9 to 5 Mac - Tips and Tricks

9to5mac: What's the best value in monitors?

Seth Weintraub — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:59:30 +0000

I got a good question today via Twitter that I have some expertise in:

What would you consider the "best" monitor for Macs...for a [good] price?

I've been buying monitors for small to mid-size companies for awhile and have one each of a Sharp, Dell, Samsung, Apple and HP monitor in my house so I feel like I have a bit of experience in the area.

Disclaimer: If you are a pro/artist, you are going to want something else. This recommendation isn't for you…maybe your parents.

Dell has the best value in monitors and has for the last few years. They aren't built like Apple displays but they are very solid and look good.

If every penny counts, you can find the Dell 1600x900 20" display out there every once in awhile for $89. But really, for $40 more you can step up to 1080P resolution.

I say this cold: No one should have anything less than a 1080P 1920x1080 screen on their desktops. You can buy a 22" 1080P display for $129 with free shipping on sale at Dell every once in awhile (currently $149). If it isn't on sale, you can usually find it refurbished for that price or less. Here's a Samsung equivalent (same hardware+$50) as a mediacenter display which works great for Blu-Ray movies at about 4-8 feet away. This is basically the same display (size/pixels/aspect ratio) as the $1000+iMac 22" without LED lighting. The viewing angles aren't what you'll get in a more expensive display and the color takes a little calibration (2 minutes, very easy) but you have a 1080P display on your desk for less than the price of a parking ticket in most cities.

But that's not the best inexpensive monitor you can buy right now. Dell makes the SP2309W, 23" "better than HD" 2048x1152 display with HDMI, VGA and DVI inputs, 4 port USB Hub, cable management, Webcam, mic and analog audio I/O. It also looks great with a "not as glossy as Apple's" 23-inch display. It doesn't have internal audio, but I'd rather use external speakers (for another day's review) for sound. They have a $10 sound bar you could get but I wouldn't reccomend it.

The SP2309W hits every sweet spot for me and you can currently get it for $229+Free shipping at Dell. Compare that to Apple's $900 Cinema Display with fewer pixels and ports. (yes it is lovely and has power for MacBooks, etc.)

The viewing angles are great but it also has an adjustable arm in the back for both angle and height (Apple's are angle only). I've had this monitor as my main display since Apple botched its Mini DisplayPort to dual DVI adapter part over a year ago.

I won't lie. I miss the old 16:10 ratio of the 1920x1200 displays. I think they are better for computer use (16:9 obviously better for movies) but there are only a few vendors still selling those displays and they are usually overpriced and clunky. What's great about the bigger 2048x1152 display is that you get all of the pixels of the 1920x1200,but at a 16:9 ratio.

This display also don't require Apple's horrific $100 Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter. It works with the standard Mini Displayport-DVI (or VGA or HDMI) cable which are $5-$15.

I have an older, second-hand 30-inch Apple Cinema Display in my basement that works fine with Dual DVI Macs but keeps going fuzzy with the newer DisplayPort Macs. The adapter has been replaced a few times but works the same each time and Apple, after over a year on the market, still doesn't have a fix. Until Apple fixes this part, I can't recommend anything with more pixels than this Dell display without native DisplayPort built in like this Dell or the 27-inch iMac.

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Apple sets up youth programs for Apple Stores

Seth Weintraub — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:19:47 +0000

The Apple Youth movement is in full effect according to a new post by the Loop. Apple has set up three new programs for kids: For Families (workshops show kids how to improve their skills using all of the iLife and iWork applications); For Teachers and Schools (Field Trips from school to work on projects) and For Kids (“Apple Camp.” Bring your kid to an Apple Store and they'll learn how to use iLife and iWork and bring home a DVD with their creations.)

Registration begins in May.

For Families

Youth Workshops

From composing a song in GarageBand to building a photo album to creating a compelling Keynote presentation, our Youth Workshops offer families with kids (ages 6 to 13) a chance to work together to hone their Mac skills and use iLife and iWork applications to complete exciting projects. We offer the free workshops at Apple Retail Stores worldwide.

Learn more

For Teachers

Field Trip to the Apple Store

Take your students on a Field Trip to an Apple Store for an unforgettable learning experience. On their Field Trip, students can create something amazing right on the spot. Or they can bring in a project they’ve already created and turn our store into a theater, sharing their achievements with parents, teachers, and friends. No matter which option you choose, everyone will have a great time.

Learn more

For Kids

Apple Camp

Camp is back this summer. Registration begins in May.

Nothing beats Apple Camp when it comes to a fun summer activity for your kids. In free workshops at the Apple Store, kids learn how to do cool stuff on a Mac using iLife and iWork applications. They’ll make a movie, compose a song, create a photobook, and learn how to present everything to an audience. When Camp is over, they’ll bring the projects they made home on a DVD, along with skills and ideas to create even more. All workshops are recommended for ages 8 to 12.

Matt Legend Gemmell's iPad application design guide

Seth Weintraub — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:47:27 +0000

If you are designing apps for the iPad or just want to find out what goes into the design of iPad apps, check out Matt Legend Gemmell's fascinating guide/tutorial.

WWDC dates in flux?

