Have you seen Apple Pi? Washington Apple Pi, to be specific. Yes, your PMUG from little Prescott Arizona is now listed on this extensive site that covers the world. Click for United States Groups, The World, Internet-Based Groups, Corporate & Government and Special Interest Groups. Thanks to David Harris for updating his impressive site to include PMUG.
September Winners
Another interesting PMUG meeting was held, with Roger Lakner showing a DVD on the beginnings of Macintosh. Winners of the drawings were David Passell and Randy Calvert (coffee mugs), Sandra Garramone and Harry Morel (the magnets), Marshall Waller and Roland Michaelis (the T-shirts) and Arnold Watson (the poster). A good time was had by all.
Favorite 10 Tips
This just in from Jim Hamm, "The Favorite 10 Tips" from Kibbles & Bytes. See it here. Betcha find at least three things you didn't know! And to think that cent sign ¢ was hiding under the Option + 4 key all this time.
Finding Something on This Blog
There IS a way to find something posted earlier on this blog. Maybe you've not noticed it before but look at the very top of the screen. In the Search box, next to Search Blog, I typed in Music. The obedient little search feature looked through ALL the postings in the whole blog. Up came the postings from 11-17-08, 12-2-08, 12-5-08, 12-16-08, 12-28-08 and 9-11-09.
Now you don't just need to scroll through the titles of all the entries to look for your key word, or even settle just for Command + F. That command only works on what's visible on the screen. Try it, you'll like it!
Read a Book?
Ready to read? Roger Lakner, PMUG Ambassador informs us that the Library page on PMUG site now contains one new book and "Welcome to Macintosh," a movie. He explains, "When you open the Library page, click on "Books" below my picture and select "Movies" to see the movie listing. Randy Calvert will get the new items this weekend. New total items = 42."
SIG: Fundamentals of Photoshop
Good news for PMUG members with interest in Photoshop! John Carter has scheduled a SIG on Fundamentals of Photoshop to be held at the Founder's Suite on January 8 from 10am to noon. He notes, "This may be a one-time only SIG, or it may turn into a series depending on member interest and my ability to stay one step ahead of everyone. This SIG is in addition to the Basic Mac SIG.
"Please note that the PC group has already done this program for their members. This program is for Mac users. Nothing new may be covered in this program from what the PC group covered. CS4 will be emphasized with flashbacks to CS3 where there are significant differences."
Also, John reminds us, "For anyone interested in attending a 6-month free online class in Photoshop, see here. That class is held every Thursday from 11 am to 1 pm. There is a 1,000 login limit, so log in early if you want to attend."
Screen Capture Problems?
Right after upgrading to Snow Leopard, John Carter discovered that he could no longer use the keyboard shortcut (SHIFT-CTRL-CMD-4) to take a snapshot of an area of the screen and paste it (CMD-V) into a Mail message (the snapshot is saved in the clipboard). However, he could paste the image into any other application. To verify the problem, John logged in as another user on the Mac and performed the same operation. The problem did not show up in the other user's login environment. So this meant that the problem was isolated to John's login.
Taking some lessons from an earlier call to Apple support, John began troubleshooting the problem by first working in the ~/Library/Preferences folder (the '~' character is shorthand for the home folder, or in this case, /Users/jcarter). After a short session of trials which involved pulling files out of ~/Library/Preferences and testing with Mail, John discovered that when the file "com.apple.screencapture.plist" was removed, the problem went away.
When a file is removed from the ~/Library/Preferences folder, the next time the user logs in, that file is recreated when the function/application it was designed for was again used. Of course, any preferences (other than the defaults) for that function/application are lost and have to be recreated. Removing the preference files is the basis for doing the test to determine which preference was causing the problem; remove a preference, log out and log back in, and perform the test again. If the problem goes away, the preference file removed was the culprit. If the problem persists, replace the file that was removed and repeat these steps until the problem is isolated.
John discovered to his amazement that the com.apple.screencapture.plist file was not recreated after performing the screen capture (snapshot) operation. This strongly suggested that that file is not used or needed in Snow Leopard.
So John called Apple support to confirm this finding. Sure enough, Apple support says that file does not exist in Snow Leopard.
That file may have been created in John's login environment by a third party application on John's machine (but definitely not by Jing - confirmed). Apple support cannot find any record of that file existing on any of their Snow Leopard machines.
It is recommended that if you have the file ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screencapture.plist, you should remove it.
John's closing advice, "Don't be concerned if any of this is confusing. If your Mac is working the way you want it to, pay tribute to the Apple gods."
By now I wanted to know more; I wrote John and he clarifies this: "Shift-Cmd-4 saves to the desktop with the Date/time label. Shift-Ctrl-Cmd-4 saves to the clipboard."
