1. No category

No. 395
September 2012
Which iPhone 5 Lets You Roam Where You Want?
by Glenn Fleishman @ TidBits
snac Time
s o u t h e r n N e w H a m p s h i r e A p p l E C o r e
Official Newsletter of the SNAC Apple User Group
Online: http://applepower-nh.org
Upcoming Meetings
Meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month at
the Nashua Public Library at 7 PM.
Featured Topics
september Home Inventory &
LicenseKeeper
OCTOBER TBD
Contents 12 pages
Reviews and Information
Which iPhone 5 Lets you Roam..............1, 8
The iPhone 4S was simple: a single
model covered the whole world. The iPhone
5 comes in two models, however, with three
potentially significant variants based on
activation. The iPhone 4S can be used
worldwide; the iPhone 5 can too, but not for
the fast LTE networking flavor everywhere
you go. If you’re trying to break this down
to figure out which iPhone 5 model or
activation to purchase, let me pick apart
how it works.
The iPhone 4S’s supported networks
can be explained with a bit of effort. If
purchased unlocked from Apple or from a
GSM-based carrier or under contract to a
GSM carrier, the iPhone 4S will be GSM
forever, and will work on all 2G, 3G, and 4G
GSM bands nearly everywhere in the world.
An identical iPhone 4S can be sold to a
Verizon Wireless or Sprint Nextel customer
and activated for CDMA, and then used
outside the United States with the proper
SIM (the GSM subscriber identification
module) on 2G, 3G, and 4G networks.
Once activated for GSM, however, an
iPhone 4S can never be used for CDMA. If
an iPhone 4S is activated for CDMA, GSM
remains available, although apparently not
in the United States.
More iPhone5 with
The iPhone 5
Tim Adams
has all the iPhone
in
RAMBLING
4S GSM and CDMA
ON page 5
support, and adds
LTE. It comes in
three flavors, via
two models (explained a little obscurely on
its LTE page):
• The A1428, which is sold for AT&T in
the United States, and Bell, Rogers,
and Telus in Canada. It includes LTE
support for two spectrum bands that are
used among those networks. (Canadian
providers also have other spectrum
bands they use for LTE.)
• The A1429, which is like the iPhone 4S
in that it can be activated for either a
CDMA network (Verizon and Sprint in
the United States or KDDI in Japan) or a
GSM network (10 GSM networks across
7 countries), and then never switched.
Here’s the complicating factor. The
A1429 activated for CDMA supports two
U.S. LTE bands and three bands used in
combination across the other 10 carriers
supported outside the United States. But
iphone 5 roaming Continued on Page 8
President Blog Scott Silva
Tips, a mini-book review, a cool new app, more
Regular Features
President’s Blog: New iPad.................1, 9-10
Secretaries Report..........................................2-3
SNAC HelpNet.....................................................3
SNAC Bites................................................3-4, 11
Rambling On........................................................5
Mac911..............................................................6-7
SNAC Membership Application.................. 12
Established April 1979
A quick apology regarding the sporadic
nature of the SNAC Time the last few
months. I’m hoping with the September
newsletter (expected to be released
somewhere between September 30 and
October 3rd), this puts us back on track.
My goal is to always have the latest edition
available for the meeting at the end of the
month. This has not happened, and for that
I’m sorry. With the October edition, we try to
get back to that schedule.
In other club news, Kevin McLaughlin,
our Ambassador with Apple has decided to
relinquish his duties. I’d like to thank him
The september president blog Continued on Page 9
snac TIME
Page 2
Member User Group
CONNECTION
...Some of the People that help make SNAC Work...
PRESIDENT Scott Silva [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT Kerry Hurd [email protected]
SECRETARY Dan Johnson [email protected]
TREASURER Paul Bendeck [email protected]
WEBMASTER Rick Branscomb [email protected]
SNAC TIME STAFF
Tim Adams [email protected]
August Meeting Notes
Meeting Notes by Dan Johnson, Secretary
Place: Nashua Library, 2 Court St., Nashua, NH, August 29, 2012
Presided By: Kerry Hurd, Vice President — Southern NH Apple Core
as well as digital. Larger screen possible. Mini iPad,
7.9 inch rumored for October release.
Small Dog – They don’t know what is coming up
either. They get Fed ex-ed the stuff ahead of time
and hold them until the item as released.
Old Business
Problems and Questions
–– New member: Bruce Atkinson attended the
meeting. He has a Macbook Pro and a 2011
Macac mini he uses to co hos web sites.
–– Secretary notes: There is a correction in the last
SNAC Time. The Emmy was for Jonathan Bird’s
Blue World.
–– Treasurers notes: Paul was out, so the report was
same as the last meeting.
Scott Silva [email protected]
New Business
USER GROUP
AMBASSADOR TBD
Should we use money in club to bring in more
members? Get something for our membership
dues. We could get more things from Lynda.com.
We could have another guest speaker, we could ask
Don Mayer (Small Dog Electronics, president) to
speak. There was an open discussion on how to get
more members. We could get Hiawatha Bray from
the Globe as a guest speaker. We could put ads in
Encore magazine for the Telegraph. We can get
coverage in the Telegraph if there is a story. There
is a mention in Hippo magazine, but it says the
wrong day (Tuesday instead of Wednesday).
Apple wins suit with Samsung. They was
infringing on Apple’s patents. The award is about
1 dollar per share. Apple wants to take 8 devices
off the market. Samsung will appeal to Supreme
Court. Apple may request to triple damages since
it was intentional. Apple had employees testify in
person but Samsung had video testimonies.
