Dan Bellack
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Dan Bellack
The comments below don't (necessarily) reflect the views of SCUM. They are personal thoughts on Macs, SCUM and other stuff. If you have any comments about what I have written, please feel free to email your webmaster, Dan Bellack.
Note: Most recent entries are listed first.
6-4-10 - “End Of The Underdog Years”
Recently Apple surpassed Microsoft as the leading technology company in terms of market capitalization on May 26, 2010. No longer an underdog struggling to stay alive and compete with the "giant" Microsoft. They are now the leader in a very important measure of company success. From that day forward the world changed for Apple. I think you will find that technology media-the blogs, online publications and print magazines-will now be more free to criticize Apple.
Already you are seeing reports of Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice are wrangling over who gets to initiate anti-trust and fair trade practices. From the New York Times dated May 25, 2010, "The Justice Department is examining Apple’s tactics in the market for digital music, and its staff members have talked to major music labels and Internet music companies, according to several people briefed on the conversations." While this is not wholly due to the change in market cap, the fact that it is being reported by tech-friendly publications like the Wall Street Journal is significant.
Whoa Nellie! Welcome to the big leagues, Steve!
3-20-10 - “Thoughts On The iPad”
I was reading the most recent Macworld (April 2010) and as usual I headed for the "From The Editor's Desk" page where Editor Jason Snell usually has some interesting comments on Macs or the world of computing in general. This month, however, Jason handed his column over to Senior Associate Editor Dan Moren who penned "The Third Revolution", an editorial well worth your attention.
The third revolution Dan is alluding to is the development of the iPad. I agree with him. For exactly the reasons he states in his editorial I think that while critics of the iPad seem to want to protect their concept on what Apple products ought to be, Apple is well served to create more accessible computers that will open up the world of computing and Macs to more and more people. Not just turn out more whizzy machines with new bells and whistles that appeal to the Mac "techie" community.
I did something I rarely do, I wrote an email and told Dan how much I enjoyed his editorial. To my amazement he answered my note within three hours and said the following: "Thanks very much for your kind words; I really appreciate them. Obviously, it's still a bit early to see if the iPad will pan out as predicted, but something about the idea strikes me as one of those turning points in history—I really do think everything is about to change. Hopefully for the better."
I may not buy an iPad this year but I think there is an iPad in my future. Maybe when the price comes down closer to the $250 mark. (I learned patience waiting for Blu-ray DVD players to drop from $400 down to the sub-$200 range. Mine cost me $149.) I'll bet I'm not the only one feeling this way.
1-24-10 - “Is Your World Shrinking?”
Since I left full-time business in 1992, I have seen my world shrink a little each year. When I worked at the Apple Store in 2006-07 my world grew a little larger. And I admit I felt a little younger because of that. Now that what may have been my last "real" job is behind me, I can feel my world is in danger of shrinking again.
I can't say this is true for you, but I know that for me feeling older is somehow tied to this "shrinking world" phenomenon. My family and friends are always the most important thing but a world outside of them is important too. To some extent, SCUM has allowed me to stay connected to a greater world. Another tool that has proved very valuable in staying contact with the greater world is Facebook.
Out of curiosity, I sat down today and totaled my Facebook friends by category. Here's what I learned: immediate family - 5, personal friends - 21; TFB (our ad/PR firm) - 35; Apple store friends - 19; other business friends - 8; high school - 5 and other - 1. I know some people on Facebook who are "friend collectors." I am told that many college kids and younger folks can have as many as 700 "friends." That doesn't make a lick of sense to me, but if that's what they enjoy . . . as for me, my current list seems like a pretty good one.
On February 1st you have a chance to learn about Facebook from someone who knows. Larry Yu, Facebook's director of corporate communications, has worked for an impressive string of Silicon Valley companies. The time he spent with Cisco, MWWW Group ( a top ten national PR firm), and Google give him an interesting perspective on the world of technology and business.
I am proud to say that Larry has been a friend of mine for fourteen years (if memory serves . . . and it doesn't always). I want very much for you to have the pleasure of meeting him. His story is worth hearing. It may even help expand your world . . . and your mind.
1-19-10 - “My New Year's Hopes and Wishes”
1. I hope we will have a full house for our Facebook meeting. It should be great meeting and we are lucky to attract a corporate exec for one of our meetings.
