[WelMac] Welmac News & Update 13 Jul 08
WelMac news
news at welmac.org.nz
Sun Jul 13 20:19:46 AEST 2008
CONTENTS:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. MEETING UPDATE
2. APPLE INTRODUCES THE NEW IPHONE 3G
3. ITUNES 7.7 RELEASED IN PREPARATION FOR IPHONE 2.0
4. MAC OS X 10.5.4 AND SECURITY UPDATE 2008-004 FIX BUGS
5. CRITICAL UPDATES FOR MICROSOFT OFFICE 2008 AND 2004
6. MAC 911 - SOLUTIONS TO YOUR MOST VEXING MAC PROBLEMS
7. MAC FREEWARE FOR YOUR CHILDREN
8. PODCASTER INTERVIEW: VICTOR CAJIAO
________________________________________________________________________________________________
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1. MEETING UPDATES
Wellington Meeting
The next main meeting of the Wellington Macintosh Society Inc. will be
held on Monday 28 July 2008. This meeting will be held in the Ante
Room on the ground level of Turnbull House, 11 Bowen Street,
Wellington from 7.10pm.
The topic for this meeting will centre around the recent release of
the new 3G iPhone in New Zealand.
As usual, we'll start with our Q&A session followed by a short supper
before the main presentation.
Kapiti Area Meeting
For those members living at or near the Paraparaumu area, our next
Kapiti meeting will be held at 7.10 pm on Monday 4th August 2008
(which also is Queens Birthday this year). It will be at the Rita King
Cottage at St Marks Church in Rosetta Road, Raumati. The topic of the
meeting will be the same as the Wellington meeting, i.e. The iPhone.
Mac Basics Meeting
This meeting is an introduction to computing on a Macintosh will be
held on Monday 14 July 2008 (tonight) starting at 7pm in the Turnbull
Room on the 1st floor of Turnbull House. This months meeting will look
at the second topic in our series of three, using basic applications
such as word processors, spreadsheets and some utility applications.
Applications Special Interest Group
Monday 21 July 2008 starting 7 pm in the Turnbull Room on the 1st
floor of Turnbull House.
These meetings will take a look at commonly used applications
(software) and this month will be the second part of three looking at
the uses and setup of basic databases and how you can make them work
for you.
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2. APPLE INTRODUCES THE NEW IPHONE 3G
Apple started selling the new iPhone 3G on July 11 in 22 countries
including New Zealand. The new iPhone combines all the revolutionary
features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast as the
first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based
mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for
Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party
applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK. In
New Zealand, the new iPhone 3G 8GB model is priced at $199 and $250
per month up to $979 for the for the phone only. The 16GB model is
priced at $349 and $250 per month up to $1129 for the for the phone
only and all plans are for a minimum of 24 months <http://www.vodafone.co.nz/
>.
“Just one year after launching the iPhone, we’re launching the new
iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price,” said Steve Jobs,
Apple’s CEO. “ iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right
out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps created with the
iPhone SDK, and will be available in more than 70 countries around the
world this year.”
iPhone 3G gives users ever faster access to the Internet and email
over their cellular network with quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA for
voice and data connectivity around the world. iPhone 3G supports Wi-
Fi, 3G and EDGE networks and automatically switches between them to
ensure the fastest possible download speeds. The new iPhone 3G also
makes it easier to multi-task with simultaneous voice and data
communications, so with iPhone 3G you can browse the web, get map
directions, or check your email while you are on a call.
iPhone 3G includes the new iPhone 2.0 software with both the iPhone
SDK and key enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange
ActiveSync to provide over-the-air push email, contact and calendar
syncing as well as remote wipe and Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted
access to corporate networks. The iPhone SDK allows developers to
create amazing applications that leverage the iPhone’s groundbreaking
Multi-Touch user interface, animation technology, accelerometer and
GPS technology on the world’s most advanced mobile platform.
iPhone 3G includes the new App Store, providing iPhone users with
native applications in a variety of categories including games,
business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. The App Store on
iPhone works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi, which means it is
accessible from just about anywhere, so you can purchase and download
applications wirelessly and start using them instantly. Some
applications are even free and the App Store notifies you when
application updates are available. The App Store will be available in
62 countries at launch.
