General Membership Meeting

Room 120, Clemens Hall
UB North Campus
7:00 PM

The New ProMac "Season" continues

Elections at the General Meeting Thursday, October 16, 2008

NO Meeting in August
*************************************************************************
ProMac Summer Picnic & Swap Meet Sunday July 20, 2008
Despite the "Monsoon" rains, 18 brave souls attended the Picnic. It cleared up enough for all to enjoy the char broiled hot dogs, baked beans, salads
and various desserts. There were bargains at the Swap Meet. The Mini Auction had some lively bidding (silent type) with the items going for good
prices. Everyone had a good time, plenty to eat and many came away with bargains!
*************************************************************************
General Meeting Thursday June 19, 2008
Essential tips & tricks: keeping your Mac healthy, different ways to backup and protect data, cool keyboard tricks, the best external hard drives and more.
Demo: Rapidweaver - a simple but powerful web authoring tool.
Demo: Anxiety - keeps task functions in iCal and Apple Mail in a handy window, visible when you need it.
Plus the usual Apple Hot news and Jim Gordon's comments.
*************************************************************************
General Meeting May 15, 2008
Jim Gordon reviewed more Mac World Brochures he brought back.
He advised against upgrading Microsoft Office to 2008. The 2004 version has support
for Virtual Basic while 2008 version doesn't. Could also use Neo Office.
New computers are very fast but the New Programs don't seem much faster! Very few Programs are multi-core and multi thread aware.
Graphic Converter is about the only one one that is able to take full advantage of the multi core & multi thread capabilities.
Leopard update 10.5.3 is due out soon
Mark Pierro demo'd some useful tips from Leopard.
He also demo' some password handling programs. Keychain is part of the operating system and quite useful.
1 password is a shareware program (1passwd.com) for $35 that we saw a good video about.
Another program is Pastor which is a password DataBase.
Several good books were raffled off to lucky attendee's!

NO Meeting in March due to Easter Week and Spring Breaks
NO Meeting in April due to the Spring Fling Party
*************************************************************************
Thursday April 17, 2008 was the Spring Fling Dinner Party at the Family Tree Restaurant.
23 people came and had FUN and all had a good time and good food. Half of them won door prizes!!

*************************************************************************
General Meeting February 21, 2008
Carl Ohsiek handed out Preliminary Flyers for the Spring Fling Dinner Party.
Date is April 17, 2008; Location is the Family Tree Restaurant.
He also announced there would be a ProMac Family Picnic on Sunday,
July 20, 2008 at Ellicottt Creek Park, Shelter #9.
Jim Gordon gave his impressions of Mac World 2008. It was twice as big as in 2007.
More info can be found at www.macworldencore.com.
His favorite program at MacWorld was Perian 1.1. This is a Quicktime plugIn that with
Flip4Mac allow just about any type file to be handled by Quicktime.
A question from the floor asked how to edit Video & Audio Tracks to get them "In Sync".
Apple's Final Cut Studio which is less expensive than Final Cut Pro for video & audio editing was discussed.
Jim Gordon was impressed with www.YouTube.com and demo'd varios aspects of the Site.
He Demo'd an application named Tooble (www.tooble.tv) which can take YouTube Files and convert them into mp4
and puts then into iTunes to download to an iPod automatically.
He also discussed multiplayer online game simulations. He Demo'd one (www.eve-online.com) with a Trailer
that showed the advances in graphics and sound.
Advances in Technology was also shown by Light Scribe Pen that "wrote" on digital paper, containes a camera, microphone,
and was actually a miniature computer.
Door Prizes given out were an Adobe Photoshop CS3 Manual and Quicken 2008 Manual by O'Reillly Media
and a Mac iLife 2008 Manual by Peachpit Press.
*************************************************************************
General Meeting January 17, 2008
A Review of the Mac World 2008 Keynote announcements was discussed.
Some of the features of Leopard (System 10.5) were demonstrated by Mark Pierro.
A live link-up to Jim Gordon at MacWorld was attemped but was only partially successful. MacWorld photos at his web site were availlable however.
A couple of shareware programs were demo'd by Mark Pierro.
2 excellent books were given away at this meeting
"Soundtrack Pro 2" by Sitter
Sound for Picture in Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio
"Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard" by Robin Williams
*************************************************************************
Holiday Party @ The Red Mill Restaurant November 15, 2007
A good time was had by all. The addition of Apple Branded items to the Door Prizes allowed
everyone to take home a prize! The iPod shuffle & iPod Nano Raffle was a hugh success. The Raffle Ticket Sales
were unbelievable! The "mini" Auction was a success. Great bargains were had by the Auction winners. The Pork
& Haddock Dinners were excellent. Unfortunately some of the Steaks were "over done" but the restaurant
replaced them with excellent Prime Rib so that also had a happy ending. All in all a very enjoyable evening.
*************************************************************************
General Meeting October 18, 2007
The election for board members and officers was held at our October meeting.
Steve Heider presented the Slate for 2008.
President - Mark Pierro
Vice President - Bruce Kreitner
Treasurer - Carl Ohsiek
Secretary - "Still Open"
Board Member - Irene Cycon 2 year
Board Member - James Stack 2 year
Board Member - Tom Szumla (1 year to fill final year of Paul Nicol)

Continuing Board Member - Terry Cycon

Floor was opened for Nominations. There were none.
Jim Gorden moved to accept the Slate.
Larry Southwick seconded.
Motion Passed 16 Members + 2 proxie total 18 Members voted.