2. I wish that we could clone the group I call the "the same old hands." Those are the ones who are always there when stuff needs to be done.
3. I hope that we continue to attract newcomers to SCUM as we have been doing . . . only in greater numbers. It wasn't that long ago that Brian, Geoff, Pete and others were "newcomers."
4. I wish we could get more feedback on future meeting topics. It's hard to guess what someone else will find interesting.
5. I wish that all our members and friends will have a wonderful, healthy and prosperous new year.
10-14-09 - “You don’t have to be a trapeze artist . . .”
My mind is traveling ahead to the coming year and I’m wondering if we will have the annual problem of finding candidates for leadership for our group.
I have been told by people in the group who talk to other SCUM members that there is a big fear of not being technically competent enough to handle the job of running a monthly meeting. My answer to that is “you don’t have to be a trapeze artist or a lion tamer to be a good ringmaster.”
Over the years, people have been kind enough to say I am good at running meetings. I have done it for marketing, public relations, and advertising groups because that was those were the businesses I was in. But I have no fear of running a meeting on any subject you can imagine because I learned that one simple lesson “you don’t have to be a trapeze artist or a lion tamer to be a good ringmaster.”
If you have never tried it and you are now well into your senior years, I am sure you are thinking “I’m too old to start now” or “I’d just look dumb.” Well, when I applied for a job at the Apple Store when I was 66, both of those things crossed my mind. I decided to push through my fears and take a shot. The result was a couple of years of learning new things, making some new (and very young) friends and proving to myself that I wasn’t too old and I didn’t look dumb. I might have appeared to be ignorant sometime but never dumb. There's a difference, you know.
I think that the SCUM world is a safe environment to take some chances. The effort is minimal and the potential rewards are great. Most of all, you have some great lion tamers, trapeze artists and even a clown or two to help make you successful.
9-23-09 - Me & Folk Music
I am writing this a few days after Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary died. Her death got me to thinking about my long love affair with folk music and the people that made that music I love so much.
I guess the first folks music that I remember hearing was Burl Ives singing “The Blue Tail Fly” (or “Jimmy Crack Corn” if you prefer). I remember it but that song didn’t start my long connection to folk music. As near as I remember the first group that won my heart was “The Weavers.” I remember hearing their music during my freshman year at Cal Poly hanging out with a bunch of guys who lived at the Poultry Unit and one of them played “Woke Up This Morning,” “The Banks of Marble,” and “This Land Is Your Land.” That’s all it took. The flame was lit.
The following year, the Limeliters, a group I had never heard of came to Cal Poly for a concert and immediately rose to number one in my musical heart where they remain to this day. I had a chance to tell Glenn Yarbrough, the magnificent tenor of the Limeliters, about seeing them and how much it meant to me. To my delight, he remembered that concert. (He met his first wife there.)
Over the years I had the chance to see all the major groups. I remember them all and listen to their music to this day. Bud Dashiell and Travis Edmundson (Bud & Travis); Lou Gottlieb (of The Limeliters); Odetta; Dave Guard, John Stewart and Nick Reynolds (of The Kingston Trio); Lee Hayes and Ronnie Gilbert (of The Weavers); and Mary Travers (of Peter, Paul & Mary) have all passed over the years. Each time I hear the news I can’t help but feel I have lost a someone who brought me great joy.
Although a number of the groups and people mentioned above had very strong feelings about social and political causes and incorporated them into their “protest” songs and I have to admit, that was not the way I interacted with the music. I always thought that a decidedly middle-class kid with a guitar and very little direct experience with the causes that prompted the songs trying to sound like real deal would just come off sounding stupid and hypocritical. And that would been the case with me.
I just loved the music.P.S. If you want to see the whole story of my personal journey and hear some of the music I made, check out my iWeb site at http://web.mac.com/danbellack
8-23-09 - Remembering Joyce Rehlich
I first met Joyce Rehlich on October 16, 1977. I joined a small ad/pr agency in Palo Alto which was renamed Tycer-Fultz-Bellack that day. As the newest employee and the third (and newest) partner I made it a point to get to know the most senior employee, other than my partners Del Tycer and Bob Fultz, Joyce Rehlich. She was the efficient person who made sure everyone got paid and the only person over fifty in a group of "youngsters." Over the fifteen years that I worked with her, I watched her deal with the dramatic growth of the agency. Joyce was able to keep pace with the demands of her job which grew from bookkeeping to financial management of an advertising and public relations agency which ultimately became a part of worldwide giant, BBDO Worldwide. She also became my friend.
