We love Mac for helping us go places and see things! Jim Hamm broadens our horizons with an article on "10 Things You can Do for Fun & Learning on the Library of Congress Online" and a link to the Library of Congress. Some of the features are Ask a Librarian, a link to Copyright.gov and maps at Places in the News. Other links take you to Remembering 9/11, Peace Corps, Comic Art, September Film Series on the American West, and more and more!
No Signal, Dead iPad
A question about wifi antenna and software for an iPad was raised by Harry Morel. Jim Hamm got right on it, and he passes along the information to us.
"I use the Wi-Fire antenna occasionally on my Mac when I'm traveling and the wifi signal is weak. It helps to boost or capture more of the signal so your Mac can access the internet. And yes, your Mac will have a built-in wifi card to pick up the signal.
"You can do a Google search on how to turn on internet sharing on a Mac. Here's one link to look at. Here's another one. As I understand it the Mac must be connected to the internet by ethernet, then it can share its connection via wifi to another device, such as another Mac or the iPad.
"I've not used this internet sharing concept, so I won't be covering it in my iPad presentation. Perhaps someone else on this email distribution list might have some suggestions on internet sharing on a Mac.
"Here's another option to consider if you're traveling: if your iPad has 3G capability, and you're in a 3G area (not Prescott), and you don't have wifi available, and you're willing to spend $25, you can buy 3G from your carrier for a month. Then you can turn it off at the end of the month so you won't be billed another $25. The minimum time period is one month. Not the most desirable option, but if you need to have an internet connection while you're away from home, this is available.
"If you're talking about wifi in your house and your iPad won't connect to the signal, perhaps the signal is weak. You can check the signal strength by holding the option key on your Mac and clicking the wifi icon to see what the RSSI is. Down below is a meter to help you understand the results. If your signal is very weak, then you need to boost it.
"Here is another diagnostic tool to check both the wifi signal strength and noise level. If your wifi signal is good in your house and the noise level low, and your iPad won't connect to it, then perhaps there is something wrong with the iPad. It is covered by a one-year warranty from Apple, so a visit to an Apple store might be in order," and as always, Jim signs off with a grin. (Click to enlarge the screen shot.)
"Permanent" May Not Be Permanent
What is permanent? John Carter found this important information about DVDs. He begins, "You might feel like you’re making a 'permanent' backup of your files when you copy them onto a DVD or backup to a computer hard-drive, but the truth is these devices suffer from natural decay and degradation.
"Current DVD technology uses organic dyes and low laser power to make marks on the data layer of a standard recordable DVD. Over time, these marks become unreadable because organic dyes degrade when exposed to minimal levels of light, heat, and humidity. This means all the data you thought was safely stored could be lost because the discs you used have an average lifespan of only about 3 to 5 years! Why would you risk your data based on an average; hundreds of discs taken into account in that average were corrupt and unreadable after only a few months." Read the rest of the story here.
Safari's WebProcess
The following discussion about Flash is pretty much moot in light of the fact that Adobe Flash SHOULD NOT BE INSTALLED on your Mac. if you need to access a site that requires Flash, use Google Chrome instead of Safari because Chrome includes a version of Flash that is secure. (Editor, 8/26, 2015) Continuing with yesterday's post on Safari below we learn more from both Jim Hamm and Prez Art Gorski. Jim starts today's conversation with, "I just installed ClicktoFlash to see what effect, if any, they might have in at least slowing down the increase in RAM usage of WebProcess. Here is another article on controlling Flash. "I had read about ClicktoPlugin here, but since it prevents Safari from launching plug-ins automatically I wasn't sure about using it. I'll wait a bit to see the effect of the two apps I did install before trying ClicktoPlugin." Jim summarizes, "As a general philosophy I try to avoid, or at least minimize, the use of third-party apps because that's often where trouble starts when one has a problem with the OS. In this case, though, I'll give the two apps a try—and may try the third one as well." Prez Art Gorski offers some observations now, "ClicktoPlugin is the replacement for ClicktoFlash and is exactly the same except that it works on many other things besides Flash. If you install ClicktoPlugin, you must remove ClicktoFlash. "ClicktoPlugin is configurable so you can determine