Newsletter to Members
June 2009
Monday 1st June 6.30pm
Room 327 Theatrette, Robert Webster Bldng, UNSW, Anzac Parade, Kensington.
Main Topic: More on Internet & computer security, in the context of Home Networking.
Prizes this month:
- A 640GB USB2 'WD Elements' External Hard Drive from Western Digital
- A full retail version of VueScan Professional Edition, valued at US$79.95, courtesy of Hamrick software <www.hamrick.com>
- A $20 iTunes voucher
- plus 4GB USB Thumb drives, recordable CD/DVD media and more.
New Disc-of-the-Month CD
The Post Man
This CD includes • Alternative Email Clients • Bulk Mailers
• Spam & Junk Mail Filters • Plug-ins for Apple Mail • Stationery Templates.
More info (4-page PDF 480K).
Our Disc-of-the-Month software compilation CDs are provided courtesy of Nicholas Pyers and Australian Macworld. Normally $10 for other user groups, they are on sale at our meetings for the specially reduced AMUG member price of just $5 each (or $10 for DVDs, plus $2 postage if required).
Various license types apply to applications supplied on compilation CDs. Some titles require further payment direct to the application publisher to enable full feature sets and continued use.
Missed the opportunity to buy a previous disc? Use our updated DISC ORDER FORM, where you can view the full catalog archive, submit your order and pay securely online with your credit card or PayPal account. We can then make up your disc/s on request and mail them to you. You can even use this form to order a music DVD from the SXSW Series.
|
Recent CD offerings include:
|
|
News from Apple
New Bento for iPhone and iPod touch
FileMaker has released Bento for iPhone and iPod touch, the portable version of the personal database application that's as easy to use as the device itself. With Bento for iPhone and iPod touch, you can start organising any area of your busy business or personal life right away, by adding information to any of the 25 built-in templates.
Personal Templates include: Contacts, To Dos, Diet Log, Expenses, Classes, Recipes, Digital Media, Vehicle Maintenance, Projects, Home Inventory, Event Planning, Membership Lists, Notes, and Donations. Plus a blank template for creating an unlimited number of your own customized templates. The software supports 17 different field types.
Templates for Business include: Issue Tracking, Time Billing, Customers, Expenses, Products for Sale, Inventory, Projects, Event Planning, Items Sold, and Equipment.
You can stay organized by creating "collections" (like playlists in iTunes) of records in any library. Tap to call a contact, view a Web site, send an email or display a map all while in a Bento library or collection. The new Bento iPhone App works with existing information and iPhone applications such as Contacts, Safari, Phone Dialing, Mail and Google.
It can be used as a standalone application, and it also synchronizes wirelessly with the desktop version of Bento 2 for Mac. The Bento for Mac 2.0v4 free update allows users to automatically keep desktop and mobile devices up-to-date whether information is edited on the Mac or the mobile device.
Bento for iPhone and iPod touch is now available for download for AU$5.99 from the Apple App Store. More info.
Worldwide Developers Conference
Apple will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a team keynote address on Tuesday 9 June at 3am our time (Monday 8th 10am, USA time).
WWDC will offer software developers in-depth sessions with Apple engineers on both iPhone™ OS 3.0 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard™, an even more powerful and refined version of Leopard and the foundation for future Mac innovation.
"At WWDC, we will be giving our developers a final Developer Preview release so they can see the incredible progress we've made on Snow Leopard and work with us as we move toward its final release," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering.
Snow Leopard and Mac technical sessions will showcase hundreds of refinements to the operating system and dive deep into its new technologies including a 64-bit architecture, QuickTime® X, next-generation multicore and GPU processor support, and amazing new accessibility technologies.
iPhone technical sessions will help developers get the most out of the iPhone OS 3.0 Software Development Kit and over 1,000 new APIs (Application Program Interface) for the iPhone OS.
News from the Net
Two Take Control Ebooks aid Mac Maintenance and Troubleshooting
A pair of new ebooks from TidBITS Publishing help Mac users achieve peak performance from their Macs and handle any problems that might occur. The ebooks, both written by award-winning author Joe Kissell, are available for US$7 each, after the 30% MUG discount, using the URLs below.
"Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac, Second Edition" looks at how to start on the right foot with keeping your Mac running smoothly, and then it explains weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks that help readers enjoy peak performance and avoid pesky problems. Along with telling the reader what to do, it includes a section about what not to do, explaining several time-consuming tasks that don't provide any real benefits. Particular questions answered in this ebook include:
- How can I tell if my Mac is likely to have trouble?
