Macintosh Business Users of Philadelphia

Mac OS X Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:32:00 +0000

10 Security and Privacy Tips
26 Nov 2009

1. Disable "Open safe files after downloading"
If you do one thing this article suggests, this should be it. Unticking just one checkbox will protect you from most of the few dangerous Mac exploits around on the internet.

In Safari, choose Preferences from the Safari menu and then click on the General tab. Near the bottom, un-check the checkbox that says "Open safe files after downloading". There. Done.

2. Disable automatic login
Even if you only have one user on your Mac, requiring a username and password when starting up is great for security, especially if you have a laptop that can more be easily lost or stolen. You can do this from the Security section of System Preferences, by checking the checkbox "Disable automatic login".

While this isn't going to stop someone intent on stealing your personal data, regular thieves are more likely to just wipe the hard drive rather than going through all your personal stuff first.

3. Lock screen when away
There are a couple of ways to make your Mac require a password when you leave it. The easiest way is to set "Require password after sleep or screen saver begins" in the Security section of System Preferences. Here, you can also set a time limit so a password isn't required right away, but only after 15 minutes for example.

If you would prefer a keyboard shortcut to lock the screen, you can create this yourself. Open up Automator (in the Applications folder) and choose a Service template. From the library choose "Run Shell Script" and drag it across to the workflow area. In the text box paste the following command:

'/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/User.menu/Contents/Resources/CGSession' -suspend

Finally, change the "text" drop-down menu above the workflow to "no input" and then save you workflow as "Lock Screen". To add the keyboard shortcut, go to the Keyboard section of System Preferences and click the Keyboard shortcuts tab. Select Services from the list on the left, then scroll down to the bottom of the list on the right to find "Lock Screen". Double-click on the area to the right "Lock Screen", then press the keyboard shortcut you want. I used Command-Control-L.

4. Use 1Password to create and store internet passwords
One of the problems with having lots of accounts on the internet is that for them to really be secure, they should all have a different password. For example, if you use the same password for your bank account, your email account and some shady disreputable website, you are asking for trouble.

My solution to this is to use an application called 1Password to create and remember all my passwords for me. The only three passwords that I remember myself are my email password, my bank password and a master password for 1Password. All the others - for Facebook, reddit, Amazon, etc - are randomly generated 20 character strings that are created and remembered for me by 1Password. When I go to one of those web sites, 1Password simply prompts me for my master password, then fills in the rest for me.

Some of this functionality can be replicated for free using Keychain Access, but the real benefit of 1Password is its automation, and the fact that it works in Safari, Firefox and on your iPhone so you don't have to save your passwords separately for each.

5. Turn on the firewall
Mac OS X comes with a built in firewall, but it is actually turned off by default. You can turn it on in the Security section of System Preferences. The Mac OS X firewall is really simple to set up - just click start to turn it on. Some applications will have trouble working through the firewall, instant messengers for example. If you find you start having connection problems with an application, just add it to the allowed list in the firewall preferences.

6. Little Snitch
While a Firewall protects your computer from unwanted connections from the outside, Little Snitch does the opposite and blocks your private data from being sent out. If you start an application and it tries to send some data out to a server on the Internet, Little Snitch will inform you and ask if you want to allow it. Read more over at the Little Snitch site.

7. Encrypt and hide your private files
It isn't entirely obvious how to password protect files or folders in Mac OS X but there are a couple of ways.

If you just want to protect a single iWork or PDF document, you can do this from within the specific iWork application or from within Preview. In Pages, Keynote and Numbers '09 you can choose "Require password to open" from the Document section of the Inspector window. In Preview, when choosing "Save As.." on a PDF there is a checkbox to encrypt.

If you want to password anything else, you have to password protect an entire folder. The way this is done is using encrypted disk images. Once created these appear as a single file on your hard drive with a dmg extension. When you double-click on one, it will ask you for the password. If you enter the password correctly, it will mount a disk image on your desktop. So while unlocked, the disk image is just like a temporary folder on your desktop. You can copy files to it and delete files from it, and as soon as you eject it, the contents will be password protected again. Here’s a detailed article about how to set up a disk image.

