huskypup’s posterous

What is an EXAMUG? EXAMUG stands for Exeter Area Mac User Group. I was fortunate enough to be given a MacBook Pro as a "get well/birthday/Christmas present" last year and although I'm quite comfortable with tech, I decided to join the Exeter Area Mac User Group soon after to see what insights I could gain. I did actually go once before a couple of years ago when Paul and I were trying to find out how we could upgrade his iBook G3 Graphite. At that time we didn't feel the need to go back. First attendance is free to potential members so we had no obligation.

That changed when I got my early 2008 MacBook Pro. My thinking was if I could take one peice of information or advice each meeting away with me, it would be worth the yearly membership fee (£20, £30 for household or £4 each meeting). So on our first meeting as a fully paid up members (Paul and I signed up), we entered the raffle to win a copy of Parallels, which was also that evening's demonstration.

Now one of the reasons I wanted a Mac was to get away from Windows, specifically Vista. I had, and still do not have, any interest in getting a PC with Vista installed. Too much bad press associated with it, regardless of how it now runs. However I have Windows software I need to be able to run and Parallels allows me to do this on a Mac.

I bought two tickets and Paul bought three for the raffle, although he was buying to give me a better chance to win and had no interest in the prize. I made it very evident during the demo that I was very keen on Parallels and the chap who runs EXAMUG said not to worry as they may be more opportunites to win a copy in future meetings. Heck, members can buy a copy on discount! Well I was completely bowled over when Paul's ticket was drawn and we'd won it.

So why am I blogging about an event that happened 10 months ago? Well last night was the first meeting for 2009 and the prizes up for grabs were 2 x one-to-one training memberships at an Apple Store and 2 iTunes gift (one £25 the other £15) cards to go with each membership. So again, Paul (who doesn't always come) and I bought tickets for the raffle and Paul's number came up for the second prize, the one-to-one membership and the £15 iTunes card. Paul is kindly letting me have the in-store training and he's looking forward to finding some music to download. Even better, the evening was topped off with a bucket of KFC!

So far I seem to have done really well out of my lucky charm, I just hope Paul realises he'll have to attend every EXAMUG meeting now...

If you're local to Exeter and enjoy using Apple products why not join the Exeter Area Mac User Group?

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I have an iPhone and I really love the OSX and UI though it is lacking in a couple of features, namely the camera. I've also held of from buying applications as there is no "try first, pay later" option but I have been missing the ability to take panoramic photos, a function my previous phones had (a SE K750i and K800i). However I took the plunge with AIRSHED's Panorama iPhone app.

I've written a review of the app on it's iTunes review page which I'm glad made the cut, basically giving it 4 out of 5 stars. It would have been 4 1/2, but they don't give half ratings for reviewers to use, only in the average score.

One thing I forgot to mention in the review is the ability to go back a step when processing the final output and changing the image size. So here is the same panoramic photograph of the view from Great Hill, Torquay overlooking Shaldon and Teignmouth.

     

Click here to download:

iPhone_app_-_AIRSHEDs_Panorama.zip (1349 KB)

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