appleJAC Users Group

Take Control of Big Sur (v.1.1)

from Joe Kissell, Publisher, Take Control Books You may have heard that Apple finally released macOS 11 Big Sur today! As such, I’ve updated my book Take Control of Big Sur to version 1.1, reflecting the changes that occurred between the beta versions in the summer and today’s public release (which was, in fact, version 11.0.1). We’d like to offer you the chance to save 50% when you purchase this freshly updated book. (NOTE:We’re also releasing an updated version of Take Control of iCloud today, which you may hear about in a separate message.)   Take Control of Big Sur is a complete introduction to the many new changes in macOS 11. Instead of publishing separate titles on upgrading to Big Sur and using Big Sur, this year we’ve combined them into a single book. It contains an updated but condensed version of my upgrading instructions along with complete details on all the new apps, features, and visual changes in Big Sur. It also tells you what you need to know to prepare for the new Macs (announced this week) with Apple-designed M1 processors. Because you purchased one (or more) of our previous books on upgrading and exploring macOS, we are offering you a special price: 50% off. You can:   Buy Take Control of Big Sur (normally $14.99) for $7.50 or Learn more about this book In the coming weeks, we look forward to releasing still more updated books, including Take Control of Apple Mail and Take Control of the Mac Command Line with Terminal.

Download books and manage account  •  Unsubscribe macquest@mac.com

KOPN conversation with Joe Mertzlufft

On August 21, 2019, substituting for Dick Dalton that week during his regular "Glocal News in Social Artistry", Tom Piper interviewed his long-time friend Joe Mertzlufft, owner of Mid-Missouri Computer Services, Inc  (this was a preview of Tom's Tech Talk). Both have been Apple users since these first computers were available.

They have a long history of following diverse technology and adapting to its changes. Joe is also an avid basketball fan and user of radio-controlled flying machines. They even took a few minutes to promote the appleJAC Users Group.

In order to listen to this 53-minute broadcast, just go to transistor.fm/KOPNtomstechtalk, or click on:

KOPN 082119

What is Glocal News in Social Artistry?

Each Wednesday morning from 10:00-11:00am on KOPN.org 89.5 FM, Dick Dalton has a conversation with someone who is building a more humane world from the inside out. Listen live or find his podcasts here on transistor.fm.

 

Dick Dalton presents Tom Piper on KOPN radio

by Dick Dalton with Tom Piper.

July 11, 2018, was my conversation with Tom Piper. We met at an appleJAC meeting in the early 80s and recently started seeing each other at Capital City Productions. Tom's experiences as a director at DHSS, a MacQuest consultant (macquest.com), a photographer, and much more made it fun and informative.

You can listen in by clicking on . . . 

KOPNtompiper

 

Four updated Take Control books for your MUG

Happy holidays!

Here in San Diego, Morgen and the kids and I have been busily preparing for Christmas while also doing our best to get another batch of books out before the end of the year. I’m pleased to announce new editions of four popular Take Control titles (all of which update and replace books I previously released independently as Joe On Tech guides). All four titles now include coverage of High Sierra, in addition to hundreds of other changes.

Take Control of Backing Up Your Mac teaches you how to protect your data against mishaps of every kind by guiding you through the process of creating and implementing an excellent backup plan.

 

Buy Take Control of Backing Up Your Mac for $10.49 with the 30% MUG discount

Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac helps you prevent problems by de-junking and optimizing your Mac, followed by simple daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly maintenance tasks. It also shows you what commonly suggested maintenance tasks aren’t worth your time.

 

Buy Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac for $10.49 with the 30% MUG discount

 

Take Control of Troubleshooting Your Mac helps you solve problems by teaching you troubleshooting techniques, providing ready-to-use recipes to fix common Mac issues, and teaching you how to think like a technician even when solutions aren’t obvious.

 

Buy Take Control of Troubleshooting Your Mac for $10.49 with the 30% MUG discount

 

Take Control of Speeding Up Your Mac shows you how to improve your Mac’s performance. It addresses a wide range of speed issues, including CPU, RAM, and disk usage; hardware upgrades; network configuration; and much more.

 

Buy Take Control of Speeding Up Your Mac for $10.49 with the 30% MUG discount

But wait, there’s more! You can save a full 50% by buying all four books as a bundle for only $30. The easiest way to do that is to use this handy Mac Fitness Collection link, which adds all four books (and a 50%-off couppon) right to your shopping cart.

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Joe Kissell

 

More AppleWorks Questions

Editors Note:  Chris wrote this for MacWorld and it fits right in with the discussions we had at the February appleJAC meeting.  Thanks to Chris for permission to reprint.

By Christopher Breen (mac911@macworld.com)

Mac 911 Tip of the Week

Mention AppleWorks, as I did in last week's newsletter, and the floodgates of e-mail open, unleashing questions and comments. Let's address some of them now, after linking to the online version of last week's tip:

Convert AppleWorks documents to .rtf

Reader Keith Nealy notes that I recommended converting AppleWorks files with Pages: "And if you don't have Pages? Is there no solution other than Pages?"

AppleWorks still works on modern Macs, so if you have a copy, you can open your files in AppleWorks and save them as Rich Text or Word files. If you don't have a copy of AppleWorks any longer or would prefer to batch convert loads of documents at one go, there are a couple of utilities you could use.

One is Panergy's $20 OneClickConvert. It can convert AppleWorks (versions 5 and 6) word processor documents (as well as Word version 2, 4, 5,6, 7 ,97, 98, 2000, 2001, XP, 2003, 2004 documents), and NisusWriter (versions 3, 4, 5, 6, and 6.5) documents. Also, the grand-daddy of file conversion utilities lives on in the form of DataViz's $80 MacLinkPlus Deluxe.

Yash Holbrook has some even older files: "I don't have Pages, but I do have a ton of MacWrite II and MacWrite Pro files. How do I convert them into text files?"

