Yes, You CAN Find It

Mac makes it easy for you to find what you’ve written and saved. Of course, it does take a little effort on your part. So you wrote about your dog, but you gave the piece a cute little title. Now, where is it? You could try Command + the space bar which opens the Spotlight at the upper right side of the menu bar. With a few key words typed in you might get some clues as where to look. You can click on an entry there and it will open, or hold the cursor there and it will identify where it is filed.

Better yet. Give yourself an assignment. Go to that list of stories or articles or poems you’ve written. Click to open one of them and see what key words would help you find it next time. Then close the piece, click on just the title in the list of documents. Do Command + i and it opens the Spotlight Comments box with the info of Kind, Size, Where, Created, Modified, Open with, Preview and Sharing & Permissions. Put in some key words in that Comments box. Close and smile; you’ve just made your life easier with Mac. Next time one of those key words might help Spotlight find your document.

You already know you can find things by date when you click View to make it sort by date. If you just wrote this piece last week or last month perhaps you can find it by date. When you have Finder open on the screen you can do Search For and choose Today, Yesterday, Past Week.

Finding That Comma!

Something sent to me for posting on the newsblog had some commas misplaced outside, instead of inside the quotation mark. I needed to check the whole document while it was still on my mind.

In Pages, the writing program I use, I opened the document and did Command + F for Find. I put a comma in the blank by the word Find. One by one, as I went Next each comma in the writing came up highlighted. I could see the ones which were properly placed, and several that needed fixing. How easy is that! Find not only finds words that you want to locate, but can help you use your punctuation correctly. Sometimes in a font the exclamation mark looks too close, so I find each of them, highlight one of them at a time and change it to italic!

 Finding Help For Your Grammar

Need some help with punctuation or grammar? Here are several websites, quick and easy to read. Info from Purdue University, examples, etc. Examples from Stage Door, short and to the point. Lots of links, samples, specific info from the University of Northern Iowa.

 Finding Info on the Internet

What a relief. We no longer have to correctly type in http:// and the correct and complete URL of some site. Key words can help Google or Yahoo, whoever, come up quickly with a list of suggested sites. One of them on the first page is probably the one you want!

 Finding Yourself on the Internet

Yes, the search engines know where to find you. Take a look. I’ve used Google as the example, but try also other search engines listed & described here.

Where do you live? Google Maps can show you. Enter your address. Click on the Yellow Man and drag towards the marker Google has placed. Neighborhood streets that have been filmed by the Google camera vehicle are shown now in blue. Up comes street view.  Don’t like what they show? You can contact them about your concerns. What does your old house in Phoenix look like now? Are they keeping the yard looking nice?

If you enter your name in the Google search box and place quotation marks around it you can find websites that mention you by name, or other people with YOUR name. Interesting to see how many of “you” there are in the US.

You can also put your name down under Google Images and see what comes up! In my example, up came book covers and people’s photos from websites that have quoted a poem or writing of mine.

Been mentioned on the Daily Courier lately? Look under Find It for classifications such as Archive, Photo Gallery, Sports, etc. If you want to submit a great photo this is where to go.

Finding What Apple Is Doing

Keep up with the latest on Discussions and Widgets. Anyone download the “Boredom Button”? The Apple Store has items and prices, but also links to education, business, international stores, government and military, special deals, and click to talk to an Apple Specialist.

Selling e-Books

        Recent news about Apple caught Jim Hamm's attention.  He passes on what he's found out, "Here is an interesting article about the recent lawsuit against Apple and five major book publishers by the Department of Justice. I guess I'm against the idea of publishers forcing retailers to sell an e-book at a certain price. A retailer should be able to set their own price — that's the way competitive capitalism is supposed to work. However, according to this article, Amazon, at one point, sold new e-books below their cost, effectively slowly killing the real book industry. Is this good or bad? Why would Amazon want to do this, anyway — maybe to sell more Kindles, do you suppose?
        "Three publishers have already settled the lawsuit, but Apple and two publishers haven't settled yet. It will be interesting to see what ultimately happens with Apple in this lawsuit."

Curious? Another Way to Check

        Curious if your Mac got infected?  Jim Hamm writes, "Here is an article by MacWorld describing another very easy method of checking to see whether your Mac has been infected by the Flashback Trojan. Odds are good that you haven't been infected, but I tried, out of curiosity, the small app in the second link below. It worked quickly and showed that my Mac wasn't infected."

