2010-01-25 January Meeting

[fivespan]

== agenda ==

1) News and views (~20 min)
2) Local iPhone application developer, Oasamu Wakabayashi (~30 min)
 - (bring your iPhone or iPod Touch!)

~~ Break ~~

3) fotomagico (~15 min with Ferriss High)
4) Secure your USB thumb drive data for free (~15 min with Paul Timmins)
5) Snow Leopard discussion (~30 min - group discussion)

[ben schmidt]

Based on Panic Software customers running their Coda web-development product, two-thirds (64%) of Mac-based web developers are estimated to be running OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). And 96% of mac-based web-developers are running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or better.		However, when we look at a broader base of of Mac users who are using Panic's excellent ftp client, Transmit -- printing presses, photographers, others -- the adoption rate for OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard users) drops to 38%. But a substantial but smaller 82% are running at least OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or better.

 

For the full article:
  Mac OS X Stats 12/09,
  Dec 23, 2009,
  Panic Software Blog

[ben schmidt]

Discussion

• Apple Quarterly Results released Today
• And of course don't forget about THE Apple Event Wednesday (a tablet ? We'll have to wait and see). It will be in all the online Mac sites by end of Wednesday.

Recent Purchases

• iPod Touch
• iPod nano, purchased for the built-in FM tuner. N.B. Did not find Apple-brand headphones necessary to hear radio.
• Discussion of Scanners used for capturing 35mm slides: OpticFilm 7300 and Epson Perfection 600, both can used with 3rd-party scanner software: SilverFast.com. Recommended.
• Scanning 35mm can be time-consuming to load scanner tray. One member recommended this alternative: Ottawavideotransfer.com

• Duracell Rechargeable Li-Ion battery for iPhone/iPod Touch or any USB-powered device (e.g. GPS, camera, etc.) Purchased at Costco Ottawa for $CDN 30. Since it needs you to carry your devices USB cable, iPhone/iPod Touch users might want to pick up an extra USB cable. USBFever.com sells one for $6.99 with shipping of $2.99. All prices in $US. And take a look at their cable organizers for headphones while you're there.

Mac Repairs

• Good experience with Apple Rideau store on the repair of failed DVD burner - wouldn't burn dual-layer DVDs
• Discussion of some other repair shops in Ottawa, a non-exhaustive list which included Algonquin College Computer store, The Mac Group, Carbon Computing, and Computer Concepts. Sadly, a class operation, iServiceDepot.ca recently closed their operations, but not before "All customer repairs have been completed, all systems have been returned in good order, and our dedicated team has been fully compensated for all of their fantastic efforts."
• One member came up at break and reported being very happy with The Mac Clinic where Steve Mash repaired her mac.
  

 
Member Probs

• A member had a problem with iPhone and iTunes syncing. Originally she had been using Microsoft Entourage for address book and calendar syncing, but had since simplified to using OS X's Address Book and iCal. Along the way her iTunes had 'lost' the location of her stored songs, so upon loading would no longer show them. And now the Adddress Book and iCal were no longer syncing with her iPhone.  Worse, her master calendar was now on the iPhone with no way to get it back to her Mac. Additional information:  OS X 10.4 (Tiger) on a G4, with only 5% free space on her hard drive.
  
• Suggestion 1: Get the TakeControlBooks.com: Take Control of Syncing. It's a  $10 PDF download available in three different editions for Tiger, Leopard, and Snow Leopard.
• Suggestion 2: Create a brand-new account on your Mac, using the Accounts preference pane, and trying syncing your iPhone to that, being very careful to read all messages so you don't wipe-out the one good copy of your calendar on your iPhone.
• Post-fix suggestion 1: Once your iPhone and OS X calendars are once more syncing via iTunes, hopefully through Suggestion 2, regularly back up your Mac, or at the very least,  your iCal calendar. Here's one way: How to back up iCal calendars. Here's another: in iCal select File > Export...
• All: Post-fix suggestion 2: Don't hesitate to post your problems to forums such as Mugoo's Support forum or Apple's user forum: discussions.apple.com. And finally don't forget to take advantage of the Genius Bar at the Ottawa Rideau Apple store. Book ahead.