appleJAC Users Group

President’s Corner

by Sue Snell, aJ MUG President

Not only does the calendar say that Autumn is here, the weather is beginning to make a believer of me! If only the grass would stop growing. But, along with the seasonal changes comes the renewal of meetings at Lewis and Clark Middle School (LCMS).

In September we had our first meeting of the 2008-09 school year back in our regular location. If you missed it, you missed a real winner. We had a three-member panel discussing “30 Gadgets in 60 Minutes”. Lots of really neat ideas were introduced --
and a few rather humorous takes on the world of technology.

Winners of door prizes for the evening were as follows:

    Bill Webb                    Apple travel mug
    Greg Breuer                Apple notebook
    Julie Smith                  Macworld pen and pad
    Steve Archer                Making Things Talk (book)
    Ken Zindle                   Joy of Tech (book)
    Sister Josetta Eveler    CSS Pocket Guide (book)

October’s meeting will be a presentation by Greg Breuer on the personal database application, Bento.  Titled “Bento: Organize It All”, Greg will share with us his take on this product. At last month’s meeting, this program was offered to any member who would review it, and make a presentation about it . . . Greg volunteered. As a reward for his time and talent, he has a nice new application that’s his to keep. At the meeting, we will also get the skinny on new Apple products from our own guru George Kopp.

As the weather continues to cool off, we will continue to gather. In November, we will have 2 presentations by aJ members. Sue McCormick will give us a presentation on setting up a database using FileMaker Pro. Larry Garvin will share with us his knowledge on geocaching.

In December (can it really be this close?) we will look at gaming on the Mac. Jason Piper will share with us about this topic. It promises to be very entertaining. As you can see, the last three months of the calendar year are full of topics of interest -- topics of which members have indicated an interest. Please plan on being present, beginning with October 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the 6th Grade Commons at LCMS.

October appleJAC Agenda

“My Word!” (Or iPhone Apps)

by Ken Zindle

I’m studying Italian. Why? Because I want to!  I travelled to Rome in both 2006 and 2007, and found Italy one of the most wonderful travel destination. (It joins the ranks in my mind of places like Vienna; Warsaw, Poland, the Rhine River, Hong Kong, and the Gulf Coast of Florida!) When I’m going to a place like that, I always want to be able to do some communicating in the local language. So, last year I started an informal Italian class and worked on the language on my own. That worked well, and I was able to get along remarkable well. (It helps that the Italians are pleased, when you try to speak their language, instead of insisting that they use your English. They are also very forgiving about your mistakes.)

Along comes the Declan Software application for the iPhone: “Italian Word of the Day.”  Great app!!!  It not only provides the daily word, for the enormous fee of $.99 but what is remarkable is the kind of Word of the Day that you receive. They are phrases that are designed to get you into a conversation mode with the language immediately. I mean phrases like:  “on the left,” “ on the floor,” “on the table,” “instead of”. They are conversation blocks, not just words.

Of course they also have a similar application for words in other languages.  That’s cool but right now it’s Italian that I want, and they’re coming through.  Look them over.

Safari Books Online & Bookbag: Technical References at Your Fingertips

a review by Tom Piper

Publisher: O’Reilly
Publisher’s brief description: Safari Books Online is the e-reference book and video library hosted by O’Reilly for programmers and IT professionals. It is an on-demand digital library that provides one integrated source for over 7000 expert reference and learning materials from leading publishers. The site includes exclusive access to the collections of O’Reilly Media, Peachpit Press, Cisco Press, Addison-Wesley, as well as additional titles from John Wiley and Sons, Microsoft Press, and more. Safari Books Online provides access to a broad and constantly expanding range of over 100 collections including digital curricula for certification, expert technology, creative and design, business and management resources in video and text formats.

I am testing a new beta program called Bookbag that allows me to download and view on my iPhone or iPod Touch any PDF file that I have selected and collected into My Downloads area of my Safari Books Online account. Although reading technical information on a small screen can be challenging, it is very convenient, and you can zoom in on any text.

