The South Bay Mug
A Monthly Cupful For South Bay Apple Mac User Group Members, June 2006
It's very Mac-like except for the Open/Save dialogs
that are reminiscent of the PC.
A personal view from Bob
Word Alternatives
M
icrosoft Word is the undisputed standard for
word processing in business. It's usually bought
as part of Microsoft Office, which also includes Excel,
Powerpoint and Entourage, all very good programs.
Still, some who only need Word may balk at its high
price. Fortunately, there are many Word alternatives
that open and save in the Word format. I'm going to
give my initial impressions of three open-source programs, all available as free downloads.
In September 2002 I wrote a review of Microsoft Word
X, using Word, with the same layout as my other articles, two sections with both in-line and floating graphics, and an initial drop cap, like the “M” at the beginning of this article. Now I did the same thing, writing
my article in OpenOffice, NeoOffice and AbiWord.
OpenOffice 2.0 is the most advanced, receives the
most attention and has an excellent spreadsheet (Excel
alternative), but is the least comfortable to Mac Users
with no Linux or PC experience. It requires Apple's
X11, which must be installed with the System. Menus,
key commands and Open/Save dialogs are very PClike. It has a limited set of fonts, although it did import
fonts from converted Word documents. Drop Caps are
supported but I had trouble using them.
AbiWord has the most Mac-like interface but did the
poorest job converting my Word documents. Floating
graphics were missing and it didn't support drop caps.
Although it's a light version of Word, it's the easiest to
use and may be best for those with simple needs.
AppleWorks (OS 9 and X) was bundled free with consumer Macs. It opens many Word files, as well as those
in many other formats. Although it's a bit long in the
tooth, it's fast and has an amazing number of features.
It includes good spreadsheet, database, drawing and
painting modules. I still use it a lot.
A year ago Apple introduced Pages, a cocoa-based
word processing program (bundled with Keynote,
$79). I now use it for my articles. Pages is modern in
it's handling of text and graphics and does a good job
converting Word documents, but doesn't support drop
caps and some other advanced features.
TextEdit is a basic text editor/word processor that is
included with Mac OS X. It opens and saves simple
Word files but doesn't handle graphic and is otherwise
fairly limited.
Summary: Nothing beats Word, but NeoOffice is my
favorite open-source alternative. I'm sure if I spent
more time with it I'd become fluent in it's use.
The article you're now reading was written using
NeoOffice 1.2.1, another open-source (free) alternative
to Microsoft Word. It's part of a suite of Office-compatible programs that includes Spreadsheet, Presentation, and Drawing components. I found it easy to use
and it converted my Word documents most accurately.
Welcome to
South Bay Apple Macintosh User Group
You and your friends are invited to attend our next meeting.
Our membership dues are only $35 per year, entitling you
to this newsletter each month and many more benefits.
If you would like to become a member or get more info on
SBAMUG, feel free to check out our web site at:
www.sbamug.com
P. O. Box 432
Redondo Beach, CA
90277-0432
Meetings are held at the
Redondo Beach Community Center
320 Knob Hill, Redondo Beach
(see map & directions on page 11)
310-644-3315
Email: info@sbamug.com
Officers & Volunteers:
President..............................Glen Terry
Vice President.......................LJ Palmer
Secretary..............................Wayne Inman
Treasurer..............................John Bernardo
Directors at Large: Dave Nathanson, CW Mitchell,
Jim Pernal, Dorothy Weeks,
George Kiefer & Louise Polsky
Membership Director............CW Mitchell
WebMaster & User Group Ambassador...
Bob Brooks
Server Director....................Dave Nathanson
USPS Liaison......................Don Myers
PD Disk Editor......................Jim Pernal
Program Director..................George Kiefer
Newsletter Editor.................John Bernardo
Raffle Chairman...................George Griffiths
Refreshment Crew..............The Apple Blossoms
Membership Report:
(You may notice your name is in larger letters on your card.
That is so it can be used as a name tag at the meetings.
Your Membership Cards are in the mail!)
Current Membership - 177
Welcome New Members Jeanne Cosgrove & Ricardo Fong.
Thank You Member Renewals Robert Bolling, Edward Gaitley, Hyim Levy,
Tom Moulding, Al Sorensen & Joseph Donigan.
MONTHLY CALENDAR
1st Wed - SBAMUG Core Group Mtg @ announced locations, 7:30 pm
1st Thur - LB Mug @ Emerson School, Palo Verde & Willow, Long Beach, 7 pm
1st Sat - Orange Apple UG, Orange Coast College, Chem Bldg, Costa Mesa, 8am-1pm
3rd Sat - Adobe Tech Exchange Toyota Bldg on Grammercy near 190th, 9 am; $10
Last Wed - SBAMUG Monthly Meeting
Last Tues - WOCMUG @ Emerson School, Palo Verde & Willow, Long Beach, 7 pm
Last Sat - TRW / Northrop Ham Radio & Computer Swap Meet, 7 am - 11:30 am
The SOUTH BAY MUG (ISSN 1058-7810) is published monthly for $35.00 per year by South Bay Apple Mac User Group,
2550 Via Tejon, Suite 3J, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274. Periodicals Postage Paid at Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA and at additional
mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE SOUTH BAY MUG, P.O. Box 432, Redondo Beach, CA 90277-0432.
