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Joe Kissell’s “Take Control of Dropbox” helps you learn and teach Dropbox

Good day!

Here at Take Control, we’ve long been huge fans of the Dropbox file-sharing service, relying on it every day to collaborate on manuscripts with our authors and editors. Now we’re pleased to share our expertise with you in the form of Joe Kissell’s latest ebook, “Take Control of Dropbox.” The book normally costs $10, but the 30% MUG discount drops that to $7. Learn more about the book via the coupon-loaded link below.

http://tid.bl.it/tco-dropbox-mug-discount

Whether you’re already among the millions of people who sync and share files with Dropbox or you plan to join their ranks soon, Joe Kissell has the real-world advice you need to go beyond the basics. He shares the best practices for using Dropbox effectively and securely on your own or with a group, explains how to avoid common mistakes and irreversible settings, describes what’s involved with mobile devices and Dropbox-savvy apps, and tips you off to unusual uses of Dropbox.

Did you know you could use Dropbox to control your Mac, publish a blog, automate Web activities, sync with other cloud services, and even publish a book like this one?

Perhaps you do know all that, but since Dropbox shines brightest when sharing files with friends and colleagues, we’ve included a “Teach This Book” chapter with links to a downloadable single-page PDF handout and an 18-slide PDF presentation that you can employ to help your collaborators use Dropbox correctly (and thus make your life easier).

Other useful advice in “Take Control of Dropbox” includes how to:

* Recover an accidentally deleted or revised file. You’ll find help with a few non-obvious controls and a discussion of the Packrat option for Dropbox Pro users.

* Work with photos and videos in your Dropbox folder and learn how to share collections with Dropbox’s new photo album feature.

* Use Dropbox to store and automatically sync data used by Dropbox-savvy apps on all of your devices, whether they’re running Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Windows, or Linux. You’ll get a better idea of what’s going on behind the scenes and how to manage app authorizations.

* Check a few important account-related details to make sure you’re set up optimally. These include security settings and methods of getting more storage space.

Be sure to check out Joe’s short intro video on the book’s page!

http://tid.bl.it/tco-dropbox-mug-discount

Two final notes, since we like to give you peeks behind the curtain here at Take Control. First, you’ll notice that “Take Control of Dropbox” sports an elegant new cover design and logo, both created especially for us. You’ll be seeing more of these covers in the future, in a variety of colors.

Second, if you like reading on a Kindle, the Mobipocket version of this book will be available in your Take Control library immediately after you purchase, thanks to a new (Dropbox-based!) publishing system that we used. The book looks great on a Kindle Fire or Paperwhite and is entirely acceptable on older and less-capable Kindle models. Between this new publishing system and a new technique we’ve developed for our existing publishing approach, we hope to make Mobipocket files available simultaneously with other formats going forward.

Thank you for your support of the Take Control series – we couldn’t do it without you!

cheers… -Adam & Tonya Engst, Take Control publishers

Subject: “Take Control of iCloud” ebook updated to cover Apple’s many changes

Time for a pop quiz!

Is iCloud (a) packed with useful features, (b) more complex than Apple lets on, (c) almost essential for Mac and iOS use, (d) thoroughly documented by Joe Kissell in “Take Control of iCloud,” or (e) all of the above?

The answer, as you veteran quiz takers know when faced with an “all of the above” option, is (e). iCloud really is helpful, deceptively complicated, integrated deeply into the Mac and iOS experience, and, frankly, sometimes a royal pain in the posterior. But no one does a better job of explaining iCloud’s features and quirks than Joe Kissell, and you can come up to speed with everything iCloud can do for only $10.50 with the 30% MUG discount:

http://tid.bl.it/icloud-mug-discount

If you’re pulling out your hair in frustration as you try to connect your Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or Windows PC to the many digital pipes that iCloud offers, Joe’s 155-page “Take Control of iCloud” will answer your questions and preserve your hairstyle. And, if you’re trying to help your mother, sister, uncle, co-worker, fellow Rotarian, or Game Center buddy sync contacts between devices, create a shared calendar, filter email before it hits the iPhone, and so forth, Joe has ferreted out the details you need to solve their problems.

iCloud is no longer new, and the dreaded transition from MobileMe is long past, but updates and ongoing issues have made “Take Control of iCloud” our top-selling book of the past few years. Keeping it fresh and accurate – this is our fourth free update! – is like playing Whack-a-Mole. Sometimes it seemed that nearly every page had some detail that needed checking and tweaking. Even though Apple doesn’t share inside information with us about what’s happening in iCloud’s troposphere, things Joe has had to track down and explain since just the last version of this book include iOS 6, iTunes 11, the Notes and Reminders Web apps, Shared Photo Streams, numerous tiny changes to iCloud’s Web interface, and more.

