AAUG Reviews

Go to Author Index.
Our AAUG authors come from all walks of life. Some are employed full-time, some are retired, some are IT professionals, and some are homemakers. All are qualified to talk about products they use on their Macintosh computers. These reviewers have a diversity of skill and experience: they represent pro-geeks as well as happy newbies with their first Mac.

This is the real world. All kinds of people use and love Macintosh computers, and they’re here to tell you about it–the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Note: To email an author, just click on the author’s name (in large print). Not all authors have chosen to link their email; in that case, no link would be made.

---

Would YOU like to be an AAUG Author?

If you would like to be an AAUG Author, please notify Guy and he will set you up! Most of our authors are located in the Anchorage area; if you are located elsewhere in Alaska, contact Guy to find out how you can participate in the Alaska Apple User’s Group.

---

Steve Nigl

Steve Nigl has used Apple computers since 1983. His first Macintosh was a Mac Plus (purchased used from a newspaper company in 1992), and has owned various models throughout the years. Currently, a 12″ Powerbook G4 with external monitor and HD. His family is ‘Windows-free’ with four Mac’s and one PC tower (Ubuntu Linux) served by two Airport base stations (WDS) and two network printers.

Steve is a customer service rep by day, and enjoys Alaska’s abundant beauty for nature and fine art photography in his spare time. He has been a member of AAUG since the spring of 2005 and almost never misses a meeting.

“The benefits of membership with AAUG paid for itself many times over during the course of a year. I look forward to the featured guest speakers, and the opportunity to explore new Mac products. There is a lot to learn here.”

See reviews by Steve. | Author Index | top

---

Krista Galyen

Krista is currently an education specialist with Special Education Serivce Agency in Anchorage, Alaska. With a Masters in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education, she serves families with children (ages 0-3) who have hearing impairments throughout the state of Alaska. Yes, that means a lot of flying to various parts of Alaska!

Krista was a late bloomer with technology. Using her first color monitor and first mouse in 1994, she realized it came easy for her to learn new geeky things. Learning HTML in 2005, she created the CEEHI site with her iMac G5 and iMovie. Final Cut Pro and Filemaker are currently some of her software passions.

Now working at getting another masters in educational technology, she spends her geeky time making web pages, databases, and movies for her classes (like this one), friends, and wonderful groups like the AAUG.

“The AAUG has a lot of potential to teach others and empower them to create things they never thought were possible.”

See reviews by Krista. | Author Index | top

---

Rob LeFebvre

Rob LeFebvre has been using Apple’s Macintosh computers since 1994, when his eventual wife bought him a Performa 638 CD. He then ran through a succession of Macs, including a Motorola PowerMac clone, a G3 Blue & White Tower, a snowball iMac, and the current iMac G5 that he still drools on occasionally. Rob also has owned an iPod since the 2nd generation, though he hasn’t found a way to justify a video iPod, yet. He keeps an old Mac 512K and a Newton 130 in his office to annoy his wife.

Rob has a Master’s degree in Special Education, and a passion for web and multimedia design. He runs a home-based web design business specializing in accessible and well designed websites for small to medium business owners and non-profits. He is currently enrolled in an Advanced Certificate in web design and coding at Sessions.edu, an online training school located in New York.

Rob has been a musician for 18 or so years, and has been a fan of digital recording ever since he found out his Performa could record sound. He currently uses GarageBand to write and record music for different band projects, as well as for podcasting. Rob is the host and producer of a weekly podcast focusing on Alaskan music and musicians called The ANC Podcast. you can find it in the iTunes Music Store.

“I’m an AAUG member because it’s the only place in town I can geek out with other mac fans. I love to read and write reviews and attend/teach workshops because it empowers people to do more and more with the greatest computer system on earth, the Macintosh.”

See reviews by Rob. | Author Index | top

---

Sean McPhilamy

Sean is only a bit of a Mac fanatic (but maybe that’s like being only a bit pregnant?) He’s living the iLife, and enjoying every minute.

He loves his little Powerbook, and while he’s travelled a bit farther than it has (since he’s been to Antarctica, and it was built in China), together they have travelled to New York, San Diego, Orlando and Christchurch, New Zealand. This summer they’ll travel across Canada and end up in Boston, at least for the foreseeable future.

In part because of all that travel, he stays in sync with help from his .mac account. He’d recommend signing up for .mac to anyone (and has been known to do so, whether at the Roadhouse in Talkeetna or at the Apple Store in Chicago.)

“I’ve experienced both fun and fellowship in AAUG. In terms of value for the membership cost and meeting time, the payback has been enormous.”

See reviews by Sean. | Author Index | top

---

Gerrit Dalman

By the time Gerrit got access to his first family computer, an Apple IIcx, the Performa series was well on it’s way. Being so many years behind the cutting edge actually helped him get deeper in the Apple culture than his years would suggest. Working up through countless dated upgrades, he even managed to add rarities like the Mac Portable, Apple ///, and Newton to his collection before finally catching up with the times after college.

Like many true evangelists, he tries to make Apple a part of everything else in his life. From volunteer work with Civil Air Patrol to promoting the importance of space exploration, he tries to promote Macs everywhere and often. Gerrit even went so far as to found the Military Member Apple Users Group to support Mac users in the service.


