LAUG 2.0 » Matthew Kappenman

Jan 5th: Welcome to Macintosh

Matthew Kappenman — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 19:59:35 +0000

The Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 will be having a meeting entitled “Welcome to Macintosh” Wednesday, January 5th, 7pm at Douglas County Senior Services at 745 Vermont Street in Lawrence.

Did you get a new Mac, iPod or other goodie for the holidays. This meeting is all Questions and Answers. Get all your questions answered for free by local experts. This meeting is ideal for PC “switchers” and beginners

Meetings are always free and questions are always welcome, even if it isn’t about the topic being discussed. A door prize will also be given out to an attendee. Go to http://www.laugks.org for more info or Contact Dave Greenbaum, 785-218-9676, dsg@mac.com to be notified of upcoming meetings.

Note our inclement weather policy: if USD 497 is closed, our meeting will be cancelled. Check our website if there is a question about whether the meeting is cancelled due to weather.

Dec 1st: Annual Apple Holiday Buying Guide

Matthew Kappenman — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:56:58 +0000

The Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 will be having a meeting entitled “Annual Apple Holiday Buying Guide” Wednesday, December 1st, 7pm at Douglas County Senior Services at 745 Vermont Street in Lawrence.

Apple makes a wide variety of software and hardware and sometimes it’s hard to navigate the offerings. During this meeting, we’ll take you through Apple’s product line and help you find the right stuff for your holiday shopping list. Beginners welcome

Note our inclement weather policy: if USD 497 is closed, our meeting will be cancelled. Check our website if there is a question about whether the meeting is cancelled due to weather.

Nov 2nd: Show and tell: Apple cornicpoia

Matthew Kappenman — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:25:30 +0000

The Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 will be having a meeting entitled “Show and tell: Apple cornicpoia” Wednesday, November 3rd, 7pm at Douglas County Senior Services at 745 Vermont Street in Lawrence.

Is there a great software or hardware product you’d like to share with fellow members. Maybe give them some holiday ideas. This meeting is perfect for all users: beginners, intermediate, and advanced

Note our inclement weather policy: if USD 497 is closed, our meeting will be cancelled. Check our website if there is a question about whether the meeting is cancelled due to weather.

July 7th: iPad and iPhone with the experts of Mission: Repair at our new location!

Matthew Kappenman — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:54:39 +0000

The Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 will be having a meeting entitled “iPad and iPhone with the experts of Mission: Repair” Wednesday, July 7th , 7pm.

Mission: Repair, located right here in Kansas, will show us the innards of an iPad and iPhone as well as basic repair techniques.

We’ll be meeting at our NEW location at the Douglas County Senior Services at 745 Vermont.

June 2nd “Annual Picnic and Swap Meet”

Matthew Kappenman — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:49:59 +0000

The Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 will be having a meeting entitled “Annual User Group Picnic” Wednesday, June 2nd at Broken Arrow Park

We’ll give a whole new meaning to the term chips and bytes. Chat with your fellow Mac enthusiasts as well as buy sell trade equipment

Oct. 7th: Cutting the Wires: Wireless networking on your Mac

Matthew Kappenman — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:50:01 +0000

The Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 will be having a meeting entitled “Cutting the Wireless: Wireless networking on your Mac ” Wednesday, October 7th , 7pm at Van Go Mobile Arts 715 New Jersey Street in Lawrence.

Confused about your options? Not sure how to setup wireless networks and share resources. We’ll learn the ins and outs of wireless networking.

June 3rd: Annual Picnic and Swap Meet

Matthew Kappenman — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:42:50 +0000

The Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 will be having a meeting entitled “Annual User Group Picnic” Wednesday, June 3rd at Broken Arrow Park. Google Maps Link

We’ll give a whole new meaning to the term chips and bytes. Chat with your fellow Mac enthusiasts as well as buy sell trade equipment. The event starts at 7pm and dishes go as follows:
Leopard Users: Main dish
Tiger users: Side disk
Panther: Dessert
Running more than one: your choice
Not running one of these: save your money and bring a drink (and then upgrade)

May 6th: Proper care and feeding of your Mac

Matthew Kappenman — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:01:05 +0000

The Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 will be having a meeting entitled “Proper care and feeding of your Mac ” Wednesday, March 4th , 7pm at Van Go Mobile Arts 715 New Jersey Street in Lawrence.

Your PC friends seem to have to do all this stuff to keep their PCs up and running. What do you need to do as a Mac user to protect your investment? This is a great beginner meeting

Meetings are always free and questions are always welcome, even if it isn’t about the topic being discussed. A door prize will also be given out to an attendee.

Random App: Delivery Status

Matthew Kappenman — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:37:28 +0000

This is the first of a new segment here on the LAUG website called Random App. Basically, it is a new series where Board Members will write a quick review about some Random App they have been enjoying or loathing. It’s not a full review, but more of a quick run down of applications for the Mac as well as the iPhone/iPod Touch.