MacLink Plus Deluxe will convert those files too. If you have a copy of AppleWorks (or ClarisWorks, that you can run in the Classic environment, presuming you have a PowerPC Mac running Tiger or earlier) try opening these files with it. Or, you can open these files with TextEdit. You'll get some garbage along with the text, but the bulk of it is at the beginning and end of the document and so can be easily dealt with.

Jeff Morgan is interested in AppleWorks' artistic talents: "What about opening (or converting) Appleworks Draw documents? Pages doesn't do the trick."

No, but Dekorra Optics' $95 (download price) EazyDraw 3.0 does. EazyDraw supports a lot of older file formats including MacDraw, MacDrawPro, Claris Draw, and AppleWorks. (And it's a darned-fine draw application to boot!) If you need it for only as long as the time it takes to convert your files to another format, you can purchase a nine month license for just $20.

And finally, a slew of comments that ran along these lines: "But AppleWorks runs perfectly well on my Mac. Why should I stop using it?"

When it comes to the death of AppleWorks, if you've failed to notice the words chiseled into the wall, allow me to repeat them here: The End is Nigh!! AppleWorks was abandoned in the last millennium and it ain't coming back. We've had a good ride, but that ride -- in the form of Snow Leopard -- is probably over. If you want to stick with an older Mac running an older version of the Mac OS simply to run AppleWorks, fine by me. But if you anticipate moving with the times, it's time to think seriously about alternatives to AppleWorks. iWork '09 includes perfectly fine word processing and spreadsheet applications. Bento 2 is an easy-to-use database. EazyDraw's got your drawing needs covered. For simple painting, Soggy Waffles' free Paintbrush is a nice little app.

I'm as big a fan of AppleWorks' flexibility as the next guy, but it's time to think about moving on.

------------

reprinted with permission of the author, 03/22/09

Graphic Secrets for MUGs: Printing Borderless Photos in Photoshop and Elements

A User Group Feature Article by Lesa Snider King

Resizing your images to print borderless can be an exercise in frustration. Unless you know the trick, you'll end up with a nasty white border. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to do it quickly and painlessly in both Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS. The best part is that both programs will figure the resolution for you automatically!

Read the article here.

Bio: Lesa Snider King is the author of "Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual" (O'Reilly), chief evangelist of iStockphoto.com, and founder of GraphicReporter.com. She's a proud member of DACS, NCMUG, and WAP. You can catch her graphic tips live each Wednesday night on YourMacLifeShow.com.

appleJAC MUG 2009 activities: Rambling Thoughts

by Tom Piper

January 24, 1984, was the start of something big as the one-time award-winning “1984” SuperBowl commercial announced the release of the Apple Macintosh . . . thus began the changing of our world by the guys know as Jobs and Wozniak. As a five-year veteran Apple ][ user, I couldn’t resist the allure of this magical new box, which became mine in February after seeing it in person in Kansas City. Soon after, I moved from Iowa to Jefferson City, and by the end of the year had joined with other early-adopters to form our self-help group.

As we launch our efforts for this year, the appleJAC Macintosh Users Group Board of Directors has many things that it will be considering for our activities. Our membership has dropped below 50 people for the first time in many years, and we chuckle about the “graying” of our membership because the average age seems to be older (I just celebrated the 21st anniversary of my 39th birthday myself). So, I will be proposing a major membership drive this year to make more Mac owners aware of our excellent user group opportunity and services. As you have probably also realized, many Mac users (particularly new switchers) aren’t even aware that we exist, and how would they easily find out. As a result of Julie’s ad one weekend after Christmas, we gained five new members, and she plans to run our monthly meeting in the News Tribune Calendar of Events as a regular feature. Our self-help efforts have benefited many in the almost 25 years since we started.

Interest has also been expressed in having another photo contest for the end of the summer, and bringing back our training courses for certain programs. At the last meeting, a variety of topics were suggested by members that will posted to our monthly meetings throughout the year. Our annual August picnic has always been well-attended, and everyone has suffered through the heat proclaiming that we either need to take the event indoors, or move to a cooler month, both of which we will consider.

Those who attended our last meeting probably also saw that we have a new Genie’s Bar on the side of our seating area. This is a take-off on Apple’s “Genius Bar” where people get assistance to solve their computer issues. At our meetings, we’ve also seen our Mac Gurus provide advice to members informally, and now we have a distinguished location for them (not during presentations). We have also returned to the big screen for digital viewing, and will be experimenting with various seating arrangements for optimal interaction.

We will continue to welcome more participation in our presentations and leadership by our members. New faces and new approaches keeps our meetings fresh and fun (and keeps our old guard from burning out). We remain a friendly, industrious and interesting self-help group reliant upon the enthusiasm and creativity of our membership.

Managing Finances on your Mac for Beginners

A podcast from the April 2008 meeting of the Lawrence Apple Users Group. This month’s meeting revolved around using software to manage finances on your Macintosh.

This presentation from Dave Greenbuam is on how to utilize your Mac to keep track of your personal finances. The slides from the meeting are available in either PDF or Keynote formats.

Toast 8 Titanium, by Roxio

a Review by Reviewer: Robert Schumann of the Mac Guild.

Overview

Toast 8 Titanium is the latest version of the highly regarded disc burning utility. Toast goes beyond the included OS X disc burning capabilities and adds features which make it extremely flexible to create various CD and DVD formats. Toast supports making data discs, audio discs, video disc, and copies of existing discs. Toast also supports exporting audio and video files to different format types.

The software was reviewed on a Power Macintosh G4 Quicksilver 867 MHz with 1.125 GB of RAM running Mac OS X 10.4.9 with a Pioneer DVR-111D optical drive (16x DVD-R/+R Writer). The Toast 8 Titanium software reviewed was version 8.0.1 which is Universal Binary that supports Intel Macs.

