SIG: Fundamentals of Photoshop

Good news for PMUG members with interest in Photoshop! John Carter has scheduled a SIG on Fundamentals of Photoshop to be held at the Founder's Suite on January 8 from 10am to noon. He notes, "This may be a one-time only SIG, or it may turn into a series depending on member interest and my ability to stay one step ahead of everyone. This SIG is in addition to the Basic Mac SIG.

"Please note that the PC group has already done this program for their members. This program is for Mac users. Nothing new may be covered in this program from what the PC group covered. CS4 will be emphasized with flashbacks to CS3 where there are significant differences."

Also, John reminds us, "For anyone interested in attending a 6-month free online class in Photoshop, see here. That class is held every Thursday from 11 am to 1 pm. There is a 1,000 login limit, so log in early if you want to attend."

Screen Capture Problems?

Right after upgrading to Snow Leopard, John Carter discovered that he could no longer use the keyboard shortcut (SHIFT-CTRL-CMD-4) to take a snapshot of an area of the screen and paste it (CMD-V) into a Mail message (the snapshot is saved in the clipboard). However, he could paste the image into any other application. To verify the problem, John logged in as another user on the Mac and performed the same operation. The problem did not show up in the other user's login environment. So this meant that the problem was isolated to John's login.

Taking some lessons from an earlier call to Apple support, John began troubleshooting the problem by first working in the ~/Library/Preferences folder (the '~' character is shorthand for the home folder, or in this case, /Users/jcarter). After a short session of trials which involved pulling files out of ~/Library/Preferences and testing with Mail, John discovered that when the file "com.apple.screencapture.plist" was removed, the problem went away.

When a file is removed from the ~/Library/Preferences folder, the next time the user logs in, that file is recreated when the function/application it was designed for was again used. Of course, any preferences (other than the defaults) for that function/application are lost and have to be recreated. Removing the preference files is the basis for doing the test to determine which preference was causing the problem; remove a preference, log out and log back in, and perform the test again. If the problem goes away, the preference file removed was the culprit. If the problem persists, replace the file that was removed and repeat these steps until the problem is isolated.

John discovered to his amazement that the com.apple.screencapture.plist file was not recreated after performing the screen capture (snapshot) operation. This strongly suggested that that file is not used or needed in Snow Leopard.

So John called Apple support to confirm this finding. Sure enough, Apple support says that file does not exist in Snow Leopard.

That file may have been created in John's login environment by a third party application on John's machine (but definitely not by Jing - confirmed). Apple support cannot find any record of that file existing on any of their Snow Leopard machines.

It is recommended that if you have the file ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screencapture.plist, you should remove it.

John's closing advice, "Don't be concerned if any of this is confusing. If your Mac is working the way you want it to, pay tribute to the Apple gods."

By now I wanted to know more; I wrote John and he clarifies this: "Shift-Cmd-4 saves to the desktop with the Date/time label. Shift-Ctrl-Cmd-4 saves to the clipboard."

Office 2008 for Mac, in the fine print

The 9-23-09 ZDNet article by Ed Bott raises David Passell’s eyebrows. See what you think. Bott writes, “I have a copy of Office 2008 for Mac, Home and Student Edition. It has the programs I need (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage), but the license (PDF) specifically prohibits 'use in any commercial, non-profit or revenue-generating business activities.' I have no ethical qualms using this edition for short-term evaluation purposes but will need to replace it with a copy of Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition eventually. That will cost about $200.”

This article goes on to compare various features of Snow Leopard with Windows. Anyone else reading the fine print?

A Simple Suggestion

Frustrated with sites requiring registration? David Passell explains his simple solution. Maybe it's just what you need, too.

"I attempted to keep records on my computer, but a lot of times couldn't anticipate all the steps. I also had some of them on a PW protected file. It was hard to keep up to date.

"Then I had random pieces of scribbled paper which invariably got lost.

"Finally I reverted to a pack of lined 3 x 5 cards. When I encounter a site that wants registration (e.g. the FLOSS manuals) I get a card. I write the name of the service and include the full www or http:// web URL
The email that I use (some sites use them for ID, others don't).
ID that they ask for (some are case-sensitive, some not)
(Notes on other things requested}
Password: Be sure to indicate upper/lower case, numbers, etc.
My personal name ("nickname") that may be how I am addressed when I log in.

