More About Price Fixing

        "If you were a bit fuzzy about Apple's role in the recent Ebook price fixing suit, and the decision in the U.S. District Court against Apple -- as I was -- here is an article that helps to clarify the situation," writes Jim Hamm.  He goes on, " Also, within the article is another link to an article by CNNMoney that gives an update on the story, which you may want to read also.

        "Of course, Apple appealed the decision. Will be interesting to learn what the appeals court has to say about this, and what logic Apple uses to state that Judge Cote's decision was fallacious."
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OLPC Coming to Walmart

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         David Passell passes along comments with this info,  "Since i have two of the first of the little beasts circa 2008, I thought someone might like to see this."  He's referring to the One Laptop Per Child project.  He goes on to say, "Another small competitor to the iPad? They run Linux. I never used them much cause i'm not a little kid with tiny fingers:).
        "A deal with Walmart gives OLPC a shot at bring educational technology to the poor in the U.S. and potentially more scale for emerging markets."   Read more here:  http://www.zdnet.com/one-laptop-per-child-launches-xo-tablet-via-walmart-7000018175/ 

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Printed Magazines Going Digital

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        We can picture Jim Hamm with this conversation,  "Today I received the August issue of PC World. With magazine in one hand and my libation of the day in the other, I settled comfortably in my easy chair to read the latest tips and tricks on PCs that  I should be using. Then, I noticed on the cover, 'This is Your Last Issue.' What?  My subscription isn't nearly over yet.

        "A Sign of the Times. I read further: printed magazines of PC World are being dropped and going digital. For my 'enhanced enjoyment.' blah, blah. The September issue will be digital only.
         "Well, I recognize that digital is certainly more user-interactive — I can click links, watch videos, etc. — but there's something viscerally calming about sitting in my easy chair, and slowly turning the pages of a magazine.  That's why I still read book books instead of digital books — I like the feel of paper in my hand.
        "That said, the first shoe has dropped. I subscribe to other computer magazines. I'm now waiting for the other shoe to drop."  And here we picture Jim's knowledgeable grin.  
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Finder Tip

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        John Carter shares a tip to save time and frustration:  "When copying files off of a camera and onto the computer, it's not likely that you'll remember to first create a new folder to put them into. Or maybe you're just trying to reorganize the files in your computer. Did you know that you can create a new folder containing selected files?

        "So here's another scenario. I was collecting a series of screenshots of an involved process to save for a presentation. All of the screenshots are saved in the Pictures folder. After saving the screenshots, I wanted to put them all in a new folder. Now I could have created the folder and then moved the files into the new folder. But a simpler approach was to first select all the files, then in the Menu Bar click on File->New Folder with Selection. Or, right click on the selection and click on New Folder with Selection. What's interesting is that you will also see in parentheses the number of files that are selected. 
When you select that, a new folder in the current folder is created like this:  
It's your job to rename the folder."

How Strong is Your Password?

        "Did you ever wonder how long it might take a program to crack your passwords?"  Jim Hamm gets our attention.  "Intel has a site wherein one can enter a password and it will tell you how long it would take. I checked two theoretical passwords I just made up, and here are the results:

                                    jc*12#.....7.25 seconds
                     135791113151.... .007 seconds
        "You'll note using upper and lower case symbols, letters and numbers took longer than a string of just numbers that is twice as long. But both were cracked mighty quickly.
        "Don't use your real passwords, but you might check some passwords similar in style to your real ones to see how long a program might take to crack them.
        "As a last test I contrived a password that looked mighty tough to me. Here's how long it took to crack it:
                        *q#$T23%$jim ....132 years! 
        And here's Jim's assessment,  "Now, that last password would discourage all but the most dedicated cracker...(grin)."
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iPhone, iPad and Facetime Calls

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        Jim Hamm asks for information and insight.  He says, "A friend has posed the question whether using Facetime on an iPhone use cellular minutes or data from one's data plan if connected to wifi? From reading the comments on the Verizon Wireless Forum, some say yes and some say no. Apparently calls to Verizon get different answers. 

