Author: John Clark

I was trying to think of a good April Fools joke to play here, but then I decided it would be simpler to just give you my class news for the month. You’re spared for another year. 😜

I need to remind everyone that the Ridgway Library is no longer able to offer my last-Wednesday-of-the-month classes for free. Don’t despair; I will continue to offer lots of classes, and some will be free, so be sure to read the fine print on every class. The number of venues I will be teaching at continues to grow, and I’m excited about that.

April is unusually busy for me, so I’m only offering two sessions, but I am bringing back ‘Office Hours’ at Montrose Proximity Space on April 11th!

On to the details…

Class list for April 2017:

• Tues. April 11th, from 1-4 pm: prior to the BCMUG meeting below, at Proximity Space, Montrose, I’ll be holding a bit of a new take on “Office Hours with the Mac Doctor”. This 3-hour block will be available at a discounted rate of $50/hour for BCMUG members, and $60/hr for non-members.

• Tues. April 11th, from 7-9 pm, also at Proximity Space, Montrose, as part of the monthly Black Canyon Mac User Group meeting, it’s a FREE presentation on “Take Control of Your Paperless Office”. Come learn all the latest tips & tricks for going paperless!

• Thurs., April 20th, from 6-8 pm, at the Ridgway Library, I’m revisiting an essential class: “Get Yourself Backed Up!”. If you don’t have a current (and healthy?) backup of your computer, this class is for you!

Please do let me know if you plan to attend the Backup class; if I get enough commitments ahead of time, I don’t have to send out a nagging reminder!

 First, on Tuesday, April 11th, from 1-4 pm at the Proximity Space, Montrose, it’s the return of at Proximity Space in Montrose, I’ll once again be offering “Office Hours with the Mac Doctor” sessions. I will be available to answer your questions, take a look at your wonky Mac/iPhone/iPad, or whatever you need. As I mentioned above, I’ll be charging for this service now, but BCMUG members will get a $10/hour discount ($50/hour). Non-members pay $60/hour. Short questions may not incur charges at all, depending on how complicated the answer is! 🤓

 That evening, Tuesday, April 11th, from 7-9 pm, at Proximity Space, Montrose, I’m going to cover the latest ebook from the good folks at Take Control Books, “Take Control of Your Paperless Office”. This FREE presentation, as part of the Black Canyon Mac User Group’s monthly meeting, will guide you through choosing your tools: scanners and OCR (optical character recognition) software, devices and services for storing scanned documents, and apps to categorize, locate, and view your documents. Then I’ll show you how to convert paper into digitized files and give you ideas for how to organize your workflow. We’ll give away a free copy of the ebook to one lucky attendee, as well as give you a link to buy the book for 30% off!

 Lastly, on Thursday, April 20th from 6-8 pm, at the Ridgway Library, I’m revisiting an essential class: “Get Yourself Backed Up!”. This class will cover all aspects of backing up your devices, from online tools like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, Carbonite and the like, to the best external hard drive options for physical backups. The importance of having good (and redundant!) backups is increasingly critical, for obvious reasons, but less obvious is that a good backup is your best protection against viruses and hackers! Due to popular demand, I will also cover Time Machine, and how to use it, so you can confirm your backups are working! Come learn all there is to know about how to make sure your precious photos and documents are safe for many years to come! Cost for this class is $20. Please let me know if you plan to attend.

I’m wishing you all the best that spring has to offer! Hope to see you at a class sometime soon!

Happy March 1st everyone. If any of you know where the first two months of the year went, please let me know. 🙄

The big news on the Mac class front is that the Ridgway Library is no longer able to offer my last-Wednesday-of-the-month classes for free. Even though I won’t be doing those specific classes for free any longer, don’t despair; I will continue to offer lots of classes, and some will be free, so be sure to read the fine print on every class. The number of venues I will be teaching at continues to grow, and I’m excited about that.

Hope to see you all at a class sometime soon!

On to the details…

Class list for March 2017:

• Sat., March 4th, from noon-4 pm at the Ah Haa School in Telluride: “Intermediate iPhone/iPad Tips & Tricks”; an especially in-depth exploration of everything your iDevice can do. Sign up with Ah Haa. Cost is $65 for this 4 hour class.
• Tues. March 14th, from 7-9 pm: as part of the monthly Black Canyon Mac User Group meeting, at Proximity Space, Montrose, I’ll be showing you how to “Take Control of iTunes”. This FREE presentation will include a raffle to give away an ebook of the same title.
• Tues. March 21st, from 6-8 pm, at the Sherbino Theater, it’s another installment of “iPhones & IPAs!”, covering the wonderful world of iPhone photography. Presented by the Sherbino and Weehawken Creative Arts; sign up through Weekhawken. Cost is $35.
• Wed., March 29th, from 5-7 pm at the Ridgway Library, by popular demand, I’ll be revisiting Apple’s “Photos” program. Cost for this class is $20.

Please do let me know if you plan to attend any of these classes; if I get enough commitments ahead of time, I don’t have to send out a nagging reminder!