The South Bay MUG is published by the South Bay Apple Macintosh User Group (non-profit). Excerpts may be reprinted by user
groups and other non-profit media. Credit must be given to SBAMUG and the author. In addition, a copy of all reprinted materials must
be sent to us at the address listed above. The South Bay MUG is an independent publication not affiliated or otherwise associated with
or sponsored or sanctioned by Apple® Computer, Inc. The opinions, statements, positions and views stated herein are those of the
author(s) or publisher and are not intended to be the opinions, statements, positions or views of Apple® Computer, Inc.
Members are invited and encouraged to submit articles and original artwork for publication. Newsletter
deadline is the last Wednesday of the month. Articles may be edited to fit in available space.
Please send to: john@sbamug.com
SBAMUG June 2006 PD CD
programs, and finally the bonus, I’ve been
Seven
promising.
BatteryInfo_v1.5.zip
A widget (so 10.4 or better) for laptops with a larger
graphic for your remaining battery life.
Corail 1.0.3.dmg.sit
A logbook for scuba
divers. Logbook for
dives, inventory of
equipment, service
records etc. For OSX
10.4. Not a diver so I
can’t comment on this.
DegreesDownUnder2-2.dmg
This widget keeps track of weather in Australia. Might
be fun to keep track of the opposite seasons “down
under”.
Formulate-0.0.1.dmg
Some PDF’s can be made into fill in forms, but often all
you can do is print out the form and fill in by hand.
Thanks to Allison Sheridan’s Nozillacast podcast for the
tip on this one. Drag your PDF onto this program, and
type in your text numbers, bubble fill in, and check
boxes. You can fine tune the placement, and edit
mistakes afterwards. Has a readme that’s also a tutorial.
At the end you save out as a PDF that’s marked up and
ready to print or email in. The original PDF is not
modified. For OS X 10.3 or higher.
Metronome.app.zip
An adjustable metronome for music. For system 10.2.8
or better.
NoBadPass.app.zip
Good passwords are necessary for security. You know
about not using your spouses or children’s names, but
hacker’s can use a “dictionary” attack that uses known
words. The best passwords have a combination of letters,
numbers, and punctuation. This program will generate
random passwords of various lengths you specify. You
can specify the type of each letter in the password.
nView.dmg
Comma or Tab separated data is how you can exchange
database data. This program lets you look at and edit this
data without having to open a database or spreadsheet
program to look at it. Often Excel is specified as the
program to open such data, but if you don’t have that
program, use this. Requires OSX 10.3.9 or better.
Bonus Folder
Well finally here is the bonus folder for the June
Freeware meeting:
AbiWord 2.4.1.dmg AdiumX_0.89.dmg
AOL_Service_Assistant.dmg*cotvnc-20b4.dmg
CronniX_3.0.dmg
Cyberduck-2.5.2.dmg
EasyFind.dmg.zip
iPhoto Buddy 125.dmg.zip
iTunesStatistician.zip
JBidWatcher-0.9.9.app.tar.gz
MemoryStick1.4.zip
NetNewsWireLite2.0.1.dmg.gz
QS.3758.dmg
SMARTReporter.dmg
TextWrangler_2.1.2.dmg
URLwell.zip
Xkeys-111-ppc.sit
This is the full list, including some considered that didn’t
make the cut for the presentation due to time concerns.
CD for this month will be at the June meeting as the
May-June 2006 CD.
Catch you at the June meeting,
Jim Pernal - PD Editor
Tip of the Week: Printing From the
Desktop
(Without a Desktop Printer)
Don’t want a printer
icon cluttering up your
desktop, but you still
want to print files from
the desktop or a Finder
window (kind of
greedy, aren’t you)?
Then try this little trick:
Control-click on the file
you want to print to
bring up a contextual
menu. Now just choose
Print from the menu.
Once you choose it, it
will either start printing
or take you directly to
the default application’s
Print dialog:
http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/print.html
Review: Photoshop Elements 4
By Bob White ~ MacNexus
A
fter a four-month delay, Adobe finally released the
Macintosh version of Photoshop Elements 4.0. The
Windows version came out in early November; the Mac
version was released on February 26th. There are many
developmental upgrade features shared by the two
versions. The major difference appears to be that the
Windows version has an iPhoto-like Photo Organizer
while the Mac version sports Adobe Bridge. (More about
this later.)
Elements 4 (E4) is not a universal application. Adobe
previously announced that they would make their products
universal in the normal cycle of version updates.
Apparently, E4 just missed the bus! The minimum
requirements to run E4 are OSX 10.3, G3 processor, 256
MB RAM, 750 MB available hard disk space (yes, sevenfive-zero!), 1024x768 display and a CD-ROM drive.
