April 2010 Magazine

citrus macintosh users group
APRIL 2010
Contributors
GailMitchell
Gail has been a
member of CMUG
since the beginning.
She currently has
both a G5 Mac,
MacPro and a PowerBook. Gail enjoys
creating newsletters with iWeb, and she loves her 80
GB Sony, which she says she is still
learning how to use.
CMUG members are invited to share
their experiences, expertise, how-tos and
other computer-related—including peripherals—stories or information as occasional
articles or monthly columns. (Really long
submissions should be broken into segments to serialize.)
The magazine deadline is at the beginning of the month for the current issue.
However, contributions can be sent anytime.
Include a photo and short statement
about yourself to include with the mug.
Board
Alan Wentzell, President
[email protected]
220-6158
Curtis Herrin, Past President
[email protected]
341-5555
Carolyn Herrin, VP Education
[email protected]
341-5555
Rita Coffman, Secretary
[email protected]
726-3331
Julie DePinto, Treasurer
[email protected]
726-7787
Pat Purcell, Ambassador
[email protected]
795-4843
Jo Foster, Magazine Editor
[email protected]
726-1046
Inside
Articles
May, June, July Schedules – Alan
Wentzell – 5
To iPad or not to iPad – Gail
Mitchell – 4
Columns
Beginners & Guru – 7
Coming Up – 9
From the President – 3
Pointers for the Perplexed – 6
Surf’s Up – 8
Citrus Macintosh Users Group Magazine is published online monthly by Citrus Macintosh Users
Group.
Citrus Macintosh Users Group Magazine was
produced using Adobe Photoshop CS and Adobe
InDesign 2.0.
Johanna Foster, Editor
Cover design by Johanna Foster
© Copyright Citrus Macintosh Users Group 2010
All the photos for the
March cover were by
Gail Mitchell.
AboutCMUG
Citrus Macintosh Users Group is a tax-exempt, nonprofit educational organization, dedicated to helping all people in
our area become familiar with their computers.
We meet on the fourth Friday monthly at the CFCC Lecanto campus. The meetings start at 6:30 p.m. with an informal
question-and-answer period led by some of the club’s Mac tech people. A business meeting follows at 7 p.m., followed by
a presentation covering a variety of topics, such as graphics, Web pages, or using hardware and software related to the
Macintosh computer.
On the Sunday following the meeting, we hold a Lab/Tune-up from 1 to 5 p.m. at the CFCC Lecanto campus. At the lab,
which is free for members, tech members correct problems with hardware and software.
We offer Saturday afternoon classes monthly. The classes allow participants to learn Mac software programs and techniques in a hands-on-setting. Cost for the classes are $10 for members, $15 for member families, and $20 for nonmembers.
The monthly magazine with articles from members is also a member benefit, as well as free special interest groups
(SIGs) that are formed by members who have an interest in exploring a particular area in depth.
We also offer an informal workshop for members at the CFCC Lecanto campus on the fourth Tuesday monthly. The
workshop can either cover a specific topic or address various computer problems of participants.
ClubDues
Annual dues for members are $20 for an individual membership, $30 for a family membership and $10 for a student
membership. The membership period begins in January each year. Dues for new memberships after July are pro-rated; renewals remain at the annual rate.
2
FromthePresident
happened to the revised bylaws that we were working
on in December; the club’s bylaws were last revised
AlanWentzell October 2004. For those of you who weren’t at the
meeting, this will bring you up to date. It seems that
Can you believe it? Spring is here. sometime in our distant past someone (and we don’t
The last cold front of the year has know who) failed to file a yearly return with the IRS.
come and gone—I hope.
This year, after I was installed as president, we were
This is also the time of year asked for a copy of our tax exempt statement from
when many of our members depart the state. (First time in years anyone has asked for that
for points North. If you are in that group, drive safely. document.) I inquired internally and found we didn’t have
We want to see your smiling faces in the Fall. If you a current copy. I then went to the state and found that
are a resident and here (in Citrus County or the our exemption had expired. In order to get it reinstated,
surrounding area) full time, then plan for a Spring and we had to get a statement from the IRS stating that we
Summer of fun. There are
still qualify under their
We
are
also
looking
for
training classes coming
rules. This has taken
that keep you interested
some time, but we are
additional
people
to
make
and active on your Mac
now in good standing
when it’s too hot to go presentations at the meetings with the IRS and in the
outside and play.
