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Charles Clark is the President |
July/August 2010
The iPad has arrived in the Learning Center for you to touch and enjoy. The club also purchased a nice leather case, some digital books (iBooks), and fun apps for the iPad. Meanwhile, I use my own iPad at home to check the email and the news while having my morning coffee. The iPad goes where you go. You are welcome to visit the Learning Center and ask to see the iPad.
Welcome to Macintosh. I do not normally comment on the previous month's general meeting program, but the motion picture 'Welcome To Macintosh' has more to share. This picture was first broadcast in January 2010 on the cable network CNBC. I recorded it on my DVR at home. Since Anne and I started using Macs in the mid 80's, the history of Apple and its products were familiar to us. The motion picture was well researched and very well edited. The result was exceptional. Louise Dawson suggested that this picture would make a great meeting topic. Shell Weinberg had the same idea and bought the DVD from Amazon for $19. He intended to reduce the 83 minutes run time to 60 minutes. However, he found very few clips to cut and and said, 'What the heck, let's show the whole thing with an intermission." Everyone at the June meeting enjoyed the DVD. A few said, "That was your best meeting ever."
Meanwhile, I took the DVD home and played it again. I discovered the DVD 'Extras.' The DVD content is much greater than the motion picture. The interviews are three hours long. Some of principles are Guy Kawasaki, Andy Hertzfeld, Ron Wayne, the forgotten founder, and my favorite, Jim Reekes. In the spirit of 'Extras,' there is a featurette showing the making of the motion picture, movie trailers, and a montage called 'Symbiosis' showing how various Apple computers fit into our culture. A bit strange, but fun, as if the director is making sight gags.
The DVD is in our library for check out. Enjoy.
June 2010
Date and Time Problems? If you have an annoying problem with your Mac that you cannot fix - perhaps the Date & Time settings are incorrect or the PDT time zone and location (Los Angeles) are not available in the Date & Time system preferences, try these five troubleshooting steps.
Step 1. Turn your Mac off and remove the power cable; plug it back in after a thirty second pause. This will reset the Power Management Unit (PMU). This will work for most iMacs. Other Macs may require opening the case up and pressing the PMU button on the logic board or removing the motherboard battery for thirty seconds. See the Apple online instructions if these circumstances fit you.
Step 2. Repair Disk Permissions. Launch the Disk Utility application found in your Utilities folder. Look left and confirm that your hard drive (mine is Macintosh HD) is highlighted, then click the Repair Disk Permissions button.
Step 3. Zap the PRAM (Parameter Random Access Memory). PRAM retains five settings in your Mac which it needs to boot up accurately: time zone, startup disk, speaker volume, DVD region setting, and kernel panic information.! Resetting the PRAM is a twenty-year-old technique that still works in the OS X Macs: On start up, depress and hold down four keys (takes both hands): Option, Command, P, and R. Wait for three system chimes - then release the keys. This flushes out stray or erroneous data in the PRAM, which might have caused your problem.
Step 4. "Google" your problem.
Step 5. Download (apple.com/support) and run a "Mac OS X Combo Update" for your operating system. We have a few Combo Update CD's in the Learning Center which club members may borrow. If additional troubleshooting is required, the Apple Store Genius or your guru can assist you.
May 2010
Board Matters. Ed Egan, Board member and a Past President, has resigned from the Board. He will remain a club member. Ed was President when I joined the club some ten-plus years ago. Ed is a store of club history because he participated in the early days of the first ₀computer club₁ (PC and Apple), then the PC Club with an Apple branch, and then the Macintosh Users Group which continues as the Laguna Woods Village Macintosh Club. The Board has two vacancies. If you are an ardent Mac or iPad user, I would like to talk to you about joining the Board.
iPad. The Board of Directors has decided to purchase one iPad for the Learning Center, in order to give you a chance to try out this extraordinary device.
