Welcome to the BMUG Database & Network SIG Information Page!
BMUG Database & Network SIG Meeting Information:
NOTE: Unfortunately, the Grand Lake Neighborhood Center has closed. Meetings are now held at
Tech Liminal. Please see below for more details.
February, 2010 meeting:
Along with the usual general discussion of questions, answers, news, and rumors relating to the latest in the world of Macs, databases, and networking, the following topics and/or demonstrations are scheduled for the BMUG Database & Network SIG meeting on
Sat., 20/Feb/2010, at 10:30 ( more on the location and directions below ).
Continued potpourri of items:
We'll discuss the recent manifestation of
Macworld and some interesting items found therein, demo the recently released
Meraki Stumbler, and take a look at
Less ( and the
Less.app ), and
BashFlash for Snow Leopard.
I'll also show a bit of the sessions from the recent O'Reilly offered free online course
Learn to Build iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and Javascript ( now available as a $79 set of downloads ).
If you're a "people who make websites" person you might want to take a look at
A List Apart's results of their
2008 survey.
Continuing side note: We've also been attending some other good SIG/UG meetings lately ( see above as examples ) in the bay area. For those meetings, check out our Google Maps mashup of public
UG meeting venues in the greater S. F. Bay Area ( it's still a bit rough, but we'll try to improve it over time as an example work ).
If your browser doesn't support Google Maps, see our meeting's Yahoo maps link under the "Location" section below.
More details about other local groups can be found at:
See also these for
Apple User Groups,
The MUG Center,
4D User Groups, and a list of
our links to various resources. For those in the South Bay, you may want to check out the
A32/SVMUG or the
Silicon Valley Google Technology User Group offerings.
And, need serious Mac help fast? In case you didn't know it, you can now make free on-line reservations for Genius bar support at your local
Apple Store ( now over a
3-day window - and if you're a $99/yr.
ProCare member, you can do it up to
14-days in advance ). Unfortunately, Apple recently changed the
One to One instruction for $99/yr. to only be available to purchases made at an Apple store or on-line, but I think they still offer the free
Personal Shopping help.
We discussed my & Daniel's visits to
Mobile Monday SV, the
Snow Leopard Server Tour ( including some nifty use of
Automator and
Services ), and the
Mt. View JavaScript Meetup, and Daniel demo'ed a
PHP syntax checker using
AppleScript and TextEdit ( it didn't seem to work w/
TextWrangler for some reason ).
Next month's ( March, 2010 ) meeting:
Meeting Place & Time - The meeting should be held at its NEW place,
Tech Liminal, and normal time - Sat., 20/Mar/2010, starting at 10:30.
Meeting Subject TBD - The subject is still to be determined, and, as usual, we're always open to suggestions.
About the BMUG Database & Network SIG:
The BMUG Offices in downtown Berkeley have closed and the Database & Network SIG has moved to another location. For more information about the current status of BMUG itself, please check:
Depending on circumstances, the place and time of our future SIG meetings may change and will be announced as part of a particular meeting's notes at the top of this page.
General information:
The BMUG Database SIG was originally formed in the mid-'80s to discuss issues and questions related to all PC databases, with a primary emphasis on Macintosh programs, and 4th Dimension ( now
4D ) in particular. However, since network usage has become an integral part of using databases, in the '90s we changed the name to The BMUG Database & Network SIG, and added discussions relating to the setup and use of home and office networks of Macintosh's and PC's as well. Network topics include, but are not limited to, Ethernet Hubs/Switches/Routers, DSL, wireless access, cross-platform file sharing, printing, and any appropriate WEB applications.
Attendance at all meetings is free, though Tech Liminal does appreciate, but does not require, a $1 donation per person for the use of the facilities.
Topics Note: We've worked with the Apple Store San Francisco to hold some special meetings in their "auditorium", usually on a week-night at 18:30, so if you have something really special to demo, and want a quality venue, with easy access, big screen presentation, and plenty of seating, let us know and we can work with you to host it there.
Day/Time:
SIG meetings are usually held on the 3rd Saturday of each month, and now start at 10:30. Meetings last until ~13:30, then those that are interested ( and hungry ) retire to one of the many local food emporiums for lunch and more discussion.
Location:
Meetings are usually held at
Tech Liminal,
268 14th St., Oakland, between Harrison and Alice Sts.
If your browser does not support Google Maps, see this
Yahoo map.
Parking Note: Street parking is available for $2.00/hr, payable by cash or credit card to a machine in front of Tech Liminal, but is limited to 2-hour blocks at a time. There is a cash only paid lot next to the building, just before Alice for $3.50 on weekends, and after 16:00 weekdays ( $6.50/day on weekdays before 16:00 ). Free "neighborhood" parking is a few blocks away. Also, see the "Directions... By car:" section, below for more info.
For those with a GPS unit try:
N 37.802725d , W 122.267046d
( also as: N 37d 48m 9.81s , W 122d 16m 1.37s )
Directions to Tech Liminal:
By car or BART: See
here courtesy of Tech Liminal.
By transit: From
San Francisco, take
AC Transit line NL from the Transbay terminal. Get off at Thomas L. Berkley Way & Broadway, then it's 4 blocks down Broadway to 14th, and ~3.5 blocks out 14th to 268. The NL leaves S. F. every 30 min., starting at 06:05, and gets to the Broadway stop in about 15 minutes. Fare is ~$3.00 each way.
From or
Berkeley buses, see these lines to Downtown Oakland: 1, 11, 12, 13 ( which runs right by it except on weekends, when it only goes Broadway and west ), 14, 15, 40, 51, 59, 62, 63, or 88.
Please see the links in the "Location" section, above, for a map of the meeting location.
Those that are iPod inclined can copy/paste this section into a text file and place it into your Notes folder for viewing on the fly. If you have an iPod photo version you can probably even get the above linked maps onto it for viewing. If you have an
iPhone you're really set!
If you need more information about the BMUG Database & Network SIG, if you want to schedule a demonstration, or if you have a suggestion for a discussion topic, please feel free to drop us a note.
Thanks for your time. We hope to see you at a SIG meeting.
glenn bookout
BMUG Database & Network SIG Leader
Our SIG is a...