ATTENDING: Larry T, Kay T,
Tom B, Bill N, Bob S, Gene N and Jerry L
TOPIC: iPad
Larry
gave a demonstration of his new iPad and
what he has learned from using it during the summer. It took a few
minutes to get the iPad to work with our VGA projector. Finally got
some limited success after downloading Expedition from
the iTunes app store. An article here describes
how to display everything on iPad via a VGA projector. Some common
opinions seem to agree that iPad with backlit screen was much easier
to read in low light while Kindle was better in bright sun light. Battery
duration was definitely better in the Kindle (weeks vs. hours). Also
price was a consideration, especially if your main purpose was to read
books. Some other impressions of iPad can be found at Tidbits and ZDNET.
Base model starts at $499.
iPad Printing with older, non-wireless USB printers
Other
pads - Monoprice's $40 USB
Graphics Tablet w/ Pen. Similar to the classic Wacom Tablet, but
much larger and less expensive (see images).
Create pencil and pen drawings with
pressure-sensitive lines using any graphic app such as the free Pencil.
Used Wacom tablets can
be found on eBay for pittance.
1. If you add Control to
the famous Command-Shift-4,
Mac OS X will capture your screenshot to the clipboard instead of creating
a file on your desktop. This is ideal for pasting into image editors
like Acorn and Pixelmator, and cutting down on desktop clutter. In
fact, the image editors are smart, and they’ll check your Mac’s
clipboard for an image when creating a new file. If they see one, the
new file dialog dimensions will default to those of the image on your
clipboard.
3. Double click to select
a word - Triple click to select an entire sentence or paragraph.
DISCOVERIES
1.
Speed up a sluggish internet browser (such as Safari or Firefox) by
using Apple's
two DNS numbers:
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
Network>TCP/IP>DNS Servers
Insert numbers then click Apply. DNS Servers are a bit like phone books
where you look up a name and it gives you the phone number. These Servers
have been patched to guard against DNS poisoning, and are faster/more
reliable than most ISP's DNS Servers.
-----or try Google's DNS numbers
8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Read how to here
2.
Print Avery Labels via Pages by downloading from Avery website - see
how here.
To delete a template in Pages, go to: User>Library>Application
Support>iWork>Pages>Templates>My Templates. Select and trash
unneeded template.
3.
System Preferences is an APPLICATION on Mac OS - did you know that?
Tom helped a friend replace his missing System Prefs app (which had
been accidently trashed) by using Pacifist to
copy the System Prefs app from an install disk without having to reinstall
the entire OS. Read more below.
4.
Transfer LARGE files - if you have a Dotmac or MobileMe account with
Apple, you can use your Public Folder to quickly and securely transfer
files to another computer or person. Go to System Prefs>MobileMe
(or.Mac) >Select iDisk tab, adjust Public Folder preferences (i.e
Read, Read+Write, password enabled). Then connect to your Public Folder
by going to Finder Menu>Go>iDisk>My iDisk.
After your iDisk opens on the Desktop, drag your large files to be
shared into your Public Folder in your iDisk. Close and eject your
iDisk (Command-E). The person with whom you wish to share files can
go to https://public.me.com/username
In the pop-up dialog box,
enter your user name (and password if assigned) to view your Public
Folder. Copy files out.
On-line
Book Publishing - Tom shared some of his recent experiences of printing
a 30-page family album via Apple's
iPhoto and Lulu -
easy, convenient, permanent. Lulu is 30% cheaper but Apple looks classier.
Using old USB scanners plugged into G3 iBooks and Graphic Converter,
entire pages of old family photo albums were digitally copied and organized
for the book publishing.
GraphicConverter
v.6.7.4 - latest version key
features - opening and saving JPGs and PNGs in GC creates handy
thumbnail icons which is very helpful for organizing a folder of
photos. ($35)
Pacifist - is
a shareware application that opens Mac OS X .pkg package files, .dmg
disk images, and .zip, .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, and .xar file archives
and allows you to extract individual files and folders out of them.
This is useful, for instance, if an application which is installed
by the operating system becomes damaged and needs to be reinstalled
without the hassle of reinstalling all of Mac OS X. Pacifist is also
able to verify existing installations and find missing or altered files,
and Pacifist can also examine the kernel extensions installed in your
system to let you see what installer installed them, and whether the
installer was made by Apple or a third-party. Pacifist is compatible
with Mac OS X 10.3 or higher, including Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard”.
It is also compiled as a Universal Binary for maximum performance on
both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs. Pacifist is shareware that costs
$20 but can be used for as long a trial period as you find necessary
to evaluate it (you will be presented with a “nag screen” at
startup until you register).
Hammondsport Mac Users Group - Hammondsport, NY 14840
- www.hportmug.com
Larry
gave a demonstration of his new 
Pros
and cons of other E-Readers were discussed. Read about 
Other
pads - Monoprice's $40 
KEYBOARD
SHORTCUTS
1.
Speed up a sluggish internet browser (such as Safari or Firefox) by
using 
2.
Print Avery Labels via Pages by downloading from Avery website - see
how 
3.
System Preferences is an APPLICATION on Mac OS - did you know that?
Tom helped a friend replace his missing System Prefs app (which had
been accidently trashed) by using 
4.
Transfer LARGE files - if you have a Dotmac or MobileMe account with
Apple, you can use your Public Folder to quickly and securely transfer
files to another computer or person. Go to System Prefs>MobileMe
(or.Mac) >Select iDisk tab, adjust Public Folder preferences (i.e
Read, Read+Write, password enabled). Then connect to your Public Folder
by going to Finder Menu>Go>iDisk>My iDisk.
After your iDisk opens on the Desktop, drag your large files to be
shared into your Public Folder in your iDisk. Close and eject your
iDisk (Command-E). The person with whom you wish to share files can
go to https://public.me.com/username 
On-line
Book Publishing - Tom shared some of his recent experiences of printing
a 30-page family album via 
