Newsletter to Members
August 2006
In this issue:
- AUGUST MEETING this Monday – OUR AGM – ROOM G17!
- Q&A from July meeting
- Saturday Workshop
- News from Apple:
- Other News
Next Meeting Monday 7 August – our AGM!
This is our Annual General Meeting. After official proceedings and Q&A, there will be a sumptuous spread and refreshments on offer, followed by a demo of iPhoto by our President, Warwick Harty.
NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE:
The Theatrette is required by UNSW that night for a course, so we will be in another room...
Room G17, Ground Floor, Music School's Lecture Theatre,
Webster Building, UNSW. 6:30pm
RAFFLE – THREE GREAT PRIZES:
Don't miss out! All these prizes and more are up for grabs at our August AGM...
- A Dymo LabelWriter 330 Turbo 100 label printer, valued at $295 and generously donated by Colin Palmer;
- A Kensington Bluetooth PilotMouse, valued at $110 and generously donated by Warwick Harty.
- Mac OS X Tiger Killer Tips – a 400pp reference book by Scott Kelby, courtesy of Peachpit Press.
BE THERE TO HAVE YOUR SAY...
Please come along to the AGM if you can, to show support for the work your committee has done in the past year, and to help elect a committee for the next 12 months. If you want to do your bit to keep the club going into the future, why not put your hand up and stand for a committee position. (Only financial members can vote or stand for election).
If you have any issues to raise or constructive criticism of the way the club is being run, this is your opportunity to have a say!
Don't forget, we are all now obliged to SIGN IN as attendees at our monthly meetings.
Q&A from July meeting
Here we publish selected Questions that are raised in the Q&A session at our monthly meetings – with the relevant Answers – where they are of a general nature and might be helpful to members not in attendance, or even as a reminder to those who were there.
Q&A from the July 2006 meeting is available here.
Saturday Workshop
One-on-one help with Mac OS X basics in a friendly, informative environment. Presented by AMUG Sydney.
Saturday 12 August 10am-2pm.
Room 136C (Computer Lab), Ground Floor, Webster Building, UNSW Kensington.
- One Mac per person
- No questions too silly
- Use one of the Uni's eMacs or bring your own Notebook
- Get Apple's latest Software Updates on CD, without the big downloads
- Free for AMUG members
To book, phone Rob on 9387 2069 or email sydamug@mac.com
News from Apple
- Education iMac replaces eMac
- Mighty Mouse Goes Wireless
- Apple Recalls Underperforming MacBook Pro Batteries
- Apple's Sales and Profits Up
- Apple Security Update 2006-004
- The Apple-Steve Jobs Story: Graeme Moffatt's Take
Education iMac replaces eMac
Apple® has introduced a new configuration of the 17-inch iMac® designed specifically for education customers. It replaces the eMac®, which was Apple’s last CRT based computer. RRP $1,428 inc GST (for bona-fide Education sector customers).
Price includes:
- 17-inch widescreen LCD display
- 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor
- 512MB RAM expandable to 2GB
- 24x Combo drive
- Intel GMA 950 graphics
- built-in iSight™ video camera
- built-in AirPort® Extreme 802.11g
- 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet
- 80GB hard drive running at 7200 rpm
- mini-DVI out (other adapters sold separately)
- built-in stereo speakers and microphone
- Mighty Mouse and Apple Keyboard
- iLife 06 software and
- Mac OS X Tiger.
The eMac will no longer be in production but is available for purchase while supplies last.
www.apple.com.au/education/store/
Mighty Mouse Goes Wireless
Apple's new wireless Mighty Mouse features a new laser tracking engine that is 20 times more sensitive than standard optical mice for better tracking on even more surfaces. It's a Bluetooth 2.0 based mouse that can be used as a single- or multi-button mouse (depending on the user’s preference) and includes up to four independently programmable buttons and a 360-degree Scroll Ball that lets users scroll in any direction. Ready to use out of the box, the wireless Mighty Mouse works with either one or two AA batteries.
Requires Mac OS X “Tiger” version 10.4.6 or later to customise buttons for one-click access to Spotlight, Dashboard and Expose or to launch applications. RRP $109 inc GST.
Apple Recalls Underperforming MacBook Pro Batteries
From TidBITS #840 31-Jul-06
Apple has initiated a worldwide recall for some 15-inch MacBook Pro batteries that were sold between February 2006 and May 2006, due to lack of performance (NOT due to safety or fire risk). The battery will be replaced free of charge.
To identify batteries covered under the program, remove the battery from the computer – the battery serial number is located on the under-side, above the barcode. Look for model number A1175 and a 12-digit serial number that ends with U7SA, U7SB, or U7SC.
Only batteries within the noted serial number ranges need to be exchanged. No other MacBook Pro or MacBook batteries are part of this program.
support.apple.com/macbookpro15/batteryexchange/
Apple's Sales and Profits Up
In announcing its results at Cupertino headquarters for third quarter ended July 1, 2006, Apple states that it has shipped 1,327,000 Macintosh® computers and 8,111,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 12 percent growth in Macs and 32 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter. The Company posted revenue of US$4.37 billion and a net quarterly profit of US$472 million. International sales accounted for 39 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Security Update 2006-004
Apple released Security Update 2006-004 on 1st August. This update addresses a number of security vulnerabilities for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.7 – mostly to counter potential harm from malicious code or unauthorised access to the system. Recommended for all OS X users. Available via Software Update, or download here.
