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MAC OS

LAST UPDATED: 08 November 2007 18:26:02 -0600

Changes to this page are IN PROGRESS

Intermediate

With the release of Mac OS 8.6 comes an updated version of Pacific Tech's Graphing Calculator. To celebrate this event I'd like to remind you that you can paste PICT files onto the 3-D images created in Graphing Calculator. Simply open a picture in SimpleText or another PICT-hip application, select the picture (or portion of the picture), copy the picture, switch to Graphing Calculator, and paste. Your picture is now wrapped around the 3-D object.

Beginner

Apple's Map control panel is a fairly limited way to determine the time and day in other parts of the world. If you want a more complete resource, take a look at Leighton Paul's HourWorld. This $15 shareware, PowerPC-only application presents you with a world map that indicates the time in five selectable cities, the distance between your home city and the other four cities, the position of the sun and moon, and the phase of the moon. If you like, you can view this data for any time and date from 1994 - 2009.

You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

Intermediate

You're probably aware that you can switch off AOL's chirpy announcements (ie. "You've got mail!") by selecting Preferences from the My AOL menu and deselecting "Play Event Sounds" in the General tab. But because that's a global operation, you kill each and every one of AOL's sounds by following this procedure. Perhaps you would care to keep some sounds -- the Instant Messenger alert, for example -- while dispensing with others. Here's how:

Open the America Online folder, then the Online Files folder, and finally the Sounds folder. Drag any files you don't want out of this Sounds folder and those sounds will no longer play.

Bonus tip: AOL determines which sound to play by the name of the sound. You can therefore use any System 7 sound file (the format used by the Mac version of AOL) and give it the name of a particular AOL event. For example, you can record a snippet of Monty Python's famous SPAM skit, save it as a System 7 sound, rename it You've Got Mail, and replace AOL's original You've Got Mail file with the new file. Now when you have AOL mail you'll hear "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM...."

Beginner

If you meet the following requirements:

You spend a LOT of time with your Mac.
You use Griffin Technologies iMate ADB-to-USB adapter.
You know how to operate Apple's Balloon Help.

Try this:

Engage Balloon Help, point at the iMate USB Driver extension (found in the Extensions folder inside the System Folder), and absorb some useful advice.

Intermediate

If you're first on the block to possess Apple's new PowerBook G3 (bronze keyboard) you'll be pleased to know that you can use an external display with your PowerBook with the lid closed. Here's how:

Put the PowerBook to sleep by closing the lid. If not already connected, attach the power adapter and cable for the external monitor, attach an Apple-compatible USB keyboard and mouse, and press the Power button on the keyboard to bring the PowerBook back to life.

When you want to view the internal display just put the PowerBook to sleep again and wake it with the cover open.

Intermediate

You may have noticed that nearly every time I recommend a piece of shareware or freeware I send you to Macdownload.com. While this is a wonderful resource for Mac software, wouldn't it be swell if you could search the site without having to go to the Web page, entering your query into the Search field, and waiting for the corresponding files to appear on a separate webpage? Well, if you have Mac OS 8.5, you now can thanks to the Macdownload Sherlock plug-in.

Just download the Macdownload.src plug-in, drag and drop it onto your closed System Folder, and when you next fire up Sherlock, you'll be able to search Macdownload from the comfort of Sherlock's Search Internet tab.

As you might expect, you can find this plug-in at http://www.macdownload.com.

Intermediate

When you escort that brand new PowerBook G3 (bronze keyboard) into your office, jack a USB keyboard into the appropriate port, and put this baby to sleep with Password Security activated you will discover this anomaly: You will not be able to enter your password with the USB keyboard. The reason why is that the Password Security control panel activates before the USB bus is enabled and therefore the PowerBook fails to recognize input from any USB device. The workaround is to type your password on the PowerBook's built-in keyboard.

Beginner

Pangea software is on the verge of releasing its aptly titled, cute-as-a-bug game, Bugdom. Since Pangea has a new game on the way, I suppose it's perfectly all right to tell you how to cheat your way through its last game, Nanosaur. Simply launch Nanosaur (and yes, each and every iMac owner has a copy of this game) and type the following codes:

F12+F1 = Restore Health
F12+F2 = Get all Weapons
F12+F3 = Get Shield
F12+F4 = Win the Game
F12+F5 = Get Fuel

If you don't already have a copy of Nanosaur, you can get a copy at www.macdownload.com.

Beginner

Don't believe the floppy is dead? Try buying a floppy drive module for your new PowerBook G3 (bronze keyboard). You can't. Apple has no plans to make such a module. To use floppies on this particular Apple product you must purchase and haul around a third-party USB-compatible floppy drive.

Intermediate

After installing Mac OS 8.6 on an iMac that supports IrDA (Rev. A and B models), you may notice that your modem no longer responds. Here's why: The Mac OS 8.6 upgrade causes IrDA to be selected in the Modem control panel's Connect via: pop-up menu. To bring the modem back to the land of the living, open the Modem control panel and select Internal Modem from this pop-up menu, choose iMac Internal 56k from the Modem pop-up menu, close the Modem control panel, and save the configuration when prompted to.

Intermediate

Under Mac OS 8.5 and later, if you have the "Smooth all fonts on screen" option selected in the Fonts tab of the Appearance control panel, some of your onscreen fonts may look a little hazy. To sharpen things up a bit, increase the number that appears in the Smooth Fonts Size box to 18. Now only fonts 18 points and higher will be smoothed.

Intermediate

Having unexplained freezes whenever you launch Excel? Then perhaps now's the time to explain them. Excel will freeze on launch if your Mac's monitor bit-depth is set to 2-bit or 256 grays. The workaround is obvious: When working with Excel, don't use these bit-depth settings. Instead use 256 colors or more.

Beginner

If your Mac has crashed or an application quit with an arcane error code and you've wondered just what in tarnation that error means, Black and Bleu, a $34 utility from Blue Rose Ltd., may have your answer.

Black and Bleu carries simple and technical definitions for nearly 3,000 Macintosh errors. Not only does the utility explain what the error codes mean, but also offers advice on what you can do to avoid getting the error in the future. The demo version allows you to use Black and Bleu three times before it expires. After that you must pay for your copy. You can find that copy at: http://www.macdownload.com.

Intermediate

Someone I know very well indeed was in the process of designing an invitation and wished to insert a flower-like dingbat into the design. Unfortunately she didn't know how to determine which key corresponded to the dingbat she desired. So, she dutifully opened a new word processing document, typed each and every letter on her Mac keyboard (yes, even the Shift and Option combinations), and then cut and pasted the flower from the list of characters she had created.

