No. 349, February 2013

Xmas Auction participantsraise $410 for the User Group’s general fund!

Thank you everybody!!

Tuesday 12th FebruaryMain Hall (Upstairs)7:30 Mac Basics with Trevor Open format Q&A for all your Mac problems, and some tips and tricks.8:30 Backups with Trevor A refresher on taking backups of your Mac, with a look at Dropbox an iCloud also.

Downstairs8:30 Creating Movies with Richard See how to use the Camtasia program for screen capture and recording, movie making, and publishing.

Tuesday 19th February7:30 Committee Meeting Raiders Weston Sports Club

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Frank Pope president@actapple.org.au President 0405 440 820

John Armstead john.armstead@bigpond.com Vice President

Garry Brooke brooke01@grapevine.com.au Secretary

David Menere treasurer@actapple.org.au Treasurer 6282 5445

Tony Hill webmaster@actapple.org.au Webmaster

Richard Scotte richard.scotte@mac.com Committee Member 6282 4887 & Training Coordinator

Santo Giuliano editor@actapple.org.au Newsletter Editor

Frank Pope membership@actapple.org.au MembershipOfficer

Ruth Lathlean rlathlean@netspeed.com.au Committee Member 6231 7739

Trevor Drover 6241 7558 Hardware, OS X, OS 9 and earlierAnn Tündern-Smith a.smith@netspeed.com.au Excel, Genealogy, PhotoshopGarry Brooke brooke01@grapevine.com.au Basic Mac OS X, Quicken, Virtual Box, WINE, UAEAmigaemulationandbasicMSOffice

We are not computer professionals and our expertise is limited. If your Mac requires professional service you can take it to Mac1 ANU (6257 0808; 2 Hutton Street Acton) or Mac1 Fyshwick (6280 0808; 178 Gladstone Street).

For professional on-site service call Pat “The Mac Guy” Kelly on 0412 910 968.

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Please only call committee and helpers between 6.00 and 9.00 pm

GENERAL HELP EMAIL LIST

ACTApple Users Group hosts a General Help and Information

email list.

Any member may join and post messages seeking help for Mac

problems, offer assistance to other members or provide news

and views on the Mac world.

To join the list send an email to the List Administrator

(Peter Sealy)

carpet3@internode.on.net

or from our ‘Members Only’ area on

www.actapple.org.au

3 Meeting Details and Coverpage 1

3 Committee and Help Contact Details 2

3 ACT Apple Payment and Joining Options 3

3 President’s Desktop 4

3 ACT Apple Work List 5

3 Review: iPad - The Mising Manual, 5th Edition by Roger Bernau 6

3 Review: Book Collector 8

3 Movie Making (Camtasia) Invitation 9

3 Review: BackupList+ by Peter 10

3 How to Beat the Line at the Apple Store 11

3 An Open Letter to Microsoft 14

3 Appleworks ---> Pages by Ruth 15

3 Trash(can) or Treasure - Items For Sale 16

3 Member Competition 16

3 My Top Ten 17

3 Bits and Pieces by Peter 18

3 The Fine Print & O’Reilly link 20

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Users Helping Users

Simply  come  to  our  monthly  presentation  night  with  cash  or  a  cheque  (“ACT  AppIe  Users  Group”).

2nd  Tuesday  of  the  month  (not  January),    7.30  pm,  at  the  Hughes  Baptist  Church,  Groom  Street,  Hughes  (near  where  Webster  Street  joins  —  a  map  is  at  www.actapple.org.au).  Wheelchair  accessible.

Presentation nights

Payment and joining optionsIn person

Post a chequeSend  your  cheque  with  the  application  form  to  ACT  AppIe  Users  Group  Inc.,  GPO  Box  1231,  Canberra    ACT    2601.

Join onlineFull  instructions  are  at  www.actapple.org.au  —  see  the  options  under  “Joining  and  renewing”  .

Electronic funds transferPay  to  the  ACT  AppIe  Users  Group  Inc.  account  at  CommunityCPS  Australia,  BSB  805022,  Account  Number  03425208,  and  the  account  name  must  be  “ACTApple”.  PLEASE  include  your  name  on  the  account  description,  so  we  can  identify  it.  Then  write  the  transaction  reference  number  in  an  email  and  send  it  to  membership@actapple.org.au.

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President’s Desktop

Welcome back!Hi all, and welcome to ACTApple for 2013. Last year ended quite well for our club, all things considered. We had a successful Xmas

party and auction to give us an enjoyable end to the year.

Financials.We also presented our completed financial results at that meeting. Basically they showed that we ran at a loss last year, partly due to reduced member numbers but

mainly due to a delay in taking membership renewals until Aug/Sep which of course had quite a hit on our income figures at EOFY. We looked at this in our January committee meeting and we do have the member numbers to keep us in the black but the budget is tight. In response we’ve cut back on extra spending so no new door prizes or club assetts for the time being. Is that a cause for concern? No. It’s prudent to make sure we don’t overspend at the moment. We also finished the year showing that we’ve reversed the decline in our member numbers, which is all good news. It comes back to earlier plans that I’ve mentioned to make sure we look after the members we have. To that end …

Presentation night formatDo you have a specific problem you need to fix? Is there a program you want to find out more about? Need someone to show you how to work the Finder or set up your backups? These are things that we encounter every month but struggle to address in our current format.

