CMC Monthly Meeting Location
Transcription
CMC Monthly Meeting Location
2010 Newsletter Collection Each year, CMC produces 11 monthly newsletters. We hope you enjoy this compilation of our 2010 issues. To find out more about our group, or to become a member, please visit us at: http://www.ctmac.org Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION January 2010 Review: The Magic Mouse By Tom Ebersold, CMC Member I recently purchased an iMac, which came with a wireless keyboard and the Magic Mouse. This purchase represented an update from my 5-yearold eMac. As I write this, I have had the computer for less than two weeks and I am still getting used to all its new features. For now, I am not especially a fan of the wireless keyboard. It lacks a keypad, which is useful at times. I find that with the flat keys on the new keyboard, my fingers slip off and hit the wrong key too many times. As a result, I am continuing to use my eMac’s wired keyboard. Inside November and December CMC Meeting Photos page 2 With regard to the Magic Mouse, I have mixed feelings about it, too. The wired single-button mouse from the eMac is lightweight, comfortable with rounded edges, and fits my hand perfectly. My wired mouse is fast and responsive when moving, pointing, and clicking. From an ergonomic standpoint, the Magic Mouse is less satisfying. With the batteries, it is heavy feeling and slower to move about due to that weight. The edges are sharp, so it is not especially comfortable to grasp, and with its tapered edges, I find that there is too much air between my hand and the mouse. Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition A sweeping change, but it may not be for you. Free and Inexpensive WiFi page 4 - 6 Microsoft released a special update to Entourage 2008 in May. It is not part of the normal MS Office updates. Give Me Some Skin page 7 Edit Tabular Data on the Mac page 8 iPod Classic eReader page 8 MUG Discounts page 9 Meetings and Member Info page 11 Ergonomics aside, the Magic Mouse has some fun features. I recommend viewing the video on the Apple website if you want to see these features in action: www.apple.com/imac/features.html#mouse When you scroll and let go, there is momentum built into that motion, so it continues to scroll for a short while if you let go. The Magic Mouse has a swipe feature that lets you browse from page to page in Safari or scroll from left to right in any program. After using it for a week, I returned to my regular mouse. One particularly irritating flaw in the Magic Mouse is that the surface is too sensitive. While moving my hand about in preparation for a click or a scroll, I found that I was Custom Banners for Templates page 3 Freshly Squeezed Reviews: inadvertently brushing the top of the mouse causing it to jump all around inside my document. By Kevin Boudreau, CMC member It’s called Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition. Many of you Entourage users do not need this edition, but for those of you whose school/work email is based on a Microsoft Exchange Server – YOU WILL REALLY CHEER!! We Entourage users have been left out in the cold for a long time. We’ve sort of had compatibility with Entourage 2004, but had issues with Global Address Book, syncing tasks and notes, etc. To the dismay of many when Office 2008 was released, Entourage was still “the bastard” compared to Outlook. Exchange-based email users had a glimmer of hope dangled in front of us last continued on page 2 month when that Mac Business Unit announced last month that a real Outlook 2010 would be released as part of MS Office 2010 for Mac. Well, for some of us using Exchange based email, we don’t even have to wait that long. Enter the realm of Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition. Fellow Mac users who use Entourage 2008 for non-Exchange accounts don’t even have to bother downloading this update, furthermore you need to meet the following two conditions: 1) Your version of Entourage 2008 needs to have come from Office 2008 Standard or Special Media Edition. Home & Student version does not qualify because it includes a stripped down version of Entourage. If you an Academic license through a student/faculty discount, you will be OK. continued on page 2 Review: The Magic Mouse Continued from page 1 CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 For PC fans, there is now a right-click button. One interesting scroll feature is the zoom option. By holding down the Control key, you can zoom the screen for a close-up look at something. I think this is especially useful when looking at web pages. My bottom line assessment: I like the features, but would prefer if they came in a wired mouse with more user-friendly ergonomics, and was not so touchy. For everyday use, I will continue to use my eMac’s wired mouse, and keep the Magic Mouse on hand for when I really need it. Entourage 2008 - Web Services Edition Continued from page 1 2) Your institution’s Exchange server must be version 2007 SP1 Rollup 4 or 9. The current version is 2007 SP1 Rollup 9. You can confirm these details through your I.T. department or if you are savvy, by logging into your Outlook Web Access. If those conditions are met, it’s time or rock on...or should I say, exchange away! I’ve been using Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition with my school Exchange based e-mail account for the past few days and I have notice significant improvements. No more waiting long periods of time for folders to sync. Exchange Web Services is used to manage your account; WebDAV is no longer needed. Once again, if your Exchange server is not 2007 SP1 Rollup 4 or later, this update can actually do you some harm. The update is compatible with both PowerPC and Intel versions of Entourage 2008. This powerful update can be downloaded here: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/itpros/entourage-ews.mspx We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. Annual Auction: Club thanks go out to all of the members who helped make this years auction a success. Especially Chris Hart, Auction Chair who spent many hours soliciting donations from software developers and hardware manufacturers and putting together the lists and descriptions; Jack Bass who provided assistance in keeping track of all of the items and getting them to the auction; Joe Arcuri, our auctioneer who also posted the database of items on our website; and Bob Sawyer who supported us with data help and with keeping track of payments from the auction bidders and assigning bid numbers to all who took part in bidding; Linas Venclauskas who also handled bid payments and Connie Scott who kept track of the winning bids. Holiday Meeting: The turnout was greater than expected. We need to order more pizzas next year! www.ctmac.org page 2 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 News from Terry White MacGroup-Detroit Custom Banners for Templates to design backgrounds for Twitter, Ning, Sandvox and more, tweak profiles or any type of web graphic. Photoshop designer Karen Kaufman helps those who are building template style websites but lack the skills to create an extraordinary header with the customer’s image, logo and text to create a look unique to any website. When asked “Why are your headers so affordable?” Karen replies: “My design rate is $120 per hour. Something which may have taken me an hour to create 10 years ago now takes closer to 15 minutes. Because I’m incorporating elements (client’s file[s], font, template design), the most expensive header we’re selling here should take no more than 15 minutes for me to put together nicely.” Karen knew her service should be available to users at a great price. Mo Media has launched “Custom Headers by M,” a service to help those who are building template style websites but lack the skills to create an extraordinary header. Experienced Photoshop designer Karen Kaufman of Mo Media considers the design being used, then works with the customer’s image, logo and text to create a look unique to any website. Clients can check out the gallery of customizable designs, or commission their own. Prices range from $10 to $30. Karen Kaufman, aka “M” says: “Like your head, the top of every website should be as unique as you are. With the number of template style websites being used today, Karen noticed too many websites looking dull and unprofessional. With the realization that she had developed skills to create stunning looks for an affordable price she developed “Custom Headers by M.” With 15 years of professional scanning, color manipulation and editing, Karen has an ability to create any image or design, and to enhance that image. Karen’s expansion to creating web and graphic art provides an exclusive flavor to her creativity. “M” can also be hired page 3 I’ve launched a New site for iPhone and iPod touch App Reviews and News. Check it out here: http://www.bestappsite.com. Exclusive Video Features: ■ “Almost Ready” designs ■ Customize with photo, art or logo ■ Completely Custom includes initial review and consultation The Woz apparently makes regular visits to MacGroup-Detroit since October 2000, and they are making the latest event available as a free video download via MacGroup TV. You can get the entire speech at full resolution to enjoy on your computer, iPod, iPhone or Apple TV. It’s their way of saying thanks for all that you do for the Mac community. Woz tells all about the start of Apple, Steve Jobs and how his invention revolutionized the personal computer industry. “Custom Headers by M” range from $10 (“Almost Ready”) to $30 (“Completely Custom”). Check it out here: http://is.gd/5vM4V CustomHeaders by M Head, located in Volcano Hawaii/ USA, Mo Media was founded in 2002 by Karen Kaufman who’s talents thrive in the field of Fine Art Reproduction. “It is quite thrilling and an honor to work with some of the most renowned artists in the State of Hawai.” Although the focus is fine art reproduction (giclee), Mo Media now includes web design experience to their portfolio. Reprinted from InfoManagerTM User Group Network, News, Views, Reviews Custom Headers by M: http://www.mheader.com/choices/almost-ready/ www.ctmac.org App Reviews Cofounder of Apple Computer, Steve Wozniak Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Find Free and Inexpensive Wi-Fi by Glenn Fleishman Wi-Fi signals increasingly fill the air around us, and many of the electronic devices we carry with us support Wi-Fi. So why pay for Wi-Fi when you need to access the Internet while out and about? Occasionally, a for-fee Wi-Fi service may be the only option, but even then we can help you get the most out of a service for the lowest cost. It has been eight years since I started writing about public Wi-Fi, where venues from cafés and airports to libraries and car-repair shops have been offering Wi-Fi-supplied Internet access. And although these publicly available Wi-Fi networks make up only a small fraction of the tens of millions of Wi-Fi networks worldwide, a few tips will help you find free or at least cheap connectivity when you need it, whether you’re running errands around your hometown or are roaming the open road. You could also use a Wi-Fi hotspot directory like that offered by JiWire, or a Wi-Fi discovery tool like Devicescape’s Easy WiFi, which also manages Wi-Fi logins and network passwords for you. This article is about strategy, though: figuring out what networks you can use, rather than what’s around you. JiWire offers a searchable Web site and the free JiWire Free Devicescape Free Easy Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Finder iPhone app; WiFi App Finder App Devicescape has a map-based Web site for entering addresses, and the proximity-based free Easy WiFi iPhone app. ■ JiWire: http://v4.jiwire.com ■ Devicescape: http://www.easywifi.com/ Café and Retail Store Wi-Fi – If you walk down a street in most cities, you’ll find free Wi-Fi in many coffee shops and restaurants. But if you’re in an unfamiliar part of town, or visiting a city new to you, looking for some specific stores will likely be more productive than wandering around randomly. But that changed in 2008, when Starbucks switched from T-Mobile to AT&T. Starbucks said it would still charge for service, but would provide 2 hours of continuous free Wi-Fi for regular users of its stored-value Starbucks Card. The card lets you load money, like a gift card, but associates other benefits with the account, rewarding you when you reloading it with more money. Add money or make a purchase to activate 30 days of Wi-Fi service. Late in 2009, however, Starbucks modified its My Starbucks Rewards program slightly, saying that starting in late December new users of the Starbucks Card would need to make five separate purchases before the free Wi-Fi switch would be enabled. The Green Level provides some other benefits, such as free refills, which many coffee shops simply include in the price. (If you used a Starbucks Card before 26 December 2009, you are grandfathered into the old program, which required no initial purchases. Make sure the card is registered at Starbucks site, however.) This news overlapped with another big announcement: McDonald’s, which had charged for Wi-Fi in its stores - $2.95 for 2 hours - since launching 5 years ago, would switch off the fee in mid-January 2010. About 11,500 of 14,000 McDonald’s in the United States have Wi-Fi. This move is seen in part as a way to challenge Starbucks on another front; McDonald’s has rolled out a coffee bar, McCafe, in many of its stores. Other large national chains with free or inexpensive Wi-Fi include Apple retail stores (naturally!), Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Panera Bread. For a list of all the chains with a varying amount of Wi-Fi - some in all stores, some requiring a store purchase - consult the Wi-Fi Free Spot chain directory page: www.wififreespot.com/companies.html Oddly, Burger King, Jack in the Box, Subway, and most other so-called quick-service restaurants haven’t adopted WiFi as a chain-wide idea, although you may find Wi-Fi for free in some locations. Some restaurant and hotel chains went free years ago, when it was seen as a way to stand out from the for-fee hotspots being set up by Starbucks and others. Others just got the free religion and eschewed charging from the very beginning. Other Free Location Types – Outside of the restaurant and retail stores, you might check into a hotel – a hotel lobby, at least. Many hotels provide free Wi-Fi in the reception area or main lounge. Just as you can go into a hotel and get a drink at the bar most times, you can also pop in and use the free Wi-Fi without needing a code. (Quite a few hotels also give guests free in-room Wi-Fi or Ethernet-based access, either included in the price of the room or when you are a member of a free affinity club.) Starbucks was the first chain to commit to offering Wi-Fi, and I broke the news on the very first locations to test service in Seattle in May 2001. The chain, through its first partner (which went bankrupt) and second (T-Mobile), charged for access for 7 years after the initial rollout. The counterintuitive rule of thumb is that the cheaper the hotel, the more likely it is to offer free Internet access. Expensive hotels, the sort that charge upwards of $150 per night, tend to tack on $10 to $15 per night fees for allinclusive Internet, calling, and faxing. (“Daddy, what’s a fax?”) continued on page 5 www.ctmac.org page 4 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Find Free and Inexpensive Wi-Fi Continued from page 4 Nearly all airports that added Wi-Fi-based Internet access charged for it initially, but that has slowly been changing. Denver is the largest airport to date with free service – it’s filtered and shows ads – but Seattle-Tacoma goes free in January 2010, and Atlanta is considering free service. Many mid-tier airports, such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Sacramento, already have free Wi-Fi. Google is sponsoring free Wi-Fi in airports until mid-January 2010, too; see below. Public libraries in most cities now offer free Internet access at a main branch, and commonly at regional branches, too. Some libraries restrict access to patrons, requiring a library card and ID to log in, or limit use to an hour or two. There are now so many branch libraries with Wi-Fi that sites listing such locations aren’t reliably comprehensive. Consult your favorite search engine to find the library site for the city you’re in or visiting, and then drill down to find which branches have Internet service. The most glorious place in the United States to use library WiFi is within the main branch of the New York Public Library, which transformed its Beaux-Arts Edna Barnes Salomon Room in July 2009 into an Internet reading room with capacity for 128 people. (Oddly, there are no AC outlets!) Cities and towns and community groups have also unwired public parks, squares, and downtown areas to make those locations more attractive to resident and visitor use. California and a few other states have even put Wi-Fi transmitters in campgrounds, assuming that a few minutes without Internet service might make vacationing Silicon Valley techies lose their minds. One of the best-known parks with Internet access is adjacent to the New York Public Library’s central 42nd Street location noted above: Bryant Park. Once the epitome of neglect in Manhattan, and a haunt only of drug dealers and prostitutes, Bryant Park was reborn in 1992, and has become one of the loveliest parts of midtown Manhattan. Free Wi-Fi access was put in place by a community wireless group in 2002, and has changed hands a few times since. The town or city hall in many municipalities may also offer free Wi-Fi access, although your ability to sit down and plug in a laptop could be limited. Free Wi-Fi Networks from Broadband Providers – AT&T, Cablevision, Qwest, and Verizon all offer their wired broadband customers free access to certain Wi-Fi networks, most of which are typically for-fee services. In addition, AT&T gives iPhone, BlackBerry, and laptop data users access to the same networks. www.ctmac.org page 5 (Comcast and Road Runner remain the biggest broadband firms that don’t currently bundle some kind of Wi-Fi service, but Comcast is rumored to have a plan in the works.) AT&T: If you subscribe to nearly any AT&T fixed or mobile broadband service, Wi-Fi access at over 20,000 U.S. locations is thrown in at no additional cost. That’s 37 million subscribers in all, the company told me in late 2009. Any AT&T DSL or fiber (U-Verse) customer is included, as well as most of its business subscribers. Mobile broadband subscribers who use 3G laptop USB sticks or cards are also included. For smartphone users, only access via the iPhone, BlackBerry, or Windows Mobile phone is included. Software updates on each platform try to make the login process automatic, switching from 3G to Wi-Fi without requiring any user intervention. AT&T’s deal may not seem as sweet as it once did, because more than half the locations in its network are McDonald’s restaurants, which no longer charge for WiFi as of January 2010. Most of the rest of the locations are Barnes & Noble and Starbucks; B&N went free months ago, and Starbucks two-hours-per-day free rewards service works for many patrons. However, AT&T operates or has deals in most North American airports that feature for-fee Wi-Fi, where you would otherwise pay from $5 to $10 for a 24-hour session. Verizon: A few months ago, Verizon made Wi-Fi hotspots available to some of its customers in a highly restrictive way. First, you have to have Windows (one of several versions). Second, you must run the VZAccess Manager software to connect to hotspots. Third, it works only on laptops, not desktops. Fourth, only a few thousand hotspots are included. Fifth, only customers paying for 3 Mbps or faster DSL and 20 Mbps fiber qualify. A few days ago, Verizon added laptop 3G customers, but not smartphone users. Mac OS X users are left out in the cold. Cablevision: The Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey cable provider has long pushed hard to offer fast cable modem speeds, but the firm surprised a lot of its customers by announcing it would build a huge outdoor Wi-Fi network covering much of its territory in cities and towns. The network is complete in many areas, and free (and only available) to its cable broadband subscribers. (Cablevision built this network in part to challenge Verizon’s fiber FiOS network by providing something Verizon didn’t offer until recently.) continued on page 6 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Find Free and Inexpensive Wi-Fi Continued from page 5 Qwest: Piggybacking on AT&T’s network, Qwest offers its DSL customers the same 20,000-hotspot network. Again, this perk isn’t as valuable as it once was given that most of the included locations are free. Short-Term Free Deals – Several sponsored deals are providing short-term free access to hotspot and other networks. (Some of this was discussed in a previous TidBITS article; you’re not having déjà vu – see “Free Wi-Fi Abounds with Holiday Sponsorships,” 10 November 2009.) http://db.tidbits.com/article/10742 • Free airport Wi-Fi from Google. Google is sponsoring network access at 47 airports from 10 November 2009 to 15 January 2010, although a few of these airports already provide free service year-round or are about to launch free service, like Seattle-Tacoma. • Free Wi-Fi access on all Virgin America flights from Google during the same period. • Free airport and hotel access from Microsoft Bing. To promote the Bing search service, Microsoft partnered with JiWire - a firm for which I’ve worked and consulted – to offer sponsored access to hotel and airport hotspots. A Bing search is required to get the free service. The specific hotspots aren’t being disclosed, unfortunately, but you’ll know it when you see the promotion. • Times Square in New York City from Yahoo. Yahoo is underwriting a year’s worth of free outdoor Wi-Fi in Times Square starting 10 November 2009, just in time for holiday shopping and festivities. Inexpensive Subscriptions – You can also opt to pay for a pool of Wi-Fi via an aggregator, a firm that signs agreements with thousands of separate Wi-Fi network providers and bundles this into one account and one recurring bill. This used to be hugely expensive for average users who couldn’t write off Internet access as a business expense, ranging from $30 to $60 per month, often with a one-year commitment or other fees. Now, with the iPhone data plan costing $30 per month in the United States, and more routine use of 3G laptop cards that carry $60 per month data plans, those rates don’t seem so bad - but subscription prices have also dropped. per month on a laptop or global access for $7.95 on a smartphone, billed on a recurring basis, but without a contract required beyond each month. A combo plan with the same account is $17.90 per month - no discount, but less to manage. (Boingo’s Global account is $59 per month and includes 2,000 minutes of use anywhere in its worldwide aggregated network.) To use Boingo on a laptop, you install a lightweight software package that notifies you whenever a Boingo hotspot is nearby and gives you the option to log in. On a smartphone, you install software that manages the login process. The Boingo software for iPhone OS (which works with the iPod touch, too) requires that you launch the program at the hotspot to establish a connection. As I said earlier, with Starbucks having sort-of-free-butlimited service and McDonald’s going all free, Boingo might seem less useful. However, I’ve found that there are plenty of locations, including hotels, airports, cafés, and conference centers, where I’m happy to have the subscription instead of paying a one-time hourly or day rate or having no access. iPass: iPass primarily provides single-bill connectivity for corporations with traveling employees, where hundreds to thousands of users can be centrally managed. iPass also allows users to use their corporate logins and can require the use of a VPN and firewall software when connecting remotely. However, the company also has an iPhone connection app. (iPass sold laptop access for individuals directly not long ago, but now you have to turn to a reseller for that service.) The iPass plan – either $6.95 per month with a one-year contract, or $9.95 per month with no contract – includes 1,200 minutes of access per month and costs $0.20 per minute thereafter anywhere in its worldwide network. The problem at the moment? The company is updating its iPhone software, and has pulled a previous release, although the Web site doesn’t mention this. Check back later. Wait! There’s More – I can’t pretend this is a comprehensive list, with tens of thousands of known hotspots in the United States, and likely tens of thousands more that aren’t documented. Still, this should help you find some cheap connections while you travel about this holiday season and beyond. Reprinted from TidBITS, 23 December 2009. Boingo Wireless: Boingo, founded by long-time friend of TidBITS Sky Dayton – also the founder of EarthLink – provides unlimited North American hotspot access for $9.95 www.ctmac.org page 6 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Freshly Squeezed Reviews: Give Me Some Skin by Frank Petrie Product: MusicSkins Author: MusicSkins LLC www.music-skins.com/ Requirements: Laptop or Mobile Device Price: Varies Test Rig: 13" MacBook Pro There are thousands of skins on the market for your electronic devices. They cover the gamut of classical art to modern art to whatever you want. But if you want skins of your favorite musical artist, then look no further. “MusicSkins are the premier music and music related device skins on the planet. Our skins are made from premium grade 3M vinyl and adhesive technology so they apply easily and remove without leaving any residue. We also use a high gloss over laminate, which adds durability and a photo quality finish to our skins.” I have my favorite – a photo of John Lennon in NYC. But you could have the Black-Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift or hundreds of others. THE JUICE MusicSkins also carry skins for models, fashion, art, charity, Obama, media, and custom skins for companies. But their forte is musical artists. They help to protect your devices from scratches and scuffs, while allowing you to personalize your device. THE PULP They have a great selection of artists to choose from. You should easily find one or several to satisfy your taste. And if not, you can design your own custom skin. Here are the devices that MusicSkins currently covers: iPod Video (5th Gen) for 30GB, 60GB, & 80GB; iPod Touch for 8GB & 16GB; iPod Classic for 80GB & 160GB; iPod Nano (3rd Gen) for 4GB & 8GB; iPod Nano (2nd Gen) for 2GB, 4GB, & 8GB; iPod Nano (1st Gen) for 1GB, 2GB, & 4GB; Zune 80GB, 30GB, 8GB & 4GB; Sansa View 16GB & 8GB; iPhone & iPhone 3G; RAZR V3, V3c, V3m; Blackberry 8800, 8820,8830, Curve, Pearl, Bold, Storm; T-Mobile G1; SideKick LC, 3, 2; Sony PSP, PSP Slim; Nintendo DS Lite; Apple MBP & PowerBook 17" & 15"; Apple iBook 14"; Apple 13" MacBook and MBP; Apple 12" PowerBook & iBook; and various Guitar Hero guitars. www.ctmac.org page 7 Above: just a few of the skins and their applications. THE RIND My John Lennon/NYC skin looks wonderful on the machine. But when I turn my MBP on, the Apple logo shines through the skin. And even though it’s a nice piece of irony in this particular case, it would be nice if it didn’t show through. SUMMARY MusicSkins is a quality product that fills a niche in the skin arena. I could see owning several of these and changing them upon your mood. I was an enormous fan of The Beatles and John Lennon. And now I can let everyone know it. RATING: 8 of 10 ©2009 Frank Petrie Reprinted from the MUG Center You can even design your own skin! Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Edit Tabular Data on the Mac Here’s a tabular data file editor for Mac OS X that is inexpensive, lightweight, fast, flexible, and powerful. It is perfectly suited for working with tabular files, such as comma-separated-value or tab-delimited formats. Bartas Technologies rolled out XTabulator 2 for Mac OS X, an update to its tabular data file editor tool. XTabulator is the most flexible, most light-weight editor for tabular files, such as the common commaseparated-value (CSV) or tab-delimited (TAB) formats. XTabulator is a hand-crafted tool focused on the task of manipulating data extracted from one application so that it can be imported into another. Spreadsheet applications are often used for this task but are expensive and are not intended for this use. Text editors are free and plentiful but have no concept of tabular data and have no options for manipulating the data as such. XTabulator focuses on being an inexpensive, lightweight, fast, flexible, and powerful delimited tabular file editor. XTabulator 2 is available for download on the Bartas Technologies web site and is free to try (with limitations) for all users. A full, single-user license costs $19.99 for a limited time. Registered XTabulator 1 users can purchase an upgrade for half price. Bartas Technologies XTabulator 2 download: www.bartastechnologies.com/products/xtabulator/ Reprinted from InfoManagerTM User Group Network News, Views, Reviews. iPod Classic Now an eReader More and more we are hearing about ereaders. Kindle provides software for computers and the iPhone. Now there is support for the iPod classic for reading book as well. TimeStream Software has announced the release of the new “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” Notescast for the iPod Classic, iPod nano and iPod Video. Now, using their iPod as an eReader, iPod owners can immerse themselves in the tale of young Tom Sawyer, a mischievous carefree boy who sets off in search of adventure in the old south and finds more than his fair share. True love, buried treasure, a haunted house, a mysterious cave and even murder await Tom in this true American classic. Adventures of Tom Sawyer Notescast: www.notescasts.com/booksnew/adventuresoftomsawyer.html “We’re excited to add this classic American tale to our growing collection of digital books available for the iPod legacy devices on our Notescasts web site.” said Mike Westby of TimeStream Software. “It’s such a great story, and we’re pleased to now make it available to an even wider audience.” page 8 Bartas Technologies is an independently-owned software company based in Maryland, USA. Bartas produces desktop productivity software applications and utilities for the Mac. ©2009 Bartas Technologies. All Rights Reserved. Apple, and the Apple logo are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Installing to the “Notes” feature found on nearly every iPod in use today, the new “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” Notescast contains over 140 pages and may be downloaded to users’ iPods for only $0.99 cents. Device Requirements: *Compatible with every iPod Classic, iPod Video/5th Generation and iPod nano Pricing and Availability: Download the new “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” Notescast for only $0.99 cents. The “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” Notescast is available for the iPod Classic, iPod Video and iPod nano at the Notescasts web site. ■ Notescasts: http://www.Notescasts.com ■ TimeStream Software: http://www.TimeStream-Software.com www.ctmac.org New in version 2.0: • Major performance boosts • Export to other formats • Smarter copy and paste • Redesigned user interface • More detailed Help Book • Automatic in-place updates • Simple search • Easily-managed headers • Capable of handling much larger files with ease • Fast and easy sorting and drag-and-drop reordering • Intuitive column-level actions via the Column Action button • Automatic detection of (and ability to change) character encoding and line endings • Simple Open, Save, and Save As of and between known types (such as CSV or TAB) TimeStream Software, an iPhone and iPod developer in Portland, OR, is an industry leader in the development of custom mobile marketing Notescasts for the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as the iPod Classic and iPod nano. ©2009 TimeStream Software. All Rights Reserved. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 MUG Benefits: SPECIAL OFFERS! Apple User Group Bulletin These User Group discounts are brought to you by the Apple User Group Advisory Board and Tom Piper. You must be a current Apple user group member to qualify for these savings. Not a member? Join an Apple user group today to take advantage of these special offers The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training & more. http://homepage.mac.com/ugab/resources.html. Take Control Books: 30% Off All Ebooks Whether you’re looking to upgrade to and get started with Snow Leopard or you want to set up a rock-solid backup strategy, there’s a Take Control ebook for you. There are also books offering expert advice on maintaining your Mac, troubleshooting, AirPort wireless networks, iWeb, GarageBand and more. Take Control ebooks are written by the most-trusted names in the Mac world and published by Adam and Tonya Engst of TidBITS. An exclusive 30 percent off their already low prices is offered to Apple User Group members on all Take Control ebooks. Offer is valid through February 28, 2010. Stockphoto Images: 20% Discount iStockphoto is one of the world’s leading royalty-free stock destinations with more than 5.6 million stock photos, vector illustrations, video footage, audio and Flash files. Add style to your next creative project with iStock. Apple user group members get 20 percent off your first purchase of 50 credits (iStock’s currency) or more. Offer is valid through March 31, 2010. O’Reilly Special offer for User Group Members: 35% - 45% Discounts Along with a 35% discount off print books, user group members can now get 45% off all eBooks purchased direct from www.oreilly.com. When you buy an O’Reilly eBook you get lifetime access to the book, and whenever possible, the text is available to you in four, DRM-free file formats – PDF, .epub, Kindle-compatible .mobi, and Android ebook – that you can use on the devices of your choice. O’Reilly eBook files are fully searchable, and you can cut-and-paste and print them. You will even receive an alert when O’Reilly has updated the files with corrections and additions. SmartMotion SwingChair: 20% Off SmartMotion Technology produces one of the the best office chairs for computer users. The SwingChair is especially helpful to those who sit for long periods of time, providing continual support. Satisfaction is guaranteed with a 30-day money back guarantee. The SwingChair is regularly priced $495, but Apple User Group members can purchase one for $445, with shipping and handling of $49 free in the continental United States. Offer is valid through March 15, 2010. Strider Software TypeStyler: 25% Discount TypeStyler is a sophisticated, yet simple and intuitive, page layout and graphic design tool that allows users to create spectacular graphic designs by applying special effects and distortion to type and graphic images. The new version takes TypeStyler’s unequaled control over text shaping, styling, flow and layout even further by exploiting Apple’s latest technologies such as Unicode, Core Image, OpenGL, QuickTime and Quartz compositions. User group members can buy TypeStyler, regularly $179.95, for $134.95, and TypeStyler Upgrade for $74.95; both are 25 percent discounts. Offer is valid through February 28, 2010. That’s Easy: Get the Apple User Group Market Resource Blog and Vendor Discount Offers Looking for information on a past offer? Tom Piper of the Apple User Group Advisory Board publishes a single page with all current offers, expiration dates and codes. Watch for intermittent special offers. Password: ***** http://web.me.com/ugab/offers/vendorcodes.htm Be sure to subscribe to the Apple User Group Market Report podcast. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training and more. To listen to these podcasts, you may subscribe at: http://web.me.com/ugab/resources.html *****Note: AUG Password above is located in your mailed CMC newsletter. www.ctmac.org page 9 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 2009–10 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President Jerry Bonvisuto vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Special Events Jack Bass w1fla@sbcglobal.net Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Raffles Robert Sawyer raffles@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Download of the Month Debbie Foss dotm@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip _______________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also available Or LIVE at any to draw or live business for anyevent. event. private (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, January 20th UConn Health Center Farmington, CT SPECIAL E C o n f e r e n c e MEETINGUDAARTY, for JAN Room EG-013 2010! Back-to-Basics: Take a Walk on the Dark Side 6:00 pm Lets take a walk on the dark side with long time member Joe Arcuri. This month’s back to basic isn’t going to be so basic, it going to be more like Geek’s Corner. Joe will be going through the process of how to get our beloved OS X to run on a netbook. We’ll also discuss the benefits and limitations of such a computer hybrid. Main Presentation: Introduction to Digital Photography 7:00 pm Please Join us for a exciting presentation on “Introduction to Digital Photography” by 15 year CT Macintosh Connection member and 60 year camera veteran John Scott. John will discuss techniques that can be done with a digital camera .vs a traditional film camera, including the use of the HDR (High Dynamic Range) technique, Neutral Density Filter for long daylight exposures and Polarization. John will also discuss a brief history of photography from it’s beginnings. His experience includes courses at Kodak on Color Separation and at the PPA(Professional Photographers of America) in Des Plaines, IL. He is currently a member of the PPA and the Connecticut PPA. CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email us at vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. Free Raffle! Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software…there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted camera-ready in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 91 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of January 01, 2010 Checking Account ................$996.14 Money Market ........................$4587.46 Your CMC Information Need Mac Support? Check your newsletter mailing label for the following info: Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? • Your CMC User name and password That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org to access info at www.ctmac.org • Your CMC Membership Number • Your CMC Membership renewal date page 11 Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 (free shipping at MacConnection) www.ctmac.org Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 SPECIAL E Wednesday, AT MEETING DARY, January 20 at for JANU ! UConn Health Ctr. 0 201 Farmington Back-to-Basics, 6:00 pm: Take a Walk on the Dark Side Main Presentation, 7:00 pm: Introduction to Digital Photography For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Jack Bass Presentation Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. The club president, Jerry Esposito is shown here presenting Jack Bass with a certificate of appreciation for all the work he did last month digitizing many years of club correspondence and receipts, Besides the certificate, the club has presented Jack with a 6-month subscription to ScreenCastsOnLine, a valuable video learning site that should provide Jack with many hours of instruction. Thank you, Jack. Jerry Esposito, CMC president February 2010 Welcome to 2010 By Jerry Esposito, CMC president For many people, 2009 was not a good year. Job losses, stock market losses, much uncertainty about the economy, global warming and the war all added up to a scary year for most of us. But at CMC, we weathered the storm with some optimism and good old hard work. We started 2009 with a visit from Rich Siegel of BareBones Software. We learned about DVD ripping with Deb Foss. Dave Marra of Apple, Inc. gave us a detailed rundown of iLife ‘09 and iWorks ‘09 in April. May, 2009 brought us a new slate of board members who are anxious to try out some new Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION ideas for future club meetings. We conducted three different hands-on classes at Middlesex Community College in May. Other sessions last year included learning about the OS utility folder with Reggie Dionne; Open DNS with Jerry Bonvisuto; remotely controlling your computers with Chris Hart; printing poster-sized pictures with Bob Sawyer; Time Machine back ups, and a session on virtualization. Kyle DeMilo gave us a detailed look at Snow Leopard and Welcome to... iTunes 9. Our November auction was well attended and brought in some extra dollars that will help us add to the benefits of being a CMC member. In 2009, we added a major benefit to our members: learning at the video site lynda.com, where members who wish to participate can enjoy 30 days of free learning. We wrapped up our year with our annual holiday party that included a raffle for a new Apple Magic Mouse and a minithumb drive. The pizza went so fast that we may need to order extras next year! For 2010, the Board members and VP Jerry Bonvisuto are busy firming up new ideas for monthly meetings that we hope will continue to attract members and non-members to CMC. continued on page 3 Inside Release: Citrix’s New GoToMyPC for Mac page 2 Thank You to our January Meeting Presenters! TipBits page 3 by Jerry Esposito, CMC president Book Review: Mac OS X Snow Leopard, The Missing Manual page 4 Back to Basics Joe Arcuri took us on a walk through the dark side for January’s Back to Basics in which he showed us how to prep a Netbook to run Mac OS X. It was a tough assignment made easy by Joe’s expertise. Thank you, Joe! My Thoughts on Apple’s iPad pages 5 - 7 Download of the Month: ResizeIt page 7 Mac 911 page 8 MUG Discounts page 9 Meetings and Member Info page 11 Main Meeting John Scott can usually be found behind a camera as CMC’s photographer-in-residence. But for January’s main meeting he came out front and center to show us his various techniques for getting the right picture at just the right time. And sometimes that can be early in the day! He also showed how he combines more than one shot to get the perfect image, and what applications he uses to accomplish this. Take a look here at some of his photos to appreciate what 60 years of camera work can achieve. Samples of some of John Scott’s photos from the January presentation. Citrix’s New GoToMyPC Now Lets You Access Your Mac from Anywhere Purpose-built for Macs with the Reliability and Ease of Use Mac Users Expect CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org For the first time, Mac users can now host the remote access GoToMyPC service on either a Mac or a PC, with Citrix Online’s newest version of GoToMyPC®. The company has responded with version 7.0 to better accommodate Mac users seeking a reliable, easy to use remote-access product that is purposebuilt for the Mac. Mac and PC users alike can at last work remotely with confidence from any computer with Internet access and easily access their Mac or PC files, computer programs, email and company network. “With this new release, we’re giving Mac users what they’ve been asking for – a reliable remote access service built specifically for the Mac,” said Brett Caine, general manager of Citrix Online. “For the large and growing Mac community, they can rest assured of finally having a remote access service that works as advertised from the most trusted name in the category.” According to IDC, the Mac offering is a significant move: “Customers value Citrix’s remote access services software GoToMyPC for its capabilities, reliability and ease of use,” says Sean Ryan, senior analyst, mobile enterprise software at IDC. “With market projections for the Mac and remote access services to grow, GoToMyPC is well positioned in the market.” For Citrix Online customers, the extension of GoToMyPC to the Mac means universal access to remote machines, whether running Windows or Mac OS. And Mac support puts complete remote access services in the hands of customers from a greater variety of businesses – opening the door to creative new ways to use remote access. About GoToMyPC GoToMyPC is the fast, reliable, easy and secure way to access a Mac or PC from any Web browser in real time. It created the category for web-based remote access when it was first introduced in 2001, and it continues to be the undisputed market leader. With GoToMyPC, individual professionals and businesses of all sizes can increase their flexibility and productivity by accessing files, programs, email, and their computer networks from any location. The solution is available as a free 30-day trial by visiting: www.gotomypc.com. There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. www.ctmac.org page 2 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Keyboard-based Dock Navigation Read and Share Tips with TipBITS by Adam C. Engst Today we're announcing something that those of you who frequent our Web site have been enjoying for a few months: TipBITS. TipBITS appears in a box on the right side of our site and displays a new Mac-, iPhone-related, or iPod-related tip every time you load a page, pulling tips randomly from an ever-growing selection. Tips come from three main sources: TidBITS staff members, TidBITS readers, and our corporate sponsors. For more information on TipBits, or to submit a tip, go to: http://db.tidbits.com/ Reprinted from TidBITS 22 Jan 2010 If you’re a fan of keyboard shortcuts and navigation, you may want try accessing the Dock from your keyboard. Press Control-F3 to enter the Dock’s keyboard access mode. Then you can press a letter corresponding with an item’s name to select it; press Return to open it, Command-Q to quit the selected application, or Escape to exit keyboard access mode. You can also use the arrow keys, Tab key, and other keyboard navigation keys to toggle between the Dock items. Submitted by cricket Open Files with Finder’s App Switcher Say you’re in the Finder looking at a file and you want to open it with an application that’s already running but which doesn’t own that particular document. How? Switch to that app and choose File > Open? Too many steps. Choose Open With from the file’s contextual menu? Takes too long, and the app might not be listed. Drag the file to the Dock and drop it onto the app’s icon? The icon might be hard to find; worse, you might miss. In Leopard there’s a new solution: use the Command-Tab switcher. Yes, the Command-Tab switcher accepts dragand-drop! The gesture required is a bit tricky. Start dragging the file in the Finder: move the file, but don’t let up on the mouse button. With your other hand, press Command-Tab to summon the switcher, and don’t let up on the Command key. Drag the file onto the application’s icon in the switcher and let go of the mouse. (Now you can let go of the Command key too.) Extra tip: If you switch to the app beforehand, its icon in the Command-Tab switcher will be easy to find; it will be first (or second). Removing Photos from iPhoto Despite iPhoto’s long history, many people continue to be confused about exactly what happens when you delete a photo. There are three possibilities. If you delete a photo from an album, book, card, calendar, or saved slideshow, the photo is merely removed from that item and remains generally available in your iPhoto library. If, however, you delete a photo while in Events or Photos view, that act moves the photo to iPhoto’s Trash. It’s still available, but... If you then empty iPhoto’s Trash, all photos in it will be deleted from the iPhoto library and from your hard disk. “iPhoto ‘08: Visual QuickStart Guide” written by Adam C. Engst. Welcome to 2010 Continued from page 1 I’m happy to report that we’ve picked up some new members this past year. As for Apple, Inc., 2010 looks to be shaping up as an interesting year also. Apple’s iPad will start a competitive war with other e-readers and Netbooks already in the marketplace. Many news sources are reporting that publishing houses are discussing deals to release their books in digital format at higher prices so as to ward off Amazon’s Kindle from selling books too cheaply. And publishers want to give extra content such as interviews and short videos with their books. So, Apple’s iPad should get publishers (and possibly movie companies) thinking more about getting their content out to the buying public in a more efficient way. Online TV subscriptions from Apple are also in the news. A possible offering of a TV subscription package via the Internet could spell a very different landscape for the TV networks and cable TV. Apple and Google could square off Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 over digital music as Google has launched a music listening service with Lala as one of several partners. Lala was recently purchased by Apple for $85 million, according to people familiar with the matter. This could signal a move by Steve Jobs to add Web-based music offerings, and possibly subscriptions to iTunes. Let’s all stay tuned to see what interesting developments may come about. Be optimistic and have a great new year! See you at the next meeting. www.ctmac.org page 3 Book Review: Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual by Victor Wolfram, Diablo Valley MUG Member From the start, Apple described OS X v. 10.6 (Snow Leopard) as a mere refinement of 10. 