LAUG 2.0 News

A podcast from the September 2008 meeting of the Lawrence Apple Users Group. This month’s meeting included info on how to research and setup your family Genealogy on the Mac.

The meeting opened up with introductions, recent Apple news, and opening questions. This was followed by a presentation by Julie Sergeant on how to research and setup your family Genealogy on the Mac.

The meeting concluded with our monthly door prize, which included a Laptop Case from equinix, Getting Started with Leopard from friendsofed, and the iPhone Book courtesy of Peachpit.

Check us out on the web and subscribe to the podcast at http://www.laugks.org/news/.

 

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When I received a press release about the Agent 18 Eco-Shield, I had very high hopes. It is an iPhone case that uses recycled plastic for packaging and is made from recycling plastic bottles. This would be an awesome way to reduce my carbon footprint while protecting my iPhone 3G investment. Unfortunately, while this wasn’t a case of greenwashing, I found the case inferior to others on the market and my green thumb couldn’t override my other nine fingers that didn’t like the case, in spite of reasonable pricing at $29.95 retail.
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MercuryMover is a program designed for fast typists who hate using the mouse. For these people, clicking the mouse to access a menu or function is as obscene a gesture as showing one’s middle digit in public! I too avoid removing my fingers from the keyboard and use either my Macbook trackpad or my Contour Rollermouse. MercuryMover allows you to move or re-size windows without having to move your hands off the keyboard, and implements the idea well.

MercuryMover runs as a System Preference, making it easy to install and remove. I run a fairly complex suite of applications and ran into no compatibility problems. The special modifier keys to move or re-size windows are fully customizable, so if there is a conflict with an existing program, the MercuryMover keys can be rerouted. By default, the program is set to use the control, option ,and arrow keys to initiate a re-size or move. After pressing the hotkeys, use the arrows or “jump” modifiers to move the windows one pixel or one screen at a time.

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