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User Group News Bulletin
AWUGU Meeting Report About Utility Tools: Pros and Cons and AWUGU Speakers Bureau by Tom Piper
AWUGU Meeting Report About Utility Tools: Pros and Cons and AWUGU Speakers Bureau by Tom Piper
This Apple World User Group University (AWUGU) online gathering of Apple user group leaders was held at 5:00pm CDST, on March 18, 2024, via Zoom. We had 32 participants for this excellent gathering (see Zoom JPG image and PDF attendance list in shared AWUGU folder). The 75-minute video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/abtEg5sXTUs (unlisted on YouTube).
This session opened with my confusing welcome, plus a quick review of the meeting protocols. Most time was devoted to an interactive discussion about the many good and bad examples of mostly Mac utilities like CleanMyMac, TechTools, CarbonCopyCloner, Onyx, StellarDataRecovery, Apple Disk Utility, Memory Clean, Intego, Clam XAV, LockRattler, SetApp, Parallels Toolkit and many others (links to all items show are in Chat file in the AWUGU shared iCloud file, see link below). Many questions and comments were then added. read more…
Giving to Community: PMUG Clinic Via Zoom
For as long as there have been user groups, there have been helpful members who generously donate their skills and time to help others learn. Long before Apple Stores had their Genius desks and red phones, quite a few groups held Members Helping Members clinics, often on a Saturday afternoon, where folk could get their issues resolved and their questions answered. Due to the pandemic and other issues, many clinics closed. Still, there are groups that do a wonderful job of providing help, either by listing phone numbers of member-experts for various topics or running clinics online.
For example, PMUG, Portland’s Mac Users Group, runs a wonderful weekly PMUG Clinic via Zoom and publicizes it in their newsletter and meetings. What a great way to help the community and show potential members the value of membership!
Does your group help members outside of meetings? If not, why not consider a Zoom Clinic 🙂 read more…
Meeting Idea: Apple’s Conversation Boost and Conversation Awareness Features
Health-related topics make for a great how-to session. Your members might enjoy a short how-to on ways to improve hearing on their iPhone, iPad, or AirPods Pro. For example, Conversation Boost for your AirPods Pro can help members hear conversations in crowded or noisy environments. And, using Conversation Awareness in Control Center on your iPhone or iPad can help people seamlessly lower the volume of their media or pause their podcasts while enhancing conversations.
How to use Conversation Awareness with AirPods Pro (2nd generation) | Apple Support
How to turn on Conversation Boost for AirPods Pro on iPhone and iPad | Apple Support
How to reset your AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max | Apple Support
Blast From the Past: San Francisco Chronicle Comments on the First Macworld Expo
In 2021 Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle offered some memories of that first Macworld Expo, not big enough for Moscone but still big enough for 100 vendors on site. Why is this article special? Aside from great memories, there’s a copy of the original poster for that Expo. While admission was $15 for exhibitions, attendees could get $5 off with a coupon. And, the coupon could get you exhibitions and conferences for $25. Student got an even better deal.
Check out the article for great memories, fun pics, and a look back at an 11 foot working Mac. By the time Steve Jobs Steve Jobs was part of the Expo it had grown amazingly.
Read the article by Peter Hartlaub. read more…
News to Use: The Art of Post Audio Night at LACPUG
The 6,000+ member strong LA Creative Pro community will hold their next meeting on Wednesday, March 27 at the Gallery Theatre in Hollywood. And, the meeting’s topic is a winner: The Art of Post Audio, featuring Sound Editor Brian Armstrong from Warner Brothers Sound. If you have enjoyed Bates Motel, The Walking Dead, or the FX Television Series Event: Shogun, you have enjoyed Brian’s work. But wait, there’s more: Carlos Sanches and Josh Eckberg from Warner Brothers Sound will be there too. Still not sure? Stump the Gurus and the World Famous Raffle will be part of the evening’s entertainment. Michael Horton and team surely know how to provide wonderful creative pro sessions.
Learn, network, and increase your skills.
CPUG: Possible 2024 SuperMeet at NAB
If you have been to a SuperMeet during NAB or other gathering, you know why each SuperMeet is considered a premier marquee community event. And, you probably missed the opportunity to be with the creative pro community last year. The good news is that there are plans to bring SuperMeets back for 2024, with a planned SuperMeet 2024 at NABShow and possibly others.
