May - VMUG

MAY 2012
V MACtalk
ictoria
B.C. CANADA
MACINTOSH
USERS GROUP
VMUG
Monthly Meeting
All Welcome!
WEDNESDAY
May 9th
Starts 7:00 PM
DOORS OPEN 6:30 PM
http://www.vmug.bc.ca
MAY VMUG MEETING
MobileMe
to
iCloud:

How to
make
the
Transition
June Meeting
To Be
Announced
Meeting Location:
Trafalgar - Pro Patria Legion.
411 Gorge Rd. E.
See Map on Page 18.
Contents
4 From the President’s Desk…
5 SIG News…
6 Mac 911
There will be two draw prizes; an Apple Magic
Trackpad and a $50.00 iTunes Gift card.
9 Winner’s Circle
10 Can Cloud Providers Read
Your Data?
13 VMUG Productivity Series…
14 VMUG Members Photo page
APRIL VMUG PRESENTATION
Thanks to Aitan Roubini for his continuing Mac OS X Productivity minipresentations and to Christian Coll for explaining everything we need to
know about running Windows on our Macs.
MacTalk is created using Adobe - InDesign • Acrobat • Illustrator • Photoshop
May 2012
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& small
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975 Pandora Ave Victoria BC V8V 3P4 T 250 382 8218
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May 2012
VMUG Directors:
MACtalk - Newsletter Team
President................... Dave Traynor ........ [email protected]
Vice-President.......... Aitan Roubini [email protected]
Secretary.................. Robin Tamasi [email protected]
Treasurer.................. Dave Squance . [email protected].............................
Program Director..... Charles Martin [email protected].............................
Editor.......................... Marnie Scholes.................................... [email protected]
Layout/Design............ Bill Bothwell.......................................... [email protected]
Marnie, Bill................................................................................... [email protected]
Classified Ads.................................................................... [email protected]
Distribution................ Robin Tamasi, Shirley Demeriez.........................................
VMUG Contacts:
MACtalk - Feature Article Contributers
Norma Brodrick
Dave Traynor
Charles Martin
Shirley Demeriez
David Greenbaum
Chris Breen
Past-President.............. Don [email protected].....................
Membership Chair...... Norma [email protected]
Paper Librarian............Dave [email protected]................................
Listserv Maintainer.....Robin [email protected]
[email protected]...................................................
VMUG e-mail [email protected] to VMUG
Message to the Directors only..............................................directors@vmug.bc.ca
Message to the entire Executive..........................................executive@vmug.bc.ca
Listserv subscribe/unsubscribe as well as
Requests and queries................................................................listserv@vmug.bc.ca
Aitan Roubini
Rich Mogull
MACtalk - Advertising
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due today 7:30 pm
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VMUG on the NET:
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Special THANK YOU to the following companies for
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MAILING ADDRESS and MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM.
Locations and times of VMUG SIG meetings listed in SIG reports.
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Why Join VMUG?
May 2012
From the
President’s Desk
Monthly Meetings Birthday Greetings
thanks to Skype
Regular Monthly Meetings are held the
second Wednesday of each month at
the Trafalgar/ProPatria Legion at 411
Gorge Road East. It’s free with Annual or
Introductory membership. Guests pay $5.
N
ot that long ago, I was a
telecom executive and we got
pretty excited about conference calls. It was a big deal to
be able to put more than two people on the phone at the
same time. Sure, it was expensive, but hey – we were the
phone company, so no problem.
Enjoy tips and tricks, business meeting, a
Feature Presentation, prize draws, Paper Library available. Meet
other people from novices to experts, with a common interest in
using Macs and learn from each other.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Once we got the audio thing worked out, the next Holy
Grail was to set up a videoconference capability. In theory,
we could do it. But in practical terms, finding enough
bandwidth over those copper wires was tough.
Entrance fee is $4. Single or Family is $5 with annual or
introductory membership. Guests pay the above rate plus $5.
CamSIG (Digital Camera Special Interest Group) meets on the
third Thursday of every month except June, July, August and
December at the Howard Johnson City Centre Hotel 310 Gorge
Road East. 7:30 p.m.
Even with ISDN lines (which were the coolest thing at the
time), it was still pretty much impossible to get effective
video.
Novice SIG meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every
month.
But my, how times have changed.
Last month, I went to Regina for my mother’s 90th
birthday. My Mom is in reasonable shape, but she’s pretty
much confined to her seniors’ home. Although she’s still
aware of what’s going on, talking on the telephone is pretty
tough. People walking by or other noises around her easily
distract her.