8. Use FileVault
Personally, I don't use this option, but for those who want to be ultra-secure it is an amazing feature. It is similar to creating an encrypted disk image for some files, but instead it does this for your entire user folder. It is much more straightforward and transparent than setting up an encrypted disk image too. Just turn it on the Security section of System Preferences, and all your files will be unencrypted and encrypted on the fly when you log in and out of your computer.

I would say this is probably overkill for most users. If you have an encrypted disk image for your most sensitive files, then it is a bit redundant to then encrypt your entire user folder. It also causes some problems concerning Time Machine backups, and also huge problems if you happen to forget the password…

9. Secure Empty Trash
More and more people now realise that when you delete something off your hard drive, it doesn't actually get physically removed from the disk. All references to it are gone, but it stays there until something else is written over it. For private documents this is a bad situation because someone with some special software can recover you supposedly deleted files.

To prevent this, you can use the "Secure Empty Trash…" option which is in the Finder menu. This takes longer than the normal trash emptying, because your computer is actually writing nonsense data over the top of your deleted files.

10. Securely erase an entire hard disk
If you have an old Mac you are thinking of selling or throwing away, it might be a good idea to securely erase all the data from it. To do this you need to start up from the installer CD that came with your Mac by inserting it and holding the C key while the computer starts up. In the installer, choose Disk Utility from the menu bar.

If the hard drive you want to erase is not your main hard drive, you can skip starting up from the install disk and just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.

In Disk Utility, choose the hard disk from the list on the left, click on the Erase tab, and then click on the Security Options button. Now you have four levels of security to choose from. Each higher level of security takes longer to erase, so the 35-pass erase will take upwards of 24 hours and is only for the truly paranoid.

Of course, if you are throwing away the Mac or even just the hard drive, nothing works better and is quite as satisfying than the physical destruction option. Just take the hard drive out of the Mac and completely destroy it with a hammer.

5 uses for the spacebar

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:08:00 +0000

Tap into this unassuming key's hidden productivity tricks

by Sharon Zardetto, Macworld.com

Ancient Greek and Latin writings had no spaces between words; you just had to be familiar with where words started and stopped in order to read textlikethis. But we should be grateful to the spacebar for more than just its sacred word-separation calling, because it can also perform quite a few tricks in various environments.

1. Play and pause

In any application that provides Play and Pause controls, you can use the spacebar to alternately play and pause the content. This includes movies and slideshows, as well as audio-only files such as those you play in Apple iTunes and GarageBand.

2. Open spring-loaded folders instantly

Spring-loaded folders are one of OS X’s most-overlooked timesavers. In the Finder, drag an item, hover over a folder, and after a brief pause (so the Mac knows you’re not simply hesitating before dropping the item in) a Finder window springs open, revealing the folder’s contents. This makes it easy to see that you’re moving or copying an item into the correct place if your folder names are less than descriptive. It also simplifies getting into subfolders.

You set the length of the spring-open delay in the General pane of Finder -> Preferences. Or, avoid the delay altogether by pressing the spacebar to open a hovered-over folder instantly.

Even if you turn off the spring-loaded folders feature by going to Finder -> Preferences and deselecting the Spring-loaded Folders And Windows setting, pressing the spacebar still opens a folder when you hover over it holding an item to drop into it.

Spring-loaded folders work from the Dock, too. Press the spacebar to open a folder in the Dock without waiting, whether or not spring-loading is turned on in the Finder’s preferences.

3. Access screenshot options

When you need to document some aspect of your Mac’s behavior, a screenshot of the full screen is seldom necessary. Sure, you can press Command-Shift-4 to select an area to capture to the Desktop (or Command-Shift-3 to save the whole screen as a file on the Desktop), but if you add the spacebar you’ll access more options.

Pressing the spacebar before you drag across an area to capture it changes your cursor to a camera and lets you select an entire window (or a dialog box, or a menu without its title) by clicking on it. Pressing the spacebar after you’ve dragged a selection rectangle—but before you let it go—allows you to move the selection rectangle around on the screen to adjust its position before capturing the shot; let go of the spacebar with the mouse button still down if you want to adjust the size of the rectangle after you’ve moved it.

