MAC Users Group 1-7-14

January 7th 2014

Larry has returned from the cold country and opened the meeting with introductions and conducted the gathering in his normal professional style.  A number of the attendees complimented him.  

Twice the number of people attended as the meetings late in 2013 which made for lively activity.  

Passwords

Kay Nation brought her MAC expert son to the meeting and he conducted a two hour class on constructing passwords plus a lot of other info.  We thank Brad Nation very much for his thoughtful work.  

Following is a website with some instructions about passwords

http://lifehacker.com/5631203/how-to-update-your-insecure-passwords-and-make-them-easy-to-use

Happy BD Anniversary Kay!

Some Instruction

1. Create Pswd System

   
   

a. symbol + 1st letter of a sentence

b. OIASWBMA or WWLAO (first letters of a song lyric) then add a suffix, prefix, or insert, maybe vowels; in Amazon.com for instance. aao Something you can remember.

2. Recover & Change old pswds.
   1. Clean out email inbox and note when you started cleanup so you can delete the messages confirming pswd changes.
3. Use a standard username if possible. I use my Airforce serial #. Some websites won't let you do this but it makes life easier.
1. Use foolish answers to security questions. If site asks for your high school, fib or make a phony answer. Say you didn't graduate from any high school. Or make up your own.
4. Change pswds. On the most important sites.
   1. Email,
   2. banking
   3. primary shopping sites

5. Keep pswds safe.
   1. Lastpass &
   2. keepass are examples of programs which save and encrypt passwords.
   3. Don't put them in the cloud if possible.
   4. Don't save them in your browser unless you use Firefox or Keychain which encrypts them
   5. Don't let the sites remember your passwords.
   6. Change them occasionally. 6 months to a year.
      
      
      
      
      

      Next Week

      Review of KeyChain.  

MAC Users Group Meeting 12/17/13

Meeting

We had 12 participants who were lucky enough to experience a presentation by Marty Schwan about
iPhoto

Thanks to Marty who did a nice job especially by keeping it simple.  I think we all learned something.  I'm including a link to Macmost for an iPhoto tutorial:  http://macmost.com/tag/iphoto There are lots of tutorials included on this page.  

One of Marty's best suggestions is to use iPhoto help or Google your question.  You'll find more answers than you have time to read.  

Example

When I got home I tried to open my iPhoto and it gave me an error message saying:  "You can't open your library using this version of iPhoto." and shut down.  ????  I googled the problem and found the answer.  Hold the option key while starting iPhoto and select another library or create a new one.  

Christmas Letter

Gail Krause gave a quick and simple presentation on making a Christmas Letter with Apple's word processing program Pages.  She did a nice job even tho she was surprised by an early morning request to present.  Thanks very much to Gail.  

I couldn't find a specific link to Christmas letters but here is one for Christmas cards using Pages:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxkZ47HTsk4 

Pages

Next Meeting

Will be January 7th, 1PM in the San Tan room as usual.  We will be talking about Password systems and how to minimize hacking.  

Merry Christmas

MAC Users Meeting 12/10/13

Scanning

by Tom Gottfried

Tom has given me permission to publish his notes for Tuesday lasts meeting:

Subject: Scanning There are many types of scanners but for our purpose today we will discuss the most common,

the flatbed scanner.

Most common uses for flatbed scanners:

HP 6500 A, all in one

1. Photos. Photos can be black and white or color. You can scan printed photos, slides, or even

“film” or old negatives.

2. Documents.

1. Important papers
2. 2. Recipes
3. 3. Magazine articles
4. 4. Coupons

The list is endless and only limited to your ingenuity.

3. Odd items, like leaves, flowers, coins, or other 3 dimensional objects . This is where you can

really get creative.

What should I look for when buying a scanner? If you already have a printer you may only need to buy the scanner. However, if you do not have a printer or if your printer is an older model and time it is replaced, give consideration to a multiple use printer, scanner, copier. Yes, you can buy one machine that will do all three functions.

What should I pay for a scanner? You can pay as little as $50 or as much as several thousand. It really depends on how serious you want to get in your photo scanning. For most of us a good quality combination scanner, printer, copier will cost between $100 - $200. If all you plan on scanning are documents, you can pick up a unit for about $50 or less. Go to Staples in the Promenade shopping center and ask for an associate who knows something about scanners. Tell them what you are planning to use it for and ask what machine would be good for you.

