Piracy bill to cost broadband users extra آ£25/year
UK broadband users are to get a آ£500 million bill for tackling online piracy, according to a report in today's Times newspaper, working out at آ£25 per user per year.
Ministers have confirmed that the Digital Economy Bill, which has already generated mass protest, will force ISPs to raise the costs of an average broadband subscription by آ£25 a year, costs associated with warning users, then slowing or stopping the connections of those who subsequently refuse to stop downloading.
Ministers have also confirmed that the measures will result in آ£1.7 billion in extra sales for the music and film industries, and an extra آ£350 million for the government in extra VAT.
Charles Dunstone of the Carphone Warehuse, who has been a vocal critic of the scheme, said, "Broadband consumers shouldn't have to bail out the music industry. If they really think it's worth spending vast sums of money on these measures then they should be footing the bill; not the consumer."
A spokeman for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, said, "the overall benefits to the country far outweigh the costs."
Via The Times
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In Depth: Troubleshooting tips for new Mac owners
Got a new Mac for Christmas and feeling a bit bewildered?
If you've come from the Windows world swtiching to Mac might at first feel a bit daunting
Don't worry - this get-started guide from our colleagues on MacFormat magazine tells you everything you need to know.
"I've got my new Mac, but all my stuff is on my PC…"
Well, just copy it over! If you have a USB or FireWire hard disk or memory drive that you use with your PC, simply drag the files and folders you want onto it, unplug it, plug it into your Mac, and drag them back off.
You may be aware that Macs use a different disk format from PCs – HFS+ and NTFS – but this only prevents your Mac writing to a PC drive, not reading from it.
Alternatively, connect to your PC over your home network to copy both ways. As in Windows, you have a home folder on your Mac (inside the Users folder, labelled with the username you chose) containing folders such as Documents, Pictures and Music.
It's up to you whether you use these or make folders elsewhere. Just don't mess around with any other Mac OS X folders, such as Library or System, unless you know what you're doing.
How to install a new Mac application
When you download a Mac OS X app, it usually arrives as a .dmg (disk image) file. This should automatically 'mount', appearing on your Desktop and in the sidebar of every Finder window like a disk drive. Open this.
Some apps come with an installer, as in Windows; run this and enter your username and password when asked. However, many Mac apps just come as a program file, which you can move straight to your Applications folder.
The easiest way is to drag it onto the Applications alias at the right-hand end of the Dock. Once the app copies, eject the volume and trash the .dmg.
"How do I read PC file formats on my Mac?"
PC files and Mac files are essentially the same. If you were running Microsoft Office for Windows, for example, and are now running Office for Mac, it will open all your existing files.
If you've used fonts beyond the 'web safe' set – Georgia, Trebuchet, Verdana and so on – they may look different if you don't have the same fonts on your Mac, and in PowerPoint some animation effects don't translate. That's about as much trouble as you should have.
One serious problem arises if you have macros in Excel. Macros may be used for anything from custom key shortcuts to complex automation. Spreadsheets containing macros in the outdated XLM language will still work in Excel for Mac 2008, but recent versions of Excel for Windows use Microsoft's Visual Basic (VB) instead, and Office 2008 for Mac doesn't support this.
Although you can automate Excel for Mac using AppleScript or Automator, there's no way to convert VB. You could hunt down an old copy of Office for Mac 2004, which did support VB.
Finally, if you use Microsoft Access, it's not available for Mac. You could install Windows on your Mac to run Access (for more see 'How do I transfer my programs?') or you could switch over to FileMaker Pro, the leading Mac database, and transfer your data by saving it in an intermediary format, such as Excel, and importing this into FileMaker.
Intermediary file formats can also help with other exchanges. RTF (rich text format, .rtf) is supported by almost all text-handling apps; if even that fails, plain text (.txt) will get at least your words into any application. CSV (comma-separated values, .csv) serves a similar purpose for spreadsheets.
There are even cross-platform formats for 3D graphics and CAD files.
"My Mac doesn't have any of my emails or contacts!"
Transferring this information is a little more complicated. The simplest way is probably to invest in Move2Mac, which automatically copies this kind of stuff from common PC applications to their Mac equivalents. It costs آ£31 (from Amazon), which is quite steep for something you'll only use once.
If you hunt around the menus of your Windows internet programs, however, you'll find options to export contacts and bookmarks, and after copying the exported files to your Mac, you can import them into your new software.
For example, in Windows Mail, go to File > Export > Windows Contacts and choose vCard to save your contacts as a folder of .vcf files. Copy this to your Mac, launch Address Book, press Cmd+O, and select the folder to add all the contacts.
When it comes to email, there's only one useful intermediary format, mbox, and Microsoft doesn't support it. You can get around this with tools such as O2M ('Outlook to Mail'), at a cost of $10 from www.littlemachines.com.
Fiddlier but cheaper is another email program called Thunderbird. When you download this from here and install it on your PC, it will import your Outlook mailboxes and store them in its own mbox-format files, which you can then import into Apple Mail, as explained here.
One hassle you can't avoid is having to dig out your email server details to recreate your user accounts on the Mac. Launch Mail, go to File > Add Account, and you're walked through the process.
How to transfer your fonts to your Mac
Most of the fonts on your PC will be in TrueType (.ttf) or OpenType (.otf) format, both of which Mac OS X can use. Copy them into the Fonts folder inside the Library folder.
Note that you have two Library folders, one in the root of your Macintosh HD, containing items accessible to all users of your Mac (probably the best place for fonts), and one inside your Home folder (found inside the Users folder and bears your login name).