4. Zoom in on windows in Exposé

One of the more clever feature tweaks in Snow Leopard involves the space bar. When you invoke Exposé, Mac OS X displays your open windows in a grid on your screen, at a substantially reduced size. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize which window is which when you’re in this view, and the window’s title isn’t always a good enough clue. Now you can use your space bar to zoom in and preview your Exposé windows. Just move your cursor over a window and press the spacebar. If it's the window you want, press Return. If not, you can press the spacebar again to zoom back out.

5. “Click” on items using the keyboard

With All Controls turned on the in Keyboard Shortcuts preference pane, tab to a menu (the blue halo shows it’s selected) and use the spacebar to open it. Use an arrow key to highlight a menu choice, and then use the spacebar again to trigger the command.

Prefer to move around in dialog boxes or Web pages using the keyboard instead of the mouse? Select All Controls under Full Keyboard Access in the Keyboard Shortcuts preference pane (in Leopard’s Keyboard & Mouse preferences, or Snow Leopard’s Keyboard preferences). With All Controls active, a press of the Tab key selects, in turn, every component of whatever you’re working in—a dialog box, for example. Once you’ve selected a component, press the spacebar in lieu of clicking the mouse.

So, for instance, with All Controls on, tabbing around on a Web page includes not only the search and other text fields on a form, but all its clickable spots, and the spacebar “clicks” the selected item.

Sharon Zardetto has been writing Mac tips since the Mac was born. One of her current ebooks is Minifesto: Time Machine .

See more like this: business, Mac OS, Finder

5 unexpected uses for the Option Key

noreply@blogger.com (Irv) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:56:00 +0000

Access hidden features with this keyboard star

by Sharon Zardetto, Macworld.com

The Option key is the unsung hero of the keyboard. Since the earliest days of the Mac, it has provided access to special font characters; revealed alternative commands in menus; and let you Option-drag to create a copy of something, such as a Finder icon or a graphic selection (from MacPaint to Photoshop CS4!). Its capabilities have only increased with time, so it’s always worth pressing Option to modify a click or drag, just to see what might happen. Here are five of my favorite Option key tricks.

1. Reverse your scrollbar preference

Most of the time, I use the scrollbar—for example, in Apple’s Safari or Microsoft Word—to move my view a full page or screen at time. (By default, when you click on a scrollbar, that’s what it does.) But sometimes—in a long document, for instance—I know that I want to go to a point about three-quarters of the way through the document. It’s easier to click where I want to go—three-quarters of the way down on the scrollbar—than to click and drag the scroller to get there.

You can choose between these actions—Jump To The Next Page or Jump To Here—by setting the Click In The Scroll Bar To option in the Appearance preference pane. Or, have it both ways: Option-click in the scrollbar to temporarily reverse the setting you’ve made in Preferences. So, if your setting is Jump To The Next Page, an Option-click in the scrollbar will instead jump you to a particular spot.

2. Open preference panes using function keys

You love the convenience of dimming or brightening your screen with a quick press of F1 or F2, but sometimes you need to adjust other aspects of your display. For instance, you might want to temporarily change the screen resolution to test something. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get to the Displays preference pane as quickly as you can change the screen’s brightness?

Wish granted! Hold Option while pressing either of the function keys that controls brightness, and the Displays preference pane opens. This works with other function keys, too: hold Option while you press any of the volume function keys (F3-F5 or F10-F12, depending on your keyboard), and the Sound preference pane opens. If you have your system set up so that you need to press the Fn key to trigger the special features on the function keys (the ones represented by icons), then just add the Option key to the mix: Fn-Option-F1, for instance.

3. Switch speakers from the menu bar

You need to switch from the internal speakers to your headphones for a Skype call, or you’re the last one in the office so you want to blast your iTunes playlist through your external speakers. If you’re using Snow Leopard, and your Volume menu is in the menu bar, you don’t have to open the Sound preference pane to switch output devices: press Option before you open the Volume menu, and instead of getting the volume slider, you’ll see a list of available input and output devices. (To make the Volume menu appear in the first place, go to the Sound preference pane and select the Show Volume In Menu Bar option.)