Seth Weintraub — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:40:26 +0000

Apple likes to schedule its events in secret. The last few WWDCs were marked in Mosone's corporate calendars as generic "Corporate Events". The same with Apple's events at the adjacent Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Luckily, not too many huge conventions are scheduled in secret, so it makes finding Apple's events a little easier.

We, like many other sites, saw the saw the late June, early July corporate event as being a likely time place for WWDC. But, with a recent change to the calendar (and the removal of Sun's JavaOne conference - wow!) it looks like WWDC might have changed dates...or even *gasp* changed venues.

Old Moscone Schedule circa January

The new calendar shows a shorter Corporate Event scheduled for June 23-24 but it is only labelled a "Meeting" as opposed to a "Convention". That is during the time the Sun JavaOne conference was originally scheduled. The time period originally thought to be the Apple Corporate event (WWDC) now no longer exists in the calendar.

No other generic corporate events are scheduled for the forseeable future so we have a few guesses to throw out in the order of probability (in our opinion obviously):

Apple got Moscone to hide the corporate event even further by not even listing it
WWDC dates are in flux and haven't been listed at Moscone yet.
WWDC won't be held at Moscone this year. Apple is having WWDC at another venue
WWDC? Apple doesn't need a WWDC when it has Apple Stores!.

Thanks Moscone Tipster!

Top Ten Hints of all time from outgoing MacOSXHints.com founder

Seth Weintraub — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:36:40 +0000

Rob Griffiths, the founder of our favorite Mac tips website, MacOShints.com is leaving to join a company called Many Tricks. Before he leaves, he drops his top ten favorite tips of all time, which we've pasted below. Good luck to Rob and here's to hoping Macworld can find a worthy successor.

Run a screensaver as your desktop background: This one is still my all-time-favorite hint for showing off the power of OS X. It lets you run a screensaver as your desktop “image,” complete with full motion. When I first wrote about this, this trick took 50% of the CPU power of a G4/733MHz machine. Now it takes around 1% to 3% of my 2.66GHz MacBook Pro’s CPU. Very fun!
Quicker custom icons: A simple timesaver to ease creation of custom icons. On a related note, I also really like the Easily view an application’s icons hint, which explains how to quickly see all the icons—including the glorious 512x512 versions—for any application.
The color picker: The color picker—that small dialog that appears when you want to pick a color for fonts, boxes, and so on—is amazingly powerful, but surprisingly few people know all of its tricks. Secrets of the color picker revealed many of those tricks. Later, I explained how to use images in the color picker.
Safely modify Apple’s widgets: I love to muck about with stuff in the system, and Dashboard widgets are a favorite target. Because they’re mainly HTML, CSS, and Javascript, it’s possible to change how they look and work with some minor tweaks. The linked hint explains how to do that safely, and includes links to a sampling of modifications.
Display info in the login window: You may know you can cycle the information you see in the login window, but did you know you can permanently change what appears there? I have mine set to show the date and time, which seems much more useful than the machine name.
Change the login window background: While I love Apple’s desktop pictures, I’d really rather see one of my own when I’m on the login screen. This hint explains the safest way to change it in OS X 10.5 and newer.
Limit the bash shell’s prompt length: If you spend much time in Terminal, and navigate into deeply-buried folders, the path that shows as part of the prompt can get really long. This hint explains how to limit its length. Note the instructions are a bit out of date—you’ll be editing .profile, not .bash_profile, but the rest should work as described.
Terminally fun Friday: A couple fun examples of completely non-productive things you can do in Terminal. If you want even more Terminal fun, how about a text-based adventure game?
Force Mail to go ‘old school’: Old school as in nothing but monospaced text. This hint forces Mail to ignore all formatting commands in e-mails and display them in plain text…the way all us old fogies prefer to read our e-mail.
Hints about sound levels: There are two volume-level hints that I really like. The first is an odd, but definitely not-a-bug, behavior of the Mute key on your keyboard: you can use it to set a super-quiet volume level—something above Mute but below the first bar of the onscreen slider showing volume levels. Speaking of the onscreen slider, you can change that in fine-grained increments, instead of one full block at a time.

New iPad Tidbits

Chauncey Dupree — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:04:17 +0000

We have compiled a bunch of new iPad tidbits with screenshots for your viewing pleasure below:

Lots of settings pop up if you know where to look:

YouTube Videos can play in HTML5 (this looks really good btw, not sure if a dedicated Youtube App is necessary):

Optional Battery Percentage Indicator:

File Sharing (will this find its way to iPhone OS 4?):

Lock screen media controls:

Photo frame access from lock screen:

Playing Quicktime audio in Safari:

Built-in Google Suggestions:

Handwriting for Chinese character input:

Square Home Screen Web Clip icons:

Did we miss anything?

Thank You @sonny788 for your help.

Batch shrink PDF files automagically with ShrinkIt

Seth Weintraub — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:59:06 +0000

Those lovely people at Panic software have put together a utility to batch shrink vector-based PDF files, such as those produced by Illustrator, on the fly. They use Apple's own Preview.app engine to pull all of the extra "crud" out of files that Adobe builds into PDFs made with their software:

What was all this extra crud? Will started digging into the files and brother, you won’t believe what he found. Swatches, patterns, preview bitmaps, all sort of metadata; even though we’d specifically turned off all the extra options when saving from Illustrator: Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities, Embed Page Thumbnails, etc.