Intermediate SIG meets at 7:30 p.m on the fourth Tuesday of
every odd numbered month. January, March, May, etc.
The SIG by the Sea (Sidney), which meets on the fourth
Thursday of every month.
Listserv - on-line forum for obtaining answers to your questions
from among our members.
MACtalk- our monthly publication mailed to your home. How to Join VMUG But Mom has an older sister who lives in Prince Edward
Island. And over the years, the rest of their families have
all died off, and they only have each other now. Unlike
Mom, her sister is still sharp as a tack and fairly mobile,
although she’s now 94 years old. And she really wanted to
talk to her sister.
Annual Rates are:
Individual: $35, Family: $45, Corporate: $60. Just fill in the
form on Page 15 and bring it to any meeting with cash or cheque
or send by regular mail with cheque enclosed.
She couldn’t make it to Regina, but thanks to Skype, I was
able to put the two of them in the same virtual room – and
it was wonderful. I brought my MacBook with me and
with a decent wireless connection at Mom’s place.
For those who purchase a new Macintosh at local retailers in the
Victoria area you can try us out for 3 months. You must be new
to VMUG.
Meanwhile, Mom’s sister was sitting in her farmhouse
in rural PEI, with enough bandwidth for a decent Skype
connection.
Some conditions apply for this Introductory Membership.
Just check the box for Introductory on the form on page 15 or
bring along a proof of purchase to a general meeting. If you
sell Macintosh systems and would like to become part of our
programme contact: Norma Brodrick at
membership.vmug.bc.ca.

The look on their faces as they chatted with each other was
priceless.
Dave Traynor
President
Victoria Macintosh Users Group
4

May 2012
Welcome
To Our
New Members
Marg Arthur
Novice/iSIG Report
Sidney SIG News
T
T
Watch the ListServ for further details.
We will have a Guest Presenter at this meeting. There
will be more details forthcoming on the VMUG
website and on the Listserv.
By Shirley Demeriez
By Charles Martin
he May Novice SIG meeting was held on April
1st. The topic was “iTunes.”.
he next Sidney SIG meeting is on May 24th at
10:30 AM and will be held at the Sidney Shoal
Centre, 10030 Resthaven Drive, across from the
Public Library. Underground parking is available.
The next Novice SIG meeting will be held on June
5th. The topic will be “iPhoto for Mac and iOS”.
The next Intermediate SIG will meet on May 22nd
in the Arbutus Room at Saanich Commonwealth
Place at 7:30 p.m. The topic will be “Photo Apps &
Services”.
A $4.00 donation is requested to help defray the cost
of the facility. Guests are welcome for an additional
$5.00 charge.
If your membership is due for renewal we can take
care of it at the meeting. Watch the Listserv for further details.
We look forward to seeing each of you there!


5
May 2012
Tips & Tricks
Mac 911
deal. Once upon a time I tested some FireWire to
SCSI adapters and I have to say I found them problematic. (But things may have improved since then-commenters, feel free to offer your experiences). And
while VueScan is an impressive piece of engineering,
wouldn’t it be nicer if your scanner just worked with
your Mac--and continued to work with the next major
Mac OS update?
By Christopher Breen
Leaving the past behind
Reader J.T. is having a hard time letting go of the
past. He writes:
I have a Microtek ScanMaker X6EL flatbed scanner,
which I want to connect and use with my iMac PowerPC G4, 800 MHz computer. Since this scanner is
no longer supported by Microtek, their Tech Support
advised that I should try the software program VueScan.
Also, your scanner offers 1200 dpi resolution. You
can get that same resolution from a scanner today for
$50. For that $200 you’d spend cobbling together a
solution for your current scanner you can have a new
scanner that offers 4800 x 9600 resolution. It’s likely
that this new scanner will also handle slides (though
not to the extent of a dedicated slide scanner) and
include a modern copy of Photoshop Elements.
He then goes on to list a pile of adapters he’d use to
allow the scanner’s SCSI interface to connect to the
iMac’s FireWire port. He concludes:
To sum up: Honestly, unless your old scanner is the
reincarnation of a beloved ancestor, I see no reason to
hang onto it.
The estimated total cost of this hardware/software
bundle is $200+. Is there a simpler, less costly, way
to connect and operate the Microtek ScanMaker X6
EL scanner with the iMac computer under Mac OS
X, v.10.4.11? Will the listed hardware/software above
work? Any other suggestions other than purchase a
“new, modern” scanner and start over?
