ACN 4-POR T E THERNE T WIRELESS MODEM Specification

April 2009
AUSOM Supports Users of
Apple Products
April 2009 Volume 30, No 3
Recommended retail price $9.00
Print Post Publication No. 339944/00003
ISSN 1329-2641
AUSOM News is a publication of
AUSOM Incorporated Reg. No. A0005646X
This issue is dedicated to the Victorian
bushfire victims, heros, fire fighters,
survivors and animals.
The new, more powerful Mac range
now at Next Byte.
The latest iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Pro
and iPod touch have now arrived.
Come into store and try out our new range of Mac computers and Mac software.
The Next Byte team will be on hand to demonstrate the new iLife and iWork 09,
showcasing new features and providing expert advice.
2 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
* All graphics are for illustration purposes only. Next Byte reserves the right to change prices & or adjust models according to availability of stock without prior notice. E&OE.
Dick Johnson
From Your Committee
Melbourne PC Office – Our New
Venue
Saturday 2nd May was our first Meetings Day
in our new venue – the Melbourne PC User
Group Office at the Chadstone Place office
block in the Chadstone Shopping Centre
and what a great day it turned out to be. Our
members loved the facilities and with the
help of Melbourne PC’s Bob Trayner and his
assistants all technical problems were quickly
overcome. Our AUSOM ladies in their bright
fluoro-orange vests working in the shopping
centre aisle made sure that anyone trying to
find our AUSOM Meetings Day venue knew
exactly where to go. Many members took the
opportunity to visit the Apple Store in this
vast shopping complex two floors below and
amazingly, found their way back to us.
Numbers were up and the best since February
last year when Joe Cox spoke to us. Our peak
count was 131 in the SIG rooms between 1
and 2 pm. There were at least nine 1:1 sessions
running throughout the day. We learned
from Stephen Withers’ session, My Favourite
Freeware, that we need to leave the partition
between Meeting Rooms 1 and 2 open during
the Main Meeting and the Main Presentation.
Stephen had 93 people on chairs listening to
him with not a single chair vacant and the air
conditioning working hard to keep up.
Business over the AUSOM sales tables was
very brisk with many renewals, and many
new memberships. Our disk sales were very
strong and the monthly raffle went well.
The Whitehorse Kiwanis did well with their
snag-on-bread, cake, and hot and cold drink
offerings and will return to us in future
months.We are looking forward to Hot Cross
Buns for our Easter meeting.
AUSOM Incorporated
ABN 63 929 877 630
Reg.No.
A0005646X
Post:
247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000
Phone and fax:
1300 360 813
e-mail:
offi[email protected]
Website:
http://www.ausom.net.au
Contact AUSOM Committee of Management by email
via
[email protected]
AUSOM News:
Editor: Pam Doughty
Post:
5 Raynes St Balwyn 3103
e-mail:
[email protected]
Send letters & editorial material to the Editor by post or email – deadline 1st Saturday of month prior to publication
month. NOTE: There is no AUSOM News in January
www.ausom.net.au
A word about parking. Some areas at
Chadstone are stated to be three hours only.
These areas are defined by yellow paint. The
more distant car parks marked out in white
however are time unlimited. Similarly the
parking areas beneath both Myer and Coles
are time unlimited. You have to look at the
signs but long term car parking does exist and
can be accessed. The underground car parking
areas do not open until 9 am.
Committee Change
We have had a vacancy on Committee for a
couple of months. At another time Fred Jago
had expressed some interest in helping so we
asked him to join us. Fred agreed and came to
our February meeting where he was appointed
as an ordinary member. Fred will complete
three months on Committee before the AGM
is held. Welcome aboard Fred and thank you
for your help.
Annual General Meeting
Our Annual General Meeting is approaching
rapidly. There are only a few weeks before
the AGM (Saturday 2-May). This is the time
to consider becoming a member of the
Committee in any position that takes your
fancy. All positions will be declared vacant.
We must have four Executive members and
four others who will guide AUSOM through
the next twelve months. It’s time for new
blood and new ideas to lead us forward in this
world of ever changing challenges. This is your
opportunity to ask two members to nominate
you. Seize it! All the forms you need are in this
issue. If you need more information please
speak to our secretary on 9885 7060.
Beginners 1:1
Beginners 1:1 continues to grow as more
and more members realise the benefits of
1:1 tutoring: and no, it’s not just for raw
beginners. Perhaps we had that idea when we
first started this programme, but we are now
finding that expert users who want to know
something about a field of study in which they
have quite limited experience are asking for a
1:1 session from those who have the smarts in
the area. Our 1:1 programme has turned out to
be a unique offering in the field and we intend
to capitalise on it, nurture and grow it, and
see our members gain skills more effectively
and faster than ever. Pat Tasker organises the
1:1 programme and will work hard to match
AUSOM
has a new
location to
hold meetings
on the first
Saturday of
each month.
We welcome
Members who
have joined
AUSOM
recently and
call upon
ALL other
Members to
offer them
friendship
and
assistance.
Those new
to AUSOM
may find
information
of interest
to them on
Page 4 of the
yellow section
of AUSOM
News this
month.
AUSOM News April 2009 v 3
you with someone who will show you the ropes in
the field you wish to study. Let us emphasise, raw
beginners are still most welcome and will always be so
on our 1:1 programme.
Forthcoming Meetings
AUSOM’s 30th Birthday SubCommittee
The Multimedia SIG is held Tuesday evening, 7th April
at the Balwyn Baptist Church Hall at 7.30pm. Ross
Taylor will speak about Adobe (Photoshop) Lightroom
2. NOTE we have scheduled our April Multimedia
session for the first Tuesday in April so that it will
meld perfectly with our regular R&O session. On
Wednesday morning 8 April (the second Wednesday)
at 10am Steve Cooper will present: ‘A Voyage around a
Digital Camera’ and ‘Taking the Perfect Shot and ways
of fixing it up if it isn’t’.
There have been times in the past when we felt we
had missed an opportunity because we just didn’t
have the manpower to do justice to a project. This
is no ordinary birthday it marks a milestone in our
history and not one that we should be shy about
promoting. What we really need is a group of four
people who will work as an Ad Hoc Committee to run
with it. The culmination will be March 2010 so there
is adequate time to set up a jamboree. To volunteer
please contact [email protected] and let the
planning for the celebrations commence.
New Members
We are delighted to welcome the following new
members who joined (or rejoined) AUSOM in
February: Mr Robert Cleaver, Ms Helen Granowski and
Mr Alun Davies. We sincerely hope you enjoy your
membership with us and come to use all the facilities
available to expand your skills in using Apple products
and to enjoy the company of fellow enthusiasts.
Our April Main Presentation will be by Computers
Now of Malvern under the watchful eye of Stefan. At
time of writing we haven’t been informed about the
substance of the talk: be there to find out!!
Annual General Meeting
Our Annual General Meeting is approaching rapidly. As
I write there are only six clear weeks before the AGM is
to be held (Saturday 2-May). This is the time to consider
becoming a member of the Committee in any position
that takes your fancy. All positions will become vacant.
And it’s time to say farewell. Yes, I’ve now been on
Committee for ten years and President for three and
it’s time for me to move on. Whatever contribution I
can make has now been made. It’s time for new faces
with fresh ideas and energy to lead us forward in
this world of ever changing challenges. This is your
opportunity to help AUSOM. Seize it!
z
Stephen Withers [email protected]
Stephen’s Favourite Freebies
Those who attended my presentation at the March
meeting may be interested to know that I now have a
new favourite weather widget. Fickle, aren’t I?
TheBom is a 464K download from
http://www.radocaj.com/TheBom/.
TheBom Weather Widget combines forecasts (as in
Weather Australia) with the current conditions.
Like Weather Australia, TheBom draws on official
Bureau of Meteorology information.
People with smaller screens or large numbers of
active widgets should bear in mind that TheBom is
noticeably larger than Weather Australia, so it may
not be suitable if your Dashboard is already cluttered.
Roger Threlfall
animateur — (say anuhmuh’ter)
Noun a person who leads a group activity by giving
creative input, direction, facilitation and organisation,
as in community projects, artistic ventures, etc.
z
[French: one who gives life to something]
--animateuring, noun.
z
4 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Pam Doughty, [email protected]
Editorial
Cover Design
Many thanks to Gary Biram who supplied the
cover design and provided inspiration for this
Month’s AUSOM News.
Our thoughts are constantly with those who
have lost everything in recent fires and floods
within Australia. Offering all the assistance
and support to others makes us more aware of
importance of all ‘back-up plans’.
Just one small but important aspect of
‘computer back-up’ consideration is being
given to keeping photos and at least copies of
our legal documents in digital form. However,
just how useful is your back-up hard disk if
it too is part of the melted metal on a burnt
concrete slab?
See also the details of the Mac Donate Project
Plan on page 10.
Snippets from this Month’s News
Thank you to all who took the time to record
some of their discoveries this month. On
page 4 Roger leads the way showing that not
all our learning is computer related although
this rather lovely word applies to AUSOM’s
coordinators. Other have been busy adding
hardware to their computers and most have
been updating their systems. Apple has
provided us with many updates this month.
If you have difficulty keeping track of these
they can be obtained from AUSOM — order
AUSOM Update DVD from http://www.ausom.
net.au/store.
You never know what you will find in the
April edition of AUSOM News. Along with
‘protect your data’ comes the warning — ‘Do
not believe everything you read’.
Help add
human
interest
to AUSOM
News. Tell
me what you
do with or
enjoy most
about your
computer,
iPhone, iPod,
iTunes or
other Apple
product.
z
Brian Moore, [email protected] and Brian Ferguson
Monthly Raffle
How did you all enjoy the new venue? It
seems that everybody found the site without
any great amount of trouble.
B2 even got to Chadstone from Hawthorn East
in approximately 10 to 15 minutes and had
the Raffle Corner set up and catching you all
as you came around the corner and off to the
Milling and Mixing area.
Brian was so well set-up that he had written
out the winning ticket for the Belkin Modem
Router — a big thank you to Stephen Withers
for obtaining this prize. It was won by Garry
Bartlett.
Thank you to the group of Ladies who gave
me great assistance in folding the tickets into
the bucket from which Ron Webster drew the
wining ticket. The ladies were Jan Chapman,
Diana Colley Yvonne Pratt, Barbara Addie and
others. Note, I do not have a Harem as one or
two members may think.
Remember, you are donating to a good cause
— AUSOM, and Brian and I are endeavouring
to raise enough money for us to fly off to
South America.
Even though B1 and B2 are located in the
left-hand corner as you enter from the lift,
please don’t ignore us. We are friendly,
approachable and we do smile and speak to
as many members as possible even though we
are so eager to relieve you of the golden small
change in your pocket or purse: remember the
“Golden Fleece”.
AUSOM iCal – Keep up to date
M
AUSO
iCal
The AUSOM iCal lists all the meetings AUSOM
conducts each month and includes Meeting Topics,
locations, times and URLs for additional information.
Many thanks
to NewWave
Systems for
supplying
the prize for
the raffle
this month.
See their
advertisement
on page 15.
z
Is this the one
you wanted?
Took me some
time to locate
it, Jason ...
err... Brian!
—Editor
Keep in touch with any changes that
may need to be made to AUSOM
Meeting times — the easiest way is to
use AUSOM iCal
To subscribe, enter the following address in to iCal;
webcal://ical.me.com/ausominc/AUSOM-Meetings.ics
www.ausom.net.au
AUSOM News April 2009 v 5
Group Coordinators/Reporters
Special
Interest
Groups
Special Interest Groups
Largely unedited reports from meetings and plans for this month. Times and presentations are
correct at time of publication. For more up-to-date information check AUSOM's web site or contact the
coordinator whose name is beneath the SIG title. Contact details can be found in the yellow centre section.
MANY reports remain unavailable — your co-ordinators need YOUR help, please offer assistance.
Presenters Note: The screen rsolution is 1024 x 768 when connected to most projectors.
9:30am Saturday
Digital Video
Chris McQuillen
We are also proposing a filming
day at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat
later in the year.
We are in for a treat at our April
4th session. We have Tim Scott
a film location manager coming
to tell us about the complexities
of finding locations for local and
international film makers. He has
many stories of dealing with US
film producers and their requests
to create bygone eras in modern
locations.
Come along and unleash the
creative director in yourself.
In the second hour Roger Threlfall
will present some of the added
value that Final Cut Express (FCE)
offers film editors.
iWork
Our March DV session went
without a hitch in our new venue.
The projector and the sound
system worked with minimal set
up and performed perfectly.
This was our first bring-and-show
for the year and we filled the two
hours with excellent films. The
standard is constantly improving.
We adopted a suggestion from
Trevor Day to offer constructive
points for improvements for his
presented film. We will continue
this practice when the presenter
asks for this feedback.
Roger floated the idea of an FCE
workshop and has 11 aspirants
who will meet between our normal
SIG meetings. The first workshop
is at Roger’s place on 17 March 09.
This is an opportunity for friends
with a common interest to gather
between official AUSOM meetings.
We are still wanting volunteers to film
the second phase of our Yarra epic.
The aspects that are still without a
volunteer are:
Art & Public Art of the Yarra
(including aboriginal culture)
Events & Celebrations on or near
the Yarra.
6 v AUSOM News April 2009
If you would like to get involved
with either of these activities please
contact Chris McQuillen on 9432
4760 or [email protected]
com.au
10:30 am Saturday
Check out these links.
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/
music/GarageBand08.
html#tutorial=instrument
and
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/music/
GarageBand08.html#tutorial=software
and enjoy.
I trust members who attended in
March will bring along a piece they
have created over the month to the
April meeting when we will look at
adding Real Instruments or voice to
a composition made by a member.
Pam Doughty ([email protected])
Dick Johnson, who presented the
first in a series of sessions dealing
with the word processing features
of Pages in February, will return in
April with further guidance.
FileMaker Forum
Bradley Bush
A group where we learn together
about FileMaker Pro.
11:00 am Saturday
GarageBand Basics
Barbara Moriarty
Not everyone who is interested in
GarageBand can attend every SIG.
In March we revisited Magic
GarageBand. AUSOM members
who have wanted to ‘have a
play using GarageBand’ join us
by viewing ‘Create Songs with a
Virtual Onstage Band’
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/music/
GarageBand08.html
and see what you can do.
Nine members present joined
our discussions with ideas and
experiences. Two new members
were keen to add a Real Instrument
to GarageBand background music.
The following links are suggested
for anyone wishing to add a real
instrument to a GarageBand piece.
12noon Saturday
Main Meeting
Club news, including products
available to Members, introduction
to group coordinators and a brief
run-down of topics for discussion
at the special interest groups.
1pm Saturday
Major Presentation
[email protected]
Computers Now - Malvern
Photoshop
Barbara Gibson ([email protected])
Pat Tasker ([email protected])
With the March challenge image,
the techniques discussed were
for straightening the image,
followed by methods for filling
generated blank areas by cloning
or by distorting the image. Levels,
saturation and contrast were then
applied to improve the colour.
Working in Photoshop Elements 6,
the use of Artistic Filters was
demonstrated. Building up layers
to produce first an art-work from a
pastoral scene and then to turn a
photo. into a watercolour portrait.
In Photoshop CS3 the Channel
Mixer was used to liven up a flat,
dull sea and then the basics of
the Gradient Map, available in
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
both Photoshop and Photoshop
Elements, was demonstrated.
Gradient Map command: This
maps any preset or custom
colour gradient to an RGB image
according to the tonal value of
the image pixels making possible
effects from the surreal to a very
controlled tinting of an image.
