we took a morning and visited the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. What a great place to relive some of the great events of the computer.

Our next meeting will be held on March 1, 2011, at 7:00pm in our regular meeting room at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Jefferson City. Join us that evening to learn about exciting new trends and products from Macworld Expo. Part of the presentations will also cover Apple's new Macintosh Apps Store.

Just a reminder: if the Jefferson City Public Schools are again closed on our meeting day due to inclement weather, we will not hold the appleJAC meeting that night.

Have a great month and join us for the presentation on Macworld Expo at the March meeting. I believe it will be worth waiting for it an additional month.

January 2011 Meeting Agenda

December 2010 Meeting Agenda

November 2010 Meeting Agenda

 

 

 

 

October Meeting Agenda

President's Corner: Back to School Meeting FOR FUN

by Tom Piper, aJMUG President

As Labor Day quickly approaches, all of the signs of Summer are beginning to shimmer away, and we return to the realities of school, Fall cleanups, and the approach of Autumn colors. We again commence our regular meetings at Lewis and Clark Middle School with some delightful new features. I'm at a health conference in Branson right now, and it is so pretty looking out over the lake, and relaxing for a few minutes.

At our last meeting at Missouri Press Association in Columbia, I intended to show my new Point2View webcam/scanner/display device, and George told us about his new Apple Magic Trackpad, but both were left it at home (we will bring them to the next meeting). As for iPhone apps, Jan Watson told us about ‚ÄúMy Trip & More‚Äù, Mark Snell told us about ‚"TripIt‚", Joe Mertzlufft told us about the American Airline AA app, Sharon Hanson told us about ‚"Words with Friends", Marion Petrides told us about ‚ÄúDropBox‚Äù, and I demonstrated ‚"You Gotta See This‚" photo montage app. It was a wonderful marathon season of really cool apps (be sure to bring your story to our next meeting too).

Our host, Greg Baker (advertising director), introduced us to Kent Ford (magazine editor) and Michael Daugherty (web manager). Together, they told us about their membership, the way they produce association products with their Macs, the myths about newspapers and much more that was very interesting. Twenty-one of our members were in attendance which was just about right for the conference room we were in. Alice Kopp again provided another interesting perspective on our website. The evening's door prize winners included:

•     Desk Tool                            Sharon Hanson
•     Apple stress ball                  Larry Garvin
•     appleJAC bag clip                Bill Webb
•     appleJAC red flashlight        Aileen Garvin
•     appleJAC blue flashlight      Jan Watson
•     appleJAC silver flashlight     Mark Snell
•     appleJAC green flashlight    George Kopp

       
George also announced that the iMovie MacClass (previously scheduled for last Spring) will now be held on October 7 and 14 at the Learfield Communications offices. Registration for this two-night 7-9pm series is $25, and can be made by emailing applejac@mac.com (the minimum class size will be 8 participants). See the ad on our website for details.

Our next meeting will be take us back to Conference Room 600 at Lewis and Clark Middle School. Mark your calendar NOW for the appleJAC ‚"Fun and Leisure", meeting on Tuesday, September 7, 2010, at 7:00 pm. Bring family, friends and new members to get the most out of your Mac and other Apple products.

September 2010 Agenda

August 2010 Agenda

 

President’s Corner: Summer Has Arrived (new iPhones, too)!!!

 
by Tom Piper, aJMUG President

Summer is upon us . . . the longest day of the year (summer solstice) is now past . . . heat and humidity remind us of the splendors of Missouri . . . and we are thankful for the blessings of air conditioning and iced refreshments. AND, true to the predictions of the Cupertino King (Steve Jobs), iOS 4 was delivered that first day of Summer, and the 4G iPhones started arriving on June 23 (Steve Mays was our first member to get his). So, now we must find balance between our electronic tools and other daily demands.

On a personal note, you may have already heard that I am now living alone. Not everything lasts forever, but I feel blessed that I’ve had 35 years of family life, with a son (who also has had a son), and many cherished memories. My challenges now include adapting to a two-bedroom duplex near Binder Lake (5418 Deer Valley Drive), learning how to cook (something my grandmother who raised me never taught me), and attending to domestic duties (a constant test of my memory). Working for the state takes ever more time as our resources are diminished and the workload increases. So, if I’m a little slow in responding to your inquiries, I hope that you will understand (MacQuest Consulting is still alive and well).

At our last meeting, the appleJAC MUG Annual Picnic at the Landwehr pool (thank you Mayor John and Peggy), enjoying both sun and rain. Hamburgers and hotdogs were served fresh off the grills, joining a wonderful array of side dishes and desserts. All 30 people in attendance seemed to have a great time (until the rain returned).
       
Our next meeting is our annual MacFixIt Meeting where we diagnose hardware and software problems, help install memory/harddrive/system upgrades, discuss regular maintenance concerns, and ways to boost performance. With recent iOS, iPhone, Safari and other Apple updates, we will spend some time explaining these too. Tasir Yanis will be hosting our meeting at his Coffee Zone at 130 East High Street (our gathering place every Saturday morning).

Mark your calendar NOW for the appleJAC Macintosh Users MacFixIt meeting on Tuesday, July 6, 2010, at 7:00 pm. Bring family, friends and new members downtown JC to the Coffee Zone to get the most out of your Mac and other Apple products.

July 2010 Meeting Agenda

 

June Meeting Agenda

 

 

2010 May Meeting Agenda

 
 

April 2010 Meeting Agenda

 

 

  

Mac Dictionary of Terms Presentations

 

Social Networking

 

Photographic Terms Presentation

 

Ports Size and Speed

Network Terms and Network Setup