First up is an app that actually spans the Mac and the iPhone. I’ve been using June Clould’s Delivery Status widget for years to keep track of Amazon.com, USPS , Fedex and UPS packages and now they’ve released a companion iPhone app for $2.99. This allows you to check packages via the iPhone when you’re on the go, but if you’ve ever tried to type in the 16 digit tracking codes with the iPhone (remember, no cut and paste) it tends to sour the experience. Well, June Cloud’s got you covered. Once you setup and account you can then sync your tracking data between the desktop widget and the iPhone and never have to type in those crazy numbers to your iPhone again!

Check out their site (junecloud.com) for all the details and I hope you’ve enjoyed the first installment of Random App!

Timbuktu Pro: Review

Matthew Kappenman — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:03:55 +0000

One of the things I love about software for the Mac is the quality and abundance of programs that help users get the most out of their computing experience while integrating with the Mac as much as possible. Timbuktu Pro remote control software from Motorola (formerly Netopia) is no exception to this rule.

Before we get to far into this review I think we should talk a little about what exactly Timbuktu Pro does. Timbuktu Pro is basically a remote computing application that allows a person to control one computer from another machine all within a very Mac-like interface. Additionally the program allows drag ‘n drop file sharing, voice and text chat functionality as well as the ability to use it in cross platform environments.

Since this app is an extremely powerful and feature rich remote computing environment I decided to focus my review on what is, in my opinion, easiest way to get set up and running.

Setup

While there are many ways to set up access between installations of Timbuktu my personal favorite is the ease of use provide by using the Skype VOIP client. By using Skype to connect your machines you can bypass what can be lengthy firewall and router setups which include configuring the Mac’s network settings and your router. However, when using Skype to create the secure connection between machines I was able to setup both of my machines from scratch and be up and running in under 10 minutes. Amazing when you consider the complexities and security implications of working on a remote computer.

Remote Control

Remote control works exactly like you would expect on the Mac. Once you launch Timbuktu and connect to your remote machine a window pops up showing you the contents of the remote computer’s screen. If the screen is larger than your current screen, like working on a Macbook and controlling an iMac, then Timbuktu allows you to scale the screen or have it track the mouse around at full resolution.

Once connected you can just move your mouse inside the Timbuktu window and your mouse and keyboard with begin to operate the remote machine like you were sitting down in front of it. All of the functionality you would normally get from your remote machine, including system performance, is at your finger tips the only hold up being the speed at which your internet connection refreshes the remote screen. I’ve been testing out exporting files from Final Cut Pro remotely so that I can start exports and renders in the evening without having to stop by the office and let me say it has been a real time saver for me.

File Sharing

Timbuktu Pro allows for drag ‘n drop file sharing that I believe is unique in the world of remote control access on the Mac. While free programs like VNC clients might appear to provide all of the same features of Timbuktu Pro, they don’t come close to the drag ‘n drop file transfer that is both secure and intuitive and of course much more Mac like in execution. All you have to do to move a file from one machine to the other is drag that file from one desktop to the other, whether it is your remote or local machine. Normally you would have to use VNC for screen control and an FTP client to access your files, but with Timbuktu you can have both in a much more user friendly way.

Gripes

Of course, as with any application Timbuktu isn’t perfect and there are few things that bug me about the app. Some of the user interface feels a little dated, especially the preferences window. Also, I wish you could delete the Menu bar icon when you are not planning on using the app, if for no other reason than that it lets anyone who glances at your screen know that you have access to remote computers. Not a big deal, but something that bothered me when I was attending NAB last week with over 130,000 other people. Of course these are all minor annoyances, and they don’t keep me from really enjoying the application.

Wrap Up

There are tons of features like instant messaging, clipboard sync, screen scaling, quicktime recording as well as the ability to change the color resolution in order to improve response time that round out this very mature application. It is one of the few applications that started out with the Mac back in the 1980s and has made it through the “dark years” to end up on the current version of OSX. Not many applications on the Mac can say that and continue to create what other reviewers have called the “gold standard for Macintosh remote control.”

After using Timbuktu Pro for the last couple of weeks I think this application is a must have for anyone who needs to access files on remote computers. The application provided me piece of mind knowing that when I’m on the road I have full access to my workstation at the office. It also brings the freedom of being able to check in on processes running on my G5 at work from the comfort of my living room couch, which as a guy who manages the computers at the office is a much needed reassurance. Due to it’s day to day ease of use, full feature set, relatively new Skype integration and compatibility with Windows machines I can’t think of a better solution for remote control on the mac.

Pros: Extremely powerful remote computing environment with easy file sharing and integration with the Mac OS.

Cons: A bit complication to set up, could maybe use a walk through process when setting up new computers or installations.

Five out of Five Dog Cows

If anyone has any further question I invite you to listen to the podcast from the April meeting in which Mike Silverman provides more details about remote control on the mac, including Timbuktu Pro.