Had she asked me for a shortcut, I might have suggested:

1. Using Key Caps, the Apple Menu item that ships with all Macs. Just select the font you want and look at the characters on the keyboard. To view alternative characters, hold down the Shift and Option keys, either separately or together.

2. If the characters in Key Caps are too difficult to discern, try Vincent Jalby's $15 shareware utility, FontBuddy. FontBuddy displays every character in a font as well as the keyboard equivalents for a font's characters. And unlike Key Caps, FontBuddy can display each character at a size up to 256 points.

You can find your copy of FontBuddy at http://www.macdownload.com.

Intermediate

Last week I mentioned that Apple would not offer a floppy disk module for the PowerBook G3 (bronze keyboard). While this is correct, my hint that the only way to use a floppy on one of these machines was to carry an external floppy drive was not. VST Technologies offers a SuperDisk module that can read traditional 1.4 MB floppy disks as well as 120 MB SuperDisk media.

If you desire one of these $230 modules, look for model number LSG32. For more information try http://www.vsttech.com.

Beginner

Now that DVD players are becoming more popular on Macs, it's time to reveal a small easter egg in the Apple DVD Player application.

Select About Apple DVD Player from the Apple menu. When the credits begin to scroll:

Hold down the Shift key to make the credits scroll in reverse.
Hold down the Option key to speed up the scrolling.
Hold the Control key to cause the credits to move up and down and all around the round About window.

Power User

On occasion, users with DVD drives may find that certain discs won't mount properly. When you insert these discs you'll receive a warning that the disc can not be read by the Macintosh. To skirt this problem, try holding down the Command-Option and I keys while inserting the DVD disc. This key combination forces the Mac to read the disc as an ISO-9000 formatted disc -- a format that may be more easily read than the format originally used on the disc.

Missing in Action

When you install the Mac OS 8.6 upgrade, the Apple Installer application removes certain folders from your hard drive. These folders include the AppleScript folder, Monitors Extras folder, QuickDraw 3D 1.5.4 folder, and Open Transport Information. Normally this isn't a problem but if you've saved documents to any of these folders, those documents will be removed as well. It's unlikely that you'll save files to any of these folders except the AppleScript folder.

Therefore, if you are planning to upgrade to Mac OS 8.6 and have tucked a few files away into your AppleScript folder, be sure to move those files elsewhere.

TypeIt4Me

Riccardo Ettore has recently released an updated version of his invaluable utility, TypeIt4Me. If you don't have a copy, you should. TypeIt4Me is a control panel that automatically types large blocks of text when you type a corresponding abbreviation for each block -- akin to Word 98's AutoText feature. Here's how it works:

Just select a block of text and choose Add an entry from the TypeIt4Me menu that appears in the Mac's menubar. TypeIt4Me will ask you to enter an abbreviation. Now whenever you type that abbreviation, TypeIt4Me replaces the abbreviation with the block of text. This is incredibly handy for storing long signatures, boilerplate text for online conferences and chats, and form-letter text.

Empty AVI Files

If you've recently downloaded and attempted to play an AVI movie file, you've undoubtedly seen this error: "You may experience problems playing a video track in 'blah.avi' because the required compressor could not be found." In your continuing effort to play the movie you hear the audio track but view nothing more than a white screen. Don't panic, this is perfectly normal. This behavior is due to the fact that you're missing the Indeo Video codec.

You see, although QuickTime supports AVI files it only does so when the proper flavor of this codec is installed in your Mac's Extensions folder. Regrettably, Apple doesn't include the codec with QuickTime (I suspect this is a licensing issue), so in order for you to view AVI movies, you must download the codec separately. To download the Indeo Video 5 codec -- the version compatible with QuickTime 3 and 4 -- point your browser to:

http://asu.info.apple.com/swupdates.nsf/artnum/n11430

Raving About Falcon 4.0

MacSoft has recently released Falcon 4.0, MicroProse's advanced F-16 flight simulator. This challenging game is gorgeous under 3-D hardware acceleration but those users with ATI's Rage Pro graphics accelerator chip will be unable to view these hardware rendered graphics unless they download and install Apple's OpenGL software kit and a beta RAVE patch from MacSoft.

Because this batch is a beta release, you may have some problems with it -- problems that MacSoft claims no responsibility for. If you do have problems, MacSoft suggests that you use Falcon's software rendering mode until ATI releases its ATI Universal Update 4.0 software -- software that should address this issue.

To download the OpenGL software kit, go here:

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-mwmt-06-18%2C00.html

DVD Error

Those lucky few with PowerBook DVD players may receive this error: "Apple DVD Player cannot open because the required hardware was not found." even though the required hardware is indeed present and accounted for. Here's one reason why:

If you've installed Speech Recognition and switched it into listening mode, it will change the Sound Monitoring Source option to Built-In Mic in the Monitors & Sound control panel. The DVD software doesn't dig this. If you want your DVD player to work again you must disable Speech Recognition or change the Sound Monitoring Source to Zoomed Video.

Resetting the iMac

Beginner

Veteran Mac users know that they can quickly restart a Mac by pressing Control-Command-and the Power key. These same users may be flummoxed when they try this same key combination on an iMac and discover that nothing happens -- no restart, no nothing. If you find yourself in this situation, avoid the flummoxing by instead pressing Shift-Command-Power key. In all likelihood your iMac will immediately restart when you press these three keys.

Snapz Pro 2.0

Intermediate

One of the world's finest screen capture utilities has recently been upgraded -- Ambrosia's Snapz Pro 2.0. Like its earlier iteration, Snapz Pro allows you to capture entire screens, windows, or user-defined selections with the press of a single key -- and lets you to do so in far more applications than Apple's built in Command-Shift-3 screen capture command.

New to Snapz Pro is the ability to capture motion -- yes, you can now capture video and audio events (including input from a microphone attached to your Mac) over time as QuickTime movies. For example, you can create animated tutorials -- just command Snapz Pro 2 to start recording, run through a series of tasks (while narrating, if you like), and when finished, again issue the capture command. Snapz Pro then pulls the frames of captured video together and saves them in a QuickTime movie. Very slick and highly recommended. Cost is $40 for new users and $20 for those upgrading from version 1.x. You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

Note on Note Pad

Intermediate

The Note Pad application that appears under the Apple menu is handy, but limited -- each of the eight pages can only store 248 characters. Under Mac OS 8 and later, if you wish to create more Note Pad files, here's how:

Open the System Folder and locate a file named, appropriately enough, Note Pad File. Click on this file's icon and change its name to something like "Note Pad File Old." Now select Note Pad from the Apple menu. You'll be presented with a new, blank note pad and a new Note Pad File will appear in the System Folder. When you want to refer back to your old Note Pad, just rename the Note Pad file you recently created and change the old Note Pad file back to "Note Pad File."