Keyboard shortcuts. I have recently learned some keyboard shortcuts that I think are ‘nifty.’ To Shut Down your Mac immediately without mousing with the Apple menu, first depress and hold three keys: control+option+command and then depress the media eject key. If all goes well, you will see an immediate shutdown without being asked ‘Are you sure…’
To send a file to the Trash without dragging the file icon to the Trash, depress the control key, click and hold on the file⁽s icon, select ₀Move to Trash₁ in the drop down menu. To empty the Trash without moving to the Finder⁽s File menu, depress shift+command+delete keys (not forward-delete).
My favorite keyboard shortcut is command+tab. You will see the application your are currently using with other application icons you have opened but are not using. To move to the next unused application, depress command+tab until you get to the application you want. To quit the selected application, depress the command+Q keys.
April 2010
iPad. Apple has announced that its magical and revolutionary iPad will be available at the Apple Stores on Saturday, April 3, for Wi-Fi models, and in late April for Wi-Fi + 3G models. I get the feeling the Mac Club will buy one Wi-Fi model for use in the Learning Center ;-).
Apple Support. Apple has updated their support page “What to ask if you're having issues sending, receiving, or configuring Mail.” It is a long form that you should fill out before you have mail problems. The form is too long to reproduce here. You can find it at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1277 and print it. If you do not know all of the answers, contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as West Coast Internet, or your email service provider (ESP}, such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Apple's MobileMe. From time to time, I find wrong settings on the Mail accounts used in the Learning Center. If your email service is not working, check the account settings.
Apple Troubleshooting. If your web browser (such as Safari, Firefox, or Google Chrome) displays these unwelcome alerts, "A connection failure has occurred", "The specified server could not be found,” “Name servers not responding” or similar messages, refer to Apple’s troubleshooting page at http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1843. If your web browsing is fine, you do not need to read the troubleshooting steps. However, please make one test now to see if your DNS (domain name system) settings are correct. Type this URL ( http://17.149.160.49 ) into your browser’s web address bar and press Enter. It should take you to Apple’s web site. If you get the Apple web page, your DNS service is fine. DNS servers convert web address containing numbers to words so that humans do not have to memorize millions of numbers for web page addresses. Thank goodness!
March 2010
Protected passwords. Keychain Access, located in your Utilities folder, is the preferred keeper of your passwords for logging on to websites that insist on passwords, such as iTunes, Apple Care, news sites, your bank, and on-line stores. Over the years I have created an AppleWorks document five pages long with many passwords, many obsolete and a distant memory. However, it is bad practice to have your passwords readable in a document that any other user of your Mac can access. I finally became familiar and comfortable with using Keychain Access. Keychain Access works automatically when you set up a new account on a website, provided you check “Remember this password” during the account setup. Keychain Access can also be used to manually create new passwords. I have been doing more of this lately. The key feature of Keychain Access is that it requires your administrator’s password to access your passwords. If you leave your Mac open to other users, or if your Macbook is lost, your passwords are protected.
Here is a brief tour of Keychain Access: Inside Keychain Access, highlight the login Keychain at the op of the left sidebar, and in the Category section below, select Passwords. The list that appears shows the name of each website/account, the kind of account, the kind of password (Internet or application), and the date modified (created or edited). To find your password for that website/account, double-click on the item of interest. Click the checkbox “Show password,” enter your administrator password, and click Allow. This will make your password visible.
Another useful category of Keychain Access is Secure Notes. You can write one or many Secure Notes. To access your note later, you must provide the administratorÕs password. I recently copied and pasted my long AppleWorks list of passwords into a Secure Note and it worked well. Rather than having a list of passwords in an easily accessible text document, I now have all my password safe in Keychain Access.
