News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
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Down in Sea Change country, the Bellarine Mac User Group is one of the newest Mac User Groups in Australia, having formed just over a year ago, yet it is one of the most vibrant and dynamic groups in the world.
BMUG is situated down on the Bellarine Peninsula just over an hour's drive from Melbourne and about 10-15 minutes from where the outdoor shots of the ABC television show Sea Change were filmed.
When it first formed, BMUG met in a local neighbourhood centre in Ocean Grove, which comfortably supported 30-odd people each meeting, but already the group has outgrown that venue and now meets at Marcus Hill Community Hall, on the corner of Bellarine Highway & Banks Road, Marcus Hill (about half way between Ocean Grove and Queenscliff).
Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month, except from January, and run for about two hours commencing from 4.30pm. In 2008 BMUG has taken a novel and interesting approach to its meeting schedule, which is working incredibly well. There is a Presentation on a topic one month, which is a standard lecture-style presentation to the entire group. Then the following month there are small group workshop sessions, where attendees can bring along their own computers to get some personal assistance on the topic.
For example on April 9th, BMUG has a presentation on "Making the most of the Internet" where you'll hear about everything you need to know about getting the best out of your time online including using Safari, how to surf the web, use Google, get online to do your banking, and discover useful widgets etc. Then on May 14th, the topic is "Making the most of the Internet — THE MAC WORKSHOP" so after seeing it all in action in April you get the "hands-on" session.
BMUG offers two levels of membership: Full member ($40pa) and Remote membership ($25pa) for those who can't get to meetings. And you can join at any meeting or via an online membership form.
By joining the Bellarine Mac User Group you get access to a monthly eNewsletter, a book library, Mac Pals (experienced Macintosh users who offer one-on-one assistance and in-house tutoring) and the ability to purchase comprehensive printed Beginners Manuals and downloadable tutorial videos, as well as the Disc of the Month.
A number of sample titles from the Beginners Manual range can be downloaded free of charge, in PDF format and the video tutorials are available in QuickTime format.
One unique benefit BMUG offers members is a free web hosting account, with very generous specifications including 500MB of storage space, unlimited mail accounts, WebDav support (for publishing iCals), support for WordPress and Joomla (two popular blogging packages), QuickTime Streaming and PHP, MySQL and Ruby on Rails support. Plus you can have your own domain or use one of BMUG's sub-domains. The only condition is the free package can not used for commercial purposes, but things like personal blogs or family photo albums are fine.
Have you joined or even just visited your local Macintosh User Group? Do you know what a Macintosh User Group is, what they have to offer or where to find them? Macintosh User Groups, commonly referred to as MUGs, are just a group of ordinary Mac users, just like you and I, who get together to discuss and learn things about their Macs. There are active groups throughout every state and territory within Australia, in the capital cities as well as many in regional centers.
Nicholas Pyers | Feb 25, 2008
Australia's largest state is the home to two extremely active and vibrant Macintosh User Groups — WAMUG and GMUG. The Western Australian Macintosh User Group is based in the world's "most remote capital city" of Perth and was founded back at the very dawn of the "Age of Macintosh" aka 1984. The Geraldton Macintosh User Group is located about four and half hours drive north of Perth and whilst it is a comparatively small User Group it welcomes members from all over the globe.
Nicholas Pyers | Apr 21, 2008
This month's MUG Shot covers two of Australia's largest Mac User Groups: AMUG Sydney, based obviously in Sydney; and AUSOM Incorporated, which is Melbourne-based. In recent weeks both groups have totally revamped their web sites, making it easier to find out about the extensive range of services and benefits they both offer their members. Services range from meetings to libraries, online stores to printed magazines — and a whole lot more.
Nicholas Pyers | May 19, 2008
The South Australian Apple Users' Club (SAAUC) bas been in Adelaide since the late 1970s and now has a diverse range of members between the ages of 15 to over 80s. Skill levels vary from raw beginners to professional and power users. It is an ever-evolving group that still provides a wide variety of services and assistance to its members. It produces a monthly magazine, called AppleSauce, which is provided in an easy-to-read on-screen PDF format. Back issues of AppleSauce can be downloaded from the web site and when you visit the site be sure to say Hello to Englebart!
Nicholas Pyers | Jun 24, 2008
App Store developers will now be able to reach customers in 13 new countries, according to an announcement on the iPhone Developer Program news page.