Additional features available with the iPhone 2.0 software include the
ability to do real-time mapping and track your progress with GPS
technology, mass move and delete multiple email messages, search for
contacts, access a new scientific calculator, turn on parental control
restrictions for specified content, save images directly from a web
page or email them to your iPhone and easily transfer them back to
your photo library on your Mac or PC. iPhone 3G delivers an amazing 10
hours of talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours using 3G, with up to 5
to 6 hours of web browsing, up to 7 hours for video playback and up to
24 hours for audio playback.
iPhone 3G takes advantage of MobileMe, a new Internet service that
pushes email, contacts, and calendars from an online “cloud” to native
applications on iPhone, iPod touch, Macs and PCs. With MobileMe email,
messages are pushed instantly to iPhone, removing the need to manually
check email and wait for downloads, and push keeps contacts and
calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are
automatically updated on other devices. With iPhone, you can even snap
a photo and post it directly to a MobileMe Gallery to share with
friends and family.
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3. ITUNES 7.7 RELEASED IN PREPARATION FOR IPHONE 2.0
by Jeff Carlson
The day before the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 software are due to
appear, Apple has released iTunes 7.7. The update adds support for
iPhone 2.0 syncing and the App Store when it becomes available. Also
added is support for a new Remote application for the iPhone and iPod
touch that lets you control iTunes from those devices.
But wait, you can get a sneak peak at the App Store now! After
installing the iTunes 7.7 update (available via Software Update or as
a 48.32 MB download), perform a search for an iPhone application name
(such as Twitterific), click the application name, and you'll be able
to browse the entire store and download applications.
Currently the iTunes 7.7 update is available only for Mac OS X 10.3.9,
Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later, or Mac OS X 10.5 or later.
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4. MAC OS X 10.5.4 AND SECURITY UPDATE 2008-004 FIX BUGS
by Jeff Carlson <jeffc at tidbits.com>
Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.4 today, a bug-fix update that touches
on several areas. Recent security updates are included (though the
recent ARDAgent vulnerability has not yet been addressed; see "How to
Protect Yourself from the New Mac OS X Trojans," 2008-06-25). If you
want to take advantage of the security updates without installing the
operating system update, you can download Security Update 2008-004
for Intel (128 MB) and PowerPC (80 MB); security updates for Mac OS X
10.5 Server are also available for Intel (165 MB) and PowerPC (127 MB).
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1994> <http://db.tidbits.com/article/
9665> <http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2008004intel.html
> <http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/
securityupdate2008004ppc.html> <http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2008004serverintel.html
> <http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2008004serverppc.html
>
Designers will be relieved to discover that a problem with saving and
reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files located on remote servers has
been resolved. A pair of AirPort fixes deal with reliability of 5 GHz
networks and poor performance when using Logic Studio or MainStage.
According to Apple's release notes, iCal sees the most improvements,
such as resolving problems when deleting events, copying and pasting
attendees between events, and reliability of shared meetings. Fixes
in Safari center on improving performance and solving problems
loading secure Web pages. Apple is still grappling with the way
Spaces operates, fixing a problem where the Finder would become the
active application when switching to a space instead of the program
residing in that space, as well as an issue dealing with assigning
applications to spaces in the Spaces preference pane.
This update also includes a number of new security fixes, including
major updates to patch recent vulnerabilities discovered in the Ruby
programming language. Two fixes close holes that could allow an
attacker to take over your computer if you were to visit a malicious
Web site using Safari. One of those vulnerabilities is exploitable
only if you have the Safari preference to "Open 'safe' files after
downloading" set - this is a valuable reminder to disable that
preference in Safari's General preference pane.
The Mac OS X 10.5.4 update also adds raw format support for more
cameras, fixes a problem where X11 may not be completely installed,
and improves L2TP VPN client reliability.
The update is available via Software Update or as standalone
downloads: Mac OS X 10.5.4 Update (88 MB); Mac OS X 10.5.4 Combo
Update (561 MB); Mac OS X Server 10.5.4 Update (133 MB); Mac OS X
Server Combo 10.5.4 Update (677 MB).