You can download the app here free (181K) from Panic. Ironically via Adobe's John Nack.

Adobe's CTO Kevin Lynch says Flash performance on Mac will improve (Flash Video)

Seth Weintraub — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:41:18 +0000

Kara Swisher got Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch to talk about all things Flash and Apple. Among other things he does mention that Flash will run faster and more reliably on the Mac in the future. Check out the Flash video below:

Adobe sabotaging the HTML5-spec via W3C politics?

Seth Weintraub — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:19:13 +0000

We're new to this one, but according to DaringFireball, it appears that Adobe has been trying to slow down the HTML5 ratification process by sending in objections whenever they can. Could there be a reasonable explanation for Adobe objecting to HTML5 ratification? Adobe's man in question, Larry Masinter, has a pretty distinguished career both with Adobe and also the W3C consortium so we wouldn't want to judge this hastily without all of the facts.

Anybody out there with more information on the subject?

Update: Masinter posts this in the comments:

No part of HTML5 is, or was ever, "blocked" in the W3C HTML Working Group -- not HTML5, not Canvas 2D Graphics, not Microdata, not Video -- not by me, not by Adobe.

Neither Adobe nor I oppose, are fighting, are trying to stop, slow down, hinder, oppose, or harm HTML5, Canvas 2D Graphics, Microdata, video in HTML, or any of the other significant features in HTML5.

Claims otherwise are false. Any other disclaimers needed?

There are some things that are wrong with the spec I'd like to see fixed. There are some things that are really, really, wrong with the process that I'd like to improve.

I've been working on web standards since the beginning of the web in the early 90s, and standards for even longer; long before I joined Adobe. My opinions don't come from Adobe, and I don't get approval or direction. I hate to see decades of work on web architecture messed up in the short-term interest of grabbing control of the web platform for a few vendors to own. If you think that position doesn't match what you imagine Adobe's position is, well, I'm glad Adobe's planning to support HTML5 in its products.

As for the HTML standards process: I've worked in scores of standards groups in IETF and W3C, as well as a few others here and there, and I've never seen anything as bad as this one, with people abusing their official positions to grandstand and promote proprietary advantage. I've blogged some about this, but I'd rather fix things along.

I think progress of HTML5 in W3C could be faster if the subsections on graphics and metadata could (if not now, then eventually) be moved to separate subgroups focused on those topics. The organization of work in W3C is determined by the "charters" of working group and the "scope" of he charters, so saying work is "out of scope" even if you are marking a snapshot of the (already published) documents as "Working Draft", means you might rewrite the "Status of This Document" section to say that it might move. That's what I was asking for, in the somewhat stilted language of "objection".

If you want to know who is sending in technical objections, you can see the working group mailing list at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html/. And if you want to see more of my opinions, I'm also on the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG) and post there a lot, seehttp://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-tag/; the TAG often discusses HTML5.

Any more questions about my opinion? My email address should be easy to find.

Also John Dowdell Post this:

Seth... Ian posted that early Friday morning, and most people were mystified by it through the day. By Friday afternoon the mystery seemed best resolved by comments at Ajaxian:
http://ajaxian.com/archives/adobe-html5-standards-blocking-and-the-evil-...

Today Thom Holwerda has a wrapup at OSNews:
http://www.osnews.com/story/22874/Teacup_Meet_Storm_pt_IV_Adobe_Blocking...

(I don't know what the full story is either... Hickson's post had no detail, and although active on Reddit, he hasn't confirmed what it is that he's warning about. I'm not sure when John Gruber first heard about it.)

jd/adobe

via DF

9to5 Five: Mac essentials for healthy digital living

Jonny Evans — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:17:48 +0000

There’s as many ways to use your Mac as there are Mac users using the Mac - there’s no one true path in a user-centric OS - this isn’t the Windows way. All the same, there’s always a few essentials that can boost productivity, secure data, generally improve your Mac experience in every way.

We’ve been considering this for a while, and what follows is a short collection of ideas we think most Mac users should consider if they want to improve their experience, starting with that often over-looked but perhaps most critical investment any Mac user should make before crashing the cash on a new computer - more memory.

1/ Upgrade your Memory

Sluggish performance? Beachball of death each and every time you open up one too many Safari web pages? Mail.app behaving sluggishly? Inexplicable hangs when you have all the windows you need open? iMovie or Final Cut or Photoshop transitions sapping your will to live when you try to enable them?

Sure, a new Mac may help you quite a lot, but trust us - fork out a few pounds, dollars or yen and do what you can to max out your Mac’s memory. This singular improvement will bring you much joy, we promise.

In the UK, try Crucial - they deliver fast, fast, fast and are widely recognised as offering top-quality memory at the best - sometimes the very, very best, prices. Click here to find out more....

In the US, take a look at 4 All Memory, who are offering 20 per cent off all PC and Mac memory right now. But do a Google search before committing to purchase - memory is a competitive market, and you’ll often find a better deal - be warned to use original authorised memory, though, as cheap isn’t necessarily best. (In the UK, Crucial are consistently good, though).