The first thing I always do is to flip through the website to see what catches my eye, then scan the various webpages and links to see how well its organized:

Table of Contents

• Business
• Certification
• Computer Science
• Databases
• Desktop Publishing
• Desktop Applications
• E-Business
• E-Commerce
• Enterprise Computing
• Graphics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Hardware
• Internet/Online
• IT Management
• Markup Languages
• Multimedia
• Networking
• Operating Systems
• Programming
• Security
• Software Engineering

Safari Books Online provides access to an expansive digital collection of technical publications at your fingertips, available anytime, anywhere. Safari is the only service in the world that delivers entire searchable collections of books, working manuscripts, short topic PDFs, certification study guides, and instructional videos from top technology and business publishers. Use Safari's trusted content to solve technical challenges. Enhance your knowledge and professional skills by using Safari to learn a new programming application. Stay on the cutting edge of your profession--be the first to read manuscripts of books in progress by innovators and thought-leaders in your field through Safari's Rough Cuts series. There are a variety of potential benefits to this service:

• Problem Solving: The power of search versus browse. Get comprehensive and relevant answers quickly from across an entire collection of authoritative books and videos.
• Learning and skill enhancement: Get expert instruction on web design, software development and graphics tools and techniques using mixed media content sources, like training video and book content by leading experts and in many cases, the technology inventors themselves.
• Research: Benefit from the comprehensive technical resources of Safari Books Online available anytime and from anywhere to solve development, design or application problems.

There have been two types of subscriptions, and various kinds of memberships. Safari Library, Unlimited Access which provides you access to over 5000 books online, training videos, updates on coming books, Safari Labs, and large discounts if you want to buy a book. You can even download up to 5 chapters from any books during the course of a month. Pricing for this subscription is $42.99 USD a month or $472.89 per year. The other subscription choice is the Safari Bookshelf which allows you to search the entire collection, cut and past code from Safari, download 5 chapters per month and get the deep discount. You don’t get unlimited access to read all the books online though. Personally, I have the unlimited account. This type of subscriptions will cost you $22.99 USD a month or $252.99 per year. There are free individual, corporate and academia plans and trials, and learn more at: http://www.safaribooksonline.com/.

This is clearly a resource for knowledgeable computers users who frequently need to find detailed answers on a variety of topics. It can not only save money, but also be a “green” solution through the use of PDF files (not paper), with reasonably fast access to information.  Safari Books Online is initially challenging due to the large volume of material, and the need to carefully read all directions for creating favorites, selecting chapters, and downloading PDFs of them. Bookbag, though its a little premature with limited ability, should become a valuable resource to review information already pre-loaded, even though it is on a chapter-by-chapter basis.

iPhone: The Missing Manual (2nd Edition): The Best Just Got Better

a review by Tom Piper

Author: David Pogue
Publisher: O’Reilly
First Edition: August 2008
Pages: 376
Series: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-596-52167-7
Publisher’s Brief Description: The new iPhone 3G is here, and bestselling author David Pogue is back with a thoroughly updated edition of iPhone: The Missing Manual. With its faster downloads, touch-screen iPod, and best-ever mobile Web browser, the new affordable iPhone is packed with possibilities. But without an objective guide like this one, you'll never unlock all it can do for you. Each custom designed page helps you accomplish specific tasks for everything from web browsing, to new apps, to watching videos.

The first thing I always do is to flip through the pages to see what catches my eye, then scan the volume to see how well its organized:

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Guided Tour
Chapter 2: Phone Calls
Chapter 3: Fancy Phone Tricks
Chapter 4: Music and Video
Chapter 5: Photos and Camera
Chapter 6: Getting Online
Chapter 7: The Web
Chapter 8: Email
Chapter 9: Maps and Apps
Chapter 10: Custom Ringtones
Chapter 11: The App Store
Chapter 12: iTunes for iPhoners
Chapter 13: Syncing the iPhone
Chapter 14: MobileMe
Chapter 15: The Corporate iPhone
Chapter 16: Settings
Appendix : Setup and Signup
Appendix : Accessories
Appendix : Troubleshooting and Maintenance

In the August 2007, I wrote about the “Delightful Details” that version 1 of this book included. My conclusion about version 2 re-emphasizes: “Even if you’ve had your iPhone for awhile and think you have mastered it, a trick here and a hint there is bound to save time. The book is definitely worth the read. I highly recommend it.” This edition goes the next step to thoroughly describe all of the aspects of the iPhone 3G that you see, and many that you didn’t even know were there. The detail and careful instructions are a delight to read, punctuated by descriptive photos, eye-catching notes and tips, and special attention to related products and accessories. If you buy only one iPhone book, this is the one to get!!!