Thank you to everyone for your
support and your contributions.
Detailed notes for this SIG can be
obtained from [email protected]
net.au
iPhone
The Challenge photo for the
month can be downloaded from
www.ausom.net.au/challenge/
index.html. Please send your
corrected images and a brief
summary of your methods to
[email protected]
In February and March, we looked
at the iPhone and some of the
15,000 plus Apps that are available.
For March, we demonstrated
playing a Video on the OHP and
playing Audio through a small set
of external speakers.
Photoshop SIG archived notes can
be found on FirstClass in AUSOM
Files>How To ... >Photoshop SIGs.
For April, we will continue
exploring all the Options in the
iPhone, then we will then talk
about the additional Applications,
we have installed.
iTunes & iPod
Peter Emery, [email protected]
This SIG aims to demonstrate
how to use iTunes to get the
most out of iPods, as well as
keeping up with the various
technological improvements that
are progressively made to iPods
and iTunes.
GarageBand Plus
Judy Young [email protected]
At 1.00pm the GarageBand Plus
SIG will explore the more advanced
capabilities of GarageBand This will
be a workshop-style session with
members sharing the ‘how’ and
‘why’ of their technical and musical
knowledge and preferences.
At the April SIG we will be
entertained and informed by
members who will present and
discuss their compositions. In
addition working with Midi files
will be investigated.
At our March meeting Paul
Tremelling presented his very
beautiful orchestral composition,
‘Changing the Theme’. He
explained how he developed his
composition by choosing various
loops from a selection called
‘Desire’. Other topics covered
were: how to create, name, and
save a new loop and the difference
between saving music and saving a
project.
www.ausom.net.au
Come along to either or both of
the GarageBand SIGs. Learn to
make a film score, a podcast, write
a song, and MORE…
2pm Saturday
Geoff WALLACE ([email protected]fixer.com.au)
Hello All.
Come along and find out what an
iPhone can do and learn some of
the things that you didn’t know it
could do. If you have a suggestion
for a Topic, send an email to Geoff
Wallace with your suggestion.
Mac Basics–OS X
Dick Johnson [email protected]
This SIG is an introduction to the
use of the latest Apple operating
system, OS X Leopard version.
In April we’ll continue with our
exploration of Mail and Address
Book, treating accounts, signatures
and the removal of annoying and
obsolete email addresses.
Notes are always prepared for
this SIG and if you’re on my
mailing list you will receive these
automatically following the
conclusion of the SIG. If you’re
not on the list and wish to receive
them, just ask in the SIG.
Genealogy
Avril Mitchell, [email protected]
The topic at the March meeting
identified some of the steps that
can be taken when trying to find
an ancestor about whom little is
known.
The April session will look at the
information that can be found
on the U.K. and Ireland birth,
marriage and death certificates and
from the 19th century censuses.
Introduction to FirstClass
Ron WEBSTER [email protected]
We will be having a question and
answer session, from the New and
Current Users of FirstClass.
Any AUSOM Member is able to
have a one month Free Trial of
FirstClass, refer to Page 1 of the
Yellow Pages in AUSOM News or
come along to the FirstClass SIG
for a demonstration of how to set
up your Free Trial Account.
Mac Forum
Dale Staines
News and rumours from the
Macintosh world —there is usually
time for questions and discussions.
Programmers
George Wright, [email protected]
We found our new venue
in the PC users library quite
satisfactory except for the absence
of a projector. We had become
accustomed to the luxury facilities
at Prahran. Susan, the AUSOM
secretary, has undertaken to bring
the Sanyo projector next month
and we have to organise something
for a screen. Each of the walls in
the library has shelves full of PCrelated books so we need a sheet or
some white panel board to act as a
temporary screen. Bernd suggested
we use the blank walls just outside
the library.
When George did his demo of
“Bruce — the Presentation Tool”
members of the group (6 in all)
had to crowd around the one
laptop screen, which was OK
but a projector would have been
better. Bruce is built on Pyglet
and Python and is very suitable
for presentations especially for
situations where you have to
display code. In particular if you
are working in Python you can
get an interactive Python window
in your presentation where you
can interactively run your code in
whole or part. The main difference
between Bruce and similar tools
is that the presentation is written
in a text file with ReST markups
to trigger new pages, headings,
images, video, background colours
etc. The Bruce home website has
download versions for OSX, Unix
and Windows machines.
AUSOM News April 2009 v 7
Mat demonstrated his Arduino
programmable usb interface
board. The kit he purchased at a
conference demo session included
the board, programming editor
and sample programs. He uploaded
a sample script from the computer
to the on-board memory where it
ran. The tri-colour LED connected
to the board output cycled through
the three colours. Very nice.
We had three new members at the
meeting and I did collect names
and email addresses but mislaid
the record. I hope these three turn
up next meeting.
A reminder to members that
we plan to do some sessions on
iPhone programming.
See you all next month.
3pm Saturday
Mac OS X - Advanced
Stephen Withers
This SIG is about pushing the
boundaries of the power within
Mac OS X. We explore, discuss and
demonstrate many parts of the OS.
Come along for the ride. Feel
free to participate in setting the
agenda. Users of all levels of
experience will get something out
of this SIG. Stretch your mind. You
never know what you will learn.
Graphics
Damian Vuleta
In March, we looked at a training
video by artist Charles Bernard
about choosing colour schemes.
Starting with a basic colour wheel,
Bernard explained what colour
schemes were and how they could
be created from the wheel. He
drew a simple landscape sketch
using complementary colours
red and blue, and developed this
with lighter and darker shades
of them. He then demonstrated
split complementaries to draw a
simple but interesting design with
landscape and figure.
Newcomers & Greenhorns
Ivan Radywonik, [email protected]
This is an informal and
unstructured forum for new
members and novices to explore
their computing experiences. It is
intended to provide an entry point
8 v AUSOM News April 2009
for you to clarify issues you may
have with your computer and to
determine how to make the most of
your AUSOM experience: where to
find information, who to approach
for expert advice and, which SIGs
are best suited to your particular
needs.
At the March meeting we explored
various ways of dealing with
downloaded files and email
attachments, how to recognize file
types by their extensions, how to
manage compressed files, installing
iLife 09 over earlier versions, and
various issues around updating
applications and the OS.
Notes from each meeting and an
Index to the complete set are posted
to the Beginners’ conference on
FirstClass or send me an email if
you would like to join the monthly
mailing list and receive the notes
directly.
Digital Photography
Steve Cooper, [email protected]
Our SIG meets in Meeting Room 1
at 3:00pm. This is the same room
as is used for the Main Meeting.
While iPhoto is an excellent
organizing tool, it has limitations
in the area of editing images. This
month we’ll be looking at reasons
why you might some day want to
replace or supplement it with a
more powerful editing application
like Photoshop or Elements.
If you enjoy working with photos
on your Mac, you’re bound to learn
something interesting from spending
time with us, starting at 3:00pm.
Microsoft Office
Alan Brown, [email protected]
Evan Jarman will be the speaker
at the April SIG. At the December
meeting we looked at master
documents, tables of contents
and indexes in MS Word. This
topic is principally for those
who wish to write books or put
magazines together. The coverage
in December was cursory, and Evan
has been asked to revisit contents
and indexes in more detail. He has
agreed to cover these topics with
examples.
examples collected in the Project
2020 Workspace of FirstClass.
The impression from the initial
projections is that there are
difficult years ahead.
4pm Saturday
Internet Plus
Peter Emery <[email protected]>
The aim of this SIG is to utilise
the Internet for whatever the user
wants, e.g. RSS feeds; ordering
photos online via Apple’s iPhoto
application or anything else related
to the internet.
If the internet is used by any other
application, then that becomes
relevant to the SIG, as is implied
by the ‘Plus’ in the SIG name.
7:30pm Tuesday
MultiMedia
Peter Maloney
A joint venture between AUSOM
& iMug, we focus on multimediarelated topics, but we are interested
in all aspects of computing.
Thank you to Rob John, a musician
and composer of music for movie
soundtracks for his well received
and enthralling presentation in
March.
In April Ross Taylor will present
‘Adobe (Photoshop) Lightroom 2’.
The talk will outline the main
features and how the program
can manage about 90% of a
photographers workflow. But the
main focus will be to demonstrate
the fast, almost intuitive nature of
image processing and never having
to worry about affecting the
originals. Some of the limitations
will be mentioned and when to
move images into Photoshop
CS3/4 and back for printing etc.
Ross says, “After using Photoshop
since version 3, I think the main
point is that this program is fun
to use and to experiment with - at
last!”
Project 2020 was launched at the
February SIG. The March meeting
of the SIG examined some of the
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
10am Wednesday
Retirees and Others
Pat Tasker ([email protected])
April 8th Presentations:
Steve Cooper will present: ‘A
Voyage around a Digital Camera’.
and ‘What To Consider For Taking
The Perfect Photo (and ways of
correcting it if it isn’t quite ...).
March Presentations:
1. Geoff Wallace continued ‘Setting
Up Apple Mail.’
Setting up a specific Mail Box was
demonstrated and then setting up
Rules, handling Spam and putting
the program through the filtering
training course were also discussed.
The method of hovering the cursor
over a URL to bring up the Email
address — useful for detecting a
suspect Email — could be very
handy.
Preset Templates, accessed with the
‘Show Stationery’ button in the
New Message options bar, and the
general handling of the Address
Book, including adding photos to
the lists, were described.
Chris McQuillen George Wright
Barbara Gibson
Steve Cooper
Peter Emery
Pam Doughty
Dick Johnson
Ivan Radywonik
Pat Tasker
AUSOM’s Special Interest
Group Coordinators
welcome your ideas for
topics for discussion and Stephen Withers
offers of assistance with
running of the SIG.
Barbara Moriarty
Avril Mitchell
Judy Young
Damian Vuleta
Peter Maloney
Alan Brown
Ron Webster
Geoff Wallace
Methods for searching emails and
also flagging emails for further
notice (select the email and type
Shift-Command-L) were also
discussed.
2. Steve Cooper — ‘Time Machine’
The requirements for (an adequate
external Hard Drive) and the
process of setting up Time Machine
were demonstrated.
Setting up the preferences and
the back-up schedule for Time
Machine, the window being
accessed by clicking on the
Time Machine icon in System
Preferences, was shown together
with the method for discarding big
files.
There’s a Stack
Stack
of Mac’s
in
The lab is also
available for hire*
Greensborough
*Subject to conditions
With 13 brand new
iMacs at Diamond
*Subject to conditions
Valley Learning Centre
The lab is also available for hire*
The Mac Lab is
also available
for hire*
*subject to conditions
DVLC is proudly offering training courses for
beginners to more advanced users, facilitated
by Joel Gladman.
The process of retrieving
information from Time machine
was demonstrated.
z
Diamond Valley Learning
Learning Centre
Cnr St Helena & Diamond Creek Rds Greensborough
www.dvlc.org.au Tel: 9435 9060 [email protected]
www.ausom.net.au
AUSOM News April 2009 v 9
Mac Donate Project Plan
Donations Proposal
Objective
Next will be the promoters of the project who will
help spread the word in making more people aware of
what I am organising as well as helping those wishing
to donate to contact me.
By providing access to refurbished computer systems
they will be in a better position to access online
resources such as Centerlink, insurance companies
and even just to stay in touch with friends and family
(one email to 5, 10 or even 100 people providing
current updates of news will save time and money).
Finally the charity that will arrange to collect the
computers from me and help distribute them to those
who have been affected by the fires.
To provide victims of the recent 2009 Victorian Bush
Fires with donations of computers to help in the
rebuilding of the community and homes.
Goals
To provide as many families, schools or community
services as possible with computers that are ready
to be used. These computers will have been wiped,
restored and confirmed to be in working order.
The initial goal is to provide enough computers for
families with children who are attending school.
If the donations prove to be in large enough numbers
the goal is then to provide a computer to every home
that was destroyed in the fires as well as enough to
furnish a computer lab for each school destroyed.
Solution
To collect donations of computers and software from
the Australian public and prepare each computer to be
donated. This will involve:
• Wiping the contents of all computers donated.
• Confirming they are in working order and replacing
any malfunctioning parts.
• Loading an Operating System (Mac OS X suitable to
computers specifications with all updates).
• Loading basic software so use of the computers can
begin without any further additions being required
by parties receiving the donations (Open Office,
Firefox, Google Earth, Utility programs).
Parties Involved
This project is being put together primarily by me
with the help and support of those in the IT industry
and community. I intend to coordinate the project
and outsource certain roles to other individuals and
organisations.
There will be three main categories of parties involved;
Firstly the individuals, like myself, who will be
preparing the computers. I have already had multiple
offers of help with this even before it has been
publicly advertised.
Steps involved
I am currently in talks with multiple parties regarding
helping out with the project. In the different areas of
the project I will cover who has already committed to
providing their help or support.
1. Computer Preparation
I have the skills required to prepare the computers
for donation. I have worked as a computer technician
in the past and have the necessary skills required to
troubleshoot, repair and upgrade computers. I also
have the knowledge to install and configure software.
I have had showings of support from other individuals
to help me in the preparation stage of the project.
I will mainly be gathering help from those on the
other side of Melbourne from me to make it easier for
collection of donations.
2. Donations
I have already started approaching user groups
and online communities for their support. I have
already gained the support of the online community
MacTalk.com.au, has agreed to help promote this
project on their site as well as provide support in
the preparation stage. With over 20,000 users in the
community I am hoping to get a decent number of
donations through this avenue.
Through AppleUsers.org, I will be contacting the
25 active Apple Users Groups within Australia,
particularly the five Victorian based groups, to obtain
their support of the project by having them encourage
their members to provide donated equipment and for
the Apple User Groups to act as collection hubs.
Further information to follow as support of other
communities or organisations is confirmed.
3. Collection & Delivery
I have confirmed support of St Vincent De Paul
Society, which agreed to collect the donated
computers and distribute them to the Victorian Bush
Fire victims.
Daniel Kadane
http://macdonate.kadane.net
Company: 1/135 Scoresby Rd, Boronia Vic 3155
T 0421 911 170 or [email protected]
z
10 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Susan Jensen
We are growing our Beginners 1:1
When speaking to our members we have heard
it said that AUSOM isn’t relevant to the needs
of that person.
with a particular piece of software or a system
preference for instance.
The reason may be that a SIG presenter goes
too quickly or has moved on beyond the basics
that this member needs. The member is then
lost in a sea of incomprehensible information
and loses interest. They may attend a meeting
to solve a problem they are experiencing and
their problem wasn’t covered in the SIG so
they go away disappointed.
What’s In It For Me?
To these members we hope to be able to say,
with confidence, that we can offer personal
tuition to suit their skill level.
In other words, how do we grow this valuable
resource?
Thanks to a few members who have seen the
potential and value of this initiative we have
some volunteers who have become our first
tutors. What a good job they are doing every
Saturday meeting!
Pat Tasker is coordinating tutors to match the
needs of members and non-members alike.
She sends an email to the tutors and asks
what times will suit them to spend an hour
(or more) of their Saturday meeting Day with
a “student”. Pat then communicates with the
student as to who their tutor will be and at
what time.
What skills does a tutor need?
A little patience and some spare time.
Maybe there is a time when there are no
sessions that are of interest to you during an
hour of the day.
There are some tutors who bring a laptop
but having one of your own isn’t mandatory.
Usually one can be borrowed for this purpose.
It isn’t necessary to be a guru on all things
Apple. The main thing is to be able to listen
to what the student is saying and try to help
them progress with whatever it is that they are
unable to accomplish.
