Chuck Joiner, editor of The Macintosh User Group (MUG) Center Web site, has posted the news about the latest edition of “Breen’s Bungalow,” a user group-only version of the QuickTime tutorial that comes bundled with newsstand copies of Macworld magazine. This month, Breen covers the new fourth generation iPod, AirPort Express and AirTunes. Visit the MUG Center to learn how to distribute it to your group.
In other news, Nov. 14 will see “Woz at the Shore” happen at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where, unsurprisingly, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will be the featured speaker. The free event is aimed at the broader technical community, but various MUGs plan to exhibit, with Gold Coast MUG raffling off a new G5 iMac.
Joiner has also posted the results of last week’s MUG Center survey question, which wanted to know the size of your group. The majority of them are between 100 and 300 members, with smaller groups coming in second; 7 of 87 responses said that their groups contain over 300 members. This week’s question is “Where does your group meet and how much does it cost?” Stop by The MUG Center to respond.
When we covered upcoming user group meetings last week, we left out Monday’s get-together by Portland Mac Filmmakers’ User Group, which we were informed of after we posted our round-up. They will meet at 7:00 PM at MacForce, a Portland retailer, and will welcome Apple’s Bill Foster’s discussion of the new G5 iMac, the Power Mac G5, Final Cut Pro HD and Motion.
The rest of this week is a truncated one for MUG meetings, most likely because of Halloween on Sunday. On Oct. 26, Calif.’s Lincoln Hills MUG and San Luis Obispo MUG will cover “Print Ship for Mac OS X” and demonstrate the genealogy software Reunion, respectively. The same day, Boston Final Cut Pro Users Group welcomes a slate of guests that includes Apple’s Don Peebles, Future Media Concepts’ Chris Phrommayon, Boris FX’s Anne Renehan, author Charles Roberts, NeoTron Design’s Loren Miller and the Final Cut Pro Guru Panel. In addition, they’ll have their usual Big Dig Raffle.
A new technical special interest group will also hold its first meeting on Oct. 26. Anyone interested in programming, especially the Mac OS X language Cocoa, should stop by the University Village Apple Store in Seattle at 6:30 PM. One of the organizers told MacCentral that “[attendees’] input is needed to help set our direction, the format and the program for the next month or two of meetings.” The group does not have a Web site yet.
On Oct. 27, Canadian MUG Macintosh Users East hosts an iPod demo night, the user group gathering at the O’Reilly Mac OS X Conference happens, Apple Network Managers Assoc. addresses “Security on Mac OS X Server,” Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group takes in a visit by sound editor John McKay and Connecticut Macintosh Connection presents “Transition to Mac OS X.”
On Oct. 28, Claremont, Calif.’s Champions of the Mac Proletariat covers the local high school’s computer network and Michigan’s Grand Rapids MUG welcomes “Learn FileMaker Pro 7” author Jonathan Stars. Finally, Thailand MUG would like to let fellow MUGs around the world know that they’ve selected the winner of their logo design contest: Tisak Ongwattanakul, a Thai citizen living in San Francisco. He receives “a great prize to be determined.”
Check each MUG’s Web site for meeting times, locations and entry fees, if applicable.
Macintosh User Groups interested in seeing their events listed on MacCentral are welcome to send us their news. We post roundups of MUG events and gatherings each week.
If you’re wondering what user group events are happening in your area, visit the MUG Center’s online calendar. Apple also hosts a user group site where you can look for a MUG near you or find out how to start your own group.
7:01 PM EST: Added information about the new technical SIG in Seattle.