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

Daily Tips Live!

Beginner

As much as I take pride in these Macworld Daily Tips I must admit that they lack a certain "show and tell" element. Sure, you can read along and perform the various steps required to engage a tip, but wouldn't it be swell if you could see some of these things done live? Well, if you get ZDTV -- Ziff-Davis' compu-centric cable channel -- you now can.

Macworld magazine and ZDTV have joined forces to bring you a live, Mac tip each and every business day as performed by a Macworld staff member (or on occasion, a contributing editor, a.k.a. me). You'll find these tips on ZDTV's Call For Help program (hosted by the knowledgeable and always entertaining Leo Laporte) that airs from 7 - 8 PM Eastern Standard Time. The Mac tip segment generally falls just after the half hour.

QuickTime Runs Out

Intermediate

If you are using the QuickTime 4.0 beta and have been dinking around with your system clock, you may have noticed that if you set the clock forward to the year 2000 or beyond, your Mac's system beeps are muted. No, this is not a Y2K issue but rather a QuickTime beta issue.

The QuickTime 4.0 beta shipped with a beta version of Sound Manager -- a version that expires once the millennial odometer clicks over. To avoid this problem next year, simply download the release version of QuickTime 4.0, now available from Apple.

QuickTime Player

Intermediate

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that you can configure QuickTime 4.0's preferences so that when you open a new movie, a new player is opened as well. But if you decide not to change your preferences, there's another way to go about it. Simply hold down the Option key while clicking and holding on the File menu. When you do you'll see that you're now offered the option to open a movie in a new player as well as open a URL in a new player.

Switch Application Switcher

Intermediate

Mac OS 8.5's Application Switcher palette is extremely configurable -- you can determine the size of the icons, whether an application's name will appear in the palette, and whether the palette will display icons horizontally or vertically, for example. Unfortunately, just about no one knows the tricks for changing the configuration of this handy palette. Thankfully, you know longer need to.

Instead, just download a copy of Mitch Crane's free SwitcherSetup CM, a contextual menu plug-in that allows you to configure the Application Switcher palette to your heart's content. Just drop SwitcherSetup CM onto your closed System Folder and restart to install the plug-in. To use it, Control-click on the desktop while in the Finder.

You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

Useful Usenet

Intermediate

Not all ISPs are created equally -- some provide more complete listings of Usenet groups than others, for example. If you're not happy with the selection of Usenet groups that your ISP carries, there's no reason to stick only with your ISP's news server. There are several public news servers that are more than happy to accommodate you. Simply use a news reader that supports access to multiple servers -- Microsoft's Outlook Express is such a reader -- enter the address of the new server, download that server's list of newsgroups, and you're on your way.

To find lists of public news servers, try this address:

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-mwmt-07-02%2C00.html

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

Play With Conflict Catcher 8

Beginner

To combine a little fun with your conflict catching, select About Conflict Catcher from the Conflict Catcher 8 menu (or launch Conflict Catcher 8 and then select About Conflict Catcher from the Apple menu) and type "play" (without the quotes, please).

I don't want to be too obvious about what happens when you do this but a tad more information will make this tip more useful. So, here's a hint: You'll find this tip far more rewarding if you use the Left and Right Arrow keys and the Option and Control keys.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

Adjust QuickTime Audio

Beginner

The volume adjustment wheel found in the new QuickTime Player isn't terribly easy to use -- some people won't know which way to move the wheel and others may find the wheel too small to reliably click each time they attempt to do so. To these people (and to you as well) I suggest this: Don't bother.

Instead, just use the Arrow keys on your Mac's keyboard. The Up Arrow key increases the volume and the Down Arrow decreases the volume.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

Seeing Double

Beginner

If you've had your Mac for more than a few months there's every likelihood that its hard disk contains duplicate files -- redundant copies of SimpleText, for example. Sure, you could use Sherlock or the Find feature to locate these duplicates and manually drag them to the Trash, but why bother when Giuseppe Giunto offers a more automated solution with his $25 shareware utility, Doublet Scan?

Doublet Scan is very simple to use. Just launch the application, determine by what factors duplicates will be detected (by file name, size, date, etc.), choose a volume or folder to search for duplicates, and click Scan. In reasonably short order, Doublet Scan produces a list of duplicates. To trash those superfluous files, just select those you don't want and click the Trash button.

Until you pay for the full version of the program you'll only be allowed to trash 10 files at a time. You can find your copy at
http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

Say What?

Power User

Recent versions of Apple's security program, At Ease, are capable of speaking button names -- provided you're not using Mac OS 8.5 or later. Regrettably, At Ease goes deaf when you use later versions of the Mac OS because the program hasn't been updated to use the newer text-to-speech software included with OS 8.5. Apple suggests this workaround, however:

Remove the current version of the Text-to-Speech software and replace it with version 1.4.1. Here are Apple's instructions for doing so:

Download the English Text-to-Speech software version 1.4.1 from Apple's Software Updates website at
http://asu.info.apple.com/

Turn Off At Ease using the At Ease Setup application.

Restart the computer.

Insert the Mac OS 8.5 disc and launch the Mac OS Install application.

Select the startup volume on which the Mac OS 8.5 is already installed.

Click the Add/Remove button since "The selected destination disk already has Mac OS 8.5 installed..." Check the Text-to-Speech check box and select the customized removal option from the Recommended popup menu. Select "All English Text-to-Speech Software" to be removed and click OK. Click the Continue button to begin removing the Text-to-Speech software.

Restart the computer.

Install the English Text-to-Speech software version 1.4.1.

Restart the computer.

Turn On At Ease using the At Ease Setup application.

Restart the computer.

After logging into At Ease 3.0.x's panels, the buttons should be spoken when the mouse passes over them as long as the Speak buttons names option is checked for the At Ease user.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

Quick Search

Intermediate

If you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer to browse the Web and find yourself routinely biffing over to Yahoo to search for one thing or another, there's a simpler way to search Yahoo's database than typing "Yahoo" into the Address field, waiting for Yahoo to appear, typing in your query, and then clicking the Search button. Instead, just type a question mark into IE's Address field, type a space, and then type your search terms. Internet Explorer will now take you to a page that contains links based on your query.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

Calling Up Your Calling Card

Power User

PowerBook mavens are surely familiar with this technique, but if Apple makes good on the rumor of a consumer portable, I suspect many new PowerBook users who haven't a clue how to use their telephone calling card in conjunction with their new, take-them-anywhere Macs will be unleashed on the world. Here's how:

Open the Remote Access control panel and focus your attention on the Number field. If you're staying somewhere such as a hotel that requires you dial a 9 or 8 to get an outside line, enter that number first.