This incredible book retails for $24.99, but can be found for less at Amazon and other internet locations. A PDF version is $24.99 (or $32.49 for PDF and book combo). A complete O’Reilly description and purchasing details are also available at: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596521677/.

iPhone 3G Portable Genius: Quick, Colorful, Delightful

a review by Tom Piper

Author: Paul McFedries, David Pabian
Publisher: Wiley Publishing
First Edition: August 2008  
Pages: 267 
Series: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-470-42348-6


Publisher’s brief description: You don’t have to be a genius to use an iPhone 3G. But if you want to get the very most out of yours, put this savvy Portable Genius guide to work and start ramping up the pace. Want to e-mail attachments twice as fast? Talk and browse at the same time? Quickly locate the nearest coffee shop? Sync your iPhone 3G with multiple computers? You’ll find cool and useful Genius tips, full-color screenshots, and pages of easy-to-access shortcuts and tools that will save you loads of time and let you enjoy your new iPhone 3G to the max. Fun, hip, and straightforward, the new Portable Genius series gives forward-thinking Apple users useful information in handy, compact books that are easy to navigate and don’t skimp on the essentials. Collect the whole series and make the most of your Apple digital lifestyle.

The first thing I always do is to flip through the pages to see what catches my eye, then scan the volume to see how well its organized:

Table of Contents
Introduction.
Chapter 1: How Do I Configure My iPhone 3G?
Chapter 2: How Can I Get More Out of My iPhone 3G’s Phone Feature?
Chapter 3: How Can I Make the Most of Web Surfing with My iPhone 3G?
Chapter 4: How Do I Maximize E-mail on My iPhone 3G?
Chapter 5: How Can I Take Control of Syncing My iPhone 3G?
Chapter 6: How Can I Get More Out of My iPhone 3G’s Media Features?
Chapter 7: Can I use My iPhone 3G to Manage Contacts and Appointments?
Chapter 8: How Can I Use iPhone 3G to Help Organize My Life?
Chapter 9: How Do I Keep My Life In Sync with MobileMe?
Chapter 10: How Do I Enhance My iPhone 3G with App Store?
Chapter 11: How Do I Fix My iPhone 3G?
Glossary
Index.

This is a color, light-hearted look “how-to” approach to supporting the new iPhone 3G. It is richly illustrated with color photos and graphics, large easy-to-read titling, notes, cautions, awesome chapter dividers, and a great Glossary of Terms. Its an easy handbook to read, and my only complaint is the really tight binding that prevents laying the book open. Otherwise, it is an excellent resource at a reasonable price.

This dandy book retails for $25.00, but can be found for $16.50 or less at Amazon and other internet locations. A complete Wiley Publishing description, and purchasing details are also available at: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047042348X.html.

slide:ology: Creating Great Presentations

a review by Tom Piper

Author: Nancy Duarte
Publisher: O’Reilly
First Edition: August 2008  
Pages: 294
Series: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-596-52234-6


Publisher’s brief description: Presentation software requires professionals to think visually on an almost daily basis. But unlike verbal skills, effective visual expression is not easy, natural, or actively taught in schools or business training programs. slide:ology offers practical approaches that combine conceptual thinking and inspirational design, with insightful case studies from the world's leading brands. Written by the President and CEO of Duarte Design, the firm that created the presentation for Al Gore's Oscar-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth.

Garr Reynolds, past user group evangelist with Apple, and visionary author of Presentation Zen recently was quoted as saying that "Slide:ology is practical, it's highly visual, and it's beautiful. I love this book . . . [it] should come bundled with every copy of PowerPoint or Keynote ever sold from now on. I received a draft copy about three months ago that blew me away--the final product is even better than I expected. I just got my copy over the weekend . . . the book is meaty without being bloated. A really cool feature in the book is that many of the presentations Nancy shows in her book are available for download or can be seen via video on a specially created slide:ology website for free. There are no longer any excuses for really bad presentations."
The first thing I always do is to flip through the pages to see what catches my eye, then scan the volume to see how well its organized:

Table of Contents

Introduction.
Chapter 1
Creating a New Slide Ideology
Chapter 2
Creatiing Ideas, Not Slides
Chapter 3
Creating Diagrams
Chapter 4
Displaying Data
Chapter 5
Thinking Like a Designer
Chapter 6
Arranging Elements
Chapter 7
Using Visual Elements: Background, Color, and Text
Chapter 8
Using Visual Elements: Images
Chapter 9
Creating Movement
Chapter 10
Governing with Templates
Chapter 11
Interacting with Slides
Chapter 12
Manifesto: The Five Theses of the Power of a Presentation
References
Indes

From the “Brief History of Visual Aids” to the “Manifesto: The Five Theses of the Power of a Presentation”, this is the most incredible book about presentations that I have ever seen. The book is introduced with the motto: “Every presenter has the potential to be great; every presentation is high stakes; and every audience deserves the absolute best.” This is followed by a in-depth discussion of why presentations are important and the philosophy needed to produce an appropriate one with great impact. It actually frames the entire environment, conditions and context for great development. The photos, charts, diagrams, flowcharts, inserts, examples and content is dazzling, vibrant, stimulating and fascinating.