5 (Leopard), a fact emphasized by the similarity of the big cats that provided the code names of the two operating systems. Snow Leopard, which can be used only on Intel Macs with at least a Core Duo processor, was priced about a hundred dollars less than its predecessors, and Steve Jobs said bluntly, “We’re hitting Pause on new features.” With the apparent absence of innovation so strongly downplayed, should we not question whether David Pogue’s recent encyclopedic Mac OS X Snow Leopard, The Missing Manual is really an essential tool for members of DVMUG? During the several months between the debut of 10.6 and the book’s publication, didn’t we manage to use 10.6 without too much difficulty? And isn’t the new book based largely on the earlier 10.5 edition? Yes, but–! As Pogue points out, not everyone at Apple heeded the “no new features” guideline. Even though the family resemblance to 10.5 is pervasive, Snow Leopard contains several substantial innovations: • QuickTime Player has been extensively updated in 10.6, and now includes many features formerly available only in QuickTime Pro. Any person who uses audio or video in the computer will benefit from a study of pp. 582 to 593 of the Snow Leopard edition, which explain the new aspects of QuickTime. • Safari in Snow Leopard contains at least one dramatic innovation; it can be opened showing Top Sites (see pp. 750 and 751), a changing display of thumbnails that represent your favorite websites, determined by the record of how recently and how often you have visited them. • Services, formerly a little-used facilitator for mixing and matching features of different applications that is found in every program’s Application Menu, has been completely redrawn. Pages 263 to 269 describe the added usefulness of Services in 10.6. • Corporate users will be pleased to discover that, for the first time, Snow Leopard provides Mac compatibility with Microsoft Exchange networking software. For instructions in using this compatibility in Mail, Address Book and iCal, see pp. 305 to 308. In addition, former Windows users will appreciate the Windows-towww.ctmac.org page 4 Mac dictionary, (pp. 835 to 848) carried over from earlier editions. However, it is the multitude of small changes in Snow Leopard—improvements, refinements, optimizations— that provide the greatest advantages of the new operating system. Pogue signals these by placing small blurbs, tagged as “Snow Leopard Spots,” on almost every page of the new Missing Manual. A few of these may be unwelcome; for example, the Snap-Back icon in Safari that permitted immediate return to a starting point after browsing through multiple links has disappeared. (Why? Can Apple be persuaded to restore this useful feature?) Some are very obvious, like the new Date & Time applet in the righthand corner of the Menu Bar, which now displays the exact date as well as the day of the week. Time Machine installation is now a much faster process. When Permissions Repair in Disk Utility states that its work will be done in a few minutes, this is now really true. A complete list of changes would be extremely long. Familiarity with these many hundreds of subtle innovations will make the difference between stumbling your way through Snow Leopard and using it with real mastery. This review would be incomplete if it failed to mention the discussion of 64-bit processing on page 194. With superb clarity, Pogue explains this feature, describes its importance for the future, and tells the reader how 64-bit processing can be used in Snow Leopard and–more importantly–when it should not be used. The general format of the new Missing Manual is similar to that of its predecessors. The book is intended to be useful to readers at every technical level from advanced beginner to power user. Some chapters can be augmented with downloaded supplements. The index is impeccably designed. As a comprehensive guide to the use of OS X v. 10.6, David Pogue’s Mac OS X Snow Leopard, The Missing Manual has no equal. List price is $34.99 and discounts are available. Although Snow Leopard saves approximately 7 GB of hard drive space when compared to 10.5, at 884 numbered pages this book is about the same size as the Leopard edition, and, as Pogue says, still dwarfs the Tokyo White Pages. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual by David Pogue, October 2009, Pogue Press, 912 pgs, ISBN-10 0596153287, ISBN-13 978-0596153281, $34.99. Reprinted from the DVMUG newsletter. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 face, enough power to do a variety of tasks, a great screen at a very useable size, and it’s highly portable. Plus it has appeal for both consumers and business users. One camp can enjoy their digital media no matter where they go, the other can be productive in the smallest of spaces without the burden of a laptop. uring Apple’s recent introductory event for the iPad, company CEO Steve Jobs called it “magical and revolutionary” Do I agree with that characterization? For the most part, yes. D On the one hand it’s easy to dismiss the iPad’s capabilities, because it’s so similar to the iPhone. People look and say “it’s an just an overgrown iPod Touch!” But if those people were to stop and think about all the potential uses for an overgrown iPod Touch, they’d see that this really is a product category with legs. But it would seem that if they don’t personally have a need for it (at least not today), they’ll pooh pooh it. But the iPad is much more than an iPod Touch on steroids. Because it’s how it builds on the capabilities of Apple’s small handheld devices and provides new options for being more productive and more fully entertained–while remaining highly portable–that make the iPad a worthwhile addition to Apple’s lineup. But, before I go any further, I have to get something out of my system...I’m not a huge fan of the name “iPad.” I’m among the chorus of voices who felt that Apple should have revived the iBook name for this product. But I can appreciate that “iPad” is more descriptive of its capabilities and I suspect that a year from now, few people will be fretting over the name choice. Most importantly, the chosen moniker wouldn’t stop me from buying one for myself. If I hadn’t plunked down cash on a Mac laptop recently (out of necessity), I would likely pre-order an iPad. Why? Because Apple has hit some great notes with this product. It has a simple inter- I can even imagine some folks looking to replace their current PC choosing an iPad over another computer. If all they want to do is email, web surf, watch YouTube clips, and do some light word processing, this little slate of a computer may be all they need. How is it that this can be said for the iPad, but not the “tablet computers” that have come before it. The first reason is that the iPad gets right one of the key elements that tablet computers to date have gotten wrong: providing an elegant, hand-friendly user interface. Such portable computers have previously been a touch screen grafted onto a computer, with little to no change in the interface. But iPad is different in that it has no mouse pointer and requires no stylus. It works on the logical simplicity of the multitouch interface built into its screen. The second reason people will strongly consider the iPad is the price. With the starting point at $500, it’s cheaper than the tablet PCs that have come and gone over the years. Make no mistake about it, however: The iPad is not a PC. It may not even be appropriate to call it a tablet computer. Because while the internal components are unquestionably in the “personal computer” family, the user experience is much closer to an iPod than a MacBook. But, as I said earlier, this little guy may be all that many people need. Just for starters, I figure the iPad will be a hit on college campuses. Not to replace laptops altogether, however. I see students leaving their laptops in their rooms and making the iPad their “in the classroom” computing device of choice. Just imagine having all your textbooks and digital notepad in one small device that weighs no Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 more than a bound textbook. Then there are the possibilities for corporate America, where I can easily see this device being deployed to employees in the field, who need to travel as light as possible (or need to impress their clients). And then there’s the medical industry, which has got to be ecstatic about the iPad’s capabilities. To me, it seems like the ideal device for doctors on the move – especially those who need to refer to digital x-rays a lot. (I have sympathy for those guy doctors who will inevitably have to defend the iPad’s thin strap over their shoulder, in a modern revisiting of Seinfeld’s “It’s a European Carry-All!” episode.) With the optional full-sized keyboard, the iPad makes for a very reasonable laptop replacement for a large percentage of users – especially reporters and other writers on the road. And Apple listened to the wishes of vocal customers like me (and Andy Ihnatko) with built-in support for Bluetooth wireless keyboards from day one. Thank you Apple! The iPad editions of the iWork apps – with their touch interfaces – look great and they are priced right (and it’s good to see a la carte pricing). And the potential of this device for software developers is tremendous. Especially for games if Apple allows the iPod Touch and iPhone to be paired with an iPad, to serve as hand-held controllers. So has Apple hit any sour notes with the iPad? Indeed. Let’s start with the lack of Adobe’s Flash Player. I was both amused and annoyed when Steve Jobs called up NYTimes.com during his demo and we had a glimpse of a vast expanse of nothingness, where Flash content wants to be. Given the opportunity, Apple might say: Flash Player uses a lot of RAM, or Flash Player uses a lot of processor cycles, or that Flash Player is the most unstable part of most web browsing experiences. All true. But the fact is that Flash is an essential component of hundreds of thousands of web sites. Try shopping for a new car online without it and you’ll see what I mean. Sure HTML5 is on the way and could be a suitable replacement for Flash. But it’s not here now and Flash is. I suspect Apple just continued on page 6 www.ctmac.org page 5 My Thoughts on Apple’s iPad Continued from page 4 doesn’t want to have to deal with Adobe, or open the can of worms of making Flash work on one iPhone OS device – the iPad – and then having to listen to customers say “then why can’t I have it on my iPhone, too?” (Answer: because the phone would then run at a snail’s pace.) How will you connect to the Internet with your iPad? All versions include Wi-Fi, so you’re all set in your home, libraries, school campuses, coffee shops, etc. But what happens when you venture out into the world – the iPad’s native territory? You’ll need a cellular network data connection. And that’s where we have another sore spot: Choosing an iPad with integrated 3G wireless connectivity adds $130 onto the price. That’s ridiculous and unjustifiable. The necessary cellular circuitry costs Apple no more than $20! My prediction: generation 2 of the iPad (let’s say, a year from now) will have integrated cellular hardware, without an additional charge. And speaking of connectivity...what Apple did not address and I have yet to find about is: How does one get their documents to and from the iPad’s built-in memory? There had darn well be a method other than MobileMe or online services like DropBox. Such file transfer systems are entirely reliant on an Internet connection, which gives me cause to be concerned for reliability. I sincerely hope that Apple has included a direct sync capability for documents that they simply overlooked demonstrating. If it initially requires syncing via USB cable, I can live with that. But syncing via Wi-Fi had better be close over the horizon, because I’ve already grown tired of waiting for this capability with my iPod and iPhone. Which leads me to another beef I have with the iPad: file storage. I can understand the iPhone not having a memory card slot, because it’s really not essential to that device. But in a more capable device like the iPad, I find the lack of an integrated SD memory card slot very disappointing. Sure you can buy Apple’s optional camera kit with SD card reader, but I don’t think you should have to. This capability should be built right in. www.ctmac.org page 6 Considering that Apple is all about minimizing product choices, their insistence on staying with a locked down storage system is ridiculous. Why offer 6 different version of this product, in order to provide 3 different storage capacities? That’s silly and shortsighted. Let the customer at least have control over their own storage and free them from having to buy a whole new device, just because they reached the memory capacity of the unit they originally purchased. Having worked with Apple products for 20 years now, I am very familiar with their “walled garden” approach. But it really gets tiresome after a while. So, if the iPad is totally ruined for me because of who locked down it is, I will be very annoyed. I know I am not alone in this position. Another area which remains a question mark is the iPad’s potential as a telecomm device. Does a wired iPhone headset work with it, so that one can fire up the Skype iPhone app and be able to make VOIP phone calls on their iPad? And what about compatibility with Bluetooth headsets? Apple says it works with Bluetooth wireless headphones, but does it also work with “phone” headsets? And what about video chats? How could Apple make the inexcusable gaffe of not including a webcam? This is the ideal teleconferencing tool for someone on the road to keep in touch with their office and/or family. But without a camera, that possibility is quashed. The terms of the available AT&T cellular data service are a mixed bag. The good: You don’t have to commit to a contract and the base price is $15 a month. The bad: That 15dollar plan is limited to 250 megabytes. Steve Jobs calls that “plenty.” Such a statement is highly misleading. Let’s take an example shall we? Use your iPad to browse typical web sites for one hour per day, read your usual load of emails and view an online video or two during each week. Sounds like typical Internet use, right? Absolutely. Yet, if you frequently find yourself in places without Wi-Fi, you would certainly exceed 250 MB before the end of the month. That doesn’t meet the definition of “plenty,” Steve. It’s a joke. Really the $15 plan is just for those who are very light Internet users, who want to buy a little bit of music and books from the iTunes store. So that means the rest of us who actually use the Internet as intended will need to cough up $30 a month for the “unlimited” service (undoubtedly a misnomer). But many iPad customers will also be iPhone customers and I suspect few among them will want to have their alreadyhefty AT&T bill inflated even further. Why is there no package plan for iPhone users, or better yet, iPhone tethering for a reasonable fee. (And by the way...where is that tethering you promised, AT&T?) Compared to the majority of gadget hounds, I’m a patient lad. Yet I frequently have to remind myself that the iPhone platform is only two years old and still in its infancy. Five years hence, we’ll see a very different landscape. And that view will be littered with these new handheld digital “appliances.” I expect many homes will have an iPad (or a competitor’s look alike) in every room. Seeing an iPad dashboard mount in a car will be commonplace. Kids will want one for the car seatback, instead of that old clunky DVD player. (And let’s hope someone comes up with a pocket-friendly sling to hold your iPad over the backrest of the airplane seat in front of you.) If Apple avoids the discordant notes that customers don’t want to hear (such as a totally locked down system for file management), the iPad could really flourish. Not that I expect huge sales in the first year. They’ll be strong, but I expect many critics will call them disappointing. Yet I’m confident that the iPad represents the first in a category of handheld device that will be with us forever more. So does that mean the iPad is good for everyone? Absolutely not. Just as with the iPhone and iPod, not everyone will like the music they hear in the Temple of Apple. The first type of potential buyer whose needs are better met elsewhere is the voracious book reader. Anyone who spends hours a day reading novels will continue to continued on page 7 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 My Thoughts on Apple’s iPad Continued from page 6 be best served by an ebook, like Amazon’s Kindle. While the iPad’s color display makes the Kindle’s screen look like an Etch-ASketch, the fact is that such vivid colors really tax a battery. Anyone who uses their iPad for hours a day will need to charge up daily (a notion that Kindle readers laugh at). Another reason many folks won’t like the book reading experience on the iPad: weight. This new Apple gadget is not light and responds to gravity at twice the Kindle’s mass. Compared to a netbook computer, and past tablet computing devices, the iPad’s 1.5 lbs is nothing. But compared to a typical book (or ebook reader), it’s a wrist-killer. So, depending on your book reading posture, this could make the iPad totally impractical for you. Surprisingly, there was a limited focus on newspaper/magazine/book content during Apple’s press event. Many rumors prior to the event said to expect partnerships with major content providers (like Condé Nast), or possibly subscription-based delivery of daily papers and mags. But there was none of that and compared to Cupertino’s past dog and pony shows, I felt there was a limited presence by content providers. When I consider this in light of the fact that the iPad won’t be shipping for two months (cellular models a month after that), I think we’ll be seeing new developments on the content delivery horizon in the immediate future. I wouldn’t doubt that Apple has companies like The Wall Street Journal (and the aforementioned Condé) on the fence about committing to the iPad and Jobs’ intent was to get the upper hand through the public announcement and the anticipatory frenzy that we’ll see in the next 90 days. $700, (or more) for this device that (when you come right down to it) is mostly frivolous. And $500 isn’t much of a stretch for a personal computing device this capable and this portable. I just don’t see how these companies from the “print” world can turn their back on this opportunity. It’s been difficult for them to make the transition to being a webbased news site first and a paper publisher second. So this a profit channel they can’t turn their backs on. Sure their potential audience on this device will be limited at first. But there is no question in my mind that the user base will build to a strong level over the next two years. Which shows the iPad’s potential for impacting sales of MacBooks (perhaps even more so than iPhone sales). But fear not Mac lovers, because the iPad should have a halo effect on the Mac (as did the iPhone). Having yet another handsome Apple device, owned by lots of App Store-loving customers, can only attract more software developers to the iPhone OS (which is just another flavor of Mac OS X). This has the potential for spurring more Mac OS software development, which in return, benefits the Mac ecosystem, too! While I do foresee long-term success for the iPad, I’m having trouble deciding which version will sell best. My gut is telling me it’s going to be the base model, because I just don’t see enough consumers justifying $600, On the other hand, big business will also love this thing and they certainly won’t buy the standard model. No, they’ll want a V8 engine with the fine Corinthian leather. The top end pricing is $830, which is within spitting distance of the least expensive Mac laptop. Download of the Month Submitted by Deb Foss ResizeIt http://tinyurl.com/y9x4j8 When you want to resize a bunch of photographs all at the same time, ResizeIt 3.1 allows you to change the size of multiple images simultaneously and very quickly. It can also convert file formats at the same time. It is suitable to make images to upload to your web site or to attach to email. The quality and dimensions of your source image determine the quality and dimension ratio of your resized image. (ResizeIt’s purpose is not to dramatically transform poor source material into better material. If you start the resizing process with a small, low-resolution image, you will end up with a resized, low-resolution image. If you expect to transform an image from one H/W ratio to another without distorting the image, then you’ll experience "pilot error" firsthand in your resulting image). Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 ResizeIt works with Mac OS X 10.4 – 10.6 www.ctmac.org page 7 Mac 911 E-mail and the advantages of deception by Christopher Breen Reader Gary Campbell expresses a concern about his privacy along these lines: Cures for a crusty keyboard Q. When I visit some Web sites I’m asked to provide an e-mail Reader Marcie Phipps seeks to clean up her act. She writes: address. I’m concerned that this will lead to more spam. Any suggestions? Q. I have an old keyboard that I love, but its keys are sticking due to built up dust and gunk. Is there a way to clean it? A. A. This is a common question and with it come solutions both tried-and-true and controversial. Starting with the tried-and-true: The first step in cleaning a keyboard is to unplug it, grab a can of compressed air (found at any electronic supply store), and blast air around the base of the keys in the hope of dislodging whatever’s gumming up the works. Do this holding the can of compressed air upright. Flip the can upside down and there’s some danger that you’ll squirt propellant into the keyboard. Turn the keyboard over and give it a good shake in the hope of removing the gunk you’ve loosened. While in this position, blast it a few more times with the compressed air. If a key remains unresponsive after this treatment, gently pry it up with a small flathead screwdriver and clean its post with a slightly damp cloth. Now, the controversial: If the keyboard is so filthy that it appears to be a lost cause–as it might after a major coffee, soda, or Mai Tai spill–put it in the dishwasher. Place it in the top rack, dial the dishwasher to a rinse only setting, don’t put soap in the thing, and run it through. Remove the keyboard and let it drain, with keys down, until it’s completely dry– this could take a couple of days. A couple, yes. Despite what you learned in Sunday school, your first best option is to lie. When asked for an e-mail address for no apparent good reason, feel free to enter joeblow@example.net and smack the Return key. With luck, the Web site will take this as the goods and let you get on with your business. Regrettably, this technique doesn’t work as well as it once did. Increasingly, you’re asked to submit an e-mail address and then the asking body sends you a link to whatever you’ve requested via e-mail. If the address you submit is no good, you don’t receive the message, and you can’t get the thing you were after. That doesn’t mean, however, that you must offer your primary email address. I’ve created a couple of free Google and Yahoo addresses for exactly this purpose. When asked for an e-mail address that I know will result in an activation message, I plunk in one of these addresses. I then check that account for the activation e-mail and then ignore the account until I next need it. (Meaning I don’t include it in a schedule that automatically checks my email.) If you want to get very fine with this, you can create a new account for each place you visit. For example, if you must submit your e-mail address to Company X, create a new Google account for joeblowcompanyx125@gmail.com. Should you receive spam at this address, you have a reasonable idea of who’s responsible. At that point you can complain or swear off that company in the future. This is controversial because some keyboard manufacturers suggest that you not do this as they won’t guarantee that the keyboard will survive the ordeal – particularly if you hit the keyboard with really hot water, detergent, and flying cutlery. If you have a MobileMe account you can create up to five alias addresses. Messages sent to these aliases are forwarded to your primary MobileMe address. So, for example, when dealing with the famed Company X, create an alias for joeblowcompanyx125@me.com. After you’ve received Company X’s activation e-mail, delete the alias. Any future messages sent to this account won’t go through as it’s now a dead address. Speaking from personal experience, I’ve done this with a beloved Matias TactilePro keyboard that I’d given up for dead (this is the perfect condition under which to conduct this experiment). I’m happy to report that not only did it survive, it works perfectly (and is a whole lot nicer to look at than it once was). Macworld Senior Editor Christopher Breen is the author of “Secrets of the iPodand iTunes (6th Ed.),” and “The iPod and iTunes Pocket Guide (4th Ed.)” both from Peachpit Press and “Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Essential Training (video)” from lynda.com. Find Chris’ books at www.amazon.com and www.peachpit.com. Get special user group pricing on Macworld Magazine! Subscribe today at www.macworld.com/useroffer. The Mac 911 content is generously provided by Chris and Macworld for use in Mac user group newsletters. www.ctmac.org page 8 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 MUG Benefits: SPECIAL OFFERS! Apple User Group Bulletin These User Group discounts are brought to you by the Apple User Group Advisory Board and Tom Piper. You must be a current Apple user group member to qualify for these savings. Not a member? Join an Apple user group today to take advantage of these special offers The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training & more. http://homepage.mac.com/ugab/resources.html. Mailplane: 25% Discount RouteBuddy Software and Maps: 25% Off Mailplane is the most productive way to use Gmail on your Mac: • Save time using photo drag-and-drop to send attachments • Personalize your messages with formatted signatures • Easily switch between different Gmail accounts • Never miss an important message with notifications • Link Gmail conversations with Mac documents The regular price is $24.95; however, the exclusive Apple user group special price is $18.71. Offer is valid through May 31, 2010. RouteBuddy for Mac OS X allows you to plan, manage and manipulate geodata (waypoints, routes and tracks) using RouteBuddy’s high-quality vector road maps, and seamless raster topographic maps for countries worldwide. RouteBuddy supports a wide range of GPS devices, allowing transfer of data and real-time tracking. You can also display and add geodata to RouteBuddy’s topographic maps with RouteBuddy Atlas on the iPhone/iPod touch. MUG members get 25% off the MSRP $99.50 of RouteBuddy for Mac OS X, and 25% off all RouteBuddy Map products which start at MSRP $5.99. RouteBuddy Atlas is free from the iTunes Store. Offer is valid through June 30, 2010. New Mach 3 Composites Macbook Protection case: 33% Discount Mach 3 Composites is introducing their new Carbon Fiber case for your MacBook. It features a new hard shell, light-weight, low profile, checkpoint friendly case. These cases are hand-made and designed to help protect your Apple laptop. All case exteriors have a high gloss finish with 100% carbon fiber, interiors are padded, and covered with a high-quality soft liner. They come in four sizes to best fit your needs. Retail prices range from $151.99 to $199.99, depending on your laptop size, but Apple user group discounted prices range from $99.99 to $146.99 . . . shipping will begin in mid-February. Offer is valid through May 30, 2010. Pixelmator: Exclusive 20% Discount Pixelmator is a beautifully designed, easy to use, image editor for OS Leopard+ machines. Create, edit and enhance your images! Some features include: • Image processing by Core Image and Open GL • 20 tools to crop, slice, paint, retouch, measure, navigate • 15 color correction tools • 130 filters • 100 file formats • Layers-based image editing • Send To Mail and iPhoto and More! With this exclusive 20% discount for MUG members, the usual SMRP of $59.00 drops to $47.20. Offer is valid through May 15, 2010. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 SmartMotion SwingChair: 20% Off SmartMotion Technology produces one of the the best office chairs for computer users. The SwingChair is especially helpful to those who sit for long periods of time, providing continual support. Satisfaction is guaranteed with a 30-day money back guarantee. The SwingChair is regularly priced $495, but Apple User Group members can purchase one for $445, with free shipping and handling in the continental United States. If outside this area, SmartMotion will cover the first $49 in shipping costs. Ask about discounts on accessories. Offer is valid through March 15, 2010. That’s Easy: Get the Apple User Group Market Resource Blog and Vendor Discount Offers Looking for information on a past offer? Tom Piper of the Apple User Group Advisory Board publishes a single page with all current offers, expiration dates and codes. Watch for intermittent special offers. For all current offers & discount codes, go to: http://web.me.com/ugab/offers/vendorcodes.htm Password: ***** *****Note: AUG Password above is located in your mailed CMC newsletter. www.ctmac.org page 9 2009–10 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President Jerry Bonvisuto vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Special Events Jack Bass w1fla@sbcglobal.net Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Raffles Robert Sawyer raffles@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Download of the Month Debbie Foss dotm@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also available Or LIVE at any to draw or live business for anyevent. event. private (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, February 24 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Back-to-Basics: 6 pm Using iWeb to Create Your Own Website Come join us in February (and continuing in March) for our two-part Back to Basics sessions on using iWeb to create and design Web sites. Vice President Jerry Bonvisuto will discuss and demo the ins and outs of using iWeb with MobileMe or your own personal domain. And if you're not using MobileMe, Jerry will talk about choosing the right ISP to host your web site. Main Presentation: 7 pm Computer & Internet Security Can you tell if your Mac is secure? Do you know how to protect your personal information? Would you know how to store important documents on a flash drive, yet keep them secure? Do you know how to have your passwords with you everywhere you go, yet never put them in jeopardy? Come to this presentation and you’ll be able to answer these questions with a resounding yes! Computer consultant Chris Hart will present this discussion of computer and Internet security. While some of the information presented can help both Windows and Macintosh users, the focus is on providing Mac owners with realistic safety practices to use everyday. Topics will include good security practices, smart passwords, staying safe online, recognizing scams and a variety of useful software tools. Come learn how to protect yourself in the digital world. CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email us at vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Free Raffle! Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software…there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted camera-ready in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 94 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of February 03, 2010 Checking Account ................$898.18 Money Market ........................$4588.63 Your CMC Information Need Mac Support? Check your newsletter mailing label for the following info: Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? • Your CMC User name and password That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org to access info at www.ctmac.org • Your CMC Membership Number (free shipping at MacConnection) • Your CMC Membership renewal date Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, February 24 at UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 Back-to-Basics, 6:00 pm: Using iWeb to Create Your Own Website Main Presentation, 7:00 pm: Computer & Internet Security For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. In Memoriam Long-time CMC member Al Boyer passed away on December 20, 2009. Even though in recent years, Al had to cut back on his involvement with our group, he had contributed much. Most significantly, he served as our club Treasurer for several years. He will be missed. On behalf of the CMC membership, our condolences go out to Al’s family. Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION March 2010 How I Use iWorks Pages to Design Email Announcements By Jerry Esposito, CMC president As president of CMC, one of my duties is to send out announcements for our monthly meeting. I try to send out three emails per month so as to keep all of our members informed of the date and give them some information regarding the subject matter we will present. Since our mailing list is more than 100 names, the club needs to use an Internet email service for sending out our announcements. We’ve chosen a service known as MailChimp. Now, this program offers various ways to Inside RetroMacCast page 2 Amnesia: The Dark Descent page 3 EagleFlyer Turns a Finder Folder into a Snippet Keeper page 4 - 5 Freshly Squeezed Reviews: For Your To Go pages 6 Review: Freeway Express page 7 Download of the Month: Meteorologist page 8 DMG Cancas 2.0 page 8 MacWorld TidBits page 9 Meetings and Member Info page 11 design your messages by importing your own logos, pictures and other artwork. It even offers a selection of fonts, but the selection vis ery limited. So if you want to try your hand at using a wider selection of fonts and designs than are offered by this Web app, you may prefer to use some kind of a “page making” application. Since I own iWork ’09, I decided to try Pages as my design program. Pages offers templates for word processing documents, plus posters, newsletters, postcards, and other design formats. I started by picking a template that looked suitable for the message I wanted to convey. This saves some time, as there are already placeholders for varicontinued on page 3 CMC 2010 Elections At the February 4th board meeting, a nominating committee was formed for the Group’s 2010 officer elections. The job of the committee is to identify candidates for CMC executive board positions. These candidates can include incumbents, who have chosen to run for a second term, as well as new candidates who would like to be considered for the positions of Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, President. CMC members Connie Scott and Linas Venclauskas volunteered for the nominating committee and were assigned to their positions by unanimous vote of the board members in attendance. The nomination committee is advising the membership that elections are upcoming. The office of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer are open for consideration. Jerry Esposito is willing to run again for President. Chris Hart is willing to run another term for secretary and Linas Venclauskas is willing to run again Above: a sample email announcement created in iWorks Pages. for treasurer. The office of Vice President is currently without an interested person and needs to be filled. The committee will be taking nominations for these positions and anyone interested in the office of Vice President, the office encompasses the following: The Vice-President shall: a. Perform the duties of the President in the absence or disability of the President. b. Plan and coordinate all fund raising and special activities for the club. c. Perform such other duties as the Executive Board may prescribe. Please forward any nominations to Connie parliamentarian@ctmac.org or Linas treasurer@ctmac.org. If you have an interest in participating in CMC, we encourage you to contact Linas, or Connie. Everyone can contribute to the group (there are several positions that don’t require an election), so please don’t hesitate to offer to help keep your Mac User Group going! How I Use iWorks Pages... Continued from page 1 CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. ous sizes of pictures, artwork and copy. You can add photos to your design by selecting View -> Show Media Browser. Then you can drag your photos into the placeholders. You can change the size of the picture by clicking on it and using the slider that appears to change the image size. You can adjust the image’s color, exposure, brightness, temperature and even it’s sharpness by using Adjust Image selection under View. Many other adjustments, tools and design helpers are at your disposal in this program. Shadows and colors can be added to fonts, rules, and fill behind text boxes. Even adding audio and movies are some of the possibilities that can be brought into a Pages design. As for your copy, you can just copy and paste a previously written text right into page 2 When you’re finished and happy with your design, you can save it as a Word document, a Pages document that can be opened in iWorks ’08, or export it as a PDF, RTF, or plain text file. In order to bring my design into the earlier mentioned MailChimp, I export the Pages document as a PDF. Then I open it in OS X’s Preview app and re-save it as a GIF, which MailChimp recognizes and allows me to use in my email message. This new document can be imported into my MailChimp page and appears as exactly as my original Pages document did. So, open up iWorks and have some fun designing ads and posters for your next project! They are “MyPage, Members, Photos, Videos, Forum, Groups, Blogs and Chat.” RetroMacCast Reprinted from the User Group Network News This web site, is aimed at those of us using “classic” or “vintage” Macs. Or in this case, they are referred to as Retro. In fact, the title page says “They’re not old they’re retro.” The site is really dedicated to the listeners of the RetroMacCast podcast. The tabs on the page lead to the topics you would expect. www.ctmac.org text boxes that can be placed anywhere on the page. And you’re only limited to the fonts you have on your Mac. They are on episode 148 and are current through February 6th. I don’t think we will hear anything about the iPad here for a long time. So for those of us who have been around since the Mac was introduced, this is not only a trip down memory lane, but a sense that those machines are still useful. See the web site here: http://retromaccast.ning.com/ Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Status of Amnesia: The Dark Descent – The game is now up and running on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X! All platforms have participated in the recent testing session and performed over expectations. We are pleased to announce that the game will get a simultaneous release on all platforms! Amnesia: The Dark Descent From the makers of the Penumbra series comes a brand new survival horror game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Today Frictional Games is happy to announce the release of the game’s web site and a first look at actual in-game footage, in the form of a horrifying teaser. “We recently finished a massive testing session of the game to much success. With that behind us we now know how Amnesia will play like and what it takes to finish it. This means we feel confident in moving forward and sharing more juicy details about the game. This includes crucial things such as availability, pricing and what the game is all about.” – Thomas Grip, Co-founder. General information about the game, screenshots and a teaser are the main additions to the heavily updated web site. Web site – General information about the game, screenshots and a teaser are the main additions to the heavily updated web site. We have also added information about how to pre-order and where the final game will be available for purchase. Check back for future updates with new screens, information and, as release draws closer, a demo. The web site also features something of a first in the history of computer games – the “pre-order-o-meter”. Watch as blood fill up for every new pre-order placed! If we reach 2000 pre-orders before end of May, new content will be added to the game. Many companies seem to view the PC as a “dying gaming platform” and we see this as a great opportunity. Amnesia is a modern 3D game that from the very beginning has been created with the PC in mind. It has modest demands on the PC hardware compared to recent console ports and because of this we are able to make sure a broader audience can experience the game as intended. Release and availability – With an estimated release date of August 2010, you can pre-order it now for $16 and save 20% on the release price of $20. The preorder is available at our own online store and is for the digital download version of the game. At the release in August the game will be available for purchase in just about any of the major online stores. Further details can be found at the Amnesia web site and more information will be released shortly. A boxed version for retail release is also planned and information will be released as it becomes available. Amnesia: www.amnesiagame.com Teaser – Take a deep breath and prepare yourself to experience the first real gameplay video released. This teaser gives a first look at what sort of experience we are aiming for when playing Amnesia, it lasts for over three minutes and consists of one single clip. The idea is to convey as clearly as possible that the player is in control of the character throughout the whole game. There are no cut-scenes or any sort of moments where control is taken away to force the narrative forward. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Frictional Games is a small independent game developer located in the south of Sweden or, to be more precise, located on the Internet – the company is office-free. We develop unique technologies in form of a game engine and tools that are tailored specifically after the games that we create. Currently with a crew of five in-house and a network of contractors to utilise during production we can be dynamic and efficient, increasing production at key moments. www.ctmac.org page 3 EagleFiler Turns a Finder Folder Into a Snippet Keeper by Matt Neuburg Reprinted from TidBITS In nearly two decades of experimenting with ways of storing and retrieving text and other snippets of information, largely documented in the “Conquer Your Text” found at: http://tinyurl.com/ya88h7a series of articles, I’ve found that most applications take a fairly heavyweight approach, requiring me to hand my data completely over to their care, keeping it in a specific place or (even more often) in a document and format specific to this application. That’s why I was intrigued by the lighter touch of EagleFiler: http://tinyurl.com/yugfel from CCommand (the development house of Michael Tsai, who also writes SpamSieve (see “Tools We Use: SpamSieve” at: http://tinyurl.com/ydyocdt and other utilities I wouldn’t want to be without). EagleFiler’s chief document type is called a “library.” You can have as many libraries as you like, and each library is just an ordinary folder in the Finder, containing files that are your data; each snippet is simply a file in a standard data format. A library also contains some housekeeping files maintained by EagleFiler. So you do have to make a conscious decision to keep particular snippets in a particular folder - the snippets can’t be scattered all over your hard disk - and you do need, in general, to refrain from altering the contents of that folder directly, interacting with them through EagleFiler instead. But all the same, there are your snippets just sitting there, ordinary files in an ordinary folder, completely visible and accessible in the Finder. You can search your snippets within EagleFiler, but you can also search them with system-level Spotlight. You can open them directly in the Finder. If the world were suddenly struck by mysterious cosmic rays that destroyed EagleFiler, none of your data would be lost, because your data are just normal files in folders. In the distant past, one might have chided this scheme for wasting space. Even a tiny text file occupies a minimum logical space on your hard disk - typically 8 KB. So, while 100 snippets of 10 bytes of text data apiece sum to about a kilobyte, 100 files of 10 bytes apiece require nearly a megabyte. However, in the modern scheme of things, where a hard disk will typically have dozens of gigabytes of free space, a few extra megabytes are hardly problematic. Window on the World — Since EagleFiler’s data are just files in a folder, its chief value lies in its presentation of those files, and how it lets you annotate and search them. I’ll start by describing the library window. The basic layout is reminiscent of Mail’s tripartite window. At the top is a list of files www.ctmac.org page 4 in the library (called “records”). At the bottom are the contents of the record currently selected in that list. And on the left is a sidebar where you can select to specify the subset of records you want listed at the top. The sidebar has three sections. First comes a hierarchical list of folders. Here you can make new folders, put folders within folders, and organize records into folders; these folders are real, reflecting and controlling the actual folder hierarchy within the library folder in the Finder. The second sidebar section is smart folders. As in Mail or the Finder, a smart folder is a saved set of search criteria; clicking one performs the search, determining which records are listed at the top. You can construct (through an excellent interface) some powerfully complex search criteria. The third sidebar section is tags. You can create tags at will, and assign any number of them to a record; and tags can be structured hierarchically. So, the sidebar is itself a search mechanism, because you can select any combination of folders, smart folders, and tags to determine what’s listed in the top half of the window. In addition, at the very top of the window (in the toolbar) is a search field. EagleFiler’s search really shines; it’s based on Spotlight (so it can index any file that Spotlight knows how to index), but it uses its own index (making it super-fast) and its own straightforward Boolean syntax. There is also a secondary Info (or Inspect) window. Here, among other things, you can read and edit a record’s “note.” A note is an RTF file, associated with a record, that EagleFiler stores for you in a separate Notes folder within the library folder. Thus, you can attach text to a record in addition to its continued on page 5 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 continued from page 4 title and contents. And once again, if EagleFiler weren’t present, you could still read all your notes, as they are normal RTF files openable in TextEdit. A World of Data — EagleFiler can import any kind of file. Within EagleFiler, you can edit a file’s title (which is displayed in the upper part of the window), and, in the case of RTF and text files, even its contents. You can ask EagleFiler to open any record via the Finder, but this is often unnecessary, since EagleFiler can display the contents of many file types, and some file types receive special treatment of other kinds. Perhaps the best way to give you some idea of this is to describe some of my own various EagleFiler libraries. • Notes. This is a large miscellaneous library of text and RTF files. They are vaguely categorized using tags (“Ruby”, “Cocoa”) but in no other way; I search on them mostly by title or contents. • Scans. I got tired of saving all my old paper warranties, instruction booklets, receipts, and so forth, so I scanned them all. These files are just images, so they have no internal data; therefore I’ve given them titles and notes that are descriptive and flexible, for the sake of searchability. The files are JPEGs, and EagleFiler’s display of their contents is usually quite sufficient when I need to examine one. • Orders. When I buy something over the Web, I print-toPDF from the browser’s receipt page directly into this library. EagleFiler can parse and search the text of these PDFs, so I can search on terms related to what I ordered. Tags let me specify the stage the order is at (“ordered”, “shipped”, “received”). • Mail Archive. I use Entourage, which keeps its mail in one gigantic, all too easily corrupted database. So every once in a while I export an Entourage “folder” that’s no longer active to EagleFiler and delete those messages from Entourage. EagleFiler keeps each “folder” as an mbox file, but it displays the messages individually using the subject line as the title, and it knows (and displays) a message’s From, To, and Date information. All embedded attachments are maintained. Naturally, messages are searchable by contents. • Bookmarks. This is a massive hierarchy of URL files. weight. It’s packed with too many clever touches for me to list. The range of things you can import, of ways you can perform an import, and of smart things EagleFiler can do in response, is quite astounding (and you can use AppleScript to extend its powers even further); read the manual online at: http://c-command.com/eaglefiler/manual if you want to know more. To give just one example: Suppose EagleFiler isn’t even running; well, every library folder contains a To Import folder, and whatever you place there will be imported into that library automatically the next time EagleFiler opens that library. Brilliant. At the same time, I’ve occasionally encountered problems with EagleFiler’s interface. In fact, over several weeks in 2009, when I was first giving EagleFiler a serious try, I reported many interface issues. Most were small and were quickly fixed, such as a text field that refused to accept a space character, windows opening at the wrong time, a window that forgot what text field I was working in when I returned to it, that sort of thing. On the other hand, EagleFiler still starts up unbelievably slowly, and its Help menu is still extremely slow to pop down when you click it, apparently due to EagleFiler’s being written with the PyObjC framework. And, while EagleFiler is excellent for storage of an occasional URL file, it can’t substitute for a full-fledged bookmark repository. The hierarchical display of folders in the sidebar lacks the organizational power of a true outliner. You can’t edit an imported URL, so if a Web address changes, you can’t change the corresponding listing within EagleFiler - you have to delete and replace the existing URL file. And, while there are various ways to import a Web URL - as a bookmark file, a text file, a PDF, or a Web archive - there’s no interface for picking an option at import time: you have to specify it beforehand in the application’s overall preferences. (However, you can use a cool to overcome this limitation.) But I’ve been very happily using EagleFiler otherwise. I’m probably not using it to its full potential, and yet it has already replaced several other snippet keepers in my arsenal. And it’s a whole lot better than using the Finder alone! If you’ve already got a folder full of related things, and you still can’t readily find the right one, that folder is a candidate for being turned into an EagleFiler library. In fact, that’s how I really think of EagleFiler - it’s a Finder folder on steroids. EagleFiler requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later, with 10.5 or later recommended. It costs $40, and you can download and try it for 30 days for free. These have all proven to be splendid uses of EagleFiler, except for the Bookmarks library (which is not working out, for reasons I’ll discuss in the next section). This article originally appeared in TidBITS on 2010-02-2. See the original article at: http://db.tidbits.com/article/11040 Conclusions — EagleFiler combines ease of use with an underlying ingenuity that makes it feel simple, fast, and light- Reprinted with permission. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 5 Freshly Squeezed Reviews: For You To Go By Frank Petrie Product: Zagat To Go Author: Handmark, Inc. Requirements: iPhone, iPod Touch App Price: $9.99 Test Rig: iPhone 3Gs Food, food, glorious food. From the finest dining experience to the most satisfying of burgers, we all crave one type or another. And when that craving hits – where to go? What type – Chinese, Italian, Mediterranean? I don’t want to spend time debating the issue – I WANT TO EAT!! How about just the local pub? I don’t care – I JUST WANT TO EAT! From The Zagat folks: The most trusted guide to restaurants comes to the iPhone and WiFi iPod Touch with over 45 Guides of Restaurant Reviews and Ratings for *less than the price of 1 guide!* Whether a cheap bite or a posh dinner, Zagat has shown the way for 30 years! Our Nightlife, Hotel and Shopping coverage also included where available. FEATURES • GPS: Find nearby restaurants automatically • Recommendations: Our digital concierge tells you where to take Dates, Clients, Friends & more • Advanced Search: Mix and Match by any criteria • Top Rated Lists: “Best of” in your city like Best Buys, Best Burgers, Most Romantic & more. • Reservations: Reserve tables instantly • Sort: Filter by Food, Décor, Service or Cost! • Email Reviews, Add To Contacts, & Full Photos • 100% Complete: Every Zagat-Rated restaurant • 100% Up To Date: New restaurants added M-F You can choose from restaurants, nightlife and hotels (plus, occasionally shopping). After your experience at any of the listed establishments, you are asked to review your experience and rate such items as service, decor, promptness, etc. These reviews are then added to others of the establishment to give them an aggregate rating. Plus you can add any additional observations to your experience. THE PULP As I had mentioned earlier, I put Zagat ToGo through its paces in my sleepy little hamlet. And I have to say that all of the reviews were spot on! Places were I had bad experiences were brought back to mind after reading of patrons suffering the very same nightmares or, conversely, any pleasantries that I had. I found the various ratings of decor and such to also to be extremely accurate. I did find a few restaurants that no longer exist, but when you think of the sheer number of establishments that are covered in this app, that’s more than understandable. THE RIND Nada. And, you can use Zagat To Go offline after syncing via Wi-Fi. A getaway weekend all planned in seconds with only your fingertips? Let’s see. THE JUICE Zagat is a restaurant, travel and nightlife review guide started in 1979 by Tim and Nina Zagat as a way to collect and correlate the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering New York City, the Zagats surveyed their friends. Today, Zagats covers over 70 major metropolitan areas, but also has a very good handle on burbs like my South Jersey area. www.ctmac.org page 6 SUMMARY If you’re just a couple looking for a good weekend out in a major city or just trying to pick from your local haunts, Zagat To Go is worth every single penny. Doesn’t even rate a second thought. This is the kind of app that makes the iPhone indispensable. In fact, it is too good, in one way–it is not diet friendly! RATING: 10 of 10 ©2010 Frank Petrie Reprinted from the MUG Center with permission Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Review: Freeway Express to it the elements that will be common in your pages, such as your heading and links you will want to have on every page. You can have more than one master page. With Freeway software you can layout your Web site using graphics and text. The Freeway program converts it into standards-based HTML code when you upload it to your Internet host. You create individual pages based upon the Master page by adding text and graphics boxes. It is a good idea to assemble your graphics in a folder for importing, and you can either have your text written for importing or key it into Freeway. The software comes in two versions: Freeway Express for $79, and Freeway Pro for $249. Softpress provided both versions for our user group. I tried using the Freeway Pro version first because I really like its advanced features and full CSS-based results, but I found that it was easier for me to learn using Freeway Express. Then I decided to stay with Freeway Express for our NVMUG web site because I liked the results and it will be easier for someone else to continue this Web site if necessary. The program comes with a nicely printed 117-page Using Freeway 5 guide and a PDF version if you want to search for content on your computer. It also comes with a 468-page PDF Using Freeway 5 Reference for printing, and the same reference formatted for viewing on your monitor. Free tutorials are available and more are being developed. You can subscribe to receive them through iTunes. And there is an online Knowledge Base that I used to answer a question about posting the website to a .Mac account. Once you have an idea for you site in mind, you begin by creating a master page of the size and style you want. You add I viewed some downloaded tutorials, and then followed the three tutorials in the “Using Freeway 5 Guide.” It took awhile to figure some of it out and a bit longer to get comfortable with it. It might not take as long for someone who is not 78 years old. But it is much faster than entering HTML code once you get comfortable with Freeway Express. I showed my first five pages to another NVMUG member, Stephen Farber. That version was more like our older NVMUG web site with the navigation buttons running down the left side. Stephen suggested that if the text was wider or there were two columns, people would not have to scroll down so far. Because of the master pages, and because this is a very compliant Macintosh program where features just work, it took much less time than I expected to reconstruct the site in this format, and adding new information is a breeze. Take a look at Freeway Express and say goodbye to HTML. Reprinted from the Northern Vermont Macintosh Users Group Web site. “Take a look at Freeway Express and say goodbye to HTML.” Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 7 DMG Canvas(TM) is a product of Araelium Group, a development company located in Southern California dedicated to developing Mac OS X applications. Araelium Group is the maker of the popular Screenflick screen recording program, and the MySQL database tool Querious. DMG Canvas 2.0 Released Reprinted from the User Group Network News Araelium Group announced this week the release of version 2.0 of its DMG Canvas disk image creation application for Mac OS X. DMG Canvas builds disk images from template documents that users create. Simply design your disk image’s appearance using the graphical WYSIWYG editor and click Build. New in version 2 is advanced background layout with custom text objects and images. Using this new view, multiple images and customizable text boxes can be layered on top of the disk image window’s background image. This streamlines the creation of background image art, removing the need for other tools. A great feature for application developers and other professionals, DMG Canvas also allows you to specify the license agreements displayed when the disk image is mounted. License agreements can even be localized into many other languages for non-English end users. With the “dmgcanvas” command line tool, the disk image process can even be entirely automated. Once a DMG Canvas document has been created, the dmgcanvas tool can be used within larger scripts such as application build processes, to create the disk image without ever having to open the DMG Canvas application. What’s new in 2.0: * Advanced background layout with custom text objects and images * More Finder window options such as showing the toolbar and sidebar, file name text size and position * Customize individual icon sizes by resizing the icon * Tiger/Leopard compatibility with disk images built on Snow Leopard * “Build & Pause” process allowing customization in Finder Minimum Requirements: Mac OS X Version 10.5 Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel Pricing and Availability: DMG Canvas 2.0 is free to use with limited features. The $15 registration unlocks background layout and automated building using the dmgcanvas command line tool. DMG Canvas 2.0 is a free update for all registered DMG Canvas users. Araelium: www.araelium.com DMG Canvas 2.0: http://tinyurl.com/yd3e5kt Download DMG Canvas: http://tinyurl.com/yeh44lx Version 2.0 also includes Leopard compatibility with disk images built on Snow Leopard. Without using DMG Canvas, disk images created on Snow Leopard will not show their background images and other visual attributes when mounted on Leopard and previous versions of Mac OS X. DMG Canvas seamlessly solves this problem which otherwise would require having to boot into Leopard. Araelium Group is a small software development company located in Southern California dedicated to developing Mac OS X applications. Araelium Group is the maker of the popular Screenflick screen recording program and the MySQL database tool Querious. Download of the Month Submitted by Deb Foss Meteorologist Weather Access from the Menu Bar or Dock Meteorologist is a full-featured, free, and open source weather program for Mac OS X. The latest version of Meteorologist supports multiple cities, new version checking, and many more features. Meteorologist represents both the efforts of the developers and the helpful and insightful comments of those who use this program. The Meteorologist project is hosted by SourceForge. SourceForge is a community for open source developers to collaborate on their projects, keep track of bug and feature requests, and other really cool things. This product is designed to run on the following operating systems: • Mac OS X 10.5 Intel • Mac OS X 10.5 PPC • Mac OS X 10.4 Intel • Mac OS X 10.4 PPC www.ctmac.org page 8 Check out the SourceForge page: http://heat-meteo.sourceforge.net/ Download: http://tinyurl.com/y952p4f Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Macworld 2010 Tidbits Reprinted from the InfoManager User Group Network News Macworld 2010: TUAW’s Best in Show — While there wasn’t a lot of attention outside the conference floor from folks expecting more about Apple, on the show floor itself there was clearly an excitement and a sense of opportunity for lots of companies who might have been overshadowed by Apple’s presence in the past. http://tinyurl.com/yl499px Macworld Expo: Far From Dead — With all the press about how Macworld Conference & Expo 2010 was going to be a death march, the last gasp of a once great show, adrift without Apple’s glory shining down upon us all, a funny thing happened: the show didn’t suck. Not only didn’t it suck, it was rather solid success. I had six conference sessions to run, and some decent time on the show floor, and in comparison to the last two Boston Macworlds, which were death marches, this show really rocked. http://tinyurl.com/ygrszcn Regen absorbs $1.6M to roll out solarpowered lights, stereos and more — Solar backpacks used to charge personal electronics and Novothink’s solar-charging cases for iPhones and iPods (exhibited at last week’s MacWorld expo). Measuring about 80 square-inches, and at only 0.75 inches thick, the device has a built-in lithium iron phosphate battery with the same capacity as two fully-charged iPhones. http://tinyurl.com/ylfj5p7 Apple and e-book DRM: Will they? — With Apple already firmly entrenched in the realms of digital music and video, it was only a matter of time before the company got into the future of the printed word. But aside from the few hints Apple CEO Steve Jobs dropped at the iPad unveiling last month, relatively little is known about the company’s forthcoming iBookstore. Case in point: will the e-books that Apple sells contain digital rights management? And, given that Apple has made such a big push to sell music free of DRM restrictions, should the company enforce it on books? http://tinyurl.com/ygb4ser Can E-readers and Tablets Save the News? — Sales are robust for e-readers and there is no shortage of tablets yet to launch, including the new Apple iPad. But will strong sales translate into a boost for the media industry? If media organizations do it right, the potential could be there for e-readers and tablets to become a viable revenue source. However, it may take a dramatic shift in the way publishers view digital content and their online business models. Here’s a look at what media companies will likely need to do to make that happen. http://tinyurl.com/yfzpjpu Fujitsu scanning with MindTouch — Open source developer MindTouch announced a partnership with Fujitsu that will allow the integration of Fujitsu’s ScanSnap family of scanners with the MindTouch collaboration platform. The integration will allow customers to upload, store, edit, and share documents throughout an enterprise and works by emailing the scanned image directly to a user’s MindTouch account. The companies recently showcased the combined offering at MacWorld in San Francisco. http://tinyurl.com/yaef7sz Apple Store Kid Friendly, beware adults — Apple may have just made a major Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 change to the App Store that could render many developers’ applications worthless. We’ve just heard from Jon Atherton, the developer behind Wobble iBoobs, who says that he just received an email from Apple indicating that his application was being removed from the App Store because of a new policy change: Apple has apparently decided “to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store.” http://tinyurl.com/y9e98uu How the iPad fits into IT — A lot of bits have given their life in the last few weeks so that writers can fill your computer screen with lots of words about the iPad’s role in IT. The iPad will either grind your network to a halt, kill productivity, and drive us all to live in caves poking at the dirt with sticks should someone be foolish enough to let one into the enterprise, or it will usher in a new age of flying cars, zeppelin houses, and pill food as part of our inevitable evolution into pure energy. http://tinyurl.com/ye9gajo Photo fx is a Macworld (UK) 4 Star Winner and recipient of the coveted DV Magazine (Digital Video) 2009 Black Diamond Award. Its definitive set of digital filters and effects including simulations of many popular award-winning Tiffen glass filters, optical lab processes and photographic effects help users to create stunning images. http://tinyurl.com/yhcy8ac Google gets reMail — Once upon a time, there was an app called reMail for the iPhone, as Macworld and Google’s cache can prove. reMail offered very fast full-text searching of your Gmail or IMAP e-mail account. But as you can tell from my use of the past tense, reMail will now live mostly in our memories. http://tinyurl.com/y9nnhh3 View the complete article at UGN InfoManager at: http://tinyurl.com/y8k4d4b www.ctmac.org page 9 2010 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President Jerry Bonvisuto vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Special Events Jack Bass w1fla@sbcglobal.net Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ CMC Wants You! Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Want to join the CMC board in 2010? Please forward any nominations to Connie Scott or Linas Venclauskas. See page 1 for more info. Download of the Month Debbie Foss dotm@ctmac.org ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also available Or LIVE at any to draw or live business for anyevent. event. private (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, March 31 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Back-to-Basics: 6 pm All About Your Website, Part 2 In Part 1, you learned how to pick the right vendor for your web site and other web related information. Now it is time to focus on using iWeb to create and upload an actual web site. So, please join CMC VP Jerry Bonvisuto for a quick review of the Part 1 Back-to-Basics session and an in-depth study of iWeb to create and publish web pages and web sites. If you have any questions on this topic before the B2B, please e-mail Jerry at jerryb@pdcct.com so that he can address the questions in the presentation. Main Presentation: 7 pm Web Page Archival Increasingly, we get more of our information from the web. While making your way back to a web page you once found is not an impossible task, it’s sometime more difficult than you’d expect. And we know that many CMC members like to archive web page content so they don’t ever have to go looking for it again. With that in mind, this month’s presentation with Chris Hart, computer consultant, will cover the archiving of web pages, as well as finding content from sites you’ve previously visited. Chris will present a myriad of ways to archive web pages, each with its own benefits. He’ll demonstrate specific examples and explain why some methods are better than others. He’ll also spend time talking about software applications that make web page archival easier. Come join us and make your life online more hassle free! CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email us at vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Free Raffle! Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software…there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted camera-ready in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 94 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of March 02, 2010 Checking Account ................$908.31 Money Market ........................$4589.69 Your CMC Information Need Mac Support? Check your newsletter mailing label for the following info: Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? • Your CMC User name and password That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org to access info at www.ctmac.org • Your CMC Membership Number (free shipping at MacConnection) • Your CMC Membership renewal date Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, March 31 at UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 Back-to-Basics, 6:00 pm: All About Your Website The Ins & Outs of iWeb - Part 2 Main Presentation, 7:00 pm: Web Page Archival For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. Thank You! Our February presenters had lots to share at last month’s meeting. In Part 1 of “All About Your Website,” Jerry Bonvisuto gave us his views on the ways to get started withy our own website. Part 2, “The Ins & Outs of iWeb” will be presented on March 31st. And our main presentation with Chris Hart brought us his expertise on “The Mac and Internet Security.” Keeping our Macs safe on the Internet and our identities safer was the main message of his presentation. Thank you to both Jerry and Chris for those most enlightening presentations. April 2010 Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION Adding Podcasts to Your Playlists Can Help You Become a “Mac Genius” ............................................................ by Jerry Esposito, CMC president Inside Import YouTube and Other Video to Your Mac page 2 Dreamweaver Killer page 3 Book Review: The Creative Digital Darkroom page 4 Review: MacSpeech Scribe pages 5 CMC Elections page 7 Lost CDs page 8 Duplicate Finder page 9 Meetings and Member Info page 11 Do you ever wish you could find out more ways to efficiently use your Mac and keep it running smoothly? Or know when to clear the cache, run permissions repairs, and all the other things we tend to forget about until our Macs are running slow or having problems? Maybe it’s time you discovered podcasts. Not just any podcast, but the ones that concentrate on the world of Mac maintenance, and Apple and its products. A wealth of information can be had just by listening a few minutes a day while on your commute to work. Or, if you’re doing a Saturday chore around the house, you can set up your iPod with one of the many speakers that are offered, or just use the supplied ear buds. Here I will share with you what I typically listen to, and whom I feel offers the most knowledgeable advice that I have come to respect. And the best part is that most of them are free for you to listen and learn from! I’ve been listening to podcasts since iTunes started offering them for download to the iPod. And the iPod is a great way to hear them–besides just playing them on your computer. Some of my favorites are weekly, but others are bi-weekly and some even daily. Get started by selecting Music Store in your iTunes source column on the far left, then click “Podcasts” along the top to search inside the Music Store. Another way is to select the small Podcasts icon in the Source column under Library, click the arrow next to “Podcast Directory” at the lower right of the iTunes window. From there you can pick and choose what you think would be of interest to you. But that’s just a start. You can do a power search and come up with many more podcasts that are chock full of learning. Information on topics, including instruction on different apps, interviews with authors of Mac books, discussions between knowledgeable Mac gurus and pundits, and many other Mac-related subjects is available. Since I like to try out different applications, I subscribe to several that offer their thoughts on various apps. One podcast I enjoy is Surf-Bit’s “Mac ReviewCast,” hosted by Tim Verpoorten. It’s a free bi-weekly that starts out with reviews of freeware and shareware apps, and then has guest reviewers tell their experiences using paid apps. A daily podcast that focuses on Apple-related news is “Mac OS Ken” by Ken Ray. It’s packed with information on what’s happening at Apple, sales figures of all their products, who’s suing Apple, who Apple’s suing–well, you get the picture. It’s a continued on page 6 Import YouTube and Other Video to Your Mac Reprinted from the UGN InfoManager part of the User Group Network CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. www.ctmac.org page 2 Cocoamug Software has solved the problem of capturing YouTube videos with CosmoPod for Mac OS X. CosmoPod is a one-click simple extension to Apple Safari browser that helps you saving and converting internet media content to your Mac, iPhone, AppleTV or iPod. From Hong Kong comes the latest release of CosmoPod. CosmoPod 4.2.1 is an intuitive Safari extension that lets you download Flash videos from all popular websites like YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, etc. CosmoPod can automatically convert downloaded files to an Apple device friendly format, tag them and add them to iTunes so it’s all there ready format your next sync. Best of all, it’s one-click simple! Additionally, you can convert most video already on your hard drive with a simple drag and drop and CosmoPod is also a great tool to import your DVD collection to your Mac, iTunes, AppleTV, and iPhone. • CosmoPod supports the most popular web video formats (FLV, DivX, WMV, MMS, RM, RTSP) • Convert files already on your disk and DVDs by dropping them onto CosmoPod window • Beautiful H.264 encoding for all your needs (Mac, iPod, iPhone & AppleTV). • Works with Elgato turbo.264 and turbo.264 HD • Set iTunes movie tags directly from CosmoPod • Automatically detects HD Videos on YouTube • Extract audio tracks from most video files and convert it to m4a • Growl Integration • CosmoPod perfectly blends into Safari. It’s just like an extra Download window, for your media. What’s new in this version: • Selectable file extensions for converted files (m4v / mp4) • Dragging VIDEO_TS folders now start the DVD import wizard • Adds m4v file extensions to droppable file types • Growl framework updated to 1.2.1 • New DVD Import section in user manual • Drop zone window overlay bug has been fixed System Requirements: • Mac OS 10.4 or later • Safari 4 or later • Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel CosmoPod 4.2.1 is shipping today for $12 USD. It is a free update for all CosmoPod 4 licensees. CosmoPod 3 and ealier users can upgrade for $5. To download CosmoPod 4.2.1, go to Cocoamug Software: http://tinyurl.com/q5bvpu Based in Hong Kong, Cocoamug Software is a privately funded company founded in 2007. Leveraging its longtime experience in development, Cocoamug Software focus is developing high-quality, simple, and easy-to-use utilities for the Mac and iPhone platforms. Cocoamug Software is also the company who brought you iRingtones, TabExpose, AdBlock for the iPhone and iPod touch and Emoji. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Dreamweaver Killer Reprinted from the UGN InfoManager, part of the User Group Network After a long beta development period, Flux 2 from The Escapers has left its beta status behind. Throughout development, Flux has increasingly been regarded as becoming a contender to Adobe’s Dreamweaver. patible with MAMP, and instructions how to set this up are in the manual. Web designers from professionals to beginners are encouraged to download a 30-day trial, and discover the power of Flux 2 for themselves. Go to the Escapers website to download Flux and see the Flux Screencast (patience, slow loader!): www.theescapers.com/flux/ Popular website NZmac said “Flux really is the Dreamweaver killer,” and Enjoy Your Mac simply stated that Flux is the “100% Dreamweaver Killer.” To celebrate leaving beta status, The Escapers have relaunched their whole website and created new blogs where future directions of Flux will be discussed. Flux 2 boasts an amazing array of new features, and despite Flux 2 being almost unrecognizable from Flux 1, it remains a free upgrade for all users. Now users can work directly off FTP and SFTP sites; no need to repeatedly download and publish your site. But if publishing your site from your local computer suits your workflow, Flux can not only publish to FTP, SFTP, and MobileMe, it also compress all your images on the fly while publishing. This means that your large PNGs get compressed before they get uploaded, making it faster for you and your website’s readers. Flux 2 is a WYSIWYG design environment, but you can hand crank code too–click on an HTML element in the graphical view, and it’s corresponding code is highlighted ready for editing in the code, it does not get much easier. Unlike most applications, Flux is getting faster as development continues, so now even G4 users can start to enjoy using Flux. At $49.99, customers could be forgiven for thinking that Flux is a template-driven “starter” program, but nothing could be further from the truth. Flux lets you start with a blank page and use advanced XHTML and CSS features, and unlike some of our competitors, Flux can import your existing site and even edit it in place over FTP or SFTP. Flux 2 is also com- With a commitment to providing the highest quality software, The Escapers was founded in 2007 by two brothers for the purpose of publishing personal productivity software solutions expressly for the Mac platform, with a major emphasis on total customer satisfaction. Copyright (C) 2007-2008 The Escapers. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries. CMC March Meeting Candids Photos by John Scott CMC Photographer Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 3 Book Review: The Creative Digital Darkroom Reviewed by Northcoast Mac User Group member John Hershey The Creative Digital Darkroom is almost intimidating in its size and scope. If not intimidating, at least impressive, with over 400 pages of solutions and techniques using the tools of Photoshop CS3, Adobe Camera Raw, and Photoshop Lightroom. The book’s back cover touts it as “...ideal for experienced photographers, artists, and educators alike.” It is also ideal as an ongoing resource to revisit often in your digital darkroom. This is not your ordinary Photoshop tips and tricks book, but a really comprehensive, concise, and even inspiring product gained through years of experience by teaching expert Katrin Eismann and fine art photographer Sean Duggan. Although all chapters are clearly organized to explore one aspect of digital darkroom work at a time, I recommend soldiering through all of the first four chapters in sequence before skipping around the remaining six chapters. The authors so skillfully explain the digital darkroom concept, workflow, settings, and controls in these first “Essentials” chapters, that the reader is guided onto the professional and logical “right track” to proceed into specific image improvements. Of course, the mantra of “I’ll fix it in Photoshop” uttered when a photographer doesn’t take the time or thought to get the best possible original digital photo is considered an unprofessional and restricting attitude by the authors. To quote the book, “The best file is one that requires the least amount of work, and getting the image correct in front of the lens reduces tedious, yet essential, file preparation...” So the adjustments and improvements that take place in the digital darkroom on your Mac are meant to be additions to your already superior photographic skills, not a substitute for inferior photography. Tutorial and example images are available for download from the book’s companion website. File names are listed with each tutorial so the reader can work along with the text by applying the steps to the actual image shown in the book. And a bonus chapter, “The Print,” is available online on the creativedigitaldarkroom.com site. Well worth the time spent under the expert tutorage of the authors, I would recommend The Creative Digital Darkroom to any photographer who aspires to world-class imagery and realization of their personal photographic vision. Author: Katrin Eismann & Sean Duggan Publisher: O’Reilly Press Retail Price: $49.99 This isn’t a book of “quick tips and gratuitous effects” so readily found in the mound of Photoshop and Lightroom books. Subtle adjustments, such as tone and contrast, color correction, exposure control, and sharpening, to name just a few – are explored with techniques of digital processing that are more sophisticated and rewarding than the common kneejerk lunges to one-trick-pony filter buttons and sliders. For example, there are step-by-step tutorials for using layer masks and adjustment layers in non-destructive editing. Tutorials achieve everything from hand tinting to dodging and burning, dynamic range to contrast masking, blend modes to smart filters, midtone color correction to lab colorspace, and other sophisticated techniques. The book has a textbook feel with an abundance of content not watered down by the book-design aesthetic of generous white space. This is a dense, technique-packed volume not targeted at Photoshop or Lightroom neophytes. Even Photoshop geeks will find new and different ways to accomplish digital photographic output that has that look of a master class visual. www.ctmac.org page 4 Reprinted from the newsletter of the NCMUG, Rohnert Park, California Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Review: MacSpeech Scribe by Tom Piper Tired of typing? Need a break from the mouse? Want to step away from touching the screen? Want to just talk to your computer and have it transcribe every word at normal talking speed? Better yet, how about if you record your voice on the iPhone or mike-equipped iPod, or other digital recorder, then feed it to the computer for conversion to written text? There is a terrific product to give you this freedom. MacSpeech Scribe is the world’s most advanced personal transcription solution for the Macintosh. MacSpeech Scribe lets you forget about the painstaking task of typing, and instead create text documents directly from spoken-word audio files. Just imagine it … no more irritating and frustrating stopping, rewinding, re-starting, and typing at a snail’s pace. MacSpeech Scribe transcribes everything for you, and does it easily, quickly, and accurately. And it couldn’t be simpler. Just open your spoken-word audio file with MacSpeech Scribe, click the “Transcribe” button, and MacSpeech Scribe does the transcription work for you. Right before your eyes, you’ll see your file transcribed into text on your screen. A single MacSpeech Scribe license can create and use up to six individual voice profiles, each compatible with all accepted audio file formats, including .wav, .aif, .aiff, .m4v, .mp4, or .m4a formats. When composing a letter or other document by voice, users can include spoken punctuation, and MacSpeech Scribe will automatically include the punctuation marks in the transcribed text. Audio file quality directly impacts transcription accuracy Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 achieved, and MacSpeech Scribe customers are encouraged to minimize background noise and use a high-quality recording device This dynamic tool is the next step in the MacSpeech family of products driven by the Dragon Naturally Speaking Engine. Having recently teamed with Nuance, MacSpeech also creates speech recognition solutions for the Macintosh, including MacSpeech Dictate, MacSpeech Dictate Legal, MacSpeech Dictate Medical, and MacSpeech Dictate International. With a focus on quality, innovation, and value, MacSpeech’s products provide accuracy of up to 99%, dramatically enhance productivity, and are as intuitive to use as the Mac itself. MacSpeech Scribe can be acquired for $149 by going to http://tinyurl.com/ydobtjm where any of the other products can also be considered. MacSpeech Scribe requires an Intelbased Macintosh and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. With a long history of dependable performance, MacSpeech also provides forums to acquire and exchange information, plus social network interfaces for Facebook, Twitter and others. I have used MacSpeech products for number of years with great success. In addition to the regular tethered headset that came with Dictate, I have also purchased the high-quality Plantronics Calisto Bluetooth headset that allows me to walk up to 30 feet away from my computer (wandering improves my thinking). This has really helped me achieve my goal of getting away from traditional computer tools to be more creative, and have fun doing it. I highly recommend this tool for your productivity and enjoyment. Reprinted from the newsletter of the AppleJAC Mac Users Group, Jefferson City, MO. www.ctmac.org page 5 Adding Podcasts to Your Playlists... Continued from page 1 quick 10-minute or so program, but also offers a longer paid-subscriber program on Saturday that has interviews with many leading industry personalities. For more free technical information on keeping your Mac in tiptop shape, listen to Steve Stanger’s “The Mac Attack.” It’s broadcast every couple of weeks and offers many tips on maintenance, system repairs, back up, back up, back up (as he likes to say) and other subjects that will help you become a power user. Download podcasts 106 and 107 to hear all about the “Care and Feeding of your Mac.” Steve and Tim Verpoorten discuss low-cost or free must-have utilities and applications for your Mac. What I enjoy most about Steve’s approach is that he uses these apps himself but lets you know how to use them also. Plus, he’s a very knowledgeable Mac user willing to inform others with his expertise. Katie Floyd and David Sparks host a free weekly podcast known as “The Mac Power Users.” Both Katie and David are long-time Mac users and they focus their program on one subject per program, preferring to cover as much of that subject as they possibly can. They delve into all aspects of a subject, sometimes for an hour and a half. The week I wrote this article they had an interview with Merlin Mann on “workflows” and productivity. The previous week was on “traveling with your Mac,” in which they talked all about the gear they bring along with them on trips. Another very informative podcast that’s technically-oriented but presented in a user friendly way is the Mac Observer’s “Mac Geek Gab.” Again, two hosts, John Braun and www.ctmac.org page 6 Dave Hamilton, talk for at least an hour on many subjects that can be useful to you when using your computer. The show is weekly and free, but they also offer a paid-subscription version that gives you two extra programs a month with longer formats. Topics include the Terminal, back ups, Quick Time, spotlight, Safari, wireless, prepping your Mac for sale, and anything else that’s Mac-related. Well worth your listening to; these two guys are extra-knowledgeable. Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Merlin Mann, Andy Ihnatko and others are featured weekly on “MacBreak Weekly” in which they discuss all kinds of Apple subjects from Snow Leopard to the iPhone, iPad, etc. They also offer audiobook reviews, as one of their sponsors is Audible.com. This is a very entertaining and free podcast. The free “Maccast” by Adam Christianson is one of the very first podcasts I started listening to and continue with weekly. He offers Apple and Macintosh news for the first half of his show, and then moves into solutions for technical and application glitches that listeners have written to him about. He also does interviews from the show floor at Macworld Expos. “MacNotables” offers interviews with many journalists and authors of books you’ve probably bought or articles you’ve read in the pages of MacLife Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 or Macworld magazine. Ted Landau, founder of Mac FixIt and contributor to the Mac Observer and author of many Mac books, Adam and Tonya Engst of TidBits and the Take Control of... series of books are just some of the many people interviewed on this show. Bob Levitus, also known as Dr. Mac, is a frequent guest, as is Chris Breen, Macworld’s Senior Editor. These shows are free also. “ScreenCastsOnLine” is a video program that offers a free abbreviated video and an expanded paid version. The videocasts, or tutorials, as Don calls them, go into depth on setting up apps, learning iLife or iWorks apps, InstaPaper, Twitter, LaunchBar, Snow Leopard and nearly any app you might want to use or buy. While not geared to just listening, you would want to view the segments on your iPod or iPhone screen or computer monitor, or play it on your TV screen. Don McAllister is considered one of the best screencast producers of today. Many application developers use his actual screencast tutorials as their own videos for demonstrating how to use their programs. His Extra Members Only shows are subscription-based but give you extra, longer programs and other perks. I can’t say enough about the quality of his videos. Try a few of the free ones and decide for yourself. download shorter versions free and see how you like them before subscribing for yourself. An almost limitless list of subjects is available for your learning. Go to the website and check this one out. Many subjects of interest to us in the Mac community are covered in Victor Cajiao’s “Typical Mac User.” He just completed a 10-part series on “Snow Leopard from Scratch.” This show is presented in a very listenable, friendly format. He also does interviews with industry leaders, software developers and experts on Internet security, hard drive migration, tech child safety, TCP and other more technical subjects. You are sure to learn much from Victor’s podcasts. All are free for the learning. So, you get the idea that it doesn’t cost a lot to stay current and informed on keeping your Mac running well and getting more done as a power user. My list changes every so often as I either don’t have time to hear them all or if the format stops being of interest to me. I subscribe to many others besides those listed here, and listen to the previous programs when I’m on the road and can devote more time. You should take the time to browse the iTunes store for podcasts you’re interested in by searching for the podcast names above. Or Google the names and go directly to the websites to download the programs or just read about them. You have nothing to lose and will only increase your knowledge. Have fun. CMC 2010 Elections Nominating Committee Report Last month we told you that the Vice President's Office was open for nominations. Chris Hart has indicated that he is willing to run for Vice President. If Chris runs for VP, the position for Secretary would be vacant. The Secretary’s duties are: a. Be responsible for keeping full minutes of all meetings of the Executive Board and general meetings of the club. b. Keep and have charge of all nonfinancial records of the club. c. Carry on the general correspondence of the club as directed by the Executive Board. d. Distribute copies of the minutes of the Executive Board meetings to the members of the board. e. Be responsible for notifying all members of the Executive Board about both regularly scheduled and special meetings. Please consider submitting your name to either Connie Scott at parliamentarian@ctmac.org or Linas Venclauskas at treasurer@ctmac.org. If you have an interest in participating in CMC, we encourage you to contact Linas, or Connie. Everyone can contribute to the group (there are several positions that don’t require an election), so please don’t hesitate to offer to help keep your Mac User Group going! Another super learning podcast is lynda.com. Our club offers a month’s free listening to selected members whose names are drawn, but you can Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 7 Lost CDs by Norbert M. Doerner You know the feeling. The client called and wants to update and reprint that booklet you did in 2005. The job means real money, but they need it fast. Where are those files??? I’ve had that situation time and time again. Since I’ve used CDFinder almost since its first introduction under OS9, I can endorse this product 100%. It’s a lifesaver, and has found many, many, long archived files for us. I’m not so hot on all the bling-bling features, leave those for the young folks — I’m just in to being able to find files amongst sixty or so CDs of client work spanning back to the early 1990s. CDFinder keeps track of your digital files, photos, songs, movies, on hard disks, CDROMs, Blu-ray disks, DVDROMs, server disks, and any other digital media. Version 5.7 can now geotag photos, and improves cataloging by supporting many more thumbnail and office file formats. Metadata – CDFinder catalogs metadata of songs, movies, and photos, including the MP3-Tags of several audio file formats, EXIF, GPS, and IPTC data of photos, and Adobe XMP. All these are clearly arranged in the user interface, and can be extensively searched. For numerous photo and video formats, CDFinder generates thumbnails during cataloging, displaying them in all list and icon views. Integration - Offering a tight connection to major productivity tools, such as Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, FileMaker Pro, Roxio Toast, Apples Spotlight, Finder, and iPhoto, and the extensive support of drag&drop into other applications, CDFinder can support many workflow scenarios. With the iCal integraiton, updating catalogs can be scheduled to your needs. Geotagging – Only CDFinder offers the cool GeoFinder, which searches for photos taken near a spot, even including the photos in your iPhoto 8 database, or the KMZ export for coordinates and photo thumbnails as a way to give geolocated photos to friends. And now CDFinder can even geotag photos itself, no other software needed. Networking – Store your catalog database on a server for access from all Macs in the network, and with the sidekick product CDWinder for Windows even from Microsoft Windows. Since the initial release of CDFinder 1.0 in 1995, more than 45,000 customers in 87 countries around the world are using CDFinder to organize their digital library, and manage their data archive and backups, including NASA, IKEA, BBC, Mattel, Rand McNally, Pfizer, Random House, and Warner Bros. Minimum Requirements: Universal Binary (PowerPC and Intel Macs) Requires Mac OS X v10.4, 10.5, or 10.6 Previous www.ctmac.org page 8 CDFinder versions for older Mac OS operating systems are also available CDFinder 5.7 is a free update to licensed users of CDFinder 5.x. A free demo version can be downloaded from the CDFinder website, the price for new users starts at 29 Euro. Multiple user packs are available for network users. CDFinder 5.7 can be found at http://www.cdfinder.de/. Norbert M. Doerner is a computer scientist with a love for integration and cool products. He develops great Macintosh software since 1991. Popular products include the disk cataloger CDFinder, and various plugins for the Finder, iPhoto and Aperture. © 1991-2010 Norbert M. Doerner. Reprinted from the UGN InfoManager part of the User Group Network. http://www.ugnn.com/. New CDFinder 5.7 features: • Can now add GPS coordinates to your photos (geotagging), by using the built-in GeoFinder map, or Google Earth to provide the location. • Cataloging now includes thumbnails for documents created by Apple Pages, Apple Keynote, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe InDesign and Quark XPress • Excerpts of text and Microsoft Word documents are now cataloged, can be displayed, and of course searched • A new Automator Action allows you to catalog or update a disk in CDFinder. With Apples iCal, that enables you to have your disks cataloged at specific time intervals, ensuring up-todate catalogs in CDFinder at all times. Great for cataloging huge server volumes. • Now catalogs FLAC (Free Audio Lossless Codec) and ALAC (Apple Lossless) music files, with all metadata, including lyrics and cover art • New Japanese user interface • This version fixes the QuickLook bug in Snow Leopard. Just hit the space bar, and the selected photo, video, or song (if it is online) will be shown in QuickLook, just as in the Finder. • Numerous improvements for cataloging, overall stability, and better workflow Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Duplicate Finder Reprinted from the UGN InfoManager part of the User Group Network Tidy Up! is a must-have utility for Mac users to reclaim disk space being taken up by duplicate files and packages. Tidy Up! locates duplicate items using a wide range of criteria including owner application, time created or modified, name, label, extension and content. Hyperbolic Software has launched Tidy Up! 2.2.0, the latest version of the company’s award-winning duplicate finder and disk tidying utility. Tidy Up! has become a must-have utility for Mac owners seeking to reclaim disk space being taken up by duplicate files and packages. Employing a fast search algorithm that quickly scans any mounted drive volumes (hard drives, optical discs and portable drives) without writing an index, Tidy Up! locates duplicate items using a wide range of criteria including: owner application, time created or modified, name, label, extension and content. Tidy Up! also offers the capability to scan the databases of popular Apple applications such as iPhoto, Aperture, iTunes and Mail. Tidy Up! makes use of “Smart Baskets” for quick and easy organization of found items, with the ability to trash, move or archive duplicates, as well as the option to export a list of found items as HTML or text files. Version 2.2 of Tidy Up! requires OSX 10.5 or greater, Snow Leopard full compatible; for machines running earlier versions of Tiger and Leopard, Tidy Up! versions 1.2.11 and 1.4.10 are still available. Buy it now and pay only $30 (USD) instead of $39; users of Tidy Up! version 1.x can upgrade for $20. To download Tidy Up! v.2.2, go to the Hyperolic Software website: www.hyperbolicsoftware.com/ Hyperbolic Software has been creating award-winning software exclusively for the Macintosh since 1996. In addition to Tidy Up! the company publishes MacGizmo, Smart Trash, iTunes Dupe Barrier, Maigret and Doublet Scan (the Mac Classic only predecessor to Tidy Up!). Products may be purchased online. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Version 2 of Tidy Up! introduces nearly 50 new features to this already comprehensive tool. Among the key improvements are: • A new Basic Search mode with over 90 predefined search types • EXIF information supported through new search criteria and Smart Basket criteria • The ability to exclude any supported applications (iTunes, iPhoto, Aperture and Mail) from the search, allowing for identification of items not included in their databases • Smart Basket capability to identify items belonging to a particular album, playlist or mailbox • Moved and trashed items may now be replaced with an alias or symbolic link • A new and improved interface, including additional information displayed when selecting a found item • New user manual • Added full compatibility with Aperture 3 • Fixed a bug that sometimes crashed the application during a search for MP3 files • Some cosmetic improvements • Fixed other minor bugs Reprinted from the UGN InfoManager, part of the User Group Network at http://www.ugnn.com/ www.ctmac.org page 9 2010 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org CMC Wants YOU! Yes, I want to join CMC! Do you want to join the CMC board in 2010? Please forward any nominations to Connie Scott or Linas Venclauskas Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Vice President Jerry Bonvisuto vicepres@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org See p.7 for more info. Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Special Events Jack Bass w1fla@sbcglobal.net Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Download of the Month Debbie Foss dotm@ctmac.org City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also available Or LIVE at any to draw or live business for anyevent. event. private (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, April 28 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Back-to-Basics: 6 pm. iPad Envy: ebooks on the iPhone With the rise of Apple's other product lines, the CMC board has decided to explore the use of our Back to Basics timeslot for deeper discussions of all things iPhone and iPad. This month we'll be discussing “iPad Envy: ebooks on the iPhone.” One of the features of the iPad is the iBook app, which is not available for the iPhone. Have no fear though, there are plenty of methods available to read books, publications and other content on the iPhone. CMC member Joe Arcuri will go through the variety of reader apps available, sources for books, and desktop applications that facilitate the ease of reading almost any type of content on the iPhone. As we move forward, we will be alternating the 6 pm program between our traditional Back to Basics programs and iPhone/iPad specific presentations. CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email us at vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. The iPad is here. Let’s talk about what it can do and what it is good for. Consider this the CMC “shakedown cruise,” as CMC VP Jerry Bonvisuto takes you on a journey to explore the ins and outs of the Apple iPad. Jerry will examine what the hardware inside looks like, what apps are available for it, what it can be used for, and . . . just how fast is it? So come join us on April 28, 2010 to look at and discuss what the Apple iPad is really all about. Free Raffle! Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software…there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted camera-ready in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 89 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of April 02, 2010 Checking Account ................$587.86 Money Market ........................