Java in Lion: You Might Need Help

        In a recent post regarding the Flashback virus, John Carter reported that he had a problem with Java. This “bug” appeared only after a recent update to Java. He brings us up-to-date here:
        "There is a workaround for the problem with Java in Lion. (The problem is that in the Terminal the command ‘java -version’ returns an error message: unable to locate java runtime to invoke) The workaround is accomplished by adding the system environment variable JAVA_HOME to the login environment in the file /etc/bashrc.
        "The variable should be set to '/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Home'
        "There is no easy way to instruct the non-technical person on how to add a line of code to a system file. Anyone having a problem with Java should contact John Carter and he will install the workaround free."  Go to the PMUG site > About Us and scroll down to Contact Us and click on Webmaster.
        John closes with this, "The JAVA_HOME variable should not have to be added, so there is still some kind of Java problem that needs to be researched."
        Now, John Carter to the rescue!  Here's the very latest help: "Regarding why Java fails on the iMac Lion that I have, I just discovered this fix:
        Remove this file: /Users/[logname]/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.java.JavaPreferences.plist
        That file does not exist on the Mini, MB Pro, or MB Air.
         The next time you execute ‘java -version’ in Terminal, you get:
         java version "1.6.0_31"
        Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_31-b04-414-11M3626)
        Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 20.6-b01-414, mixed mode)
        "This is confirmed by: osdir.com/ml/java-dev/2010-10/msg00974.html  by Mike Swingler, Java Engineering, Apple Inc."
        Any other questions?  If so,  email John.  And remember, he's speaking this Saturday for PMUG.  See you there?  

Google & Safari Settings for Cookies

        Jim Hamm keeps a lookout for useful information.  "Here is an article by John Gruber, of the Daring Fireball blog, discussing the use of cookies from websites you visit. It's a little confusing to follow, but apparently Google decided to circumvent settings in Safari and permit ALL websites from placing cookies in your browser, even if you explicitly set Safari NOT to permit this.
        "A 'John Battelle,' whom I've not heard of, wrote an article sort of defending Google in doing this. Gruber disagrees with both Google and Battelle on this issue (as I do, too), and the article lists some of Battele's comments followed Gruber's response."
         Jim explains, "If you're not familiar with Gruber's blog, Daring Fireball, I have a lot of respect for his opinions and comments, on this and other topics.
        "Google wrote code to specifically circumvent Safari's settings, and apparently no longer does this egregious action. Google certainly has been helpful in searching for stuff on the net, but I don't appreciate sneaky actions like this on their part."

iPhone Tips

        A handy list of 35 tips for the iPhone user is here.  And Jim Hamm adds this, "Here's a tip on another method of activating the camera on an iPhone: double-tap the home button. On the lower right is an icon for the camera. Put your finger on it and slide it up to open the camera."

More on Flashback

        "The Flashback virus is real," emphasizes John Carter.  He elaborates on the issue, "There is a Java update available from Apple to fix the problem.
        "As a result of doing the latest Java update from Apple, I no longer have Java working on my iMac.
However, the update works on the Mac Mini and the MacBook Air.
       " I discovered this on my iMac by invoking the following command in Terminal:  java
        "The result was:    Unable to locate a Java Runtime to invoke
        "I went online and discovered that many people complained of the same thing.  It seems that installing the older version of Java fixes the problem, but then you leave yourself open to the Flashback virus."
        John continues, "I attempted to install the older version from a download from Apple, but the package detected the newer version and would not install. I guess you can only install the older version from the installation DVD.
        "At this point, since I am not doing any Java development I am not overly concerned about this 'bug' and I haven’t seen any problems with websites I’ve visited. Google Chrome has its own Java built into the browser and is the preferred browser now for surfing the web because it is immune to the Flashback virus.
        "Within the next week, Apple should be doing something about the problem caused by the update and put out a new update."

An iPad Experience: From Frown to Smile!