I understand the pain of discarding a perfectly good
scanner. It’s not broken; it’s simply outdated for your
current setup. You can help alleviate some of that pain
by donating the scanner to a group that can still use
it--a school, Macintosh users group, church, or senior
centre. Someone will surely find a use for it. This way
you get a scanner that works, someone else gets a
scanner that works, and you’ve kept another hunk of
plastic, metal, and glass out of the local landfill.
J.T., the danger of asking for help from others is that
they’ll occasionally offer advice that you don’t want
to hear. Example: When you ask, “My girlfriend has
threatened to poison my chowder the next time I
sneeze and I believe she’s quite serious about it. Other
than dumping her, what can I do?” a person who truly
cares about your welfare will suggest that you back
up a step and reconsider your commitment to this
modern-day Borgia.
iCal and the 24-hour clock
Reader Graham Hibbard feels hemmed in by iCal’s
12-hour nature. He writes:
I am using 10.5 with iCal, and everywhere else on my
MacBook seems to able to handle the 24-hour clock
except iCal. I notice that any iCal events will only
give me an AM/PM option. Any fix for this?
This is one of those cases. Although you don’t want to
hear it, it’s time to let go of that old scanner and get a
new one. Here’s why:
Those connectivity and driver issues are a biggish
6
May 2012
Tips & Tricks
There is. Within System Preferences open the International system preference and click the Formats tab. In
the Times portion of the window click the Customize
button.
iCal is an application bundled with Mac OS X and
the only way to obtain a new version is to upgrade
your version of the Mac OS--move from Tiger to
Leopard, for example. However, you can reinstall the
version of iCal you once had. Why do so when you
were unhappy with it in the past? It’s possible that
something else running on your Mac was causing iCal
to misbehave and a subsequent OS update--a point
update such as 10.5.2, for example--addressed that
issue, allowing iCal to run as Jobs intended.
In the sheet that appears you’ll see the time in 12-hour
format. Click on the hour and from the pop-up menu
choose 1-24 to select the 24-hour format. To prevent
AM and PM from showing you can either delete the
contents of the Before Noon and After Noon fields or,
in the field where the time is displayed, select AM or
PM and press the Mac’s Delete key.
Fortunately, you needn’t reinstall the entire operating system to get a single application back. Both the
Tiger and Leopard Installer discs include an Optional
Installs installer. Launch this installer (found in the
Optional Installs folder on the Leopard disc) and at
the root level the Tiger Installer disc.
When you have things configured to your satisfaction,
click OK to dismiss the sheet. If iCal is running, quit
the application. When you next launch it you’ll see
your events displayed in the 24-hour format. Should
you wish to return to the U.S. default 12-hour format,
just open the International system preference again,
click the Formats tab, and from the Region pop-up
menu choose United States.
Just launch the installer and click the Continue buttons until you reach the Custom Install screen. Click
the triangle next to Applications, tick the box next to
iCal, and click the Install button to install iCal. With
both the Tiger and Leopard Installer discs the Applications area of the Custom Install screen includes
options for installing Address Book, iCal, iChat,
iTunes, Mail, Oxford Dictionaries, Safari, and X11.
Other options include Additional Fonts, Language
Translations, and Printer Drivers.
Reinstalling OS X applications
In what some might term throwing the infant out with
the water in which it was steeping, reader J.S. did
something that he now regrets. He writes:
Last year I had significant problems with my iCal
application. I was so dissatisfied, I deleted the application entirely and installed Sunbird. I’m wondering
if it’s possible to download a new, hopefully improved,
version of iCal?
If you’d like to reinstall applications that aren’t
offered in the Custom Install screen--applications in
the Utilities folder, for example--you can use Charles
Srstka’s $20 Pacifist. It works this way:
Insert your Mac OS X Installer disc. Download Pacifist and launch it. In the window that appears click
the Open Apple Install Discs button. A window will
appear offering you the single choice to look at the
OSInstall package. Click OK.
Before we start, I should mention that tossing out
applications--particularly those that are bundled with
the Mac OS--is not a good idea. If you don’t like a
particular application, simply ignore it and, chances
are, it won’t bother you. Now, on to your particular
problem.
Pacifist will churn away for a bit and then you’ll
see a window titled OSInstall.mpkg. In this window
Deadline for Articles & Advertising
in the JUNE Newsletter is MAY 16th.
continued on page 8
7
May 2012
you can dig down through the hierarchy of folders
to find what you seek or you can enter the name of
what you’re after in the Find field and press Return. A
drawer appears that lists the names of matching files.
