Syracuse Macintosh Users Group

[Paul Richards]

Dear friends of the Syracuse Macintosh Users Group,

As you all no doubt are aware at least peripherally, our users group has effectively been out of operation for the past couple of years. We have not held a meeting since late 2011 and even then the last few meetings were quite sparsely attended.

This summer the club's Core took the final step of formalizing the closure of SMUG. The main practical effect of this move was to cauterize the slow bleeding away of SMUG's remaining cash that was going to bank fees and a post office box that was only receiving the statements for the bank account. In keeping with the community spirit of SMUG, Core elected to put the remaining assets back into our community by donating the money to another area organization: Syracuse OASIS.

http://www.oasisnet.org/Cities/East/SyracuseNY.aspx

The Syracuse Macintosh Users Group is closed, but we're not gone. We've had a wonderful run, beginning in 1979 as The Syracuse Apple Users Group. That time has built bonds between many of our members that are not easily broken. We are the same community-minded individuals who have been here to share our knowledge and have some fun socializing together. We intend to keep our free SMUG Talk Google Group open as long as we are able. We expect that you will find former SMUG members there who can answer any Macintosh-related questions that may come up or point you to other resources, the same as always. Sign in and take part if you are so inclined. You can find the group here: http://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/smug-talk

Contact me at smugpaul (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any questions about our closure.

On behalf of the Core of the Syracuse Macintosh Users Group,

All the best,

Paul Richards

Former Apple Ambassador

[Paul Richards]

This note came to me from one of SMUG's longtime friends and a former newsletter editor. He asked me to share it here because he was having some difficulty posting it himself.

Paul

Paul and the other SMUG folks who may remember me -

Thanks for your note. It's a little sad to see the group close and I haven't been active in the past several years. I can understand the closing of the users group - I had gone through the same thing with MUGWUMP in Ithaca, which brought me to SMUG in the first place. Good luck to everyone and thanks for keeping the group going as long as you have.

Note, if you remember me (I used to edit the newsletter a while back), feel free to drop me an email or look me up on Facebook.

Kind regards,
Tom Hirasuna

 

[Paul Richards]

Tom Hirasuna noticed that he neglected to include his e-mail address in his note for the list. It is tjhirasuna (at) mac (dot) com if you are interested in contacting him directly.

Paul

[Derek Currie]

For those interested,

The Central New York Personal Computer User Group (CNYPCUG) is still running. Most of what we discuss is NOT Windows related and is useful to any Mac user. The group has kept me interested for several years and I frequently give talks there about the Internet, computer security and cross platform shareware. We have a core of super friendly people who have not-once slagged my MacBook I use at the meetings, nor anything else Apple related. The subject is simply computers, not platforms. We also have a great picnic every August.

You can check out the group at:

http://www.cnypcug.org

We meet the first Monday of every month, 6:00 pm at the Liverpool Library. You don't have to be a member to attend!

If you would like to join, membership is $25 per year. Membership includes entry into our meeting raffle for fun computer related prizes, attendance at our yearly picnic, as well as supporting our computer education efforts.

The CNYPCUG is affiliated with the Liverpool Library, where we share resources as well as computing related classes. 

And yes, as long as I am attending, we also answer Mac computer questions!

Share and Enjoy,

:-Derek Currie

===================

Derek Currie

derek...@mac.com

===================

https://Mac-Security.blogspot.com

https://MacSmarticles.blogspot.com

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

[Judith McConnell]

Are we still planning to meet on the first thursday of August (Aug 7th) at China Road?

Sue McConnell

[Paul Richards]

Sue, I would very much enjoy that. I'll check, but I'm pretty sure the date is open for me. Most likely there will be 3 or 4 from my family in attendance.

Paul

[Earl J Kletsky]

Good Evening to all:

If we're on, I'm in!
Probably be just me.