Any font dropped into either of these should then be available for use; you don't have to restart your Mac first, though you might have to restart an application to make it take notice.
Alternatively, if you prefer to use the built-in Font Book app to organise your fonts, launch it and click the plus sign at the bottom left, give the new font set you're creating a name (such as Fonts from PC, for example), then click the other plus sign below the next column on the right and select the folder containing all your PC fonts.
Many fonts are licensed for up to five computers, but we recommend checking the licence terms to avoid infringing copyright.
"How do I transfer my programs?"
The thing is, only Windows programs will run under Windows, and only Mac OS X programs will run under Mac OS X. So you can't use your PC programs on the Mac – unless you run Windows on it. Apple's Boot Camp, now on every Mac, enables you to add your own copy of Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 and choose between this and the Mac OS whenever you start up.
So, you can run any Windows software just like on a PC. Alternatively, you can install Parallels Desktop for Mac (€54 – about آ£49 – from www.parallels.com) or VMware Fusion (آ£53 from www.vmware.com) and run Windows at the same time as Mac OS X.
However, all these options involve buying a full copy of Windows, which is likely to set you back at least آ£100. Many of the top Windows apps are also available for Mac OS X, so installing these versions is a better option if possible.
For example, Microsoft Office is available from آ£85 (Home and Student Edition at www.amazon.co.uk). Don't forget, you already get Apple's excellent iLife apps with your Mac. They include iMovie and iDVD, which are much better than Windows' Movie Maker and DVD Maker, while Front Row easily takes the place of Windows Media Player.
TextEdit, the Mac's default word processor, can edit Microsoft Word files – even those in the new .docx format. If you need even more features, then check out Apple's iWork suite, آ£69 from www.apple.com/ukstore.
It includes Pages, a cross between a word processor and a desktop publishing program, along with Numbers and Keynote, a spreadsheet and presentation program that can open and save Excel and PowerPoint files respectively.
There are also various third-party Office alternatives, such as the free OpenOffice.org, which can open Office files; we've put it on your cover disc.
"How do I get pictures off my digital camera?"
Connect it to one of the USB ports on your Mac (not the keyboard). iPhoto will probably launch automatically and show you the pictures currently on your camera. Either click some to select them and then click Import Selected, or just click Import All.
Images imported into iPhoto (a cornerstone of Apple's celebrated iLife suite of apps) are stored in a special location on your Mac, and if you only interact with them via the app, it will keep them organised.
But, if you'd rather just put them in folders and manage them yourself, go to the iPhoto menu in iPhoto, click General, and, in the pop-up menu labelled Connecting camera opens:, choose either Image Capture or No Application.
Image Capture is a simple program that asks you where you want to put your pictures. If you opt not to use this even, just find your camera under Devices in the Sidebar at the left of any Finder window (it may be called 'NO NAME') and browse through its memory for pictures.
As with other storage devices, always eject your camera before unplugging it (or leaving it plugged in until its battery runs out) to avoid screwing up its memory card. You can eject it from iPhoto or Finder.
"Can I use my PC monitor with my Mac?"
Probably. Your PC screen will have VGA, DVI and/or HDMI inputs. Macs have Mini-DVI or, in the latest models, Mini DisplayPort outputs; both can connect to either DVI or VGA with the appropriate cable and/or adaptor (available from the Apple Store, but possibly cheaper elsewhere), while Mini DisplayPort can also connect to the newer DisplayPort and HDMI.
The Mac Pro also has a dual-link port that can connect to a DVI monitor with a plain cable. If you have an iMac or MacBook, you can add a second monitor to use at the same time as the built-in screen, with the facility to extend the Desktop across both (controlled from System Preferences > Displays.)
How to play your music and movies
Apple's QuickTime Player is similar to Windows Media Player, and can handle most video formats.
However, it doesn't support WMV (Windows Media Video) files. To play these you need an app called Flip4Mac, free from here. If you've bought movie downloads that are stored as WMV files with DRM (digital rights management), they won't play on a Mac.
Most Mac users keep their digital media in iTunes. To add music or video files, just drag them onto your iTunes' window.
If you have an existing iTunes library on your PC that you want to move to your Mac, read this page to find out more.
You can also play music and movies using Front Row, Apple's equivalent of Windows Media Center. Launch this by pressing Cmd+Esc, or the Menu button on the Apple Remote supplied with some Macs. This will show the movies present in iTunes. To add your movies, launch iTunes and drag video files onto its window.
"Can I get Sidebar gadgets on the Mac?"
In Windows Vista, the Sidebar is an area normally on the right of the Desktop where you can keep handy tools such as a clock and notepad. In Mac OS X, 'Sidebar' is the name for the area on the left of a Finder window where your current devices and commonly used folders are displayed, so don't let that confuse you.
The equivalent of Windows' gadgets is Mac's widgets. They live in your Dashboard, which you can see at any time by pressing the scroll ball on top of your Mighty Mouse or clicking the Dashboard icon (speedometer) in the Dock. Click the plus sign at the bottom left of the screen to add or remove widgets.
Right-click the file and choose Open With, then pick the app you want. To make the change permanent, select the file and press Cmd+I (Get Info); under Open With, choose an app, and click Change All if you always want to open this kind of file with this app.
The files themselves aren't affected, and you can change again any time. As in Windows, you can also launch an app first and then use Cmd+O to open a file.