"Many sites will send a confirming email on the registration which you then have to respond to to "verify the registration." There will often be a follow up email.

"It is a good idea to set up an email Mailbox in which to save those messages.

"Some of these sites may be tricky: for example you might have a card titled MacFixit, but actually your registration and log in are with CNET. This is not to be confused with ZDNET which is an entirely different registration.

"After filling out the card, put it in a safe place. Over time you may accumulate a pile of them, which you can then sort as you see fit. Currently I have 29. As before mentioned, keep them safe. If you have a scanner you can scan a group of them. If you have a burst of enthusiasm you might even enter their content into some small files.

"When you go somewhere take the cards of sites you may want to visit (like at a meeting).

"I realize this may sound primitive, but over the last few days it has saved me a lot of time when I don't remember the PW and other details. Of course on your own computer, you can have the browser remember the password."

Art Gorski sends us his solution: He uses a smartphone (can't justify an iPhone in 3G-less Prescott!) and has a password safe application on it. Whenever he needs to login to a website or supply credentials for a shopping cart, he just looks them up on his phone. If he had an iPhone, he would use 1Password, which works on your Mac to store all this stuff and syncs the info to an iPhone application.

Now to hear from Bobbie Pastor: "In addition to Dave's and Art's solutions, I have a method that I use for keeping track of website passwords. I have a designated address book that I keep right at my desktop. It has my credit card numbers and the websites listed in alphabetical order. It works great for me."

RSS Makes Life Easier for You

Can RSS make life easier for you? De Prez Allen Laudenslager to the rescue! He says, "For those of us that want to keep up with some blogs (like the PMUG blog!) regularly, an RSS reader, (standing for Really Simple Syndication) makes life so much easier. I use NetNewsWire which is free (click to see download page with screen shots), but Google has a browser based RSS reader and there are others.

"I usually find a blog as a link from an article or a different blog and it opens in my browser. Once I decide I want to add it to NetNewsWire I just highlight the web address and then open NetNewsWire and from the File tool, select New Subscription and that auto-loads the web address into the selection tool, and I can either press OK or change the display name and then press OK."

Elaine adds here, "Want to use Google Reader, instead? Look at this info. Sounds easy, and I'm going to try it."

Ideas for Apps?

In Sunday's Arizona Republic there was an article about a nifty new app for the iPhone/iPod Touch that caught David Passell's attention. He writes "though I'm not a fan of telephones, in general, that almost made me want to get one. I need something like the application described." The story goes on to tell about a group of developers in Phoenix starting the Phoenix iPhone Developer Group, nicknamed "Pi," to bounce ideas around for possible new apps. David wonders if some programmers in PMUG could do something with this idea.

Sugar on a Stick

Sugar? It's a learning platform that reinvents how computers are used for education for needy kids around the world. David Passell got involved in December 2007. He invested in a program called "Give One, Get One. " Hatched by MIT Guru, Nicholas Negroponte, the goal was to mass produce a small computer called the XO for $100.00 and distribute to classrooms.

Kids in Peru are pictured here using the computer, thanks to "Sugar," the free and open source software from OLPC (One Laptop Per Child).

They welcome donation of used USB sticks. Here you can read about Sugar Labs. Originally to run on almost any PC, it is now packaged as part of most major GNU/Linux distributions and is compatible with recent Macs.

FLOSS Manuals are responsible for the graphic design, editing, etc. More about OLPC is here. Activities the developers are working on are listed on this site. They welcome contributions, volunteers for designing, developing, fixing bugs, etc. Here's more.

David has actively participated in writing of FLOSS Manuals, and updating his own XOs. (Here it gets complicated with Python, Opera browser vs. Firefox, and tax deductible info.) For a summary of the project see this Wired Magazine article (6-19-09).

Want to know more? Corner David at a PMUG meeting; there's a lot more to tell.

It's a Deal

Amazon is selling iLife for only $54.99, plus shipping. Art Gorski sends us this good news. "A good time to upgrade if you need this. I wonder if this is because an update will be coming out soon?" Read info here.

A Serious Scam

Scammers did some serious stuff, running ads on the website of The New York Times. Jim Hamm sends us this link, and comments, "The scammers are getting ever more creative in getting into your computer. This article doesn't mention whether it affects only PCs or also Macs." Scroll down the page to read comments on this problem and how it has affected some users.

