Mac Dictionary Will Speak to You

        It started with reading a news article about the horrible flesh-eating disease.  Wondering how much info the Mac Dictionary would give I looked up that long word "necrotizing fasciitis" and my curiosity just got started.  Would Dictionary read it to me?
        Yes, Mac will read aloud to you.  You can use this feature in Dictionary, Pages, Word for Mac, even news you highlight from Google, other Internet sites, and . . . get this!  You can listen to the PMUG newsblog being read aloud to you.

        Go to Apple in the menu bar across the top of the screen.  Click System preferences, under System click Speech.  On the Text to Speech tab, select the Speak selected text when the key is pressed check box.  Click Set Key, then press the combination of keys that you want to use to hear the text read aloud.  Then click OK.    I decided to use Command + S.  Now the fun of trying it out, here and there.  

        Oh, here's more about that flesh-eating disease.  Click on Dictionary, choose  Wikipedia and type in "flesh-eating disease."  Up it comes with medical explanations, photos, and links to further resources.  There's even a list of notable people who have been afflicted with it.  

How to Upgrade to Mountain Lion -- FREE

        Well, it's the e-book that's FREE, but that's good!  The e-book that John Carter tells about will be offered as raffle prizes at our July 14 general PMUG meeting.  Here's the info:  "Apple is poised to release OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in July, and the people at Take Control want to help smooth your transition to Apple's next big cat. Because many of you will want to upgrade soon, Take Control is offering Joe Kissell's "Take Control of Upgrading to Mountain Lion" for sale now, with Matt Neuburg's "Take Control of Using Mountain Lion" available for pre-order as a single-page placeholder that you can use to get the full title once Mountain Lion ships."
        John sends the link to the article about it here.  The winner receives the e-book on an 8GB thumb drive.  

Where's My Computer's Library?

       John Carter was telling about a problem with Adobe.  "After allowing Adobe to install updates, I discovered I could no longer view a PDF file in Safari.  I found the following fix in the Apple Support Communities:  Try removing the following files:

       /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewer.plugin

      /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

      OK, John, but how do you find the Library on Mac?  So, here's the info we need. 

Lion reserves will NOT display Library. Snow Leopard and below lets you see it.

Regardless of what version of OS you have, the one way that works for everyone is:

1. Open Terminal (type "terminal" in Spotlight to get it)

2. At the command line, enter the following commands, one at a time. When the first command is entered, you will be asked for your login password, but not for the second command.

When you first open Terminal, the command line may look something like this:

jcarter@JC-Mac ~

$ 

or this:

jcarter@JC-Mac ~ $

Regardless, the command line is identified by the dollar sign. You start typing after the dollar sign.

Here are the two commands:

sudo rm -rf /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewer.plugin

sudo rm -rf /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

You can copy and paste these two lines directly into Terminal (one at a time) and get the same results. Every command has to be followed by pressing the Return key.

        So, there we are, thanks to John.  Another question answered! 

How Long Will CDs Last?

        You didn't expect CDs and DVDs to last forever . . . but how long will they still be good?  John Carter grabs our attention with this information, "Here's an interesting article that attempts to explain the reasons why you might not want to rely on CDs and DVDs for an archive of your favorite images, videos, and documents. The life span of such a media is dependent on more than just how the CD/DVD is made - mold and rot are also factors."  This MakeUseOf article was posted yesterday, and it tells how to check your disks for deterioration.

Introducing Our Officers for 2012-2013

PRESIDENT ART GORSKI  

         Art will continue to serve as President this year!  We appreciate his leadership for PMUG.  
        He started with punch cards and FORTRAN programming in a freshman year college class in 1969. After getting his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering he became interested in the microcomputers that were just coming out in the late 1970's. He took a continuing education class at the local university and learned how to program the 6502 microprocessor in hexadecimal machine language. Since this was the same processor used in the new Apple II computer, Art ended up purchasing one in January of 1979. It's serial number 660, and he still owns it.

        Joining the local computer club, he decided to change careers and go into programming for a living and wrote programs in assembly language and FORTRAN for real-time flight simulators. He bought an original Macintosh 128 in early 1985, and eventually upgraded it to a Mac Plus. Later Macs included a PowerBook 100, PowerBook 2300, PowerMac 7200/90, and a G4 Cube (still owns it).
        Art retired and moved to Prescott in 2007 and spends his time running a couple of websites and programming Mac applications using Real Studio. He has a very sophisticated gigabit home network with a network attached storage server. 