How to get your printer working with your Mac
1. Plug it in
Unless it's out of the Ark, your existing printer will connect via USB or Ethernet. Just plug it into your Mac, turn it on, then open System Preferences, select Print & Fax and click the plus sign at the bottom left. Your printer should show up in the list.
2. Assign a driver
The message 'Searching for new drivers' appears. Mac OS X comes with loads of printer drivers, so your model may be recognised immediately. If not, set Print Using: to Other and supply your own Mac OS X driver (available from the manufacturer's website).
3. Find elusive drivers
Many printers are rebranded units, so Google yours to find out its original make and model, then look for its drivers. Still no luck? Hundreds of Mac drivers are provided by Gutenprint, an open source project.
"Can I preview files, as with Windows Photo Gallery?"
Yes. Select a file and either tap [Space], or press Cmd+Y. Select multiple files and press Option+Cmd+Y for a slideshow; hit Esc to stop it.
"I've inserted a DVD – now how do I get it out again?"
Unlike PCs, Macs have never favoured a physical button on the drive. However, there's an Eject button at the top right of your Apple keyboard: press and hold this to pop the disc out.
Alternatively, press Cmd+E; or, in the Finder, drag the disc's icon onto the Trash icon at the right of the Dock, which turns into an Eject symbol; or open a Finder window, find the disc's icon in the Devices section of the Sidebar on the left, and click the Eject icon that appears next to it.
These last two methods also work with USB drives.
"I just unplugged my USB drive and was told my data may have been damaged. What's all that about?"
In Windows, remember, you're supposed to click the Safely Remove Hardware icon at the right of the Taskbar and select your drive before unplugging it.
This ensures any file operations have ended and the drive is properly released. The same principle applies in Mac OS X, and you should eject the drive (as described in the previous answer) before physically removing it. If you don't, not only could you lose recent files, but if you're unlucky the whole drive could become inaccessible.
How to burn DVDs
Unlike with Windows, DVD burning is fully integrated into Mac OS X. Insert a blank DVD and opt to open it in Finder, then drag files onto it. The files will initially appear as shortcuts (with a little curly arrow), but when you click the Burn icon beside the disc's name in a Finder window, the complete files are written to the disc.
You can also burn music files to audio CD or DVD by selecting tracks in iTunes and clicking Burn Disc at the bottom right, or burn photos by selecting them in iPhoto and choosing Share > Burn.
To create playable DVDs with menus, use iDVD; for movie discs, prepare your footage in iMovie, then go to Share > iDVD. To learn how to create a professional DVD with animated menus.
How to get your Mac on the internet
1. Access the router
Connect the Mac to your router with an Ethernet cable or, to use Wi-Fi go to System Preferences > Network, click AirPort (Apple's name for Wi-Fi) on the left, turn AirPort on, choose your network from the pop-up menu. Enter your WiFi passphrase.
2. Check your connection
In the list on the left, click the connection you're using – Ethernet or AirPort – and ensure Configure: is set to Using DHCP. You'll see: 'Ethernet (or AirPort) is currently active and has the IP address xxx. xxx.xxx.xxx', where the x's are numbers.
3. Am I done now?
Yes, assuming your connection was already set up for your PC. Typically, an IP address beginning with 192 means you're successfully connected via your router; one beginning with 169 is a default, which is bad. Go to: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1144.
"Where's Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger?"
Well, firstly, Microsoft no longer makes Internet Explorer for the Mac. The standard Mac web browser is Apple's Safari. You can also download Mac versions of the various free third-party browsers, including Firefox and Opera.
As for Windows Live Messenger, formerly MSN Messenger, there is a Mac equivalent called Messenger for Mac, free from here. However, Apple's iChat comes with your Mac and is neater.
The catch is that Apple and Microsoft don't support each other's IM systems. Happily, Adium, an open source app, can manage multiple protocols, so you don't have to say goodbye to your friends just yet!
"How do I connect to my PC over a network?"
With a PC and a Mac connected to the same router, whether via Ethernet cables or WiFi, you should be able to access your Mac's hard disk from your PC and vice versa. First prepare your Mac to talk to PCs.
In Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or higher, go to System Preferences > File Sharing, click Options and tick Share files and folders using SMB, then tick the user accounts you want to make available.
Now go to your Windows Vista PC, click the Start orb and select Network. This takes you to View computers and devices in the Network and Sharing Center, where your Mac should appear (perhaps after a short delay) either with its proper name in capital letters, such as MYIMAC, or identified by its MAC address, such as MAC012A3B456C6D.
If a yellow warning bar says 'some network computers and devices might not be visible', click it and turn on network discovery and file sharing, choosing the No option to keep your network private.
Double-click your Mac's icon and you'll be asked for a username and password. Enter the name of the Mac, as on the icon, then a backslash, then your Mac user account name – for example, MYIMAC\MyName. Add your password for this user and you should be in.
You'll see any shared devices, such as a printer, as well as shared folders for this account. Your PC's sharing settings are accessed from the main screen of the Network and Sharing Center, found in Control Panel.
To connect from your Mac, go to the Finder and press Cmd+K. Type smb://PC-NAME/Users/ MyName/Documents – where 'PC-NAME' is the official name of your PC, as seen above 'This Computer' in Network and Sharing; 'MyName' is your Windows user account name; and the folder, such as Documents, is one that you've opted to share (you could also use / Users/Public).
Tap Enter and you'll be asked for the username and password you used to log in to Windows. Networks can be glitchy but, with a bit of luck, you'll manage to connect in at least one direction.