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1054update.html> <http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1054comboupdate.html
> <http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxserver1054.html> <http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxservercombo1054.html
>
************************************************************************
5. CRITICAL UPDATES FOR MICROSOFT OFFICE 2008 AND 2004
by Adam C. Engst <ace at tidbits.com>
We've been waiting for these! The just-released Microsoft Office 2008
for Mac 12.1.1 Update fixes a variety of troublesome bugs, some
introduced in the previous update. And, the Microsoft Office 2004 for
Mac 11.5.0 Update fixes some crashing bugs, improves compatibility
with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and includes all the updates previously
released for Office 2004, so new installations of Office 2004 don't
have to be updated 19 times to be brought up to date.
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953822> <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953824
>
**Office 2008 Changes** -- Most notably (from my perspective,
anyway), Word and Excel documents downloaded from the Web or attached
to email messages will now open when double-clicked. Yay! This has
been driving me bonkers whenever I tried to open a Word file attached
to an email message in Eudora.
Also fixed in Word 2008 is a bug that would cause spaces to be lost
when opening a document created in or saved by Word 2008 or Word 2007
in Windows - I didn't run into that one, thankfully. Other fixes
preserve items in Notebook Layout documents when the document is
converted from .docx to .doc, preserve font size settings for text in
tables, and address a problem in saving .doc documents that contain
an Area or Filled Radar chart.
Excel 2008 also features numerous improvements, including accepting
international decimal separators for error bars, no longer
duplicating embedded movies when workbooks are saved in .xls format,
and improving PivotTable reports. Excel's reliability has been
enhanced in a variety of situations, such as when chart data is
updated, when you reference or link to a sheet name that resembles a
cell reference, and at times when you calculate or edit a formula.
PowerPoint 2008 and Entourage 2008 see fewer changes. This update
fixes a problem that would cause PowerPoint to take a long time to
open presentations that use certain fonts, and also fixes a nasty bug
that would cause Entourage to crash when you wake the Mac from sleep.
The Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 Update requires Mac OS X
10.4.9 or later, and that you have already installed the Microsoft
Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 1 (see "Microsoft Fixes Office 2008
Bugs, Announces VBA Return," 2008-05-19). It's a 153.3 MB download,
and is available from Microsoft's Web site or via the Microsoft
AutoUpdate utility launched by choosing Check for Updates from any
Office 2008 application. Once again, kudos to Microsoft for excellent
release notes.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9622> <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C75DB26D-D3BC-49A4-8951-DE27AE58B5A1
>
**Office 2004 Changes** -- For Office 2004, which Microsoft appears
to be maintaining more actively than is usual for a previous
release, the 11.5.0 update improves compatibility with documents in
the Open XML format used by Office 2008 and Office 2007 in Windows,
and it also fixes a problem whereby the installer would find copies
of Office backed up by Time Machine.
In Word 2004, Microsoft fixed a number of crashing bugs, including
several that could occur during typical operation, one that could
happen when you pasted content from an Office 2008 document into Word
2004, and one that kicked in when getting the properties of a
hyperlink via AppleScript. Other fixes include improved text display
when you change the size of table columns and cosmetic improvements
to the Page Setup dialog in Leopard.
Similarly, Excel 2004 receives fixes for errors when pasting data
from Excel 2008; for crashing bugs related to opening workbooks
containing a shape, a SmartArt graphic, or a text box created in
Excel 2008 or Excel 2007; for saving paper sizes for documents saved
in both Excel 2004 and Excel 2008; and for the inability to open
Excel 2007 documents via the Open dialog.
Finally, the update fixes a problem in PowerPoint 2004 that could
cause crashes when opening presentations with a large number of
slides, or when pasting content from an open Office 2008 application
running on an Intel-based Mac into a PowerPoint 2004 presentation.
The Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update requires Mac OS X
10.2.8 or later, and as I noted previously, includes all previous
Office 2004 updates. It's a 58.9 MB update, and is available either
via the Office 2004 version of Microsoft AutoUpdate or as a
standalone download.
