SVMUG: Gordon Bell of Prosoft and a Special Offer

On September 17, the officers and members of the Silicon Valley Macintosh User Group (SVMUG) will host speaker Gordon Bell, President of Prosoft Engineering. Along with a discussion of the company’s excellent products, Gordon will discuss scams in the computer recovery business, including fake reviews and shadow companies. Best of all, Prosoft has offered to recycle any members’ old hard drives turned in at the meeting. The company provides this as a community service, wiping drives for privacy and recycling drive parts. Bring a drive, hear a great preso and maybe even win an iPod Shuffle. Who could ask for more?

Visit the Silicon Valley Macintosh User Group.

http://svmug.org/groups/svmug/blog/

(Thanks to Pam and her great publicity skills for sending meeting notices.)

iGroup, Usuarios Mac Mexico: 13 Years of Fun

Usuarios Mac Mexico President Edgar Orduña reports that the group will be celebrating their 13th anniversary this month. Congratulations to the officers and members of iGroup, and thanks to Edgar for his many years of hard work in the user group community!

Learn about iGroup.

http://www.igroup.com.mx/iGroup,_Usuarios_Mac_Mexico/iGroup.html

Enjoy photos of the group over the years.

http://www.igroup.com.mx/iGroup,_Usuarios_Mac_Mexico/Las_fotos/Las_fotos.html

Mac Computer Expo: Be There

This year’s Mac Expo 2012, the largest expo of its type in the Bay Area, will be held on October 6 at the Petaluma Community Center.

After 19 years, the Expo continues to delight with world-class speakers, sponsors and opportunities for learning, networking and more. The first MCE included a few hundred attendees. Last year’s Expo saw a few thousand attendees enjoy a day of education and fun as MCE continued to grow. This year continues the tradition.

Want to meet vendors and learn about new products? NCMUG has a great relationship with vendors far and wide and the MCE sponsor list is impressive, including Smile Software, SnapScan, Parallels, Mac|Life, Adonit, Noteboom Productions, WellRedApps, Boinx Software, Data Rescue Center, Hewlett-Packard, Macworld Magazine, Micromat, O’Reilly Media, Prosoft Engineering, SwingChair, The Mac Observer, TUAW and many more.

Want to hear from great speakers? The MCE speaker list includes many of the best-known names in the Macintosh community, including Derrick Story, Allison Sheridan, Chris Breen, Jeff Gamet, Tom Negrino, Kerry Rego, Bert Monroy and NCMUG Vice President Ronnie Roche (as of press time).

Are you interested in service to the community? As part of the Expo, Data Rescue Center is offering a chance to win a free iPad; attendees can earn one raffle ticket for each drive turned in for recycling in addition to helping the environment. Good Will Industries will have an eWaste recycling drop off area as well.

Want to learn about interesting topics? This year’s topics include a panel discussion of women in technology, a presentation on parenting in the mobile internet age and another on accessibility.

Will there be fun discussions, educational offerings and great networking? Of course!

The team regularly releases information about additional speakers, sessions and sponsors. So, keep an eye on the Mac Expo 2012 web and Facebook pages for announcements.

Macintosh Computer Expo

http://www.maccomputerexpo.com/

Like them on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/maccomputerexpo

Apple Users’ Society of Melbourne: Rob Cummings Talks Security

The featured speaker for the Apple Users’ Society of Melbourne’s (AUSOM) main meeting on October 6 will be Rob Cummings, a Security Analyst for Fujitsu Australia Limited. Rob has a long history of assessing companies’ security and offering risk mitigation advice, including many companies in the ASX200. Of course, he is a Mac fan. Interestingly, he was also part of the team that opened the first official Apple Store in Melbourne.

The fun won’t stop there – from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the New Hope Baptist Church in Blackburn North will be full of activity, including vendors, new products, multiple SIG sessions, opportunities to check out books from the group’s library and meet with group members for tips and troubleshooting.  Add in a raffle full of great prizes, and the day couldn’t be better.

Learn about the Apple Users’ Society of Melbourne.

http://www.ausom.net.au/gallery1/index.html

See a full list of the day’s activities.

http://www.ausom.net.au/nextmeetings/index.html

The Fresno Macintosh Users Group: Chris Breen Presents

On October 2 Chris Breen, Senior Editor for Macworld Magazine, technology writer, musician and beloved author of the popular “Mac 911” articles, will present to the Fresno Macintosh Users Group. On September 4 the group will be hosting an iOS special Event and on October 2 they will host Chris Breen: what a fun month for members of Fresno’s Macintosh User Group.

Learn about the Fresno Macintosh Users Group.

http://www.fresnomug.com/Fresnomug/News___MacYack.html

Plano Macintosh User Group: Lesa Snider Presents

A recent question on the AUG-D boards asked where groups can find presentation ideas. The good news is that many talented group members make their presentations available online. Joe McKernan of the Plano Macintosh User Group provided a link to Lesa Snider’s recent CS6 presentation. Need a quick meeting presentation? Check out what groups across the world are posting to their web sites, Facebook and YouTube.

