tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45687851641185350102024-03-14T03:58:55.732-05:00Southern Wisconsin Apple GroupHelping Apple Users in Madison, Wisconsin since 1986Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07643885342220636508noreply@blogger.comBlogger183125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-85259408479578782512015-09-16T21:55:00.000-05:002015-09-16T21:55:16.792-05:002015.09 Whimsy: The Most Heartening Thing I've Ever Seen from the App Store<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTEbYGR_UcVqvpGqUPQzPAiUz-EByBEade0NgZSOvUX1EEQa5LtTcdcAjY4kAHpLB5V_uZYN_PF7_VpNWdld5JNs3cXO9LyvwaVTZTllPze1hmJ7MmoW5db7gcvgOHn13LXRZUNWZWUg/s1600/Future+Bugs.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTEbYGR_UcVqvpGqUPQzPAiUz-EByBEade0NgZSOvUX1EEQa5LtTcdcAjY4kAHpLB5V_uZYN_PF7_VpNWdld5JNs3cXO9LyvwaVTZTllPze1hmJ7MmoW5db7gcvgOHn13LXRZUNWZWUg/s1600/Future+Bugs.jpeg" /></a></div>Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-36751641677508207502015-09-16T08:56:00.002-05:002015-09-16T08:56:29.752-05:002015.09 News: Apple's New OS for HandheldsYou don't operate a small, touch-sensitive, handheld mobile device (iPhone, iPad, iPod) the same way you do a larger, keyboard-equipped computer (desktop or laptop). So the operating-system software for each of those 2 major types of devices must necessarily be different in some major respects. Thus Apple gives us iOS for the handhelds and Mac OS X for the computers. It seems that the long-range corporate strategy is to get them to operate more and more like each other as time goes by, and some of that's in evidence with the latest release of iOS, <a href="http://time.com/4035153/ios-9-release-time-iphone-apple/"><u>Version 9, due out today</u></a>.<br />
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Good news, as always, is that it's free. Somewhat shakier news is that it's only available via download from the Internet, and it's huge. It'll take quite a while to suck it all into your device, so don't start the process for your iPad or iPhone unless your battery is fully charged or it's plugged into a power source. The article above doesn't mention it specifically, but I expect that the size of iOS 9 may also crowd out the amount of memory left over for other apps, which is ironic, given that one of the big talking points about this release is that it'll let you view multiple apps simultaneously on your handheld devices.<br />
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Speaking strictly for myself (Richard S. Russell), I'm dreadfully incompetent at using my iPad's virtual keyboard. I much prefer the actual physical keys on my iMac and MacBook Pro. Therefore I use my iPad almost exclusively as a camera or data-<B>viewing</B> device, not for data <B>creation</B>. Yet I marvel at watching my friends who've become accustomed to their iPhones' dictation capabilities generate content almost as fast as they can talk. Since voice-recognition capabilities are supposed to be notably more powerful in iOS 9 (including a smarter Siri who "knows" you better than ever), bridging the gap between the 2 types of physical devices may be further off into the future than we've expected.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-74435779131944704672015-09-09T17:35:00.000-05:002015-09-09T17:35:45.365-05:002015.09 News: Apple's New IGadgetsWell, today was the day all the salivating early adopters have been looking forward to. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/09/technology/apple-iphone-6s-announcement/index.html"><u>a slew of new iGadgets</u></a>. In keeping with Apple's penchant for hype, Cook claims that the new iPhones, which look an awful lot like the old iPhones, are "completely new". Also, Apple takes another run at getting TV right and rehabilitating the concept of the wristwatch.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-53745360205962925182015-07-29T10:26:00.004-05:002015-07-29T10:26:57.360-05:002015.07 News: Feeling Jealous Yet?In its review of Microsoft's new Windows 10 operating system (yes, they skipped over 9), <I>Time</I> has identified <a href="http://time.com/3971334/windows-10-features-apple/"><u>5 new features to make Apple users jealous</u></a>. Read the article, then come back here and tell us how jealous it's made you.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-49351976224752291912015-07-20T12:52:00.001-05:002015-07-20T12:58:16.690-05:002015.07 Tip: Auto-Parsing in "Contacts"You know how the "Contacts" utility (formerly "Address Book") has separate fields for street address, city, state, zip code, and country?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Dgqsb-TIppgncOs67lfMQmauUMP72y74-rHqk7ZZ0qPTdnjWWjN-sk4IbvROdOzphf8bXc4T_rPkUkHvt_f5ERsB6BTXR2_BkVf9HDvkwwkiXbl9Si0tiPkiss5I24oZWfoJOf6iHSc/s1600/Paste+Address+Before.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Dgqsb-TIppgncOs67lfMQmauUMP72y74-rHqk7ZZ0qPTdnjWWjN-sk4IbvROdOzphf8bXc4T_rPkUkHvt_f5ERsB6BTXR2_BkVf9HDvkwwkiXbl9Si0tiPkiss5I24oZWfoJOf6iHSc/s1600/Paste+Address+Before.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