VICE-PRESIDENT DAVE ROTHGERY
      Dave first encountered the computer era when he had to learn FORTRAN in 1969 at Cleveland State University. That is where his programing career started and quickly ended. After graduating from U of Illinois, he spent the next thirty-five years selling technology products to Fortune 100 companies. After starting with Xerox, he moved on to represent companies like, Vydec, Exxon Information Systems, NBI, Inc, Octel Communication Corp, Lucent Technologies, Innerwireless and Adomo.  The products and systems he sold included items like Xerox copiers, word processing systems, local area networks, corporate voice mail systems, in-building wireless systems and unified messaging systems.  

        In 2008 he retired and moved from the Chicago area to Prescott and spends time as a SCORE counselor helping entrepreneurs start a business or improve their business, attending OLLI classes and learning more about Macs.

        After working with PC’s for twenty-five years, he finally migrated to Apple’s Mac platform ten months ago and as the saying goes, “doesn’t want to look back.”  He says the PMUG group has been an excellent forum to shorten the learning curve with Mac and to learn all the shortcuts that make using a Mac so enjoyable.  His primary organization responsibility as Vice President of PMUG is to determine topics and find presenters of those topics for each monthly meeting. Please send him your ideas on topics you would like to learn more about.

SECRETARY BOBBIE PASTOR
      Bobbie continues in the position of Secretary! Bobbie has been with the PMUG group since 2005.    She remembers that it took three months to get her name on the books and a name tag.  She has strived to welcome new members and have their name tags made by the next meeting.  She has added many new tasks to the job.  

      Bobbie's skill development as secretary to PMUG has been basically "seat-of-the-pants".  She did complete two years of junior college with a secretarial major and worked for Uniroyal Corp as a production secretary for three foremen.  Her observation was that the ladies working on the production floor made more money, didn't have to buy clothes for work and NEVER took the work home to finish!  So, Bobbie quit that job and got a job with Laura Scudders picking and packing potatoes chips.  It was right down the street from where she lived and she wore old clothes that had to be hung in a special closet because of the smell of chips and peanut butter.  But she was making twice as much money.  This production experience qualified her to apply to Kimberly Clark in Fullerton, Ca where she worked for 33 years and retired with a pension!
       Bobbie sold her home at the top of the market and had a huge garage sale on everything else.  She moved to Prescott, AZ in 2004.  She had gone through Prescott on the way to Sedona in 1991 and fell in love with the town square.  
        She was catapulted into the PMUG Secretarial position in 2005 (fourth meeting) because the current Secretary was moving out of state, and has developed the job so well, that no one would even think of volunteering to take that detailed-oriented, time-consuming  job over, on a bet!  Bobbie is Secretary for life!
        Besides being Secretary and organizing the annual picnic, Bobbie has taken on the task of offering Beginning Mac SIGs.  She has had some down time on that task this last year.  She plans to resume this classes, however,  later this year.  Due to the Library charging for rooms, Bobbie will hold her SIGs in her home with a limit of 10 members.  She has to catch up on the new operating system and install it on her computer as well as the club's computer.
Bobbie is Vice-mum for her Red Hats chapter.  She is creating a free website just for the Diamond Chics.  She loves to garden and has a very high maintenance landscape.  She is interested in creating photos and takes John's Digital SIG every month.  She shares her life with a "special needs" Jack/Rat terrier named Archie.  Archie is totally blind and socially challenged, but in spite of his peccadilloes, he has volunteered to man the projector  during our SIGs.

TREASURER DAVID PASSELL

      Another term as treasurer for David; three cheers!    David’s degree is from USC in Telecommunications (TV and Radio production) W56 as broadcast engineer/DJ for KUTE in Glendale, CA, then Chief Engineer for FM station WNCN in NYC.

      In 1961 he was telecommunications engineer at JPL (analyzing spacecraft data, writing reports, and writing FORTRAN programs). He did technical writing (IBM, Litton, Associated Writers, Conrac) retiring in 1996 from Ameritec, Duarte, CA.
       Betty and David came to Prescott in 1996. His Mac history: Apple II - 1978, MAC portable - 1991, Mac TV - 1995. Currently he has a MINI, an iMAC, and a G3. In PMUG since 1997, he’s been President twice and continues as Treasurer.
       David is also a member of the PCS (Prescott Computer Society), Yavapai Amateur Radio Club (YARC), and does video recording for his church. 

Helpful Tips for Pages '09

        Well, what do you know? See the little toolbar at the bottom of a Pages '09 window?  This article explains some features you maybe hadn't noticed.  (I hadn't!)