Add to this the continued expansion of the Apple product line, and our survey last year showing that members had questions on many more programs than the standard iLife suite. Then we have new devices like iPads in the mix and those sessions were clearly popular last year. With 10 nights each year available to us - well you see the challenge.I spent a chunk of the break considering this in conjunction with our ongoing wish-list of getting people more in touch with each other and finding better ways to share our Mac knowledge, and took the discussion to the committee in January.The result is that we’ll be changing the format of our presentation nights, starting in March.We will still have tutorials when needed, but these will be held in the downstairs room. This smaller room has almost no background noise and brings the audience closer to the presenter which creates a much more interactive atmosphere to be taken advantage of. The main hall will be reserved for Mac Basics and then freed up for discussion between members. There is plenty of space on tables for members to bring their own computers and show the problems if it helps, otherwise we have club laptops available to demonstrate solutions. And with the kitchen right there you can share your issues over a coffee.

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Put simply, ACTApple is users helping users. I think our new format will be our biggest change in years to support that goal. I’m very pleased that 2013 will bring this change, and keen to hear even more new ways to help the club evolve to meet our information challenges.Our February presentation night will go ahead with the already planned session on backups, and then in March we should have the details sorted out and be able to start our new approach!

ACTApple to-do listThe committee wanted to put together a list of services provided in the hope that members would see something they could help with. We’ve now been able to get that list together and put it in this newsletter.

Whilst the committee accepts the role of keeping the club moving along, its just not possible for us to get to everything. A lot of what is needed is not computer oriented, we just need more people with the time and willingness to help. We have ongoing operational and administrative tasks, some simple and others not so much, and also one-off projects aimed at keeping the club changing and improving. We’ve included services on the list that have dropped off over time because we’ve been unable to find someone to keep them going. Please [see the Work List opposite] and see if there is something you as a member can do to help. You will be helping everyone.

Cheers,Frank Pope President ACT Apple User Group

ACTApple Work ListCan you help your User Group with one of the following activities?If so please let Frank know,via email: president@actapple.org.auor on: 0405 440 820... if you’d like to see whats involved.

Regular Tasks:• Membership Fees (presentation nights• Refreshclubflyersatlibrariesandshopfronts• Help Desk - daytime meetings / chez George• Help Desk - phone calls• Help Desk - presentation nights• Presentation Night co-ordinators (3 required) - equipment / keys - manage topics and presenters - door prizes - special event planning - member liaison / services / chatting to people - name badges• Club promotional items (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc)• Member Software DVD (content review / update)• Training software / Book library

Projects:• Clubdocumentarchive(filesonwebcityservers)• Web site review and modernisation for mobile devices• Newsletter production for handheld devices• Training• Club operational documentation• Club license documentation• Special requirements eg. hearing aids in presentations• ACTApple Screen Saver update• Virtual committee meetings (e.g. iChat / Skype)

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iPad – The Missing Manual, 5th Editionby Roger Bernau

O’Reilly released the fifth edition of iPad in its Missing Manual series in November 2012 and has provided a copy for review. I was keen to read it as I have been using an iPad (when my wife lets me) over the past

nine months, guided by the start up sheet that comes with the iPad, a downloaded PDF Apple iPad user manual and online Apple support. I was interested to see what the Missing Manual could add.

Missing Manual series books are promoted by O’Reilly as ‘the book that should have been in the box’. A little old fashioned, as most software doesn’t come in a box any more; but it does refer back to a time when software came with a thick manual or set of manuals. I can remember when MS Office came with a stack of manuals about a foot high!

The book is in a quality square spine soft cover form with a glossy cover, clear text and lots of colour images. It has seven pages of table of contents and 384 text pages, including a 18 page index. The author is J.D. Biersdorfer.

The content covers all iPads, including the Mini. It also covers a lot of functionality outside the iPad itself – including iCloud, App Stores, PhotoStream and iTunes.

At the time of publication it was known that iTunes 11 was about to be released. The author indicates that a section on iTunes 11 would be available subsequently as a PDF for download. In conjunction with the book O’Reilly offers on-line resources in the form of the “Missing

CD” (the CD that you would have had to pay for if it came with the book) at its www.missingmanual.com website. This also is where other book updates will be available and where readers can leave their own comments. I downloaded the iTunes 11 item without trouble.

There is so much content in the book it might be helpful to provide information on the 13 chapters and two appendices:

Table of Contents - seven pages of detail down to main paragraph level titles.

Introduction - introduces the book and its internal conventions.

One – Set Up Your iPad

- describes the iPad models and provides getting started advice, including activation and syncing.

Two – Tour Your Tablet

- explores all the controls, connectors and standard apps.

Three – Interact with Your iPad

- explains the finger moves for using the touch screen, the keyboards, searching and printing.

Four – Get Online - covers wifi and cellular connection, FaceTime and Skype.

Five – Surf the Web - Safari, iCloud and online apps.Six – Keep In Touch

with Email and Messaging

-all about email and messaging.

Seven – Organise Your Life with the iPad’s Apps

- covers the standard apps that come with the iPad.

Eight – Shop the App Store

- how to use the App Store and to manage apps.

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Nine – Read iBooks and ePeriodicals

- using iBooks and ePeriodicals and managing content.

Ten – Play Games - using games and Game Centre.Eleven – Get Productive

with iWork- covers the iWork apps – Pages,

Numbers and Keynote.Twelve – Sync and Share

Media Files Using iTunes and iCloud

- using iTunes on the Mac, syncing between the Mac and iPad, iCloud.

Thirteen – Master iTunes on the Desktop

- more detailed use of iTunes on the Mac.

