News, Tidbits, & Humor

This web page contains information, articles, & humor etc. submitted by our members. Enjoy!

January 9th, 2005 - I've been participating in a distributed computing project for some time. Examples of distributed computing projects are SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence), Folding at Home (determining protein structures), and my current favorite, Distributed.net. Read their mission statement here:

http://www1.distributed.net/mission.php

Distributed.net has several projects going. To learn about current and future projects, see this page:

http://www1.distributed.net/projects.php

Anyone can participate in distributed.net, either as individuals or as part of a team. For those interested in participating, I've posted a web page to help get you started. Please note that this web page is somewhat limited in scope. First, it is for those running Mac OS X. Second, it is centered on the RC5-72 project. And third, I hope to recruit members into Team XLR8YourMac. The original dnetc Primer is still posted here: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/tips/dnetc_guide.html. However, Mike is too busy to keep re-posting updates to this page, so I'll post revisions on this site as needed. Here is the link:

http://gmmug.org/dnetc_primer.shtml

December 26th, 2003 - From Marguerite Harrison, Re: Peach Pit Press MUG member benefit

All user group members are invited to join our exciting, new user group affiliate program. As a charter member, your group can enjoy great discounts on our entire selection of titles, and even keep part of the profits! You won't just save money, you'll make money! Visit http://www.peachpit.com/ugaffiliate for more information on how to sign up.

JOIN THE PEACHPIT CLUB FOR DAILY SAVINGS!
You can save up to 20% on all books every day at peachpit.com simply by becoming a Peachpit Club member. Membership is free and easy. All you have to do is answer a few, short questions in our ongoing, online survey, which you can access on any book page. Don't worry. All of your information stays with us--we won't sell it or give it away to anyone. After you've filled out the survey, you'll save 20% automatically whenever you log on to http://www.peachpit.com as a member. It's that easy!

User group members should note that once you've become a Peachpit Club member, you may use your user group coupon code ON TOP of the permanent savings you earn as a member of the club.  Just make sure you've logged into the site before you make a purchase to ensure this permanent discount will be in effect, then enter coupon code UE-23AA-PEUF at checkout!

From Katy, 3/28/2003

Book Review: Mac OS X Killer Tips, by Scott Kelby

by Katy Trimm, President emeritus

For several years now, GMMUG members have been taking advantage of the incredibly generous offer which PeachPit Press gives to Macintosh User Groups. A little while ago, Peach Pit added Adobe books to their listings and now they have added New Riders to their catalogue.

I have read two books from New Riders, both written by Scott Kelby. He is Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of MacDesign magazine, Editor-in-Chief of Photoshop User magazine, and the president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. He has authored many Photoshop books as well as Macintosh - The Naked Truth and Macintosh OS X Killer Tips. I have read both of the above and had great fun with them. I am still reading Killer Tips and will probably keep it near me for a long time to come. It is easy to read, fun to read and is teaching me to be more productive.

Scott Kelby has written a killer book for OS X Jaguar users. How often do you open a computer manual and immediately read all of the sidebars? After all that is where the nitty gritty information is. Mac OS X Killer Tips is nothing but sidebars - two hundred sixty-nine pages of sidebars.

The book is well organized into chapters which cover everything from windows, icons, cool tips, cheap tips, trouble shooting and everything in-between. It doesn't have to be read in any particular order, but I would certainly recommend reading all of it.

At first the thought of learning all of those tips is a bit overwhelming; however I have a system which works pretty well for me. I keep a stack of sticky notes or flags handy. When I find a tip that looks like one I could really like to learn I mark it. Be careful or you will have stickies on every page. Then at the conclusion of a chapter, I choose the two or three which I like best and use them until they are second nature. Then I look for the next two or three. At this rate it might take a while to master the “killer tips” but the book has already made my life easier. I highly recommend it for novice or expert.

Just for fun, read the introduction to the book and then the introductions to each chapter. They are amusing and will give you a chuckle or two. And if you want to have even more fun, read Macintosh - The Naked Truth, also by Scott Kelby.

Katy Trimm, emeritus President and AOL Pro

From Katy, 9/8/2002:

Here is another free Atomic Learning program. It contains thirty-one quick time movies explaining various parts of OS X. It is simplistic and very easy to understand. For the new and inexperienced I highly recommend it. Even for experienced computer users who are using OS X for the first time.