Now enter a comma. A comma tells the modem to pause for a bit before proceeding through the dialing string. This comma will allow the hotel's phone system some time to shift to outside-line mode.

Now enter any other numbers necessary to make a calling card call -- usually a 0 and then a 1 plus the area code and number.

You'll need to wait for the phone company to issue the tone and cheery greeting so add a series of commas -- five ought to do it, but if after entering all these numbers you notice that the modem starts sending your calling card number before the calling card tone plays, add a couple more commas.

Now enter the calling card string.

Your dialing string should look something like this (you don't need the hyphens, I added them to make the string easier to read):

9,01-555-555-1234,,,,,555-444-4321-1234

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

Chain Reaction

Intermediate

If, like me, you have several Macs in your office and each one bears a modem and all of those modems use a single phone line, you may be wondering how to connect those modems to the outside world.

The easy answer, of course, is to buy a phone line splitter -- a small plastic doodad that sports a few extra phone jacks that you plug into the telephone outlet in the wall. But suppose you've already exhausted all the jacks on the splitter? Consider this:

External modems invariably carry two phone ports -- one that connects to the phone line and one intended for your phone. Rather than using that telephone port for its proposed purpose -- a telephone -- connect another modem to it. That's right, use that telephone port as another splitter.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

Macworld - the ultimate magazine for Macintosh Professionals. Subscribe now:
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For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

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Son of a Batch

Intermediate

There are several programs you can use to change a file's type and creator codes -- the codes that help the Mac identify the kind of file its dealing with and the application that spawned the file -- as well as such aspects as the file's visibility and whether it's locked. But if you're dealing with several files, changing these aspects for file after file can be tedious. Guillaume Grenier has removed a measure of that tedium with his BatchTyper 2.0, a free utility that allows you to impose new attributes on several files at once -- an entire folder-ful of files if you like.

Guillaume asks for no money in exchange for his work (though he certainly wouldn't turn down a buck or two if you forced it on him), he only requests suggestions for improving BatchTyper. To give BatchTyper a spin, download your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

Macworld - the ultimate magazine for Macintosh Professionals. Subscribe now:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/macworld/home.html

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

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Scan Remotely

Intermediate

Owners of Casady & Greene's Conflict Catcher 8 surely are aware that they can use this fine utility to scan items on their Mac's hard drives for damage. What they may not realize is that you can use this same capability to scan items on networked Macs as well. This can be quite handy if a remote, Conflict Catcher-less user appears to be having problems that could be related to a corrupt file.

To scan the remote Mac, mount its startup volume on your Mac, launch Conflict Catcher, and select "Scan Folder for Damage" from the Special menu. In the Open dialog box navigate to the folder you want to scan on the remote volume, select it, and click on the Select "XXX" button at the bottom of the dialog box.

Note: Conflict Catcher will probably report that certain extensions on the remote computer are damaged when they aren't. As far as I can determine, such extensions are busy doing something else and this busy state appears to confuse Conflict Catcher. When I tried this on a remote Mac running Mac OS 8.6, Conflict Catcher reported that Application Switcher, Control Strip Extension, FaxMonitor, File Sharing Extension, Folder Actions, and Time Synchronizer were damaged. Installing and running Conflict Catcher 8 on the remote computer confirmed that this was not the case.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

Macworld - the ultimate magazine for Macintosh Professionals. Subscribe now:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/macworld/home.html

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

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Great Caesar's Ghost!

Beginner

Sierra has just released its "build Rome in a day" world-building game, Caesar III. Let us honor the Great Caesar by revealing two ways to cheat in the game.

Place a well and Command-Click on it to bring up the Information dialog box. When the box appears, press Command-K and then:

Command-V to achieve victory

Command-C to get a thousand more denarii. This only works if you have less than 5000 Dn.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

Macworld - the ultimate magazine for Macintosh Professionals. Subscribe now:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/macworld/home.html

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

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Puzzling Experience

Intermediate

If you've recently upgraded to Mac OS 8.6, or have purchased a new Mac with OS 8.6 pre-installed, you may have noticed that the venerable Jigsaw Puzzle is missing from the Apple menu. Apple has given the boot to this little toy -- it's not part of OS 8.6. However, even if you have an older copy on-board, you could lose it if you're not careful.

You see, the Mac OS 8.6 installer will remove the Jigsaw Puzzle from your Apple Menu Items folder and send it into the Great Beyond. If you wish to save it, move it to a safe place (your Mac's desktop, for example) before running the Mac OS 8.6 installer.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

Macworld - the ultimate magazine for Macintosh Professionals. Subscribe now:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/macworld/home.html

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

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Party Down!

Beginner

This week, as the Mac faithful descend upon the city of New York for Macworld Expo, one question is on everyone's lips:..Where are the parties?

Ilene Hoffman provides the answer with her Hess Macworld Events and Party list. This list provides a nearly complete rundown on all the parties worth attending during Expo week. You'll find the list at:

http://www.xensei.com/users/ileneh/partylist.html

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

Macworld - the ultimate magazine for Macintosh Professionals. Subscribe now:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/macworld/home.html

For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/filters/macintosh/

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What's Up Dock?

Beginner

Mac users who've been around the block a time or two know that Apple bundles a launcher utility titled, appropriately enough, Launcher. These same users may also know that Launcher, though convenient, is hardly the most comprehensive launching utility on the planet. A far better alternative -- and one that takes the place of Apple's Application Switcher Palette as well -- is James Thomson's $30 shareware application, DragThing 2.7.

With DragThing you can create docks for storing applications, files, folders, URLs, and servers. In addition, you can create a dock that displays the currently running applications -- just like the Application Switcher Palette. The interface is just gorgeous and highly configurable. This one is definitely worth a long look. You can take that long look by visiting http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

Macworld - the ultimate magazine for Macintosh Professionals. Subscribe now:
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For previous tips and all other Macintosh help, please go to:
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pause That Distresses

Intermediate

If you own an iMac, you may have noticed that your little all-in-one computing pal sometimes seems to stall for around 10 seconds -- the cursor moves but nothing else seems to happen.