how it behaves. For example, there are 2 websites where I allow Flash to load automatically while I block it everywhere else. It's made my web surfing MUCH faster and more enjoyable. "I also use Ghostery to tell me what advertising and data collection spying plugins each website is using. Except for Google Analytics, which I have no problem with, I tell Ghostery to automatically block everything else. Again, a boost to my surfing speed and protection for my privacy." Art clarifies, "These are not 3rd party applications, they are web browser extensions, which are much less likely to cause problems. But in general I agree with you and avoid 3rd party apps that will prevent me from updating my OS. That's why I don't use 1Password, an otherwise excellent utility, as there is a constant stream of updates you have to keep up with, (I use Wallet instead). Is the problem solved? Jim Hamm responds to the latest info above: "Thanks, Art. After reading your clarification of ClicktoPlugin, watching the video that Elaine found, and reading the FAQ about ClicktoPlugin here, I think I'll give it a try. I'll uninstall ClicktoFlash first. Based on a very preliminary use of ClicktoFlash it has seemed to slow the increase of RAM usage in WebProcess. This is a short-time test only, and I think the ClicktoPlugin will help even further. Jim signs off (for now) with, "I like the concept and additional security of 'sandboxing' using WebProcess in Safari in Lion, and this plug-in will, hopefully, let me enjoy this security without a huge RAM penalty."
Lion: The Bad News & the Good News
Bright and early, this comes from Jim Hamm. "In Lion OS, first the bad news. Occasionally, for me anyway, the Mail App will quit unexpectedly, for no apparent reason. If, say, this happens after writing an email, perhaps with links and an image (ie., some work involved on my part), and before I can send it, it suddenly disappears as the app quits. Darn, what to do—start over?
"Now the good news. Apple, perhaps (hopefully) in the design engineers' wisdom, has included an auto-save feature in Lion. If I look in the Drafts Folder, there is my email, ready to be sent. And I hadn't even thought to save it as I typed the email. This auto-save is a nice, new feature in Lion.
Jim concludes, "A notice is automatically sent to Apple on the Mail failure so this bug can be corrected in a future OS update."
MacBook Air -- Where?!!
"The middle of the Amazon Rainforest is probably the last place you’d expect to see a brand new MacBook Air, but that’s exactly what Chief Almir of the Surui people is using in his fight to protect the Amazon. The internet, a partnership with Google, and Apple’s flagship ultraportable MacBook Air, have enabled the chief to track the tribes territory and report illegal logging of their homelands . . . " so exclaims an August 31 article by OS X Daily. Thanks to Jim Hamm for finding this fascinating info and photos. Speaks well of the MacBook Air, doesn't it!
Problems Noted with Lion Server
David Passell noted this link with info on problems being experienced with the Lion Server, It "may not be of interest to us clients, but someone might take notice."
John Carter has found some solutions! He writes, "It should be noted that David’s note about bugs with Lion is specific to Lion Server, not the standard release of Lion.
"I am having only one problem with Lion. When running Mail in full window, it is quite difficult to push my mouse to the edge to unhide the Dock. It is easier to switch to Finder and then unhide the Dock.
"Okay, another problem with running Mail using the new look is that if I am starting a new message, like this one, and want to check out some other message I either have to cancel the current message, save it, open the other message, read it, then grab the saved message in the Drafts to continue where I left off. Or, I can open a new viewer window which then complicates things if I forget which one I’ve been working in. There doesn’t seem to be a way to switch between the different viewer windows using just the keyboard, so the mouse is necessary for that operation.
"A little practice can make things perfect - it’s all a matter of getting used to the new features and not caring about how complicated they have made your life."
Avoid the MobileMe/iCloud Email Scam
If you use MobileMe or .Mac here's an important article forwarded from Jim Hamm. He explains the problem, "If anyone, or any company, or any bank, sends you an authenticate-looking email asking for a credit card #, delete that email and move on is my recommendation."
Free "How To" Manuals
He found a word that grabs our attention: Free! Jim Hamm sends us to the MakeUseOf site which offers an interesting and informative newsletter, as well as more than 50 free "make use of" manuals which are available for a free download. He tells us "they can be downloaded directly onto an iPhone and iPad, and to Android devices. Take a look at the following link." This one.
