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Why Buy A Mac?
By Ed@Smalldog.com

Over the past couple of weeks, several people have asked me why they should buy a Mac when Macs seem more expensive than some advertised PCs. Well, here are my top five reasons why Macs easily justify their price:

1. Quality. Apple desktop and laptop computers are rated #1 by Consumer Reports for repair history, tech support, and consumer satisfaction. Apple leads all other reviewed computer manufactures, including Sony, Dell, and HP in all those categories. Any computer can have tech problems, but statistically Macs are much less likely to have them happen.

2. There are still no viruses for OS 10.4 in the wild, and there never have been. Of course, this could change, but Apple has proven it has built an extremely secure OS. Apple is committed to keeping the OS secure and up-to-date as well.

3. You can run multiple OS's on any Intel-based Mac. Mac OS X, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Linux, Unix etc. If you buy one Mac and install Windows, it's like owning two or more computers. Unix and X11 are already installed. Windows can be downloaded over the web. No PC can effectively run the Mac OS at all. For may people, especially web designers and scientists, this is a must-have feature.

4. Awesome multi-media architecture. Macs are ready to make high quality media projects out of the box with iLife and the extremely multimedia-friendly OS X. Macs are ready to run ultra high-end, cutting edge multimedia apps as well, such as Shake, Avid, etc.

5. High resale value. It's a pain if you want to buy a used Mac, but great if you are selling one. Macs retain the highest resale of any computer in the industry. This makes it somewhat easier to upgrade to a new Mac in the future. Macs retain high resale value because they
tend to be extremely reliable.

Of course, I am very biased. But I love using my MacBook Pro for writing, designing, communicating, and yes, even for dreaming. OS X, even with it's limitations, is really the best operating system on the planet. I also love the features, power and design of Macintosh computers, especially now that we have the power and flexibility of the Intel processors.

I do wish every Mac came with more USB ports, though...

iPods are more than Music

iWriter in the news

Last week the Education Technology Services group at Penn State University released a white paper on iWriter, our utility for creating study tools for iPod. Cole Camplese, the director of ETS at Penn State, also included a greatsample iWriter project in his blog posting about iWriter and his team’s work with it. iWriter is available as a free 15-day trial, and for $29.95. http://www.talkingpanda.com/news/

Homepage for TalkingPanda: http://www.talkingpanda.com/index.php
The have several other cool products.

Martin Kollman shared this resource.

Widget of the Week: Be careful with this one!

Widget of the Week
By Art@Smalldog.com

This week's widget is one that I would suggest you AVOID downloading and making active on your Dashboard.

It's called Airport Radar and is posted by MacWireless.com.

Here's the link;

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/networking_security/airportradar.html

The intention of this widget is to allow your computer to seek out and test signal strength for any wireless networks in the area.

It has been my experience that many of these kinds of wireless radar widgets actually detract from overall performance. They tie up your wireless functionality because they are constantly scanning for signal in the background. Definitely not desirable for someone who depends on a fast, reliable wireless network.

If you like your signal strength, do NOT download and install this widget.

Of course, savvy users like yourselves would download it (as it could be convenient in some cases) and only turn it on when needed.

New Parallels Update

New Parallels Update
Submitted By Parallels, Edited By Ed@Smalldog.com

Parallels sent us a great introduction to some of the key features in their latest update. It's anchored by two innovative features: Parallels Coherence and Parallels Transporter. Here's the run-down:

Parallels Coherence: A groundbreaking new feature that lets users run Windows applications on their Macs just like they are native Mac applications. When a user switches to Coherence mode, the Windows desktop disappears, leaving their Windows applications running directly on their Mac desktop. This gives them a native Mac experience even though they are working with Windows applications.
While in Coherence, users can load and run important Windows-only applications like Outlook and Internet Explorer directly from their Mac application dock. Each user’s Coherence experience is completely customizable and provides numerous options on how to load and run applications and when and how the user sees the Windows task bar and Start menu.

More information on Coherence, and screenshots of the feature in
action, is available at:

http://www.parallels.com/products/coherence/

Parallels Transporter: A powerful new migration tool that gives users the ability to completely move their entire old Windows PC -- including all of its settings, applications, files and profiles -- directly to a Parallels virtual machine running on their new Mac, without re-installing Windows. Transporter is particularly important for users switching from Windows to OS X by allowing them to keep the “security blanket” of their familiar Windows PC while they learn how to leverage the power of their new Mac. It also eliminates the hassle of having to “start from scratch” with a new Windows installation, which for many non-technical users can be a daunting experience.

Transporter also instantly converts VMware Workstation and Microsoft Virtual PC images to Parallels-ready images. This means that Virtual PC users working on PowerPC Macs can upgrade to an Intel-Mac running Parallels without losing any information or applications, and that VMware Workstation and VMware Player users can easily upgrade their virtual machines, or any VMware Virtual Appliance, to a Parallels virtual machine.