4. Option-click to open multiple Inspector palettes

The Macworld article Rule the Office notes that you can open multiple Inspector windows in Keynote and Pages by using the View -> New Inspector command. But this always opens a Document Inspector, so you must then click on the icon for the Inspector you need. Instead of using the menu command, Option-click directly on an icon in an existing Inspector palette to open a new Inspector for that category.

5. Choose a startup disk when booting

You’re staring at your blank Mac screen; you have two (or more) startup drives for your Mac, but you forgot to specify the one you want to use in the Startup Disk preference pane. You don’t have to start up, change the setting, and restart: just hold down Option when you turn on the Mac and you’ll see available startup drives displayed on the screen. Choose the one you want and you’re good to go.

Sharon Zardetto is long-time Mac writer. You’ll find another Option trick for volume settings at her MacTipster blog.

• See more like this: business, Finder, Mac OS

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:22:00 +0000

By Elinor Mills CNET News

Posted on ZDNet News: Aug 27, 2009 1:16:04 PM

People eager to get a copy of the latest version of the Mac operating system, Snow Leopard, should be wary of sites offering free copies because they are likely to get some nasty malware instead, according to antivirus company Trend Micro.

Trend Micro said in a blog posting on Wednesday that it had discovered several fake Snow Leopard download sites that serve up a DNS (domain name system) changer Trojan dubbed OSX_JAHLAV.K instead.

Apple posts list of software incompatible with Snow Leopard

Posted on Aug 28, 2009 11:10 am by Dan Moren, Macworld.com

Category | Mac » Software

Snow Leopard day is finally here, and forecasts call for the deluge of application compatibility updates to continue throughout the day. However, there are some specific programs that are currently incompatible with Snow Leopard—so incompatible, in fact, that 10.6’s installer will move them into a folder called Incompatible Software on your hardware.

Apple’s provided a list of the software in question, which it says could cause cause issues in Snow Leopard. Among them are such prominent applications as Parallels Desktop 2.5 and earlier, McAfee VirusScan 8.6, Norton AntiVirus 11.0, Unsanity’s Application Enhancer 2.0.1 and earlier, and several versions of AT&T Laptop Connect Card. Check the full list for more apps and links to vendors site where upgrades will hopefully be available.

The knowledge base document also contains a second category of applications that Apple restricts from opening—if you try to launch one of these programs after ugparding to Snow Leopard, the OS will pop up a dialog box telling you the software in question is incompatible. This includes Parallels Desktop 3.0, Intego VirusBarrier X4 10.4.4 and earlier, SPSS 17.1, Adobe Director MX 2004, Elgato EyeTV 3.0.0 to 3.1.0, THQ’s Ratatouille 1.1, Aperture 2.1.1 and earlier, Keynote 2.0.2 and earlier, and the AirPort Admin Utility for Graphite and Snow Base Stations 4.2.5.

Apple recommmends you check with vendors to see if Snow Leopard-compatible updates are available for those applications, and, as with the above list, provides a links to their respective vendor sites. There are some interesting patterns in evidence, though: for example, three major antivirus packages appear on the list. It's a little surprising that no less than three Apple applications appear on the list as well, but none are current versions.

Fortunately, this is a relatively small list of software, and most will likely be updated before too long. Still, if you rely on one of these programs and the vendor doesn't have an update yet, you might want to hold off on jumping to 10.6 for now.

See more like this: Snow Leopard, antivirus, network, AirPort,Windows, utilities

Useful iPhone Tips & Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:44:00 +0000

Terry White from Adobe presented (via recorded presentation on Adobe Connect Pro) many useful tips and tricks - from easily accessing special characters and phrases from the keyboard, to useful tips for managing your apps, and some useful apps: some of his favorites - CameraBag, FlightTrackerPro, ColorSplash, CoolIris (also recommended for Firefox users)...

Docusense in Delco offers HP and Xerox printer solutions

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Urban) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:37:00 +0000

Brain and Tom from Docusense came in this evening to offer us some insight to alternatives to laser printer and multi-function printer maintenance. In essence, they offer toner/ink for color lasers and multi-function printers and offer several packages for complete care or cost-per-page programs. This way, you purchase supplies and get the benefits of on-site service and labor for those times the equipment goes down!