How to fix preferences and permissions
There's no Mac equivalent of the dreaded Windows registry, so you don't have to worry about cleaning it up. But there are a couple of housekeeping tasks that may occasionally help to keep Mac OS X running smoothly. If a particular application acts weird, try resetting its preferences.
Preference files, with the extension '.plist', are stored in /Library/Preferences and /user/Library/ Preferences, where user is your home folder. It's usually obvious which plists belong to which apps.
Having quit the app, make a folder on the Desktop called Suspect prefs (for example) and move all its plists into this. When you relaunch the app, it will rebuild its preferences, which should solve the problem, at the expense of undoing any custom settings. If it doesn't help, put the plists back.
Further general oddness can often be sorted out by fixing the 'permissions' for your hard disk. In the Utilities folder inside Applications is a program called Disk Utility. Launch this and select your Macintosh HD on the left, then click Repair Disk Permissions. It's as easy as that.
"Where are the menus in my application windows?"
This is one of the few fundamental differences between the Mac OS and Windows. In Windows, when you open two documents in the same application, you're effectively running two copies of that application, each in its own window containing its own menu bar and toolbars.
In Mac OS X, you can only ever run one copy of each app, with one menu bar and one set of toolbars, within which you can have any number of document windows.
The menu bar is always at the top of the screen, and changes to reflect which app is currently active. The first menu is always the Apple menu, containing the same system options, and the second is always the application menu, bearing the name of the current app and giving access to its preferences.
It's all perfectly logical once you get used to it, and it does reduce the amount of clutter on screen.
"Where's the Start menu and how do I right-click?"
Two good questions! In Windows, the Start menu enables you to run programs, search for items, browse your hard disk, change settings and shut down the system. These functions are found in various different places on the Mac.
You can run programs from the Dock, which sits at the bottom of the screen like the Windows Taskbar but shows all your commonly used programs, not just those that are currently running. Those that are active have a blue blob below them. Like the Taskbar, the Dock appears when you move your mouse to the bottom of the screen; it can also be invoked with Cmd+Option+D.
Adjust how the Dock works via Dock on the Apple menu. At the right end of the Dock are commonly used folders, including Applications and Documents; click these to show their contents. You can add more programs or folders by dragging them onto the Dock, or remove them by dragging them off, which doesn't affect the programs or folders themselves.
To search, you use Spotlight, accessed from the magnifying glass icon at the top right of the screen or by pressing Cmd+[Space]. To shut down, restart or put your Mac to sleep, look at the Apple menu.
Now, on to that elusive right-click button. Apple's Mighty Mouse and new Magic Mouse do have two buttons, but they're invisible.
In System Preferences > Mouse & Keyboard > Mouse, you'll see there are separate functions for the left and right buttons, which should normally be set to Primary Button and Secondary Button.
Born-again Mac purists can revert to the traditional one-button Apple mouse by setting both functions to Primary; to activate right-click features such as displaying a contextual menu (as in Windows), you'll then need to hold Ctrl while clicking. See, the Ctrl key had to be useful for something.
How to back up with Time Machine
Apple's vastly superior equivalent to Windows Backup is Time Machine, included with Mac OS X 10.5 and later. To use it, you need any USB or FireWire hard drive, preferably of a similar size to your main hard disk.
It can be a drive that you've previously used with your PC, as long as you first use Disk Utility to erase it and format it as 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)'. Plug in your drive, go to the Time Machine pane in System Preferences, turn it on and tell it to use this drive.
"How do I browse my hard disk?"
Click the Finder icon at the left of the Dock, then press Cmd+N for a new window. In the Sidebar on the left of the window, your hard disk – called Macintosh HD by default – is listed under Devices along with any other connected drives; if you don't see them, click the triangle next to Devices.
Click a device to list its contents on the right. The four icons in the toolbar at the top of the window give you the choice to view files as icons, a plain list, in columns (a bit like the Windows 'file tree') or in Cover Flow view, where you use the up and down cursor keys, or roll the Mighty Mouse scroll ball, to flip through your files.
"What new key shortcuts do I need to learn?"
Many of the shortcuts you're used to will work, when you use the Mac's command (Cmd) key in place of the PC's Ctrl key.
The Cmd key is next to the spacebar. It's sometimes referred to as the Apple key but, unlike the Windows key, it doesn't actually do anything when pressed by itself. So, for example, Cmd+C is copy and Cmd+V is paste. When it comes to clicking and dragging, it's the Option key that takes on what would be the Ctrl key's role in Windows, making a copy of what you drag in, say, Finder.
To close a window, press Cmd+W – as in 'window' – but bear in mind that, even when all its windows are closed, an application may still be running. To quit it, press Cmd+Q.
If an application stops responding, which you'll find is less common on the Mac, the equivalent of Ctrl+Alt+Del is Cmd+Option+Esc, which lets you click Force Quit to kill an app. You can also press Cmd+Option+Shift+Esc to force-quit the active app, or hold Option while clicking and holding a Dock icon to show a Force Quit option. For more shortcuts, see TechRadar's list of handy Mac shortcuts.
"Where are my security settings?"
There's a Security pane in System Preferences, but compared to Windows' Security Center it's pretty sparse. In the Firewall tab, you'll find protection is turned off by default, with the OS set to Allow all incoming connections. That's fine, because there's already a separate firewall running in the background; this application-based shield is an optional extra.
If you choose Set access for specific services and applications, only the Apple apps are allowed access to incoming connections (a function that could be abused by malicious software), while you'll be asked to confirm permission for other apps next time you run them.
