Basic Mac SIG Begins May 8

Mark your calendar: May 8, 15, 22, 29. Bobbie Pastor will teach Basic Mac SIG (Special Interest Group). It's scheduled for 9:30 to 12 noon, Prescott Public Library in Founders Room B. Subscribe to iCal so these meetings will automatically be shown on your computer: webcal://ical.me.com/bopastor/PMUG%20Club.ics Bobbie will be using "Teach Yourself Visually Mac OS X Leopard" by Lynette Kent. Barnes and Noble has it, and Amazon has it for $19.79. Need more info? pmugbobbie@cableone.net

Jim's Teaching and Bobbie Will, Too

Along with the new SIG photo posted on the sidebar De Prez Jim Hamm explains, "I've been teaching Beginning Mac SIGs (Special Interest Group) classes at the Prescott Public Library, and here is a picture from the class yesterday. I try to hold a class each week, and the session lasts two hours. We usually have around 20 people in the class, and focus on the basics of using a Mac and OS X. It's free to members of PMUG (Prescott Mac User Group), and the attendees are appreciative of learning how to use their Mac. For some, this is the first time they've used a computer of any kind.

"That's my MacBook Air in the lower right corner, which I use to display whatever is on my computer screen onto a screen on the wall. The past two sessions we've been having fun 'surfing Safari,' the web browser for the Mac."

In May Bobbie Pastor will teach the Beginners' SIG, using the book, "Teach Yourself Visually" as outline for the sessions. She promises to "go at a slow pace" and hopes to hear from those who'd like to attend so she can schedule the meeting room. Email her soon:

pmugbobbie@cableone.net

No Need for Antivirus Software

Here's Art Gorski's take on the issue. "Regarding the PMUG news item, [in the earlier posting on this site] this is basically a spam email. There is currently no need for antivirus software for the Mac. The 'botnet' quoted does exist, although it is tiny, and those Macs got infected by downloading illegal software, so they got what they deserved. :-)"

Allen Laudenslager adds, "This is not a huge attack on Macs. So far it is only attacking Macs that use a pirated version of iWork. One more reason to buy from Apple." See this article,

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/22/first.mac.botnet/index.html

Is anti-virus needed for the Mac?

I wonder how much credibility there is is stuff like this, or are they just trying to create more fear-factor and sell stuff. This was forwarded to me by a friend:

From: PC Tools
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 10:57:29 PM
Subject: Important Notice - Mac Threat Alert

Mac Threat Alert
Know anyone that's a Mac User?

Then let them know that malware researchers have discovered what appears to be the first Mac OSX botnet, aka MacBot or iBotnet and its receiving a substantial amount of industry and media interest.

Early estimates suggest that thousands of people have unknowingly downloaded the infected files. Don't let yourself be one of them...

In a nutshell the botnet is launching a number of malware variants inside pirated copies of popular Mac based software in order to take control of the infected Mac machine.

First and foremost make sure that you and your fellow Mac users, exercise caution, have Mac specific security software installed and that your existing version of iAntiVirus is up to date - there's a free version or you can purchase a version with full functionality and support for only $29.95. It's also vital that you enable and install the latest Mac security updates.

Regards
PC Tools Team

PC Tools Limited
Units A & B, Block 4, Shannon Business Park, Shannon, Co. Clare, Ireland.
Copyright © 2009 PC Tools. All rights reserved.

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Importing Your Photos

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Thanks to Allen Laudenslager for writing about a recent experience organizing his photos:

"I moved some files into the iPhoto library using Finder, and when I opened iPhoto I couldn't see just those photos. After a lot of trial and error, I moved the files to a temporary folder under Documents, opened iPhoto and used the File/Import option to collect the photos. Now I can open them in iPhoto and use all the capabilities of iPhoto to edit them."

Note: when you install the '09 version you find the Welcome tutorial, but also take a look at the additional short video tutorials at http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/?sr=app#iphoto

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PMUG website

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The RSS feed in the PMUG website is now working.