Look What Your iPad Can Do

         Without bragging on his iPad, Jim Hamm does find nifty stuff to share with our readers.  "Want to transfer a document to your iPad?  This article outlines one way."

Teachers and Classroom: FREE for Mac

        "What's not to like about the word FREE?" a rhetorical question from Jim Hamm.  He goes on to elaborate, "Here's a website that has a potpourri of free programs for the Mac, with a slant towards teachers and the classroom."

Making Travel Arrangements

       "Here is an interesting observation on Mac users' choice of travel arrangements via Orbitz," David Passell notices.  "Either they think Mac users are stupid, or we just have better taste."  Might make for an interesting conversation with David.
        Here Jim Hamm jumps in and labels it correctly; it's "data mining" and it results in the Mac user being steered to a more expensive hotel.  This is what Wall Street Journal has to say.  Jim closes with, "I can't make up my mind whether to be 'ticked off' about this, or smugly smile and say, well, Orbitz does recognize 'Creme de la Creme'. . . (grin)."

Those Helpful People at the Apple Store

        Jim Hamm makes some observations, "Working at any retail store is tough: long hours, short pay, mostly on your feet, dealing with the public —which is tough in itself. Here's an article giving a peek at what it's like to work in an Apple Store.
        "If you've been in an Apple store you've noticed all the personnel are young — one never sees any gray hair (other than from the customers). Here's a comment from the article with a reason for this,  'Generally, an Apple employee is someone who can afford to live cheaply, is not bothered by the nonstop commotion of an Apple Store and is comfortable with technology.  People who fit that bill tend to be in their early or mid-20s, the former managers said. They typically don’t have children and many don’t have spouses, which means they are relatively inexpensive to cover with health insurance.'"

        Jim concludes, "It appears Apple store employees use this experience as a springboard to other jobs with more of a future."
        Trying to (unsuccessfully) open that link posted above a new article from Los Angeles Times dated 6-23 comes up: headline "Did NY Times Report Drive Apple to be Extra Generous to Workers?"
        This just in:  Jim Hamm sends this link about employees of Apple stores and this one from NY Times.   Click where it says Read. 

Some Free Apps for Your Computer

         There's that word FREE that gets our attention.  John Carter has found some free apps.  Read on.
        Are you a PC person besides a PMUG person?  You've probably noted that John is a PC officer who also heads a joint PC/PMUG Special Interest Group (SIG).  He's also our Webmaster for our PMUG site. John sends this link to a list of 50 alternatives to see if there's a free app that might be helpful for you.  When you open this page, do Command + F for Find and enter Mac in the search box.  There are 31 places where Mac is mentioned in this article.
       John says, "Don't forget to read the user-submitted comments at the end for additional insights."  Perhaps you also want to check out the Prescott PC site.

Rumor of Changes to iPhone

         The headline "Fury at Apple's 'rip-off' plan to make ALL iPhone accessories obsolete by changing design of socket" grabbed our attention. See the article for yourself.  Jim Hamm commented that he'd seen other blogs with the same rumor, "If true, it will affect us as well. We own several radios with docking stations that fit our present iPhone 4 but won't work at all with the new iPhone if the connector is changed. Do I like this? No. Do I understand that electronic devices change and, hopefully, improve? Yes. Think about all the people that had devices that played 8-track tapes. Ditto for cassette tapes. Then CDs came out. Think about all the equipment that became obsolete with the release of each new device.
        "I don't think Apple is changing devices to be mean or increase sales of new accessories. They probably have a valid technological reasons for making the change. Will be interesting to see what Apple comes out with." 
        Here Jim gives some advice, "When people complain about Apple's closed-loop system, high prices, technological advances, and marching to their own drum, I tell them if they don't like what Apple does, that's okay. Don't complain. Buy something else." 

      But, Jim, do you suppose someone will come up with an adaptor or connection device that will allow the two to work OK?  Succinctly Jim answers, "Possibly."  So, we'll watch and see. 

MiFi at WalMart?

        "Here's an interesting service that apparently will soon be offered at WalMart: MiFi with no expiration date. This type of service isn't new, but having no expiration date (if used once per year) and no monthly bill (or contract) sounds intriguing for casual use of the Internet when you're traveling," Jim Hamm says. 
        Have you heard about MiFi?  Here's an article. 

Free for Your iPad

        He knows we like that word FREE, and Jim Hamm says, "If you have an iPad and feel, well, crafty, take a look at this new app from Martha Stewart. It's free till July 8."