process of re-qualifying
Our VP of Education Carolyn Herrin is doing a with the state of Florida. Our bylaws are one piece
great job scheduling classes. She is keeping the agenda of the documentation needed to show both the state
filled several months in advance. If you don’t see the and the IRS that we are indeed entitled to a non-profit
classes that you’d like, let her known. We are also and tax exempt status. To ensure that we resolve these
looking for additional people to make presentations at issues in a timely fashion, I asked the board of directors
the meetings. Do you have a software application that to table the revised bylaws until after we correct our
you really like? Let Carolyn know so she can schedule tax exempt status with the state of Florida.
a meeting for you to demonstrate it. You don’t have to
Hopefully, by May’s board of directors meeting the
be an expert on the application. Just show us how you matter will be resolved and we can present the revised
use it.
bylaws to you the members for review and a vote.
At last month’s meeting, Bill Dean asked what has
Hope to see you at the April meeting.
At the March meeting,
the Scholarship
Committee, Buzz
Fredrickson, Chair
Johanna Foster,
Carolyn Herrin
and Alan Wentzell
presented Cassandra
Durham, far left,
Lecanto High School,
and Judith Gilkey, far
right, Citrus High
School, each with
$1,000 scholarships.
Although our club is
prepared to give three
scholarships, there
were no applicants
from Crystal River
High School this year.
Curt Herrin
3
To iPad or not to iPad
Gail Mitchell
II
I
’ve had several e-mails lately asking if I’m those of us with an iPhone know that having 3G data
going to purchase the iPad. I do love to try network available whenever we need it is great.
the new items Apple offers to all of its Mac
If you are within Wi-Fi service, you have no need
users. I’ve also been reading about it and for the 3G; however, if you do need to access the
recently found a great article in Macworld 3G service, the iPad has settings where you can buy
regarding both the regular iPad and the 3G- 250MB of data for $15 or an unlimited amount for $30.
capable iPad. Starting at $499 for the Wi-Fi You can cancel the service at the end of the month or
version of the iPad, the 3G iPad costs an use the settings to create an automatic cut off at the
additional $130. Of course, these prices are end of the month.
for the 16 GB
I think
models only. I think the real question for
the
real
me
is
whether
I
really
need
The 32 GB sells for
question
$599 and $729, and the an iPad or not
for me is
64 GB sells for $699
whether I
and $829. I probably would love the 64 GB model, but
really need
I am searching for additional information regarding
an iPad or
both models and whether the 3G model would be
not. I would
the better buy. Apple says that the 3G model will be
love to have
shipping by the end of April, and the regular Wi-Fi will
something
be available on April 3. Apple even promises one-day
that
may
shipping at no cost.
be useful when I travel so I can read e-mail, search the
Jason Snell, one of the editors of Macworld, writes network, and have a place to store photos. If the iPad can
that the 3G might be worth the wait and the extra $130 do all that and save space and weight when I fly, then it
since Apple is not requiring a two-year commitment to might be a neat Apple tool I must have. I can check e-mail
AT&T for the 3G capability. Apple’s agreement allows on my iPhone, but I still need something to store photos
iPad users to access the AT&T network without any I take when I travel. I think I will wait for a while, however,
contracts or commitments. If you have the 3G iPad, to see what Apple has up its collective sleeve before I
you do not have to enable the 3G features. However, purchase an iPad. It does look pretty cute, however.
Jim Coleman
and Gail Mitchell
chat before the
March meeting
at CFCC
Lecanto campus.
Curt Herrin
4
May, June, July Schedules
Alan Wentzell
1 to 4 p.m.
CFCC, like many entities, is facing budgetary June 22 Workshop Tuesday
shortfalls. The directors, as part of their cutbacks have June 24 Afternoon Class Thursday 1 to 5 p.m.
Monthly Meeting Thursday 6:30 to 9 p.m.
decided to close the campus totally Friday, Saturday
1 to 5 p.m.
and Sunday for the months of May, June and July. The June 28 Lab Monday
Evening
Class
Monday
6 to 9 p.m.
college has a history of minimum utilization during this
Afternoon Class Thursday 1 to 5 p.m.
time so the air conditioning systems will be turned off July 22
Monthly Meeting Thursday 6:30 to 9 p.m.
on these days in order to save money.