Apple has traced this untoward behavior to the Apple CD/DVD Driver extension and recommends that you insert a CD-ROM disc into the iMac to avoid its reoccurrence. Others have found that the pause disappears if you disable the Apple CD/DVD Driver extension. Of course, doing so makes it impossible for you to play CD-ROM discs on your iMac -- not a swell compromise.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Quake II Cheats

Beginner

After months of waiting, Quake II has finally been released. Because real rough and tumble Quake players eschew the single-player game in favor of head-to-head Deathmatch play, you probably won't mind if I reveal the following cheats:

Press the Tilde (~) key to reveal the console and type:

God = invincible
Notarget = enemies won't target you
Noclip = walk through walls
Give all = get all the goodies
Give shotgun = get shotgun
Give super shotgun = get super shotgun
Give machinegun = get machine gun
Give chaingun = get chaingun
Give grenade launcher = get grenade launcher
Give rocket launcher = get rocket launcher
Give hyperblaster = get hyperblaster
Give railgun = get railgun
Give bfg10k = get bfg10k
Give shells = get 10 shotgun shells
Give bullets = get 50 bullets
Give cells = get 50 cells
Give grenades = get 5 grenades
Give rockets = get 5 rockets
Give slugs = get 10 slugs
Give invulnerability = temporary invulnerability
Give health = full health
Give silencer = get silencer
Give armor = full armor
Give quad damage = get quad damage

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Attached to Eudora

Intermediate

Care to have quick access to your Eudora attachments? Easy enough -- just hold down the Control and Command keys while clicking an attachment. When you do so, the folder that contains the attachment opens with the attachment highlighted.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Moving Pictures

Intermediate

As you undoubtedly know, Microsoft Word allows you to place pictures within text documents. What you may not know is that you can move those pictures in two ways.

You can simply click and drag on the picture to move it anywhere on the page, or you can Shift-click on the picture to move it along a grid. Initially this grid is set to 0.1 inch but you can change the spacing of the grid by displaying the Drawing toolbar, clicking Draw, and selecting Grid from the pop-up menu. Now just enter new values in the Horizontal and Vertical spacing fields.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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A Better OS 8.6

Intermediate

Mac OS 8.6 is mighty fine but it would be finer still if it offered a few more key commands in the Finder. But there's no need to wait for Apple to add them when you can do so yourself with Frank Ryan's $2 shareware patch, FinderPatch 1.2.

After installing FinderPatch you'll be able to use the following key commands:

Command-T = Empty Trash
Command-B = Restart (B is for Boot)
Command-0 (zero) = Shutdown
Command-\ = About This Computer
Command-S = Sleep

You can find your copy or FinderPatch 1.2 at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Resetting Application Tear-Off

Intermediate

Those using Mac OS 8.5 and later may have noticed that when certain applications (games usually) automatically cause your Mac to switch screen resolutions, the Application tear-off menu is inexplicably placed in the upper left corner of the screen with the title bar hidden beneath the Finder's menubar -- basically making it impossible to move the Application tear-off menu.

You can stop struggling. To have access to the tear-off menu, simply tear off a new menu by once again clicking and dragging on the Application menu in the upper right corner of the menubar. The menu will now move to the position of the cursor.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Quake II Voodoo

Intermediate

Activision's Quake II is a fine game but it does lack on-board support for 3Dfx Voodoo I and II hardware acceleration graphics cards. If you happen to own one of these 3Dfx cards, fret not, you can add Voodoo support to Quake II by downloading MesaQuake2 from
http://valerie.inf.elte.hu/~boga/Mesa/MesaDownloads.html.

While you're in the downloading mood, also download the Mesa-compatible ref_gl.lib. You can find this file at:
http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-mwmt-07-30%2C00.html

To use MesaQuake2, just double-click the installer and all the pieces will go where they're supposed to. To use the ref_gl.lib, move the file with this same name that currently resides in the Quake 2 folder into another folder (in case you want the original back at some point) and move the new ref_gl.lib file into the Quake 2 folder. You'll know you've been successful when you see the spinning 3Dfx logo just prior to the game loading.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Pulling Text From the Web

Intermediate

There have certainly been times when you've wanted to pull bits of text from a Web page, but the page won't allow you to highlight the text therein. Sure, you could download the entire page, but it's not necessary.

Instead, just view the source of the page -- yup, all that HTML junk -- and copy and paste the text you want from the source code. Because the source page is likely to be cluttered with code, the easiest way to locate your text is to use your browser's find command.

To view the source page in Internet Explorer, select Source from the View menu.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Another Note on Note Pad

Beginner

Many moons ago (June 24, 1999) I proffered a tip that began:

"The Note Pad application that appears under the Apple menu is handy, but limited -- each of the eight pages can only store 248 characters."

Careful readers quickly noticed that this situation applies only to the Note Pad application of old. The Note Pad we now know holds oodles of characters and there's no reason to bother creating countless Note Pad files in order to store more notes.

In a vain attempt to reestablish my credibility, allow me to offer these additional Note Pad-related tips:

Click once on the page number that appears at the bottom of the Note Pad to produce a dialog box that allows you to navigate to any page within the Note Pad.

To move to the next page, press Command-Right Arrow.

To move to the previous page, press Command-Left Arrow.

To move to the end of a note, press Command-Down Arrow.

To move to the beginning of a note, press Command-Up Arrow.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Mail Checker

Power User

Because it's an email-centric world, we find ourselves popping on and off the web to get our mail several times a day. Wouldn't it be nice if all this popping could be done automatically and without requiring that you manually disconnect from the web? While you can do so with the automatic mail features of some email clients, you might find it easier to use Pete Mellows' $10 shareware application, Mail Checker.

With Mail Checker you can configure Eudora (Lite or Pro), Microsoft's Outlook Express, Claris Emailer, Netscape Communicator, or Bare Bones' Mailsmith to automatically grab your email at different intervals throughout the day. Additionally, you can create different configurations for different days -- for example, on Monday through Friday you can ask Mail Checker to look for mail every 30 minutes and on the weekend, when mail is likely to come less often, Mail Checker can grab your mail every two hours.

Mail Checker offers a variety of configurations. You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com/.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Get Stuffed

Intermediate

Those who have installed the latest version of Aladdin's StuffIt have surely faced this problem: When you send a StuffIt 5.x file, users with earlier versions of StuffIt can't open the file -- earlier versions of StuffIt Expander can't open StuffIt 5.0 files. Because the current version of DropStuff 5.x doesn't allow you to save files in StuffIt 4.x format, you either have to insist that the recipient download the latest version of StuffIt Expander (something some users are reluctant to do) or come up with a way to save your StuffIt file in the earlier format. This is that way:

Download a copy of StuffIt Lite. Unlike DropStuff 4.x, StuffIt Lite doesn't depend on the StuffIt Engine -- all the compression takes place within the StuffIt Lite application -- so you needn't worry that your file will be saved in a format incompatible with the version of StuffIt your recipients might have.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Age of Empire Cheats

Beginner

MacSoft has recently released Microsoft's empire-building game, Age of Empires. If you've ever felt cheated by Microsoft, here's your chance to return the favor.

