See iPad's Innards

Nice photos here.  Jim Hamm alerts us to the website showing us the inside of the iPad 3G. "Here are pictures of what the inside of the iPad 3G looks like. I've looked at and handled the iPad wifi-only model, but haven't looked at the 3G version yet. I read one blog wherein the individual commented that watching a video using a 3G connection to the iPad wasn't so good: the download speed wasn't fast enough. He didn't mention how strong or weak the signal was. I'm sure there will be more commentary on this in the blogs. The same commentator mentioned that using wifi to watch a video was great with the iPad."

Here, Jim adds a side note about MiFi.  That deserves a separate posting, so look for it momentarily.

The A-List of Mac Software, Two Views

Always on the lookout for good "stuff" Jim Hamm recommends this article that lists the software and programs that the editor of Computerworld recommends for Mac.  Jim states, "I think highly of his opinions and comments.  He is a pragmatic and sharp individual, in my opinion.  Take a look at what he thinks is best."

Not everyone will agree.  Here's John Carter's assessment. "That blog doesn't do justice to Parallels, in my opinion. His A-list for Mac was updated last September and he didn't say what version of Parallels he was using. Version 4 of Parallels that I used last November was excellent, and Version 5 that came out in December is even better.

"He put Office for Mac 2008 on his A-list which I think was a grave mistake. He should have put NeoOffice on that A-list instead. No one should have to pay for something when there's an excellent substitute available for free."

Apple and iAd Advertisers

“Apple is looking to charge advertisers one million dollars to get into the iAd door,” begins a report from Mac Observer. Targeted to specific users, the plan will be costly, yet effective, they believe. Thanks to Jim Hamm for this info. His comment is “Wow!” and "Wow!"

How Long Will My Drive Last?

What about your hard drive?  Jim Hamm is concerned, and he shares his ideas, "Here is an article talking about how long the hard drive will last in your computer. Answer: about 3 years or so. The author said he talked to a 'drive' engineer whether it's better to leave the drive running all the time, or turning the computer off at night. According to the article, it doesn't seem to matter. I don't know 'beans' about drives, but it seems to me that something spinning all the time at 5400 rpm or so has got to wear out faster than if one shuts the computer down for several hours a day. But, who knows? I wonder what Apple might have to say about this question?

"I turn my Mac off each evening and start it up again in the morning. The article states there is wear and tear on the bearing doing that, which apparently negates the benefit of shutting it off. Still, I feel better using this procedure. My MacBook Pro is four years old now, so I'm listening for any 'grinding' noises which will probably indicate imminent failure. Sheesh!"

Is iTravel Coming?

Headlined, “Apple Travel App Patent Hints at Ticketless Airlines” this entry from Cult of Mac intrigues us with the possibilities of an iTravel App. Check in wirelessly, identify you with airline and security personnel, and help you find RFID-tagged luggage -- all of this -- and an electronic wallet using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. Thanks to Jim Hamm for alerting us to this article.

The Oldest iPad User, So Far

Bobbie Pastor found this article about a 100-year-old woman,  Virginia, in Oregon who is shown on a short YouTube feature, demonstrating her use of her iPad.  It's the first computer the woman has bought, and she's already proficient and loving it.  What fun!

Making Presentations

Here's some good tips on making presentations.  The article is geared towards the iPad, but the principles are very helpful for any kind of presentation.  Thanks to De Prez Allen Laudenslager for this reference.

Organizing Mail Before Forwarding or Replying

Here David Passell outlines a technique for organizing mail, using the Thread feature in Mail.

1. Under View drop down check 'Organize by Thread.'Also click on From, To, Subject, Date Received (either latest last--arrow down, or latest first--arrow up) as desired

2.  Highlight all the Email messages in a thread. (or other subject of interest)

3  Do a copy (CMD-C)

4.  Open a New Message in Email

5.  Do a paste (CMD-V) of what is copied.

6.  On the message, do a SAVE, then CLOSE. I am asked if I want to save as a draft, and I say yes.

7.  Find it in Drafts, open it, and do desired editing. (suggest removing all the header except sender and recipient, and all the footer text. Also remove the duplicates of previous messages.