A few years back, I lured Joyce into joining SCUM. I thought she would enjoy the group and perhaps learn some things about Macs while making some new friends. Both things happened. And along the way, she had a chance to offer her financial background to our group as treasurer.
When Judy and I returned from an East Coast trip early yesterday morning, I learned from Bill, her husband of sixty-some years, that she had passed away on Monday, August 17th. Friends will have a chance to remember her at a get together at the San Carlos Adult Community Center on Saturday, September 12th between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. I hope those of you who knew her will join the folks gathering that day to celebrate her life with her family. I'll be there and I hope you will too.
7-11-09 - I'm Curious And So Are Some Of You
In a recent email Fred Offenbach described himself as being in "that small niche group of curious people." I wrote him back and said that was something I have always liked about him. That got me to thinking about my friend John Chan who told me at this month's meeting that he was going to be taking a course in Photoshop Lightroom which is Adobe's latest application that digital photographers can use to sort, manipulate and store photos. I guess it was just another in a long line of things that John "just got curious about." You can add me to the list. I have gotten really curious about how to take better pictures and I'm doing something about it. Joe Kimble's curiosity has taken him all over the world. And the list goes on and on.
Look inside yourself. Are you still curious? How about your friends and family? Are they curious? Okay, I'll admit it . . . I'm curious about whether you are curious about things. Drop me a note and tell me what you're curious about. And don't worry, I don't think it's life-threatening in most cases.
6-1-09 - What Makes SCUM Fun For Me
Back in the middle seventies, I was a part of a group called the Peninsula Marketing Association (PMA). In 1974-75, I was elected president and ran the meetings. It was the first time that I felt I could "let myself go" and have some fun as an emcee. There was a lot of kidding back and forth between the officers and the crowd loved it. All of us knew how to "dish it out" and we also knew how to "take it."
As I drove home from the meeting today, I thought how wonderful it is to have a group of people thirty-five years later who allow me to have that kind of fun again. As Joe Kimble and I traded shots today, everyone laughed and nobody laughed harder than Joe and me. Whether it's banter with Joe, Brian, Fred, Ellen or any of the rest of you who join in, I love it and I thank you all for the chance over the last few years to make SCUM fun.I hope the fun never stops.
4-17-09 - Taps Over ISIG
Those of us who served in the military in our younger days often remember Taps fondly. In civilian life it is heard most often at funerals and memorial services. As the person who had the most to do with the creation of our SCUM Intermediate Special Interest Group, I feel it is only proper that I do the eulogy. Hopefully the group and the idea behind it will find new life in the future.
Four years ago, I was the president of SCUM and the past president of PAUG (Peninsula Apple Users Group). I had been a member of PAUG for three years and fought hard to build up the membership after the previous president, Roger Lakner, ended his battle to keep the group going by moving to Arizona. (He now is the vice president, past president and Apple Ambassador of PMUG, his local group in Prescott, AZ.) After laboring in vain for a year to save PAUG, I chanced on the idea of combining the membership with SCUM. On the surface, the idea seemed to have a chance of success. PAUG was an evening group which was floundering and frustrated with only having a place to meet for eight months out of the year. I thought SCUM could provide a new home for the PAUG folks and an evening venue for members and prospects who preferred meeting outside of working hours.
For a while, things looked promising but ultimately many of the PAUG members fell away and the SCUM folks didn't see fit to support the fledgling group. In spite of the efforts of John MacKenzie, Martyn Perry, Krev Jenorezec, Wally Bradford and others, the lack of support and volunteers caused regular attendance to dwindle down to two or three people at a meeting. Very sad.
Will we find new support and leadership for ISIG? Will SCUM ever suffer the same fate? Well folks, that's up to you.
3-22-09 - When Should You Buy Your New Mac?
Edd Dundas sent me an interesting article that you might want to take a look at. In that article Scott McNulty offered a view I have heard from many people over the last few years. For those of you who favor the "Reader's Digest Condensed" approach, here's the bottom line: buy your next Mac whenever you really have a good reason to do that. There are as many reasons as there are people out there. As for me, I seem to get a new Mac every three to four years. Usually I am getting the latest upgrade to an operating system as a part of the deal.