Check out the Plano Macintosh User Group Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/12091143662/

Watch Lesa’s presentation.

http://layersmagazine.com/photoshop-cs6-patch-tool.html

Milestones: September 2012

This month’s Milestones includes three groups who first met in 1979 – 33 years of fun, family and tech. Happy anniversary to a worldwide list of some of our oldest groups. Want to see your group listed? Send an email with date and year to ugbeditor@mac.com.

1979 Houston Area Apple Users Group
http://www.haaug.org/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/9219003379/?ref=ts

(Congrats to Rex Covington, Doug Smith, Jeff Davis, Rick Roberts and the officers and members of HAAUG.)

1979 AppleCore of Memphis, Inc.
http://www.memphisapplecore.com

(sending a tip of the hat to President Brent Wheeler and the members of AppleCore Memphis.)

1979 South Australian Apple Users’ Club Inc.
http://www.saauc.org.au
(Congrats to President Marie Good and members of SAAUC.)

1984 Sierra Nevada Apple User Group
http://www.SNAG.org
(Greetings to SNAG Ambassador and former Apple User Group Advisory Board member Del Missier.)

1985 Mountain View Computer Users Group
http://www.mvcug.org
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-View-Computer-Users-Group/153542617998955
(Congrats to MVCUG President and author John Buono and the members of MVCMUG.)

1989 Prescott Mac User Group (Arizona)
http://www.pmug.us

(Sending a shout out to President Art Gorski, Apple Ambassador Ward Stanke and members of PMUG.)

1992 History and Macintosh Society
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~mac/
(Greetings to Advisory Board member and List Editor Marc Bizer.)

1995 MacApple Users of San Antonio
http://www.lottsthoughts.com/samacapple/
https://www.facebook.com/samacapple

(Congrats to President Nathan Lott, original member and founder Ilene Devlin, and group members.)

Mountain Lion Presentation: Terry White of MacGroup Detroit

When Terry White founded MacGroup Detroit on August 24 in 1986, none of the group could have foreseen the amazing organization that celebrated 26 years this year. From multiple well-attended SIGs and main meetings, to a BBS with over 500 registered members (serving both local members and those at a distance), to a YouTube channel for sharing meeting presentations and more, the members and officers of MacGroup Detroit have kept the excitement going through hard work and a friendly atmosphere.

At their August 26 meeting, Terry offered an overview of Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and some tips and tricks to get the most out of Mountain Lion’s features. The best part is that he posted the presentation on YouTube, making it available to the community.

Thanks to Terry and group for this great resource.

View the MacGroup August 26, 2012 Meeting – Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion Presentation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cllg8CxutnU&feature=youtu.be&a

MacGroup on Facebook regularly offers reviews and ideas.

https://www.facebook.com/macgroup

Check out the MacGroup members-only BBS.

http://macgroup.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x

Read the MacGroup MacNews Blog.

http://macgroup.org/blog/2012/08/26/happy-26th-anniversary-macgroup-detroit/

 

 

TAGteam: Founder Dan East Noted in Modern Drummer Magazine

Apple User Group members know Dan East as a UGU presenter, TAGteam founder and long-time advocate of user groups. What you may not know is that he is a also music producer, engineer and drummer. The most-recent Modern Drummer magazine notes that Dan has recently signed with Aquarian Drumheads. Dan plays with Iko Iko, the Blues band that appears in the films Cape Fear and Contact. His career also includes performances with Christina Christian (American Idol), George Terry (Eric Clapton), Gerald Levert, Alto Reed (Bob Seger), Billy Mann, John Mooney, Albert Castiglia, Patxi Pastor All-Star Band, Nico Wayne Toussaint, Alberto Slezynger, Delmar Brown (Sting), Leroy Romans (Rihanna, P. Diddy, Jimmy Cliff), Fernest Arceneaux, Warren Caesar and more.

Congrats Dan!

Here is Iko Iko on PBS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=792grEq7RuA&feature=player_embedded

Macat TW: Special Sept. 9 “Apple User Group Meeting in Kaohsiung 2012”

The officers and members of Macat TW, Taiwan’s Mac User Group, will be holding a special meeting event on September 9 at the Kaohsiung Business Office Center in Kaohsiung City. The event will bring together attendees from both north and south for speaker sessions, networking, a vegetarian lunch, trainings, a raffle containing more than $2,500 (US) in prizes and even a secret guest speaker.  From Final Cut Pro to Filemaker Pro and iDevices, if you are an Apple fan, this is wonderful opportunity to share enthusiasm for Apple products, learn about new vendors and network with a fun filled crowd of enthusiasts.

Register for the Apple User Group Meeting in Kaohsiung 2012.

http://macat.tw/AUGM2012/

Learn about Macat TW (The site provides some great pictures of the group as well).

http://www.macat.tw/

Visit Macat TW on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/Macattw

(Special thanks to P.R. Ambassador HeChien Hsu for this great tip!)