Don Macnaughton, LCC Librarian, is using MacSpeech as an aid to writing a book. He will show us what this software is all about this month. It looks fascinating. I’ve spent time with a disabled friend using the old IBM Via Voice software on OS 8.5. It was a struggle for him – but it was better that any of the alternatives. I have high hopes for MacSpeech.

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

If you’re not sure that you favorite software is capable of running under Mac OS 10.6 go to snowleopard.wikidot.com

It’s a growing list. If your program is not yet on the list you should check again in a day or two.

Other good sites to visit:

usingmac.com

usingyourmac.com

alltop.com

arstechnica.com

engadget.com

And finaly, two Widgets of note:

AppUpdate

WidgetUpdate

This month we check out Snow Leopard. It’s out. It’s 64 bit and it’s got some cool stuff under the hood. It’s also smaller and tighter. Dick Lennox reports that he now has 7 gigabytes of free space formerly occupied by system software. We’ll kick the tires and look under the hood.

There will also be new hardware and software announcements earlier in the month so buckle up for a great ride.

We also have a Facebook group for EMUG. Go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143871215140 or search Groups for “Eugene Macintosh Users Group”.

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

Marsee Henon from O’Reilly Media writes:

We’ve just launched a new webcast series focusing on issues and concerns that transcend national boundaries. The O’Reilly Radar Global Issues Webcast Series will feature scientists, technologists, and other thought leaders seeking to inform and engage O’Reilly’s audience about the most pressing issues of the day, including energy, climate, the environment, and globalization. The series, offered free of charge, is designed to educate as well as involve the audience in an ongoing discussion about these topics.

Kicking off the series is Energy Literacy presented by Dr. Saul Griffith, on Wednesday, August 26 at 10am PT. Griffith has multiple degrees in materials science and mechanical engineering, and is the co-founder of numerous companies, including WattzOn, a free online tool to quantify, track, compare and understand the total amount of energy needed to support all of the facets of your lifestyle. Registration is required in advance.

On September 3, Prof. Per F. Peterson, chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, will present Nuclear Energy: Future Directions. Peterson’s talk will cover the current status of nuclear energy, and review the potential directions the technology may go in the future. Other speakers in the series include Dr. S. Pete Worden, NASA Ames Research Center Director and Sameer Padania, Hub Manager for Witness.org.

Rather than offering a passive experience, webcasts provide the opportunity for audience participation. Attendees view the live presentations via their computers and are encouraged to share comments, questions, and resources through the event chat room while the event takes place.

“Our webcasts typically attract a global audience. It’s not unusual to host participants from thirty countries or more,” says Allen Noren, O’Reilly’s vice president of online initiatives. “Each webcast generates an explosion of creative participation, much like our conferences. We fully expect that attendees of this series will be informed, and we fully expect to see solutions offered.”

For more information about the O’Reilly Radar Global Issues Webcast Series and other O’Reilly webcasts, see: oreilly.com/webcasts

This month well just relax and have a picnic. This meeting is open to members and their families and significant others. Members can also bring friends. We’ll light the grill at 5:30.

The place is Charnel Mulligan Park at 17th & Charnelton. That’s 2 blocks west of the Veterans’ Building where we normally meet. It’s a beautiful urban park with shaded eating space and lots of space for the kids to play. There’s a small market (Cornucopia) down the street if you forget anything and Safeway is 3 blocks away if you REALLY forget something.

EMUG will provide hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, buns, condiments, soda and paper plates. Bring side dishes, chips or salad. Bring your own cutlery (We’ll have some spares available).

** In case of rain we’ll abandon the picnic and meet as usual at the Veterans Memorial Building.

Bring a friend and bring a smile!

This month we’ll play about with iWeb, the MobileMe Gallery, facebook and Twitter publishing in iPhoto. Changes ihave been made to Apple’s MobileMe service. There have also been several upgrades to iWeb since we last visited it. Gallery is new and quite useful.

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

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference is history for another year. We’ll cover the announcements and look at some of the products — mostly through a long telescope since the distinction between “announced” and “delivered” (and “delivered to our part of the world”) is seldom stressed in the technology sector. There’s still software to check out

Safari 4.0 is out, as are a number of updates to the iLife and iWork applications. Of course there’s iPhone news, as well.

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

This month we’ll do an overview of iPhoto, online image editing and sharing. We’ll touch on Picasa, Flickr, Photoshop Express, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop CS, and some shareware. We’ll demonstrate some simple editing tasks. We’ll also discuss the pro-level apps – Aperture and Lightroom.

Programs and strategies to insure the safety of your photos, among these, Back-up or Die will be featured. (With a name like that, who can resist.)

It will be an evening of tips and techniques. A CD will be available containing links and information regarding Digital Photography.

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

This is the list of files on the EMUG shareware disk. Disks are $5.00 at the meeting. I can arrange to meet members unable to attend the meeting later in the week. Only local members (Eugene-Springfield area). Don’t order a disk from South Carolina. I’m not driving that far to deliver a $5.00 disk.

The file is Shareware.pdf. Click this link.

When the page loads, click to select the file and then click the down-arrow at the right end of the line to download.

This month we do some housecleaning. We’ll look at some of those indispensable small and often overlooked programs, widgets and utilities for your Mac and your iPhone. To start with, we’ll spend some quality time with Preview and TextEdit.

We’ll also look at programs that have outlived their usefulness such as OS 9, MS Word and MS Office.

We’re open to member requests and favorites. Use the Contact page to suggest inclusions. We plan to produce a disk of shareware around this theme.

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