July
Bruce Mitchell told us about the capabilities of Banner Zest and SandVox.
Sandvox is a Web design software, and the one Bruce uses to make our Website. He has tried other web design software and found that Sandvox was affordable and easier to use than the others.
The regular edition $57 and the Pro Edition $97
You can try for 30 days before you buy.
BannerZest will turn your pictures into a flash slideshow.
Single user $49 and BannerZest Pro $129
You can try before you buy with a watermark.
This company has promotions with better pricing 2 or 3 X a year.
There will not be a meeting in August.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday September 14, 2010.
June
Sue Blomberg brought her new iPad and showed all the wonderful things you can do with it. Watch a movie , read a book, have the iPad read a book to you, write or read email , and more.
Also, John Spates brought his new iPad Touch and showed the wonders of it. He also purchased a battery called Mophie for his iPad Touch.
Bill Stewart told us about a virus called OpinionSpy. It may be distributed on sites a such a MacUpdate,VersionTracker and Softpedia. You could use a program called VirusBarrier that protects 2 macs for 49.95 or go to
May
Sorry you were unable to attend the meeting last night. We were a small group, but learned a lot because it was Show and Tell.
Bruce Hoek reminded us about the many facets of iTunes and one was radio. There are many radio stations listed in iTunes. Not only music, but news, sports, comedy, religion, college, International, and more.
My Show and Tell was about Frames. If you take pictures you might want to print and frame them. I showed two applications that would do that.
EasyFrame http://www.yellowmug.com/ cost is $14.95
ImageFramer http://www.apparentsoft.com/ cost is $29.95
Also told about program Skitch http://skitch.com/
This is one of the things you can do with Skitch.
April
Shortly after the March meeting John Spates had a mild heart attack. He was in Beaumont Hospital where the doctors put a Stent in his artery. He is in rehab now and doing well. Even with all that happening to him he came to the meeting last night and presented "Getting organized".
He said to think of your computer as a filing cabinet. Showed how he organized his computer with many different folders. You may have to scan info, type info, and use many other ways to put your info in. You may also need a password to protect some of your info.
Thanks to Irene for the cookies.
March
This is the site for the Mac manual. It reveals useful tips and tricks from seasoned Mac users.
This is some of the Apps we talked about.
I Clock Pro
iRemember
Thanks to Irene for the cookies.
Our next meeting will be April 13,2010
John Spates will talk about Getting Organized
February
John Spates did the presentation on "The process of creation memories using photos". It was excellent.
He told the many places where you can store photos such as: iPhoto,
picaboo.com,
snapfish.com, and many more. Also at their site you can have prints made, photo books, calendars, and mugs made all for a price.
John showed a book he had made about his granddaughter at Blurb using BookSmart. It was well done.
We also talked about iPad and a program called Inklet that can be used with your MacBook trackpad.You can draw, jot notes, or doodle. It works with many programs such as Photoshop cs4, Photo Elements, Scribbles, and more. This is the site
http://www.tenonedesign.com/
Thanks to Irene for the Chocolate candies.
Next PIE meeting will be March 16, 2010
January
John Spates told and showed us all about Picasa. This is free software that deals with pictures. If you go to picasa.google.com/mac/you can watch video that will tell most things about this software. Picasa keeps all your photos in one place. You can edit your photos using red eye, crop, lighten and much more. It is a lot like iPhoto. The first thing Picasa does is search your computer for all the photos and put them in an album. There is a list of places where you can have your photos printed, on cards, cups, t-shirts, and more. All for a price.
We also looked at Snap fish, Blurb and iPhoto. John showed pictures his wife took that he put on their Mobile Me Gallery.
December
I am sorry you missed the meeting last night, because we talked, we laughed, we ate, and yes, we did have a great meeting.
Eric told us about the 27 inch Mac and the differences in graphics card. Bruce told about his new camera the P90 CoolPix 24x zoom 12.1megapixel.
But then the fun began. Eric showed a short movie of our Apple PIE User group (you all looked great). Then he showed old pictures of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. I am sorry you missed seeing them they looked about 15 years old. Also, pictures of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak when they had just started working with computers. There were videos of Jobs and Gates discussing computers and software and adds about Apple computers. Eric showed pictures of himself when he was at Cupertino.
Eric has a wealth of knowledge about Apple and computers.
