June 30, 2006 Meeting
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Aoraki Macintosh User Group Home Page Snippets from Previous Meetings 
Web design
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FIREFOX WEATHER WIDGETSFurther to his recent session on the Firefox web browser, Hugh gave further information on widgets which can place up-to-date weather information on the status bar (lower right corner) of a Firefox window:
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and a further localised (eg. for Timaru, as above) unofficial version can be downloaded from
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSSome computing queries discussed, and suggested solutions, included:INTEL MACS & VIRUSES If I get an Intel Mac, will it be susceptible to viruses? Yes and no. An Intel Mac runs both Windows OS and Macintosh OS, but in separate partitions. The Windows system is as open to Windows viruses as is any PC computer (and therefore needs suitable firewall protection and an updated virus checker), but the Mac system is not affected.CHANGING THE CURSOR How can I change the appearance of the cursor on my Mac? Download alternative cursors from an appropriate website. A Google search for <mac cursor download> will provide a selection of sources. Note also that in newer systems you can change the cursor's size by going to the System Preferences/Universal Access/Mouse pane (see Universal Access session, below): EXCEL SLOWDOWN Why is the Excel application on my computer slowing down? One reason for applications taking longer than usual to perform tasks is that various caches (where temporary files are stored) fill up. Use a utility such as OnyX (see May minutes) to periodically 'flush' these.SENDING FILES TO PC USERS PC users to whom I e-mail files from my Mac sometimes have difficulty opening them. How can I prevent this? There are several things that you can do to help this problem from occurring: If you are sending files which the recipient will only read and not alter, you can send them in PDF (Portable Document File) format. Do this by going to the Print menu and clicking on the PDF button. Select Save as PDF (or Mail PDF if you are using Mail as your default email application). Any PC recipient who has Acrobat Reader can access a PDF file.If sending application files (eg. Word documents) you must make sure that you add the correct suffix (.doc) to the filename, and also be certain that the recipient has the correct version of the application to read the document. |
HANDY HINT
The NZ Post website enables you find R.D. (Rural Delivery) numbers, and new Postcodes. You just enter the street number/name, PO Box number, or road name and locality and do a search. Thank you Rodger for this information. Visit: http://www.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/OnlineTools/PostCodeFinder/ |
SESSIONSMacBASICS: SYSTEM PREFERENCESSPEECH PREFERENCES 
Ricky and Tony gave an outline of the Speech options which are available in MacOS X. The Speech System Preference has two main panes: Speech Recognition and Text to Speech. Speech Recognition This enables you to control your computer and applications using spoken commands. You can use spoken commands to open applications, choose menu items, email friends in your Address Book, tell the date or time, and even tell jokes. A number of commands, or 'speakable items,' are already created, and you can create your own commands and add them to the Speakable Items folder. In the Speech Recognition pane you can turn speech recognition on, set up how to signal your computer that you're speaking a command, create commands for applications, and open the Speakable Items folder.You can speak commands using the built-in microphone, and if the computer recognises the command, it will acknowledge the request and perform the task. Although somewhat of a gimmick and used for its novelty value, Speech Recognition can be useful with certain applications, for example when playing Chess on the computer. For further information, go to the Mac Help sections on Speech Recognition and Spoken Commands. Text to Speech This pane enables you to have you computer speak the text in dialog boxes and alert messages, and also to speak selected text when you tell it to. You have options to select from a range of male, female and novelty voices, and to choose the rate of speaking.The Text to Speech software is able to pronounce most words that are included in the computer's dictionary, and will spell out words it does not recognise. Pauses for commas, full stops and paragraphs are included, and also a rising inflexion for questions. If you are using AppleWorks, you can use Text to Speech by adding the Speak Text button to the Button Bar. Do this by going to Preferences/Button Bar, and under Available Buttons scroll down to the Word Processing section and click on the grey triangle to display the list. Locate the Speak Text button and drag it up to the Button Bar. Remember to select the text that you want spoken before clicking on the button. Text to Speech is useful when proofreading for errors, as it reads what has been typed, whereas we all usually read what we think we have written! UNIVERSAL ACCESS