February 2010
Board Matters. Louise Doslu, Instructor and Supervisor for Monday morning at our Learning Center, was recently elected to the Board of Directors. Louise is an iPhone enthusiast. If you ask Louise a question about the iPhone she will smile as she opens her ever-handy iPhone. Filling LouiseÕs Mac Board Associate position is Dennis McGovern, our Friday morning supervisor. Dennis is an experienced FileMaker Pro user. Dennis has developed an online membership roster using File Maker Pro. When GRF requested our club roster for their records, Dennis filled out their new new online form in a jiffy using "copy and paste." The roster was received with a BIG THANK YOU. I have been told that not all clubs know how to “copy and paste.” Dennis is now looking at automating our Mac Room Library circulation system.
Using iCal. At the January general meeting, Forrest Blanton and Dave Silverberg, Apple Creatives and Geniuses at the Apple Spectrum store, showed us how to add events to our iCal calendar. Anne’s Corner in this newsletter has a tip on how you can add the Mac Club calendar to your iCal program. I did it yesterday. I also added the Lakers and Clippers calendar in my iCal calendar. To see other calendars you can add ("subscribe to"), go to
Printer misbehaving? If your printer will not print, turn the power off and disconnect the data cable. Wait a few seconds. Also restart your Mac. Reconnect the printer and turn the printer on. If you need instructions on how to change ink cartridges, go the manufacture’s web site. Each printer brand has their own sequence of steps to perform. If you have the printer’s User Guide handy, place it under the printer for rapid access.
January 2010
Welcome 2010. Thank you, members, for renewing your Mac Club membership. If you have not yet renewed, please drop in at the Mac Learning Center before the end of January and fill out our ‘really short’ membership form with your check for $10. Nonresidents are welcome for $20 (one per household), subject to Golden Rain’s “10 percent membership“ limit.
House Calls. I have received a few calls recently for help in reconnecting to the Internet. If you call West Coast Internet for help, they will tell you to disconnect the power plug from the cable modem, wait a few seconds, and reconnect. Works 99% of the time. Not so in a recent visit. After verifying cable connections for Ethernet, power, and coaxial, and seeing the green lights on the cable modem, there was still no connection. I decided to enter the cable modem’s web interface number: In your browser's web address field, type 192.168.100.1 and press Enter. This will display the status of your cable modem. I saw that the Cable Modem Status was “Disabled” instead of “Operational.” In the “Configuration” page, you can click the “Restore Factory Defaults” button. I clicked the button, waited a few minutes, and closed the browser window (click the red window button). Voilà! The Internet connection was working. I cannot explain how the cable modem became 'Disabled' in the first place.
I expect all Mac owners using OS X to know their Admin User Name and its password. Guess what? I can assure you that I do not know your password. This is the password you use to install your Mac's software updates. If you forget, Apple has a back door that allows you to reset your password using the Mac OS X system disc that came with your iMac. Do you know where your system discs are? If not, I'll use mine. If you know your password, I suggest you write it on a Post-It note and affix it to the bottom of the keyboard for easy retrieval. The last sentence will bother security purists but not me.
December 2009
Board Matters. We have two new Board members: Ted Miller and Lee Wight were elected Directors at our November Board meeting. They will fill two vacancies. Louise Doslu was appointed Mac Board Associate. An Associate is a non-voting Board member who acts as an advisor to the Board. I am very pleased that Ted, Lee and Louise want to help manage the Mac Club. Meanwhile, Bob Payne will resign his position on the Board at year end. Bob has been very helpful in explaining Broadband issues, high-definition television and broadband Internet, facing the community. We wish Bob and his wife, Virginia, the opportunity to do what they want to do.
Just one more thing. The Club officers were reelected for another year term beginning next year. The officers are Charles Clark, President; John Hansen, Vice President; Anne Clark, Secretary; and Wim Vermolen, Treasurer.
I thank the Directors and Officers for their contribution and service. We are always looking for volunteers; play an active role in your Club.
New iMacs. Five new 24-inch screen iMacs were installed in the Learning Center. These lovely iMacs replace the now obsolete white flat-panel iMacs with the dome bases. The flat-panel iMacs will be sent to the PCM maintenance warehouse on Via Campo Verde for sealed bids by residents and employees of the community. Watch for announcements in the Globe for the bidding announcement. The funds go to Golden Rain, not to the Mac Club.