Some helpful tips and morsels of knowledge:

Always remove paper jams in the direction of the paper path.
Try to service your laser printers once a year, no matter what. This minimize your downtime in the event of an actual failure; replacing worn parts before failure will maximize your printers useful life.
Laser printers today use mylar rollers and induction coils for instant-on printing - no more halogen-lamp-heated metal drums...

Have questions about your laser printer? Call Docusense at 610-719-8705.

Samsung intros 256GB SSD that may reach MacBook Air

noreply@blogger.com (Brushcolor) — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Appleinsider.com posts....Samsung has introduced a 256GB solid-state drive that promises to kickstart the industry with twice the storage and twice the speed of earlier disks while also costing less to manufacture than past models -- and having a chance of landing in future Apple notebooks.Simply called the 256GB FlashSSD, the Serial ATA drive reads in-order data at 200MB/s

Want to know what Twitter is all about??

noreply@blogger.com (Brushcolor) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:06:00 +0000

When people ask you to explain Twitter, send them to this video.
http://www.commoncraft.com
A quick and plain English intro the micro-blogging service Twitter.

The power of social bookmarking.

noreply@blogger.com (Brushcolor) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:04:00 +0000

This video was created by commoncraft.com to show the power of social bookmarking and how it makes web pages easy to remember, organize and share.

Are you ready for the price change?????

noreply@blogger.com (Brushcolor) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Endicia, the only company to offer a postage solution for Macs would like to help you.
On May 12th, The U.S. Postal Service’s™ new pricing goes into effect including new discounts for online postage. Endicia will be ready for all of the changes and we want to be sure you are as well. Please join us at one of our free webinars on the price change or visit our price change web site to read about the new prices and discounts.
Endicia customers have processed over $2 billion worth of postage through our software. No other online postage provider has printed more. As the leader in postage printing, we’re committed to helping you manage your mailing and shipping needs while keeping you up-to-date with all USPS changes.
Learn more about printing postage on the Mac and the upcoming price change. www.endicia.com/macblast

Animoto....an amazing video tool

noreply@blogger.com (BookPushinTechie) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:10:00 +0000

If you don’t think you are a creative person. Or if you just can’t figure out those pesky details when it comes to technology. Then you are in luck, because this application, Animoto, will create some amazing artistic videos for you with little or no technical knowledge.

The amazing thing about this application is the unique approach it takes to every creation. I used different songs with the same slides to see what would result. I was totally amazed at the uniqueness of each movie. The application analyses each photograph and song so that it can appropriately massages them into a visually appealing movie that can be emailed, downloaded, and embedded into web pages. I can just imagine some of the finished products when you introduce creative people to such an application. I personally wasted (not really) several hours when I should have been doing something else. But, then I think of the enjoyment I got from putting my pictures and music together with some professional help.

Animoto Productions is a bunch of techies and film/tv producers who decided to lock themselves in a room together and nerd out. Their first release is Animoto, a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos using their own patent-pending Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology and high-end motion design. Each video is a fully customized orchestration of user-selected images and music. Produced in wide-screen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer. They are a welcome end to slideshows.

The heart of Animoto is its newly developed Cinematic A.I. technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills & techniques that are used in television and film. The technology takes into account every nuance of a song - the genre, song structure, energy, rhythm, instrumentation, and vocals. Whether it's punk, pop, hip-hop or a classical Mozart piece, every Animoto video is totally customized. Even videos generated with an identical set of images and music will each have a completely distinct set of motion design. No two videos are the same. They can be emailed, downloaded, and embedded in pages on websites including social network sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Animoto is also dedicated to supporting new artists and music. So while users can upload their own music, the guys at Animoto also proudly feature a regularly updated selection of fresh music that they truly dig. No stock music, no cover bands, no elevator music, and no wannabe bands.

Animoto is inspired by the digital camera revolution where taking dozens, even hundreds of pictures at a time gives people the ability to think more like a video producer capturing an entire experience, not just individual moments. As users are discovering the limits of traditional photo services, the guys at Animoto are innovating new ways for people to share their stories and express themselves through media.