Mac OS X Lion Peachpit
Learning Series
To install an item click the Install button in the upperleft corner of the window. You’ll be prompted for
your administrator’s password. Enter it, click OK, and
the item will be installed into its proper location on
your Mac’s hard drive.
O
By Robin Williams
Reviewed by Dave Greenbaum
ops, she did it again.
Not really oops, but
Robin Williams is the
muse that inspires you to
learn more about your Mac
and how to use it more
effectively and this book
continues to deliver.
Macworld Senior Editor Christopher Breen is the
author of Secrets of the iPod and iTunes, Fifth
Edition, and The iPod and iTunes Pocket Guide
(both Peachpit Press, 2005).
OS X Lion is a significant
change in the way you
interact with your Mac and
for previous Mac users these
changes can be a bit intimidating. This book assumes
basic knowledge of Macs and computers. No hand holding
about how to turn it on or how to use the mouse. You
should already be experienced with computing, but not
necessarily a Mac. This should be a “switchers” bible,
although it doesn’t make direct reference to PC to Mac
transition, it does tell you how to do typical tasks such as
email, browsing and file management on he Mac platform.
Find Chris’ books at www.amazon.com and. Get
special user group pricing on Macworld Magazine!
Subscribe today at http://www.macworld.com/
useroffer.

The book takes the reader through the key aspects of Lion
such as the Finder, iCal, Address Book and the slew of
other programs that come with it such as TextEdit, Preview
and iChat and incorporates how new features such as
Gestures, Resume, and Mission Control changes the Mac
experience for the better.
Rounding out the end of the book are chapters about
how to use system wide features such as data detectors
and pdf as well as some great guides to troubleshooting
and personalizing your Mac and most important, Time
Machine backups.
Typical of anything Robin Williams is involved in, this
book has a vivid, elegant and simple layout that makes for
an enjoyable read. Too often tech books are either terribly
text heavy or have so many screen shots that you feel like
you are reading a comic book. Mac OS X Lion dances that
line between the two quite well, with excellent examples
and detailed textual descriptions.
Mac Solutions
• Help • Setup • Training
• Troubleshooting
• Performed at your site
Patrick Mead-Robins
Mac is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc.
Originally published and written for the Lawrence Apple
Users’ Group 2.0 http://www.laugks.org/news and published
by Dave Greenbaum at http://www.clickheretech.com
(250) 652-1860
[email protected]

8
May 2012
Long time member, Yvonne McLean was the lucky winner of a
Apple AirPort Express drawn for at the meeting in April.
Congratulations Yvonne!!!
Special thanks to Bill Bothwell for being our digital photographer.
9
May 2012
How to Tell If Your Cloud
Provider Can Read Your Data
Although multi-tenancy means co-mingling data, the
cloud provider uses segregation techniques so you
see only your own data when you use the service, and
isolation to make sure you can’t maliciously go after
someone else’s data when you’re using the system.
W
The cloud provider’s databases and application code
are key to keeping all these bits separate from each
other. It isn’t like having a single hard drive, or even
a single database, dedicated to your information.
That simply isn’t efficient or cost-effective enough
for these services to keep running. So multi-tenancy
is used for files, email, calendar entries, photos,
and every other kind of data you store with a cloud
service.
By Rich Mogull
TidBITS.com
ith the tremendous popularity of services like
Dropbox and iCloud there is, rightfully, an
incredible amount of interest in cloud data security.
Once we start hosting our most sensitive data with
cloud services (or any third-party provider) it’s only
natural to wonder how secure our data is when it’s
in the hands of others. But sometimes it’s hard to
figure out exactly who can look at our information,
especially since buzzwords like “secure” and
“encrypted” don’t necessarily mean you are the only
one who can see your data.
Not all services work this way, but the vast majority
does.
Encryption to the Rescue? -- A multi-tenancy
architecture has two obvious problems. The first is
that if there’s a mistake in the application or database
the service runs on, someone else might see your data.
We’ve seen this happen accidentally; for example, last
year Dropbox accidentally allowed any user access
to any other user’s account. There is a long history
of Internet sites (cloud and otherwise) inadvertently
allowing someone to manipulate a Web page or URL
to access unauthorized data, and the bad guys are
always on the lookout for such vulnerabilities.
How Cloud Providers Protect Your Data -- In part
because there are numerous ways cloud providers
could protect your data, the actual implementation
varies from service to service. All consumer cloud
services are what we in the cloud world call public
and are built for multi-tenancy.