And you've probably figured that, if you want to copy and paste an address, you have to do each of those fields individually, right? 4-5 separate C&P operations? Turns out not. You can just copy the entire original, even if it's on a couple of separate lines, like this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixHr70ytOhhRq197PyfVbYjttRuXLOoiw-BMtC9p7rFWtDxT8rqnewSosvwOu4domiDmntndWL87t36JNmIld_O0I2RM3T9Zeef2I60akkFGYhK8TAp703BmdtVzBh98R9lGvBpGuUrz8/s1600/Copy+Address.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixHr70ytOhhRq197PyfVbYjttRuXLOoiw-BMtC9p7rFWtDxT8rqnewSosvwOu4domiDmntndWL87t36JNmIld_O0I2RM3T9Zeef2I60akkFGYhK8TAp703BmdtVzBh98R9lGvBpGuUrz8/s1600/Copy+Address.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
and when you click in the "Street" box and do a paste, "Contacts" is smart enuf to parse the address out into the proper fields for you with just a single operation:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUL8lrhx3aTlw5XN-AAjkZvlcCo74JM6Q-hx-PTlyv01kRbIqtvr9jUqsHGeABoPsqoaxslFCGFtEBwGw57MWWhvHmRp99trH-jo2OWfuPT64VRymLfUGRzD0hNGoK4k3wq8-V5kAUdk/s1600/Paste+Address+After.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUL8lrhx3aTlw5XN-AAjkZvlcCo74JM6Q-hx-PTlyv01kRbIqtvr9jUqsHGeABoPsqoaxslFCGFtEBwGw57MWWhvHmRp99trH-jo2OWfuPT64VRymLfUGRzD0hNGoK4k3wq8-V5kAUdk/s1600/Paste+Address+After.jpeg" /></a></div>Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-4936442414672114582015-07-09T07:21:00.002-05:002015-07-09T07:21:30.008-05:002015.07 News: Possible Problem with Apple MusicThe following message was distributed via the Computer Risks periodic bulletin. It's reposted here as an "FYI" item. I have no independent confirmation of it, but as Holly always used to say at the end of the newsletter, <I>caveat emptor</I>:<br />
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One risk of jumping onto a new product release is the possibility of side<br />
effects that damage or destroy your data -- as some Apple Music enrollees<br />
are discovering. On the Apple discussion forum and elsewhere users are<br />
complaining that thru some unexplained mechanism their existing playlists<br />
and album art are being corrupted by Apple Music. Playlists that have taken<br />
hours to compile become useless. Also there are reports that user meta-data<br />
describing the song (genre, artist, notes, etc.) is replaced by meta-data<br />
from Apple music. See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7104745<br />
Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-75955846014782519412015-06-22T10:11:00.000-05:002015-06-22T10:12:18.466-05:002015.06 News: Apple Turns on a DimeWithin a day of Taylor Swift <a href="http://taylorswift.tumblr.com/post/122071902085/to-apple-love-taylor"><u>calling out Apple</u></a> on its proposed policy of not paying royalties to musicians whose work people were streaming for free during their 3-month Apple Music trial period, the humongous corporation nimbly turned on a dime and <a href="http://time.com/3929784/taylor-swift-apple-open-letter-eddy-cue/"><u>reversed itself</u></a>. Now <b>that's</B> good management!Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-77352881313410932732015-06-10T23:13:00.004-05:002015-06-10T23:13:56.846-05:002015.06 Inspiration: Think DifferentFor no particular reason, just because I happened to be thinking about it again today, here's my all-time favorite television commercial, Apple's <a href="https://youtu.be/jULUGHJCCj4"><u>Think Different</u></a>.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-78046789594830570642015-06-06T09:28:00.000-05:002015-06-06T09:28:19.405-05:002015.06: Google Attacks Auto-Play AdsYou click on a link to go to, say, a sports website, and the first thing that happens is a flashing smiley face and a jittery blurb that assures you that yes, by some highly improbable chance, you really are the exact 10,000th visitor to this page, and if you only click right here right now, amazing opportunities await you. Things like this are often accompanied by jazzy music or hyper-enthusiastic dialog. You wouldn't believe the number of times I've heard "Yuck. Dog breath!", the opening lines of a plug-in commercial for canine toothbrushes, before going thru the series of mouse clicks needed to turn the damn thing off.<br />