Among others, new features include Bridge, an Adjust
Color for Skin Tones feature, automated Red Eye
Removal, a Magic Selection Brush tool, the Cookie Cutter
tool and the ability to work with RAW files. Two new
capabilities are a service to order prints on-line and to
share your photos on-line. One thing not improved is the
slow startup that seems to be the characteristic of nearly all
Adobe programs.
First, while installing the
update was uneventful and easy,
I found instances of abnormal
installation behavior. One is that
there is no warning at the start of
installation that installation will
require one to restart their Mac.
This could be inconvenient if
working on something else while
letting the install run in the
background. Also, while this was
an upgrade version, it did not automatically trash E3.
Bridge is a separate application. Its default Thumbnail
view is much like iPhoto’s main window. However, it will
display photos from anywhere on your hard drive. It does
not store photos in its own proprietary library as iPhoto
does. There is also a Filmstrip view and a Details view.
The former displays a folder of photos as a filmstrip across
the bottom while showing the currently selected photo in
full size; the latter is a vertical list view. As I might have
expected from Adobe, the thumbnails display in more
correct color than iPhoto.
E4 is supposed to recognize most digital cameras,
attached scanners and show these in two places -- the
File>>Import menu choice and the Welcome screen. Well,
E4 did recognize both of my cameras but only as
“Untitled” drives -- not as the camera. Either method
allows one the choice between four sources: Anti-aliased
PICT, PICT resource, an attached scanner or Frame from
Video. Via either of the first two choices, I was unable to
import photos. The manual glibly states to download your
photos to a destination folder if you are “unable to acquire
photos automatically.” That’s what I did and E4 gets an F
grade here.
Now, I expected that double-clicking on an image in the
Bridge window would open that image in E4. Surprise!
The usual suspects such as jpg, gif, etc… were opening in
Preview. After several minutes of hunting, I found the
solution buried two levels down in the Bridge Preferences.
Using a list of all the graphic formats, Bridge had created a
popup menu next to each file type listing all graphics
applications found on my Mac. This will be very useful
tool but it doesn’t deserve to be buried. After wrestling
with the E4 import feature, Bridge was a very pleasant
surprise. (Note: File names can be edited in Bridge; when
one does that, one is also renaming on the Finder level. So,
be careful when renaming.)
The Adjust Color for Skin Tone is really magical.
Choosing this command brings up an Edit screen. The
cursor becomes an eyedropper. One simply points the
eyedropper on a subject’s skin and clicks. Instantly, the
subject’s skin tone becomes correct and the entire photo
adjusts at the same time.
The Magic Extractor is even better. After opening a
photo into the edit mode, choose Image>>Magic Extractor.
Use the tools provided to indicate foreground (what is to
be kept) and background (what is to be gone) and click the
preview button. Using more of the tools, add back or erase
more, preview again, repeat if not yet satisfied and, finally,
click OK. I really like this tool.
The Cookie Cutter is quick to use and fun. Open a photo,
click on the heart shaped Cookie Cutter tool and choose
from several hundred shapes. Move, resize (skew or distort
if you want) and save. Make it even more interesting with
filter effects and text.
There are lots of
other features in this
powerhouse but only
so much room in this
newsletter. For $89
($69 upgrade
version; $10 less
either way if you
download it), you
can have fun with
this program. I think
Adobe is finally
getting to the point
where there is a
Photoshop for the
rest of us!
Product Review - iWork ‘06 –
3-D Charts, Advanced Image Editing
By Victoria Maciulski ~ CVMUG
i
Work™ ’06, is the newest version of Apple’s suite of
productivity software, containing Keynote 3 presentation
software and Pages for page Layout.
iWork ‘06 gives users the ability to create more
sophisticated documents and presentations. You can now
make three-dimensional charts, and do iPhoto®-like
advanced image editing and masking tools, and
spreadsheet-like tables that automatically calculate the
results, including the ability to add, multiply or average
numbers in rows or columns.
The new three-dimensional charts allow you to fully
control the viewing angle and they have wood grain, metal
and marble textures. You can insert tables with
spreadsheet-like calculations within any document or
presentation.
iWork ‘06 supports most of the industry standard file
formats including Microsoft PowerPoint and PDF.
Keynote 3 imports and exports PowerPoint files and
exports presentations to QuickTime®, Macromedia Flash,
HTML and iLife. Pages 2 imports and exports Microsoft
Word, RTF, HTML and plain text files. Both Keynote 3
and Pages 2 export to PDF and import associated
AppleWorks® files.
Pricing & Availability
iWork ’06 is available through the Apple Store®
(http://www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and
Authorized Resellers for $79. You need Mac OS X version
10.3.9 or 10.4.3 or later, a Macintosh® computer with a
500 MHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5 or Intel®
Core™ processor, 256MB of RAM (512 MB
recommended), 32 MB of video RAM, QuickTime 7.0.3
or later, and a DVD drive required for install. iLife ‘06 is
recommended.
