MacNews - MacGroup

MacNews
Monthly newsletter of MacGroup-Detroit
www.macgroup.org
MacGroup-Detroit
Michigan's largest Macintosh users group
Serving The Mac Community Since 1986
March 2007 • $3 US
Being a Mac user in a
Windows world
Learn how to easily coexist
at the March meeting
See Parallels vs.
Apple’s Boot Camp
Check out Mike Arlow’s
tech gear report from
Macworld Expo in this
issue
MacNews - March 2007
Being 5% of the market
ain’t all bad
by Terry White
I
’m actually kind of excited about this month’s MacGroup meeting.
Why? Because I get to show many of you just how easy it is to be a
Mac user in a primarily Windows dominated world. I’ve been a Mac
user since 1984 and the Mac platform has never had more than 10% total
market share of the computer world. Has it bothered me or stopped me
from doing what I needed to do? Not at all. Sure there have been the
minor inconveniences along the way. Sure there have been websites or
apps that were “Windows only.” However, I either found workarounds or I
simply ran the Non-Mac app on my Mac using emulation or virtualization
software.
Now fast forward to 2007 and I can’t remember a better time for Mac
users. Many in the world are finally waking up to the advantages and
elegance of the Mac OS. Many are finally getting fed up with Microsoft’s
Windows and now that Apple has gone to the intel processor, the last few
barriers have really come tumbling down.
I can’t think of anything that I want to do that I can’t do with my Mac.
There isn’t any computing process that my Mac can’t handle one way or
the other. Since I work in the world of software development, I have been
working cross platform for over a decade. I have been sharing files with
my Windows counterparts equally as long. So I have a lot of experience
on what works and what doesn’t. I used to have to have and sometimes
carry two computers. One was my trusted PowerBook and one was a
Windows ThinkPad. Since I’ve had my MacBook Pro, I haven’t missed the
ThinkPad a single bit (not that I was all that fond of it to begin with).
I was able to easily convince my employer to upgrade me to a MacBook Pro because it made simple financial sense. I was going to be using
one computer instead of two. Since that time we have acquired dozens (if
not hundreds) of MacBook Pros and pretty much don’t even buy Windows
notebooks for the sales engineers anymore. Apple’s trojan horse is the
fact that MacBook Pros also make pretty darn good Windows notebooks
too.
I started out running Windows XP under Apple’s Boot Camp Public
Beta. It works extremely well! However, the latest version of Parallels truly
gave me the best of both worlds. I can pop over to Windows if needed
without shutting down the Mac to do basic tasks such as running IE for a
website that only works with IE 6 or above, and if I need a fully powered
graphically accelerated PC, I can reboot into Windows XP using Boot
Camp. It just doesn’t get any better than this.
Join us at the March meeting to see how this all works. We’ll start at
the beginning with simple tips, techniques and best practices for working
with the rest of the world, translate documents, what to do with those
.exe files that people send you, and then we’ll show you how you can even
run Windows on your Mac if you need to.
■
MacNews - March 2007 Welcome to
MacGroup-Detroit
Michigan’s Largest Apple® Macintosh® User’s Group
MacGroup-Detroit, Inc.
PO Box 760399
Lathrup Village MI 48076-0399
248-569-4933
FAX 248-557-9403
http://macgroup.org
email: [email protected]
Officers & Volunteers
President................................................... Terry L. White
MacNews Editor......................................... Orie Carter
Meeting Coordinator.............................Carla White
Photographer............................................Joseph Grey
Videographer......................................Shirley Kussner
Registration Table........................................Mary Grey
Registration Table............................... Elaine Rysztak
Registration Table.....................................Brian Stone
Registration Table...........................Charlotte Stone
Registration Table...................Loretta Sangeorsen
Special Interest Group (SIG) Leaders
Education SIG..................................... Jamie Feldman
Internet SIG....................................... Howard Parsons
Digital Video Detroit.................Michele Kotlarsky
PDA/Portables............................................ Terry White
Genius Table Volunteers
Genius Table Leader..............................Phyllis Evans
Mac Genius.............................................Jack Beckman
Mac Genius...................................................... Bill Carver
Mac Genius............................................. Yvonne Evans
Mac Genius................................................Chita Hunter
Webmaster
You and your friends are invited to attend our next meeting.
Our membership is only $40 per year, entitling you to this newsletter each
month and many more benefits.
If you would like to become a member or get more info on MacGroup,
feel free to check out our web site at
macgroup.org. Also see the membership form on page 14.
