February 24 2006
INTERNET EXPLORER FOR MAC
Sheryl advised that at the end of January Microsoft stopped supporting the Mac version of their web browser Internet Explorer. If you use Explorer,
you can continue to do so, but be aware that:
- you can no longer update it,
- some sites will no longer work on it eg. Air New Zealand on-line booking.
Alternatively, you could switch to Safari (Apple's browser) or use MozillaÕs browser Firefox, which is available as a free download (together with its companion e-mail application Thunderbird), or contact Hugh to borrow his CD: hggrhunter@maxnet.co.nz
Visit Mozilla's website for more details: http://www.mozilla.org/products/
SAFARI SECURITY
Robin informed members that through the Yorkshire Mac User Group he had become aware of that a security vulnerability had been discovered in Safari, which could compromise the user's system.
Secunia Advisories, a company which deals with Internet security, explains the problem: visit http://secunia.com/advisories/18963/
They have devised a test to check if your system is vulnerable to this issue - visit http://secunia.com/mac_os_x_command_execution_vulnerability_test/
Suggested solutions are:
- Do not open files in archives or mail attachments originating from untrusted sources.
- Mitigate vulnerability by disabling the "Open safe files after downloading" option (Safari/Preferences/Appearance): uncheck this:
HANDY HINT
To eject removable media (CDs, digital cameras, pen-drives, etc) the usual methods are to:
- click on the icon and pressing the keyboard eject key, or
- drag the icon to the trash
However, you can also eject by:
- Control-clicking on the icon (by holding down the control key while you click, or right-clicking if you have a two-button mouse) and selecting Eject from the menu which appears, or
- Clicking on the eject symbol at the end of the medium's name-line in Finder/iTunes/I/Photo etc windows:
Which method you use depends on your personal preference, as well as the what is most convenient at the time.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Some computing queries and suggested solutions included:
ITUNES WITH SLIDESHOW
When adding music to an iPhoto slideshow, iTunes doesnÕt always work properly:
- You may have early versions of either (or both) iTunes or iPhoto which may not know about each other. Try updating both applications.
- Try repairing the the disk permissions on your computer:
- Go to Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility, and open the Disk Utility.
- Click on your Hard Disk icon (not the computer's drive icon):
- In the First Aid panel, click Repair Disk Permissions:
WHICH WEBCAM?
Where can I get a webcam for my computer? Apple dealers only tell me about the iSight camera, and TradeMe seems to have only PC cameras.
- Apple dealers will recommend the iSight camera because it's made by Apple, but there are other cameras that are Mac-compatible.
- Try contacting a firm such as Hamilton-based TotallyMac, who have available a wide range of Macs and Mac-compatible equipment. Prices are in $NZ, and delivery is fast (and free!). Visit http://www.totallymac.com/
MAC PLANNING SOFTWARE
Does anyone know of a Mac application for drawing house plans?
SAVING FROM SCREEN
I'd like to use the 'pale' (unselected crop) area from an iPhoto image as a background. How do I save it?
- Any part of what appears onscreen (a small area, complete window or whole screen) of can be saved as an image file, as are many of the images used in these minutes Ð as above.
- Open the image in iPhoto, click in a lower corner and drag very slightly to select a tiny part - the rest of the photo appears as a pale 'unselected' image. Use the Grab application to 'capture' the image:
- Open Grab from Applications/Utilities, and from the Capture menu click on Selection.
- Drag over the desired area. The resultant image will open in a new window.
- Save the image, and it will appear as a .tiff file on the desktop.
- Alternatively, use the quicker keyboard shortcuts to perform the capture (only quicker if you can remember the shortcut!): Press Shift+Apple+4 then drag to select. A JPEG image is automatically saved to the desktop.
LABELS IN APPLEWORKS
How do I print sheets of Avery labels in AppleWorks?
AppleWorks has a Create Labels assistant to do this - it also allows you to insert graphics (which can be done in Word, but not as easily):
- Open a database document and create the fields you want (eg. Name, Address line 1, Address line 2, etc).
- Go to Layout menu, and select New Label Layout.
- Follow the onscreen instructions.