Thanks to everyone that brought food. It was delicious.
Check out Dory's newer video on club history. Right here
Next meeting will be Tuesday January 12, 2010.
November 09
Eric told us every thing about Networking. There was a lot of information discussed. I do have a PDF of the program that you can get from me.
Elliot Nelson a computer tech at Mac Masters told about a program called YASU.
Yasu (Yet Another System Utility) is a Mac OS X maintenance utility. WEb site http://jimmitchelldesign.com/yasu/ The cost is $5.
Our next get together will be Tuesday December 1,2009. There will be a short program, food and fun.
October 2009
We had a small group at the meeting last night, however a lot of questions were asked and answered.
We discussed the Reset Button and Private Browsing Button on Safari.
Bruce Hoeck showed his Genealogy program. He made the program using HTML and Windows Note Pad.
It is a great program, very concise and easy to find your way around. He incorporated pictures of people, the town where they lived, and the cemetery where they were buried.
If you have any questions about Genealogy I am sure Bruce Hoeck could help you.
September 2009
We had a good meeting and large turnout. Eric answered questions and then we looked at viruses, trojan horses, malware, adware, and spyware concerns on the Mac. Click here to view PDF.
Then we looked at features in Snow Leopard.
Six Snow Leopard tips web site:
Snow Leopard visual guide: will be aded soon
It has been suggested we talk about networking computers via routers, with cables, or other ways.
What do YOU want to cover in future meetings?
August 09
It was a great meeting. Bruce Mitchell set up the Webcam so Barbara T could take part in the meeting. She really appreciated it.
Bruce showed us a way to tell if your applications will run with Snow Leopard. Click on the app and get info (using command I) if it says 'Kind: Application (Universal)' it will run with Snow leopard.
Eric told about many kinds of viruses, such as Trojan and Spyware. Look for a pdf explaining all of this.
He also talked about Mobile Me.
Thanks to Irene for the Garden Veggie Straws, they were delicious.
The next meeting will be Tuesday September 22, 2009 and Eric Blomberg will talk about Snow Leopard.
July 09
We had a nice group and many contributers.
Bruce Mitchell showed us many devices that could be used to scan slides.
One that could connect to your Nikon camera and scan one slide at a time. (cost $200) Another Wolverine FD 100. (cost $99-100)
You could use CVS,Costco,Rite Aid, Ritz/Wolf Camera, and Walgreens all are sent out and use Yes Video in California.
There are many flat bed scanners some that can scan up to 25 slides at one time.(cost$600)
HP scanner that can scan 16 slides at one time.(Cost 179)
Microtek i800 scanner can scan 12 slides at one time.($400)
When you buy a scanner make sure that has good software. The best ones use dust and scratch removal software such as ICE.
Eric showed how to improve your slides when scanning.
Thanks to Irene and Robert for the cookies.
If you have a topic you would like to see. Please let us know.
June 09
This meeting was about Scanning 101.
Bruce gave us all a hand out telling about "How to Digitally Scan 35 MM Slides". You could use a flatbed scanner,or set up you projector and digitally photograph your image, or use a slide/negative copy stand and your own digital still or video camera . You can test your camera for slide copying at http://www.shotcopy.com/compatibility.htm
There is a FREE program on your Mac called "Image Capture" that you can use to scan.
Included in the hand out was info about the free Hulu Desktop app. It is NBC's online video site, you can have TV programs on your Mac. You do need the latest Flash Player which is also free.
Eric said the WWDC was mostly about iPhone. He did tell us a little about MacBook Pro and the pricing Snow Leopard.
May 09
Eric Blomberg told us all about Mobile Me. If you are set up correctly you can make a change in your address book on one computer and the change will happen on your iPhone, iPod touch and any computer that you want this to happen. Mobile Me will keep all your computers, iPhone, iPod touch in sync. You can share your photos, also. You can go to this site and see more about MobileMe http://www.apple.com/mobileme/guidedtour/
We learned Key Chain holds all your pass words and there is First Aid you can you in key chain if it is not working right.
We also learned about using iDisk to email very large files.
He told us about Yasu a program that will perform maintenance routines and clear the many cache files
Eric showed us how to use the green screen in iMovie and also in Photo Booth.