Cool Web Sites
This edition also incorporates iPhoto-like image editing
tools to help edit photos directly within documents and
presentations. There are also freeform shapes and curves,
including Bézier curves and shapes for masking images in
a more professional manner. iWork ‘06 also adds the
ability to include reviewer’s comments to slides and
documents without affecting the layout.
By Victoria Maciulski ~ CVMUG
Digital Photography Challenge:
http://www.dpchallenge.com/
Internet Performance Speed Test:
Pages 2 features mail merge with Mac OS® X Address
Book, making it easy to create personalized form letters
with predefined fields within templates, then dragging and
dropping contacts into documents’ predefined fields. Pages
2 has plenty of new
templates for
newsletters, flyers,
posters, school
reports, scrapbooks,
brochures, business
proposals, invoices,
etc. New thumbnail
and search views
make it easy to work
with large documents
and quickly find any
word or phrase within
a document.
http://performance.toast.net/default.asp?allservers=1&chec
kid=
Keynote 3 allows you to create cinema-quality
presentations and interactive slideshows with new
cinematic transitions including vertical or horizontal
blinds, revolving door, swoosh and more. As you would
expect with a new version, there are more Apple-designed
themes, including four specifically designed to take
advantage of HD displays. Light Table view mode lets you
view an entire presentation and reorganize slides using
drag and drop.
http://www.peachpit.com/newsletters/index.asp
Secrets to Creating Compelling Photo Collages:
http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.asp?p=438833
Five Funky Finder Features in Mac OS X:
http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.asp?p=437094
How to Shoot DV Outdoors Without Movie Lights:
http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.asp?p=361411
Did you know you can subscribe to Peachpit Press’ free
tips on Photoshop, design and other topics? Just head on
over to:
Enter your e-mail address (they won’t share it with others)
and click on the check boxes next to the “newsletters” you
would like to receive.
Copyright 2006 Victoria Maciulski
Conejo Ventura Mac User Group (CVMUG), Ventura, CA
Re-printed by permission
iPod - An Overview
By Pixcel Smith ~ VMUG
i
Pods are pretty cool. Everyone wants one but not too
many take the time to explore all the things they can do.
The Shuffle is pretty straightforward. You put music on it
and then it plays it back either randomly or in the same
order as the play list. And it works nicely as a USB drive if
you set it up for that. The other iPods (the Mini, Nano,
Photo, Video...) all come with PDA like features. I'm
mostly going to be discussing the iPod Video because
that's what I have, but features will be similar.
Stopwatch –
Your standard stopwatch. Good for timing stuff and it has
a lap counter.
Screen Lock –
A basic combination lock for your iPod. Looks like those
dial locks from high school. Quaint and does the job of
keeping people away from the sensitive data you keep in
the Contacts and Calendars.
Clock is pretty straightforward. It shows you the time.
You can have multiple clocks, very handy if you are in
contact with people all over the world.
Using your iPod as a Hard Drive
This is the number one reason for writing off your iPod as
an expense. And for me the best way to back up my laptop.
If all you use your iPod for is backing up your data - it's
well worth it. To use your iPod as a hard drive you just
open the iTunes preferences, go to the iPod settings, Music
tab and and check the box that says "Enable disk use".
Then next time you plug your iPod in; it shows up on your
desktop as another drive.
Games –
The four games currently included are Brick, Parachute,
Solitaire and Music Quiz. Brick is the the classic Atari
game Breakout - take out the bricks at the top of the screen
by bouncing a ball off the paddle at the bottom; fun and
addictive. Parachute, is shoot the paratroopers jumping out
of the helicopters before they destroy your tank. Solitaire,
your basic solitaire game. Finally Music Quiz, identify the
song being played from the choices on the screen. You
earn more points for the choosing the correct song before
they remove all the incorrect answers. Note: Not so good if
you have language lessons or Harry Potter since they have
tons of short files and tend to come up way too often.
Syncing
If you are just moving music and use iCal and Address
book then syncing with iTunes is just fine. You just go in
to the Preferences - > iPod ->Contacts or Calendars and
turn on the syncing as you see fit and all is copied over. If
you happen to use Entourage however you are not out of
luck. ZappTek’s iPodIt will move your address and
calendar data for you. (14.95 USD at zapptek.com). If you
aren’t using Tiger there is Apple’s iSync. If you want to
access your photos from the hard drive area as well as the
Photo menu you need to check the “Include full resolution
photos” box. This will take up more space on your iPod
but it also backs up your precious digital photos.
Contacts –
A true lifesaver if you don't carry an address book and can
never remember the phone number you want. Contacts
syncs with the Apple Address Book. One down side is that
it does not pay attention the groups you have made. It just
shows a very long list of either the whole address book or
the groups you have selected. Still very handy and it copies
the information you stored in the Notes section as well.
iPod in the Car and House
There are all sorts of gadgets you can get for your iPod.
Car chargers, transmitters, receivers, holders, remotes,
docking stations, speakers and the list goes on and on. The
iTrip is nice if you want to listen to your iPod in the car
and on the radio in elsewhere. If it's just for the car then go
with something that charges and transmits. For in the
house there are all sorts of options. Apple's new iPod HiFi
is very nice, if slightly on the expensive side and uses the
standard Apple remote. But there are lots of options, I
recommend some sort of dock that charges with a remote.