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B6D69814-0995-490D-909A-5EC6AE6F64F0
>
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6. MAC 911 - SOLUTIONS TO YOUR MOST VEXING MAC PROBLEMS
Directly accessing the Downloads folder
Reader Charles Bilkin is unsatisfied with a Safari feature, he writes:
When I used Safari running under Tiger, my downloads would go to the
Desktop. Now that I'm using Leopard, they go into the Downloads
folder. I know that my Desktop is cleaner now, but I don't like having
to open my Downloads folder whenever I want to get a file I've
downloaded. Is there some way to turn this off?
Sure, just open Safari's preferences, click the General tab, and, from
the Save Downloaded Files To pop-up menu, choose Other. In the sheet
that appears, navigate to the Desktop folder in your user folder and
click Select. Files you download will appear on the Desktop.
But before you do that, consider this: Perhaps you can have both easy
access to your downloaded files and a clearer Desktop. Like so:
Enter an address like this in Safari's Address field:
file:///Users/yourusername/Downloads
(Naturally yourusername would be the name of your user account.)
Drag the small icon of the Downloads folder that appears just to the
left of the address into the Bookmarks Bar and name it something like
Downloads. Now when you want quick access to files you've downloaded,
just click this new Downloads bookmark. When you do, the Downloads
folder opens in the Finder.
Similarly, in Safari's Downloads window you can quickly get to your
downloaded file by clicking the Magnifying Glass icon next to its
name. The Finder comes to the fore with the Downloads window open and
your file highlighted (unless it's a disk-image file that was
automatically opened, in which case clicking this icon takes you to
the window that shows you all the mounted volumes on your Mac). I also
make it a point to drag the Downloads folder into a Finder window's
Sidebar so that I can quickly open it from any Finder window.
Sound off in specific applications
Reader Alec Saunders sounds off on turning sound off for specific
applications. He writes:
I was wondoring if there was a way to disable sound in certain
applications. Specifically in Safari so I don't have to hear the sound
in games.
The cheap and easy way is to just bang on the Mac keyboard's Mute key
when you have Safari before you. Regrettably, this shuts everything
up, which is probably not what you want.
JoeSoft's $50 Hear, in addition to enhancing your Mac's audio in a
wide variety of ways (equalizer and 3D effects included), provides a
mixer component that allows you to separately adjust the volume of all
the applications running on your Mac. In my book, $50 is a lot to pay
for just this single feature, but I also like its other features which
helps me live with the price tag.
Adding 802.11n to older iMac
Reader Frank Blank has drawn a blank in regard to upgrading the
wireless connection on an older iMac. He writes:
I have three Macs networked at home through an Airport Extreme Base
Station. The MacBook and Intel iMac communicate like greased
lightning. Communication with the 2.1GHz iMac G5 is much much slower.
Since the laptop, Intel iMac, and AirPort Base Station utilize
802.11n, and the iMac G5 uses 802.11g, is there a way to upgrade the
older iMac to the faster wireless speed?
The least expensive way to do this is to eschew wireless on the old
iMac and run an Ethernet cable from the Base Station to the iMac. Your
iMac's network performance will increase dramatically and its "g"
wireless won't slow down the rest of the wireless network.
On the other hand, perhaps you don't feel like completely rearranging
your home so that the Base Station and iMac sit near each other. If
not, you can upgrade the iMac to 802.11n, but not internally. Apple's
n- flavored wireless cards don't work with older iMacs.
You can, however, add 802.11n via USB. For example, Other World
Computing sells the MaxPower 802.11n/g/b Wireless USB 2.0 Stick
Adapter for $50. Jack it into a USB 2.0 port, install the driver,
choose it as the wireless adapter you'd like to use, and your older
iMac is communicating at 802.11n speeds.
In case of emergency
If you've scanned the headlines lately or simply live downwind of the
central portion of the 31st state, you're aware that far too much of
California has been ablaze in the last month. It happens that I live
darned close to a couple of these hot-spots and, having packed the car
twice now with the idea of fleeing with family and felines when the
reverse 911 call comes in, it's natural that my attention has been
increasingly devoted to emergency preparedness--and that includes the
protection and salvation of my data.
