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Get Microsoft Office Pro Plus, and training in MS Excel, just $60 for life

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Get lifetime access to Microsoft Office Pro Plus and Excel training for only $60.
This master class bundle featuring Microsoft Office can help with productivity for only $60.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Microsoft Office provides top-rated software programs that can simplify many professional and personal processes, such as creating written documents or visual presentations, conducting online meetings and crunching complex numbers. Develop a firm grasp of those tools, and you could have a serious advantage in upcoming projects or employment searches.

For a limited time, you can get lifetime access to Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2021 for Windows, combined with Excel master classes, for only $59.99. You’ll gain access to classic Microsoft programs, and quickly learn how to maximize your usage of Excel.

Apple training documents leak details of self-driving car project

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lexus
The 2015 Lexus RX450h is Apple's vehicle of choice.
Photo: Lexus

Getting behind the wheel of one of Apple’s self-driving cars requires drivers to pass a series of tests, based on new information about the secretive project that leaked out today.

Details of Apple’s self-driving car program have been revealed by documents filed with the California DMV that shed light on the “Apple Automated System” currently under development.

Pear Sports’ new monitor is the workout coach you always wanted

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Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Pear Sports' workout system pairs a heart rate monitor with comfortable earbuds and a mobile app. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

I’ve been a runner for a long time. I trained for (and ran) the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon. I’ve run 5K races, half marathons and relays for full marathons up here in Alaska, too. I find that running gives me the best bang for my buck: All I need is a pair of running shoes, some appropriate clothing (it gets cold up here), and some music to keep me getting out there.

Recently, though, I’ve been playing with a new bit of gear: the Pear Sports heart rate monitor, paired with a set of earbuds engineered to stay in your ears while working out, plus a pretty fantastic mobile app to make sense of the heart rate data.

This Little Zepp Sensor Will Map Your Golf, Basball or Tennis Swing On Your iPhone

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What if you could duct tape your iPhone to your baseball bat, tennis racquet or 9-iron, and use the iPhone’s motion sensors to plot your swing in your favorite sport? It’d be messy, sure, and awkward, trying to adapt your grip over the slab of phone. And then there’d be the hours of scraping duct-tape residue off the screen when (if) you recovered it from where it landed after it flung itself off during that home-run swing. And after all that you’d need an app that actually made sense of all the data.

Forget all that, and keep your iPhone in your pocket. Zepp Labs has come out with a small, light (1-inch square, 6.3 grams) sensor that attaches, via specialized rubber housings, to golf gloves, baseball bats or a tennis racquets; the sensor records your swing in three dimensions, then sends the data directly to a companion app on your iPhone via Bluetooth. The resulting 3D image of your swing can be viewed from any angle, and gets analyzed by the app.

This Fall Brings Tons Of Ways To Become A Mac And iOS IT Expert

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This week's MacSysAdmin 2012 Conference in Sweden kicks off a line of Mac/iOS conferences and training oppotunities for IT professionals.
This week's MacSysAdmin 2012 Conference in Sweden kicks off a line of Mac/iOS conferences and training opportunities for IT professionals.

While many Apple fans and IT professionals that support iOS devices in the workplace are eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s Apple announcement, a group of Apple in the enterprise experts are meeting at MacSysAdmin 2012 – a conference for European IT professionals tasked with managing Macs and iOS devices in business, education, and other workplace settings. The annual conference traditionally posts videos of its sessions online for free (as does the Penn State MacAdmins Conference that was held in the U.S. this spring).

That isn’t the only major conference for Mac and iOS IT professionals, however. October brings two other major events (one of them free) and there are a number of excellent smaller events scheduled throughout the fall.

iPhone 5 To Launch Later This Month As FedEx Prepares For ‘Surge Volume’ Event From Sep. 21

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Looks like FedEx is expecting to be pretty busy around this time.
Looks like FedEx is expecting to be pretty busy around this time.

FedEx has issued a memo to employees noting that all training classes will be canceled between September 21 and September 24 due to a “surge volume” event. Although the company does not specify a reason for this, it falls just 9 days after the iPhone 5 unveiling, and suggests this is when Apple’s sixth-generation device will launch in the United States — and possibly around the world.

Sprint Training Documentation Hints iPhone 5 Launch Could Be As Far Away As October 15

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Isn't that a bit late to start iPhone training?
Isn't that a bit late to start iPhone training?

Apple has all but confirmed it will be announcing the iPhone 5 on September 12, and if recent rumors are correct, it’ll start shipping around a week and a half later. But according to a leaked training manual produced by Sprint, Apple’s next-generation iPhone may not be making its debut until at least October 15, or it’ll be launching with different carriers at different times in the U.S.

That’s if this training document actually means anything. And we don’t think it does.

New IT Guide From Apple Details How FileVault 2 Works

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A new Apple white paper helps IT manage FileVault 2.
A new Apple white paper helps IT manage FileVault 2.

Apple has released a new white paper for CIOs, IT leaders, and IT professionals. This one targets FileVault 2, which was introduced in Lion and remains present as a high security feature in Mountain Lion. The 42 page document joins a growing collection of white papers and guides available from Apple that detail the mechanisms and best practices for integrating Macs into Windows-centric enterprise environments.

How To Deploy iOS 6 In Business The Right Way [Feature]

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iOS 6 has lots of business potential, but having a plan about rolling it out is critical.
iOS 6 has lots of business potential, but having a plan about rolling it out is critical.

With the release of iOS 6, Apple will offer business users a range of new features. A few of which are VIP email filtering (already in Mountain Lion) with custom notifications, more options when declining a phone call on the iPhone, much-needed privacy options, and Apple’s new Do Not Disturb feature – which should help some mobile professionals to “switch off” after work and maybe even get a good night’s sleep.

iOS updates are generally designed to be user-friendly and easy enough that anyone can manage to install them. As with any major OS or business critical software upgrade, however, there may be unforeseen issues with iOS 6 – particularly when it comes to internal iOS apps and iOS access to enterprise systems.

An iOS 6 upgrade policy and strategy is something that every IT department should have in place before Apple releases iOS 6. For businesses that actively support user devices in the workplace through a BYOD (bring your own device) program, that upgrade strategy is even more critical.