        Here is yet another set of conflicting comments on a mobile forum.
        "I did a bit more research on my iPhone 5 and in settings I turned off  'Data Cellular' wherein no data can be transmitted over the cellular network. I'm connected to wifi and initiated a phone call on Facetime and it went through fine, but I know it's not using any data from my data plan. However, It may still be using minutes from my cellular minutes plan even though I'm connected to wifi -- but I'm not sure of that. 
        "This  question is important for my friend in that she has a certain amount of minutes and cellular data and doesn't want to burn through that unwittingly. 
        "If an iPad is connected to wifi one can make a Facetime call and for sure no minutes or data cellular are used. But an iPhone is different in that a cellular plan normally is initiated in order to use the phone. Some carriers now permit a Facetime call over a cellular network (no wifi) and in that case for sure the call is using minutes and may be using the data plan as well since video is involved."
        Jim asks for input,  "If anyone has further insight into whether an iPhone connected to wifi uses cellular minutes when making a Facetime call, let me know if you would. Thanks."

Solving Screen Saver Problems

        John Carter sends some screen saving ideas. "The following question came to me recently:   'My screensaver is set for one hour - however every time I watch [for example] Star Trek, the screen goes black in about 10 minutes and I have to reenter my password.  Pretty tight security :-O   How can I change this???'

       So, follow along for John's explanation and solution:  

        "There are TWO main settings in System Preferences to be concerned about. One is Screen Saver and the other is Energy Saver.

In Energy Saver, there are TWO settings. One is Computer Sleep and the other is Display Sleep.
In Energy Saver, you have TWO ways to set Computer Sleep and Display Sleep. One is when the computer is on Battery and the other is when the computer is plugged in (Power Adapter).
Check ALL these settings.
One application that I love is Caffeine 
(get it in the App Store). It allows me to click that little icon in the Menu Bar to prevent the computer from going to sleep no matter what.  It's great for watching movies, and I don't have to constantly go into System Preferences to change the sleep and power settings.
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Windows Registry vs OS X Property Files

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        "Although this article may be a little 'nerdy' for some," begins Jim Hamm,  "I found it quite interesting in explaining the difference between the Registry in Windows and .plist files in OS X.  

        "The author uses an analogy of thinking of the Registry as a skyscraper, with each program built on top of another. If one program, or 'floor', if you will, should fail it may bring the entire skyscraper down. Plist files (lists of programs) in OS X, on the other hand, are built kinda side by side. If one fails, it's not likely to affect the other programs.
        "Interesting analogy the author used, I thought, and helped me understand the differences between the two methods," Jim comments. 
        Here John Carter adds his thoughts to the situation, "Apple maintains .plist files in two places. One is in ~/Library/Preferences and the other is in /Library/Preferences. Notice that the '~' represents your home folder (/Users/). 
        Now, John goes into details.  "Apple's .plist structure does two things. It determines how an application will run on your computer and one of them will contain registration information, if needed. You can delete ALL the .plist files on your computer and the core system will still work. What you have mostly done is to remove the system and user preferences for how things work - and also the registration information for apps that you purchased, which means you would have to re-register those apps. 
        "Using AppCleaner will successfully remove all .plist files for a given app from the computer and thereby allowing you to re-install the app from scratch if that's what you need to do to make a failing app work again."
        And here John concludes his explanation, "One trick that IT professionals use to isolate the cause of a failing app is to rename ~/Library/Preferences or move it to another location. That folder and its content will get recreated when any of the apps storing a .plist file are run again. If the problem goes away, it's just a matter of singling out which .plist file in the original folder caused the problem.
        "The other trick is to create a new user, login as that new user, and run the app. If the problem persists, then it might be a system related problem which might be found in /Library/Preferences, but it's best to reinstall the app from scratch before messing around with system files." 
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Backing Up With Time Machine

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         John Carter sends this info, "I recently experienced that Time Machine on my computer would not delete an older backup to make room for a newer backup, and consequently the backups continued to fail with a message that there wasn't enough room for the new backup. I talked at length with Apple Support about this and we came up with no solution. I simply purchased a much larger backup drive and started over again. It may take months now before the new drive gets full.