When Fire 1 ignited about a month ago, my office was a mess. I had
files scattered across seven separate hard drives and three different
computers. Had I been in a position where I had to leave Right Now,
every bit of data I owned would have been lost. Fortunately I had time
so I chose the brute-force technique--I threw all the computers in the
car along with a duffel-bag full of hard drives. You can imagine the
"You say you do this kind of thing for a living?" look I got from my
wife who, wisely, had her most important data backed up onto a single
drive that she'd stuffed into her purse.
Last weekend's Fire 2--closer than the first--saw little improvement
on my part. Although I'd procured a new 750GB drive to feed Time
Machine--and thus had a readily grabbable backup of my current work
files, email, contacts, and calendars--the files I really wanted
remained parsed out among a host of internal and external hard drives.
And by "really wanted" I don't mean MacUser Help Folder columns from
1997, a Breen's Bungalow video from 2000, or even the iTunes-procured
copy of Noel Harrison's Life is a Dream.
What I do mean is my photos and home movies.
I can replace music. I can let go of a couple of decades worth of
work. I can buy another computer. But I can't replace the images of a
child's first years or a parent's last. And to risk losing those
images to a natural disaster--even one as natural and predictable as a
hard drive crash--because I'm disorganized is just stupid.
So in the "fool me once/fool me twice" vein, I'm changing my ways, in
these ways:
Gathered memories I have multiple iPhoto Library archives scattered
about. I've now copied those archives to a single hard drive.
Similarly I've copied my Aperture libraries to that same drive. In
addition, I've used Leopard's Smart Folder feature to seek out all
Camera Raw images and copied those to that same drive. Yes, I have
duplicate files. At some point I may sort through the images and
remove the duplicates. For now, I'm happy to know that I have all my
images within easy reach.
Home movies are easier as I haven't made a ton of them. A Smart Folder
that looks for files with the extension .DV with a file size over
500MB nicely rounded up the movies I was after.
Out of the house Fat lot of good a backup hard drive does me if a
tornado whips it into the next county. While on-site backups are fine,
you need to get your data off-site as well. One way to do that is to
lug hard drives from Location A to Location B. Another is to burn
through your bandwidth like there's no tomorrow (cuz, who knows, maybe
there isn't) and upload your most precious data to a server somewhere
in The Cloud.
Like a lot of .Mac members, I have an iDisk that goes largely unused.
Currently .Mac members are provided with up to 10GB of storage and,
when MobileMe launches, that limit moves to 20GB. With a .Mac
membership comes a copy of Apple's Backup application--one that can be
configured to store items on your iDisk. At first I vowed to go
through my photos, pare them down to the absolute keepers, and then
upload those keepers to my iDisk via Backup. But then I realized I had
too much stuff--20GB just wouldn't do.
So I explored other online options and came up with Mozy. This is an
online service that allows you to upload an unlimited amount of data
for $4.95 per computer per month (personal use only, for this price).
It includes a simple client (available for Mac or Windows) that lets
you choose common files and folders (Address Book, Documents Folder,
Keychains, and Microsoft Word Documents, for example) as well as
select specific files and folders. It includes a scheduling component
so your files are backed up automatically. And yes, it takes a long
time to upload your files--like days long if you're dealing with
dozens of gigabytes.
Aperture ho! I like iPhoto a lot. The current version is fast and it
provides just enough tools that I can perform nice looking edits
without a lot of bother. But its ability to back up your pictures is
primitive. When you query iPhoto's Help about backing up your iPhoto
library you're offered the option of using Time Machine or dragging
your library to another disk or burning it to CD or DVD.
I also like Aperture a lot and its ability to create vaults of my
photos and easily save them to another drive has won me over. I've
imported my iPhoto libraries into the program and have since saved
them as part of an Aperture vault, which I'm in the process of
uploading to Mozy.
A UPS that makes sense A couple of years ago I got smart and installed
two uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) in my office. And then I got
dumb and plugged devices into them willy nilly. Last weekend, PG&E cut
the power to aid the firefighters.
"No problem," I smugly thought, "I've got UPS."