Our meetings are held at
The Birmingham Temple
28611 W. 12 Mile Rd
Farmington Hills MI 48334
Welcome New Members
Kay Aerts*
Joe Bomberski
David Bydlowski*
Sue Carter*
Kelly Cook*
Barbara Cutler*
James Cutler*
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Paul Ensign*
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Michael Golden
Ron Harness
Gary Heinonen
Stephen Hendrix*
John Hensler
James Hill*
Richard Jackson
Stefan Kukurugya*
Joseph Lentine*, DENCAP
George Little*
Marc McGregor*
Jack Metzel*
Bill Meyer*
Ray Monteleone*
Alfred Montgomery*
James Morrison*
Fr Ted Parker OSC*
Howard Parsons*
Gerald Posner*
Ruth Pulker*
James Roth*
Richard Rubinstein*
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Randy Seim*
David Smith*
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Daivd Snider, Ph.D.*
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L. Julia Woodbury*
Webmaster................................................... Terry White
© 1986-2007 MacGroup-Detroit.
All rights reserved.
MacNews is published by MacGroup-Detroit,
Inc. Excerpts may be reprinted by user groups
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given to MacGroup-Detroit and the author.
In addition, a copy of all reprinted materials must be sent to us at the address listed
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MacNews is an independent publication
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Inc. The opinions, statements, positions and
views stated herein are those of the author(s)
or publisher and are not intended to be the
opinions, statements, positions or views of
Apple Computer, Inc.
What’s Inside...
Being 5% of the market ain’t all bad.......................... 2
Welcome New Members....................................... 3
Buying and Installing a Wireless Router...................... 4
Things that I bought at Macworld Expo..................... 6
Digital Video Column part 6.................................. 10
Fund Raising for MacGroup-Detroit......................... 12
Apple Events........................................................ 13
MacGroup-Detroit Volunteer Help Lines . .............. 13
* = Renewals
MacNews - March 2007
Buying and Installing a Wireless Router
by Chuck Molnar
A
fter four years of using an
Asante VR2004AC 4-port
wireless (802.11b) router, I
decided a new one was needed.
Wireless router technology had
changed considerably, my usage
had changed, and security risks
had changed. Faster, more reliable
routers are available today (IEEE
802.11g) with multi-input multioutput (MIMO) technology. I have
now moved my favorite web surfing location to about 17 feet from
the router, which caused my wireless connection to drop constantly.
While I don’t know if I’ve been a
victim of wardriving, I strongly
suspect that my neighbors were
stealing bandwidth because my
router was constantly crashing.
Two years ago, I secured my Asante
router, which stopped the crashes.
This year, I purchased a D-Link
4-port MIMO router (model # DI634M), but I’m not very happy with
it. It drops connections repeatedly.
In conclusion, research is important, but you learn by performing
installations-configurations, and
making mistakes. I consider myself
a novice at this kind of thing, but
I’m learning.
I had some extreme usage
conditions to consider. My secondgeneration Titanium G4 laptop
has one of the worst antennas
ever produced for any Apple
product. Both sending and receiving antennas must have high
enough gain to make a good WiFi
connection. At my house, this is
exacerbated by a lot of multipath
reflections. Three years ago, low
E glass windows were installed in
my house, which have a metallic
coating on the glass. That coating
reflects radio waves, often confusing the router or laptop. My router
is located in the basement, but
there’s metallic ductwork down
there, another reflector/absorber.
The walls are wet plaster construction, with metal lath inside, which
also causes a great deal of radio
wave reflection and absorption.
Finally, I live under the airplane
approach to Metro Airport; the aircraft radios and radars play havoc
with electronic devices in my
“echo chamber” of a house. I felt I
needed a MIMO router. You need
to consider the use environment
when selecting a router.
I wanted to get some expert
advice on routers, and inquired
at a number of stores, including Micro Center, CompUSA,
and Apple Novi. I didn’t feel the
salespeople knew much more
than I did. I asked questions on
the iBBS, and did get some intelligent, experienced Mac-oriented
answers. Possibilities for investigation were narrowed down to two
vendors: Linksys and D-Link. I did
some first hand investigation with
the two vendors online and on the
phone. I published the results of
my inquiry in the Hardware section
of the iBBS, which I now think were
wrong. I was most concerned
about Mac compatibility, presales
assistance, technical support, and
software quality. D-Link was the
winner, initially, but it wasn’t a
clear-cut winner. I took the time
to read the online manuals for 2
routers. I was hoping to minimize
frustration through preparation.
If you will be running a printer
on your WLAN (wireless local-area
network), try to purchase a printer
with a built-in print server, if you
don’t want more wires to run
between more electronic black
boxes. The cost of a built-in printer
server is about the same as a
peripheral from Linksys or D-Link.
It is difficult to find built-in print
servers in consumer grade WiFi
routers. The low cost parallel port
print servers don’t work that well
in a secure environment, like DLink’s Wireless G DP-G301. I tried it.
Setting up any router can
be somewhat troublesome to a
novice if you want to custom configure it using your Mac. Custom
configuration is necessary today.
Factory default settings provide
MacNews - March 2007 an open network (no security
enabled). If you’re conducting
private business over your WiFi
connection, you probably want to
“lock down” your network. There
is also the issue of identity theft
today, and an unscrupulous hacker
could even get you into trouble
by using your Internet connection
for nefarious purposes. Remember what Squiggy (of Laverne &
Shirley) did in the movie Used
Cars (tapped into a live feed of
the President’s State of the Union
Address).