You should unsubscribe from the current PMUG website in your newsreader (if you have done it) and subscribe once again.
Subscribing in NetNewsWire is easy. Just enter the URL as http://www.pmug.us.
Webmaster: John Carter
P.S. from Elaine: In the event that you missed the earlier post of February 24, De Prez Jim Hamm told about NetNewsWire and gave us this link, http://www.newsgator.com/INDIVIDUALS/NETNEWSWIRE/
More from John:
A little more detail is in order.
I can only talk about NetNewsWire because that's the RSS news reader that I use.
If you see a lot of duplicate entries in your PMUG website feed, then you need to unsubscribe (delete) that feed and subscribe again to the PMUG website feed.
In NetNewsWire, you right click on the feed entry and click on Unsubscribe...
When you subscribe to the PMUG feed, be sure you check the box next to "Sync this feed".
After subscribing to the PMUG feed, the new entry should just say "PMUG". When you click on PMUG, you should see twelve news items in the list. If you double-click on PMUG, you should be taken to the PMUG home page. Clicking again on PMUG shows the list again.
When pages are updated, a description of the update should show in the news panel.
The only advantage to subscribing to the PMUG website in your newsreader is to know when a change occurs to any of the pages.
It is interesting, and confusing, that the Mac Mail RSS newsreader always shows "Read more" on every news feed. What you see when you click on that is of course the page that has been identified as "new" or the content has been changed. And sometimes the only thing that changes with the PMUG website is maybe a few lines of code that don't even show up as a change in what you can see. That makes those update notices more annoying than informative. So it behooves one to pay attention to the message before visiting the website. For example, you might read, "This update affects only the format," or, "This update affects only the underlying code, there are no content changes." That update can be ignored unless you want to critic the change. But, "Updated Meeting minutes for the month of ...," is a significant change - not to be ignored.
Right now, all the messages simply summarize the content of the page.
Hope this helps.

An Answer

In reply to David Passell's earlier request asking about iMovieHD 6, Art Gorski sends an answer. "This article indicates that Apple removed the free download when iLife '09 came out.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/01/imovie-hd-fading-into-the-ether-as-apple-removes-download.ars

"Bummer. All you can do at this point is buy an old DVD of iLife '06 and do the free Apple updates. Amazon has it for $50 and other places on-line may have it cheaper."

And my search has turned up http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?search=Go&q=iPhoto+09+slideshow which is the Apple forum for questions and answers. See if your circumstances fit in to any of these replies from Mac users. Let us know how it turns out.

Have a Solution for iMovie?

With iLife 8 on David Passell's Mac, purchased 1-08, he has the latest version of iMovie '08. He's found a problem with trying to get the previous iMovie HD6. This is the version that Bill Williamson demonstrated at our PMUG meeting last week.

Can anyone help? Read on. . .

" A couple of people in the last Mac Meeting said that I can get iMovie HD 6 by 'simply' going to the Apple site and downloading it. It has not turned out to be that simple.

"First: I went to the Apple Site to downloads, and I found iMovie HD 6.0.3 (I never found iMovie HD 6.0.4 which is supposed to be the latest) and I downloaded its .dmg. When I tried to install, red exclamation points and a dialog told me that I needed HD 6.0.2.

"Next: I went back to the Apple Site and downloaded 6.0.2. When I tried to install that package a similar indication told me I needed version 6.0. No version 6 is available. That is probably because it must have been purchased with an earlier system. That is similar to the 8.1 upgrade which actually is for those who have purchased iLife 09. (You don't find out about this until you try to install it and dialog says 'it is unnecessary.'

"I also looked on my installation disks that came with the Mini. I did not find it.

"So I am stuck. It does not appear that Apple provides this 'downgrade' in a transparent fashion. Does anybody have a solution for this? Perhaps somebody will provide a download for it. Regards: David"

How to Create a DVD

Today's PMUG meeting at the Prescott Public Library featured Bill Williamson demonstrating how to create a DVD on the Mac. Using iMovie, then importing photos and clips he showed how easily he could format, add transitions, and add music to the production.

Thanks, Bill, for these notes you've written:

Part 1 – Creating the movie:

1. Select photos & video clips to be used for your DVD. (Optional: Put them all in a folder)

2. Double click on iMovie icon in the applications folder.

3. “IMPORT” photos and clips. They will appear in the Clip Pane. You will see “Clips” highlighted at bottom of the Pane.

4. When all your photos are in the Clip Pane, click on the left mode rectangle below the monitor and drag the photos in the order you want them to be viewed into the Clip Viewer at the bottom of the screen. Note: If you change your mind about the order later, they can be moved.

5. When all the photos and videos are in the Clip Viewer, click on “Media” below the now empty Clip Pane and select “Photos” at top. Decide how long you want each photo to be on the screen, then click on the photo and then on “Show Photo Settings” above “Media." A box will appear that allows you to move the bottom slider for the time needed adding about 2 seconds for transitions. Ten seconds is a reasonable time. This box also gives you the ability to use the Ken Burns effect to simulate motion in a still photo. When you have all the settings as you want them, click “update." Repeat with each photo, but experiment with a few until you see how it works. All can be done together using shift click.

