MAC Club 2/26/13 & 3/5/13

Life Spiral

Thanks to Larry Freeborg for his uplifting presentation explaining the upside-down, in some of our minds, spiral.  Once explained quite sensible. Most important is attitude.  Be positive and remember you're in charge of how you react.  Don't let the bonus years fly by without having a rudder.  

Separate User on your MAC

Jack McCleskey explained how we can create another user account completely separate from our own.  Go to System Preferences, Users & Groups, unlock, click +, and fill in the information.  You may use the Parental Controls as well, even, or especially for adults.  

Don't forget the password you assign.  

iMovie

Irene & David Hall

Gave a very informative capsulation of iMovie.  It has so many options I was snowed under.  Their advice of making use of the Help furnished within the program is very good.  The ability of the program to use stills as well as video was a surprise to me.  Try it out and be sure to call Irene for help.  

Your iPhone can download video directly to the MAC and iMovie does a good job of stabilizing it.  

VLC 

VideoLan Player

Here is some info on a program which can play almost any type of media.  VLC Media Player is a free download which seems to be designed for video although is able to handle almost any file type.  I haven't used it so would suggest Googling and reading about it.  At our last meeting it was suggested to enable users to open almost any type of document file.  Specifically, Reno asked about .docx files as he was having difficulty with Microsofts new Word format.  

We all have Textedit on our MACs and it should be able to open the .docx Word files.  Right click on the file and select Open With.  

Another option would be to take advantage of some of the free or almost free Office programs out there.  Neo Office for MAC, Apache, Open Office, LibreOffice and others which are designed for MAC.  

Apache OpenOffice
Free

NeoOffice
$10 a year
which Mikey likes and uses.  

A split-off of Open Office
Free

Use Google

1Password

Not Free

Taking my own advice I checked the above program.  It's on the App Store for $49.95 and will surely simplify keeping track of passwords.  Google it or Yahoo it or even use Bing.  Also there are free programs on the web.  Hope this helps, Cheryl.  

Larry; are you sure you have to leave so soon.  We'll miss you.  

Next Week 3/5/13

Larry will demo FreeMind.  There were some other suggestions; Keynote, Backup, Superduper, Time Machine file retrieval.  Wait and see.  Surely will be interesting.  

Ponder this,

Why does the Muslim Brotherhood get free F16s when we can't be trusted with personal weapons?  

Your faithful servant, 

Mike

Mac Club 2/19/13 & Future, 2/26/13 & 3/5/13

Announcement

2/24/13 iPad Meeting

Will be in the Cholla Room, NOT the Ocotillo.  The meeting will be at 1PM only and will be a one on one.  

Did you know?

Do you remember what we only use 10% of?

Recognize

We don't know what we don't know.

Have resistance to change.

Sometimes unable to Shift Beliefs

Can't ask for help.

Don't like mistakes.

Know your attitudes and goals.

Thanks to Larry for helping us understand how the 10% works!

Fast User Switching

Jack McCleskey

Fast user switching allows us to designate a separate workspace which acts as a whole new computer.  This option is useful for sharing the machine with another or making a workspace for work or grandchildren.  Can be combined with Parental Controls to limit access.  

To set up:  go to System Preferences, Users, add account and then follow the prompts.  Thanks Jack!  

iCloud

Bill Edwards

Bill explained this program is a way of storing information and backup data off site.  When signing up an e-mail address is also assigned and five gigabytes of data storage is included for free.  The data is stored at multiple remote hard drive sites which are redundant.  I forgot to ask Bill if there is an iFog program.  

Bill mentioned a device which plugs into the Apple TV and allows streaming.  I wonder if Roku might also be an option as it will connect with almost any TV new or old and allow streaming from various sources.  It even includes free Angry Birds.  Google it for info.  

Keynote

Larry Freeborg

Larry demonstrated a tutor program for Keynote which should make it easy to learn how to use it quickly.  It's available at the App Store for about $5.00.  

Next Week 2/26/13

iMovie 

with Irene & David

Following Week 3/5/13

Time Machine

Is Java still scary?

MAC Club Meeting 2/12/13 & Upcoming 2/19/13

2/12/13

Thanks for the refirement info, Larry.  I always enjoy the the uplifting outlook.  Sort of a bummer knowing I've only got about five years left though.  Guess I'd better start spending money and making better use of my time.  

Pages

I think we all appreciated the info about Pages.  I had no idea the program had the depth it does and the ease of use.  Thanks for the tip on the Tutorials from the App Store.  The also are a myriad of tutorials available by Googling.  Thanks again Larry.  

Remember:  Saving, Tracking changes, Templates, and Inspector.  Check help in the Pages program and use the videos included.  

Preferences

 Thanks to Jack for showing how to use the search box in the upper right corner.  I hadn't a clue the suggestions would highlight.  

Next Week 2/19/13

By Bill & Tom

The above will be discussed next week.       

2/26/13:  iMovie,  3/5/13:  Time Machine.  

Mac Club 2/5/13 and Next Week 2/12/13

Suzie's iBook Instructions

Terms & Other

I thought you might like to be able to review the above info sheets and maybe practice changing sizes of documents.  

February 5th

Java by Jack

Please leave Java turned off in your browser unless you have problems with a website.  Turn it off or on by:  Safari, Preferences, Security, unclick or check Java, leave Javascript on, checked.  After using the website which troubled you please turn Java off.  When Oracle issues a patch to correct the problem our blog will possibly announce it.  

Numbers by Jack McCleskey

Jack gave an interesting and informative presentation about Numbers which is a spreadsheet program Apple publishes for $20.  There are approximately 250 functions included with templates including a check register which can be used to accept info directly from your bank.  It will open Excel files and save them as such.  Much more and easy to use.  

The help included with Pages has tutorials built in which are a great help.  Also tutorials are for sale in the Apple Store.  

Thanks very much Jack.  

Mail Contacts

A reoccurring question:  How to delete incorrect suggested addresses from the email drop-down?  Click on item to highlight, then click on small arrow at right end causing a dropdown to appear.  An option to delete from prior list should appear.  Click it and then delete the address from the address bar.  Sometimes only an option to delete appears, try it.  I used that method today and it also worked.  Good luck.  

Some shortcuts

Copy:  Command, c, Paste:  Command v, Cut:  Command X, Undo:  Command Z.  To view the clipboard:  Open Finder, Edit, click on view clipboard.  

Next Week

Pages and VIP.  

Thanks Larry for conducting the meeting and the intro.

Mac Club 2/5/2013

Last Week 1/29

Irene Hall did a fine job attempting to educate a bunch of elderly people about iPhoto.  She strongly suggested we make use of the help as it is excellent.  Thanks very much for your work Irene. 

Upcoming 2/5

Basic review of Pages and info on Numbers.  Also:  Info on cleaning up our Contacts.  Maybe we will be reminded how to add photos also.  

Contacts