Tony outlined how the Universal Access preferences allow a Mac to be configured to assist users who have difficulty seeing, hearing, or controlling their computer. The custom preferences enable the user to:
TARGET DISK MODE
Rodger demonstrated how to use Target Disk Mode, which is a quick method of connecting two computers together for file transfer purposes. This is done by connecting your computer (Mac A) to another computer (Mac B) using a double-ended FireWire cable, which enables Mac A to appear as an external hard disk on Mac B's screen. Note that this is not the FireWire cable that is sometimes supplied with your Mac (used for connected to a FireWire device such as a DV Camera), but one which has the same FireWire plug on both ends - see image above. To set up in Target Disk Mode:
Using Target Disk Mode:
OPEN OFFICE & NeoOFFICEJohn gave a description of these two surprising applications, both of which are of particular interest when you consider that:
OpenOffice is an open-source project which has created a multiplatform suite of office applications which are compatible with all other major office suites (Microsoft Office, AppleWorks, etc) and are FREE to download, use and distribute. It works on Windows, Linux and several other operating systems as well as on MacOS Panther and Tiger. The components of OpenOffice are:
WRITER - word processor CALC - spreadsheet IMPRESS - multimedia presentation creator DRAW - drawing application, including dynamic 3D illustrations and special effects BASE - database 
NeoOffice (short for Neolithic Office!) is a version of the OpenOffice suite of applications that, instead of being multiplatform, has been engineered to run natively on Mac OS X (v3 Panther and v4 Tiger). It has been developed by two programmers in their spare time, and life OpenOffice is completely FREE.
To a large extent, although not completely, it looks and feels like an Apple-developed application designed for Mac, and integrates many native Mac features and appearances.
A typical screenshot: 
NeoOffice is continually being developed and is regularly updated. This suite of applications will be of interest to those who do not have AppleWorks and do not want to purchase Microsoft Office. N.B. NeoOffice Version2 Alpha 4 was released on July 1, the day after our AMUG meeting. For further information and downloads of these applications, visit: http://www.openoffice.org/ or http://www.neooffice.org/ ZOOMIN ADDRESS BOOK MAPS
Tony introduced a new facility which has been developed to display maps which show the location of home addresses contained in the user's MacOS X Address Book application. A plug-in called Zoomin Map Plug-in enables of Australian and New Zealand addresses to be displayed.
Zoomin Map Plug-in requires MacOS 10.3 (Panther) or later, and a connection to the Internet. Download the file from: http://homepage.mac.com/rjsdev/.Public/ZoomInMap1-0b2.dmg and follow the installation instructions in the Read Me file, remembering to close Address Book first. To use the Zoomin Map Plug, open the person's Address Book card and click on the label for the address, which will be labelled 'home' unless you have renamed it. A menu will appear, and at the bottom is Zoomin Map. When you select this, your web browser will open the Zoomin site, which will locate and display a map showing the location of the selected address: 
FLIP4MAC WMV Tony gave an outline of a convenient utility called Flip4Mac WMV, which enables you to play Windows Media files in QuickTime. A useful application of Flip4Mac WMV is for playing on-line video clips in QuickTime instead of the player which the website designates - this makes some clips easier to access on the Mac, and if you have QuickTime Pro there is the added advantage of being able to save and edit clips (NOT with movie trailers, though, before you get ideas!). Using it can solve problems when some on-line clips refuse to play. The player version is free, and can be downloaded from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx (Don't click on the above image, as it is not a live link!) If you purchase ($US29) the Pro version of Flip4Mac WMV, you can import/export video and audio files between the Windows Media and QuickTime formats. For further information visit: http://www.flip4mac.com/ DESKTOP PUBLISHING - Preparing files for 300dpi resolution - Commercial lazer printingLea led a session in which she shared some of her experiences concerning desktop publishing.Both AppleWorks and Pages print at 75dpi unless you change the resolution of the file or page itself. To change the dpi you need to go to the file/page setup, choose paper size and change the scale setting. 
For printing at 300dpi change the scale value to 75%. Note that the The file size will be increased considerably especially with lots of photographs. 300dpi will give far better print detail and clarity than a scale setting of 100% which prints at 75dpi. The font size also needs to be increased. If you normally use size 9 change this to 12 pts., otherwise print will appear too small. Save files as normal but export to commercial printers as pdf. Points emphasised included:
Lea will discuss further aspects of desktop publishing, including the Pages application, at a future session. |
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Regards to all....
Secretary: Tony Climo, Aoraki MacIntosh Users Group |