Requirements

 
• Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel processor
 
• CD, DVD or Blu-ray Disc recordable drive
 
• Mac OS X v10.4.8 or higher
 
• 250 MB of free disk space to install
 
• Up to 15 GB of temporary free disk space during usage
 
• QuickTime 7.1.3 or higher
 
• The latest versions of iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie are recommended.

Setup

Toast 8 Titanium is supplied on a CD or can be purchased online and downloaded as a .dmg disk image. To install, simply drag the Toast 8 Titanium folder to the Applications folder on your hard disk. Before I launched the application for the first time, I downloaded the latest version from the Roxio web site. To update Toast, simply double-click on the downloaded .dmg file which will mount the disk image on your desktop. Drag the new Toast 8 Titanium folder to the Applications folder to replace the existing folder. In the update folder were also the latest versions of the other included applications, CD Spin Doctor, Disc Cover RE, DiscCatalogMaker RE, and Motion Pictures HD. When Toast is first launched, the Setup Assistant will guide you through the initial setup including entering the required CD key and registering with Roxio. You are also given the option to install the Deja Vu backup scheduler, the Toast It contextual menu addition, and a DivX Playback QuickTime plug-in.

Toast 8 Titanium Disc

In Use

When you first launch Toast 8 Titanium, you are presented with the main window with four selections for each type of disc that can be created.

Data, Audio, Video, and Copy Disc Selections

At the bottom of the Toast window is the command center. This area contains the green disc capacity meter, a very useful feature that tells you at a glance how much CD or DVD disc space you have available, the big red record button, and the media type popup (for selecting CD, DVD, Dual-Layer DVD, Blu-ray, or Dual-Layer Blu-ray). To the left of the record button, Toast displays the name and model of your disc recorder, along with a recording options button on the right and a eject button on the left. The recording options pop-up lets you access the recorder settings, and lets you change the recorder (if you have more than one recorder).

Toast Command Center

In addition to these basic commands, there is also a set of commands available which change with the disc format selected. When Data disc is selected, you have buttons for New Disc or Folder, Add, Remove, and Info. With Audio disc selected, you have controls for Add, Remove, Info, Export, and general player controls. With Video disc selected, you have controls for Add, Remove and Info. There are no buttons available here when Copy disc is selected.

Create a Data Disc:

If you wish to create a disc that contains any kind of files and folders, then you will want to create a "Data" disc. Creating a Data disc can be accomplished using the Finder, but you either have to insert a blank disc or create a burn folder then drag files to it. I found it easier, more intuitive, and more flexible to use Toast to create Data discs.

Data Disc Window with Content Area

With Data selected, files and folders may be dragged into the area shown. Alternately, you can click on the Add button and use the normal file selection dialog box to choose the files and folders. In the lower right corner of the Toast window is a large red record button. Above that button is a small drop-down menu where you can select the type of media to use, CD, DVD, DVD DL (dual layer), BD (Blu-ray Disc), or BD DL. To the left of the record button, is a small recording options button where you can change the recorder settings or select which recorder to use if more than one is available. The arc next to the record button will show the fill level of the chosen media. It will be green as it advances to full, turns orange when it hits just beyond the capacity of the media, and then turns red when the media capacity is further exceeded. If needed, you can change the media type to the next large capacity to get the arc meter back to green. If the arc meter is orange or red and you click on the record button, Toast will automatically span the data across multiple discs, if necessary. Under the Options area in the bottom left of the window, Toast will tell you how many of the selected media discs will be required and the amount of space used.

If you do not wish to burn a disc at that moment or want to preview the disc first, you can save to a disc image by using the "Save as Disc Image..." option from the File menu. To mount the Toast disc image, choose "Mount Disc Image..." from the Utilities menu. Or if you installed the Toast It option, you can use "Mount It" from the contextual menu.

Data Disc Window with Formats

By default, Toast will call the disc you are creating "My Disc", but you can change it to the name of your choice by either clicking on the name next to the small disc icon above your files in the window, or by clicking the More button in the bottom left and changing it in the dialog box that appears.

Five format types are available for the disc you are creating: Mac Only, Mac & PC, DVD-ROM (UDF), ISO 9660, and Photo Disc. In most cases, the Mac & PC format will be the best choice so that the disc may be read on a Mac or PC. Two other formats, Custom Hybrid and Mac HFS Standard, are also available if you have selected "Show Legacy Formats and Settings" in the Toast Preferences.

I decided to create a Data DVD to backup all of the files I had on my old Mac. I dragged the three folders that contained everything from my Performa hard drives to the content drop area. Fortunately, everything would fit on one DVD. If it did not, the data would span across multiple discs.

I then assigned a custom icon and background picture that can be accessed by clicking on the More button. I did not find it to be intuitive that the More button would get you to those options and I had to check the documentation on how to do this customization.

Since I am not a fan of making coasters (aka, wanted to make sure I knew what the program would do), I choose to save it as a disc image so I could first verify the results. The icon was correct as was the background picture, but the files and folders were not in the exact order I wanted in the icon view but was good enough. This is a big improvement over Toast 7, where I could not get good results with a custom icon and a background picture. I wish there could be a quick preview of the layout results without having to save the disc image first. Once I was happy with the results, I burned the disc image to a DVD-R disc.

Data Disc Window with More Format Options

Toast 8 Record Dialog Box

Create an Audio Disc:

If you want to create different types of Audio discs, Toast can accommodate your wishes. Formats supported include Audio CD, Music DVD, MP3 Disc, and Enhanced Audio CD. CD-Text is an option supported by the Audio and Enhanced Audio CD that allows for storage of additional text information (e.g. album name, song name, and artist). A Mixed Mode CD format is also available if you have selected "Show Legacy Formats and Settings" in the Toast Preferences.