All router software has its
idiosyncrasies. The manual router
configuration steps for a Mac may
not be listed anywhere in most
documentation. CD-based autoconfig software and instructions
tend to be Windows-centric. The
Internet provides a great deal of
help in terms of general procedures. So, log into your router via a
browser, and learn by doing.
Fundamental Router
Configuration Changes
1. Download and install new
router firmware.
2. Change the default router
SSID name. Disable SSID
name broadcasting.
3. Enable encryption (hopefully
WPA2, possibly only WEP).
4. Change the default (fixed)
router IP address.
5. Set up MAC (media access
control) filtering.
6. Change the default router
login password.
A glossary of terms (either
online or in the printed manual)
will help you understand these
terms.
Some things I discovered after
hours of trial and error were:
1. D-Link has two levels of phone
assistance. It’s difficult to get
to the second level.
2. D-Link routers do not support
WPA, contrary to what the
documentation says. There’s a
hardware problem that’s been
ongoing for 6 years.
3. Safari does not work entirely
with D-Link configuration software. You cannot set-up MAC
address filtering with D-Link
software. You must use IE or
Netscape for MAC configuration.
4. There are IP address conflicts
& PPPoE difficulties between
DSL modems and most WiFi
routers. You must change
the default LAN IP address
of either the router or DSL
modem. You must set up the
DSL modem in bridge mode.
5. AT&T DSL takes about 30
seconds to initialize a new
Internet or email logon. It’s
sloooowww. Cable is nearly
instantaneous.
There was two late facts I
discovered, somewhat belatedly, at
CompUSA. I finally spoke to someone who really knows routers, and
he strongly recommended Linksys
routers. He said the return rate
on D-Link vs. Linksys was about
10:1. MacFixIt lists problem routers.
Dropped connections are common
with Mac’s.
There are a few last considerations. Look ahead where technology is going. 802.11n will become
a standard – finally – in 2007 or
2008. Most laptops and routers
will use that standard for faster
WiFi access. The WiFi router is usually the bottleneck among WLAN
devices. A lot of routers are now
supplying USB ports in place of
Ethernet ports – do you need one?
Try to learn about the reliability of
various products through others’
experiences, even if you don’t
think you’ll need a new router. One
never knows when lightning will
strike - your router. If you don’t feel
confident configuring your router,
ask a friend to help you.
■
The back of Apple’s New AirPort Extreme Base Station which supports 802.11n, printer and hard drive sharing
MacNews - March 2007
Things that I bought at the 2007
San Francisco MacWorld Expo
Every year, from just before Christmas, and through a week past New Year’s,
my family spends time at our place in Oranjestad, Aruba. Although PADI
and SSI open water SCUBA certified, I particularly enjoy skin diving while
chasing fish with my water scooter — sometimes while taking underwater
pictures, even when powering through a massive school of fish as they pass
in a blur. But, herein lies a problem; MacWorld San Francisco seems, each
year, to conflict with the tail end of my family vacation. And, since I have
not been to MacWorld San Francisco recently, I decided that this year, I
would cut short my Aruba vacation and go west. As things worked out,
my aggressive underwater motoring catastrophically damaged the water
scooter transmission. This happened two days before I was scheduled to
leave paradise. So all was not lost. Leaving the bulk of our stuff for my
wife, Freda, to take home, I boarded an airplane for San Francisco.
Mike Arlow with water scooter, [email protected]
Upon arriving at the
San Francisco Airport, I took a
taxi to the Grant Plaza Hotel in
Chinatown — for me, a moderately
priced crash pad. However, I enjoy
staying in Chinatown for the shops,
restaurants, reasonable proximity
to the Mosconie Convention
Center, and the hike that takes me
past the local events that occur on
the sidewalks of San Francisco.
Besides the street performers,
musicians, and pavement artists,
there are some wonderful shops
— The Container Store is my
favorite. It is the perfect place to
shop for someone who wants to
keep everything in its place, neat,
organized, and clean. That’s me! I
organize things in my life so that I
can find them with certainly, quickly
(www.containerstore.com).
Walking past these lovely
distractions, I soon arrived at the
Mosconie Convention Center. Its
basement houses the MacWorld
Expo exhibits. The Mosconie
Convention Center basement is
divided into a North Hall and a
South Hall that are connected via
an underground passageway.
The North Hall is where I
like to stop first because it houses
smaller, specialty exhibits that are
manned by owners and software
developers. Often, there are new,
exciting, and useful niche products
that quickly stimulate the mind.
It is a real hands on experience; I
often barge in and ask for special
demos — and end up buying stuff
— stuff that I never had thought of,
never knew existed, or considered.
Stuff that will enhance my life
and working environment. And
this is exactly where the shopping
began — in a systematic manner, I
established a walking grid to ensure
that no exhibit would be missed.
