Hey Geeks. As you know I was lucky enough to attend and participate in the 2nd annual Mac Gathering event in Hollywood, CA last Sunday. This event was put together by Deborah Shadovitz and her team of dedicated Mac geeks. Some of you may recognize Deborah, she wrote the Office 98 Bible and the Adobe GoLive 5 Bible and her magazine credits include MacAddict, MacWorld and Mac Design magazine, just to name a few. This year the keynote speaker was Sinbad. I was not aware he was such a Mac geek, but after hearing him speak there was know doubt he’s a Mac fanatic. In the speech Sinbad discusses how we need to all master our Macs, in other words don’t get lost in the latest and greatest technology, but discover how your Mac can help you be an expert at what you want to do. It is a truly inspiring and of course funny speech. Myself and several attendees were lucky enough to be able to chat with Sinbad as he walk the vendor floor. He also took the time to stop and chat with many of the vendors there, including the folks at Circus Ponies and MacSpeech. What’s cool is, as he mentions in his talk, he wasn’t just giving them lip service. These are products he actually uses and loves. If you can make it I encourage you to mark your calendars for next years event and for those of you who missed it this year you are in luck. Our friend Dorothy at TigerBright recorded the keynote and Deb and Sinbad gave permission for me to share it with you. In the clip you will hear Sinbad being introduced by Michael McCarty who is a great storyteller and Mac geek himself. Enjoy!

[Download Sinbad Mac Gathering 2005 Keynote] MP3/~28MB

BONUS: The audio from the Podcasting panel I was on is posted over on Shelly Brisbin’s podcast site. Here is the direct link to the MP3

Hey Mac Geeks,
The Geek, Todd Cochrane from Geek News Central has worked tirelessly over the past few months and today has announced the availability of his new book, PODCASTING: Do It Yourself Guide part of the ExtremeTech series from Wiley publishing. The book is only $19.99 and is available on pre-sale over at Amazon.com. Todd is incredibly dedicated to the podcasting medium and I can only assume he poured his heart, sole and experience into this book. If you are interested in starting a Podcast or even if you are just curious, you want to get yourself a copy of this book.

Editor’s note: I am providing information of books related to Podcasting because I have had many people ask me about it. Since these books are just becoming available and in fairness to all authors I am listing books for anyone who asks. The listing here is purely informational and in no way an endorsement from the MacCast. As I receive review copies and if I have time to read them, I will try to provide formal reviews. Reviews will be clearly distinguishable as they will be categorized in the review section of the web site.

Thanks to listener Bryan for sending in this little bit of inside info. It looks like Apple is busy prepping new TV ads and they have been finding talent in local Apple retail stores. Check out Bryan’s story.

About a month ago I was shopping at the Apple store in SoHo Manhattan when I woman with a video camera asked me to answer a few questions for her. I said sure, did my thing, and went home. Well, last week I got a call from a production company in L.A. Apple might want me to be in their next commercial! How cool. So on Monday Apple flew me to Los Angeles first class with about 50 other Mac geeks. We all had a casting call and about 30 people got picked. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of them, but the lucky ones are filming right now. We all received a free iPod Shuffle 512 for our time and had a great L.A. experience. I’m excited to see the new commercial as I will know everyone in them.

All in all a pretty good Mac geek story I thought you would enjoy.

If you want to hear more from Bryan, check out his Podcast: Comic Geek Speak

As many of you who are on the forum know we have recently been under attack by a spammer. This scum has attacked the MacCast forum and sent out email to the users registered there under the guise of being me. I sincerely apologize to everyone who is being affected. I would never SPAM anyone and I am very disturbed over this issue. I have found the culprits ISP and I am working with them to shut this person down. I am also looking into ways to better protect the forum in the future. I will be upgrading the software today so bear with me as there may be minor hiccups as we transition. I am also; even though it is much more work for me, changing the registration process so I now need to approve all users who register. Hopefully these steps will prevent further incidents like this. Again I am very sorry this happened to all of us.

Hey MacGeeks. I wanted to let you all know that I will be on the Podcasting discussion panel on Sunday May 15th at the Regional Mac Gathering in North Hollywood next weekend. If you can make it out, I would love to see you there. Here is the official press release for the event:

Mac Users Gather in Southern California May 13-15
Los Angeles, California — April 12, 2005.