        "Last week I had the misfortune to drop my beloved iPad and crack the screen." exclaimed Mary Ann Clark.  She explained, "I took it to our local Apple repair shop but they don't handle iPad repairs. The kind gentleman did give me information about a service that could repair it for $189.00. Before sending it off I checked Google and discovered that even though the screen isn't covered under the warranty, sometimes an Apple store will do a courtesy replacement. It seemed like a trip to the valley was in order."
        She described what happened next. "I made an appointment at one of the Phoenix-area stores and drove down the next morning. They weren't able to do a free swap (that program ended when the new iPad was announced) but they 'repaired' my iPad by giving me a new one for $199. (Because this was a repair rather than a purchase there was no sales tax. Yea!) And I walked out with my new iPad the same day.
        "I also discovered that Apple now offers AppleCare Plus for the iPad that includes damage from accidents like mine, spilling liquids on it and the like. With this new AppleCare, my repair would only have been $45. This wasn't available when I first got my iPad but the new one is now covered!"
        And her conclusion, "Not a bad experience, all considered."

Member For Sale Items

        Have you noticed that the PMUG website has a category under Benefits,  "Member For Sale Items"?  Martyn "Bhupesh" Arnold is one of our newer members, and he has some older Macs for sale that he's collected over the years. He wrote, "I make my living around Macs. I’ve been a technology and productivity consultant and trainer for 25+ years, focused mostly on businesses. I’ve been a Apple/Mac guy since 1982. I also do some programming."   Here's his link to the site with photos of his refurbished Apple computers.
     

Review of iPad

        From the voice of experience Jim Hamm writes,  "Here is a link to a good review of using an iPad — what it does well and its limitations. If you — or someone you know — might be considering whether it's worthwhile or not to purchase an iPad at some point in the future, reading this article will give you a good picture of what you can expect. I pretty much agree with what the article says, except the author doesn't point out how useful the iPad is for reading books. This is a big plus for the iPad, and shouldn't be overlooked. Downloading ebooks from a library or Amazon, for example, is very handy.
       "I do find my iPad useful, and glad that I have one. It probably isn't a replacement for a computer for most people, nor, I suspect, was it intended to be."

FREE E-Books

        He does know how to get our attention:  "Free!"  Jim Hamm goes on to say, "Here is an article about free eBooks for your iPad or Kindle. For the iPad you might want to install the free app: eBook Search. Then you can really get started looking for eBooks."  That's 38,000 FREE eBooks.  (He closes the email with "sent from my iPad" so you know he's grinning, too.)

Summarizing the Malware Attempts

        "Here is an excellent article summarizing the current state of affairs regarding the Flashback Trojan."  Jim Hamm goes on to comment,  "As the use of Macs becomes more widespread in the computer world, I suspect, unfortunately, there may be more malware attempts in the future on the Mac.   One big concern I have is why Apple is so slow to respond to threats like this, as the article points out?"
        The article does state that "Apple has been introducing a series of technologies—tools like Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), sandboxing, and DEP—to reduce the chances of exploitation even when a Mac is vulnerable and to limit the potential damage of an attack. But these technologies aren’t perfect, especially when complex programs that run Web content like Java or Adobe Flash are involved.
        "Gatekeeper will significantly change the game for manually installed Trojans when it’s released later this year; it will make that form of attack much less profitable (and thus less likely)."

Finally, Some Humor!

        Jim Hamm brightens our day with this, "Heck, who needs a fancy iPad holder?  This device does double-duty just fine....(grin)."
        OK, who else has an idea for us?

Keep Up to Date on Malware Info

        Here's an article from Macworld describing malware that can infect a Mac.  Jim Hamm writes, "To be safe, I disabled Java in Safari preferences.  If one should need Java occasionally for, say, a bank site, just enable it for that site."
        Today, 4-5,  David Passell sends along this link to the BBC claiming that more than half a million Apple computers have been infected with Flashback Trojan.
        If you do a search on Apple Discussions watch for the date to see if it's current information.  Here's one link about it.
       Now,  an article on how it works, how to detect it, and how to remove it.
        Today, 4-6, Jim Hamm writes that he's used the trojan-check from Mac2School's Ruth Davis.  She spoke to PMUG awhile back.  You can email her here for the very important virus information.

