Have a Jolly Mac Computer Christmas

Have a holly, jolly Christmas!
Lots of reasons now for cheer;
Everything just turns out better
When it’s a Mac computer year!

Keep coming to your PMUG
Every meeting that you can;
Meet new friends for show and tell:
Each a Mac computer fan.

Oh, ho, the blog you know
And the website waits for you,
Conquer new technology,
With Mac it’s easy to do.

Yes, the new year’s nearly here,
bringing opportunity,
So pay your dues and you won’t lose
PMUG congeniality.

By Elaine Hardt ©2010

One Hundred Free Software Programs

"MakeTechEasier created a list of 100 free software for Mac OS X," writes John Carter. "I seriously doubt that anyone would want to install every one of them, but you might find something of interest here. For the history buff, there’s Mactracker (provides detailed information on every Apple Macintosh computer ever made). If you don’t have Pathfinder (a really neat substitute for Finder), then you might want Hide-unhide (show hidden files). If you like frills, try BumpTop (3D desktop). Spark (a powerful and easy Shortcuts manager) is sure to find a home for some. And then there are my favorites, NeoOffice (compatible with and a substitute for MS Office) and GIMP (compatible with and a substitute for Photoshop)."

Let It Sleep

        This tip from Small Dog Electronics newsletter tells us to give your laptop up to a minute for "safe sleep" before moving it. Thanks to Jim Hamm for this info.  You'll want to read the whole thing, but here's a part of the article:
        "A hard drive is like a record player. There are platters inside that spin anywhere from 4,200 revolutions per minute to 15,000 revolutions per minute. If you’ve ever bumped into your record player or otherwise jarred it while it was playing music, you know that it doesn’t sound very good, can damage your stylus, and can damage the vinyl. The same holds true in hard drives.
        "Perhaps the easiest and most effective thing you can do to protect your laptop hard drive is to wait after closing the lid. When the sleep light begins 'breathing,' your computer is truly asleep. If the light is solid or off entirely, your hard drive is still spinning. Take a deep breath and wait until the hard drive spins down; your data will thank you, and so will your wallet."

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Mac Mail Tip

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        Is there an easy way to know that an email contains an attachment without opening the message? John Carter tells us, "Yes. There is a column that can be made visible in Mail that will show a small paperclip image if a message contains an attachment, and in addition, it will be accompanied by a number identifying how many attachments are in that message. If you don’t see that paperclip for a message that has an attachment, then you can set up Mail to show it.
        Right click on any column header in Mail to open a menu. You should see something like the following menu (using Mail version 4.4):

Notice that the top item is “Attachments.” If it isn’t checked, click on it.
After activating that column, it will appear on the far right of the column list (above all the message headers).

You can drag that column to any position in the header  I like it closer to the far left:

Here's an example of what you could see:

The blue dot shows me which email I haven’t read.

There you are. Enjoy knowing which message has an attachment and how many it contains."

Note: John sends me an attachment and the icon says "tiff."  But I can't use it; I need a "jpeg."  I drag the attachment by its icon over to the desktop.  Clicking on it there opens it in Preview.  I go to the menu at the top, choose File, then Save As.  From the drop-down Format list I choose "jpeg"  and I choose to save it to the desktop. Now I can copy the "jpeg" to the blog.

Slick Way to Pay

        Imagine this: you’re shopping in a store and every employee has a small iPod touch and is capable of checking you out from anywhere in the store. Old Navy stores are reportedly using a form of Apple technology called ZipCheck. See the article here.  Jim Hamm passes this info along, mentioning he used this checkout system recently at an Apple store. "It is a bit difficult to sign in the small space with no place to rest your hand. On the plus side, there's no waiting in line to checkout. I'm not sure what happens, though, if one wants to pay by cash?"

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Free Phone Calls

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        Free!  Did that get your attention?  Jim Hamm explains, "I sent out an email some time ago on this subject, but I was just helping a friend get started with Google's call phone service so I thought I'd send this info out again in case you'd want to try it.
        "If you have a Google Gmail email account (it is free if you want to get one) you can call, for free, people anywhere in the U.S. using Google's Call Phone service. Here is the link to more information.
        "This can save you money by not paying for long distance calls on your house phone or save you minutes on the use of your cell phone. Voice clarity is as good as talking on a regular phone or cell phone. You just log into your Gmail account, click the 'Call Phone' link on the lower left side of the screen. A dial pad opens, and you use the cursor to enter the phone number and then click call. Also, a plugin is available for download if you would want to video chat as well. International calls can be made as well, but for a fee.
        "If you or someone in your family calls long distance a lot, this may be worth looking into. Actually, since it's free, there's no downside to giving it a try. Well, maybe one downside: the call shows as originating in California, not from your regular number."

Make Your Mac Go Faster

        When you say, "faster" what do you mean? What is faster?  Both Allen and Harry are here to help!
        Allen Laudenslager refers us to an article from Mac360  which "gives an easy to understand overview of which areas of Mac performance affect how fast your Mac feels and looks.
        "It also reviews a product called SpeedUp and reports that any speed gains are negligible and in fact all the stuff it does can be done with freeware from other sources. Mac360's opinion is save the $40 bucks."
        Check out their list of 6 ways to make Mac go faster.
        Harry Morel sends this info from Popular Science, August 2009, page 68, "On a Mac, go to System Preferences/Accounts, and disable the culprits under the Login Items tab. To tidy a particularly congested OS X, download OnyX, which clears unnecessary data your browser has saved to the hard drive and performs other system-maintenance tasks. Finally, if your computer has less than two gigs of RAM, consider buying more. That will speed everything up."