Like Windows, Mac OS X comes without anti-virus protection. Unlike with Windows, it isn't suicidal to leave it that way. A few Mac viruses have existed, but their threat is small. If you're worried, consider the free version of PC Tools' iAntiVirus or the clunkier freeware ClamXav.
How to stop your windows flying away
Mac OS X has a handy feature called Exposأ© that lets you see all your open windows at once or hide them temporarily to reveal the Desktop. (It's similar in intention to Windows' Flip 3D, though different in approach.) You can activate it using function keys or by dragging the mouse to specified corners of the screen, all set up in System Preferences > Exposأ© & Spaces > Exposأ©.
By default, it's also activated by squeezing the pads on either side of the Mighty Mouse, which rest beneath your thumb and fourth finger. There's every chance you'll do this unintentionally. Either get used to it or go to System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Mouse and set the function labelled for these sensors to Off.
You may also find the screen corners annoying if you keep activating them accidentally, but there's a case for leaving them turned on: when you're dragging a file from one application to another, you can rearrange your windows on the fly, by dragging to the relevant corner, to find the window you want to drop the item into.
"Why don't the function keys work?"
On the Mac, the F keys on the keyboard have dedicated functions, such as adjusting volume or brightness and activating features like Exposأ©. These functions are marked on the keys.
To use the same keys for general function key commands, hold down the Fn key. You can reverse this behaviour in System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard.
"I have a disability – can Mac OS X help?"
Yes: go to System Preferences > Universal Access and you'll find a number of aids. For example, if you have trouble using the mouse, go to the Mouse tab and turn on Mouse Keys. You can now move the pointer using the keys on the numeric keypad.
"How do I access the BIOS?"
Your PC's BIOS (basic input/output system) manages the bare minimum of information that the system needs to wake itself up. You might access it – by holding down a key during startup – to configure upgraded components or force the PC to boot from a rescue disc.
The Mac's equivalent is EFI (extensible firmware interface), but you don't interact with this in the same way. Just as PCs occasionally need a BIOS update, however, your Mac may need updates to EFI. These will arrive via Software Update (see the Software Update question below).
On a PC, you can start up in Safe Mode if something appears to be amiss. On a Mac, you can initiate a Safe Boot by holding down the Shift key during startup. Another possibility if the system isn't starting up properly is to insert the Mac OS X disc that came with your Mac and hold down the C key during startup to boot from this.
The BIOS keeps its settings on a battery-backed memory module. Macs have something similar, known as the PRAM (parameter RAM) or NVRAM (non-volatile RAM). The system can behave oddly if it gets corrupted or the battery runs down. If you suspect this, reset it by holding down Option+Cmd+P+R during startup. You'll then need to reset the clock, sound volume and mouse settings.
If the Mac fails to remember these when it's next switched off, you probably need to replace the PRAM battery. It's just a lithium watch battery, but getting at it can be a job for an engineer; see your Mac manual or call Apple for advice.
How to type special characters
In Windows, you can only get accented characters and typographic punctuation via Character Map or by holding the Alt key while typing arcane four-figure codes on the keypad. On a Mac, you can enter most Western European accents, along with plenty of everyday symbols, using Option+[key] combinations (see here for more info).
Note that the hash (#) isn't marked on British Mac keyboards, but you can type it by pressing Option+3. You can also type an en- or em-dash, the longer horizontal bars correctly used for dashes – like these – as opposed to hyphens: hold Option while pressing the hyphen key (you'll find it next to = on the top row) for an en-dash, and add Shift for the wider em-dash.
For curly quotation marks, use Option+[ for opening double quotes or Option+] for single, and add Shift for closing quotes; Option+Shift+] is also used for an apostrophe. For the full range of characters go the Character Palette.
"Software Update is telling me I need to install new software – what does this mean?"
Software Update, similar to Windows Update, is Apple's way of patching the Mac OS and associated software whenever necessary, whether to fix bugs, remove features or respond to security threats.
In System Preferences > Software Update you can choose how often to check; weekly is sensible. Tick the option to download updates automatically, and they'll be ready to install whenever you find it convenient.
"How do I defragment my hard disk?"
You're unlikely to need to. Mac OS X largely avoids 'file fragmentation', where files get split up between different parts of the disk. On the other hand, it doesn't prevent 'disk fragmentation', where each file is stored contiguously but the empty space is broken up.
In extreme cases, this can make your system behave erratically. If you think it may be an issue, download the free version of iDefrag and see if it finds a lot of fragmentation. If so, the full version, which can sort it out, costs a reasonable آ£23.
"What's the best system utility software for Mac?"
There's a strong argument that the best system utility software for today's Mac user is none. Though there are some excellent tools available, including Disk Warrior, most Mac OS X users will never encounter a problem that can only be fixed with third-party software, and using non-Apple system tools risks causing more problems than you solve.
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WebOS 1.3.5 to hit the Palm Pre today
It looks like Palm Pre users could be in for extra Xmas cheer, with Sprint.com over in the US showing a December 28th release date for the 1.3.5 update of WebOS, although there's no sign of it on Palm's site yet.
Unfortunately there's no sign yet of a UK release date either but WebOS 1.3.1 took a week to work its way over here, so fingers crossed for the start of January.
Via Engadget
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Guide: How to become anonymous online
Online life is quickly eroding our usual feelings of personal anonymity. Services like Facebook mean that people are able to delve into our lives like never before.
Stalking, whistle blowing, even watching TV programmes broadcast in other countries; these and other online activities all rely on some form of online anonymity – or lack of it.