Here's the link: http://www.atomiclearning.com/freemacosx.shtml

Humor, from Andy, found at MacNETv2 (http://www.macnet2.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2073)

MUSIC INDUSTRY UNVEILS NEW PIRACY-PROOF FORMAT

Music bosses have unveiled a revolutionary new recording format that they hope will help win the war on illegal file sharing which is thought to be costing the industry millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Nicknamed the 'Record', the new format takes the form of a black vinyl disc measuring 12 inches in diameter, which must be played on a specially designed 'turntable'.

"We can state with absolute certainty that no computer in the world can access the data on this disc," said spokesman Brett Campbell. "We are also confident that no one is going to be able to produce pirate copies in this format without going to a heck of a lot of trouble. This is without doubt the best anti-piracy invention the music industry has ever seen."

As part of the invention's rigorous testing process, the designers gave some discs to a group of teenage computer experts who regularly use file swapping software such as Limewire and Gnutella and who admit to pirating music CDs. Despite several days of trying, none of them were able to hack into the disc's code or access any of the music files contained within it.

"It's like, really big and stuff," said Doug Flamboise, one of the testers. "I couldn't get it into any of my drives. I mean what format is it? Is it, like, from France or something?"

In the new format, raw audio data in the form of music is encoded by physically etching grooves onto the vinyl disc. The sound is thus translated into variations on the disc's surface in a process that industry insiders are describing as 'completely revolutionary' and 'stunningly clever.'

To decode the data stored on the disc, the listener must use a special player which contains a 'needle' that runs along the grooves on the record surface, reading the indentations and transforming the movements back into audio that can be fed through loudspeakers.

Even Shawn Fanning, who invented Napster, admits the new format will make file swapping much more difficult. "I've never seen anything like this," he told reporters. "How does it work?"

As rumors that a Taiwanese company has been secretly developing a 12 inch wide, turntable-driven, needle-based, firewire drive remain unconfirmed, it would appear that the music industry may have, at last, found the pirate-proof format it has long been searching for.

_________________

Meet Ken Wood, the integrated stereo amplifier model KA-3500. He thinks Brittney Spears is some kind of Asparagus from that country next to France.

From Katy Trimm, this information... The Atomic Learning Library (http://www.atomiclearning.com/) offers online software training on a variety of subjects. From Katy:

The next issue of the AppleWorks Journal will be offering a special price on these learning tutorials. As a sample we will be able to view this one on iPhoto for free (http://www.atomiclearning.com/freeiphoto.shtml). I've been through about half of it and it is very simple and easy to understand. I think it would be a very good way for a beginner to begin to use iPhoto. Check it out if you have OS X and iPhoto.

I'm not sure how long this will be available; check it out soon (remember, iPhoto is OS X only...).

This item was included in an email I received WiebeTech, a company that makes cool FireWire & other stuff (http://www.wiebetech.com/):

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Question: How can I format an unformatted FireWire drive in OSX and also in Windows XP? (This is an important question. I hope you enjoy my response.)

Answer: (Windows XP version). If you are using Windows XP:

You will need to be logged in as administrator to your computer. The FireWire drive needs to be powered up and attached to your computer. The task bar will show the presence of the FireWire drive through a small green arrow remove icon in the lower right hand portion of your screen. Once these requirements are met, you are ready to format the drive.

1. Click START.

2. Click CONTROL PANEL.

3. Click PERFORMANCE AND MAINTENANCE.

4. Click ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS.

5. Double Click COMPUTER MANAGEMENT.

6. Click DISK MANAGEMENT.

7. If your new disk is uninitialized, it will appear as red circle bar within the list of disk drives. Right click on the red circle bar and select INITIALIZE DISK. Initialization just takes a few seconds.

8. Once your disk has been initialized, it will appear as “Unallocated” within the drive descriptor list. Right click over the box that says “Unallocated” and select NEW PARTITION.

9. Follow the steps which Windows provides for creating a new partition. Select either FAT32 or NTFS format at the appropriate time. FAT32 is appropriate for exchange with other Windows computers and with Macs. NTFS is appropriate if you will use the disk drive only with Win2K and WinXP systems. Select the volume label of your choice. Choose QUICK FORMAT if you are in a hurry. Allow the drive to finish formatting.

10. Click COMPUTER MANAGEMENT closed (red X).

11. Click ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS closed.

Your new drive will now be available for use. It will appear under MY COMPUTER, under sub heading of HARD DISK DRIVES. It may be accessed like any other drive. Your drive is ready to use!

A5. (Mac OSX version). If you are using OSX:

When the powered up drive is first attached to your computer, OSX will open a dialogue box and ask for a format style and name. Select the style and the name, click OK. Confirm the selections. That's about it. The drive will mount on the desktop shortly thereafter. You're drive is ready to use!