Fourteen – Manage and Play Music and Other Audio

- obtaining, syncing and using music and audio files on the iPad

Fifteen – Watch, Create and Edit Videos

- obtaining, syncing and using movie and video files on the iPad

Sixteen – View, Shoot, Edit and Manage Photos

- taking, photos, viewing and editing photos

Seventeen – Back Up and Sync Your Gadgets with iCloud

- covers setting up and using iCloud

Appendix A – iPad Settings

- explains the iPad settings

Appendix B – iPad Trouble Shooting and Care

- basic issues, resetting, updating, restoring, repairing and protecting

Index - 18 pages

I read the book from cover to cover, grabbing the iPad from time to time to check out features or functions I was reading about. I knew

quite a lot of the content already thanks to the information sources I have mentioned and the time I have been using an iPad. However, the book added clarity to much of what I ‘knew’. It also gave me new information on aspects I had not got around to doing anything with so far, such as how to set up and use FaceTime (something I had tried and temporarily given up on), Games Centre, iWork, videos, iCloud and fixing problems with resetting and restoring the iPad.

What I found very comforting was having all the information consolidated in one book – something easy to grab and access should the need arise. If I had had the book from the day the iPad arrived, learning the iPad would have been much easier.

I found the iPad Missing Manual to be of the usual high standard of the series. It was interestingly written and comprehensive, with a good table of contents and index.

by Roger Bernau

iPad: The Missing Manual, 5th Edition By: J.D. Biersdorfer Publisher: O’Reilly Media / Pogue Press Print: December 2012Pages: 400 Print ISBN: 978-1-4493-2556-5ISBN 10:1-4493-2556-4

Also available as an eBook from O’Reillyhttp://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920024910.do

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Review: Book CollectorBack when I first started homeschooling, and my home library was rapidly growing, I went on a crazy mission. I decided I was going to catalog every book I owned. I created a spreadsheet that had fields for the title, author, category, and likely some other details that I no longer remember. It didn’t seem like an unreachable task...until I actually started getting to work. I spent hours entering

information and finally gave up at some point past 1000 entries.

Ever since that failed project, I’ve had a desire to somehow manage and catalog the books that seem to grow exponentially in numbers on my shelves...and under beds, in cabinets, etc. It has nothing to do with wanting to feel some sort of control over my book addiction. Nope. That couldn’t be it.

Imagine my delight when I discovered that I would be reviewing Collectorz, a provider of database software for BOOKS, DVDs, MUSIC, games, and more. Collectorz sells different programs for each type of collection; I was provided with the Book Collector Pro edition.

After the easy download, the first thing I wanted to do was to start adding my titles into the database. I found this extremely easy to do. You can do an automatic add or a manual add, both activated by clicking an icon. For the manual add, you enter all the information on your title into each field on a pop-up form. Using the automatic add, you simply enter the ISBN into the appropriate field and hit return. As you enter books, they are added to a search queue. Once done, click “search all” and the program finds all the information needed, included a cover image. To make this process even easier, I purchased a Cue Cat scanner, available through Collectorz and elsewhere, to add the ability to scan the ISBN rather than type. I had a bit of learning curve, including discovering that many books also have a barcode on the inside cover that yields the correct ISBN, rather than one on the back, but found that the scanner moved things along greatly.

Even so, adding books to the software is a time-consuming process, especially if you are a book addict like me. I have not yet entered anywhere near my entire book collection yet. Right now I sit at 539 titles, and I’ve only made it way half way through my school room. It will be awhile before I get to those books stashed under beds. There have been some annoyances, like some

unrecognizable ISBN numbers, out-of-print titles, or books so old they don’t have an ISBN. The information on titles such as these need to be entered manually.

Remember though, you only have to enter once. Once you get your entire collection in, you need only add books as you first purchase them. I just hit a book sale today and I plan to scan my purchases before they even hit the shelves. This is a case where a lot of hard work on the front will pay off later.

The software allows you to display and sort your collection in a variety of ways. Being a visual person, I preferred to browse through my library using cover images.

However, this program does so much more than just let you browse books on your computer that you can readily see on your shelves.

Browse your book collection Add data & covers automatically Available data fields Sort and Search your database View your data in various skins View statistics of your database Export to CLZ Books (iPad, iPhone, Android) Data export options e.g. to HTML Use the loan manager Print your book data Book Collector Network Support

So, it can do a lot of stuff, but is it user-friendly? Well, yes and no. I seem to have an aversion to user manuals and tend to just jump in. That little habit doesn’t really combine well with the fact that I’m not very techy, but it does provide a great platform for determining user-friendliness. As I mentioned, adding books to the database was straight-forward and easy. Searching for a title, author, or keyword was also very easy. I was able to handle all of the basic functions for general use just by exploring the program on my own.

However, one day I went to open up my collection and it was completely gone. After entering over 500 books at that point, I felt like crying...or screaming. Or both. It was then that I realized how handy a user manual is, but I also discovered there is a user forum at the Collectorz website for questions or trouble shooting problems. While I don’t know what caused the

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WHO WANTS TO LEARN

MOVIE MAKING ? A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF

FOR A CLASS COVERING ALL ASPECTS OF MOVIE & BLOG COMPOSITION, EDITING,

PUBLISHING, UPLOADING, ETC.

I HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF FREE TRIAL VERSION Camtasia SCREEN CAPTURE AND RECORDING SOFTWARE DISCS AVAILABLE,

AND I WILL BE DEMONSTRATING AND DISCUSSING THE ABOVE AND ASSOCIATED

PRODUCTS, IN THE DOWNSTAIRS ROOM FOLLOWING MAC BASICS, AT THE USER GROUP MEETING, TUESDAY EVENING, 12th FEBRUARY.