In addition to these two major features, the Update includes a number of other important upgrades that substantially improve the user experience and drive productivity:

“Plug and Play” USB 2.0 support: By upgrading USB support from 1.1 to 2.0, users can now access popular USB devices like external hard drives, printers, and scanners, and use them at full native speed, simply by plugging the device into their Macs. Built in iSight cameras are also fully supported. There is no complicated setup required to make USB devices work.

Full-feature virtual CD/DVD drive: Users can burn CDs and DVDs directly in virtual machines, and play any copy-protected CD or DVD just like on a real PC.

Support for Boot Camp partitions: The update gives Boot Camp users the ability to easily run their entire Boot Camp installation, directly in a Parallels virtual machine, without any complex setup or manual reconfiguration. Users can switch between loading Windows in Parallels Desktop or Boot Camp as often as they’d like.

True “Drag and Drop”: Easily share files between Windows and OS X by dragging documents and folders from one desktop to another. Drag and Drop is completely customizable to ensure maximum file and system security.

Support for Windows Vista: Users can create a new virtual machine that runs Windows Vista, or upgrade a Windows XP virtual machine to a Windows Vista virtual machine without losing any information or starting from scratch.

A complete list of new features and improvements found in the new version of Parallels Desktop for Mac is available at

http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/features/.

Games for your Mac

I am not into games, but I am sure many of you are. If that is the case check out Apple's Game Trailer page. It is a theater where you can preview Mac games before they come out. Here's the link;
http://www.apple.com/games/trailers/

Game trailers are pretty good at letting you know what it is all about by using actual screen shots. There are literally dozens of games listed and many that will work on your iPod Video.

Steve Jobs Commencement Address at Stanford

Commencement Address at Stanford University

by Steve Jobs

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever -- because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference."

-Steve Jobs

This speech was delivered June 12, 2005.

This is from Learn Out Loud Podcast. Very Interesting even if it was in 2005.

Get Rid of Stuffit

Get Rid of Stuffit
By Jimmy@Smalldog.com

If there’s any one application that I install on each of my Macintosh computers, it’s Stuffit. Stuffit if you don’t already know is an application that works with compressed and archive files. These are .ZIP, .RAR, .TAR, .SITX and .HQX file types (there are 25 in total that it currently supports). Of course each time I need to install I have to fill out Stuffits download request form, and then wait for them to email me a download link to the software. It gets to be kind of annoying, although it’s partly my fault since I usually forget to make a copy of the software or I forget where I put a copy.

I just recently downloaded a file that used the 7z format. Unfortunately Stuffit didn’t work with this file format so I was on the lookout for an application that would work with this file. After doing a quick Google search I came across a very simple application called ‘The Unarchiver’! This program is about 1.4MBs whereas Stuffit
is about 14MBs. Obviously The Unarchiver only un-archives things so that’s probably why it’s much smaller. Of course that’s all I really need it to do anyways, I don’t really need the extras in Stuffit. It opens all the file types I need it to open and I don’t have fill out some form to download it!

I think I’ve just seen the last of Stuffit, and I gladly am welcoming in The Unarchiver!

You can download a free copy of The Unarchiver here:

http://wakaba.c3.cx/s/apps/unarchiver.html

Mac Gaming News - Ambrosia Brings DEFCON to the Mac

Ambrosia Software is teaming with Introversion Software to bring the popular PC Game DEFCON to the Mac. DEFCON is an online multiplayer strategy game based on the threat of thermonuclear armageddon and was inspired by the 1983 moviw War Games. The game is expected to be available for download at the Ambrosia Software Web site in March, and will be priced at US$25

Speech Recognition for OSX

ScriptPaks add voice control for many of your favorite applications by installing scripts and macros into iListen 1.7 or greater. Once installed, you will be able to use your voice for many other tasks in the application for which the scripts in the ScriptPak were designed. With ScriptPaks we have done the scripting so you don't have to.

This ScriptPak is designed for Mac OS X 10.4 or greater and iListen 1.7 or greater.

Find out the Commands in the iRemember ScriptPak at Macspeech

TeachMac

Presenting the Class of '07…

TeachMac is a searchable library of cross platform, multimedia computer tutorials built by Mac users for Mac users. With over 40 new features and fixes and new free content every week, TeachMac is better than ever.

New Features of TeachMac '07

• See topics lists before you download
• Advanced Search
• Editable custom modules
• Displays video at native resolution, even HD
• More features here

Learn What You Need

New to the Mac and want to learn everything? Need a quick tutorial on Apple Mail?.. in German? Want to learn how to build a Cocoa web browser? Download the free TeachMac application and grab lots of tutorials ranging in price from free to $15 or buy a subscription for only $49.
Details here