Mark Pierro talked about OS 10.5 Leopard and reviewed new features
Mark Pierro demo'd VMware Fusion. Another means of running alternate OS's on the Intel Mac.
Jim Gordon talked about Quicktime and demonstrated how several programs use Quicktime as their "Engine". Notably iTunes and iMovie. QuickTime Pro has many formats for converting files. Every voting member received a QuickTime Reference Book

Several Books on Mac OS 10.4 Tiger, Maya and PhotoShop were raffled off.
*************************************************************************
General Meeting September 20, 2007

Mark Pierro & Jim Gordon gave a Demo of iLife 08 mainly the new features of iPhoto & iMovie.
Jim Gordon Demonstrated how to back up your hard drive using System X Disk Utility.
The ProMac Holiday Party Details were given. Date is Thursday November 15, 2007 at The Red Mill Inn, 8326 Main Street, Williamsville. Preliminary Flyer was given out by Carl Ohsiek. Dinner Choices are: Choice Sirloin Steak, Roasted Pork Loin with apple//cranberry compote, or Broiled Haddock with Lemon Dill. Price is $20/person & you can use $5 in ProBucks. There will be Door Prizes, Raffle of iPod's & a Mini Auction. Fun for All!!
Mark Pierro gave a Demo of iWorks 08. Pages is much improved as word proceessor/page layout program & Numbers is a creditable spreadsheet. A real bargain at $79
Getting into video requires an "input device"! Jim Pierro showed his digital camera with video capability and Carl Ohsiek showed his "pocket" sized inexpensive video camera. May not be High Def, but was very nice quality!
Jim Gordon held a Raffle of Books from Peachpit Press and other miscellaneous items. Every one went home with something!!

*************************************************************************
General Meeting June 21, 2007

Carl Ohsiek announced there would not be General Meetings in July and August.
Also the Annual July Picnic had been cancelled due to poor attendence the last 2 years.
A July Dinner Party had been discussed by the Board but decided to have it in the Fall, possibly in October.

Steve Heider gave a Demo of Mathmatica. Used recorded audio sounds and imported them into Mathmatica which calculated the waveform and generated plots. He also showed how equations can be plotted and the variables changed showing the changing plots in real time. No programming is required as Functions are built into the program. Steve also showed how to create your own functions.

Jim Gorden gave update on WWDC 2007. Talked about iPhone and "Leopard" System X 10.5. Jim showed several video demo's from the Apple Web Site about features in "Leopard".
*************************************************************************
General Meeting May 17, 2007

Jim Gordon gave some info on Apple being "Green". Apple is reducing many contaminants in product & process.
Also a recycle program for schools (25 computers or more) that expires June 30, 2007.

Survey of attendee's indicated people not using digital camcorders & cameras with iMovie/iDVD. This looks to be a good future Meeting Topic. Jim Sartori showed a DVD he made using iMovie of a vacation trip to illustrate this.

Door Prizes were 3 Manuals, iMovie missing manual series, "say no to Microsoft" & Quick Time Pro Training series.

Jim Gordon showed new Microsoft program Beta "SilverLight" a browser plug-in that is Universal/cross platform.

Mark Pierro did demo on iPhoto tips for v6 making photo greeting cards with editing tips.

Mark Pierro showed how to use iTunes cover/album art with downloads from Amazon or iTunes store.

He also showed an array of Dashboard Widgits & a Mac Maintenance Program "Onyx"

*************************************************************************
General Meeting April 19, 2007

We watched a video About Hi Speed Network Hardware by David Pogue. Apparently getting high speed is not easy.
We watched a video comparing TiVo vs Cable boxes by David Pogue. Very close but TiVo had more features.

We watched a video on the new Apple TV by MacWorld - Opening the box and initial hookup.
We watched a video on the Apple TV part 2, operation and screen menus.

Mark Pierro gave a demo of Synergy, an iTunes plugin to give additional menu buttons for playing control

There was some lively discussion of the future of ProMac and what can be done to make the Club more meaningful.

*************************************************************************

Thursday March 15, 2007 was the Spring Fling Dinner Party
28 people came and had FUN and all had a good time and good food. Half of them won door prizes!!