If you are interested you will have to commit to 2x two hour sessions (TBA) as well as some

creative work in your own time.

Expressions of interestplease email <richard.scotte@mac.com> ASAP!... and preferably before midday Tuesday 12th

February.

Free 30-day Trial Version information and download at:

http://www.techsmith.com/download/camtasia/

initial disappearance, I was able to get my entire collection back pretty easily. Though the basic functions are fairly intuitive, I know there is a lot to this program that I have not yet discovered. I see a lot of potential.

While having my books cataloged all neat and tidy on a screen has given me a sense of control, I have yet to really use this program to its full capabilities. What I have used it for has certainly been helpful. For example, several times since owning the program, I used it to see if I owned a particular title. Shall I mention that while scanning, I found several titles that I own in duplicate? Just this feature alone saved me from scouring shelves or purchasing titles I already own. I’m also excited about being able to track titles that are on loan or for sale. Another use I see in the future is for an easy way for my children to see what books we have in the house. It isn’t uncommon for them to check out titles from the library, unaware the title is sitting on one of our many bookshelves in our home library.

Overall, I think this program is very worthwhile for the $49.95 price for the Pro Edition. Also available is the Standard Edition for $29.95. The software runs on either Windows or Mac. There is even an iPhone app that can be purchased to use with the software, allowing you to check out your collection away from home. To try before you buy, a free trial (limited to 100 books) is available for you to fully check out all of the features. Visit the Collectorz website for more information on this product and more.

Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result in my participationin The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation.

I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool.

Heidihttp://chatterandclatter.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/review-collectorz.html

Collectorzhttp://www.collectorz.com/

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Review - BackupList+

There are several kinds of backup procedures to ensure your data is safe. There are incremental updates, clone replacements and just file updates. Some you can do quite simply yourself by drag and drop files or use special purpose software. Cloning

has become a very popular procedure in recent years - at a given time your Mac HD is exactly copied to a separate disk to become a bootable clone. Cloning updates file changes from the last time the clone has run but does not retain earlier copies of files. Apple’s TimeMachine copies changed files but does retain earlier copies. Apple also includes a ‘Restore’ process which can copy your whole Mac HD so it does make a clone but it copies the full disk each time, not just files which have changed. But I won’t go into backup processes any further here, you can do that.

I currently have three external hard disks firewire daisy chained to my iMac for backup purposes. One is for TimeMachine and two [different brands] have the popular cloning software SuperDuper installed. Once a day I run them all and thus have a duplicate clone in case one of the cloned disks fails. Why have two SuperDuper clones? Nothing more than I have the available disks, a paranoia about loss of data, I purchased the full version of SuperDuper so I might as well use it and finally I have been too lazy to get around to finding an alternative cloner to SuperDuper. I have wanted to have an alternative cloning software on one of the disks as a safety measure in case the SuperDuper application crashes. Most unlikely, never heard of any such instance, but I told you I was backup paranoid. So finally recently I set about looking for an alternative backup cloning application.

There are quite a few available and all have their pluses and minuses, critics and supporters. Prices range from about $30 to $100 for consumer levels. Some are free.

I wanted one which had similar features to SuperDuper - able to be set to run at a variable time table, able to prevent certain files to be copied, could be used to backup the minimum system files if I so decided and be able to be set and forget.

Apple included within your OS a backup application called RSYNC. It has been in the OS for ages and any user can activate it. But it does take a bit of fiddling with the terminal.app so of course most users ignore it, if they even know it exists. But most of the third party backup applications call on the rsync application within the OS and just wrap it up nicely for you to see on your desktop and easily use.

BackupList+ is one such application I found. It is free but donation-ware. When I have used it a little longer with no apparent problems [none yet] I shall make a donation to the developer. I think it is worth it. BackupList+ has similar setup procedures to SuperDuper but is easier to do so. I find it more intuitive than SuperDuper, but then if you have never used SuperDuper that comment is useless. Most reviews I saw were very favourable.

I set my BackupList+ to be a clone of my primary Mac HD. When you first setup BackupList+ you need to give your backup ‘set’ a name. You can have several sets of backups for various collections of files to be backed up. I just called my only set ‘Mac HD’. From there on it is mostly just drag and drop. A few preferences such as make the clone bootable, open on computer startup, system password, need to be set. You can set the time for the backup to run for any frequency you like. I have set mine to run at 1.00 am daily. Checking that the backup has been done is easy from the application log and I find that output much

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simpler than SuperDuper. Of course you have to have the external disk for BackupList+ to be mounted when it is due to run.

Overall I found BackupList+ quite easy and intuitive to set up and run. Take it slow and with care you should have no trouble. The developer has a user manual available at his web site and I would recommend you download that as a pdf for reference when first installing BackupList+ and for future reference. I actually printed the manual as I find that easier to follow when I set up such things. The whole manual is 20 pages but you do not need to print the lot - about six or seven would suffice to help with initial install. But be warned. The application has undergone a considerable upgrade recently and like all such software upgrades the manual has not yet caught up with the application changes. The discrepancies are minor. But you all being Mac experts you would have no difficulty in applying your Mac intuitive skills to this application.

I recommend you have at least one external hard disk for backup purposes. You could partition it to accommodate TimeMachine and a clone application on separate partitions. But two external hard disks are preferable. Whatever you do, don’t partition your main Mac HD to accommodate a backup. Obviously.