Right. That is until the laser printer plugged into one drained it
within seconds and the two Macs, one PC, one scanner, six hard drives,
and powered speakers did the same to the other.
And that was a problem.
And it was a problem because with the TV out of commission and our
local NPR stations loath to interrupt A Prairie Home Companion to
alert their listeners about the proximity and direction of the fire,
the Internet was my best source of information--a source I couldn't
get to because I had no power.
So, while the power was out I occupied my time by unplugging every
device in my office and creating a smarter UPS setup. And it goes like
this:
I will no longer print with the power out. The laser printer is now
plugged into the UPS' surge suppressor, but won't draw power from the
battery.
UPS 1 is now jacked into my DSL broadband modem, AirPort Extreme Base
Station, Ethernet switch, and telephone. And that's it. If the power
goes down, I can still access the Internet.
UPS 2 will power my Mac Pro, monitors, and external hard drives. When
the power goes out, I will unmount those external hard drives and then
switch them off. This seems a better policy than letting them suddenly
die when their juice is cut. In all likelihood, I'll switch this
computer off when the power goes out.
I can do that because I've vowed to keep my laptop plugged in whenever
it's in the office. When there's no power in the office, I'll use the
laptop. If I'm feeling particularly miserly, I'll switch it off as
well and use my iPhone and iPod touch to access the Web and email.
Sheesh... Sure, this has all been a bother, but it's a bother that
I've left unaddressed for far too long. Maybe you have as well.
It's going to be a long, hot--and, at this rate, smokey--summer.
Unpleasant as it has been (far more so for those who've dealt with it
in a more tragically direct way) I feel better knowing that I'm more
prepared to deal with it.
****************************************************************************************************
7. MAC FREEWARE FOR YOUR CHILDREN
So far we've discussed mostly freeware that you would use in your day
to day work on the Mac, but what about freeware for the family?
Specifically, what about some Mac freeware for your children?
One of the most requested topics that I receive for the
MacReviewCast.com podcast is for family friendly freeware. One of the
strengths of the Mac has always been in the field of education and
home usability. Many young people were trained on a Mac in school, and
as they grew up they kept a Mac in their home. This all led to a
strong software base for educational freeware on the Mac, so let's
look at a few of these apps for a variety of different ages.
Let's start with the youngest. My grandson is 7 months old and he
loves nothing better then to sit on my lap while I'm at the Mac Pro
and bang on the keys and the mouse. As you may have already guessed,
my grandson can get away with anything he wants when he's around Papa,
but I'm not about to let him loose on my keyboard and mouse without
some type of protection for my files. The answer is Baby Banger. Baby
Banger: http://www.goodeast.com
With a simple keystroke, all the keys will show colorful shapes and
images when pressed and some even give you sounds. The more they bang
away on the keyboard, the more shapes and colors appear. You can add
your own pictures and images if you want, or just use what the
application gives you. This little app has given my grandson hours of
joy and me, hours of peace.
As your children grow older, you'll find that many of the same games
that we've enjoyed in our youth have timeless appeal. Games like The
Match game or a jigsaw puzzle will be hits with children forever.
That's why you should visit this website for two great freeware games,
FishDog Jigsaw and FishDog Match: http://fishdog.net
Just like their name suggests, FishDog software has taken two classics
and turned them into Mac freeware. They are true to the originals and
just as much fun. In FishDog Match you match letters, numbers and
pictures. This allows for several years of enjoyment. In FishDog
Jigsaw, they use pictures of animals which all children enjoy. Thank
you FishDog.
Another great Mac software developer is Koingo Software. They make
some wonderful shareware utilities but still have time for some fun
Mac freeware. These holiday favorites can be downloaded at: Christmas
Super Frog: http://www.koingosw.com/products/christmassuperfrog.php
Christmas Crisis: http://www.koingosw.com/products/christmascrisis.php
Both of these games are for a little older age group and the games can
be best described by their developer. In Christmas Crisis, Santa has
fallen sick this winter holiday. Ms. Claus has been cooking some of
her most powerful chicken soup, but even that's not powerful enough to
cure Santa from his perilous cold. He won't be able to make his first
deliveries until much later than usual -- but that is too late to
deliver all of the presents. You and other elves have been chosen to
help make up for Santa's missed time! Fly over cities and drop
presents down chimneys. Maintain a 70% success rate to save Christmas!
