Newsletter to Members
December 2007
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December Meeting Hello AMUG members, Just a reminder that our 'Christmas' meeting – our last for this year – is on this Monday 3rd December at 6:30pm. The usual venue, usual format, but with a bit of extra time for special refreshments and Christmas cheer (soft of course). December Raffle main prize: A fantastic 8GB iPod nano RED™ valued at $284. December main presentation: iLife '08 (you might even win that in the Raffle too, plus some other great prizes!) On behalf of your committee, we hope to see everybody there, and we wish you and your family a safe and happy Christmas. Regards Ken Driver |
Contents
Q&A from past AMUG Meetings
Topics raised in the Q&A session at our monthly meetings are summarised on our web site for members’ easy reference, covering meetings from March 2006 through November 2007. Links at the top of each Q&A page jump to other Q&A months.
Remember, you can use the Google Site Search facility on any of these Q&A pages, so you can search by topic or keyword.
You can view Q&A pages by clicking the Q&A text link at the top of our home page.
Recent News
Apple Releases Final Cut Express 4
Apple has released Final Cut Express 4, a significant upgrade to its powerful video editing software based on Apple’s award-winning Final Cut Pro 6, with a new low recommended retail price of A$268 inc GST.
Final Cut Express 4 adds support for the latest AVCHD cameras, allows mixing of standard and high definition content on a single timeline, includes the ability to import iMovie ‘08 projects, and gives users access to hundreds of sophisticated FxPlug cinematic effects and filters.
www.apple.com/au/finalcutexpress/
Jeff Carlson covers this release in more detail in this TidBITS article.
Extracts from TidBITS #904/12-Nov-07:
Stay Up to Date on Leopard Compatibility
from Adam C. Engst
TidBITS is maintaining an online-only article called "Leopard Compatibility List Updated" to bring together news of products that have been updated for Leopard compatibility. It changes constantly, so check the page below for updates, or subscribe to the TidBITS RSS feed.
New Apple Ads: Real, Fake, and Funny
Apple has produced a new set of ‘Get a Mac’ TV ads that poke fun at Windows Vista.
Select Small, Medium, Large or HD stream to suit your Internet connection speed.
Word 2004 Crashing Bug Squashed
Adam C. Engst
Despite being hard at work on Office 2008 for a Macworld Expo release in January, Microsoft has made available the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.9 Update, which solves a crashing bug in Word 2004 when you try to print a document. The update is a 2.5 MB download and requires that you have already installed the 11.3.8 update (a 9.1 MB download), which eliminated a buffer overflow in Word 2004.
If you haven't been keeping up with all the Office updates, TidBITS recommends using the Microsoft AutoUpdate utility to get each one in turn, since each requires the previous one.
Extracts from TidBITS #905/19-Nov-07:
Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.4.11 with Safari 3
Glenn Fleishman
Safari 3 has been released for Tiger, along with a host of security updates and bug fixes, as part of the Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update. The updates are mammoth: update for PowerPC (67.9 MB), combo update for PowerPC (180.8 MB), update for Intel (128 MB), and combo update for Intel (321.5 MB).
[The problem I had with Safari 3 – refer my email to members dated 17 Nov – was apparently caused by an incompatibility with the third-party Safari 2.x plug-in “Safari Enhancer” – KD].
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther also received a revised Security Update, 2007-008, for its terminal 10.3.9 release (client, 49 MB; server, 63.4 MB).
www.apple.com/support/downloads/
Mac OS X 10.5.1 Fixes Numerous Leopard Flaws
Glenn Fleishman
Apple has released the first update for Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5.1, with a laundry list of fixes for widely reported problems among early users. It's available via Software Update in Leopard, with the downloads under 40 MB for both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs; oddly, the standalone versions for the desktop and server versions of Leopard weigh in at 110 MB.
iPhoto 7.1.1 Increases Leopard Compatibility
Adam C. Engst
Apple has released iPhoto 7.1.1, saying only that it "supports compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues." The update is available via Software Update as a 10.8 MB download; a standalone download has also been posted. You must have already updated to iPhoto 7.1; if you've missed that version for some reason, install it first, and it in turn requires the iLife Support 8.1.1 update.
www.apple.com/support/downloads/iphoto711.html
Adam C. Engst
Fetch Softworks has released Fetch 5.3, a Leopard-focused update to the company's venerable file transfer software that goes well beyond basic compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Fetch 5.3 sports a redesigned look-and-feel that integrates better with Leopard, has been digitally signed to reduce keychain alerts, adds support for Leopard's application-specific firewall, uses the default Downloads folder in Leopard, exempts the Fetch Cache from Time Machine backups, and more. The most notable new feature that's unrelated to Leopard is that Fetch 5.3 now allows you to use the Copy and Paste commands to upload files and copy files between servers, a perfectly sensible approach that's sometimes easier than drag-and-drop.
Another FTP application, free for Mac, Windows and Linux users, is FileZilla – [thanks to Tony Healy for this tip].
New FileMaker Bento: "FileMaker for Dummies"
FileMaker has announced a Preview version of Bento, which it describes as “a new personal database that’s as easy to use as a Mac”.
Designed exclusively for Mac OS X 10.5, Bento takes advantage of many of the new features of Leopard, including live linking to iCal data, core animation, advanced find, Time Machine backups, and multimedia features. No pricing was available at time of compiling this newsletter.
Read a not-so-complementary review by database expert Jeff Porten titled ‘FileMaker's Bento: Undercooked and Slightly Fishy’ in this TidBITS article.
Check out this old gem: Steve Jobs – during his pre-skivvy period, in a dinner suit no less! – presenting the first Macintosh!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0FtgZNOD44
You’ll find a whole lot more gems by simply searching YouTube with keywords ‘Apple Macintosh’.
YouTube to QuickTime
If you want to 'download' a video from YouTube and convert it to MPEG4 so you can play it in QuickTime, here’s the page that tells you how.
New Online Web ShopShop4MacandPC is a new online store based in Tasmania, owned by Ready Computing, an IT consultancy business specialising in Mac, PC and network support. All products have extensive descriptions, stock levels and detail their Mac and PC compatibility. The web site has over 20,000 computer and audio/visual related products (including High Definition LCD & Plasma Televisions), that can be delivered to your door. They also stock a full range of original Laser and Inkjet Cartridges at competitive rates.
Secure Offsite Backup
Another product offered by Shop4MacandPC is ReadyBackup. This service encrypts all data before sending it over the internet to their remote servers. For extra security, the data is encrypted a second time while it is being transmitted. (Apple's iDisk/Backup solution does not automatically store all remotely backed up files in an encrypted format).
Secure offsite storage starts at $12.20 per month for 5GB. A 30-day ReadyBackup trial account installer for Mac OS X 10.2 and above is available here (11 MB zip download).
Saturday Workshop
Learn Mac OS X basics in a friendly, informative environment. Presented by AMUG Sydney.
Saturday 8th December 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 iMacs 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
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