8.  Enter - To: desired recipient (can be yourself), any Cc: or Bcc: Subject:

9.  Send the message.

How to Organize Email

Email needs to be organized; otherwise that list in Mail can be a mess!  David Passell explains his system. "Here is a 'trick' that works for me in sorting out all the various messages and messages within messages. If you have 'Organize by thread' turned on, just select all messages in the thread, do a copy, then paste into a new message. You don't even have to send it to anybody; then you can read/print and digest it. It will be in the 'drafts' mailbox. This may help in tracking the train of discussion.

"It would help to have a consistent 'protocol' for sending/replying to messages.

(1) Some repeat all that has gone before, others extract things to answer, some don't repeat any of the previous message (like me).

(2) In the Cc: for both originals and replies -- some repeat the list of all addressees, some may use "undisclosed recipients" (not sure who may be a party to the replies), some only reply to the originator of the message. Nobody but the President or Secretary should send a message to all members of PMUG.

(3) If an individual receives a message that should be of interest to the board the message should be repeated, or it can be forwarded. If the message is already addressed to the board probably it does not have to be repeated.

(4) Since replies to a message always have as a subject Re: I always add to this in parenthesis (main point of reply). That way there aren't multiple messages with the same subject each of which has to be examined."

Backing Up, Yes?

You ARE backing up, of course.  De Prez Allen Laudenslager has found some good info on the process, using the Mac OS X Time Machine with a Time Capsule.  "Really highlights the importance of regular backups," he reminds us.

Mac Mentoring

Want to learn more about your Mac?  John Carter tells about opportunities to learn from a personal mentor.  Read on . . .

"The Prescott Library supports our club by maintaining a Mac laptop for use in our General meetings, our SIG meetings, and our Mentor activities. Currently, this laptop is only available to PMUG members and can only be checked out by PMUG Board members and Mac Mentors.

"Jim Hamm and John Carter have volunteered to be Mac Mentors at the Library. To arrange for a one- or two-hour session, please contact the Library Service desk, say you want to meet with a Mac Mentor, and you will be contacted by one of the Mentors to arrange a date and time. All such meetings will take place either in the Prescott Library.

"John Carter is also Mentoring at the Prescott Valley Library and the Prescott Adult Center. Call those locations for an appointment."

Problems in WindowLand & Here's Help!

If you use Parallels to run Windows on your Mac you're probably alerted to the fact of McAfee's problem with their Antivirus software.  David Passell noticed the news earlier today. "I have XP Pro. Apparently the McAfee, the company that has produced Anti Virus software for years has made a mistake in an upgrade that crashes Windows XP and requires expert help to recover. You can read the article and comments here. Lots of Apple and Linux gloaters:).

"I don't know what effect, if any, this may have to Mac users running Windows programs. I started XP and it seemed to be running funny. I quickly uninstalled McAfee and also some program called Kaspersky Security that continually 'encounters problems that cause it to shut down.' Windows XP Pro seems to be running fine now."

To the rescue comes John Carter, "At the moment, the best anti-virus protection for Windows is AVG Free for three reasons. 1) It doesn't crash Windows. 2) It doesn't hog the processor while it is scanning the system. 3) It is FREE!

When you are attempting to download the free version, be absolutely certain that you are getting the free version and not the 30-day trial."  Go to this softpedia link. On that page click on the Softpedia US link (shown below - don't click on any green button)

Magic Mouse Review, 1 & 2

First, here's a review of Mac's Magic Mouse from John Carter. "I have been using the Magic Mouse now for a little over a week (should have bought one from Jim Hamm when I had the chance).

"I get frustrated with that mouse quite easily. I'm used to grazing my fingers over the mouse while reading stuff. Doing that on the Magic Mouse can change everything! Side to side sweeps of the finger pulls up a completely different page. Forward and back sweeps scrolls through pages in a wink of the eye. Just when I think I've mastered using the mouse and I try to click on something I discover that I'm right-clicking instead of left-clicking, or I've grazed my fingers over the mouse and I'm clicking somewhere else.