There are a few good ones out there. That way you can
plug in any set of speakers you already have kicking
around the house.
In the Extras menu there is Clock, Games, Contacts,
Calendars, Notes, Stopwatch and Screen Lock.
Calendars –
Syncs with iCal. In this case you get all your categories
and can view all or just the one you select. You only get
Monthly the view. If you have an event on a given day it
will put a little red flag in the box for that day. Click on the
day and it will take you to a list of items for the day. Click
again and it shows you all the information you entered for
the event.
Notes –
Notes are great. You just drop text files in to the Notes
folder on your iPod and presto they show up in the list of
Notes. Excellent for to-do lists, grocery shopping lists,
books and articles you want to read. The screen is a bit
small to be reading long books on but it works well for
small notes.
iPod with your Camera
The Apple Camera Connector. Very handy if you travel
and don't want to drag your iBook or eMac along. Before
you leave home make sure your camera works with the
connector and you can upload your pictures on to the iPod
comfortably. This is a great way to make those little flash
cards last longer. Don't forget to take a wall adapter or
dock with you so you can charge you iPod.
(Continued on following page)
iPod Fashion and Protection
Getting a case to protect your iPod is always a good idea.
Resist ripping the protective sheet that it comes with off
until you've got a case. Cases are a personal choice. Figure
out what you are going to be doing with it. Do you tend to
throw it in your pocket? Avoid the rubbery cases as they
pick up pocket lint. Are you taking it to the gym or jogging
with it? You probably want an armband or a really good
clip of some sort. Don't like the look of cases? iShield is
your friend. It goes on with soapy water bit and is truly
amazing. Have absolutely no idea how you are going to
use it? Marware makes a nice multi-purpose case for about
$40 that has a cover, arm band, wrist strap and belt clip
and comes in multiple colours. inCase also makes a good
combo at about the same price range. There are lots of
options.
Tips and Tricks
By Phyllis Evans ~ MacGroup Detroit
A
s some of you know, Apple replaced my G5 iMac
with a new Intel iMac three months ago, after several
major repairs. The thought of going from a first generation
G5 to a first generation Core Duo made me nervous
considering the problems with the G5, but so far the new
iMac has performed better than expected.
The vast majority of legacy software runs as well as it
did on the G5. The only exception was Thoth, a newsgroup
reader. While it ran well, it grabbed all available memory
and never released it. Without a restart after using it, the
dreaded spinning pizza accompanied my every move.
Bummer. I really liked Thoth.
iPod Headsets
The headset that the iPods come with are not bad, if you
aren't fussy. The Griffin EarJams make them sound much
better and fit in your ear more comfortably as well. It's a
standard 3.5mm headphone jack so pick your favorite
headphones and plug them in.
All in all, the new iMac is a terrific machine. The
monitor is crisp and clean. It’s silent. Before installing the
latest system updates, I checked and found that it had been
ten days since I last restarted it. I can’t remember going
that long with other systems. And all software was running
at normal speed.
iPod Maintenance
Basic maintenance will keep your battery and iPod
running. iPods can be used between 0 and 35 degrees
Celsius. That doesn't mean they like it. Try to keep them
around room temperature. Power cycling the battery once a
month is also a good idea. Lithium batteries like to be used
so don't ignore your iPod for too long either. To save
battery power turn off the backlight and the equalizers.
Also flipping songs eats through battery too. You can
replace your own battery now (although I haven't seen any
5th generation ones in town). It's not too bad once you get
the case open. Make sure your battery kit comes with
tools.
I’ve encountered only two annoyances with this
computer. Firewire – I have to shut down my external
drives in order to import from my video camera. If I don’t,
I get momentary video dropouts. I had read that there was
a problem using both FW ports simultaneously, but this
was the first I experienced it. One solution mentioned was
to daisy-chain the FW devices.
iPod Support Resources
The following are some useful websites to help you
explore and play with your iPod:
www.apple.com/support/ipod/ - Apple's iPod support site
www.iLounge.com - excellent, well-rounded resource
www.iPodHacks.com - Good for hacking around on your
iPod
www.appleFritter.com/kiwi - Kiwi is a subsite of
AppleFritter for support - good forums
What you do with your iPod is up to you. The options
are vast. Use it just for music. Use it as a PDA. Run Linux
on it. Show off your photo library. Backup your data.
Watch videos. However you use it, enjoy your iPod.
©2006 Pixcel Smith - Victoria Macintosh Users Group
The other problem is Bluetooth related. I cannot sync my
Palm Tungsten E via Bluetooth, something that was a
breeze on the G5. I get an error message that says the port
is in use by another device. Haven’t figured this one out
yet, but it’s not a big deal. I’ve read reports of instability
with Bluetooth keyboards and mice, but mine have worked
perfectly.
