how to

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OS X and iOS Application Compatibility Table

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        Past Prez Art Gorski passes along this info: "If you are waiting to install a new OS (such as the Yosemite Public Beta) because you are worried about compatibility issues, check out the Application Compatibility Table over at RoaringApps. There are compatibility charts from Snow Leopard up to Yosemite, and from iOS 5 up to iOS 8. If you don't see an app listed there and you know its status, you can submit it to the list. It's a great resource that is easily searchable if you need to determine what does and doesn't work." Try this link: http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/cool_stuff_found/post/os-x-and-ios-application-compatibility-table?utm_source=macobserver&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_everything 
Remember, you can enlarge your view of the page by doing Command with the +

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Solving iPhoto Problems

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        If you were at Saturday's PMUG meeting you heard John Carter answer various concerns of those in the audience.  Now, John has more to share!  What follows should all be enclosed with quotation marks:  it's all quoting him! 
        There may be times when you open iPhoto and you are presented with a cryptic error message that the iPhoto library is locked.

        That indicates that the library was open at a time when the computer was improperly shut down and iPhoto did not have a chance to unlock the library. Or it could be that you are using two different computers or two different logins using the same library, and that the other computer or user left the library in a locked state or one or the other is still using it.

        You can unlock any file/folder/library using the following procedure:
  1. Open Finder and navigate to the Pictures folder.
  2. Look carefully in the lower left corner of the icon for the iPhoto Library. If it has a tiny lock pictured there, go to the next step. Otherwise, jump over steps 3 and 4.
  3. Select the iPhoto Library folder (left-click once), and then hold down the Command key and press the ‘i’ key momentarily. This will bring up a new window.
  4. In the new window, look for the box in the General section that says “Locked.” Uncheck the box and close the window.   You should now be able to open the iPhoto Library.
    If the iPhoto Library is not locked, there may be an item inside that folder that is locked. Of course, the only way to see the contents of that folder is by the following:
    1. Right-click on the iPhoto Library folder and select “Show package contents.”
    2. In the content, look for a tiny lock icon on any item, and if found, unlock it as in step 4 above.
            If none of the above helps, restart the computer.
            If that doesn’t help, restart the computer and do a PRAM reset. This is done by holding down the Command, Option, P, and R keys all at the same time when you start the computer - and keep holding the keys down until you hear the second “gong” (the startup sound).
            If that doesn’t help, open Disk Utility and run Verify Disk Permissions and Verify Disk. If you get an error on Verify Disk, you then need to restart your computer in Recovery Mode and run Disk Utility to perform Repair Disk. To start up in Recovery Mode, hold down the Command and R keys together until you see the Apple logo appear. After selecting English for language, you will be presented with a menu. In the menu is Disk Utilities, and it works just like it does when running in user mode. After running Repair Disk, click on the Apple logo in the menu bar and restart the computer.
            If that doesn’t help, call Apple Support. If you are out of warranty, the call will be just $19.99, and it’s good for up to 60 days on the same issue - no matter how long you are on the phone with them or how many calls you have to make to clear up the problem.
            There may be times when you get the message about a locked file when opening a document or the iTunes library. The same steps apply as above.
            (Thanks to John for this step-by-step solution.) 
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    Learn About iPhone and Its Apps

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            On August 2 in the Prescott Library Founders Suite starting at 1 PM, John Carter will be talking about the iPhone and the millions of apps that are available. Okay, 1.2 million as of June, 2014. Most of them are probably copycats or lame gadgets, so that pares it down to probably less than a few thousand useful apps. 
            John will focus on the 24 standard apps and some others that he has found useful with categories in Astronomy, Business, Communication, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Internet, Lifestyle, Music, Navigation, Photography, Productivity, Reading, Social, and Utilities, probably none of which are in the top 100 apps for the iPhone for 2014 (but he will show you the list of 100.) Games will not be talked about, unless you like Sudoku. 
            He will also cover the upcoming iOS 8 and what features you won’t be able to use if you don’t have a Mac. This special talk is sponsored by the Prescott Computer Society (www.pcs4me.com).
            This talk follows John's monthly Digital Mac SIG which is in the same room, starting at 10 AM.  Please attend and harass John just enough to keep him awake.  (Who said that!) 