We humans don't generally like strangers knowing all about us, but we may be unwittingly providing people with details of our lives we'd rather were kept out of the public gaze. Keeping anonymous online is also a concern for a growing number of people in countries where speaking out has real consequences.
Luckily, there are several steps you can take to stay incognito online, and even some that can reduce the amount of spam email messages you receive.
Keep your email secret
Your email address is a big part of your online identity. It's also a valuable source of revenue for people whose business involves supplying spammers with live addresses.
If the sites you register with aren't secure, hackers can access the database containing all the user credentials, and the email addresses are sure to be sold on.
It's also an unpleasant fact of online life that some website owners lie when they say they'll never give your email address to anyone else. This is predominantly a problem for users of adult sites. Your email address may be sold on to sites with similar themes, which then spam you as well as selling your address on to others.
When an online business folds, the owner might also decide the list of registered users is an asset worth selling.
Luckily, you can use a throwaway address to avoid these problems. These exist for only a short period of time – just long enough to complete a registration process. GuerrillaMail runs one such service.
When you want to sign up for a website, go to GuerrillaMail and hit the 'Get temporary email' button to generate a random address. Copy and paste this address into the site's registration form.
When you return to GuerrillaMail, your temporary inbox will be displayed. If the site in question requires you to confirm your registration, the incoming mail will appear here. If there's a delay, simply click on the link marked 'Give me one full hour again' to reset the life of the address to 60 minutes.
Anonymous personal domains
If you have a family website containing your name and address, and you post that your family is off to visit Auntie Nellie in New Zealand on 30 August for three months, you may attract the attention of local housebreakers.
And even if you remove your address, there's another way they can easily find out where there's a nice, empty house to rob. The Whois record for a domain lists the registrar, the expiry date, the owner's details, the DNS servers and sometimes much more.
Go to an online Whois service such as whois.domaintools.com and enter a domain name (without the www) to see an example. The level of detail can be quite shocking.
When buying a domain, if it's unallocated – meaning that it's free to be sold by any domain registration company – it's a good idea to pick a registrar that will register it on your behalf. Their address will then appear in the domain's Whois record.
Simply search for the company offering the lowest price, then send an email asking whose name the registration will be in if the information isn't on the site. If a specific company or individual is selling the domain you want, they may simply transfer the Whois record to you, exposing your address to the world in the process.
You may be tempted to get round this problem by using a false address. However, the one that appears in the Whois record is usually the one you gave when you entered your credit card details to buy the domain. Because of this, it pays to ask if you can use a PO Box number to cover your tracks.
This service currently costs آ£63 per year (or آ£51 for six months) from Royal Mail. If you only need the address to register the domain, you can let the PO Box lapse afterwards.
Anonymous surfing
Web surfing encompasses the use of websites, online forums and chatrooms. As we mentioned in last issue's Uncover the darknet article, you can use the Tor network to hide your IP address completely.
Tor is an 'onion router'. This is a network of computers spread across the globe. When enabled in your browser, Tor redirects all your outgoing web traffic through this network. Each connection takes a random path and emerges at a random point.
When it reaches the destination site, it appears that you're moving around the planet minute by minute. Note that Tor only makes your IP address anonymous, and it only works when you're browsing the web. Other types of traffic will pass straight from your machine to its destination.
Tor is available as a plug-in for Firefox. To use it, download the Tor Bundle from the project website. With Firefox running, run the downloaded executable, select English as the installation language and accept the defaults.
Firefox will ask you to confirm that you want the Tor button extension to be installed. Press 'Install Now' and restart Firefox when asked to. At the bottom right of the Firefox window will be the words 'Tor disabled'. Clicking on this changes it to 'Tor Enabled'.
Now, surf to http://check.torproject.org. If Tor is enabled, the message 'Congratulations. You are using Tor' will be displayed. You should also see an IP address. This address will be different each time you visit the page.
Spoof your country
Rather than bouncing around the world at random, you can also appear to be surfing from a single foreign country. This can be handy for several things.
For example, some TV broadcasters deliberately block foreign fans from accessing online content. Sometimes shows from one country are never broadcast or sold on DVD in others, and yet their makers still block access to them from abroad.
Because the content is being made available online for free, the reasons for blocking access in certain territories often defy logic. If the makers plan to sell the TV programmes abroad, why put them online in the first place? Viewers who are allowed to see the content can easily download and mail them overseas, and content regularly appears in high quality on torrent sites.
To avoid the ire of your ISP for generating too much P2P traffic, one method of accessing territory-restricted content is to use a public proxy server in a country that is allowed access.
Websites such as www.publicproxyservers.com maintain lists of public proxy servers. Because many proxies cache content, they can sometimes even be faster than accessing the original site directly.
On the Public Proxy Servers website, click on the 'Sorted by Country' link at the top left. Find the country in which the broadcaster who's blocking your access resides. Select a sever with a high rating to ensure you get a fast connection.
Clicking a server's details will open the proxy site's web interface. Enter the URL of the content that has been blocked and hit [Enter]. The site should now relay the content between the target site and your browser.
Be careful, though. You must continue to enter any subsequent URLs into the proxy or your request may go straight to the target site and be blocked.
Thwart trackers
Some websites use the services of so-called tracking companies to monitor traffic. However, by installing a small piece of JavaScript on the site, people can monitor a lot more than just numbers of visitors.
The script is automatically downloaded and run when you open the page, and details such as your IP address, ISP, browser and even screen resolution can all be monitored. While this may help web designers to create better websites, it's also possible to trace IP addresses to a general geographic location without ever having to go near your ISP's logs.