Press the Return key and type:

pepperoni pizza = 1000 food
woodstock = 1000 wood
quarry = 1000 stone
coinage = 1000 coin
steroids = instant building
reveal map = reveals the entire map
no fog = turns off the fog of war
photon man = get the laser guy
e=mc2 trooper = get a futuristic trooper
home run = win
resign = lose
hari kari = commit suicide
diediedie = everyone else dies

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Skip to my Lou

Intermediate

Those with DVD-equipped Macs may have noticed that movies occasionally stutter or skip. There are many possible causes for this behavior. Among them:

Something's going on in the background: Applications automatically do one thing or another -- auto-save or check email, for example -- may be take your Mac's attention away from the movie. Likewise, utilities that check disk performance or optimize files in the background could be causing interference. Be sure to check that the Network Time Server is switched off as well.

Movies that ship on dual-layered DVDs can pause for a moment when switching layers.

If you're using virtual memory, movies may pause as well.

If the Configure pull-down menu in the TCP/IP control panel is set to DHCP server but you're not connected to the internet or the DHCP server isn't available, the movie may pause every five minutes or so. To avoid this delay, make TCP/IP temporarily inactive.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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New Virtual Memory

Beginner

Mac OS 8.6 changes the default settings for virtual memory. Unlike in older versions of the Mac OS, which set virtual memory to 1MB over the amount of real RAM in your Mac, Mac OS 8.6 defaults to 64MB or 1MB over the amount of physical RAM, whichever is greater.

Therefore, if you have a Mac with less than 64MB of RAM and don't care to have the OS assign 64MB of hard disk space to virtual memory, make sure to reduce the virtual memory setting in the Memory control panel.

Note: If you upgrade from Mac OS 8.5 or 8.5.1, the virtual memory settings you used previously will be maintained in Mac OS 8.6, even if you have less than 64MB of real RAM.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Trip the Light Fantastic

Beginner

Those of you fed up with the high cost and inconvenience of air travel may be considering taking your late-summer vacation on the road. If you are, be sure to check out James Kotka's free TripCalc, a handy utility that tells just how much your road trip will cost based on the information you provide. That information includes the miles you intend to travel, your average driving speed, the fuel efficiency of your auto, average cost of fuel, the per-day amount you're willing to spend on food and lodging, and the number of hours you intend to drive each day. TripCalc is very easy to use and you certainly can't argue with the price.

You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Be a Pinball Wizard

Beginner

Now that games are back on the Mac, we're starting to see pinball simulations return to our favorite platform. Recent releases such as Sierra's 3D Ultra NASCAR Pinball and Empire Interactive's Pro Pinball: Big Race USA are the Big Pinball Fun but I'll let you in on a little secret: Although these games attempt to simulate the pinball experience by mapping keys to opposite sides of the Mac's keyboard -- imitating the side buttons on a real pinball machine -- there's a better way to play.

The first thing I do when I fire up a new pinball sim is remap the flipper keys to the left and right arrow keys and the plunger to the down arrow key. This leaves your left hand free for the various nudge keys which, if you must know, I map to Z and X for left and right nudge and Space Bar for forward nudge (you may find S more intuitive for forward nudge).

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Blue and White AppleWorks Blues

Intermediate

If you're using AppleWorks 5 on a blue and white Power Mac G3 you may have noticed that when you create a circle in a word processing document with the Circle tool, the screen redraws oddly.

This is due to a buy in the ATI software that ships with the blue and whites. To fix the problem, download the ATI RAGE 128 Update 1.0, located at http://www.apple.com/swupdates.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Application Switcher Egg

Beginner

The Application Switcher that appears in recent versions of the Mac OS has a hidden treat. Here's how to reveal it:

Create a text clipping of the words "secret about box" (without the quotes, if you please). Drag and drop this clipping onto the Application Switcher palette to display the treat.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Internet Explorer Shortcuts

Beginner

Here are a few handy shortcut keys you can use in Internet Explorer's Favorites and History windows:

To expand the contents of a folder -- Right Arrow key.
To collapse the contents of a folder -- Left Arrow key.
To expand all the subfolders within a folder -- Option-Right Arrow key.
To collapse all the subfolders within a folder -- Option key-Left Arrow key.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Observe Closely

Intermediate

There are times when it's helpful to know exactly what an installer application has added as well as removed from the System Folder. Although you can pinpoint certain changes by color coding your old files and then looking for uncolored files after the installation is complete, there's now an easier way. That easier way is Zach Schneirov's free Installer Observer. This utility asks only that you scan your System Folder (or select folders within your System Folder) with Installer Observer before installing new software. After an installation, simply run Installer Observer again and click the Load and Examine Changes Made button. Installer Observer will then detail the changes made to your Mac's software.

You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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A Falsehood

Power User

It's possible that you have a digital camera that you've attempted to attach to your Mac via serial connection. It's also possible that once you've established this connection your camera's software refuses to recognize your Mac's existence. It's even possible that you've rectified the situation by downloading and installing Apple's SerialDMA 2.1 extension.

However, once you've installed SerialDMA, even though your camera now makes the proper connection to your Mac, this nagging dialog box continues to appear on startup: "There is a file in your Extensions folder called "SerialDMA." With the current version of the system software, this file is obsolete. It may be safely dragged to the trash and removed."

Here's the tip: It's a dirty lie. If your camera didn't recognize your Mac before and it now does thanks to the installation of SerialDMA, removing this fine extension will once again make the connection impossible regardless of what this misinformed dialog box says. In future, ignore this dialog box and go about your business.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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21 Gig Limit

Intermediate

As shocking as it may be to old time Mac users who once considered a 100MB hard drive to be a nearly limitless storage resource, hard drives are now being released that offer dozens of gigabytes of storage. This can present problems for software that, like these aforementioned geezers, never dreamed Macs would host drives with such gargantuan capacity.