        "What I suspect was the problem was that my computer needs a backup drive that is more than twice as large as the total space USED in my computer. Since I'm using a little over 1TB that I want to back up, my new 3TB backup drive should now be more than adequate to handle two complete backups plus any additional incremental backups."
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New Desktop Wallpaper, FREE

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        "Here are some interesting images that might make a nice desktop wallpaper for you," is how Jim Hamm begins his latest email.  "I think I might go for the Andromeda image. On the other hand, hmmm?"  http://osxdaily.com/2013/06/28/9-high-res-space-wallpapers/
        They're gorgeous, they're free.  But how do you put them on your computer?
        Jim to the rescue.  "Just right-click the image and 'save image as' or copy image and paste wherever you want.  You save each image separately and then select the one you want for your desktop wallpaper. You also can have the wallpaper change ever so often, if you want, in System Preferences."  

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Is Your Router Vulnerable?

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        With his thoughtful suggestion Jim Hamm forwards an interesting site.  He starts off, "Here is a description and test to see whether your router may be vulnerable to a UPnP discovery request. I ran the test, and our router is not vulnerable.

        Jim then comments, "In the real world, I don't know how serious this threat may or may not be. I don't recall reading anything about it, and don't really know anything about this vulnerability. So, proceed accordingly."
        Hmmm.  Let's look at this company and their blog to learn more.  Here's a photo of them,  http://www.rapid7.com/company/  and you'll learn more when you scan their Security Street blog: https://community.rapid7.com/community/infosec/blog 
       And this is the latest addition from Jim, "Here is more information on the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) vulnerability issue. Although this article came out a while back, I guess reading it now is better late than never." 
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Tagging Photos and Files

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        Prez Art Gorski read what John said about tagging photos and files in his email just now.  Here's Art's comment, "This reminded me of Gmail, where, unlike normal IMAP email, you use tags instead of folders. Methinks this, like documents in iCloud, is another nail in the coffin of a file system with folders. Apple has apparently decided that most folks can't deal with a directory structure. Want more proof? Spotlight searching for documents and All My Files in the Finder."

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Changes Coming in Mavericks

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         Starting with a short note about the coming Mavericks John Carter simply pointed out, "Not an overhaul, says one reviewer, but just a tune-up.  Read the full article here."

        Then John emailed again and added more, "My comments below are not as a result of my being able to play with OS X Mavericks. I'm paraphrasing what other reviewers are saying.
        "Probably the most significant change in OS X Mavericks, in my opinion, is what they've done with Finder. They added tabs and tags. These will be the greatest tools that any user could use. Tagging files like you do with photos in iPhoto will be a boon in finding a needle in a haystack. But then, you first have to go through all your files and tag them - just like with iPhoto.
        "The second most important feature to me is iCloud Keychain. Storing all your login and private information in one place that can be instantly available on all Apple devices is like having 1Password, but without all the fancy features. However, this will mean that you should assign a separate Keychain master password, and it also means that you can have no login password on your desktop computer, a strong login password on your laptop and other mobile device, and still have all your password info secure behind a separate, strong password.
        "What I'm waiting to hear about are the changes to iTunes and iPhoto. Some of the changes that went into iTunes 10 made a few people really mad - because one very useful feature was removed (to be able to create a mix on the fly without having to create a new playlist). I like the new iPhoto, but the features in Aperture are so compelling that I hardly ever use iPhoto anymore. What iPhoto needs is a built-in library manager like what is available in Aperture."
        John has more to say!  "I'm hoping they don't mess around with Pages and Keynote much (the way Windows did with Word and PowerPoint by restructuring the toolbar), but it would be nice if Apple offers a much larger selection of templates - for free.
        "The new Maps isn't terrific, and its location sensing is not as accurate as Maps in iOS (which would be useful for a laptop, but not necessarily so for a desktop), but it does have some new feature that makes it fun to play with - still not as much fun as using Google Earth.
        "There's a lot of noise by uninformed people about why Apple derailed the cat names for OS X versions when they adopted Mavericks."  John concludes his email with a picture of a Saber Tooth Tiger and the final touch of humor, "All I can think of for a title is 'Windows, you're my next lunch!'"