A public cloud service is one that anyone on the
Internet can access and use. To support this the cloud
providers need to segregate and isolate customers
from each other. Segregation means your data is
stored in your own little virtual area of the service,
and isolation means that the services use security
techniques to keep people from seeing each other’s
stuff.
The second problem, which has been in the press a lot
lately, is that the cloud provider’s employees can also
see your data. Yes, the better services usually put a
lot of policy and security controls in place to prevent
this, but it’s always technically possible.
Practically speaking, multi-tenancy means your data
is co-mingled with everyone else’s on the back end.
For example, with a calendar service your events exist
in the same database as all the other users’ events,
and the calendar’s code makes sure your appointment
never pops up on someone else’s screen. File storage
services do the same thing: intermingling everyone’s
files and then keeping track of who owns what in the
service’s database. Some, like Dropbox, will even
store only a single version of a given file and merely
point at it from different owners. Thus multiple users
who happen to have the same file are technically
sharing that single instance; this approach also helps
reduce the storage needed for multiple versions of a
file for a single user.
One way to mitigate some of these concerns is with
encryption, which uses a mathematical process
coupled with a digital key (a long string of text) to
turn your data into what looks like random gibberish.
That key is necessary to decrypt and read the data.
Most cloud providers use encryption to protect your
Internet connection to them (via SSL/TLS — look
for https URLs) so no one can sniff it on the network.
(Unfortunately, some large email providers still
don’t always encrypt your connection.) Most of the
time when you see “encryption” in a list of security
features, this is what they mean. But encrypting data
in transit is only half the battle — what about your
10
May 2012
data in the provider’s data center? Encryption of
storage is also necessary for any hope of keeping your
data secret from the cloud provider’s employees.
of all it means you are responsible for managing the
keys, and if you lose them you lose access to your
data. Forever. Also, it is extremely difficult — if not
impossible — to allow you to see or work with your
data in a Web page since the Web server can’t read
your data either. Thus it works for some kinds of
services (mostly file storage/sharing) and not others,
and only for sophisticated users who are able to
manage their own keys.
Some providers do encrypt your data in their data
center. There are three ways to do this:
1.
Encrypt all the data for all users using
a single key (or set of keys) that the cloud provider
knows and manages.
2.
Encrypt each individual user’s data
with a per-user key that the cloud provider manages.
3.
Encrypt each individual user’s data
with a per-user key that the user manages.
As is so often the case, these options reveal the
tradeoff between security and convenience.
How to Tell if Your Cloud Provider Can Read Your
Data -- In two of the three options I listed above, the
provider can read your data, but how can you tell for
yourself if this is the case?
By far, most cloud services (if they encrypt at all)
use Option #1 — keys that they manage and that
are shared among users — because it’s the easiest to
set up and manage. The bad news is that it doesn’t
provide much security. The cloud provider can still
read all your data, and if an attacker compromises the
service’s Web application, he can usually also read
the data (since it’s decrypted before it hits the Web
server).
There are three different (but similar) indications that
your cloud data is accessible to your provider:
•
If you can see your data in a Web
browser after entering only your account password,
the odds are extremely high that your provider can
read it as well. The only way you could see your data
in a Web browser and still have it be hidden from
your provider is if the service relied on complex
JavaScript code or a Flash/Java/ActiveX control to
decrypt and display the data locally.
Why do this level of encryption at all? It’s mostly
to protect data if a hard drive is lost or stolen. This
isn’t the biggest concern in the world, since cloud
providers have vast numbers of drives, and it would
be nearly impossible to target a particular user’s
data, if the data could be read at all without special
software. It also means that providers get to say they
“encrypt your data” in their marketing. This is how
Dropbox encrypts your data.
•
If the service offers both Web access
and a desktop application, and you can access your
data in both with the same account password, odds
are high that your provider can read your data. This is
because your account password is also probably being
used to protect your data (usually your password is
used to unlock your encryption key). While your
provider could technically architect things so the
same password is used in different ways to both
encrypt data and allow Web access, that really isn’t
done.
Option #2 is a bit more secure. Encrypting every
user’s data with an individual key reduces, in some
cases, the chance that one user (or an attacker) can get
to another’s data. It all depends on where the attacker
breaks into the system, and still relies on good
programming to make sure the application doesn’t
connect the wrong keys to the wrong user. It’s hard to
know how many services use this approach, but when
done properly it can be quite effective. The major
weakness is that the cloud provider’s employees can
still read your data, since they have access to the keys.
•
If you can access the cloud service via
a new device or application using your account user
name and password, your provider can probably read
your data. This is just another variation of the item
above.
