March General Meeting and Mac OS X Party

Story and photos by Lou Pastura

First, the meeting. Carrie Conroy, from Canon, was first up with a great presentation on Canon printers and scanners. Canon has made a serious commitment to the Mac market that deserves to be supported. I use their BJC-8200 photo printer. It is fast and produces stunning 8 x 10 inch photo prints at 1200 x 1200 dpi (dots per inch). A new printer, the S800, is due out in the stores very soon (by the time you read this it will be available) that will be even faster than the already zippy 8200 and will raise the resolution to 1200 x 2400 dpi. Carrie said this was her first user group presentation. We didn't believe her -- she did a great job!

Next up, J.D. Mankovsky, a senior engineer with Apple, did his usual amazing job of presenting great amounts of both technical and practical information in a very accessible way. Even more amazing, he does this while holding the attention of a widely varied and truly outspoken audience. He walked through a Mac OS X install and patiently answered question upon question with the skill and good humor we've come to expect from this old friend of the Pi.

Speaking of old, meeting day included a birthday celebration for J.D. as well as for our own Jon Thomason. After the formal meeting presentation in the Northern Virginia Community College auditorium, the festivities moved upstairs where a big Mac OS X cake awaited, along with birthday cakes for both J.D. and Jon (thanks, Beth!), and coffee and sodas.

This special workshop after the meeting was the place where Mac OS X was available for sale and where Pi volunteers made themselves available to install the new OS for anyone who'd purchased it and brought their computer. There was quite a crowd (as the photos attest) and a good time was had by all as new friendships were made and old ones renewed.

If you missed this great time, don't despair. We get together every month to share answers to questions and hear from vendors, and we'll be doing it next month, too!. It's fun and educational, and you might make a new friend. Come join us!