6. Click on “Editing” and then on “Titles” at the top of the screen. Choose a title type and a box will appear for you to select a color, font, size, length of time to stay on screen, & speed of motion for the text. Enter text in the box and a preview will show in the black monitor. When you like the preview, click on the title type you selected and drag it to just in front of the picture you want it to appear on. A red line along the bottom will let you know that it is “rendering."

7. Next in “Editing” select “Transitions” at the top of the screen. This allows you to choose how to move from one picture to the next. Drag the type of transition selected to the space between the clips.

8. When you have a few titles and/or transitions placed on the Clip Viewer, go to the first and click on it, then shift click on the last one. The headers and footers should now be blue for the pictures selected. Click on the middle play back button above the Clip Viewer. Watch the show so far to see how it looks. Make adjustments and continue until the entire line of pictures have transitions and/or titles, testing as you go. To remove a transition, click on it and then on delete. If you don’t like a title, it is best to delete the picture that has the title on it and start over.

9. Click the left playback control to go to the beginning, and then right hand playback button to view the entire show in full screen mode.

10. Remember to “Save Project” under File on toolbar often and especially when going on to the next step in the process.

Part 2 – Adding music:

1. Click on the Audio Mode next to the Video mode just above the Clip Viewer. The viewer will split with the photos above and spaces for sound below.

2. Click on Media above the Clip Viewer and Audio at the top and your iTunes list should appear. Select music wanted and drag it to the lower part of the Clip Viewer. You can have multiple songs within the two audio lines shown on the viewer. Music can also be imported.

3. Adjust the volume by clicking on the song to turn it purple. Then move the playhead line to where you want to start and click to see a yellow bullet. Move the bullet up or down for volume control and back and forth to where it should start. A dark purple dot or box will appear on the line and it can be dragged to below the desired volume in order to fade in and out. If you are using two songs, the bullets can be manipulated to fade one out as you fade another in.

4. If a song is too long it can be cut off by “splitting the audio at playhead” under Edit on the toolbar. The song to be split must be clicked to turn it purple in order to split it. Choose the part to be removed and click delete. It is a good idea to cut off the end of the music if it goes past the end of the photos, because the finished DVD will keep going until the music ends.

5. When you are satisfied with the movie, choose Save Project under file, and then go on to create your DVD.

Part 3 – Creating your DVD:

1. Except for very short movies it is a good idea to create chapters at logical breaks. This allows the DVD to be watched by selected scenes. Select Chapters above the Clip Viewer, then select the first picture of a new topic and click on “Add marker." The picture will show in the box to the right and you can type in a title for the Chapter.

2. After inserting all the chapters, be sure to Save Project and you are ready to go on to iDVD. On the toolbar, select Share and click iDVD. Click on “render and proceed.”

3. iDVD will now open automatically. You can select a theme from the list presented in the iDVD monitor window. To change the preset title, double click on Menu and change the text, color, size, font, placement, etc. Choose a picture for the drop zone. Choose music for the theme and drag it where indicated.

4. Preview and if OK, click on left button and select Burn DVD.

Beginning Mac Class to Start

Here's what you've been waiting for! Alert your switching-from-PC friends, and you plan to come, too.

PMUG's new SIG (Special Interest Group) class, "Beginning Mac," will start Friday, March 20, at 10 am in Founders Suite B at the Prescott Public Library - the same room where PMUG General Meetings are held. The SIG sessions will go from 10 am till noon, with a break after the first hour. Additional dates, at this time, are Tuesday, March 24 and Thursday April 2, same room and time. The dates have to vary due to availability of the room at the Library.

Please mark your calendar and attend if you are new to the Mac and would like to learn more about the basics of using and enjoying it. Bring your questions, too.

If you have a Mac laptop, bring it to the session, fully charged, plus paper and pencil to take notes, and your library card (if you have one) in case you want to connect to the internet. The instructor will have a Mac to project information onto a screen for those that can't bring a laptop.

Must be a PMUG member for this class, and there's no charge for the session. We plan to continue them as long as there is sufficient interest.

De Prez Jim Hamm is key instructor, so you know the class will be informative and fun!

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Handy Mac "Geeky" Tips

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If you don't subscribe to MacLife there's an interesting article recommended to us by De Prez Jim Hamm. "Fifty Things Every Mac Geek Should Know" turns out to be an 8 page piece, with such subheads as "Why OS X is Better Than Windows" and "Spotlight Can Do Math." There are short handy lists about iPod, iPhone, iChat, Safari, Terminals, on and on. http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/50_things_every_mac_geek_should_know

Take a look for yourself.
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Safari 4 Top Sites

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One of the appealing aspects to me of Safari 4 is Top Sites. This page is similar to the Speed Dial in Opera, only much fancier. I tried to find an entry in Safari 4 Help on this topic, couldn't find one, so I'm making up what follows based on my own experience.