Option #3 provides the best security. You, the user,
are the only one with the keys to your data. Your
cloud provider can never peek into your information.
The problem? This breaks... nearly everything. First
This is how I knew Dropbox could read my files long
before that story hit the press. Once I saw I could log
11
Continued on Page 12
May 2012
in and see my files, or view them on my iPad without
using a password other than my account password,
I knew that my data is encrypted with a key that
Dropbox manages. The same goes for the enterprisefocused file sharing service Box (even though it’s
hard to tell when reading their site). Of course, since
Dropbox stores just files, you can apply your own
encryption before Dropbox ever sees your data, as I
explained last year at Securosis.
Third and finally, you can generate your own perdevice encryption keys, which CrashPlan never sees
or knows about, rendering your backups readable
only by you (or anyone who can beat the key out of
you — never underestimate the power of a wrench —
props to xkcd!). You could technically use a different
encryption key on each device (or share, your choice)
so that even if one system were to be compromised,
it wouldn’t allow access to backups from your
other devices. Clearly, this is much more difficult to
manage and well beyond the needs or capabilities of
the average user (heck, even I don’t use it).
And iCloud? With iCloud I have a single user name
and password. It offers a rich and well-designed
Web interface where I can manage individual email
messages, calendar entries, and more. I can register
new devices and computers with the same user name
and password I use on the Web site. Thus, from the
beginning, it was clear Apple had the capability
to read my content, just as Ars Technica reported
recently.
So if you want to be certain that your data is safe from
both attackers and the cloud provider’s employees
snooping, look for services that offer additional
options for encrypting data, either with a password
or an encryption key known only to you. If such an
option isn’t available at the next cloud service you
check out, you’ll know that the provider’s employees
could technically read your data. And when the next
big story of a cloud provider reading data hits the
headlines, you can smugly inform your friends that
you knew it all along.
That doesn’t mean Dropbox, iCloud, and similar
services are insecure. They generally have extensive
controls — both technical and policy restrictions — to
keep employees from snooping. But it does mean that
such services aren’t suitable for all users in all cases,
especially businesses or governmental organizations
that are contractually or legally obligated to keep
certain data private.

BEFORE YOU GO DOWN
BACKUP!
Doing It Right -- The backup service CrashPlan is
an example of a service that offers flexible encryption
to fit different user needs, with three separate options.
(For more on choosing the appropriate encryption
method for CrashPlan, see Joe Kissell’s “Take Control
of CrashPlan Backups.”)
First, by default, your data is encrypted using a key
protected by your account password. This still isolates
and protects it from other users, while enabling you
to view file information through the CrashPlan Web
site and the CrashPlan Mobile app. But CrashPlan’s
employees could still access your data.
Presenting Four Affordable Mac
Backup Solutions
for the stuff you can’t replace
Second, if you want more security, you can add
a separate backup password that only you know.
This approach still allows access through the
CrashPlan Web site and the CrashPlan Mobile app,
but CrashPlan employees can’t see your data except
(maybe) during a Web session after you enter your
separate password. Attackers can’t access your data
either, though your password may be susceptible to
brute force cracking or social engineering.
For unit pricing, specifications and promotion
details visit Mac Zen Online today at:
maczen.ca/vmugbackup
250.999.0036
or email [email protected]
12
VMUG Productivity Series
May 2012
Moral of the story, use a good login password for your
computer.
By Aitan Roubini
Password Strength
Password Strategies & Management
•
Why do we need good passwords?
•
Most often, computer users aren’t concerned enough, and
use trivial, simple passwords based on easy to remember
lifestyle terms or family info. Others will use one really
good password and go from there, starting a list of
passwords and write down new ones.
•
•
•
•
This works for a while until:
•
An account is compromised
•
You forget and have to reset your password
•
Your password doesn’t satisfy a service’s
requirements
•
You realise that you’ve got registrations
everywhere, all with different passwords &
usernames
Key Elements to a Good Password Strategy
•
•
Apple’s Keychain Application
Every time you have entered a password and opted to
“save this password in keychain”, your Mac stores that
password in an encrypted file to speed up functions like:
•
Checking Mail
•
iCloud Syncing
•
Connecting to Remembered WiFi Networks
•
Website Login Information
•
Frequently Used Network Servers (Apple and
Windows File Sharing)
It’s important to note that this keychain is unlocked when
you log into your computer to facilitate quick logins. Many
Mac users have their computers set to automatically login
when they start up their computers. This leaves sensitive
information that may have been communicated via email
open to anyone how may have physical access to your
computer. This can be switched off by going to System
Preferences -> Accounts (Users and Groups in Lion) and
under “Login Options” disabling “Automatic Login”.