For example, the Mac OS 8.5 and AppleShare IP 6.1 installers won't work with volumes larger than 21 gigabytes (the Mac OS 8.6 installer does work with drives larger than this, however). Therefore, if you want to install either of these packages on such a vast volume, you must first partition it in such a way that one of its chunks is smaller than 21GB.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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PowerBook Sleep Anomaly

Intermediate

If you've attempted to schedule a little nap for your PowerBook you may have noticed that occasionally it refuses to go night-night at the time you've designated in the Scheduled Wakeup & Sleep panel within the Energy Saver control panel. Here's why:

The software that controls this function won't allow your PowerBook to snooze if it thinks you're busy doing something. What this really means is that if you're working on your PowerBook within a few minutes of its scheduled nap time, the PowerBook will wait for 20 minutes of inactivity before it catches its forty winks. Therefore, if you really want your PowerBook to blink out at a particular time each day, make sure that you stop using it (and that no background applications are using it) 20 minutes before it's scheduled to snooze.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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End of an Era

Intermediate

Apple ended the extended warranty program on its notoriously funky AppleVision 1710 and 1710AV monitors at the end of 1998 so if you own one of these displays and it goes south, you're on your own. Because you are on your own this tip may help: Should you wake one day to find that your monitor's green LED lights up but the screen remains black, you may be able to fix the problem by resetting the monitor. Here's how:

With the power off, jack the display into a Power Mac running AppleVision software version 1.5.5 or later. Make the proper connections (power, video, and ADB) and fire up the Mac while holding down the Command-Option-A-V keys until you hear the system beep sound. This beep means that the monitor has been reset. With any luck, this reset procedure will cure your monitor's ills.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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TextSpresso

Intermediate

If you need to reformat text from email, PC applications, and downloaded web pages or you'd care to prepare text for Internet release, HTML publishing, or print, Daniel Taylor's $29 shareware program, TextSpresso may be in your future. In addition to the aforementioned capabilities, TextSpresso serves as a capable text editor, allows you to create text filters, and offers batch formatting of text files.

You can find your 30-day demo of TextSpresso at
http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Custom Launcher Icons

Intermediate

If you've attempted to drag items that have custom icons to the Launcher and discovered that those icons are replaced by generic folder icons, Apple has an answer for you. To maintain those custom icons, try this:

1. Drag a folder(s) with a custom icon onto the Launcher.
2. Option-click on the category button to open the related Launcher Items subfolder. If you have no Launcher category buttons, open the Launcher Items folder within the System Folder.
3. Select all alias items in the folder that do not appear correctly in the Launcher.
4. Choose Get Info from the File menu for the selected items.
5. Close those Info Windows.
6. Go back to the Launcher window, and if the icons aren't correct yet, click another category button and back to get the Launcher to update. If you have no Launcher category buttons, close the Launcher and open it again. The buttons should now show the correct icons.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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SimCheater

Beginner

Now that Electronic Arts has released the Mac version of SimCity 3000, would-be mayors are probably wondering how to best pursue success in this fine city simulator. Why not do as the Big Boys and Girls do in their towns and burgs and make your city grow through deception and cheating? Here's how:

Press Command-Option-Shift-C and type the following codes into the resulting dialog box:

I am weak = You can place just about anything on your city map for free.

Call cousin Vinnie = Check for a new petitioner who offers you money with no questions asked.

Garbage in, garbage out = All garbage facilities become available.

Power to the masses = All power facilities become available.

Water in the desert = All water facilities become available.

UFO swarm = Type this code and set disaster to UFO for a particularly destructive treat.

Nerdz rool = High tech industry appears in industrial zones.

The birds = A flock of seagulls (no, not the band) appears.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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PowerPoint Transitions

Intermediate

You've assembled a brilliant, transition-rich, 140-slide PowerPoint presentation, you're looking at your presentation in Slide Sorter view, and you suddenly begin to wonder exactly which transitions you've inserted where. After all, PowerPoint only provides you with a generic icon to indicate that there is a transition between slides -- that icon doesn't tell you what type of transition takes place.

If you need a quick reminder, remember this: You can audition the transition effect in Slide Sorter view by simply clicking once on the slide that contains the effect you want to see and then clicking the transition icon. PowerPoint will perform the transition on the thumbnail of the slide you've clicked.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Easier Open

Beginner

If you hold down the Option key while clicking on the small triangles that appear next to folders in List view, not only will the triangle point down, revealing everything inside that folder, but all folders within that folder will open to reveal their contents.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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NetFinder Saved My Bacon

Intermediate

In these days when downloading files that consume tens-, or even hundreds of megabytes is more and more common, there's little more aggravating than losing your connection to an ftp server just minutes before completing a 68MB download. In the bad old days of ftp transfer you'd have the begin the download all over again. You no longer need to if you have a copy of Peter Li and Vincent Tan's $35 shareware ftp client, NetFinder. This baby allowed me to pick up where I left off three separate times while I attempted to download a 164MB file last weekend.

Resuming downloads isn't NetFinder's only strength. Unlike many other ftp clients, NetFinder looks and operates like a Mac application. You'll feel right at home after spending just a few minutes with it. You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com. Check it out.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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On the Case

Beginner

You can quickly change the case of words you highlight in Microsoft Word. To do so, highlight one word or more a press Shift-F3. When you first do this, every letter in the selected word is capitalized. If you press Shift-F3 again and all letters in the selection move to lower case. Press Shift-F3 yet again and the first letter of every selected word is capitalized.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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For Game Geeks Only

Power User

If you're a hard-core gamer you may be considering the possibility of employing both a Rage 128 and a Voodoo 3 video card -- after all, RAVE games look great on the Rage 128 and for GLIDE games, you must have a 3Dfx card and the Voodoo 3 is the current top of the heap. Of course, because both the Rage 128-based video cards and the Voodoo 3 are 2D and 3D cards, you must have a separate monitor for each.

Let's suppose that you're so hard-core (and wealthy) that you can afford this set-up. Will it work? Yes, but only if you arrange it this way:

To begin with, you must configure your monitors so that the card running a particular game is designated monitor 1 in the Monitors & Sound control panel (monitor 1 is the monitor on which the Mac's menubar appears). For example, if you're running a RAVE game, the monitor attached to the Rage 128 card must be monitor 1. To give a monitor this designation, open the Monitors & Sound control panel, click the Arrange button, and drag the small menubar that appears in the picture to the monitor you want to designate monitor 1.

Secondly, remember that GLIDE games won't run in a window, they must run in full screen. Therefore, if you've been playing a game that supports both RAVE and GLIDE -- Unreal, for example -- and you decide you want to switch from RAVE to GLIDE, be sure that the game is configured to start up full screen, not in a window. Unreal has a setting in the Advanced Settings window that allows you to configure the game this way.

Just so you know: Yes, you can cut down on this "you be Monitor 1 this time" fandango by dragging the images of the monitors on top of one another in the Monitors & Sound control panel so that the monitors mirror each other, but this really kills performance.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What's the Difference?

Intermediate

Apple recently announced the three models that make up the Power Macintosh G4. Other than their megahertz ratings (400, 450, and 500 MHz), what's the difference between the three?

The low-end model (model M7631) includes a PCI graphics slot (and accompanying PCI graphics card), no wireless networking capabilities, no digital video-in support, hardware DVD decoding, and the same modem used in the Blue & White Power Mac G3s.

The 450- and 500 MHz models (models M7232 and M6921) use an AGP graphics slot (and accompanying AGP graphics card, support wireless networking (AirPort), support video-in with an appropriate video card, offer software DVD decoding, and use a special modem designed for the G4.