- How can I find out which unnecessary files are taking up space on my disk?
- Should I defragment my hard disk and repair permissions regularly?
- What are the safest ways to clean dust and crud from my Mac?
- What is the best way to keep my software up to date?
Buy 'Maintaining Your Mac' ebook with 30% discount.
"Take Control of Troubleshooting Your Mac" helps readers go beyond regular maintenance to dealing with computer-related troubles. It helps readers prevent problems, prepare for problems, complete 17 specific problem-solving tasks, fix 9 common problems, and diagnose and fix novel problems. Among the problems that readers will learn how to handle are:
- A Mac that won't turn on
- Repeated kernel panics
- Abnormal slowdowns
- Emptying the Trash when the Finder balks
- An application grinds to a halt
- An application crashes
- Recalcitrant keyboards and mice
- A dead Internet connection
- A printer won't print.
Buy 'Troubleshooting Your Mac' ebook with 30% discount.
Apple Tablet Mac??
The Mac rumour sites were gushing as long ago as 2005/06 about the possible introduction by Apple of a Mac-like Tablet PC device. It hasn't happened so far, but recently the rumours have started to surface again. These are just some of the recent posts:
- TechCrunch
- MacRumors
- CNet News
- ZDNet
- And for a long list of others – TechMeMe.
Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Operating Officer, has already stated that Apple is not interested in competing against 'junky netbooks'. Even if the rumours are true, WWDC in June is not likely to be the occasion to release such a product – expected to fill the gap between iPod touch and MacBook; more likely it would be a separate consumer event, probably not this year.
But then again...???
TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates
Extracts from TidBITS#979/18-May-09 by Adam C. Engst and Jeff Carlson. Read the full article.
Significant Updates for Mac OS X Leopard, Tiger and Safari
Mac OS X 10.5.7 Update provides a number of system improvements and addresses security issues in Leopard. More info.
Mac OS X 10.5.7 also supports more raw image formats from several recent cameras. See full list of supported cameras.
The update also addresses problems related to logging into Gmail, syncing contacts with Yahoo, syncing notes and adding BCC addresses in Mail, printing to third-party printers, and using the Dvorak keyboard layout.
Mac OS X 10.5.7 Update is available via Software Update, with download sizes depending on your Mac. It's also available as standalone downloads:
- Leopard 10.5.7 Update delta (442 MB) – from Mac OS X 10.5.6
- Leopard 10.5.7 Update combo (729 MB) – from any version of Mac OS X 10.5.
Mac OS X SERVER 10.5.7 was also released. More info.
- Leopard Server 10.5.7 Update delta (452 MB)
- Leopard Server 10.5.7 Update combo (951 MB).
TIGER Security Updates: To bring Mac OS X 10.5.7's security fixes to Tiger users, Apple also released Security Update 2009-002 for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Software Update will get you the right version for your Tiger installation, or there are standalone downloads for:
- Tiger Update for Intel Macs (165 MB)
- Tiger Update for PowerPC-based Macs (75 MB).
Also available are Tiger Security Updates for Mac OS X 10.4 SERVER:
- Tiger Server for PowerPC (130 MB)
- Tiger Server Universal (203 MB).
Safari Security Updates address vulnerabilities that could lead to arbitrary code execution if you were to visit a maliciously crafted Web site or access a maliciously crafted feed URL. More info.
- Safari 3.2.3 for Leopard (40 MB)
- Safari 3.2.3 for Tiger (26.3 MB)
- Safari 3.2.3 for Windows (19.7 MB)
- Safari 4 Public Beta Security Update – available only via Software Update.
Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat Pro/Standard 9 Updates
Right on top of last month's security and stability updates (9.1), Adobe recommends updating all v9 apps again to 9.1.1, to address a critical vulnerability that could cause either application to crash and enable an attacker to take over the affected system.
- Adobe Reader 9.1.1 Update (2.2 MB)
- Adobe Acrobat 9.1.1 Update (4.5 MB)
Saturday Workshop
Saturday June 13, commencing 10am. (Deferred one week because of the Queen's Birthday long weekend).
Room 136C (Computer Lab), Ground Floor, Webster Building, UNSW Kensington.
One-on-one Mac Help from AMUG Committee members in a friendly, sharing environment. Bring your own Notebook or use one of the Uni's iMacs.
Enquiries and bookings, phone Rob on 9387 2069 or email
Opt out
If you do not wish to receive any future editions of this online newsletter, please send an email to