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Internet Access at the Prescott Library

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         We thank John Carter for providing the following information:         
Things have recently changed at the library. In order to access the Internet at the library, you need to do the following on the iPad, iPhone, or laptop:
1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Wi-Fi.
3. Click on the blue right-pointing arrow at the far right of the PPL entry.
4. In the HTTP Proxy section, click on the Auto tab.
5. Close that window and quit Settings.
          You are now ready to get on the Internet at the library.

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Awarding Certificates for 2012 to . . .

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       Picture four blue-bordered certificates printed with fancy fonts.  Each is a "Certificate for Contributions to PMUG in 2012," and were to be officially handed out at our December meeting today.  Now, they'll be given out by Prez Art Gorski at the January meeting.
        Let's hear a drum roll and applause for the following.  Number 4 is David Passell who sent in 17 articles for this newsblog.  Number 3 is Art Gorski who sent in 24 articles.  Number 2 is John Carter who sent in 71 articles.  And, guess who is #1.  That's Jim Hamm who contributed 189 !!!! articles during 2012.
       Others who sent in several, or at least one apiece: Allen Laudenslager, Amy Snyder, Ward Stanke, Ginger Carlson, Bobbie Pastor, Howard LaPittus, Bob Hale who is a former Prez, Martyn Arnold, and Mary Ann Clark. 
     Obviously, this newsblog exists to share info.  Thanks to everyone who contributes, and thanks to everyone who reads this blog.  Pass the URL along to your friends, Mac & PC alike.  Learning to do new things can be challenging and fun!

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How to Revive a Frozen iPhone

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       Not having an iPhone, I thought of Zee and Jim Hamm.  Maybe this tip will be useful, so I emailed them this link to Here's the Thing blog.  Jim's reply,  "I wasn't aware of the website, and subscribed to their newsletter."

     He went on to explain, "Interestingly enough, last eve my new iPhone 5 locked up and I used this tip to unlock my phone. It worked.  
        "The new iPhone 5 is very nice — lighter and thinner than my iPhone 3. I also have the new iPad Mini — very nice and light also. . . 47% of the weight of a regular iPad, but has 66% of the screen size. A nice tradeoff. Zee is to receive hers Thursday."  (So much for the Christmas surprise, Jim?)
     Jim closes with, "I missed you at the joint PMUG/PCS meeting last Saturday. Big John Carter gave a good presentation, as usual."
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See Examples of Clever Schemes of Crooks

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        This is not a new posting at TruthorFiction, but it still applies and might give you helpful information.  Go to http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/p/phishing.htm  and scroll down to “Crooks Using Clever Schemes to Try to Get Your Personal Financial Information.”  It quotes seven different emails so you can protect yourself if you receive some similar email.  
        Remember you can click on Reader at the right side of the address bar and print out just the information without all the ads.  After going to Reader then you can click to Print and you can also choose to save it as a PDF on the menu that comes up and you can direct it to “Mail as a PDF.” 

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Watch Out for This Email

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        David Passell alerts us to another scam now making the rounds in our area.  It involves an email complete with phony tracking number informing you that there was a package delivery error. It purports to come from one of these delivery companies:   UPS, FedEx, DHL, or USPS.  In the phony email you'll be instructed to open an attachment and print out a correct delivery label that you're supposed to take to the nearest (UPS, FedEx, DHL, or  USPS) office.
        Open the attachment, however, and you'll open your computer to malware and virus attacks. Delete the phony email.  The FedEx website posts this information.
     

Sophos Anti-Virus in Action

        Thanks to John Carter for the following info:  "Sophos Anti-Virus catches all kinds of e-mail viruses. Here's an example that occurred on 12/10/2012:
Opening the Quarantine Manager showed this at the top... 
...and this at the bottom.   (Click on screen shots to enlarge, then click again to go back to the post.)
This shows that for the first time I got a virus that came in through Gmail. I usually get them in Yahoo mail.
        You can get details of the virus here. Fortunately for Macs, it only infects Windows, and it only steals information - like your bank account information.
        The threat was cleaned up."
        Then John sent a snapshot of the email he'd received from Chase Bank, asking him for more information, saying they'd let him know when his account was back to normal.  His comment, "It looks very official, eh?  I don't even have a Chase bank account." 

iPad Humor

        Ready for a smile?   At 5 + minutes this will bring you a bunch.  Jim Hamm introduces it this way:  "I knew the iPad was powerful, but didn't realize all its capabilities until I watched this video. I've got to check the manual to try and find how he did all that."  ...(grin)...Jim

        "You do not have to understand a word of German to appreciate this guy. The
most impressive I-Pad salesman ever!"  