As always, thank you for supporting the Take Control series!

cheers… -Adam & Tonya Engst, Take Control publishers

I am old enough to remember when the Apple IIGS came out along with the Tandy TSR80 and young enough to catch the evolution of today’s migration to Cloud computing. What an amazing time we live in! Along the way, I’ve had the benefit of using PCs on both computing platforms and then some, including many of the mobile platforms: GEOS, Palm, Win CE (wince as it was derisively referred to), Windows Mobile, iOS and finally Android. I’ve watched many other computing platforms and OS’s come and go too as their relevance grew and faded.

This brings me to PC users groups. In the pre-internet days, it was the only way to meet up, network and learn from other like minded individuals who shared the same passion and desire to learn about the dizzying tide of hardware and the software that went with it. They packed these groups’ meetings, anxious and excited to absorb every morsel of information being presented. Companies discovered that these groups were a great source of feedback as well as potential customers and showered attendees with samples, demos and free products. I remembered those days well. it was the reason I joined one. I learned so much over the years and made life-long friends and met many industry captains along the way.

Then the internet came along and matured, allowing many of us to discover so much more than what our local PC users groups could ever hope to offer in terms of the breadth of information and audience-all from the convenience of our homes and at any hour of the day. I admittedly joined several “on-line communities” for this reason, as no local PC users groups existed to fill this vacuum of new ideas, techniques and disciplines. I had slowly outgrown my own group’s ability to teach, share and showcase my increasing interest in 3D image creation, digital printing, mobile computing and other exploding areas of technologies. The recession did not help either as it became an important factor in driving my decisions as to where I spent my hard earned money including memberships and subscriptions.

Yet, I stubbornly kept my membership in my local PC user group. Whether out of a sense of loyalty to friends or a misguided sense of giving back to an institution that had given me so much in my adult professional life. My little local PC users group still remains an important part of my monthly routine. It was there when I needed it the most and to abandon it now would be of such a disservice to the ranks of a new generation of users who seek the same knowledge I did when I was at their point in the beginning of my career.

I believe that local PC users groups like mine are still relevant despite all the on-line communities and information sources on the internet. There is still a role they play in our ever evolving computing universe. Many urban and rural communities lack the access to internet which makes the education of technologies prohibitive and daunting. For the thousands of us who have benefited from these users groups in the past, its time to repay the knowledge we reaped by returning and showing a new generation and others who lacked the opportunity, what we have learned. There is also an immediacy to feedback when one attends a meeting and is able to ask questions of a speaker.

The local PC users group is also more attuned to the needs of their community than their internet counterpart and can offer job banks, news and education tailored for their area. Now, don’t get me wrong. There is room for both to coexist. While the message and meeting topics must adapt to the times and technology for many of the older groups, they can survive and continue to play an important role. It is the cornerstone of what makes computing so unique, amazing and so unforgiving. Relevancy is so fleeting. Just ask Palm and its WebOS.

: ) Henry Lee, proud CDPUG eZine Editor/@nativeArtzCLE

Prepare for Mountain Lion with new Take Control books!

Apple is poised to release OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in July, and we want to help smooth your transition to Apple’s next big cat. Because many of you will want to upgrade soon, we have Joe Kissell’s “Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion” for sale now, with Matt Neuburg’s “Take Control of Using Mountain Lion” available for pre-order as a single-page placeholder that you can use to get the full title once Mountain Lion ships. You can buy either ebook singly with a limited-time $5-off introductory offer, or both in one trip through the cart. Use the coupon-loaded links below (the discount will show on the first screen of the cart), or read on for details about each title. Note that these prices are better than the normal 30% MUG discount.

