Maybe not officially, but it should be!

Steve Jobs gave us an idea of the gravity of the situation when introducing Time Machine a year ago. Four percent of computer users actually back up adequately. If you ask yourself the question, “What will it cost me to reconstruct my data for the last day, or week, or month?” then you begin to appreciate the value of automated backup.

We’ll hopefully have a Time Capsule to play with. They seem to fly in and out of stock which indicates that many users already have asked themselves the “Cost” question mentioned previously. We’ll also demonstrate the set up process for Time Machine.

The Macintosh Mystery hour precedes the main meeting as always.

Bring your questions. Bring your answers. Bring a friend!

Dick Lennox led us on a real romp through some of the best features of the Leopard OS and the iLife applications. He recommended an article by Robin Williams on the Peachpit Press web site. She explores the 10 most overlooked features of Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. This is a real eye-opener! I opened each of the mentioned programs and tinkered along with the article. I’m inspired to play with the iLife applications and the system just to find other gems. Thanks Dick!

We discussed the need, or lack thereof, for antivirus software on our Macs. One article I forgot to mention is on the Tidbits site. Should Mac Users Run Antivirus Software, by Rich Mogull, gives a good overview of the issues and dangers involved.

Jeff Scoble from The Mac Store gave us a brief update on the state of the wireless systems in the Veterans’ Memorial Building. They rearranged the wiring and replaced the main hub. They reset the broadcast bands to avoid conflicts internally and externally. They did everything but jack up the hood ornament and run a new car under it! The result is great connectivity and blazing throughput. We had 13 laptops plus a couple of iPhones and some other devices using the wireless network without a hitch. Thanks guys!

Rod Jensen was preparing a short presentation for the future on Spaces and it happened that a portion of his presentation dovetailed into a question posed from the floor during the Macintosh Mystery Hour. He folded a portion of his content into the discussion seamlessly. Pretty good for a first time presenter who wasn’t even working directly on his chosen topic.  Thanks Rod!

We have a number of seemingly disparate items to discuss this month. The common element is APPLE, Inc. (As if you couldn’t guess.)

The new iPhone SDK leads the pack and we’ll explore its implications for us. Safari 3.1 has also been released and we’ll take a first look at this opus. The Leopard update (OS 10.5.2) is out and there are updates for the iLife and iWork applications as well. Plenty to talk about!

The Macintosh Mystery Hour preceeds the main meeting. Bring your questions. Bring your answers. Bring a friend!

We will now meet on the THIRD Wednesday of each month. Same time. Same location. Dmitri has adjusted the countdown timer under our Banner and it now looks at the third Wednesday of March. We’ve already had our meeting on the 12th so don’t show up on the 19th of February!

We’ve changed our meeting night to relieve an ongoing overbooking problem at the Veterans Memorial Building. They worked around it as much as they could but it finally became apparent that someone had to move and we’re the smallest and most nimble group. It appears that the majority of their Wednesday business falls on the second Wednesday of each month.

With this move nearly everyone will be happy. The sole, and painful, exception is Webb Sussman, our publicity manager. He made it plain when we started the process of change that we should do what was necessary despite his current conflict. Webb will continue to support the group in his current capacity. We thank him for his support and understanding.

So! Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 19th and we will meet each third Wednesday thereafter.

Bring your questions. Bring your answers. Bring a friend!

• Steve Jobs opened his bag of tricks at MacWorld last month. We’ll explore the new stuff from Apple this month. It’s not clear the MacBook Air will be here yet but we can hope!

UPDATE: It’s here!

UPDATE: Our spies at MacWorld have returned with SWAG!

The Macintosh Mystery Hour precedes the main meeting. You never know what you’ll learn. Bring your questions. Bring your answers. Bring a friend!

• We need to change our meeting night starting in March. The Veterans Building is full up for several months. All their regular Wednesday business is clustered on the second Wednesday. We’ll be making a hard choice very soon to change our meeting to another Wednesday of the month. Your input will be sought by email soon. We’ll try to gore as few oxes as possible.

It’s a mixed bag this month. We’ll take a look at FileMaker’s new personal database product – Bento. The program is still in demo form. The finished product is due for release in January but we’ll still be able to get a feel for the style and substance of the product.  Feel free to contribute your own impressions.

MacWorld happens the week following our meeting so we’ll engage in some wild speculation regarding the contents of Steve Jobs’ magic hat. What will he pull out?

The Macintosh Mystery Hour preceeds the meeting, as usual. Bring your questions. Bring your answers. Bring a friend!

Please check out the story below regarding a theft of computer equipment.

A former EMUG member suffered a theft recently:

On December 20 my home in Fall Creek was broken into while I was out of the country and my house sitter was gone for a few hours.

The thieves took my 2 year old iMac G5 (serial # W86100DZTAU). It ran system 10.4.9 (or 10?) and also had Classic with 9.2. I think it had a 250GB hard drive. The really bad news is they also stole my backup hard drive (silver LaCie 160GB) with a complete current backup including many years of digital photos. They also took my husband’s old PowerPC G4 with system 9.2 (I haven’t turned up a serial # yet). I’m scrambling to go through old files that I’d put on CD and zip, but we need to get a new zip drive (old SCSI one was stolen) and a computer that can read system 9 (old Quark files that I need to convert to In Design—again).

If anyone sees a suspicious computer for sale (no box etc) or has any good ideas as to how to locate one (the cops are too busy to help) we’d appreciate being contacted. Also I’m having trouble getting a hold of an old computer capable of using Quark 5, do you know of any old Mac to rent, borrow, buy whatever?

Thanks so much, Tanya Harvey 937-1401

If you have any information on this theft or a machine that can be used to help them recover their files, use the Contact tab at the top of this page. I’ll pass the info along.

The folks from The Mac Store will bring a selection of wonderful, weird, wild and wacky Macintosh and iPod related goodies. You may see things you haven’t seen before. You may see something in a completely different light. We’ll do our best to tickle you fancy and stimulate your imagination. This will be a relaxed, easygoing evening. Enjoy!

As always, the Macintosh Mystery Hour precedes the main meeting. Bring your questions. Bring your answers. Bring a friend!

Within one week of its release,  Apple sold 2 million copies of Leopard. This is the best response – ever – to an Apple OS release.

This month we emphasize those discoveries within Mac OS 10.5 Leopard that were not discussed in October because of  Non-Disclosure Agreements. We’ll also revisit the minimum system requirements and best practices for upgrading your Mac to Leopard.

Bring your questions. Bring your answers. Bring a friend!

We’ll do an overview of Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard” which is due for release in October. The new cat on the block is full of improvements and interesting goodies. These range from basic improvements to the operating system, to new ways to organize and access your files, to souped-up versions of the included applications. We’ll cover as much as we can in the time available.

See the Sidebar for date and time. Don’t forget the Macintosh Mystery Hour starting at 6:30. Bring your questions. Bring your answers. Bring a friend!