MAC Club 3/26 & 4/2

March 26th

Jack McCleskey and Brent Shirley spoke about Evernote, a cloud based program for storing data which may be retrieved from any type of device, phone, iPad, MAC,  PC, etc.  I felt there was a need to be aware of misuse of the data and warn not to store anything of a financial or private content.  If it's out there it can be Hacked!  

EverNote

Mike Marsters reviewed menu commands and gave some input on how to retrieve files from TimeMachine.  http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427  The forgoing address is helpful.  Also he found using Finder when his backup drive was connected made it easy.  He selected the drive, clicked on the backups, picked the most recent, clicked on users, clicked on his name, then selected what file he wanted, copied it and pasted where he thought best.  There probably is a similar process with Carbon Copy Cloner and Superduper?  Also he suggested the backup drive doesn't need to be connected all the time and TimeMachine can be turned off until you want to use it.  

TimeMachine

When TimeMachine is on and the backup drive is connected your MAC saves files for later backups and takes up space on your hard drive.  If your hard drive is small this can be detrimental and TimeMachine should be turned off periodically to clear the files.  

There were lots of questions about setting browsers and other things.  Hopefully our members benefited.  

FireFox

April 2nd 2013

We are getting to the end of the season and had about 10 participants last week.  There will be a meeting on 4/2 at 1PM in the regular time & place and we'll review or ask questions and attempt to help as many as possible.  

Bring all your questions and we'll try to find an answer.  If we can't we'll fib.  

Your faithful servant, 

Mike

MAC Club 3/19/ & 3/26

Last Week 3/19

It was almost a no topic meeting since mostly questions were solicited and answers attempted by Jack McCleskey and others.  Jack did a good job as usual.  

Cleaning up the MAC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIKb4gCnQH4  Jack explained how to use Disk Utility to make your MAC run faster.  The short tutorial at the previously indicated website gives a good explanation of the process.  It's compiled by a young person so has got to be good. 

Jack also suggested increasing the RAM memory in your machine.  You can Google and find out how much your computer can handle.  

Keyboard Commands

There are many keyboard commands built into the MAC operating system which can make for faster operating.  Notice the symbols on many menu items showing the strokes necessary.  I'm including an abridged copy of keyboard shortcuts here:  

Next Week 3/26 1PM

The next meeting will be somewhat informal as it will be structured to answer questions.  Please think things up to ask about.  One of our helpers has done some research on TimeMachine and could help with advice on retrieving data.  

Please enjoy the great weather!

Your faithful servant, 

Mike

MAC Meeting Mar 12th & Mar 19th

MAC Mail 

Brad Nation

Kay Nation introduced her son Brad who spent the whole class teaching us to make use of many of the features of the Mail program.  

Especially Smart Mailboxes and how to make them filter messages for easy retrieval or elimination.  

Brad offered to answer question thru his email, nationcap@comcast.net.  You'll need to cut and paste the email address as I'm not including a link to help spammers.  Please don't overuse him although I know he's good at filtering.  

Thanks Very Much

Brad!

Does anyone remember his self admitted nickname?  It's not nearly as bad as mine.  

March 19th Projected Subjects

We had planned to review Keychain and HotCorners last week and upcoming next week data organizing programs such as Evernote, or file transfer programs such as Dropbox, Airdrop and Dropcopy.  Larry kept track of more suggestions, Upgrade to Mt. Lion, Apple TV, Retrieving from TimeMachine etc.  Stay tuned for next week.

Your faithful servant,
Mike

Mac Users 3/5/13 & next two weeks

March 5th

Larry tutored us on MindMap/FreeMind.  An information coordination tool with ease of use and lots of options.   We'll miss him but extend best wishes on his presentations at home.  Let us know how it goes and thanks again for your implementation of our meetings.  

Remember, having an objective is a desirable and beneficial thing.  

March 12th prediction

Keychain Access

We'll have a tutorial and info exchange about this program for remembering and keeping safe passwords and other data.  

HotCorners

Also the above plus other stuff.

March 19th

The following is a note from Tom regarding the idea he brought forth.  

"Good Morning everyone.  This is a follow up to yesterday's Mac meeting.  I included my message originally sent to Lary on 2/13 that list my thoughts on a DVD promoting Palm Creek.  If possible, I would like to arrange a meeting with some of those interested in this project.  We can meet at my place.  The intent would be to:  

1. Decide if this is a worthwhile project for our group
2. If so, what will its message be?
3. Lay out a basic game plan, perhaps using Freemind as demonstrated by Larry at last Tuesday's meeting
4. Throw things at the wall and see what sticks

Do Sunday afternoons work for everyone?

Larry,  I didn't write down  any other names than those addressed on this e-mail.  Please forward to those who may be interested.  

Everyone, I should add that this is intended to be a fun and worthwhile project.  As retiree's, it should not be a "drag".

Tom Gottfried  Lot 1251  Corner of Shimmering Sand Lane and Sandy Desert Drive

House phone 7251

Cell              262-844-6008 "

Some of us volunteered so should consider and let him know.  

Evernote, Dropbox, Airdrop, Dropcopy

The above are file exchange programs which will work on the MAC.  

Evernote

Will allow saving of most types of files, photos, documents and retrieve them from anywhere.  

Dropbox

Dropbox allows exchanging of files with other MAC users.  

Airdrop

Airdrop is included in Lion and Mt. Lion's OS X and is used for easy file exchange between MAC users with the latest two operating systems 10.07 & 10.08.  

DropCopy works with almost any age MAC regardless of the operating system.  

Above four programs

Airdrop is included in the OS X but has to be started by opening Finder/clicking go/Airdrop.  Other MACs nearby will show and can easily exchange files.  I wonder if there could be some problems with a large group of MACs being close to each other?  Maybe someone will know.  

The other three are add on and some versions cost while some don't.  You need to check the search engine of your choice and ask about them.  

I apologize for the delay in getting the Blog published.  Have family visiting.  I take the blame.  

Your facefull servant, 

Mike