Bruce Mitchell is back from Florida and brought a hand out for all of us which included Apps to use if your computer is running too slow. Tinker tool www.bresink.de, cocktail www.maintain.se or Cache Cleaner www.northernsoftworks.com Also if you are stuck in startup mode this hand out will tell just what you should do. If you did not get one let me know and I will send one to you.
Last month Irene told us the trouble she was having with her new printer. She had called many times with the same problem and was solved over the phone, but the same problem would happen again. John Spates suggested that if this problem happened again to ask to speak to a supervisor because he thought there was something wrong with the printer. Irene said the same problem happened again, so she called and talked to a supervisor and she will be receiving a new printer.
We are not a big group and there are not too many professionals in our group, but if you come and listen you will learn at least one thing every meeting.
April 09
Eric Blomberg was the presenter and covered a lot of material. He talked about iPhoto, iMovie, and Garage Band. There are many new things about all of them that is very interesting and helpful. We could have another meeting about any of these and still learn more.
Another subject Eric talked about was software update. When you update Mac OS X it is beneficial to use the Mac OS X Combo.
Eric is now at the Best Buy Gratiot store. So look for him there.
Thanks to Irene for the cookies.
If you have a topic you would like to see. Please let us know.
March 09
At the meeting everyone shared something of interest.
Such as Createbooklet, Joomla, Ebook from Amazon, and Resizit
Don showed some of the many things you can do with Sandvox.
Eric told about the new computers from Apple.
John showed a Keynote presentation "If Disaster HIts" What do you do, what do you save, what do you need?
Bruce told information about conserving laptop battery. Such as turn off bluetooth, dim the screen, turn off keyboard backlighting, and calibrate the battery once every 1 or 2 months.
Additional information ad tips go to :
http://www.apple.com/batteries/
http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1519
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2332
April 14 meeting Eric Blomberg will talk about iLife.
February 2009
We had a small group but we covered a lot of material.
John Spates gave a keynote presentation showing the new iPhoto, iMovie, and garage band from iLife. There are many interesting new things to use in iPhoto such as Faces, Places, and more. If you happened to have a camera with GPS you will have more fun. Then he showed iWork which contains Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. He also talked about Bonjour. it is a networking technology that lets you create an instant network of computers and devices without any configuration.
Bruce told us about Hulu and Boxee. Boxee which gives you a true entertainment experience to enjoy your movies, TV shows, music and photos, as well as streaming content from websites like Hulu, Netflix, ABC, CBS, Comedy Central, and Flickr.
Thanks to Irene for the cookies.
If you have a topic you would like to see. Please let us know.
January 2009
We didn't meet due to bad weather.
December 9
The Christmas Party Pie meeting was a great success. Thanks to all of you. Very sorry to those who couldn't come, because the holiday food was delicious.
Bruce Mitchell gave the presentation on RSS (Real Simple Syndications). You have seen RSS on Web pages, you can put that in your mail program or browser to have info at your finger tips.
If you want to ask questions of other PIE members, you need to join Apple Pie Google Group. You need to have a Google e-mail address which is free. The link is on the Members Pages on this site. Remember, you need a Google account to do this. If you don't have an account it will prompt you to create one.
Next meeting will be on Tuesday January 13, 2009 John Spates will be our speaker. John might cover Macworld news and Bonjour.
November 08
Don Dubois took over the Q and A. He also showed us how to hook up a computer to the projector, so you could see what was on the computer screen to show on the wall.
Eric Blomberg talked about the new Mac Book and the Mac Book pro.Then he told us all about Mobile Me. Your iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac and PC are all linked together with Mobile Me. If you add something to your calendar it will be added to the others automatically. You can share pictures and movies and store 20GB of information on line. You can see a movie about Mobile Me if you go to Apple page and click on Mobile Me.
Thanks to Irene for the cookies.
December 9 meeting Bruce Mitchell will talk about RSS. The meeting will be a Christmas Party and meeting.
Sue Blomberg is going to bring Pecan Tarts. If you would like to bring something to share with the group that would be great.
October 08
Don Dubois told us about the program Inspiration, which is a program showing how to organize your thoughts. You can plan, research and complete projects using this application. Students, educators, business professionals use this to organize,analyze and write. There are also training videos. You can receive a Free 30 day trial.
Inspiration for grades 6-12 $69
InspireData for grades 4-12 $79
Kidspiration for grades K-5 $69
Bruce Mitchell did a demo on how to make your own web site using Sandvox. He uses Sandvox to make the web site for our Apple PIE club. At the meeting Bruce made a web site to show us how easy it is to use this program.