If the problem is outside your level of expertise
we have a venue full of knowledge into which
you can tap, just by asking someone who you
know is skilled in this area.
Will the students all be
beginners?
This was the way it started out - they were
either new to computers or new to the Mac.
We were teaching the very basics. Then others
started creeping in, the ones with a problem
www.ausom.net.au
Two things: firstly as a student who can come
to the meeting and get help on a particular
topic and secondly as a tutor: there is a huge
sense of satisfaction in helping another person
have fun on their Mac, iPhone or iPod.
Recognising the potential
Finding people who need help isn’t hard.
What is more pressing is to find more tutors.
Most of our members, at this point, would say
“Oh I am not good enough to teach”.
Most of us know a lot more than we give
ourselves credit for. You may not be confident
enough to run a SIG but with just one person
needing help you may excel. You won’t
know everything; who does? There will be
applications you use regularly and have
become more proficient in their use than a
novice user would be.
How can you come on board?
All you have to do is contact Pat Tasker by
phone or email to our office.
Tell her if there are specific topics that you
could help a beginner to understand.
For example:• you may love shortcuts and can’t
understand why folk keep whizzing that
mouse up to the menu bar all the time:
• you may be an organised and tidy
computer user and can show others some
housekeeping skills on filing so that
anything they want can be found again:
• you might be good at particular software,
such as iWeb or building an iPhoto gallery
on line for family photos.
ANYTHING in fact could be of help to
someone else.
Beginners’ 1:1 sessions are held at our 1st
Saturday of the month meetings. For help at
any other time please see the yellow pages in
AUSOM news.
We hope that AUSOM will become well known
for its willingness to share information, a place
where no one need feel beaten by technology.
z
It is obvious
that these
one-on-one
sessions are
a valuable
AUSOM
resource and
deserve more
attention.
We are
evolving and
now we can
see the value
in helping
anyone with a
specific need.
Could you
help others
to find
the fun in
computing?
Anything
you have
learnt can be
passed on to
someone else.
Do you have a
spare hour at
a Saturday
meeting that
could be
devoted to
another less
proficient
Mac user?
AUSOM News April 2009 v 11
12 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Susan Jensen
Secretary
ELECTION OF COMMITTEE
Nominations of candidates for election as Officers of the Association or as Ordinary Members of
the Committee:
I.
Shall be made in writing, signed by two members of the Association and accompanied
by the written consent of the candidate and endorsed on the form of nomination
[available from the Secretary, and also in this issue of AUSOM News]; and
II. Shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Association by noon Friday 24th April 2009
III. A list of nominees will be posted, by the secretary, to FirstClass by Tuesday 28th April.
The ordinary business of the Annual General Meeting shall be:
1) To confirm the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 3rd May 2008
2) To receive from the Committee, reports upon the transactions of the Association during
the preceding financial year (2008)
3) To present awards as a gesture of appreciation to those who have helped the
Association in this and previous years
4) To elect Officers of the Association and the Ordinary Members of the Committee
5) To receive and consider the statement submitted by the Association in accordance with
section 30 (3) of the Act [Associations Incorporation Act 1981]
6) The annual general meeting shall transact special business of which notice is given in
accordance with the Rules of the Association.
NOTE
a.
No business other than that set out in the notice convening the meeting shall be
transacted.
b. A member desiring to bring any business before the meeting must give notice of that
business in writing, by noon Friday 3rd April 2009, to the Secretary, who shall include
that business in the notice.
c.
Each member shall be entitled to appoint another member as his/her proxy by notice
given to the Secretary before 12.00 2nd May.
d. The notice appointing the proxy shall be on the proxy form [available from the
Secretary and also in this issue of AUSOM News].
The Annual General Meeting of AUSOM will be held at 12 noon Saturday 2nd May 2009.
The meeting will take place in Meeting Room 1, Melbourne PC User Group Office,
Chadstone Place, Chadstone Shopping Centre, Chadstone.
Notice of Annual General Meeting 2009
Ross House, Level 2, 247 Flinders Lane Melbourne
Phone/Fax 1300-360-813 all hours.
Email: [email protected]
AUSOM Incorporated
�
�
�
�
�
�
Name(Please Print)
�
�
�
�
�
Rule 19(1) Please arrange for this form to be received by Susan Jensen by noon
Saturday 2nd May, - [email protected]
�
My proxy is authorised to vote in favour of/against* the following motion
[insert details of motion] * delete option not applicable
Ordinary Member 4 ...................................................................................................
�
Ordinary Member 3 ...................................................................................................
�
Ordinary Member 2 ...................................................................................................
�
Ordinary Member 1 ...................................................................................................
�
Treasurer ...............................................
�
� Secretary�...................................................
President ...............................................
�
� Vice-President .........................................
�
This section will only be required if the number of nominations exceed the number of
vacancies. Nominations should be received by the secretary by noon Friday 24th April
2009 and will be known by Tuesday 28th April 2009 through the Secretary. Please write
the name(s) where shown, of those for whom your proxy is to vote.
Election of Committee
of ……………………………………………………………...Address & Postcode(Please Print)
also being a member of AUSOM,
or in that person’s absence, the Chairman of the Meeting, to vote on my behalf
at the Annual General Meeting of the Society to be held on Saturday 2nd May
2009 and at any adjournment thereof.
�
Signature.......................................
�
Date.........................
�
Member No.....................
�
being a member of AUSOM appoint …………………………….………………………...…..
of...........................................................................
�
……..Address & Postcode(Please Print)
I �................................................................................................... Full Name(Please Print)
AUSOM Form of Appointment of Proxy
��
Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane Melbourne
Phone/Fax 1300-360-813 all hours.
Email: [email protected] or phone enquiries to 9885 7060
��
Rule 23(a) I.�............................................ of…………………………………………………………..
�
Name (Please Print) �
Address (Please Print)
Signature�................................................. Date�............................. Membership No.�..........................
�� …………………………………..of ………………………………………………………….
�
Name (Please Print) �
Address (Please Print)
Signature�................................................. Date�............................. Membership No.�..........................
being financial members of AUSOM hereby ��.............................................................................................. Membership No.�...................................
being a financial member of the Association, for the position of:Office Bearers:�
• President�
• Vice President�
• Treasurer�
• Secretary
Ordinary Members:� • Member.
�� A Member may only nominate for one position prior to the AGM. Please circle as applicable.
I, ..............................................................
�
of�..........................................................................................
�
Name (Please Print)�
Address (Please Print)
Signature�................................................. Date ............................
�
Membership No�...........................
consent to nomination for the position encircled.
The candidate may include a short résumé to be published in the May 2009 AUSOM News.
________________________________________________________________________________
�
�________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
�
________________________________________________________________________________
�
________________________________________________________________________________
When completed and signed, this form is to be lodged with the Secretary, in person, by
email or to AUSOM at the above address not later than �� on Friday 24th April 2009. If
the résumé is to be included in the May AUSOM News, please lodge the form with the
Secretary on or before Saturday 4th April 2008.
Susan Jensen
Secretary
www.ausom.net.au
AUSOM News April 2009 v 13
BEGINNERS 1:1 SESSIONS
Bookings – Pat Tasker on 9486-2975
��
��
��
��
��
Raffle Drawn
Saturday April 7th
The iPod Nano 3rd
generation donated by
New Wave.
AUSOM
April 2009
See page 4 of the
yellow section for more
information about
AUSOM Raffles
Raπe
YOUR Help
AUSOM’s AGM will be held in
May and ALL current members of
Committee will stand down.
3 -Gen iPod
Nano
rd
Tickets $2.00 from the
Raπe Table
14 v AUSOM News April 2009
There is no better or easier way
for you to be involved.
Ask two AUSOM Members to
nominate you — form on previous
page — or speak to a current
Member of Committee.
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
��
��
��
��
��
�
��
��
��
��
�
��
��
��
��
��
��
�
��
��
��
��
�
��
�
��
�
��
��
��
��
��
www.ausom.net.au
AUSOM News April 2009 v 15
Pat Tasker ([email protected]) and Barbara Gibson ([email protected])
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��USOM��
��
��
��
��
��
��
�
�
��
�
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��v��
16
v AUSOM News April 2009
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��e��
��
��
��
��
��
AUSOM
& AUSOM News on the Internet
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��e��
��.
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��e��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��e��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��.
��
��
��
��. º��
��
��
Press Release
A World First…
…and it’s AUSOM’s Own Product
All AUSOM magno straps are handmade in our
workshop with high-performance features including:
• Patented super magnetic clip system usable as a
thumb strap (Fig 1), arm band, belt clip, rotating
desk stand (Fig 2) and clip for car or pram coffeecup holders.
• Designed to remain on your iPhone. Full access to
home button, URL scan port* and other controls.
• Entirely made by hand - all stitching using high
tensile waxed thread.
• Form-fitting contours: respects the elegant contours
of the iPhone.
��
��
��
��
z
Its super magno force allows endless car mounting
alternatives and keeps it firmly in place on your
refrigerator amongst the children’s art work.
Luxury has a price though, the AUSOM magno straps
start at $99. They’re available online and can be
shipped around the world.
* See page 46 for details
z
��
��v��
www.ausom.net.au
AUSOM News April 2009 v 17



COMPUTER SALES, SERVICE & SUPPLIES
MEHA Pty. Ltd. A.C.N. 005 956 990 Trading as Spectrade Media Sales
12 (B) Church St., Bayswater, Vic., 3153, Australia
Telephone: (03) 9729 9400 or 0418 369 300
P.O. Box 233, Bayswater, Vic. 3153, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]
A.B.N. 96 005 956 990












IP-4600 Printer & Cable. $ 169.00
MX-700 with Cable.
$ 225.00
MX-850 with Fax & Cable. $ 389.40.
Pro-9000 A3 Photo Printer with
8 Ink Cartridges & Cable. $1049.00
Canon, Stylewriter, Epson & H.P.
Inkjet & Bubblejet, A4 Paper
Canon A4 Ream $7.00 Box $32.50
Photo Pap. for 25 Sheets A4. $38.50
Inkjet & Laser Labels pkt..
$22.00
6’’x4’’ Photo Paper. From
$11.00
All Other Memory Available.
AMI Memory Life Time Warranty.
RAM SPECIALS. (Approx)
256Meg PC-100/133 168Pin $ 79.00
512Meg PC-100/133 168Pin $135.00
1x256 Meg DDR 400Mhz
$ 66.00
2x1 Gig DDR-400Mhz Kit
$395.00
2 Gig MacBook Pro
$ 85.00
SODimm19 PC-5300
Macpro Tower 2x2 Gig
$285.00
( Matched Pair) 667 Mhz
W/Digital IDE & SATA.
HARD DISK DRIVES
250 Gig 3.5” Pata 16 Meg $121.00
320 Gig 3.5’’ Pats 16 Meg $137.50
500 Gig 3.5” Pata 16 Meg $235.00
250 Gig.3.5” Sata.16 Meg. $110.00
500 Gig 3.5”Sata2. 32 Meg. $121.00
1 T/Byte 3.5’’ Sata2 32 Meg $279.00
AMI USB Thumb Drive.
4 Gig USB 2 Mem Stick.
8 Gig USB 2 Mem Stick.
16 Gig USB 2 Mem Stick.
32 Gig USB 2 Mem Stick
$ 25.00
$ 42.95
$ 80.00
$165.00


ALL PRICES IN BOLD TYPE ARE ON “SPECIAL”


TP-LinkRouter/Switch
$ 45.00
TP-Link adsl-2 W/less Modem Router
$121.55
Maxell 3.6V Batt.
$ 11.0 0
5.25” F/Wire Enclosure
$135.00


















4 port USB2 Powered Hub $ 29.70
PrintRite & Canon Ink Cartridges.
Canon BC-02/03 Blk Copy. $28.60
Canon BC-20 Blk Copy.
$39.50
Canon BC-22e Photo Col.
$45.00
Canon BCI-21/24 Blk.Copy $ 6.50
Canon BCI-21/24 TriColour $ 8.50
Canon BCI-6 Blk.
$ 8.00
Canon BCI-6 PhotoCol.
$ 8.00
Canon BCI-3/6 Colour
$ 8.00
Canon BCI-3e Blk..
$ 8.00
PrintRite/Canon PGI-5
$16.50
PrintRite/Canon CLI-8
$16.50
Canon PGBK-5 Black
$23.50
Canon CLI-8 C,M,Y,Blk.
$23.50
Canon BCI-15 Black. X2.
$27.50
Canon BCI-15 Colour. X2.
$44.00
Canon PG-40 Black.
$36.00
Canon PG-41 Colour.
$39.50
Canon PG-50 Black,
$53.50
Canon PG-51 Colour.
$59.00




Styles SO-20093 Black
$ 8.50
Stylus SO-20089 Colour
$13.00
Stylus SO-20110 Colour
$13.00
Stylus SO-20108 Black
$ 8.50
Stylus SO-20191 Colour
$15.00
Stylus SO-20193 Colour.
$15.00
Stylus SO-20187 Black
$ 9.50
Stylus TO-321 Black
$22.50
Stylus TO-322/3/4Colour
$17.60
Styles. TO-461 Black.
$14.50
Styles TO-422/3/4Colour
$13.45
Stylus SO-20189 Black
$ 9.50
Stylus TO-17 Black
$13.00
Stylus TO-18 Colour
$15.00
Stylus TO-13 Black
$ 9.50
Stylus TO-14 Colour.
$15.00
Stylus TO-26 Black.
$16.00
Stylus TO-27 Colour.
$19.00
Stylus TO-28 Black.
$15.50
Stylus TO-29 Colour.
$18.00
Stylus TO-38 Black.
$13.00
Stylus TO-39 Colour.
$17.00
Stylus RX-/310/510/650 Blk. $12.80
Stylus RX-310/510/650 Col. $13.60
Styles TO-731 to 734 Each. $15.50
Styles TO-621 Black.
$19.00
Styles TO-631 to 634 Each $15.95
HP & COPY CARTRIDGES.
HP No-92 Black.
$23.95
HP No-93 Colour.
$32.50
HP 600 Blk.51629A
$25.00
HP 600 Clr 51649A
$33.00
HP 720/930 Blk.51645Acopy $33.00
HP 720 Col C1823D
$39.60
HP 930 Col C6578D
$37.20
HP No-27 Black.
$27.00
HP No-28 Colour.
$31.00
HP Blk. No 56 (2 Pack)
$62.00
HP Colour No57
$55.00
HP No 2 Black
$15.85
HP No.2 Colours
$16.35
AUTHORISED CANON PRINTER,SCANNER,DIGITAL CAMERA & NEW MOTION ENCLOSURE DEALER
Deliveries: Twice Daily Melbourne & Metro Area,From $9.90
Up To Two (2) Days Country Victoria, N.S.W. & Tas. From $15.00
WE ACCEPT CASH, CHEQUES,MASTERCARD, VISA & UNION PAY.
FROM PERSONAL SHOPPERS, MAIL ORDERS, PHONE OR EMAIL SALES
Established Since 1979
18 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Mac Training, Tuition, Trouble shooting...
MacBook
MacBook Air
MacBook Pro
Mac mini
iMac
Mac Pro
>>>
Mac from PC ?
>>>
Mac the new experience ?
>>>
Mac OS9 to the latest OSX ?
>>>
Mac Speech Dictate, the best text tool without typing ?
>>>
Moving files and data from a PC to a Mac ?
macfixer
Call 03 9893 1677 or 0412 056 033
www.macfixer.com.au
Servicing Melbourne and Eastern Suburbs, at your place at a time to suit you.
