Not that I’m in a hurry to get the summer over with – I’m not. However, next week another event occurs that forebodes the end of summer. That’s right – after a short summer hiatus, the MMOOS return to the Mid Coast area.

If you’re new to the area, that’s MMOOS, as in Maine Macintosh Owners and Operators Society. From September to June we Mac users gather (normally) the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 in the Multi-Purpose Room on the second floor around the back at Brunswick High School. This coming Tuesday, the 21st of September, will be no exception. We’ll get caught up on “what Apple and hardware and software developers did while we were on our summer vacations” (which was a lot, as usual). Then we’ll discuss ways to keep your Mac running at peak performance (over and above the system’s “self-help” capabilities). If this sounds a bit mundane to you, fear not. In coming months we’ll get into photos, video, music, desktop publishing, and more.

Here’s what we WILL NOT be talking about this season: virus detection and protection (there are no viruses afflicting Mac OS X); spyware detection and protection (spyware cannot get through Mac OS X’s defenses); and adware detection and protection (see spyware above). We’ll be exploring what we can do WITH our computers, not what we have to do TO our computers, or what our computers can DO to US. It’s quite liberating, actually. Come join us Tuesday night.

Now, I was going to continue discussing the pros and cons of file compression this week, but, wouldn’t you know it, the makers of Stuffit just came out with a new version that better integrates with Mac OS X “Tiger” and can really stuff the stuffing out of JPEG image files. Therefore, I am going to postpone the subject until I can review the new product.

Finally, aquick news tidbit. I had a chance this week to get my hands (well, more like my fingers) on the new iPod nano. If you’ve seen the TV ads, those dimensions are correct. It’s REALLY small and lightweight, and, despite it’s diminutive size, sounds great. If you’re considering a personal digital music player as a holiday gift, order a nano now before they’re gone. The hard part will be not opening the box and keeping it for yourself.

© 2005 Peter F. Zimowski