Mainly from the Apple II and IIgs era but also for the Mac

AUSOM began its’ life back in the late 1970’s as The Apple Users’ Society of Melbourne (A.U.S.O.M.) Inc — Before the Apple Macintosh existed, let alone iPods, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches!

The most popular personal computer in use in the 1970’s and early 80’s was the Apple II and AUSOM was formed to help Melbourne based Apple II users get the most out of these computers and soon become one of the world’s largest Apple User Group communities.

These were also days before the Internet existed, so the main way of discovering new software was through computer user groups like AUSOM. These groups copied hundreds, if not thousands, of floppy discs (in those days they did actually flop) full of Public Domain, Freeware and Shareware Software, which where then sold to their members for a small sum — usually around $5 per disk.

Because the internet didn’t exist at the height of the Apple II’s popularity, far too much of this old software was never made accessible online and runs the risk of been lost forever, so I’m trying to locate some of the old software I personally wrote back in the 1980’s and early 90’s, as well as some of the collections of Apple II Software that I know AUSOM used to (and hopefully still has) maintain so they can be preserved for posterity. Continue Reading

Despite the hype about how Apple’s iPad is going to kill the traditional paper based book and other e-book readers like Amazon’s Kindle, it is interesting to note that the much publicized iBooks application for the iPad is NOT actually installed on the iPad by default. Like the iTunes Remote App, it is a free, yet optional, download from the iTunes App Store. Continue Reading

The first Apple Store in the Southern Hemisphere opened on June 19th 2008 at 5pm in Sydney and many Apple devotees, queued overnight, just to be amongst the first people to get inside.

The first person in the queue had been in line since just before 9:00am that morning (that’s THIRTY hours before the store opening!!!). Continue Reading

Anyone who needs to keep track of various events and who also has to share that information with others will want to look at publishing their own iCal to the internet.

This includes community groups, sports clubs, Macintosh User Groups, small businesses, large companies, families and individuals. Continue Reading

Many people know Chuck Joiner through his involvement in the Macintosh User Group [MUG] community, and particularly through his website The Mug Center.

For years, far before the term Podcast was coined, Chuck hosted The User Group Report [UGR], an internet radio show for MUGs about MUGs. Over time the UGR evolved to cover a wider range of topics and now the UGR has been retired.

Only to be replaced with two new Podcasts; MacNotables – The Mac Experts You Want To Hear From” and MacVoices “The Talk of the Mac Community” Continue Reading

Recently an email came was passed on to me from a person enquiring if there were still people who still carried a torch for the Apple II and more specicifically for the Apple IIgs.

The reason behind the request is Alex Lee, the author of the email, is in the process of producing a coffee table book based on the Apple IIgs, which he says will be “the most comprehensive record of any one model of Apple computer but it needs help from other IIgs enthusiasts for it to be complete.” Continue Reading

Are you always searching for that elusive CD or DVD – you’ve got the case, but where is that disc? There has to be a better way to manage all your optical media! Well, now there is – the Imation Disc Stakka. Continue Reading

Panergy releases icWord 3.0, icExcel 2.0 & OneClickConvert 1.0 Continue Reading

The EyeTV digital video recorder allows you to watch, record, and even pause “live” TV, skip commercials, have instant replay, or archive shows to VideoCDs playable in most DVD players. EyeTV will change the way you watch television! Continue Reading

Design Tools Monthly has been providing Macintosh graphic designers with monthly summaries and quarterly software updates for over 10 years and this is the review of it that I was told I should not publish, but have anyway*. Continue Reading