The conference fee is $795 and includes all MacMania 8 courses below, three evenings of Geek Cruises entertainment, two parties, and the MacMania Ingenious Bar.
Speaker: Bebo White
Do you wonder what the Mac or iPhone interface might look like in 10–12 years? How much more interactive or rich can we expect device interfaces to become? Bebo will discuss some of the current research in human-computer interfaces and interaction models and speculate on some of the things we might see (and be able to do) with our personal and work devices in the next decade.
Speaker: Josimar King
Improved newsletters, smarter presentations, and now spreadsheets. Suddenly work doesn’t feel quite so much like work!
Pages '08 ••• Stationery, newsletters, resumes, brochures, reports, proposals, business cards — whatever you write, Pages '08 offers an intuitive way to create beautiful, media-rich documents using impressive features you know how to use right away.
Keynote '08 ••• Amaze your audience with cinema-quality presentations that are easier than ever to create. Use the new features in Keynote '08 — the latest version of Apple's powerful presentation software — to tell your story effectively and dramatically.
Numbers '08 ••• Introducing Numbers '08, the spreadsheet you’ve been waiting for — and already know how to use. Innovative, powerful, and intuitive, Numbers '08 lets you do everything from setting up your family budget to completing a lab report to creating detailed financial documents.
Speaker: Don McAllister
Become the master of your own inbox by learning the skills and attitude you need to conquer high-volume email! As we become increasingly swamped by the deluge of emails from all quarters, this session will give you the tools and techniques to allow you to tame the torrent and allow you to master your inbox.
Speaker: Dan Frakes
Many of Mac OS X's features are so well-known — thanks to TV commercials, magazine articles, and online overviews — that you were familiar with them before you ever installed the OS or turned on your latest Mac. There are also plenty of great features that Mac owners eventually learn as they use the OS and read up on its capabilities. But then there are the features that go unnoticed — handy tricks and technologies that few people use because they're hidden in various nooks and crannies around the OS, or buried inside obscure utilities and applications. In this session, we take a look the features of Mac OS X that don't make it into TV commercials or keynotes, but are still quite useful. We also look at some of the hidden and underused features of OS X's built-in applications — both the programs you're already using and the ones you've probably never even launched. You'll come away with a new appreciation for Mac OS X's unheralded side.
Speaker: David Pogue
The iPhone took three years to develop, is covered by over 200 patents, and is called "revolutionary" by Apple. It's an iPod, a cellphone, and a wireless touchscreen Internet terminal. David Pogue, New York Times tech columnist and author of iPhone: The Missing Manual, will take you through the very latest developments concerning the iPhone, its features, its hidden powers, and its backdoors.
Speaker: Randal Schwartz
What tools would a connoisseur of Mac freebies actually spend money on? Get the lowdown on Randal's cherished set of utilities and daily-use applications that are all under $50, and which he says are darn well worth the money. You'll review Randal's favorites and get his usage hints on how you can harness these nifty "gadgets" for better productivity.
Speaker: Randal Schwartz
Take a look at Randal Schwartz' carefully selected trove of over 200 "free" downloads snared by watching VersionTracker and MacUpdate and a few other sources. Learn about the best of the lot, why and how Randal selected them, and how these freebies can help you do that thing you do.
Speaker: Randal Schwartz
Randal won't admit to being addicted to TV, but he does have a TiVo, and well, there are shows that he insists on watching on a regular basis (like Stargate Atlantis and reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond). Given extensive exposure to the horrible programming on hotel cable TV, Randal was inspired to connect to his preferred diet of home TV offerings from the road. Learn how he beefed up his TiVo to hold more things at home, and added a Slingbox to bring his home TV experience to anywhere in the world where he can get broadband. Fear not. Take a listen and never be forced to watch mediocre TV in a hotel room again.
Speaker: Dan Frakes
If you've ever used an iPhone, you know that it's a remarkably versatile device. But in this session, we'll show you how to take advantage of built-in features to get more out of it than you thought possible; we'll also cover ways to take the iPhone even further — if you've got the stomach for it. And what about the iPhone's phone-free sibling, the iPod touch? We'll reveal some secrets and surprises hidden behind its widescreen, as well, including ways to bring it a few steps closer to the iPhone. And then there's the old-timer, the iPod. In addition to playing music and showing videos, we'll show you how to use this old guy as a makeshift storage source, a passable PDA, a DVD transporter, and more. Finally, we'll give you some tips for using third-party accessories to make all three even more useful.
Speaker: Josimar King
Discover new ways to enjoy photos, create movies, make music, podcasts, websites, and more with iLife '08.
iPhoto '08 ••• Getting into digital photography? Learn how to make jumbo prints, edit and enhance your photos, and publish your photos to the web. We'll also demonstrate how easy it is to organize and share your photos, by creating a Photocast album.
iMovie '08 ••• In this session, you'll learn how to create your own digital video masterpieces to put on your shelf next to the Hollywood blockbusters. We’ll show you how to edit your digital footage in iMovie using several of its innovative tools.