July 26
Lab Monday
1 to 5 p.m.
This unfortunately impacts our meeting schedules.
Evening
Class
Monday
6 to 9 p.m.
In order to maintain our commitment to our members
July 27
Workshop Tuesday
1 to 4 p.m.
we will be modifying our schedule for these months.
As
you
can
see,
this
will
be
a
full
schedule
for
Our schedule will be as follows:
those of us who have to be there all day on these
May 24
Lab Monday
1 to 5 p.m.
days. We remain flexible and committed to providing
Evening Class Monday
6 to 9 p.m.
our members with membership benefits.
May 25
Workshop Tuesday
1 to 4 p.m.
In August, we will resume our regular schedule.
May 27
Afternoon Class Thursday 1 to 5 p.m.
Thanks for your understanding.
Monthly Meeting Thursday 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Johanna Foster
The March meeting, top, was the first CMUG meeting in Building L4, bottom, on the CFCC Lecanto campus.
5
back up, of course. Some external hard drives come
with software that does the same sort of things that
Time Machine will do.
If you are not a power user, with thousands of
pictures and music files or do a lot of DVD and movie
work, you might use a flash drive of at least 16 GB to
back up your Home Folder.
To check the size of your Home Folder, open your
Hard Drive, scroll to the Users Folder. Select your
folder (see the little house symbol) and go to Get Info,
by pressing Command-I, or File > Get Info or right
clicking the folder.
This “House” folder is what you want to back up.
Of course, make sure that everything you have
created is in the Home Folder.
The flash drive method is fine for backing up a
relatively small folder of personal files, but an adequate
external USB or Firewire drive is best.
Five thousand pictures are worth a hundred bucks.
Pointersforthe
Perplexed
BillDean
[email protected]
Nothing at start up?
Let’s hope that you never face
the unhappy day when you press
the power button on your MacBook and nothing
happens—no chime, no lights, no sign at all that your
Mac is powering up. It appears to be dead, and you fear
you must send it to Apple for a costly repair if you
don’t have warranty.
Fortunately, the fix may be simple. You need to
reset the System Management Controller (SMC). To
do this, unplug the power cord and remove the battery.
Hold the power button down for five seconds. Replace
the battery and reconnect the power cord. The Mac
should now boot correctly.
If you have a newer model MacBook, MacBook Pro
or MacBook Air and can’t remove the battery, you can
reset the SMC by holding the left side Shift, Control,
Option keys and the power button all at the same time.
Release all four keys at once, then press the power key.
Your Mac should now power up successfully.
Your Date and Time settings will have to be reset in
System Preferences.
One of our members
successfully did this
recently.
Dead hard drive?
Another, more serious, problem came up last
month. A dead hard drive resulted in loss of significant
files. The user had some of the files backed up, but
did not have a backup of the Home Folder, which
means all the pictures in iPhoto, Address Book, E-mail,
Bookmarks, music in iTunes and many documents were
gone forever.
How long should a hard drive last before failing?
Some say four to five years. I like to think it’s more like
an hour from now. That makes me a whole lot more
conscientious about backing up.
Fortunately, I use Time Machine so I have a backup
at least until an hour ago.
If you’re not using Time Machine for your Leopard
Mac, get an external hard drive to handle the back up.
Get one that will hold at least twice the data you have
on your Mac. You can get a good one for not a whole
Curt Herrin
lot more than $100.
Rachael Miller watches as Bill Dean works on a computer during
If you don’t have Leopard or better, you can still the March Lab/Tune-up.
6
Beginners&Guru
CurtHerrin
Which discs
to burn?
OK, now you are feeling a little more knowledgeable
and want to burn a disc of your favorite “any things”
and off to the store you go. Now you are there staring
at the seemingly endless array of CDs, and DVDs. Ten-,
25- and 50-disc packs lay before you.
Eight miles and 20 minutes from home you realize
you have no idea what to buy.
Unless you happen to stumble upon a Mac guru
or you have your nifty iPhone and can call Dr. Bill, you
face a trip back to the old homestead. Let’s say for the
sake of this article (otherwise I have to stop here) you
return home.
Now what do I do to find out what type disc my
computer will burn? No, not call Dr. Bill. You can do it
yourself.
As you know, there are lots of ways to get to Rome
and on your Mac there are a couple of ways to get this
information.