"Really frustrating! Don't recommend the Magic Mouse to anyone with the shakes - or dancing fingers like me!  But I won't go back to the old mouse. Just looking at that sleek design next to my keyboard gives me warm feelings."

Now, here's a response from Jim Hamm. "John, are you talking about the new 'Magic' Mouse or the older Mighty (now Mac) Mouse? If it's the new Magic Mouse I think you'll get used to it. I love the scrolling action and use that feature constantly. I liked the old Mighty Mouse, too, but not near as well as the Magic Mouse. The scroll button on the old Mouse would get clogged up occasionally. The Magic Mouse does have a good look and smooth feel to it."

Transfer Files to Another Computer

Jim Hamm makes a discovery:  "Here's a video of one way to transfer files from one computer to another: Dropbox. I plan to give it a try to move documents between my two Macs."  Got five minutes?  Give it a look.

An Easy Precaution to Take Right Now

Potential malware is our subject, thanks to a quick tip from Jim Hamm.  He assures us, "No big concern at this time--just something to be aware of. The article states one thing to do is in Safari Preferences uncheck 'open safe files after downloading.' This is under the 'General' tab."

Watch for This Email Scam

Thanks to Roger Lakner for this warning. He writes, "The below is a picture of an email that I received yesterday. I called UPS and they told me that this is going around and to not open the file as it will do damage to that person's computer, and that I was to just delete it. I suspect it is only harmful to PC's, but good for members to be aware."

Speed Test Link

David Passell tells about a speed tester.  He reports, " I went over to Best Buy to look at the iPAD and other Mac machines. For fun, I ran some speed tests. Their net was around 4MB. Then I found another speed tester that I thought was interesting. I tried it on my machine, both XP (under Parallels which I finally bought) and OS X. Strangely, the speed measured faster on XP than OS. Both were using the Firefox browser. Here is the link. Try it you might like it."

Making an iPad "Town Hall" Video

"This is a hoot!" hollers Jim Hamm.  First read the ingenious how-to describing David Pogue's making of an iPad "town hall" video.  Then view the final results. 

Door Prize Awaits You on Saturday

          On Saturday, 4-17, a PMUG member will win a nifty prize, thanks to Jim Hamm.  The door prize will be a free license for the Radium Radio Player.  Scroll down this page to the original article, "We Have a Winner; He Likes the Prize" and read about it.
          Jim liked his new Radium Radio Player and wrote to the company with a few questions and good comments.  He bragged about PMUG and asked if they'd give the free license for Radium as a door prize.  That same day he got an affirmative answer, and so...... be sure to be at Saturday's PMUG meeting.  Remember, it's at 2:30 p.m. for this month!

We Have a Winner; He Likes the Prize

Our own Jim Hamm is a winner!  Let him tell us in his own words, "Take a look at the last entry under the competition winners: it's 'moi'!...A couple of days ago I sent in an entry for the MacTricksAndTips contest and won a free Radium Radio Player. The price of the player, after a free trial, is $16. I was able to download a free player for both my Macs. When Radium is opened, a small icon appears on the Menu Bar in Safari--not the Dock. The radio works quite well and comes preloaded with thousands of radio stations from around the world. I listened yesterday to Celtic music from Ireland and the feed was quite satisfactory. I'll try more stations today.

"One small problem encountered: my Menu Bar in Safari is too full of icons on my MacBook Air to permit the icon for Radium to appear. I'll have to see if there are any I want to remove. When Radium is opened the icon appears on the Menu Bar on Finder. Not a big deal because I don't switch stations all that often. Radium seems to be a simple, but effective, radio player. Not a lot of fancy controls, etc., and only takes about 30MB in memory when it is running.

"If you're looking for an internet-streaming radio station, you might give Radium a 30-day free trial. Here's the post for the original competition."