 Coming right up, this Saturday, March 4th, from noon-4 pm at the Ah Haa School in Telluride, I’ll be doing another “Intermediate iPhone/iPad Tips & Tricks” class. Ever since I’ve been doing my basic overview classes covering Apple’s iDevices, I’ve had many requests to offer an intermediate version. This class will be perfect for anyone who is hoping to use an iPad as their only computer, but also for those of you who know their way around their “iDevice” pretty well, but would love to know more of the advanced things it can do. Sign up with Ah Haa if you’d like to attend. Cost for this class is $65.

 Next, on Tuesday, March 14th, from 7-9 pm, at Proximity Space, Montrose, I’m going to show you how to “Take Control of iTunes!”. This FREE presentation, as part of the Black Canyon Mac User Group’s monthly meeting, will cover all the ins & outs of the media management program everyone loves to hate. To anyone that uses it, iTunes is a source of constant confusion and headaches, thanks to its many semi-related features and Apple’s frequent interface changes. Join us for an in-depth exploration of this 900-pound gorilla, and learn to master it! There will also be a raffle to give away a free ebook on the topic.

 Then, on the following Tuesday, March 21st, from 6-8 pm, at the Sherbino Theater in Ridgway, it’ll be another installment of “iPhones & IPAs!”. This fun class, presented by the Sherbino and Weehawken Creative Arts, is a lively & wide-ranging exploration of the fascinating world of iPhone photography!! You’ll learn tips and tricks for getting the best results when you shoot photos with your iPhone, as well as learn about some of the many astounding apps that will help you take your iPhone-ography to the next level. Just $35 per person, which includes a beer (“iPA” recommended! 😉 or glass of wine. Sign up with Weehawken if you’d like to attend.

 Lastly, on Wednesday, March 29th from 5-7 pm at the Ridgway Library, by continued demand, I’ll once again be covering Apple’s new “Photos” program for Yosemite, El Capitan and now Sierra. Many people are getting more than a little discombobulated by the switch to Photos, but it’s actually quite a powerful upgrade from iPhoto. Of course, there’s a whole new interface to learn! If you’re running Yosemite, El  Cap, or even Sierra on your Mac, you’ll want to take this class to learn all the ins & outs of the new program. Please, do let me know if you plan to attend. Cost is $20.

I’m wishing you a spectacular March; spring is just around the corner! hope to see you at a class sometime soon!

I have a common experience as the Mac Doctor: whenever I get stumped and say something like “I’m not sure what’s going on here!”, the client almost always says “It’s good to know it happens to you too sometimes!” Well, this month’s class announcement is late due to a glitch that I can’t figure out, since I was sure it was set to post on Wednesday of this past week. I hope that makes you all feel better. 🤓

Class list for February 2017:

• Mon., February 6th, from 6-8 pm: “How to Hashtag (Instagram Fundamentals)”; Sherbino Theater; sign up through Weehawken Creative Arts ($10)
• Tues., February 14th, from 7-9 pm: “1Password, the Ultimate Password Manager”; Proximity Space in Montrose (FREE!)
• Tues., February 21st, from 10 am-12:30 pm: “Arts Marketing Through Social Media”; Montrose Assoc. of Realtors; sign up through Montrose Center for the Arts ($25)
• Weds., February 22nd, from 5-7 pm: FREE macOS Overview; Ridgway Library

The details:

 First off, on Monday, February 6th, from 6-8 pm, at the Sherbino Theater, in another of the “Business of Art” classes co-sponsored by the Sherbino, Weehawken Creative Arts & the Ridgway Creative District, we’ll be focusing on “How to Hashtag (Instagram Fundamentals)”. If you want to take your Instagram skills to the next level, particularly as a powerful 21st-century marketing tool, this is the class for you! The class is only $10, but you need to sign up through Weehawken at this link.

 Then, on Tuesday, February 14th, from 7-9 pm, as part of the monthly Black Canyon Mac Users Group meeting, I’ll be presenting a free program on “1Password, the Ultimate Password Manager”. There are a lot of password managers out there these days, and many of them are quite handy, but 1Password, from Agile Bits, is the granddaddy of them all. It may not be the simplest to get set up, but once you get started, you’ll find its integration with every aspect of your system to be invaluable. This class will give you the fundamentals to get up and running with this amazing tool.

 Next, on Tuesday, February 21st, from 10 am-12:30 pm, at the Montrose Assoc. of Realtors building, sponsored by the Montrose Center for the Arts, I’ll be covering “Arts Marketing Through Social Media”. This class offers introductory skills for using social media to market your products and/or business (with a focus on artists & creatives), covering everything from Facebook to Instagram. There is a lot of interest in the power of social media as a marketing tool these days, and this class will help you learn all the details. Cost is $25. To register, call (970) 240-1350, or mail your check to MCA, P.O. Box 1474, Montrose, 81402.