To prevent other people discovering this information and possibly tracking your web usage, it's a good idea to use JavaScript blocking. Possibly the best utility for doing this is the Firefox plugin NoScript.
When it's installed, absolutely no JavaScript on a page will run unless you expressly unblock it. This also protects you from malicious JavaScript applets that may have been planted to infect your system in a so-called 'drive-by' attack.
NoScript also allows you to see the secondary domains used by big websites to supply adverts and other annoyances. Because NoScript blocks on a domain basis, it can block third-party ads, too.
To install NoScript, select 'Add-ons' from Firefox's Tools menu. This will pop up a window showing what's already installed on your system. Hit the 'Get Add-ons' button and then click the 'Browse All Add-ons' link. This will take you to Mozilla's add-ons site.
Enter NoScript in the search box and hit [Enter]. NoScript should be the first result returned. Click the button to add it. Press the 'Install Now' button on the pop-up and restart Firefox once installation is complete.
NoScript lives in the bottom right-hand corner of the Firefox window. When you surf to a site, if there are blocked scripts then the blue NoScript 'S' logo will display a red circle with a line through it. Click this and you'll see a list of all the domains with scripts being blocked. Click on the ones you trust (usually just the main domain), and click anywhere on the web page to continue.
One side effect of blocking scripts using NoScript is that sites with media will sometimes complain that you don't have Adobe Flash installed. If this happens, simply look through the list for the site that serves the media and unblock it.
This inconvenience is a small price to pay to stay safe and away from the prying eyes of online marketing people. By blocking scripts that may take time to load from overworked third-party servers, NoScript also helps to improve the speed of the sites you visit.
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Apple's app store rocks Christmas day
It's not just Amazon that's claiming a Christmas downloading frenzy - Apple saw a 1,000% rise in downloads for the iPod Touch on Christmas Day, according mobile analytics company Flurry.
It's also the first time the iPod Touch has overtaken the iPhone for app store downloads.
It's not all about Apple though, with Android apps also seeing increased demand, up 20%, mainly powered by the Motorola Milestone/Droid, with 49% of all Android apps sold on Christmas day coming from it.
But even with that, downloads for Android apps are still 13 times smaller than for Apple - still a long way to go yet.
Via Mobile Crunch
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In Depth: 10 mobile phones that defined the decade
The last decade has been revolutionary for the mobile phone.
Not only has ownership rocketed, the cellular phone been transformed from a gadget for simply making and taking calls or texting into an astonishingly powerful hub for multimedia entertainment, internet surfing, social networking, GPS location-finding, camera snapping – plus lots more that there's an app for…
So what were the handsets that rocked us during the last decade and defined the noughties?
1. Nokia 7110 (1999/2000)
While we partied like it was 1999 and the clocks chimed in the Noughties, hip phone-slingers were slipping the spring-loaded slider and calling on the smartest handset in town – the WAP-packing Nokia 7110.
The first phone to deliver up the mobile internet, we surfed to see where to go next as the New Year kicked in…and waited….and waited…The internet in your pocket (well, sort of in a rubbishy, snail-slow way) had arrived.
2. Nokia 3310 (2000)
Many people's first mobile phone, like its 3210 predecessor the Nokia 3310 was one of the early mobile-boom smash hits.
Not only was it cheap and cheerful, it offered a smidgeon of style, with swappable customisable covers, an internal antenna, T9 predictive text messaging, downloadable ringtones and voice dialling. And there was Snake II, too. It was a doddle to operate, helping to cement loyalty to Nokia in many a phone buyer.
3. Vertu (from 2002)
The mobile phone as money-no-object noughties boom-time status symbol. Ultra-premium brand Vertu was established by Nokia to offer opulent crafted handsets in luxury materials to those with huge quantities of cash to splash.
No 'free with contract' deals with Vertu – handsets start at several thousand pounds each and go up to six figures. It's not that the phone features were that outstanding – although the personal concierge service was none too shabby… Despite the credit crunch, Vertu is still going strong.
4. Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman (2005)
While not the first phone to have an MP3 player onboard, Sony Ericsson shifted music playing on mobiles to prime-time by reworking the iconic Walkman brand into a music-centric handset package.
Equipped with a decent quality tune player, earphones and memory card, the W800i Walkman concept helped establish mobile phones as an everyday music player alternative.
5. Nokia 7650 (2002)
Remember when phones didn't have cameras built in? The Nokia 7650 was the decade's snap'n'send ground-breaker, with a VGA shooter tooled into the back of Nokia's debut Symbian Series 60 smartphone.
Nokia's high-end trend-setter may not have been a best-seller, but its instant-snapping legacy has redefined how we now use our phones (and embarrass our mates…).
6. Motorola RAZR V3 (2004)
Jaws clunked open and phone geeks visibly dribbled when Motorola first unveiled its RAZR – an ultra slim object of clamshell desire. It was a handset that pulsed 'must-have' from its gorgeous flat metallic keypad to its unfeasibly thin flip lid.
And then Motorola rode the design for all it was worth, pushing it from high-end aspirational boy-toy to mass-market standard-issue best-seller, with over 110m variants of the RAZR sold worldwide.
7. Nokia N95 (2007)
Reflecting the technological savvy and smartphone know-how of the world's number one phone maker, the N95 was a powerhouse of a multimedia device. Packing all the latest leading edge gadgetry and features – from top-grade camera and music player to GPS – it epitomised the assured pre-eminence of Nokia in the high-end arena. After all, who else was there to duke it out with…?
