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iTunes Upgrade Described

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        Ready to upgrade to iTunes 11?  Jim Hamm sends helpful comments: " I upgraded to iTunes 11 last eve and there are two video tutorials available to watch when iTunes 11 is opened. These give a good overview of the changes in iTunes. Watching these two tutorials plus the tips in the link I sent out should get everyone off to a good start."  And "here's some tips that might help you." 

       Jim closes with,  "I'm listening to music on the internet through iTunes as I type this."
       Oh, he's back with more! "Here is a review of iTunes 11 by Gizmodo that explains the changes. When it's opened, iTunes uses 148 MB of memory on my Mac while Skype, as a comparison, uses 168 MB. One nice aspect of the upgrade, as commented on in the article, is that iTunes has been streamlined and is more responsive to commands." 
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Anti-virus Programs Compared

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          Jim Hamm gets our attention with this: "Here is an interesting article from Thomas' Tech Corner describing a series of tests he ran on anti-virus programs. And here is a summary of the results in PDF format. 
        "Avast AV, which I use, came in a close second to first-place Sophos. The author devotes a paragraph to the problems Norton AV caused. Most (maybe all) of my computer friends don't use Norton, and immediately delete it (as I do) if it comes pre-installed on a new computer.

        "Some might say an AV program is not needed on a Mac, but if I can get additional anti-virus protection free, and it doesn't cause any problems otherwise, I'm all for using one."  Thanks, Jim for the info. 

Expressing Our Appreciation

         Hard-working John Carter is stepping down from PMUG Webmaster. John remains as a Board member.  John’s busy schedule also includes his many duties in the local Astronomy Club. 

        John is now taking on our PMUG MacHighway hosting "system administrator" and will handle the non-website portions of our relationship with our hosting provider such as email aliases, hosting renewals, and domain name renewals.   
       When you see John be sure to let him know how much you appreciate his work on creating and writing the PMUG website and for all he does for PMUG.  Watch the website for changes.  
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December's Meeting on the 15th

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        If you have your computer's Calendar subscribed to the PMUG calendar you're already anticipating our December 15 meeting from 10-12 am at the Prescott Public Library in the Founders Room downstairs.  The theme is "Genius Bar" and you're invited to submit your questions ahead of time.  Anyway, be sure to come.
     In the meantime, while our Prescott Mac User Group website is undergoing changes you'll want to check this blogspot site for info.

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Suggesting Apple Improvements

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        Jim Hamm's been reading about improvements for Apple.  
        "If you follow Apple news at all, you've read about one of their senior VPs being fired recently. Along with this announcement was discussions of 'skeuomorphic design.' which apparently this VP liked, but others within Apple didn't. I had no idea what 'skeuomorphic design' even meant. This article gives an explanation. Having read the article, to me 'skeuomorphic design' is no big deal one way or the other. What do you think?" 
        "Here's an article that suggests an area that Apple needs to take a look at: web interface. I've oftened wondered why Apple must shut their online store down in order to do updates. Presumably old architecture, although Apple might have other reasons. Imagine Amazon saying 'hold it folks, don't order anything for awhile while we shut our web store down and update prices, etc.' Many people would just switch to another web store rather than wait.

        "There's been quite a bit of blogging recently about Apple's web services being down often -- iCloud, et al. Now we know why. This surprises me, too. Apple is quite progressive in hardware design, but for some reason apparently has neglected  a modern interface with the internet -- at least according to this article."  With that, Jim signs off after giving us food for thought. 
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Black Friday Deals

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        Well, it's Black Friday, when the stores expect to be "in the black" when all the sales are tallied.  Maybe you're out shopping right now?  Here's from the link from InformationWeek,  pointing out Apple sales, listing discounts also at Best Buy and WalMart, the Apple online store, as well as giving links to find your local Apple Store.  Also, click to see an iPad Mini Tablet slideshow.
        Look at Apple's site, too. It's a one day sale. Save $ and have fun.

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Speed Up Web Browsing on iPhone, iPad

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        "Here is a tip that might speed up your web browsing on an iPhone or iPad: turn off Javascript. I just did it, and will see if it impacts my web browsing one way or the other. I've disabled Javascript on all my computers and haven't missed it at all. Javascript is a great medium (access point) for malware hackers to get into your computer," declares Jim Hamm. 

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Your Surprise for Your Family

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With your handy Mac computer you can easily make a nice surprise present for your family.  Here’s three things that only YOU can do for your kids, grandkids, even the old folks!  