There is a Free 30 day trial.
Sandvox $69
Sandvox Pro $79
We also played a Who wants To Be a Miilionaire game about Utilities apps in Leopard. The group did well and we didn't have to phone a friend. :)
Bruce has a Peachpit Press book for all to use called iWork. At this time Eric has it for a month.
Thanks to Irene for the Potato Chips
November 11 meeting Eric Blomberg will talk about Mobile Me.
September 08
John Spates gave an excellent talk about Productivity Tools. He told about managing your data using things you have on your computer that are free, such as taking a picture using Snap and Drag or Grab. If it is text use Text Edit, PDF, Jotter or Stickies.
If you need a database you could use Soho Notes, Yojimbo, Notebook or Evernote.
Bruce has a Peachpit Press book for all to use called iWork by David Herrington. At this time Eric has it for a month.
Thanks to Irene for the cookies.
August 08
Bruce was our speaker and talked about PhotoShop Express which is a free web application. You can upload your photos then edit them, create galleries, email them, download photo and order prints using Shutterfly.
He also talked about MobileMe. There have been problems with this program, therefore you may receive a 90 day extension to your MobileMe account.
Future topics: Sandbox: a webpage making application.
Apple History by Eric
If you have a topic you would like to see. Please let us know.
Thanks to Irene Delue for the potato chips.
June 08
May 08 Very sorry that you could not make it to the meeting last night. I hope that everyone has power now. It was a really great meeting even though not too many were here. Bruce did the demo on video conferencing. Don was at his home, Bruce was here in the basement, Barb was in the living room, and I was in the computer room. We were all connected at the same time, as per picture. Don,Bruce,and I use .Mac. Barb uses AIM. but it all worked. If you are using Leopard and the newest iChat you can send files, pictures,etc. It was a lot of fun.
We are taking the month of July off.
May 08
Bruce Mitchell was our speaker and the subject was iWorks which contains Keynote,Numbers, and Pages. It was great because he used Keynote to show us all about Numbers. So it was 2 for 1 talk.
He also discussed using http://dealmac.com/ and http://www.pricegrabber.com/ to find good prices. On dealmac there was a all in one printer 'Brother MFC 240C' for $39.98.
A member was having trouble with wmv files.With Flip4Mac, you can play Windows Media files (.wma and .wmv) download free from versiontracker.
If you would like a neat shareware weather program on your computer, take a look at:
Weather Dock http://www.alwintroost.nl/
Hyperdither is a free OS X image processing utility that converts color or grayscale images to 1 bit black & white:
http://www.tinrocket.com/software/hyperdither/r is an OS X image processing utility that converts color or grayscale images to 1 bit black & white.
Jean Casey brought a book of great pictures she had taken in Central America, that she talked about at our last meeting.Thanks to Irene and Jean for the goodies they brought.
For more info go to http://www.macapplepie.org/
Next meeting will be June 10,2008, the subject will be Video conferencing.
April 08
We had a great meeting and very informative. A great job by Don Dubois who demoed Popcorn 3. He also told about the Dymo Disc printer .
Eric talked about Visual Hub an application that will compress a file. Pacifist an app that will let you install only one app. What Size an app that will tell size of a file. Paint Brush a little app that you can paint pictures. and Yasu an app the can help your computer if it is running slow. You can find all of these on Version Tracker.
This is info from Barb Thornton:
DesignPro for Mac will be available as a free download at avery.com/designpro in May 2008…so "Mac" your calendars to try it out.
This is what John Spates told us about at the meeting.
The iTunes Podcast is a Macworld Podcast titled Time Capsule, dated 3/26/08.
I opened iTunes; selected Podcasts; searched for Macworld; Clicked on Macworld Live. In the list I found Time Capsule.
Thank to Irene for the great cookies.
February 08
Brian was our speaker in February and he talked about System Preferences. It was very interesting and showed us things we did not know about system preferences.
January 08
John Spates was our speaker for the meeting in January. He told about iPhone. It was very informative.
We also looked at:
Delicious Library http://www.delicious-monster.com/
PulpMotion http://www.pulpmotion.com/try-video-photo-slideshow.html
SoftSkies http://www.soundspectrum.com/softskies/upgrade.html