Wallace Training Pty Ltd, 48 Eastfield Road, Croydon South, Victoria, 3136.
Des O’Brien
Ivan Radywonik
Interesting URLs
APPLE TIP # 29
Access to newspapers world wide
This is Ivan Radywonik with your computer tip of the
month.
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/
This month I have a very quick but handy tip for you
to try next time your favourite browser has trouble
with a website: just drag the URL from the browser to
another browser icon on your dock and it will open in
the other browser.
Move the map then select View Archived pages.
Double click on paper you want. Result page is
enlarged.
My thanks to Pam Doughty for this months tip.
Irish Census
z
Onsite & Remote Mac Service
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
z
CUBE
G
in ot a
ou ter w
r R net ork
em co ing
ot nn br
e S ec o
up tion adb
po ? an
rt Tr d
se y
rv
ic
e
We come to you, anywhere in the Melbourne Metro area
Irish 1911 cencus Dublin, Cork, Belfast.
• Apple Mac Troubleshooting
• Installation & Maintenance
• Networking & Internet Sharing
• Upgrades
• Wireless Networking
• Independent Advice
COMPUTERS
Apple & Mac
Computer & Monitor Repairs
phone: (03) 9729-9400
Fax (03) 9729 9002
12(B) Church Street, Bayswater, Victoria 3153
www.ausom.net.au
Mention
AUSOM for
Special
Discount
Rates!
Apple Mac Tech Support
Phone: 1800 762 040
Email: [email protected]
AUSOM News April 2009 v 19
®
Latest Macs
Mac Memory
iPods & Accessories
Free Training
Great Prices
Australia-Wide Delivery!
Special Streetwise MacBook Offers!
MacBook 13” White
MacBook 13” Aluminium
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Intel Core 2 Duo
Upgrade to 4GB for only $109
FROM ONLY
$1599
Upgrade to 4GB for only $179
MacBook Pro 15”
Intel Core 2 Duo
FROM ONLY
$2049
Mac & iPod Service Centre
��
��
Melbourne On-Site Help Now Available!
Get one of our Mac nerds over to your home or business to get
your Mac and related equipment working right. Fully trained,
Apple certified technicians.
Students: Upgrade to CS4 now and save hundreds
of dollars off the already low student prices!
FROM ONLY
FREE STM Glove
valued at $44.95
$3124
MS Office 2008 Home/Student
FREE Microsoft Arc
mouse when you
purchase Microsoft
Office 2008 Home &
Student edition
BONUS
Microsoft Arc
Mouse!
Blackmagic Video
Recorder
Capture analogue video
direct to H.264 from
Composite (AV), S-Video
or Component inputs for
the highest quality.
Divine Design Creative Services (03) 9387-2797
NEW
Master Collection
Design Premium
Web Premium
Regular Student Version
Regular Student Version
Regular Student Version Regular Student Version
RRP $999
RRP $599
RRP $529
$959
$575
$509
Special Upgrade Offer
Special Upgrade Offer
Special Upgrade Offer
RRP $649
RRP $399
RRP $349
$625
$379
$335
Production Premium
RRP $599
$575
Special Upgrade Offer
RRP $399
Special conditions apply. See online at http://www.streetwise.com.au/adobestudentoffer.
$379
ONLY
$199
Black & White 2
The sequel to the
original Black & White
strategy game. Play
Good. Play Bad. Play
God.
NEW
RRP $79.95
$72.95
Ph: (03) 9818 2100 826 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn Victoria
Visa, MasterCard, Amex & Diners. No credit card surcharge!
Streetwise and the Streetwise Logo are registered trademarks of Streetwise Software Pty. Ltd. Mac, iPhone and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
All prices include GST. Prices and specifications correct 24/2/09, but may be subject to change without notice. Errors and omissions excepted.
AUSOM_Apr09.indd 1
20 v AUSOM News December 2008
1/3/09 7:48:28 PM
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
�
� ��
�
With Unwired,
need never pay
phone line rental
again!
Mac OSX
friendly
Are you paying up to $30 a month for line rental, then up to 30 cents for each time you dial
up to the net to check your emails? Why don’t you do yourself a favour and get Unwired.
It is always on and offers you incredibly fast speeds, without being tied to a phone line. It’s
portable internet, giving you the freedom to work anywhere within our coverage area.
Connect today on 1300 761 881 or visit unwired.com.au
Check website for coverage details. No excess usage charges, speed reduced to 32kbps when download allowance reached. Plans changeable once a month after first month. Next business
day delivery on orders placed before 12pm – delivery fee $6. $30 line rental is approximate, this may vary from providers or with options chosen.
Greg Davies
My Favourite Freebies
Report and summary of March Main Presentation
When the Apple Store Chadstone advised it would be
unable to present the keynote address at the March
meeting, AUSOM’s Stephen Withers, at short notice,
kindly agreed to step into the breach. Stephen is the
Mac OSX Advanced SIG Coordinator.
There are many good free web-based services,
podcasts and software around these days. Some of the
Freeware or Open Source Software applications and
utilities Stephen uses may be relatively obscure but
nevertheless, fulfil a special purpose for his needs.
Camino: a simple and elegant open-source web
browser
Cyberduck: FTP application
ETVComskip: cuts advertisements from TV programs
recorded with EyeTV
Image Well: simple image editor
JDiskReport: disk space report
MPEG Streamclip: converts video files into various
formats
Onyx: housekeeping app, which provides an excellent
front end for system maintenance
VLC: cross platform media player
Daily Comics: a widget to display your favourite
comics
Dictionary Cleaner: clean up incorrect spellings
Weather Australia: Forecasts can be selected for
any location for, which the Bureau of Meteorology
provides forecasts.
Flip4Mac WMV: lets QuickTime play Windows Media
files
Perian: a QuickTime add-on, it reads all sorts of file
types
Precipitate: makes Google Docs and Picasa searchable
by Spotlight
Menu Meters: system usage monitor
Shades: fine tune your screen brightness
SMARTReporter: hard drive status reporter
Thank you Stephen for your flexibility in agreeing
to bring forward your scheduled keynote address.
Your insightful comments and introductions to some
fascinating applications and widgets were very much
appreciated.
With 93 people attending, this was one of the largest
audiences for a main presentation for some months.
A CD containing all these and bonus applications and
utilities can be ordered online from the AUSOM Store
on our website. All the applications either Freeware or
Open Source Software. This means that there are no
further fees due to use the software, but donations are
gladly accepted by many authors.
A collection of Stephen Wither’s Favourite Freeware Applications for Mac OS X
as presented to AUSOM on March 7, 2009, along with many bonus applications .
All the applications on this CD are either Freeware or Open Source
Soft ware. This means that there are no further fees due to use the
soft ware, but donations are gladly accepted by many authours.
AUSOM is charing a small fee to cover duplication & distribution costs
MenuMeters
Open source web browser developed with a focus
on providing the best possible experience for Mac
OS X users. The Camino web browser is powerful,
secure, and ready to meet the needs of all users
while remaining simple and elegant in its design.
A set of CPU, memory, disk, and network monitoring
tools for Mac OS X that live in the menu bar.
Functions include CPU Meter; Disk Activity Meter;
Memory Meter; and Net Meter
FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Mosso Cloud Files and Amazon
S3 browser for the Mac. It features an easy to use
interface with quickly accessible bookmarks. The
outline view of the browser allows to browse large
folder structures efficiently and you can quickly
preview files with Quick Look. To edit files, a seamless
integration with several external editors makes it
easy to change content quickly.
Daily Comics
Mac OS X Dashboard widget that remembers and
displays your favorite comics.
Dictionary Cleaner:
Convenient System Preferences Pane utility to
maintain your custom spelling dictionary – One of
the great features of Mac OS X has aways been the
built-in spelling checker. Unfortunately, there's no
easy way to see what words you've added. But with
Dictionary Cleaner, a convenient System Preferences
pane for Mac OS X, now you can.
ETVComskip
Mac OS X port of comskip, along with programs to
have comskip interoperate with EyeTV. These
programs allow users of EyeTV to enjoy commercialfree recorded television. ETVComskip also integrates
with PyeTV, a Leopard Front Row plugin for
interacting with EyeTV. With this plugin it's possible
to turn commercial skipping on and off directly from
within Front Row.
JDiskReport
Geoff’s photo shows the past and current SIG co-ordinators
of the Digital Video SIG hard at work possibly planning for the
April meeting.
22 v AUSOM News April 2009
$10
Camino
Cyberduck
Geoff Palmer wondered about the Mac Books pictured. Is it a
‘first’ to have such a large number of Apple Products in use in
the club rooms of the Melbourne PC User Group?
z
Stephen’s Favourite Freeware
Enables you to understand how much space the files
and directories consume on your disk drives, and it
helps you find obsolete files and folders.
MPEG Streamclip
A powerful high-quality video converter, player,
editor for MPEG, QuickTime, transport streams, iPod.
And now it is a DivX editor and encoding machine,
and even a stream and YouTube downloader. You
can use MPEG Streamclip to: open most movie
formats including MPEG files or transport streams;
play them at full screen; edit them with Cut, Copy,
Paste, and Trim; set In/Out points and convert them
into muxed or demuxed files, or export them to
QuickTime, AVI, DV and MPEG-4 files with more than
professional quality, so you can easily import them in
Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Toast 6, 7, 8, and use
them with many other applications or devices.
Supported input formats: MPEG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD,
VRO, DAT, MOV, DV, AVI, MP4, TS, M2T, MMV, REC, VID,
AUD, AVR, VDR, PVR, TP0, TOD, M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF,
M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3.
OnyX
Multifunction utility that allows you to verify the
Startup Disk and the structure of its System files, run
miscellaneous tasks of system maintenance,
configure some hidden parameters of the Finder,
Dock, Dashboard, Exposé, Safari, Login window and
some of Apple's own applications, it deletes caches,
removes a certain number of files and folders that
may become cumbersome and more.
Perian
Enables QuickTime application support for additional
media, including AVI, DIVX, FLV, MKV, GVI, VP6, & VFW
Precipitate
Lets you search for and launch your cloud data from
within Spotlight or Google Desktop for Mac. It
currently supports the following services: Google
Bookmarks; Google Docs and Picasa Web Albums
Listing Continues…
See
http://www.ausom.net.au/discofthemonth
for full details of the applications on this CD
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Pam Doughty
Spranq’s Ink-Saving Font
Looking for ways to reduce the amount of paper and ink that you use?
Doing so can save you money with the added
benefit of using less natural resources. Spranq,
a Dutch company, has come up with a font
that does just that. Spranq’s font uses the
idea that a typeface could contain a certain
percentage of holes or small circles in it
without major alteration to the printed image.
The font itself, being based on Vera Sans,
looks similar to Verdana and using it at size
10 is possibly the best but size 12 prints well
and may be easier for screen viewing. The
higher you go up in font size, the more you
can see the holes — of course this may add
exactly the effect you want (the sample below
is 60pt). It works well if your software allows
you to create an italic version however it is
distributed as ‘regular’ only. Using bold would
fill in all the holes so the effect would be lost. It
is said to reduce the amount of ink used by 20%.
Available for Mac, Windows and Linux.
Visit
http://www.ecofont.eu/
for more information.
ecofont
ecofont at 12 pt
Submitted by Ruth Cooper
Sample of
font at 60
and 12 pt.
The second
sample has
been provided
as a screen
image of the
60pt sample.
As I have
not ‘tested’
the font’s
performance
with InDesign
and pdf files
the first
lines may not
reproduce
correctly.
z
Once a pun a time…
It is said that the ability to make and understand PUNS
is the highest level of language development. Here are
the top 10 winners in the International Pun Contest.
1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead
raccoons. The Stewardess looks at him and says, ‘I’m
sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.
2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns
to the other and says, ‘Dam!’
3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they
lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly, it sank, proving
once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it.
4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, ‘I’ve lost my
electron.’ The other says, ‘Are you sure?’ The first
replies, ‘Yes, I’m positive.’
5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused
Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend
dental medication.
6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel
and were standing in the lobby discussing their
recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the
manager came out of the office and asked them to
disperse. ‘But why?’, they asked, as they moved off.
‘Because,’ he said, ‘I can’t stand chess-nuts boasting in
an open foyer.’
7. A woman has identical twins and gives them up for
adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and
is named Ahmal. The other goes to a family in Spain;
www.ausom.net.au
they name him Juan. Years later, Juan sends a picture of
himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture,
she tells her husband that she wishes she also had
a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, ‘They’re
twins! If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Ahmal.’
8. A group of friars were behind on their belfry
payments, so they opened a small florist shop to raise
funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the
men of God, a rival florist across town thought the
competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to
close down, but they would not.
He went back and begged the friars to close. They
ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh
MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in
town to ‘persuade’ them to close. Hugh beat up the
friars and trashed their store, saying he’d be back if
they didn’t close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby
proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.
9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot
most of the time, which produced an impressive set of
calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made
him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered
from bad breath. This made him (Oh, man, this is SO
BAD, it’s good) a super calloused fragile mystic hexed
by halitosis.
10. And, finally, there was the person who sent ten
different puns to friends, with the hope that at least one
of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
z
AUSOM News April 2009 v 23
Susan Jensen
FirstClass
AUSOM FirstClass is perhaps the easiest to use, most convenient on-line Apple Mac, iPhone and iPod
resource in Australia. It’s certainly one of the most comprehensive. Its discussion and file exchange forums
allow you to share the resources of its subscribers who number over 300 members, providing you with the
most up-to-date Apple information, files and support.
Computer topics and problem solving
Open discussion forums in FirstClass encompass the full
spectrum of Mac, iPhone and iPod use — computer and
peripherals — purchase and setup, software installation and
use, Mac operating systems, networking, maintenance and
troubleshooting of both the equipment and its software.
All popular equipment and software is discussed by
beginners and experts alike. Their experience is available to
you for the asking.
Special Interests
Other conferences discuss such topics as desktop publishing,
genealogy, the Internet, finance, graphics, digital movies
and photography, music, hardware and peripherals,
networking and telephony, web development, database, and
many other topics that involve the use of the Mac.
Dozens of new messages are posted every day by both
professional and amateur users. You’ll be amazed at the
amount of information that is present and freely available to
subscribers of AUSOM FirstClass.
IN
JOINNOW
Software downloads
Downloads available from the system include updates from
Apple and other commercial software publishers, as well
as hundreds of shareware programs and utilities in many
categories, to suit both new and older Mac computers.
Large files and/or broken connections are no problem, as
FirstClass allows you to resume interrupted downloads in a
later session. The File Exchange area is one of the most-used
on the system.
Private messages and email
Private messages can be posted to friends via the internet
and to other subscribers on FirstClass. Checking your email
is as simple as double clicking on your FirstClass mailbox.
Further, you can access your FirstClass mailbox from
anywhere in the world, even if the FirstClass software is not
installed on that computer. Simply use the alternative Webbased interface, via the Web Login button at:
http://www.ausom.net.au/firstclass.
Using the easily-installed FirstClass Client software, you can
access AUSOM FirstClass via any Internet connection.
Getting started with FirstClass
Away from home, you can access it via any Web browser from
the login button at http://www.ausom.net.au/firstclass.
As an AUSOM member you can have one month free trial
access. If you wish to continue using FirstClass, you will
need to pay an annual subscription fee of $50.
Download the software and read the set up manual that can
be found at: http://www.ausom.net.au/fcdownloads
24 v AUSOM News April 2009
There’s even a Windows version of the Client software if, for
instance, you use a Windows PC at work.