<http://macupdate.com/app/mac/21413/backuplist+><http://rdutoit.home.comcast.net/~rdutoit/pub/robsoft/pages/softw.html>

Feel free to discuss on the email General Help list.

Peter Sealy carpet3@internode.on.net

How to beat the line at the Apple Store

A visit to your local Apple Store during the holiday season can be maddening. The stores are overrun with other shoppers, there’s a

mob around each gadget table, and waiting for your turn to be helped by an Apple Store employee takes eons. The walk-in line to purchase an iPhone 5 alone can take upwards of an hour, depending on how many people are in front of you. While we generally like the Apple Store’s “no register” system, it can be a real headache during busy periods.

This year, there are a few ways to avoid waiting in a long line. It just takes a little planning ahead.

Check yourself out

Bring your iOS device to the Apple Store, because the Apple Store app is a handy guide for holiday shopping. The app shows you where the nearest Apple Store is, lets you search for product availability at specific stores, and allows you to purchase items yourself.

The Apple Store app also has a feature called Express Checkout that lets you directly purchase items from the online Apple Store by quickly entering your Apple ID and password. Designate whether you’d like to pick the item up in a store or have it shipped. The app bills the card on file that’s linked to your Apple ID and will ship to the address on file as well; you can adjust these settings by selecting Edit in the app itself at checkout.

If you’re just purchasing accessories or other small gifts, there’s no need to wait for assistance at the store. The Apple Store app has a

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feature called EasyPay, which is essentially a self-checkout system. Customers scan items with the iPhone’s camera and pay using the credit card associated with their Apple ID. While EasyPay is limited to accessories and non-Apple products—you can’t use it to buy an iPhone, MacBook, or any other piece of Apple hardware—it can certainly eliminate your wait time, since you don’t need a “blue shirt” to help you out.

Before using EasyPay, make sure you enable the app’s push notifications and location settings. EasyPay will work only within an Apple Store, so if your location settings are disabled, the app won’t recognize that you’re in a store and won’t grant access to the EasyPay feature.

EasyPay works brilliantly with some items.

Once the Apple Store home screen pops up within the app, tap EasyPay. (This home screen also lets you make a Genius Bar appointment, ping an employee for additional checkout help, and sign up for in-store workshops.) Next, scan the barcode using

your iPhone’s camera. Once the item is recognized, a product page displays more information about the item scanned. Tap Pay Now at the bottom of the screen and enter your Apple ID and password. The item will be charged to the credit card associated with your Apple ID and iTunes account, so make sure you have that card with you—before you can complete the purchase, you must enter the card’s security code. The app emails you a copy of your receipt and stores another copy within a section of the app.

The EasyPay feature does have a few kinks to work out. It allows only one item to be checked out a time, which might actually slow your shopping down if you have several items on your holiday list.

Be prepared to enter your Apple ID and password multiple times and to have a bevy of receipts sitting in your inbox. You’ll also have to flag an employee down if you need a shopping bag or a gift receipt, which could also slow you down. Additionally, EasyPay works only on the iPhone 4/4S and the iPhone 5, and requires iOS 4.2 or higher.

But sometimes, you still need an employee to complete your checkout.

Another limitation restricts what you can actually purchase with this app. When I scanned a $99 Apple TV unit, for example, the app prompted me to get an employee for checkout help. When I called over an Apple Store associate, she explained that Apple TVs and Time Capsules require additional checkout assistance because of their Apple serial numbers. However, I was able to scan a Magic Trackpad, a Smart Cover, and a Lightning adapter, and they registered as items available through EasyPay. It does seem as though price is a factor as well. When I scanned the $400 Libratone Zipp AirPlay speaker system, EasyPay prompted me to find an employee to complete the transaction. Look for the EasyPay tag on store shelves—those products are the ones that are available for purchase through the app.

Returning items is a breeze; just show an Apple employee a copy of your emailed receipt or the one directly from the app. You’ll need to have your credit card with you when making a return, and make sure you’re within Apple’s return-policy deadlines.

When leaving the store, you may be asked to present a copy of your receipt, although I didn’t experience that at any of the three stores where I tested the app. However, make sure your transaction actually finalizes before you toss the item in your bag—you could run into some unwarranted trouble.

If all you need is accessories, software, and stocking stuffers, EasyPay could drastically cut your wait time within the store.

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Order online, pick up at the store

If you know exactly what you want to purchase, you can reserve items online or through the Apple Store app for in-store pickup. Just check the Pick Up option during checkout when shopping online. Before you add an

item to your cart, check the product’s availability at whichever store you’d like to schedule the pick-up. Usually, if it’s a device in a stock configuration, it will be available for pick-up the same day it’s ordered. If a store has it in stock, it will be ready in as little as an hour. You can either pay online and pick it up in the store or reserve an item and pay in the store upon pick-up.

Because the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini have become this season’s hot commodities, reserving one of these items follows a different procedure. You can reserve either the iPhone 5 or iPad mini between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m for in-store pickup the next day; otherwise, you’ll have to wait in line for a walk-in purchase, or waiti two weeks for your scheduled home delivery. The Pick Up option will also vary from store to store.