While based in New York City, they also have an office in San Francisco, the founders are veterans of the entertainment industry and have produced shows for MTV, Comedy Central, & ABC, studied music in London, and played in indie rock bands. They share a passion for helping people better share their stories and express themselves through online media by innovating technologies in the field of video production.

Don’t linger………. Rush to: http://animoto.com/
Take a peak at one of my videos: http://animoto.com/play/bbd3c52e591fc0e9bf1411c6af1d9cf3

Round Robin - Holiday Feast

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:23:00 +0000

MacBUS
The Macintosh Business Users Society of Greater Philadelphia
Tuesday, November 27th Meeting:
Try to attend and bring a friend.

MacBUS @ University of Arts

Round Robin - Holiday Feast

Our Nov/Dec meeting will feature a round-robin of introductions of members present. Every other year or so, we ask members to introduce themselves, and to explain what they do for a living. Be sure to bring extra business cards to hand out!

We'll also ask what's the one thing on your Mac you can not live without - that is, what is your most important application or most often-visited website?

If time allows, we'll do a round of favorite holiday gift ideas - so bring information about your favorite gadget, gizmo or software to share with the group.

This is also our holiday 'feast' meeting, and we'll have our usual Q&As, so bring your questions and bring a friend or coworker who you think could benefit from our meeting!!

We will have a drawing for a $100 Apple Store gift certificate for members only. Tickets are $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00. Get them at any of our meetings.

This Month's Meeting: Tuesday, November 27th, 7PM Hunt Room
(turn right when you come in through the front entrance instead of going straight), Dorrance Hamilton Hall, University of the Arts, 320 South Broad Street, Philadelphia.

WD Caviar GreenPower

noreply@blogger.com (Brushcolor) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:51:00 +0000

New 500GB drive promises to save power

By Peter Cohen

Western Digital (WD) on Monday announced that it’s shipping in volume its WD Caviar GreenPower (or GP) 500GB hard disk drive mechanism. The drive costs $149.99.

The WD Caviar GP is a 3.5-inch hard disk drive bound for external enclosures or internal chassis inside computers that use Serial ATA (SATA) interfaces. The “GreenPower” moniker indicates that this unit is especially designed to be power-efficient. WD claims the drive is the industry’s coolest and quietest running eco-friendly 500GB drive.

The GP 500GB model uses the same technology as its 1GB counterpart. It yields and average drive power savings of four to five watts over other drives in its class; WD claims that results in an annual CO2 emission reduction of up to 13.8 kilograms per drive per year, or the equivalent of taking a car off the road for about three days per year.

The drive utilizes special technology that reduces power load during startup, and optimizes spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms. It will automatically unload its recording heads during idle periods, for example, which reduces aerodynamic drag. It also reduces less noise and lower vibration rates accordingly.

The drive sports a 16MB data buffer and an average read seek time of 8.9 milliseconds (ms). Transfer rate is 3 Gb/s for the buffer-to-host (SATA) speed, and 1,160 Mb/s for the buffer-to-disk transfer rate.

Read - Watch - Do sequence for learning

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:07:00 +0000

Adobe Photoshop CS One-on-One (CD-ROM included)
By McClelland, Deke
Copyright: 2007
ISBN: 978-0-596-52975-8 490 pages, $49.95 US, $64.99 CA,
Company/Producer’s name: Deke Press/O’Reilley
Phone #: 800-998-9938 Online address: www.oreilly.com

Deke created this book for both amateur and professional graphic artists, designers, and photographers. It is another in a series of books that provide step-by-step lessons accompanied by beautiful full colored lessons combined with video lessons and data files. The author’s approach is a “hands on –step-by-step process" that allows the reader to proceed at their own pace and establish their own sequence of lessons to personalize the instruction.
The book’s content is divided into 12 lessons that include several (up to 3-7) step-by-step exercises to explain the techniques. Explanations, data files, and video lessons support these real world project based exercises.
The book is highly visual, colorful, informative, easy on the eye providing nicely laid out pages on heavy clay based paper, and a comprehensive index to support the text.