Your login password for your computer is the most
important password of all. Because so many other
passwords are often encrypted within the keychain, they
can all be retrieved (or checked if you’ve forgotten) by
using the “Keychain Access” application in Applications
-> Utilities. All someone with physical access to the
machine needs is your main login password to decrypt
your other (perhaps more secure) passwords for your mail
and websites.
Weakest — “123456”, “123456789”, “Password”
Weak — [DOB], [Partner’s Name], [Any Basic
Word]
Minimum — Letter Substitution e.g.
“A1phab3tica1”
Good — Substitution & Phrasing e.g.
“ItchyL3ftFing3r”
Best — 12 Character Random “Xc67m3qq9i2b”
Super Secure — 256 Random Characters Use One Highly Memorable but Obscure
Alphanumeric Word or Keyphrase with Letters
Substituted for Your Login and any Master
Passwords
and either:
◦ Create Group Types of Logins and assign
passwords to these groups (Banking,
Utilities, Online Shopping, Trivial
Registrations). Be regimented about which
passwords and usernames you use for each
type of service or group. Save passwords
to your computer’s keychain as you enter
them.
◦ In addition to Apple’s Keychain, use a
Password Manager Like 1Password to
Manage and synchronize your Passwords
and Logins across all of your devices.
Consider that most websites / modern logins require at
least one or two of the following:
•
At least 8 Characters
•
At least One Number
•
At least One Uppercase Character
Therefore when creating your passwords, make sure you
satisfy all three criteria as a general rule.
1Password is $49.99 from the Mac App Store, or can be
downloaded and purchased from www.agiliebits.com.
Next month — Easy cloud storage for all your hungry
devices and cloud Apps with Dropbox!
13

May 2012
VMUG Members Photo Page
“New York Skyline from Central Park”
photo by Christine Kirkham
We’re having a Photo Contest!!!
L
If you look carefully, you can see the Apple Store in
the lower left hand corner.
ogistics are still being figured out, but the Executive have
decided we should have a photo contest for the members of
VMUG with a prize for the best photo (judged by the Executive)
awarded at the annual AGM/Xmas Party in December.
Starting in June we’re going to have a theme which will be
announced on this page in MACtalk. Snappers have two weeks
to go snap happy and send theme related photos to me at the
email address below. Photos will be featured on this page and
on the VMUG website. There will be more details in the June
MACtalk.
MACtalk
Is Digital
Photo submissions should be sent to [email protected]
If possible please include camera make and model, f-stop,
shutter speed, ISO and lens information.
MACtalk is now available
online in PDF format at:
http://www.vmug.bc.ca on the
Thursday following the meeting.
Bill Bothwell, Layout Editor, MACtalk
14
VMUG Salutes our
CORPORATE MEMBERS:
Mac Zen Consulting
Aitan Roubini
(250) 999-0036
[email protected]
SOHO Computer Services
Paul & Barry Rodda
381-7646
[email protected]
Westside Dentistry
Dr. Cindy Fleming-Tranter
&
Dr. Bruce Tranter
[email protected]
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
May 2012
VMUG POLICIES
The VMUG newsletter, MACtalk, is a monthly publication
of the VMUG Computer Society (Victoria Macintosh Users
Group) and is distributed free to all members. The contents
of the VMUG newsletter are Copyright© by the VMUG
Computer Society except articles reprinted which have
their own respective copyright holders. Other Macintosh
User Groups may reproduce VMUG copyrighted articles
provided full credit is given to the author(s) and VMUG.
The VMUG newsletter is an independent publication
not affiliated or otherwise associated with or sponsored or
sanctioned by Apple Computer, Inc. or Apple Canada 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. or Apple Canada Inc.
Product names mentioned in this publication may be copyrights© or trademarks registered or otherwise (® ™) owned or
licensed by their respective companies. In particular, Apple™,
Macintosh®, LaserWriter® and Mac® are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
VMUG encourages submissions for publication on any subject related to Macintosh computing. Articles will be accepted
on-line by emailing attachments to the editor (editor@vmug.
bc.ca). Acceptable word processing file formats include those
saved as MS Word or RTF or ASCII text files, but also include
TextEdit. Articles and advertising received after publication
deadlines will be included in the next issue.
The Victoria Macintosh User Group is an informal group of
people who share an interest in the Apple Macintosh family
of computers. Membership is open to all: Individual $35,
Family $45, and Corporate/Institution $60 per year.