If your playlist contains music purchased from the iTunes Music Store, your only option is to use iTunes. Music purchased from the iTunes Music Store are protected AAC files and only your authorized computers can play them or burn them to discs as non-protected files. Toast will not allow you add protected music to an Audio CD or Music DVD. It will allow you to add the protected files to a MP3 disc, but it will not convert them to a MP3 file, and you will only be able to play the protected files on an authorized computer. Of course, the way around the protected music hassle is to burn your purchased music to CD using iTunes, and then rip them back to your computer so that you will always have the unprotected versions of your music (and therefore can also burn them with other software, such as Toast).

You may ask, "Why not use iTunes to make an Audio CD or Music DVD?" Where Toast really shines with Audio CDs and DVDs is the ease of creating a song list in exactly the order you want.

Audio Disc Window with Formats

I created an Audio CD by clicking on Audio and selected the Audio CD format. To add songs to the CD, I either clicked the Add button to navigate to any QuickTime recognized audio file or used the Media Browser to find non-protected files in the iTunes library.

Audio Disc Window with floating Media Browser

The floating Media Browser window can now be widened, so it is now easy to browse for music by the song or artist. If you mouse over the song, a detailed information box will pop up that will also tell you the album. If the Media Browser window is closed, it may be opened by clicking on the small icon next to the help button in the upper right corner of the Toast window. Songs can be easily re-arranged in the content area by dragging songs to the desired position. You can also play a selected song from within the Toast window to verify your selection.

When you hit the record button or save the disc as an image, Toast will convert all of the files to AIFF audio files that can be played on all audio CD players.

One great Toast feature that it not widely known is non-protected audio and video files can be easily exported to different formats. To do that for an audio file, select the song from the content area, and then click on the Export button. Next, select the desired export format and save the new file. Supported audio formats are AIFF, WAV, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and PSP audio.

Create a Video Disc:
Toast supports the creation of Video CD, Super Video CD, DVD-Video, and DivX disc formats. The DivX format is a highly compressed video format that can fit much more content on a disc (comparable to MP3 compression of AIFF files). Many newer DVD players support DivX playback and Toast will optionally install a QuickTime plug-in to allow DivX playback with the QuickTime Player. Using Toast, you can create Video CDs and DVDs with selectable menu styles, automatic scene menus, and slide menus with shuffle mode. With the new functionality to compress a costly dual-layer DVD (unprotected) movie onto a standard 4.7 GB DVD, Toast 8 basically includes the functionality of its Popcorn product (a $50 value).

To create a Video DVD, click on the Video disc and select the DVD-Video format. My first project was to create a DVD with a one hour TV program I recorded using an AlchemyTV DVR PCI card. I had saved the video as a Motion-JPEG Format (.mov) and dragged .mov file to the Toast Content Area. For the Menu Style, I changed it to "Retro TV".

Video Disc Window with Formats

I found the preview of the Menu Style to be a bit small to get a clear view of what the finished product would look like. A new feature in Toast 8 is the ability to add your own graphic image to the Menu Style. For this disc, I did not include scene menus. Changing the disc name from the default My Disc was not obvious; you can either click on the current name above the Content area or click the More button to change the Disc Settings.

Video Disc Window with Formats - Disc Settings


Video Disc Window with Formats - Menu Settings

Again, I saved as a Toast image file instead of directly burning to DVD disc. It took approximately 4.5 hours to process and save the image file. To mount and check the Toast image, I used Mount It from the contextual menu (installed with the Toast It contextual menu addition), and that also launched the DVD Player. The results were satisfactory, so I burned the image to a DVD-R disc. The good news is that, using the saved image, it did not take another 4.5 hours to burn the DVD. It took only around 12 minutes to burn the DVD (your speed may vary depending upon the speed of your DVD-R media). I played DVD in two different DVD players (Sony and Toshiba), two different Macs, and on a Windows XP PC, and it worked fine in all.

Toast allows you to edit a video clip so that you can change the start and stop points. It will not actually modify the original, but simply only render the selected portion of the video. To try this feature, I took a video clip that I recorded and selected the start and stop points in Edit Video window.

Video Disc Window with Edit Video

This feature is not nearly as sophisticated an editor as iMovie, but was adequate for this task. To set the start point, I played the clip until it reached the start point I wanted. On the progress bar, the start point marker was dragged to line up with the current position indicator and can be fine-tuned by using the arrow buttons or keys. Similarly, the stop point marker was set. A specific picture for the menu button for this clip was set by stopping playback at the desired point and clicking on the "Set Button Picture" button. This scene will show as a button on the DVD menu. If the option "Include scene menus for video" is checked, Toast automatically created scene menu buttons every five minutes for the clip. My experience with this was the scenes that were used started at the beginning of the original clip and not from the start of the selected portion.

As with the audio files, Toast can easily export QuickTime recognized, non-protected video files to different formats including for a video iPod. For the 14-minute video I created, here are the results for processing and saving to five different formats:

1. *DVD*, file size: 772.3 MB, 1:19 to process
2. *SVCD*, file size: 284.3 MB, 0:43 to process
3. *iPod MPEG-4* Best (.m4v), file size: 146.4 MB, 2:35 to process
4. *iPod MPEG-4* Fastest (.m4v), file size: 143.8 MB, 0:20 to process
5. *DivX*, file size: 148.9 MB, 0:58 to process

Video Export Save as Dialog Box


Video and Audio Export Formats

Copy a Disc or Disc Image:

To copy an existing disc, click on Copy. In the Format area, select Disc Copy. Insert the disc that you want to copy then click the red Record button and the Record Dialog Box will appear. Check the options then click the record button. After the source disc is read in, it is ejected and you are prompted to insert a blank recordable disc. After doing so, the disc is burned and verified. This works great with only a single optical drive. If you happen to have two optical drives, the process is even smoother, as Toast can just copy directly from one drive to the other.