Let’s do this one. Click on the Apple and select
About This Mac.
Then chose More Info…. From here, you can obtain
the disc types your computer burner will handle.
In the side bar, you will find “Disc Burning.” Just
click on that and to the right is all the information you
need (bottom of page).
Problem solved? Sort of.
Which one should you buy? Ah-h-h… more things
I should have known before shopping.
If the info you want to burn, singly or cumulatively
is more that 700 megabytes then you will need DVDs.
A CD holds only 700 MB and a DVD will hold just over
4 gigs of info. While you are learning, just purchase R’s.
Later, if you want to re-write a disc then you would
purchase RWs. I suggest you practice some small files
and do them on a CD. The loss cost is less. DVDs are
slightly more expensive.
At the beginning of this article I specifically stated,
“you are feeling a little more knowledgeable,” thus I
do not need to walk you through the steps of how to
burn a disc. Next month, I will tell you how to burn
a disc more than once. I did not say re-write. You will
learn how to add more info if the first item did not use
the entire 700 MBs or 4 GBs. Time to go shopping.
7
Surf’sUp
JohannaFoster
You are here:
cmugonline.com
If you haven’t visited the club’s
Web site, you might find it fun.
The only part of cmugonline.com that is password
protected is the Message Board which also contains
the Magazine, current and archived, and the discounts
for Mac User Group members, which I will let you explore for yourself.
8
ComingUpinApril
Projects and any movie clips taken from still camera or a
Quicktime movie production. It is a one-stop gathering place
Classes
for most media to even include audio sound tracks. Once
Date:
Saturday, April 17
imported into iDVD or “Shared” to iDVD, you can dress up
Time:
1-5 p.m.
the look to wow your viewing audience. Your completed
Place:
CFCC Lecanto Campus, Building L4, DVD will play in DVD players and computers. Just the thing
Classroom 103
you will want to share with all your family and friends.
Topic:
iTunes
Over the past few classes we worked on iPhoto, iTunes
Teacher:
Bill Dean
and iMovie. Let’s take those projects and Share them with
iTunes has been called the “ultimate digital jukebox.” iDVD.
Find out about this Apple application at the April 17 class.
If you have not attended those classes or do not have
Learn how to use iTunes as a music storage place, how to a complete iMovie Project, you will be supplied with the
listen to internet radio, import CDs, organize your music, materials needed to learn iDVD.
buy music from the iTunes Store, make customized CDs of
We will be working in iDVD version seven but version
your favorite tracks and more.The class is for beginners.We six will work just as well. See you there.
will use iTunes 9.1, downloadable at Apple.com downloads.
Older versions can do most of the things in iTunes 9.
Meeting
Bring along a couple of your favorite music CDs and Date:
Friday, April 23
one or two blank CDs. Direct questions about the class Time:
6:30-9 PM
to Bill Dean at [email protected]. Sign up with Place:
CFCC Lecanto Campus, Building L4,
Carolyn Herrin at cmuged@g;mail.com. The class fees for Classroom 103
members are $10 for individuals, $15 for family, and $20 for Demo topic: Facebook and a brief look at the new iPad
nonmembers.
Facebook is a way to interface with a large group of
friends and acquaintances without having to e-mail each
Date:
Monday, April 19
person individually. You can post pictures, videoclips,screen
Time:
6-9 p.m.
who can see your information, create specific groups, play
Place:
CFCC
Lecanto
games, et cetera.
Campus, Building L4, Classroom
The excitement is on for the newest Apple
103
product. Member Richard Fawcett has just gotten one and
Topic:
iDVD
will show us the features. The learning curve is minimal for
Teacher:
Curtis Herrin
anyone who has worked with an iPhone or iPod iTouch.
iDVD — a place to gather all your
With the capabilities at CFCC, we can show you the iPad up
iPhoto photo slideshows or albums.You can also add iMovie close in living color, so see you at the meeting.
Curt Herrin
Alan Wentzell talks during the Photoshop Elements special interest group during the March Lab/Tune-up.
9
Dick Coffman, right,
helps Leonard Bates
during the Photoshop
Elements class in March.
Curt Herrin
Curt Herrin
Kren Kurts, Marybeth Nayfield, and
Richard Fawcett took the March Photoshop Elements class.
Curt Herrin
Alan Wentzell, club president, and Dick Coffman presented a Photoshop Elements class
in March.
10