Buy both titles together for $20 (this link puts both directly in the cart):
http://tid.bl.it/upgrading-using-mountain-lion-bundle-mug

Buy “Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion” for $10 (normally $15, discount will appear on first screen of cart): http://tid.bl.it/tco-upgrading-mountain-lion-mug

Buy “Take Control of Using Mountain Lion” (pre-order) for $10 (normally $15, discount will appear on first screen of cart):
http://tid.bl.it/tco-using-mountain-lion-mug

Act soon, since this offer will expire when Apple releases Mountain Lion into the wild!

**Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion** — Join best-selling author Joe Kissell for a pre-upgrade check on software and hardware compatibility. You’ll also benefit from Joe’s savvy advice on making a suitable backup to simplify your upgrade or recover from an upgrade disaster, dealing with multiple Apple IDs, and deleting extra data from your disk so you can start using Mountain Lion with plenty of space.

Joe also provides real-world guidance for handling these special concerns during what can be a stressful upgrade, especially if you’re upgrading from a pre-Lion version of Mac OS X:

* Managing iCloud: During your Mountain Lion installation, you’ll be asked for an Apple ID, but should you enter one? And, if you have more than one, which one? You’ll find advice for sorting out your Apple ID before you enter the installer.

* Upgrading from Tiger or Leopard: How will you download the installer from the Mac App Store on one of these Macs? What about Rosetta for PowerPC-based apps? Joe answers these questions and discusses the special challenges you’ll encounter when trying to upgrade efficiently from 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard.

* Considering FileVault 2: If you secure your data and documents with disk encryption now, or would like to under Mountain Lion, get advice on what to do before you upgrade and learn about the much-improved FileVault 2.

* Planning partitions: Read about what Joe thinks of partitioning and what you might want to do about it before installing.

* Choosing an upgrade method: With Mountain Lion, the default is an in-place upgrade, but what if you want to perform a clean install to wipe out any lurking directory corruption and ensure that your disk is nicely defragmented as well? Joe talks you through the differences.

The 1.0 version of “Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion” is 81 pages long. Once Mountain Lion ships, we plan to release a free 1.1 update that will more than double in length, thanks to the addition of full installation details, key post-upgrade tweaks, and troubleshooting tips in case your upgrade doesn’t go smoothly. It will also tell you how to migrate to a new Mac running Mountain Lion, install Mountain Lion Server, and use Recovery mode. Joe has performed innumerable test installs to upgrade Macs running Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, and Lion, and version 1.1 of “Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion” contains numerous hard-won details that Apple won’t tell you.

For a limited time, you can save $5 on “Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion” (you pay $10 instead of the $15 list price)!

More info: http://tid.bl.it/tco-upgrading-mountain-lion-mug

**Take Control of Using Mountain Lion** — In “Take Control of Using Mountain Lion,” Mac expert Matt Neuburg looks deeply at important features introduced in 10.7 Lion and at additional new options in 10.8 Mountain Lion, while also discussing long-standing but not-always-well-known capabilities of Mac OS X. Most importantly, you’ll get a thorough grounding in Mountain Lion’s new “modern document model” that gives you three ways to save documents: the old way, the new way, or the new way with iCloud.

Additional major topics that have been added since the Leopard and Snow Leopard editions help you to:

* Take control of the new Notifications feature.
* Understand the new Gatekeeper security feature, and circumvent it when appropriate.
* Take a quick tour of the new Voice Dictation feature that lets you speak instead of type.
* Understand Auto Save, so you can let OS X save for you with confidence.
* Learn how Resume works, and how to disable it when you want a clean start.
* Figure out how to navigate with Mission Control.
* Enter and leave full-screen mode, and switch among full-screen apps with Mission Control.
* Set up and use Launchpad, and get ideas for additional ways to launch apps.
* Memorize useful trackpad and Magic Mouse gestures for controlling your Mac.

For a limited time, you can save $5 when you pre-order “Take Control of Using Mountain Lion” (you pay $10 instead of the $15 list price). This pre-order “ebook” is a single-page placeholder that you can use to get the full “Take Control of Using Mountain Lion” once it’s available. We plan to publish it as soon as possible after Apple releases Mountain Lion and lifts our non-disclosure agreement; ideally the same day that Mountain Lion becomes available.