You can get help in setting up by calling one of the
administrators listed in the AUSOM Help Desk
(i.e. page 3 AUSOM News Yellow Pages).
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
www.ausom.net.au
AUSOM News April 2009 v 25
leave the rest ...far behind
EFTel is proud to offer a great range of 8Mbps broadband Internet plans. Our 8Mbps plans allow you to make the most of your time on
the Internet and you can choose from four different data limits depending on your broadband requirements.
25GB (peak) + 25GB
(off-peak)
0.5GB
2GB
7GB
50GB -
price
$59.95
$69.95
$79.95
$89.95
included e-mails
1
3
5
5
web space
10MB
20MB
30MB
30MB
excess data
$0.10 per MB
$0.07 per MB
$0.05 per MB
$0.02 per MB
excess data cap
$60.00
$50.00
$40.00
n/a
plan features
*8000Kbps is the maximum achievable speed. The actual speed of your service will depend upon a number of things, such as the distance between your premises and the telephone exchange, the quality of the
copper telephone wires in your area, network load and your computer hardware. For a complete list of factors affecting the actual speed, please visit www.eftel.com.au.
Switch your home or business phone over to [email protected] to receive a $10 discount on
your broadband EVERY MONTH!
Benefits of high-speed broadband:




Super-fast Internet speeds that make downloading music, photos and movies a breeze
Communicate with family, friends & colleagues quickly and effectively
Permanent access to educational and business tools and resources
Money-saver – No dial-up associated call costs. Furthermore, combine your Broadband Internet plan with one of our great speak telephony services to receive a great bundled discount
What are you waiting for? Make the most of your time on the Internet. Call our friendly sales team on 1300 550 550, or visit our website at www.eftel.com.au for more information.
Terms: Off-peak times are 12.00am – 8.00am. Bundled discount: clients will receive $10.00 off their monthly broadband price when they also have a [email protected] or a [email protected] service. Clients will lose this discount if they churn their
long distance to another provider. Early termination fee of $60.00 applies if the account is terminated by the client within the first 6 months. For full terms and conditions, refer to www.eftel.com.au
COMING TO A MODEM NEAR YOU...
26 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
8/250 st georges terrace perth wa 6000 tel 1300 550 550 fax 1300 368 200
EFTAUS0307 ©2007 EFTel Limited
Steve Cooper <[email protected]>
Disconnected Jottings
Sweepings from the workshop floor, with an emphasis on the basics
Mac OS News
Recent updates from Apple have included
iTunes 8.1, Front Row 2.1.7, Time Capsule
and AirPort Base Station Firmware Update
7.4.1, AirPort Utility 5.4.1, iLife Support
9.0.1, AirPort Client Update 2009-001, iPhoto
8.0.1 Update, Battery Update 1.4, and Digital
Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.5.
Remember that you can see if your Mac
requires any of these by choosing Software
Update from the Apple menu at top left
of your screen, and if you'd like further
information about any such updates, you can
check <http://support.apple.com/downloads>.
Click the title of any item to see an expanded
description.
File sharing with MobileMe
Apple recently announced a new feature of
MobileMe that enables subscribers to send files
easily to friends and colleagues, in cases where
those files would be too large to transmit via
email.
The process is simple enough. Assuming that
the file of interest is not already on your iDisk,
proceed as follows:
• Go to <www.me.com> and log in to your
MobileMe account.
• Click the iDisk button (a folder icon on a
purple background) and then the Home
button to see the files and folders on your
iDisk.
• Click the Upload button (a small upwardpointing arrow near the centre of the
toolbar) and select the file to upload.
• When the upload is complete, click to select
the file, then click the Share File button.
• Enter the email addresses of the people you
wish to be able to download the file, and an
appropriate message.
• Select the time period for which you'd like
to make the file available for download.
• Nominate a password to allow access to
the file. (Of course, you'll need to advise
your correspondents of the password in a
separate message.)
www.ausom.net.au
• Click the Share button.
Your correspondents will receive an email
message containing a notification, your
message, and a Download button to retrieve
the file.
At <http://www.apple.com/mobileme/
tutorials/#idisk-share> you'll find a video
tutorial covering this new MobileMe feature.
Movies on your 'still' camera
Have you investigated the movie function on
your nominally 'still' digital camera? If not,
you should probably try it, if just to see how
well it works.
It's important to understand that in most
cases, this movie function is not intended
to substitute for a dedicated video camera,
but for quick movie 'snaps' of events that
lend themselves to this treatment you may
be pleasantly surprised, particularly if your
camera is a relatively new one.
Older cameras may operate in movie mode
only with fixed settings for lens zoom,
exposure and focus, whereas newer ones
may allow you to zoom as you shoot, with
automatic adjustment of exposure and focus
just as happens in a dedicated video camera.
Some even have stereo microphones, though
you can expect these to pick up a little
mechanical and/or electrical noise from the
camera itself.
Newer cameras will also capture a larger movie
picture with a higher frame rate — some even
offer High Definition output with surprising
quality. An increasing number offer onebutton movie activation, enabling you to grab
a quick movie 'snap' without having to fiddle
with mode selector dials and the like.
Many
updates
this month,
topping up
the 10.5.6
pot ready for
(yes!) 10.5.7,
due soon.
MobileMe
now offers
a simple
mechanism
for sharing
large
files with
colleagues via
the Internet.
You might be
surprised by
the quality
of movies
produced
by your still
camera. The
process can
be fun, too.
The movies are transferred to iPhoto along
with the still photos, and iPhoto displays the
movie when you double-click its thumbnail.
The most common formats for such movies
are .MOV (QuickTime) and .AVI (a PC
standard), and while iPhoto doesn't 'do' file
conversions, a minor investment in QuickTime
Pro will enable you to convert your movies
to just about any format your correspondents
may need, if the standard one doesn't suit.
AUSOM News April 2009 v 27
As someone who has never owned a true video
camera, I find being able to take the occasional
short movie with my familiar still camera to be
great fun, and the results surprisingly good.
Making a photo Web Gallery
If you have a large number of photos that
you want to send to friends, it's often hard
to figure out how to do it in a way that's
manageable by both sender and recipient,
and which is platform-independent; that is,
it works whether the recipient has a Mac or a
Windows PC. The solution I use is referred to
as a 'Web gallery'.
A Web gallery is in fact a website on a disc
(CD or DVD). To view it, you insert the disc
in the computer, locate a file named 'index.
html', and double-click it. Your Web browser
(Safari on a Mac, Internet Explorer on a PC, or
Firefox on either) launches and displays the
index page just as if you were viewing it on an
Internet website.
Most gallery software will present the viewer
with a series of thumbnail images of the
photos, which can be clicked to reveal larger
size versions of the photos. Buttons allow for
navigation through the photo collection just
as they would on an Internet website.
The application I use to create such a web
gallery comes from a French developer. It's
called Galerie and that's its icon above. (No,
that is not my grandchild.) Galerie works very
well, is easy to use once you've grasped the
principles, and what's more, it's free!
To start with, Galerie provides a large
collection of templates that determine the
basic appearance of the web pages it creates,
allowing you to choose one that not only
appeals to your taste, but also considers such
factors as the size of screen that viewers have.
The index page produced by Galerie has
thumbnails whose size and arrangement you
can specify, and which can if you wish be
labelled with picture titles, file names, date
and time, and more. Clicking a thumbnail
switches you to a larger view of that photo
whose size and supplementary data can be
similarly specified. Buttons move you through
the large images or switch you back to the
index page. This describes a simple template;
some are much more complex, using frames,
Flash and other goodies to dress up your
gallery. Personally I prefer to keep it simple.
The size of the larger photos is limited
practically by the size of screen you assume
your viewers will have, so Galerie provides the
28 v AUSOM News April 2009
ability to include full size images on the disc as
well, if you'd like your correspondents to have
access to these.
With just a very little understanding of how
HTML links work, it's possible to edit the
pages produced by Galerie. I do so in order to
build galleries consisting of sections each with
its own section index page, connected by a
master index page.
The time required to construct a Web gallery
of a few hundred images using Galerie is just
a fraction of that needed to set up your own
equivalent gallery, and Galerie displays large
numbers of images in a considerably more
accessible way than would iWeb, for instance.
Galerie can be downloaded from <www.
myriad-online.com/en/products/galerie.htm>.
Two kinds of Get Info
Mac OS X has two distinct Get Info
commands. In fact, if you go to the Finder’s
File menu and, while the menu is open, press
the Option key, you’ll see that the Get Info
command changes to Show Inspector.
The Get Info command can be invoked with
the key combination Command-I, while Show
Inspector uses Option-Command-I.
To understand the difference between the two
commands, locate or place any two icons on
your desktop — we’ll call them A and B.
Click icon A and press Command-I to invoke
the Get Info command. Now click A again but
this time press Option-Command-I to invoke
the Show Inspector command. Look at the
difference between the Get Info and Show
Inspector windows. There isn’t any.
Here's a
relatively
easy (and
free!) method
of sending
large numbers
of photos
to Mac and
PC users
alike, in an
organized and
easily viewed
format.
The wellknown Get
Info panel has
a brother-inarms that
offers some
interesting
features of
its own.
Now click icon B. You’ll see that the Inspector
window changes to show the information
about B, but the Get Info window doesn’t. If
you want to see a Get Info window for B, you
have to click B and press Command-I again.
Now you can see information for A and B at
the same time in separate Get Info windows.
Now you can see the difference. Get Info
enables you to have information windows
open for multiple items at the same time,
but once open, the content of these windows
doesn’t change. On the other hand, Show
Inspector opens only one window, but that
window shows information for whatever item,
or group of items, you select (highlight).
If you select multiple items and choose Show
Inspector, the window will show you summary
information about the group, and will enable
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
you to change some characteristics of all items
in the group with one action. In this way you
can change the label colour, 'Open With:'
application, sharing and permissions, and
locked status for a number of items at once.
Both Get Info and Show Inspector functions
have their uses, and knowing that both exist
will enable you to choose the better one for
any situation.
Email — POP or IMAP?
There are two commonly used email systems
and it can be helpful to understand the
differences between them, particularly if you
use more than one Mac.
The traditional email system is POP (Post
Office Protocol). In this system, mail arrives
from the Internet and is held in your 'mailbox'
on a computer at your ISP's premises (his
'mail server'). When you activate your email
program, it checks to see if there is any mail
waiting for you. If there is, the program
transfers a copy of it to your own Mac, and
the original message on the ISP's server is then
erased after a period of grace that you define in
your mail program's Preference settings.
POP works very well if you use a single Mac,
but if you have both a desktop and laptop (for
instance) care is needed to achieve the end you
want. A common practice is to collect mail
onto the laptop with Preferences set to leave
copies on the ISP's server for a time sufficient
to ensure that the desktop also has a chance
to collect it, at which time it's erased from
the ISP's server per the desktop's Preference
setting. This system is designed to ensure that
mail read on the laptop while travelling away
from home base is also collected on the home
desktop on return, the desktop then being the
master repository of all mail.
Unfortunately, even this system has a
problem — mail sent from either Mac resides
in the Sent mailbox of that Mac only. So, the
home desktop isn't really the master after
all — it doesn't have copies of the mail sent
from the laptop.
The preferred system for dealing more
elegantly with this situation is to use IMAP
(Internet Message Access Protocol). Using this
system, all mail messages — incoming, sent
and filed — are held on the IMAP mail server
somewhere on the Internet (either at your ISP
or at an IMAP service provider). When you
activate your email program it displays the
contents of your IMAP mailboxes without
permanently transferring them to your Mac
www.ausom.net.au
(though you do have the option of transferring
specific messages if you need to for some
reason). In this case the master repository of
all your mail is the IMAP mail server.
The clear advantage of IMAP is thus that
you can work with your email from any
computer that you've set up to access your
IMAP account, and whatever actions you take
(reading, replying, sending, filing) are kept on
the IMAP server to be seen identically by each
and every one of your Macs. Consequently,
you can have several people accessing the
IMAP account and whatever mail actions they
take will be visible to all other users. Another
plus is that your mail can't be lost through
some malfunction on your Mac, since it's all
stored on the IMAP server.
Well known IMAP services include Apple's
MobileMe (previously .Mac), Google Mail,
Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. Historically, some of
these have been accessed via a Web interface
(i.e. via Safari or another Web browser), but
a number of them are now capable of being
addressed using 'normal' email programs such
as Apple's Mail.
If you go through the motions of adding a
new mail account in Mail, you'll find that one
of the settings you're asked to make is to tell
the program whether the account is a POP or
an IMAP account.
Now the interesting thing here is that if you
are currently using a POP account provided by
your ISP, it may be possible to set that account
up alternatively as an IMAP one. Your ISP will
be able to advise you on this, and to provide
the information needed to set up an IMAP
account if that suits you better.
Most folks are familiar with the way in which
POP accounts work. If you simply Google
'IMAP', you'll find a Wikipedia article that
explains in some depth the advantages of
IMAP additional to those mentioned above. If
you have any degree of complication in your
email setup, it may well be worth reading.
Operating on your Mac
There may
be a better
way to handle
your email,
particularly
if you use
more than
one Mac and
want them all
to show the
same email
information
at all times.
Getting
inside your
Mac may not
be as difficult
as you think,
and there are
some good
resources to
assist you.
One of them
is probably
in a drawer
in your
workroom
somewhere.
After buying your Mac and being so pleased
to find you could set it up without needing to
consult any book of instructions, you probably
filed its small white manual in that favourite
location for such things — 'somewhere'.
That's a pity, as that manual contains many
things of interest, including the answers to
a couple of the most-often asked questions:
'Can I install more memory (RAM) in my Mac
and if so how?', and ditto for a larger hard
AUSOM News April 2009 v 29
disk. Many (though not all) Mac models make
it easy to do these things, and where they're
suitably straightforward the procedures are
explained and fully illustrated in the manual.
Other models may allow you also to fit such
things as optical drives and BlueTooth and
Airport cards, in which case the manual shows
you how.
Not all Mac models are so accessible,
unfortunately; older laptops can be
particularly tricky. When Apple doesn't
provide the necessary information, other
sources may well do so. Two I've used
from time to time are iFixIt <http://www.
ifixit.com> and Other World Computing
Tech Center <http://eshop.macsales.com/
tech_center/installation.cfm>. The former
provides excellent illustrated guides with
helpful additions such as a screw guide with a
template for identifying and storing all those
screws as you work. The latter takes the video
route. Both offer many helpful (and sometimes
cautionary) tips for ensuring a successful
outcome of the exercise.
If you can use a jeweller's screwdriver and a
pair of tweezers without stabbing yourself you
should have no trouble with these procedures
even on a laptop, and desktop Macs are
simpler still to work on. The few models that
really are difficult are well signposted.
The disclosure triangle
It mightn't look important, but the gadget
shown above can reveal many hidden gems
as you use your Mac. Whenever you see a
small triangle or 'arrow-head' like this, usually
pointing sideways as shown, you can be pretty
sure that clicking it will reveal additional or
supplementary information. Apple calls it
the 'disclosure triangle'. (Because the triangle
rotates when you click it, so that it points
downwards, some folks have christened it the
'flippy triangle'.)
If you open a Finder window in List view,
you'll see that each folder has such a disclosure
triangle to its left. Clicking the triangle will
show you (disclose) the contents of that folder.
Clicking it again will close the folder again.
Disclosure triangles appear in many different
situations, so if there's one you haven't clicked
to date, give it a try and see what interesting
information is revealed!
There are two disclosure triangles that don't
look exactly like the one above, but are as
important as any of them.
