Want a little more technical info on the new Safari Beta? Here's http://daringfireball.net/2009/03/safari_4_public_beta a commentary about one person's likes and dislikes about it. De Prez Jim Hamm comments that it was an interesting read.
Grab a Screen Capture
In OS 10.5 the screen captures are saved as PNG files by default. However, it’s possible to change them in a variety of formats including JPG and GIF. Here’s what David Passell recommends:
http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/terminal_tips_every_mac_usershould_know The article is "25 Terminal Tips Every Mac User Should Know."
Switchers Encouraged to Consider Mini
Know any switchers who want to upgrade from PC to Mac? If they already have monitor, mouse, and keyboard all they need is Mac Mini. David Passell has been happily using his Mac Mini which he describes as "post September 2007 Mini (2 GB RAM) and, except for the Super Drive getting dirty and needing cleaning, has never had any problems." He recommends an article from PC magazine which links to this review, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2342488,00.asp
More On Safari
Is it time to try it? With a little time on my hands this afternoon I tracked down a review of Safari http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/appleaday/blog/2009/02/new_version_of_safari_kicks_ap.html
Writer David Zeller explains the features, and closes with a complaint and a remedy. A reader, Jack, gives the link to reinstall Safari 3, in the event that problems are experienced. http://support.apple.com/downloads/#internet
Using Safari Beta
A short review of Safari Beta comes from David Passell. He says he's been using it a lot, and he finds it very smooth and fast. He cautions, "Some of their preselected sites leave tracking cookies. Primarily it seems to be CNN.com and Monster.com" adding, "Other than that, I like it." He refers us to http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/03/1235842416419.html David mentions that he has MacScan that locates, isolates and lets him remove cookies.
Where On Earth Are Your Friends?
Member Art Gorski sends us a nifty site with a mind-boggling feature: see where your friends are. From this site: http://earthlingsoft.net/Earth Addresser/ when you download the donationware program Earth Addresser it takes addresses from your Mac Address Book, looks up their coordinates on the map and writes that info to a "KLM" file. Google Earth can open that file to display your friends' places. And, if you've added photos of your friends to their cards in your Address Book, these photos will appear right on the planet instead of the usual drawing pin.
Really Simple (Nearly)
Perhaps you’re puzzled with RSS, but you’d like to simplify getting news, weather, sports, and the latest stuff.
RSS means Really Simple Syndication, and now a free app, NetNewsWire, aggregates news from sources you choose. And you can link the RSS content on your computer with your iPhone or other mobile reader.
De Prez Jim Hamm alerts us to this very useful app he’s started up with. To get a quick overview of NetNewsWire view a short video at http://www.newsgator.com/individuals/default.aspx Click on “Video” near the top on the right hand side of the “Welcome” page.
Look at the RSS Learning Center, http://www.newsgator.com/rsslearningcenter/default.aspx and you’ll see why this might be helpful to both individuals and businesses. The link you’ll go to to download this free app is http://www.newsgator.com/INDIVIDUALS/NETNEWSWIRE/
You can subscribe to our PMUG newsletter while our page here is open and then opening NetNewsWire and choosing New Subscription from their menu. Our URL comes up, and there you are!
Safe and Secure, Explained
This morning's PMUG meeting at the Prescott Library did more than entertain 35 people; Art Gorski passed along information on keeping safe and secure with your Mac. He has generously passed along the link to the PDF of his slides. http://files.me.com/agorski/j6zg5u The download link will work for the next 30 days.
Get the Hot News
You ARE already subscribing to Apple Hot News? Not yet? Take a look. You’ll find examples, illustrations, movie trailers, links to free lectures, and quick tips because Apple Hot News is replete with write-ups of people in all professions making creative use of various Apple apps. feed://www.apple.com/main/rss/hotnews/hotnews.rss
Here's How
If you're switching from PC to Mac, or if you've already been using Mac for some time, here's a world of helpful information, "Find Out How." Look at http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/ Thanks to De Prez Jim Hamm for sending us this site to post here.