Lastly, the wonders of the digital age have provided us with the possibilities of a virtual classroom in which anyone can invite an expert in the field to tutor them one-on-one. I would like to say that Deke McClelland has created a comprehensive training experience into which you can submerge yourself for hours at a time. In process of reading this book you'll get a good dose of graphics theory, best practices, and tips for avoiding Photoshop disasters. L. McNeil
Complete review @ www.macbus.org/reviews

Apple Updates MacBooks to Santa Rosa, GMA X3100; 2.6GHz MacBook Pro

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:37:00 +0000

posted by MacRumors.com
Thursday November 01, 2007 05:08 AM ESTAs rumored, Apple has quietly updated the MacBook tonight to the Santa Rosa architecture with mild speed bumps and the GMA X3100 integrated video
White 13.3"
$1099.00 2.0GHz/1GB RAM/80GB/Combo/GMA X3100
$1299.00 2.2GHz/1GB RAM/120GB/SD-DL/GMA X3100
Black 13.3"
$1499.00 2.2GHz/1GB RAM/160GB/SD-DL/GMA X3100

Despite comparable clock speeds (2.0 -> 2.0GHz, 2.16 -> 2.2GHz) to the old models, the new MacBooks use the Santa Rosa chipset which boasts a faster 800MHz front side bus over the previous MacBook models. The introduction of the GMA X3100 video card also provides significant benefits over the previous models. The new specs can be seen at the Apple Store:

Dave Marra presents Leopard!

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:06:00 +0000

Members of MacBUS enjoyed another fantastic presentation tonight from Dave Marra, Senior Apple Engineer.
Dave, in his classic speed-demon style, managed to cover nearly every single one of the 300 or so new features that come with an upgrade to Leopard.

Next Step Leopard...

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:15:00 +0000

Take Control News: Start Preparing for Leopard Now with New Ebooks
by Adam C. Engst
If you're excited about Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, now scheduled for release on 26-Oct-07, make sure you're ready to upgrade with the early-bird edition of "Take Control of Upgrading to Leopard." This 60-page ebook not only walks you through the prep steps that help guarantee a trouble-free Leopard installation, it also comes with a free, instant-download upgrade to the 124-page full edition of the ebook, which will offer detailed advice on every aspect of installation, based on countless hours of meticulous research by Joe Kissell. In particular, the early-bird edition helps you evaluate if your current Mac will run Leopard well, how to make an appropriate backup in case of installation problems, smart ways to clear disk clutter and unnecessary files, and whether you should rethink your partitioning scheme. The full version will be available as soon as Apple begins shipping Leopard; see the FAQ at the link above for details.

But there's more! You can save 25 percent if you pre-order "Take Control of Customizing Leopard" along with buying the early-bird edition of "Take Control of Upgrading to Leopard." In this title, Matt Neuburg helps you customize your new installation, with a special emphasis on new tweaks to old features and on helping you start using new features, such as Spaces and Time Machine. We can't say much about Leopard until our non-disclosure agreement is lifted, but we plan to make the full ebook available to those who pre-order via our Check for Updates mechanism as soon as Apple begins selling Leopard.

For those of you who want to learn all about Leopard, we recommend our "I Love Leopard" bundle, which saves you 30 percent and includes the above-mentioned two titles; it also includes three more "Take Control of... in Leopard" pre-release titles: Sharing Files, Fonts, and Users & Accounts. We expect to ship these three additional titles at the same time as (or very shortly after) Leopard's release. You'll find the "I Love Leopard" bundle on the left side of both the "Upgrading" and the "Customizing" Web pages.

Owners of previous "Take Control of Upgrading to..." and "Take Control of Customizing..." ebooks can take advantage of a discounted price on these titles; click the Check for Updates button in your ebook to access the offer, or send us email if your ebook is too old to have a Check for Updates button. However, note that buying either of our bundles gives you a better discount than upgrading each title individually.
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[TIPS] Google Sky - a MUSTsee

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 21:23:00 +0000

Thanks to this article by Mark Wagner (http://edtechlife.com/?p=1821) I now know about Google Sky! Check out the news video on the right of this page for Good Morning America's broadcast of the unveiling of the program. This program is free and truly amazing!