First, I came upon a USB
device for digitizing old records
and audiotapes — just add one
computer and one turntable or
tape deck. Of course, the ADS
Tech Instant Music (RDX-151-EF)
comes with cables and software to
attenuate snap, crackle, pop, hiss,
and rumble — for less than $50.00
(www.adstech.com). After a brief
demo, I was sold! How could I
resist? I have a collection of records
that predate 1900, and a collection
of audio tapes that need to be
digitized before they fade away.
MacNews - March 2007 Next, I bought some Laptop
Desk v2.0 Combo Packs and some
Laptop Legs from Lapworks (www.
laptopdesk.net). These items are
great for gifts.
Then, I found TypeIt4Me
software. This software expedites text entry and image placement on-the-fly (www.typeit4me.
com). It also works, seamlessly,
with TopXNotes (from a recent
MacGroup demo) and many other
desktop publishing programs.
And then there was
TextSoap, software that removes
unwanted characters from e-mails
and more (www.unmarked.com).
Moving on, I found
software that provides QuickTime
motion animation to digital images
from LQ Graphics Software (www.
PhotoToMovie.com).
And then there was
Sounds4Fun software to alert me
to various computer functions,
such as when the Finder has
finished copying a long file (www.
Sounds4Fun.com).
By this time, my mind was
on fire, and I had only covered
half of the North Hall. I not only
saw items of interest that would
improve and simply my own
life — I began thinking of others
and how I could improve their
lives. First, I found some medical
software for my wife; and then, I
found something that I knew that
Terry White could really use — a
rolling suitcase with a complete,
built-in, public address system
that was surreptitiously installed
in the dead space surrounding the
telescoping handle — high fidelity
stereo speakers, input and output
receptacles, an amplifier with
controls, and a hidden power cord
— all of which did not take up any
usable space within the suitcase.
Excitedly, I called Terry. We met
in the North Hall ten minutes later;
I ushered him over to see my find.
With his typical smile and laughing
chuckle, he said, “Mike, you really
know me!” We all know that Terry
travels and presents — hence, this
was a perfect item for him, and he
immediately knew it. Terry bought
it on the spot and had it shipped
home (www.boombags.com).
Next, Terry and I went
shopping for a few small items,
such as specialty keyboard covers
and raffle items for MacGroup.
Then, Terry got called to a meeting
and I headed for the South Hall,
where, again, I established a
systematic walking grid, and the
process repeated. The first thing
that I found was a solar-powered
backpack, complete with internal
storage
rechargeable
battery,
lighter receptacle, power cords, and
outside wired pockets to hold my
mobile phone, iPod, and GPS while
charging. What a great idea! I could
not resist! Just the thing to throw
in the back of my airplane when I
go camping (www.voltaicsystems.
com).
And then, I found FluidMask, a unique Photoshop plugin that seamlessly removes backgrounds over large, discontinuous
areas via color analysis (such as
blue and white sky from behind
leaves of trees). It performed so
well that I just had to have it (www.
plugandpixels.com).
Next, I found LightZone,
a stand alone digital darkroom
program that employs a polygon
tool to selectively enhance areas
of photos — something that does
not yet exist in Photoshop. This
MacNews - March 2007
program is something that I am
really going to use for my industrial
photography, where highlight and
shadow detail are often lost. With
LightZone, I can bring out these
lost details without affecting other
areas of the digital image (raw
or otherwise). With its feathered
edges, it is impossible to tell where
polygon tool enhancements were
made. When finished, you can save
the file and open it up in Photoshop
for final adjustments and retouching
(www.lightcrafts.com/products/
lightzone).
By this time, I was so
excited that I had all but forgotten
that I was supposed to retire — I
found so many wonderful things
that I could use to make my work
life much easier. Maybe, work
could still be tolerable. After all,
before taking a vacation, I swore
that I was going to chuck it all!
Next, came the matter of
filing papers. In my work, I prepare
commercial and military manuals,
provide logistic support analysis,
supplementary provisioning technical documentation, and contract
administration services. The bulk
of my military work involves operation and service instructions
for weapons systems, aerospace
ground support equipment, test
stands, flight component overhaul,
and the preparation of USAF Technical Orders. The commercial side
of my work involves the preparation of user manuals for automated
manufacturing systems and operating instructions for mobile cranes
and other pieces of heavy equipment. Hence, when I came upon a
stack loading color scanner from
Fujitsu that was capable of simul-
taneously imaging both sides of a
page and converting the ensuing
images into searchable PDF files at
incredible speed, unattended — all
for under $500.00, I had to have it!
(www.buyfcpa.com).
And, It was at this point that I
finally recognized the rub; my
conscious mind has been saying,
“Mike, retire. You do not need to do
any more of this! Relax and enjoy
the rest of your life.” And then, my
unconscious mind reared its ugly
head and said, “Mike, you need this
stuff; it will make your future work
so much easier; and besides, you
really like what you are doing —
and you are good at it! Why give it
up?” Apparently, my unconscious
desire to work is stronger than my
conscious desire to retire! What an
epiphany!