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Well, not only are these Flash-based animated ads annoying, they apparently suck up a non-trivial amount of power, which has become a matter of some concern to laptop users jealous of battery life, enuf so that Google has decided to <a href="http://time.com/3910592/google-chrome-flash-video/"><u>do something about them</u></a> in its Chrome browser. Since Google's approach is thot by analysts to be a flanking attack on Adobe's Flash video player, and since Apple is also famously disparaging of Flash, perhaps Safari won't be far behind in sending these automatic distractions the way of the HTML "blink" command.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-88739142002913443902015-05-30T23:37:00.002-05:002015-05-30T23:37:19.561-05:002015.05 News: What Brand Is Worth $100,000,000,000?What brand is worth $100,000,000,000? If you guessed "Apple", you're partly correct. That how much <B>more</B> it was worth than last year. After a 3-year run as the world's most valuable brand, Apple was supplanted last year by Google, but this year it came back with a vengeance to <a href="http://time.com/3897671/brands-most-valuable/"><u>reclaim the #1 spot</u></a>, leaving Google trailing in its dust. Overall, the name alone is worth a quarter of a trillion dollars.<br />
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7 of the top 8 brands are companies that sell primarily services, mostly in tech and comm. The highest-rated brand that sells mainly a physical product is Coca-Cola, at #8.<br />
Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-31933274568262406612015-05-14T18:24:00.002-05:002015-05-14T18:28:15.588-05:00<h4>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">2015.05 <span style="background-color: white;">MacKeeper in Hot Water</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">From our friends at Small Dog Electronics' blog/newsletter <a href="http://blog.smalldog.com/techtails/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tech-20150512">Tech Tails</a>. Couldn't have happened to a nicer piece of bloatware, in my opinion...</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Every Mac user has at one point run across the program known as MacKeeper, a program that is advertised as a tool to keep your Mac clean and fast. Well, as it turns out, MacKeeper has been accused of using scare techniques to get you to buy their higher end apps. MacKeeper was released in 2010 by a company called ZeoBIT from Kiev, Ukraine and was extremely lucrative for ZeoBIT. According to them, as many as 650,000 users purchased the high end versions at the rate of $39.95 per copy in the US alone.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">In May of 2014 a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Pennsylvania resident who claimed that the software falsely came back with exaggerated results to scare the user into buying the paid version. Under the settlement terms ZeoBIT has to pay 2 million dollars into a fund set up for those who feel that they deserve a refund.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">To complicate matters, ZeoBIT sold the software to a company called Kromtech in December of 2013. This has, in my opinion, made matters worse as MacKeeper has now transitioned to a subscription-based product, which oddly does not offer updates (unless you pay premium prices). The lawsuit, however, doesn’t include the new owners.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">So the future of one of the most hated bloatware is still in the air. For those who have installed it, </span><a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2861435/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-from-your-mac.html" style="background-color: white; color: #669933; text-decoration: none;"><strong>here is how you get rid of it.</strong></a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01083095000731554370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-35600845542487989802015-05-12T00:03:00.005-05:002015-05-12T00:03:50.209-05:002015.05 News: Live Windows 10 DemoThe Madison PC Users Group invites computer aficionados to its next meeting with this cordial invitation:<br />
<hr>What a bright future we live in! Personal drones, house batteries, 3-D printing, and robots on Mars!<br />
<br />
At the Madison PC Users Group meeting on Wednesday, May 13, we will have a preview and group discussion of Windows 10, Microsoft's latest and, just announced, possibly last major version of the Windows operating system. Last month's overview was beset with technical difficulties, so this month, we have decided to give a live overview with a working copy of the software, and have the group participate in an examination of what is new.<br />
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Also, we would like to have a brainstorming session of future topics. Please think about what you would like to see at future meetings, and bring them along.<br />
<br />
Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 13, 2015, at 7 p.m. We meet very informally at 6 p.m. before the general meeting for some questions and answers and general discussion. The venue is the Community Room of the Village Co-Housing Community, 1104 Mound Street, Madison, WI 53715, at the corner with Mills Street. This is in the Vilas neighborhood, a few blocks from Meriter Hospital. The Community Room is set back behind a large courtyard. Parking is available on the neighborhood streets, and also in the Meriter Hospital parking ramp.<br />
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Our general meetings are free and open to the public. All are welcome!Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-1536080222857843112015-05-04T13:41:00.000-05:002015-05-04T13:41:07.490-05:002015.05 Tip: Emptying TrashI tried to empty my Trash today, but a bunch of files refused to succumb to incineration. "They're still in use", my computer informed me. But they were all JPEG files, and I didn't have any programs open that made use of them. A puzzlement. Then I looked more closely and discovered that they were all screenshots that I had recently e-mailed to various recipients. Perhaps the Mail program was still keeping them "on the countertop", so to speak, in case they hadn't been well and truly dispatched. So I quit Mail and tried emptying the Trash again, and <I>presto!</I> got that nice, satisfying paper-crumpling sound that's the audio hallmark of success.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-65034860334308871982015-04-28T09:51:00.000-05:002015-04-28T09:51:54.120-05:002015.04 News: Apple's Financials Continue To AmazeIt's already the world's most valuable company, and expectations for its financial performance are invariably sky high to begin with. A recipe for disappointment, you think? Au contraire, Pierre. In a stupendously flabbergasting performance, Apple's financial performance continues to <a href="http://time.com/3837631/apple-earnings-iphone/"><u>outstrip expectations</u></a>. It's probably only a matter of time before they own everything.<br />
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The amazing thing to us long-time Macintosh owners is that the Mac itself (the actual computer hardware) is, according to the article, only "a tiny portion of Apple’s overall business".Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-81142672925593190542015-04-23T18:54:00.004-05:002015-04-23T18:54:58.105-05:00<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2015.04 Spring Check-up For Your Mac</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some practical advice from our friends at Small Dog Electronics</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(subscribe at <a href="http://www.smalldog.com/newsletters/subscribe-to-our-fun-informative-newsletters">http://www.smalldog.com/newsletters/subscribe-to-our-fun-informative-newsletters</a>):</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“My computer is running slow!!” How many times have you uttered that in front of your device? Nobody likes to see the “pinwheel of death” spinning on your desktop, making you wonder if it is ever going to stop. Before you bring your computer in for service here are some simple tips you can do at home to keep your computer at optimal performance.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Make sure you give it a good night’s rest.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The “brain” in your computer (whether it be an iPhone, iPad, or Mac) gets tired just like you do. It is always a good idea to shut down your computer before you go to sleep. This allows systems to reset, memory to re-organize, trash and temporary files to be completely removed. It is always a good idea to completely power down other electronic devices in your house including your television, VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray player, and stereo. You would not leave your car running all night? The same applies to other electronic devices in your household.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Keep your Operating System up to date.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Software updates are critical for the smooth and steady performance of your computer. Do NOT ignore them, despite what your Facebook friends tell you. A software update bug is far easier to fix than a computer running old and out dated software.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Location, location, location.