Introducing Our Webmaster

  
      Mary Ann Clark has used Apple computers since 1979 when she and her husband Art bought their first Apple II. Today she owns a Macbook Air, an iPad 2 and an iPhone 4 (or as she says, papa bear, mama bear and baby bear). Never having been a programmer Mary Ann uses her electronics in her work and various volunteer positions.  
        Early in her career, Mary Ann worked as a technical writer producing computer user manuals for everything from large mainframes to desktop computers. Most of those materials were printed, although just as she was leaving the field, embedded help files were beginning to replace dead tree books.   
        Leaving that work she went back to school to earn a PhD in Religious Studies. She claims it took her so long to earn an advanced degree because she had to wait until she could do her research and write her dissertation using her trusty Macintosh. Today she teaches face-to-face classes at Yavapai College and online classes at the University of Houston Clear Lake. 
        She also volunteers at Manzanita Village the local co-housing community, the Prescott Area Wildland-Urban Interface Commission (PAWUIC), and her local church where she often ends up doing computer work because she can.
        When you see Mary Ann give her a good PMUG welcome. We love volunteers! 
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iTunes Upgrade Described

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        Ready to upgrade to iTunes 11?  Jim Hamm sends helpful comments: " I upgraded to iTunes 11 last eve and there are two video tutorials available to watch when iTunes 11 is opened. These give a good overview of the changes in iTunes. Watching these two tutorials plus the tips in the link I sent out should get everyone off to a good start."  And "here's some tips that might help you." 

       Jim closes with,  "I'm listening to music on the internet through iTunes as I type this."
       Oh, he's back with more! "Here is a review of iTunes 11 by Gizmodo that explains the changes. When it's opened, iTunes uses 148 MB of memory on my Mac while Skype, as a comparison, uses 168 MB. One nice aspect of the upgrade, as commented on in the article, is that iTunes has been streamlined and is more responsive to commands." 
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Anti-virus Programs Compared

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          Jim Hamm gets our attention with this: "Here is an interesting article from Thomas' Tech Corner describing a series of tests he ran on anti-virus programs. And here is a summary of the results in PDF format. 
        "Avast AV, which I use, came in a close second to first-place Sophos. The author devotes a paragraph to the problems Norton AV caused. Most (maybe all) of my computer friends don't use Norton, and immediately delete it (as I do) if it comes pre-installed on a new computer.

        "Some might say an AV program is not needed on a Mac, but if I can get additional anti-virus protection free, and it doesn't cause any problems otherwise, I'm all for using one."  Thanks, Jim for the info. 

Expressing Our Appreciation

         Hard-working John Carter is stepping down from PMUG Webmaster. John remains as a Board member.  John’s busy schedule also includes his many duties in the local Astronomy Club. 

        John is now taking on our PMUG MacHighway hosting "system administrator" and will handle the non-website portions of our relationship with our hosting provider such as email aliases, hosting renewals, and domain name renewals.   
       When you see John be sure to let him know how much you appreciate his work on creating and writing the PMUG website and for all he does for PMUG.  Watch the website for changes.  
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December's Meeting on the 15th

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        If you have your computer's Calendar subscribed to the PMUG calendar you're already anticipating our December 15 meeting from 10-12 am at the Prescott Public Library in the Founders Room downstairs.  The theme is "Genius Bar" and you're invited to submit your questions ahead of time.  Anyway, be sure to come.
     In the meantime, while our Prescott Mac User Group website is undergoing changes you'll want to check this blogspot site for info.

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Suggesting Apple Improvements

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        Jim Hamm's been reading about improvements for Apple.  
        "If you follow Apple news at all, you've read about one of their senior VPs being fired recently. Along with this announcement was discussions of 'skeuomorphic design.' which apparently this VP liked, but others within Apple didn't. I had no idea what 'skeuomorphic design' even meant. This article gives an explanation. Having read the article, to me 'skeuomorphic design' is no big deal one way or the other. What do you think?" 
        "Here's an article that suggests an area that Apple needs to take a look at: web interface. I've oftened wondered why Apple must shut their online store down in order to do updates. Presumably old architecture, although Apple might have other reasons. Imagine Amazon saying 'hold it folks, don't order anything for awhile while we shut our web store down and update prices, etc.' Many people would just switch to another web store rather than wait.

        "There's been quite a bit of blogging recently about Apple's web services being down often -- iCloud, et al. Now we know why. This surprises me, too. Apple is quite progressive in hardware design, but for some reason apparently has neglected  a modern interface with the internet -- at least according to this article."  With that, Jim signs off after giving us food for thought.