A Google search just now turns up this info specifically about Macs. Brian Krebs writes "Patches for Macs, and Advice for Mac Users." He advises, "In short, if you're a Mac user and you see one of these rogue anti-virus pop-ups, remain calm, close out your browser, and restart it. If the attacking site manages to download a '.exe' file to your Mac, just toss it in the trash." Read his whole article from The Washington Post here.

Now we have additional input from Jim Hamm. In tidbits.com see the article, "New York Times Web Site Compromised: How to Stay Safe." Then go to this link for "Should Mac Users Run Antivirus Software."

Pictures Show How

Here's a mind-boggling (to me) site recommended by David Passell. He writes this "might be of interest to anyone that wants to read. write, publish, edit, or comment on free-source software manuals. See the site for Floss Manuals Foundation of the Netherlands here.

"Those who are interested in Video might like to peruse the Theora Cookbook. I haven't done it thoroughly yet; not that much time on my hands. I am registered with them (as you or anyone else with something to offer can. I got into it through wanting to find out more about my One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO computers. They do much of the documentation (a lot is incomplete) on it."

David closes with, "I might warn you that the site, links, and such seem rather complex. Once you get registered though it kind of falls into place."

Elaine's comment: "I scrolled through, enjoyed all the photos , but this photo from the Floss Manuals site is what I liked best!"

Downgrading from Snow Leopard?

John Carter has been plagued with several problems with Snow Leopard. He says, "The interesting part is that the problems are isolated to my login and the problems did not show up in another login. However, in the process of trying to resolve the problems with my login, my iMac no longer allows me to login as any user. These problems are quite unique to my computer and may not happen to anyone else."

As a result, John needs to downgrade his computer back to Leopard and then restore all his applications and data from his Time Machine backup to the date prior to upgrading to Snow Leopard.

He warns, "If you are not keeping frequent backups of your computer, you may not be so lucky as to restore to a known good snapshot."

Need a New Boot Disk?

"If your boot disk for your Mac ever gets damaged or lost and you need to replace it, Apple will send you an exact replacement for your Mac for a nominal cost," John Carter reports. "If you have an active Apple Care contract, the cost will be $16.00 plus tax. It may cost more if you don't have an active Apple Care contract. They will ship the new disk overnight, so if you order before 4 PM California time you'll get it the next morning. Call the Apple technical support for details if you need this service.

"Keep in mind that should you need to replace your original boot disk, only an exact replacement is guaranteed to work. The local Apple dealer may be able to create something that might work, but it is not something you want to depend on and only Apple can prepare an exact replacement disk."

Fine . . . Subtle . . . Solid = iTunes9

Here's more on the iTunes 9 release, from Jim Hamm. See a 2 page article here. The writer concludes that the iTunes 9 is fine and subtle and solid, and outlines some refinements that are hard to find, but well worth it.

Get Your Gmail

Here's a quick tip from Jim Hamm, "If you use Gmail as your primary email account--as I do--here is an article from the Lifehacker newsletter on alternative ways to access your email if Google's server should go down."

How Do YOU Backup?

"Hi all," begins Jim Hamm. "Here is an article, from Mac Tips and Tricks Newsletter, on creating a bootable backup for your Mac. We've had some other backup comments recently, and I'm interested in feedback on this process from anyone that would want to comment on a couple of questions I have:

1) do you have a bootable backup for your Mac?
2) did you purchase a separate external hard drive to do this on?
3) do you use Carbon Copy Cloner or some other program to do this?
4) how important do you consider doing this?

I've been using a Mac for 2 1/2 years or so, and haven't done this yet. I guess I'm at risk of losing all my bookmarks, addresses, RSS feeds, third-party programs, etc., if I should have a hard drive failure. A real pain--impossible?--to resurrect all this. I'm torn, in my mind, on whether to go to the expense of doing this or not. Comments appreciated."

Click to drop Jim a line here.

First up to reply is Art Gorski. He writes, "Hi, Jim.

1) I create one right before installing a major OS update.

2) Yes, but I've only got one drive and 3 Macs.

3) I used CCC years ago, but SuperDuper is free (for this purpose) and slicker.

4) I have both Chronosync backups and Time Machine backups on my network ReadyNAS, although not the System and not bootable. That's close enough for me."

Tracking Down the Trouble-Maker

With his latest investigation to find what was taking a large portion of CPU time, David Passell gives us his findings here. "I located it thanks to the Activity Report. It appears to be related to the iAntiVirus freebee. The actual process running is iAVD and it "belongs to root".