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Use and store your computer in a clean, well lit, well ventilated room. Do not use it, your iPhone or your iPad in the bathroom. The mist from your steamy hot shower in the morning can potentially damage your device. Keep food and drinks as far away as possible. A liquid spill immediately voids any warranty. Don’t use Wite-Out on your screen either…;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We love our pets, yet pet hair can get into the cooling fans and really muck up the works so to speak. (woof, meow, moo???) Cigarette smoke is not only bad for your lungs but bad for your Mac as well. Smoke of any kind whether it be from a candle, incense burner, cigar, or “other” (wink, wink) can get into every crack and crevice in your device. Even the surface you rest your device on can potentially be troublesome. Stone, marble and the like conduct heat better than you would think.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Empty the trash and delete the cache.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Or was it the other way around? Either way, it’s always a good idea to remove unwanted and unnecessary files and folders. You would be amazed at how much disk space this junk takes up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Empty your browser. Your browser stores information about websites you go to so they load faster the next time you visit. Over time these files build and do nothing but take up space. Get rid of ‘em! In Safari: <b>Safari > Reset Safari</b>. You will have the option to NOT delete certain items such as saved passwords and auto-fill forms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Click on <b>Finder</b> and select <b>Applications</b>. Scroll through the list and if you have not used it in some time, it may be time to do some spring cleaning of your programs. Click, hold and drag to the trash can. You can always download Skype again if needed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Open iPhoto and empty the trash there as well. At this point, empty the trash can then restart your computer.</span></div>
<div style="color: #323333; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">After your computer restarts, take a peek at your Login Items. They are the programs that start when you boot up your computer. Go to your <b>System Preferences</b>, select <b>Users and Groups</b> Click on the <b>Login Items</b> tab and uncheck programs that you do not need immediately upon start up. Remember they can always be started at a later time.</span></div>
<div style="color: #323333; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">External Storage.</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #323333; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">If you have a lot of media on your hard drive such as movies or songs, you may want to consider an external drive. Movie files can be especially large. A full length high-def movie can be as large as 3 GB! Move them from your hard drive to an external drive. This not only frees up space on your drive, but saves it from searching through movie and music files to get to last weekends baby shower photos. Make sure that you are backing these files up, though, as Time Machine does not back up external drives by default but can be configured to do so.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01083095000731554370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-36626670008049674932015-04-21T11:19:00.002-05:002015-04-25T18:19:17.250-05:002015.04 Help: Safari Web Content Not RespondingI'm running the latest version of Mac OS X (10.10.3), Safari (8.0.5), and Adobe Flash Player (17.0 r0) and have gotten more "Safari Web Content Not Responding" errors in the last week than in my entire prior computer experience dating back to my very first Mac in 1986. They're temporarily fixable by using ⌘-opt-esc to bring up the "Force Quit Applications" dialog, but I'm having to do this dozens of times a day just to get my normal work done, and it's risen well beyond the level of a mere annoyance. Is it just me, or is this plaguing other Mac users as well?<br />
<br />
Addendum, half an hour later: It's now reached the point where I no longer use that key combination to pull up the "Force Quit Applications" window when necessary. I simply leave it open all the time for quicker feedback and access.<br />
<br />
Followup, 2 days later: I whined about this on an Apple support forum and got the following advice from one of their gurus:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>[A] Safari/Preferences/Advanced - enable the Develop menu, then go there and Empty Caches. Quit/reopen Safari and test.<br />
<br />
[B] Then try Safari/History/Show History and delete all history items. Quit/reopen Safari and test.<br />
<br />
[C] You can also try try Safari/Clear History and Web Site Data. The down side is it clears all cookies. Doing this may cause some sites to no longer recognize your computer as one that has visited the web site.<br />
<br />