Rethinking Our Own Potential
Yes, there are dozens of articles and commentaries about Steve Jobs. Our fascination with him and the great Apple products make for interesting reading. But this latest from FastDesign could perhaps prompt us to rethink our own potential. Go past the mundane and the problematic of today and see what comes to mind.
Apple's Past & Future
Watching the latest news on TV and the Internet do take a look at this article from InformationWeek, "Apple's Past and Future: Analysis Around the Web."
iOS Malware
"I just ran across this article about mobile malware attacks and according to their assessment, iOS (the operating system for iPhone and the other Apple mobile stuff) hasn't had a significant new malware attack," Allen Laudenslager reports. He goes on, "A lot of people have claimed over the years that Apple computers have not been attacked simply because they don't sell enough to make it worthwhile for the people writing viruses and malware to bother. Seems that even with the huge share of phones and internet linked iPods out there the hackers are still not bothering to create attacks. Could that be because it's so much harder to attack the Apple operating systems than to attack Windows?"
Apple Security Under Attack: The View from Windows
"One has to ask that without regard to the reported statistics from a Windows security expert that OS X has more vulnerabilities than Windows, why is it that there are more successful attacks on Windows than on a Mac?" It's John Carter catching our attention first thing this morning. He declares, "Keeping the Mac world informed by staying up late."
Now, John gets down to the facts. "The game is about numbers. There are more Windows machines that can virtually provide a greater return on successful attacks. Suppose the ratio of Windows to OS X is 80 to 1. If there are 1000 Macs to be hacked then there must be 80,000 Windows to be hacked. Let’s assume that the vulnerability ratio is reversed, that OS X has 80 times the vulnerability of Windows. To put it in virtual numbers, OS X has 80 ways to be attacked and Windows has only 1. Let’s say that for every successful attack on any machine you earn $1 as a reward. No matter how many ways you attack a machine, once it is attacked you get $1 and the machine is shut down - nothing more to be gained. Attacking all Macs earns you a maximum of $1000. There are 80,000 Windows, therefore you can earn $80,000 by shutting down all those machines. Let’s also assume that each time you successfully attack a machine, an update closes that door but the next day you find another one has taken its place. This means that every day you can earn either $80,000 or $1,000 or both. Which one would you go after, and would you bother trying for the additional $1,000 if the effort to do so was the same for both?
"In terms of rewards, the number of vulnerabilities doesn’t matter. What matters is how much of a return you can get on the number of attacks you attempt.
"Most big businesses are using Unix as their primary interface to the world, and once you get into a big business the return on your investment is greater depending on whether you want to shut the business down temporarily or acquire its secrets. OS X is based on Unix, therefore the vulnerability of Unix machines, by definition, is as great as that for the Mac. And since big business offers a greater reward on successful attacks, they are a better target than personal Macs.
John goes on to explain in detail, "Even if every Mac is shut down, the number is still far less than if every Windows machine is shut down. Still, 100 percent is the same regardless of the actual numbers involved. But remember, the game is about numbers, not percentages. In a given day, if 60 of the 1000 Macs were hacked and 60 of the 80,000 Windows were hacked, percentages would tell you that Windows is safer. The hackers don’t care - they got what they went after, and there are greater numbers offering greater rewards to go after Windows and big business.
"If you want to know how many attempts are being made every day on your computer (hackers trying to find a way in), there are tools for that. You can keep hackers from getting into your computer with the right tools, but only you can prevent your fingers from clicking on the wrong link. If you have a Mac, the chances of getting a virus that way are far slimmer than if you have Windows.
"So let’s say that a hacker does get into your Mac. He does a quick survey and finds your address book, your email, your passwords, and your financial files. Pretty good. Maybe. One way to protect yourself against this kind of robbery is to encrypt the folders that contain your address book, your email, your passwords, and your financial files. You should use a different password than your login password to access the encrypted files, and do not put the encryption key anywhere on the computer - but on a piece of paper filed away in your desk. If the encryption key is strong enough, the only real damage the thief can do is wipe your computer clean. But you have a clone to restore from, don’t you? Another possibility is that the thief can install an app to capture your key strokes and hope that you won’t find it. This is called spyware. To date, there are only two known spyware apps for the Mac (to my knowledge), and the chances of getting them are rare, and I suspect the only reports about them are just from a company that wants to sell you their anti-virus/spyware program.
