October 27, 2006 Meeting

Aoraki Macintosh User Group Home Page

Snippets from Previous Meetings





Web design

NEW HARDWARE/SOFTWARE


Sheryl described the new range of iPods, which are available in a range of colours. The iPod Shuffle now has a new shape, and is smaller in size. The MacBook Pro range has had a revamp, and is available in several configurations. See the Apple website for details.
Sheryl had on sale a further selection of Eureka educational software packages, as described in the September minutes.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Some computing queries discussed, and suggested solutions, included:

Why does an image file remain in the iPhoto folders on my hard disk even though I've deleted the image in iPhoto?

For several reasons: You may have only deleted the image from an iPhoto album, in which case a copy is still held in the Library. If you delete the Library copy, the original is still held in your hard disk iPhoto folders until you empty the iPhoto trash. Do this either by pressing Shift+Apple+Delete, or by going to the iPhoto Menu and selecting Empty Trash (NB. This has nothing to do with the Trash on your Dock).

Help! What can I do about unwanted (spam) e-mails?

Very little to stop it coming - this is a rapidly-increasing problem for most e-mail users. Some solutions which may assist:
  • Junk mail protection in your e-mail application: Some programs (eg. Entourage, below) enable you to automatically consign junk mail to its own folder. You can increase/decrease the level of protection:
  • Delete via Web-Mail: If your Internet service Provider has a web-mail facility (eg. Xtra Mail, Orcon Webmail) you can check your mail online and delete junk mail before to comes to your computer, then receive only the messages you want to. This means extra effort, but has the advantage that spam, with its potential nasties, doesn't get downloaded, let alone opened.
  • Protect in your Web-Mail: If your ISP offers a junk-mail filter, you may be able to select a level of protection and choose an appropriate action, eg. Xtra WebMail settings:
  • Or (as a last resort), change your e-mail address!

How can I check the speed of my Broadband connection?

A number of websites will do this for you. A Google search will point you to sites such as New Zealand DSL, which offers a test facility Ð visit: http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/module-Speedtest.phtml

Canon's Image Browser software doesn't recognise my camera. What can I do?

  • A likely reason is that your camera is newer than your version of Image Browser. Download the latest version from Canon.

When using iWork's Pages application, after I've clicked outside a graphic object, it becomes locked in place and I can't re-select it. What can I do?

  • Check the setting sin Pages Preferences.
  • Download any available updates.
  • Reinstall the application.

Certain websites don't seem to like my web browser. Where to now?

  • Many websites are configured to only work effectively on certain browsers, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer (which is no longer supported for MacOS X), and do not necessarily work well on Apple's Safari browser. Try another browser, such as Mozilla's Firefox.
  • Check the Proxy settings (if you know how to): eg. In Firefox, go to Preferences/General/Connection settings and then configure the proxies.

How can I use certain symbols from the Character Palette? Some don't seem to work.

No, they don't! Sorry, no simple answer as yet - we pooled our ideas and concluded that we need to find out more about using the Character Palette - anyone who gets chance to play around with it can enlighten us next month!

SESSIONS

MAINTAINING YOUR MAC

Hugh discussed several aspects concerning computer usage and maintenance. He brought members' attention to several helpful pages on the Apple website: http://www.apple.com/support/help/search/
This page gives assistance with using the Search tool on Apple Support webpages, and explains a number of ways to get better search results. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75178
Apple Support provides a large Knowledge Base of articles on a wide variety of Mac issues, and using certain keywords helps you to quickly locate relevant articles. This page provides a list of keyworks, each starting with k, eg. to search for articles on G5 iMacs, type kimagg5. http://www.xlr8yourmac.com
or the more technically-minded, this website is a reference base of articles on ways to maintain your Mac and increase its performance.

Other suggestions:
  • Keep your computer's Firmware up to date: Firmware refers to computer chips that have data or programs recorded on them. When your computer is manufactured, its firmware is specifically programmed to tell your computer how to perform tasks, and this may need to be updated.
  • Keep your computer's System Software up to date: New versions of your computer's operating system (OS) become available periodically, and these often contain Security updates. It's good practice to keep up to date with these. Caution: some updates may be very large files (as they are virtually a replacement OS file), so if you're not on Broadband contact Sheryl for a download copy:

ICONS


Hugh presented a session on how to customise the appearance of your computer by using icons of your choice. Instead of the generic icons (blue folder, AppleWorks document, etc) which your computer generated automatically for files or folders, you can use any graphic, including photos, as an icon (if using a photo, make sure that it's a small-sized copy - you don't want 1MB icon attached to your file!)

A large variety of icons are available for free download from the Internet. Do a Google search, or go to websites such as: http://www.interface.com/icons-mac
http://www.iconfactory.com

Remember also that the Apple website has its own page of icons and related sites: go to apple.com, click on MacOS/Downloads, and then under Categories click on Icons. Screensavers, etc. - or just click on:

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/icons_screensavers/

To customise a folder's or files's icon (reprinted from AMUG Minutes March 06):

  1. Get the desired icon: this can be any graphic or photo (use a thumbnail or small version, not a full-sized copy), select it all (Apple+A) and copy it to the clipboard (Apple+C).

  2. Open the folder's Information Window by clicking once on its icon, then either pressing Apple+I, or going to the File/Get Info menu, eg:

  3. Click once on the blue folder icon to select it, then press Apple+V to paste your chosen graphic, which will then replace the blue folder icon.