Privacy & Security? HTTPS & VPN

        Earlier we heard from Jim Hamm, (posted on 3-28 as "Need to Use an Unsecured Wifi Hotspot") and now he helps us with clarification.  Jim wrote to the developers of Cloak, which is VPN (Virtual Private Network), "If  'HTTPS' is all one needs to be secure, why have a VPN function at all?"
         HTTPS is Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer.  It encrypts and decrypts the page requests.
        The reply Jim received explains more about HTTPS and VPN.  The following is quoted from Dave Peck, founder of www.GetCloak.com 
        1. HTTPS helps your browser verify the identify of the server it's talking to. For example, HTTPS can help the browser decide whether it's really talking to your bank. (This is why, if you ever see a warning about certificates when connecting to a site, you should stop immediately.)
        2. Once the identity of the server is verified, HTTPS sets up an end-to-end encrypted connection between you and the server. So to continue the example, HTTPS lets you have a secure communications channel directly with your bank that nobody can listen in on.
        So HTTPS, and the protocol it is built on (TLS), is awesome. And... if everyone used HTTPS/TLS then yes, there would be no reason as an individual to use a VPN like Cloak. There would still be plenty of reasons for small and medium businesses to use VPNs.   ----
        Unfortunately, we don't live in this world, at least not yet. Not everyone uses HTTPS or SSL/TLS (in fact, most web sites don't) and, further, even sites that do use HTTPS often use it badly, or inconsistently. Things seem to fall into four buckets:
        1. Sites that don't use HTTPS at all. This is, sadly, the majority of sites. When you're on a network you don't trust (like at a coffee shop, airport, hotel, or at a conference) anybody can see what you're doing.
        2. Sites that use HTTPS badly. Usually this means they don't use HTTPS everywhere. Prime examples of this would be Facebook and Amazon.com. By default, when you log in to Facebook and Amazon, you log in with HTTPS. It might seem that this protects your username and password, but this isn't quite the case. After you log in, Facebook and Amazon kick you back to HTTP pages. But wait! How do they know who you are on those HTTPS pages? They know who you are because they've cookied you with an non-secure cookie. For the duration of your session with those sites, that cookie is as good as your username and password. Anybody can log in as you and do whatever they want as you. This is what the hacker tool Firesheep was built to exploit, and unfortunately it is all too common -- Firesheep works on nearly 100 different web sites.
        3. Native apps! These days, lots of stuff is done outside of the browser. Does the Twitter App for Mac use HTTPS or TLS? Who knows! We see a lot of problems here these days, and a lot of opportunities for Cloak to make things better.
        4. Sites that use HTTPS well. Your bank, and PayPal, probably fall into this category. For these sites, Cloak doesn't make a difference.
        I would like nothing more than to wake up one day and discover that Cloak is not necessary. But given that only one of four buckets is actually truly secure, I think we're easily five years off from that day. That said, one can never truly predict in the world of technology. -----
        I should explain, in case it isn't clear, that Cloak isn't an end-to-end solution for security. When you use HTTPS, you get end-to-end encryption: just you and (say) your bank. When you use Cloak, you get encryption from your laptop or iDevice to our servers. From there, things are decrypted. But we host our own servers on networks with great peering agreements and extremely strict security policies. Our networks are trustworthy, whereas presumably the networks "out there" in the wild, like at coffee shops etc, are not. It's only if you truly cannot trust the Internet at all that HTTPS and TLS are your only options.       ---
        Bottom line for all of this: I believe that we still live in a world where Cloak can provide real value; I hope that technologies like HTTPS and SSL will ultimately become so prevalent that tools like Cloak won't be needed anymore. I think we're many years off from that day."
      Thanks to Jim for getting this information for PMUG.

Is Your TV Watching YOU?

"New HDTVs now have both the hardware and software capability to monitor both sound and video!" announces John Carter.  He elaborates, "Do you want to your new TV to have Skype capability? If so, then would it be possible for the TV itself to get hacked and someone could be spying on you?Read the news here."  Take a look, then pass it on.

More on POP and IMAP

       John Carter passes on more info on the POP and IMAP question.  "The reason you are able to see your mail on the server after seeing them using Mac Mail is that the preferences set in Mac Mail are to NOT remove the message from the server after retrieving them.
        "In the snapshot below, I have my POP account preferences set to "remove copy from server after retrieving message” because in this case I have no interest to ever use webmail to access email for that account, and this option keeps the messages in that account on the server cleaned out.