"For a run-down on the ways you can protect your Mac, read this. You might even want to go a bit deeper in protecting your Mac by reading this."
And, now the grand finale from John, "My conclusion is you are safer owning a Mac than owning Windows even if you do none of the tips described above."
More on Cloning a Hard Drive
Our Prez Art Gorski shares his experiences with cloning, "I've used SuperDuper before to clone a hard drive before installing a new OS version from DVD. After the clone is made, I reboot the computer from the clone and log in to make sure it works properly.
"Then I totally wipe the internal hard drive (yikes!) and install a totally fresh copy of the OS, which will eliminate all the cruft on the previous install.
Then I use migration assistant to move everything from the clone to the new OS install. Ta da! A perfect upgrade with no junk from the previous internal drive. Of course, in the brave new world of Lion, this isn't as easy to do anymore."
So continues our on-going look at cloning. More input from PMUG members?
Cloning a Hard Drive
Jim Hamm reports on his latest experience. "After 4 - 1/2 years of using a Mac I finally decided to clone the SSD drive on my new MacBook Air. I've used Time Machine faithfully, but never a clone. After reading about cloning and talking to various people, I decided to purchase SuperDuper which costs $28.
"For the drive I purchased LaCie's Rugged Mini 500GB external 7200rpm hard drive. Cheaper drives can be found, but I wanted one that would withstand the rigors of travel.
"The clone of my storage drive took 25 minutes with Super Duper (SD). When I first got the LaCie drive I formatted it to OS X (journaled) but found out I didn't need to do that. SD erases the drive first, before starting the clone. A day or so after the clone I had installed some other programs on my Mac and wanted to do an update to be sure I didn't lose them in case of a drive failure. SD provides a full set of operating instructions, and after reading what to do, I started SD to do a 'Smart Update,' which recognizes all the changes one has made and clones them. The 'Smart Update' took 4 minutes.
"Well, will SD work when I need it? I hope so, and hope never to find out. One of the bloggers that I read frequently, John Gruber of Daring Fireball fame, recently lost his hard drive. He said that SD got him back in business very quickly. He has had occasion to use SD more than once. As the speaker at the PMUG meeting said yesterday, a hard drive will fail eventually. It's nice to know one's programs, pictures, research, etc., are safely cloned and ready for resurrection when needed.
"My next step will be to do a clone of Zee's MacBook Pro, as she has lots of pictures and genealogy research she wouldn't want to lose."
Security Concerns
Keep up with the latest information on computer security problems. The recent Black Hat conference underscores how vital computer security is, and how much Apple is at risk. Jim Hamm found two articles from InfoWorld that we need to read. This one and this other one.
Here's the parts Jim wants to emphasize, "The author—who, interestingly, is a full-time principal security analyst at Microsoft— observes the following: 'So when I'm asked if Microsoft or Apple's security is better than the other, it's not a question even worth answering. Overall, computer security is pretty bad. Nearly any company can be hacked, with just a little research and know-how.'"
And here's Jim's emphasis: "OS X or Windows—it doesn't matter—one should just use common sense and caution on the internet. As for 'Cloud' computing or storage, I personally would never store anything of a personal or critical nature on a server somewhere. I prefer to have my 'offsite' storage on an external hard drive that I can store where I want."
With all the new devices, iPhone, iPad, etc. along with our personal computers the personal information floating around, available for any hacker is astounding. Thanks, Jim, for sharing your viewpoint.
Compare SuperDuper and CarbonCopyCloner
It's important to backup what you've got on your computer. But what's the best way? John Carter compares two programs. "What’s the difference between SuperDuper! (SD) and CarbonCopyCloner (CCC)?
"In a word, money. But there is more.
"Either SD or CCC are okay for cloning the entire internal hard drive to an external hard drive for saving a full backup for emergencies. Such a clone can be booted from, and you can restore your internal drive from that clone up to the point that the clone was created. I suspect that SD is winning out over CCC for cloning. However, you can’t use all the features of SD without purchasing it.