Click here to download the Spring Fling 2007 Flyer! Spring Fling 2007a.pdf

************************************************************************
General Meeting February 12, 2007

Dave Scotch gave a Demo of “Media Control” $29.95 which is an alternate to Apple’s “Front Row” software. You can enjoy full-screen music, photos, videos, and DVDs on your Macintosh. You can also use a remote control.

Mark Pierro gave a Demo of several Utilities for searching and organizing data on your Hard Drive. “WhatSize”, “GrandPerspective”, “LaunchBar”, “Butler”, and “Pasteboard”. These can be found on VersionTracker.com. They vary from Free to $29.95.

Jim Gordon Talked about a new cell phone service that gives high speed Internet Service to your computer. He has the phone but is waiting for some additional hardware to plug into the computer (Laptop). He says the $30 per month for unlimited service can compete with DSL and Cable service. When he gets the hardware he will give a Demo.

Date is March 15, 2007 at The Family Tree Restaurant on Bailey Ave at 6:30 PM.

Directions to UB can be found at http://www.buffalo.edu/buildings/building?id=clemens

************************************************************************
ProMac Membership Meeting January 18, 2007
We had 11 folks at the meeting, and a pretty good demo of DeltaGraph - it's very interesting how you can manipulate data! But the highlight was all the books that Jim brought back from MacWorld - he held a drawing for each of the items - there was way more than all of us there so some of us got 2 items (I got a filemaker 8 and a tiger missing manual).

We "voted" for no summer picnic/auction.
************************************************************************
ProMac Membership Meeting November 16, 2006
Al Harriman gave the results of the Election and that we still need a Secretary.
President: Mark Pierro
Vice Pres: Bruce Kreitner
Treasurer: Carl Ohsiek
Secretary: OPEN
Board Member: Paul Nicol
Board Member: Terry Cycon

The Board has explored some options for a Winter/Spring Dinner Party. Probably March 15, 2007
Family Tree Restaurant:
Up to about 25 people can use the Meeting Room and order off the Menu with separate
checks.

25 to 52 people can use the Meeting Room and choose from 3 entree's off the Banquet
Menu @ $16.25 (includes tax & tip) per person. Need a firm commitment a few days earlier.

Protocol Restaurant
30 & up people in a Private Room with an excellent Buffet @ $21.30 (includes tax & tip) per person.
Need a firm commitment & Money 1 week earlier.

Note: Just about every other Restaurant requires 40 - 60 people for a Buffet @$16.95 PLUS tax & tip per person!

Mark Pierro demo'd making a Podcast with GarageBand and then using iWeb to publish it on his .Mac website.
He also showed some SpotLite shortcuts and examples of how to use Automator.
Jim Gorden gave Apple News update. Also showed some "OnLine" reviews of Microsofts new Zune MP3 player.
Most were not at all impressed! Even the Pro PC people were critical.
Jim Demo'd the new Apple Mac Pro 3G 4CPU computer his UB Dept just acquired. Also showed it running VISTA
using Parallels VM Software.

************************************************************************
ProMac Membership & Annual Election Meeting October 19, 2006
Due to the "October Surpprise" Storm The attendence at the Meeting was lower than expected.
There was some discussion on postphoning the Annual Election until the November Meeting.
Since there was a Quorum in attendence the Election was held. Nominationg Committee
Chairman Steven Heider presented the Slate. Position of Secretary was still open. Nominations
from the floor resulted in 3 names for the 2 open Board positions but none for Secretary.
The Election Results were:
President: Mark Pierro
Vice Pres: Bruce Kreitner
Treasurer: Carl Ohsiek
Secretary: OPEN
Board Member: Paul Nicol
Board Member: Terry Cycon

Continuing Board Members: Irene Cycon & James Stack

The remainder of the meeting was mostly about the Storm with pictures taken by Mark Pierro
& Jim Gorden. There was some computer related discussions also.

************************************************************************

ProMac Membership Meeting September 21, 2006
Jim Gorden described new products and News from Apple.
Also gave updates on the new System X coming out in 2007 “Leopard” See www.apple.com
Jim Stack recently bought a new Apple wireless Mighty Mouse.
He demonstrated the Installation via Bluetooth and the features of this new Mouse.
Jim Gorden has a Bluetooth Cellphone and showed how to transmitt pictures to the computer.
The installation on the computer was similar to the Mighty Mouse and used the same Preference Files.
Mark Pierro demonstrated two screen capture “Donation Ware” programs. “SnapNgrab” and “Capture Me”.
Both are available for download on www.VersionTracker.com
The PodCasts in iTunes and the iLife tips were postponed until the next Meeting so that we could have
some “Discussion and interactive time”.

*************************************************************************

A note from John Doughtie about the iTunes and iPod SIG meetings:
I expect to be having surgery soon. Therefore, I am suspending the
SIG until next February.

If you are interested in participating in this SIG at that time,
please send me an e-mail.

 Create your own free wiki!HelpPublic, Platinum wiki Privacy Policy RSS