2/ Snow Leopard, AppleCare and know what you do

Unless belt-tightening budgets mean you’re stuck to a PowerPC Mac for a while longer, there’s no reason not to be fully up-to-date with Apple’s latest OS, Snow Leopard. This is fully supported (security updates and so on) but only runs on Intel processors (which leaves PowerPC users a little stuck, as Apple no longer sells the PowerPC-friendly Leopard OS - it should).

Now’s a great time to buy, as the initial flush of sales has passed and you’re seeing a dollar or two lopped off the OS price (low anyway) from most retailers. Or you could opt for the Mac Box Set, which provides the OS upgrade and new versions of iLife and iWork and is currently heavily discounted on Amazon.

AppleCare

Did you know that Apple offers up to three years maintenance and warranty for your Mac?

Did you know that if you don’t buy that contract when you buy your Mac you can still sign-up for it so long as you do so within the first year of owning that Mac?

Well, perhaps you did, but maybe you weren’t aware that AppleCare is available at remarkably good discounts via Amazon - so you can save a good few dollars (up to $50 on some packages.)

Know yourself for yourself
Look at the websites (especially 9to5Mac), explore Tips forums, spend time at Apple Discussion strands - all these things enhance your Mac knowledge, and the more you know about your system, the better your experience of using the platform is going to be.

Its also worth having a book to hand, we suggest investing in Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual and/or Mac OS X Snow Leopard Digital Classroom.

The first is a general work, while the second offers a series of in-depth classes to help you increase understanding of the OS.

3/ Storage, storage, storage - and why it matters (more and more and more)

These days it’s a truism, but as your Mac becomes the central convergence device at the heart of your personal and professional life, the data you have inside it becomes ever more valuable. “Data” isn’t that sexy a word - so let’s define some of what this means....

...if you want to make sure you don’t lose your:

Contacts
Emails
Work and personal creations
Music
Movies
Photos
TV shows
Applications
AND MORE...

You need to back up your drive - preferably twice.

There’s numerous options - here's a few. We’ve skipped some, such as burning to DVD/CD and folder and file sync specific back-ups, though these are also part of your arsenal.

Time Machine
Apple’s built-in backup system. It isn’t perfect, but it is pretty good - you need to ensure you have a Mac-formatted external USB hard drive (you can format those which are not using Disk Utility). We favour a hard drive we connect up every week or so above using networked Times Machine drives via AirPort, as the wireless back-up has proven patchy (even using Time Capsule).

Clone Your Drive
Another back-up, cloning. Carbon Copy Cloner, www.bombich.com or SuperDuper, www.shirt-pocket.com are two popular software packages for this. What they do is create a copy of your drive - apps, settings and all, which you can choose to revert to if your system dies or becomes damaged (for example, in the event of hardware failure). We run one of these apps each month, to an external drive - don’t forget, you can also boot from a cloned disc in emergencies.

Online Back-up
MobileMe (usually discounted c.$20 here) offers a lot more than just online storage and is increasingly becoming a more useful investment, particularly for iPhone and Mac owners. However, while handy for storing your essential files, the space you get is limited. Take a look at the growing collection of online back-up services. (Box.net, DropBox, Adrive etc). At present we like Carbonite. That company’s Mac backup service offers unlimited data storage for $54.95 per year and ships with software to automate your backups. They offer a free 15-day test drive, (www.carbonite.com).

4/ Choose your Drive

Whatever the back-up regime you choose - and we suggest using two or more different forms of back-up, particularly if you’re deeply into iTunes - then you’re going to need a good reliable external hard drive. There’s lots of options when choosing a drive: an empty case to put your own in? Do you go for USB, or Firewire?

As a general rule we suggest choosing as high a capacity drive as you can find (OK, that's a little obvious, but we also observe you’ll get more storage for your buck if you opt for a desktop drive. Also note, unless you’re involved in moving assets between drives for video editing or some-such, a slower drive is likely to be a little more reliable, so long as it's a recent model).

We’ve picked three drives we think should be more than adequate for back-up:

Iomega Prestige 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive
This nice little drive from Iomega’s also available in 1.5 TB, 2TB and 500GB varieties,Energy efficient this 1TB USB 2.0 drive ships with Retrospect Express software (which manages file and folder-specific back-ups). Available in up to 2TB capacities. Right now you can pick up the 1TB version for $104.77, a $68 discount on normal price.

Western Digital My Book Studio II - 2 TB (2 x 1 TB)
This solution adds a little security as it can be configured as a RAID drive. A RAID solution is even more secure as it duplicates data on both the internal drives (leaving you with just 1TB of storage). Alternatively you can use it as a standard drive for 2TB storage.

Normally retailing at $319.99 it’s available for $239 - not the cheapest, but worth the investment if you want a secure back-up system on a consumer user’s budget with a five year warranty.

LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB

Available in capacities up to 2TB, this configurations being sold for $149.99 via Amazon right now (10 percent off). It supports eSATA, FireWire 800/400, and USB 2.0 connections and hosts a 7,200rpm drive.

LaCie's been offering storage solutions since 1989.

5/ User interface - it’s more than software, stupid

We use our Macs...a lot. Think about it - its not just work and play, its also what we use to organise both of these. Whether its syncing an iPod or iPhone, hitting the web for a news hit, writing an email or engaging in a face-to-face video chat with iChat, Skype or whatever - you are using your Mac. And while the on-screen user interface is invaluable, you’re sure holding that mouse/trackpad/keyboard a lot of the time....and this poses different challenges.