Membership includes one vote per membership, access to
VMUG monthly meetings and sponsored SIGs, VMUG
Public Domain Software and Paper Libraries, the VMUG
Listserv on the Internet, the VMUG newsletter, MACtalk.
Guests are welcome to attend their first meeting for a fee
of $5.00. The Guest fee applies to SIGs as well.
VMUG does not condone in any way, the illegal copying
or distribution of copyrighted software and will not tolerate
such activities at any user group function.
Canadian Mail Publications Agreement
No. 40037676
(VMUG Membership card must be
presented before the transaction.)
Direct all correspondence to:
Victoria Macintosh Users Group,
PO Box 5397 Stn. B,
Victoria BC V8R 6S4
Discounts from the
following businesses:
Albatross Printing
Tel: 595-2114 - Up to 10% discount
Applied Technology Training
Tel: Wally Rolofs at 592-9262
10% off Mac Computer Based Training
Bolen Books
Tel: 595-4232
10% off Computer related books & journals
Island Net
Tel: 383-0096; Toll-free (800) 331-3055
10% discount, time only
must present a valid VMUG membership
card
usually on the 2nd Wed. of each month (see pg.1)
Trafalgar - Pro Patria Legion.
411 Gorge Rd. E.
Members free, Guests welcome ($5 fee)
Come early to browse through the paper library,
buy a door prize ticket and meet the interesting
and friendly Mac user group members.
Bu
Tra
f
M
alg eeti
n
a
411 r/Pro g Hal
Go Patr l
rge ia L
Rd
e
. E gion
.
tla
Ju
Rd
ide
ar
Name__________________________________
Corporate Name_ ________________________
Address________________________________
City___________________________________
Province_ _____ Postal Code_ ______________
Tel:_ __________________________________
E-Mail:________________________________
☐ Do you wish to be included in the
Listserv? __ Yes __ No
I would be willing to volunteer with:
☐ Demonstrations
☐ Garage Sale
☐ Public Domain Library ☐ Paper Library
☐ Meeting Room Set-Up
☐ MACtalk Newsletter ..Circle your interests
Advertising ... Distribution... Submissions
of Articles or Graphics
☐ Other:_____________________________
M y M ac intos h inte r e s ts i ncl ude:
☐ Desktop Publishing
☐ Music
☐ Spreadsheets
☐ Databases
☐ Programming
☐ Games
☐ Public Domain
☐ Video
☐ Communications
☐ Graphics
☐ Word Processing
☐ Other:______________________
Where did you hear about VMUG?
I agree as a VMUG Member, to abide by the
constitution and bylaws of the VMUG Computer
Society and to not engage in any illegal activites at
any VMUG event.
Rd
Re
in edin
k
r
n
Pa Du
f
of
in St
Duned
15
Membership type:
☐ Individual . . . . . . . . . . $35 per year
☐ Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . $45 per year
☐ Corporate . . . . . . . . . . . $60 per year
☐ Introductory. . . . . . . . . . See Page 12
Signature:_____________________________
rns
nd
☐ New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ☐ Renewal
__________________________________________________
e St
Bridg
Word Crunchers, Etc. - Vicky Vickers
Tel: (250) 595-6593
or [email protected]
10% off the first $500
Website Design
VMUG’s Monthly MEETING:
7:00 to 10:00PM
Victoria Macintosh Users Group
Membership application
Date:_________________________________
You may send in this or a photocopy of this form.
Please make cheque payable to:
Victoria Macintosh Users Group
Box 5397 Stn. B, Victoria BC V8R 6S4
For VMUG Use Only
Received:______________ $___________ By_________
Entered:_______________ #___________ By_________
“I love my iPod touch! So
many great apps - where
wi-fi is available, I can
make a facetime call, or
instant message - even take
a customer’s credit card for
payments. Calendars, email,
photos and fun stuff - what
more could you want?”
— Laurie B.
Coordinating employee and
family calendars, keeping
track of business expenses
is always a challenge, but
iPod touch
Music, games, iMessage,
HD video recording, and more.
It has fun written all over it.
love having my ipod in my
purse as opposed to the giant
(and heavy) address book
and calendar I used to carry
around.” — Lynette E.
“It’s my ‘pocket notebook’,
gives me something to do
when my wife is shopping and
is easy to carry in my front
pocket.” — Mike B.
Trade in your old Mac for a new Mac from WestWorld!
(250) 386-6665 • 3214 Douglas Street • Victoria • www.WestWorld.ca
Subscribe to our newsletter www.WestWorld.ca
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Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, MacBook, iMac, iPod and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.