Copy Disc Window with Formats

I tried to copy a PC CD that contained JPEG picture files created by Kodak EasyShare. This Disk was a multi-session CD, meaning that multiple recording sessions occurred on the CD. Toast would only copy the first session, and unfortunately, that session did not contain the pictures. I checked the documentation and it indeed stated that Toast will only copy the first session of a multi-session data CD. To be fair, Apple's Disk Utility would not handle it either. I ended up creating a new data disc by selecting the Data tab and dragging the JPEG files to the Content Area. Given that there is this work around, and the fact that Toast can burn multiple session CDs, I found it a bit odd that Toast could not handle copying a multi-session disc, or at least allow you to select which session to copy.

To copy a disc image file to a CD or DVD, also click on Copy. In the Formats area, select Image File. Next, drag the image file to the Content Area or use the Select button to navigate to the file. Now you can click the red Record button and the Record Dialog Box will appear. Check the options, insert a blank recordable disc, and then click the record button. The disc will then be burned and verified, the image never has to be mounted. It's that simple.

Copy Image File Window with Formats

The ToastAnywhere Recorder Sharing feature allows you to share CD and DVD recorders across a network or the Internet with other Toast users. This feature is enabled from the Toast Preferences under Sharing. You can set it up to require a password to connect to the recorder on your computer. Toast must be installed on both machines to share a recorder. On my iMac G5, I have Toast 7 installed that also supports ToastAnywhere.

To choose an available recorder, click the Recording Options button to the left of the red Record button. A list will pop up displaying your Mac's recorder(s) and any available on your network. From that list, select the recorder to use. I was able to connect to the Quicksilver's recorder from the iMac (e.g., using Toast 7, I could see the shared recorder). However, the iMac's recorder was not available from the Quicksilver (e.g., using Toast 8, I could not see the shared recorder). Both Macs were running 10.4.9, so I was unable to determine the cause of this issue.

Toast 8 has the ability to compress and copy an entire non-protected 9 GB dual-layer DVD video to a standard 4.7 GB recordable DVD disc. This could be a great cost savings for those with plenty of 4.7GB discs that don't want to go out and buy the relatively expensive DVD dual-layer discs.

Toast Interface

For users of previous versions of Toasts, the user interface has changed for the better. There are no more drawers that slide out from the sides and the main Toast window is a cleaner design. The interface design is quite intuitive and easy to use. The style and look of the interface is much improved with this edition of the software. It sports a sleek and Mac savvy appearance, and it proved to be a stable and reliable interface.

New Features

Toast 8 boasts a number of new features over Toast 7.

Upon launching Toast 8, you will notice the streamlined user interface if you are familiar with previous versions. Gone are top selection tabs and the side drawer that would slide out to display the Format options or Media Browser. Now Data, Audio, Video, and Copy selections are on the left side of the main Toast window with the formats below the selected item. The Media Browser now has its own floating window. When you record a disc, the new progress bar window appears in place of the Toast window. It shows the percent processed, the time remaining to completion, and the write speed. Once the burn has completed, you are prompted to select whether you want your disc verified and Toast will by default continue with verification if you do not respond within a few seconds. When complete, a new window appears advising you that the disc is ready and that you should label your disc with the title, date, and time. Once you click on the OK button, the Toast main window reappears.

Progress Bar Window

There are also numerous new disc burning and copying features. Toast 8 supports burning Blu-ray Discs with a capacity of up to 50 GB. I do not have a Blu-ray Disc burner so I was not able to test this but it is nice to know that Roxio is staying on top of the latest technology. Toast 8 now supports Mac and PC data spanning across multiple discs whereas Toast 7 supported Mac only. This is good news if you wish to share data on both platforms. There is a new Disc Restore option when copying discs. With that option enabled, files from damaged discs may be recovered. With the addition of the new extra program DiscCatalogMaker RE, data projects are automatically cataloged by default and you can customize what type of content to catalog in the preference settings.

New photo and video features are also included in Toast 8. If you have a TiVo, TiVoToGo transfers to DVD, iPod or PSP are now supported. I do not have a TiVo so I was not able to try this new feature. When creating video discs, you can now choose to use your own pictures for custom DVD menu backgrounds. With Toast 8, you can now create full quality photo archive discs with slideshows that can be viewed on a Mac or PC without installing any special software.

Toast 8 adds new audio and music features as well. Roxio Jam audio mastering tools are now included. You can now add dynamic crossfades and transitions from within Toast as well as performing audio processing with sound enhancing filters, volume normalizing, and track trimming.

Additional Applications Included

Included with Toast are an audio recording application, a disc labeling application, a slideshow creation application, and a new disc cataloging application.

Documentation for CD Spin Doctor, Disc Cover RE, Motion Pictures HD, and DiscCatalogMaker RE is available by choosing Help from within each application.

CD Spin Doctor

CD Spin Doctor 4.0.1.205t is the audio recording software included with Toast 8.0.1. CD Spin Doctor allows you to digitize audio from records, cassettes, or any live source. Once recorded, you can enhance the audio by applying filters. Three types of filters may be applied to audio tracks: Noise Reducer, Sound Enhancer, and a ten band Equalizer. I digitized a tape recording of the Radio City Music Hall on the Air from 1936 featuring my Aunt Henrietta. As would be expected, the tape contained a lot of clicks, crackles, and hiss, and the Noise Reducer improved the sound noticeably. The finished audio can be sent to iTunes or to Toast by clicking on the appropriate button.

CD Spin Doctor has the option to install a desktop recorder Dashboard widget (Mac OS X 10.4 required) so that you can instantly capture and digitize audio from a dashboard.

CD Spin Doctor Interface

Disc Cover RE

Disc Cover RE 1.3.3 is the disc labeling software included with Toast 8.0.1 and is a limited version of Disc Cover. You can use Disc Cover RE to create and print CD/DVD labels and jewel case inserts. Not all of the styles shown in the Disc Cover RE New Projects interface are available. I was able to quickly create and print a jewel case lid using several JPEG images I had downloaded. A nice library of artwork is included. I found the Disc Cover RE user interface much improved over Discus RE that was included with Toast 7. Disc Cover RE also supports laser-etching to LightScribe-enabled drives and media.