Know Your Spaghetti
While computers were supposed to simplify life, the more
add-ons we get, the more clutter we have. Cables and
power adapters seem to multiply. One of the biggest
headaches is trying to match cables and power adapters to
the right hardware. The trick to keeping them straight is to
label them as soon as possible. The easiest thing I have
found is to simply grab a peel-off mailing or file label,
write down the name of the item, then fold it double
around the cord, next to the plug. If the cord is separated
from the scanner, printer, camera, whatever, you’ll know
at a glance where it belongs.
If you need to move your computer to a new location but
dread the thought of trying to remember what plugs in
where, grab your labels again. Add a number tag to each
cable before disconnecting it, with numbers corresponding
to cable order, A-B-C or 1- -. It’s a simple thing to do, but
it’s a real time saver.
Hooked Like A Phish
By Jack Beckman ~ MacGroup Detroit
A
t the March meeting Terry White talked about nearly
falling for a phishing scam. “Phishing” is a social
engineering ploy where fake e-mails are sent trying to trick
people into revealing usernames, passwords PINS, credit
card numbers, etc. This particular scam involved a fake
message that looked like it came from an angry eBay
buyer. As you may know, eBay has a system to keep your
e-mail address secret – buyers and sellers send messages
via eBay’s system, and eBay send them out as e-mails.
I’ve had an eBay account for quite a few years – since
1997, in fact. However, over the past few years, I was
having more and more trouble with some of the slime balls
there, so I haven’t really used it much lately. Therefore, I
was surprised to find an angry message in my inbox asking
when I was going to send out something won at an auction.
I figured something bad was up – like someone had
gotten hold of my password – so I foolishly clicked on link
in the mail to sign on to eBay. I didn’t bother to look at the
URL it sent me too until after I had entered my username
and password and hit “send”! It took me to a page that was
defiantly not part of eBay. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Never,
never, never click on the link in the e-mail! Always enter it
yourself.
As soon as I saw what I had done, I went to the real
eBay. I decided to just close my account, as I hadn’t used
it in some time and wasn’t planning to anymore anyway.
That’s where the real fun began.
After spending several minutes going in circles through
the so-called “help” at eBay’s site, I finally got a link for
closing my account. However, it was dead. Oh, great –
every second counts while I’m trying to close this account,
and I’m going nowhere fast. I spend several more minutes
looking for a real link. It turns out that eBay decided to
change how you close your account – you now have to beg
Customer (Dis)Sevice to do it. So I finally find the proper
page to enter my request and send it off, telling them I
suspect my account has been compromised.
I then head back to my account. I changed the name and
address info to phony data, which wasn’t as easy as it
sounds – they validate the zip code! So I did a quick search
for something in Kansas and got a valid zip code and city
name to enter.
Then I hit on the bright idea of changing the username –
that would help foil the thieves! So I made up some weird
random name. Unfortunately, the old name still worked
when I tried logging in, so that was a waste of time. I later
found in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that the
old name works for 30 days after a change.
It took until the next day to hear back from “Customer
Service”, who said I needed to FAX them some proof of
who I was (fair enough). They wanted to see a driver’s
license or other form of governmental ID to close the
account. Of course, this would have been a much more
reasonable request a few minutes after my request, not a
full day later. However, I fell for the phishing scam on a
Sunday, and apparently they don’t have “Customer
Service” then (or ever as far as I’m concerned, but on
Sunday no one is “on duty”). However, the email said the
info on the FAX needed to match the info on my account.
Well, as you recall, I changed all that to prevent the
phisher from getting my info, and I sure as heck wasn’t
about to change it back and wait for eBay to “validate” me.
I sent them an email saying that this was impossible –
that I had changed the data for security reasons, and would
not change it back. I then pointed out that, as it had been
over a day, that the scam artist could have already gotten
on and changed any of that info to prevent me from closing
the account. So how could they ever be sure they could
validate it against my driver’s license?
I heard back from eBay that they couldn’t close my
account without the info, so I figured I’d just have to take
my chances. I hoped that by changing the info within a few
minutes, I was safe. I also closed my PayPal account right
afterward the request to
eBay – I hadn’t used that
in a long time either, and
it was linked to the eBay
account (but not to my
checking account, thank
goodness!). So I figured I
was safe.
A few days later, I got another e-mail from eBay, asking
again for the FAX – but from a different “Customer
Service” rep. So I tried to explain yet again why I couldn’t
do that. A week later, I got an e-mail from a supervisor (or
at least I think so, based on the signature title). This one
said my account was suspended at my request, and would
be closed forever in another week. So it took them over a
week to “suspend” the account. How much damage could
have been done in that time, I wonder?
A month later, I got another request worded the same as
the original response for eBay, asking me to FAX my info
in, from yet another “Customer Service” rep. A month
later, after they had already supposedly closed the account!
It’s been a couple of months since I first screwed up and
clicked on the e-mail, and I haven’t had any problems, so
I’m guessing I’m OK. But I felt like a complete idiot for
falling for it in the first place. Normally, I’m pretty good
about marking any of that kind of stuff as “junk”, but for
some braindead reason, this scam hooked me. Don’t let
your guard down! And if you have an eBay or PayPal
account you don’t use anymore, close it now, while it’s not
an emergency. PayPal at least was easy to shutdown, but
eBay was a complete nightmare.