Shopping for a Monitor?

        If you're looking for a monitor to use as a second screen for your laptop, read on.  John Carter gives this detailed account of how to get the best deal.
        "You're looking for a monitor to use as a second screen for your laptop. You see a monitor or TV with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, or that it just says it has a 16 x 9 aspect ratio. How can you know it will be compatible with your laptop?
        "Divide the smaller number into the larger number. The answer should be 1.777777778 for it to be a 16:9 ratio. Hence, the resolution should be 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720 for a 16:9 ratio. Your laptop has a 16 x 9 ratio and you want the monitor or TV ratio to be the same. Also check to see if the monitor or TV is 1080p or 1080i (see below). If your laptop max resolution is 1920 x 1080, you should have the display set on the laptop to that resolution when you are hooked up to a 1080p monitor or TV. 1080p TVs will convert any resolution image to 1080p, which is the only resolution that it can display at, so if your laptop doesn't have a 1920 x 1080 setting, pick the next lowest setting that gives a 16:9 ratio (widescreen).
        "1080p equates to '1920 x 1080'. Another similar spec is 1080i which is  the same as 1920 x 1080,but with a big difference in how moving objects are rendered. If you have a choice of monitors, DVD players, and TVs, get one with a 1080p spec. 'p' stands for 'progressive' and 'i' stands for 'interlaced'. Progressive gives a more accurate video representation of moving objects on the screen (interlaced tends to cause moving objects to smear), but some people will probably never notice the difference.
        See this for a full discussion on progressive vs interlaced: http://www.axis.com/products/video/camera/progressive_scan.htm
And this for a discussion on TV resolution:
http://reviews.cnet.com/720p-vs-1080p-hdtv/?tag=rb_content;rb_mtx
        "A 1080p monitor will cost more than a 1080i monitor. A 720p costs a little less, and of course a 720i costs less yet. If you are really unconcerned about video quality, 1080i or even 720i will work for you. However, you will never be disappointed with 1080p.
        "Another major concern is the input to the monitor or TV. Your laptop has a dinky DVI connector (either a mini DVI or a micro DVI) and there isn't one monitor or TV that has anything like it. What is needed is an adapter. And you notice that there are several types of inputs on monitors and TVs. New monitors typically have DVI, VGA (aka, PC), S-Video, and maybe a composite input. New TVs typically have HDMI, VGA, S-Video, and maybe a composite input. Which adapter do you need?
        "The output of the laptop is DVI. Hence, the logical adapter to use is the one for DVI if the monitor has a DVI input. If the TV doesn't have a DVI input (and it most likely won't) an HDMI adapter is probably the only choice, and it will work as good as a DVI adapter.
        "Don't forget to determine exactly which type of DVI connector you have on your laptop and get the right adapter. If necessary, take you laptop with you when you go to buy the adapter.
        "If your existing monitor or TV only has a VGA or S-Video input, keep this in mind: these formats are subject to video distortion and do not have the same high quality video available with DVI or HDMI."
        That's a lot to digest, John, but some of our readers will really appreciate this info.

Cleaning Tips

        Need to clean the mouse or the computer?  Thanks to Harry Morel for bringing this to our attention.  He writes, "You can google how to clean an Apple-mouse scroll ball. A young man in Germany videoed himself disassembling the mouse and hand cleaned the ball and its contacts. Others did similar things. The following procedure is as simple as it gets.
        TIP: How to clean an Apple-mouse scroll ball with minimum effort.
1. Get a shallow bowl. Put the mouse in it upside down so the scroll ball is in the deep end of the pool. Weigh it down to counteract the cord.
2. Pour in enough 91% isopropyl alcohol so you think it submerges the scroll ball (you can’t see the scroll ball, so you have to estimate).
3. Let it soak overnight.
4. Left the mouse out keeping it upside down, and slap it against a thick towel until no more evidence of alcohol remains.
5. Let it dry out some more. Then use it. (You can place a vacuum cleaner hose around the scroll ball – keeping it upside down – and turn it on. It only takes seconds to dry the inside of the mouse.)"
        For info from Apple on cleaning your mouse and computer read this short article, heeding the cautions.  Note the link to a QuickTime movie demonstration.

Short URLs

        Just what we need to know about URL shorteners.  Jim Hamm sends us this info, "TinyURL, bit.ly, and others, are convenient to use when passing on a long URL to someone. What, though, if you get a shortened URL from someone you don't know? There is a way to check out where the link actually goes before you click it. Copy the shortened URL and paste it into the address bar. For tinyUrl insert 'preview' right after the //.
         "For example: here is a 'shortened' link: http://tinyurl.com/26o68g5. Where does it go? Paste it into the address bar as follows: http://preview.tinyurl.com/26o68g5. If you click it, it will tell you it is taking you to the PMUG website. I know, I know: the 'shortened' URL link in my example is actually longer than the actual PMUG URL, but you get the idea.
        "If you're using bit.ly, just add a + sign at the end of the URL after you paste in into the address bar.
         "Just a tip to help you find out where those shortened URLs might be taking you."

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Turn Off "Ping"

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Here's a suggestion from Jim Hamm.  "If you have no interest in participating in the music social network "Ping" (which I don't) in iTunes '10, here is an article on how to turn it off (which I did)."
     Questioning Jim about his opinion of changes in iTunes '10 he informs us, "It seems fine to use, with slight differences than the prior version."  Macworld describes the changes here.