$4590.86 Your CMC Information Need Mac Support? Check your newsletter mailing label for the following info: Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? • Your CMC User name and password That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org to access info at www.ctmac.org • Your CMC Membership Number (free shipping at MacConnection) • Your CMC Membership renewal date Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Let us know what you think of the new approach! Main Presentation: 7 pm iPad: Everything you want to know about Apple’s iPad Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, April 28 at UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 Back-to-Basics, 6:00 pm: ebooks on the iPhone Main Presentation, 7:00 pm: iPad: Everything you want to know about Apple’s iPad For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. Thank You! Our March presenters had lots to share at last month’s meeting. In Part 2 of “All About Your Website,” Jerry Bonvisuto gave us his views on the “The Ins & Outs of iWeb”. And our main presentation with Chris Hart brought us his expertise on Archiving of Web Pages. Thank you to both Jerry and Chris for those most enlightening presentations. In the photo below, president Jerry Esposito awards Bob Sawyer for 25 years of service to CMC. Bob was a founding member of CMC and Past President and has volunteered with the group, serving in nearly all of the board positions over the years and has attended board meetings and general meetings dilligently. Thanks, Bob! Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION May 2010 A Warm Message from CMC’s President by Jerry Esposito Who among us doesn’t like Spring? After the cold, grey days of Winter, most of us look forward to the warmer weather ahead. Getting outside to do things we’ve been forced to do inside due to the cold weather is refreshing and invigorating. And many of us like to do some activities on our front porch, deck or backyard. Surfing the web, checking email, or online chatting on our laptops or iPhones are also some of the ways we can enjoy the outdoors. And with the introduction recently of the iPad, Apple has introduced the perfect gadget for portable outdoor use. In order to keep CMC members up to date with the iPad and iPhone world, your board of directors has Inside decided to introduce a slight Electronics Recycling page 2 Doxie Scanning Now Shipping page 3 MacBook Pro Review page 4 Roxio Toast 10 Review pages 6 -7 What is RSS? page 8 MUG Discounts page 9 Meetings and Member Info page 11 change and a refresh of our Back to Basics sessions. We will be discussing iPhone and iPad-related subjects, as sort of a SIG (Special Interest Group). We will alternate the 6 PM program with our traditional Back to Basics programs. As I write this, two of our board members have purchased iPads and several of our club members have also. And many of us also own an iPhone. So this is another way the club can help all of us get more out of these products. Members should also take a fresh look at our website, www.ctmac.org. We’ve added a link to O’Reilly Books that gets you a 35% discount, a link to our newsletters that goes back to 2003, and our Yahoo members discussion group. You can also follows us on Twitter. And, you can download PDFs of many of our meetings if you missed one or just want to have your own copy (handier than trying to take notes at a meeting). Reggie Dionne, our Webmaster, and Chris Hart have been working hard to bring our website up to speed. Thank You, Bob Sawyer! by Chris Hart, CMC Secretary While it’s important for CMC to keep up with the latest technologies, it’s also important that we maintain a sense of history and remember what this group has always been about: Mac enthusiasts connecting to and helping each other. Bob Sawyer has helped CMC in that mission from its earliest days. In January, Bob decided to retire from CMC’s board, while continuing as an active member of CMC. Those of us on the board are sad that we’ll no longer have Bob’s counsel at board meetings. You see, Bob has a lot of experience to share, as he joined this group in the first year of its existence 26 years ago. Since then, he’s attended nearly every single meeting (and I’m not exaggerating — he’s only missed a couple of them). continued on page 2 continued on page 2 A Warm Message from CMCs President Continued from page 1 CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. Another idea we would like to implement is to have a small photo of each of our members that can be added to our members list so that board members can better match your names with your faces. With nearly 100 members it can be difficult for us to know everyone and we’re hoping this will help. I have asked our photographer, John Scott to start the process of getting this done as soon as possible. We will have our annual board elections at the May meeting, so please come forward and volunteer your talents to help the board come up with more ideas to better make CMC your club. So, let’s not waste the great weather that’s sure to be here when you get this issue of the newsletter by taking it outside to finish reading it there? See you at the next meeting. Thank You, Bob Sawyer! Continued from page 1 In the early days, Bob helped CMC establish itself formally and build upon its beginnings as a gathering of Northeast Utilities employees. Like the Mac itself evolved from its first incarnation in 1984, Bob’s participation in this group has seen him involved in many roles. He has served as the group’s librarian, newsletter editor, newsletter printer, auction cashier, Vice President, and President. Many of you know Bob best as raffle Chairperson, the position he most recently held. Nearly every meeting in recent years has ended with Bob presenting raffle items to a few lucky members. All the while, we’ve had the pleasure of enjoying Bob’s jovial personality and easygoing manner. At our monthly meetings, he’s always provided helpful tips to other members and at board meetings, he’s offered valuable input on the decisions that frequently face the group. We’ll miss your volunteerism with the group, Bob, and we thank you sincerely for 26 years of faithful service. Electronics Recycling 2010 Upcoming dates By Chris Hart, CMC Secretary Sat., May 15, Hartford Sat., May 22, Hamden Sat., June 5, Manchester Sat., June 12, Harwinton Sat., Aug. 21, Essex Sat., Sept. 18, Glastonbury Sat., Sept. 25, Watertown Sat., Oct. 2, Essex Sat., Oct. 16, Enfield Sat., Oct. 23, Torrington As in past years, the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority is holding several electronics recycling days this year throughout central Connecticut. They offer this service in conjunction with participating towns that sponsor the effort. If you live in a participating town (and if you’re a CMC member, it’s quite likely you do), you can bring your household electronics to be disposed of properly. From cell phones to printers and calculators to computers, they take pretty much everything (but not appliances or household chemicals). Full details, including a list of participating towns: http://tinyurl.com/2cutd4 www.ctmac.org page 2 (You don’t have to live in one of these towns to take advantage of this service, but you must be a resident of a CRRA member town.) Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Doxie Scanning Now Shipping Doxie creates crisp, clean scans anywhere with patented scanning technology; scan paper and photos directly to Google Docs, Flickr, Evernote, and more. Doxie, the modern paper scanner that scans directly to the cloud, is now shipping. For home and small business, Doxie makes scanning, sharing, and organizing paper and photos easy for $129, with a lightweight, portable design built for scanning anywhere. “Document scanners are frustrating and poorly designed,” said Travis J. Hicks, chief operating officer. “Doxie, on the other hand, is portable, USB powered, and comes with software that scans paper directly to PCs, Macs, and web apps like Google Docs, Evernote, Acrobat, and Flickr. You’re bound to be impressed.” At an ultra-light 10.9 ounces, Doxie is built to travel – scan with any PC or Mac with just one connection. Doxie is always ready to scan, offering crisp, clean copies of documents in full color at up to 600 dpi thanks to its patented scanning technology. A single button – Doxie’s Heart Button – makes sharing anything on paper fast and seamless. Announced at CES/ShowStoppers and Macworld Expo 2010, Doxie’s final shipping version offering additional features including the Doxie Cloud personal document sharing service and sounds from Soundrangers. Doxie’s features: • • • • • • • • • • Color scanning at up to 600 dpi with automatic page detection Lightweight, ultra-portable design with included case Doxie’s Heart Button: innovative multi-action button for one press scanning and sharing Included software for simple scanning and direct cloud sharing Direct integration with popular desktop and web apps like Google Docs, Picasa, and more Free Doxie Cloud service for turning paper into postable URLs for instant sharing and web based access on iPhone, iPad, and other mobile devices Automatic cropping, rotation, contrast, and image cleanup for crisp, clean scans Advanced photo editing with direct support for the Picnik online photo editing suite Save as PDF, JPEG, or lossless PNG Fully accessorized with cloud scanning software, USB cable, quick start guide, leatherette case, photo scanning sleeves, and a pack of six designer skins Pricing & Availability Doxie is now available to order at $129, direct from www.getdoxie.com. Mac OS X 10.5 or later; one free USB 2.0 port. For complete product information, or to place an order, visit: http://www.getdoxie.com. About Apparent Corporation Apparent’s award-winning products and brands include IntelliScanner home and small business barcode readers that organize everything; Barcode Producer, the industry standard barcode generation suite for graphic designers; and Doxie, the amazing scanner for documents. hello@itsapparent.com, www.itsapparent.com. At an ultra-light 10.9 ounces, Doxie is built to travel – scan with any PC or Mac with just one connection. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 3 The four hours I got was on full regular use, screen as bright as it can be, keyboard light on, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. This means that on a plane, with my battery saving techniques in place, I should easily be able to get five hours now. So while eight to nine seems like a pipe dream (at least from my experience), I’ll definitely take five (maybe six). MacBook Pro 15" Core i7 Review by Terry White President MacGroup Detroit Migrating Over My Config 8GB RAM, 15.4" Antiglare LED Display, 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 500GB 7200 RPM drive The Design There’s nothing really new with the design. My last MacBook Pro was the 1st generation uni-body enclosure. So I was already familiar with this design and Apple hasn’t really changed it much. They replaced the ExpressCard slot with an SD card reader and I was already mentally prepared for that. Otherwise from a look and feel perspective, it feels just like my old one. Don’t take that as a knock. There wasn’t anything wrong with the design (other than I still prefer the older trackpads with a separate button). crazy about with my last MacBook Pro was the very reflective glossy display. I lived with it and it wasn’t the end of the world, but apparently Apple listened to the cries of thousands of photographers and offered an anti-glare option. I went for that option this time around. Right off the bat I could tell I was going to like it better. Not only is it antiglare, but it’s also recessed just like the previous aluminum MacBook Pros, which means my 3M privacy screen fits in it nicely again. It’s Quiet My last MacBook Pro seemed to always be running the fan. Yes, I do lots of processor intensive work, so the fan is on all the time even in this new one, but it’s much, much quieter than my last one. The Display One of the first things that caught me totally by surprise was that I didn’t know that Apple changed the default resolution of the 15.4" display. It’s now 1680×1050 as opposed to the old one being 1440×900. Of course the advantage is that you see more on screen and the disadvantage is that everything is smaller. It took about a day to get used to it, now I don’t give it a second thought and I do appreciate having more of my documents display without scrolling. However, if you have a hard time reading/seeing small things on screen this could be a problem for you. Sure you can change the resolution, but anything other than the native resolution will be soft unless you use an external display. The one thing I wasn’t www.ctmac.org page 4 The Battery Life is AMAZING! I never ever ever pay attention to Apple’s claims on battery life when it comes to a MacBook. I never pay attention to the claims, because I never get anywhere near what they specify the machine can do. I think my last MacBook Pro was rated at 45 hours of battery life. I’m always lucky if I can do 2.5-3 hours. On average it’s probably closer to 2 hours. So when I saw the claims on this one doing 8-9 hours on battery I said “yeah right!” Do I get anywhere near that? NO! However, I do get double what I used to get. I can easily go 4 hours or more now on battery and for me that’s huge! I haven’t even tried any battery conservation techniques. It’s always a debate with me to either migrate over from my old Mac or start FRESH with the new one. Starting FRESH is better because you’re not bringing over unnecessary baggage and problems from your years of migrating. However, starting fresh takes longer to get everything reinstalled and back to the way you like things. I always seem to bail on starting fresh because usually I don’t have the downtime it would take to do so. Once again I migrated…sigh. I used Ethernet to do so figuring that Gigabit Ethernet on both Macs would be faster than Firewire 800. Even so, moving over 350GB’s of stuff can take hours and it did (about 4 to be exact). However, everything came over nicely and is up and running. The Speed is Awesome! At the end of the day this update is all about speed for me. One of main reasons I waited till 2010 and didn’t go with the 2009 model is because I figured Apple would put the Core i7 processor in the MacBook Pro just like they did in the iMac. I’m glad I waited! Knowing that Adobe Creative Suite 5 was coming and that the move to 64 bit was underway (Photoshop CS5, After Effects CS5 and Premiere Pro CS5 are now all 64 bit), I not only wanted as much RAM as I could get, but I also wanted the fastest processor I could get in a Mac laptop. That’s the Core i7 and it doesn’t disappoint. Everything is snappier! Here are my Xbench results (note: Xbench is a free download from http://www.xbench.com): continued on page 5 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 continued from page 4 E Here are the results from my 2008 MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo: E The Bottom Line While this MacBook Pro isn’t a revolutionary update over my 2008 model, it has all the right things in it to make the upgrade worthwhile. I try to plan my purchases to get the most out of the latest processor, graphics and RAM improvements. This move was worth the wait. “My new MacBook Pro got a better overall score than my Mac Pro!” Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 …and just for giggles, I ran the same test on my “production machine”, my 1st generation Mac Pro*: E Here’s the results from the the NEW MacBook Pro Core i7: *(yes, I’m in the market for a new one; just waiting for the 2010 model). My new MacBook Pro got a better overall score than my Mac Pro! Reprinted from MacNews of MacGroup-Detroit. Terry White is the President and Founder of MacGroup-Detroit, Inc. Active in the Macintosh community for over 25 years. He is the coauthor of the Best Selling "The iPhone Book", host of the Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and a technology writer - Terry White Tech Blog. www.ctmac.org page 5 nificantly more flexible and powerful then the built-in disc-burning included in the Mac OS. Toast also makes backups easy by allowing you to span backups across multiple discs automatically. Candidate for a Pullet Surprise Often called "An Owed to the Spelling Checker") by Jerrold H. Zar I have a spelling checker. It came with my PC. It plane lee marks four my revue Miss steaks aye can knot sea. Eye ran this poem threw it, Your sure reel glad two no. Its vary polished in it's weigh, My checker tolled me sew. A checker is a bless sing, It freeze yew lodes of thyme. It helps me right awl stiles two reed, And aides me when aye rime. Each frays come posed up on my screen Eye trussed to bee a joule The checker poured o'er every word To cheque sum spelling rule. Be fore a veiling checkers Hour spelling mite decline, And if were lacks or have a laps, We wood be maid to wine. Butt now bee cause my spelling Is checked with such grate flare, Their are know faults with in my cite, Of none eye am a wear. Now spelling does knot phase me, It does knot bring a tier. My pay purrs awl due glad den With wrapped words fare as hear. To rite with care is quite a feet Of witch won should be proud. And wee mussed dew the best wee can, Sew flaws are knot aloud. Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays Such soft ware for pea seas, And why I brake in two averse By righting wants too pleas. Washington Apple Pi IFAQ www.ctmac.org page 6 Review: Roxio Toast 10 Reviewed by Dave Greenbaum Toast has been synonymous with disk burning almost as long as Macs have been around. I remember when Toast was an Adaptec product and came bundled with my superexpensive SCSI CD burner. Version 10 of Toast, now owned by Roxio, is an evolutionary upgrade. Each version of Toast includes slightly difference bells and whistles. In fact, this version has so many features that if I listed them all, I wouldn’t have any room to review them. I’ll summarize Toast 10 in this way: it puts your digital lifestyle in “turbo” mode. It doesn’t replace iLife and your digital hub, but makes it better and accessible everywhere. Not only that, but it puts things all in one place. A majority of Toast’s functions could be cobbled together with third-party utilities, but Toast packages it all together and with greater ease of use. Toast already is known for being able to burn CDs and DVDs (as well as MP3 discs, audio CDs, crossplatform and hybrid discs), and these capabilities remain intact in the latest version. Even if you just use Toast for disc burning, it is worth the purchase because it is sig- TiVo users will find Toast to be their absolute best friend, as Toast 10 is the first version that allows you to move data from your computer and put it on the TiVo. Previous versions only allowed you to move data off the TiVo. Now, we can take a show off the TiVo to free up space as well as to back it up. If you want to watch them again, just transfer back. Transferring is slow and takes, on average, about an hour for an hour-long show. Now, our TiVo gets along perfectly with our Apple TV and content moves effortless between the two. Toast takes your TV shows anywhere. With its Streamer app, you can even watch your TV shows on the Internet via your iPhone or a laptop. If you have video on your computer, Toast will move it to practically any device under the sun. If all you are doing is working with digital video content, your functions might be better served by Roxio’s other product, Popcorn. The differences are very confusing! For example, while both programs allow you to move content off your TiVo, Popcorn doesn’t allow you to put content back on your TiVo. Additionally, Popcorn does not include the Streamer app. In the past, Roxio has included new video features first in Toast and then later into Popcorn, so the next version of Popcorn will probably include more Toast 10 features. A bit deceptive is Toast’s DVD capability. It will not work with commercial DVDs and Toast makes that pretty clear in its ads. Toast is designed to complement iDVD and iMovie for some digital content. Toast, similar to iLife, has a suite of video editing and DVD authoring apps. If you already have iLife (and Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 who doesn’t?), you’ll find much of this repetitive. Comparing the two suites, Toast tended to be a bit simpler when it came to video and DVD options. iLife can be overwhelming when all you want is a simple way to show a few pictures on a DVD player. However, if you are looking for video editing and DVD authoring, and can only choose one program, iLife would be the better option. Toast’s audio editing capabilities, via its built in CD Spin Doctor application, was much easier to use than Garage Band. Built into Spin Doctor are step by step tutorials on how to convert LPs to MP3s. Additionally, Spin Doctor makes it extremely easy to capture streaming audio from websites. Of course, other programs do this as well, but similar to iLife, these functions are integrated right into to the program. Conversions are Toast’s middle name. OK, it’s not, but it could be. As mentioned earlier, if it’s on your computer, Toast can put it somewhere else. New in this version is the moving of audiobooks into MP3 format. You can do this by hand, but you loose chapters in the book and have one, long, unmanageable MP3 file. Toast preserves the chapter divisions. And if that wasn’t enough (but wait…there’s more), Toast throws in some additional features just to round off the package. Disc Cover RE let’s you make custom CD labels, Disc Catalog RE Maker catalogs your digital media for you, and Get Backup RE is a backup and file comparison utility. These are all RE (Roxio Edition) versions, which means they are slightly crippled versions of the full programs. However, the companies will allow you to upgrade to the non-Roxio versions for a reduced price. For example, Get Backup is normally $39.95, but its RE upgrade price is $19.95. Whew, that’s an exhausting feature set and I’ve only scratched the surface! Most every function in Toast can be found in another product (even Roxio’s own Popcorn), but Toast packages it all together and makes it as easy to use as…wait for it…wait for it…a toaster! Pros: Practically every audio and video feature packaged together. An absolute must for TiVo owners. Still does a great job burning discs. Cons: A bit pricey and duplicates other products already on the market. Four out of five dogcows Reprinted from the Southern New Hampshire Apple Core newsletter. CMC 2010 Elections to be held May 26th The nominating committee is announcing that John Stifel was nominated for the office of Vice President. All other offices had the current slate of people who are willing to run a second term and are running unopposed as of the April meeting. The final call for nominations will be at the May general meeting and a vote will take place at that time. If you have any nominations, please send to the nominating committee: Connie Scott at parliamentarian@ctmac.org or Linas Venclauskas at treasurer@ctmac.org. We are also looking for someone to help us out monthly with our free raffles. And, our newsletters always have a monthly “Download of the Month” column. We need a volunteer or two to recommend software to our members. This is a fun position that would allow you to try out different applications that can be downloaded from the Internet. You don’t need to be an expert with Macs to volunteer with CMC. You only need a desire to keep CMC healthy and our meetings interesting. For 24 years, CMC has sustained because members just like you have stepped up and volunteered. Remember, CMC isn’t a company or an organization – it’s a group of Mac enthusiasts helping each other. We cannot sustain without the involvement of our members. Please don’t hesitate to contact me to find out more about the role you can play in keeping this group going. Thank you for your consideration. Jerry Esposito 203-824-1576 president@ctmac.org New in this version is the moving of audiobooks into MP3 format. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 7 What is RSS? By Lee Donehower Every day you go to your favorite bookmarked websites (like DVMUG.org of course) to see if anything new has been posted. But what if you could just have the new posts from those websites automatically sent to your mail client’s inbox, landing there just like the morning paper lands on your doorstep? This is the concept behind RSS (Really Simple Syndication). In Leopard (OS/10.5) and Snow Leopard (OS/10.6), Apple Mail has an RSS section in the Preferences that allows new posts from your favorite websites and blogs to be collected and read in the Apple Mail reader. The RSS prefs are not available in Apple Mail for Tiger (OS/10.4) and earlier. If you’re running Tiger or an even older operating system, you’ll need a free RSS reader. There is a YouTube video at http://tinyurl.com/25b9qn that explains what RSS is, how it works, and how to employ it if you’re not running Leopard or Snow Leopard on your machine. Actually, I recommend that you watch it regardless of your current operating system. However, if you are running Leopard or Snow Leopard on your Mac, follow the simple directions below to subscribe to any of the DVMUG Blog feeds and read them in Apple Mail whenever a new post is uploaded, eliminating the need to check the DVMUG/ Blog website. www.ctmac.org page 8 For Leopard and Snow Leopard users: 1 Open Apple Mail and go to MAIL -> PREFERENCES to open the dialog box, then click on the RSS tab at the top (see #1 in fig. 1). Next, in the Default RSS Reader drop box (see #2 in fig. 1), choose Mail from the list. Figure 1 2 Quit Mail, open up your browser of choice (i.e., Safari, Firefox, etc.) and navigate to the DVMUG website at: http://dvmug.org/. Click on Blog in the menu bar. From the Categories list (fig. 2) in the left-side navbar, click on the blog you’d like to subscribe to (I highly recommend Photoshop!). Figure 3 4 A drop menu appears (fig. 4) asking which feed you wish to subscribe to. You’re top choice is the overall blog which would include posts to all categories available. The middle choice, Atom Feed, is for an RSS reader other than Apple Mail. The bottom choice is for the category you selected in Step 2. Figure 4 5 Once you make your selection from the drop menu in Step 4, it automatically opens up Apple Mail and displays a dialog box (fig. 5) containing the web address of the RSS feed you’re about to subscribe to. Make sure Show in Inbox is UNCHECKED and click on the ADD button: 7 Clicking on the name of the feed in the RSS list displays the most recent posts in the upper incoming mail section (see fig. 7) and clicking on any of them will display them in your mail reader. Figure 7 8You can unsubscribe from an RSS feed at any time by right-clicking (control+click) on the feed in the list and choosing DELETE from the drop menu (see fig. 8): Figure 8 Figure 5 6 The RSS feed now appears in your Apple Mail inbox (see fig. 6) and displays the number of unread messages from your new feed. Figure 2 3 Click on the blue RSS feed button (hovering your mouse over the blue button displays “Subscribe to this page”) in the web address window box at the top of the web page window (fig. 3). That’s it for Leopard & Snow Leopard users! Remember: with older operating systems you’ll need a free RSS reader from the Internet; just follow the directions in the YouTube video located at: http://tinyurl.com/25b9qn Posted in DVMUG, WebStuff. Reprinted from the newsletter of Diablo Valley Macintosh User Group. Figure 6 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Apple User Group Resources has a NEW website! The User Group discounts are brought to you by the Apple User Group Advisory Board. You must be a current Apple user group member to qualify for these savings. Not a member? Join an Apple user group today to take advantage of these special offers. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training & more. The new website address is: http://appleusergroupresources.com Recent offers include: • O’Reilly: New Discounts for MUG Members • 28% off iPhone Life magazine with bonuses • 25% Off Mac Help Tutorials • Updated Offer – New Mach 3 Composites Macbook Protection Case: 27% Discount • 50% Off iTravel Alarm Clock Plus, you can subscribe to the Apple User Group Market Report podcast. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training and more. For the latest special offers, go to: http://appleusergroupresources.com For special “protected” offers, use the CMC Password: * *Note: CMC Password above is ONLY located in your mailed CMC newsletter. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Visit the new Apple User Group Resources website and bookmark the new address today! http://appleusergroupresources.com www.ctmac.org page 9 2010 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President Jerry Bonvisuto vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Special Events Jack Bass w1fla@sbcglobal.net Download of the Month Debbie Foss dotm@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ Raffles Robert Sawyer raffles@ctmac.org ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also available Or LIVE at any to draw or live business for anyevent. event. private (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, May 26 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Back-to-Basics: 6 pm The Ins and Outs of iDVD iDVD is one of our most requested topics. So, for our Back to Basics session in May, Jerry Bonvisuto will present “The Ins and Outs of Using iDVD,” covering: • How to integrate your music (from iTunes, Garage Band, etc.), photos (from iPhoto, Photo Booth, etc.) and movies (from iMovie, Photo Booth, iPhoto and iTunes)…and how to get it all onto a professional-looking DVD. • How to use iDVD's Project to personalize your DVD. • How to use iDVD's Magic iDVD and OneStep DVD features to create a professional DVD that is easy to set up and play on your TV. So please join Jerry at 6 P.M. for an informative hour on all things iDVD! CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email us at vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. Free Raffle! Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software…there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted camera-ready in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 89 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! From your Digital Camera to the Web Using SmugMug Account Balances Balances as of May 01, 2010 Checking Account ................$162.28 Money Market ........................$4591.90 Your CMC Information Need Mac Support? Check your newsletter mailing label for the following info: Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? • Your CMC User name and password That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org to access info at www.ctmac.org • Your CMC Membership Number (free shipping at MacConnection) • Your CMC Membership renewal date Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Main Presentation: 7 pm Digital Photography Join Mark Maglio, one of the principal partners of 4Biz Group, who will show us how to take images from a digital camera and then upload them to a SmugMug picture gallery. Mark will show us how to store, arrange and create custom galleries with public or password-protected viewing. He will also explain how to protect your images on the site, and how to make a profit by selling prints using the site’s shopping feature. Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, May 26 at UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 Back-to-Basics, 6:00 pm: The Ins and Outs of Using iDVD Main Presentation, 7:00 pm: Digital Photography - from your Digital Camera to the Web For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. Thank You! At our Back to Basics session in April, Joe Arcuri brought us lots of info on reading eBooks on our iPhones. Besides reviewing the Kindle app and others for iPhone he introduced us to Good Reader, an app that allows any eBook to be read on the iPhone. At our Main meeting, Jerry Bonvisuto shared both his iPad and his iPad knowledge with us for a very information-filled hour. He took his iPad through the paces in order to bring us his impressions before we all rush out to buy one for ourselves. Photo by Jack Bass Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION June 2010 Summertime…and the Winning is Easy by Jerry Esposito, CMC president Hello fellow CMC members! As you know, every month we have a free raffle for members. Tickets are picked up at the door entrance and immediately following our main meeting, we raffle off three prizes. We’ve been running low on donated items and items obtained at trade shows, especially since there is no longer a Macworld held on the East Coast. To help us stay current with products that we feel would be of interest to our members, your CMC board has voted to spend some money, very frugally I might add, to acquiring some new raffle items. To help us, we have asked past president and our current ambassador, Joe Inside Mark/Space Discounts page 2 Airport Express for Entertainment Center Network page 3 Eye-Fi Geo Cards page 4 HippoRemote Pro 2.2 page 5 SmileBooks pages 6 -7 PrintCentral 1.5 page 8 MUG Discounts page 9 Meetings and Member Info page 11 Arcuri, to keep a watchful eye out for items that can be had at very reasonable costs. The rest of us also let Joe know when we see something of interest so he can get it or tell us it’s over his budget. So far we’ve added to our raffle items the following: a Belkin mini surge protector with five AC outlets and two USB outlets, screen protectors by Screen Guard for iPhones, an iPad case, a set of small speakers for the iPod/iPhone, a wireless mouse, several iPhone and iPod car chargers, and a USB hub. Long time club and board member Jack Bass has donated three 4 GB Lexar Flash Drives. And past vice president Jerry Bonvisuto has given us an iPad case. Mark/Space Extends Discounts on Their Sync Products Looking for some of the best sync utilities in the business? The folks at Mark/Space are offering Mac User Group members discount on any of their synchronization products, including The Missing Sync, Fliq Desktop or GoGadget. Just visit the Mark/Space web site: www.markspace.com/, pick what you want, then use the coupon code LOVEMUG at checkout, and you’ll save 20% on your purchase. 2010-2011 CMC Officers Congratulations to the newly elected 2010 2011 Connecticut Macintosh Connection officers. They are from left to right: president Jerry Esposito, vice president John Stifel, secretary Chris Hart, and treasurer Linas Venclauskas. CMC member Steve Richheimer comes away with the prize at our A pril CMC meeting If you should come across an especially good deal that you think would be suitable for our raffles, please email Joe or myself and we’ll try to purchase it. So long for now and good luck in the next raffle! Specia JUNE RAFFl LE! Win a li 1Passwordcense for Tickets are Software. ju (2 licenses st $1.00 ea. to be on June 30 raffled th) Hardware Review: Pogo Stylus by Dave Greenbaum CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. www.ctmac.org page 2 The iPhone, as many people know, is an absolute masterpiece of form and function. However, all these functions are useless if you can’t actually touch your phone. Dirty or gloved hands render the iPhone completely useless. The Pogo stylus bridges that gap, allowing you to use a stylus to control your iPhone. When the iPhone’s touch sensitivity works, it works great! However the first week I owned my iPhone, I realized how vulnerable my phone was. I got a flat tire and began to change the tire when I ran into some trouble removing one of the lug nuts and decided to call roadside assistance. Oops. My hands were greasy and grimy and I simply couldn’t control my iPhone. Without paper towels or anything I was in major trouble. From then on, I carried a disposable phone in the car with me! Similarly, in the winter, my iPhone also wasn’t terribly useful with gloved hands. Again, my expensive smart phone was dumbed-down by a thin piece of leather. And while this hasn’t happened to me, I’ve seen women with long sculpted fingernails look about as stumped as Edward Scissorhands with an iPhone. Why deny them the ability to use an iPhone? Unlike other smart phones, you cannot use a regular stylus, since the iPhone relies on the electrical impulses of your fingertips or other body parts. The Pogo is a stylus designed specifically for touch screens. The bottom of the stylus has spongy material designed to activate touch screens. The Pogo stylus was not as responsive as my stylus was on my old Palm Pilot, but the Pogo was still extremely useful. The material at the bottom was soft and won’t scratch the iPhone, and in fact, helped clean mine a bit. I was even able to use it with my GPS, keeping my hands warm on the cold days. The Pogo package comes with a clip to help keep the Pogo Stylus connected to your iPhone without creating bulk. Unfortunately, the clip did not work with my external iPhone case, but people who keep their iPhone naked will have no problem using the Pogo Stylus. At $14.95, the purchase of a Pogo Stylus is about the best investment in protecting the usability of your iPhone. You may not need it today, but at some point you’ll need your iPhone and your hands will be dirty, wet, or otherwise inaccessible. That Pogo stylus will allow you to make the call! I keep one in the glove compartment and another in my laptop bag. Pros: Allows iPhone use in situations you can’t directly touch the screen Cons: Clip doesn’t work if the iPhone has a case Five out of Five Dogcows Reprinted from the newsletter of the Chicago Apple User Group Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Airport Express for Entertainment Center Network To complete the “multi-tasking,” I connected the Airport Express to my stereo with a cable that connects earphone jacks to RCA connectors. (To connect it to an optical port on a stereo, you would need Apple’s special optical cable.) by Walt of the FLMUG This setup is better for me for a few reasons: • I didn’t have to buy hardware that might have only worked on Samsung’s player. Do you have new devices in your living room entertainment center that could connect to the Internet? Or be controlled by things on your house network like computers or smart phones? Do they have Ethernet but not built-in Wi-Fi? I have a Samsung Blu-ray player that my wife gave me for Christmas in 2009. Every since, my family has been asking (pestering) me to connect it to the Internet so they can watch Netflix downloads on it. (They discovered unlimited viewing for $9 per month on my iPad.) We’ve gone back a few times to the big-name electronics store where it was bought. We were trying to buy the Samsung-specific Wi-Fi adapter for it (LinkStick I think), but they were always out of stock. When I did find one online, I balked at the $79 price tag. (That was mail order on the Internet in April 2010.) For that price, the LinkStick would only get the one device online. My wife is a big fan of the food channel, and we watch Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” quite a bit and I like his philosophy of preferring devices that “can multi-task.” So instead, I bought an Apple Airport Express for $99, just $20 more than Samsung’s LinkStick. (Be careful not to confuse the Airport Express with an Airport Extreme basestation or other airport device.) I installed it behind the entertainment center by just plugging it in and connecting an Ethernet cable to the blue-ray player. I connected it to my laptop with an Ethernet cable, but I could have connected to it wirelessly. I used the Airport Utility that was already on my Mac and set it to connect to the house Wi-Fi. After it restarted, I connected it to the Blu-ray player with the Ethernet cable. I checked the setup on the player for networking and voila! It was on the Internet and we began the Netflix setup. (The Samsung player comes setup for Ethernet connections from the factory.) Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 • It was available in the same electronics store where Samsung’s connector was out of stock. • I can attach the Airport to my stereo and send music through it. This is really cool. (Now I want my iPad to send to it.) • I could decide to attach a USB printer to it, sharing it on the network. (Not likely my wife will allow that in the living room.) • I could get this device to connect to my 5GHz Wi-Fi hub (the space on the normal 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi is pretty crowded in my neighborhood.) • If I give away, move, lose, or can’t use the Blu-ray player for some reason, I can re-use the Airport for other things. • With the addition of a cheap hub, I could connect more devices. The Samsung widget would only have connected the one Blu-ray player. (And the GUI for setting that up was OK, but not as good as the Airport Utility.) • The Samsung was setup to use an Ethernet connection out of the box. I didn’t have to change anything to make it work. Other devices might be setup that way as well. Reprinted from The Florida Macintosh Users Group, Inc. A irport Express. It’s the simplest wireless router you’ll use. Plug, play, print. A nd it works with Mac and PC. www.ctmac.org page 3 Eye-Fi Updates Geo Card for Apple and Adds Hotspots doesn't work if there are no Wi-Fi gateways broadcasting nearby, or if you're not in a builtup area that Skyhook has scanned.) by Glen Fleishman Eye-Fi has updated the Wi-Fi SD camera card that it sells exclusively via Apple Stores with double the memory and a number of other features. The new Geo X2 card has 4 GB of storage and will cost $69.99 when it becomes available for purchase in May 2010. The Eye-Fi Geo X2 works with Mac OS X software to transfer photos directly into iPhoto. Eye-Fi embeds a processor, Wi-Fi radio, and storage in the tiny SD form factor. The card operates independently of the camera in which it's inserted, using Wi-Fi to transfer images and videos to a computer running Eye-Fi software on the local network and/or uploading to online storage and sharing sites directly. It can also transfer to a file server via FTP and SFTP. This latest Geo model for Apple is part of a revision in speed, capacity, and features that the company mostly released in March 2010 with its new X2 series of cards. The Connect X2 ($49.99, 4 GB), Explore X2 ($99.99, 8 GB), and Pro X2 ($149.99, 8 GB) each come with a slightly different set of features. All X2 cards include 802.11n networking for faster data transfer, as well as a feature Eye-Fi dubs “Endless Memory.” With this option enabled, the cards automatically delete the oldest stored images and video that have been successfully transferred to a computer or Web site when the card starts to fill up. (The X2 cards and previous models include a Selective Share feature that lets you use a lock or protect feature on most cameras - normally meant to prevent accidental erasure of images - to instead choose which pictures to upload. The feature lets you choose to use selective uploading for computer transfer, online sharing, or a combination of both.) The X2 models all transfer JPEG images as well as several movie formats including MPEG-4, AVI, and QuickTime. The Pro X2 also uploads raw files. The Geo, Explore, and Pro X2 models all include geotagging using Skyhook Wireless's Wi-Fi positioning system. The Eye-Fi card captures a scan of any Wi-Fi networks in the vicinity when a picture is taken, and when the pictures are later transferred via Wi-Fi (not loaded via a card reader) Eye-Fi looks up and attaches coordinates to the image's metadata. iPhoto '09 and Aperture 3 automatically use this location data for the Places feature. (Of course, this feature www.ctmac.org page 4 The Explore and Pro include a year of free hotspot uploading, which was recently upgraded to include 21,000 locations operated by AT&T in the United States, and will be further expanded in the next two months. Walk into a hotspot and turn on a camera with an Eye-Fi card, and it will automatically log in and upload images to whatever services you specified. The hotspot upgrade adds support for Devicescape's system for bypassing login screens at paid and free hotspots. Devicescape lets you enter any credentials for network access, like a Boingo Wireless account, in an account you create at Devicescape's Web site. When you visit a hotspot, the software handles behind-the-scenes interaction with a Web server in the hotspot to pass it those credentials. No Web browser is required. Devicescape also adds automated login for tens of thousands of free and open networks for which a user would otherwise need some mechanism to enable a connection. The software works extremely well on “interface-free” devices, such as Eye-Fi cards. Eye-Fi also lets you enter network passwords and other configuration information using Mac or Windows software when the Eye-Fi card is connected via a card reader. Devicescape can also manage home and office network passwords. Starting 1 June 2010, Eye-Fi will charge $29.99 per year for hotspot access, either as an add-on for Connect and Geo X2 owners, or as a renewal for Explore and Pro when the first year is up. Until 31 May 2010, Connect and Geo owners can pay a promotional price of $14.99 for a year's access. I believe this latest release checks off the final item on Adam Engst's 2008 opinion piece, “Why I Hate the Eye-Fi Share Wireless SD Card” (18 August 2008). Adam had many complaints, including incorrect iPhoto import behavior, an inability to handle movie imports, and the lack of a way to choose which images were transferred. The faster speed of the newer cards mean that media files are typically transferred before a camera automatically powers down, too. [Well... Having wasted $100 and lots of time testing software updates to the original 2 GB Eye-Fi card, I wouldn't even consider purchasing a subsequent model and would need to do handson testing before I would trust that these nominal feature improvements perform as advertised. It's also worth noting that the Eye-Fi cards cost five to seven times as much as comparable normal SD cards. -Adam] continued on page 5 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Eye-Fi Updates Geo Card Continued from page 4 I was more impressed back in my article, “Why I Like the Eye-Fi Explore Wireless SD Card” (18 August 2008), and I've found the regular feature improvements, the increase in memory, and the faster file transfers make the current EyeFi models even more enjoyable. Reprinted from Tidbits 27 April 2010 HippoRemote Pro 2.2 RoboHippo LLC has announced the release of HippoRemote Pro 2.2 for iPhone and iPod touch. HippoRemote Pro is a Wi-Fi remote control for Macs, Windows and Linux PCs, featuring tailored controls for dozens of popular Mac/PC/Web applications, a multi-touch trackpad, an international language-capable keyboard, an integrated web browser, and a native Twitter client. Version 2.2 adds a game controller, freeing PC/Mac gaming from the confines of the desk. New in Version 2.2: Gamers want to play games on big screen HDTVs in the living room. However, PC/Mac gaming has been confined to the desk, largely because of the dependence on the keyboard and mouse for control. HippoRemote Pro’s new game controller is the first of its kind to replicate both keyboard and mouse functionality. The controller can be customized for specific games, giving gamers just the buttons and controls they need. Games that only require keyboard control get an 8-way directional pad and a button pad. For games that rely heavily on mouse control, the button pad is replaced with a multi-touch trackpad. The buttons on the button pad are fully configurable, and additional buttons can be added to the controller. With these options, gamers are able to use their iPhones/iPods to fully replicate the keyboard and mouse to control the full gamut of PC/Mac games, including: • • • • First Person Shooters Role Playing Games Puzzle Games Casual Games • • • • Eye-Fi has tested the compatibility of their products with cameras from all major brands. About HippoRemote Pro: HippoRemote Pro is the most feature-rich remote control app in the App Store. With a multi-touch trackpad, intelligent keyboard, login and password manager, recordable macros, and app profiles, HippoRemote makes controlling a computer fast, simple and easy. App Profiles in particular make controlling a computer with a pocket-sized device incredibly intuitive and efficient. By providing buttons and interfaces tailored to specific programs, users can launch programs, navigate presentations, skip songs, play/pause videos and more, all with a few taps. HippoRemote Pro comes bundled with support for dozens of applications, and more are added all the time. Device Requirements: • iPhone or iPod touch • 2.0 MB • Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later Pricing and Availability: HippoRemote Pro 2.2 is $4.99 and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store. Free HippoVNC server program for the Mac/PC. In lieu of HippoVNC, users can run any popular third-party VNC server, or use the Screen Sharing functionality built into all Macs. HippoRemote Pro 2.2: http://hipporemote.com Purchase and Download: http://tinyurl.com/33oqdxj Action Games Online Games Platformers Flash Games Customized game profiles are available from the HippoRemote website. More are added all the time, and users can create their own as well. Universal App Remote & Game Controller for Mac/PC Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 5 Check It Out: Smilebooks by Caryn Lum, DVMUG Member My family recently returned from London—our very first trip outside the U. S. My two sons and I are reasonably competent photographers and, among the three of us, we shot about a gigabyte and a half of digital images. It seemed a shame to have all of those images confined to our computers, so I thought I’d create my first-ever photo book. After doing a little Internet research, I selected SmileBooks www.smilebooks.com the U. S. arm of a well-established and respected European photofinisher, to do the job. You can create your SmileBook on your own using their online or desktop (Windows 2000+ or Mac OS 10.5+) software but, as luck would have it, I happened on a coupon that let me try their new professional design service for free, paying only the printing and shipping fees. I carefully cropped and color-corrected about a hundred images in Photoshop, saved them as maximum-quality .jpgs with an sRGB color profile, and started a soft-cover 8-inch square “plain paper” book on a Sunday night. I also labeled my images to let D know which images should be kept together – if you don’t label them, D will arrange images by date and time using his/her best judgment. Uploading my images was remarkably fast, and D returned Version 1 the following morning. To be honest, I was rather alarmed by Version 1. D had explicit special instructions I’d given, and the colors on my color-calibrated monitor seemed a bit faded. On the other hand, I could never have laid out a 26-page book on my own that fast. To use the professional design service, you either upload a large number of photos and let a graphics professional come up with a book based on basic style guidance selected from the website, or you select your favorite photos and have the designer figure out how to arrange them into a book. Printing prices for 26 pages range from $17 to $90+, depending on size, type of paper, and cover; shipping adds another $8. For 26 pages you need about a hundred photos; you can add more pages in sets of eight. Making corrections with the Internet tool was very time-consuming, and there were a lot of them. Communication with D is one-way; you write D, but (s)he does not write back. Thinking that D had ignored my instructions because his/her native language might not be English, I took a lot of time to meticulously explain my corrections. The Internet tool was pretty good for providing feedback, but horrible for adding captions. I’d carefully place a caption only to have it move when I pressed “enter” to commit to my changes. After the designer (“D” for short from here on in) comes up with an initial layout, you use a Flash-based Internet tool to make corrections. The SmileBooks Web site claims that you can go through as many iterations of your book as needed until you and D get it right, but in truth, SmileBooks really hopes that you’ll be done by the third iteration and suggests that they might not be the right photofinisher for you if you’re still having major difficulties at Version 3. Version 2, available Tuesday morning, was a vast improvement over Version 1, and Version 3 an improvement over Version 2, but D continued to ignore some of my instructions and, maddeningly, kept moving my carefully placed captions to a location of his/her (as opposed to my) choosing. There was no way to hide D’s captions using the correction tool, making it very difficult to replace them with mine. D also kept making numerous unaskedfor tweaks, about 70-80% of which I www.ctmac.org page 6 ended up not liking and had to “correct” back to the previous version. At this point I was extremely frustrated, so I sketched the layouts I had in mind as Photoshop .jpgs and submitted them to customer service. The customer service agent apologized, and Version 4 was pretty close to what I had in mind. Version 6 wasn’t perfect, but frankly, I was afraid to ask D for any more fixes, lest (s)he screw something up that was reasonable. Designer's layout vs. mine. The designer's layout, at left, is reasonably attractive, but (s)he never did get the caption placement quite right, even though I wrote and sketched what I wanted at least three times. The design service also puts severe limitations on font size and face. On the right is a layout I created myself using the SmileBooks desktop software. It's plain, but the captions are exactly where I want them. Its companion page, I received my book a week after I finalized the order. By and large, the book is gorgeous; the images are tack-sharp when resolution and focus permit and look much better than the designer’s previews – or even the originals – on my monitor. I Photoshopped one page entirely on my own, saved it as a 12x12-inch 300-dpi .jpg, and asked D to set it as a full-bleed background image; images on that page look as sharp as on D’s pages. However, D applied a gradient to three images that was quite subtle on my monitor, but nearly blotted out affected sides of the images in the final copy. I have forwarded a scan of the printed images and the original files to customer service and am hoping for redress, since customer service has Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 offered to fix a few customers’ books when customers complained on their forum or Facebook page. What did I learn from all of this? I’m an experienced digital scrapper and fairly proficient with Photoshop. After I finished the book using the design service, I downloaded the SmileBooks desktop software and spent a week using the same images to create my own book, which will be a blend of pages created with the SmileBooks software and pages designed completely in Photoshop and inserted into the book as full-bleed background images. I honestly felt that the professionally designed layouts were a bit soulless. On the other hand, the finished 1 images of the sort that appear on the company’s website. Even if you have a lot of graphics experience, the design service might also be the way to go if you need to quickly put together a gift that might not meet your personal standards, but that most people will love. You can check out demonstrations and reviews of the SmileBooks desktop software on the Internet. It’s not Photoshop, but it has a shallow learning curve and is particularly good – better than Photoshop – if you want to create a basic arrangement of many photos quickly. However, if you want to blend multiple layers and dozens of design elements into a mind-blowing page you’d be proud to post on a digital scrapbook gallery, you’ll have to use Photoshop and set your page as a background image. 