This is NOT a PowerPoint how-to, but rather a whole new and exciting way to approach presentations . . . I will never look at presentations the same again. A variety of descriptive and compelling Case Studies are included about many famous presenters, and how they are successful. This is a high-quality publication that goes way beyond creating a better slideshow to an education on how to better communicate. It spans the whole spectrum of devices from the iPhone to major file formats. The only way this book could be made better is if they turn it into a movie! If you want to enrich your skills, and communicate more effectively, don’t hesitate . . . make this your next investment in success.

This great book retails for $34.99, but can be found for $23.09 or less at Amazon and other internet locations. A PDF version is $27.99 (or $45.49 for PDF and book combo). A complete O’Reilly description, video interview with the author, and purchasing details are also available at: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596522346/l.

September User Group Offers

The MUG Store: Great Prices, Great Incentives

At the MUG store, you can check out specials, blowouts, new Macs and special value Macs. Each category contains lists of products with prices set exclusively for your users. Plus, you get points for your group every time one of your members buys!

Shop the MUG Store: http://www.applemugstore.com        
This U.S. only offer is valid through September 30, 2008.

Storyist: The Writer's Tool at 24% Off

Storyist is a powerful story development tool for novelists and screenwriters. It provides a word processor with page layout view and support for headers, footers and style sheets to produce submission-ready manuscripts and scripts; a storyboard with customizable story sheets to track your plot, characters, and settings; and a project manager with fast, project-wide search capabilities to keep your writing organized and accessible.

Regularly $59 (US), Apple user group members can purchase Storyist at a special price of $45 (US) by visiting the website and clicking on "Store" to enter the discount code.

Visit for more information and purchase: http://www.storyist.com     
This worldwide offer is valid through December 31, 2008.

Posit Science Brain Fitness Program for Mac: Save 25%

The Brain Fitness Program for Mac is brain health software that can help you think faster, focus better and remember more. Proven effective in published studies, the program is designed to speed up and sharpen the brain's ability to take in sounds that are heard, process and remember them. Known as auditory processing, this brain function is a critical part of a person's overall brain fitness.

Regularly priced at $395 (US) for the one-user version, or $495 (US) for two-users, user group members can receive a 25% discount on both.

Order online: http://www.PositScience.com/buy         
International customers please order by phone: 1-415-373-5685
This worldwide offer is valid through December 31, 2008.

CopyPaste Pro: 33% Discount

CopyPaste Pro is the number one essential utility for Mac OS X. It is the latest incarnation of the award winning, easy to use, multiple clipboard editing and display utility. See, edit and clip in your history of copies. Use the new Clip Browser to see all clipboards in an instant.
Never lose a clip again. CopyPaste is a time saver/lifesaver for all Mac users, beginners thru advanced users.

Usually $30 (US), Apple User Group members can purchase CopyPaste Pro for only $20 (US).

Get it now: http://www.scriptsoftware.com/copypaste          
This worldwide offer is valid through December 31, 2008.

O'Reilly's "iPod: The Missing Manual": 35% Discount

"iPod: The Missing Manual, 7th Edition" by J.D. Biersdorfer and David Pogue is now available for pre-order. Now that Apple has rocked, O'Reilly is ready to roll. Get your hands on the book as soon as it's done.

This special user group member price for the print book and bundle is $25.99 (US), or use the online code to get 35 percent off the book or PDF version. Order from the O'Reilly Store online or by phone at 1-800-998-9938 (extra shipping costs outside US). ISBN 13: 9780596522124

See what the buzz is about: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596522124/index.html        
This worldwide offer is ongoing.

Reflections on a Genius

by appleJAC Member, Ken Zindle

Please note, friends, that I titled this ‘Reflections on  a Genius’, not ‘Reflections from a Genius’. I guess like many, if not most, of you I recently downloaded the newly updated iTunes 8.0. I want to say up front that iTunes is one of the things that I truly love about my Mac. I am, you see, one who really loves music. And the ability to call up favorites from the iMac is a real treat for me. And I appreciate a broad scope of music. On my iMac I have things from ‘the Blind Boys of Alabama’ to music from the operas of Mozart, Wagner, Puccini, and Verdi, or from Willie Nelson to Frank Sinatra. I enjoy all of it.