Two years ago this coming August, I completed my time as an Apple Computer employee and decided to take advantage of the last employee discount and get a new Mac Pro (with Leopard). I sold my previous G4 to a friend at a very good price and that combined with the discount made my purchase a relatively painless one. Since then, I have purchased two additional hard drives bringing my current capacity to 1.5 Terabytes. I tell you this to make the point that I now have a computer that will keep me happy for a number of years. Did I feel bad when Apple came out with a upgraded Mac Pro within a few months of my purchase? No. I was happy that I got a great deal on a computer that I really enjoy. For me, I got it at the right time.Now it's your turn . . .
2-6-09 - The Secret To Staying Young
Those of us who attend SCUM regularly have a wonderful role model available. At most meetings you will see John Chan, a Life Member of SCUM. John has been learning and teaching for his entire life. He is a great proponent of keeping your mind and body healthy through exercise. John's walking keeps his body going and his insatiable thirst for knowledge and desire to improve his skills keep his mind alive and well.
In a recent email to me offering thanks for the work I do on the website, he apologized for not being able to attend our meetings from now until June. He is taking a class at CSM on "Printing and Mixed Media." I think all of us will offer him an excused absence from our next couple of meetings. I know I will. And I will add to it by thanking him for being an honored role model in my life.
1-12-09 - Why Do I Teach . . . And Why Should You?
If you add together the innate fear in most human beings about getting up in front of people and running their bazoo, one might wonder why folks like Fred Offenbach, Brian Sandilands, Walt Domingo, Edd Dundas, Bob Pardini and others teach classes.
My own "trial by fire" came in 1992 when I fulfilled a promise to the folks at San Jose State to teach a course or two, the first year after my retirement from full-time work. In spite of the fact that I had done hundreds of presentations over the years and served as a guest speaker at a number of college classes, I admit to being intimidated by the thought of facing twenty or thirty young minds. Did they expect me to know everything there was to know about the subject I was teaching?
That's when I tumbled to a real secret (at least for me). Nowhere was it written that I had to know everything. Nobody does. My job in that classroom was to give students a desire to learn the subject, either from me or by way of tools that I could offer them. It worked for me at SJSU and it works for me now with the classes I have taught at the SCACC.
And guess what? I just signed up to do it again. In April I will be teaching a class for folks who are thinking of switching over to a Mac. I love the Mac and I love the idea of sharing my enthusiasm with others.
Now, did I just manage to teach you a little something? I hope so.
12-9-08 - Dear Santa . . .
Dear Santa,
I know that it is sometime considered "cool" to say that you are just a commercial invention or a popular myth, but don't number me amongst that crowd. I know you can make wishes come true. So here is my list for this coming year:
1. Please keep the grumpy old men and our other past officers involved in some way, even if it's just coming to meetings. They're the ones who helped build our little club and we need them.
2. If you please, Santa, could you pass along some new jokes Joe Kimble for the coming year. He does love them so.
3. Please watch over Joyce and Geoff and help them give the gift of their leadership to our our group.
4. Please help our members sprinkle the coming year with good program ideas and support for our officer group.
5. Please keep sending us new members that love the Mac and want keep on learning all the wonderful stuff that they can do with their machines.
6. Please warm the heart of the old webmaster and help him appreciate all the gifts of support that he has received in the past years. He can be a bit of a Grinch at times.
As always there will be milk and cookies for you and sugar for the reindeer on our fireplace. And take care of yourself. You're not getting any younger, you know.
As always,
Danny
11-14-08 - No More Grumpy Old Men?
While you were attending a landmark meeting on November 3rd, I was wandering the streets of Cabo San Lucas, dodging street vendors and reminding myself how to say "no thank you" in Spanish. In between meals and cocktails my head was filled with thoughts of SCUM. Okay, not every minute of the time, but I did think about you guys.
When I returned, a couple of the emails that were waiting for me told me that last month's comments (below) had struck home with some of you. A couple of folks worried that I might be gearing up to quit SCUM. And still others were concerned about the future of our little group. With the comfort of hindsight, I can assure you that in my opinion everything will be okay. Since I sailed away, my friends on the board, led by the other guy on the nominating committee, Brian Sandilands, have organized a slate of volunteers to run the meetings in the coming year. You can read all about it in the November Minutes.