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Technology/story?id=3509522

Unsung utilities: DigitalColor Meter

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:00:00 +0000

When you first set up a new Mac, you probably spend some time digging through the Applications folder and trying out the software that comes standard on your new Mac. But maybe you don’t venture into the inky depths of the Utilities folder. If that’s the case, then you’re missing out: it’s full of handy apps whose praises remain largely unsung.

Today, one of my favorites: DigitalColor Meter. It’s an app whose functions you probably won’t need unless you’re a web developer, designer, or someone else concerned with onscreen colors, but if you fall into one of those categories—or you’re just a curious kind of person—it’s definitely worth a whirl.

If you’ve ever used the eyedropper tool in Photoshop or pretty much any image programs, you’ll “get” DigitalColor Meter pretty fast. As you pan around the screen, it shows you a zoomed-in view of the screen, along with a real time display of whatever color the cursor is over. You can adjust the aperture size, and pick what format the color is displayed as (RGB, Hex, etc.). Menu commands also let you lock a particular color, or even copy it as a text string or color swatch into another application.

For people who deal with color all day, it’s a godsend when you need to match that particular shade your client wants. For the rest of us, it’s at least a fun way to blow away a few ~~hours~~ minutes of the workday.

Posted by Dan Moren in MacUser

iLife '08 and iWork '08 released

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 02:02:00 +0000

Take a guided tour.
http://www.apple.com/ilife/guidedtour/

Briefly: iWork '08, Pro Application Support, new iPod game

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:44:00 +0000

By AppleInsider Staff Published: 08:00 AM EST

Apple's website on Monday briefly made reference to an iWork '08 application. Meanwhile, the company released Pro Application Support 4.0.1 and also put Sims Pool -- Electronic Art's latest iPod game -- up for sale on its ubiquitous iTunes Store.

Pro Application Support 4.0.1

Also on Monday afternoon, Apple released Pro Application Support 4.0.1 [7.6MB]. The update improves general user interface reliability for the company's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Final Cut Express HD, Soundtrack, Logic Pro and Logic Express.

Sims Pool for iPod

Meanwhile, Electronic Arts has released the second of four new iPod games planned ahead of year's end. The latest, Sims Pool, encourages players to "run the table" on their iPods.

This week's Macworld OS X Hint

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:32:00 +0000

By Rob Griffiths (macosxhints@macworld.com)

Trim Mail attachments
If you're trying to conserve disk space, and you're a user of the built-in Mail application, you may be overlooking one source of disk space usage: attachments on e-mails youve received. By default, Mail leaves all attachments alone, even if you save them to another spot on your hard drive. Over time, you can build up quite a collection of old attachments. Deleting these assuming you've saved them elsewhere and no longer wish to keep them in Mail can save a fair bit of drive space. For example, on my machine, I have roughly 400MB worth of attached files, even though Ive saved all those files to other spots.

If you're running the OS X 10.4 version of Mail, you can use a Smart Mailbox to help manage your attachments.

Flashpix Generator.

noreply@blogger.com (Macbus) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:17:00 +0000

Want to add a flash picture to your site or myspace page?

Choose a picture, a border and an effect and make your own Flashpix.http://www.profilepitstop.com/myspace_flashpix/

Then the directions are:
What do I do with all this then? - to add this flashy text to your MySpace Page, follow these simple instructions..

Log into your MySpace account. From your home page (click "Home" in the menu) select "Edit Profile"
In the text area where you'd like the flashy text to appear, place the code that you see above you at the moment

Yeah, but how do I do that? - highlight the code with your mouse (it should automatically highlight when you click on it) and then copy (press CTRL+C) the code. Then go to the area in your MySpace profile where you want the text to appear, place your cursor in the text and press paste (CTRL+V).
If you are using Internet Explorer you can click on "Copy Code" to do this automatically (you may get asked to allow the page access to the Windows clipboard)
Save your profile and you're done! Sit back and wait for the compliments on your cool new flashy profile to come pouring in...