The goal of the NPUG Yahoo Group is to continue meeting monthly, on the 2^nd Saturday, but in a much more informal setting. Additionally, we can talk about anything tech related and not limit ourselves to just Palm OS. This way we can still enjoy the lively discussion and sharing of knowledge without having to devote a great deal of time to "putting on a meeting" like we've done for the past 8 years.

At the core of the NPUG Yahoo Group is a mailing list. This means that all communication will take place via e-mail. There are no "leaders" per se, so anyone can speak up and make a suggestion. And since this is an entirely new group, you have to join the group -- we're not bringing over any of the past NPUG membership data.

So point your browser over to http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/npug/and join up today!

I saved a few important links and will add them to the Yahoo group later this week.

If our membership is the engine that has kept NPUG chugging along all these years, then it's the vendors that have been the fuel that's allowed the engine to even start. Knowing it's our last meeting, our resident "Prize Pimp", Randy Jones, has been working hard for months to call in every favor he can muster. Suffice to say that the Palm OS Economy has come though again and as of this posting, we have over $2,000 worth of prizes to give away.

That's right...

You heard me...

Over two-thousand dollars worth of door prizes

You may have heard me say this before, but it's never been more true - if ever there way an NPUG meeting you didn't want to miss, this is it. We have over 100 door prizes to give away, including a Treo 680, so rest assured, if you come to the meeting this Saturday, you're going to go home with plenty of loot.

For all the details pertaining to this month's meeting, please visit this link.

We thought long and hard about the future of NPUG over the past year and the consensus was amongst the Leadership Council was that we would take a "wait and see" approach and see what Palm had in store for us. There was a lot of anticipation about what the "secret project" that Jeff Hawkins was working on and in May it was revealed that it was the Palm Foleo. Suffice to say that it didn't inspire a lot of excitement.

The fact of the matter is that Palm OS has been stagnant now for three years and there simply hasn't been anything really new and exciting to talk about. Other than a slightly modified version of the Treo, there is simply no innovation happing with Palm, which leaves us with less and less to talk about. The bottom line is that we've covered just about every conceivable topic we can think of at least twice, if not three or four times.

In addition to the lack of new topics, there's the fact that most (if not all) of us in the Leadership are a bit tired. We've been meeting almost every month now for eight years and a lot of work goes into each meeting. Overtime, we've all become a bit weary and it's time for a break.

So our October 2007 meeting will be our final "official" meeting as a group. Rest assured that we're going to go out with a bang and plan to make 10/13/2007 live in infamy as the most over-the-top, bodaciously overwhelming display of giveaways the Palm community has ever seen. We are going to go out with a HUGE bang and have a lot of fun saying goodbye.

Until then, we hope that you'll make this month's meeting and share one final hurah with us before we party like it's 1999.

All silliness aside, I apologize for not getting the meeting posted and the notifications out this month. 100% my fault and I have no excuse. I hope you'll still plan on coming and chatting about mobile technology this Saturday.

Same time, same bat channel Google Map

Mobile e-mail, the Apple iPhone -- we're chock full of tech goodness and you can find all the details at this link

Hope to see you there!

For more information on this issue, PalmInfoCenter.com has an article which goes into greater detail.

You can find the article, entitled "Palm Keeping Very Quiet on Details of Its Upcoming Operating System", at this link.

Of course you'll need to have a Slingbox in order to view video, but if you do, then you'll be able to use the Palm OS client for free until it's officially released, which is pretty sweet. Oh and if any of our members tries the software, we'd love to see a demo at our next meeting. *hint hint* :)

Tip of the hat to Mike Rodhe for the heads up!

I don't know about you, but things have been extra busy this month and when the bulk of the Leadership Council discovered that they couldn't phycially make this month's meeting, we had no other option but to cancel it. We're sorry for the late notice, but that's because we kept holding out for a solution to present itself, but alas, our final hail mary went uncaught.

So hang in there for another 30-days. We know it's tough not getting your Palm OS fix for the month, because we enjoy that fix ourselves, but we will meet again on April 14th and have even MORE giveaways to hand out.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Vineyard Christian Fellowship
1400 Donelson Pike # A3
Nashville, TN 37217
(615) 360-8463
[Google Map]

Our usual meeting space at the Edmondson Pike Library wasn't available. Special thanks to fellow NPUG member Jerry for coming through for us and allowing us access to his church. Thank you Jerry!

If you have any difficulty with the forums, please let me know by e-mail at michael@npug.org.

Sorry for the inconvenience and we'll try to get them up and running ASAP.

As a very special offer, Club Astraware will be offering one top title exclusively to its members from December 30th to January 11th only. So if you're not already a member, join up now. You will not want to miss this offer!

And finally, if you're still wondering what Hogmanay is all about, check out the Astraware company blog at http://www.astraware.com/company/blog.php where Astraware's resident Scottish expert, Iain Moore, gives a little insight. Have a Happy Hogmanay!