Snippets from Previous Meetings
Discussion was held on possible topics for workshop sessions for the proposed visit to South Canterbury by some members of AUGC. Suggestions were:
- Photoshop
- Cross-Platform - sending/receiving files between Macs and PCs.
FOR SALE
Steve Morse has for sale:
- iMac: 400MHz, 10GB hard drive, 320 MB RAM, slot-loading CD drive, grape coloured.
- Zip drive: 100MB, SCSI connection.
Phone 03 688 6449
Barry and Kim also commented on the NZ buy/sell website called TradeMe, on which a variety of articles may be bought or sold online. For Apple equipment, visit http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Apple-Hardware-and-Software/
SESSIONS
DOWNLOADING FROM MACTROPOLIS
Lea demonstrated how Mactropolis can be used to download software.
Mactropolis is a Christchurch-based online bulletin board to which AMUG members may have access if they wish, the connection fee being included as part our $15 annual AMUG subscription. [If you would like to be connected, contact Sheryl and she will make arrangements for you.]
Mactropolis gives access to online conference sessions (this is how your AMUG Committee holds their monthly planning sessions) and also access to a large library of software available for downloading from the Mactropolis server. The advantages of downloading from Mactropolis are:
- being local, the connection is often more secure than from overseas sites.
- should a download be interrupted, it can be resumed later and will restart where it left off.
- most of the software is up-to-date, so latest releases are readily available.
- all files have been virus-checked.
When you open the Aoraki folder, the following folders appear, all of which are available to AMUG members:
Most of these folders are about the activities of AUGC (the Christchurch user group), but AMUG members have access to them also. A red flag indicates that the folder contains a file which hasn't yet been looked at.
The Tips folder contains a wide range of useful handy hints and how-to-do instructions, and is well worth a browse. The SIG Groups folder outlines the activities of the Christchurch Special Interest Groups which operate within the AUGC. These cover interests as diverse as digital photography, AppleWorks and genealogy. The Magazine folder contains a copy of AUGC's monthly publication, 'Applebyte'.
Probably of most interest and greatest use is the Software folder, which contains hundreds of applications which may be downloaded. When opened, the Software window will display over 50 folders of categories of software:
Double-clicking on the icon at the start of a line will open the category folder and display the sizes and names of the files which are available (eg. '9K Clock.htm'). 'Allan Rutherford' is the Mactropolis administrator who loaded the software ready for downloading.
Double-clicking on the icon at the start of a line will open a message from Allan about the file. This usually gives a brief but detailed description, and contains the file itself as an attachment:
To download the file, just drag the icon from the Attachments line to your desktop, and the download will start automatically.
Most will be in compressed form, and will need to be decompressed using Stuffit Expander.
[The 'Clock' file used as an example above is an interesting little application with a moving date-and-time display. I couldn't get it to work in the new Safari web browser, though. - T.C.]
It works in Explorer and Navigator - Elizabeth
SPAMFIRE for Junk Mail
In the January meeting Robin introduced us to the Spamfire application which filters out unwanted messages before they are received in the usual e-mail application. Kim trialed Spamfire, and gave us a demonstration and detailed explanation of how it works.
Mail rules are made to intercept messages from particular addresses, and also to identify other incoming messages from any address not listed in the the users address book. Spamfire examines in-box messages while they are still on the e-mail server and gives a junk rating to messages, according to how it ranks them for spam value. Because this happens before the messages are received in the usual e-mail application, unwanted messages can be deleted from the server using web-mail (eg. Xtra Mail).
Spamfire is available from http://www.matterform.comAlthough Matterform advertise a free CD, this only applies within the USA. However, if you e-mail them, they will send you a serial number which allows you to download the application from their website and make it operate.
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS
A discussion was held on various I.S.P.s, as some new members had requested information about them. Some which cater for Macintosh users are Maxnet, Xtra and Orcon, with the latter apparently having the cheapest rates for Internet access ($9.95 for 30 hours) - further information on their website:http://www.orcon.net.nz
As some members now access the Internet via high-speed JetStart, some discussion was also held on aspects of this, including set-up, convenience, reliability and speeds, and the security issues associated with Airport connections.
REMINDER
Next AMUG Evening meeting is on Friday May 2 at 7:30 pm
Please Note:Please note that the usual April meeting would have fallen on 25 April ANZAC Day) so the meeting date will be deferred until the following week
Next AMUG Daytime Meeting ishas yet to be arranged - date will be announced later
[Committee Meeting on Mactropolis: Tuesday 22 April at 9:00pm
Regards to all.....
Tony Climo
Secretary, Aoraki MacIntosh Users Group