Keep an eye on the SuperMeet site to join your peers in post production and broadcast communities, including creatives, collaborative editors, filmmakers, digital content creators and their associates, for complimentary drinks & light food, networking and amazing giveaways (believe me, truly amazing) – and grow your connections to help you move forward and empower your creativity!
Meeting Idea at your Apple Store: Privacy on iPhone
Get Started: Taking Charge of Your Privacy on iPhone
Did you know that your group can book a session just for your group at many Apple Store locations? One currently-popular 30-minute Today at Apple session might make a perfect topic for a group meeting. It covers passwords, Mail Privacy Protection, Location Services, and related built-in privacy feature in your phone’s iOS. Better yet, it covers how your members can customize those features to ensure your privacy is in your control.
AWUGU Meeting Report about Apple Vision Pro and Browsers: Old & New by Tom Piper
By Tom Piper, AWUGU Coordinator
This Apple World User Group University (AWUGU) online gathering of Apple user group leaders was held at 5:00pm CDST, on February 19, 2024, via Zoom. We had 32 participants for this great gathering. The 74-minute video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/tGcmgRlNYKw (unlisted on YouTube).
This session opened with my welcome, plus a quick review of the meeting protocols. This was followed by my 10-minute video about first impressions of the Apple Vision Pro, then an advanced discussion on this topic by Mart Jencius and Dan Wassink. Next was an animated discussion about basic and advanced Internet browsers over the last 40 years (links to all items show are in Pages file in the AWUGU shared iCloud file, see link below). Many questions and comments were then added.
Related to these topics and more are the following additions made by attendees with the following links:
- David Bourne: One use case – https://9to5mac.com/2024/02/19/vision-pros-robust-accessibility-features-shown-off-in-new-video-navigating-without-hands/
- Marty Jencius (NEOAC) about ARC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_(web_browser)#:~:text=As%20opposed%20to%20many%20other,uses%20Google%20Search%20by%20default
- David Bourne : My first web server started in 1994 – on the wayback machine https://web.archive.org/web/19971210052558/http://www.cpb.uokhsc.edu/
- Hope Tillman : https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/30/23284992/apple-pay-compatible-edge-chrome-firefox-ios-16-beta-browsers-safari
- Ann MacKay, CHUG : https://allthings.how/how-to-use-the-arc-browser/
- David Bourne : https://github.com/apple/ml-mgie
We are very pleased with this second meeting of 2024. Files related to this meeting (including chat, agendas, reports, announcement links, slideshows and videos) are available on our AWUGU shared folder: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0kF7XwYI98VG0fqvL86PJm02g#AWUGU.
After an extensive discussion about privacy, security, cleaning, recovering, restoring data and more on the Mac, it was decided that Utility Tools: Pros and Cons would be the topic on March 18, 2024, at 5:00pm Central Time (all current AWUGU registrants will receive an invitation to all future meetings).
To become a participant, any interested Apple User Group leader must first register with the AWUGU Coordinator by emailing their name, location, and user group name and web link to macquest@mac.com. Registration must be received by March 16 in order to receive a Zoom Meeting invitation.
Meeting Discussion Topic: Apple Watch Tips
Apple Senior Systems Engineer, talented artist, and long-time user group favorite Dave Mara recently shared a great video covering Apple Watch tips. I bet there are at least a couple that you haven’t seen, and all ten are ones your members will find interesting and helpful. The tips can make for a short meeting discussion, and your members can share other tips they use most.
10 helpful Apple Watch tips you should know
But wait! There’s more!
You can even show your members how to use Assistive Touch on Apple Watch.
AWUGU Meeting Report about Gadget Gift Guide by Tom Piper
AWUGU Meeting Report about Gadget Gift Guide
by Tom Piper, Coordinator
This Apple World User Group University (AWUGU) online gathering of Apple user group leaders was held at 5:00pm CDST, on November 20, 2023, via Zoom. We had 22 participants for Gadget Gift Guide. The 73-minute video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/de4SCdVgGbE (unlisted on YouTube).