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    iPhone's Mysterious "Other" Data

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            "f you own an iPhone here is some info that may be helpful -- particularly the tip about iMessage," Jim Hamm writes.  Here he explains: 

            "If you’ve ever filled your iPhone to capacity, you may have suddenly noticed a gray section of stored data titled “Other” in iTunes. What could this mysterious data be?
            "Well, there could be a couple things that could be contributing to it, but the most likely culprits are your apps. More specifically, one culprit: iMessage. You’re probably not aware of this, but every time you send or receive a file within an iMessage — whether it’s photos or various documents — your iPhone stores that data. If you are like millions of other users who enjoy sending silly photos to friends and family (or inappropriate ones if you’re into that sort of thing), that data can accumulate very quickly over time.
            "On the rare occasion, restoring the iOS on your iPhone can resolve this issue, but the less invasive solution is to locate problematic apps on your phone that could be taking up space.
            "To free up that space, follow these instructions:
    1. Make sure your phone and apps are synced in iTunes.
    2. If possible, make sure you have backed up or copied off any documents or data you might need, as you will lose it. A lot of apps allow you to email documents and data.
    3. On the phone, go to Settings/General/Usage. You should find a list of all the apps.
    4. On the right hand side is a list of the total storage space each app is using, including the app itself. The list is also handily listed in descending order of size. If you tap on on one of the apps on the list, it shows you how much space is being used by documents and data. You also have the option to delete the app.
    5. To delete the app, simply tap on “Delete App.” The app is deleted, and so is the data stored in the ‘other’ area. Repeat for other apps if necessary.
    6. To re-install the app(s), plug it in to your iTunes and re-sync your phone. The app(s) are re-installed with no data taken up in the ‘Other’ area.

            "If you want a visual representation of your data, the third party app iExplorer is very easy to use and available as a temporary demo. You can also buy it if you want."  
    http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/

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    Want to Experiment on OS X?

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             Jim Hamm comes up with an idea:  "For those of you that like to experiment and explore a bit on OS X, here is an app you might try: XtraFinder. (http://www.trankynam.com/xtrafinder/)

            "I've not tried it yet. On the website, if you click on one of the images it will open up a window and show you screen shots. Keep clicking on the image and another image will appear, etc."
            So, what do you think?  Jim says, "Looks interesting. If someone tries it, let our Newsletter Editor know so your comments can be posted."
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    NeoOffice Now Available at App Store

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            John Carter has some good news.  "In the past, NeoOffice (which contains a full featured word processor nearly identical to Word in MS Office) was available for a nominal fee of $10, which presumably had to be renewed every year. NeoOffice is now available in the App Store for $29.99, and presumably all future updates will be FREE. I would expect this to apply to minor updates, but major updates might come with a fee (and discounted if you own a previous version).

             "If you decide to get the FREE version as indicated in the image, please note that you won’t be able to save changes — or save a new document. It is therefore a read-only version.
           " If you already have NeoOffice installed, there is nothing for you to do. You will still receive notices when an update is available, but now you will no longer be bothered with having to login to get the update. I might expect that when the next major update comes along that you will be asked to pay for it — but you can continue using your current version.
           " LibreOffice, and its precursor OpenOffice, works equally well on PCs as it does on a Mac, whereas NeoOffice runs only an a Mac. There is almost no difference between LibreOffice or OpenOffice and NeoOffice. Unlike LibreOffice or OpenOffice, NeoOffice runs natively on Mac OS X. Since it’s inception in 2003, the NeoOffice engineers - Patrick Luby and Ed Peterlin - have continually added improvements to NeoOffice that users will not find in OpenOffice or LibreOffice such as:
    • The option to open Calc or Impress instead of Writer at launch
    • Works with Mac OS X Gatekeeper
    • Works with Mac OS X Versions
    • Native Mac OS X text highlighting
    • Native file locking support for local and networked volumes
    • Mac OS X Services support
    • Native floating tool windows
           John has more info here:  "If you find that some of the above features are not working in your current version of NeoOffice, then purchasing NeoOffice from the App Store will make those features available.
         "LibreOffice does ask for a donation when you initially download it, but you can still get the app if you choose not to donate and nothing will be disabled.
        "One word of caution about LibreOffice: Do NOT download it from anywhere other than www.libreoffice.org. If you do a Google search for libreoffice, be sure that the site you go to is the authentic place.
         "One user has reported that NeoOffice has been acting up lately. Switching to LibreOffice resolved that issue, and there were no noticeable differences.
         "How NeoOffice (or LibreOffice) differ from Pages is fairly significant. For one, Pages does not have a feature to include cross references in a document. That feature is only useful for serious authors. For two, it is much easier with greater flexibility to manage the properties of a picture or other object in NeoOffice/LibreOffice. Pages does have an extensive assortment of templates to work with whereas NeoOffice/LibreOffice have only a few.
         "LibreOffice loads much faster than NeoOffice. Patience will be needed when downloading either one. If you download LibreOffice, you then have to install it and then remove (eject) its presence in the Devices section of Finder and then delete the .DMG file in your Downloads folder. If you purchase NeoOffice from the App Store, installation is automatic and there is no clean up to do.
         "For as long as LibreOffice is free, that is the app that I will be recommending."
        And John concludes with,  "The choice is yours."
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    How to Designate Someone as VIP in Mail