Then, I bought a combo
digital video and still camera that is
about the size of a deck of cards; it
has a built-in flash and produces 12
mega pixel digital images — just the
perfect tool for all of my on-the-fly
technical documentation activities,
and all for under $300.00! (www.
supacam.com).
Next, I bought iListen
speech recognition software and
hardware (www.MacSpeech.com).
After all, why type it if you can
speak it?!
Of course, I needed to update some of my existing software.
I started with Toast, first. However,
one could get Toast bundled with
eyetv hybrid, a lipstick sized device that turns your laptop or desktop computer into a Tivo-like digital video recorder. This item added
less than $100.00 to the package
deal. (www.elgato.com).
And, by no means was this
all. By the end of the day, I was
carrying three shopping bags of
“badly needed” stuff plus a fully
MacNews - March 2007 loaded solar powered backpack.
Exhausted, I arrived at my hotel,
took off my shoes, and unhooked
and read my pedometer; 20,027
steps at 30” each or about 9-1/2
statute miles. Not bad for MacWorld
day one!
On MacWorld day two,
I reworked both north and south
walking grids, making sure that
I did not miss anything. In a final
mopping-up activity, I picked up a
few things for my laptop, including
a full size leather screen protector,
a Lewis N. Clark 846 USB clip-on
computer light (www.lewisnclark.
com),
and a three-button, miniature rechargeable RadTech BT500 Bluetooth Mouse with a “mouse house”
clam shell enclosure for my travels
(www.radtech.us).
Subsequently, I bought a
few more software upgrades, and
picked up many samples. Then, I
went back to RadTech and bought
a couple of I-Sight ear-mounted
mini night vision task lights — one
white and one green. I will use
these lights for map reading while
flying my airplane at night.
So much for MacWorld
2007! It was a real success for me;
I bought a lot, learned a lot, and
had a great time in the process.
En route to my hotel, I just
had to stop and shop at The Container Store. The bulk of that shopping adventure I had shipped to my
townhouse in Marshall, MI.
Upon arriving at my hotel
and surveying my room, I quickly
recognized that my suitcase was
falling apart and was way too
small to bring home all my new
stuff. Fortunately, the stores in
Chinatown were open late and
had lots of oversize luggage at
unbelievably reasonable prices. I
bought a suitcase that was about
four feet high, two and one-half
feet wide, and was one foot deep
— for less than $50.00. While
luggage shopping, I also bought a
gift for Freda — some hand-carved
underwater aquatic scenes, at a
Chinese antique store. Those were
shipped and are now on display
in our Marshall townhouse living
room.
In my next article, I will
detail a previous visit to MacWorld
San Francisco, where I ordered and
computer furniture and a custom
designed militarized GVS-9000
Macintosh computer with three
24-inch panoramic screens for my
Bloomfield Hills residence.
10
MacNews - March 2007
Digital Video Column part 6
by Ken Bean
Microphones
Microphones are important
as they allow the camera to record
the needed audio. As I said above,
the built-in mic should be your last
choice when trying to record most
of the audio that you will need.
Since the build-in mic is closer to
the camera operator than the subject, you are more likely to record
something the camera operator (or
someone near the operator) says
than what the subject is saying. It
also provides a hollow quality to
the audio that is affected by the
acoustics of the space you are
shooting in. For example, you will
hear the echoes off of hard surfaces in the room, or it will loose
the depth of the audio if you are
shooting outside.
If you cannot get another mic
closer to the subject, and you have
to use a mic near the camera or
some distance from the subject,
a “shotgun” microphone is a good
choice. This is a long thin mic that
has a very directional pick-up pattern. These are the mics that you
frequently see news crews use on
booms (poles) to capture audio
from their subjects. They are also
used in television and movies to
capture the audio. They are usually
covered with a windscreen (that
looks like a piece of shag carpeting
or a foam cover) to minimize the
noises the wind generates when it
passes over the mic. They usually
need a battery to work. Good
durable ones start in the area of
$150 to $250 and can go as high as
you can afford.
There are “stick” mics. These
are the handheld mics that reporters and singers frequently use.
They are handy when doing an
interview when you have one mic
and multiple subjects. They need
to be held near the mouth. They
have a limited range of distances
where they pick up good audio.
Some can be somewhat directional. Singers use ones that are
more directional to minimize the
mic picking up any instruments
that may be behind the singer.
Good durable ones start in the
area of $100 and can go as high as
you can afford.
Lavaliere mics (lavs) are the
clip-on mics that you see on newscasters and on guests on shows
like the Tonight Show with Leno.
They are omni-directional and are
good at picking up sounds near
the pick-up capsule. They need to
use a battery, so they need a block
to put the battery. I started with
Sonys. These have a cylindrical
module at the far end of the cable.
The cable to the camera or audio
board is connected to this cylinder.