The 2nd annual Regional Macintosh Gathering the for Southern California hits Los Angeles May 13–15, 2005, just days after the release of Tiger. With top notch instructors and key people from top Mac companies, the show promises to be an excellent learning and social event for all Mac users and even for people considering a Mac.

“I look forward to the Mac Gathering because Deb’s previous seminars and product shows have been informative and fun,” says attorney Evan Braude of Long Beach, California. “Deb’s events had enabled me to discover invaluable information that I use everyday in my law practice.” In fact, this year’s show promises to be helpful to many businesses. The Business Track sessions are highly beneficial to anyone who uses a computer for business. (Yes, even Windows users, and they’re welcome.)

Of course it’s not just a business show. People new to the Mac or to OS X can spend two days learning all the basics. (Three days really — there are special programs on Friday.) Advanced users can fill their days with more technical topics. And design-oriented folks have plenty to choose from as well.

This is a show where Mac users can walk around and know that everything pertains to their OS. But Mac users don’t live and work in a vacuum so it’s also a show where users can learn similarities and differences of a Windows counterpart when there is one. Vendors have been invited to bring their Windows versions to help Mac users to choose software with which they can work in a Windows world.

Thomas Dickan, President of the West Orange County Macintosh Users Group (WOCMUG) expresses what many group leaders have also said. “The community has far too few real opportunities to really gather together and grok Mac. Our members are excited about the Mac Gathering. We’ve been spreading the word and expect a first-class showing.”

“Some people wonder if local shows are worthwhile. A well-produced show like the Mac Gathering gives vendors an opportunity to reach many people who cannot travel to the larger shows due to jobs or distance. I saw this again and again as an Apple Software Account Manager for the western US” explains Jim Cadenhead. “I hear people say the internet serves the need nowadays. But it doesn’t replace in-person knowledge, meeting, and learning. Users still want to know vendors…to ask questions in person…to see the reality right before their eyes.” Today I’m a Business Partner Rep for IBM — and I have every intention of being at the Mac Gathering. There’s just too much to learn and too many people to meet to pass on such an opportunity.”

Elaine Stannard, one of the leaders of the So Cal Mac Owners/Users Group (SMOG), confirms Jim’s findings. “Last year’s event gave me easy access to vendors without travel hassles & hotel costs. The seminars I attended were excellent & I took advantage of some vendors’ discounts to shop. I look forward to this year’s Mac Gathering being bigger and better and hope it will become a dynamic annual event.”

The Mac Gathering will be held at Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn, just off the 101 in North Hollywood, California. Special sessions take place Friday, May 13. The Exhibits and Sessions run from 10am through 6pm Saturday and Sunday, May 14-15. For more information and to register, visit MacGathering.com.

OK. So I need to send a BIG thank you out to Craig over at the Behind the Scenes Podcast. He has graciously allowed me to hijack his cam feed for the GeekCam during the day. The cam is pointed out the window towords the Pacific ocean and is not too far from my office so you can have an idea of what I see out of my office.

It’s here just in time for Tiger. MacNeo, has created the MacCast GeekCam Dashboard Widget for OS X Tiger. Click here for screenshots.

[ Download GeekCam Widget ] ~129Kb

Note: My boss saw the site today and requested that I not run the cam while at work. I am still trying to figure out a compromise so the cam maybe offline for a while. Talk about crappy timing.

If you don’t have an iPod yet you may want to give this a spin. It is a really cool virtual ipod with several Podcasts, including the MacCast, preloaded. It works just like the real thing. Too cool.

[ Virtual iPod at Potkast.com ]

Hey. I just saw this posted in the MacCast forum and I guess it is out on the news sites. It looks like Amazon has posted pages for the new PowerMac G5s going up to 2.7GHz.

PowerMac Dual 2.0GHz at Amazon
PowerMacDual 2.5GHz at Amazon
PowerMac Dual 2.7Ghz at Amazon

I just got this info from listener Robert:

You were mentioned in the current Macworld, here is a link to the web article
http://www.macworld.com/2005/04/secrets/junecreate/index1.php

Also you were on page 72 of the print issue.

I guess I am going to need to pick up this issue. It’s great to get press like this. I had no idea. I was also mentioned over at Mac DevCenter, http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/04/19/mac_mini.html

cool.