Shared Data Plans

        "Think back to just a few years ago. All we wanted was a cell phone to use when travelling. Then along came smart phones, then iPads, then more tablets, then shared data plans. It's all getting somewhat complex, it seems," Jim Hamm grins.  He goes on to inform us, "Verizon's new shared data plan goes into effect June 28. So far, AT&T hasn't announced when they'll make their shared data plan effective — at least as far as I know. Here's an article that gives more details and a pricing comparison. Looking at the numbers, it might be a bit tricky to pick the right plan for your family."

Get More Storage via Dropbox

Use Dropbox?  Jim Hamm shares this new info.  "Want more free storage — up to 3 GB more? Here's how: On your iOS device upgrade to the latest version of Dropbox, then upload pictures from your iOS device to Dropbox. Everytime you do that, you'll get 500MB more storage up to a max of 3GB. Even if you remove the pictures later on, you get to keep the additional storage. I just did this with my iPhone, and while I was uploading the pictures I got a popup box from Dropbox on my computer (which I was using while the upload was going on) stating good news: your account has just been increased to 'x' GB of storage. Don't forget to turn wifi on to speed up the transfer of pictures."  See this article.  

Mac Will Help YOU Write!

If you put your memories in writing they’ll last longer,

    Your life experiences may help someone else grow stronger;

Consider the challenges, troubles, decisions, success, too,

    You can pass along helpfulness by writing how you got through.

Have you written something about yourself for posterity? Not yet?  Will it be one exciting chapter of your own life story?  Will it be a very short overview of the important events of your life?  Will it be an update of something you wrote earlier as a personal remembrance? Could it be a creative piece, telling about your view of life since you turned 29 — again? 

 Let’s take a look at some of the helpful ways Mac will make it easy for you to write something for family and friends.  

1. Jot down any ideas you have on Mac.  Don’t fuss with spelling, just write those words that pop into your head right now.  
2. Save that document.  No, it’s not done!  But give it a name and add “v. 1” on that name so you’ll recognize it as the first version of your brainstorm.
3. Make a folder, give it a good name.  I keep my most recent working-on folder on the desktop.
4. You’re going to put all the versions into this same folder.  Let it rest.  Go do something else and let your clever brain do some silent push-ups.
5. Go back to Mac and now see what you want to add to the v. 1 page.  After that do Command + D  to duplicate the previous page, and make additions and corrections to that new page.  Name it v. 2.  Save both versions. 
6. You are having fun.  It’s creative.  Picture in your mind the person or persons you’re writing this for, and this helps you formulate the vocabulary you’ll use.
7. Soon you’ll figure out your target date.  When does this have to be finished?  How long or short do you want it to be? 
8. Quoting someone?  Be careful.  If quoting a friend or family member consider asking permission if you’re giving the finished piece to others.  I like to get written permission.
9. Stating facts?  Check and see that you’ve got the info down correctly.  
10.   Could this make a nice booklet? With BlueSquirrel’s ClickBook for Mac www.bluesquirrel.com I’ve made booklets of up to 32 pages.  The program takes your normal-size page writing and automatically shrinks it down to various sizes.  I prefer the size that’s a regular sheet of paper folded in half.  There are nice envelopes just this size for mailing the finished booklet.
11.   Do you have photos to drag into the writing?  You’re probably looking at v. 4 by now?  Each new experimentation of layout I do as a separate version and keep all the previous versions in that master folder. With iPhoto you can fix your photos.  Click on Edit to see the tools. 
12.   When you look at the list of what’s on your desktop click once on the title of that folder.  Do   Command + “i” and you can enter key words in Spotlight Comments on the left side at the top.   This will help you find the folder later when you put it in some other location on Mac!  
13.   Time to play with fonts.  Do you have Font Book listed in your applications?  You’ve got LOTS of fonts there. Scroll down the list of fonts and experiment.  You might like the look of Helvetica, or might think Comic Sans MS looks nice.  If you are using ClickBook you’ll enlarge the size of the font one or two sizes larger because it will be automatically sized smaller to fit the layout you choose.  
14. Using Pages I like to click on the Inspector and scroll over the name of the story, or the poem, or the chapter’s title.  Then I enlarge the font size and also do Text, and enlarge the character spacing.  Sometimes I also like to add more space to the line, such as 1.1 or more.  
15.   Also, if you’ll be using ClickBook you will want to go to Graphic Inspector to see if you want a shadow or offset, opacity, or blur on the photo. Click on Metrics and unclick Constrain proportions.  If you don’t do this the people will be shrunk down to look skinny.  I stretch the photos sideways to compensate for the automatic ClickBook sizing.  
16.   Back on Pages settings: if I’m making a booklet I may resize the left & right margins smaller and also the top and bottom settings to make them smaller.   Experiment.
17.   All along, you save the piece as you play with it. Give each version a new v. # and put it in that same master folder.
18. One nifty thing that you will do before that final version is printed out =  do Command + F for find, and Mac searches for any word you specify.  Did you spell Cousin Frederika’s name correctly?  Do a Find to find out.  You can also make sure that any --  got fixed it to be —.
19. How about some clever little pasted in image?  Go to the Internet and do Google Images.  Click to bring it up.  You can scroll through lots of photos, clip art, etc.  Find something and drag it off to your desktop.  Make it larger or smaller.  Drag sideways a little to compensate for ClickBook. 
20. Maybe your printer does color.  Mine is b&w so I find pretty paper from OfficeMax or Staples and turn the page sideways for a booklet cover.  If your writing is going to be full-page size you’ll find a lot of pretty paper. 
21. Staple the booklet with this useful stapler,  www.bluesquirrel.com/products/staplers/ , or do 3-hole punch for a notebook, or get it spiral bound. 