GarageBand '08 ••• Learn how GarageBand can take you from the recording studio to the radio booth. Not only can you compose and record music directly into your Mac, now you can also create and record podcasts with or without music and post them on the web. No music or broadcasting experience required.
iWeb '08 ••• You're ready to take your website, blog, or podcast to the next level. With iWeb, create web sites and blogs complete with podcasts, photos, and movies. When it’s time to take your podcasts live, iWeb makes it quick and simple.
iDVD '08 ••• Learn how easy it is to create dazzling DVDs, now in widescreen format. Choose a theme, add movies and photos, and voila! Burn a DVD with one click.
Instructor: Doug Hanley
Become an Apple Certified Support Professional by taking Support Essentials v.10.5 while on MacMania 8.
• Certification info • Course description
The fee is $1750. This includes 24 hours of certification class time, and the certification exam. As time permits, you can take advantage of any of the MacMania 8 classes listed here.
Speaker: David Pogue
So you thought Google was just a Web search page? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. David Pogue, who won an Emmy for his CBS News profile of Google, will unveil the Google you never knew. It’s a white pages, yellow pages, calculator, aircraft database, driving map, package tracker, auto database, barcode translator, stock ticker, and much more. He'll explain all — and also take you on a tour of what’s cooking in Google Labs.
Speaker: Bebo White
In June 2006, the Oxford English Dictionary, the authority on the English language, officially accepted "Google" as a verb. It logically follows, then, that "Googling" can be recognized as a skill. In this session you'll learn how to be an "expert 'Googler'" by writing search queries that take full advantage of Google's input logic and optimize your chances of finding exactly what you want quickly and efficiently. You'll test your searching skills with a variety of logic problems and puzzles and trivia contests complete with prizes and awards for the best "Googlers."
Speaker: Randal Schwartz
Wondering how to optimally integrate iPhone's features into your road life? Here’s a case study for you. Randal Schwartz, who travels 30 weeks per year, every year, shows you how he quickly implemented his iPhone as a hub of his travelling lifestyle. What's more, you'll learn how to bring iPhone features and functionality together to better support your road life.
Speaker: Don McAllister
Transcend from power user to deadly ninja with an action-oriented Mac system. Don gives you an advanced look at specific apps for getting organized and productive on your Mac — with a heavy focus on implementation of an integrated Mail and Action management system.
Speaker: Don McAllister
Ready to learn the applications, Preference Panes, scripts, and hacks that can shave an hour off every day? The Mac has always had its share of time-savers and time-wasters (anyone remember "Talking Moose"?). But since the introduction of OS X in 2001, we've seen an explosion in the creation of smart tools for increasing productivity and using our Macs more efficiently. We'll look at a few of the very best chunks of functionality you can put on your Mac, and how to use them to start saving time, starting today.
Speaker: Don McAllister
A whole new generation of applications allow us to start managing our personal data in many different ways. No longer bound by simple files and folder structures, the choices for managing your data can quickly become overwhelming. In this session, Don will take you through the various options now available to you to manage your data in the most effective way possible.
Speaker: Sal Soghoian
Automation is everywhere in Leopard, with a dramatically improved easier-to-use Automator and a more powerful AppleScript leading the way. Learn how to use these free tools in creative ways:
Speaker: Lesa King
How do you capture and translate the sight that motivated you to snap it into a memorable photo? Whether you’re using a digital SLR or a point-and-shoot, you'll learn the pros' techniques for getting better shots in camera and their disciplined approach to expressing creativity. Learn how to use photo effects including soft vignettes, collages, partial color, gorgeous grayscale, select retouching, and more to enhance your digital images.
Speaker: Lesa King
What story is your photo telling? Explore the many ways of accentuating the subject matter and topic of a photo, drawing the viewer's eye and creating context. Lesa will give her perspective on partial color effects, picture within a picture, turning a photo into a pencil sketch, selective blur effects, creative vignettes, and more!
Speaker: Randal Schwartz
Take a lot of photos when you travel? Would you like to minimize the work of polishing and "publishing" while maximizing your artistic exposure? Learn how to manage this kind of work flow when it's not part of your "day job". Randal will tap his experience with major photo throughput and will show you how to use various tools, including Aperture, FlickrExporter, Google Earth, and the Flickr interface to share your best digital photos.
Speaker: Lesa King
Retouch photos like a pro with these simple yet powerful techniques. Selective skin softening and sharpening, blemish and bag banishing, teeth whitening, and color cast zapping.
Speaker: Bebo White
Photographs and photo albums (and the memories they relate) are high up on many people’s lists of cherished items. But how much information do you remember about your photographs? When and where was it taken? Who are all these people? What were the surrounding circumstances? How might all this personal "memory keeping" change when so many of our memories are digital multi-media? Will CDs be saved instead of photo albums? In this session you'll learn how to efficiently combine digital photos, video, scanned documents, and memory narration using widely available (usually free) applications, and simple processes and methods. The results will be priceless records of special events and personal history sure to be treasured and understood in context by you and your family. We’ll start right away with your memories of this cruise!
264 S. Meridith Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106 • 650-787-5665 • Copyright 2009 © InSight Cruises