Earl Kletsky

On Jul 22, 2014, at 7:07 AM, Judith McConnell wrote:

> Are we still planning to meet on the first thursday of August (Aug 7th) at China Road?
>
> Sue McConnell
>

> --
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> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/smug-talk.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Judith McConnell]

Are we still on for next Thursday, August 7th, at China Road?? So far I've heard from Paul, Tom and Earl besides me.
Sue McConnell

[Ben McGann]

I can probably make it. It would be just me.

Sent from my iPad

[Stewart King]

I will try to make it too.

Sent from my iPad Mini!

> On Jul 29, 2014, at 8:02 PM, Judith McConnell <jmcc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

[Paul Richards]

Confirming here. Not sure yet if my daughter is working or can come and won't know until next week. Still a 3 or 4 count for the Richards bunch.

[Thomas Hirasuna]

It would just be me, since my wife will be out of town. Looks like
the people who have responded are folks that I know. It's been a
while... it will be nice to see everyone again.

Tom

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "SMUG Talk" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send an email to smug-talk+...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to smug...@googlegroups.com.
> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/smug-talk.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

---
Thomas J. Hirasuna, PhD
1 Rocky Ln.
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-272-3593
tjhir...@mac.com

[Paul Coe]

Hi Everyone

This is Paul Coe. I am hoping I can attend - it would be great to see everyone! I start a new job on Monday and will need to play it by ear. What time is dinner? I probably would not be there until 6:30 - 7 PM or so.

(Sue - By the way, I hope you had a wonderful vacation. You should bring pictures!)

Thanks.

~ Paul Coe

On Jul 22, 2014, at 7:07 AM, Judith McConnell <jmcc...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Are we still planning to meet on the first thursday of August (Aug 7th) at China Road?
>
> Sue McConnell
>

[Judith McConnell]

I will make a reservation for eleven people at China Road for thursday, August 7th at 6:30PM. I see by their website that they don't open until tues at 5PM; so I'll call then.

Looking forward to seeing you all,
Sue McConnell

[Paul Richards]

Sue, it looks like the Richards contingent will only be two people.

Paul

[Judith McConnell]

Okay, that will make nine of us.
Thanks for letting me know.
Sue McConnell

[Stewart King]

Ugh...
Sorry I can not make it this year. Forgot that I had another meeting that night....
My best to everyone..

Stewart....

[Judith McConnell]

I made our reservation for Thursday, August 7th at 6:30PM at China Road. Looking forward to seeing all of you.
Sue McConnell

[Earl J Kletsky]

Hi, Sue,

Can you add one more to tomorrow night's gathering? Trudy has found a way to attend.

Earl

On Aug 6, 2014, at 12:47 PM, Judith McConnell wrote:

> I made our reservation for Thursday, August 7th at 6:30PM at China Road. Looking forward to seeing all of you.
> Sue McConnell
>

[Judith McConnell]

Great!! will add.
Sue

[NYCPaul]

Hi Paul,

I'm not even an Apple user - my 89 year old brother in Liverpool is.  When he had a chance to go to your meetings I got on this Google group so I could pass on messages.   I'm really sorry you had to close up shop.  However, as a 75-year old PC nerd I wanted to say that groups like yours need not dissolve, just reform in a different medium.

I'm a big user of SKYPE and UStream for keeping family members together and I managed TV studios for internal communication when working at AT&T.  I think you guys should re-form using a UStream web cast from a location that has a lot of Apple products to use in demonstration.   Your members can tune in on the internet.  Then just use SKYPE to set up a large conference call to computers and/or regular phones so questions can be asked and/or comments can be added.

I don't offer this idea as a pipedream.  Take a look at who is already doing this:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/emiratesmac-apple-user-group-meetings 
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/augm-tokyo 

And there are more.  So if you want to help out a lot of older members who would love to be able to travel to the meetings but can't I suggest you try out a meeting or two this way with a small group of folks to see how it works.   I've use UStream to webcast family events, my high-school reunion, etc.   But adding a SKYPE conference call that can use regular phones really makes the interaction possible. 

Just a thought.    Not even a member but my brother Frank really loved your meetings.

Paul
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