8. HTC Dream (a.k.a T-Mobile G1, first Android phone) (2008)
Out with the old, in with the new… As the decade comes to a close, the Android smartphone platform looks set to become the new game in town as far as smartphone makers are concerned.
The HTC Dream was the first (slightly ungainly) shape of things to come, but with more refined models like the HTC Hero arriving and momentum among other manufacturers growing, the Android OS could be the hot mobile ticket for the new decade.
9. Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry (2002)
From Wall Street two-way paging niche to worldwide messaging phenomenon, the RIM BlackBerry epitomised the always-connected mantra of the noughties, from boardroom to bedroom.
Devilishly addictive, the Qwerty keyboard-packing, push email-delivering BlackBerry phone not only boosted productivity, it also gave us a reason to keep checking our mobiles 24/7.
10. Apple iPhone (2007)
And there's one more thing… First released in June 2007, overnight Apple's iPhone single-handedly changed the game for mobile makers, putting sheer intuitive usability and a great user experience top of the agenda.
Sure, the first version lacked some phone feature standards, but the iPhone subsequently set the pace for rivals, making touchscreens essential gadgetry, reinventing the way smartphones are expected to work (ie: easily) and raised the bar for phone apps.
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Opinion: Is the Apple iSlate the saviour of magazines?
Recent videos from Sports Illustrated and the BERG design agency have caught the attention of the mag industry, especially with the latest Apple iSlate rumours suggesting an ideal delivery system for their e-magazine formats.
They show how a magazine-like product might work on a touch screen tablet-style device with fingers turning virtual pages, skipping through photo galleries and tapping to zoom in on areas of interest - familiar actions to anyone with an iPhone or iPod touch.
And there's no doubt it looks good from the narrow perspective of replicating some aspects of the magazine experience - certainly more so than Google's pretense that JPEGs of newspaper pages amount to anything.
But is it really a pointer to the future?
The tangible vs the virtual
Magazine publishers set great store by the 'magazine experience' - the physical engagement readers have with a magazine: portability, photography, immersive reading, the feel of the magazine on the fingers, and so forth.
It's this experience - of turning pages and entering layouts, that Sports Illustrated hopes to emulate, and sets it apart from previous experiments in e-publishing.
And it is true that so far, the web hasn't been much good at delivering any of that physicality and engagement. Yet magazine sales have still fallen while web access to the same material has rocketed.
So if a magazine's physical package is such a great thing, why hasn't it held up better against the onslaught of the web?
The reason is the physical nature of magazines is a limitation, not a benefit. The mag package is useful mainly to distinguish one magazine brand from another. Take two mags and most people will go for the one with the better writing, pictures, paper stock and finish.
But take one mag and one website, and most people will go for the website. And that's because the web is better at all the other things that magazines used to exist to deliver - community, currency, niche interest and usefulness.
The problem of the package
As the music industry has discovered with the album, people no longer want to pay for tracks that hold no interest for them. Magazines have the same problem: they are aimed at groups of people rather than individuals, and therefore contain stuff individual readers don't want.
Every magazine is a compromise, but one you have to pay for. So recreating that kind of bundle, as Sports Illustrated is attempting to do, probably isn't going to work.
Then there is the problem of the link. Too much linking out and you negate the point of having a coherent package in the first place. After all, that focused attention is what publishers ideally want to sell to advertisers. Too little linking and people don't trust you. As for inlinks, there would be none.
Given the central importance of the link to digital editorial, anything that devalues its importance, sidelines it or makes it into a problem, suggests a pretty basic flaw.
The speed issue
Another problem is that magazines are, and will remain slow compared to the web, severely diminishing their currency. The timescale that matters these days is measured by the minute.
Packaging magazines a time-consuming business. Sports Illustrated's digital mag looks fantastic but it is shot through with time overheads caused by the packaging, from the lovely contents spread, to the embedded video, to the way one item of content follows another in planned succession.
Even if the product is constantly updated, say via a 3G or WiFi connection, I can't see how you can have a product that aspires to a high level of packaging craft yet is fast enough to complete with websites. If you go with templates, then you lose the point of the craft, and you are back to doing what websites do.
Perhaps there are benefits that outweigh all this. Maybe as with the iPod or Kindle, the ability to carry whole libraries around is enough to make it succeed. But unlike books or music, magazines are disposable and date quickly, and are rarely returned to once completed.
However you stack it up, trying to replicate the pure magazine experience in digital form seems like a waste of time.
And yet... there is still something compelling about the Sports Illustrated experiment.
Perhaps it is the impact of the photography, something the web still does badly, and the close integration between text, pictures and video and multi touch displays.
Perhaps it is the ability to get drawn into something as opposed to the distractions of the web. Perhaps it is the overall quality of the product. .
Somewhere in this, there is the potential for something interesting. But surely the proper starting point isn't replicating the magazine, but improving the website.
Marry the strengths of online, the visual impact of magazines and the touch and feel of multi touch... well, that would be interesting.
Related Links
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eBooks outsell real books for first time
eBooks have outsold paper books for the first time this Christmas, according to Amazon.com.
More people bought Kindle books than physical one on Christmas day, making it the "most gifted item in Amazon's history", although there is no indication yet on whether the value of eBooks sold is also higher.
Amazon also claimed the Kindle was one of its highest selling electronics items alongside the iPod.
"We are grateful to our customers for making Kindle the most gifted item ever in our history," said Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com.
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