Teach What You Know

Spreadsheet Samurai, Gaming Guru or Programming Paragon, share your knowledge, help build a community of teachers and learners, author your own modules, and make some dough.
More about authoring modules with TeachMac

http://www.teachmac.com/

See Through Stickies

Apple's Stickies application is handy for storing quick notes and other bits of information, but those note windows can get in the way of everything else on your Macs desktop. If you need to see the contents of a Stickie window and also see what's behind it, just make the window see-through. Here's how:

http://www.macobserver.com/tip/2007/02/23.1.shtml

Sending text Messages with iChat

Cell phone text messaging is a convenient way to communicate with someone when speaking on th phone isn't appropriate. The process of entering a message on a cell phone's number pad, however, is less than convenient. If your Mac is handy, you can use iChat instead to send messages to your friend's cell phones. Here's how:

http://www.macobserver.com/tip/2006/08/21.1.shtml

Use Tiger's (OS 10.4) ColorSync Utility to Quickly

Use Tiger's (OS 10.4) ColorSync Utility to Quickly Shrink Images
by don@smalldog.com

I discovered this tip by accident. A customer asked how he could quickly reduce the size of digital images for sending via email. The customer didn't want to use iPhoto or Mail to do this (see Mac Treat #14 for how to resize photos in OS X Mail.) Also, he didn't want to download the excellent (and free) ImageWell application (linked
below.) Basically, he wanted to do what he was used to doing in Windows -
right-clicking on an image to resize it.

To do this in Tiger, select an image you wish to resize. Right-click on the image, or, if you use a laptop or a single-click mouse, click on the image while holding down the control key (usually the key located in the lower left corner of the keyboard.) A contextual menu will open up. In this menu, select "Open With" and chose "Color Sync Utility."

In ColorSync Utility, click on the square resizing icon, which is second from the right. If you don't see the square resizing box icon, click on the oval tic tac-looking button on the upper right corner of the ColorSync window.

When you click on the square resizing box, a menu will open up, with an option to Resize: scale. You can chose how small you want the image to be by percentages. You won't see the changed to the image until you save it. IMPORTANT NOTE: the new, smaller image will overwrite the original image unless you choose Save > As and rename the new image. This is why iPhoto is great - non-destructive image editing means you can always revert to the original photo.

However, for quickly resizing an image, ColorSync Utility is fast - it only take four steps, including saving the image.

Download ImageWell to make simple image edits (including scaling them down) here:

http://www.xtralean.com/IWOverview.html

Problems staying connected in iChat?

Solving Random AIM Disconnections
by Seth@Smalldog.com

Recently I was having problems connecting to iChat, was getting
random disconnections from AIM, and I couldn't video chat. I did
some research on various message boards, where I discovered a
consensus that port 443 is the most stable for video chat. My iChat
preferences were set to port 1053. To view your iChat port settings,
simply launch iChat, then browse to Preferences > Accounts > Server
Settings. There you will see assigned ports.


And here is another resource with screenshot instructions on how to fix from MacObserver.
http://www.macobserver.com/tip/2007/02/14.1.shtml

Arizona Mac Users Group

http://www.amug.org/

WoW!!! this site is full of resources. Take a look.

Find out why the world’s leading researchers are using Macs.

Find out why the world’s leading researchers are using Macs.

http://www.apple.com/education/whymac/science/

NeoOffice

NeoOffice^®

is an open source software development project created by Patrick Luby and Edward Peterlin

NeoOffice (http://www.neooffice.org/) is a fully-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing programs) for Mac OS X. Based on the OpenOffice.org office suite, NeoOffice has integrated dozens of native Mac features and can import, edit, and exchange files with other popular office programs such as Microsoft Office.

Released as free, open-source software under the GNU General Public License (GPL), NeoOffice is fully functional and stable enough for everyday use. The software is actively developed, so improvements and small updates are made available on a regular basis.

It is available for free from the NeoOffice download page.

Emails show MS experienced OS X Tiger envy

Newly released documents reveal that Microsoft executives were awed by Apple's future operating system features, saying that the it may not be able to achieve Apple's innovation levels and acknowledging future, similar Windows Vista features would be directly compared with Mac OS X. Confirming earlier reports that Vista development was inspired by Tiger..... To Read the whole article go to:
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/02/08/ms.inspired.by.os.x.tiger/

Resizing Photos in OS X Mail

Resizing Photos in OS X Mail
By Don@Smalldog.com

I first noticed this tip on the Unofficial Apple Weblog (www.tuaw.com/) but later also noticed it at Apple's Hot News RSS feed. I didn't realize that you could do this but it has saved me some steps. I showed it to a few people here at Small Dog and most
didn't know about it (except for Morgan and Jimmy that seem to know everything). Normally, when I would include a picture in an email, I would open iPhoto and find the picture I wanted to send and choose the "mail" icon to open a new mail message with that picture in it. When I did so, I was greeted with a dialog box that would let me choose the size of the photo. Then I would compose my email or drag the picture from that email message opened by iPhoto to the message I was working upon. A lot of steps to send a picture.

You do not have to go through all that! After you attach a photo to your email message (you can just drag-and-drop the image into the new message window from iPhoto), take a look in the bottom-right corner of your email message window, and you’ll see a pop-up menu where you can choose the image size you’d like to send. As soon as you choose a size (other than actual size), the image is immediately scaled down right within the email message window so you can see the exact size of the photo you’re sending.

FreeSMUG: Free OpenSource Software Mac Users Group

Tutorial, info, news, help on end-users Free and OpenSource Mac software