So along comes this new version of iTunes, and I will say that I am not always really quick to pick up changes and updates. (Remember what I said earlier about not being a genius.) But I looked into the ‘Genius’ function of iTunes 8.0 and am, as the saying goes ‘agog.’ (I will admit that up to now, when I think of Mac and genius, I normally am thinking of Tom or George!) But the new ‘Genius’ function of iTunes  answers one of my most vexing problems. The problem is deciding what to hear, when I sit down at my iMac. I mean, there is such a wealth of music before my fingers that I am often stymied about what to listen to. Then along comes ‘Genius’: ‘Ta Da’! Yesterday I selected at various times musical selections and had the ‘Genius’ function prepare a playlist based on that selection. It solves the problem. I did a genius playlist  based on Willie Nelson’s wonderful rendition of the song ‘City of New Orleans’, and the results were fantastic. Next it was a playlist based on a song by Tony Bennet, and then a playlist based on an ‘Exultate Deo’ by the Cambridge Singers. The results provided me with wonderful music for hours, as I went about various tasks.

It’s this marvelous habit of making something that is already excellent even better that keeps me enchanted with the iMac on my desk.  So, if you want to have this kind of super musical experience, invite the iTunes ‘Genius’ to help you out.

Right-Click: The Often Overlooked Treasure

-- Review author: Tom Piper, appleJAC Macintosh Users Group, and Apple User Group Advisory Board

"I'd switch to a MAC, but I couldn't imagine giving up the right-click." This lament of a PC user is a broad and correctible misconception. Right-click functionality has been built into OS X since 2001, so third-party mice would work. Even though you don’t clearly see it, the Macintosh mouse has had built-in right-click since August 2005.

This article is only about right-click, so we will ignore the clickable customizable scroll-ball and side-button features of the Mighty Mouse. The magic of touch-sensitive technology transforms this seamless top shell into a two-button wonder, in wired or wireless versions. The primary use of the right-click feature is to access contextual menus, a feature that has been in the Mac operating system since OS 8.0 (control-click of the mouse was the alternative). Be sure it is set to “Secondary” (see screenshot).

“Contextual menus” are menus that can be brought up virtually anywhere by clicking the right mouse button. Many programs implement this very well, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Apple Mail being among those that do. The Finder also has this feature, which consists of commands such as "Eject" and "New Folder". You can choose how to view a folder, where to arrange the icons, and more. Both operating systems can "show info", or "get info" an an icon if you right-click on it, and both can also give you help if you need it, simply by right-clicking and selecting "Help" from the menu that pops up. You can actually change your desktop pattern by right-clicking on the desktop (see examples below).

Most people have never even heard of these menus. One favorite use of the contextual menu comes in the dock while iTunes is open. Right-click on the iTunes icon and you will get a menu that displays the currently playing song, as well as options to pause, go to the next song, go to the previous song, show iTunes in the Finder, or quit iTunes. If you've never tried the contextual menu before, you can try it now. Point to a picture on the site, and right-click. A menu should pop up, asking what you want to do with the picture. Or, point to an open app in the dock and right-click, and you will get a menu of open documents in that app and the option to quit the app. Drag a folder into the dock, right-click it, and you can browse the folder quickly and easily. Want to empty the trash? Right-clicking it will give you that option.

Contextual menus are a great way to do things faster and more efficiently on your Mac. They also give you some added functionality to programs, while just giving you easier access to frequently-used commands in others. Overall, contextual menus are very useful. If you haven't considered using them, try them out. You just may start asking yourself how you could have lived without them.

If contextual menus don’t do all that you want, you can enhance them. Abracode’s free Shortcuts lets you perform contextual-menu magic. After launching Shortcuts, its Assign Hot Keys screen presents you with a list of current contextual menu items, divided into the type of action each performs: actions on text (Spotlight searches, third-part text-munging tools), on files (Automator actions, third-party file manipulation tasks), or on folders (similar to files). To assign a keyboard shortcut to a contextual menu action, you simply choose it from the pop-up menu; a dialog will appear asking you to press the desired shortcut. (An item displayed in red in one of the pop-up menus means you’ve already assigned a shortcut to that item.)

But, there is more. If you are using any version of Windows through Boot Camp, Parallels or VMware, then the right-click will continue to work in the same way that PC users have been accustomed to all along. In fact, in addition to the Mac Mighty Mouse, the right-click feature will work with virtually any USB mouse that has this feature in Mac, Windows or Linux mode.

As you can see, right-clicking is a real treasure on the Mac. Hopefully, you will never look at it the same, and be able to enhance your control and enjoyment during daily computer use.

What a Great Meeting!

If you missed the September meeting, you really missed a good one.  The presentations on gadgets, web sites, tools, and foibles went over very well.  We hope to be able to provide a link to the video stream for it very soon.  In the meantime, here are all three handouts from the meeting showing the great things that were covered.

Download peggys_10_things.pdf

Download toms_10_things.pdf

Download georges_10_things.pdf

END OF OCTOBER appleJAC DIGEST