Hardware Review:
Pulsar Ellipse 500 USBS UPS
By Stan Horwitz ~ MLMUG
T
hose of you who don’t know what an uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) is or you are thinking of buying a
UPS for your computer, this review is for you!
For those of you who don’t know, a UPS is a batteryoperated device that plugs into a wall outlet, provides
backup power, and guards your computer gear from
damage in the event of a power glitch. A UPS offers
greater protection from power problems than a surge
suppressor. The typical UPS uses a heavy lead acid
battery, and the Pulsar ellipse 500 is no exception. This
UPS weighs about ten pounds and provides about 1500
VA worth of power.
A typical UPS is not strong enough to protect your stuff
from a lightning strike, but it can protect your computer
against common problems such as a power drop when your
air conditioner starts. Most importantly, a UPS can help
you avoid the pain of losing your important data.
The primary job of a UPS is to provide enough power
during a power failure to give you time to shut down the
computer safely; it will also provide more robust
protection from a power surge than a typical surge
suppressor. The battery charges from the wall outlet. The
Pulsar ellipse 500 can shut down your computer on its own
in the event a power failure occurs while you are not
available to shut it down yourself.
I bought this UPS because the power where I work is
unreliable. In fact, I ordered two Pulsar ellipse UPS units:
one for a Windows XP computer that I reluctantly use and
another for my Mac G5. This review is about the UPS I set
up on my Mac. I chose this UPS from a Google search.
The Pulsar ellipse 500 seemed to meet my needs, at a
reasonable price, from an online vendor with whom I have
had good experience in the past.
Setting it up was easy. The box contained the UPS, a
quick start guide, a manual, and some cables. First, I
charged it overnight. The next morning, I downloaded the
UPS software from the manufacturer’s web site and
installed it. The software installation was easy, but it
required two restarts of my Mac. After the first restart, I
was greeted with a security alert that warned me that an
item had been installed in my Mac’s system library and it
asked me to give it full permissions, which I did. I then
had to reboot the Mac again in order for the software to
start up. This double restarting is not a big deal, but is
worth mentioning.
The UPS software can detect a power interruption
between the wall outlet and the UPS. This UPS is
connected to my Mac via a USB cable which was in the
box. If the USB cable is disconnected, a warning box pops
up. The USB cable must be plugged directly into one of
the Mac’s USB ports or a powered USB hub. Plugging the
USB cable into a non-powered hub will elicit errors.
Setting up the UPS software was a snap! The user
interface consists of one preference pane with one slider to
set how low the batteries can drain before the software
shuts down the computer. The Windows version offers
greater functionality, but what’s available on the Mac is
fine by me. If you never touch the preference pane, it will
use the default setting which is to shut down the Mac when
the battery reaches 20% of its capacity.
The length of time a
UPS can provide power
during a power failure
depends on how much
power is being drawn
from it. I only have a
Mac plugged into my
UPS. My Mac has a 23”
Cinema Display plugged
into its DVI port. With
this configuration, the
battery capacity is about
20 minutes. This UPS
software can shut down
one computer on its own
and it has power sockets
to supply power to three
pieces of equipment.
Another three sockets offer enhanced surge suppression
only. I pulled this UPS’s power cord out of the wall socket
to see what would happen.
As I expected, after several minutes, the UPS software
shut down my Mac cleanly and without any intervention
on my part. My Mac started up again just fine.
Why should you use a UPS? If you run your computers
all the time, you should use a UPS because the odds of
experiencing a power problem increase the longer you
leave your computer on. Keep in mind that one of those
cheap power suppression strips gives you considerably less
protection than a UPS, but you get what you pay for.
Company: MGE UPS Systems
URL: www.mgeups.com.
Price: $88 at eCost.com
System requirements: An iMac or PowerPC Mac G3 or
later with a USB port and any version of Mac OS 9 or X.
This UPS also works with Windows 2000/2003/XP
machines that have a USB or RS232 serial port.
Test System: 1.86GHz dual processor PowerPC Mac
G5 with Mac OX 10.4.4 and 3GB RAM.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Apples
Creative Computer Crafts
Reviewed by Carol Bruml ~ NCMUG
W
hen I asked Marsee Henon, the User Group
Representative at O’Reilly, for a review copy of
Creative Computer Crafts, she wrote back that the book
was aimed primarily at PC users, but that she would send it
anyway. When it arrived, I skimmed through it
immediately, and found that I disagreed with Marsee.
Some of the software that is mentioned is indeed only
available for the “rest of the world,” but some is available
for Mac users, and those with Intel Macs can now “have it
all.”
The subtitle of Creative Computer Crafts is “50 Fun and
Useful Projects You Can Make with Any Inkjet Printer.”