Patent is based on implementation details not,
just how the UI is. For example, ‘Slide to unlock’
was done before iPhone.
New iPhone, may have new connector. Move head
phone jack to bottom of phone for larger battery.
With both connectors you could have analog input
ON THE WEB http://applepower-nh.org
ON FACEBOOK
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=171733775522
ON TWITTER
twitter.com/#!/applepower/
MUG User Group Store
www.applemugstore.com/
For login information send email request to Tim Adams.
SNAC TIME
Published monthly, by the Southern New Hampshire Apple Core computer club as a dues supported service
to its members. Published using Adobe InDesign 3.0.1.
Contributed articles become the property of SNAC, with publication on a space available basis. Authors’ views and
opinions are their own, and SNAC waives responsibility for editorial or typographical errors herein. Re-publication
of articles originating herein is permitted on a non-commercial basis, with both author and SNAC credits given.
APPLE, the APPLE LOGO, MAC & MACINTOSH are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company
and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE APPLE CORE
SNAC is a not-for-profit, dues supported organization, with membership open to anyone wishing to participate
in our interest in the use and enjoyment of Apple Computers. Club services include libraries of public domain
software, a web site, and this newsletter.
SNAC TIME is an independent publication not affiliated or otherwise associated with or sponsored or sanctioned
by, Apple Inc. The opinions, statements, positions and views stated herein are those of the author(s) or publisher
and are not intended to be the opinions, statements, positions or views of Apple Inc.
September 2012
Shared Drop box account. A person is sharing
a Dropbox account with someone else who posted
2.5 gig of pictures and stored on his Mac. However,
shared items don’t count against the dropbox quota.
iCloud doesn’t backup everything to cloud, it
only saves mail, iWork files and contacts.
Cups open source printing system. All OSX
printing is through cups. Cups works on windows
also. You can save a set of preferences for a printer
and save it to a name, and use that printer with
the selected settings. Old HP printer doesn’t have
drivers for Snow leopard.
If you take 1,000 pictures, it takes a while to load
a photo stream. The stream doesn’t categorize
pictures just dumps them out.
Upgrading Machines to Mountain Lion,
now screen sharing doesn’t work. Screen sharing
(you can view your home Mac remotely. You have to
kludge around to enable ‘save as’ in Mountain Lion.
Save as saves in cloud and where it is specified.
Demo: Eric on User Accounts
Presentation slides at edp.org/presentations/
accounts.pdf
Each user account has its own folders and files.
User preferences are stored inside home folder.
System preferences are stored in system. Folders
and files have permissions that control who can
act or see them. OK to delete extra administrator
accounts, but system makes it hard to delete the
last admin account.
If you don’t have auto login your Mac, it gives
you a menu of the users.
There is an account type ‘managed with parental
meeting notes Continued on Page 3
September 2012
snac TIME
August Meeting Notes Continued from Page 2
SNAC Bites
controls’ which is standard with parental
controls added. Administrator and change
passwords for other users. You can set a master
password as a safety net in case something goes
wrong. It is more secure to turn ‘automatic login’
off since password isn’t stored anywhere.
There is an account server, you can setup
which stores a list of users and files from your
account. If hold control button you get at list
of options. You have a choice of command line
shells. You could also move the home directory to
a different folder.
Some of the information that you find in every issue of the
snacTime can be found here. We will also use this space for
other announcements, club business that did not make it into
the meeting notes, special offers from the Apple User Group
Resource and maybe classified ads for our members.
Guest user account.
If account enabled, anyone can use this
account. If account is logged our, user account is
cleared.
Parental Controls
Parental controls can’t set on a administrator
account. You can set controls on a different
computer in the network. You can limit which
apps a user can use. You can also limit age limit
of apps then can run from app store. You can see
which web sites each user has accessed, apps,
how they ichatted, etc.
You can set time limits and hours system
can be used. If user is logged in, an orange
check mark appears in the user list. The ‘public’
folder can be seen by other users on system (or
network). This can be used to share files with
other users.
If you turn on file sharing, public folders are
visible to other people. In the sharing file option,
you can use (AFP) or smb (windows)
Web sharing. In users/sites folder there is an
index.html for a web page. You can also put these
pages on the internet if your router allows port
forwarding.
Thanks again for the demo Eric.
SNAC O’Reilly eBook LIBRARY
Here is the list of past eBooks that we have in our SNAC
Library: FileMaker Pro 11 - The Missing Manual , Digital Photography - The Missing Manual, HTML5 - The Missing Manual,
iMovie11 & iDVD - The Missing Manual, iPad2 - The Missing
Manual, iPhoto 11 - The Missing Manual, iWork ‘09 - The
Missing Manual, MacOSX Lion - The Missing Manual, MacOSX
Snow Leopard - The Missing Manual, Photoshop Elements
9 - The Missing Manual, Photoshop Elements 10 - The Missing
Manual.
SPECIAL SNAC OFFERS
Being part of an User Group has its perks. To see more
specials visit this site (http://appleusergroupresources.com/).
Lynda.com SNAC has been approved as an User Group Partner with
Lynda.com. This is an online video
training site that offers courses in a wide
range of topics for your computer. Being
a registered user group with lynda.com
gives our members discounts for and
other give-aways for special events. With the partnership, we can
demo any of the online videos for our meetings.
O’Reilly: New Discounts for User Group Members Get 40% off books and videos from O’Reilly, Microsoft
Press, No Starch, Paraglyph, PC Publishing, Pragmatic Bookshelf, Rocky Nook, SitePoint, or YoungJin books and 50% off
ebooks you purchase directly from O’Reilly. Order from the
O’Reilly Store online or by phone at 1-800-998-9938 ( extra
Page 3
SNAC HELPNET
Can’t quite get your finger on the problem? Try the Helpnet!
How it Works: To you who wish to help others:
Name / phone / Interests & Specialities
Tim Adams 603-595-9522 InDesign, Dreamweaver,
Acrobat, OS X
Paul Bendeck 603-672-0084 Installing and configuring MacOSX and applications, hardware upgrades,
AppleWorks, iTunes, iPhoto
Rick Branscomb603 424-1433 Webpages, HTML,
Adobe GoLive, Netscape Composer, AppleWorks, Educational Software
Scott Silva 617-697-7861 FileMaker Pro, CS5
(InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), Pages, iTunes,
Automator, Applescript, OSX, Numbers, Pages.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED We are always looking for
members with a special skill to contribute to the SNAC
Helpnet.
shipping costs outside U.S.). http://www.oreilly.com/store/. Online Code: See Scott for code. This worldwide offer is ongoing.
Special Offer – Take Control Books: 30% Discount on
All Ebooks No matter what Apple devices you’re using, there’s a
Take Control ebook that will help you polish your skills, work more
efficiently, and increase your productivity. Check out our highly
practical, tightly focused ebooks covering Mac OS X, Macintosh
applications, the iPad and iPhone, 802.11n networking, and more!
Written by the most-trusted names in the Mac world and published
by Adam and Tonya Engst of TidBITS, Take Control ebooks provide
the technical help you need now. Take Control ebooks are available
for immediate download in PDF format (for Macs and iPads), and
with EPUB (for iPhone and iPod touch) and Mobipocket (for Kindle)
SNAC Bites Continued on Page 4
Page 4
SNAC Bites Continued from Page 3
versions available after purchase. An exclusive 30% off
their already low prices is offered to Apple user group
members on all Take Control ebooks. Purchase Take
Control books: http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/
catalog. See your user group Ambassador for discount
URL. TidBITS: http://www.tidbits.com. This worldwide
offer is ongoing.
Special Offer – AgileBits 1Password and more:
25% Discount Too many passwords to remember?
1Password 3 for Mac is a password manager that
goes beyond simple password storage by integrating directly with your web browser to automatically
log you into websites, enter credit card information,
fill registration forms, and easily generate strong
passwords. As an Apple user group member, you are
entitled to get new licenses of 1Password for Mac at
25% below the normal retail price. You also get a 25%
discount on new licenses for everything else in the
AgileBits store. See your user group Ambassador for
discount link. https://agilebits.com/. This worldwide
offer is ongoing.
Apple II publication: 10% Discount Juiced.GS
is the longest-running print publication dedicated
to the Apple II. Quarterly issues feature reviews of
new hardware and software, tutorials for using the
Apple II in a modern environment, coverage of annual conventions, and interviews with the industry’s
founders. User group members throughout the
world can receive 10% off their total order (includes
subscriptions, back issues, PDFs, CDs, and calendars).
See your user group Ambassador for coupon code.
Web site: http://juiced.gs/store/ This worldwide offer
is valid through December 31, 2012.
L5 Remote for iDevice: 50% Discount The L5
Remote is the best-selling, highest-rated universal
remote for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can use
snac TIME
this app-driven accessory to control your TV, DVD,
audio, and other home entertainment devices. It is
easy to create fully-customized, touch screen remotes
on your iOS device in minutes with drag-and-drop
ease, or download them from the web (requires iOS
3.0 or later). With a suggested retail price of $59 (US),
this Apple user group special price is only $29.95
(US), half the regular cost. Get more information,
and order: www.L5remote.com See your user group
Ambassador for coupon code. This worldwide offer
is valid through December 31, 2012.
Spicebox iPhone Cases: 25% Off The Intoxicase is a iPhone 4/4S stainless-steel bottle opener
embedded in polycarbonate case which marries
iPhone protection with convenient beverage access.
There are two different flavors including the Intoxicase Speed opener http://intoxicase.com/intoxicase.
html and Intoxicase Plus for the sophisticated drinker
http://intoxicase.com/intoxicase-plus.html. Both come
with a companion app to track your drinking, share
in Facebook, and locate a local taxi cab at the end
of the evening. Regularly $35(US) and $45(US), this
Intoxicase Apple user group discount would reduce
the prices to $26.25(US) and $33.75(US). See your
user group Ambassador for coupon code.http://
intoxicase.com/buy.html This worldwide offer is valid
through November 30, 2012.
Qmadix Quality Products: 30% Off Qmadix, a
leader in tech gadgets and accessories, is presenting
an exclusive discount on its entire web store for all
Apple user group members. With this offer, you can:
• indulge in fashion forward and protective iPhone
covers;
• entice your audio senses with the iharmonix Q-iSound stereo Bluetooth speakers, the world’s first
wireless Bluetooth speakers with true stereo sound
separation;
SNAC Bites Continued on Page 11
September 2012
More Benefits to with your
SNAC Membership
One of the things that the officers have been trying to work on is getting value added to
SNAC membership. Aside from the wealth of knowledge that our members share, this
newsletter, and other discounted perks that are available in the SNAC bites section, we
are always looking on ways to improve membership. We have partnered with Lynda.com
and O’Reilly Publishers for discounts. I recently contacted with Peachpit and Focal Press
to get sponsorship. Both publishers have an incredible library of computer books ranging
from photography, programming, video editing, and the Apple OS. The popular Visual
Start Quick guides are part of Peachpit and are an effective way of learning new software.
If you are interested in reviewing a book, let me know and I will contact the publisher.
Focal Press Benefits http://www.focalpress.com/
usergroups/
What are the benefits to your group?
• Two free books of your choice, each month to be used as giveaways at meetings
• 40% discount code [MEET4] plus free shipping for user group managers to pass on
to their members
• Books supplied for book reviews upon request
• Request an author for guest speaking at group meetings
• Chapter samples that can be shared with members
Peachpit Benefits http://www.peachpit.com/user_groups/
What are the benefits to your group?
• Build a resource library with our free monthly book program
• Discounted shopping at www.peachpit.com
• Donations of promotional items for your meetings, special events
• Peachpit products for review
• Product updates and previews
September 2012
snac TIME
Page 5
Rambling On by Tim Adams, SNAC Time
A different October surprise coming from Apple?
As I’m sure you all know, the iPhone 5 has been
released. As I’m writing this we are in the middle
of the first full weekend of it being available to buy
off the store shelf. While Apple announced that they
pre-sold 2 million in the first hour, the number for
the weekend is expected to top 6 million around
the world. I know at least a dozen of them were
delivered to the company I work for, replacing some
aging Blackberries.
It is September, that must mean new iPhones
While I didn’t get one of the new models, I did
get the new iOS 6 installed onto my iPhone 4S.
While I haven’t noticed any of the problems others
are seeing with Apple’s new map application, I
have noticed that the maps draw faster (IMO)
than they did with the older Google app. The
streets don’t seem to draw in quite as darkly at
larger magnification, it gives a cleaner look that I
personally like.
On the other hand, the app I use for geocaching
still uses google maps and seems to draw in the
green ‘forest’ area better than Apple does. I’m sure
in time, however, you might have problems telling
the two apps apart.
Panorama photos not only available in the iPhone 5
One of the other items I saw in the keynote
from a couple of weeks ago was the ability to take
panorama photographs. I thought that this feature
was only going to be available with the new iPhone
so this morning while walking, and taking a few
foliage pictures at a swamp I was passing, I was
pleased to see that it is available on my older
4S model. If you’ve updated the OS, you have it
available to you also. Check it out and let us know
what you think. I was really surprised with what
I got with the one I took. I rotated the phone from
portrait to landscape half way through the panning.
Try it, I think you’ll also be surprised at the results.
See photo 1.
It’s interesting to see articles written as to why
Apple is replacing the Google Apps. It’s not only
because of Steve Jobs now famous quote of what
he was willing to do to Google, but because of the
big potential income that is waiting in knowing
where people are and the ability to direct them to
a customer in their vicinity. With links to Yelp and
other apps it’s a potential gold mine.
New iPods and maybe more new products in October
Photo 1 Image taken with iPhone 4S and the new Panorama app.
At the same time the new iPhone was
announced, Apple also released several new iPods
that, in the case of the Nano anyway, changed the
size and shape, much to the shock of those vendors
that were offering watch bands for the older model.
Next month it is widely expected that Apple
will have yet another special event and introduce
their smaller 7 inch iPad. It will be interesting to
see what the pricing of this new device, if released,
will be since Apple has the full range of prices
covered with iPod touches from $299 and pricing
an iPad at a lower price. Like many expect, the
iPod sales will literally die. Why buy one unless you
need a something small to fit in your pocket, and
that’s the iPhone.
With a new, smaller iPad, items like
the Amazon Kindle will feel the pinch. The
infrastructure of the iTunes store makes it a no
brainer for people looking for a device of that size.
At this point, with my job ending in a few weeks,
even I am thinking of. Using one to replace the
aging original iPad that I am writing this on.
A couple of things I will need a replacement
is 3G (or LTE) connectivity, not full time but on a
month to month deal like I have now, so that when
I travel, I can activate it and only pay for it short
term. I don’t need another $30 dollar plus monthly
charge.
I don’t really know what else Apple might
introduce but one item I think we’ll see is new
iMac’s. Several places have been reporting a short
supply which typically means that they are due
for a refresh. My question is, will Apple keep the
same design or change it to something new. Since
the current model has been the standard for
several years now, it’s long over due for a change.
It will be interesting to see if they do come up
with something different. The rumor sites haven’t
been talking about new Macs, spending all of their
time with the iPhone and iPad, so we all might be
surprised.
Page 6
Mac 911
(The Mac 911 content is generously provided by Christopher Breen
and Macworld for use in Mac User Group newsletters only, and
needs to include the attribution included at the end of the article.
Found here at http://www.macworld.com/column/mac911)
By Christopher Breen, Macworld.com
Create calendar events more
efficiently
Reader Caroline Anders finds Calendar’s
default settings a little inflexible for her tastes. She
writes:
I use Calendar on my Mac running Mountain
Lion (and used iCal before it) and I find I have to
fiddle with events after I create them—changing
all-day events to events that last a couple of hours
and changing their start times. Is there a better
way to create events so I don’t have to spend so
much time editing them?
There is. First, it’s important to understand
how Calendar creates events. If you double-click
on a date when in Month view, you will create an
all-day event by default unless you enter a time or
specific event in the New Event field. For example,
Meeting with George 3PM or Lunch with Dan.
Otherwise you’ll have to edit the event if your
intention was to create an event that lasts just an
hour. If you want just that hour-long event, change
to the Week or Day view and then double-click on a
time. An hour-long event will be created at the time
you chose.
Although a lot of us are accustomed to doubleclicking on dates or times to create events, it’s
worth your while to check out the Create Quick
Event feature. Just press Command-N or click on
the Plus button at the top of the Calendar window
and enter an event along these lines: Lunch
tomorrow Dan. Do that, press Return, and a new
snac TIME
event with that very title will be created at noon on
the following day. Try Dinner tomorrow Dan and an
event is created for 8 PM.
Calendar is smarter than iCal in this regard,
but not as smart as Flexibits’ $15 Fantastical ().
With Fantastical you could enter Lunch tomorrow 1
- 3 Jason San Francisco and Fantastical will create
an event exactly along those lines, making San
Francisco the location. Calendar, on the other hand,
will get the time right, but will make San Francisco
the name of the event rather than lunch and won’t
add the location.
If you’d like to change the default alert time for
timed events as well as all-day events, you can do
that within the Alerts tab of Calendar’s preferences.
Choose an Account (iCloud, for example) from the
Account pop-up menu, and configure the Events
and All Day Events pop-up menus. For example,
rather than the usual 15-minutes-before default,
you can can choose from a number of options
including 30 minutes before, 1 hour before, 1 day
before, or 2 days before. All-day events are more
limited, allowing you to choose On Day of Event (9
AM), 1 Day Before (9 AM), 2 Days Before (9AM), or
1 Week Before.
Prevent iTunes from switching library
locations
Reader Alex Christie has run into a common
iTunes frustration. He writes:
I have a lot of media files in my iTunes library
and because of that, I store my iTunes media on
a separate drive. I’ve configured iTunes so that it
knows to place files on that drive but sometimes
it loses track of the drive and reverts its storage
location back to my internal drive. Is there any
way I can prevent that or, at least, be warned that
it’s happened?
I sympathize, Alex. Like you, I have a lot of
September 2012
media. Unlike you, I store it on a NAS (Network
Attached Storage) so all my devices can use the
same media library. If the NAS isn’t mounted (or
iTunes believes it isn’t) not only is my library full
of exclamation marks (indicating iTunes can’t find
the files) but in iTunes’ Advanced preference, the
iTunes Media folder location switches back to the
default, which is the Music folder in your user
account.
Having suffered with this behavior for years, I
finally did something about it. What I did is this:
First, I quit iTunes. I then copied the iTunes
folder from its default location (chris/Music/iTunes)
to the folder on my NAS where I store iTunes
media (music, TV shows, movies, audiobooks,
podcasts, etc). I then held down the Option key and
launched iTunes. In the Choose iTunes Library
window that appeared, I clicked the Choose Library
button and navigated to the iTunes library I’d
copied to the NAS and clicked the Open button.
iTunes launched with no exclamation marks and
with the location path correctly pointing to the
NAS.
I then quit iTunes, navigated to the iTunes
folder on my startup drive (again, chris/Music/
iTunes), selected the iTunes Library.itl file, pressed
Command-I to bring up its Info window, ticked its
Locked box, and closed the window. When this file
is locked, iTunes can’t properly launch the iTunes
library that file is associated with.
I then unmounted my NAS and launched
iTunes. As expected I received an error, which read
“The Folder Containing ‘iTunes Library’ cannot be
found, and is required. Please choose or create a
new iTunes library.” When I clicked OK to dismiss
the window I once again had the chance to navigate
to where my real iTunes library was. My NAS
still appeared as a shared device in the sidebar
so I simply selected it, navigated to the iTunes
folder, and clicked the Open button. iTunes opened
without complaint and could play all my media.
mac911 Continued on Page 7
September 2012
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Page 7
Mac911
Continued from Page 6
(If this kind of thing happens often, you can create
an alias of the drive’s iTunes folder, drop it on the
desktop, and when prompted, simply drag it into
the navigation window and click Open.)
You’re now warned that iTunes is trying to
switch back to its default
Obviously this doesn’t solve the problem of
iTunes forgetting where you’ve asked it to save its
media. But it does force iTunes to issue a warning
that it can’t find the location you’ve configured
and is doing its level-best to return to the default
iTunes folder. When you see that warning, you can
take immediate measures to address the problem
rather than discovering, weeks later, that iTunes
has been shoving newly acquired media into its
default storage location.
Note that I found when using this technique
with my NAS, I had to copy the iTunes folder from
each Mac to the NAS—using a different name for
each, naturally. When I tried to launch iTunes with
another Mac’s iTunes folder I received an error.
Rendering text-to-speech files
Reader Kurt Schwartz prefers some of his text
spoken rather than written. He writes:
I have several text files that I’d like my Mac to
read to me using its speech software. I know that
I can use the Speak command within TextEdit to
have that text read to me, but I’d love to be able
to save that text as an audio file. Is there a way to
do that?
Allow Automator to show you the way. Here’s
how:
Launch Automator and from the workflow
chooser select Application. Choose Text from the
Library pane and from the Actions pane to the
Figure 1: The completed workflow in Automator for creating text contents from TextEdit to Audio Files
right, drag Get Contents of TextEdit Document to
the workflow area. Now drag Text to Audio File to
the workflow area. Click Options in this action and
enable the Show This Action When the Workflow
Runs option. Save your workflow to the desktop
and give it an intuitive name such as “Save Spoken
Text.”
To use the application just drop a TextEdit
document on top of it. A small window will appear
prompting you to choose a voice and provide a name
for the resulting file. Do that, click Continue, and
Automator will render your document as a spoken
word AIFF file.
Directly downloading Dropbox files
Reader Dwayne Norris has a problem with
Dropbox links. He writes:
A friend sent me a link to a movie file they’d like
to share with me on Dropbox. The link appears in
this form: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1234567/
test.mov. When I click on the link, Safari launches
and the movie starts playing. I’d like to download
the file directly but can’t find a way. Do you have
any advice?
Starting the week with one of this column’s
shortest answers, I do indeed.
here are a couple of ways to tackle this. First,
you can click the link, wait for your web browser to
start loading the file, click in the location bar, hold
down the Option key, and then press Return. The
file will download.
Alternatively you can append ?dl=1 to the end
of the link, so http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1234567/test.
mov?dl=1. This will force your browser to download
rather than preview the file.
Page 8
iPhone 5 Roaming Continued from Page 1
when it’s activated as a “world” GSM phone, LTE
support drops to include just the 10 international
carriers’ LTE deployments. (Neither model includes
two bands that will be used extensively in Europe
in upcoming deployments.)
There’s another complication, too. CDMA
phones, once activated for a given carrier, can’t then
be used with other CDMA carriers. If you purchase
a Sprint iPhone, you can’t transfer it later to
Verizon, Cricket Wireless, or other regional carriers.
A GSM phone, so long as its SIM slot remains
locked (through encryption), can’t be used with
other carriers either. But there’s a twist.
Verizon Wireless sells its CDMA flavor of the
iPhone 5 with the GSM SIM unlocked, possibly
due to FCC regulations that govern the use of the
spectrum band it employs for LTE. That specific band
carried a requirement that prevents carriers from
offering handsets that lock a phone to a network, or
restrict the use of legitimate devices (even those not
sold by a carrier) on a network. This means that a
Verizon-activated iPhone may be used immediately
with any GSM network, including AT&T (2G, 3G,
and 4G) or T-Mobile (at 2G and EDGE rates). It can’t
use AT&T’s LTE network or those of the Canadian
carriers. (It’s unclear whether this will force Verizon
to let you use the phone on another CDMA network,
because that requires the other CDMA providers to
allow its use, and they aren’t required to do so.)
The unlocking policy for other American carriers
varies. Sprint allowed the iPhone 4S’s SIM slot to be
unlocked after 90 days of service. AT&T won’t unlock
a SIM slot until well into a two-year contract if it’s
a subsidized purchase, and I’m unaware of a stated
policy about if or when a phone purchased from
AT&T at full price may be unlocked.
So how do you figure out which model and
activation to buy? The calculus has everything to do
with how much you travel and where, and whether
you care that you’re achieving LTE speeds when
you travel. (There’s also a timing issue: two LTE
bands being deployed by European carriers aren’t
snac TIME
supported by the 7-country GSM model, which may
have to wait for an iPhone 5S or 6!)
• I live in an LTE-supported country (the United
States or any other), and I don’t travel at all.
Pick the best service plan, as whatever iPhone
5 model you pick will be dependent on that.
AT&T and Verizon will, by around 2014, have
comparable LTE networks, but Verizon is ahead
on its footprint for now. Worldwide, most LTE
networks are in the early stages of being built out.
Check with individual carriers for coverage maps.
• I live in the United States, and travel frequently
to Canada, but rarely elsewhere.
AT&T is the best option for an iPhone 5, because
you’ll get LTE support in the United States and
Canada, and AT&T has voice and data roaming
add-ons for Canada as well as a two-country voice/
messaging plan that’s surprisingly affordable. It
may be worthwhile to purchase a fully unlocked
iPhone 5 (which won’t be available the same day as
carrier-supplied phones in the United States), and
use separate AT&T and Canadian carrier SIMs.
However, it’s unclear whether Apple will offer that
for sale, or when carriers will make nano-SIMs
available on a pay-as-you-go or subscription basis.
• I live in the United States, and travel all over the
darned globe.
AT&T is a poor choice, because it won’t unlock
SIMs (at least initially, see above), and you have
to pay its high voice and data roaming fees
outside the United States. Opting for Sprint
(unlimited U.S. data) and getting the nano-SIM
slot unlocked or Verizon (best U.S. coverage for
voice and LTE) with its SIM slot unlocked at
purchase is the optimum solution so long as you
are in an LTE coverage area for most of the time
you use it in the United States.
• I live in Canada, God’s Country, the Great White
North (McKenzie Brothers’ noise here) and travel
beyond its borders regularly.
The only option is the AT&T/Canada (A1428)
iPhone 5 to get LTE speeds, but that won’t
allow you to use LTE when traveling further
September 2012
afield than your neighbor to the south. You can
purchase an unlocked iPhone 5 from Apple in
Canada, or get an iPhone from a carrier, each
of which has varying policies for unlocking. An
unlocked 7-country (A1429) iPhone 5 would
keep you from having LTE access at home, but
enable it in those roaming countries.
• I don’t live in the United States or Canada, and
may or may not choose to travel much.
Apple or a domestic carrier may be willing to
sell you only the three-band (A1429) GSM/LTE
model. Unlocking a SIM for use outside your
carrier’s home country depends on its policies
and those of the national regulator’s. You will
not be able to use this model with any LTE
networks in the United States or Canada.
• I just want to buy an unlocked iPhone 5.
We’ll have to wait and see what Apple offers,
and how readily available nano-SIMs become for
travelers to foreign lands.
For a carrier-by-carrier examination, read
James Duncan Davidson’s detailed accounting. He
travels extensively around the world, which gives
him better insight into the costs of roaming data.
(If you don’t care about LTE speeds, and the
new features of an iPhone 5 aren’t compelling, pick
an iPhone 4S if you need a new phone, since those
are the same great devices as a few days ago, but
now cost less.)
There is one more special case I’ll mention.
Our own Joe Kissell and his family are returning
from five years in France this winter to live in the
United States. Joe would dearly love to purchase
an iPhone 5 when it goes on sale, but the unlocked,
plan-free model he can purchase in France likely
won’t allow him to use LTE when his clan returns
stateside, and it would stick him with AT&T as a
carrier and no choice for voice and data. My advice
to Joe: wait until you’re back.
Reprinted from http://tidbits.com/article/13258; reuse
governed by Creative Commons license. TidBITS has offered
years of thoughtful commentary on Macintosh and Internet
topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the entire
TidBITS archive, visit www.tidbits.com.
snac TIME
September 2012
September Presidents’ Blog
Continued from Page 1
for all his help with the User Group over the years.
We will be looking to fill this position with another
member. Look for more details to come in future
issues of SNAC Time and at club meetings.
Safari 6
One of the new features of Safari 6 that I am
enjoying is the unified URL field and search field.
You always had the option to switch search engines
within Safari’s preferences. But now, you can type
anything inthis field, a search query or a URL
and Safari executes the command. I’m not sure if
Firefox or Chrome as this feature, but I have gotten
so accustomed to it that when I’m on an older mac
(or iPad or iPhone), I have to correct myself and
move to the search field. Which leads me to this
question, why doesn’t the latest iOS 6 upgrade offer
this in Safari; still two fields URL and search.
Figure 1: In Apple Safari you now only have one field to type
an URL address or an google (yahoo, bing) search.
Inside Apple
I’ve just recently finished reading the Adam
Lashinsky book Inside Apple. Lashinsky is a
senior editor of Fortune. He
got his start working for the
San Jose Mercury News in
Apple’s backyard. The book
came out in January of this
year, a few months after Steve
Jobs’ death and the Walter
Issacson’s autobiography on him.
Lashinsky’s book doesn’t center
so much on Jobs, but on Apple’s
inner workings as a hugely
successful company. Though you cannot have a book
about Apple without him being the center of it.
The focus is mainly on the company after Jobs
return in 1997 and how the company built upon
the success of the original translucent iMac. Many
of these stories I knew about. For example, the
disappointment of mobileMe and how Jobs berated
the team responsible for the service. Or, if you want
to know why Keynote is a superstar, and Apple’s
spreadsheet program, Numbers, is not. All you have
to do is think who provided direct input into its
development. Yes, the King of the Presentation.
The book has other stories like the creation
of certain products like Jonathan Ive’s iMac
and Macbook Air. Lashinsky also goes into the
similarities and differences in management style
of Tim Cook and Jobs. At times in the book, you
get the impression that maybe Jobs was the only
person who could have turned the company around
in the late ‘90s.
None of the high level Apple executives were
interviewed for the book. Though he did talk
to some past executives like Tony Fadell, who
according to the press, is known as the “Father
of the iPod”. Fadell’s new company is Nest Labs.
This is the company that is trying to reinvent the
household thermostat. He worked very closely with
Jobs for over eight years, and has good insight into
Apple’s structure.
Page 9
More Links on iBooks Author
Apple updates iBooks Author license, clarifies sales
restrictions @ Macworld.com by Dan Moren, Lex Friedman
http://macw.us/zrEKVQ
The iPhone 5: A Smartphone Of Extraordinary Grace @ Cult
of Mac by John Brownlee
http://bit.ly/QDUSy8
Apple - A letter from Tim Cook on Maps
http://bit.ly/NZd9pa
Transitioning from iMovie ‘11 to Final Cut Pro X @
Macworld by Mark Spencer http://bit.ly/OxUtOX
The iPhone 5 @ Daring Fireball by John Gruber
http://bit.ly/V383Lu
Reflection app link http://bit.ly/P4LrZC
Home Inventory http://www.binaryformations.com/
LicenseKeeper http://outerlevel.com
The main takeaway from the book is how Apple
has been able to do something incredible that a
lot of big companies fail to do. Remain inventive
and innovative (intentional use of “i” adjectives) as
a small startup with the power of a multi-billion
dollar company. Even if your not an Apple lover,
this a good read for business people.
Home Inventory and LicenseKeeper
For the September meeting, we had a demo by
certified Apple tech, David Price on LicenseKeeper
and Home Inventory. The software developers for
both products were generous enough to give us
some free licenses that we raffled off at the meeting.
I also have discounts for all of the products that
they develop. If you are interested in the 25% off of
Binary Formations software (Home Inventory) or
20% off of Outer Level products (LicenseKeeper),
let me know and I will forward you the code. See
sidebar links for the web addresses.
The september president blog Continued on Page 10
snac TIME
Page 10
September 2012
September Presidents’ Blog
Continued from Page 9
QuickTime Tip
The one problem that I have with the
abundance of audio content, is that I don’t have
enough time to listen to it all. One solution to
this problem is to listen to it in double time. For
podcasts, I use a program called Instacast. This
allows you to listen at 2x and 1.5 speed. Sometimes
though, I have to download directly to my computer
and listen that way. Right now, you cannot listen
to audio content at various speeds in iTunes. This
could change with iTunes 11, but if not, you could
use this trick.
1. Navigate to the aac, mp3, or other audio file
that can be opened in QuickTime.
2. Control click on the file and select “open with
quicktime player”.
3. Once the file is open up file, you will have a
button to the left and right of the play button.
You would think that these buttons fast forward
and rewind. That is not what they do. Clicking on
the right button will play the audio clip at double
speed. If you keep clicking it will play at 4x and
8x. Those speeds are more for video playback.
Even 2x is sometimes too fast for me. If you click
on the right fast forward button with the option
key down, it will increase in increments of “.1”.
The rewind button works the same way, but it
plays it in reverse.
Figure 3: The application Reflection allows you to view applications mirrored on a computer running Lion.
4. To reset the audio speed, just click the pause
button and then play again at normal speed. I
find between 1.4x and 1.6x the sweet spot for
audio.
Reflection app
Figure 2: To change the speed of playback click on the button
to the right of the play/pause button.
I came across an application that may fill a
need that we have with our SNAC user group
meetings. The app is called Reflection and what
it does is allow you to use Apple’s Airplay with an
iPad 2, iPad 3, or an iPhone 4S/iPhone 5. Our two
recent iPad demo meetings in June and July hit
some snags when we were unable to project what
was on the iPad device to a Mac that was hooked
up to the projector.
The application Reflection by Squirrels steps in
to solve this problem. If your Macintosh is running
the Lion OS then you can mirror anything that is
being done on your iOS device to your computer.
AppleTV is not needed to do this. I did run into
some issues seeing the AirPlay icon on my iPad 3,
but a restart on that device fixed that.
This is huge for people who need to present
how to use an iOS application. It also has a record
screen feature that you can use to capture the
iOS devices running on your Mac. The cost of the
Macintosh app is $15, but they allow you to try it
for 10 days at 10 minutes per session. This has to
be purchased through the developers site.
September 2012
SNAC Bites Continued from Page 4
• get the extra boost you need with Boostpac battery pack solutions without adding extra bulk to your slender iPhone;
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Apple user group members can get any Qmadix product for the
30% discount with free shipping on orders over $50 (does not include tax and applies to U.S. residents only). A review of a selection
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applejac_macintosh_users/2012/08/qmadix-amazing-productsin-paradise.html See your user group Ambassador for coupon
code. Get your special Qmadix item today: http://www.qmadix.
com This worldwide offer is valid through November 30, 2012.
Special Offer – 75% off Mac|Life Mac|Life is THE Appleproduct magazine that changes all the rules. Mac|Life recognizes
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Normal Price: $27.97 UG Price: $15.00 (US) for 12 issues.
http://www.macworld.com/useroffer. This offer is ongoing.
TinyLightbulbs Products: 20% Discount TinyLightbulbs
snac TIME
provides the perfect home for cool innovations by hosting a diverse
community of independently funded products. TinyLightbulbs
is a great gateway for increasing sales and exposure to targeted
customers. They offer these great products:
Gripzila (universal stand) - http://www.tinylightbulbs.com/
gripzila.html. AirClip (nano watch) - http://www.tinylightbulbs.
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com/dockem.html
Apple user group members throughout the world can receive
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your great product: http://www.tinylightbulbs.com. This worldwide
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Dolly Drive backup/sync/storage: 20% Off Dolly Drive is
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It will file sync, provide virtual hard drive storage, and create a
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using Macs, it’s all in one place, with one app.
When you try Dolly Drive for business or the home, Apple user
group members receive 20% off for one year of Dolly Drive (data
centers in U.S. and Europe) available in sizes from 50 gigabytes to
8 terabytes, starting at $3 (US) per month. Backup today: www.
dollydrive.com. This worldwide offer is valid through January 1,
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Camtasia for Mac and Snagit for Mac: 30% OFF Snagit
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Page 11
Colophon
Tools Used to
Produce SNAC
Time #395
HARDWARE
24” iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, v. 10.5.8
15” MacBook Pro Laptop, v. 10.6.6
Software
InDesign CS5Safari
TextEditPreview
Acrobat 9Pages
QuickTime PlayerReflection app (demo)
Dropbox
Fonts
Body is set in New Century Schoolbook 10/12
Most of the sans serif heads are set in
Formata Bold and Medium. Other heads are
Formata and Formata condensed.
Goudy Old style
Myriad Pro Roman
Zapf Dingbats
ElephantmenGreatest
Color palette
Music (a sampling of what audio was consumed
during the production of SNAC #395)
Patriots vs. Bills, Sept. 30, 2012
Green Day / Uno
Ben Folds Five / The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind
Bengals vs. Jaguars, Sept. 30, 2012
snac TIME
Page 12
September 2012
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
s o u t h e r n N e w H a m p s h i r e A p p l E C o r e
29 Cross Road / Am h er st, N ew Ham p sh i r e / 03031
snac
Please complete and forward, together with $20 annual dues, to the above address send to
the attention of SNAC Secretary or bring it to a SNAC monthly meeting. Make checks payable
to SNAC. Meetings are held on the last Wednesday of every month, 7PM, downstairs in the
the theatre of the Nashua Public Library.
Date: __________________
New
Renewal
Return
____________________________________________________________________
Name
____________________________________________________________________
Address
__________________________________________ ________ ______________
CityState
Zip Code
__________________________________________ ________________________
PhoneEmail
For more information contact:
Tim Adams @ (603) 595-9522, [email protected]
Wayne Labatte @ (603) 305-5995, [email protected]
Paul Bendeck @ 603-672-0084, [email protected]
List which Apple Computer(s) you
own or use. (Please specify model and
whether it is a desktop computer or a
laptop)
���������������������������������
���������������������������������
���������������������������������
List other Apple Products
iPhone
iPad
iPod Touch
Other iPods
Do you have Internet access
Yes
No
Share some of the software that you
regularly use.
���������������������������������
_________________________________
_________________________________