Depending on the item, it might be faster to have it shipped directly to your home than to pick it up from a store—especially if it’s a customized iMac or MacBook that differs from the stock configurations. When I played around with pick-up options, a customized MacBook would take more than a week to ship to a store verses two to four business days to have it shipped directly to my home. Many Apple Stores carry “ultimate”configurations of Macs in addition to the standard configurations. These ultimate models usually have some build-to-order options for the fastest processor, maximum RAM, and largest storage capacity. They cost much more than the standard configurations, but they may be in stock. Unfortunately, the

latest iMac models aren’t yet available for purchase (as of this article’s publication).

The Personal Pickup and Reserve feature is extremely convenient if you live in an apartment or a building that cannot receive packages without a signature—or, if you’re big on planning ahead.

Express Shopping

To keep things slightly less chaotic during the busiest shopping time of the year, most Apple stores have an Express Shopping station set up. These long counters are manned by a handful of Apple Store employees and function much like a traditional register system. Stock-configurations of the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad, and various iPod models are kept behind the counter, so customers won’t have to wait for an Apple employee to run to the back to grab their desired item.

While you still might have to wait for a spot at the station, the time it takes to make a purchase will be much shorter. This option works only if you’re purchasing any of the items just mentioned above.

No matter which option you go with, the fastest way to complete your purchase at the Apple Store is to know what you’re buying beforehand. Do your research, figure out what size and configuration best suits your needs, and try out the in-store test models at an earlier date and time.

by Leah Yamshon (MacWorld)

Page 14

An Open Letter to Microsoft

by Jason Hyerstay <jason@smalldog.com>

Dear Microsoft,

I thought you might like to hear from an outside voice about some of your products

and your future. While I am a professional consultant who works mostly with Apple products, I spend plenty of time with Windows (mostly in Parallels), and I have been an Xbox gamer since the beginning.

I know you have struggled to figure out your place in the world where Apple has surprised you with the iPhone and iPad, and Google has done so much in the internet realm. I applaud you for your bravery in making some bold changes with Windows 8. I had my first look at it on a consult recently. It certainly looks much different from any other Windows on the surface, and I think the tile-based interface is intriguing. I still think it may need some more interface tweaking, as I found it a bit difficult to figure out how to change things and set things up.

I see that you are now requiring anyone who wants to use the built-in email program to register a Microsoft account. While I can sort of relate to this, since you have to have an Apple ID to use the iTunes Store, App Store, or iCloud, it has never been required to simply configure email. I had to create two accounts and jump through several hoops since I was setting up an account for a child. I had originally created an account for the parent to buy Office online for Windows, but had to go through a totally different interface for the same parent to get a new license for the Mac version of office. Then, after those two purchases, I still had to go through additional

purchase-based id verification when configuring the parental stuff on the child’s PC.

Wasn’t it verification enough when we used the credit card to buy an office license? Please unify these things. I also could not use self-signed SSL certificates that are fairly common for hosted small business email. I had to setup email without SSL, which I hate doing, and then enable it later. I was happy that it at least let me do that.

Microsoft, while I don’t think you will win over most Mac OS or iOS users with Windows 8, I really do appreciate the fact that you are taking risks with your user interface and trying to make a big leap forward instead of little incremental moves from the XP lineage. I do wish that you would ditch the backslash for paths and follow the *nix OSes of the world, and web addresses, and just use slashes. This is just nitpicking, I know. Having an actual *nix core might make things really interesting in the future, but that is another topic.

Now, I want to let you know what I think you are doing right, and what I think should be your template or inspiration as you move forward: firstly, the Xbox and Xbox 360. You have earned my loyalty in my living room by providing a solid gaming platform, with (and this is really important), the best gaming controller on the market. When the Xbox first came out, I bought adapters so I could use Sony PS2 controllers on it, and then when the smaller Japanese Xbox controllers hit the market, I paid extra to use those. I am very happy that those are basically the standardized controllers that the Xbox 360 shipped with. While Kinect is cool, and it is great that you released a developer SDK for it, don’t forget that millions of gamers, however athletic we might be outside the home, just want to sit on the couch with friends and family and game with a controller in our hands.

The Xbox interface has evolved over the years, and it now seems to be some of the inspiration for the Windows 8 interface. I think that whenever your customers tell you that something is difficult to figure

Page 15

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Your Apple user group must have a current website, then sign up by filling out the form:https://www.macprovideo.com/user-groups/.

Once your group is verified, they will send you 10 "Core Library Passes". macProVideo.com will also provide each sponsored user group with 2 free, NFR passes to the Online Tutorial Library (a $199 /year value). This offer is limited to one sponsorship per user group.

This worldwide offer is ongoing.

The AUG Resource blog is a great source for information about Apple user groups, vendor discounts, special events, interesting reviews, stimulating training, and more.

When you go to the URL to see all active vendor discount offers, enter the password “ugspecials” from May 16, 2011, to November 15, 2012:

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arranged in chronological order by expiration date -- see pages 4-5, 12 for Newest Offers

08/12/12 Time Sensitive quick reference guide page 16 of 16

Appleworks ---> PagesThank you to Peter Schmedding who allowed me to use Appleworks on his computer for a couple of hours recently. I found that Appleworks word processing files could be saved as Pages or RTF with no trouble and can be opened in Mt

Lion. For those files that were very old (2000!) AW converted them first to the latest version (v6). But I had a large number of Draw files and these were more of a challenge as they would not open in Pages or anything else. I thought I’d put my solution here in case others wonder what to do with AW Draw or Painting files when they go to Mt Lion. I opened new files in Rich Text Format (as Peter didn’t have Pages but I suspect that would have worked too) and dragged and dropped the draw images into those files, arranging them as I wanted, although this could be done later. When home at my computer I was able to open these RTF files in Pages. They are editable too! Hope this is of help to some.