[D] Try un-installing and then re-installing Adobe Flash Player [links provided].<br />
</blockquote><br />
Tried A. Didn't fix the problem.<br />
<br />
Tried B. Didn't fix the problem but <b>did</B> succeed in wiping out a lot of my cookies, so I've had to re-sign-in to lots of sites (which fortunately I kept the log-in information for in a separate text file).<br />
<br />
Decided to put off trying C and D until I went hunting for the application that kept hanging up on me, namely Safari Flash Player Plugin. Using ⌘-space to activate Spotlight, I tracked the fugitive down to MacHD > Library > Internet Plugins, where I trashed everything that bore the names "Flash" or "Adobe", then emptied the trash for good measure.<br />
<br />
Relaunched Safari (for about the 30th time in the last couple of days), and now everything seems to be working fine. I wish I'd tried assassinating the plugin right off the bat.<br />
<br />
More followup, later that same day: All was going well until I hit a website that <b>required</B> Adobe Flash Player and offered me a chance to download it. I did so and followed the installation instructions (Version 17.0.0.169 for those keeping score at home). In less than 10 minutes the "Flash Player Not Responding" hangup was back. Well, at least now I know whom to blame.<br />
<br />
Final word (I think) on April 25. The advice I got from the Adobe trouble-shooter (after wending my way thru their confusing "Contact Us" procedure), was Please try disabling hardware acceleration. See the instructions in the <a href="https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/video-playback-issues.html"><u>video troubleshooting guide</u></a> for details.<br />
<br />
Well, I never got around to trying it. While I was waiting for a response from Adobe, someone else had suggested the old standby of shutting down the computer and restarting it, and that seemed to do the trick. Probably something I should have tried right off the bat.<br />
<br />
Anyway, all's well that ends well, and I hope this saga-in-installments has provided our readers with some idea of what's likely to work (and what not to bother trying) if the same thing ever befalls them.<br />
Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-68547105076398857722015-04-19T17:13:00.001-05:002015-04-19T17:21:23.166-05:00<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2015.04 James Bond, Inspector Gadget, and You</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good grief. Since it would be in bad taste to take a selfie video of your marriage proposal to your boyfriend or girlfriend, and somewhat invasive to ask a third party to do so, one enterprising company has come up with Ring Cam: an engagement ring jewelry box with a built-in digital video camera (with audio!) so you can record the entire event. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think I'm joking? I wish I were: http://getringcam.com</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently you rent the ring cam box for $99, and can pay the Ring Cam people extra money for them to edit the resulting video for you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I suppose if things go well with the proposal, the video material makes great material for Facebook, Instagram, a nice intro to the inevitable wedding DVD, etc. The company's website has a section for successful videos and testimonials which I didn't have the stomach to explore because I'm not a romantic (however I *am* a cynic, and if they had videos of the rejections, I might watch those...). But for such a thing as the Ring Cam to exist at all is slightly creepy to me, in the same way that expectant mothers setting up Facebook pages for their fetuses and posting sonograms labeled as selfies on them is creeps me out. Or how about those "living headstones" that bear a QR code that links to a online video about the deceased (also not joking: http://www.monuments.com/living-headstones)?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clearly I am not the target market for devices and services that facilitate digital immortality. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01083095000731554370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-61410010519856905282015-04-19T13:21:00.000-05:002015-04-19T13:21:06.102-05:002015.04 Help: AutoPlay Always Starts with Sound MutedThis blog has mainly been used as an upstream source of information, but there's no reason why it can't work the other way as well. People should be able to pose questions here and see if the collective wisdom of the Apple community can supply the answer.<br />
<br />
