Here are the past 24 hours, in a nutshell:
- The NATMAC user group meeting in Deerfield Beach, Florida was loads of fun. It was the first time I'd gotten to get up and make a face-to-face group presentation about anything Mac-related, and since I hadn't known I was presenting when I woke up that morning, I had to scramble just a bit. But it worked out just fine, as I dipped into the well of stuff I'd done with the students during the height of our success back at the elementary school: iLife, Keynote, projects tied into the science curriculum. I was a bit rusty as presenting, but I survived.
- Lots of great things went on at the meeting, which was well-attended. What I really like about these kinds of local meetings is that just about any Mac user, regardless of their technical level or the extent to which they follow current happenings, can fit in nicely. Those who keep their nose to the Mac Web, striving to constantly keep updated on everything that might (or might not) be going on, can use these meetings to share that info with those who don't feel compelled (or don't have the time) to stay updated on such a constant basis. Also, those who are less-technically-inclined can pick the brains of those attendees who have a wealth of information and solutions to share.
- The other beautiful thing about a user group meeting is that despite how much you think you might know, there's always more to learn. For instance, I hadn't thought to create a secondary "test" user account on my new PowerBook until someone offered it up as a general suggestion. If you want to learn more about NATMAC, which meets every month at the Sun-Sentinel building in Deerfield Beach, just check out their website.
- NATMAC gave out a free iPod mini last month as part of its raffle drawing, but couldn't do so this month...because like the rest of the planet, they just couldn't get ahold of one this month.
- If you somehow managed to miss the news, iTunes 4.5 was released today. It's currently installing quietly in the background as I'm writing this column (reason #9,253,634 I love the Mac), and you can look for my review of the new iTunes features within the next day or so, over on the iPod Garage.
- I'm currently sitting here at the Gold Coast Mac User Group meeting here in Miami, and I can't help but think how far we've come that here in 2004, it can more or less just be assumed that if you go within a stone's throw of anything Apple-related (Mac User Group, Apple Store), you're likely to be able to grab a wireless signal with zero configuration. Not bad, considering that five years ago, wireless internet literally did not exist in any usable form. Tomorrow I'll write some about what happened here at GCMAC.
- To the waitress at the nearly empty pizza place in Deerfield Beach where I had dinner Tuesday: thanks for singing the entire time. With a voice like that, you certainly won't be a waitress forever. And don't worry, you'll get to see U2 in concert eventually.
- Thursday I'll be heading...somewhere. The official schedule, which I'm trying to stick to, reads "sit outside the Boca Raton Apple Store from 6:00-8:00 pm and type a column." The beauty of these open-ended road trips (to places you used to live) is that there's no shortage of old friends, old hangouts, and so forth.
- Well, it's time to run. The next time I can find a place to post from, you'll hear from me yet again. Scary stuff, I know.