SESSIONS
MacBASICS: FILE TRANSFER
Tony described a few aspects about sending files from one computer to another. Some points:
-
If sending a file from a Mac to a PC user, whether by pen-drive, e-mail attachment, CD or other media, ensure that its filename has the correct suffix so that the PC can recognise it: AppleWorks files need .cwk, Word files need .doc, image files need .jpg or .tif, etc. Your Mac knows what the file-type is, whatever name you have given to the file, but Windows relies recognising the suffix to know how what sort it is.
- Make sure that you send copy of the file itself to another computer, not its alias Ð an alias is only a 'signpost' to the original file, and tells where to find it on your computer, which is of no use to the recipient.
- If youÕre unsure whether the recipient has the correct application to open the file that you send (eg. very few Windows users will have AppleWorks) then you can send it as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file: go to the File/Print menu, and click the PDF button Ð this gives you the option (among others) of saving the file as a PDF on the desktop, ready to send. This file can be read by anyone with a PDF reader, such as Acrobat Reader (free download) or Preview, but cannot be edited or manipulated.
- Some recipients have problems with Windows hiding the e-mail attachments sent to them - tell them to push the Forward button on their e-mail application: this often causes the hidden attachments to appear.
iPOD SHUFFLE
Russell Wallace showed his iPod Shuffle, a tiny device not much bigger than a pen-drive Ð and is like a pen-drive in that it contains a memory and is plugged into the USB port to load. Unlike a pen-drive, though, it contains its own battery which is recharged while downloading up to 120 songs directly from iTunes. It had high-quality audio reproduction, and can be plugged in to extension speakers if desired. Songs can be played either in the order they are downloaded, or in shuffled order, as its name implies. However, songs cannot be selected as on the larger iPods, as there is no screen.
The iPod Shuffle is available in two models: 512MB, which holds up to 120 songs ($NZ160), and 1GB, which with double the capacity holds up to 240 songs ($NZ208). Sheryl is an agent for selling them.
LIMEWIRE
Russell's iPod Shuffle demo led on to Sheryl describing the Limewire website, which is a source of downloadable music which is stored on other people's computers. On the site you can request the title/artist/album you require, and Limewire will show where it is available, and indicate its license status. The basic version is free, while the Pro version ($US19) contains more features.
For details visit http://www.limewire.com
FILEMAKER PRO
Tony showed how this professional-level application can be used to construct different types of database, which can hold, sort, share and manipulate data in various ways. He shared several examples which showed how FileMaker databases can be applied in school situations: a Student File which stores records on children and can also be used to produce their school reports, and several Curriculum Planning databases which hold large amounts of data which can be used by teachers to produce plans in various subjects.
As well as storing data, FileMaker has the ability to handle it in a variety of ways, eg. in the StudentFile a childÕs date of birth is entered, and then FileMaker can compare this with the computerÕs current date to display the childÕs current age at any time of the year. Other calculations which can be performed include the ability to display related data, eg. If a Reading Level test result of 24 is entered, FileMaker will display a Reading Age of 8.5 years.
FileMaker uses a variety of layouts to display data fields in different ways Ð layouts can be coloured for ease of use when entering data, or may be in black and white for printing purposes.
This session did not show how the FileMaker databases were constructed, but gave a quick overview of ways in which they could be used.
USING iTUNES
Ricky explained a number of aspects of using iTunes, including:
- Getting the track names for a CD from the Internet (go to Advanced/Get CD Track Names menu) - you don't want dozens of songs in your Library labelled only by their track numbers!
- Importing tracks from an audio CD into the iTunes Library.
- Importing and playing videos from various sources.
- Using the Get Info panel to give details of tracks.
- Using iTunes to connect to streaming Radio on the Internet.
- Visualisers and plug-in alternatives that are available.
- Using the MyTunes application to get song art to go with audio tracks.
- The iTunes Music store: not currently available in NZ, but can be accessed through Australia. Use it to purchase/get info on songs, movie trailers, videos (view them free, but sign up to purchase), listen to Podcasts and other sound files eg. Speeches.
Instructions on how to access the iTunes Australian Store will be forwarded to you.
REMINDERS
Next AMUG Evening meeting will be on Friday March 31, 2006 7.30pm.
Next AMUG Daytime Meeting To be advised
Regards to all....
Secretary: Tony Climo, Aoraki MacIntosh Users Group