Let me get the process started. For the last several months, whenever I've started to watch a video on screen, whether I've clicked on the play (▶︎) button or relied on AutoPlay, it always begins with the sound muted, and I have to pause it while I manually unmute it. For whatever reason, my iMac never seems to remember that this is the way I prefer it, and I have to do it again the next time. This is an annoyance, and I've right-clicked all over the video controls and looked in System Preferences to see if I can figure out what's causing it and how I can specify my own preference for <B>not</B> always starting up with the sound muted, but no dice.<br />
<br />
Anyone got any advice?Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-36486456362494270352015-04-15T22:37:00.000-05:002015-04-15T22:37:02.926-05:002015.04 Humor: Apple Breaks into Yet Another New MarketNo, it's not the long-rumored Apple Car, it's a new take on an altogether unexpected, but still iconic, <a href="http://tinyurl.com/o5sbw2g"><u>piece of American technology</u></a>.<br />
Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-13833920790237976652015-04-15T09:57:00.001-05:002015-04-15T09:57:12.307-05:002015.04 News: Missed a MillionOn its first day on sale in the US, the Apple Watch failed to sell a million units, clocking in at "only" 957,000. Still, as <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/04/14/apple-watch-sales-android/"><u><I>Fortune</I> magazine points out</u></a>, that's more than Google's Android Wear sold in the entire previous year.<br />
<br />
Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-10230788823756019322015-04-01T11:47:00.000-05:002015-04-01T11:50:56.529-05:002015.04 News: The Zero-Button MouseBy Peter G. Neumann on the Computer Risks forum:<br />
<br />
CUPERTINO, CA, April 1, 2015 -- Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) today announces the ultimate refinement in pointer technology: the zero-button mouse. "We found that the button was confusing users," said Sir Jonathan Ive, Vice President of Design. The zero-button mouse uses a flexible antenna, which Apple calls the tail. In order to left click, the user grabs the mouse by the tail, and swings it to the left. Right clicking is similar, but swinging to the right. Scrolling is accomplished by swinging the mouse towards or away from the user.<br />
<br />
The zero-button mouse is available in three collections:<ul><li>Apple Zero Mouse Sport in aluminum</li>
<li>Apple Zero Mouse in stainless steel</li>
<li>Apple Zero Mouse Edition in 18-carat gold</li>
</ul>A white rubber tail is standard, but optional tails are available in black and red leather, titanium mesh, and carbon fiber.<br />
<br />
<i>Pricing and Availability:</I> All models and tails are available for purchase starting today, April 1, 2015. Pricing for the Zero Mouse Sport is $34.95, the Zero Mouse is $49.95, and the Zero Mouse Edition is $995.00. The leather tails are $14.95 each, the titanium mesh tail $24.95, and the carbon fiber tail $799.95.<br />
<br />
WATCH for this one!! With this innovation, the era of button-down mice seems to be ending (somewhat like button-down shirts?), despite seemingly regressively replacing the one-button, two-button, and three-button mouse.<br />
<br />
It is rumored that Microsoft is planning a competing voice-operated no-button mouse, albeit possibly with a built-in optional keyboard for people with small fingers.<br />
<br />
Google is expected to compete with its own autonomouse, which can move (autonomousely) <b>without</B> user control — or, if a user is particularly gifted, with perceptive mind control — in either case, proactively anticipating user intent, and automatically avoiding collisions and interference with any other user's mouse.<br />
<br />
The potential risks are left as an exercise for the reader.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-79838301271462933092015-04-01T11:16:00.000-05:002015-04-01T11:16:27.397-05:002015.04 News: Meanwhile, over on the Other SideUsers of Apple hardware (Macintoshes and iThings) have long been accustomed to just using Safari, the web browser that comes standard with the operating system. Some users, not satisfied with the way Safari works, have instead opted for a 3rd-party browser like Firefox, Chrome, or Opera. Some, generally those who have to switch back and forth between Macs and Windows, have opted for Microsoft's venerable Internet Explorer, in order to have a consistent browsing experience no matter what computer they're using.<br />
<br />
But, with Windows 10*, there'll be a new kid on the block. Microsoft will be gradually <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/01/technology/spartan-browser/index.html"><u>withdrawing from Internet Explorer</u></a> in favor of a new browser currently code-named Spartan. It has some spiffy features, notably the ability to write directly on screen (likely more useful for tablets than for non-touch-sensitive computer monitors), as well as something called a "personal assistant", which conjures up the comment made about Microsoft's previous forays into helpfulness, "Wizards are an indication of a poor user interface in the first place"** and "Death to Clippy".***<br />