More info: http://tid.bl.it/tco-using-mountain-lion-mug

If you want both books at the introductory pricing, you can take a single trip through the cart to buy “Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion” now and pre-order “Take Control of Using Mountain Lion” for $20 (instead of the $30 list price). Use the link below, which puts both books into your cart.

http://tid.bl.it/upgrading-using-mountain-lion-bundle-mug

We’ve enjoyed planning and preparing these Mountain Lion titles for you. It’s always especially nice to return to these particular ebooks, since we launched the Take Control series in 2003 with the 10.3 Panther editions of these titles. As always, we appreciate your questions and constructive comments, and your support. We couldn’t do it without you!

cheers… -Adam & Tonya Engst, Take Control publishers

Please join the Adobe InDesign Users Group at the Cleveland Institute of Art on June 5th at 6:30pm for the Adobe Creative Suite 6 and Creative Cloud Launch Event here in Cleveland!

This Adobe event is co-sponsored by Adobe, the Cleveland Adobe InDesign User Group and the Cleveland Adobe User Group.

Details of the event are at http://clecs6.eventbrite.com

You MUST register for this FREE event at http://clecs6.eventbrite.com to receive ONE free raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets will be for sale at the registration table.

==========================
Date, time, and location
==========================
Tuesday, June 5 2012
6:15 PM – 8:45 PM
Cleveland Institute of Art
Gund Building
11141 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106

Free parking available.

We hope to see you there!

=======================================
IDUG discounts on industry conferences
=======================================
HOW Design Conference
June 22-25, 2012
Boston, MA
http://www.howdesignlive.com
Enter HIDUG in the discount code box during the registration process to get $100 off your registration.

InDesignSecrets Live!
June 12-13, 2012
Javits Center, New York, NY
Info: http://indesignsecretslive.com/seminars.html
Register: http://j.mp/idslive-nyc
Use the discount code  IDUGMBR when registering to receive $50 off.

See your Member Benefits page (http://www.indesignusergroup.com/members/benefits_members.php) for information about more events and deals.

New Take Control Book Unveils the Magic of Screen Sharing

Sharing screens is fun: it feels almost magical to view the screen of one Mac from another, and even more so to control another Mac from your own. With “Take Control of Screen Sharing in Lion,” Glenn Fleishman explains the many ways you can pull that rabbit out of your Mac’s hat. The 103-page ebook is available today for only $7 after the 30% MUG discount.

http://tid.bl.it/screen-sharing-lion-mug-discount

While fun to show off to less-experienced friends, screen sharing is an essential tool if you need to provide remote tech support (no more asking repeatedly “So what did the dialog say?”), configure and manage remote servers, or collaborate on a document in real time, passing control of the cursor back and forth as necessary. That’s why Apple has provided a bunch of ways to share screens, including iChat, Back to My Mac, and the Screen Sharing application. Nor is Apple alone: Skype also provides Mac screen sharing, as do several iOS apps (yes, you can drive your Mac from your iPad, or even your iPhone!).

Glenn helps you choose the right screen-sharing technique for various situations, covering the pros and cons and what kind of security each method offers. He also discusses how to share screens with older Macs running 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard, and how to manage your Mac from an iOS device.

Among the tricks and techniques the ebook covers are how to:

* Set up your Mac so that it can be controlled from your iPhone.
* Use screen sharing to help your confused uncle with his Mac.
* Find and launch the built-in Screen Sharing application on your Mac.
* Control an unattended Mac over the Internet.
* Turn on Back to My Mac with MobileMe or iCloud.
* Get set up and begin to share your screen through Skype.
* Give a presentation to a remote location through iChat Theater.
* Wake up a remote Mac in order to control it through screen sharing.
* Copy text from one computer to another while sharing screens.
* Put a shared screen in its own full-screen display in Lion.
* Control a far-away Mac through screen sharing when another user is logged in to that same Mac with a different account.

As the number of Macs in our extended professional and social networks continues to grow, so too does the need to access them quickly and efficiently from different locations. Glenn Fleishman’s “Take Control of Screen Sharing in Lion” puts the magic of screen sharing at your fingertips.

cheers… -Adam & Tonya Engst, Take Control publishers