Disc Cover RE Interface

DiscCatalogMaker RE

DiscCatalogMaker RE 4.2.1 is the disc cataloging software included with Toast 8.0.1. By default, Toast data projects automatically cataloged and this can be enabled or disabled in the Toast Record Advanced preference settings.

As with the other additional applications, launch DiscCatalogMaker RE from the Extras menu to browse your disc catalog or to manually catalog discs volumes including hard drives. Double-clicking on a file in the catalog window will attempt to open that file from the disc containing the file. If the disc is not mounted, you will be prompted to insert that disc.

DiscCatalogMaker RE Interface

Motion Pictures HD

Motion Pictures HD 2.1.3t is the slideshow creating software included with Toast 8.0.1. Motion Pictures HD enables you to create slideshows that can be exported as a QuickTime movie or burned to DVD with Toast or iDVD. You can add motion to each picture in the slideshow, cross dissolve between the pictures, and add a music track to the slideshow. Multiple photos can be displayed at once by creating groups of pictures. Slideshows can be shown as full screen or widescreen. Similar to Toast, you can browse for your iPhoto pictures and your iTunes music using the Media Browser window. I briefly tried Motion Pictures HD and I was impressed by its capabilities.

Motion Pictures HD Interface

Support

The "Toast 8 Titanium Users Guide" PDF file is included on the CD and covers the detailed operations of the application. I suggest that you review this document before using the utility.

Additional help is available from the Help menu or the question mark on the upper right side of the main window. Built-in help uses Apple's Help Center.

Software updates can be obtained from the Roxio website.

Summary

The best keeps getting better. Toast 8 Titanium is the premier disc burning utility for the Macintosh, and this version builds upon its impressive feature set. Toast now supports Blu-ray Disc burning and now includes Jam audio mastering tools. It includes improved features such as recompressing 9GB dual-layer DVDs to standard 4.7GB DVDs and one-click copying of audio CDs and movie DVDs. It also supports many audio and video formats, including performing real-time conversions during audio burning. Toast continues to be a solid application, but there are a few areas that could use improvement. The DVD video menu preview is still too small, and Toast can only copy the first session of a multi-session data disk. Still, by far, Toast Titanium is the best and most complete application for disc creation needs. Used in conjunction with the iLife suite, most users' disc creation needs are effectively satisfied. The additional applications included, CD Spin Doctor, Disc Cover RE, DiscCatalogMaker RE, and Motion Pictures HD, greatly add to its value. The Toast 8 user interface is improved, consistent, intuitive, and easy to use. While Mac OS X and the iLife suite may meet basic disc burning needs, Toast 8 Titanium packs all of your disc burning needs into a single place with additional features not available in iLife, making it a simpler and more effective solution for creating CDs and DVDs. I highly recommend Toast 8 Titanium for all Mac users that would like to take their disc burning to the next level.

Pros

 
• Easy to use with an intuitive, streamlined user interface
 
• Integration with iLife files via the Media Browser
 
• Supports many disc format types, even legacy formats
 
• Converts non-protected audio and video files to different formats
 
• Useful additional applications included

Cons

 
• The DVD-Video Menu Style thumbnail preview is too small
 
• Will only copy the first session of a multi-session data CD
 
• For users with little to basic CD burning needs, iLife may be sufficient
 
• ToastAnywhere would only see the optical disc recorder on one of the two Macs on my home network
 
• 
  

iPhone: The Missing Manual . . . Delightful Details

a review by Tom Piper

First Edition: August 2007 (est.)
ISBN 10: 0-596-51374-7
ISBN 13: 9780596513740
Pages: 304
Price: $19.99 USD ($24.99 including PDF)

Whether you’ve already invested in Apple’s incredibly innovative iPhone, or are still contemplating this model versus the next, David Pogue, New York Times columnist and Mac enthusiast, has once again produced a “must have” handbook to get the most out of this treasure. This publication is the 17th in his Missing Manual series building on his tradition of illustrating details, hacks, workarounds, tutorials, humor, and flaws.

A quick look at the Table of Contents shows the thoroughness of this book:

    Part 1: The iPhone as Phone
        Chapter 1: The Guided Tour
        Chapter 2: Phone Calls
        Chapter 3: Fancy Phone Tricks
    Part 2: The iPhone as iPod
        Chapter 4: Music and Video
        Chapter 5: Photos and Camera
    Part 3: The iPhone Online
        Chapter 6: Getting Online
        Chapter 7: The Web
        Chapter 8: Email
        Chapter 9: Maps and Apps
    Part 4: Beyond iPhone
        Chapter 10: iTunes for iPhoners
        Chapter 11: Syncing the iPhone
        Chapter 12: Add-Ons: Accessories and Web Apps
        Chapter 13: Settings
    Part 5: Appendixes
        Appendix A: Setup and Signup
        Appendix B: Troubleshooting and Maintenance
        Index

In a style which is refreshinigly candid, occasionally tongue-in-cheek, brilliantly entertaining and always educational, David patiently and deliberately walks the reader through the opening impressions directly into the meaty productivity details. Punctuated by insightful tips, notes, colors and caveats, to call it a “page turner” would be an understatement. Liberally illustrated with great photos, instructive graphics and loads of screen shots from the iPhone, his points are easy to understand and apply quickly.

While there are many parts of the book that are quite obvious in using the iPhone, every chapter seems to have a few tidbits that are really worth reading. It is amazing that David was able to, in such a short time, compile all the small hints that make you once again say to yourself “. . . this is one cool phone!” Of particular note are the explanations of all the settings that can configure the iPhone to work the way you want it to. Many of these settings truly enhance the iPhone experience.