This session opened with my welcome, plus a quick review of the meeting protocols. This was followed by a series of suggestions about items to be placed on the Gift Guide. Many questions and comments were then added.
Related to this topic of Gadget Gift Guide, a bonanza of product suggestions were provided by user group leaders in the Chat Room with the following links:
Nicholas Pyers Presents: End of Year Tasks for User Group Members
Many groups do not meet from late December to early January, but there are things you can do while your group is on hiatus. Nicholas Pyers, Apple User Group Advisory Board member and popular presenter from AppleUsers.org, offers thoughts on ways to thank those who have served your community in the past year and ways to plan ahead for an even better year ahead for your group and members.
http://www.appleusers.org/ugr/end-of-year-tasks-for-apple-user-group-leaders/
Taking his advice regarding thanking those who have made our user group experience better, we’d like to say thank you to Nicholas for his many articles over many years. We look forward to taking his advice on planning for the year to come and thank him for all of the expertise and wonderful resources he has provided over the years.
Nicholas Pyers is known for AppleUsers.org, the Apple Users Spotlight, his clever puzzles, and long-time championship of all things Mac.
Learn more at:
Meeting Idea: Apple’s Privacy and Security Features
Your members have privacy concerns and a privacy and security meeting topic could be a hit. Apple builds in privacy at every level to help users keep their information secure. From Passkeys that can replace passwords with an easier and safer sign-in method, to Intelligent Tracking Prevention, Privacy Report to Password monitoring, Social widget tracking prevention, Fingerprinting defense, Private Browsing, Location fuzzing, Random identifiers, end-to-end encryption, and so much more, privacy is an integral part of the Apple ecosystem.
Start your meeting with the clever Privacy on iPhone video and go from there:
News to Use: “How Ted Lasso Did It” Night at LACPUG
The 6,000+ member strong LA Creative Pro community will hold their next meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at the Gallery Theatre in Hollywood. And, the meeting’s topic is a winner: they are having a How Ted Lasso Did It night, featuring editors Melissa McCoy and A.J. Catoline. But wait, there’s more: the team from DigitalFilm Tree who did the VFX, Color, PreVis and GeoDailes will be there too. Still not sure? Stump the Gurus and the World Famous Raffle will be part of the evening’s entertainment.
Learn, network, and increase your skills.
Apple Support on YouTube: Use Point and Speak on iPhone or iPad
Need a quick topic to include with your meeting? Apple Support on YouTube often has quick, fun, and easy-to-implement tips that your members will enjoy. For example, in under 1 minute your members can learn how to use Point and Speak in Magnifier on your iPhone or iPad with LiDAR to have text read to you. Just point your finger at signs, keypads, labels and more to hear them read out loud to you. The technique works great for users, including users with low vision or blindness.
How to Use Point and Speak on iPhone or iPad
Ambassadors, November is a great time to use Apple Support on YouTube
(Thanks to Apple Systems Engineer and artist Dave Marra for this great tip!)
Blast From the Past: Apple User Groups on the Apple User Group Connection
The Apple User Group Connection Archives offer a fun look back at past announcements, products, and meetings. The January 1988 video offered a look at Apple User Groups. The narration is pretty awful, but it is fun to look back at groups many of which are still active today. The speakers include members from Mac Nexus, AzApple, DBug, SMUG, and more. In fact, there is an incredibly young Raines at BMUG, lots of 80s fashions (sigh) and discussions about the ways that user group provide expertise, from classes, to meetings, to newsletters, BBS boards, and gatherings, user groups were a large part of the Apple community then and today too.
Check it out.
Meeting Ideas: Be Prepared
You may remember the Scout’s Motto: Be Prepared. Sill, do your members know how to prepare for account recovery, how to add a legacy contact, or even how to prepare a device for sale or trade in? Why not base a meeting around preparedness? An account recovery contact can help make sure that you always have access to your account, even if you forget your Apple ID password or device passcode. A Legacy Contact is someone you choose to have access to the data in your Apple account after your death. And before you sell, give away, or trade in your Apple device, you will need to transfer information to your new device, if any, then remove your personal information from your old device. Interested in buying a pre-owned phone? Apple Support has guidance and a checklist for that too!