Office 2008 for Mac, in the fine print
The 9-23-09 ZDNet article by Ed Bott raises David Passell’s eyebrows. See what you think. Bott writes, “I have a copy of Office 2008 for Mac, Home and Student Edition. It has the programs I need (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage), but the license (PDF) specifically prohibits 'use in any commercial, non-profit or revenue-generating business activities.' I have no ethical qualms using this edition for short-term evaluation purposes but will need to replace it with a copy of Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition eventually. That will cost about $200.”
This article goes on to compare various features of Snow Leopard with Windows. Anyone else reading the fine print?
A Simple Suggestion
Frustrated with sites requiring registration? David Passell explains his simple solution. Maybe it's just what you need, too.
"I attempted to keep records on my computer, but a lot of times couldn't anticipate all the steps. I also had some of them on a PW protected file. It was hard to keep up to date.
"Then I had random pieces of scribbled paper which invariably got lost.
"Finally I reverted to a pack of lined 3 x 5 cards. When I encounter a site that wants registration (e.g. the FLOSS manuals) I get a card. I write the name of the service and include the full www or http:// web URL
The email that I use (some sites use them for ID, others don't).
ID that they ask for (some are case-sensitive, some not)
(Notes on other things requested}
Password: Be sure to indicate upper/lower case, numbers, etc.
My personal name ("nickname") that may be how I am addressed when I log in.
"Many sites will send a confirming email on the registration which you then have to respond to to "verify the registration." There will often be a follow up email.
"It is a good idea to set up an email Mailbox in which to save those messages.
"Some of these sites may be tricky: for example you might have a card titled MacFixit, but actually your registration and log in are with CNET. This is not to be confused with ZDNET which is an entirely different registration.
"After filling out the card, put it in a safe place. Over time you may accumulate a pile of them, which you can then sort as you see fit. Currently I have 29. As before mentioned, keep them safe. If you have a scanner you can scan a group of them. If you have a burst of enthusiasm you might even enter their content into some small files.
"When you go somewhere take the cards of sites you may want to visit (like at a meeting).
"I realize this may sound primitive, but over the last few days it has saved me a lot of time when I don't remember the PW and other details. Of course on your own computer, you can have the browser remember the password."
Art Gorski sends us his solution: He uses a smartphone (can't justify an iPhone in 3G-less Prescott!) and has a password safe application on it. Whenever he needs to login to a website or supply credentials for a shopping cart, he just looks them up on his phone. If he had an iPhone, he would use 1Password, which works on your Mac to store all this stuff and syncs the info to an iPhone application.
Now to hear from Bobbie Pastor: "In addition to Dave's and Art's solutions, I have a method that I use for keeping track of website passwords. I have a designated address book that I keep right at my desktop. It has my credit card numbers and the websites listed in alphabetical order. It works great for me."
RSS Makes Life Easier for You
Can RSS make life easier for you? De Prez Allen Laudenslager to the rescue! He says, "For those of us that want to keep up with some blogs (like the PMUG blog!) regularly, an RSS reader, (standing for Really Simple Syndication) makes life so much easier. I use NetNewsWire which is free (click to see download page with screen shots), but Google has a browser based RSS reader and there are others.
"I usually find a blog as a link from an article or a different blog and it opens in my browser. Once I decide I want to add it to NetNewsWire I just highlight the web address and then open NetNewsWire and from the File tool, select New Subscription and that auto-loads the web address into the selection tool, and I can either press OK or change the display name and then press OK."
Elaine adds here, "Want to use Google Reader, instead? Look at this info. Sounds easy, and I'm going to try it."
Ideas for Apps?
In Sunday's Arizona Republic there was an article about a nifty new app for the iPhone/iPod Touch that caught David Passell's attention. He writes "though I'm not a fan of telephones, in general, that almost made me want to get one. I need something like the application described." The story goes on to tell about a group of developers in Phoenix starting the Phoenix iPhone Developer Group, nicknamed "Pi," to bounce ideas around for possible new apps. David wonders if some programmers in PMUG could do something with this idea.
Sugar on a Stick
Sugar? It's a learning platform that reinvents how computers are used for education for needy kids around the world. David Passell got involved in December 2007. He invested in a program called "Give One, Get One. " Hatched by MIT Guru, Nicholas Negroponte, the goal was to mass produce a small computer called the XO for $100.00 and distribute to classrooms.
Kids in Peru are pictured here using the computer, thanks to "Sugar," the free and open source software from OLPC (One Laptop Per Child).
They welcome donation of used USB sticks. Here you can read about Sugar Labs. Originally to run on almost any PC, it is now packaged as part of most major GNU/Linux distributions and is compatible with recent Macs.
FLOSS Manuals are responsible for the graphic design, editing, etc. More about OLPC is here. Activities the developers are working on are listed on this site. They welcome contributions, volunteers for designing, developing, fixing bugs, etc. Here's more.
David has actively participated in writing of FLOSS Manuals, and updating his own XOs. (Here it gets complicated with Python, Opera browser vs. Firefox, and tax deductible info.) For a summary of the project see this Wired Magazine article (6-19-09).