• If you use the Save As command in any of
your applications, you'll see that there is
a downward-pointing disclosure triangle
on a blue background, to the right of the
file name box. If you don't seem to have a
very great choice of places to save things,
clicking this triangle will enlarge the dialog
box and present you with many more
options.
• If you use the Print command, you'll see a
triangle similar to the one described above
but this time alongside the printer name.
This one will reveal a multitude of printer
settings of which you might otherwise be
completely unaware, and which are well
worthwhile exploring.
FireWire — where to?
When the latest 'aluminium unibody'
MacBook models were released, there was
some consternation when it was learned
that they didn't incorporate a FireWire port
of any kind. This means that if you have
existing FireWire devices like external hard
disks or scanners, they won't work with these
MacBooks, which are instead equipped with
multiple USB2.0 ports. (Of course, if your
external device incorporates both FireWire
and USB2.0 ports, as many do, you can simply
switch from one to the other.)
There was some speculation as to whether
third parties might develop USB-to-FireWire
convertor devices to resolve the dilemma for
MacBook users, but it appears that the two
data communication systems are inherently
incompatible, making conversion impractical.
At any rate, no such devices have yet
appeared.
A natural concern has been that Apple would
extend this 'no FireWire' philosophy to the
expected new iMac model, but happily this
has not happened, and the new iMacs, Mac
Pros and Mac minis all have a FireWire 800
port. If your external device is equipped only
with FireWire 400 ports, fear not — a simple
adaptor cable will enable it to connect to your
Mac, though of course you will get only a 400
bps connection speed from the combination.
To keep your
Mac's screen
a little tidier,
quite a lot of
information
is half-hidden
until you
click the
little black
triangles
dotted
around
the place.
Exploring
these can do
no harm and
may provide a
revelation.
What's the
future of
FireWire,
given recent
releases of
new MacBook,
iMac and mini
models?
Speculation
is rife, but
forewarning is
always useful.
Having said all that, the writing may be
considered to be on the wall for FireWire in
consumer Macs, and the wise purchaser of an
external drive or other high-speed device will
in future ensure that the device has both a
FireWire port for short term speed advantage,
and USB2.0 for longer term compatibility with
MacBooks, and other models if Apple should
change its policy in the future.
z
30 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Bruce Craven
Bruce’s Blurb #219
Wireless
I had a problem, when my internet access speed
dropped to almost zero, with many interruptions.
Only after suffering this for a while did I notice
that my “Unwired” wireless modem had fallen off
its cardboard box, leaving the modem’s antenna
misaligned, and (critically) about a foot lower in
altitude.
Putting the modem back restored the access. The
wireless modem has to be placed high enough to get
enough signal strength. This fact has relevance to
individuals, and also to AUSOM, which uses a wireless
modem at its meetings.
Whatever anyone may say about “enough signal
strength”, a wireless modem needs to be placed high
enough. (As a certain advertisement said, “Just do
it!”). (Editor’s note: At Balwyn we need to take the
‘wabbit’s ear’ (antenna) off by turning it so the marks
line up and gently pulling it off and plugging an
external antenna into the socket).
I digress to remark that it seems to be the fate of
valuable technologies to morph into generic things.
(“Thermos flask” and “Hoover” suffered this fate. In
England “hoovering” got to mean cleaning the floor,
even with a rival product.) This may be happening
with the MATLAB language.
It is possible for unfinancial people to use parts of
the MATLAB language for computations on some
other software. I underline that much of the value
of MATLAB is contained in program packages called
“Toolboxes”, and these certainly require MATLAB
itself. But for simpler things, the “Sysquake LE”
package, available on the Macintosh and other
platforms (Linux, Windows) may be useful.
Sysquake (from www.calerga.com) is indeed intended
for interactive graphics (which it does very well).
Computing Math
There is a large gap between mathematical notation,
and the sequence of steps required to compute some
numerical output. The programming languages
BASIC and FORTRAN provided ways around this.
Neither is ideal for a “presentation language”, to
describe a method of computation, not necessarily
tied to a particular computing platform. Sometimes
informal versions of the (long past) language ALGOL
(or its successor PASCAL) have been used for such
presentations. Many of the ideas go back to K.
Iverson’s “A Programming Language” (or “APL”),
whose logical approach influenced many successors.
Sadly, APL (and its successor, J) are rather too complex
(especially with context-dependent symbols), and the
implementations do not lend themselves easily to
programs with loops.
In the meantime, Mathworks’ “MATLAB” has
provided a language and implementations for
mathematical computations, especially for those
expressible in terms of matrices and vectors, and
many have found this of great value, in particular
for engineering computations. The language works
well, though it lacks something in consistency, and
importantly it is easy to add functions to it. However,
MATLAB is so expensive as to restrict its use to people
in large organisations. (I think it is worth the money,
but not everyone has the money. The days seem to
have passed when an individual academic could
purchase an academic copy.)
www.ausom.net.au
The “Gravity” graphic is taken (with permission) from
one of Sysquake LE’s demos. If Sysquake is running,
then some parameters can be changed by mousing on
the displayed diagram, and the plotted curves change
to follow this.
“Gravity” is described as follows. “Stars can be
moved in a plane, and the trajectory of an asteroid
is displayed. The initial position and velocity of
the asteroid can be changed. A chaotic trajectory
is obtained (infinitely small changes of the initial
conditions result in unpredictable changes after
some time). The relative mass of the stars is 1 and
2. The gravity field they create is represented with
equipotential curves. The trajectory of an asteroid is
displayed in black. The position of the stars and the
initial position and velocity (displayed in red) of the
asteroid can be changed with the mouse.”
AUSOM News April 2009 v 31
However, Sysquake LE can also be used in a simpler
way for simpler things.
As a small example, I can copy/paste the following
into Sysquake LE:
m=[1 1/2 1/3: 1/2 1/3 1/4; 1/3 1/4 1/5]
n=inv(m)
Then I press Return, and get the following in the
Sysquake window:
>m=[1 1/2 1/3: 1/2 1/3 1/4; 1/3 1/4 1/5]
n=inv(m)
m=
1
.5
0.3333
0.5
0.3333 0.25
0.3333 0.25
0.2
n=
9
-3
30
-36
192
-180
30
-180
180
Thus the inverse n of the matrix m is displayed.
Another small example of graph plotting is the
following.
If the following is entered by copy/paste into Sysquake
LE, and Return is pressed, the data are plotted (see
attached graphic).
>x=[1:1:5]
x =
1 2 3 4 5
>y=[2 -1 3 6 7 ]
y =
2-1 3 6 7
>plot(x,y)
>
Sysquake does have provision for inputting data
from a text file. It is different from what the help files
say, and I had to get help from the supplier. I found
that this data input feature would only work on OS
X 10.4.10 with the older version 3.6 of Sysquake
LE, whereas other features worked on OS X version
10.5.6 with the current version 4.1. (The supplier
said differently; but I know what didn’t work on my
MacBook.) I hope to say more about this and other
features of Sysquake in a later blurb (if my energy
survives.)
Starting an iBook
An iBook, some years old, but still with valuable
programs and data files on it, got to the stage when it
wouldn’t start up. Each time, it hung on a particular
program, one of a number that had been set to start
up automatically.
How could I switch this off?
After much pondering, I realised that the Dock
had appeared before the computer hung. So, by
jumping in at the right moment, I could open System
Preferences from the Dock, go into Accounts, then
turn off the automatic launching of a number of
programs that looked a bit ‘suss’. After that, the
computer still failed to start; it hung at the next
roadblock — trying to list the files in the home folder.
So I switched it off, left it alone for a few minutes to
equilibrate (namely, for capacitors to discharge). I
tried again and at last, it started. As a bonus, MATLAB
would run again on that computer, which for a while
it wouldn’t.
FTP programs
I had to transfer some files between web pages and
an iMac. There is a freeware program called Fugu that
works with SFTP (“secure FTP”) but not with the older
FTP. There is a program called Cyberduck that works
fine with FTP. My favourite among such programs is
Netfinder, which does both versions well but I didn’t
have Netfinder on the particular iMac. When I copied
it there, I found the registration number didn’t work.
That turned out to be because I had copied it wrongly,
omitting a couple of non-alphabetic characters. But I
didn’t find that out until a later day.
What did I need FTP for?
Labels can be put on the axes; I did not bother in this
instance.
Of course, one can plot such graphs using an Excel
spreadsheet, and some people prefer this. But if
the data must first be processed by some formula
or calculation, then plotted, I much prefer to use
MATLAB-style formulas than to translate the steps
into “Excelese” (and have to consider positions in
rows and columns.) But each one to his or her taste.
I had a PDF file, which I needed to protect with a
password to prohibit printing. I am told that a feature
of OS X version 10.5.6 does those things, but I did
not know just how to do it. So had to ask a colleague
who had a copy of Acrobat Professional. But I had
to get a 17 MB PDF file to him and receive back
the protected version. This is too big for an email
attachment. (Editor’s Note: Unless you both subscribe
to FirstClass!) So I used a web page as a transfer
medium. A memory stick could also be used, but USB
file transfer is slower.
z
32 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Fred Jago [email protected]
Installing an External Hard Drive on an iMac
Last Friday the 6/3/09 I went to Spectrade
and told Mike that I wanted to purchase an
external hard drive to back up everything on
my iMac.
He informed me that he had run out of cases
but would have one for me tomorrow. I said
that it would have to wait until Tuesday as the
AUSOM meeting was on all day Saturday and
I would not be able to pick it up until Tuesday
as Monday was a holiday, he said O.K.
Tuesday I had a phone call —Mike needed
another day.
Wednesday after the R&O meeting I went to
the shop only to find that it was not ready. I
waited while Mike put it together, paid for it
and headed home.
Now I’m ready to go. After the priming up
from a talk on the installation and setting up
I understand it is a soda. I unpack the new
toy and plug everything in, and after turning
everything on it works — sort of! I am not very
confident with what I find in disk utilities and
ring Mike Manger.
I am on the phone explaining to him that disk
utility has come up with a duplicate of both
drives, Mike says ring Geoff Wallace, but just
as I am about to do that the external drive
disappears, Mike says ring him now — he will
know a way.
So I ring Geoff and explain to him what
has gone wrong and he talks me through a
sequence of events, turn everything off, turn
on the external drive, turn on the computer,
did the drive mount, no, are the lights on for
the drive, yes, go to the black apple>About
This Mac>More Info… Scroll down to USB and
read out what it says, the last entry says “USB
to IDE” this tells Geoff that the computer
knows that the drive is connected but is not
working.
Geoff says “Pick up the drive, hold it to
your ear and listen, can you hear the drive
spinning?” NO, OK then it is not working,
take it back to Mike let him check it on one of
the Mac’s he has there in the shop.
So I pack everything back into the box and go
back to Spectrade and give Mike the bad news.
He connects it up to his Mac, same result,
takes it apart, tries it again, no go, so he gets
on the phone to his supplier for a replacement
drive. One is available so Mike will ring me
when the job is finished.
www.ausom.net.au
Late Monday I received a phone call from Mike
to say that my drive was working and ready
to be picked up. So Tuesday I picked up the
drive from Mike who informed me that it was
the power supply case that was not working
and that it had been replaced. He connected
it up to a G5 Mac tower that he has there and
showed me the unit working advising me that
it had been checked and formatted by Geoff
Wallace and was given the big tick.
Home I went and set it up again, shut down
the iMac and connected everything, turned
everything on and lo and behold there it was
in all its glory — working!
A little software tweaking (thanks Susan) and
all’s well. At the time of writing Time Machine
was backing up my hard drive.
So many thanks to Mike Manger, and Geoff
Wallace I now have a backup drive working.
Installing an
external hard
drive and
adding your
valuable data
regularly is
the first
step.
EVERYTHING
lost in fires
or floods
remind us
that where
we KEEP
our ‘back-up’
needs prior
thought and
planning
z
YOUR Help
AUSOM’s AGM will be held in May and
ALL current members of Committee will
stand down. There is no better or easier
way for you to be involved.
Ask two AUSOM Members to nominate
you — form on page 13 — or speak to a
current Member of Committee.
The rewards for YOU are
HUGE — ask Fred, your
newest Committee Member
AUSOM News April 2009 v 33
Peter Hunter ([email protected])
Karma
O
n Black Saturday, AUSOM
lost a member in the fires
at Kinglake. Her name was
Karma Hastwell and she deserves
to be remembered by the wider
community in the same way as she
was amongst her small group of
friends, some of whom died with her.
It is unlikely you would have heard of
Karma; I was lucky enough to make her
acquaintance because she had a problem with her
Mac and saw my name in the yellow pages of the
Magazine, and called me. As her problem was too
difficult to solve on the phone, she invited me up to
her single bedroom home which she had built, nestled
below the top of a ridge, on Bald Spur
Road inside the boundary of the
National Park.
She had somehow managed to trade
two blocks of land on the southern
boundary of the Kinglake National
Park for one inside the northern
boundary on the condition that her
property return to National Park
on her death and that her home be
bulldozed and allowed to return to
native bushland.
Her reason for this move was so that
she could be closer to her beloved
lyrebirds, which she knew by name.
Imagine my surprise when, sitting
at her Mac, I looked up to see a lyrebird meandering
quite at ease outside her home which was fitted with
floor to ceiling windows looking out down the heavily
wooded valley towards the east and Kinglake.
‘Karma! Is that a lyrebird?’
‘Well, let me look. If he has a russet mark on his chest,
it will be Wicked.’ And so it turned out to be. I didn’t
get a photo of Wicked, but Junior turned up later
and he allowed me to walk up close enough to take a
photo.
Every morning, the 87 year-old Karma,
severely restricted in movement by arthritis,
would make her way, shaky step by shaky
step, to the end of her house to make sure
that her birds had fresh water and, in the
drought, some food to supplement their
diet. She would weep when telling me of
the lack of food available for the wildlife.
Karma knew the risk she was taking by
living where and how she did. Only two
weeks before she died, we spoke on the phone about
my visiting her. She told me to wait until April
when the lyrebirds would be more active and the
countryside less dangerous. Her friendly neighbours
planned to pick her up and evacuate if there was
danger. They did manage to collect
her but, alas, the danger so rapidly
became an inferno and consumed
them all.
Karma had a difficult childhood,
and worked extremely hard over a
very long time to achieve her dream
and find the sense of peace and
belonging that I suspect we all seek
in life. In the four years I knew her,
it was clear that she was a deeply
caring, passionate, even fearsome,
defender of wild life, especially
the lyrebirds, but also any other
animals, birds or reptiles that sought
sanctuary in her small patch of land.
Nor was she restricted in her language in the way
most 87 year-olds might be. On one visit, I saw my
mother-in-law (a lady of similar age) lifted clean out
of her chair by the force of Karma’s invective against
something or someone who had displeased her. Karma
was a powerful force to be reckoned with.
She will be greatly missed by all those who knew and
admired her as well as those who subscribe to the
Scribbly Gum forum.
z
Editor’s Note: On this page I had planned to reproduce notes from
the last iWork Special Interest Group.
The above contribution conveys far more about the real AUSOM — the real AUSOM is, in
my mind at least, the Members.
The above is recognises and honours ALL who help others.
Please read the article on page 10 and look at the tribute on your cover this month.
Think about the real AUSOM. If you think you might be able to help to continue to
support people wanting to gain more from their use of Apple Products contact any of the
volunteers listed on page 2 of the yellow section.