Each is easy to do and there are great resources to help you be prepared for a great meeting.
How to add a Legacy Contact for your Apple ID
Set up an account recovery contact
What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad
Learn how to inspect a preowned iPhone.
Ambassadors, October is a great month to check out Apple Support
(Thanks to Rick Ortiz, User Group Advisory Board member, amazing freediver who recently achieved two national freediving records, user group leader, and owner of The MacPro for this great idea.)
AWUGU Meeting Report about Sports Streaming by Tom Piper, Coordinator
AWUGU Meeting Report about Sports Streaming
by Tom Piper, Coordinator
This Apple World User Group University (AWUGU) online gathering of Apple user group leaders was held at 5:00pm CDST, on October 16, 2023, via Zoom. We had 24 participants for Sports Streaming (see Zoom JPG image and PDF attendance list in shared AWUGU folder). The 68-minute video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/wVfyEF1LUkM (unlisted on YouTube).
This session opened with my welcome, plus a quick review of the meeting protocols. This was followed by an interesting presentation by Steve Welsh (OMUG) about Sports Broadcasting Concerns (see his slideshow in shared AWUGU folder). Many questions and comments were then added.
Related to the topic of Sports Streaming, a few observations were shared and suggestions were provided by user group leaders with the following links in the Chat Room:
- Tom Piper: https://theathletic.com/2799058/2021/08/31/sports-tv-cable-streaming-broadcast-mess/ and https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/media-and-entertainment/immersive-sports-fandom.html and https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Control-Smartphone-Simple/dp/B00BQ5RYI4
- George Brooks: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=harmony+remote&crid=CBD01JZ31RGG&sprefix=harmon%2Caps%2C97&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_5_6
We are very pleased with this tenth meeting of 2023. Files related to this meeting (including chat, agendas, reports, announcement links, slideshows and videos) are available on our AWUGU shared folder: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0kF7XwYI98VG0fqvL86PJm02g#AWUGU.
After a brief discussion, it was decided that “Gadget Gift Guide” would be the topic on November 20, 2023, at 5:00pm Central Daylight Saving Time (all current AWUGU registrants will receive an invitation to all future meetings).
To become a participant, any interested Apple User Group leader must first register with the AWUGU Coordinator by emailing their name, location, and user group name and web link to macquest@mac.com. Registration must be received by November 18 in order to receive a Zoom Meeting invitation.
Maui Apple Users Society: Apple User Group Assistance and Refurb Program
A key component of user groups and user group members is service to community, and the Maui Apple Users Society will be donating refurbished Apple computers to victims and families of the Maui wildfires. From Ireland’s ClubMac’s computer donations, to Pittsburgh Mac’s Computer Reach user groups worldwide have responded when disasters struck. Is your group doing community-focused service? Let our editors know.
Fun Blast From the Past: James Burke and HyperCard
The Apple User Group Connection Archives offer a fun look back at past announcements, products, and meetings. If you are a fan of British science and technology journalist and historian of science James Burke’s Day the Universe Changed and Connections, August 1988 had Mr. Burke explaining HyperCard and interactive video for the User Group Connection. This was 35 years ago, so the video reminds viewers to be kind and rewind 🙂
What a gem.
HyperCard and Interactive Video – August 1988
(I taught the full Day the Universe Changed series to undergraduates as part of a course on Descartes for more than a few years, so Mr. Burke is dear to me.)
The Day The Universe Changed – Infinitely Reasonable: Science Revises the Heavens
News to Use: LACPUG Looks at Assistant Editors and AI
The 6,000+ member strong LA Creative Pro community will hold their next meeting on October 25 at the Gallery Theater in Hollywood. And, the meeting’s topic is a winner: Assistant Editors and AI Night. With popular host Michael Horton, Zack Arnold (ACE) – founder of Optimize Yourself as well as a 20-year veteran editing film & television, TV Assistant Editor Ashley McKinney, Film and TV Assistant Editor Scott Jacobs, and VFX Editor and Co-Founder of the Master the Workflow Richard Sanchez, the lineup is superb.
Still not sure? Stump the Gurus and the World Famous Raffle will be part of the evening’s entertainment.
Learn, network, and have fun.
