Don McAllister of ScreenCastsOnline stays very busy producing his weekly screencast. Last week's episode was a tutorial on VectorDesigner, a piece of software included in the January MacHeist bundle. I bought the bundle, downloaded the software and filed away my new serial numbers, then got busy with all of my current projects.

I own Adobe Illustrator. I can't say I use it much, but I occasionally work with a client who needs help and I can usually figure out what is wrong or I can point them to a good resource for help. The learning curve for Illustrator is so steep, that I just never use it for my own projects.

However, I certainly need a tool to help me produce vector graphics easily – and oh, yes, I need a quick tutorial to get me going. Don's latest screencast has caused me to take a fresh look at VectorDesigner. His tutorial is easy to follow and in less than 30 minutes, I now feel ready to tackle a project or two.

Be sure to check out the ScreenCastsOnline shownote if you want to buy a copy of VectorDesigner as Don has secured a $10 discount for his listeners.

There is a new MacHeist bundle. Check out the details at the web site and be sure to look for more tutorials at ScreenCastsOnline!.

Have you ever noticed that any time a group of people get together with common interests and needs, they tend to form a group or association or club -- or something that brings people with like interests or problems together? Just think about it. We have networks of television and radio stations, newspaper groups, trade associations, and even Macintosh User Groups.

In this New Media era, there are many formal and informal groups forming. There are now many podcasting and blogging networks. Groups of New Media content producers work together to promote their products, learn from each other and share tips and success stories.

Back in the fall, Chuck Joiner contacted some of his blogging and podcasting friends and suggested that we form a media group, MacLevelTen.

We got together at Macworld in January to get to know each other, share in a podcast or two, and we even had a meet-up to give us a chance to meet and share time with our listeners and readers.

We are a very diverse group! And we produce quite a variety of products. I would like to share a bit more about each of us and make sure you know about our ventures. Chuck usually lists us in alphabetical order, so I will do the same.

First there is me. I am the only woman in the group (also the only grandmother!). At the moment, I produce this blog, write articles for user group publications and appear on other people's podcasts. Of course, I also work with Bob LeVitus, and I am on the Executive Board of my user group, Washington Apple Pi – and that keeps me pretty busy! However, I am working on plans to add a podcast with both audio and video content in the near future.

Chuck Joiner, is our jack-of-all-trades! He works in the insurance industry by day and spends the rest of his day and night producing podcasts and blogs for all of us! He began posting the User Group Report over a dozen years ago and soon began producing The MUG Center web site. He is was the first president of the Apple User Group Advisory Board. He continues to add new blogs and podcasts each year. He is actively producing MacNotables, MacVoices, the MUG Center, and Talking WordPress His latest venture is MacJury, which is so new that it just got listed in the iTunes Music Store. A little-known secret about Chuck is that he is a Metalhead! You just would not believe the music that pours out of his iPod!

Next is Don McAllister. Don is one of the few podcasters who makes his living from what he produces! He produces both a free feed and a weekly premium subscription based podcast, ScreenCasts Online that seeks to teach us more about our Macintosh computers and the programs and devices we use with them. He will also be doing a presentation at the New Media Expo this summer. Don lives in Liverpool, UK, providing an international perspective and that of the father of two teens.

Jay Nelson makes his living producing a newsletter, Design Tools Monthly which, for over 15 years, has been invaluable for the design professional. Together with Jeff Gamet, Jay also produces the Design Tools Weekly podcast. Jay lives in Colorado and also writes for many of the best-regarded publications in the creative space.

So far, we have a woman, a Metalhead, a Brit, and a creative. All of us are in the over-thirty crowd, so we have some perspectives that are missing. Dan Pourhadi certainly fills some of that hole! He is a college student in the Chicago area. He still faces to the side on his driver's license and he tries to keep the rest of us from being "lame." In between classes and podcast appearances, Dan writes for MacUser, Macworld, IPhone Central, MacAddict, MacDirectory, TidBITS, Macteens, Macsimum News, Chicago’s Daily Herald newspaper, and Northwest Passages, as well as numerous Mac User Group newsletters across the world. He was a tech editor for the Leopard edition of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual.

Last, but never least, is Steve Sande. He is a Mac consultant, software requirements engineering instructor, and he runs Podbus.com, a web/podcast hosting company. He’s written books on the iPod and iWeb for Take Control Books, and has also authored online help systems for a number of popular Macintosh software products. Steve is also our WordPress guru and is often on the road, teaching and consulting.

Each of the MacLevelTen participants produce great content, but it's difficult to stay on top of all the new podcasts, videos and blog postings. However, I keep pretty close tabs on what is being produced, so I plan to add a post when I see new content that might appeal to my readers. Check back often!

Pat