 Lastly, it’s the FREE macOS Overview (for Macs, not iPhones/iPads), on Wednesday, February 22nd from 5-7 pm at the Ridgway Library. This class is held in the small meeting room at the Library, and space is limited, so you have to sign up. Give me a call at 970-417-8434 (or drop me an email) if you’d like to attend. (Be aware that first-timers take priority over anyone who has taken the class before, but there are often openings for repeaters).

As usual, I hope to see you all at a class sometime soon!

Happy New Year everyone! Once again, my class email is coming out a little late. Such is life for the Mac Doc these days. Busy as can be (as a 🐝?), with no end in sight!. I’ve got a couple of unique things on the schedule this month as well. Read on…

Class list for January 2017:

• Tues., January 10th, from 7-9 pm: “Clean up your Mac!”, a FREE presentation at the monthly Black Canyon Mac User’s Group, at Proximity Space in Montrose
• Mon., January 16th, from 5:30-7 pm: “The Art of Business: Social Media Marketing”, through Weehawken Creative Arts (sign-up link), at the Sherbino Theater
• Wed., January 25th, from 5-7 pm: FREE iPhone/iPad Overview; Ridgway Library

The details:

 First off, next Tuesday, January 10th, from 7-9 pm, at Proximity Space in Montrose; I will be doing a FREE presentation as part of the monthly Black Canyon Mac User Group meeting, which I’m calling “Clean up your Mac!” I’ve been a member and presenter at the BCMUG meetings for years, and highly encourage any of you with an interest to check it out and join up! For Tuesday night’s meeting, I’ll be talking about how hard it can be to figure out where stuff is that might be clogging up your Mac, and demonstrating how to manage the ongoing task of keeping your machine from overflowing with data!

 Next, on Monday, January 16th, from 5:30-7 pm, at the Sherbino Theater, as part of Weehawken’ Creative Arts‘ 2017 series, Art as a Small Business, I’ll be presenting The Art of Business: Social Media Marketing. This class offers introductory skills for using social media to market your products/business, covering everything from Facebook to Instagram. There are 25 seats available for this $10 class (register with Weehawken), and you don’t have to be an artist to attend! 👩🏼‍🎨 There are no materials required but please bring your laptops and smartphones.

 Then, it’s the FREE Mac iPad/iPhone Overview, on Wednesday, January 25th from 5-7 pm at the Ridgway Library. This class is held in the small meeting room at the Library, and space is limited, so you have to sign up. The Library staff has asked that I handle the sign ups, so give me a call at 970-417-8434 (or drop me an email) if you’d like to attend. (Be aware that first-timers take priority over anyone who has taken the class before, but there are often openings for repeaters).

I hope to see you all at a class sometime soon. And in the meantime, I’m wishing you nothing but success in your computing adventures this year!

Happy December 1st everyone! It was -5° here in Ridgway this morning, so winter is apparently finally arrived in earnest. I think I’m finally ready for it too, though that was a pretty harsh transition! At least we’ve finally reached the ideal time of year to stay inside for a computer class, right?

Class list for December 2016:

• Thurs., December 8th, from 6-8 pm: “iTunes”; Ridgway Library; discover all the ins & outs of this 900 pound gorilla of media managers!
• Tues., December 13th, from 3-5 pm: “Office Hours with the Mac Doctor”; Proximity Space in Montrose
• Weds., December 21st, from 5-7 pm: FREE macOS Overview; Ridgway Library

The details:

 First off, next Thursday, December 8th, from 6-8 pm, at the Ridgway Library, I’ll be revisiting an app we could all use some help with: iTunes. With all that you can put on your iDevices these days, knowing how to use iTunes has become essential. And it’s had another major interface overhaul again recently (yes, again!). If you’ve been wanting to learn how to manage what gets synced to your iPhone, or how to make & burn that cool playlist to a CD for your friends, this class is for you. We’ll cover everything from understanding where everything lives, to navigating all the stores, as well as importing your own CD’s, audiobooks, movies, etc. Cost for this class is $20, and will be held at the Ridgway Library. Please let me know if you plan to attend.

 Then, on Tuesday, December 13th, from 3-5 pm, at Proximity Space in Montrose, I’ll once again be offering “Office hours with the Mac Doctor” sessions. I will be available to answer your questions, take a look at your wonky Mac/iPhone/iPad, or simply have a chat about the latest happenings in the tech world. Attention will be given on a first-come, first-served basis, so come on down and introduce yourself, take a look around Proximity Space! Charges, if any, will be determined by the complexity/difficulty of your issue, and if the issue is serious enough, a separate appointment may be necessary.

 Lastly, it’s the FREE macOS Overview (for Macs, not iPhones/iPads), on Wednesday, December 21st from 5-7 pm at the Ridgway Library. NOTE: The date for the is class is a week earlier than the normal last-Wednesday-of-the-month, due to the holidays. This class is held in the small meeting room at the Library, and space is limited, so you have to sign up. Give me a call at 970-417-8434 (or drop me an email) if you’d like to attend. (Be aware that first-timers take priority over anyone who has taken the class before, but there are often openings for repeaters).

I hope to see you all at a class sometime soon!