Top Sites is a page in the browser that displays previews of pages from your history list (an assumption on my part that the history list is where these previews are generated from).
In the upper left corner of the browser is a symbol that looks like this: Click on that image to get a full page of images like the one on the left (but without the symbols in the upper left corner as shown in this image). In the lower left corner of that page you'll see an Edit button. Click on that button and then you will see those symbols in the upper left corner of the images.
Notice that the stick pin in this image is highlighted. Clicking on the stick pin toggles the highlight. When highlighted, that prevents that image from being replaced as you visit other sites. Clicking on the 'X' removes that image from the Top Sites, everything shifts left, and a new image is created in the lower right corner of the page - which will be the next page found in your history list. In the Edit mode, you can move the images around to be in the order that you like, and I'm assuming that the order is left to right from the top.
Items that are not pinned will be updated with previews of pages from your bookmark history, picking off the topmost sites as needed. (Another assumption on my part.)
In the lower right corner of Top Sites there is a button to select the size of the images. The smaller the size, the more images you see. The options are Small, Medium, and Large. With Small, you get 6 across and 4 deep. Medium gets you 4 x 3. Large gets you 3 x 2. The image size adjusts with the browser window size.
When you've finished editing the images, click on the Done button in the lower left corner.
Enjoy Safari 4!

Improving Safari Usefulness

Read more about Safari Beta. Here's David Passell's report: "In using Safari I noticed the absence of any buttons on the tool bar to increase or decrease the size of the web page. I researched a little and found that it has to be installed. While Safari 4 is displayed, click on View and then Customize Tool bar. The size button looks like this:

"There are a lot of other buttons there that you can also drag for other functions.

"You are instructed to drag the button to the Toolbar. You can drag it anywhere you want. I dragged it near the left side, and it looks like the following. (I don't know why designers don't make things look the same from one appearance to the next, but I quibble:))

"Now when you are viewing a web page, you can click on the big A or little A to change the size of the text and images. One good feature of Safari 4 is that both are changed. Other browser size bars often change only the text and leave the images untouched. Also they may garble the page.

"Now there is a 'gotcha' here. Some websites (for example with a newsletter) may link to a PDF file. If you click on this link, it is displayed on your page. There is apparently a PDF plug-in that is part of Safari. You may see a hand on your screen.

"Sometimes the text appears impossibly small to read. So you try to click on big A. Nothing happens, but don't give up. Right click your mouse and you will see the following. You only see this menu if you are looking at a PDF file.

"You now have some choices, and the choice you make is 'Marquee Zoom.' This will cause a + sign in a small circle to display. Hover your mouse over the page and click the mouse. The page(s) will increase in size. You can keep doing this and now it is too large (:.

"What to do?: Hold down the OPTion key and the + changes to a -. Now click away till it is the size you want.

"When you are through sizing the page, you can right click to get the whatchamacallit again. (I think its official name is 'context menu'). To eliminate the + button, you can click on Hand Tool (which will put a hand on the screen). Or click on Select Tool and there will be no special cursor there.

"Note that there are other choices available. Page Display Preferences gives you another menu which controls how the document is displayed. Single Page Continuous is a good choice.

"Hope this helps in making your use of Safari 4 even more enjoyable." Regards: David

Don't Miss Out!

(Safari, Opera and Firefox use different symbols)

The next time you log in to PMUG.us, look in the right corner of the address bar. John Carter makes it easy to keep up with the latest info. He explains,

"That symbol is for subscribing to the RSS feed. When you click on that the first time, your browser will notify you that you are choosing to subscribe to the PMUG RSS feed. There are nine items to choose from (nine PMUG pages). You can subscribe to as many as you like. When the page you have subscribed to changes, your RSS reader will notify you of that change.

"Please note that sometimes a page will be updated and you won't be able to see any change. That's because the changes may be in the code structure itself and not a visible change. I don't know yet if I can keep that kind of update from showing up."

That Pesky White Lettering

If, like me, your eyes grow tired of white lettering over dark backgrounds try two remedies. Enlarge the font (a lot!) by doing Command and + (plus) several times in succession. To go back to the original size do Command and the - (minus.)
Or, have a technicolor laugh as you hold down at the same time these three keys, Control, Option, Command, then touch 8. (Not the keypad 8, I mean the 8 in the line of keys above qwerty, etc.) To toggle back to the original color scheme do these same 4 keys. Try it, you might like it.