Ruth Lathlean

out in Windows 8, you should keep going back to the Xbox dashboard to see how you did it easily there. I find the Xbox interface to be very easy to use, and it really helps bring some consistency among games. The fact that things like audio music control, chatting and friend management are system-wide and not dependent on other developers to get them right, are very important.

The next piece you have gotten right for years running is Xbox Live. I signed up on the first day (for Mech Assault) in November of 2002, and have been a happy customer every since. While Sony Playstation customers may argue that they get to play for free online, I am happy to pay a yearly fee for dedicated servers, reliable matchmaking, consistent chat interface, and other benefits. I think that by paying for this service, it makes you accountable to your customers to deliver good service year after year. I think Xbox Live is one of the best things you have ever done. Please don’t forget what makes it a success!

Finally, thank you very much for your new SmartGlass iOS app! I really appreciate that you understand that those of us who are loyal to you in the living room might have chosen other platforms for our mobile devices. Now that I can use my iPad or iPhone with my Xbox as a supplemental interface, I think you have already countered some of the things that Nintendo might be doing with its new system. Please make the next Xbox even more friendly in interfacing with Macs and iOS devices. While you might hope to grow your ecosystem with Windows PC and phone tie-ins, please resist the urge to lock out Mac and iOS users. You live in a mixed world. Embrace it.

Thanks for listening.

Jason Hyerstay (Smalldog.com)

Yes, its an EggsBox 360!see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yiLg5RH6gA

Page 16

Have something you want to sell, donate, trade, or just get rid of???

You can place an ad here for FREE, for personal items of ANY description (not just Apple stuff!)

Just put all the details in an email and send it to the Newsletter Editor, as below...

Contact: Santo ... Email: editor@actapple.org.au

Trash(can)or

Treasure!Items For Sale

>> Please note that some images used may be for illustrative purposes only! <<

iPod Touch 8GB (4th Gen; Model A1367)Black; Brand New, still in original unopened box, never used! ... $150 ono

iPod Touch 64GB (4th Gen; Model A1367)Black; Hardly Used; Original Box;Unused Headphones & USB Cable;iLuvfittedCase ...$370ono

Contact: Santo ... Email: editor@actapple.org.au

Special club competition for ACT Apple User Group Members only!Win a $50 gift voucher!

My worst Mac problem, and

how I solved it!

Tell us the story of how you solved the worst problem you had with your Mac.

>>> Deadline Extended! <<<>>> Sunday 17th March <<<The winner will be announced at a

following User Group meeting.

Please email entries to: richard.scotte@gmail.com

Entries will become property of the ACT Apple UGand may be used as items in the club newsletter.

Page 17

WANTED! Newsletter articles, opinions, guides, discoveries, nuggets of information and interesting tidbits of all kinds!!!I am sure all the newsletter readers, including yourself, have apps and websites and devices and software and ... lots of things you love about our Maccentric world.So please share them by emailing them to me at:editor@actapple.org.au

my top1234567890

This months selection taken from: Cult of Mac Editor’s Picks for 2012, Best Mac Apps

• Tweetbothttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetbot-for-twitter/id557168941Twitter client that’s lightyears ahead of Twitter’s native app.

• Snapseedhttps://itunes.apple.com/au/app/id490118981Snapseed is an innovative photo enhancement and sharing app with a powerful suite of imaging filters and tools.

• Pockethttps://itunes.apple.com/au/app/id568494494When you find an interesting article, video or web page that you want to read, watch or view later, put it in Pocket.

• Clearhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clear/id504544917Life is messy. Keep it together with Clear, the amazing app for list-keeping that is unbelievably simple, quick and satisfying to use.

• Foundhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/found/id527134927Found provides a lightning-fast, intuitive search experience that finds files across your Mac and personal cloud services, including Dropbox.

• Day Onehttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/day-one/id422304217A new, simple way to journal. Easy to quickly enter your thoughts and memories and have them synced and backed up in the cloud.

• Mint QuickViewhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mint-quickview/id533491939Mint QuickView is a companion app to Mint.com that gives you an up-to-date snapshot of your finances.

• iTunes 11http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/iTunes 11 is the biggest improvement we’ve seen in years. It’s simpler, faster, and stronger. The design is clean and more intuitive.

• Pulphttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pulp/id406857632Pulp is a new app that tries to make reading on the Mac a fun experience again by creating a virtual newspaper on your Mac.

• Flutterhttps://flutterapp.com/The OS X app that lets you control all of your music without having to ever click a mouse.

Buster Heinehttp://www.cultofmac.com/207270/our-editors-picks-for-2012s-best-mac-apps-feature/

Page 18

BITS AND PIECES

A real kaleidoscope of stuff today. Little collation or order. You can sort that out.