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            Lately, Jim Hamm's emails have come with a star beside his name.  Jim has been designated as a VIP.  Wonder how he does it. . . 
             With emails from my six siblings it would be nice to have the mail list show them with the star and VIP to find them from all the other email.  Turns out it's easy to do. 
            Click to open a message from a sender you want to designate as VIP. Put your cursor beside the sender’s name and click. Up comes a little box with choices:  Copy Address,  Add to VIPs, New Email, Show Contact Card.  Click on Add to VIP and a little star comes to the left of that person’s name on that email.  In the list of emails you’ve just received there’s a star also by their name.  You can designate someone -- or yourself! -- as VIP by clicking same place in an outgoing mail.  
            A long article about Mail is  here. 

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    Add Comments to an Email and Send It Back

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            David Passell had ideas to send to me after reading my email to him the other day.  I got his email with his comments added in red so they were easy to find.

           I hadn’t noticed this feature before, but it’s so easy I will be using it myself.  
    1. Open Mac's Mail program.  
    2. Highlight the Subject of one of the emails you've received.  
    3. On the top menu bar click on Message.  
    4. On that drop down menu go to Move to Drafts, but if you want to preserve the inbox message intact choose Copy to Drafts.   
    5. Double click on the Message in Drafts and it will come up as a draft to be edited, addressed, etc.  
    Here’s where you can click on the little black box by the name of the font and the font size and choose another color so your writing stands out from the color that the email came to you. (Click on this screen shot to enlarge it, then click again to come back to this article.)
    6. Make any desired changes, address it, and then Send.
           David put his comments in red, but you can choose the color.  This makes it easy to critique, suggest, or improve what the other person has written.  
            Practice by sending yourself an email message and trying out the steps above.  
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    Amazing Photos From Your iPhone

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            "If you haven’t heard about it yet, this is totally awesome — and I don’t say this about anything unless it really is!"  Now John Carter goes on to explain.

            "Fyuse is a FREE app for the iPhone that takes astounding 3D images (actually, a GIF image that you can manipulate to make it look like a short movie which gives you a 3D look and feel). Really! But I’m not going to spend any time here talking about how to use it or what it's like, because you can see the short demo yourself here in iTunes."  
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    What's Happening

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             Get the idea that your hour-long TV news program has not covered all the world news that’s happening?  They’ve put in some cutesy pieces to lighten up the otherwise bad news from here and there?  The Internet to the rescue!
            Go to www.onlinenewspapers.com  and you’ll see this.  (Click to enlarge, click again to return to this view.) 

    It’s interesting to see their take on news happening in other nations of the world. It’s even interesting to see the ads on their websites!   
            See the latest Apple news?  http://www.apple.com/hotnews/    And at the bottom of that page see Recent Press Releases.  There’s a link to the side to click for iTunes Movie Trailers.  When you click on the little RSS button it takes you to NetNewsWire so you can keep informed, along with the other sites you want to keep current.  
            How are the 400+ Apple stores doing?  https://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/  Scroll through the list of the states for the city you want to check out.  On the right side near the top choose a country or region:  16 nations have Apple stores.  The largest store in the world is in Amsterdam, according to Wikipedia. The first glass staircase got design patent in 2002 in the U.S. 

            What’s the government up to now?  http://www.usa.gov The US Government’s official web portal.  Click to contact Federal Government Agencies;  State. Local, & Tribal Governments; or Contact Elected Officials -- from President to local elected officials. You can subscribe to e-mail updates.  