34 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Dick Johnson
The iPhone Chronicles – 3
Making a Phone Call
Let’s reprise from last month’s article. You’ve now
put all your telephone contacts into Address Book
and created a group within Address Book where they
can all be stored. The point of this was that many
of those listed in Address Book may be people who
are email contacts only. My contact group in Address
Book is called ‘iPhone Contacts’. Now you check box
opposite the folder that holds your contacts and sync
your phone with your Mac via iTunes and. Once this
is complete you’re ready to phone.
Using the Number Pad
However you’re out somewhere and a friend, who
doesn’t have a phone, says can we ring Bill and see
if he’s available tomorrow? You don’t have Bill’s
number, you may never have even met Bill, but your
friend has his number. So he calls out the number for
you to ring.
Start your iPhone, swipe right to the main menu
and press the green button with the phone image
displayed (see Fig.1). This brings up the phone screen
shown in Fig.2. Now click on the keypad icon (2nd
from the right at the bottom) and simply punch in
your numbers and when finished press the green call
button to make the call.
This screen will do more for you than simply allow
you to make a manual call.
Fig.2 - Click on keypad icon at bottom and simply punch in
your numbers
On the right is an icon of a tape reel for voicemail
messages. Pressing this takes me to Telstra 101 where
all the messages I’ve missed are stored. You may have
a different call number according to the telco you
contracted with.
Using Your Contact List
You can access contacts in two ways. At the bottom of
the Phone Icon screen (see Fig.2) are five icons. The
one at bottom centre, defined by a head and shoulders
image, Contacts, displays the full list of contacts
you’ve synced from Address Book. You can also do
the same thing fom the main menu by clicking on
Contacts, with the same image, as shown the top left
in Fig.1.
Fig.1 - Calling cold with direct number entry - Click on green
button with phone image
www.ausom.net.au
Once your contact list is displayed you can flick your
finger vertically across the screen to rapidly move to
that part of the listing where your contact is displayed
(see Fig.3). In this case I’m selecting myself, Dick
Johnson. Once I’ve pressed my own name, the bar
containing my name darkens to blue and the screen
advances sideways to the full display shown in Fig.4
where I have a little picture of myself. (btw, if you had
a photograph on Address Book it will carry across into
your contact list on the iPhone, but if not, you’ll have
to put the photo in the hard way). Fig.4 displays my
mobile phone number, my work phone number, my
home phone number and two email addresses. It also
shows the ring tone I’m using, which is the Applegiven Bell Tower. Yes, it’s fairly distinctive when it goes
off in a train or a tram. To make a call you only need
to press on the specific phone number you want.
AUSOM News April 2009 v 35
Fig.3 - My contact list flicked by finger to the H-J part of
the list. I’m selecting myself
Fig.5 - Making the call having pressed the number. Just press
the red button to end.
Fig.6 - This number now appears in my Recents list
Fig.4 - My three phone numbers and two email addresses are
now displayed
When your call is completed, the phone number will
appear in your Recents list. This list can be accessed
by pressing the second icon from the right at the
bottom of your display. The Recents icon lights up
wanly when you press and may be visible in Fig.6. As
you make calls over the next few days, or if people
ring you, this list will gradually increase. It provides
a quick route to call back people who have rung you.
However I’ve struck my own difficulty in that if a
person calling is not in the Address Book, they simply
appear as a number in the Recents list. Once you have
a few of these it can be pretty confusing to work out
which person belongs to which number.
36 v AUSOM News April 2009
The last icon on the phone screen to mention is the
Favourites list. This is where you store those people
you ring constantly. I have my family members in this
list and a couple of close friends. How do you add a
number to the Favourites list?
Go to your contacts list and flick up and down the list
until you find the number you wish to promote. In
my case it’s going to the North Balwyn Medical Clinic.
Click on the name in the contacts list that will cause it
to slide sideways providing more detail on the North
Balwyn Medical Clinic (see Fig.7). Underneath the
number is the button Add to Favorites. Click on this.
Now when you go to the Favorites list you’ll find the
new addition (see Fig.8).
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
To make a call from any of these lists, Favorites,
Recents and Contacts, the procedure is always the
same. Flick through the list to find the entry you
want, press it and the number will ring. If there are
several numbers for the entry, the screen will slide
sideways and you then select the specific number you
are after.
Fig.7 - To add a number to favorites, select it from contacts
list and click on Add to Favorites
Fig.9 - To remove a number from Favorites, click on the edit
button top left corner. Negative signs appear against each
entry
Fig.8 - This number now appears in my Favorites list.
But … oops … perhaps this was a mistake. How then
to remove the number from the Favorites list? Click
on the Edit button in the top left corner of the screen.
Negatives appear against all the entries and once you
select one the negative sign turns through 90° and
the remove button appears. Click this and then click
Done. The entry is removed!
Fig.10 - Click on the number to be removed. Remove will
www.ausom.net.au
AUSOM News April 2009 v 37
appear. Click on this and then click Done
Other Ways of Phoning
The iPhone has its own special genius. Being a
computer you can write applications for it and the
number of these is now spiraling seemingly without
limit. My own preferred third party app for making
phone calls is Favorater. This you must buy from the
App shop. My copy cost me $1.19.
Once set up, you click on the app revealing pictures of
each of your contacts. Just tap on the image once for
a mobile phone call, twice for a call to the home line
and three to send an email. It takes a little while to get
the hang of the multiple taps, but once trained, it’s so
simple and smooth. Fig.11 shows my Favorater page
of contacts.
Dick Johnson
Fig.11 - Favorater. Summoning your family and friends with
single or multiple taps on their images.
z
My Favourite Things – 7
Switch
I thank Ivan Radywonik for this little life saver that
has made my life so much easier. What is Switch?
It’s an application to convert audio tracks from one
format to another.
I used to use iTunes, which was a little cumbersome
but still did the job well, but in a more recent update
of iTunes, the convenience fell away considerably and
it became a true pest to go back and forth between
mp3 and aiff formats. With Switch I find a much
greater level of convenience and reliability such that I
can now take my audio recordings for the web (Radio
Don) and do all my preparation and conversions
without having to deal with either Spin Doctor or
iTunes, but just simply using Quicktime Pro and Switch.
You can get Switch from Version Tracker on the web
(versiontracker.com), and the best thing of all. It’s
absolutely free.
To use Switch is simplicity itself. Just drag your audio
files onto the left hand side of the Switch window (See
Fig.1), select the output format from the drop down
menu and click CONVERT.
z
My piece of
third party
software to
share with
you this
month is
Switch
38 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Robin Helmond and Terry O’Riley
In the Library
“The Little Digital Video Book”
Author: Michael Rubin
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Price: $US 24.99
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-57262-2
ISBN-10: 0-321-57262-9
I found this book was just what I needed; in fact I am
tempted to buy my own copy, as there is so much detail in
this little book one borrowing does not do it justice. I look
forward to putting his guidance into practice. It is an easy
to read book, though his chatty, conversational like style
can get a little tedious during a long reading session. I can
recommend this book to anyone new to video cameras, or
to those who have fiddled around as an amateur, but want
learn how to do a better job in future. In short, I rank it as
a 4, Very Awesome. It may be a 5, but only an experienced
videographer could decide that question.
—Robin
I was pleased when offered this book to review because
it looked like just the book I needed. I had taken a lot of
travel and family Super 8 film many years ago, and recently
some video, but always as an untutored amateur. I really
needed to go back to basics and learn the proper way. This
was a golden opportunity. So this review is from a starter’s
viewpoint, rather than an experienced videographer.
The goals of this book are: To teach how to use your camera
to get good video results easily, to shoot video that you can
readily edit into projects, and to finish your projects with
no planning or script. That seems like a pretty simple set of
objectives. Just what I need.
But Michael Rubin sets about these goals in a very thorough
and detailed manner, so that the reader can be in no doubt
as to what the author considers important. His “Golden
Rules” are well justified. He starts out by reviewing the
hardware available these days and also covers the various
storage media used by the today’s video cameras. Alas, I
think hard discs and flash memory are superseding his
preferred video storage medium, digital tapes. Though not
specifically Apple oriented, the book is Apple friendly as its
editing chapter uses screen shots from Final Cut Express.
Next Rubin covers shooting, including structure, camera
shots, coverage, framing and design, through to lighting
and sound. He then discusses organising your videotapes,
preparing to edit, and then, for what seems a mystery to
me, the editing itself. This was the bit I was most interested
in as I have heard editing can be the making or breaking
of a video. Rubin details this process comprehensively, in
the process, demystifying the process for me. He includes a
number of interesting tricks, and examples of what can be
got away with, and what can’t. The conclusion of the book
covers discussions on your options of where to output your
project, whether that is to DVD, or the internet. He also
covers the ticklish question of copyright law. Throughout
this book Rubin poses a number of assignments to help the
reader understand the point of his instruction. I think this is
a very useful technique.
www.ausom.net.au
The iPod Book
Author: Scott Kelby
Publisher: Peachpit Press
ISBN-13: 9780321486172
305pp
One of the many books written about iPods but perhaps
one of the more readable. Most of them seem to tell you
everything except for the one thing you want to know.
Kelby’s book however, is different; a well organised index,
which makes finding what you want a simple task plus
short but succinct instructions, all limited to one-page
explanations.
The colour photographs on each page make it attractive
to the reader and it is arranged in such a way that it
commences with the simple instructions (how to switch
it on/off etc.) ranging right through to the complex
operations.
I would recommend this book to the new iPod owner as a
valuable replacement for the instruction manual you didn’t
receive with your iPod
Rating Very awesome
—Terry
z
AUSOM News April 2009 v 39
Aavailable all day
Chocolates: at a very reasonable
price. Water is free of charge.
A soft drink machine supplies
well priced drinks.
Early perusing of the chocolates
Last of the Summer Wine?
Selling a winning Ticket?
milling
Wondering about the term
‘milling’? At last we ALL know!
Members below certainly seem to
be operating some sort of grinding
machine! Are others waiting to
be ‘put through the mill’?
Pix of AUSOM Members enjoying our new venue in March
A book, any book will do
An awesome welcome awaits
One-on-One
computer training
Hand over the chocolate
and no one gets hurt
Making a sale
��
You can do this at home
Take me to your leader
Help is at
hand
every step of
the way
She saw you first
The lottery
Welcome all
Kiwanis offer us some really good grub
SIG TimeTable
Too early for lunch?
Apple Inc.
Apple Previews Developer Beta of iPhone OS 3.0
Beta Release Provides New SDK, Over 1,000 APIs & 100 New Features
Apple, on March 18, 2009 previewed its
iPhone OS 3.0 software and announced the
immediate availability of a beta software release
to registered developers. The iPhone OS 3.0
beta release includes an updated Software
Development Kit (SDK) with over 1,000 new
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
including In-App Purchases; Peer-to-Peer
connections; an app interface for accessories;
access to the iPod music library; a new
Maps API and Push Notifications. Apple also
announced over 100 new features that will be
available to iPhone and iPod touch users this
winter including cut, copy and paste; MMS;*
landscape view for Mail, Text and Notes; stereo
Bluetooth; syncing Notes to the Mac and PC;
shake to shuffle; parental controls for TV shows,
movies and apps from the App Store; and
automatic login at Wi-Fi hot spots. The iPhone
OS 3.0 beta release will also include a new Voice
Memo app and expanded search capability for
all key iPhone apps, as well as Spotlight search
across the iPhone or iPod touch.
“The new iPhone OS 3.0 is a major software
release packed with incredible new features
and innovations for iPhone customers and
developers alike. It will keep us years ahead of
the competition,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s
senior vice president of Worldwide Product
Marketing.
The iPhone OS 3.0 beta software and SDK
include over 1,000 new APIs and are available
today for all iPhone Developer Program
members to use for development and testing
of their apps for iPhone and iPod touch.
Included in these APIs is the ability to leverage
the incredible purchase model of the App
Store within apps. In-App Purchases will
allow developers to offer subscription content
and provide the ability to sell new content
and features in a simple and secure process.
42 v AUSOM News April 2009
Developers can also more easily create peerto-peer games for iPhone and iPod touch by
using Bluetooth.
Another key developer feature in the iPhone
OS 3.0 beta software is the ability for apps to
interface with hardware accessories, creating a
whole new element of control for iPhone and
iPod touch accessory developers as well as a new
ecosystem of solutions for customers. Developers
will also be able to use Apple’s new Maps API to
integrate Google Mobile Maps services within
their apps, which will offer Google Map tiles,
current location, custom annotations and
geocoding. The iPhone OS 3.0 beta software
includes the Apple Push Notification service,
which provides developers with a mechanism to
alert users with sounds, text or a badge.
The new iPhone OS 3.0 software will be
available to iPhone and iPod touch users this
winter with over 100 new features including
cut, copy and paste, which can be done
within or across applications; MMS to send
and receive photos, contacts, audio files and
locations with the Messages app; and the
ability to capture and send audio recordings
on the go with the new Voice Memo app.
Landscape view will be available for Mail,
Text and Notes. Search capabilities will be
expanded, allowing customers to search within
Mail, iPod and Notes or search across all key
apps by typing a key word or phrase into the
new Spotlight search, conveniently accessed
from the Home screen.
“The new
iPhone
OS 3.0 is
a major
software
release
packed with
incredible new
features and
innovations
for iPhone
customers
and
developers
alike. It will
keep us years
ahead of the
competition.”
The updated Stock app will add the ability
to display recent company news and current
trading information like opening or average
price, trading volume or Market Cap, and will
offer a landscape view to see a full screen of
any stock chart. Customers will also be
able to view shared calendars right on
their iPhone with CalDAV support and
sync their calendars with iCal, Yahoo,
Google and Oracle.
Today, the groundbreaking App Store
has more than 25,000 applications
available to consumers, and 15 more
countries have been added so the App
Store is now available in 77 countries,
allowing developers to reach more than
30 million iPhone and iPod touch users
around the world. Developers set the
price for their applications and retain
70 percent of all sales revenue. Apple
covers all credit card, web hosting and
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
infrastructure costs associated with
offering applications on the App Store.
Pricing & Availability
The iPhone OS 3.0 beta software and
SDK will be available for registered
developers to download starting today
from developer.apple.com. iPhone
customers will be able to download the
new iPhone OS 3.0 software for free this
winter and iPod touch customers will be
able to purchase a software update.**
Tonya Engst ([email protected])
Apple Adds Petite
Aluminum Keyboard
Apple last week released a new Apple Keyboard, which offers Apple’s
sleek aluminum look and two extra USB 2.0 ports, but no numeric
keypad. The keyboard costs AU$69 and requires that you be
running at least Mac OS X 10.5.6 Leopard.
Notes
*MMS messaging is available only on
iPhone 3G; fees may apply. MMS may
not be available in all areas.
**Some features may not be supported
by older hardware.
View the Keynote
The Keynote can be streamed from
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/previewiphone-os/
and a downloadable Podcast version can
be found at
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.
woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275834665
Credits
Apple ignited the personal computer
revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II
and re-invented the personal computer
in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today,
Apple continues to lead the industry
in innovation with its award-winning
computers, OS X operating system and
iLife and professional applications. Apple
is also spearheading the digital media
revolution with its iPod portable music
and video players and iTunes online
store, and has entered the mobile phone
market with its revolutionary iPhone.
Images courtesy of Apple Inc.
Prepared, with permission, for inclusion
in AUSOM News by Nicholas Pyers
([email protected])
z
www.ausom.net.au
http://store.apple.com/au/product/MB869LL/A
In the recent past, if you wanted a small aluminum keyboard from
Apple, you had to purchase the AU$109 Bluetooth-based wireless
keyboard. It eschews a numeric keypad and suffers from the hassle
of dealing with batteries and Bluetooth, though it does eliminate a
cable from your life.