The part of the book that seemed repetitive were the chapter on using iTunes and the Appendix on Setup and Signup. Both of these chapters, while thorough, really don’t add a lot to the iPhones use. Perhaps if right after the Introduction, rather than two-thirds the way through, Setup and Signup would have seemed more appropriate. Most people investing in the iPhone will likely already be iTunes users, and there is little point in reading about the Setup process again once you’ve been through it.

David always seems to add a humorous twist on rather dry facts, everything from initial setup to advanced features, you never feel like you are reading a training manual. Covering all the basic and advanced features with an in-depth instruction book, he leads you from feature to feature as you quickly walk through it. David also makes a strong push on informing readers about the Add-Ons made possible through the use of Safari and AJAX-driven webpages. Everything from a gas prices to movie show times, and to-do list making, he was able to show readers very quickly some of the best resources that are currently available.

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.

Typing Shortcuts: TypeIt4Me

a review by Tom Piper

Tired of typing, and retyping the same words, phrases and paragraphs time and again? Wish you could just type in some short abbreviation as a placeholder for something which would later be replaced by an address or quote or something much larger? Want a shorthand way of typing a little but getting a lot? My need was fulfilled by a delightful program called TypeIt4Me 3.0.

“It’s autotext, Jim, but not as we know it!” . . . so says a website ad from the United Kingdom which goes on to say that TypeIt4Me expands your abbreviations as you type.It’s like autotext, but TypeIt4Me works in all applications, not just one. There are macro utilities that can type text but TypeIt4Me lets you define meaningful abbreviations, so you can type them naturally, as part of your writing, without memorizing obscure character combinations.

First you define a number of abbreviations and the full text entries that they represent, then you watch the Mac expand them on the fly even as you continue typing! This is the original and still the best text expander for Mac OS since 1989. Its as simple as the illustration below:

So, I’m sure you are now asking what this program is useful for. That depends on who you are and what you write about. Doctors, medical transcriptionists, lawyers, tech support operators and professional writers are amongst the most prominent types of users who have bought a TypeIt4Me user licence so far. Some find useful for typing the current date and my return address at the top of a letter and for a standard end of letter salutation. Another example is: "u r rh ab teh cgs" that would type out "you are right about the changes". (Assuming that you have defined u=you, r=are, rh=right, ab=about, teh=the and cgs=changes and that you defined the space bar as one of your expansion triggers.) Notice how the common mistake of typing "teh" instead of "the" gets automatically corrected as would "adn" for "and", plus any others that you can think of. TypeIt4Me can help you eliminate your most common typos on the fly. It is also very useful for entering repetitive data in a database file or spreadsheet. Or to log into various systems by typing an abbreviation that expands to your user ID then tabs to the next field and pastes your password. Enough potential uses?

TypeIt4Me is a very useful shareware program which can be purchased for only $27. Interestingly, I have come to enjoy the British author of this software, Riccardo Ettore, who is also updating from OS9 a real cute and delightful utility called Sounds4Fun that will be released in January.

Telephone Through Your Mac: Dialog+

a review by Tom Piper

You’ve heard about people who talk on the telephone through their computer? How about voice-over-IP? You are already familiar with iChat on your Mac, but have you tried Skype to make toll-free calls this past year to other computers AND regular land-lines from your Mac?

This review is about a slick new product that simplifies and speeds up this type of communication. Until recently, you either used the microphone and speakers in your Mac, or a set of earphones and hand mic, or even a headset with boom mic to make such calls. This new wireless handset is less than 5” long (see below), is lightweight and reminds me of a “candybar” cellphone like those made by Nokia.

Whether you wish to use Skype (middle panel above) or iChat (panel at right), the process is really very simple. The Dialog+ handset comes with a USB dongle to plug into the computer (Mac or PC) which is the base antenna allowing you to walk around up to 80 feet away. All iChat calls are free (computer to computer), and Skype calls (inside the US) will be free until Jan. 18, 2007, after which you can get an annual prepaid service for $14.95 that covers all  US calls (overseas rates are as little as 2¢ per minute). The inital setup takes less than five minutes.

As described on their website, this Miglia Dialog+ handset acts as a “go-between” phone which communicates with both PC and Mac. Using the arrows on your phone, you simply select your Skype contact and you’re ready to call. The beauty of Dialog + is that it uses a wireless signal allowing you to roam around selecting contacts from your Skype list or history. It has a long list of features such as various melodic ringtones, up and down arrows to adjust volume control, one touch access to all your Skype contacts and caller ID.

Aside from the day-to-day making and receivng of calls, Dialog+ brings you a world of extra features. Choose to record all your Skype and iChat conversations, Dialog+ combines state of the art technology with practicability. Take advantage of a flawless quality ensuring you can easily keep track of your call history. I now use this phone for many of my podcast recordings.

With a standby time of up to 150 hours and with up to 15 hours of talk time, there is nothing left to stop you chatting all day long. The handset comes with three AAA rechargeable batteries easily re-charged by your USB port, no fuss, no hassle and just one small cable to recharge your phone. The only improvement that I would make is to brighten the screen (which would probably shorten the cureent long battery life).

This is a pretty cool unit which I would recommend. Normally $99, a special user group discount offer of 25% is available until the end of March 2007. Miglia Technology offers innovative audio, video and communications products. If you are interested in watching, recording, pausing or rewinding live TV on your Mac, then Miglia's TVMicro, TVMini HD and TVMax are for you! If you'd like to leverage the power of Internet telephony and make free worldwide phone calls, the Dialog products may interest you. For those into audio, check out the HarmonyAudio, Microsound and Diva products!