<br />
To continue to make nice with their vast installed base of corporate customers, Microsoft will still support Internet Explorer and include it as part of Windows for some time to come, crossing their fingers that Spartan will prove so attractive that soon everyone will start designing their websites to accommodate it without breaking them for older browsers. But the handwriting's (finally) on the wall for IE.<br />
<br />
No specific word yet on whether Spartan will be available in a version compatible with Apple hardware, but Microsoft's new CEO, Satya Nadella, has shown a strong tendency to respect the Apple platform for both its technological capabilities and its fervently loyal user base with its demonstrable willingness to part with large amounts of cash, so it's a safe bet.<br />
<br />
<small>––––––<br />
*"Whoops, wait! How did I manage to miss Windows 9?" You didn't. Microsoft decided to skip over the number in hopes that everyone would think that 10 has to be <B>so</B> much more advanced than 8 and that nobody would notice that it was just packaging.<br />
**David McKee, FileMaker Inc.<br />
***several million people</small>Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-18149785775975492522015-03-27T10:44:00.002-05:002015-03-27T10:44:39.934-05:002015.03 News: Apple's Space-Age Campus under ConstructionApple CEO Tim Cook refers to the company's new "all together now" campus, currently under construction, as <a href="http://time.com/3759921/apple-campus-2-tim-cook/"><u>"the mother of all products"</u></a>. In the sense that this is where they will be conceived, incubated, and born, he's probably literally correct.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-76468354914560512612015-03-17T10:42:00.002-05:002015-03-17T10:42:22.733-05:002015.03 Feature: Could You Draw the Apple Logo from Memory?We see corporate logos all the time and instantly recognize them as inputs. But how about outputs? Are they so familiar to you that you could draw them from memory? Specifically, if confronted with a blank sketchpad, could you reproduce the Apple logo with any degree of accuracy? (No fair looking at the one on your computer while you try!)<br />
<br />
Well, it turns out that you can test yourself on this and 9 other logos directly on your own screen thanks to <a href="http://time.com/3743739/company-logo-quiz/"><u>this Time.com article</u></a>.Richard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4568785164118535010.post-36023117982855339402015-03-10T22:19:00.001-05:002015-03-10T22:19:25.287-05:002015.03 Cordiality: A Message — and an Invitation — from the Madison PC Users GroupThe Madison PC User Group is sad to see the dissolution of the SWAG, our sister user group in Madison. We’d like to let your user community know that they are always welcome to our user group meetings. Our meetings are free and open to all.<br />
<br />
And there are many personal contacts and friendships between the two groups! We don’t always have the knowledge base to directly address concerns and questions regarding the Apple platforms, but some of our members have reminded me that they do indeed know quite a bit about these realms, and many of our members use these technologies daily. And we'd be glad to discuss these things, and learn more about them ourselves. We do discuss more general topics in the worlds of computing and technology, which are useful to all computer and technology users. We are trying to keep up to date on all of these things (and I've definitely had friends laugh at my limitations in using smart phones, Twitter, and all sorts of other stuff!)<br />
<br />
Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 11, 2015, at 7 PM. We will be exploring the brave new ideas and perhaps terrors of the Internet of Things. We meet very informally at 6 pm before the general meeting for some questions and answers and general discussion. The venue is the Community Room of the Village Co-Housing Community, 1104 Mound Street, Madison, WI 53715, at the corner with Mills Street. This is in the Vilas neighborhood, a few blocks from Meriter Hospital. The Community Room is set back behind a large courtyard. Parking is available on the neighborhood streets, and also in the Meriter Hospital parking ramp. More information at <a href="www.mpcug.com"><u>www.mpcug.com</u></a>.<br />
<br />
Our general meetings are free and open to the public. All are welcome!<br />
<br />
—Bhim Nimgade, President<br />
Madison PC Users GroupRichard S. Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01105320341501657476noreply@blogger.com0