I’ve been using computers for around 20 years. I used them a lot. I got into writing early, was putting sites together for the early internet in the early ‘90s’s. The Mac became pretty central to my existence, as a result I contracted RSI - a kind of problem which means I can’t always fully use my arms - which is why I’ve kind of down-sized what I do these days. A few simple changes could have helped prevent that.

It has been suggested that to prevent RSI you should take a five-minute break after every 20 or 30 minutes of continuous activity. If you’re suffering from RSI you should clearly take more frequent and longer breaks. You should stop what you’re doing a few times an hour, relax, take a few deep breaths, and close your eyes or look off into the distance. Better yet, get up and walk around to stretch.

Here’s a couple of things I’ve written before on this topic:
Macworld Secrets: Take control of your workplace
Macworld Secrets: Type less – do more

One key tip I’ve learned which can really make a difference - use several different mouse/interface systems, and switch between them regularly - because each one imposes slightly different demands on you physically, doing just that can make one huge difference.

RSI problems are often compounded by poor hardware designs, which cause you to use awkward positions and excessive force while typing or using your mouse or trackpad. It’s essential to use a mouse rather than a trackpad if engaged in extended working sessions.

These are three of the products I use in my set-up, which I boost with different optical mice as and when I find them.

Kensington Slimblade Trackball
This easy to use solution is so comfortable to use, and has a few extra features which keep pulling me back to it. It is also available at half-price ($78) in the US at the moment...

Wacom Bamboo
Or any Wacom tablet, but I like the Bamboo ($52.99) because it is affordable, and because it enables me to control my Mac by using a pen-type stylus, rather than a mouse. This makes for much more natural and flexible movement.

MacSpeech Dictate
This remains the best speech-to-text solution for the Mac on the planet, it enables you to write that lengthy essay without touching the keyboard much. And it gets better with every point or full version upgrade.

Keyboards
Not just the mice, also the keyboard - particularly laptop keyboards - you need keyboards that push your hands outwards. Take a look at Microsoft’s Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 (half price at the moment), which turns the right and left sides of the keyboard outward so your arms, wrists and hands work in a straight line.

If you’re one handed, then there’s the Maltron One Handed Keyboard (www.maltron.com) an ergonomic keyboard that’s been designed to be completely usable with one hand.

One more thing - do yourself a favour and get yourself a suitable chair...

Apple TV 3.0.2 out for upgrading

Seth Weintraub — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:58:50 +0000

AppleTV 3.0.2 update is out. Apple.com is mum on the subject but signs point to Aperture/iPhoto media browsing update. Direct link to download here. Instructions for updating AppleTV here.

Apple latest Mac OS X 10.6.3 beta seeds - minor changes

Jonny Evans — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:31:15 +0000

Looks possible Apple’s getting closer to shipping the latest Snow Leopard update, as it ramps up development on Mac OS X 10.6.3, seeding developers with the second beta inside four days for the forthcoming patch.

The 737.2MB build 10D552 began circulating last night - the last beta reached developers last Friday, following January’s seeding of build 10D538.

Developers are now being asked to focus testing efforts on three areas: AirPort, GraphicsDrivers and QuickTime. Last week’s build asked devs to also focus on iCal and Printing, suggesting any flaws in these implementations have been addressed.

Here’s the latest seed notes:

Included in this update

- Performance improvements for 64-bit Logic
- Addresses compatibility issues with OpenGL-based applications
- Includes changes to QuickTime X that increase reliability, improve compatibility and address security
- Improves printing reliability and compatibility with 3rd party printers
- Respects the DNS server ordering as specified in Network Preferences
- Addresses an issue that causes background message colors to display incorrectly in Mail when scrolling
- Resolves an issue that prevented files with the # or & in their names from opening in Rosetta
- Resolves an issue that prevented files from copying to Windows shares
- Resolves an issue that caused machines using BTMM and the Bonjour Sleep Proxy to wake unexpectedly

Known Issues

- none

Focus Areas

- AirPort
- GraphicsDrivers
- QuickTime

9to5 Five: Good guides for Windows switchers

9to5toys — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:35:41 +0000

You’ve caught the buzz. You’ve been watching the weather, seeing how the wind blows. You’ve moved or you’re moving to the Mac, because Windows blows. Where can you get the advice you need to help you with this transition? Here’s our small collection of essential guides for switchers.

Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual
David Pogue
US Normal price: $29.99 Current price: $19.79
UK Normal price: £22.99 Current price: £14.48

The best-selling switcher’s guide from the ever-creative pen of David Pogue. This book (available at a good discount from Amazon right now) is an essential guide to help you get started with the fairer platform and its future-focused new OS, Snow Leopard. The book covers everything, from transferring your files to the new Mac, putting your software collection together and the new OS itself. This is the book to choose if migrating to Snow Leopard.

Mac OS X for Windows Users: A Switchers' Guide
David Coursey
Up to $8.97/£5

Windows guru and CNET commentator David Coursey explains what’s what, only this book’s USP is the authour’s use of first-hand accounts from real-life Windows users who’ve already taken the move to the Mac.