EMERGENCY HELP FOR YOUR iPHONE/iPAD<http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipad-iphone/news/?newsid=3421456>

EMERGENCY HELP FOR YOUR MACBeen around for quite a while but worth another outing.<http://liondiskmaker.com>

CLOCK SCREEN SAVERThereisamillionclockscreensaversoutthere.ThisisthefirstoneIhaveseen which is in binary.<http://osxdaily.com/2012/12/29/binary-clock-screen-saver-mac-os-x/>

ALTERNATE KEYBOARDSeems a clever idea.<http://9to5mac.com/2013/01/08/celluons-magic-cube-turns-any-flat-surface-into-a-bluetooth-keyboard/>

ANOTHER SPOTLIGHT TIP<http://macsparky.com/2012/10/dateyesterday>

ANOTHER BACKUP APPBeen around for a long time. Cost A$28. Always had good reviews that I have seen.<http://propagandaprod.com>

DOCUMENT MANAGERThis is new and has received much good reviews. At the time I downloaded it was free, but don’t know about now. Only for iPad.<http://9to5mac.com/2013/01/16/documents-is-a-free-powerful-cloud-integrated-document-and-media-manager-for-ipad/><https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/documents-by-readdle/id364901807?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4>

OS X HISTORYThis article is very interesting for light reading of the evolution of OS X. SignificantisthepathoftheOSselfrepairandproblempreventioninbuilttothe system.<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/12/screenshot-tour-os-x-then-and-now/>

WRITE ON YOUR iGADGETMany similar apps now available. Don’t know how good this one is. On sale at present.<http://www.cultofmac.com/206906/get-handwriting-recognition-on-your-iphone-or-ipad-with-myscript-notes-mobile-ios-tips/>

OS X PRIVACY<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57562806-263/how-to-manage-the-privacy-settings-in-os-x/>

ADMIN ACCOUNT<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57559319-263/how-to-quickly-restore-a-missing-admin-account-in-os-x/>

TEXT EDITORI don’t have a use for a text editor but you might.<http://vervious.com/imagine>

HOLY STYLUS, BATMANTaking the stylus to the next level. Not yet available but looks good. Write on your Mac screen as well as your iPad.<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57561848-37/ipen-2-will-let-you-write-on-your-imac-or-ipad/>

SLEEPYBeen plenty of tips recently about sleepy, tired, slow Macs.<http://osxdaily.com/2013/01/21/mac-slow-wake-from-sleep-fix/><http://sleepnomoreapp.com>

YOUR CALL IS IMPORTANT TO USI know you believe that. I usually just put the phone into loud speaker mode, leave it on the desk and do other things until a human deigns to talk to

Page 19

me. But I am going to try out this tip next time I ring a bank or insurance company.<http://osxdaily.com/2013/01/19/listen-to-music-while-on-phone-calls-iphone/>

MAC PERFORMANCEJust a few ideas to smarten up your older Mac.<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57546729-263/maximize-your-old-macs-performance/>

THEFT PROTECTIONThis is an alternative to Apple’s ‘Find my iPhone/iPad’ location based apps. Importantly it works on non Apple phones and tablets. Free.<https://preyproject.com>

NAME CHANGINGSometimes your Mac may change its name.<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57547889-263/tackle-a-macs-name-changing-with-sequential-numbers/>

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOWDuring January the annual American consumer fest dedicated to lightening your wallet and showcasing new, useful and ridiculous stuff. I am only selecting a few of the latter.<http://www.cultofmac.com/209121/carly-rae-jepson-gave-me-a-musical-massage-at-ces-and-i-loved-it-ces-2013/><http://9to5mac.com/2013/01/09/hands-on-with-i-massager-iphone-controlled-electrical-nerve-stimulation-and-other-ios-massage-accessories/><http://www.cultofmac.com/211374/never-dine-alone-again-with-the-anti-loneliness-bowl/><http://www.cultofmac.com/207876/surrealist-iphone-case-copies-catalan-crustacean/><http://www.cultofmac.com/209236/zipbuds-has-a-clever-way-to-keep-your-headphones-from-getting-tangled-ces-2013/><https://spraytect.com/products/>I don’t know whether this is for potty training or iPad training:<http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/49195/ipotty-for-ipad-accessory-ces>

As far as I am concerned the much hyped Pebble watch belongs in this category. Do you want your watch to notify you when you have an incoming message or phone call?<http://www.cultofandroid.com/21198/pebble-smartwatch-enters-mass-production-begins-shipping-january-23-ces-2013/>

FOR LESS EXPERIENCED USERSThis feature has been around forever but maybe you forgot.<http://osxdaily.com/2013/01/09/emoji-special-character-menu-mac-os-x/>Another one.<http://osxdaily.com/2013/01/15/fast-sleep-shut-down-restart-controls-mac-os-x/>A general telephone tip. If you make lots of overseas calls then you already know this one.<http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20130119073022120>Checking bluetooth strength.<http://www.cultofmac.com/210290/use-your-mac-to-check-the-signal-strength-of-any-bluetooth-device-os-x-tips/>Forwhenyoucan’tfindyourglasses<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57564813-263/view-the-os-x-calculator-and-address-book-in-large-type/>A few tips on language presentation/typing<http://www.macworld.com/article/2023062/the-macs-linguistic-tricks.html>

ONE MORE THING or WEIRD STUFF<http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20121228/blimp-iphone-fan/>An iShaver <http://www.cultofmac.com/202179/celebrate-movember-with-this-iphone-that-will-also-shave-your-beard/>

That’s all for now.Feel free to offer corrections or suggestions.

Peter Sealy < carpet3@internode.on.net>

Page 20

The Fine PrintAim: The aim of the ACT Apple Users Group Inc. (ACTApple) is to educatethe general community in the use and enjoyment of Apple Macintoshcomputers through presentations, lectures, demonstrations, workshops,technical one-on-one assistance, the ACTApple web site and thisnewsletter.

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Unless held by the author as indicated, copyright on all material in theACTApple Newsletter rests with the editor. Articles by ACTApple membersmay be reprinted by non-profit organisations, provided that credit is givento the authors.

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