There is the issue of where do you
put this heavy module if the talent
needs to move around. It proves
awkward to stuff it into a pocket or
onto a belt. If the talent is seated,
this is not an issue. The place I
purchased mine sold me AudioTechnica lavs. These have a block
that is about the size of a deck of
cards, and it has a clip that lets you
attach it to a belt. This is much
less awkward than the Sony set-up.
You need to look at this concern
when you are looking for a lavaliere mic. Good durable ones start
in the area of $100 to $150 and can
go as high as you can afford.
PZM (pressure zone mics) and
PCC mics are attached to flat surfaces and convert those surfaces
into mic pick-ups. The PZM’s are
omni-directional, while the PCC’s
capture sound from 180 degrees.
They are used to pick-up ambient
sound. PCC mics are frequently
arranged along the lip of a stage
so that the individual actors do not
have to be miced. They also need
phantom power to operate, as
they do not have a place to attach
a battery. The PZM’s usually have a
battery compartment.\
The above listed mics can
come in wired or wireless versions.
There are wireless units that can
convert wired mics to wireless
usage. I prefer to use wired mics as
they usually have fewer problems
having them work properly. I have
had some problems with wireless mics (particularly lavs) where
static sounds interrupt the audio I
wanted to capture.
Wired mics are connected to
the camera by a mic cable. They
may first go to an audio mixing
board to be combined with the
audio from other mics. With some,
MacNews - March 2007 11
you only have to make sure that
they have a good connection to
the cable and the cable has a good
connection to the audio board or
the camera. Others may have a
switch to turn the mic on and off.
Others may need a battery to get
a strong enough signal to be used.
The problems you encounter can
be as simple as turning a switch
into the on position, connecting
the cable(s) properly, making sure
the battery is fresh enough and
that it is inserted properly.
Wireless mics have a sending unit (that is part of the mic or
attached to the mic) and a receiving unit that is connected to the
audio board or the camera. The
sending unit needs a battery, and
the receiving unit can have either
a battery or it can be connected
to a 110 volt outlet. The sending
unit and the receiving unit need
to be on the same radio frequency
and there are things like gain,
squelch, and other adjustments
on both the sending unit an the
receiving unit that have to be set
properly for the mic system to
work. You also run into problems
when there are outside sources of
radio waves in the area that can
interfere with what you are trying
to record. These can be radio or
television stations, people in the
area who are trying to use the
same frequency, and other electronic gadgets or electrical devices
that generate radio signals as a
by-product of the way that they
operate. You also have to contend
with loose or broken wires and
connectors in the system. Wireless
mics seem to experience more
abuse than wired mics. Any one
or combination of sources can
create problems for you. If you
go to a new area, you may experience problems in a system that
you do not have near your home.
If you do not use a wireless mic
frequently enough, you may forget
the specific adjustments that you
need to make the system work.
Additionally, these problems may
happen in the middle of a shoot
where you cannot stop to make
the adjustments. I was shooting
a theater group who use wireless
mics in every performance, so
they were really familiar with the
mics. They had thoroughly tested
the mics before the show. About
20 minutes into a 45 minute show,
one of their mics became unusable
because of the noises caused by
some extraneous source. Because
of the type of performance, they
were able to stop and switch mics.
Most of the time you do video
you do not have the luxury to do
this. We suspect that the source
of the problem was a band that
had started to play at that time,
and they were using a frequency
that was able to interfere with the
actor’s mic. Systems can start near
$200, though good systems start
near $500 and go up from there.
One variable that determines cost
(within a single manufacturer)
are the number of channels that
the systems can be tuned to. The
more channels that are available,
the higher the price. There are
both analogue and digital systems
available, with the digital costing
more.
I have had numerous problems with wireless lavs, though I
have had good luck with connecting a sending unit to a “stick mic”.
If you have the money, you
might want to have your own
audio mixing board, depending
on what types of things you shoot.
If you have a limited number of
tracks on the cameras you are
using, you may wish to have an
audio mixing board to control
the mics and to then feed the
camera(s) you may be using. There
are some mics, such as the PCC
mics that need phantom power
to have the signal strength to be
usable. An audio board could provide that phantom power. Audio
boards come in sizes from 4 input
channels to 32 channels (an up for
studio use). It seems to me that if
you are doing video, you are likely
to need somewhere between 8
and 16 inputs. Any fewer than 8, it
might be more efficient to use the
channels on additional cameras.
Any more than 16 inputs and the
board will start getting too large
to be convenient to move and
you will be less likely to need that
many inputs. You should consider
the number of sub-mix outputs.
These let you gang a number of
tracks (mics) into one control. You
would be better to get a board
that is a general-purpose board.
There are some that are set up
for use by DJ’s that have only RCA
inputs and outputs. Most better
mics are set up with XLR inputs.
The other type of input is the
¼ inch mono or ring-tip-sleeve
(stereo or bidirectional). Consider
what inputs and outputs you need,
and the type of connectors that
you are likely to be using when
you select an audio mixing board.