Watch out for planes - you don't want to crash!
In Christmas Super Frog, Santa's sleigh has broken down, scattering
his gifts all around the town! Now it is up to you to recover all the
missing presents before Christmas arrives. As the name sounds, the
game resembles the original Frogger in many ways.
While we're talking about frogs, here's another fun game by the name
of BullFrog from Outer Level Software. BullFrog: http://outerlevel.com/bullfrog
In this game you play a BullFrog who's house has been invaded by bugs.
Buzzing, flapping, and biting. Bugs now plague every corner of your
world and irritate you at every turn. Eat all those pesky bugs to
return peace and quiet to your lovely home. But, you must eat all
those bugs before time runs out or your home will be forever theirs.
Let's keep looking at freeware games for the kids. Here's one that may
appeal to the older children in the house, it's from RAMDream games,
and it's called The Gnome Herder. The Gnome Herder: http://www.ramdreams.com/gnome/GnomeHerderMain.html
You can either play this 3D game online from the website, or download
the Mac OSX stand-alone version for your computer. Now if that's not
enough, RAMDream games have two more 3D adventure games that you're
welcome to download or play via the website. They're called The
Snowmen and the Crown, and The Bows of Shoga-La. They all have smooth
3D graphics and are fun for kids of all ages. What more can you ask
for free?
Now that we've covered some freeware games, I'd be a bad parent and
grandparent if I didn't include a few apps that were more learning
based. The one thing we all fear about having our child on the
computer is when they actually go online. Besides the obvious predator
situations we hear about everyday, we also have MySpace, Facebook,
YouTube and other websites to worry about. Why not replace the
Firefox, or Safari browser that adults use and give your child a
browser that you know is safe? Scavenger: http://whimsplucky.com/Scavenger/About.html
Scavenger features a fun user interface free of the OS X look. It
uses Apple's built in Safari engine to render pages. Any plug-ins you
have installed in Safari, Scavenger can take advantage of them.
Scavenger also contains bookmarks to kid-friendly sites like Noggin,
Nickelodeon and others.
Part of the reason Scavenger can keep your kids safe is that it
restricts itself from going to any other site except those you have on
the home page. Scavenger does not allow for downloading files. Any
files on the internet will need to be installed by you using another
browser. Scavenger is a great app to help you control your kids
browsing experience. But, remember, no piece of technology can take
the place of good parenting, ultimately it's your responsibility.
What about the child that has an artist inside just waiting to burst
out? There is a wonderful drawing program for children in the
elementary level. It's called Tux Paint. Tux Paint: http://www.tuxpaint.org
Tux Paint is a colorful drawing application that combines an easy-to-
use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot
who guides children as they use the program. Kids are presented with a
blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help them be
creative.These drawing tools include brushes, stamps, lines, shapes,
text, magic tools, erasers and undo. Tux Paint has been around the Mac
community for years and has developed into a full featured, solid
application that could easily become shareware if desired.
Mac developers have not forgotten about the educators along with the
pupils. Moodle is an open source course management system. Moodle: http://moodle.org
Moodle can help educators create effective online learning
communities. From one pupil to thousands, Moodle handles it all.
Moodle is a software package for producing internet-based courses and
web sites. The feature list is pages long and the capabilities are
endless. Use as much of the program as you need or as little as you
need. Do yourself a favor and visit the Moodle website yourself and
you'll be as impressed as I am with the possibilities.
Let's finish this list with an app that your High School student might
just crack a smile and thank you for finding it for them. It's called
Trigonometry and it's from VoJou Software. Trigonometry: http://www.vojousoftware.com
The name says it all. The app is a small and simple to understand
program to learn or teach Trigonometry. If I remember my High School
days, anything that can help with Trig is worth it's weight in gold.
Especially if it's free.
That should do it for this article. We've only scratched the surface.