The new Apple Keyboard is noteworthy for people buying a new
iMac because it’s the default option when you shop from Apple. For
the moment, though, you can substitute the Apple Keyboard with
Numeric Keypad at no extra charge (the default situation is reversed
for Mac Pro purchasers). For those buying a Mac mini, both keyboards
cost the same. The Apple Wireless Keyboard costs an extra AU$40.
Credits
This article was extracted from TidBITS, a free weekly technology
newsletter providing timely news, insightful analysis, and in-depth
reviews to the Macintosh and Internet communities. Feel free to
forward to friends; better still, please ask them to subscribe!
http://www.tidbits.com/
Non-profit, non-commercial publications and Web sites may reprint or link to
articles if full credit is given. Others please contact us. We do not guarantee
accuracy of articles. Caveat lector. Publication, product, and company names
may be registered trademarks of their companies. TidBITS ISSN 1090-7017.
Copyright 2009 TidBITS; reuse governed by this Creative Commons License.
http://www.tidbits.com/terms/
Images courtesy of Apple
Prepared, with permission, and updated to include Australian
pricing, for inclusion in AUSOM News, by Nicholas Pyers
([email protected])
z
AUSOM News April 2009 v 43
Adam C. Engst ([email protected])
Mac mini Receives Multiple Performance Boosts
A
pple updated the Mac mini last
week, keeping the form factor of
the diminutive desktop Mac the
same, but expanding most of the specs
in what appears to be a successful effort
to keep the Mac mini a compelling lowend desktop Machine.
http://www.apple.com/macmini
Although it will never compete with Apple’s
beefier desktop Macs, the new Mac mini now
offers the choice of a 2.0 GHz or a new 2.26
GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, dropping the
previous 1.83 GHz option. The new model
sports a front side bus speed of 1066 MHz (up
from 667 MHz) and 3 MB of on-chip L2 cache
that will help boost performance. Oddly, the
latter spec is down from the previous 2.0 GHz
Mac mini model, which offered 4 MB of L2
cache, though the previous 1.83 GHz model
had only 2 MB of L2 cache.
You can now put up to 4 GB of RAM in the Mac mini, and
a new 320 GB hard drive option joins the previous 120 GB
option; 80 GB is no longer offered. The new model also trades
FireWire 400 for FireWire 800, and adds a fifth USB 2.0 port
to the back panel. Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and Gigabit Ethernet
remain standard, but Apple bumped the new Mac mini’s
wireless capabilities up to 802.11n. A slot-loading SuperDrive
is now standard, eliminating the Combo drive option.
Apple is also pointing out that the Mac mini now uses less than
13 watts of power when idle, supposedly making it the world’s
most energy-efficient desktop computer. Pricing on the new Mac
mini starts at AU$1,049, and even maxing out the processor,
RAM, and hard drive options brings it only to AU$1,903.99.
With this update, Apple has done a good job of addressing
most of the compromises and criticisms of the previous
Mac mini. Sure, it won’t compete with the iMac in terms of
performance, and attempting to mimic the iMac’s specs with
a Mac mini would likely cost more in the end for a slower
Mac, but the Mac mini plays in a different sandbox. For
anyone who already has a monitor and keyboard, or wants
an inexpensive Mac to run a media center or home server, the
Mac mini no longer feels underpowered.
Credits
See ‘Apple Adds Petite Aluminum Keyboard’ page 43.
z
The Mac mini also now comes with an Nvidia
GeForce 9400M graphics processor, much
like the new MacBook line, leading to claims
of improved graphics performance of up to
five times over the previous Intel GMA 950
integrated graphics. However, the video card’s
memory is still shared with the main memory,
which reduces performance. Also like the new
MacBook line, the new Mac mini features a
Mini DisplayPort, but it also has a Mini-DVI
port, and includes a Mini-DVI to DVI adapter
(a Mini-DVI to VGA adapter is sold separately).
The two ports mean that the Mac mini can
now drive two monitors, one at 1900 by
1200 on the DVI port, and another at up to
2560 by 1600 through the Mini DisplayPort
connection, though driving such a large
monitor on the latter requires a separate Mini
DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter.
Alan Brown
In the Library
Wikipedia: The Missing Manual
Author: John Broughton
ISBN 10: 0-596-51516-2 oreilly.com/catalog/9780596515164/
“Most of this book is aimed at folks who want to edit
Wikipedia articles and become more active in the Wikipedia
community.” I must confess that I fell into the trap of
selecting the book by its front cover. I just assumed that this
book would have a balance between reading articles from
Wikipedia and writing articles. I found to my consternation
that the Reader Guide to Wikipedia had been assigned
to Appendix B. The quotation above comes from the
introduction to this appendix (p. 427).
Now it must be said that I could have learnt more about the
book from reading the back cover, or better still, taking a peep
at Chapter 1. Perhaps I am not the only one who has been
misled by the title, for there is now a new shorter book in the
series by the same author:
Wikipedia Reader’s Guide: The Missing Manual
ISBN 10: 0-596-52174-X oreilly.com/catalog/9780596521745/
Do I want write articles for Wikipedia? This book made me
think hard about this question. I have written some technical
44 v AUSOM News April 2009
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
Doug McLean ([email protected])
Apple Refreshes iMac Line
A
pple has released updates to its popular
consumer iMac line. Both the 20- and 24-inch
models have been updated with improved
processor speeds, graphics cards, memory capacities,
and hard drives.
http://www.apple.com/imac
In its new base configuration, the 20-inch iMac sports a 2.66
GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive, and the
same Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics processor that has been
appearing elsewhere in the Mac line of late. The updated
model can support up to 8 GB of RAM, and has 640 GB and 1
TB hard drives as options.
The 24-inch iMac now comes in three different configurations with
2.66 GHz, 2.93 GHz, and 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
speeds (these options are nearly the same as the previous lineup,
which offered 2.66 GHz, 2.8 GHz, and 3.06 GHz configurations).
The 24-inch model also now comes standard with 4 GB of 1066
MHz DDR3 SDRAM (upgradeable to 8 GB), which is double the
previous amount, and either a 640 GB or 1 TB hard drive.
The 2.66 GHz model of the 24-inch iMac has the same Nvidia
GeForce 9400M graphics processor as the 20-inch version, but
the 2.93 GHz model uses the GeForce GT 120 with 256 MB
of GDDR3 memory, and the 3.06 GHz model relies on the
GeForce GT 130 with 512 MB of GDDR3 memory. You can
also configure these latter two with the ATI Radeon HD 4850
discrete graphics processor, with 512 MB of memory.
articles in a variety of forums over a number of years,
and I thought of two possible topics that might appear in
Wikipedia. The first topic did appear, but was silent about
my contribution in this area. Part I of the book provided me
with seven chapters of guidance on Editing, Creating and
Maintaining Articles. I was tempted to have a little play in
the sandbox. However as the topic already existed, I would
have to read Part II of the book, another five chapters, on
Collaborating with Other Editors.
My second topic did not appear in Wikipedia. It concerned
a replacement product that was introduced ten years ago.
The older product has an entry but not the new one. The
new product has by now a performance history that could
be easily illustrated. Part III of the book covered the issues of
Formatting and Illustrating Articles in three chapters.
Part IV — Building a Stronger Encyclopaedia, and Part V
— Customising Wikipedia, are addressed to the committed
enthusiast. I fail this test, and so I had more interest in the
three short Appendices.
A.
B.
C.
A Tour of a Wikipedia Page.
Reader’s Guide to Wikipedia.
Learning More.
Not a book for everyone. Nevertheless it does provide a comprehensive guide for the would-be contributors to this collective effort to build an online encyclopaedia. Almost AUSOM.
z
www.ausom.net.au
As usual, all the new iMacs come with the
built-in iSight camera, microphone, and
speakers. Also included is Apple’s Mini
DisplayPort for connecting a second monitor,
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n, Bluetooth
2.1+EDR, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 2.0
ports (with an additional two ports on the
wired keyboard), and one FireWire 800 port
(dropping the previous FireWire 400 port).
The price point for the base 2.66 GHz 20-inch
model remains the same at AU$1,999, but
Apple now offers the 2.66 GHz 24-inch model
for AU$2,499, which is actually cheaper than
the previous revision. The 2.93 GHz model
comes in at AU$2,999, and the 3.06 GHz
model costs AU$3,699.
Although all these changes are welcome,
they’re by no means earth-shattering. In
some ways, the most interesting change is the
addition of the now-standard Mini DisplayPort,
making it possible to connect Apple’s 24-inch
LED Cinema Display to the iMac. That said, the
24-inch LED Cinema Display still seems aimed
directly at the MacBook line, given its tripleheaded cable, and it doesn’t appear that the
24-inch LED Cinema Display and 24-inch iMac
will sit at the same vertical height, making the
combination less than ideal.
Credits
See ‘Apple Adds Petite Aluminum Keyboard’
page 43.
z
AUSOM News April 2009 v 45
Apple Ink
Press Release
H
ave you seen a URL in a magazine,
or shown on a screen during a
presentation and wished you could
immediately view the information on the
web? Problem solved! AUSOMscan...
During testing at AUSOMEd HQ, the app performed well
with every URL we threw at it — from the computer
screen, the copy of AUSOM News you are holding and
even TV advertising and Keynote presentations. There
was much excitement when we found we could ‘read’
URLs from the screen of another iPhone while in a
crowded lift and at the diner table. AUSOMscan was
especially responsive while the supermarket checkout
operator waited for our payment — there was minimal
disruption to their scanning machines.
Launch the app, point your iPhone to the URL,
wait a few seconds then slowly drag to the right.
AUSOMscan will display the web site. But there is
more... an automatic Google search will present you
with related sites.
A minor limitation emerged when URLs from
PowerPoint presentations failed our tests.
AUSOMscan is available now from
www.ausom.net.au/ausomscam.
iPhone in ‘scan’ mode and screen shot of web site returned
‘Scan port’ — available even when iPhone is in a case
Stan Miller
z
Letter to the Editor
Hi Pam,
The article by Dick Johnson about iPhones was very
interesting, especially protecting them.
A CD chockers full of;
I cannot believe Apple has not provided for a wrist strap
on the iPhone. Back in the 60s I was working for the
Service Department of Kodak in the UK, handling customer
complaints and enquiries. My particular area at that time was
Unjustified Complaints, that was “faulty” cameras that were
not accepted for repair under warranty because they were
damaged (or, just as often, had no fault and the customer
had to be given instructions in their use).
The golden rule when handling cameras was “Always use
the wrist strap” and all cameras were supplied with wrist
straps, as digital cameras are today. It didn’t stop careless
people from swinging their camera around and banging it
against a wall, but it did prevent it being dropped onto a
hard surface or, worse, into seawater!
-
Clipart
Animated Images
Fonts
Music & Movies
Colouring Books
Greeting Cards
Envelopes
For use with;
� Birthdays & Parties
� Easter
� Babies & Graduation
� Halloween & Thanksgiving
� Mother’s & Father’s Day
� New Year’s
� St Patrick’s Day
� Valentines Day & Weddings
—Stan Miller
Solution! Padded case (available from AUSOM by
order on April 1st - late orders by e-mail to the
Editor). Withstands knocks,
hole in back for camera use
and provision for wrist strap
or lanyard. Space to add
trinkets. Pockets for storage
of lint free cloth. Velcro fasteners allow quick access
to phone. Auscam design hides your iPhone.
46 v AUSOM News April 2009
z
Don’t forget ‘Celebrations Galore’ — plenty of images for
Easter and ideas for school holiday activities
http://www.ausom.net.au/discofthemonth
for full details of the applications on this CD.
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet
www.ausom.net.au
AUSOM News April 2009 v 47
Saturday April 4th AUSOM Meeting
Room/Time
9:30-10:25
Meeting
Room 1
10:30-11:45
Digital
Video
12:00-12:30
1:00-1:55
AUSOM
Main
Meeting
Main
Presentation
Computers
Now Malvern
2:00-2:55
3:00-3:55
Mac OSX
Basics
Digital
Photography
iPhone
Newcomers
& Greenhorns
Meeting
Room 2
Beginners
one-to-one
iWork
Meeting
Room 3
Beginners
one-to-one
Filemaker
Forum
Photoshop
Genealogy
Microsoft
Office
Borrett Room
Beginners
one-to-one
Beginners
one-to-one
iTunes/iPod
MacForum
Graphics
Network
Room
Beginners
one-to-one
Garage
Band Basics
11 - 11:55
GarageBand
Advanced
FirstClass
Mac OS X
Advanced
Library
Beginners
one-to-one
Beginners
one-to-one
Beginners
one-to-one
Milling Area
Room/Time
4:00-4:55
Internet
Plus
Programmers
AUSOM membership tables and sales – Raffle tickets – Library – CD Exchange – Training CDs
Traders, Social interaction, Burgers, Snags, Hot Food, Hot and Cold Drinks
9:30-10:25
10:30-11:45
12:00-12:30
Multimedia Group meets at the Balwyn Baptist
Church Hall on the 1st Tuesday this month
1:00-1:55
2:00-2:55
3:00-3:55
4:00-4:55
Retirees & Others meet at the Balwyn Baptist
Church Hall on the 2nd Wednesday of each month
Timetable correct at time of printing. Refer AUSOM's web site, timetables at the meeting and announcements at 12 noon for late changes.
Meetings on Saturday – How to find us and parking
AUSOM meets on the first Saturday of each month (except January) at Melbourne PC Users Group premises, 2nd floor, Chadstone
Place, Chadstone Shopping Centre, Dandenong Rd. (Melways 69, D4). See http://www.ausom.net.au/access/ for full access and
location details.
MultiMedia and Retirees & Others
Groups
Meet at the Baptist Church Hall corner Whitehorse
& Parring Roads, Balwyn. (Melways 46/F8 109). Tram
from Port Melbourne stop 50. See Special Interest Group
Notes for details.
Forthcoming Main Presentations at
Saturday Meetings
Contact Dick Johnson with ideas about or suggestions
for items for the 1–2pm Main Presentation.
Fire exit via the back stairs through the kitchen.
Go through the loading dock and out past Myer
around to the grass area at Dandenong Road.
April Contents
3
4
4
5
5
6
10
11
12
16
17
19
19
22
23
From Your Committee
Stephen’s Favourite Freebies
animateur — (say anuhmuh’ter)
Editorial
Monthly Raffle
Special Interest Groups
Mac Donate Project Plan
Growing our Beginners 1:1 service
AUSOM AGM Notices
More From The Rabbit Burrow
A World First…
Interesting URLs
APPLE TIP # 29
My Favourite Freebies
Spranq’s Ink-Saving Font
48 v AUSOM News April 2009
23
23
24
27
31
33
34
35
38
39
40
42
43
44
44
ecofont
Once a pun a time…
FirstClass
Disconnected Jottings
Bruce’s Blurb #219
Installing an External Hard Drive
Karma
The iPhone Chronicles – 3
My Favourite Things – 7
In the Library
AUSOM March 7 in Pictures
Developer Beta of iPhone OS 3.0
PetiteAluminum Keyboard
Mac mini Performance Boosts
In the Library
45
46
46
48
Apple Refreshes iMac Line
Press Release
Letter to the Editor
What’s on at AUSOM
2
9
15
18
19
19
19
25
26
46
Next Byte Ad.
DVLC Ad.
NewWave Ad.
Spectrade Ad.
Business Card Ads.
Macfixer Ad.
Mac+Aid Ad.
Pentagon Ad.
efTel Ad.
Discs of the Month.
AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet