Magazine of MacNexus The Sacramento Macintosh Users Group

Interface
February 2007

Thoughts on Music
by Steve Jobs (Posted on Apple.com on February 6, 2007) With the stunning global success of Apples iPod music player and iTunes online music store, some have called for Apple to open the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods. Lets examine the current situation and how we got here, then look at three possible alternatives for the future. To begin, it is useful to remember that all iPods play music that is free of any DRM and encoded in open licensable formats such as MP3 and AAC. iPod users can and do acquire their music from many sources, including CDs they own. Music on CDs can be easily imported into the freelydownloadable iTunes jukebox software which runs on both Macs and Windows PCs, and is automatically encoded into the open AAC or MP3 formats without any DRM. This music can be played on iPods or any other music players that play these open formats. The rub comes from the music Apple sells on its online iTunes Store. Since Apple does not own or control any music itself, it must license the rights to distribute music from others, primarily the big four music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. These four companies control the distribution of over 70% of the worlds music. When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. The solution was to create a DRM system, which envelopes each song purchased from the iTunes store in special and secret software so that it cannot be played on unauthorized devices. Apple was able to negotiate landmark usage rights at the time, which include allowing users to play their DRM protected music on up to 5 computers and on an unlimited number of iPods. Obtaining such rights from the music companies was unprecedented at the time, and even today is unmatched by most other digital music services. However, a key provision of our agreements with the music companies is that if our DRM system is compromised and their music becomes playable on unauthorized devices, we have only a small number of weeks to x the problem or they can withdraw their entire music catalog from our iTunes store. To prevent illegal copies, DRM systems must allow only authorized devices to play the protected music. If a copy of a DRM protected song is posted on the Internet, it should not be able to play on a downloaders computer or portable music device. To achieve this, a DRM system employs secrets. There is no theory of protecting content other than keeping secrets. In other words, even if one uses the most sophisticated cryptographic locks to protect the actual music, one must still hide the keys which unlock the music on the users computer or portable music player. No one has ever implemented a DRM system that does not depend on such secrets for its operation. The problem, of course, is that there are many smart people in the world, some with a lot of time on their hands, who love to discover such secrets and publish a way for everyone to get free (and stolen) music. They are often successful in doing just that, so any company trying to protect content using a DRM must frequently update it with new and harder to discover secrets. It is a cat-and-mouse game. Apples DRM system is called FairPlay. While we have had a few breaches in FairPlay, we have been able to successfully repair them through updating the iTunes store software, the iTunes jukebox software and software in the iPods themselves. So far we have met our commitments to the music companies to protect their music, and we have given users the most liberal usage rights available in the industry for legally downloaded music. With this background, lets now explore three different alternatives for the future. The rst alternative is to continue on the current course, with each manufacturer competing freely with
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In This Issue
About MacNexus Presidents Column Daylight Saving Time What You Missed Way Cool Stuff Barracuda Update MacTalk Take Control Ebook Letter to Bill Gates Scrabble For Fun Toast 8 MyLiveSignature.com Workshop New Faces Membership Info Vendor Offers 2 3 3 4 5 8 9 10 10 11 12 13 14 14 15 16

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ABOUT MACNEXUS

MacNexus
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Thoughts on Music
continued from page 1

President Bob Studer (2006-2007) Vice-President Gordon Brock (2007-2008) Treasurer Karen Downs (Indenite Appt) Membership Bob White (Indenite Appt) Secretary Paul Koehler (2006-2007) Directors-at-large Jack DuB (2006-2007) Stan Lunetta (2006-2007) Brent Sallee (2007-2008) Vacant (2007-2008)
VOLUNTEERS

969-0475 359-5283 515-1667 363-7115 530- 756-9028 989-9131 457-1781 607-8897

Triage - (Appointments Only) James Bean Triage - (Telephone Support) Stan Lunetta Internet/E-mail Help Tom Smithson Stan Lunetta CD Librarians Jim Park Richard Park Internet Caf Peggy Hamm Newsletter Editor Bill Davies WITS Marilyn Hodges Workshop/Training Barbara Effenberger

434-6783 457-1781 961-7214 457-1781 421-4364 485-0199 728-5448 452-4844 359-8888 489-3716

HOW TO REACH MACNEXUS

Membership Information Bob White World Wide Web page http://www.macnexus.org/

363-7115

(All numbers area code 916 unless otherwise indicated.) Photos of Columnists Bob Burt, Diana Hunt and Gail McGovern courtesy of MacNexus member Susan Heggstad (http://www.susanportraitscom).

their own top to bottom proprietary systems for selling, playing and protecting music. It is a very competitive market, with major global companies making large investments to develop new music players and online music stores. Apple, Microsoft and Sony all compete with proprietary systems. Music purchased from Microsofts Zune store will only play on Zune players; music purchased from Sonys Connect store will only play on Sonys players; and music purchased from Apples iTunes store will only play on iPods. This is the current state of affairs in the industry, and customers are being well served with a continuing stream of innovative products and a wide variety of choices. Some have argued that once a consumer purchases a body of music from one of the proprietary music stores, they are forever locked into only using music players from that one company. Or, if they buy a specic player, they are locked into buying music only from that companys music store. Is this true? Lets look at the data for iPods and the iTunes store they are the industrys most popular products and we have accurate data for them. Through the end of 2006, customers purchased a total of 90 million iPods and 2 billion songs from the iTunes store. On average, thats 22 songs purchased from the iTunes store for each iPod ever sold. Todays most popular iPod holds 1000 songs, and research tells us that the average iPod is nearly full. This means that only 22 out of 1000 songs, or under 3% of the music on the average iPod, is purchased from the iTunes store and protected with a DRM. The remaining 97% of the music is unprotected and playable on any player that can play the open formats. Its hard to believe that just 3% of the music on the average iPod is enough to lock users into buying only iPods in the future. And since 97% of the music on the average iPod was not purchased from the iTunes store, iPod users are clearly not locked into the iTunes store to acquire their music. The second alternative is for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology to current and future competitors with the goal of achieving interoperability between different companys players and music stores. On the surface, this seems like a good idea since it might offer customers increased choice now and in the future. And Apple might benet by charging a small licensing fee for its FairPlay DRM. However, when we look a bit deeper, problems begin to emerge. The most serious problem is that licensing a DRM involves disclosing some of its secrets to many people in many companies, and history tells us that inevitably these secrets will leak. The Internet has made such leaks far more damaging, since a single leak can be spread worldwide in less than a minute. Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players. An equally serious problem is how to quickly repair the damage caused by such a leak. A successful repair will likely involve enhancing the music store software, the music jukebox software, and the software in the players with new secrets, then transferring this updated software into the tens (or hundreds) of millions of Macs, Windows PCs and players already in use. This must all be done quickly and in a very coordinated way. Such an undertaking is very difcult when just one company controls all of the pieces. It is near impossible if multiple companies control separate pieces of the puzzle, and all of them must quickly act in concert to repair the damage from a leak. Apple has concluded that if it licenses FairPlay to others, it can no longer guarantee to protect the music it licenses from the big four music companies. Perhaps this same conclusion contributed to
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MACNEXUS

Presidents Column
by Bob Studer I have been working harder in the last month than I have ever worked before. We have a new release that is coming out really soon. I also have enjoyed a lot of it more than I have enjoyed work in a long while. As most of you already know, I am a software developer, but you cant buy anything I have written off of the shelf of your neighborhood computer store. Back in the mid-80s, when the Mac was new, I worked on a couple of video games, but that is the last time I wrote software that most people could actually be familiar with. For almost twenty years, I worked on software that allowed newspapers to publish, but due to a continuing slide in the revenue of newspapers, I was forced to look for other employment some ve and a half years ago. I found a position at a company that produces a compiler an application that allows other programmers to write software which converts a structured humanunderstandable language into machine-oriented instructions about as esoteric as you can get. I worked on various parts of the compiler, but mostly on the part that analyzes a program and gives errors and warning messages about what is semantically incorrect about it. I work with a bunch of guys that vary in age from their early twenties to their sixties and we really pull together as a team. The company I work for is just as great, we have a full kitchen, exercise room, its only ve miles from my house, and the executives care about their employees. Makes a big change from a former job where one of the executives actually said that only the employees were responsible for their own morale. Where am I going with this? Well, I just wanted to illustrate that treating your employees with respect and even coddling them a bit will get them working harder for you and thats good for your bottom line.

PRESIDENTS COLUMN

Daylight Saving Time May Bite the Out-of-Date

by Andrew Laurence <atlauren@uci.edu> Beginning this year, Daylight Saving Time in the United States begins earlier and runs later than in prior years. Under the new rules, Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the rst Sunday in November. Previously, it began on the rst Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October. This change was signed into law as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This change means that any device which automatically changes its clock to match Daylight Saving Time, such as a VCR, either needs to be updated with new rules, or must have its clock changed manually on the affected dates. Apple included the new rules for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger in the 10.4.6 update. (The 10.4.5 update also updated the Daylight Saving Time rules for changes in Australia and other locations.) Currently Apple has only released updates for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Turning the Hands Unless updates are issued for prior releases of Mac OS X, the clocks on computers running 10.3 or earlier will not show the correct time for three weeks in March and one week in November, in perpetuity. During those weeks, a number of things might go wrong. Messages created in Apples Mail client (and probably others) will have the wrong timestamp, possibly resulting in users messages being missed by their recipients. Events in iCal will display incorrectly, possibly causing people to miss appointments. Similarly, anyone collaborating on documents, and resolving changes based on timestamp, will be thrown askew. Authentication to network-based services (email, le servers, etc) might fail, as servers may refuse connection attempts if they appear to be too far outside the norm. (Kerberos servers, such as those available in Mac OS INTERFACE X Server, behave in this manner.) In order to avoid these problems, folks using older releases will have to change their computers clocks manually to the new correct time when Daylight Saving Time takes effect on 11-Mar-07, and then again on 01-Apr-07 (when those earlier versions of Mac OS X try to change it based on the old rules). Users will similarly have to adjust their computers clocks on 28- Oct-07 and 04-Nov-07. There are two options for updating clocks. If your computer uses a time server to set the date and time automatically, you can simply adjust the time zone (in the Time Zone pane of the Date & Time system preferences) to a zone that is an hour earlier or later, as appropriate. If your computer does not use a time server, you can simply adjust the time in the Date & Time pane of the Date & Time system preference. Either way, there may be problems with software that calculates time internally using Coordinated Universal Time (UT, also known as Greenwich Mean Time or GMT). Apples Responsibility We hope Apple will issue updates for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and 10.2 Jaguar, else users will have to adjust their computers clocks every year, twice on every Daylight Saving Time start and end date, for a total of four manual adjustments per year. An Apple representative declined to comment on future plans or possible future software updates. Unlike other operating system vendors, including Microsoft, Red Hat, and Sun, Apple has not posted sufcient information regarding how the change in Daylight Saving Time affects their products, nor which products are patched or unpatched. This situation is sadly familiar, for they
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WHAT YOU MISSED

I Missed It, Too

by Diana Hunt Prosoft Engineering has been programming for the Mac since 1985. System 9s Drive Setup utility was engineered by Prosoft for Apple. If you burn a CD in iTunes, you are using a tool from Prosoft. So some of their programming is for Apple and you are probably using it without knowing it. Their website lists all their products and provides you details. Barbara said Gordon talked about a new product that is not yet released that sounds pretty interesting. It is Jax for the iPod. It runs as a plug-in for iTunes on your Mac but facilitates features on your iPod. You can get it to show alternate art work for album covers; you can create other visualizers to see your music as it plays; you can set it up to do a word search through lyrics, and more. Jax will also be able to control your view of stock quotes, movie listings, weather conditions, and so forth, all through iTunes, and then download to your iPod. Its sort of like Apples OS X widgets, but for your iPod. This product should be released in the next few months. Of course no one wants to think about what might happen if their Mac gets the u and loses all the data on your hard drive. You do have a back up, dont you? Barbara said she really was sorry she hadnt invested in Data Rescue II before a crash last summer. This is something to consider even if only home use of your Mac is involved. If you have business les on your Mac, then installing Data Rescue before Bad Things Happen might save your business. Barbara said she takes a lot of digital pictures and was interested in the Picture Rescue product. She tries to download all her pictures to her laptop Mac while still on the road, but she knows that some people dont do this. She has seen the camera memory cards go bad. In fact, Gordon said that some people use the camera function on their cell phone and dont ever download all the pictures. Picture Rescue will review the media from your camera or camera phone and pick off all the pictures so you can store them more safely on your Mac or burn them to a CD or DVD. Prosoft products can be purchased on their website at www.prosofteng.com or at the Apple Store or CompUSA. Or send e-mail to sales@prosofteng.com or call 877-477-6763 for more details. Now go make a back up. Take your vitamin C. I hope you and your Mac stay healthy!

It has not been often that Ive missed a MacNexus meeting. Since I joined in 1989, I can probably count on one hand the number of meetings Ive missed. But, I had to add the February General Meeting as one of the missed ones. I had the u, or whatever were calling this head cold, sneezing, congestion, with cough. Sorry about that. So writing a What You Missed column becomes problematic. I need a backup, I guess. Just like my data les. If there is anyone who might like to write this column once in a while, feel free to e-mail me at dhunt@macnexus.org. During the announcements, Gordon Brock introduced Barbara Effenberger to the audience. Barbara has volunteered to organize the training classes at the Saturday Workshop on the rst Saturday of each month. Tom Smithson stepped down from this job several months ago. Thanks to Tom for his years of organizing the training classes! And thanks to Brent Sallee for temporarily lling in for the last few months. Barbara has been a grade-school teacher and is now retired and enjoying every class she can nd on things Apple. Her husband Jim is a seed botanist for the State and comes to many meetings with her. They even went on a Mac Geek Cruise last year. Ask her about that trip. Barbara says In fact, Gordon she is interested in nding out what said that some kinds of classes people use people would like to have at the Saturday Workshop. the camera Probably it is time to try some kind of survey again, but it is easier if function on their you just e-mail her with your effenberger@sbcglobal.net. cell phone and ideas: Needless to say, a good training idea dont ever down- requires nding a trainer. If you might be interested in giving training at the load all the Workshop, you can send your idea for a class to her, also. pictures. Since she attended the meeting, Barbara lled me in on the details. I knew that Prosoft Engineering was sending Jennifer and Gordon Bell to speak about several Prosoft products: Drive Genius, Data Rescue II, Data Backup, TuneTech for iPod and others. These same two sales representatives came to a MacNexus meeting in February 2005. Congrats to them on their nuptials in June 2006!

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MACNEXUS

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Robots

by Gail McGovern ART DNA 11 http://dna11.com For a truly unique gift, check out this website. You can order custom-made, digital works of art that capture your essence by creating a personalized image of your DNA or ngerprint(s). You place your order at the website and receive a collection kit (for DNA the technique involves a special swab and ink strips for ngerprints an inkstrip. What an incredible baby gift! CARS CarTalk http://www.cartalk.com If you havent visited the website for the popular NPR show CarTalk in awhile, make time for at least a quick glance. Features include descriptions of current shows with links to audio clips and reviews, free downloadable iTunes podcasts of the call of the week. If you want a collection of all of the shows, use can subscribe annually for what averages to 69 each or purchase individual shows for 99. Of course, you can always listen free to streaming audio and read opinions on the latest models, service bulletins, etc. COINAGE United States Mint Coins and Medals http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/ Find out everything you always wanted to know about U.S. coins and medals at this site. Categories include the 50 State Quarters, Presidential $1 coins, First Spouse coins, Westward Journey Nickel Series, American Eagle and American Buffalo bullion and proof coins, commemorative coins and medals. The coin production page offers gures for all pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollar coins produced each year for 2004-6. There is also information about the Artistic Infusion Program featuring bios of the latest Master Designers. CRAFTS Papercraft http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/ entertainment/papercraft/ Suggested by MacNexus member, Diana Hunt, this wonderful site provides free downloads of paper models of motorcycles, rare animals and seasonal decorative items. The site features easy to understand how-to video clips, PDF instruction sheets and patterns overseen by ultrarealistic 3D paper craft designer, Nobutaka Mukouyama. Even if you dont want to create a model, youll nd the items included fascinating to view.

PODCASTS Nolo Podcasts http://www.nolocast.com/ Nolo Press has been the go-to source for do-it-yourself legal solutions for work, life and nances for over 35 years. Now you can listen to free Nolo Podcasts in which writer and attorney Richard Stim presents dynamic discussions of the law, interviews with authors and other experts, and answers to everyday questions all in Nolos signature plain-English style. Topics include: starting a business, buying and selling a house, patenting an invention, maximizing tax deductions, getting compensated for a personal injury, divorce and child custody, credit repair and bankruptcy.

The day I visited the featured items were WowWees wingflapping flying insect robotyes it actually flaps its wings like a real bugand Ugobes Pleo, a cuddly green baby Camarasaurus plant eating dinosaur.

WAY COOL STUFF

INTERFACE

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VIEWS & REVIEWS

Steve Jobs Thoughts on Music

continued from page 2

Microsofts recent decision to switch their emphasis from an open model of licensing their DRM to others to a closed model of offering a proprietary music store, proprietary jukebox software and proprietary players. The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music. Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs havent worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. Thats right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player.

In 2006, under 2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves. The music companies sell the vast majority of their music DRM-free, and show no signs of changing this behavior, since the overwhelming majority of their revenues depend on selling CDs which must play in CD players that support no DRM system. So if the music companies are selling over 90 percent of their music DRM-free, what benets do they get from selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system? There appear to be none. If anything, the technical expertise and overhead required to create, operate and update a DRM system has limited the number of participants selling DRM protected music. If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an inux of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies. Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries. Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard. The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company. EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company. Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRMfree will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly.

Why I Dont Believe Steve Jobs

by Bill Thompson We may see the end of protected music downloads, but it wont be Apples doing. For a company with a tiny share of the computer market and an increasingly perilous rst mover advantage selling portable music players Apple punches well above its weight in coverage of its every move. In January CEO Steve Jobs single-handedly distracted the attention of the worlds technology press from the hundreds of announcements taking place at the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by pulling out an iPhone on stage in San Francisco. The recent settlement of the long-running dispute with Apple Corps over the use of the Apple name garnered thousands of column inches and millions of page views online as aging editors took yet another opportunity to hope that the 40-year old Beatles music they grew up with could top the charts once again. And much of the attention focused on the possibility that Beatles songs would be available on Apples iTunes Music Store rather than any of the other download services

available, giving Apple even more coverage. This was followed by widespread coverage of the UK versions of the Mac versus PC ads, with David Mitchell and Robert Webb sacricing any comic credibility their characters may have had on the altar of commercialism. Pronounce and Proselytise Columnists and bloggers queued up to pronounce and proselytise, and every one of them mentioned the Mac in the
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MACNEXUS

Why I Dont Believe Steve Jobs

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NEWS & REVIEWS

same breath as the PC. Finally there was the brilliant coup of announcing that iPod users should not upgrade to Windows Vista because the iTunes software doesnt work properly on it, which generated even more coverage. Since Vista has been available in some form for over a year and the production release of the business version took place two months ago we can only assume that Apples legion of Windows programmers had better things to do with their time - surely they could not have intended to spoil Bill Gates big day? Yet instead of prompting criticism of Apple for not preparing for one of the most widely trailed software launches of the century so far this was seen as another problem for Microsoft. Not bad for a company whose protability depends on a music player that is having to compete in a fast maturing market, whose board is under a cloud after problems over share options, and whose charismatic CEO could be ousted if evidence emerges that he was aware of those issues. The latest example of what has been called the reality distortion eld around Steve Jobs came last week when the man joined Victoria Beckham in the illustrious list of celebrity bloggers. Beckham posted about life in California, while Jobs limited himself to a meditation on digital rights management, or DRM. DRM software like Apples Fairplay or Microsofts Windows Media DRM should properly be called digital restriction management, since its primary goal is to limit what purchasers can do with downloaded content. Limit Ability Whether its music, lms, text or software, a DRMd le will limit your ability to play, copy, transfer or take extracts from the material. Fairplay is applied to any song downloaded from the iTunes Music Store and built into every iPod ever shipped. Apple has refused to license it to any other service or hardware manufacturer and as a result songs bought from Apple can only be played on PCs and Macs running iTunes, and iPods. (Lets forget about the Apple/Motorola phone, shall we?). If Apple switched off Fairplay then they would probably sell a lot more songs, on which they make very little money, and a lot fewer iPods, on which they make a lot Its a closed market, one that has attracted the attention of regulators around the world who fear that it could also be an example of unfair market manipulation. In his post Jobs said that Apple only implemented DRM because the record companies made them do it, and that they were unwilling to license Fairplay because it would make it easier for skilled crackers to break the protection. This ignores the fact that some of the music on the iTunes store is also available without FairPlay or indeed DRM of any sort from other, less restrictive, services like eMusic. It also ignores the reality that Microsofts widely licensed system has been cracked the same number of times as Fairplay, so the evidence would seem to indicate that Jobs fears are not justied. INTERFACE

Customary Practice Jobs also said that Apple would stop using DRM in an instant if they could. I dont believe him. If Apple switched off Fairplay then they would probably sell a lot more songs, on which they make very little money, and a lot fewer iPods, on which they make a lot. I dont buy songs from Apples store because I dont like DRM. I prefer to buy CDs which I can copy myself, trusting to the fact that this has been customary practice for so long that any attempt to prosecute me under the UKs restrictive laws would fail in court. But Jobs can see which way the wind is blowing, and he can see that the record companies are nally tiring of their painful, expensive and ultimately unsatisfactory relationship with DRM. They have stopped trying to sell broken CDs that cant be ripped to disk, and as a result nearly all of the music that they so painstakingly control when sold over the net is available at higher quality and lower cost to anyone who cares to spend the time taking it. They are actively exploring alternatives to rigid control of sharing, like at-rate permissive licensing to track usage and reimburse artists without limiting what fans can do. And they are - like EMI - looking to set up their own music stores selling unencumbered tracks direct to fans. Jobs has to position Apple for this brave new world, and he knows that his charisma is such that if he rushes to the head of queue and claims to be leading the charge then some, at least, will believe him. Sadly hes likely to be crushed under foot by those who really understand the music business and didnt sell their souls to the record companies back in the days when they believed in DRM. Bill Thompson is an independent jounalist and regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Digital Planet. He is a Mac user, but he is so unhappy that people might identify him with Robert Webbs character that he might nally make the jump to Linux. (Webb currently appears as the Mac in the UK version of Apples Mac vs PC ads.)

Daylight Savings
continued from page 3

likewise do not post life cycle support schedules for Mac OS X (again in contrast with Microsoft, Red Hat, and Sun), leaving customers to guess whether they can expect patches for security vulnerabilities. In this case, its a simple matter of making sure the clock is right, and Apples silent, de facto message of upgrade to Tiger is woefully inappropriate. Other Software Some calendaring software may also require an update, as did Microsoft Entourage. The recent Microsoft Ofce for Mac 11.3.3 update xed Entourage 2004s Daylight Saving Time rules. Microsoft told TidBITS that Entourage X would not be updated for the new Daylight Saving Time rules. In other words, if you use Entourage X for calendaring, youre really going to want to upgrade to Entourage 2004. (If you use Entourage with a Microsoft Exchange server, you should coordinate updates with your Exchange administrator, as Exchange must also
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VIEWS & REVIEWS

Way Cool Stuff

continued from page 5

ROBOTS Robots Rule http://www.robotsrule.com/ This site tells you everything you ever wanted to know about robots as well as showcasing the latest hot items. On the day I visited, the featured items were WowWees Flytech Dragony, a wing-apping ying insect robotyes it actually aps its wings like a real bugand Ugobes Pleo, a cuddly green baby Camarasaurus plant eating dinosaur. TAROT Voyager Tarot http://www.voyagertarot.com Whether you know much about Tarot cards or not, you may enjoy this site for the insights of its creator, James Wanless and the beauty of the art. He has been called the Master of the Cards, Mr. Tarot, and User friendly fortune maker. Two of my favorite features for inspiration are the Card-A-Day; you can click on a tarot card for each day and the podcasts. The card art really is wonderful the back of the cards is an actual photo of a human DNA chromosome.

Barracuda Spam-Eating Device Replaced

by Bill Davies Barracuda Networks observed some disk and kernel misbehavior in our spam-eating appliance (Barracuda) and shipped a replacement box. This is the device that lters all incoming mail for people using the MacNexus mail service. The replacement unit was installed on October 30, 2006. The outgoing box then refused to boot, so it is likely that some mail on or about October 30, 2006, was lost. This was contrary to the plan but things dont always go according to plan. I had to shut it down to install the new box. I was then going to turn it on and let if nish delivering whatever it was working on, but it refused to turn on again. Lets just say I think we got that replacement on line just in time. The replacement box is substantially faster. You can once again mark an entire page of mail you dont want (click the box to the left of Time Received) and then click Classify as Spam and you can do the whole list at one time. I have a couple of additional observations that may interest you: a. Ive noticed some inconsistencies with how the Barracuda counts what is in the mail quarantine list. For example, if it says there are 93 in the list and I delete 3 of them, when it re-draws the page it may say there are 59 in the list. The solution to this problem is to switch between tabs on the Barracuda page. Click the tab entitled Preferences and then click the tab called Quarantine Inbox and you should now get a proper listing of what else is in there. b. If youre going to contact me and tell me you received something that should not have gotten through, you need to send me this information from the headers or else it will be a futile exercise: X-ASG-Debug-ID: 11637243637d1800370000-2p41GV Each message has a unique ID number like the one shown above. So if you dont know how to look in the headers of a message, I guess youre out of luck. c. Consider supplementing what the Barracuda does with a spam lter on your own computer. For example, I use Spamnix for Eudora on my computer. Spamnix then catches whatever gets through the Barracuda. If you are using Apples Mail program, a lot of people think highly of a $30 product called SpamSieve. And if you have tolerance for more complicated conguration issues, theres always Matterforms Spamre. d. A number of people have complained about how much spam they were getting, and I looked up the log le for what they were receiving and 75% of the stuff said that it was whitelisted. Of course, the users denied that they whitelisted any of this stuff. My point is that if you have spent years of your life adding cryptic entries to your personal Barracuda block list to try to stop whatever mail you object to, you may in fact have made a syntax error or done something that is letting some of this stuff get through. In closing, I just want to say that lately Ive become convinced that the Internet has turned into a sewer. At one point last week, MacNexus was receiving around 5000 emails per hour, and maybe only 400 of those were legitimate. Using just todays statistics as an example, so far we have blocked 21,295 messages as total spam, quarantined 11,573, and allowed 5,167. So that is close to 33,000 messages today that were blocked or quarantined. I dont know about you, but I get nothing I want in the quarantine list. So we are running about six to one of absolute, total garbage versus bona de mail. Ive even spoken to other network providers who indicated that many companies have to buy more bandwidth because their available bandwidth is being consumed by spam. So this is a problem that affects all of us on a large scale. Theres a full-scale war apparently being fought by these spammers. CNET reported recently that 80% of the worlds spam could be traced to 10 people. Some other commentator suggested a hit list. Im starting to think that is not such a bad idea MACNEXUS

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The Default Human Brain is Female

by Bob Burt Apple Computer, Inc. has become Apple, Inc. Steve Jobs says that the previous title was too restrictive. Current controversy: Maybe Jobs made some illegitimate dollars by funny dates on Apple stock options. My take: I agree with the general feeling that whatever he made is OK. His return to Apple has RICHLY rewarded the company and its stockholders and the money he made is trivial compared to what many CEOs have made without ANY particular benet to their companies. Newest hi-tech trend: multitasking. If your cell phone only connects with other phones, you are one step removed from the caveman. Apples newest is iPhone: Its guts are a Mac computer and it works exclusively with Cingular (now, with AT&T, since it absorbed Cingular). It will download and play music, surf the Net, connect with TV, send e-mails and make phone calls. Price, with 4 gig, $499. Its not just Jobs hype. The outside world (which regards Windows as the ONLY serious OS) is still gaga about iPhone. They invented a new word, Jobsian, to cover the origin of the concept and its expected very wide impact. They say, Thats a lot of money for a phone, but the rest of the capabilities are fascinating MANY reviewers. Bur iPhone is a Cisco copyright. They negotiated for two years, without agreement at the time iPhone was introduced. Cisco sued. But now, they have reached agreement. Both can continue to use the name, each sticking to the current uses they make. Ciscos use is a telephone-over-the-Net device. So there is no likely conict. If Net video takes off, present Net trafc volume will seem minor, even though it has lled all that empty ber that was thought very stupid investment back when it was laid 25 years ago. A video that is only a gigabyte is small. Thats not the only increased demand; Net phone trafc is growing like mad. Vonage is a heavy TV advertiser and provides a Net phone service with free long distance to the US, Canada and Europe. They do not mention that YOU pay for the Net connection in addition to their charge. Net providers will not need just miles of new ber (mostly in the US), but also a whole LOT more servers. Cisco will be dancing in the streets. Increased demand from the current level of usage is NOW creating pressure for added income to justify all that necessary big new investment. Put video and phoning on top and the pressure is heroic. Bankers and Wall Street are unwilling to loan big money if the funds to pay it back are not clearly visible. Ordinary users would resent, as unfair, a BIG jump in the monthly charge caused by high phone and video trafc. So there are two choices: 1) time charges for all or 2) create a premiumcharged hi-speed service. There will initially be few takers for a premium hi-speed service and operators desperately need strong cash ow NOW to convince lenders. So time charges for all (with maybe a trigger level to start the toll) seems a likely bet. Should be pretty small money for ordinary print users. Neutral Internet is the name invented by hi-volume users lobbyists to ght the imposition of these added charges. So far, neither Congress nor regulators have fallen for this scam. But one Congressman (Boucher, D, VA, who INTERFACE

hints he has support from the new Democratic majority) has bought in. If the Neutral Internet scam succeeds, ALL of us will pay higher regular fees, to cover the large cost of handling all that higher volume. Recent research: The female brain is the human default structure. The male brain is just a female brain on testosterone. The effect starts when the male fetus is only 6 weeks old and develops testicles. The female brain is not signicantly hormone affected until pubertythat explains why little girls are so sensible and also explains high school girls. All this was discovered after research psychologists overcame their fear of feminists a few years ago and decided to really study male-female mental differences. The work included functional brain scans and tests at all ages. Feminists should be pleased. The very few widespread social differences are about as expected. Men tend toward more automatic cooperation under stress (soldiers and football); women tend to be better at nurturing (thats how weve survived) and indirect aggression (women are smaller and need some response to direct male aggression). Except for very small portions of the population, the individual differences are even smaller. Men tend to be more able to mentally rotate a solid object. While vocabularies are about the same for similar education, women tend to have uency in more of it. Recent hi-tech announcements: Veema; a solar chip with 40.7% energy conversion efciency (vs. the average 20%-); Switzerlands U-Blox; a two-in-one chip that gives global positioning in 1 second (vs. up to 10). MacNexus is a real bargain. A quick check shows that our NetSurfer is the cheapest Net access around. Typical commercial sources: $25.95+/month, plus various taxes and without membership in a GREAT club. Vista, the new Windows OS, hyped for two years, coming for ve, is not Net Video drawing any You gotta have it reviews. In fact, two reviewers I read compared will force it unfavorably to Mac, as requiring far too many unnecessary prompts. It needs time charges a big computer. It is likely to be SLOW on your computer that ran XP just ne. Problem: there is no uninstall. You must reformat your hard disk (losing any data and apps stored there) to put back XP. Porn occupies only about 1 percent of Net sites. This is the result in a recent published study based on extensive random sampling. Little consolation to anxious parents. Best guess, there are about a billion Net sites, so 1 percent is 10 million. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns of a new virus spam. It makes unauthorized use of their name. Sent to many business addresses, it asks you to click on a hyperlink
continued on page 11

MAC TALK

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VIEWS & REVIEWS

Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, Second Edition

by Adam C. Engst Is your data safe? What if your hard disk fails? Or a Info about ofoading seldom-used data to recover burglar ransacks your ofce? A backup is essential, but not drive space. all backups are created equal. You need a rock-solid backup Advice on setting up an easy-to-use backup system strategy that ensures you can restore quickly and completely, for a relative or friend. no matter what catastrophe arises. Discussion of issues associated with creating The second edition of the best-selling Take Control of command-line backup systems. Mac OS X Backups, provides the straightforward advice Using Amazon S3 for inexpensive Internet backups. you need to go beyond the false Includes coupons worth $30 off Data security of copying a few les to CD. Backup, $25 off BackJack, and $5 off This was just about the best Youll nd an at-a-glance comparison backup hardware or software at Small Dog $10 I ever spent... Joes ebook of different backup strategies (lowElectronics! And save 10% off the books gave me just what I needed. cost, easy, safest) for backing up price right now with the MUG discount -Robert Bowman and restoring data, including digital embedded in the link below. photos and video projects. Youll Book Details: An inexpensive, attractive, learn the pros and cons of each type Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, and exhaustive resource, kept of backup media, including hard Second Edition by Joe Kissell up-to-date by virtue of its disk, recordable disc, tape, and more; <http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/ electronic format and made discover how to pick the best backup backup-macosx.html?14 @@!pt=TRK-0014accessible to everyone. And software for your needs; and nd timeTCMUG&cp=CPN31208MUG> everyone should buy it and tested recommendations for setting PDF format, 176 pages, free 33-page sample act on it, unless their data is up, testing, and maintaining backups, available entirely dispensable. Highly complete with instructions on how to Publication date: January 25, 2007 recommended. restore after a crash. Important lessons Ebook Price: $10 -Think Secret youll learn along the way include the utility of having both a duplicate and Adam C. Engst (ace@tidbits.com): I an archive, the necessity of testing publish TidBITS, write books, and make sure backups, and the role of offsite backups. Includes over 20 the right people know each other in the Mac industry. pages of step-by-step directions for Retrospect! Me: http://www.tidbits.com/adam/ New coverage in the second edition includes: TidBITS: http://www.tidbits.com/ How the forthcoming Time Machine feature in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard might work in your backup strategy. Backup-related advice for people who are running Windows on a Mac. Recommendations for how to back up while traveling. Signicantly expanded information about SAN and NAS.

6 Feb 07, 08:48 AM Dear Bill Gates: Give me back my weekend. I bought a new Windows Vista laptopand thats when the trouble began. My dislike of your new user interface you can put down to the conservatism that comes with advancing years. However having loyally stuck by the galumphing, unaesthetic functionality of your operating systems over the past 15 years, while faced with ridicule from pretentious Mac-loving types, I resent your attempt at an elegance transplant. But what really grates is that your system is incompatible with two of the vital tools of my trade. Vista refuses to load the software for my newish Olympus digital recorder. And heres what takes the biscuit. Vista rejects my HP IPAQ handheld device even though the software for that was created by Microsoft!

An Open Letter to Bill Gates

So in order to put Vista at the centre of what I do, I would have to buy hundreds of pounds of new hardware. Which may be great news for your industry, but makes me regret never having defected to Steve Jobs. Perhaps nows the time. The only thing that gives me any comfort is that I am apparently not alone in my Vista-stress. Over lunch yesterday with the head of a very large media company, I learned of Vista incompatibility problems with nancial ramications that might actually register in Redmond. My conclusion? For all the expensive and much-extended gestation, Vista was not ready for commercial release. And, just so you know, Ive never once had a comparably horrible experience with the Google boys. Yours sincerely Robert Peston, BBCs business editor.) MACNEXUS

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Scrabble for Fun and Skill Building

by Gail McGovern If you are a word game fan or looking for a way to build your vocabulary, try this $19.95 computer version of the Scrabble crossword board game from GameHouse http:// www.gamehouse.com/. System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3.9, PowerPC or Intel After you register the game, your rst screen welcomes you by name and gives you the choice of using Classic or Speed versions. See screenshot #1. Players Dictionary, instant word validations (the tiles turn red otherwise), hints of best moves, use of a sample best play list and valid moves (given your tile set). See screenshot #2 showing examples using best plays where jitney was the highest scoring suggestion. During the game against a friend or the Scrabble A.I., you can choose to Pass, Shufe or Exchange tiles from your rack. Speed Version has three options: Blitz, in which you have only 25 seconds per turn. If you don't use up all your seconds, they get added to the clock for your next round. Tournament, in which you use xed rules that determine your rating Custom Tournament, in which you can adjust time and word assistance options and the games have no effect on your rating.

NEWS & REVIEWS

Classic Version looks and is played just like the tabletop board game with letter tiles on racks, bonus premium squares for double and triple points for individual letters or whole words. The score is automatically tallied and displayed at the top left of the screen along with the number of tiles remaining. You can play untimed, by yourself, with friends or against the computers articial intelligence (A.I.) in one of eight skill levels: Beginner, Apprentice, Intermediate, Veteran, Smart, Elite, Master and Genius. In this mode, you can use word assistance features built-in complete Merriam-Webster Ofcial Scrabble

One feature not available is that you can't play an online game against a friend if you are not sharing the same computer. You can try out a free demo.

MacTalk
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which then downloads a serious virus to your computer. Its return is <operations@bbb.org> There is NO such legitimate address. When the real BBB sends out messages, there are NO hyperlinks; their whole story is upfront. Jobs call to drop DRM (music copy protection) is meeting passionate opposition from those who still hope to make money from new music releases. Do not expect any breakthru soon. RFIDs (tiny ID chips) getting ready for a long trip. NASA is about to test the longevity of various formulations of RFID for possible space use. A variegated batch will be attached to the outside of the Space Station the next time the shuttle goes up there. The eventually returned samples will INTERFACE

be tested for effective surival in the space environment. The formulations that succeed will be on board the next moon shot. RFID readers on board (and back at NASA) will keep track of the usage of various supplies (and the remaining inventory). The real interest is the mission to Mars, which lasts long enough so that inventory control can become very important. Telecoms are worried. Rumor has it that Google is planning to provide Net phone service. It is now easy to do very well. Vonage is doing it and must be making money, to afford all that TV advertising. Googles clout and funding ability, together with the possibility of a combined phone and Net access service, could cause real phone company pain. Direct questions or comments to me at a meeting or to bburt@macnexus.org.

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VIEWS & REVIEWS

Roxio Toast 8 Titanium

by Maria O. Arguello TiVo Transfer Since I was familiar with Roxio Toast, and use it almost exclusively for all my burning needs, I was eager and excited over the plethora of new features and enhanced functionality in Toast 8 Titanium. Among the new features are Dj Vu backup software, CD Spin Doctor, Disc Cover, and Motion Pictures HD. The one that piqued my interest the most was being able to burn a show taped on my TiVo series 2, the only model supported at the moment. I opened TiVo Transfer, an application included in Toast 8 Titanium. The TiVo may be either connected directly to the computer or via a wireless connection. I have a wireless connection and there was no problem seeing my taped shows on my TiVo. You have to rst move the programs from the TiVo to the computer. It takes real time to transfer a show. On my G5 it took 52 minutes to transfer an hour show. The window in TiVo Transfer shows an iTunes-like menu in the left column. There is a Library with a submenu called TiVo Recordings where all the transferred programs are housed. I then selected the one I wanted to burn. I loved the new feature of selecting custom DVD menu backgrounds (new feature). I picked Cinema. Toast puts the name of the show, the episode name, the length of the show and the audio and video formats on the screen. It took 40 minutes to burn the DVD. You can create an auto transfer of shows from your TiVo so that all current and future episodes are automatically transferred to your computer whenever it is connected to the same network as your DVR. Very, very cool. I watched the newly burned DVD on my Sony HDTV. It played awlessly with excellent resolution and great audio through my surround sound system. Note: During the course of my review I found out you dont need Toast 8 to transfer TiVo shows to your Mac. You can do that with the free TiVoDecode Manager <http://tdm. sourcefo rge.net/>. So, you dont have to set yourself back $80 if this is the only feature that entices you. Restore Data Discs There is a new welcomed feature for recovering your precious photos, music, and les when CDs get scratched and damaged and data are unreadable by the Finder. Choose Copy > Disc Copy and select Use Disc Recovery in the Disc Options area. Insert the damaged disc and select Record and Toast begins copying the disc. If Toast cant read a damaged area, it continues to try until it is satised that it cant and moves on or bypasses the damaged area. This can take a long time depending on the damage and the le sizes. Each disc in a Mac Only and in a Mac and PC disc set also contains a small software application called Roxio Restore. It allows you to easily restore an individual le or folder, or the entire disc set. The Mac version of Roxio Restore runs on Mac OS X v 10.3 or higher; the PC version runs on Windows 2000, XP, or Vista. This is a small app that comes on the ROXIO Mac or Mac/PC master disc. The computer does not have to have Toast 8 installed.

Span les You can span les of any size across multiple discs. This was a welcome feature for me and I discovered it inadvertently when I was going to burn a CD having larger les than the capacity of the CD and Toast let me know that it would burn the les on two CDs. It partitioned everything automatically and made it readable either on a Mac or PC. Support for LightScribe- Enabled Burners I have the LaCie d2 DVD+-RW with LightScribe (direct disc labeling) external burner. I had to update the Firmware and the LightScribe labeler software to be compatible with Toast. Toast 8 includes Disc Cover RE, a disc labeling software compatible with LightScribe-enabled drives and media. Getting it all to work was not intuitive, and I had to go to the Help menu for the steps. Once the CD label was designed, it was simple for Toast to see the LaCie external drive and etch a beautiful disc label. I found the Disc Cover RE application included with Toast better and easier than LaCies LightScribe Labeler to create disc labels and case covers for printing or laser-etching to Lacies LightScribeenabled external disc burner. There were better templates and a wider variety of designs and templates and it is not limited to just LightScribe support. It has a myriad of paper choices and other printers that print labels directly on the CD/DVD. Complement to iLife The Toast Media Browser provides quick access to your photos, music, videos, and other les stored on the Mac. That includes shows taped with EyeTV tuners. It also works beautifully with Spotlight. However, there is a bug which does not allow viewing the current iPhoto Library. I have many iPhoto Libraries in my Home>Pictures folder. When I choose a Library to work with, Toast 8 defaults to a particular library which is not the one chosen by the user. I tried renaming the Library folder to plain iPhoto Library but it did not solve the problem on my G5 Dual 2.5 GHz. Toast 8 chooses a Library and nothing I do changes it. When I tinkered with the names of the iPhoto Libraries, I had two named iPhoto Library1which is strange, as iPhoto usually gives an error message that the name is already used. Now the Toast browser does not display any photos. On my MacBook Pro, it defaults to the iPhoto Library so named. It does not see the one titled iPhoto Library Calendars which is the selected one I am working with. I spoke with Roxios Adam Fingerman, Director of Product Management for Mac, to ask about this problem. He said that it is not possible to access many iPhoto Libraries within Toast. The workaround is to drag photos to Toast from iPhoto. He also suggested making an alias of the iPhoto Library desired and placing it in the Pictures folder. Toast looks for aliases. Blue-Ray Support Other enhancements include support for Blu-ray Disc burners, enhanced audio CD burning with features from Jam, media conversion from Popcorn, slick photo discs and disc cataloging software so you can nd les on your CD/ DVD archives without the need to have them in your computer. There is generally better Windows support than earlier Toast versions.
continued on page 13

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MACNEXUS

MyLiveSignature.com: Breathe Life Into Your Email Signature!

Every time you send an e-mail you probably place a few lines, including your signature, at its bottom. Would you like to make this signature look less impersonal? MyLiveSignature.com will help you make your email signature the ultimate expression of your personality! Embedding a handwritten signature into emails is a great way to personalize your digital communication, and with the new service opened at MyLiveSignature.Com the steps to do it are unbelievably simple! MyLiveSignature. Com allows anyone to personalize email messages, posts to blogs, forums and other sites with a real life handwritten signature. Handwritten signatures can be used anywhere where they are needed. Managers can use them to fax signed documents. Secretaries use them to print out signed documents. Insurance agents use signatures to print presigned forms. Digital handwritten signatures can also be used in corporate logos and letterheads. It makes them look so much great! Now, at MyLiveSignature.Com, creating a signature couldnt be easier! Just register there and, using the web interface, imitate your signature yourself through a step-bystep signature creation wizard, or write your signature with a pen on paper, scan it and (for a small fee) submit to the designers at MyLiveSignature.com via a special form. The signature wizard (if you opt for it) offers you a wide range of congurable parameters, allowing you to achieve the results you need. For example, you can adjust such parameters as name, font, size, color and slope of the signature. Once you have the signature, you can easily insert it into a message in any mail client that supports signatures, for example, Outlook Express. At the bottom of the message, you enter a few strings: your name, company name, homepage and email addresses with hyperlinks and place an image of your handwritten signature above this information. For those people who like creativity and style, MyLiveSignature.com provides a cool option (for an additional fee) to animate a signature so that when the receiver opens your message, the effect will be as if the author were signing a message in real time in front of the readers eyes. The animation is smooth because it is created by experienced animators at MyLiveSignature.com. Now you can explore MyLiveSignature.Com to nd out more details about handwritten signatures and how you can create them. You are invited to take Welcome Tour. Breathe life and your individual spirit into your digital signatures now, visit MyLiveSignature.Com! Product page link: http://www.mylivesignature.com

HOW TOS AND TUTORIALS

Toast 8
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I couldnt test the Blu-ray disc media as I dont own a Blu-ray disc player or recorder. Fingerman also stated that the BD (Blu-ray disc) acts like an external drive to which you can click and drag les till you ll the 50 GB capacity. Whats in the Box Roxio Toast 8 came in a well-designed box containing enough information that you dont have to wait to read the well-written 128-page manual, which does not overwhelm. By reading the box captions, especially the table comparing features in versions 8, 7, and 6, you will know whether or not you want to buy this update. May I dream? One of my disappointments with this upgrade was that it does not see my Aperture Library. Of course, they

dont promise this feature but it would be GREAT to include it in future versions. Aperture does not have a friendly way to burn CDs or DVDs and therefore a better way is needed. Right now to burn a DVD of photos from Aperture one must export them to a folder on the desktop and then use Toast to burn a DVD. My other letdown was the inability to burn DVD multiple sessions. BurnAgain DVD ($24.50) has this capability. Fingerman is committed to making a reliable product and doesnt feel this feature is ready yet. Rating: Copyright Maria O. Arguello. Maria is the vendor liaison of the Main Line Macintosh Users Group (MLMUG). She is the Apple User Group Regional Liaison for the Northeast United States (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT).

Daylight Savings
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be updated with the new rules.) Happily, a x for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther (both the desktop and server versions) has appeared in the form of an unofcial installer from Ian Ward Comfort of Stanford University that updates the necessary zoneinfo les and the ICU data archive to enable Cocoa applications like iCal to function correctly. You can also see Ians shell script if youre concerned about running the INTERFACE

installer. Finally, a Web site - DSTPatch.com - has sprung up to track available vendor patches; any system administrator or network administrator would do well to check it out. If youre wondering why we bother with Daylight Saving Time at all (and different parts of the United States, along with various other countries, do not), youre not alone. The main rationale in the United States is energy conservation, but other stated benets include increased opportunities for outdoor activities and fewer trafc injuries.

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WORKKSHOPS

April 7, 2007
Triage volunteers make your Mac healthy again. You must bring your Mac + cables, etc. and ll out a triage info sheet.