Scanners come with various software bundles. This may include photo editing tools and an important tool for documents called OCR. (Optical Character Recognition) If you scan a document, it is actually a picture, whether you save it as a .jpeg or a PDF file. OCR software will scan the document and convert it into a document that can be edited. In other words, if you scan a recipe called Martha’s Favorite Casserole and you would prefer it to be called Mom’s Favorite Casserole, using OCR will allow you to do that.

http://www.scantips.com/

Once I scan a photo or document, where do I put it so that I can easily find it? Your scanner will store your scans in a pre-determined file if you do not specify where you want to put it. In Finder, you can set up your folders and files before hand. For example, let’s say you are scanning a number of recipes and want to categorize them. Click on Finder. A box will open.Click on Documents. Go to the top left of the page and click on File and then click on “Folder”. In the next row of the box you will see “untitled folder”. Hit the return button and “untitled folder” will be highlighted. You can now rename it recipes. Go back to File and hit folder once more. In the next row you will see untitled folder again. When it is highlighted you can create a folder named desserts. Go back and highlight Recipes again and go to file and hit new folder again. You will see untitled folder again. Once again, you can call it whatever you want. In this “row” you can create as many categories as you want. Once you are ready to enter dessert recipes, click on desserts and then go to File and if you want to even further define them, go to File and create another folder and “untitled folder will appear once again and you can create various categories of desserts.

http://macmost.com/using-image-capture-with-scanners.html  The fast talking guy.  

For photos, once you’ve scanned them into a folder you can drag them into iPhoto or Aperture, or whatever photo software you are using. Or, when you are scanning, you can tell the scanning program where you want to save the file. But, you will need to make sure your photo library set up to receive the photos. In other words, if you don’t have a file system set up in your photo library it will be much like taking them and dumping them into a box just like we did with all those old pictures. And this is what we are trying to get away from.

No matter how you create or import a file, if you save it but allow your Mac decide where to put it, you may find that once you’ve created a number of files, they may be hard to find. Why not create your own file system the way you want it? Then you can tell your Mac where you want to put your precious files. Otherwise it’s like the messy old desk with piles of papers on it making what you’re looking for a real pain.

If you have any questions on scanning you can call me at house phone 7251 or my cell is 262-844-6008. Or, I’m normally at the Mac meeting around 12:30 and will stay after the meeting if you need help.

Tom Gottfried

I've inserted links to some websites which give more info.  Googling scanning will turn up more info.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfZcFtHfhoc How to use an HP all in one.  

Thanks very much Tom!

Next meeting 12/17/13.  See you then.  

Mike

MAC Meeting 12/3/13

Mike gave a presentation focused on iCloud.  Here are his notes and some links to websites for further study.  

iCloud

First, the cloud; is a collection of servers at various ground locations possibly throughout the world. Not up in the air. Most of us don't realize it but 95% are now using some form of cloud service. Consider, banking, gmail, hotmail, facebook, Apple, Dropbox, Skydrive=Microsoft.

Pros

no big programs on your device

cloud stores data

access from anywhere

share docs & photos

won't lose data

Cons

must have internet service

can be hacked

Speaking of hacking

Prisim, an NSA program has penetrated the cloud storage of various firms, Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and other data giants. Is your data secure, I don't think so but its up to you what you use the the cloud for. The other services mentioned above you're probably already using. Try to be careful. Government has so much $ there's no end to how much they can spend hacking whatever they want. I trust them to misbehave in some cases. As I mentioned don't store sensitive data on the cloud.

Safety in cloud

use and change passwords regularly. Don't store sensitive data, instead use an external backup HD and a backup program like Time Machine.

iCloud

I'm only going to speak mostly about MAC computers as that is the focus of our group although iCloud is usable by most every Apple product. The main function of iCloud is to make it simple to sync data across various compatible devices.

What is iCloud: Launched 6/6/11, Apple has secure servers at different locations where your data is encrypted and resides in many places on land (not in the sky) but they also have a key which enables Apple to read anything it likes.

On MACs

Only Lion, 10.7 and later are capable of using iCloud.

Go to system preferences; internet and wireless.

Click on iCloud and

Sign in with your Apple ID & Password

Here is a website which give a good explanation:

http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/qt/Setting-Up-An-Icloud-Account-On-Your-Mac.htm

Select what you want to put in the cloud list.

List includes:

mail, contacts, calendar which doesn't stay on your device, notes, Safari, documents & data, Back to my mac, find my MAC ??

Still need to have backup working as iCloud doesn't save everything. Need to use Time Machine or other backup program. iCloud backs up info about your purchase history but no the actual content except for documents created with Apple programs.

Photos=1000 for 30 days

device settings

home screen and app organization

ringtones,

visual voicemail.

Cost: 5GB free, 10GM $20/yr. 20GB $40/yr, 50GB $100/yr.

Another website which has many tutorial.

Macmost: http://macmost.com/icloud-basics.html

Icloud.com: Sign on to iCloud here to see what you have stored. Www.icloud.com

Cloud computing is already here and Sky computing seems to be the next thing. Complicated large programs will and probably are now accessible which makes me wonder where the data you create will be? Can you only save it to your own machine or does it automatically get clouded?

