iCloud Visual Quickstart Guide Review

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iCloud, 2nd Edition – A Visual Quickstart Guide by Tom Negrino

Now that virtually everything is moving to the cloud, those in the Apple community should embrace their own iCloud. The iCloud Quickstart Guide will get you right into using iCloud.

You are presented with a Contents at a Glance page which is nice to be able to identify any specific area that you want to investigate and there is also a very detailed 2-page table of contents that offer some very specific bullet points.

The book starts off with a chapter titled – ‘Getting Started with iCloud’. This does give you the 10,000 foot view of what is iCloud. It is a great overview of the features, applications and even what’s missing from MobileMe. I even offers great alternatives to iCloud. This chapter also offers simple set up instructions to help you get up and running with iCloud.

The following chapters cover using the Apple application with iCloud. The applications that are covered in this are:

Mail, Notes & Messages
Contacts
Calendars & Reminders
iPhoto
iTunes
Documents
Backing Up
Safari
Remote Activity

You will find some very detailed instructions as well as pictures and graphics that make it really easy to understand and follow up. This book will become an essential reference guide that you will come back to many times.

Once last takeaway that I felt was very impactful was that you also have the option to download a free eBook. In the book you will get an access code that allows you to download the book. You do have to set up an account at Peachpit Press to gain access to the book, but, gaining the account access was a simple process and there was a nice security feature with email verification.

If you are looking for concise steps to take advantage of iCloud this book is a great start. Enjoy!!

May 18th Meeting Recap

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We held a very informative meeting and covered OS X Tips & Tricks on dealing with special characters, hard drive cleanup and spotlight search features. Marilyn gave a fantastic presentation on Keynote for Mac, for the iPad and then Keynote Remote app using the iPad and the iPhone.

We also saw a few iOS apps that were very well received, Photofunia and Vinylize Me.

Who said you can’t have a meeting without some great food to munch on. We had some Creative Cake Bites to enjoy for our meeting today.

TCMUG Meeting 05182013

May 18th Monthly Meeting

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We are having our monthly meeting on Saturday, May 18th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. We will be covering Apple’s own Keynote software for the computer, the iPad and remote.keynote_app_icon

We will also have another session on Mac Tips and Tricks, favorite and informative web sites and much more.

Look forward to seeing you at this meeting.

Joe Kissell’s “Take Control of Dropbox”

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Joe Kissell’s “Take Control of Dropbox” helps you learn and teach Dropbox. Here at Take Control, we’ve long been huge fans of the Dropbox file-sharing service, relying on it every day to collaborate on manuscripts with our authors and editors. Now we’re pleased to share our expertise with you in the form of Joe Kissell’s latest ebook, “Take Control of Dropbox.” The book normally costs $10, but the 30% MUG discount drops that to $7.

Learn more about the book via the coupon-loaded link. http://tid.bl.it/tco-dropbox-mug-discount

Whether you’re already among the millions of people who sync and share files with Dropbox or you plan to join their ranks soon, Joe Kissell has the real-world advice you need to go beyond the basics. He shares the best practices for using Dropbox effectively and securely on your own or with a group, explains how to avoid common mistakes and irreversible settings, describes what’s involved with mobile devices and Dropbox-savvy apps, and tips you off to unusual uses of Dropbox.

Did you know you could use Dropbox to control your Mac, publish a blog, automate Web activities, sync with other cloud services, and even publish a book like this one? Perhaps you do know all that, but since Dropbox shines brightest when sharing files with friends and colleagues, we’ve included a “Teach This Book” chapter with links to a downloadable single-page PDF handout and an 18-slide PDF presentation that you can employ to help your collaborators use Dropbox correctly (and thus make your life easier). Other useful advice in “Take Control of Dropbox” includes how to:

* Recover an accidentally deleted or revised file. You’ll find help with a few non-obvious controls and a discussion of the Packrat option for Dropbox Pro users.
* Work with photos and videos in your Dropbox folder and learn how to share collections with Dropbox’s new photo album feature.
* Use Dropbox to store and automatically sync data used by Dropbox-savvy apps on all of your devices, whether they’re running Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Windows, or Linux. You’ll get a better idea of what’s going on behind the scenes and how to manage app authorizations.
* Check a few important account-related details to make sure you’re set up optimally. These include security settings and methods of getting more storage space.

Be sure to check out Joe’s short intro video on the book’s page!

April 20th Meeting Recap

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What a great meeting we had. We celebrated our 11th birthday with cake and ice cream!!

On our presentations today, Kevin worked on a wealth of tips and tricks. Here are the links from our meeting – Google Search Operators, Jing the FREE app for screenshots, and some security options with File Vault 2, Apimac Secret Folder, Altomac Hide Folders, and MacPaw MacHider. Marilyn then gave us an overview of Google’s Picasa Web Albums.

TCMUG Birthday April 2013