Let’s have fun making word clouds. You can order t-shirts, coffee cups, posters, using a word cloud that you create. I made one for the cover of a booklet I wrote a few weeks ago. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_clouds  history, types described, 

http://www.wordle.net/  try theirs

http://tagcrowd.com/    another to try

http://www.techlearning.com/default.aspx?tabid=67&entryid=364  see if you like this 

http://worditout.com/    make personalized gifts  FREE

http://neoformix.com/Projects/portfolio/index.html   32 nifty patterns to view 

Use Mac to write:  keep your fingers and your brain nimble! 

This is today's PMUG handout by Elaine Hardt.  See you next time? 

On the Road? Keep Connected

       Maybe you'll be traveling this summer?  Jim Hamm sends some useful info.  "Here's another way of staying connected to the internet when traveling: purchase a prepaid 3G plan using the Sprint cellular service. I'm not sure how widespread Sprint cell service is, but it can be checked out prior to purchasing a plan. If WiFi might not be available where you'll be traveling, but you want access to the internet, at least this is a reasonable option without a recurring monthly fee." 

Have You Seen What's FREE & What's For Sale?

        Today it's Jim Hamm asking, "Anyone want a FREE set of Technic speakers?  They are in perfect condition, measure 36" high, 17" wide, 11" deep. . . . If you want them and can pick them up call me  or send an email to me. . . "   Go to this PMUG page to see the photo of the speakers and get Jim's phone number and email address.  And, if you have anything for sale see that page, too.
 

Report on Jim's Speech

        Could have titled this, "Jim Hams It Up," but with second thoughts a new title was chosen.  A Previous Prez,  Jim Hamm spoke at a computer club meeting in Phoenix.  Here's his report:

       "Hi . . . Here's a mug shot of me at the Great Wall restaurant yesterday in Phoenix. A group (nine) of us — including Zee and son-in-law Scott —  from the meeting were eating lunch after I had given a presentation on WiFi at a computer club meeting. A friend was wearing the hat I have on. I said I liked his hat and he said to try it on. I did, and he took my picture. I'm gonna order a couple of these hats today from Haband. The hat is light-weight and comfortable to wear. He made me give his hat back. Darn!

        "The WiFi presentation seemed to go well. I wasn't booed off stage, and I managed to dodge the few tomatoes that were thrown. I asked Zee if she was going to the meeting with me because she wanted to hear my presentation. She said no — but she sure liked going to lunch at the Great Wall afterwards. She said she'd suffer through my presentation because she knew there was a reward afterwards. . . (grin). . .   

        "The Great Wall — at 35th Avenue and Camelback — is a real Chinese restaurant. All the help is Chinese, the papers in the lobby are in Chinese, and most of the patrons were Chinese — except for a table of us 'Gringoes.' The food is very good. One of the people from the club is Chinese and he orders the food for all of us. Dishes are brought out family-style and set on a Lazy Susan. Both Zee and I especially like the 'Lemon Fish' — but all the food is great. Yum! A real surprise at the end of the meal. Normally the bill is divided among attendees and we all pay our share. For some reason, Walt — the Chinese fellow — picked up the tab for all of us. Very nice of him to do so. Walt is 80 and fun to chat with. 

        Here Jim winds it up in his own style, "This particular computer club is a Senior SIG (Special Interest Group) and most of us — son-in-law excepted — are, ahem, of the more advanced vintage...(grin). . . I was surprised to see Scott walk into the meeting — young fellow that he is. I didn't ask him if he was there because of my talk or because of lunch afterwards at the Great Wall. Some things are better left unasked."