Boards can start in the $200 range.
Better mixing boards can start near
$500.
■
To be continued next month...
12
MacNews - March 2007
Fund Raising for MacGroup-Detroit
by Leonard Mazerov
I thought it might be time to bask for a moment in what might be some success in our fund raising activities. Why? Well, since its inception (at about the time we became a 501(c)(3) corporation) we have raised
about $5,000. Nice. At least for the moment.
Our original goal was to infuse our organization with $10,000 and so you see we have some way to go.
But, hey. We are half way there and we say that with a certain amount of pride-pride that the members of
MacGroup Detroit care enough to back us up and help get us where we want to go.
Let me once again define what we mean by “Donations” and what we mean by “Contributions.”
DONATIONS
This is where one can claim
a tax deduction (after consulting with one’s tax preparer).
CONTRIBUTIONS
This can be anything from a
dollar or two to anything you
can afford without expecting
a tax deduction.
Let me again point out that to keep MacGroup running at the level we have been enjoying, i.e., obtaining
the best presenters and topics for our membership, it takes a lot of money. Such things as a high rent to the
Temple, guest fees and housing, printing costs, some equipment costs, some raffle expenses and administrative costs are expensive. And these costs seem to keep going up each year. Now then, while our annual dues
help offset some of these costs, they are not enough to continue at the level we want to maintain for our
members.
And so, we again ask you to help us cover the rising costs of keeping our group alive and financially healthy
for now and the future.
Please use the form below to make donations and feel free to contribute a dollar or two at our Registration
Desk when you check in. We’re in this together and our future depends on all of us helping.
MacGroup-Detroit Donation Form
Date_____________Donation Amount $_______________
Name______________________________________________
Address__________________________________________
City_____________________State_____Zip______________
Phone and/or Email________________________________
Hand your donation to our Registration Desk, or
Mail to: MacGroup-Detroit, Inc.
P O Box 76099
LathrupVillage, MI 48076-0399, or
Online @ www.macgroup.org (PayPal accepted)
o Check o MasterCard o Visa o Cash
Credit Card #_____________________
Expiration Date_________cvv2*_______
Signature_________________________
Please check with your tax preparer to make sure
that your donation can be deducted from your taxes!
*The three-digit number on the reverse side of your card.
YOUR DONATION WILL HELP
US CONTINUE TO WORK WITH
YOU AND FOR YOU AND FOR THE
FUTURE OF MacGroup-Detroit.
MacNews - March 2007 13
MacGroup-Detroit Volunteer Help Lines For Members ONLY!
Name
Can Help With
Contact via
Hours Available
Loretta Sangeorzan
Clarisworks, MS Word 5.1, Beginners-graphics
810-225-9820
Tue., Fri., Sat., Sun.
Ralph Marontate
Adobe FrameMaker, Photoshop,
248-354-3252
Mon., Tue., Wed.
evenings
Mary Grey
General
248-645-9740
Mon.-Fri. 10 am - 7
pm
Chita Hunter
Adobe, Microsoft & QuarkXPress
Chuck Freedman
Mac hardware and OS thru OSX,
General Mac support, General DTP,
DVD Authoring, Cross Platform
connectivity.
[email protected]
anytime
Jerry McBride
Utilities, MS Word 5, PageMaker 6,
Illustrator 6, Freehand 5.5, Clarisworks 4, Painter 3.1, many other
graphic programs
[email protected]
810-887-3330
Mon.-Sat. 4-9pm
Howard Parsons
iMac G5 questions, OS X (Tiger), iPhoto, [email protected]
iTunes, Photoshop CS2 (photo editing 248-435-7438
only), FileMaker Pro, Excel, NisusWriter
Express
e-mail checked
daily. by telephone
most evenings
before 9pm or
weekends
Terry White
Mac questions in general, Adobe
Products, Digital Video, Networking
anytime
anytime
http://macgroup.org/ibbs
http://macgroup.org/ibbs
April 2007
Sunday
Monday
1
Apple Events
April Fool's Day
Apple Comp…nded in 1976
Tuesday
2
Wednesday
3
Thursday
4
Michael Berke’s Birthday
8
Easter
Craig Salvador’s Birthday
Barbara Thornton’s Birthday
9
15
16
Saturday
5
6
7
Mia Sasser’s Birthday
Ann Marie Ri…on’s Birthday
14
MacNews Art…ue by Noon!