MAC Blog

http://palmcreekmacusers.blogspot.com/

Next week will be a surprise, at least to me as I was thinking about my presentation and didn't take notes.  

Your faithful servant,

Mike

MAC Meeting 11/26/13

MAC Meeting

11/26/13

Larry started and Jack wore out his voice imparting information for the next couple of hours.  As always he did a good job.  

Time Machine

Is a program included in the MAC operating system which enables users to easily schedule and back up their machines.  It has to have an external drive attached wirelessly or directly.  It was suggested powered external drives were better as they don't us up more USB ports.  

The backup drive should be about 2x the size of the drive included in the machine as Time Machine deletes the oldest backups as the drive fills up.  Not necessarily a bad thing unless you have archival information you want to keep.  Decide what you want and schedule it appropriately.  

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427  This link will take you to an Apple explanation plus lead to other locals for more information.  

Jack mentioned two web dealers who sell memory, MacSales.com and Crucial.com.  I've used another called Directron.com in Houston.  Prices vary.

Disk Utility

Is another program included in the MAC operating system which can be used for correcting errors in hard drives, partitioning HDs, erasing HDs, restoring, and various other functions.  It is located in Applications/Utilities as shown below.  

If you experience some problems with programs working correctly using this utility to repair permissions can be helpful.  I'm including two links for further reading.  

http://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/whatisdiskutillity--mac-27965        and  http://macs.about.com/od/applications/tp/usingosxdiskutility.htm   

RAM

RAM is temporary memory which is wiped away every time the machine is turned off. RAM is where the computer does its work. When you turn your computer on the operating system loads the programs necessary to perform. Then when you start a program, it loads itself into RAM and tries to do what you want. Sometimes the program will transfer data back and forth between RAM and your hard drive which will slow the work process. That's why it's generally better to have as much RAM as you can afford.

It's better to turn your computer off when through for the day as the operating system will be loaded directly from the hard drive and have no opportunity to be corrupted in RAM while in sleep mode, which is invoked by just closing the lid.

Hard Memory

Hard memory is the capacity of your hard drive which permanently stores your data and programs. The size you need depends upon what you are going to do. Lots of photos require more and maybe external units. There are at least two types of hard drives out now, conventional mechanical ones and solid state. Generally the solid state drives are more expensive but are becoming more common in the new computers. They are usually very much faster and less apt to fail because they have no moving parts. Again, a good rule is get the most you can afford.   

iCloud

Since Mike was hiking instead of being around at meeting time he's been selected to do a presentation next week.  He knows next to nothing about iCloud but will come up with something.  

Don't forget the iPad meeting in the Ocotilla room on Sunday at 1300.  

Your faithful servant,

Mike

MAC Meeting 11/19/13

MAC Club

eleven attendees who spent most of the meeting led by Jack McCleskey in discussions of the use of menus which are similar throughout the OSX system.  

Jack while growing his new look

As usual Jack did a very good job explaining the ease of use and clearly showing how to read them.  

Remember the ... and what it means.  If you see the three dots following a selection on a menu it means there will be another screen brought up which gives more options.  

iPad Meetings

Conducted by Brent each Sunday at 1PM.  Since the iPad and iPhone are so similar he talks about both.  

Tutorials

Here is a link to hundreds of informative tutorials.  The guy is a fast speaker but clearly imparts information.  It doesn't cost anything to repeat view.  http://www.macmost.com   Jack showed us a video about tagging documents so they can be found.  

Next Week

Tuesday 1PM in the SanTan room.  See you then, 

Your faithful savant, 

Mike

Meeting 11/12/13

2nd meeting

Thirteen attendees.  Larry did a fine job conducting the meeting and we all learned something.  Remembering it will be something else.  

Creating a new library in iPhoto

Hold the option key while double clicking to start iPhoto and there will appear an image where a new library can be created.  http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2505  Try this link for info straight from Apple

Backup

Here is a link to information for Time Machine, the program included with all MACs.  A good program which allows easy access to saved information:  http://www.apple.com/support/backup/  

Update

Updating applications and the operating OSX is, by default set to automatically occur.  The settings can be changed in System Preferences ; Update:  http://www.apple.com/softwareupdate/  Try this link

Apple uses the App Store to update applications and the operating system in the new Mavericks 10.9.  Reports say sometimes it hangs but surely that will be fixed.  

Tutorials

There are a host of tutorials on the web.  Here is a link to an Apple "how to site."   http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/  

Dock

We will have more info on the Dock but here is a link:  http://macduel.com/how-to-customize-mac-dock-tutorial  

Bye for now

Next meeting November 19th at 1PM or 1300 if you prefer.  Look forward to seeing everyone.  

Mike