Review: Radiolover

Matthew Kappenman — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 23:42:00 +0000

Dave’s current spurt of posting from Macworld has inspired me to post a couple of reviews that have been on the back burner for a while. First up is a great app from Bitcartel Software, entitled Radiolover. Basically you can think of it as a Tivo or DVR for streaming audio content.

While I subscribe to tons of podcasts there are still a few radio programs that I’d love to have on my iPod that haven’t gotten hip to podcasting. Radiolover fills that gap nicely. To start recording go to your favorite radio station’s website, copy the address of their streaming audio URL and enter that into Radiolover. Once you’ve entered the URL you are free to setup up a schedule of when you want to record that station and how it integrates with iTunes. The best part of the app is that once the recording is complete Radiolover automatically moves the file(s) over to iTunes and will set their name, genre and add them to a playlist of your choosing.

Personally I’ve been using the app for a few months now to record NPR shows that are not offered as podcasts yet. To do so I utilize the WBEZ Chicago’s streaming radio station as my local NPR station does not offer MP3 streaming. If you do run into a radio station that streams their content via Windows Media or Real Player instead of MP3, BitCartel makes another app, iRecordMusic for just that purpose. While iRecordMusic has many of the same features, in fact more features then Radiolover, I enjoy Radiolover’s simple clean interface for scheduling recordings.

Overall I give this app 4 out of 5 dog cows. My only complaint is that the program does not auto-launch when it needs to record. However, using iCal to schedule the recordings as well as Radiolover allows for seemless-timeshifting-audio-joy.

Free iLife Tutorials

Matthew Kappenman — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 15:20:11 +0000

Ever felt like you weren’t getting the most out of your iLife? Well, Apple has posted a ton of multimedia tutorials on everything from iPhoto to iMovie. Check them out for yourself here.

Via: Digg.com

Write Room: Great New Software

Matthew Kappenman — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 21:49:47 +0000

I just wanted to drop in really quick before the extended weekend to talk about my new favorite piece of software, Write Room. Basically the software is a simple text editor that allows the user to enter a full screen mode in which the distractions your computer presents i.e. IM, RSS, email, podcasts etc…disappear.

I really love this quote from the developers site;

For Mac users who enjoy the simplicity of a typewriter, but live in the digital world.”

The software is still in beta but it looks to be another great app from Hog Bay Software. I’m not going to give the software a “dog-cow” rating as it is still in beta, but it looks to be a great app. I hope everyone has a great Fourth of July weekend!

Via: Binary Bonsai

RSS via Email

Matthew Kappenman — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 15:00:37 +0000

Good news for everyone who enjoyed receiving the old newsletter via email! Yesterday we added the ability to subscribe to this website and receive email updates when all the great reviews, podcasts and news that you loved about the old newsletter are posted.

If you look to the sidebar on the right of the homepage you’ll notice a box that includes the headline “Subscribe via Email.” All you have to do to subscribe is enter your email address, confirm it, and you are all set to continue receiving all your great LAUG news. One note though, this is not a replacement to the emails that Dave sends out containing the meeting topic for each month. This is strictly for newsletter related info.

p.s. Don’t be surprised if you don’t receive the email right away as it might take a day to get your email address into the system for updating. If you have any problems feel free to email me (mattkapp at gmail dot com).

Rapidweaver by Realmac Software

Matthew Kappenman — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 17:22:48 +0000

I know nothing about web design. Absolutely nothing. Enter Rapidweaver from Realmacsoftware. Rapidweaver is an all-in-one WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) application that allows even the most novice web designers to create professional standardized web sites.
The program is very easy to use and I was able to pick it up in a matter of minutes. It comes with several templates for creating everything from blogs and html to styled text pages. iLife integration is another great feature in Rapidweaver, allowing you to assemble photo and movie albums far superior to anything that Apple’s .Mac service creates.

While the application may have many features that the newer user might enjoy it also has some great under the hood features such as automatic RSS and podcast feed creation. This allows a user to create their own blog and podcast and syndicate the information and mp3s via any RSS reader and iTunes.

Rapidweaver’s only requirements are a Mac running 10.3 (Panther) or 10.4 (Tiger), an Internet connection, and some place to host the website. The program will host your site on your .Mac account, or on any FTP (File Transfer Protocol) enabled server you choose.

The application is available for download at realmacsoftware.com for $34.95.

4 out of 5 dog cows

Shareware of the Month: Yasu

Matthew Kappenman — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 03:41:50 +0000

Just about all of the maintenance utilities you would ever need are already on your Mac. Unfortunately, they are not all be initiated within the same program. There are many utility programs out there, in various price ranges, that perform most of those maintenance functions within one program. My favorite shareware utility is YASU. It is very simple to use and will perform the following tasks:

Daily, Weekly and Monthly CRON jobs
Repairs Permissions
Updates Prebindings
Clears system and browser caches.

Of course it doesn�t do �it all� but I�ve found that running this simple little utility solves just about any problem that I�ve run into.