            Look here for lots of news. http://www.thebigproject.co.uk/news/  This site has worldwide news in English, along with 15 in “Europe - Original Language.”  There’s Miscellaneous News with listings of News Aggregators and Blogs, News Podcasts:  BBC, CNN, Guardian, Financial Times, NPR, and Voice of America.  Under Minorities: 4 links, even Children’s News with 4 links, Good News with 3 links.

            Foreign nations’ links: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.  At the bottom is a list of 7 Newspaper Archives’ links.
           Here at  http://www.refdesk.com/paper.html   lists the US newspapers by states.  Then scroll down to their listings of world newspapers by area, then 63 national news sites (The Arizona Republic link is on this list),  and 24 Worldwide News Sites.
             In closing:  what about the weather?  You can scroll clear around the globe, and way up and way down.    http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?brand=wxmap&query=34.664902,-112.293999&zoom=5  Choose Weather Stations view, Radar, or Satellite views.  Fascinating!  
            Keep learning:  it’s fun, it’s productive, it’s Mac! See you at the next PMUG meeting.  Bring a friend! 
            This was today's handout at the June PMUG meeting,  by Elaine Hardt.
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    A Must-Have iOS App

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            "How many times have you wanted to access a file that is on your computer (Mac or PC) from your iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone? Even if it was only once, you know how frustrated you got because it just didn’t seem like it would be possible," begins John Carter.  
            Now, John offers some helpful info. "Enter FileBrowser from Stratospherix.

            "FileBrowser is the original and best file manager and viewer for iOS 7. FileBrowser can view, copy, move, upload, download, stream, and manage files between computers, servers, NAS drives and cloud storage in any direction. You don’t need to install any other software - FireBrowser will scan and locate computers on your network and connect in seconds, and will connect to cloud storage quickly, too. You can even use FileBrowser to quickly access all your photos and music on your iOS 7 device. Everything - all in one place!
            And John concludes with, "Get a full review of FileBrowser in the App Store. This is something you won’t want to pass by. Don’t let the $5.99 price tag let you miss out on this must-have app."
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    Some Specific Malware Emails

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            "Of course you already know not to click suspicious emails so you don't end up with a virus or some other malware. Following are some examples that Greg, a blogger I follow, wrote and shows some of the suspicious emails he and his wife have been recently receiving. As he says, just be careful."  And thanks to Jim Hamm for this new alert. 

            Just a warning . . .I’ve been getting a lot of dangerous emails and I wanted to be sure that everyone was on the lookout for them.  They masquerade as Wal-Mart Gift Cards, Chili’s Coupons, or Red Lobster, etc. or even Free iPhones.  Because the fact that there’s usually something funny about the wording or phrasing of the message, the biggest giveaway is the email address shown at the upper left.   In this case, it’s ‘info@pigduke.com’.     Do you really think that Wal-Mart is going to have an email address with ‘pigduke’ in it?  (Click to enlarge these screen shots, then click the PMUG newsletter tab to revert back.) 
    Walmart Trojan
    Here’s the exact same email, but from ‘info@nesssos.com.'
    Walmart Trojan2
    And here’s what looks like a Delivery Notice from the US Post Office. Do you really thing the US Postal Service would be using a United Kingdom email address?
    USPS Trojan
    What do you think is going to happen if you try to print that shipping label? And why would you need to print a shipping label to PICK UP a package, anyway?   And note that apparently you can go to ANY Post Office to pick up your package.   So check those email addresses, and Let’s Be Careful Out There.
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    Security Precautions for Protection

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            "If you should decide to use two-step verification as a further protection from ransomware and other malware, here is an article with details on how to go about setting this up," writes Jim Hamm.  
            And John Carter sends this advice:  "If you get a notice from USPS to click on a button to open a shipping label to print, don’t.  Any email is safe to open. Just don’t click on anything unless you have verified what you are clicking on." 

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    Ransomware Attack: What To Do

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          " Here is another article discussing what to do if your iPhone or iPad is hacked for ransomware."  And, of course, Jim Hamm immediately gets our attention.   "Unfortunately, hacks such as this are becoming more frequent as the following quote from the article mentions:
            'Database breaches are becoming far too common, with eBay, Adobe, Yahoo, and Target all falling victim in recent months.'
              Jim's advice is, "It seems the best thing to do to prevent this is to switch to a two-step verification process on your device.....