Year-end Wishes. See you next year. To Good Health and Happy Mac Computing. May your printer print, your email work, and your browser be always connected to the Internet.
Happy Holidays!
November 2009
Gladys Greene. Gladys Greene, former newsletter editor and Board member, has moved to Arizona to be with her family. Gladys fought this move for months, but after she tripped over her beloved dog, she consented to the move. Call for Volunteers. We have several openings in our Mac Board. If you wish to make an impact on our club and make some nice friends, please contact me (837-6080). I can invite you to a Board meeting so you can see for yourself if you are a fit. Common sense is a plus. Technical skill, not so much.
Renewal time. Your 2009 membership dues will expire at the end of the year (unless you joined on or after September 1, 2009). Dues are $10 for residents, $20 for nonresidents. Combined with our 'world-class' Learning Center, your membership is very special and very affordable. While $10/$20 dollars is a nominal amount, your dues do help the Mac Club maintain the Learning Center, paying for ink, toner, paper, and the printing of newsletters. New members signing up now will have their membership extended to the end of 2010.
Mail Call, Not. The Post Office now requires bulk rate users, such as us, to deposit their mailings at the Santa Ana Processing and Distribution Center, not at the Laguna Hills office where we enjoyed good relations for many years. This has proved to be a hardship. The Board has decided to use first class stamps for the November and December mailings. Cost is a bit more but saves in gas and time. Furthermore, the Mac Club will no longer mail newsletters to members after the December issue. You may pick up a paper copy in the Learning Center or at our general meetings. You may also read the newsletter for free at our website, www.themacclub.org/newsletter.html. You can even print out a copy at your printer.
Happy Thanksgiving!
October 2009
Annual Membership Dues Our 2010 membership renewal drive is open. Your dues are good for one year and expire on December 31. Dues for Laguna Woods Village residents are only $10 per person ($15 per couple, if applying/renewing together). Your dues are important to the club.
You may renew either in person at the Learning Center, where we have application forms and a Supervisor can assist you. Or go to our web site, www.themacclub.org/application, and fill in the online application. Full remittance instructions are on the application form. $10 is quite a bargain.
New members who join now will receive membership for the remaining months in 2009 and the full year 2010 for $10. The Board has reduced the $15 first-year membership dues to only $10, same as the renewal dues.
Slow eMac Recently a member needed help with his eMac that had become sluggish when surfing the Internet. Memory was insufficient. The eMac had only 384 MB of memory. Due to owner inexperience, no maintenance routines had been performed, such Repair Disk Permissions and Repair Disk.
I installed 1 GB of memory. Increasing memory is the best investment you can make in your Mac. Memory prices are very reasonable. I also installed a newer operating system. If you are two or three versions behind the current operation system, your Mac will miss out on improvements and support for new equipment.
Finally, I used my favorite tune-up script, AppleJack. The use of AppleJack was written up by Anne in last month's Anne's Corner. One AppleJack feature I like very much is purging your user cache files. Over time these cache files grow in large numbers (thousands), and any performance improvement is offset by the delays in finding and reading the cache files. AppleJack deletes all cache files. Your Mac will be snappy, and you will be happy.
September 2009
Murray Massin, Board Member, Instructor, and past Program Chair, passed away this July. He will be missed by everyone who knew him. I have written a long essay about Murray in the September newsletter.
Our beloved Board Member, Newsletter Editor and Supervisor, Gladys Greene, has resigned her positions with the club due to recent infirmity. With great sadness on her part, she reluctantly gave up her Pealings newsletter that she created so diligently for many years. She mastered PageMaker and InDesign publishing software. Gladys was an early member of the club. In the days when we had no permanent meeting place, she would open her house and be a gracious host for members to learn more about ’Macintosh.’ I now hope, with her responsibilities lifted, she will be able to recover.