10
11
12
Leonard Mazerov’s Birthday
13
Marilyn Kazmers’s Birthday
17
18
19
Thomas Olkowski’s Birthday
20
26
Donald Partridge’s Birthday
Tim Mauro-Vetter’s Birthday
27
Dawn Arbetello’s Birthday
Doris Stewart’s Birthday
Tax Day
Bill Stewart’s Birthday
Friday
Lorna Middendorf’s Birthday
Chester Stewart’s Birthday
Dean Schmitz’s Birthday
Dinyar Bhathena’s Birthday
21
Mary Disler’s Birthday
3:00 PM MacGroup Main
Meeting
22
Earth Day
Mark Ray’s Birthday
Erik Anderson’s Birthday
23
24
David Howie’s Birthday
29
30
1
William Wilson’s Birthday
Michael Brady’s Birthday
America/Detroit Time Zone
25
Yvonne Evans’s Birthday
Vonne Nye’s Birthday
2
Jeffrey Sherman’s Birthday
3
Mark Daniel’s Birthday
Bruce Mitchell’s Birthday
Check out and subscribe to our iCal http://macgroup.org/ical
28
Rhea Schaefer’s Birthday
Virginia Hunt’s Birthday
Kevin Luedtke’s Birthday
4
Lois Hewelt’s Birthday
5
Jay Gersabeck’s Birthday
Cinco de Mayo
Page 1/1
14
MacNews - March 2007
This may be your LAST issue! Renewal Time is
approaching for some of you. Please take the time to fill
out the form below to avoid expiration of your membership privileges. We value your membership and the
membership of your friends
Categories of
Annual Memberships
MacGroup-Detroit Regular Membership $40
• Twelve months of MacNews, our monthly
newsletter
Membership Form
Date: ____________________
Name: __________________________________________
Company: _______________________________________
Address:_ _______________________________________
• Attendance at all monthly meetings and
Special Interest Groups
• User Group Discounts
• Access to the User Group Store
• One Door Prize Raffle Ticket Each Meeting
• Access to the iBBS
_______________________________________________
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Zip
Family Membership $50
Day Phone:______________________________________
(same as Regular Membership and:)
Evening Phone:___________________________________
• Two membership cards
Birth Date: _ ______________________
• Two issues of MacNews
Special Computer Interest:_ ________________________
• Attendance for two to all meetings and S.I.G.s
Model of Macintosh You Use Most: _ _________________
Email Address: ___________________________________
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attending the meeting)
May we send you email? ❑ Yes ❑ No
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I’m on ❑ Mac OS X 10.___ ❑ Mac OS 9 ❑ Other
• Attendance for up to three to all meetings and
S.I.G.s
How did you hear about MacGroup?_______________
Annual Membership
❑ New Individual Membership___________ $40
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❑ Renewal—Member ID#: _______ _______ $35
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(❑ $25 NON Reg., Fam. or Corp. Members)
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person attending the meeting)
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(FREE to Regular, Family and Corporate Members)
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downloaded
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Disc of the Month Subscription $36
• A CD ROM disc mailed to you each month filled
with the best public domain, shareware files
and updates.
MacNews - March 2007 15
MacNews
Commercial
Advertising
Classified Ads
FOR SALE
Dealers, hardware/software vendors, and businesses involved in
computer-related services are
invited to advertise in MacNews!
Ad Rates
Full Page
$75
7.25" x 10"
Half Page
$50
7.25" x 3.5"
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Quarter Page
$20
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Deadline for Ad & Payment
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Submission Info
Because MacNews is 100% electronically
produced, please follow these guidelines:
• Convert all type fonts to paths/outlines to
avoid font substitution problems.
• Line screens should be 85 lpi. Halftone
scans should be 200 dpi or less.
• Submit your ad as a Macintosh electronic
file in one of the following formats:
Adobe PDF, Adobe Illustrator, EPS, or TIFF.
• Submit your file on disk or email it to
[email protected]
Also, please submit a hardcopy printout (not
camera-ready).
For any additional info, please email us at
[email protected]. Please submit all copy,
files, and payment to:
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PO Box 760399
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The makings of MacNews
This publication was created entirely with Macintosh technology using
the following products: Adobe Creative Suite 2; Xerox Phaser 8550DP,
Canon Rebel and the Nikon D80; iCal; Microsoft Office 2004; various electronic clip art collections; and of course, Mac OS X (Mac Pro with Cinema
Display)
Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
Bring a friend to the next meeting!
Larger Room
Available on Sundays
Ample Free Parking
Upcoming
MacGroup Meetings:
March 18, 2007
April 15, 2007
May 27, 2007
Better Chairs
Handicap Accessible
High Speed Internet
Good Location
Integrated PA System
Large Projection Screen
Low Cost
We meet every 3rd or 4th Sunday of the Month....
Don’t miss our next Meeting! 3–5 pm
•
•
•
March 18 • Being a Mac User in a Windows world
April 15 • The latest Graphic Design developments
May 27 • New stuff from Apple - Maybe Leopard?
See what topics we’ll cover in the coming months:
http://macgroup.org/meetings
Our meetings are held at
The Birmingham Temple • 28611 W. 12 Mile Rd •Farmington Hills MI 48334
Always check our website before heading to the meeting for any last minute changes.
MacGroup-Detroit
PO Box 760399
Lathrup Village MI 48076-0399
www.macgroup.org
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