Migilia offers user group members the following specials, each at 25% of regular prices:
- TVMini HD: regularly $199 (US), user group price $149 (US)
- TVMicro: regularly $99 (US), user group price $74 (US)
- TVMax: regularly $249 (US), user group price' $187 (US)
- HarmonyAudio: regularly $199 (US), user group price $149 (US)
- Microsound: regularly $29 (US), user group price $19 (US)
- Dialog: regularly $79 (US), user group price $59 (US)
- Dialog+: regularly $99 (US), user group price $74 (US)
- Diva 2.1: regularly $99 (US), user group price' $74 (US)

Learn more - order online
This North American-only offer is valid through March 31, 2007.

Computer transcription: iListen

a review by Tom Piper

Have you ever wanted to talk to your computer and have it do all the typing?  Are you ready for the Mac to become an automatic dictation machine? If so, you may be ready for a program called iListen by MacSpeech.

The first draft of this software review was done entirely with this program.. I previously had a similar program called Dragon Secretary which was based on an older archaic speech recognition concept. It is a very interesting exercise to dictate this program review.

The box for iListen comes complete with the installation CD, a USB headset, and simple instructions. The installation process was very straight-forward with the initial program installation, brief orientation, headset adjustment (see below) and voice training. The entire process took less than an hour to complete the entire four steps. There was not anything particularly difficult about this process because it was all plug-and-play which was completed by the reading of text into the computer. This last step was important so that it could  better recognize my style, intonation, volume and voice patterns.

The most amusing part of this process is that I’m not used to doing dictation. I haven’t done at the office for many years. Therefore, I tend to speak very haltingly rather than in a smooth style. As I attempt to collect my thoughts for what I’m about to say, I am amazed that the program can keep up with me so quickly. It also brings a smile to my face to see how sometimes a specific phrase maybe technically correct, but is inappropriate for the context that I am you using for this article. I am also amazed that how accurate and fast the transcription process is (and how embarrassed I am at the sentence structure and style comes out when taken literally). It gives new meaning to the old saying “Listen to what I mean, not what I’m saying.”

A very nice feature of iListen it is the ability to transcribe into it any program that you choose. For example, this review was initially constructed in AppleWorks on my MacBook Pro 17”. There is one small window (see above) that hovers anywhere on your desktop to indicate the status of the dictation, as well at this the volume, voice quality and transcribed phrases heard. This is really a very powerful tool uses a simple interface in order to control it. Not only can I use this for transcription, but I can also a different mode to check my spelling, or to go into a command mode which controls the computer itself. Here is a summary of its features:

- Easy to install, train and use.
- Fast Training - start dictating in 5 minutes or less.
- Universal Binary - for best performance.
- Continuous Speech Recognition - Dictation in normal tone of voice and at a normal pace.
- Direct Dictation - Dictate, edit and format text directly in any application.
- Correction - Correct and Update your Voice Model in almost any application.
- Hands-Free Correction - Correct using your voice, no need to use the keyboard or mouse!
- Correction Playback - Hear what you said - in your own voice!
- Adapts to your Speech - iListen adapts to your pronunciation of words
- Extensive Vocabulary - Vocabulary of more than 330,000 words developed in cooperation with Oxford University.
- Command and Control - Speech control of the computer through built-in normal language and individually created commands.
- Constant Feedback - The iListen Floating Palette provides you with constant feedback.
- Dock Menu - You can even use the Dock to access iListen functions.
- Multiple Profiles - Everyone in your home can create their own voice profile, so now everyone can use it!
- Text Macro Capabilities - Insert (up to 32,000 characters) standardized or predetermined phrases and text - with a single spoken phrase.
- Speech Navigation - Open, close and control applications and navigate the desktop by speech.
- AppleScript Compatible - Ability to take advantage of Apple's built-in scripting language.
- Internet Ready - Surf the web with your voice
- Transcription - An optional add-on. Use a Digital Voice Recorder such as the Olympus DM-1, DS-330, or DS-2000 with your Mac. Let iListen read and transcribe your AIFF or WAV audio files into text.

All in all, I am very pleased with this transcription unit. Several times in this review I have used the word “amazing” which captures the essence of my feeling about this program. The installation process was quick, the learning process was intuitive, and the feedback process is very satisfying. The iListen 1.7 setup that I was using retails for $149.00, but the software can be purchased for as little as $99.00 if you wish to get to any one of a number of headsets it is compatible with, or as much  as $219.00 for the professional version.

For more information, go to www.macspeech.com.  If you want to do “hand-off” writing, brain-storming and computer control, iListen is the best tool I’ve seen yet to put you in control. I next want to see how the iPod version of this program does with my Belken microphone.

Using Your Mac to Capture and Output Audio: Part 1 of 4

A Review of The Septemer 2006 appleJAC Presentations
Part 1 of a 4 part series

by Greg Breuer

Computers are a money-losing venture unless you can use them to make money, personal enjoyment and satisfaction has a monetary value for you or the depreciation of the money you spend on a computer can be realized. The Macintosh has  a return-on-investment (ROI) that no other personal computer can boast about or point at as why you should buy it. As Macintosh believers, we become niche dwelers, not unlike the Jaguar owner or a  collector of Civil War coins. The world at large is then incredulous of our decision, our undying loyalty to a hardware paradigm that serves around 5% of the computer users out there. We know something they do not know-Macintosh is fun.

One strengh of Macintosh is easily making those things dearto you something saved or something archived. Do you like listening to music you listened to as a teenager? What about those pictures you took on the last family vacation? What if the music you like is on vinyl records or you want to show your pictures as a slide show with music and some video clips? If your personal computer can not do it, you either go without or you send it off to get done by some possibly expensive third-party service, professional, but not personal.

At the September 2006 appleJAC meeting, the capture and the output of audio was addressed by Tom Piper, Bruce Heerboth and Mark Snell. Perhaps you have forgotten the software/hardware used or you missed that night. As a member of appleJAC or a user of this website, your understanding of what you can do with your Mac and how you get it done is paramount and the goal of this series of articles is to educate and remind. The next article will be about GarageBand and iTunes.

Stay tuned.