Let's Learn
Like to learn with short video tutorials? A new Mac website, http://www.themacu.com/index.html offers some great features. Watch a video introduction of the training they provide. They also offer Mac related news, reviews, best deals on hardware, software, and peripherals. With Q and A you can ask questions or view already posted answers. Coming soon is training for iPhoto ’09, iMovie ’09, iWork ’09, Image Editing with Pixelmator and more. They offer a free 15 day trial, then membership for a fee of $6 per month. Downloaded training files are yours to keep. Thanks to Dan Simpson for passing along this info.
Lakner's Love Story Published
Our own Roger and Mary Beth Lakner were featured in the Valentine's Love Stories featured in Prescott's Daily Courier, Friday, February 13. Here's the article:
"Five years ago this February, Roger moved from the Bay area of California to Prescott. He had recently become a widower and was determined to begin a new life in a totally new place.
Do You Like Cookies?
Not the kind Ginger Carlson brings to PMUG, we’re talking about Internet cookies. When on Google do a Command + , (comma) and see the list of cookies you’ve accumulated.
I mentioned to my writers’ group about taking cookies off after you’ve been to a website. Several questioned my opinion, so I decided to take a more professional look at the subject. I note that going to any site with the word “about” in their URL brings up a lot of cookies. I got 11 cookies just from typing in “about.com.” Their expiration dates range from today until 2199. Imagine that! Each has a name and secret code, unknown to an ordinary person.
What’s your experience with Cookies? Do you have security concerns?
Under Safari Preferences, Security you have some choices to make. I’ve clicked “only from sites you navigate to.” Or, you could look up 24,200,000 sites to see what others have to say about “cookies computers privacy.”
What's New at the Library
Prescott Public Library began the month of February with an all-new web page. The new page is the brainchild of Systems Librarian Rob Lowe, who worked with public services library staff to develop the user-friendly look and feel. Give it a whirl at
http://www.prescottlibrary.info. See today's events on the home page, along with a catalog keyword search and volunteer Lesley Schuler's event "slide show." Find your favorite databases under the "Research" tab and "Reserve a Room" under "Services."
Jim Finds
Again, De Prez Jim Hamm finds some helpful information for Mac users. http://macs.about.com/od/switchersnewusers/Windows_Switchers_and_New_Mac_Users.htm
and http://macs.about.com/od/applications/fr/openofficerev.htm and http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/Get_the_Most_Out_of_Your_Mac.htm
Dealing with Software Update "Blues"
Apparently, some Mac users have had a problem right after Software Update has run on Leopard. It's called the "blue screen of death" for the frozen field of bright blue when restarting the computer. De Prez Jim Hamm found the following tip from "Make Mac Work." http://www.makemacwork.com/startup-fails-with-blue-screen.htm This is most often caused by a corrupt dynamic loader cache, a feature which replaced "application prebinding" in OS X 10.5 and tells the system where to find available shared libraries. Without a roadmap to these libraries the computer can't boot properly.
Puzzles & Prizes
You could earn free Mac software by solving "secret agent fantasy" puzzles, according to a site sent to us by Dan Simpson. Take a look at http://www.macheist.com/about/s/about/ Looks like a lot of people have joined this MacHeist site. When I looked at it there were 608 members on line in their forum, with 288,492 members total. Dan says, "It is really quite fun." Be sure to let us know if —when — you win!
The Mac Malware Myth
"Some reading to do here," says John Carter, "but not a lot, so if you are wondering about viruses and the Mac, then perhaps you should get a warm cup of something and some goodies and curl up with your MacBook and read this."
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/01/29/the-mac-malware-myth/#more-3073
Well, John, it is 22 pages long, but we do like to keep informed. Thanks for the info.
Faster!
Did you find that Guest Pass was slow to load on our new website? Roger Lakner has fixed that and emailed, "Faster than a speeding bullet." See for yourselves; what a huge improvement. http://www.pmug.us/
Mighty Mouse Battery Life
"If you want a quick check of how much battery life is left in your wireless Mighty Mouse, under the Apple icon open System Preferences > Keyboard > Mouse > Bluetooth tab The amount of battery life remaining is shown." And for these words of wisdom we thank De Prez Jim Hamm.