He also explains the minutae of moving to a new operating system: files to be ported, software to learn, and so on.

All this is presented from a Windows user’s perspective moving to an older, second-hand Mac running an older OS.

Switching to a Mac For Dummies (Paperback)
Arnold Renhold
Normal Price, $24.99, Current Price, $16.49

UK - around £10

Switch to a Mac with ease using this practical, humorous guide. Users are switching from PCs to Macs in droves, and now you can, too, with this helpful guide.

The book walks you through the entire process-hardware and software-including selecting a Mac, moving files, setting up security, and so on.

It covers the latest hardware and software suites and even tells you a little about running Windows on your new Mac in emulation mode.

My New Mac, Snow Leopard Edition: 54 Simple Projects to Get You Started
Wallace Wang
Normal price, $29.95, Current Price, $19.77

So you’ve made the switch, but you need some new things to do to help you really get to grips with the new Mac system, enter this book.

This title offers insight into the basics of setting up your email, but adds topics for tracking birthdays with iCal, organising files by colour and keyword, using your firewall correctly, sharing files and music and much more.

Once you’ve been through what’s in this book you’ll know as much as you need to know to truly get started with your Mac. UK Price: £14.79

MacMost.com Guide to Switching to the Mac
Gary Rosenzweig
US Normal Price, $19.99, Current Price, $13.59
UK Normal price: £14.99 Current price: £8.99

So you’ve made a decision to switch, you’ll need a guide to help you do it - that’s what this title promises you: from choosing the right Mac to creating your own videos and DVDs and exploring the internet.

Happy switching and welcome to the Mac!

Apple releases two updates to get you ready for Aperture 3

Seth Weintraub — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:43:16 +0000

Hit software update for some RAW camera updates and iLife media browser updates from Apple which will support Aperture 3.

Provides system software resources that are shared by iLife and other applications. This update improves overall stability for the Media Browser and iPhoto slideshows. It also provides compatibility between Aperture 3 and the Media Browser.

The update is recommended for all users of iLife ’09, iWork ’09, and Aperture

This update extends RAW image compatibility for Aperture 3 and iPhoto ’09 for the following cameras and formats:

Canon PowerShot S90
Canon sRAW
Canon mRAW
Leica D-LUX 4
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

Apple podcasts Mac advice video clips

Jonny Evans — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:55:24 +0000

Apple has unshackled at least some of its instructional Mac using videos from their velvet-lined prison on the company’s own website - at last it has set them free via iTunes.

The "Find out how" selection of tutorial videos are organized by application, service, or topic, including Apple applications, the Mac itself, MobileMe and so on. These have long been available via Apple’s own Website, but they are now also available in the ‘Find Out How’ podcast section up there on iTunes.

The nine "Find out how" podcasts that Apple has published so far cover MobileMe, iWork '09, iWeb '09, and of course, Mac Basics. There are between 10-20 episodes in each of these podcasts.

You can also usually find these on YouTube (as illustrated).

Macworld Expo: InFocus shows wireless projetor system for Macs

Jonny Evans — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:02:06 +0000

InFocus has stolen a march on an anticipated run of product launches at Macworld in San Francisco this week, introducing a new solution for Macs which enables wireless projection of audio and video assets via a projector.

Based on wireless technology from Wisair, the InFocus DisplayLink Wireless system (c.$136) allows presenters to easily connect to InFocus DisplayLink-enabled projectors and share HD content on the big screen without wires.

The solution first came to market in August last year - for Windows only. Today the company brings Apple laptops into the fold, it will release the system with Mac OS X support at the end of March 2010.

As the company explains: “MacBook platforms do not have VGA or HDMI connectors, which are the most common connectors in Projectors. For a complete audio-video experience today, Mac users need to connect at least 3 cable adapters: (1) a mini-DisplayPort or mini-DVI to VGA adapter cable (2) a VGA cable that connects to the projector for the video and (3) yet another cable for the audio.

The new InFocus wireless solution allows Mac users to transfer video, audio and also the projector's control, via a single wireless link with a single adapter that connects to a USB port, available in ALL MacBook platforms.”

The system will be demonstrated at Macworld Expo at booth 885.

MacBook Pro Core i7 caught GeekBenching itself

Seth Weintraub — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:13:24 +0000

If you were excited about the prospect of Core i5 MacBook Pros, which Intel briefly offered up in a contest last month, you are going to be pretty stoked about today's news from MacRumors.

Their forum members found a GeekBench scoring done yesterday by a Core-i7 M620 MacBook Pro which is running an unreleased version of Mac OS 10.6.2 (Build 10C3067) and Bios MBP61.88Z.004C.B00.1001251657.

Current generation MacBook Pros score in the 3700-4000 range on the GeekBench score meaning that this particular laptop is a screamer.

We're hoping we don't have to remind anyone here to hold off on buying a new MacBook Pro for the foreseeable future as it seems an update is imminent, with Macrumors even saying that International supplies of MacBook Pros have been dwindling.

We should note that it isn't impossible to fake the specs of a MacBook to Geekbench.