The Mac had it's roots in the educational system and for many years it
was the king of the family computers. Those were great developers and
now a new wave have taken the reins and given us some fantastic
freeware to help our children grow and learn.
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8. PODCASTER INTERVIEW: VICTOR CAJIAO
by D. Popeck <http://dpopeck.wordpress.com/>
Victor Cajiao first published the Typical Mac User podcast on New
Year’s Day 2006. Two and a half years later and 136 podcasts later, he
is still going strong. On his web site <www.typicalmacuser.com> one
can find links to subscribe to this fun podcast is published biweekly
and covers Apple news, new products, hardware and software. As an
added bonus he has started releasing short videos from his Flip Mino
on the web site, so be sure to check it out! Lucky for us, Victor was
nice enough to take the time to answer a few questions.
Q: What made you decide to do a podcast?
I was switching to the Mac and I wanted to share my experience of
learning about Mac, Apple and to do it in a way that I would be a
contributor not just a consumer of information. The show allows me to
continue to learn and grow while I learn about all things in the Apple
community, software, hardware and how “The Cult of Mac” is about
people coming together and sharing their knowledge. That fits
perfectly into my life and how I can contribute to it.
Q: Despite the name of your podcast, you are not a typical user. Can
you tell us a little about your IT background?
Well I was very “Typical” when I started the show, and although I may
not be “Typical” today, I still tend to very much relate to the early
days of my switching to the Mac and what things baffled me, and what I
wanted to learn. My IT background goes back about sixteen years where
I have been anything from a systems administrator, a developer of
IVR’s and Automatic Call Distributors to a Director of development, QA
\QC. This experience in IT, managing and teaching have served me very
well in doing the podcast and in delivering a show that I would want
to listen to.
Q: With so many episodes completed, do you have any long-term goals
for the podcast?
Well to have the willingness to keep on doing it. It’s sometimes
difficult because there are so many wonderful Mac related podcasts. I
often have to really wonder and reflect as to whether I’m contributing
something unique or just repeating what other do. I try to inject my
personality and experience to the podcast in order to keep it unique.
I’ll keep it going as long as I enjoy it. Of course another goal is to
continue to grow sponsorship, as the money I make from the show all
goes into new gear, software and all things show related. I have been
able to start a business Typical Media Group LLC, because of the
podcast, and that allows me to provide consulting services on all
sorts of new media related content.
Q: Audience participation is a game-changer. How have the live-
streaming programs been for you?
I recently had to put the live aspect of the show on hiatus while I
look for another way to do the live shows. They have been super
fulfilling and I miss doing them. There is nothing like two way
interaction in new media, I’m so much more interested in what all of
you have to say, than hearing my own voice. I will find a different
way to do live content again. Perhaps not every week like I did for 18
months, however it’s too much fun to let it go. For now I UStream
myself almost every weekend and lately I have been doing some almost
daily videos called Victor’s Mino Moments, to keep in touch. I call it
that because they are done on a Flip Mino camera in my car while I
drive home. I post them on the blog and they have gotten great
reaction. I’m such a dork <wink>
Q: After WWDC I see MobileMe as a potential break out service.
“Exchange for the rest of us” is a major boost to iPhone sales. What
are your thoughts on MobileMe (was .Mac)?
I think if Apple has the proper infrastructure to keep it available
then it will be great. I have always been a dot Mac member, however
the dot Mac service is not always available. Apple has to make that
service completely solid so that it can be yet another gateway for
people who don’t use Apple products today (other than the iPhone and
iPods). If they can pull off Mobile Me with the ease of use, and
dependency that is associated with other Apple products it will be yet
another tool in the “Halo Affect” to draw more people into Mac
computers and all things Apple.
Typical Mac User Podcast <www.typicalmacuser.com> The latest podcast,
TMUP 136: It’s all about MIDI with David Sparks, was released Tuesday,
July 1, 2008. To listen, visit the site and either use the web player
or, better yet, subscribe in iTunes.
****************************************************************************************************
Some articles above have been reprinted with permission from TidBITS.
TidBITS has offered more than ten years of thoughtful commentary on
Macintosh and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access
to the entire TidBITS archive, visit www.tidbits.com.
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