  1. Make an “Old Time Favorites” cookbook from recipes handed down to you -- probably handwritten! Collect enough for 24 pages, some from each category.  Write something about who originally made that yummy stuff.
  2. Make an “Shortcut Recipe” cookbook.  This is where you’ve updated and simplified your own favorites.  Instead of feeding 10, maybe change to feeding 2 or 4.  Use modern ingredients, the microwave, convection oven. 
  3. Make a “I Remember When” booklet.  This is not your entire lifetime on 24 pages! Just some interesting highlights that you do recall.  Describe what makes those events significant in your memory. 
Jot down the first ideas that come to mind.  Let it rest a few days.  Reread and then rewrite. 
        Can you picture this as a 5 ½ x 8 ½ booklet which you’d staple?  Would it work better on full size pages, 3-hole punched, in a notebook? Or, a spiral-bound booklet? 
        In Pages go to File > New from Template Chooser.  See if you get any bright ideas after looking at these examples.  
That’s the screen shot pasted here to the left side. 
        With Microsoft Word: Mac 2011 you can go to File >  New from Templates and click to view Online Templates.  There are a lot from which to choose.  
        If you use the Blue Squirrel program, Click Book will do the layouts for various kinds of booklets.  http://www.bluesquirrel.com    Here’s the link for Mac ClickBook: http://www.bluesquirrel.com/products/cbmac/  It’s $49.95 for OS X, compatible with Lion and Mountain Lion.  Note special pricing on Print to iPad, iPhone, Android, or Kindle. They have more than 70 custom layout styles.
        You might even scan and paste in some photos.  Be creative! Picture the compliments!
        Help us spread the PMUG info,  www.pmugnews.blogspot.com   And write and tell us what you’re learning and doing:  edpr@commspeed.net   We want our PMUG to be helpful and friendly. It’s a time to enjoy and participate. 
 
Words, More Words, and Lots-a Words!
Yes, you use the Mac Dictionary.  How handy to have it on the dock, and easily look up definitions, the Thesaurus, Apple dictionary and Wikipedia.  But what about specialized dictionaries?  There’s a bunch!  
YourDictionary  http://www.yourdictionary.com/  lists most misspelled words,  how to do wild card search, brain training games, etc.
http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml  know the idea you want to convey but are fishing for that certain word?  Describe the concept and up comes pages of suggested terms.  Good for generating a list of words in some category.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/  extra features make this a helpful site to check on. 
Going to Apple’s webpage brings up www.Dictionary.com/ , a free app for your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.  
http://www.freebyte.com/dictionary/#specialized_dictionaries   lists some specialized dictionaries, free thesauri, translation tools, spellcheckers, games, images, reference desk. 
       Here’s fun with the Mac’s Apple dictionary.  Open it and type in “a” and up comes a list of every entry beginning with that letter.  You’ll find things you didn’t know! Explore and learn. 
       Today, smile at that person sitting next to you and introduce yourself.  Maybe they just moved here from  Last Chance, Iowa or Beanville, Vermont or Fort Necessity, Louisiana.   (Yes, I found those listed in http://www.accuracyproject.org/towns.html  Your birthplace listed there?)  
        See you next time? 
(This is the handout for 11-17-12 from Elaine) 
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Greeting Cards and Mailing Labels

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        Time to figure out making/sending greeting cards and printing out labels for mailing.  John Carter speaks up, commenting on my question about labels, "A much better way, if you intend to print mail labels, is to use Avery Label's Design Pro for Mac (there's only one version, and Avery has discontinued support for the Mac as an application that you download - they now prefer that you use their free online service). Design Pro has a feature to merge contact information from Contacts and sort them."
      Bobbie Pastor offers this info, "I make the club's name tags with Design Pro.  That will be over when I get ML.  I have to do my business cards with Design Pro on line as well.  It Sucks!  I don't like it at all.  Downloading the program to your computer is so much better.  

        "Maybe, if you make cards and do a lot of that creative stuff, look into buying a program that can do all that.  Here's one I found.  http://www.snowfoxsoft.com/greeting-card-maker-mac.html"
      What started the conversation was my comment about ML  (Mountain Lion) Contacts which used to be called Address Book.  Printing out a list of names for a Christmas card list the ML no longer alphabetizes the list, but does alphabetize the labels that you print out. 

Where in the World?

        "Here is an interesting website if you plan to go overseas. It gives you a video look at the city before you get there. Even if you don't plan to go, it's fun to look at the various cities, peoples and cultures."  This introduction is from Jim Hamm.  
        And it raised some questions. Where in the world have you and Zee already explored?  Jim wrote again, "We've been to 50 countries, and enjoyed them all. Going to Costa Rica in January, where we've not been."

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Learning More About Photography

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        Interested in photography?  John Carter to the rescue.  He's now posted to the PMUG website this informative and illustrated report, "iPhoto for iPad vs. PhotoForge2."  Go to http://www.pmug.us/reviews/  and benefit from his research.
        Note:  John Carter will be at the PMUG Genius Bar on November 17, when Art Gorski and Bobbie Pastor will be our other "experts" for this meeting.