You will be hearing more about the new format at upcoming meetings, so I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say, I, for one, am comfortable that the future of SCUM is in good and able hands. Brian, Fred and I have been the resident "grumpy old men" and we will stepping aside as Geoff Fernald, Joyce Friedlander and Betty Torrez (as secretary) bring some new life and fresh thoughts to the SCUM table. (You will still have good old Jack Fisher as treasurer for another year.) I think sometimes it makes sense to welcome some change. I promise I won't be too grumpy about the outcome.
10-20-08 - Is This The Beginning Of The End?
My first experience with Macintosh User Groups began with a visit to a group called PAUG (Peninsula Apple User Group) in 2000. The second year I was a member I was asked to be vice president. The year after that the president who had carried the load of the club on his back for a number of years pleaded with me to take the presidency. He agreed to be vice president and I took over in January. In February his life took a different turn and he moved to Arizona. After the end of two years of trying to get people to volunteer to participate in presenting topics for our meetings, I looked at the lack of interest and support and ho-hum meeting participation and arranged to have the group merge with SCUM and form the nucleus of our ISIG group.
I have now been a part of SCUM for six years. I have been vice president, president, founding librarian, webmaster, Apple Ambassador, instructor and one of the core of people who have always been there to answer your questions, teach your classes and run your meetings. Sadly, in spite of my best efforts and those of our leaders, past and present, I am seeing disturbing reminders of the past. Our best and brightest are growing tired of bearing the current burden with little help. I think our group is at a critical turning point. Will we grow and find new and exciting ways to serve the Mac community on the Peninsula or will we whither and die like PAUG and become a dusty footnote in someone's memory?It's up to you. Let your leaders hear your ideas on what we can do.
Do you want to be part of our end . . . or part of a new beginning?
9-4-08 - How To Hear The Sound Of Crickets In A Large Room
Amazingly simple. Just face an audience of SCUM members and ask for volunteers.
Okay, I know, once in a great while someone raises their hand and members of the officer group sit amazed and delighted . . . or if more than one hand is raised, find themselves in danger of a coronary arrest.
The sad truth is we shouldn't have to beg and cajole in order to get some help in running our club. Most of the jobs are not as much work as you might think. Those that are a bit more work are usually tackled by folks who do them as a labor of love. (You can always spot these people. They tend to be better looking and younger acting than the average members.)
We will be coming up on the time of year when plans are made for the following year's volunteers, including the officer positions that need filling. This would be a great time for you to begin thinking about which area would be the most interesting for you. Then grab one of the officers and talk to them about it. It probably won't hurt a darn bit. And besides you will instantly become younger and better looking. Certainly in my eyes.
7-31-08 - The New Site In Dreamweaver
When Adobe decided in their infinite wisdom to drop the GoLive 9 application like a hot potato, I grudgingly decided to make the giant leap to Dreamweaver CS3. While a more complex site-building application initially, I have come to like it now that I am more accustomed to it. Okay great, so it's cool for me to work with. But what, you ask, does that mean to you, the important ones . . . the ones that use the site? Well, I think it's great for you too. Here's why:
- it downloads faster
- it is easier to navigate (check out the handy links on the home page and the navigation links at the top of every page)
- there is no one item on the site which is more than two clicks away from home
- there are invisible "anchors" on a number of the longer pages that allow you to go back to the top of the page with a simple click of the mouse (check out he Library page as a good example)
- the site will be more attractive to prospective members (note the section showing member benefits)
- some outdated materials on bygone operating systems has been dropped from the site making it less complex (and it takes of less space on the server)
- I can even add audio and video files when needed.
So those are some reasons I like the new format. Now it's your turn. Here is your chance to tell the old webmaster that you love it or hate it and what can be done to improve the site even more.
Read a Dreamweaver review by Dan Bellack
6-15-08 - What a difference a decade makes . . .
I first used an Apple computer in 1977 and was still a fan when they introduced the first iMac on May 6th of 1998. For those you whose memory might need a nudge it wasn't a banner time to be Mac person. Nobody paid much attention to new products from Cupertino. Then Steve Jobs returned and honchoed through the new iMac–it came with a built-in monitor, a 233 MHz processor and it could be loaded with 256 MB of RAM! All wrapped up in a translucent Bondi Blue case.