Want to know more? Corner David at a PMUG meeting; there's a lot more to tell.
It's a Deal
Amazon is selling iLife for only $54.99, plus shipping. Art Gorski sends us this good news. "A good time to upgrade if you need this. I wonder if this is because an update will be coming out soon?" Read info here.
A Serious Scam
Scammers did some serious stuff, running ads on the website of The New York Times. Jim Hamm sends us this link, and comments, "The scammers are getting ever more creative in getting into your computer. This article doesn't mention whether it affects only PCs or also Macs." Scroll down the page to read comments on this problem and how it has affected some users.
A Google search just now turns up this info specifically about Macs. Brian Krebs writes "Patches for Macs, and Advice for Mac Users." He advises, "In short, if you're a Mac user and you see one of these rogue anti-virus pop-ups, remain calm, close out your browser, and restart it. If the attacking site manages to download a '.exe' file to your Mac, just toss it in the trash." Read his whole article from The Washington Post here.
Now we have additional input from Jim Hamm. In tidbits.com see the article, "New York Times Web Site Compromised: How to Stay Safe." Then go to this link for "Should Mac Users Run Antivirus Software."
Pictures Show How
Here's a mind-boggling (to me) site recommended by David Passell. He writes this "might be of interest to anyone that wants to read. write, publish, edit, or comment on free-source software manuals. See the site for Floss Manuals Foundation of the Netherlands here.
"Those who are interested in Video might like to peruse the Theora Cookbook. I haven't done it thoroughly yet; not that much time on my hands. I am registered with them (as you or anyone else with something to offer can. I got into it through wanting to find out more about my One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO computers. They do much of the documentation (a lot is incomplete) on it."
David closes with, "I might warn you that the site, links, and such seem rather complex. Once you get registered though it kind of falls into place."
Elaine's comment: "I scrolled through, enjoyed all the photos , but this photo from the Floss Manuals site is what I liked best!"
Downgrading from Snow Leopard?
John Carter has been plagued with several problems with Snow Leopard. He says, "The interesting part is that the problems are isolated to my login and the problems did not show up in another login. However, in the process of trying to resolve the problems with my login, my iMac no longer allows me to login as any user. These problems are quite unique to my computer and may not happen to anyone else."
As a result, John needs to downgrade his computer back to Leopard and then restore all his applications and data from his Time Machine backup to the date prior to upgrading to Snow Leopard.
He warns, "If you are not keeping frequent backups of your computer, you may not be so lucky as to restore to a known good snapshot."
Need a New Boot Disk?
"If your boot disk for your Mac ever gets damaged or lost and you need to replace it, Apple will send you an exact replacement for your Mac for a nominal cost," John Carter reports. "If you have an active Apple Care contract, the cost will be $16.00 plus tax. It may cost more if you don't have an active Apple Care contract. They will ship the new disk overnight, so if you order before 4 PM California time you'll get it the next morning. Call the Apple technical support for details if you need this service.
"Keep in mind that should you need to replace your original boot disk, only an exact replacement is guaranteed to work. The local Apple dealer may be able to create something that might work, but it is not something you want to depend on and only Apple can prepare an exact replacement disk."
Fine . . . Subtle . . . Solid = iTunes9
Here's more on the iTunes 9 release, from Jim Hamm. See a 2 page article here. The writer concludes that the iTunes 9 is fine and subtle and solid, and outlines some refinements that are hard to find, but well worth it.
Get Your Gmail
Here's a quick tip from Jim Hamm, "If you use Gmail as your primary email account--as I do--here is an article from the Lifehacker newsletter on alternative ways to access your email if Google's server should go down."
How Do YOU Backup?
"Hi all," begins Jim Hamm. "Here is an article, from Mac Tips and Tricks Newsletter, on creating a bootable backup for your Mac. We've had some other backup comments recently, and I'm interested in feedback on this process from anyone that would want to comment on a couple of questions I have:
1) do you have a bootable backup for your Mac?
2) did you purchase a separate external hard drive to do this on?
3) do you use Carbon Copy Cloner or some other program to do this?
4) how important do you consider doing this?
I've been using a Mac for 2 1/2 years or so, and haven't done this yet. I guess I'm at risk of losing all my bookmarks, addresses, RSS feeds, third-party programs, etc., if I should have a hard drive failure. A real pain--impossible?--to resurrect all this. I'm torn, in my mind, on whether to go to the expense of doing this or not. Comments appreciated."
Click to drop Jim a line here.
First up to reply is Art Gorski. He writes, "Hi, Jim.
1) I create one right before installing a major OS update.
2) Yes, but I've only got one drive and 3 Macs.
3) I used CCC years ago, but SuperDuper is free (for this purpose) and slicker.
4) I have both Chronosync backups and Time Machine backups on my network ReadyNAS, although not the System and not bootable. That's close enough for me."