David concludes, "When I clicked on it and Quit Processor I received a request to enter my administrator password. After I did that iavd quit and the processor usage went back to a few percent. I think, if possible, I will delete iAntivirus.

Any other suggestions?"
(Click on image to enlarge the view.)

iStat Proves to be Useful

"After reading some of Jim Hamm's comments on iStat I located the widget and added it to my dashboard." David Passell continues, "Yesterday I ran it after noticing the fan on my Mini seemed to be working rather hard. I found that something, I still don't know what, was continuously consuming 95% of processor time. Both processors were being involved. I decided I had better give the machine a rest and shut it down for the night. This morning when I started the Mini I looked at iStat and found more reasonable numbers." Above is the first screen shot. (Double click on it to enlarge the view.)

"As I write this email here is a screen shot of current usage.
I noticed earlier that when the Time Machine backup was running, usage went up to 47%. I just thought it interesting to note and it may have saved my computer to shut it down when it was whirring away.

"Now I keep the CPU Monitor on the screen out of the way so I can spot anything like happened yesterday. The Mini is now nearly silent, as usual." David adds, "Any ideas, anyone?"

Now, Art Gorski has some suggestions: "I've used iStat for years now, and it's occasionally useful as a Dashboard Widget, but can be unnecessarily distracting. Usually, the first sign of a runaway process will be the cooling fans spooling up. iStat won't tell you anything useful, it just confirms what's going on.

"Restarting the computer is unnecessary. Just launch Activity Monitor (in your /Applications/Utilities folder), select all processes from the pull-down menu, and then click on the column header to sort by CPU usage. This will tell you what application is the culprit. If it's not a critical application, use Activity Monitor to quit or force quit the offending process."

Cocoa-Java on Snow Leopard

Applications relying on Cocoa-Java won't work on Snow Leopard. John Carter finds out why. Without warning Apple has completely removed these components from Snow Leopard. He sends us this website from a developer, Fabien Conus, who says, "Since developing software applications is a hobby . . . I cannot make any promise for a new release date, but I will do my best." The applications in question are CocoaBooklet, PDFLab, and Smallimage. We hope these conditions will soon be addressed by Apple, and we hope such creative programmers will hang in!

Using Those Function Keys

Jim Hamm starts out with, "I was 'messing' (technical term) around with Snow Leopard and came across a feature that might be helpful. Say you've got four windows open (or any number, for that matter) and you click Function 9 (fn+9) on your laptop, to open all windows in a miniature version. Put your cursor on any minimized window, then tap the spacebar. That window will pop open to full size. Then start moving your mouse and cursor around. Each small window will pop open in full size. Keep moving your mouse around and around and each window will pop open. When you find the one you want, click it. It will stabilize then in a normal window. You can almost make yourself dizzy as you mouse the cursor around the screen and the windows pop open."

He says on Zee's iMac the key combination in fn + F8.

Trying to do this myself turns up a different scenario. Different Macs have different Function keys. On his G4 PowerBook running Mac 10.5.8 Don's favorite is F12 to bring up his Widgets. On my MacBookPro running Snow Leopard, it's F4 for Widgets, and F3 for that nifty feature Jim describes to play Hide and Peek with your open pages. Yes, it's fun!

Now for a summary of Function Keys, a list of key combinations, and 20+ links to additional info on modifier keys assignments go to this Apple Support page. No need to memorize the whole thing, just click on the tiny Plus sign on the left of the page's address at the top. Click to add it to your Safari Bookmarks. Function keys are very useful.

What's Going On Inside Your Mac?

Jim Hamm files this report today, "If you've installed Snow Leopard, Menu Meter (iStat Menus) is now compatible with this new OS. The new version has been completely revised, and is much better. It sits in the menu bar, and you can click on one of the icons to get a variety of information about your Mac. You can also customize which icons you want to show in the menu bar: open System Preferences, then click iStat Menus. Drag the items from the 'Available Box' into the 'Active Box.' I use the app occasionally just to see what's going on in my Mac, and which app is consuming so much memory. Usually it's Safari. Closing and reopening Safari gets the memory usage back to a much smaller number. If you've not tried this app, it might be worth a look. It also works with Leopard, as well (OS X 10.5 or higher)."

The iStat Nano is a widget: read about it here. The iStat Pro is described on this page. Which do you use?