Who knew that was just the beginning. The next ten years brought us a whole string of new iMacs (all roughly with the same price point as the 1998 model), the iPod family, the top music retail business with over 50 million customers and the iPhone. I was working at the Palo Alto Apple Store when the iPod line was completely reinvented and when the first iPhone was released. It was like seeing history in the making.
I admit that there are times when I get a little dizzy with all the innovation but I can't seem to give up the thrill of being a even a tiny part of the Apple story. So if you wonder why I do this website and teach classes, you now have the answer. I can't seem to get off the ride that started for me over thirty years ago.
5-9-08 - Choosing the right Mac . . .
When you are trying to decide which Mac to buy don't ask anyone at the retail outlet to tell you what they think you should buy. The ones who are not good at what they do will tell you an option in direct response to your question. The folks who are good at what they do will ask you a bunch of questions before venturing an opinion. It would be a good idea for you to go to them with those questions already answered in your own mind. Here are some idea starters:
• What do you do with your Mac now and what would you like to do in the future? (Sending and receiving mail, internet browsing, working on your photos, making movies, creating websites and/or blogs, watching movies, creating music, etc.)
• Do you need it to be portable? (This helps you decide between a laptop or a desktop Mac.)
• Do you have a fairly new display that you like? (A low cost entry for you may be a Mac Mini that comes without a display.)
• Are your currently enrolled in JC or college courses? Or do you have kids or grandkids who are? (Student discounts are some of the best available for Macs.)
• Do you have a hard and fast budget? (Be aware that the $1,199 iMac can cost you as much as $2,000 when you add in the sales tax, Apple Care [which is always a good idea], .Mac [very smart for some folks], an additional Gig of RAM and an external hard drive [so you can use the wonderful Time Machine backup capability of the newer Macs]).
And one final comment. When you find that knowledgeable person who really helps you with your needs . . . and spends the time to really help you . . . then reward them with your business. It's the right thing to do.
Back to the top
4-21-08 - Learn by doing . . .
As I learned when I entered Cal Poly fifty years ago, there is no substitute for learning by doing. Don't get me wrong. I don't suggest that you go to work on your hard drive with a tool like the one above. I do suggest that you consider classes, books, One2One subscriptions, online training, Google searches on your problems . . . in short anything that will increase your Mac knowledge. The fastest way to solve your problem is always (well, almost always) going to be doing it yourself.
3-19-08 - I just posted a book review on the site for the first time in almost two years. Since it's a great opportunity to get a free book for a relatively small effort I don't understand why more people don't do it.
The other thing is that Fred Offenbach did the review. It's a good one. And that got me to thinking about why it is that the same people always seem to be stepping up to the plate when it comes time to do stuff? Fred put in three years as president, Lord knows how many years as secretary, plus he honchoed the Photo SIG a few years ago and is back helping out there again as well as acting as our secretary.
Can you imagine what kind of a group this would be if we had a couple dozen Freds?
3-18-08 - My thoughts on how to enjoy your Mac even more . . .
Truth About Using Macs #1 - You can never have enough hard drive space.
Truth About Using Macs #2 - Most of our members probably don't have enough RAM. Adding more could make some of their applications really show what they can do.
Truth About Using Macs #3 - Each upgrade to the Mac OS, i.e. Panther, Tiger, Leopard, etc. has been a major improvement over the previous generation. Once the new OS is about six months old and the kinks are out, that's the time to make the investment.
Truth About Using Macs #4 - What you get out of your Mac will be in direct proportion to the amount of time and effort you put into learning about the Mac and the programs you want to run on it.
Truth About Using Macs #5 - You are never too old to become a better Mac user. Ask John Chan, Fred Offenbach, Joe Kimble and others. They are still learning and growing. (And keeping their brains alive.)
Truth About Using Macs #6 - If you can afford it, a broadband connection can make your Mac life a lot better. (81% of our members now use either DSL or a cable modem.)
Truth About Using Macs #7 - If your Mac is over five years old and/or your OS (operating system) is more than two generations behind you are probably going to have an increasingly hard time adding new applications. You might also be paying a premium for many kinds of repairs. 61% of our members are using Tiger, 9% are using Leopard.
Truth About Using Macs #8 - Most Mac questions can be answered using a Google search.
Truth About Using Macs #9 - If you don't have a good book covering your current operating system, you should get one. And use it.
Truth About Using Macs #10 - If you think SCUM is a great group, do your share to make it even better. Everyone has something to offer. Just speak up and say you are willing to try.