Skype talks iPad and VoIP over 3G

Seth Weintraub — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:55:47 +0000

Interesting. Skype today posted a video regarding updating the application to enable it to work over 3G. This, shall we say, "flies in the face" of what they said a few weeks back when they blamed Apple for not allowing them to do VoIP over 3G. Here's Skype's Peter Parkas:

Many of you have also been asking when we'll release a version which allows you to make calls over 3G - the holy grail of Skype on the mobile, if you like. We've had a 3G-capable version ready for some time now, but Apple's current restrictions mean that they won't allow us to make it available on the App Store for the moment

Apple enabled VoIP over 3G over a week ago and VoIP application providers like Fring had Skype's service working over 3G almost immediately. Skype is still delaying their service and says it will be available "soon". But there is some good news: For the latest iPod touch and iPhone users (with faster ARM processors) Skype is enabling the SILK audio codec which allows CD-quality sound to be used on Skype-to-Skype calls. We've made some SILK calls and the quality is night and day from normal calls. This will work from iPhone3GS to iPhone3GS over 3G…soon.

Perhaps most interesting is Skype on the iPad. They don't give much information on that besides...

Last Thursday, Apple introduced the iPad, which we’re very excited about here at Skype. David Ponsford, who features in the video above, and his team are reviewing the device and its specs, and you can expect to hear more from us about Skype for iPad in due course.

What does this have to do with calling over 3G? The SDK (Software Development Kit) which Apple provides to developers like Skype has been upgraded for the iPad. The new version, 3.2, removes the restrictions on calling over 3G, which is great news.

Look for Skype to enable its VoIP over 3G "soon" and we'll let you know if/when it is coming to the iPad as well.

Nehalem Mac Pros take 20% performance hit when playing audio?

Seth Weintraub — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:17:32 +0000

You hardcore Mac workstation users might want to cut the music when it's time to start rendering your big projects if the latest Ars tale is to be believed. According to the story, Mac Pros exhibit a strange behavior when using iTunes, Quicktime or keeping USB audio interfaces plugged in:

The problem manifests as what has been described as excessive increases in power use and processor core heat when playing songs in iTunes, watching videos via Quicktime, or even when keeping USB or FireWire-based audio interfaces plugged in and active. While hardware monitors only report a small percentage of processor use, it can still cause performance decreases of up to 20 percent for other tasks.

The problem only affects all 2009 Nehalem-based Mac Pros. Strangely, booting affected Mac Pros into Windows 7 also eliminates the problems, leading one user to suspect the issue is related to power management kernel extensions.

A young hacker involved in the hackintosh scene believes the problem is related to the driver that controls newer features of the Nehalem Xeons, including SpeedStep and Turbo Boost. He generated a hacked power management kernel extension that disabled these features, which eliminated the high heat and power draw issues while playing audio. With SpeedStep disabled, however, the CPU drew more power at idle.

It might be best to wait for Apple to release a software update patch for this one, however. In the meantime, listen to your iPod.

Apple delays production of 27-inch iMacs pending display fix, report claims

Jonny Evans — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:18:03 +0000

There’s been a hubbub claiming some problems afflicting the displays on 27-inch iMacs - now it seems Apple may have halted production of the product while the company attempts to figure out what the problem is.

HardMac tells us (citing ‘sources’) that Apple has completely halted 27-inch iMac production, with the assembly lines expected to remain stationary until the company finds fixes for the various display issues the desktop computer is suffering. We've recieved similar reports including the documentation below from a reader:

Reported faults have included flickering and flashing displays on iMacs, and yellowing colour tints which have affected some machines. It is thought Apple has a software fix in development, also.

October reports told us how stunning the new model iMacs are, but these reports were soon followed of reports of problems affecting the flagship all-in-one desktops.

December saw Apple delay orders on these models.

“We can only expect that Apple will quickly find a firmware/software solution for the current owners of iMac 27" having such issues, or maybe it would launch a more general recall campaign which would cost them more money but strengthen their image of a company taking great care of customer satisfaction,” HardMac tells us.

Want that iPad background for your iPod touch or iPhone...

Mark Gurman — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:36:16 +0000

...so you can pretend? Download it here but note that the aspect ratio is different on the iPhone/touch to the iPad's 4:3.

Audio archeology for Apple users

Jonny Evans — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:54:05 +0000

A quiet weekend on the Apple news front saw an unusual report explaining where iPod and iPhone users can find rich sources of historically interesting music online.

The report offers a whistle stop tour of some of the websites which make digitised versions of 78rpm and cylinder recordings available to download - and these are free and legal as the recordings are out of copyright.

Of course, you may be on the hunt for more modern music, and for that why not take a look at Amazon’s MP3 service, which always offers a few free tracks to supplement your iTunes ‘Single of the Week’.

Of the sites mentioned we’re especially impressed by Tinfoil - among other highlights this month it is offering a homemade recording made on December 31, 1905 by revelers bringing in the New Year of 1906; Stanford University and the University of California also deserve note.

Grateful Dead fans will probably want to check out The Internet Audio Archive.

Latest Snow Leopard upgrade reaching developers

Jonny Evans — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:05:22 +0000

Apple is seeding a new maintenance and security pre-release beta to developers, Mac OS X 10.6.3 Build 10D538.

As reported by AppleInsider, this build features, “an update to QuickTime X that, when finalized, will improve security and compatibility while simultaneously enhancing overall reliability."