2 If you’re designing your own book, it’s very important to use an sRGB color space. If you correct your own color, you must turn off the SmileBooks automatic color correction feature. My printed images are a little more saturated and redder than the images on my color-calibrated monitor. For the most part, the printed images look great, but because the color leans toward red I ended up with one picture in which the subject looks a bit sunburned and, as I noted above, gradients that were subtle on the monitor were extremely dark in the printed copy. 3 designed primarily in Photoshop, is on the bottom right. I used advanced blending techniques to blend two backgrounds by Scrappy Pony and Paula Kesselring with my images, set my photoshopped page as a full-bleed background and used the SmileBooks desktop software to place the captions. I think my layout of the seven images is more interesting and does a better job telling my story than does the designer's. product is very attractive—my husband liked the book a lot—and even though I had to spend approximately twenty hours over six days making corrections, it was completed in much less time than it took me to create a book on my own. I finished my own book working assiduously for a solid week—and only that fast because I’d already acquired a lot of good ideas from the design service. SmileBooks has plans to integrate the design service with its online software, which I imagine will eliminate many of the problems I had getting my designer to do what I wanted. I also imagine that the design service will work well for people who have little design experience, few captions, relatively few images per page and “average” The only indicator of resolution in the desktop application is a sad face that appears if your resolution is too low to make a SmileBooks-acceptable print. Although their forum moderators recommend submitting your personally photoshopped pages as 300-dpi .jpgs, both the software and the design service will allow enlargement of an image such that the resolution must be well under 300 dpi. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that several images that must have had a resolution lower than 300 dpi came out OK in print. 4 5 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 the Flash-based captioning tool used with the design service is worse. If you have a lot of text, consider creating your page in Photoshop instead. Buried deep in the desktop software package, I discovered an xml-file that lists “SmileBooks-OK” fonts that will appear in the SmileBooks menu, but some of my favorite decorative scrapbooking fonts weren’t among those. SmileBooks assumes that most of their customers are not “advanced” users and provides only basic instruction in their help file and on their website. Before creating your own book, check out the SmileBooks forum at: www.smilebooks.com/forum and Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ smilebooks.fans. Their forum moderators provide helpful answers to people’s questions and I avoided a lot of grief by following tips given to other customers. My own questions were answered within a day of being posted on their Facebook page. If you sign up for their newsletter and/or become a Facebook fan, they’ll send you discount coupons. 6 Finally, SmileBooks is headquartered in Germany; my credit card company tacked a 3% foreign transaction fee onto my purchase. US customers receive no warning at checkout that this might happen. I gather that most of the major credit card companies charge a similar fee, but a few don’t. If you have a choice of credit cards and are making a large purchase, it might be worth finding out which company will give you the best deal on the foreign transaction. I’ve posted an online version of this review that includes screenshots of my SmileBook as designed by the design service and in the desktop application at: http://tinyurl.com/34sg9hb 7 Reprinted from the newsletter of the Diablo Valley Macintosh User Group. The text tool in the desktop software leaves a lot to be desired and www.ctmac.org page 7 PrintCentral 1.5 EuroSmartz, the Apple® iPad® & iPhone® application development company announces PrintCentral v1.5 with major enhancements to take advantage of 3G iPads and enable the device owners to print remotely back to an office or home printer from anywhere via 3G/EDGE. The 3G printing capability in PrintCentral is completely seamless for the device owners to use. After a speedy setup, choose a printer, tap “Print” and the app takes care of the rest! This enhanced capability is ideal for both business and personal use. Any documentation, from photos to reports, can be printed securely and quickly back to an office or home ready for someone to pick up, read or send via the postal service. WiFi Direct PrintCentral v1.5 also contains leading advancements in the way iPad & iPhone users can print directly to WiFi printers. This major leap in functionality means that a device owner can either be part of, or join a WiFi network and they will see all of the printers available along with the capabilities and quality of each printer. This is ideal for any environment including home or office printing, but it also means that customers who are traveling on business can now easily use Hotel or internet cafes for printing without additional setup. No WiFi – no problem. With all these new features customers with Bluetooth and USB printers are not forgotten, they can still use their printers via the free print server software that is loaded onto their computer. Also iPad & iPhone owners that do not have access to corporate WiFi networks can use the 3G printing capability and still be able to print at their offices. Martin Schenkel, Product Development Director at EuroSmartz comments: “We have had a lot of requests from our customers to be able to work on documents remotely and then print them back to their home or office via 3G. These same customers also required an easy way to connect to WiFi capable printers. We listened to the feedback and with PrintCentral v1.5 all of these requests are not only met, but exceeded!” Pricing and Availability PrintCentral version 1.5 will be a free upgrade to existing customers and is now available on the Apple iTunes Application Store worldwide for just $9.99 for the iPad or iPhone version. About EuroSmartz EuroSmartz was the first company to bring the functionality of printing photos, contacts, web pages and more to the iPhone when it released “Print” in late December 2008. Since that time EuroSmartz has become the number one provider of printing apps for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. EuroSmartz’ flagship app “Print n Share” was selected by A pple to be featured in the “Office” iPhone TV commercial which aired throughout 2009. EuroSmartz was started by two brothers from New Zealand in 1994 and has excelled at developing software products across multiple platforms and operating systems. © 2010 EuroSmartz. A ll Rights Reserved. A pple, the A pple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of A pple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. PrintCentral 1.5: http://tinyurl.com/3xsl32v Download PrintCentral for iPad: http://tinyurl.com/3564b5m Download PrintCentral for iPhone/iPod Touch: http://tinyurl.com/37qshlz MacWorld: “PrintCentral is much more than a printing utility—it is a veritable office center” www.ctmac.org page 8 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Apple User Group Resources has a NEW website! The User Group discounts are brought to you by the Apple User Group Advisory Board. You must be a current Apple user group member to qualify for these savings. Not a member? Join an Apple user group today to take advantage of these special offers. Most Recent Offers: 20% Off hField Wi-Fire Long Range Wi-Fi Adapter Wi-Fire is a range-extending USB device that enables you to connect to Wi-Fi networks as far away as 1000 feet, three times the typical Wi-Fi distance. Wi-Fire’s new v2.0 Mac software provides the look and feel of Airport. Reviewers love it . . . MacObserver: “A must-have accessory.” Macenstein: “We were pretty much blown away by its performance.” Engadget: “Worth every penny!” Offer is valid through August 31, 2010. Intuit QuickBooks 2010 for Mac: 20% Discount The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training & more. Easily manage your business on a Mac with Intuit QuickBooks 2010 for Mac. You can organize your finances, track money going in and out of your business, and spot areas where you can save. Stay on top of it all with important info all in one place. Offer is valid through May 31, 2010. The new website address is: http://appleusergroupresources.com Ambrosia Software: 25% Off Plus, you can subscribe to the Apple User Group Market Report podcast. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training and more. For the latest special offers, go to: http://appleusergroupresources.com For special “protected” offers, use the CMC Password: * *Note: CMC password for above is located only in your mailed CMC newsletter and does not appear in PDF versions. Ambrosia Software produces commercial-quality software with the convenience of being able to try out the software before you pay for it. WireTap Studio is their one-stop solution to record, edit, organize, and export your audio. Snapz Pro X is their venerable screen and full-motion video capture app for Mac. Aquaria is their undersea adventure game. CMC members save 25% off the regular price when you register any Ambrosia shareware title (iPhone and iPad games are excluded). Offer is valid through July 31, 2010. iWork Pages' amazing templates: 20% discount FaCILISI.COM has templates exclusively for iWork Pages users. More than 1000 templates are available including brochures, flyers, postcards, posters, and more. It's simple – you just add your own text and pictures to create amazing documents or professional-looking marketing materials. Templates are sold singly, so you can mix and match them your own way according to your Offer is valid through July 31, 2010. 33% discount on Quick Start Your Mac training Visit the new Apple User Group Resources website and bookmark the new address today! http://appleusergroupresources.com Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Let MacVideoTraining.com help you learn how to use your Mac with their expert video tutorials that show you the how-to's of using Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Included are over 4.5 hours of training videos that cover everything from PC to Mac migration, a complete Mac OS X Basics section, and a guide to all of the common applications found on a Mac. A must-have for every new Mac user! Offer is valid through April 30, 2011. www.ctmac.org page 9 2010-11 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President John Stifel vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Special Events Jack Bass w1fla@sbcglobal.net Photographer John Scott jscott2651@comcast.net Download of the Month Jerry Bonvisuto dotm@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also availOr LIVE at any able to draw business or live forevent. any private event. (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, June 30 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 iPad SIG Session: 6 pm. 1Password Mobile Edition Our iPad/iPhone/iPod Special Interest Group session will center around the mobile version of 1Password. Join presenter Linas Venclauskas and you’ll get to see how you can keep your passwords and sensitive personal information by your side, no matter where you travel. Plus, you’ll see how this portable version synchronizes with the Mac version, so that your private information is always up to date. g CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email to: vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. in com soon... Look for a Back To Basics session at 6 PM next month for a topic focused on the Mac. Main Presentation: 7 pm 1Password software This month we’re looking closely at the useful utility called 1Password. This is an inexpensive piece of Mac software used for storing your myriad of passwords, credit card numbers, banking details and other sensitive information. True to its name, 1Password uses one code to provide you with access to your personal library of secret codes, login IDs, banking numbers, etc. All the while, it protects the information using government-grade encryption. Many CMC members already find this software invaluable and we think you will, too. Once you get to know 1Password, your life will be that much easier. The makers of 1Password, Agile Web Solutions, have made it possible for you to have a shot at winning a license for the software. Stay for our monthly raffle and you could be a winner! Two licenses will be raffled. Tickets for this “Special Raffle” are $1.00 each. Free Raffle! Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software… there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 90 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of June 02, 2010 Checking Account ................$554.96 Money Market ........................$4093.10 Your CMC Information Check your newsletter mailing label for the following info: • Your CMC User name and password to access info at www.ctmac.org • Your CMC Membership Number (free shipping at MacConnection) • Your CMC Membership renewal date Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. Need Mac Support? Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, June 30 at UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 iPad SIG Session, 6:00 pm: 1Password Mobile Edition Main Presentation, 7:00 pm: 1Password software Special ! FLE JUNE RcAenFse for Win a li oftware. S 1Passwordjust $1.00 ea. Tickets arsees to be raffled (2 licen ne 30th) on Ju For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG-013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. Thank You! At our May 26 Back to Basics session, Jerry Bonvisuto responded to a muchrequested iMovie/iDVD lesson by providing our members with his experiences using iMovie and Magic iDVD to make slide shows and movies. He then demonstrated what media types to use and how to burn movies to a DVD. For our main meeting, Mark Maglio of 4Biz Group gave a very informative demo of how he uploads his photos to the SmugMug picture gallery site. He told how he uses A dobe’s Bridge app as his gobetween and the pluses of paying a little extra rate for a quality site such as SmugMug. He showed us all of the various ways we can protect our photos and make some money selling them. A thank you goes out to both Jerry and Mark for bringing their knowledge to the club’s members. Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION July 2010 We Begin Summer with Some Board Changes... by Jerry Esposito, CMC president Hello fellow CMC members. Now that we’ve had our annual board election, I want to inform you about our latest board member changes. A new Vice President has been elected to the board: John Stifel replaces Jerry Bonvisuto as coordinator of our monthly programs. For the past several years, John Stifel has worked as a graphics consultant for many local and national clients including WINAM Wines, a wine importer, ESPN-Director Services, Hotel California Tequila, Brioni’s Coffees, and Jennings Smith Investigations, Inc. where he supports investigators with creative and marketing strategies, as well as investigations. He also holds an operations position for American School Safety. All this while upholding his most challenging position – a stay at home dad. Prior to his ongoing consulting, John worked as an Associate Creative Director/VP at Donahue Advertising, a Hartford based advertising, event marketing, and public relations agency. During that time, he serviced many accounts ranging from high-end consumer clients including José Cuervo, ESPN, Northbeach Leathers and Phoenix Wealth Management, to heavy industrial clients such as L.S. Starrett Company, and United Abrasives, as well as CPTV and Amistad America. John brings lots of experience and ideas to our VP role. I am confident the coming year will be filled with informative programs for all of us. Also, the board has selected Duncan Stephens to help get the word out about our club – he’s our new Public Relations person. Duncan brings us his experience in editorial work through his past ownerCMC president Jerry Esposito, vice president John Stifel, secretary Chris Hart and treasurer Linas Venclauskas Stepping outside his creative role at Donahue, John has coordinated several national events for Jose Cuervo/Ornelas Cigar, Ltd., ESPN Special Events, Konami and Phoenix Wealth Management, receiving high national awareness on all the tours. Prior to his tenure at Donahue, John started his career as a designer/creative manager for Cenconn Advertising and Display Co. in Plainville, CT, while attending Paier College of Art. continued on page 2 Inside Picture History page 2 iPhone Could Save a Life page 3 Apple Extends Safari 5 with Reader, HTML5, Performance page 4 What I’ve Learned About Buying and Selling on eBay pages 6 Apple User Group page 8 Meetings and Member Info page 11 Review: Combine PDFs By Tom Ebersold, CMC member I purchased Combine PDFs a few years ago and have found it to be an indispensable piece of software. The software simply and elegantly does what its name implies: combine multiple PDFs into one file. Additionally, it can also be used to break apart a PDF file by removing whichever pages you wish to exclude. I use Combine PDFs when I scan a document, and use the program to stitch together the individually scanned pages. I will also create a PDF document with Word, and then combine that PDF with an existing PDF file. The software is simple and intuitive to use: just import the files, or drag them into the interface, arrange the pages as you wish by dragging them, and then click on the button to “Merge PDFs.” To remove unwanted pages from a file, import the file, and the individual pages will appear. Highlight the pages you wish to delete, and click on “Split PDFs” to generate the desired file. PDFs can also be encrypted. The cost is $30 for one user, $99 for a family license for up to five users, and $299 for a company license serving up to 20 users. System requirements: 10.4 or later. It is compatible with Snow Leopard, 10.6. http://tinyurl.com/53tqo We Begin Summer with Some Board Changes... Continued from page 1 CMC Chronicle ship of two newspapers. We’ve been without a PR person for a while, but we are always interested in building our membership rolls, so I am sure that Duncan’s experience will help us do that. Editor Deena Quilty So, while Jerry B’s shoes will be hard to fill, we wish him luck and welcome John and Duncan to our board. Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. Chris Hart and Linas Venclauskas are both continuing with the board for their second year; Chris as our Secretary and Linas as our Treasurer. Jack Bass will continues his work in Special Events, Joe Arcuri is our Ambassador and Deena Quilty is our newsletter editor. George Maciel designs Picture History Reprinted from UGN InfoManager Of course, you can get historical photos from the Library of Congress, but this is another source. The web site is an archive of photos covering more than 200 years of American history. In fact, it takes you all the way back to the early 1600s. It is possible to browse the images through categories called, category, decade and photographer. Category has the topics of: Abraham Lincoln; Architecture and Buildings; Arts and Entertainment; Business and Commerce; Historic Eras and Events; Law and Criminal Justice System; Life Cycle; Nature; People & Professions; Places & Vistas; Politics & Government; Science; Health & Medicine; Social Conditions and Trends; Transportation & Communication; and War & Military. Photographers are: Edward Anthony; George N Barnard; Mathey Brady; Charles D. Fredricks; Jeremiah Gurney; Alexander Gardner; Lewis Hine; William Roe Howell; Dorothea Lange; Jose Maria Mora; Timothy O’Sullivan; www.ctmac.org page 2 and puts together our monthly newsletter. Reggie Dionne is our Webmaster and Connie Scott retains her historian position. John Scott continues his work as our photographer and Jerry Bonvisuto will be checking the Internet for interesting “Downloads of the Month.” Now we are in need of a Raffle Chairperson to help out with our monthly free raffles. If anyone is interested, please contact me. Also, you can reach any board member by email; see page 10 in each issue of the newsletter for addresses. Please let us know any ideas and suggestions you may have to help make CMC a stronger user group. Jacob Riis; Napoleon Sarony and William Shaw Warren. (Brady is the only one I know.) The Anniversary one is really fun, because it gives dates by month and associates a photo with that date. For example, January 1, 1892 was the opening of the Ellis Island Immigrant Station. So they have a picture of the station. The only issue that I might have with this site is that the pictures are watermarked and are limited to 300 dpi. Licensing rates depend on usage and length of time in use. See it all here: http://www.picturehistory.com Reprinted from the User Group Network: http://www.UGNN.com Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 iPhone Could Save a Life Reprinted from User Group Network IcePics allows the user to simply hold up the phone, press one button, and have an email with a person’s photo and the GPS location sent almost immediately to one or more remote locations. Independent software developer Jeff Neumeyer has released IcePics 2.0 for iPhone and iPod touch devices. Soon to be available for use on other App-enabled phones. How can you protect yourself from an attack? Anyone who suspects they are about to become a victim of kidnapping, rape, robbery or assault simply has to point their iPhone at the suspicious person and push the IcePics button on their iPhone. IcePics will email a picture of the bad guy along with the GPS location of that photo instantly to contacts pre-selected by the owner. By rapidly sending a photo of a person to remote emails, persons with ill intent will think twice because their chances of being caught rise astronomically. Even if the perpetrator smashes the phone, the photo is already gone from the iPhone and has been sent to the pre-selected emails. That information is saved for use whenever the owner is being approached by a suspicious person. Inventor, developer of IcePics, Jeff Neumeyer says: “A person with ill intent, such as a child-napper, mugger or rapist, will almost certainly abandon their plans because the chance of them being caught is almost assured … IcePics can actually prevent a crime from happening as opposed to a great program like Amber Alert which is activated after a child is abducted or reported missing. IcePics could be the most important app written for the iPhone because it can save lives today.” when any phone is aimed at them. Most criminals will not stop and second guess whether or not someone actually has an iPhone equipped with IcePics. To learn more about this app, or to purchase IcePics go to the IcePics web site. Device Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad; Requires iPhone OS 3.1.2 or later; 0.4 MB. IcePics 2.0 is only $2.99 and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Healthcare & Fitness category. IcePics 2.0 website: http://www.icepics.com/home Demo Video: http://www.icepics.com/video Jeff Neumeyer, of Metairie, Louisiana. developer of the IcePics personal security iPhone App, has been involved in a wide variety of computer hardware and software projects over the past 30 years. Among his career highlights are the earliest 3D work in micro-computer bases CAD/CAM systems and the development of on-line database-driven inventory systems. Jeff is a partner in software development with Tim Richey of Muncie, Indiana, a developer and writer with more than 15 years experience. Richey has authored five computing titles, including a number one bestselling Java programming book. Copyright (C) 2010 Jeff Neumeyer. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Reprinted from the User Group Network: http://www.UGNN.com Because the photo can be taken silently, without the camera click sound, a user can press the IcePics icon button and use the few seconds that it takes for the phone’s camera to autofocus, to hold the phone up to their ear and position it for a picture of the suspect without alerting them or offending them. “Since the email recipients are selected in advance there’s no fumbling with who’s going to get the email of the photos,” says Neumeyer, “the photos and location are on their way automatically. A suspicious person could range from someone who just gives you the creeps to someone whose behavior causes you to fear they may be intending to commit a crime, whether it’s theft, violence or even terrorism.” Even if a person does not have an iPhone, or doesn’t purchase IcePics, once criminals become aware of the app they will flee Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 By rapidly sending a photo of a person to remote emails, persons with ill intent will think twice because their chances of being caught rise astronomically. www.ctmac.org page 3 Apple Extends Safari 5 with Reader, HTML5, Performance by Adam C. Engst reprinted from TidBITS In a WWDC keynote dominated by the iPhone 4 and iOS 4, Steve Jobs didn’t so much as mention Apple’s other major release of the day: Safari 5 for both Mac and Windows. In step with the version number, Apple is focusing on five new features of Safari 5: Safari Reader, more support for HTML5, better performance, support for Bing in the search bar, and a Safari Developer Program that enables developers to create extensions. Safari 5 Reader Safari Reader – The primary user-focused feature in Safari 5 is Reader, which extracts the text from recognized articles and displays it without ads, site graphics, or other visual distractions. Plus, on sites that break longer stories into multiple pages, such as the New York Times, Safari Reader automatically follows the necessary links to present the entire story on one long scrolling page. A translucent pop-up at the bottom of the screen provides controls for changing text size, sending the page via email as a Web archive, and printing the page. You invoke Safari Reader by clicking the Reader button in the address bar (or choosing View > Enter Reader [CommandShift-R]), and it displays the page in what looks like a JavaScript-driven lightbox - sort of a Web-based dialog where the rest of the page is darkened and the Reader display is inset within it. The controls for changing text size, sending email, and printing aren’t new - the standard menu commands and their associated keyboard shortcuts have existed for quite some time. (They are: View > Zoom In [Command-+], View > Zoom Out [Command–], File > Mail Contents of This Page [Command-I], and File > Print [Command-P].) There are some interesting quirks related to Safari Reader. Most notably, there’s no way to know which sites it supports, or, more to the point, which HTML tags it uses to identify articles within a site. For instance, Safari Reader doesn’t work on the TidBITS home page, but does work on TidBITS articles. And it does work on the Take Control home page, but not on Take Control News posts. On the sites I tried, including TidBITS, Safari Reader considers reader comments to be “visual distractions” and doesn’t display them. Also, the Reader button in the address bar replaces the RSS button, leaving one to wonder how you’d subscribe to a site’s RSS feed if Safari Reader is active. The answer is to click and hold on the Reader button, which reveals the normal RSS menu for various feeds. Unfortunately, the visible control for sending the page via email uses the Mail Contents of This Page command, rather www.ctmac.org page 4 than Mail Link to This Page (Command-Shift-I). If you want the latter, invoke it manually from the File menu or keyboard shortcut. Happily, though, if you invoke Print (in any way) while Safari Reader is showing, the resulting printout reflects the much cleaner Reader display rather than the normal Web site layout. Safari Reader will undoubtedly prove controversial in some circles because it will reduce the click-through rate on ads even further, especially for sites that break long articles into multiple pages - each with their own set of ads. Even beyond the advertising issue, it’s somewhat distressing to see Apple deciding for a publication what content is and is not relevant. On the TidBITS site, for instance, we consider our reader comments highly relevant, along with related articles that link to the article being read, but Safari Reader hides all of that and more. I’d like to see Apple publicize how Safari Reader works so publications could choose what parts of their content would be recognized, and how. All that said, Safari Reader is notable mostly because it has been built into one of the main Web browsers by default. There have been numerous ways of focusing on the text of an article on a Web page over the years; the most impressive ones I’ve seen are Readability (on which Safari Reader was based) and Readable, both of which operate via JavaScript-based bookmarklets. Both should work in any modern browser. Improved HTML5 Support – Apple is now making a very big deal about how the iOS supports two platforms, native iOS apps and HTML5-based Web apps. As a result, it’s not surprising that Safari 5 on the Mac now boasts greater HTML5 support, with things like full-screen video, closed captioning for video, location services, and much more. HTML5 support is one of those chicken-and-egg situations at the moment, since Web developers can’t rely heavily on it until it’s well-supported in most browsers, and browser continued on page 5 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Page caching is the final feature that Apple claims to have improved in Safari 5, though Apple says only that additional types of Web pages are now cached, without giving any specifics. Bing Search – Also new in Safari 5 is the addition of Bing to the search engine options in Safari 5’s General preferences; it joins Google and Yahoo. Apple also added Bing to the search engine options in iOS 4, and it’s hard to know quite what to make of the addition. Safari 5 Bookmarks makers may not have significant incentive to support it well until it has wide adoption. (For useful information showing what tags are likely safe to use for different browser versions, see the When Can I Use... site.) So it’s good to see Safari 5 trumpeting its HTML5 support, since that will raise the bar for other browser makers. Using the HTML5 Test site (which could be biased in some way), I found that Safari 5 is indeed the most-compliant HTML5 browser around, edging out Google Chrome. The scores are out of a total of 300 points. • • • • • • Safari 5: 208 and 7 bonus points Google Chrome 5.0.375.70: 197 and 7 bonus points Firefox 3.6.3: 139 and 4 bonus points OmniWeb 5.10: 129 and 7 bonus points Opera 10.53: 129 and 4 bonus points Camino 2.0.3: 46 and no bonus points Better Performance – Apple claims better performance in Safari 5 on three fronts: the Nitro JavaScript engine, DNS prefetching, and improved page caching. Although Apple has some charts showing Safari to be the fastest browser available, it’s hard to translate benchmarks into real-world performance. For instance, although Apple says that Safari 5’s Nitro JavaScript engine is 30 percent faster than Safari 4’s, 3 percent faster than Chrome, and twice as fast as Firefox 3.6, it was hard to see the difference on JavaScript-intensive sites I use. Part of the problem is that many such sites are using AJAX, so although JavaScript is being used to present an interface to the user, there’s also a bunch of back-end work happening that isn’t always quick. DNS prefetching is quite neat - if you’re on a page containing links to other sites, Safari 5 automatically looks up those addresses so when you click on one, it already knows the site’s address, reducing the time necessary to load the page. Apparently, this feature has existed in Google Chrome for some time; thanks to commenter Glenn Rempe for the tip. According to the Stat Owl site, Google dominates the search engine world with 86 percent of the market. Bing is second with 6 percent, and Yahoo third with 4.92 percent. So it’s possible that Apple merely wants to help even the playing field, especially when you consider that Google’s share of the search market for the Safari browser is over 95 percent. Given the tension between Apple and Google of late, I could see Apple wanting to spread the search traffic around so as not to become entirely dependent on Google for search. Of course, the inclusion of Yahoo Search sort of already did that, but since July 2009, Yahoo Search has been powered by Bing. Oddly, the databases or algorithms must be slightly different, since Yahoo Search and Bing don’t present quite the same results to the same searches. Safari Extensions – The last of Apple’s marquee features in Safari 5 is support for Safari Extensions, something that has been needed for a long time. Developers have resorted to all sorts of ugly hacks to modify Safari’s behavior in the past, and hopefully the new extensions will enable developers to extend Safari in interesting ways while playing within the rules. Extensions are managed in a new Extensions pane in Safari’s preferences, which implies that automatic updating of extensions will be available. (The Extensions pane appears only once you’ve installed an extension, or if you enable the Develop menu from the Advanced pane, and then choose Develop > Enable Extensions.) A new Extension Builder application helps developers create Safari Extensions, which can put buttons on the toolbar, change the way Web content appears, add controls to Web pages, and more. Safari Extensions rely on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, so they should be more accessible to Web developers than would an extension model that requires Cocoa programming in Xcode. Although it’s hard to determine the specifics, it looks as though Apple may be evaluating Safari Extensions in some way. All Safari Extensions must be signed with an Appleprovided digital certificate that comes free with continued on page 9 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 5 What I’ve Learned about Buying and Selling on eBay by Deena Quilty, CMC editor I’ve given at least a couple of presentations about selling (and buying) on eBay, but I continue to learn all the time. So I thought I’d write this article to discuss some of the basics again, and to share some of my latest experience with others looking to enrich their eBay profits! Setting Up First, of course, you need to be registered on eBay. It’s the same process whether you intend to be a buyer, a seller, or both. Next, if you want to sell, you need to set up a seller’s account; eBay will walk you through it. The last thing to set up is a PayPal account; both buyers and sellers need this. If you’re going to be selling, I recommend these preference settings for your account: • Block buyers from other countries • Block buyers without PayPal account • Block buyers with high negative/ unpaid feedback Without these settings, you are almost certainly asking for headaches. As you gain more experience, you can try accepting sales from other countries and see if you want to continue handling all the exporting/shipping issues involved. (I don’t.) Buying/Bidding Buying on eBay can net you some good bargains. I routinely check eBay for almost anything I intend to buy. I even bought my new kitchen faucet on eBay. And, buying is a good way to get started with the whole eBay experience. Buying will also get you started with a feedback rating. You can browse categories (kind of like window shopping), or do a specified search. Remember that the search box in eBay works like other Internet searches; that is, it supports Boolean type searches. Check out http://tinyurl.com/9wjsv for help on how this works. Better yet, use Auction Sieve to help you search more www.ctmac.org page 6 effectively; it’s free. It really helps you winnow out the sometimes thousands of items that come up in a search. Make sure you read the listing in its entirety; there may be details in the fine print that are important you. Note especially the specifics about condition, dimensions, shipping charges, etc. And occasionally, a seller will forget to post something significant; in this case, just send a note to the seller and ask about it. Always remember that a bid is a contract. Don’t bid if you’re not serious; this violates eBay’s rules and causes hardship for sellers. To get the best deals, I suggest you forget about early bidding; this just drives up the price for everybody. Instead, have eBay put in a proxy bid for you near the end of the auction, no sooner than a couple of hours before it ends. This means that eBay will automatically bid for you, up to your proxy bid amount. So you don’t have to keep coming back to bid every time someone else places a bid. But I have a better idea: snipe. And if you’re not sniping, you’re leaving money on the table. Auction sniping is the process of placing a winning bid at the last possible moment (often seconds before the end of the auction), giving the other bidders no time to outbid the sniper. You can try to do this manually, but I recommend using jBidWatcher (again, free). Set it to your maximum price, and with the timing for something like the last 15 seconds. Leave jBidWatcher running, and you can even leave the house! A few cents can make the difference. Most buyers bid in nice, round numbers like $5.50 or $10.75. But those who study the auctions learn that a few cents can make a difference. Instead of bidding $12.50, bid $12.53. Sometimes these few cents will be a difference between winning and losing. Selling Do your research first. Use eBay’s Completed Items (under Advanced Search) and/or AuctionSieve to find recently sold and current similar items. This is super important because you need to establish two things: your opening price and the minimum you will sell the item for. So if you want to get at least a $100 for something, you can see how other similar items have done with various opening and final prices. If nearly everything like it has sold for over that amount, you can save yourself a little money by starting the bidding at .99. So, to get started, go to the eBay home page, and click on Sell/Sell an item to create a listing. It is most important to assign your listing to the correct category so buyers can find your item. You may even want to consider multiple categories. Use Keywords Pick three to five keywords that relate closely to your item. Ask yourself what words people are likely to use in a search engine when looking for what you’re selling. Once you have these keywords, use them appropriately in your listing title and item description. continued on page 7 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 bids). Be as clear and honest as possible, especially about defects, damage, age, or anything having to do with its condition. Photos are really, really important: the more pictures, the better. Use good lighting and a non-distracting background wherever possible. Take the time to crop and enhance in an image editing program; even add videos if appropriate. (Try an inexpensive application called Bling It if you don’t have Photoshop.) And always add good close-up pictures of nicks, cracks, wear, or other product negatives. Use that macro setting on your camera! You want to present your item as openly and straightforwardly as possible. Take Care with Titles Your title is also super important – use all the characters available to you and avoid wasting space with silly things such as “L@@K!!!.” Your listing title is a key factor in natural search. Include the most important keywords or keyword phrases in your listing title. Spending time and effort on the title for an auction listing will attract more buyers. Good terms to use if they apply: • Hard-to-find • Rare, very rare • Almost new, like new • Only slightly used • Old, very old • One-of-kind • Vintage • Unique • Well loved • Pristine • Unusual • New • NWT (new with tags) • NWOT (new without tags) • NIB (new in box) For your description: write, edit, write, and edit – and do a spell check because typos matter (for searches). The longer the better; you don’t get charged by the word so give all the details possible (or face a barrage of questions, or worse, no Think about the Buy it Now/Fixed Price/Reserve options. Obviously, use a reserve if it is important to you that an item not be sold for less than a certain amount. This can turn off some buyers, however. One way around this is to use a higher starting price. And if you’re going to use the Buy It Now option, I suggest you set it at least 120% of what you really want to get. For the duration of your auction, shorter may be better, but only experience can really tell you this. Look at those other completed auctions to get a better grasp on this, but in general, just go with seven days. Set it up so that buyers can pay you immediately using PayPal, without your intervention. Wouldn’t it be nice to sit down at your computer in the morning to see how much money you have already made since last night? Fees are based on your opening bid price, plus a percentage of the final selling price. See the charts I’ve included here. In general, it’s a pretty good deal compared to other options (except Craigslist, which is free, but has a much more limited market.) Don’t forget to preview your page once it’s live – there’s still an opportunity to fix errors. Make sure you get a confirmation email from eBay, then check your item again using the actual link in the confirmation email. Watch out for shipping costs. In the beginning, this is hard to estimate because it’s the weight of the item plus its packaging and final dimensions that you have to keep in mind; a scale is your friend. Breakable items are really tricky and I have underestimated shipping costs on this stuff many times – I’m still learning! The UPS and USPS sites do let you do some estimates, though. In general I have found that the heavier the item, the cheaper it will be to go UPS ground. You can either set a fixed price or let eBay set up a calculation for you; either way you have to do some work. Some people say to time your auctions to end on Sunday evening between seven and ten Eastern (four and seven Pacific) or Monday afternoons. Does this strategy really work? Hard to say, but it at least it’s something to go with. So, don’t post Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 your listing on a Saturday around 2 a.m. I generally go with posting listings on Monday or Tuesday evening around 8 p.m. and setting the duration for seven days. This means the listing will end Sunday night or Monday night. Be sure to answer any questions quickly, no matter how stupid they are (and boy, I’ve had some stupid ones). Check your My eBay page periodically for status to see how the bids are going. You will get an email from eBay at the end of the auction. If it sold, make sure you get your money before you ship! It’s surprisingly easy to forget this to confirm this step. Most buyers will pay you within 24 hours, but occasionally a buyer will wait much longer, or worse, just ignore your repeated reminders. The more you sell, the likelier you are to run into these difficult buyers. eBay can help you take actions with these types of problems, but it’s never easy to resolve. And if it didn’t sell, consider relisting, perhaps at a lower price or with a revised title or description. continued on page 8 www.ctmac.org page 7 What I’ve Learned About Buying and Selling on Continued from page 7 Ship promptly, and package everything carefully. The last thing you want is a buyer to notify you that the item was received in damaged condition. Sure, it may not be your fault, but you’re the one with the unhappy customer you need to do something about. Never forget about how important feedback ratings are. Potential buyers do look at this. Keep all your transactions above board, and strive to please every customer. As you sell more, consider using special software such as iSale or GarageSale. And get a MobileMe account for picture hosting to save the fees eBay charges you for more than one photo. This is really the way to go as eBay’s tools are adequate, but not efficient, plus their tools for Mac users are lacking. For instance, they have a nice tool for Windows users called TurboLister, but it doesn’t work on a Mac. But once you start selling regularly (even a little), you’ll want to get on board with their Selling Manager. It’s free and can really help you manage your sales more efficiently. Be sure to check out eBay’s other selling tools; many are free or rather inexpensive. Some are offered by eBay, others are offered by trusted third parties. Lastly, eBay offers a lot of help for you on their web site. Check out the Help menu at the top right of every page and take advantage of the Learning Center. There’s tons of good information in there. And, if you’re into selling, consider listing your item on Amazon.com. Look for the “Have one to sell?” link on a product’s page. Amazon charges a higher fee, but listing your item is much less effort. Have a question? Drop me a line at deenaq@mac.com. And I’d also love to hear your success stories – buying or selling. What are you waiting for? There’s a whole world of stuff out there! eBay Online University: http://pages.ebay.com/education/index.html http://www.vendio.com/ Insertion Fees: Auction style Starting or Reserve price Insertion Fee: Books, Music, DVDs & Movies, Video Games* Insertion Fee $0.01 - $0.99** $0.10 $0.15 $1.00 - $9.99 $0.25 $0.35 $10.00 - $24.99 $0.35 $0.55 $25.00 - $49.99 $1.00 $1.00 $50.00 - $199.99 $2.00 $2.00 $200.00 - $499.99 $3.00 $3.00 $500.00 or more $4.00 $4.00 Final Value Fees: Auction style Starting or Reserve price Insertion Fee: Books, Music, DVDs & Movies, Video Games* Insertion Fee (other categories) $0.01 - $0.99** $0.10 $0.15 $1.00 - $9.99 $0.25 $0.35 $10.00 - $24.99 $0.35 $0.55 $25.00 - $49.99 $1.00 $1.00 $50.00 - $199.99 $2.00 $2.00 $200.00 - $499.99 $3.00 $3.00 $500.00 or more $4.00 $4.00 Subscribe to the Apple User Group Market Report podcast The User Group discounts are brought to you by the Apple User Group Advisory Board. You must be a current Apple user group member to qualify for these savings. Not a member? Join an Apple user group today to take advantage of these special offers. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training and much more. For the latest special offers, go to: http://appleusergroupresources.com For “protected” offers, use the CMC password: * *Note: CMC password for above is located only in your mailed CMC newsletter and does not appear in PDF versions. www.ctmac.org page 8 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Apple Extends Safari 5 with Reader, HTML5, Performance Continued from page 5 membership in the Safari Developer Program. The certificate ensures that Safari Extensions aren’t tampered with and come from the developer they say they do, which is good, and they use sandboxing to increase security. Plus, Safari Extensions can be submitted to the Safari Extensions Gallery, opening in a few months, where users can find and download extensions. It’s unclear if there will be any vetting of Safari Extensions along the lines of iOS apps. More Features – Other changes in Safari 5 are smaller, but some will be extremely welcome. For instance: If you close a tab accidentally, pressing CommandZ before you do anything else will re-open it. This is tremendously helpful and something I’ve long appreciated in Firefox (where the shortcut is Command-Shift-T). Safari 5’s address field can now match text against the titles of Web pages in the History and Bookmarks as well as any part of their URLs. Unfortunately, much as Apple likes to call it the “Smart Address Field,” Safari 5’s address field is still far stupider and less useful than the address fields in Firefox and Chrome, which attempt to do the right thing with whatever you type, even if that means guessing at a Web page or performing a search. This is the main reason I don’t use Safari as my primary browser. Safari 5 claims to be smarter about opening new Web pages in tabs instead of separate windows, something that has long bothered me. If you use tabbed browsing, you generally want new pages opened in tabs, not windows, and Safari 4 was rather inconsistent about that. A new button at the top of the window makes it easy to switch between Top Sites and Full History Search views. There’s also a new keyboard shortcut (CommandOption-2) for Show All History in the View menu. When you’re in Private Browsing mode (choose Safari > Private Browsing to prevent Safari from remembering pages you visit, auto-fill information in forms, or search history), Safari 5 displays a Private button in the address field, next to the Reader button if necessary. Clicking it turns off Private Browsing. Safari 5 can filter potentially malicious scripts used in cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. Interestingly, the StartPanic.com Web site that shows off the CSS-based browser history leak doesn’t seem to be able to read Safari Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Safari 5 Top Sites 5’s history, which is great. However, Safari 5 is still susceptible to the tabnabbing phishing attack (“Beware Tabnabbing, a New Type of Phishing Attack,” 28 May 2010). A new Timeline panel in the Web Inspector shows how Safari interacts with various aspects of a Web site. To display it, turn on the Develop menu in Safari’s Advanced preferences, and then choose Develop > Show Web Inspector and click the Timeline button. Then click the round red Record button at the bottom of the Web Inspector and load a page. There are also new keyboard shortcuts for switching among the Web Inspector panels. Apple fixed a number of bugs that improve stability and performance related to Top Sites, trackpad pinch gestures, pasting text, auto-complete, transferring images to iPhoto, handling PDFs, making comments in Facebook, using eMusic.com, authenticating to Windows IIS, and dragging files while logged into etrade.com. Finally, Safari 5 eliminates a number of security vulnerabilities related to ColorSync, PDF handling, URL obfuscation, clipboard handling, UTF-7 encoding, CSS, keyboard focus, and more. Safari 5 is available via Software Update, or as a 37.46 MB download from the Apple Support Downloads site. It’s free, of course, and requires Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.2, or 10.6.3. If you’re still using Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, you can take advantage of many of Safari 5’s features other than Safari Reader by upgrading to Safari 4.1 for Tiger, which is a 29.46 MB download from Apple’s Support Downloads site; it’s also available via Software Update. The Windows versions of Safari 5 run under Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7; they seem to be available from the same Support Downloads page as the Mac version of Safari 5. Reprinted from Tidbits 27 April 2010 www.ctmac.org page 9 2010-11 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. 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Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also availOr LIVE at any able to draw business or live forevent. any private event. (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, July 28 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Back to Basics: 6 pm. TBA Watch your email for an announcement or go to www.ctmac.org to view this month’s scheduled presentation. Main Presentation: 7 pm Technology Futures 2010 This month, we bring you an engaging presentation by Rick Richardson, on the future of technology and the Mac. Rick began providing his technology futures forecast in 1981 and this year will mark an unbroken string of 30 years of predicting technology. He’ll offer us a look at current trends in hardware, software, and communications, as well as emerging technologies. Join us and gain an insightful picture of both the short and long-term directions of technology. Rick’s presentation includes a review of the past year’s technological developments. Plus, his personal forecast for our technology future. Look for Rick to bring some of the latest technologies with him to share with us. In addition to being a CMC member, Rick Richardson CPA, CITP is president of his local consultancy, Richardson Media & Technologies LLC. He had a 28-year career in technology with Ernst & Young, where he served as National Director of Technology. He’s also been honored by the American Institute of CPAs with two lifetime achievement awards for his contributions to the profession in the field of technology. 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CMC members get 40% off books from O’Reilly, Microsoft Press, No Starch, Paraglyph, PC Publishing, Pragmatic Bookshelf, Rocky Nook, SitePoint, or YoungJin books and 50% off ebooks that you purchase directly from O’Reilly. Just use code: DSUG when ordering online or by phone 800-998-9938. Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 92 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of July 01, 2010 Checking Account ................$528.74 Money Market ........................$3122.33 Check your newsletter mailing label for the following info: • Your CMC User name and password to access info at www.ctmac.org • Your CMC Membership Number (free shipping at MacConnection) • Your CMC Membership renewal date Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software… there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Your CMC Information Did You Know... Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. Need Mac Support? Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, July 28 at UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 Back to Basics: 6 pm. To Be Announced Main Presentation: 7 pm Technology Futures 2010 For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG-013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. CMC passed the word on 1Password 1Password was the focus of both of our meetings this past June. Our special interest group meeting, led by our Treasurer, Linas Venclauskas, focused on the use of 1Password Mobile for iPhones and iPads. Linas showed us how to set up the program to record not just our passwords but also for storing our credit card and banking info. He also took us through the various settings and how best to use them. Chris Hart, our club’s Secretary, expanded on Linas’ session by demonstrating the desktop version of 1Password. He explained how 1Password can protect the user from phishing sites and how to use it with Drop Box. The raffle winners of the 1Password software were Deena Quilty and Gene Czarnecki. Thank you Agile Web Solutions for donating 2 software licenses to CMC’s raffle. For those of you who don’t yet have 1Password, go to their website for a user group discount of $10 off the regular $39.95 price. It’s well worth it! Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION August 2010 Apple User Group Resources = $ in Your Pocket by Jerry Esposito, CMC president How many of you subscribe to Macworld magazine? How about MacLife? Did you know that you’re eligible to receive a yearly subscription at a reduced rate just for being a member of a Mac user group? I needed to renew my Macworld subscription in July and remembered to check out the great Apple User Group Resource before I sent in my money. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to renew through the Resource at an extra savings of $5. But that’s not all. As I wandered the website, I discovered lots of other offers and savings. Softpress Freeway was offering a 25% discount on its Freeway Pro application that enables users to lay out a website, embed images and publish it as an HTML. Inside Stolen Mobile Devices Protected page 3 QuickBooks 2010 for Macintosh page 4 The Camera Hackers Manual page 5 Phone Amego: the Macintosh/iPhone Mind Meld pages 6 - 7 MAC 911 page 8 CMC Member Info page 11 O’Reilly Books was offering 35% off all books and 45% off all ebooks. Plus free shipping for orders over $29.95. Ambrosia Software had 25% off its commercial-quality software. Snapz Pro X and WireTap Studio are just two of their popular titles. hField.com gives user group members a $10. saving on their Wi-Fire long range Wi-Fi adapter. Special Offers for User Group Members CATEGORIES › Special Offers (without codes) SPECIAL OFFERS WITH CODES Eltima Software multimedia products: Pay 20% less Mac Video Training gave nearly $25 off their video tutorials on using Mac OS X Snow Leopard. There’s over 4.5 hours of training videos that cover everything from PC to Mac migration, an OS X Basics section and a guide to all of the applications found on a Mac. 33% discount on QuickStart for your Mac training Mac Help Tech is another video training site offering 25% off their tutorials. Transition: From the MUG Store to PowerMax.com Thanks to our July Presenters By Jerry Esposito Softpress Freeway: 25% Discount continued on page 2 ly produced, was enthusiastically received by our members who really enjoyed this look into the future. Thank you Rick. We look forward to next year’s glimpse into the future! Dropbox is a great, new way to make many of your documents and files accessible to you when away from your computer. Our thanks to Chris Hart for showing us how best to use this online storage service to synchronize our computers and use it as an off-site storage service. Rick Richardson, a CMC member, gave all of us who attended the July 28 meeting a glimpse into the future world of technology. Rick is a CPA who provides other CPAs with his tech futures forecast. Rick’s slide show, which was excellent- CMC member, Rick Richardson CPA, CITP Apple User Group Resources = $ in Your Pocket Continued from page 1 CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. PowerMax.com is now offering user group members the ability to go directly to their website and purchase any of 50,000 different products. You only need to identify the user group you belong to (either in an online order or over the phone) and PowerMax will continue to accumulate points for our group to use. And free UPS shipping is offered on any order over $50. Special Offers for Apple User Group Members with User Group Discount Codes! Mach3Composites offers carbon fiber cases for MacBooks at a 27% discount. The cases are hand-made, lightweight, and have a hard shell with a high gloss 100% carbon fiber finish. Interiors are padded and covered with a high-quality soft liner. Prices range from $151.99 to $199.99, but Apple user group members are eligible for discount pricing ranging from $110 to $146. Besides what I’ve just mentioned, there’s also Peachpit Books with a 35% discount on their extensive collection of books, Eltima Software’s multimedia products, Intuit’s QuickBooks, The Hollywood Edge sound effects at 50% off, and iWork Pages templates from FaCILISI.COM at 20% off. As you can see, belonging to the CT Macintosh Connection is not only rewarding in its offering of great meeting presentations, but also gives you the opportunity to save much more than your yearly dues. Next time you’re in need of hardware or software, be sure to check the User Group Resource page of the CT Macintosh Connection Chronicle newsletter for your password to enter the world of savings only Mac user groups can take advantage of. FaCLISI.COM For the latest special offers, go to: http://appleusergroupresources.com. The password is located only on page 9 in your mailed CMC newsletter. www.ctmac.org page 2 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Stolen Mobile Devices Protected Reprinted from User Group Network ActiveTrak Inc., has announced a 95 percent recovery rate for laptops and smartphones running its GadgetTrak application. Compared to FBI crime statistics that reveal only 10 percent of all burglaries are actually solved, owners of a mobile device should be advised that using GadgetTrak can dramatically increases the chances of recovery should their device be stolen or lost. In addition to ActiveTrak’s high recovery rate, over the past year the company has helped law enforcement catch burglary suspects, and break up device and identity theft crime rings. Special Agent Marc Hinch with California’s San Mateo County Vehicle Theft Task Force said: “Remote theft recovery software like GadgetTrak gives detectives a new weapon in their arsenal that surpasses any other tool available to help catch burglary suspects in a matter of days … GadgetTrak is key to catching criminals this summer, a season notorious for an increase in thefts.” GadgetTrak offers the industry’s most advanced theft recovery software for laptops, smartphones, and portable media devices, including the first such security product for the iPad. Protected by GadgetTrak, a lost or stolen device can be pinpointed on a map within roughly 10 feet using GPS, Wi-Fi positioning or cell phone triangulation. Using a device’s onboard camera, GadgetTrak can automatically take a picture of a theft suspect and remotely lock the device as well as completely wipe any data. Ken Westin, ActiveTrak founder and CEO said: “Most homeowners do not keep track of product serial numbers, so finding common electronic devices once they’re sold at pawn shops, or on Craigslist or eBay, and returning them to their owners is virtually impossible … With GadgetTrak, we’ve been catching thieves in the act for years, not only recovering laptops and mobile phones for our customers, but also solving larger crimes including theft rings.” GadgetTrak provided police with the location of a stolen laptop, photo of a suspect and ultimately led them to a theft ring responsible for at least four burglaries that had plagued public schools in Portland, Oregon. GadgetTrak remotely captured photos of a thief who had stolen a laptop and jewelry, ultimately leading to police catching the suspect and recovering the stolen goods within a couple of days in Springfield, Oregon. A customer in Oregon had his laptop stolen and ActiveTrak worked with law enforcement to track the criminal down all the way to Missouri. Advanced features of GadgetTrak include: < The ability to trigger a remote ping that initiates a loud noise from a lost or stolen smartphone (even if it is in silent mode) < Remote device lock < Remote data wipe < Recovery assistance and much more ActiveTrak Inc. is a leading provider of innovative and patented theft recovery and loss prevention solutions for laptops, smartphones, and portable media devices. The company’s consumer product, GadgetTrak, delivers the most advanced theft recovery software available for consumers and businesses today. ActiveTrak not only provides the technology to recover and protect data on devices, but also recovery assistance. The company is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. ActiveTrak has been retrieving devices and catching criminals around the world since its founding nearly three years ago. Recent recovery stories include: Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 3 QuickBooks 2010 for Macintosh Software Review by Dave Greenbaum QuickBooks is the industry standard for financial management. Even if you don’t use QuickBooks, your accountant probably does and you’ll find the widest range of support and services when you use QuickBooks to run your business. It is, as they say, the 800-pound gorilla you have to deal with in the financial world. When people are considering making the switch from PC to Mac, being able to transfer their QuickBooks information is a key concern. Every year, Intuit promises more compatibility with the Windows version of QuickBooks and promises to bring more of the Windows features to the Mac platform. Unfortunately, Intuit woefully under-delivers on their promises. The last time I considered using QuickBooks on the Mac was 2006. Back then it wasn’t compatible with my bank or my credit card company, yet the Windows counterpart was. Like many other Mac users, I run QuickBooks on my Mac via a Windows virtual machine. Not having to boot up Windows every time I want to enter invoices would be a welcome change. All said and done, I’m still going to have to keep Windows on my Mac...sigh. According to Intuit, the key “new” feature of 2010 compared to previous versions is the ability to accept credit cards directly from within QuickBooks using Intuit’s merchant services solution. If you already do this on the PC, then the switch will be easy. Otherwise, you need to setup an account with Intuit, which may have higher rates then you get from your bank. Another new feature is a setup guide and wizard, but most people would probably use an accountant or bookkeeper for such things, so this feature is of limited value. The good news for QuickBooks 2010 is that it accurately talks with my credit card company to download information. Additionally, while it did import the raw data correctly from my PC QuickBooks 2008, it did not important my custom reports or my custom invoices that I paid my accountant to create. In spite of the claimed “improved” compatibility with the Windows counterpart, QuickBooks for the Mac failed to deliver. To be fair, Intuit claims that I should be running QuickBooks 2010 for Windows, and if so, I would have seen more reports transfer over. On a practical level, if you already paid for QuickBooks 2010 for the PC, you are much less likely to switch to a Mac. www.ctmac.org page 4 Also, contact syncing with the address book simply didn’t work at all. Tech support was most unhelpful, but did seem to indicate that if you already have contacts in your address book, QuickBooks isn’t smart enough to figure out to merge the contact info. This is important because most people using QuickBooks likely already have their customers as contacts in their Mac address book. Typical of QuickBooks is the inclusion of a variety of glitches, crashes and anomalies Mac users have come to expect from an Intuit product. I waited to do this review hoping that each new update to the program would fix some of these problems. With each update, some bugs were fixed while others were introduced. I’ve always been wary of QuickBooks updates since the famous debacle in December of 2007 where an update destroyed the desktop files of unsuspecting Mac users. If you are starting as a new business, the wizards will help get you off to a good start. New users won’t have to worry about importing from Windows and won’t encounter the transfer problems with older versions. Existing Mac or Windows QuickBooks users will find little value in upgrading to this newer version and should save their money for something else. Pros: The most Mac compatible version of QuickBooks to date. Cons: Not reliable and inconsistent compatibility and feature parity with PC version. 2 out of 5 Dogcows Originally published and written for the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 www.laugks.org/news and published by the author at http://www.clickheretech.com. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 The Canon Camera Hackers Manual by Berthold Daum The Canon Camera Hackers Manual addresses “geeky” owners of Canon consumer cameras, such as the Powershot and IXUS, who would like to explore the possibilities of their cameras and eventually tweak them to do things way beyond their original specifications. The hacks are based on the Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK), free software maintained by a group of enthusiasts. Many scripts are already published on the web, and this book teaches how to use existing scripts and how to write new ones. Canon cameras allow the user to temporarily upload socalled add-ons into the camera through the memory card. The next time the camera is powered on, the add-on is active; when the camera is switched off, the camera returns to its original state, so there is no risk of losing the manufacturer’s warranty. Some of the things you will be able to do are: < Produce RAW (or DNG) files in addition to the camera’s JPEG output < Manually control aperture, shutter speed, and ISO < Expand shutter speeds way beyond the specification limits < Enable bracketing The Canon Camera Hackers Manual by Berthold Daum, Publisher: Rocky Nook Rocky Nook was founded in early 2006 in Santa Barbara, California, and is closely associated with dpunkt.verlag, a leading publisher of books on technology based in Heidelberg, Germany. The focus of Rocky Nook’s publications is on digital photography and computing. Rocky Nook’s books are distributed internationally by O’Reilly Media. O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism. Berthold Daum studied photography in Melbourne and has both exhibited and published his images of Australia’s natural beauty. He also holds a Ph.D in mathematics and is a professional Java and XML developer. Dr. Daum specializes in innovative electronic business technology and electronic content production. His experience in software training and ability to anticipate the needs of professional developers has been demonstrated in his previous books, including Eclipse 2 for Java Developers (Wiley) and Modeling Business Objects with XML Schema (Morgan-Kaufmann). Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 5 Phone Amego: the Macintosh/iPhone Mind Meld from Adam C. Engst Imagine - and this shouldn’t be too hard for many people - that you have a Mac and an iPhone (or other Bluetoothcompatible mobile phone - I don’t have one of those, so I’m concentrating on the iPhone here). You’re sitting at your Mac, working away, and the phone in your pocket rings. You could pull it out, check the caller ID, and decide whether or not your want to answer. If even that seems like more work than is ideal, if you have LaunchBar installed, Phone Amego comes with a script that automatically dials phone numbers found via LaunchBar. Then the task becomes: press Control-Space to activate LaunchBar, type “Mark”, press Return, verify that Phone Amego is set to dial the right number, and press Return again. Or, if you had Sustainable Softworks’ new Phone Amego application loaded and paired with your iPhone, you’d just glance at a little pop-up window on your Mac to see who was calling and, if you desire, send the call directly to voicemail by closing the window. (This was a feature of Address Book in Tiger, but it went away in Leopard.) Another scenario: You’re at your Mac and you need to call your colleague Mark. You could pull your iPhone out of your pocket, press the Home button, unlock it, tap the Phone icon, tap the contacts icon, scroll until you find Mark’s entry, and tap it to call. It’s not hard, but it is quite a few actions to perform (and it might be more difficult with a different Bluetooth phone). Or, if you have Phone Amego running, you could look Mark up in Address Book on your Mac, click the phone number label, and choose Dial with Phone Amego from the pop-up menu that appears. This too disappeared from Address Book in Leopard. Phone Amego has a few other features too. If you use Google Voice, Phone Amego can place calls through Google Voice so your Google Voice number shows up for the recipient via Caller ID. In this case, Google Voice actually calls your phone and the recipient’s phone and then connects the two calls together. You can also send SMS messages to one or more phone numbers via Google Voice for free. You can also just dial any phone number directly by choosing Call from the Phone Amego menu bar item and typing the number in a pop-up window. Or, if you see a phone number in an email message or Web page, you can select it, Control-click the selection, and choose Dial with Phone Amego from the contextual menu that appears (or just press Command-Shift-D). This is implemented as a service in Snow Leopard; if it’s not on by default, check the Services list in the Keyboard preference pane’s Keyboard Shortcuts view. A single screen of preferences lets you configure a few basic options, plus set some scripts that run when calls come in, when you answer them, and when they end. Included scripts can pause iTunes (I use that on incoming calls) and set your iChat status (I’ve tweaked that to set it to “On the phone” for call answer, and to “Working” for call end). www.ctmac.org page 6 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 My only problem with Phone Amego came when the Bluetooth pairing between my Mac and my iPhone became confused, preventing any communication between the two; I deleted the pairing and set it back up again, and Phone Amego started to work properly again. Sustainable Softworks has brief FAQ entries on how Phone Amego compares with other phone-related programs, including ApiMac CallerID, BluePhoneElite 2, and Dialectic (for more on Dialectic, see Matt Neuburg’s review in “Dialectic Simplifies Dialing Any Type of Phone,” 2008-04-10). I haven’t tried those programs, so I can’t comment on them, other than noting that ApiMac CallerID doesn’t work with the iPhone, whereas the other two do offer iPhone compatibility. Phone Amego 1.0 costs $20 and is a 913 KB download. You can try it for 21 days for free, so if you have either an iPhone or a Bluetooth-savvy mobile phone and want to make it easier to use from your Mac, it’s worth giving Phone Amego a try. To download, go to: www.sustworks.com/site/downloads.html#phoneAmego There are two other script execution options that could be interesting: In Range and Out of Range. This means you could have a script execute as soon as your iPhone comes within Bluetooth range of your Mac, and another run when you leave. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to come up with interesting ways of taking advantage of this capability. This article originally appeared in TidBITS on 2009-09-03. The permanent URL for this article is: http://db.tidbits.com/article/10529 © 2009 TidBITS Publishing, Inc. CMC July Meeting Candids Photos by John Scott CMC Photographer Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 7 Mac 911 by Christopher Breen Balancing headphone volume Transfer Time Machine backups Reader Dan G. finds listening to his MP3 player an unsatisfying experience due to variable hearing loss. He writes: Reader Charles Franks needs a little more elbow-room for his Time Machine backup. He writes: You’ve told a reader who’s deaf in one ear how to rip his tunes in mono, but I’ve never been able to find a solution to my partial – and variable – loss of hearing in one ear. I don’t want to rip my music off-balance. Is there some kind of an inline balance control I can plug into my earbuds cable? I’ve never found an MP3 player with a balance control so I’m stuck listening to my laptop. You ever try jogging with a laptop? I’ve been using Time Machine to back up to a 500GB external hard drive but it’s full. I’d like to get a 1TB drive and use that for my backup. Is there a way to transfer the current backup on the old 500GB drive to the new hard drive? Doing so would require that I jog at all, and I try to leave that kind of dangerous (and ungeekish) activity to Adam Engst, so let’s just amble along at a reasonable pace, shall we? First, I’d like to update the “rip as mono” advice. If you’re using an iPhone 3GS, a thirdgeneration iPod touch, or an iPad, you can ask these devices to play all audio in mono. To do so, plug one of these devices into your Mac, fire up iTunes, select the device in iTunes’ Source list, and in the resulting Summary pane click the Configure Universal Access button. In the Universal Access window that appears, enable the Use Mono Audio option and click OK. This advice doesn’t apply to you because you hope to change the balance of the audio so one side of the stereo signal is louder than the other. An inline balance control will do that for you. Sennheiser makes just such a thing with its $40 (around $27 at Amazon) HZR 62 Universal Inline Volume Control. This is a passive control (meaning it won’t boost the volume beyond the volume of the device it’s plugged into). It also has a very long cable – 3.5 meters – so you’ll want to be sure to bundle up the extra cable with a rubber band to help ensure you don’t trip over it while you and Adam sprint into the distance. www.ctmac.org page 8 There is. Rolfje.com has a tutorial that shows you how to do this without changing your Time Machine history. I’ll sum up the steps here. 1. After attaching, formatting (Mac Journaled), and naming the new drive, launch Time Machine and switch it off. 2. Unmount the current Time Machine drive by dragging it to the Trash. Remount it by either turning it off and then on again, or mounting it with Disk Utility. You do this so it loses its Time Machine icon and appears with the typical orange external drive icon. 3. Launch Disk Utility, select the old drive, and click on the Restore tab. 4. Drag the Time Machine partition from the old drive to the Source field in the Restore tab. Drag the new drive’s partition (assuming there’s just the one partition) to the Destination field. 5. Enable the Erase Destination option and click the Restore button. 6. Wait while Disk Utility does its job (this can take several hours). 7. When the job is done you’ll see two identical volumes on the Desktop. Unmount and disconnect the one that shows a capacity of 500GB (the old drive). 8. With the new drive mounted, open Time Machine and switch it on. Click on Select Disk and direct Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Time Machine to the new drive that contains your copied Time Machines backup. big(ger) screen in a hurry and makes the iPad Camera Connection Kit all that much more valuable. Time Machine should do the right thing and use that drive for its backups. Should you need to restore you’ll find that all your old backed up data is on this new drive. Macworld Senior Editor Christopher Breen is the author of “Secrets of the iPod and iTunes (6th edition),” and “The iPod and iTunes Pocket Guide (4th edition)” both from Peachpit Press and “Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Essential Training (video)” from lynda.com. Find Chris’ books at www.amazon.com and www.peachpit.com. Get special user group pricing on Macworld Magazine! Subscribe today at http://www.macworld.com/useroffer. Copy iPhone 4’s iMovies to iPad In response to my iMovie for iPhone review, one Mr. Lizard posed this question: Is it possible to offload completed projects onto an iPad using the iPad Camera Connection Kit to free up space on the iPhone? Indeed it is. As far as the iPad is concerned, the iPhone 4 (and earlier iPhones, for that matter) is just another camera. String the iPhone’s USB cable between the iPhone’s dock connector port and the USB camera connector attached to your iPad. The iPad’s Photos then launches with the Camera tab selected. Any movies you’ve created with iMovie and then exported to the iPhone’s Photos app will be available to copy to your iPad. Just tap the movies you want to copy to the iPad and tap the Import button in the upper-right corner of the iPad’s screen. This is tremendous way to view your iMovies on a Please see Jerry Esposito’s article about Apple User Group Resources on page 1 and 2 of this newsletter. Subscribe to the Apple User Group Market Report podcast The User Group discounts are brought to you by the Apple User Group Advisory Board. You must be a current Apple user group member to qualify for these savings. Not a member? Join an Apple user group today to take advantage of these special offers. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training and much more. For the latest special offers, go to: http://appleusergroupresources.com For “protected” offers, use the CMC password: xxxxxx* *Note: CMC password for above is located only in your mailed CMC newsletter and does not appear in PDF versions. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 9 2010-11 CMC Officers & Board Members New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President John Stifel vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Photographer John Scott cmcphotos@ctmac.org Download of the Month Jerry Bonvisuto dotm@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ Special Events Jack Bass cmcspecialevents@ctmac.org ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also availOr LIVE at any able to draw business or live forevent. any private event. (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, August 25 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Back to Basics: 6 pm iPhone/iPad SIG Our iPhone/iPad Special Interest Group session at 6 PM is an exploration of the System Preferences. Presenter Chris Hart will explore the various settings in the iPhone, discussing their purpose and the possibilities they provide. Main Meeting: 7 pm Presentation: 7:30 pm What Makes A Web Site Tick This month’s presenter, Ryan Walsh, has turned his passion for the arts and learning into a career on the web. Building on his talents as a musician, photographer and videographer, he learned the skills of a web designer. His portfolio now includes dozens of web sites created for a wide range of clients. Recently, the field of web site construction has changed, with a new focus toward mobile internet devices, as well as clean CSS designs that are search engine-friendly. Many of Ryan's clients are leaning heavily toward open-source content managers like WordPress & Joomla, because of how easily they allow for content updates. CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Meeting and Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email to: vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. Free Raffle! Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 93 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of August 2, 2010 Getting CMC email? Your CMC Information Check your newsletter mailing label for the following info: • Your CMC User name and password to access info at www.ctmac.org • Your CMC Membership Number (free shipping at MacConnection) • Your CMC Membership renewal date Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Checking Account ................$424.94 Money Market ........................$2594.03 ADD TO CMC EMAIL LIST Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software… there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Ryan will discuss how these trends are impacting website building and what your business or organization can do to create a successful web site. We always send out advance notices of the meetings, and sometimes for big news or special events. If you’re not getting these notices, please email us at president@ctmac.org with your current email address and a subject line of: Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. Need Mac Support? Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, August 25 at UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 Back to Basics: 6 pm. iPhone/iPad SIG Main Presentation: 7 pm What Makes a Web Site Tick For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG-013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. Your CMC Information Check your newsletter mailing label above for the following info: Your CMC User name and password to access info at www.ctmac.org Your CMC Membership Number (free shipping at MacConnection) Your CMC Membership renewal date Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION September 2010 Down the Road with CMC by Jerry Esposito, CMC president Well, summer is coming to a close. When you read this article, most schools will be back in session and fall will be upon us. That started me thinking that I should remind all of our CMC members to save some money for our annual auction in November. This year’s auction will take place on November 17. If anyone has a suggestion or idea of what you’d like to see auctioned off, let Chris Hart know–he’s our Auction Chairman. We are always interested in your suggestions. And, if any of you has a contact in the world of applications or hardware, please send us their name and contact info. We will gladly follow up to see if they are interested in donating to our cause. Also, if any member wants to donate an item to our auction (which is always appre- Inside Apple User Group Resource Specials page 2, Page 7 Missing Manuals page 3 PDF2Office to iWork v. 1.0 page 4 Review: Moshi Codex MacBook Case page 5 Google Voice pages 6 - 7 FS3 by iPort page 8 CMC Member Info page 11 ciated), please email Chris or me so we can arrange to get it onto the items list in plenty of time before the night of the auction. We need to get all items in early, as we would need to assign it an auction number, a starting bid, and add a description so we can put it on our website a week or so before the event. This gives our members a chance to actually review the items days before the auction. Personally, I like to see what’s coming up for auction so I can look on the Internet and see if it’s something that will run on my Mac, if it’s an application, or if it will be compatible with my particular machine. Thanks to our August Presenters By Jerry Esposito The iPhone is loaded with apps and features. That’s the way a true smartphone should be. But how to get at all the preferences and tweak them to your best advantage? That was the subject of Chris Hart’s session for August. Thank you Chris for exploring with us the various settings and their purpose. Ryan Walsh, an expert website developer and designer talked us through why successful websites keep us coming back and what them makes them succesful. He gave us his insight, with a lit- Last year I bid on and won a piece of software that I just used last week. CopyCatX by SubRosaSoft enabled me to make an exact clone of my hard drive. Prior to the auction I looked up some specs about this app and decided I would bid on it. From what I’ve seen at our past auctions, many other members walk away with some pretty good deals. So, skip that new fall sweater and stash away some cash for our auction! tle humor, into why skimping on host providers to save a few dollars isn’t the correct way to go. All of us attending, business owners or not, got much information from this presentation. Thank you Ryan. Apple User Group Resources http://appleusergroupresources.com CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. www.ctmac.org page 2 Special Offers for CMC members (see page 7 for ! info) Special Offer – Select Wiley Books: 40% Discount Special Offer – Ezcapes iPhone 3G/3GS Covers: 50% Discount Wiley Publishing has 29 Apple product books on special offer, ranging from “Beginning iPhone SDK with Objective-C” to “Teach Yourself VISUALLY Macs” with retail prices ranging from $12.99 to $39.99. All titles can be viewed by going to: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Sect ion/id-406720.html. Ezcapes LLC designs, manufactures, and distributes products to protect iPhones and iPads. Since 2009, our factory has been a leading supplier for companies including Disney, Ed Hardy, and Paul Frank. CMC members are eligible to purchase the iPhone 3G/3GS cases for $9.99. Each iPhone case, normally priced at $19.99, includes a FREE Screen Protector. Special Offer – iPhone 4 Made Simple (ebook): 50% Discount PLUS... “iPhone 4 Made Simple” is the go-to guide for the latest and greatest version of the iPhone. This comprehensive book includes over 1,000 screen visuals and clear-cut instructions that illustrate both basic and advanced features of the iPhone 4, from email and calendar tips to navigating the App Store and understanding Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks. It helps readers take advantage of all the features, apps, and secret techniques available with the new iPhone 4. The PDF version of “iPhone 4 Made Simple” which normally retails for $20.99 is now available for download exclusively for CMC members for only $10.49. Special Offer – Tropic4 TopXotes: 20% Off Taking notes has never been easier. The award-winning TopXNotes keeps your thoughts organized like no other program, and now you can take your notes with you on your iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch, or iPad (iPhone app available separately from iTunes App Store). TopXNotes is the only note program for Mac OS that syncs notes with your iPhone/iPod Touch and iPod Classic. This CMC special offer is for $31.96. • Computer Memory, Flash Drives, Hard Drives: 15% off • Home Inventory: 25% off • All Eltima Mac Products: 20% off • iMedia Converter for Mac: 38% off • 10% Discount on IPEVO Point 2 View USB document camera • 50% Discount on The Hollywood Edge sound effects • 20% Discount on hField Wi-Fire Long Range Wi-Fi Adapter • QuickBooks 2010: 20% Discount • Ambrosia Software: 25% Off • iWork Pages’ templates: 20% off • 33% discount on Quick Start Your Mac training • O’Reilly: New Discounts for User Group Members • 28% off on iPhone Life magazine with bonuses • 25% Off Mac Help Tutorials • New Mach 3 Composites Macbook Protection Case: 27% Discount • 50% Off iTravel Alarm Clock • Mailplane: 25% Discount • RouteBuddy Software and Maps: 25% Discount • Pixelmator: 20% Discount • Softpress Freeway: 25% Discount • 40% Off Mac|Life • and Many More! Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Missing Manuals: Essential Enjoyable Learning Tools/eBooks a review by Tom Piper I’m sure that you’ve noticed that very few software packages come with an instruction manual, and many of those that do just aren’t very helpful. Sure, we also expect that software be designed intuitively so the learning curve is manageable . . . but, powerful programs with lots of tools require thoughtful instructions presented in a logical fashion, while hopefully being entertaining and educational. If that’s not enough, we also expect them to achieve these expectations only with classic paper books, but also using new interfaces like on the computer, iPad and such. Eight years ago, one of my favorite authors, David Pogue, award-winning how-to author and computer columnist for the New York Times, teamed up with O'Reilly Media, Inc. to launch Pogue Press. They dedicated their companies to producing sterling, beautifully written manuals for popular consumer software and hardware products. You no longer have to learn complex programs by reading electronic help screens or online help as a substitute for a real manual. The results of this collaboration produced Missing Manuals on iMovie 2, Windows XP Home Edition, AppleWorks 6, and iPhoto which are not only bestsellers, they're also the most popular books on their topics. And Mac OS X, 2nd Edition tops them all. The first edition of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual was the #1 bestselling computer book of 2002, selling 100,000 copies in six months. So, what makes a Missing Manual? I can’t say it any better than their website: • Superb, professional writing: Warm, witty, and jargonfree, Missing Manuals have enough clarity for the novice, and enough depth and detail for the power user. • Complete coverage: Each has a product overview, pointing out what it's good for; successive chapters dissect the entire product piece by piece with a real-world perspective; although Missing Manual titles feel "official" in many ways, flaws in the product are freely acknowledged (a distinct advantage over vendor-provided documentation). • A menu-command reference: A final appendix of each book serves as a menu-by-menu drive-through of the software's commands and dialog boxes. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Now, they have taken the next step to allow these fine publications to be consumed on electronic media. Almost two years ago, they started releasing Missing Manuals in PDF format (readable on most computers), then in ePub format (readable on the iPad), and Mobipocket (readable on the Kindle). Recently, they have also added Android format. The Missing Manual series has exploded in its popularity over the past 8 years with well over 100 different titles for software, hardware and beyond (I even saw 7 new Mini Missing Manuals released recently, also in eBook formats at $4.99 each). Books range in price from as little as $19.99 up to $49.99 . . . eBooks when bought alone are generally around 70% of the paper book cost, but when bought in combination with the paper version can be as little as $2.00 extra (keep the eBook and regift the print book to a friend or relative for any occasion). A visit to http://missingmanuals.com will be very rewarding, and add /library.csp to this address to see the complete list of Missing Manuals. If there are multiple titles that you like, buy 2 and get the 3rd one free by using discount code OPC10 in our shopping cart (all orders over $29.95 qualify for free shipping within the US). If that’s not enough, O’Reilly has long been a supporter of Apple user groups (many given away at our meetings were gifts from them), and offer great discounts for us (see description below). I now have 17 Missing Manual books in the iBook library of my iPad, ranging from iWork ’09 to Google Apps to Mac OS X Snow Leopard to Your Brain (they are branching way out beyond computers). It was as easy as downloading the file, dropping it into iTunes, syncing with my iPad, and immediately reading in iBooks. I fully endorse this series . . . David Pogue and O’Reilly started something great, and their tradition of excellence lives on! O'Reilly Publishing is offering new and better discounts for groups. User group members can get a discount of 35% off all books and 45% off all ebooks (PDF, ePub, Mobi, Android) from O'Reilly, No Starch, Paraglyph, PC Publishing, Pragmatic Bookshelf, SitePoint or Syngress books that are purchased directly from O'Reilly by phone or online. Add in free shipping for orders over $29.95 and the offer gets even better. Order from the O'Reilly Store online or by phone at 1-800-998-9938 ( extra shipping costs outside U.S.). See what the buzz is about: http://www.oreilly.com/store/ Reprinted from the appleJAC Mac Users Group. www.ctmac.org page 3 PDF2Office for iWork v1.0: Converting to Editable Text a review by Tom Piper We live in a wonderful world of interchangeable information that is conveniently transmitted via Portable Document Format (PDF) files that have become a standard for multiplatform document dissemination. With the introduction of Mac OS X, the ability to “print to PDF” has been just a click away, and we’ve been able to share our creations with almost anyone. But, when we need to edit these documents, what do we do? I have long known about a great program known as PDF2Office which would convert PDFs files into Microsoft Words files. Recently, they released a new version which makes conversion to iWork '08/ '09 files for the Macintosh. What GREAT version, because this is the environment I work in every day, and an incredible tool for everyday use. As their website describes, PDF2Office for iWork converts PDF documents into editable Keynote and Pages files by recreating the intended construction and layout of the document; forming paragraphs; applying styles; regrouping independent graphic elements; extracting images; creating tables; all automatically without any manual intervention. It also provides detailed options for fine-tuning the conversion process such as substitution of fonts and conversion of the entire PDF file or a range of pages. This powerful utility is simple, fast and accurate. No training or extensive reading is necessary because you can add the PDF, click on Convert to either Pages or Keynote, select any options desired, and have a new files literally in seconds. My first 5-page PDF conversion with mixed text and www.ctmac.org page 4 accomplished over ten years of successful Mac development. graphics took only 7 seconds (and this is typical)! It will even convert passworded documents into many languages beyond English. PDF2Office for iWork will work on a wide range of Macs from the PowerPC G4 processor of at least 800 MHz up through the most modern Intel unit. Mac Operating Systems supported range from OS X 10.4.11 (Panther) up through the latest 10.6.x (Snow Leopard). iWorks ’08 or ’09 are needed to view and edit Keynote and Pages files. It couldn’t be easier. Your PDF files can now easily be converted to editable iWork formats with the new PDF2Office for iWork. It converts PDF documents into editable Keynote and Pages ‘08/’09 files allowing for an efficient and transparent process in recovering and reusing PDF content with in iWork. PDF2Office for iWork has been designed specifically for the iWork user providing a simple and straightforward interface to convert PDF files to the iWork format while offering options to fine-tune the conversion results. This special converter eliminates the need to acquire and install additional PDF editing software and tools resulting in huge cost savings in both time and expense. Reprinted from the appleJAC Mac Users Group. Various configurations of PDF2Office for iWork are available including an individual license, Family Pack license, and Small/ Home Office Business. If you want to try before you buy, a trial version is easily downloadable at: www.recosoft.com. I fully endorse this product without hesitation, based on past and current experience, and the reputation of Recosoft Corporation which has Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Review: Moshi Codex MacBook Case –Stylish and Protective by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave™ Moshi describes itself as the “purveyor of electronics fashion,” and its Codex case is both stunning and quite practical, combining runway fashion with solid laptop protection. Unlike other MacBook protectors, this case is designed to be left on your computer at all times. Think of it as a sleeve you can use while the computer is still protected. Because it acts as a sleeve, it’s checkpoint friendly and can protect your MacBook on its sometimes perilous trip through airport security. I’m a big fan of cases like this because while some incidents can happen during transit, I often see the worst damage occur during the process of putting a laptop in a case, or pulling it out. A hand slips or a zipper you thought was closed wasn’t. Ouch. Codex has Viscotex™ inserts and Terahedron™ inner lining to provide an advanced level of shock protection. The Codex can be comfortably kept on at all times to protect your Mac. The case has a standard handle so it could be used exclusively as a carrying case, though personally, I use it in addition to my existing laptop bag. This gives my MacBook a tight and snug fit, but also provides more shock absorption. During everyday use, I don’t have to worry as much about spills around my double as a mousepad if you wish, as well as a matching Apple Remote case. Mac or a dirty coffee shop table. My MacBook has a stylish barrier between it and the environment it’s in. When I pull out the case, people are impressed. It elevates my already stylish MacBook to super model status. The 24/7 protection is peace of mind to protect my investment. After using the Codex for an extended period of time, there was no significant increase in the internal heat of my MacBook. The Codex does a great job of ventilation due to four bottom rubber risers that lift your MacBook slightly off the bottom of the case. These also prevent the MacBook from slipping while in the case. When the exterior of the case gets dirty, it cleans easily with a damp cloth. Moshi recommends leather cleaner for exterior cleaning. The complete package includes a keyboard and screen protector that can Like a super model, it’s not perfect. An annoying flaw in the design is that you cannot charge the MacBook while the case is closed. The case completely blocks all external connectors. You either need to remove the Codex while charging your MacBook or you need to leave your MacBook open. This is disappointing and could have been avoided, but super models tend to make sacrifices for fashion, so I’ll overlook this limitation due to the Codex’s overall stunning design and protection capabilities. If you are going to protect your Mac and don’t want to comprise either fashion or function the Codex is for you. The models vary in size based on your laptop: 13″, 15″ and 17″ and the color choices vary based on size but include metallic silver, metallic black, opalescent pink, and burgundy red. Pricing starts at $65. Pros: Stylish sophistication with maximum protection Cons: Pricey, blocks the charger port when closed Rating: 4 out of 5 Dogcows Reprinted from http://clickheretech. davegreenbaum.com/. CMC August Meeting Candids Photos by John Scott CMC Photographer Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 5 Google Voice Opens to All Americans by Glenn Fleishman Google Voice1 is now available to everyone in the United States, and no longer requires an invitation. The system, which includes a Web site, telephony components, and mobile apps, allows you to obtain a phone number and manage what happens to calls coming into that number or originating from it. Google Voice includes, at no fee, unlimited incoming voice calls and SMS text messages, as well as unlimited outgoing calls and text messages to numbers in the United States and Canada. For now, Google Voice acts as a switchboard for numbers you already have; it doesn’t include telephony client software. Calls placed to numbers outside North America are charged at rates2 comparable to those from Vonage and Skype – a few cents a minute to landlines in developed nations and substantially higher rates to mobile phones everywhere. Text messages are free for you to send from any Google Voice interface, and received messages don’t count against mobile totals if you disable forwarding to your cell phone. Google Voice can be used from voice.google.com3, through mobile apps on several platforms other than the iOS, and via a special mobile Web app4 that works well in iOS. Google tried to get a native Google Voice iPhone app approved by Apple nearly a year ago, but Apple rejected it with AT&T’s participation. The FCC got involved, and Apple said it was reviewing the app, but hadn’t rejected it, while AT&T said it wasn’t involved in the decision. Nearly a year later, the app still isn’t available. When you sign up for Google Voice, you choose a number, specifying an area code or a text pattern you want the number to spell, in part or whole. You then associate real phone numbers with the account – verified by an automated phone call at which you enter a code – as well as behavior for those numbers. You can associate each of your phone numbers with only a single Google Voice account. When someone calls your Google Voice number, you can set the system to ring one or more of your phone lines simultaneously. Each line can be set up with rules for when it rings, such as time of day or day of the week. You can also use Caller ID to recognize incoming callers, and group them for specific behavior, such as sending directly to voicemail. Along with audio voicemail, Google Voice also includes voicemail transcription, which I’ve found erratic, although interesting. I haven’t received a single voicemail that was transcribed close to correctly, but the system keeps improving (and asks for your help in improving it). Google provides instructions5 for having its system handle your mobile phone’s voicemail, too, if you want to unify all your voicemail into Google Voice. (This feature works only with Alltel, AT&T, Cricket Wireless, MetroPCS, Sprint, TMobile, US Cellular, and Verizon, and only if your plan supports conditional forwarding, which isn’t true of T-Mobile prepaid plans.) You can also enable call screening6, a feature that requires callers to state their name, and then rings you, with an automated voice providing Caller ID and the name the caller spoke. You then have the option of how to handle the call, including sending the caller to voicemail while you listen to them record a message. (This was one of those crazy features that made the service stand out when it was in testing as GrandCentral, before Google purchased the firm developing it. It’s like having an old-fashioned answering machine on your mobile phone.) continued on page 7 www.ctmac.org page 6 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 continued from page 6 Google Voice has an option I use frequently to avoid toll charges from my home landline number, which we have set for limited service. Both my father and my wife’s parents live just far enough away within our state that we either have to make cell calls (less comfortable in the home) or pay long distance toll charges. Instead, I bring up the Google Voice Web site, click the Call button, enter the phone number I want to call (or select it from the contacts list), and select my home line from the Phone to Ring pop-up menu. (You can also initiate calls by dialing your own number, accessing the voicemail options, and entering the number to call.) My phone rings, and because this counts as an inbound call, I don’t pay toll charges; when I pick up, Google dials the other end and connects the call. This also works well when you’re somewhere you can’t make a toll call from and it’s preferable or cheaper than using your cell phone. still subtracting from my recipient’s message totals – unless they have unlimited messaging plans – but it’s a way to reduce my costs. I also make use of Google Voice’s free text messaging. In the United States, both the sender and recipient of a text message are dinged for the same message, which is even more ridiculous since the nominal cost is, at most, a tiny fraction of a cent. (See “When iPhone Pushes, Text Message Fees Fall7,” 9 April 2009.) Google Voice is so far available only in the United States. Google’s response to those who try to sign up elsewhere is: “We’re not yet open for users outside the U.S., but are planning to expand our service to additional countries in the future.” I have a 200 SMS plan ($5 per month) from AT&T, and when I have occasionally gone over that amount, I pay 10 cents per message for the privilege. Using Google Voice for my half of the communication reduces my cost, as I don’t use the feature to forward SMS to my cell phone; instead, the messages are sent to me via email and I reply via the Web app or Web site. I’m Permanent article URL: http://db.tidbits.com/article/11374 Links in article above: [1]: http://voice.google.com/ [2]: http://tiny.cc/dyen9 [3]: http://voice.google.com/ [4]: http://tiny.cc/s22nx [5]: http://tiny.cc/20gq6 [6]: http://tiny.cc/iajc7 [7]: http://tiny.cc/as448 Subscribe to the Apple User Group Market Report podcast The User Group discounts are brought to you by the Apple User Group Advisory Board. You must be a current Apple user group member to qualify for these savings. Not a member? Join an Apple user group today to take advantage of these special offers. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training and much more. For the latest special offers, go to: http://appleusergroupresources.com For “protected” offers, use the CMC password: * See Page 2 for the September 2010 list of CMC member Special Offers! *Note: CMC password for above is located only in your mailed CMC newsletter and does not appear in PDF versions. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 7 FS-3, by iPort, an iPod In-Wall System by Bill Catambay Overview With the immense popularity of the Apple iPod, iPod users everywhere are continuously looking for improved ways for using their iPods, whether it's music on-the-go using a portable or car stereo, or improved sound and control in the home. iPort adds a unique entry into the iPod market by way of Free-Standing (FS) in-wall systems that provide elegant iPod integration into home entertainment systems. iPort makes five models of the FS series. All models provide drop-in charging of the iPod as well as one-touch syncing with iTunes, and include a connection box that connects the iPort with your stereo system and Mac (or PC). The FS-2 adds integrated IR remote control and push buttons on the iPort for next/previous track and volume control. The FS-3 includes an advanced connection box, supports balanced audio, and includes wall plates to support runs up to 500 feet. The FS-4 adds an RS-232 interface to support integration with media-system controllers. The FS-5 adds balanced video for runs up to 250 feet, with compatible wall-plates. The iPort FS systems are available in black and white. This review is for the white FS-3. NOTE: Since the publication of this review, iPort has condensed their FS series digital media systems down to two models, the FS-21 and FS-22, and apparently sold off the remaining models to Sonance (who offers the FS-3 in this review as FS-3W). Features • iPod Charger • Sync to iTunes • Built-in Pre-amp • Balanced Audio Included • iPort FS-3 • Foam insert • Velcro strap • Universal iPod Cradle • IR remote control input • iPort Control Buttons • Internal iPod speaker cable • iPod back plate • Carry strap Out of the Box When you first open the box to reveal all of the components to the FS-3, you may be a little overwhelmed. It's not like opening a box containing an iPod stereo system, where you simply plug the system into an AC jack, plop your iPod in the dock, and start listening to music. When purchasing an iPort FS-3, you will want to go through an authorized dealer and have them install the system for you. I'm not aware of the installation charges, as I did a mockinstall of the system for this review. There is a decent amount of in-wall wiring required, as well as mounting of the two wall plates. This is by no means a trivial installation. If you are proficient with in-house wiring, you may find the task to be a fun challenge. iPort FS-3 iPod docking station The primary component of the FS-3 is the iPod docking station (pictured right). This is where you will plug in your iPod. For this review, I placed the docking station in my kitchen. The docking station is connected to the connection box (pictured below). Provided the connection box is properly powered (uses an AC adapter plug), it provides the docking station with the power to constantly charge your iPod. FS-3 Advanced Connection Box The advanced connection box pictured above is the hub of the FS-3. This box connects to your home entertainment system via Ethernet, to the iPod docking station via USB, and to AC power via a power adapter. Ethernet Wall Switch The Ethernet wall switch (pictured right) would be located near where you will locate the iPod docking station. There is a behind-the-wall Ethernet jack on the back of this switch that is used to connect this wall switch to the RCA wall switch (the latter which would be located near your home entertainment system). continued on page 9 www.ctmac.org page 8 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 FS-3, by iPort, an iPod In-Wall System Continued from page 8 RCA Wall Switch Use RCA cables to connect the RCA wall switch to the RCA output on your home entertainment system. Once everything is installed and plugged in, you are ready to rock and roll. In Use I located the iPod docking station in my kitchen, and with my mock-install, I ran an ethernet cable from the kitchen to the stereo in my living room, along my floor (true installation would have the ethernet cable secluded behind your walls). I powered on the docking station, plugged in my iPod, turned on my stereo, and begin playing various songs. It was quite amazing to listen to my music through my entertainment system. From classical to Rock and Roll, I was extremely pleased with the quality of playback. Granted, your mileage will vary depending upon the quality of your home stereo system, but the FS-3 did a great job of piping the music across my house. Controlling your iPod and controlling your home stereo are two separate tasks. The FS-3 does come with an infrared remote control input, so you could purchase a remote control to help ease the burden of walking to your docking station. According to iPort, the FS-3 is primarily designed for installation in situations where you are using home audio systems installed by a professional custom installer. The FS-3 would generally feed into an audio distribution system and then be routed to different rooms via other audio systems (a distributed audio box with multiple zones, for instance) throughout the house and controlled locally with IR or control panels located in each room. The cost of wiring your home as such could be quite high. If you happen to have a wireless Airport Extreme to Airport Express system, your music could be sent directly from the computer to the audio system connected to the Airport Express, and so you wouldn't really need something like the FS-3. Simularly, if you have a high-powered iPod stereo dock, such as the Klipsch iGroove, you may be perfectly satisfied with the sound quality, and therefore would not see a need for the expense of hooking up the FS-3. However, in an environment without wireless connectivity to the audio system, and if you are looking for a better solution than a single room iPod stereo system, the iPort FS-3 allows simple connections to a home entertainment/audio system to integrate the iPod (and all it's music). The FS-3 and higher represent ideal product solutions for large, custom installation solutions that are distributing audio throughout the house, enabling long runs between the iPod docked in an iPort and the audio equipment Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 where the connections are made from wallplate to amplifiers and such. Overall, although at first overwhelmed with the set up of the system, I was quite pleased with the final results, and can imagine this solution being the pinnacle of a music lover's dream. Had I arranged for professional installation from the get-go, I would have never been bothered with the set up issues, and would simply be sinking back in my easy chair enjoying my iPod music through my home entertainment system. Summary The iPort FS-3 is a free-standing (FS) digital media system that provides audio connections between your iPod and your home entertainment system. The FS-3 is an elegant, albeit a bit expensive, integrated solution that let's you distribute playback of your iTunes library throughout your house. Installation is not trivial, and likely requires hiring a pro, which increases the cost of this solution. If you have the funds to spend, and don't already have an Aiport Extreme to Airport Extreme system that you use to play your iTunes library, the FS-3 is an incredible way to maximize your iTunes music listening pleasure. Pros • Elegant iPod integration to home entertainment system • Enjoy high quality playback of your iTunes library • iPod charging • In-wall wiring helps reduce clutter Cons • Not an easy installation process (really requires professional installation) • Expensive • Not a viable solution if you already have an Airport Extreme system • May be overkill if you already have a decent iPod stereo system Price: $500 Rating: 4 out of 5 Mice Reprinted from the Macguild Users Group. www.ctmac.org page 9 2010-11 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President John Stifel vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Photographer John Scott cmcphotos@ctmac.org Download of the Month Jerry Bonvisuto dotm@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ Special Events Jack Bass cmcspecialevents@ctmac.org ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also availOr LIVE at any able to draw business or live forevent. any private event. (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Monthly Meetings Wednesday, Sept. 29 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Back to Basics: 6 pm iMovie 09 - What’s It All About? Part 1 of 2 The B2B for September and October 2010 will focus on iMovie ‘09 with PDC Computer Technology President and Computer Specialist, Jerry Bonvisuto. Jerry will guide you through the use of iMovie ‘09 by defining its requirements and by talking about how to import movies from your still digital camera, movie camera, and other sources. He will also discuss and demo how to edit, enhance, and add detail to movies by adding titles, themes, transitions and effects. Other topics will include enjoying your movies by using iMovie ‘09 as your viewing station, sharing your movies with MobileMe, and making DVDs with iDVD. So come join us in September and October as we explore iMovie ‘09. It’s sure to be an interesting discussion! Main Meeting: 7 pm Presentation: 7:30 pm To Be Announced... At publication, our plans for the main presentation have not been firmed up. Watch your email or visit our website for further info. Our FREE raffle this month features your choice of a portable iPod speaker, a wireless optical mouse or an iPod/iPhone car charger. CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Meeting and Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email to: vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. Free Raffle! Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC”. Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 94 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of September 9, 2010 Checking Account ................$169.34 Money Market ........................$2594.32 Getting CMC email? We always send out advance notices of the meetings, and sometimes for big news or special events. If you’re not getting these notices, please email us at president@ctmac.org with your current email address and a subject line of: ADD TO CMC EMAIL LIST Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software… there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Did You Know... CMC members get 40% off books from O’Reilly, Microsoft Press, No Starch, Paraglyph, PC Publishing, Pragmatic Bookshelf, Rocky Nook, SitePoint, or YoungJin books and 50% off ebooks that you purchase directly from O’Reilly. Just use code: DSUG when ordering online or by phone 800-998-9938. Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. Need Mac Support? Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac Support mailing list for members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, September 29 at UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 Back to Basics: 6 pm. iMovie 09 - What’s It All About? Part 1 of 2 Main Presentation: 7 pm To Be Announced... For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. An iStore ...in Bermuda! Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG-013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. “I went to Bermuda for a day earlier in August. I stopped at the iStore. It can’t be an Apple store as only inhabitants of Bermuda can own a store so I guess they had to call it iStore.” photo by Jerry Esposito October 2010 Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION News from the Board and Other Bits of Info by Jerry Esposito, CMC president Our meeting in August was well attended; so well so that I was happy to see six new faces in attendance. These were new members, and soon-to-join members. I’m not sure, but this might be a record for the club. Welcome to all of you! Many user group clubs are feeling the pressure of so much available information on the Internet and even at Apple’s stores, that new Mac owners don’t feel the need the join a user group. It’s difficult to grow a membership list in today’s environment. So it’s a tribute to the hard work of many of our board members that people are willing to join us to make a stronger club. A special thanks to Jerry Bonvisuto for his September Back to Basics presentation on iMovie. iMovie can be mystifying to someone using it for the first time, but Jerry B. helped to clear up the confusion by discussing movie formats, conversions of 8mm and Super 8mm and importing of movies from dig- appreciation for their willingness to present to our members. Many of these speakers come from miles away or out of state and give of their time generously to bring us information that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to get. They will also get a copy of our CMC Chronicle newsletter for that same period. ital movie cameras. In October, Jerry will conclude with part 2. If fall is here, then CMC’s annual auction can’t be too far away. So I would like to remind all of our members that they should be sure their membership dues are up to date. Non members who wish to participate will pay a 20% premium above their winning bid price. So be sure to avoid that and send in your dues before the auction. At our last board meeting, the board voted to give our guest speakers a sixmonth free membership as a token of our An idea that we’ve had recently is to ask application developers to give us one or two free copies of their apps for review. We would in turn give one of these full version review copies to one of our members to try out and do a presentation to the membership. That presenter would then be able to keep that app for him or her self, no charge. If we were to receive two copies we could then raffle the extra one off. If anyone is interested in being a reviewer, please send me an email at president@ctmac.org or any of the other board members. Thanks and have a great fall season. Inside Subscribe to the Apple User Group Market Report podcast Download of the Month page 2 Review: BearExtender n3 page 3 How to: Improve Lighting in PSE pages 4-5 Microsoft Entourage and Time Machine pages 6 - 7 Review: Roxio CD SpinDoctor pages 8 -9 CMC Member Info page 11 The User Group discounts are brought to you by the Apple User Group Advisory Board. You must be a current Apple user group member to qualify for these savings. Not a member? Join an Apple user group today to take advantage of these special offers. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training & more. Plus, you can subscribe to the Apple User Group Market Report podcast. The AUG Market Report and Resource blog are great sources for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training and more. The website for the latest special offers: http://appleusergroupresources.com For “protected” offers, use the CMC password: ****** *Note: CMC password for above is located only in your mailed CMC newsletter and does not appear in PDF versions. Download of the Month submitted by Deena Quilty CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. LinkScanner version 9.0 for Macintosh Scan the page behind any link you click on or any Web address you type into your Safari or Firefox browser. This FREE software may be of use to those worried about getting “scammed” or “phished” by visiting some Web Sites. From the manufacturer’s Web site: AVG LinkScanner for Mac checks each Web page in real time before it opens on your Mac. If it sees trouble ahead, it stops you. It’s quick and easy to install and won’t get in your way. If the page is infected, it stops you from opening it. (This happens so quickly that you don’t even notice it). AVG LinkScanner works in real time and checks for active threats before you land on a page. Search-Shield scans search results and places a safety rating next to each link so you know where it’s safe to click. This applies when searching with Google, Yahoo! or Bing. AVG LinkScanner runs silently in the background–you won’t even notice it until a threat is detected. Minimal use of system resources so it won’t slow down your Mac. AVG is easy on you. You might be asking whether all these great things will slow down your Mac and prevent you from doing all the fun things you normally do. The answer is NO. • AVG LinkScanner® runs silently in the background – you won't even notice it until a threat is detected • Minimal use of system resources – it won't slow your Mac down • Easy to install and run • Protects you immediately without need of a system scan • Automatically updates whenever a new threat is found • Compatible with Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.6 and higher), Mac OS X Snow Leopard • Works with Safari 3.x, Safari 4.x, Safari 5.x, Mozilla Firefox 3.x (and higher) You can download the standard install package at: http://tiny.cc/357g4 Reprinted from the North Queensland (Australia) Mac Users Group news. Icon Warnings: Safe Site Caution Advised High-Risk Site Danger - Avoid Unknown Website www.ctmac.org page 2 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Review: BearExtender n3 by Tom Ebersold, CMC member I have an iBook G4 as my laptop computer that I wanted to use at a location other than the desk where I keep my iMac desktop computer. However, the internal Airport antenna on the iBook is so inadequate I found myself tied to the desk if I wanted to use the Internet. Even moving 10 ft. away to a couch in the same room caused a drop in signal strength from full to half bars. Moving to the next room, perhaps 20 feet away resulted in a signal too weak to be effective. I had similar poor luck when I took the computer on a weekend vacation. While in a McDonald’s, Airport registered a two-bar signal, but could not connect to the Internet. In doing an Internet search for an external wi-fi antenna, I came across Bear Extender n3, which is labeled as a wi-fi radio transmitter with a maximum 0.7-watt amplifier. I read the reviews on the site, reviewed the technical specifications, and decided it was worth spending $44.97 (plus $5 shipping) to purchase it. Using my home as a test base, I had full signal strength both on the couch and in the next room. I live in a condo and I picked up the wi-fi networks of about 15 neighbors, including one who lives about 100 feet away from me. I took my computer outside to the ground level, about 100 feet from my unit, and got a useable signal from my modem, which is located on the third floor. The signal registered about 65 percent strength at which a3 Mb document downloaded fairly quickly from the Internet, and I was able to view websites without any frustrations about speed. As I walked out of line of sight of the modem, the signal dropped to 33 percent, which was too poor to use, but it did not matter because I already identified a place with a good signal where I could work. nal. In a different room in the hotel, and in the hotel lobby, I ran into a roadblock. Even with BearExtender, I got a signal too weak for effective use. I was able to load a webpage, but it stopped downloading a 2.5 Mb file for a restaurant menu after about 20 percent of the file downloaded. I would tend to blame that more on the hotel’s wi-fi system than BearExtender. Overall, I am happy I purchased this product because I can now use my iBook with the Internet in varied locations, particularly working outside on a beautiful day. As BearExtender is the only wi-fi antenna I tried, I have no basis for comparing it to other products. The software for BearExtender is loaded on a flash drive, so it can be installed onto computers that do not have a CD/DVD player. Using instructions from the web site, it took me two tries to get it loaded and running properly. Whether that was a software glitch or my own inexperience with the product I cannot say. I use the 3-foot USB cable so I can clip the antenna to the lid of my computer. It also comes with a 4-inch flexible metal cable. Full technical specifications are on the web site, but the company says BearExtender is USB 1.1 and 2.0 compatible, and Mac OS 10.3 Panther, 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard, and 10.6 Snow Leopard compatible. There is a list of non-compatible products on the website, such as the “clamshell” iBook. The website is http://www.bearextender.com/ On a trip this past week, I used the computer with BearExtender in a hotel. With Airport, I could not even get a signal in my room. With BearExtender, I got a strong sigConnecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 3 How to Improve Lighting in Photoshop Elements/Photoshop by Pat Tasher & Barbara Gibson, Ausom News For the Beginner – Improve Lighting. After you have straightened, cropped and sharpened your image, the lighting may need attention. There are several ways this can be done. PE has three initial options for you to try: Shadows/Highlights, Brightness/ Contrast and Levels, and Shadows/Highlights. To activate this, go to the main menu bar, choose Enhance > Lighting > Shadows/ Highlights A (A). When you click on this a B dialogue box will open (see B). Shadows have automatically been reduced by 25% - move all three sliders to get the effect you want. Click OK. Brightness/Contrast. Choose Enhance > Lighting > Brightness/ Contrast (C). Use the sliders to brighten (or darken) the image and to C increase contrast. Levels. This option usually offers the best control of lighting. Go to Enhance > D Lighting > Levels (D). In the dialogue box, check J Preview to see changes to the image as you make them. The histogram F shows the “spread” of E G tones from black (E) to white (F). The midK H tones (neutral grey) are shown at (G). This diagram shows over exposure – correct this by moving the black slider (E) to the right until it the touches the histogram (K). Move the white slider (F) to the left until it also touches the histogram, then move the mid-tones slider to fine tune the result. If the image is as you want it click OK. If there is a “glare” in your image, you can often lessen this by moving the white slider in the Output Level (H) slightly to the left. The Channel option can give further adjustments in one colour at a time (not recommended for beginners). What’s New in Photoshop Elements? Very little, when you look at tools currently available in Elements 6! However, there are a number of additional features that make the manipulation of images automatic. These include: • Recompose: Aids altering the aspect of a photo (e.g. landscape to portrait view) whilst retaining all the main features, and removing unwanted features (no cloning necessary!). www.ctmac.org page 4 • Photomerge: In addition to the Group, Faces and Panorama merges that are available in PE 6, PE 8 offers Photomerge Exposure to blend exposures when combining two or more images, and Scene Cleaner to better merge multiple shots. • Smart Brushes: allows painting and multiple changes without degradation of the original image. • Actions: Allows you to save a series of steps for future use. • Surface Blur: Has been added to the blur menu, allowing blurring whilst retaining sharp edges. There are a number of additions to themes and artwork in Photo Projects, and navigation to functions such as email and galleries has been improved. Conclusion: For simple photo enhancement PE 6 will fill most requirements; for those who enjoy the adventure of “Photoshopping,” the additions may make upgrading worthwhile! Clipping Paths (PS/CS only). A path is vector based, i.e., it consists of bounding lines described by a series of mathematical formulae and not as a map of pixels with a location and colour value for each pixel. Any contour or shape drawn using one or more of the pen tools is, by definition, a path. A clipping path is a closed path isolating a part of an image (a selection). The area outside the path can be deleted to give the selection on a transparent background. The selection can be further edited or transferred to another file. To create a clipping path: 1. Open the file containing the future selection. As two layers are required to make a clipping path, have both the Layers and the Paths palette open (tear off one and relocate it on the desktop, then the other can be opened). 2. Select the Pen tool in the Tool Bar and then choose either the Pen Tool, Freeform Pen Tool or a pre-set tool in the Options Bar. Make sure that “Paths” is selected in the Shape Layers/ Paths/ Fill Pixels block. 3. Draw around the object to be selected. 4. Create a new, empty layer. 5. Press and hold the option key and place the cursor on the division between the layers. The cursor changes shape and clicking now places the traced path in the empty layer. The thumbnail has moved to the right with a linking arrow to show that it is linked to the layer below. 6. This clipping path can be saved by renaming the Work Path (double click in the Work Path layer and type a new name in the dialogue box). It can be converted to a selection border by converting to a normal selection. Click in the Load As Selection icon at the bottom of the Paths palette. continued on page 5 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 How to Improve Lighting and Other Tips in Photoshop Elements/Photoshop (con’t) Continued from page 4 2 3 Masks - What, how and why. In traditional darkroom photography, a mask refers to a piece of card used to cover parts of an image not required while exposing a print. In Photoshop speak, a mask is an element that isolates or protects an area allowing an effect to be restricted to the selected area or applied to the area outside the selection. A selection refers to any technique either isolating or protecting certain parts of the image from an action. The simplest form is any selection made using the ordinary tools e.g., lasso, rectangular marquee, and most basic editing relies on a mask, the mask being a standard selection outline expressed as a grayscale image. The anatomy of the mask - 100% white areas are “selected” (100% transparent), non-selected parts (100% opaque) are 100% black and partially selected pixels are shades of grey (parts of the mask with intermediate degrees of transparency). A mask can be inverted, 100% white being totally protected etc. There are great advantages in being able to visualise the actual mask as an independent bitmap image. It can be edited, effects can be applied and, in QuickMask, where the mask is shown as a separate channel, the selection outline can be saved permanently in the .psd file as an alpha channel. The 256 shades of gray in grayscale give a high level of control over the transparency of the selection and the mask can actually show the feather, not possible with the “Marching Ants” of the selection boundary which show no pixels less than 50% transparent. Two PS functions allowing direct work on the mask are QuickMask and Layer Masks. Quickmask. Quickmask is a temporary mask made from an active selection. The image and the mask can be viewed at the same time or the mask can be 1 viewed independently. In this image, No. 1 shows a selection made with the elliptical marquee 2 tool at 0 feather and the QuickMask mask of the selection, No.2 used the elliptical Marquee with a feather of 50 pixels, the extent and gradation of the feather is clearly shown in the mask. Layer Masks: This image shows a Layer Mask added to one layer in the Layers Palette. 1. The layer carrying the Layer Mask 2. This column, showing whether the Layer thumbnail, i.e. the image on the layer, or the mask is selected, has been omitted from later PS versions. 3. The layer thumbnail. 4. The actual mask, the surrounding border shows that it is selected (active). Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 5. The “Create Layer Mask” button. A Layer Mask, like the Adjustment Layer function, allows non-destructive editing i.e., editing that leaves the original image unaltered until the added effects are approved and actually applied to the image. 4 1 5 The Layer Mask command applies a grayscale mask to the image on that layer. Painting on this mask sets the desired transparency variations for the layer. Adding a Layer Mask: Note: a Layer Mask cannot be added to a background, only to a layer. 1. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon (see 5 in image above). 2. Go to Layer - Layer Mask. 3. This will show four choices: ■ Reveal All - the mask is white, is totally transparent and hides no pixels. on the layer. Painting on the mask wish black reveals the layer underneath. ■ Hide All - the mask is black, totally opaque and the lower layer is revealed,as the layer carrying the mask is hidden. Painting on the mask with white reveals the top layer. ■ Reveal selection - with an active selection on the mask bearing layer, the underlying layer is revealed within the selection boundary. Painting with white adds to the selection, with black subtracts. This makes very accurate selections possible. ■ Hide selection - the upper layer is revealed, the underlying layer is revealed outside the selection boundary. Painting on the mask with white subtracts from the selection, with black adds to it. To paint on the mask: the mask thumbnail is selected by clicking (shows a boundary) but the painting is done on the image. Painting on the mask with a shade of gray makes the mask semitransparent. Layer > Layer Mask then gives the choice of Delete or Apply. Masks can also be created as Vector Masks where the shape of the mask is defined by vectors. These are perfect for clean, crisp shapes created by shape or pen tools. Vector paths give a hard edged, infinitely scalable, shape based layer masks. Clipping Masks: With a stack of layers, the mask for each layer is defined by the bottom layer. This enables confining separate, individually editable layers to one mask shape. Note: for detailed descriptions of QuickMask, alpha channels, etc., download a pdf of AUSOM News, February 2009 as well as other past issues at: http://tiny.cc/x8nzu Reprinted from the AUSOM (“Awesome”) Apple Users’ Society of Melbourne (Australia) web newsletter. www.ctmac.org page 5 Microsoft Entourage and Apple Time Machine by Chris Hart, CMC secretary Many Mac users still prefer Microsoft Entourage as an email client. I’m one of them. For me, I came to Entourage via Claris Emailer. That was an email client from Claris software in the 90s. (Claris was once a division of Apple.) MS essentially bought the Emailer product and renamed it Outlook Express for Mac. Later, that evolved into Microsoft Entourage. I have stayed with Entourage, despite the improvements in Apple’s Mail app, because I still don’t like the way Mail behaves. It sometimes does things you didn’t ask it to and generally it seems to have a mind of its own. Entourage does only what you tell it to. I also find Entourage more customizable, so it suits my style better. Plus, Mail has this horrendous behavior with regard to SMTP servers that drives me up a wall. While Apple has improved this problem in more recent versions, dealing with outgoing email servers is still sometimes a pain in the butt. I won’t deny that I’ve gone through periods of difficulty with Entourage, yet it’s still my email tool of choice. That’s because I honestly think it’s the best email client for Mac. Many argue that the single database storage system used by Entourage is a problem waiting to happen. I won’t deny that it’s a weakness (one which MS is going to remove in the forthcoming Entourage 2011). Some folks have sworn off using Entourage after their database had become so corrupt that they lost all of their messages. But if those folks had made backups of their computer, even once a week, they wouldn’t have had much of a problem. MS fervently maintains that Entourage database problems are due to some other problems with your computer www.ctmac.org page 6 (such as disk directory errors). In my experience, this is frequently true, but not in every case. I have definitely seen database problems occur, even on a completely healthy computer. But these problems are rare and I can live with them, as long as I have good Entourage backups. Because of my automatic backup system, I have been able to roll back to an earlier version of my Entourage database and get going again, without too much trouble. The advent of Time Machine has made this even easier. In the past, my backups were daily and only went back a few days. But with Time Machine, I have more options for restoration of older Entourage databases. But it’s important to note that Time Machine backups of the Microsoft User Data folder will not be valid if Entourage is running at the time of the backup. This is because the database is open and subject to change during the time of the backup. My solution is to use an Automator workflow that runs daily, which prepares an Entourage backup for Time Machine purposes. I was actually doing something similar before Time Machine came along, where I used an AppleScript that told Entourage and the other MS Office apps to close once a day. I had this script triggered 5 minutes before my scheduled daily backup. This assured that the Microsoft User Data folder would not be changed while the backup was in progress. This worked great. With Time Machine, you can’t be guaranteed that the backup which is saved by the backup process will be the one that was created immediately after your script was triggered, because Time Machine picks just one backup from each day to save for the preceding week. My solution is to make a daily duplicate of the “Main Identity” folder. I achieve this with an Automator workflow that runs once a day. It starts by telling the MS apps to quit, then it makes a Finder duplicate of the Main Identity folder, to another folder inside of the Microsoft User Data folder. (Alternatively, you could make the backup to another location – such as a Dropbox folder, if your Dropbox account has that kind of capacity.) Creating a duplicate database in this manner guarantees that you have a valid Entourage backup from every day of the week. During each activation, the older duplicate database is replaced with a copy of the newer database, but the older duplicates remain within your Time Machine backup. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 I am making available my Automator workflow through the link at the end of this article, for you to use on your own computers. Before it is ready for use, you will need to make a few customizations, then save it as an iCal alarm item, which is how it is triggered daily. Start by double clicking the workflow file to open it in Automator. Now scroll down to the end and look for the entry that says “Get Specified Finder Items.” You will see that my Main Identity folder is currently shown (I left it in place, as an example for you). Look at the hierarchy of the folders listed, to familiarize yourself with the location of the Main Identity folder. You can now remove my example, by clicking on it once and then clicking on the “Remove” button immediately below. Now click on the “Add...” button, so you can specify your own Main Identity folder. You will be presented with a file dialog box. Navigate to this location: Your hard drive > Users > Documents > Microsoft User Data > Office 2008 Identities* > Main Identity. Click once on Main Identity and click the “Add” button. You will see that your Main Identity folder is now listed in the Get Specified Finder Items folder in the Automator workflow. with a never-ending pile of Entourage databases, which will eventually fill your hard drive.) *(If you are still using Entourage 2004, you want to choose the folder “Office 2004 Identities”). You will be immediately taken into iCal and the calendar event that was created will be highlighted. Click on the Edit button and specify the time of day you want the daily email backup to occur. Remember that all of the MS apps will quit when this backup occurs, so select a time of day that you won’t be too annoyed by this. Make sure you enable the “repeat” option and set it to “every day.” Now scroll down further in the Automator workflow and find the field “Copy Finder Items.” You’ll see a folder named “Email – Current” is specified. Click on that, to activate the selector menu. Choose the option “Other...” This is where you will specify the destination for your daily Entourage database duplicate. Typically, I recommend keeping it within the Microsoft User Data folder. So you would follow a similar path to the one above: Your hard drive > Users > Documents > Microsoft User Data > Office 2008 Identities (or 2004 Identities). Now click the “New Folder” button in the lower left of the file dialog box. Create a new folder to serve as the destination for the daily email backup. I suggest “Main Identity Daily Backup.” Once you create the folder, make sure it is selected and then click on the “Open” button. You’ll see that the folder you selected is now listed in the box Copy Finder Items. You’ll also notice that the checkbox next to “Replace existing files” is enabled. This is good, as you want this turned on. (Otherwise you will end up Now save the automator workflow and then immediately go to the File menu again and choose “Save As Plug-in...” In the field “Save Plug-in As:” you will name the daily event that creates your email backup. Make the name descriptive (such as “Email Backup Workflow Daily”). Click on the selector next to “Plug-in for” and choose iCal alarm. You will notice that your calendar is now littered with these email backups. That’s good in the sense that you’re now across the finish line and your automatic Entourage email backups have been automated. But, understandably, some of you will find these calendar entries to be a blight in your iCal. To fix this, I suggest creating a new calendar in iCal and moving the backup alarm task to that calendar. To do that: in the lower left corner of the iCal window, you will see a button with a + sign. Click on that and a new calendar is created, which you are immediately asked to name. (I suggest a short name like “Email Backup”) Back in the calendar grid, look for the earliest occurrence of the email backup event that you created a moment ago. Double click on it and then click on the Edit button. continued on page 9 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 7 Review: Roxio CD SpinDoctor6 by Tom Ebersold, CMC member I purchased Roxio’s Toast 10 Titanium as part of a project to make digital copies of my cassettes and vinyl records. This review focuses on Roxio CD SpinDoctor6, which is the software used to make the conversion. I took a week during December 2009 to make digital copies of my cassettes and now I am starting to work on converting my records. The program creates AIFF audio files, which can be easily imported into iTunes. The first step is to make the connection between your cassette deck or turntable to your computer. I used the input line on my iMac. For my cassette player, I needed to purchase a wire that had two RCA cables at one end and a small headphone jack at the other end. I connected the tape deck directly to the computer, bypassing my receiver. For the turntable, I had to purchase a separate wire, one that had a headphone jack at both ends. I happened to have one on hand because I use it to connect devices to my car’s CD players. I also used a small-to-large converter plug on the wire because my (old) receiver has a large size headphone output. Once you have the wires connected and the music cued, you are ready to start recording. The software has a relatively short learning curve and the manual is reasonably helpful. The software walks you through the steps needed to get going, including setting the input sound to make sure you are recording at the proper level. When you record something, it is easiest to record one side or selected tracks at once and then create the individual tracks. An important feature of the program is the ability to define tracks, which CD SpinDoctor does both automatically and manually. I found that the automatic feature does an extremely poor job of identifying where a track begins, due to the quiet spaces that are often present in both audio and music files. It falls to the user then to define those tracks manually. This procedure is the www.ctmac.org page 8 most time consuming part of the process: using the drag feature to identify a particular track, then listen to the beginning and end of the track to make sure it is correctly delineated, and then naming the track. The program has a feature that can auto-define tracks by linking to a website, but I found it could rarely identify a track and when it did, it was not always correct. With regard to sound quality, the program has the ability to reduce noise (clicks, crackles and hisses), enhance sound, and has a built-in equalizer. For my records, I used the noise reducer and it did reduce clicks and crackles somewhat with no noticeable loss of sound quality. However, the program is missing an important feature: the ability to adjust the speed of the recording. My cassettes and my cassette deck were old, and some tapes played at a slower than normal speed, causing an upbeat track like “China Grove” by the Doobie Brothers to sound more like a ballad. Ultimately, I had to delete tracks like these because the sound quality was so poor that it detracted from my enjoyment of the song. When I went to make and print a CD insert, I discovered one of the “ah ha” features of purchasing a software bundle like Toast Titanium. The two products that create the printed matter “Disc Catalog Maker” and “Disc Cover” are limited versions of the full products. Some might call them crippled. When I tried to print a CD booklet using “Disc Cover,” all I could find was a way to print a disc label. This did not interest me because I wanted to be able to see the individual tracks while the CD was in my player. I contacted the software developer, who replied and told me that this feature was available only if I upgraded to the standard version of the program, continued on page 9 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Review: Roxio CD SpinDoctor6 Microsoft Entourage and Apple Time Machine continued from page 8 continued from page 7 which costs $19.95. This is a discount of $15 from the normal price of $34.95. The upgrade to “Disc Catalog Maker” is $19.99, which is a discount of $10 from the $29.95 regular price. Locate the selector next to “Calendar” (it probably says “Home” by default) and change it to the calendar you just created a few seconds ago. Lastly, in the left column of iCal, locate the calendar you just created. Click on the checkbox next to it and you’ll see the check mark goes away and the email backup entries on your calendar will become invisible. This allows you to view your calendar without having to look at all those email backup events. Despite the discounts, it is irritating to me as a user that after I purchased what I thought was a complete product, I then discover that I need to spend additional money to get what I originally thought I bought. Roxio CD SpinDoctor 6 costs $39.99 as a stand-alone product, or may be purchased as part of the Toast Titanium suite of programs for $99.99. There may be a mail-in rebate on Toast. Other programs besides Disc Cover and Disc Catalog Maker included with Toast include Streamer for watching television programs online, Mac2Tivo for transferring shows from your Mac to your Tivo, as the name implies, and Toast Titanium for burning CDs and DVDs. I have not tried the last three programs, so I cannot offer any comment on them. (Optional step: If you have a backup hard drive with not much more capacity than your primary drive, you may want to add the “Main Identity” folder to Time Machine’s exemption list, in the Time Machine settings. If your backup drive is capacious, I would skip this step.) You’re now done with the email backup automation process and you can enjoy the knowledge that your Entourage database is being properly backed up by Time Machine at least once a day. Should you ever need to roll back your Entourage email to an earlier version, you will need to follow a short process: First, make sure all Microsoft apps are closed (this is important). Now, navigate to the folder where your daily email duplicate is saved by the Automator workflow. Second, go to the Time Machine menu and select “Enter Time Machine.” Find the day/date that you want to restore from. Highlight the files in this folder and click on the Restore button. Time Machine will ask you if you want to keep the originals, or the restored files. Select the older, restored files. Time Machine will perform the restore – which will take a moment. Now, navigate to your Main Identity folder and open it. Highlight the files inside and drag them to your desktop. Then drag into this Main Identity folder the files that were restored to the backup folder. Lastly, restart your Mac. Upon restart, when you launch Entourage, you'll find that your database has been restored to the day and date you selected. Email backup workflow link: http://tinyurl.com/27bkudb CMC September Meeting Candids Photos by John Scott CMC Photographer Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 9 2010-11 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President John Stifel vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Photographer John Scott cmcphotos@ctmac.org Download of the Month Jerry Bonvisuto dotm@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ Special Events Jack Bass cmcspecialevents@ctmac.org ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also availOr LIVE at any able to draw business or live forevent. any private event. (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Meeting and Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email to: vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Monthly Meetings Wednesday, October 27 UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Back to Basics: 6 pm iMovie 09 - Part 2 Join us for part 2 of our B2B on using iMovie ‘09. Now that we have explored how to import movies and pictures into iMovie from various camera sources, let us continue our journey as we actual build the complete project. We will cover editing, enhancing and adding detail to movies with titles, themes, transitions and effects. Other topics include enjoying your movies by using iMovie ‘09 as your viewing station, sharing your movies on MobileMe, and making DVDs with iDVD. So come join Jerry Bonvisuto of PDC Computer Technology for the final part of the iMovie ‘09 B2B. Main Meeting: 7 pm Presentation: 7:30 pm Future of Social Journalism Our presenter Rick Hancock, an evangelist for interactive media, online communications and social media, will speak on hot topics surrounding the Internet and journalism. Rick has been a trail blazing advocate for online journalism for more than 15 years and in 2003 was one of the first broadcasters to launch a blog. Rick currently produces and anchors a twice a week segment titled OuttaSite on Tuesday’s and Thursdays on FOX 61. He’s worked in “legacy” media as a news anchor and reporter in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. Rick is also a Assistant Professor in Residence in the Department of Journalism at the University of Connecticut. From 2006 to 2008 he was a Dean in the School of Communications and a Professor of Online Journalism at Quinnipiac University. Save These Dates! Nov. 17 - Annual Auction Dec. 15 - Holiday Party Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Free Raffle! Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software… there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC.” Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 96 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of October 6, 2010 Checking Account ................$145.55 Money Market ........................$2594.53 Getting CMC email? We always send out advance notices of the meetings, and sometimes for big news or special events. If you’re not getting these notices, please email us at president@ctmac.org with your current email address and a subject line of: ADD TO CMC EMAIL LIST Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Need Mac Support? Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac support mailing list for our members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, October 27 UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 CMC Back to Basics: 6 p.m. Auction y, e W dnesda iMovie ‘09 - Part 2 Nov. 17th Main Presentation: 7 p.m. Future of Social Journalism For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. When hands-on programs require computers for attendees, we will use Middlesex Community College. Apple Store: Sydney Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG-013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. The Sydney, Australia Apple store: a three-story playground. “Boy, was this a busy place. One of my tour bus drivers remarked: You’d think everybody in Sydney would have an Apple with all the people that are always in there!’ ” Submitted by Deena Quilty November/December 2010 Chronicle NEWSLETTER OF THE CONNECTICUT MACINTOSH CONNECTION A Frustrating Date with the Most Popular Girl in Town by Jerry Esposito, CMC president As I write this, it’s a day before the October 20 announcement of Apple’s media gathering “Back to the Mac,” in which it’s been hinted that they will talk about an update to OS X. Since a lion’s head is featured in the announcement it looks as though the next big cat to be used by Apple in it’s naming structure will be the king himself, the lion. It’s rumored that Apple will also introduce new hardware updates such as a MacBook Air refresh, an iOS-type interface with existing Macs, along with many other speculations. All of this is designed to bring about more sales for the flagship products: the Macintosh computer and some of its other iterations. And this brings me to what I wanted to talk about in the first place: the Apple Store is getting too crowded. It’s become a meeting place, a town center for meeting friends and checking email. And an impossible place to see and touch and learn about the Apple products you went there to get informed about. Two weeks ago I visited my local Apple Store to see if I could compare the Mac Pro with an iMac. Only one Mac Pro was Photo by Nial Kennedy on display. And so many people of all ages were crowded around all of the products that it was near impossible to really concentrate on why I was there. It was also quite noisy. Sure, lots of Apple employees were on hand to answer questions but it wasn’t the old inviting feel that it once had. Maybe more space is needed, or a different layout. It reminded me of shopping during the after-Thanksgiving holiday rush. I can just imagine how frustrating it will be to go there when the big holiday rush actually starts. continued on page 2 Inside Trojan Horse OS X page 3 Android and Mac pages 4-5 Keeping Your Entourage Attachments Under Control pages 6-7 Book Review: QuickStart Guides, iPhoto 9 page 8 Hardware Review: Otterbox “Commuter” for iPad page 9 CMC Member Info page 11 Holiday Meeting December 15th CMC Holiday iPad Raffle Come and celebrate the holidays with your Apple friends! We’ll have food and drinks and lots of fun. You better not pout! You better not cry! Or you’ll miss out on CMC’s Holiday Raffle for an Apple iPad! Even better, we’ll have special guests via video conference, Adam Engst of Tidbits and Chuck Joiner of MacVoices. Adam is also well known as the editor of several books devoted to the Mac, and along with his wife Tonya, the mastermind behind the Take Control series of eBooks. Chuck is perhaps the most prolific podcaster in the Mac community, as producer and host of You could win Apple’s “magical” tablet at our December 15th meeting. Featuring a 10" touchscreen, that lets you touch the web, your emails, your music and video library. Plus, you can run any of the thousands of applications available for iOS – from astronomy to gastronomy and horticulture to zoology. continued on page 2 continued on page 2 A Frustrating Date... continued from page 1 CMC Chronicle Editor Deena Quilty Designer George Maciel Photographer John Scott Publisher Connecticut Macintosh Connection, Inc. 41 Crossroads Plaza PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Printer Budget Printers 1718 Park Street Hartford, CT 06106 We welcome submissions from our members! Please submit articles by first of the month for inclusion in our newsletter. All articles should be submitted by email to: editor@ctmac.org Don’t get me wrong. I still want to see all the latest Apple gadgets and try them out. But Apple will soon need to address this calamity it’s created. Will more Apple Stores help? Or larger stores? How about a separate Genius Bar service center? The lines are fairly long already with just owners with iPod, iPhone, iMac – plus other questions and problems. I don’t think Apple imagined just how out of hand this whole thing could get. Apple makes CMC Holiday Meeting CMC Holiday Raffle continued from page 1 continued from page 1 several shows, including MacNotables, MacJury, MacVoices and MacVoices TV. Using the built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, you can access the internet using your home wireless network, as well as those at libraries, coffee shops, airports, hotels and countless other public places. Plus, it plays nicely with your Mac, allowing you to sync your contacts, calendar, email, etc. Adam and Chuck are both experts in their fields and they will discuss the state of the Mac and their own technology endeavors. Not only will you get a chance to enjoy some engaging conversation, but you’ll also have an opportunity to ask your questions before the night is through. Find out more about our guests at: www.takecontrolbooks.com www.tidbits.com www.macvoices.com www.macvoices.tv Adam Engst and Chuck Joiner page 2 Support CMC and buy your tickets at the December meeting. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Your chances of winning are very high in this members-only raffle. Winning ticket will be drawn at the conclusion of our December meeting. Note: Your membership dues must be up to date to be eligible to win. Winner does not need to be present at time of drawing to win. Drawing will be held at the CMC December 15th meeting. There is so much talent in our group; it would be great to have several member articles in each issue of the newsletter. www.ctmac.org more money per square feet of space than Tiffany in New York. That’s a good reason to keep the space small. But I worry that soon people will be turned off to the crowded situation. As Apple sells even more iPhones and iPads, this situation will only get worse. Unless of course, all of these electronic products become so easy to use and error-free that customers won’t need to go to Genius Bars any longer. One can only hope. Refurbished iPad: $449 value Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Trojan Horse OS X/Koobface.A Affects Mac OS X from our friends at the Intego Mac Security Blog Memo: Trojan Horse OS X/ Koobface.A affects OS X Mac – Koobface Variant Spreads via Facebook, Twitter, etc. Malware: OSX/Koobface.A Risk: Low Description: Intego has discovered a Mac version of the Koobface worm, which spreads via social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Intego’s Virus Monitoring Center has been examining this malware for some time, and given the low level of risk, has not publicly issued information about it. Since other reports have been made public about this malware, Intego has decided to publish this security memo. Reports have circulated discussing a Trojan horse, but without understanding either the scope or the functioning of this malware. This threat is a Mac OS X version of the Koobface worm, which is served as part of a multi-platform attack via a malicious Java applet. The malware itself is made up of a number of elements, though in order to simplify, we will use the term “Trojan horse” to describe it. (Technically, it propagates as a worm, is installed via a Trojan Horse, and installs a rootkit, backdoor, command and control, and other elements.) Users first encounter this malware via links on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, but links can and do exist from other web sites as well. They are taken to malicious web sites in order to view videos, and these sites attempt to load a Java applet. Users are alerted to this via the standard Mac OS X Java security alert. Clicking Show Details displays information about the certificate that is attempting to be authorized: Potentially, if it installs correctly, it functions the same as the Koobface worm running on Windows. It runs a local web server and an IRC server, acts as part of a botnet, acts as a DNS changer, and can activate a number of other functions, either through files initially installed or other files downloaded subsequently. It spreads by posting messages on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, usually trying to get people to click a link to view some sort of video. Users can deny or allow the applet access to their computers. If they click Deny, the applet will not run, and no infection will occur. If they click Allow, however, the applet will run, and will attempt to download files from one or more remote servers. At this point, VirusBarrier X6’s AntiSpyware feature, if activated, will alert users to an outgoing connection by Java. If this occurs, click Deny to block the connection. While this is an especially malicious piece of malware, the current Mac OS X implementation is flawed, and the threat is therefore low. However, Mac users should be aware that this threat exists, and that it is likely to be operative in the future, so this Koobface Trojan horse may become an issue for Macs. If files are downloaded, they are stored in an invisible folder (.jnana) in the current user’s home folder. These files include elements designed to infect Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. The Java applet should also download an installer that will then launch and attempt to install the malware. While Intego has evidence of several infections in the wild, we are not currently able to go beyond this step, as either the malicious malware has bugs preventing it from running correctly, or the servers it contacts are not active or are not serving the correct files. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Means of protection: The first step is for users who see the Java alert dialog shown above to click Deny; the Java applet will not run, and the malware will not be installed. Second, if a user sees an Installer window display spontaneously, without the user having double-clicked an installation package, they should quit the installer. Intego VirusBarrier X6 and X5 detect and eradicate this malware, which they identify as OSX/Koobface.A, with their current threat filters. From our friends at the Intego Mac Security Blog http://blog.intego.com/. www.ctmac.org page 3 Android and Mac: We Can Co-Exist by Kevin Boudreau, CMC member To echo a regular comment made by ically) from mid September the panel on the Your Mac Life webthrough mid October. So much of a cast, for Android to succeed, the cell phone user’s experience is iPhone does not have to fail. This is based on where you use your the spirit with which I write this artiphone the most, and for me the cle. I’ve demo’d an iPhone exactly Verizon experience was better. I four times in the past six months, dropped too many calls with the taking advantage of AT&T’s 30-day iPhone. There were times recently trial and the industry-wide number and even in the past when I have portability. I’ve used the 3GS and not been able to make a call with the 4 models. Each time I came Verizon; I had to redial. However, it away with the impression that hardis my belief that Verizon simply ware-wise and as a functioning hangs on to its calls better. I’d mobile unit, it is the best device I’ve rather have to dial twice and keep ever used. I found the external that meaningful conversation going speaker outstanding and even sooththan to connect on the first try and Image via www.devilsheep.com ing as I listened to white noise from have it disconnect unexpectedly. the Ambiance app at bedtime ($2.99 and worth its weight in gold). Furthermore, I appreciated the In the Mac community (not referring to our CMC here), hacktiered data plans that AT&T began offering on June 7th. While ing or “jailbreaking” is often frowned upon by iPhone owners. they don’t create value for pro users, they do offer an entry into Even after the Library of Congress released a statement supthe smartphone market for those who are frugal or who don’t porting the legality of such modifications earlier in the year, see a need for an abundance of mobile data. Honestly, the $15 Apple countered back saying that such behavior could harm for 200 MB plan is what got me started on this journey back in and potentially render useless (a.k.a. “brick”) your iPhone. June. Before that, I had only tried a Blackberry for a day or two What irritates me about how Apple has handled the iPhone before returning it. While today I see the value in a $25 to $30 since day one is the way they want to administrate our pera month data plan, AT&T’s revised plans provided a door into sonal experience with it. Though I dabbled in Mac in late this new world for me. 1990s and fondly recall using my high school’s Mac lab, I have only been a full time Mac user since 2004. Aside from Ultimately, I craved to do more with my phone. I didn’t want the coolness of it and the community aspect, what has always to be limited to the software Apple authorized me to install. impressed me the most about being a customer is that I get to Those 300,000 apps are a great statistic, but I was upset about choose my own adventure. Other than Apple supplying the this big brother mentality. Though there are Mac applications hardware and the operating system, I can install the applicalike Missing Sync that can do a Wi-Fi sync for the iPhone and tions that I want to make my Mac work for me. I cherish the other smartphones, essentially the iPhone user experience is a plethora of low-cost and even free apps that have made this computer-controlled endeavor. You are supposed to plug in experience so valuable. I delight in the fact that many small your iPhone to sync, to update software, to backup, and so on. developers are not just trying to push a product, but also Why can’t the phone be the CEO of our smartphone experienhance our communal fellowship. ence? That just bugged me. Taking all of that into consideration, an Android phone is I live beneath Rattlesnake Mountain, which stretches across worth your consideration the next time you are looking for a the Farmington/Plainville line. Certain spots are not known for smartphone. Quite simply put, it just fits in with the openness optimal reception. The intersection of Scott Swamp Rd. and that I believe Macintosh ownership is meant to epitomize. For Main St. is one where I’ve found Verizon and AT&T to each those of you who are not very familiar with Android, here are have issues. Ultimately, I decided to go with Verizon and one a couple of important guideposts. Android is not a phone, but of their best selling Android phones, the Droid Incredible by a mobile operating system developed by Google. Several manHTC. I had purchased and returned the iPhone four times. One ufacturers from HTC, to Motorola, Samsung, and LG put out could argue that I am simply going back to the “old familiar” Android phones. There are definitely haves and have nots that because I have mostly been a Verizon customer since 1999. continued on page 5 However, I tested Verizon and AT&T intensely (but unscientif- “With Android and Mac, two worlds have collided and we have a match.” www.ctmac.org page 4 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Android and Mac: We Can Co-Exist Continued from page 4 have been released to market thus far, drawing the criticism that Google and Android had better be careful so they don’t become the “Windows of the smartphone world.” Point well taken, but I would respond that shoppers should read the reviews and stay away from models like the LG Ally and Motorola Devour that carriers are selling for well under $100. The MyTouch 3G Slide and G2 for T-Mobile, Aria for AT&T, EVO for Sprint, and Incredible, Droid 2, and Droid X for Verizon are the kingmakers of the U.S. Android market right now. Newer models of this caliber will be released by the time you read this article. They are all viable alternatives to, but not necessarily “better” than the iPhone. Surely, the Android experience is not as Mac-centric. I didn’t care about the fact that on paper, my HTC Droid Incredible may have better specs than the iPhone. I need to make this phone work for me; it had to fit my lifestyle and more specifically, my Mac lifestyle. It took me about three days, but I’ve even been able to make this phone replace the iPod functionality of my iPhone – a deal breaker in my book. Generally speaking, this would be possible with any of the models I have just listed. Right out of the box, my Incredible would sync with my Gmail and Google Apps e-mail account, contacts and calendar. I could have simply left it this way, because Address Book and iCal will sync with Google. However, I needed a slightly more advanced solution because Address Book does not sync contact groups with Google. I narrowed my choices of a 3rd party application down to Missing Sync for Android, or SyncMate. Missing Sync performs wireless (or wired) syncs of contacts, notes, calendar and even photos and music between your Mac and an Android phone (contacts and calendar then sync to Google from the phone). SyncMate syncs contact and calendar data to Google, but can also sync music and photos between your Mac and your phone. Both applications were $40, however SyncMate allows you to keep a limited version that allows for manual but not automatic syncing. Since I had no issues with my phone syncing to Google, I purchased Missing Sync. When Wi-Fi is enabled on my MacBook and on my Android, data syncs every hour – wirelessly. The most popular application and (sister Android app) for syncing music and photos is Double Twist, which has been acclaimed as “iTunes for your Android.” It has the ability to sync your (non-DRM protected) songs directly from iTunes and has similarly convenient access to your iPhoto library. I choose to manage my music and photo syncing from Missing Sync; I paid for it so I may as well get my money’s worth. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Podcasts, oh how I love podcasts. Don’t laugh, but I am primarily a podcast only and no TV kind of guy. DoubleTwist offers limited syncing of podcasts, but I desired an option that would allow me to manage all of these episodes from my Android phone and have no dependence on my MacBook. I was nervous about buying the $6.99 DoggCatcher Android app on my first day with the phone, however, it was well worth it. This app lets me manage audio and video podcasts along with RSS news feeds, directly from my Incredible. I am the pilot; I am the CEO; I am in control of this ship. I operate from the phone’s cockpit. My joyous journey with the Android would not be possible without the modifications that I made to the phone (and can easily be made on most Android models). Jailbreaking in Android is known as “rooting” the phone. This is actually encouraged in the Android community. Google’s App Store (Marketplace) in fact sells apps than will only work on rooted Android devices. Try getting that from the iTunes Store! Jailbreaking my Android phone took all of five minutes, thanks to a free, Mac rooting application called Unrevoked3. Safetywise and security-wise, this put me in a much stronger position. While I was grateful that my iPhone could be backed up every time I connected it to iTunes, why in the Nutmeg state do I need to plug in my phone with a wire to back up? My rooted Android afforded me the opportunity to purchase Titanium Backup, a $6.99 app that allows me to back up my apps, data, and app preferences to the removable SD card in my phone. Oh happy day! For my final act, I removed the Verizon-ized version of the Android OS from my phone and installed a customized OS (known as a ROM) that allowed me full control over my device. The major benefits I have reaped so far include being able to install the real Skype app (free calls over Wi-Fi), and have no Verizon apps. A backup is no good unless you can restore from it; I was able to restore all existing apps, etc. using Titanium Backup. Simply because I love Android more than iPhone does not mean I am not loyal to Cupertino. I plan on buying an iPad for the spring semester because three of my courses are offering iPad-compatible textbooks. When you are buying a phone in the future, test out the options as I did. Take four or five weeks. You can keep your number throughout the process. I’ve been accused of looking at the world through rose-colored or even tea party glasses before, but, for me, a well executed Android phone is what the iPhone should have been. With Android and Mac, two worlds have collided and we have a match. www.ctmac.org page 5 Keeping Your Entourage Attachments Under Control by Chris Hart, CMC secretary For many years, Microsoft’s Entourage email app for Mac had a restriction that was not stated in the documentation, but could abruptly cause the application to become inept. That limitation was a maximum storage capacity of 2 gigabytes. Once you reached this limit, through an accumulation of messages, Entourage became helpless. I must note that the process below involves removing email attachments that you no longer need. These steps will permanently remove the files associated with the emails you have saved. The messages themselves will not be deleted; only their attachments. Which attachments are removed is entirely under your control. Long-time Entourage users, who send and receive many attachments, will likely have run into this wall. And due to Microsoft never foreseeing the possibility that a user would grow their database to such a size, they did not program in a system for handling this event. No warning or error messages would appear and many Entourage users were left scratching their heads when they found themselves unable to send or receive new emails. If you don’t have an automatic backup system in place on your Mac, do not proceed further until you do so. I would hate for something to go awry with your Entourage when you don’t have a safety net. There was a period of time when I did lots of service calls that involved getting Entourage on its feet again. In recent years, however, this has not been an issue. In fact, I have seen some Entourage 2004 and 2008 databases beyond 10 gigabytes in size. While this is not a good practice, amazingly, it doesn’t bust Entourage. However, a large database does slow the application down dramatically. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to keep your Entourage database under control. This is of greatest importance to those who send and receive large email attachments on a regular basis. Below, I outline the steps for trimming your Entourage database, I must point out that this information is specifically for users of Entourage 2004 and 2008. The earlier versions and the new Outlook 2011 (replacement for Entourage on the Mac) work differently and this information does not apply. www.ctmac.org page 6 If you don’t normally store copies of your valuable attachments elsewhere on your Mac, I would suggest either following the optional steps I outline in the sidebar “Saving Attachments,” or not moving forward with this Entourage housecleaning. If you’re the type of person who is very attached to their attachments (pun intended), perhaps it’s best for your sanity to just leave your Entourage the way it is. In that case, you should stop reading at this point. When doing Entourage housecleaning, I recommend starting with the Sent Items folder. Because all the files you have personally sent as email attachments, are almost certainly still residing in your Sent folder. So the very first step is to click on the Sent Items folder icon in the left column of Entourage. Now look to the right, where Entourage lists the message you have sent. Look for a column with a header name that says “Size.” If you don’t see that, then do this: Go to the “View” menu at the top of your screen, move down to the option “Preview Pane” and from the sub-menu choose “None.” If the Preview Pane option is grayed out, continue to the next step. Look in the list of messages for a column named Size. If you still don’t see it, then click on the “View” menu at the very top menu bar, move down to the option “Columns” and in the submenu, put a checkmark next to “Size.” This will enable the size column, which specifies the size of each email in your sent folder. At this point there are two approaches you can take to this trimming process. One is to focus your attention on the largest attachments. The second is to concern yourself with the oldest messages that also have attachments. Personally, I usually use method one, because it’s the easiest way to focus on the largest offenders. First, let’s make sure that if you have any attachments of value to you, that they are saved to the Finder. In the case of the Sent Items folder, this typically will not be necessary, because most folks keep in their Finder the original copies of files that they send as email attachments. If that is not you, then you should see the sidebar box on page 7 “Saving Attachments Of Value.” You may wish to refer to thet sidebar when you start doing housecleaning on the other folders in your Entourage. continued on page 7 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Saving Attachments Of Value Method One - Deleting The Largest Attachments: Again, we are starting with the Sent Items folder. To sort the largest messages together, click on the word “Size” at the top of the Size column. This forces the list of messages to be sorted from largest to smallest. If you now scroll all the way to the top of the list, you should see the largest size numbers grouped together. If you don’t, click on the heading “Size” again to re-sort the list. Now, click once on the largest message listed. Then, scroll down the list of messages and look for smaller emails. I usually delete all attachments from messages that are 1 MB (megabyte), or greater, in size. Find the end of the range that you want to specify and then hold the Shift key on the keyboard. Now, click on the message at the end of the range you want to choose. You should see that Entourage has now highlighted a range of messages. In the bottom left corner of the Entourage window, you can see an indication of how many messages you have selected. (For example it might say “3500 items, 2000 selected”) I would suggest selecting no more than roughly 1000 items at any one time. Doing so can cause Entourage to choke. Once you have chosen the range of messages that meet your criteria and won’t be too excessive for Entourage to handle in one step, you can tell Entourage to commence with the deletion process. Click on the “Message” menu at the top of the screen and choose the option “Remove All Attachments.” Entourage is now stripping the file attachments from the email messages you specified. Note that this process can take a while. Anywhere from seconds to many minutes. Exactly how much time Entourage requires will depend on how many messages you selected and how large the attachments were. Note that you will not be able to use Entourage at this time. Allow the task to finish and do not ask Entourage to Quit or Force Quit. Repeat this process for your other email folders in Entourage, using the same sorting process outlined above. Method Two – Deleting The Attachments From Older Messages: This method is ideal if you would like to keep recent attachments – say, those from the last 6 months – but get rid of the old ones. We are starting with the Sent Items folder, so click on that in the left column of Entourage. Now, sort the messages according to their age by clicking on the word “Date” at the top of the date column. If they were not sorted in the order you expected, click on the word Date again, to reverse the sort continued on page 9 Entourage offers a function that makes easy the process of saving email attachments to a folder in the Finder. This is handy, if you feel that the file attachments you have in Entourage may be unique and you could potentially need them in the future. Note that this method saves the attachments in a wholesale fashion – putting them all in one folder. If you want detailed folder and file names for your email attachments, you’ll have to go through the messages in your Entourage email folders one-byone and save the files. To use the quicker method, find the messages whose attachments you want to save. It’s best if you group them together by either using the Size sorting method, or the Date sorting method, both outlined in the main article. Click on the first of the messages, then find the last of the messages and hold the Shift key on the keyboard while you click on it. You have now selected a range of messages. To save their file attachments, go to the Message menu at the top of the screen and choose the option “Save All Attachments.” Entourage will now ask you to specify the Finder folder where you want the attachments saved. I suggest creating a new folder for these attachments, because they can really clutter up an existing folder. Note that once you start this process, it can take a considerable amount of time – depending on how many messages you chose and how large the attachments are. Entourage will be unresponsive during this time. Be patient and let Entourage finish the task. Entourage Size column example Entourage Message selection example Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 www.ctmac.org page 7 Book Review: Quickstart Guides, iPhoto ‘09 by David Greenbaum Like other Visual Quickstart Guides, the version for iPhoto ‘09 is not a manual but a detailed and complete how-to guide. Instead of covering every feature, the book covers those features you’d be most interested in, and the author doesn’t disappoint. Rather than answering the question “What does this do?” the book answers the questions about “How do I do this?” even the more complex topics to be succinctly and deftly handled in just a few paragraphs. Personally, I’ve always had problems getting pictures to print correctly on photo paper and after reading the short page on “Printing Standard Prints” and the “Troubleshooting” guide, I realized what I was doing wrong, and no longer have a stack for recycling each time I want a simple 4 x 6. The book covers topics in detail in a logical progression of how a new user would approach it, and features chapters on installation, importing and managing photos, working with the Faces and Places feature, slideshows, editing, publishing, and printing photos. As a bonus, the book also contains a great appendix on photography techniques to make anyone a better photographer. The troubleshooting chapter in particular is an outstanding guide on figuring out what to do when iPhoto acts quirky. It helps you with those functions that should work, but due to current bugs in iPhoto, don’t. You won’t find this detailed guide anywhere, so serious iPhoto users should buy it for this reason alone! Within each topic, details are covered one page at a time with copious screenshots (hence the Visual part of the title), making for a quick read without too much fluff and superfluous information (the Quickstart part of the title). Adam Engst’s excellent writing style enabled Although I consider myself an intermediate iPhoto user, I still found quite a bit of value from this book. I clearly don’t use the full potential of iPhoto, and know more about how to use certain functions to my advantage rather than learning for the sake of learning. Both beginner and intermediate users will find just what they need in this book. Rarely can a book walk that line of not talking down to intermediate users and not talking over the heads of a beginning user. Here is proof you can do both. Pros: Covers the most useful topics within iPhoto in a quick, easy to understand format with great tips and tricks along the way. Cons: Absolutely none Rating: Five out of Five Dogcows Originally published and written for the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 http://www.laugks.org/news and published by Dave Greenbaum at http://www.clickheretech.com CMC October Meeting Candids Photos by John Scott CMC Photographer www.ctmac.org page 8 Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Hardware Review: Otterbox Commuter for iPad by David Greenbaum The name Otterbox is synonymous with quality protection for your portable devices, so having a line of cases for the iPad is a welcome addition to their family. Generally, Otterbox cases come in the “Defender” line and the “Commuter” line. While the Defender is the ultimate in protection, the Commuter is an excellent balance of price, performance, and bulk. The Otterbox Commuter for the iPad is similar to other Commuter products in the Otterbox product line. It combines a silicone wraparound with a hard plastic support and a plastic screen overlay; three different forms of protection for your iPad when most vendors provide only one. The Commuter added a slight bit of bulk to the side and back of the iPad, but was within the normal dimensions of other silicone cases. I was easily able to fit it in most iPad sleeves. Given the large size of the iPad, a structural support in back is important to prevent screen cracking due to flexing. The Commuter’s matte finish makes the case much easier to grab and much less likely to slip out of your fingers. Holding my iPad in this case was comfortable and natural. Unlike other silicone cases that didn’t quite fit, the Otterbox always has a tight custom fit. Pros: Light yet sturdy protection Cons: None Rating: Five out of Five Dogcows. I’m a big fan of the Defender Case, but not everyone wants that level of protection (or price tag). For those looking for the perfect balance of price, style, and protection, the Otterbox Commuter for iPad delivers! Originally published and written for the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 http://www.laugks.org/news and published by Dave Greenbaum at http://www.clickheretech.com Photo: the “Commuter” by Otterbox . Inset: the “Defender” is the ultimate in protection Keeping Your Entourage Attachments Under Control continued from page 7 order. Now scroll in the list of messages to the most recent message you are willing to remove attachments from (such as one that is 3, 6, or 12 months old). Now scroll all the way to the bottom of the list, to the oldest messages. Hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and click on the oldest message. You’ll see that Entourage has highlighted the range of messages you specified. To find out just how many messages that is, look at the bottom left corner of the Entourage window. Look for the indicator that says something like “3500 items, 2000 selected.” I would suggest selecting no more than roughly 1000 items at any one time. Otherwise Entourage may choke. Now that you’ve selected range of messages you want to remove attachments from, click on the “Message” menu at the top of the screen and choose the option “Remove All Attachments.” Entourage starts removing the file attachments from the email messages selected. Note that this process can take a while (anywhere from seconds to many minutes). You should not try to use Entourage while this process is happening. Allow the task to complete and do not ask Entourage to Quit or Force Quit. Repeat these steps for your other Entourage message folders, including the Inbox. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Remember, these steps only delete attachments, not the messages themselves. I must also note that you will find that some messages will not respond to the “Remove All Attachments” command and will remain a large size (no matter how many times you choose that command). These are typically messages with embedded content, which Entourage doesn’t explicitly recognize as attachments. There is no way to trim the size of these messages. You must either ignore them, or delete them entirely from Entourage. www.ctmac.org page 9 2010-11 Connecticut Macintosh Connection Officers and Board of Directors New Members Wanted! Have your friends and coworkers join us for fun and learning about OS X and the Mac. Please give them this application form. CMC Benefits: Monthly meetings, monthly newsletter, special events, discounted books, assistance with computer problems, network with other Mac users, User Group Store discounts, and more. President Jerry Esposito president@ctmac.org Vice President John Stifel vicepres@ctmac.org Secretary/Past President Chris Hart secretary@ctmac.org Treasurer Linas Venclauskas treasurer@ctmac.org Ambassador Joseph Arcuri ambassador@ctmac.org Parliamentarian/Historian Connie Scott parliamentarian@ctmac.org Editor Deena Quilty editor@ctmac.org Design George Maciel newsletter@ctmac.org Webmaster Reggie Dionne webmaster@ctmac.org Photographer John Scott cmcphotos@ctmac.org Download of the Month Jerry Bonvisuto dotm@ctmac.org Yes, I want to join CMC! Date __________________________________________ Name _________________________________________ Address _______________________________________ City __________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip________________ Phone (Home) __________________________________ Phone (Office)__________________________________ Phone (Fax)____________________________________ Business ______________________________________ Occupation ____________________________________ Email: ________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________ Areas of special interest:__________________________ ______________________________________________ Special Events Jack Bass cmcspecialevents@ctmac.org ______________________________________________ Annual CMC Family Membership $ 25.00 Make check payable to CMC and mail to: 41 Crossroads Plaza, PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 – or – Pay online with PayPal at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 10 ILLUSTRATIONS For advertising or publication. Providing custom art for Custom art for:publications, advertising, or •web Print •sites. Web CARICATURES For Foraaunique uniqueGIFT. gift, try a Persoanlized personalized caricature art from photo. from a photo. Also availOr LIVE at any able to draw business or live forevent. any private event. (860)456-9041 • www.dougalart.com Caricatures by Bill Dougal of Lebanon (860) 456-9041 Available for illustration assignments and event caricatures. Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 CMC Meeting Notes Free Classified Ads Monthly CMC meetings are held on last Wednesday of the month (except during the months of November and December when the meetings are held earlier due to the holidays). We open at 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. for Back to Basics, and from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for the Main Meeting and Presentation. CMC Members can advertise For Sale, Swap, Trade, Giveaway or Want to Buy Items. This space can be used by members to advertise non-business items which they are no longer using or upgrading. This is a FREE service provided to our members. Send to: editor@ctmac.org Do you have an idea for a topic we should explore? Perhaps there’s a topic that you would like to present yourself? Email to: vicepres@ctmac.org. Display Ad Rates Monthly Meetings Wednesday, Dec. 15th UConn Health Center Farmington, CT Conference Room EG-013 Annual Holiday Meeting and iPad Raffle Come and celebrate the holidays with your Apple friends! We’ll have food and drinks and lots of fun. Even better, we’ll have special guests via video conference, Adam Engst of Tidbits and Chuck Joiner of MacVoices. Adam is also well known as the editor of several books devoted to the Mac, and along with his wife Tonya, the mastermind behind the Take Control series of eBooks. Chuck is perhaps the most prolific podcaster in the Mac community, as producer and host of several shows, including MacNotables, MacJury, MacVoices and MacVoices TV. Adam and Chuck are both experts in their fields and they will discuss the state of the Mac and their own technology endeavors. Not only will you get a chance to enjoy some engaging conversation, but you’ll also have an opportunity to ask your questions before the night is through. Find out more about about our guests at: www.takecontrolbooks.com www.tidbits.com www.macvoices.com www.macvoices.tv You could win Apple’s “magical” tablet. Featuring a 10" touchscreen, that lets you touch the web, your emails, your music and video library. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Your chances of winning are very high in this CMC membersonly raffle. Note: Your membership dues must be up to date to be eligible to win. Winner does not need to be present at time of drawing to win. Please note that we will not have a 6:00 PM session in December. Look for the return of our Back-To-Basics and iPhone/iPad sessions in 2011. Board meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month. If you wish to attend a Board meeting, contact an officer for time and location. Business Card (3.5”w. x 2”).....................$10.00 Free Raffle! Full Page (7.5”w. x 9.5”)...............................$50.00 Every CMC member who attends our monthly meetings gets a raffle ticket that will give you a chance for one of our free prizes every month! Win toys, t-shirts, CDs, mugs, software… there’s always something we’re giving away! And don’t forget the “free table” at the back of the room where everything is...free! Submit all ad copy to the Editor on a disk (with nothing else on it) or e-mail it to editor@ctmac.org for insertion in the following issue. Display ads must be submitted in eps or pdf format with all fonts and graphics embedded. Please specify how many issues you would like your ad to run and make check payable to “CMC.” Treasurer’s Report Easily Access URLs Total Membership: 96 Remember that you can easily access web sites referenced in your CMC newsletters by viewing the full color PDF version available on our web site at www.ctmac.org. Simply click on the URL to go right to that site! Account Balances Balances as of November 6, 2010 Checking Account ................$169.53 Money Market ........................$2594.75 Getting CMC email? We always send out advance notices of the meetings, and sometimes for big news or special events. If you’re not getting these notices, please email us at president@ctmac.org with your current email address and a subject line of: ADD TO CMC EMAIL LIST Connecticut Macintosh Connection a user group since 1986 Any business item or service can be advertised at these low monthly rates. Quarter Page (3.625”w. x 4.75”)...............$20.00 Half Page (7.5”w. x 4.75”h...........................$30.00 or 3.625”w. x 9.5”h.) Need Mac Support? Did you know that Mac support is just a click away? That’s right! You don’t have to wait for a monthly meeting to get answers your Mac related questions. CMC hosts a Mac support mailing list for our members? CMC members can join at www.ctmac.org www.ctmac.org page 11 41 Crossroads Plaza – PMB 1984 West Hartford, CT 06117 Wednesday, December 15 UConn Health Ctr., Farmington Conference Room EG-013 CMC Annual Holiday Meeting & iPad Raffle We’ll have food, drinks, special iPad raffle and special guests, via video conference, Adam Engst of Tidbits and Chuck Joiner of MacVoices! For more meeting info, see page 11 or go to: www.ctmac.org. Driving directions are below. CMC Monthly Meeting Location Thanks, Rick! Monthly CMC meetings are held at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. A PDF document containing a visual direction guide to the location of our meeting in the UConn Health Center is available on our website: www.ctmac.org. Directions for CMC Monthly Meetings UConn Health Center, Farmington From I-84: Take Exit 39 (if coming from I-84 West, Exit 39 is after 39A). Turn right at first traffic light onto Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn right to enter the Health Center campus. Go around the main building to the right (at a Y in road), then take a left when you get to the Academic Entrance. The road becomes two-way there so you should be able to tell where to turn. (Do not go on straight to the two-way part). Then take the second right into parking lot A&B. this is close to the building. Go past the police station entrance on your left (small sign). You will see a continuation of the building with its own entrance area. This is the new research building. Enter on the ground floor, turn right and enter room EG-013 on your right. This is the first room on your right. The rest rooms are on your left as you enter. We’d like to thank our October presenter, Rick Hancock, for opening our eyes to the “Future of Social Journalism.” Rick touched on many subjects – from the tools that can help anyone be a journalist, to the insight of using social network pathways. Although Rick’s presentation was geared toward the future, he also spent a few humorous moments enlightening all of us with a look at the past. Thanks, Rick!