If you download icons from the Web (from sites such as http://www.iconfactory.com, they usually come already attached to an empty folder. Either just use this folder instead of creating a new one, or copy the icon (by going to the folderÕs Info Window (as above) and paste it onto your folder.

NOTE: You must change a folder's icon before you add it to the Dock - icons in the Dock are only aliases, and changing the original folder's icon after an alias is made will not affect the alias's appearance.

FOLDERS of ALIASES

Barry Robinson demonstrated how to enable speedy access to applications or files by making a folder containing their aliases, and then placing this folder on the Desktop or in the Dock. [An alias is a shortcut to open a file, folder, or application, which may be located elsewhere on your computer. The icon for an alias has a small arrow in the lower left corner.]

To Make a Folder of Aliases:

  1. Create a new folder on the desktop (Shift+Apple+N) and name it [eg. 'Utility Apps', as below].
  2. Locate the applications/files on your hard disk (important to find icon for the actual application, not the folder that it's in, or its associated files).
  3. Hold down Option+Apple while you drag the application's icon into your new folder - as you drag you should see an arrow appearing on the icon, which means you are creating and dragging an alias, and are not copying the original application.
  4. Repeat for the other desired applications.
  5. Store the new folder in a convenient location - you could be put it in your Users/Applications folder:
  6. Add the folder to your Dock by dragging its icon to the Dock - no need to hold Option+Apple this time; if you drag to the Dock the computer automatically knows you want a Dock alias created. Place the folder icon somewhere to the right of the small vertical line which divides the Dock [application icons are palced to the left of this line, and folders to the right].
  7. When you click on the new icon in the Dock, you will get a Finder window which shows its contents. Or you can click and hold down the mouse button, and get a pop-up list of the contents:

IMAGE TRICKS

Tony demonstrated Image Tricks, a freeware application used to edit and generate images. From the Image Tricks website:

Image Tricks uses MacOS X Tiger Core Image filters that transform pictures and apply advanced visual effects. The program can create unique artwork you may use as business card background, for web design, print materials and more.

Tricks you can play with an image:

  • Adjust colors - Saturation, Brightness, Contrast, Hue, etc.
  • Blur your picture in different ways.
  • Distort images using Twirl, Bump, Pinch and more.
  • Stylize your art: Make Mosaic, Crystalize, use Halftone effects, etc.
  • Tile, Kaleidoscope and Crop images.

Key Features:

  • Easy to use and friendly interface.
  • 48 Image Effects and Filters
  • 12 image generators
  • Includes a a special set of functions for image generation.
  • About 30 unique masks can be applied an image.
  • Import over 20 image formats (TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PDF, EPS among them).
  • Export to TIFF, JPEG, PDF, PNG and GIF formats.
  • Resize and rotate images 90 degrees.
  • Integrated with iPhoto.
  • Universal Binary version allows to run natively on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macintosh computers.

For further information and free download, visit the website of Belight Software, the developer: http://www.belightsoft.com/products/imagetricks/overview.php

PRINTERS-PRINTERS-PRINTERS

A general discussion was held about printers, and some of the issues relating to them were explored. Members shared problems, ideas and solutions on a range of aspects, including drivers, temperatures, maintenance, cleaning, models, cartridges, etc. Several notable points which arose from the discussion:
  • The 'fix' for a number of difficulties with printer drivers is to obtain (if available) the updated versions, particularly when the computer's system software has been changed.
  • When searching on manufacturers' websites for drivers, be aware that often only models in current production are featured; you may have to delve deeper to find your particular model eg. Epson as a separate section for the drivers of models which are no longer produced.
  • Using the Gimp Print drivers enables some printers to work with greater facility.
  • Some printers are somewhat susceptible to changes in temperature, and it was suggested that a blast from a hair-dryer will sometimes coax a recalcitrant printer back into operation, particularly in the winter.
  • It sometimes pays to obtain the driver updates from the manufacturer's website in the region of the world in which the printer was sourced, as in some instances there may a difference between, say, the US and Asian models of a printer.
  • MacOS 10.4 contains many printer drivers which were not included in previous system versions. To view included drivers, visit: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301175
  • Sheryl was asked for a recommended brand Ð she said that Brother printers gave good value for money, and had good drivers for MacOS X.

MacBASICS - CUSTOMIZING in MacOS 9

[Reprinted from AMUG Minutes June 2005]
Sheryl showed the Launcher feature, which performed a similar function to the Dock in earlier operating systems. Items (applications, folders, files, etc) can be added to the Launcher either by dragging icons into the open Launcher panel, or into the Launcher Items folder, which is located on the Hard Drive in the System Folder. Buttons can be removed by option-dragging.

Launcher can contain separate panels for various topics, as desired. These are created by placing folders in the Launcher Items Folder, and naming them with a filename beginning with a bullet point: • (type Option 8). Items within the folders then appear as buttons on the respective panel.

If desired, MacOS X users can take advantage of Launcher's button/folder facilities by making it available through the Dock. To do this:
  1. Find Launcher: go to Hard Drive/System Folder/Control Panels/Launcher.
  2. Open Launcher: double-click on its icon. This will cause an alias to appear in the Dock.
  3. Keep Launcher Alias: click and hold on the Launcher Alias in the Dock. On the sub-menu which appears, go up to Keep in Dock, then let the mouse button go. The Launcher icon will now stay in the Dock.

Regards to all....

Secretary: Tony Climo, Aoraki MacIntosh Users Group