The release will also include tweaks that aim to enhance the performance of Apple's 64-bit Logic pro audio suite. Other planned improvements include better compatibility with third-party printers and OpenGL-grounded applications.

Developers have been asked to test critical components including AirPort, VoiceOver and graphics drivers. An issue related to photo albums viewed via Front Row is the sole reported issue at this time.

The release is currently speculated upon to ship in six weeks time.

MacBook Pros see US/UK Amazon discounts...

Jonny Evans — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:54:17 +0000

Amazon in the UK and US appears to be offering MacBook Pro models at fairly good discounts (for a Mac).

Two examples:

UK deal: The MacBook Pro 13inch model with a 2.26GHz processor, 2GB memory and a 160GB drive usually costs £899, today it costs £837. That’s a £62 saving...

US deal: The MacBook Pro 13inch model with a 2.53GHz processor, 4GB memory and a 250GB drive usually costs $1,499, today it costs $1,429.95. That’s a $69.05 saving...

We’re not saying these are the only deals on offer, nor are we suggesting this indicates new models are imminent, but it always intrigues us when Macs are reduced in price. Perhaps there’s other deals? Let us know...

Hate Flash on YouTube? Google now lets you see video in HTML 5

Seth Weintraub — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:37:51 +0000

Google/Toutube last night released an opt-in option of the Youtube.com site that plays videos by default in HTML5 instead of Flash. The opt-in only works at Youtube.com, not on embedded Youtube videos. Also, Chrome and Safari are the only browsers supported at this time (no Firefox or IE).

If you want to stay Flash free on embedded Youtubes, you can use ClicktoFlash.

Adobe can't be pleased with this. via DF

Update: Unsurprisingly, commenters report seeing significant CPU usage drops when using HTML5 vs. Flash.

Bumptop 3D Desktop organizer demoed

Mark Gurman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:19:22 +0000

Today, Bumptop released its popular and intuitive 3D desktop organizer for Mac. Bumptop allows users to have more customization over their desktop by allowing file thumbnails to be stacked and individual altered in size or location. Bumptop displays the files on your desktop in a cool-looking 3D fashion, while maintaining the speed, and desktop features such as expose intact. Bumptop for Mac is free but a Pro version with support for multi-touch trackpads, and support for quick file searching from the desktop is available for $29.

Tip: Make your iPhone speaker louder with that empty pint glass on your desk

Seth Weintraub — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:20:42 +0000

This isn't rocket science, but surprisingly, it does work. Need your iPhone's speaker to be a little louder? Drop it into a nice big funnel-top pint glass. The echo chamber effect will pump a few more decibels out of the iPhone speaker and you can still read what's on your display as well. Great for conference calls or sharing music at a quiet pub.

via Unplgged via TUAW

TUAW adds the tip of putting your iPhone in a ziplock bag when in messy cooking situations but that felt a bit on the obvious side.

Cool: Your Trackpad becomes your graphic tablet

Jonny Evans — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:10:49 +0000

Tenone Design has introduced Inklet, $24.95 software which tranforms your trackpad into a graphic tablet.

Inklet allows your trackpad to emulate a pen tablet. When you're using a Pogo Sketch, the trackpad even becomes pressure sensitive. It works with the handwriting recognition built into OS X.

It also includes an advanced algorithm to detect unwanted trackpad touches.

We think it seems pretty cool.

Quick Tip: Option clicking on your wireless icon gives breaks down your wireless stats

Seth Weintraub — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:30:16 +0000

I'm sure I should have learned this somewhere before but option-clicking on the wireless icon on the upper right hand part of your screen quickly gives you information about your wireless connection. Great for troubleshooting wireless issues and making sure you are on a legit wireless router. That is all. Thanks Ken!

Apple Remote Desktop - stability update

Jonny Evans — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:13:42 +0000

Apple has introduced Apple Remote Desktop 3.3.2, recommending all users update to the latest version.

The release, “addresses several issues related to overall reliability, usability and compatibility,” the company said, with both Client and Admin available.

Apple Remote Desktop Client 3.3.2 updates the software that facilitates Remote Management (enabled in Sharing preferences, in System Preferences).

Apple Remote Desktop Admin 3.3.2 updates the Remote Desktop application, which can be used to remotely administer Apple Remote Desktop clients.

Sundry enhancements include:

Setup

Improved handling of IP address and port changes for clients accessed behind a Network Address Translation (NAT) system
Upgrading to Apple Remote Desktop 3.3 will no longer reset non-administrator access privileges
Improved reliability when authenticating new client computers

Software Distribution

Improved reporting of results of failed package installations

Asset Management

MacBook Air MAC address is now correctly reported
Improved reliability of reporting systems configured with AirPort
Correctly reports system version for systems that have been promoted from Mac OS X to Mac OS X Server

Remote Assistance

Improved mouse cursor tracking when controlling remote systems
Improved reliability when controlling remote clients that have a 1366-by-768 resolution
Improved performance when clients are being controlled by RealVNC viewers
Improved reliability when controlling systems that have dual graphics processors
Improved support when controlling systems running third-party VNC servers
Improved reliability for drag-and-drop file copy
Improved reliability when controlling client computers that have two displays
Improved reliability when controlling remote systems in scale mode with certain resolutions
Menu Extra now correctly shows status when being observed by a VNC viewer