Triage: Mac Repair & Troubleshooting

Auditorium 8:30 a.m.12:30

The Internet Caf is a place where you can get help nding and obtaining the software you need.* Sit down with one of our waiters who can make helpful suggestions and go out on the internet in your behalf. Here at the Internet Caf, we can obtain: freeware, shareware, updates and demos. Once your waiter nds what youre looking for, you get it served up on a CD-ROM to take home with you. Please pass by the tip jar on your way out.

Internet Caf

At press time our new training coordinator, Barbara Effenberger, is nalizing the April schedule. You can nd it at

http://www.macnexus.org
If you have ideas for new classes, or are interested in teaching a class, you can contact Barbara at effenberger@sbcglobal.net

New Faces
New Members Michael Greer Gayanne Leachman Gregory McIntosh George Peterson Renewals George Adelsperger Steven Basques George Beitzel Gerald Blalock Kandice Bloch Joan E. Brock Robert Brown Ron Bryant Marjorie Burrall Steve Burrall Tom Busch Roberta Bush Paul Christianson Patrick Cody Stephen Conn William H. Crim Dan Dorritie Jim Dowson G. Perry Duncan Bob Edwards James Elam Jeff Falkner Leilani Fay Mariann Fisher Ed Fletcher Glo Fong Gene Ford Paul Fuller Tom Gentry Peggy Gerick Tom E. Goodwin Leroy Gordon Robert T. Gordon Flo Grossenbacher Steve Hague Beverly Hansen Jean Hansen Holly Hart Patrick Hill Donovan Hillman Robert M. Hocking, Sr Eleanor Hoffman Josh Hoffman Brian Holloway Alicia Iniguez Marie Jackson Samantha Jannke Kent C. Jarman Timothy J. Johnson Ron Kidd Florence (Betty) King Mathew Krejci Richard Kretsinger Kurt Kunert Wayne Kunert Robert M. Lanphear Rick Larkey Michael Launitz Jeff Lee Hazel Lew Georgia Lipphardt Gerald J. Lopes Rick Maness Virginia McAllister James McCusker Marganne Meyer Lois Misfeldt Bill Montgomery Jeffrey Myers E. S. Nakahira Ken Nichols Charles E. Nulk Mary OReilly Shirley Perry Laura Petersen Victor Petta Tom Phillips Mike Posthumus Mike Pulskamp Jonarde Raab Bob Ralston Robert C. Reynolds Joan Rice Sondra Rogers Helen Russ Jerry Scholl Eleanor Shaw Wilson SooHoo Agnes Sours Russ Stocker Suzanne Stone Don Stover Rob Super Joy Sweet George Thelen Mary Thomas John Turner L. R. Vessell Dean M. Wakefield Robbin Ware Barry L Wasserman Sheila Weber Kit Weinrichter Bob White Tom Winter Ken Yelle

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MACNEXUS

INFORMATION

Membership Application
MacNexus Membership Benefits
Two monthly meetings (see back cover) Internet Caf: Get help downloading software. Training Library: An extensive library of training CDs and DVDs for rent. CD Library: Games, self-help, reference CDs and DVDs for rent. Interface: Twelve months of MacNexus monthly newsletter. On-line technical support: Ask and discuss questions in the MacNexus Forums. Helpline: Find members who will share their expertise with you. Please fill out information below: Name Company Address City, State, Zip Daytime Phone Evening Phone Fax Current Email Address Payment Check Card Number Name on Card Expires Signature
Return this form with credit card information or a check payable to MacNexus, PO Box 163058, Sacramento, CA 95816 An email name and password are needed for MacNexus Internet access and Email. Your address will be nnnnn@macnexus.org. Complete the following: Password (4-9 characters) Email Name Were you referred to us by a current member? Yes No If yes, please supply their name: Do you want to receive special offers? Yes Interface Schedule @macnexus.org

Visa

Mastercard

MacNexus Annual Membership Dues

Basic Membership ..................................................................... $40 NetSurfer: Dial-up Internet access, one email
account & personal website .................................................... $150 (Member provides own Internet access.) ............................. $100

Benefactor: One email account & personal website

Additional email accounts (each) ........................................... $20

Note: NetSurfer may pay on a quarterly or semi-annual basis. In this case, fees for membership and any other services are pro-rated. (Example: A quarterly NetSurfer will pay $47.50 per quarter (1/4 of $40 + 1/4 of $190.) For any questions about membership, call 363-7115 or visit www. macnexus.org. Information about corporate membership, domain hosting and other services are available at both locations.

No

Map to General Meetings & Workshops

General Submissions: Articles, Reviews and announcements for the April 2007 issue of Interface must be received by March 15, 2007. Send submissions to newsletter@macnexus.org or call Bill Davies at (916) 452-4844. MacNexus Interface will reprint copyrighted material if accompanied by a release from the author.

Interface
Interface is an independent publication not affiliated or otherwise associated with or sponsored or sanctioned by Apple Inc. The opinions, statements, and views stated herein are those of the author(s) or publisher and are not intended to be opinions, statements, positions, or views of Apple Inc. MacNexus PO Box 163058 Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 455-4622 Nexus, n. [L.pp. of nectere, to bind], a connection, tie, or link between members of a group. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective holders.
1984 2007 MacNexus The Sacramento Macintosh User Group

INTERFACE

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PAGE 15

MEETING

March General Meeting

Date: Time: Tuesday , March 21, 2006 6:30 9:00 pm 6:30 7:00 Around the periphery of the room: Training Rentals, Shareware sales, Membership, Internet and Volunteer Sign-ups 7:00 Eric Ullman, Director of Marketing for Mark/Space, known for synchronization products SyncTogether and The Missing Sync. Place: Sacramento Association of Realtors, 2003 Howe Avenue

Upcoming meeting dates listed at www.macnexus.org

VENDOR OFFER WATCH

Compiled by The MUG Center http://www.mugcenter.com To view any of the special offers shown below, visit the MacNexus web site, log in, and look for the words Special Offers under the User Menu. ColorIQ $10 discount on IQ Match plus free upgrade to AppleWorks Users Group Discount on Macintosh batteries Actoris 25% off Xpress Schedule or Food Cost Manger Macworld magazine $13 off annual subscription MobileJuice 10% off MacSleeve Jungle MYOB $25 off First Edge & $100 off Account Edge Other World Computing 5% off all miniStack systems and 10% off NuPower PowerBook and iBook Batteries OReilly 30% off one title; 35% off two or more titles; Free ground shipping on orders $29.95 or more in the US. Peachpit Press 25% off all titles by joining the Peachpit Club PocketMac 40% discount on all products Prosoft Engineering 25% off Drive Genius, Picture Rescue, Data Rescue, Data Backup & Data Recycler RegNow 40% discount on Arctic Now Softpress Free demo software for user groups, 25% off any version of Freeway and discounted web hosting from Have | Host TidBITS 10% discount on Take Control eBooks Globalsat Technology Corporation 25% discount on Mac products

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage MacNexus PO Box 163058 Sacramento, CA 95816 Address Service Requested
PERMIT #1890 Sacramento, CA

PAID