There are indeed a number of well-explained projects with
templates for them, where needed, that will guide you in
the creation of gift boxes and bags, candy bar wrappers,
vellum invitations, “stained glass” sun catchers, party
favors, CD sleeves, greeting cards, party favor baskets,
clamps (so you can tightly hold papers together in order to
create your own notepads), and much more.
papers, shrink films, etc. I felt creative, just reading down
her list.
The final section of the book goes into marketing your
crafts, including marketing at craft fairs and on the
Internet, pricing, getting legal advice, copyrighting, and so
on. I did not read that in detail, but it would be useful
information for anyone who is interested in marketing their
work.
I highly recommend Creative Computer Crafts as a
resource book to anyone who is interested in venturing into
this sort of creative use of their computer, whether PC- or
Mac-user. Just the resource information, alone, is well
worth the price.
Creative Computer Crafts
By Marcelle Costanza
ISBN: 1-59327-068-2
No Starch Press, March 2006, 160 pp.
Retail Price: $24.95
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/1593270682/index.html
Hide Unwanted System Updates
However, where Creative Computer Crafts really stands
out is as a reference resource. Marcelle Costanza gives
clear, concise explanations of printers (inkjet, bubblejet
and laser), of the feed-paths through them (HP printers
feed the paper in a full “U” that some specialty media
cannot handle), of inks (including edible inks, and the
issue of permanence vs. watersolubility). She covers print
margins and types of papers, scanners (including features
to look for when you are choosing one), imaging software,
crafting tools, specialty papers (and how to determine
which side of a specialty paper is coated for inkjet
printing), full bleed (to the edge) printing on envelopes and
some other projects. And, most wonderful of all, she
includes a great appendix of resources for computer
crafting items I had not even known existed, such as
vellum for inkjet printing, scratch-off labels (in case you
want to set up
random discounts
or prize-drawings),
printable frosting
sheets (for cakes for use with edible
inks, and with the
comment that you
should dedicate a
printer solely for
this purpose, if you
try it, for other inks
will contaminate
the print heads),
inkjet printable
wood veneer,
window clings,
glow-in-the-dark
papers, velour
Apple’s Software Update application does a pretty good
job of showing you only the updates that are appropriate
for your Mac, but sometimes it shows updates that you
don’t really want. For example, if you don’t have an iSight
camera, or an iPod, there’s no need to see updates for those
devices. Here’s how to hide the updates you don’t want to
see:
• Choose Apple
menu —> Software
Update.
• Select the updates
you want to hide
from the update list.
• Select Update —>
Ignore Update, and
then click OK.
Hide the Mac OS X
updates you don’t want to see. If your fortunes should
change, and you finally get an iPod, you’ll want to see the
related updates again.
Here’s how:
• Choose Apple Menu —> Software Update.
• Select Software Update —> Reset Ignored Updates.
Your hidden updates will show up again, ready to
download. This tip works only if there are Mac OS X or
Apple application updates ready to download. If there
aren’t, Software Update will quit without letting you hide
or reveal anything.
THIS MONTH’S MEETING
Wednesday June 28th, 2006 7:30PM
320 Knob Hill, Redondo Beach
(see map at left for directions)
This Month’s Topic:
SBAMUG President Glen Terry and Vice
President LJ Palmer will discuss and demo
their favorite Freeware programs. No need to
spend a small fortune on software, they will
show us their top picks! Make sure you bring
something to write with as you will want to
take plenty of notes.
And Of Course:
Come early (6:30) for Beginners Q & A Sessions!
We now have two. One in the kitchen area hosted
by LJ Palmer and the other in the main hall
hosted by Bob Brooks & Jim Pernal.
July Meeting Details:
Glen & LJ will be back to discuss Shareware programs.
GREAT RAFFLE PRIZES TOO, TICKETS ONLY $1 EACH!
Note from the Editor
Do you have an artistic flair or good at
crunching numbers? The club is currently
looking for a newsletter editor and
treasurer. If you are interested, contact
me at: john@sbamug.com
Any comments or ideas for future
meetings? Write it down and drop it in
our Suggestion Box at our monthly
meetings!
We welcome
your input!
Don’t forget we have
internet access at our
meetings. Bring your wifi
capable laptop with you when
you show up for our next
meeting!
SBAMUG Membership Application
South Bay Apple Macintosh User Group provides Mac owners and users with a local source
of shared knowledge and experience through monthly meetings, training seminars
and our monthly newsletter.
Individual and family membership is $35 per year payable to SBAMUG.
New Member
Member Renewal
Name: ___________________________________________________________
Address:
________________________________________________________
City: ___________________________ State: _________ Zip: ____________
Home Phone: _____________________ Email Address: ______________________
Special Computer Interest: ____________________________________________
Model of Macintosh You Use Most: _______________________________________
How did you hear about SBAMUG?: _______________________________________
Comments: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Signature: ___________________________
Date: _______________________
Bring Application & Fees to Meetings or Mail to:
SBAMUG
P.O. Box 432
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
PERIODICALS
South Bay Apple Mac User Group
P. O. Box 432
Redondo Beach,
CA 90277-0432