"A major functional difference between SD and CCC is that SD always does a full erase of the target disk and CCC never does a full erase of the target disk. Making a clone with CCC requires that you first use Disk Utility to format the target drive. After the clone is created, you really should be using CCC to keep your clone updated if you’re not using Time Machine.
"Another difference is that SD will clone either the entire source or just /Users on the source. With CCC you can select the files and folders you want to backup, and this is most helpful for performing incremental backups.
(Click on each illustration to enlarge.)
"Setting up the options for either one doesn’t give you any warm feeling that you will have a bootable copy when it’s done, but my recent experience with SD is that after you click on Copy it gives you a laundry list of things it will do and it includes a notice that it will set the target disk to be bootable. CCC just tells you its done. If you started with a properly formatted drive (one partition, Mac OS journaled), you won’t have any problems booting from it if all the system files are on the drive.
"Be aware that booting from a USB drive and launching applications from same is painfully slow."
Dropbox Basics, Plus
Even if you’re not using Dropbox yet here is information to read and bookmark. The Macworld staff received 250 suggestions, and pruned them down to the sixty favorites, adding two of their own. At the end of the article they outline 3 things NOT to do with Dropbox.
Our Prez Art Gorski says, "I read this article when it came out in Macworld magazine and I use many of these tips myself. Dropbox currently has some minor problems in Lion that they are working on to fix."
And, here it is! Art informs us now: "Dropbox has released a new version compatible with Lion. Tips: Use the Dropbox menu to quit Dropbox before attempting to install the new version, otherwise you will be told the file is busy. Don't forget to relaunch Dropbox after installation." Here's that link; note you can view a video to learn about it.
Previous Prez Allen Laudenslager writes,"I hadn’t even heard of Dropbox . . ."
Jim Hamm tells us, “A good article that I'll keep and read and try out the different uses. I use DropBox all the time, but basically I use it just to transfer files between my old MacBook Pro and my new MacBook Air. My MBP doesn't have AirDrop like my new Air does, otherwise I'd use AirDrop to transfer files. Other people use DropBox as a storage device, but I don't. As I experiment with the different uses if I come up with some useful comments I'll let you know.”
Dual Boot, VMWare, Parallels, or Crossover?
Here's more about applications for Lion sent from John Carter. He explains, "I’ve heard people say that they will have to have two versions of OS X in order to run some applications that are no longer supported in OS X 10.7 (Lion). Any dual boot configuration really hampers your quality up-time and turns it into down-time while waiting for your system to reboot into the other OS. Enter VMWare. Reports have it that VMWare is better than Parallels for installing multiple versions of Mac OS X. I can’t say. But this solution should only apply for those PowerPC applications that no longer run in Lion such as MS Office for Mac and Quicken.
"I’ve gotten around the need for a dual boot configuration. One method is by installing Crossover. With Crossover, I can install a number of Windows applications without having to install the complete Windows OS. For now, I have Framemaker 6, Quicken 2010, eFax Messenger 4.4, and LibreOffice 3.4 installed under Crossover - and will most likely be installing other apps in the near future, specifically MS Office 2010.
"Similarly, Parallels for Mac 6.0 will install the complete Windows OS whatever version you like - on a Mac. All the Windows applications that you install will run on a Mac without a dual boot configuration. I am currently running Windows XP and Windows 7 as guest operating systems on my Mac without any problems of compatibility that sometimes beleaguer Crossover."
Here's John's conclusion for the dilemma: "So, for any of those Windows apps that people like to have, either Parallels or Crossover should be considered as opposed to any dual boot configuration. But if you're a gamer and want things to run native, then I guess you have to dual boot."
Progress in Rosetta and Snow Leopard for Lion
From this article it sounds like some progress is being made for Rosetta and Snow Leopard for Lion. John Carter sends these comments, "I’ve seen talk on the Internet somewhere that VMWare Fusion does the best job of installing any version of OS X as a guest OS using any other version of OS X as the host. And this by more than just one very serious and credible poster. They ranted me on my preference of Parallels for Mac for that purpose, so I bow to them."