The Apple-Steve Jobs Story: Graeme Moffatt's Take
Graeme Moffatt, Apple's Regional Liaison Officer for Australasia, has written a fascinating review of Steve Jobs' history with Apple, and where he sees the company now. Titled "Things are interesting as regards Apple Computer Inc", it is a good read, and is posted here on the AMUG web site for members' interest.
Other News
- Pre-loved Macs For Sale
- Mac OS X Routine Maintenance
- Rainbow Web Puzzle Now On Mac
- AppleCare Provides Bootable TechTool CD
- Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac
Pre-loved Macs For Sale
AMUG member Ray Graham, through his tech support company Downtime Eliminators, has some pre-loved Macintosh computers for sale; all carry Ray's own thirty day hardware warranty, and thirty days free phone suport.
Portables:
- 2 x White iBook 12"/700MHz/256MB/20GB/CD-ROM: $495 ea
- 1 x iBook (Clam Shell) 12"/367MHz/128MB/9GB/CD-ROM: $295
DeskTops:
- 3 x G4 Tower 733MHz/512MB/40GB/CD-ROM: $645 ea
- 1 x G4 Tower 1.2GHz/512MB/80GB/CD-RW, DVD: $995
- 2 x G4 Tower 400MHz/128MB/20GB/CD-ROM: $195 ea
- 1 x Beige G3 Tower: $95
- 1 x Beige G3 Desktop: $95
Monitors:
- 2 x 17" Apple CRT Monitors (DB-15 connector): $75 ea
- 3 x 17" Mitsubishi CRT Monitors (VGA connector): $95 ea
Email enquiries: <ray@macright.com.au>
Mac OS X Routine Maintenance
Also from Ray Graham, this tip about the ultimate concise guide to self-maintenance of your Mac. Ray says of this site "Read it, do it, and then read it again, and you may never need to call me to fix your Mac".
Written by Randy B. Singer, Co-Author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions), it is a free, non-commercial, reference designed for ordinary Macintosh users (not power users) to tell you how to do effective routine maintenance on your Macintosh running OS X. It not only tells you what to do, it tells you which utilities to use (with an emphasis on easy to use and free utilities) and where to get them.
Rainbow Web Puzzle Now On Mac
Sugar Games has released Rainbow Web for Mac OS X. The Windows version of this game became massively popular worldwide and received high ratings in Top-10 charts on all popular game portals, such as RealArcade, Yahoo Games!, MSN Zone and others.
Rainbow Web challenges you to travel through a fantasy world of the Rainbow Kingdom, solve plenty of head-scratching puzzles and remove an evil spell plaguing the once idyllic land. The game provides a rich and lengthy journey for kids and kids at heart, especially for those who hold adventure and puzzles in high regard, now on the Mac.
The developers say that while porting the game to the Macintosh platform, they even became Macintosh fans themselves!
Rainbow Web runs under Mac OS X 10.3 or better and costs USD$19.95. An evaluation version limited to 60 minutes of the gameplay is available as a free download from www.SugarGames.com/rainbow_web/mac/
Sugar Games is offering all User Group members a special 20% discount – details on a secret page at
www.SugarGames.com/rainbow_web/mac/ugoffer/
AppleCare Provides Bootable TechTool CD
Extract from TidBITS #840 31-Jul-06 by Matt Neuburg
Apple's dependence upon third-party software has long been a major weakness of the AppleCare Protection Plan. For years, AppleCare purchasers have complained that the package included a Micromat TechTool Deluxe CD that either wouldn't boot the computer for which AppleCare had been purchased or (worse) would boot it but, when run, would damage the hard disk structure in such a way as to make the data unrecoverable. TechTool revisions have been few and far between and have always lagged behind major operating system and hardware revisions.
Current AppleCare contract holders will therefore be happy to learn that Micromat has furnished a new TechTool version (3.1.1) that comes in two flavors, one for Intel-based Macs and another for PowerPC-based Macs. It's available as a free download from Apple (in exchange for the serial number of your AppleCare-registered machine). The download, which is about 200 MB, is a disk image; it can be used to install the software on your computer or to burn a bootable CD.
support.apple.com/techtooldeluxe/main?id=dl
In addition to support for Intel-based Macs, TechTool Deluxe 3.1.1 can now perform Volume Structure testing of the startup volume, has replaced Diagnostic and Re-zero Unit tests, and has added Drive Hardware and Directory Scan options. A software updater is available as a 4.5 MB download.
Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac
Extract from TidBITS Take Control web page
Choose the best way to run Windows on your Mac, and install it properly with expert advice!
With Apple's release of Boot Camp, which lets you boot an Intel-based Mac in Windows XP, the Mac community has been abuzz with questions about installing Windows on a Mac, whether via Boot Camp or virtualization software such as Parallels Desktop and Q. Now, turn to installation expert Joe Kissell for the answers. Joe examines why you might want to use a Mac to run Windows, helps you pick the best option for running Windows in your situation, and gives detailed, real-world steps for installing Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop, or Q on an Intel Mac. The ebook also explains how to make mice and keyboards work properly, share files across platforms, avoid Windows viruses and malware, and more. An appendix looks briefly at solutions for running Windows on PowerPC-based Macs.
This US$10 e-book download includes a coupon for US$10 off Parallels Desktop, rendering the e-book free! And in TidBITS #840, Adam Engst advises that the 31-July expiry date for that coupon has been extended indefinitely.