        "In this case, once I retrieve a message using Mac Mail (or any other mail app with the preferences set as above) and then subsequently either delete it from the inbox in Mail or move it to another folder in Mail, the message is deleted from the inbox on the server. Because it is not a POP account, when moving a message from the inbox to another folder in Mail the message on the server is just deleted. All folders in Mail for a POP account are local to the computer. And that’s another reason I prefer not to use a POP account if I can help it.
        "(Note: the option to include - meaning to retrieve - when automatically checking for new messages is not checked because I have a filter for that account on that server to forward all incoming messages to another account on another server, after which they are automatically removed from the originating server. This may seem complicated, but it means I don’t have to check messages from multiple accounts.) For IMAP preferences, it’s also possible to keep messages on the server or not:

       "The only need to keep messages on the server is if you would ever need to get to your email using webmail. I notice that one option is to keep only those messages that I’ve read, which seems backwards to me. I would think the option should be to remove the messages I’ve read and keep the ones I haven’t read (retrieved but not read). That’s the only confusing part that I can see here."
        John concludes with, "The advantage of IMAP is that if you have two or more computers at home that you are using (like a laptop and a desktop) then both computers will always show exactly the same messages. Deleting a message on one computer deletes it from the other - unless the message you deleted was in a local folder. I never use local folders and I will use IMAP over POP (when possible) because I want my email on all my computers to be in perfect sync. That’s my personal choice. If you only have one computer then it doesn’t matter which protocol you use - although as mentioned in the previous note IMAP is more reliable and I think that eventually POP will go away."

Email: POP or IMAP

        What's better to use, POP or IMAP for email?  John Carter starts us off with this, "Google offers this explanation.
        "If you’re trying to decide between using POP and IMAP, we encourage you to use IMAP.
        "Unlike POP, IMAP offers two-way communication between your web Gmail and your email client. This means when you log in to Gmail using a web browser, actions you perform on email clients and mobile devices (ex: putting mail in a 'work' folder) will instantly and automatically appear in Gmail (ex: it will already have a 'work' label on that email the next time you sign in).
        "IMAP also provides a better method to access your mail from multiple devices. If you check your email at work, on your mobile phone, and again at home, IMAP ensures that new mail is accessible from any device at any given time.
        "Finally, IMAP offers a more stable experience overall. Whereas POP is prone to losing messages or downloading the same messages multiple times, IMAP avoids this through two-way syncing capabilities between your mail clients and your web Gmail."
        Still puzzling over the POP or IMAP I found that we are signed up for POP with Commspeed and that arrangement does keep email saved on their site, up to 95.37 MB.  Mail can be viewed and downloaded on either of our computers and still be viewed when we sign on to their website.
        An article at www.upperhost.com/pop3imap.htm explains some of the differences.  POP stands for Post Office Protocol, and works simply, sending the entire message to you. It works faster.  IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, and it sends a copy to you while keeping a copy. It can sync messages, is slower but more redundant, and takes up more space.
        Any other pertinent information that you've discovered, PMUG members?

Prolonging Battery Life: iPad

        Jim Hamm passes this along to our PMUG members who have an iPad: "Here's a tip for prolonging battery life on your iPad.
        "1. Batteries do get less effective as they get older, and 100% in a year’s time may mean half as much battery life as it does now — but there are precautions you can take to reduce the aging effects on your battery.
          2. Don’t charge your battery all the time just because it isn’t at 100%.
          3. Use the iPad until the battery is 100% depleted. If possible, leave it for an hour after depletion.
          4. When charging, allow it to charge fully back to 100%.
          5. Heat will also decrease your battery life, so take your iPad out of the case while charging.
          6. Don’t leave the iPad plugged into a sleeping computer, as the battery will drain.
        "By taking these steps you can ensure the battery is fully 'cycled' every time and should have minimal loss of battery life. Remember, every time you charge the device it will hold a little less charge, so avoid charging when it isn’t necessary."

Need to Use an Unsecured Wifi Hotspot?

        Traveling and need to use an unsecured wifi hotspot?  Jim Hamm passes along the info he's found, "Say, for example, you're at an unsecured wifi hotspot and have a need to send your credit card number to a company to buy something, reserve a hotel room, etc. over this network. Not a good idea to do this as hackers may be around to steal your card number. What to do? Here's an article that offers a possible solution using a program called 'Cloak.'
        "Here's the link to the website. The use of this free service is limited to 2 hours per month, but one would only use it infrequently for transmitting sensitive information. Additional hours are available on a fee basis.
     Jim will let us know more soon, "I've not used this service yet, but plan to look further into trying it."