Kevin O’Conner, recently retired from the performing arts field, has accepted the job as Newsletter Editor. He was recently elected Board Member, and he continues as an Assistant Supervisor. I still have his written note stating his interest in helping the club. I expect him to do well. Welcome aboard, Kevin.
Ted Miller answered my call for volunteers. He is the Monday afternoon Supervisor, skilled in Photoshop, and was recently appointed Mac Board Associate. Welcome aboard, Ted.
Recently two members had the same printer problem: printer won’t print. Step one to try in cases like this is to open the “Print & Fax” System Preference and click on the ’Open Print Queue...’ button. If printing was stopped, click the “Resume Printer” button. If that does not work, turn off the printer and disconnect the USB cable from the printer and the Mac. Wait a moment and reconnect the USB cable. Turn on the power. Check that the printer appears in the “Print & Fax” System Preferences Printers list.
July/August 2009
Safari 4. The new Safari 4 browser for Mac and PC users has been released and it is fast, very fast. The download is free. Coming in September is OS 10.6 also known as Snow Leopard. The announced price is $29 or $49 for a family pack.
OS X v. 10.6 Snow Leopard. Coming in September is OS 10.6 also known as “Snow Leopard.” The announced price is $29 or $49 for a family pack.
New One-to-One Apple Training Rules. Apple has expanded their person-in-store One-To-One membership. First major change is One-To-One is offered only at the time of purchase of a new Mac at an Apple Store or Apple Online Store. You must choose One-To-One at the time of your new Mac purchase. Current One-To-One members can renew one more year without the purchase requirement. Lapsed member? Sorry, you have to buy a new Mac at Apple.
One-To-One offers overnight transfer of files from your old Mac or PC and installation of new Apple software, both in the right place. You still make one hour appointments for a training session. The requirement for one weekly session is replaced with unlimited appointments provided the new appointment made is after the current One-To-One session. So if you want, you can have hours of training in a day or week, depending on Apple’s available schedule, provided that the sessions are scheduled one at a time. New is “Personal Projects.” For example, if you need more than one hour to build your web site, make a Keynote presentation, or learn that Pro application, you can get a three hour training slot with a Apple Creative trainer. I envision that there will a group of attendees, each with their own project, and one roving trainer to guide you through your questions.
Finally, One-To-One members will have access to the One-To-One web site with many training videos and other aids as well as your scheduling portal.
June 2009
Welcome Kevin O'Connor. Kevin joined our club last year and has offered to help run the club. Therefore, I am pleased to announce Kevin is our latest Assistant Supervisor. He will fill in when a Supervisor is absent from the Learning Center. Kevin’s mother is a Laguna Woods Village resident and he is a resident of Laguna Hills. He recently retired as Director of the Downey Civic Theatre. Kevin has extensive Mac experience, starting with the first Macintosh. Over the years he has had a Mac Plus, LC III, and currently works on a MacBook Pro. Kevin grew up in the circus world where he learned, among other things, how to revive sick animals with a wee bit of brandy. He also attended the same high school that Shell did, Fairfax High, except Shell preceded Kevin by twenty-two years.
If you wish to help the Mac Club please come to Clubhouse 1 at 5:30 p.m. on monthly meeting nights and offer to help set up the projector and other equipment; visit the Learning Center often, and attend our monthly Board meetings. You are always welcome.
Web Browsers. I currently use Safari Version 4 Public Beta. This is the browser that will ship with the next Mac OS, Snow Leopard, hopefully without the ‘Beta’ handle. Being an Apple product, Safari should be a robust browser for you. Firefox 3.0.10 is the latest from the Mozilla Organization, and they have announced version 3.5 to be released soon. Firefox is good to have when your primary browser has an issue loading a particular web page. OmniWeb 5.9.2 and Opera 9 are also powerful browsers in their own right. If you want to try a different browser, please try my long-time favorite, Camino 1.6.7. It is finely tuned for the Mac. I find it worthwhile to have more than one browser handy in case something funny happens in your web browser.