See reviews by Gerrit. | Author Index | top

---

Jon Snelling

*Macs Owned: Apple II/c, Apple II/e, Apple IIgs, Mac 128k, Mac 2c, Mac PLus, Mac SE, Mac SE/30, Mac LC, Mac LC2, Newton MessagePad 100, Mac LC3, PowerBook 5300cs, PowerBook 1400cs, Performa 6118CD, eMate 300, Newton MessagePad 2100, PowerMac 8100/80, iMac(bondi), iMac(orange), iMac(green), iMac(graphite) PowerMac G3(330), PowerMac G4(733), PowerBook G4(17″ 1Ghz), PowerMac G5(Dual 2.7Ghz, 4Gb Ram), Original Firewire iPod, iPod 3G 30gig, iPod Shuffle 1gig, MacBook Intel Core Duo

Macs Used: Mac Server G3, iMac 15″ Flat, iMac 17″ Flat, iMac 20″ Flat, iMac G5, iBook (Orange Clam), iBook G4, PowerBook 12″, PowerBook 15″

Jon is a 22 year old sourdough, born and raised in Alaska. He has been a Macintosh User for the last 12 years. He is a graduate of the Anchorage School District and currently attends the University of Alaska in Anchorage with one semester remaining for a BS in Computer Sciences and plans to continue towards a Masters in either Business or in Psychology with an emphasis in Computing. Jon has is a dedicated long time snowboarder and also enjoys hiking, camping, snow-machining, working on and driving his Mustang, and photography.

In addition to his hobbies Jon has also spent the last 5 years immersed in the job world where he has held jobs ranging from car detailing and deck construction to computer systems administration, graphic and web design as well as several projects done in collaboration with the talented also long time Alaska and Apple veteran Tom Shackle.


See reviews by Jon. | Author Index | top

---

Simone Lange

Simone bought her first Mac in Aug 2003 when the G5s with dual processor first came out and last year a Power Book G4. She does live on the darkside also owning two PCs. She owns her own digital-based photography/videograpy company Digi-Pics. Most of her time on the computer is spent either using Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. Lately she has been spending way too much time learning about a 3D program called Daz.

Her PowerBook has seen a couple of countries in the last year; Trinidad, her homeland, has great eats and lots of fresh fruit right from the trees. Then to Ireland where she saw her first Irish hunt no foxes were used, made a video of uncle and friends participating. Side trip while in Ireland to warm sunny Scotland (it snowed while she was there) to check out what’s really under those kilts; they do free style.

When Simone first started using Macs it was while in college and since she’s a creature that does not like change it was not met with great enthusiam, it was a different way of thinking and she did not embrace it with open arms. As her need for a stable platform for her video business became more urgent she decided to give the Mac another try. In the beginning her G5 was used only for video editing and loading music into Itunes and not much else. As she began traveling more and realized that she had to wait to edit when she got back home she decided to trade in her Dell laptop for a G4 Powerbook to be more mobile. She now primarily uses her G4 and the PC side just houses her server for her website and the occasional program that her Mac has issues with.

Since joining the AAUG she has learned the ins and outs of her Mac a bit more and are using more and more programs than in the past. There are days when she has both platforms going and they do make her a bit crossed eyed but she does like walking on the wild side sometimes. She has purchased a MacBook for her cousin and convinced her aunt to get the iMac extolling the easy use of the operating system and programs plus the great tech support.


See reviews by Simone. | Author Index | top

---

Gary Miller

Gary once asked a friend what computer to buy, some 10 years ago. Immediately, she said, buy a mac; he did, and hasn’t turned back since. He had to learn to use DOS on an IBM at work, general manager of a credit bureau, but hated all the memorization the IBM computer took.

He uses his Mac as a tool to communicate with epals all over the world, to work on his photography hobby, he loves music, from opera to reggae to funk, so iTunes is a well used application, and since Podcasts came out, he’s a daily downloader on poetry, business (has a masters in international business ), and travel ( been to 50+ countries so far).

His intel Imac is a lovely to look at, so simple, one piece of beautiful design. And it runs Windows, so he can try out other programs not quite ready for Macs.

Gary is the current president of AAUG and helps with the acquisition of hardware, software, and games for the reviews program of AAUG. He enjoys the group, and fun of constantly fine tuning member benefits to see what else can be done. He has done most of the jobs on the board before, from newsletter editor, PR, food, president, program’s coordinator, and handling the reviews program.

He’s open to hearing member suggestions, so email him!


See reviews by Gary. | Author Index | top

---

Chuck Maas

Chuck is a photographer by trade and a new Mac user. Part of the reason for adding a platform to his imaging system is to help isolate photo files from malware and to take advantage of superior color management at the operating system level.

As president of the Alaska Society of Outdoor & Nature Photographers, Chuck is deeply involved in digital imaging and the Alaska photo community. A former Air Force aviator, heís been an Alaska resident since 1984.
See reviews by Chuck. | Author Index | top

---

Jeff Menter

Jeff has been using computers since he was a wee lad and cut his teeth on 8-bit Commodore and Atari computers. Things got hairier when the IBM PC became popular but time spent making DOS boot disks to eke out that last 16k of RAM to play Comanche wasn’t spent in vain. Finally, after realizing what a visual person he was and slowly developing a sense of aesthetics, he gravitated towards the Macintosh. Linux is also fun (Ubuntu FTW!). He tries to divide his computer time evenly between doing multimedia development and video editing, web design, writing and recording music, and learning to program in Objective-C.

During the day he works for a litigation support company and helps support clients running Windows. During the weekends he’s a beer snob and skydiver. Not necessarily in that order.

He’s been known to criticize Apple but that’s just because he loves their philosophy and knows how good they can be.

See reviews by Jeff. | Author Index | top

---

Author Index

Only authors which have agreed to have mini-bios are listed below. Click on the author to see their mini-bio.

• Dalman, Gerrit
• Galyen, Krista
• Lange, Simone
• LeFebvre, Rob
• Maas, Chuck
• McPhilamy, Sean
• Miller, Gary
• Nigl, Steve
• Snelling, Jon
• Menter, Jeff

return to top