From the outside you can distinguish the low-end model from the middle and high-end machine by the arrangement of the microphone and speaker jacks on the back of the Macs. The low-end model has the two jacks placed side-by-side while on the higher end machines the jacks are vertically arranged. And because Apple can't seem to release a professional Mac without putting part of its name in parentheses, you may also find that Apple refers to the low-end model as Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics) and the other two as Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics).

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drop Your Drawers

Beginner

Looking to organize your life (or at least the part of your life found on your Macintosh)? Then it may be time to give Sig Software's Drop Drawers a try. This $15 shareware application allows you to pack pull-out drawers full of such things as aliases, URLs, email addresses, pictures, movies, sounds, and even bits of styled text that you can drag and drop into your documents. The tabs that represent the drawers take up very little screen real estate and can be moved anywhere on screen you like.

You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CD-ROM Does Too Mount

Intermediate

A lot of people are under the impression that if you hold down the Mac's Shift key at startup, you can't use your CD-ROM drive. After all, the Apple CD/DVD Driver extension didn't load, so a CD shouldn't mount. This isn't exactly true. What is true is this:

If you have a bootable CD-ROM in the drive at startup that contains the Apple CD/DVD Driver (or Apple CD-ROM driver) the Mac OS will use that driver, load it into memory, and your CD-ROM will mount. This works for Mac OS discs and the startup discs that came with your Mac.

So, what good is this tip? Just this: That driver stays in memory as long as your Mac is running. You can therefore eject the CD-ROM disc you used to mount the disc and slip another CD-ROM into the Mac -- it too will mount. This is useful for those times when you need to troubleshoot your Mac -- with Extensions off -- with a utility that's contained on a CD-ROM disc.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SimTicker

Beginner

I recently told you how to cheat your way through SimCity 3000, but those cheats aren't the game's only secrets. For more fun, press Command-Option-Shift-C, type the following into the resulting dialog box, and keep your eye on the news ticker:

fund
advisor
moremoney
maxis
1234
sc3k
mayor
hello
simcity
money
ticker
porntipsguzzardo
will wright
simearth (or any other sim game such as simant or simfarm).

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Power to the People

Intermediate

Here's the situation: You've left the house in a hurry with your PowerBook G3 (Bronze keyboard) and upon reaching your destination you realize that you've left your power adapter at home and your battery is nearly drained. Thankfully, the person sitting right next to you has a PowerBook G3 (Wall Street), its accompanying adapter, and two fully-charged batteries. This person offers to loan you his adapter and just before you plug it in, you wonder, "Will this adapter work with my PowerBook or will it reduce it to a puddle of molten plastic?" Here's the answer:

It will work. In the last couple of years, Apple has standardized its PowerBook adapters. If you have any of the PowerBook G3s (Bronze, Wall Street, or original PowerBook G3) you can power it with Apple's M4402 adapter. You can even use this adapter with the PowerBook 3400 and 1400. Better yet, according to Apple, that sleek, wind-up power adapter that will ship with the iBook (model M7387LL/A) can be used with the PowerBook G3s.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Listen Now!

Beginner

Unless the rock you've been living under is particularly dense, you know that MP3 is one of the hippest things happening in computerdom. I've recently discovered a $17.95 shareware MP3 player that is just as hip. It's called Audion, is made by Panic, and plays not only MP3s but audio CDs as well as network audio. It features beautiful skins (Panic terms them "faceplates", a three-mode design that allows you to quickly switch between MP3, CD, and net play; drag and drop playlist support; and an equalizer. You'll like it a lot and can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resetting Old Apple Monitors

Intermediate

If you have an old Apple Multiple Scan 17 or Multiple Scan 20 Display and would like to quickly return them to their factory settings, here's how:

To reset brightness and contrast, press the Reset button with the tip of an unbent paperclip or ballpoint pen.

To reset all picture controls, hold down the Control button (the one next to the recessed Reset button) and then employ the paperclip or pen.

To reset all the picture controls except brightness and contrast, select any of the set-up buttons (press the Command button on the monitor) and then press the Reset button.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bugged by Cheating

Beginner

Having trouble navigating your six-legged protagonist through Pangea's Bugdom? Perhaps using these cheat codes would make the process easier:

During play:

~ (tilde) + F1 to skip the current leveel.
~ + F2 = win the game
~ + F3 = Full Health
~ + F4 = Full Ball Timer
~ + F5 = Full Inventory

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

G4 = USB Satisfaction

Intermediate

An under-reported advantage of Apple's upcoming Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics, ie. the-more-expensive-models) is that these Macs come with separate 12Mb USB controllers for each USB port. So what? So this:

You can now attach up to 127 USB devices to each USB port. On previous USB-compatible Macs (and on the low-end G4) you can share 127 USB devices between the two ports.

Also, unlike previous Macs, you can boot from a USB device with the new G4s.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beep Codes

Intermediate
Modern day Macs no longer issue the dreaded "Chimes of Doom" when they fail to pass their hardware startup tests. Instead, they beep. But, they'll beep differently depending on the problem encountered and the Mac model. Here are the codes:

On an iMac, Blue and White G3, Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics), and PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze keyboard):

1 beep = No RAM installed/detected.
2 beeps = Incompatible RAM type installed.
3 beeps = No RAM banks passed memory testing.
4 beeps = Bad checksum for the remainder of the boot ROM.
5 beeps = Bad checksum for the ROM boot block.

On a Power Mac G4 (AGP graphics):

1 beep = no RAM installed.
2 beeps = incompatible RAM types.
3 beeps = no good banks.
4 beeps = no good boot images in the boot ROM (and/or bad sys config block).
5 beeps = processor is not usable.

Should you hear any of these beeps, and haven't just installed new RAM or otherwise mucked about with the insides of your Mac, Apple suggests that you call your Apple Authorized Service Provider for troubleshooting assistance.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sherlock's Other Brother?

Beginner
Mac OS 9 with its Sherlock II search engine is just around the corner, but perhaps you're itchy to try a search utility a tad more capable than the version of Sherlock you currently own. Look no further than Copernic 99, a search utility that allows you to simultaneously consult many of the top search engines on the net. Using Copernic 99 you can rifle through information on the web and in newsgroups as well as snoop around for people's email addresses.

You can find your free copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Really Sleepy Battery

Intermediate
If you have a PowerBook G3 (Bronze keyboard) and have noticed that the battery icon on your PowerBook's menubar has a red X over it, your battery has gone into a deep discharge state and may not be recognized by your PowerBook. To wake this slumbering battery up, try this:

Shove the battery into either bay and leave it there for 30 seconds or so. Then remove the battery -- pulling it out just about an inch. Leave the battery in that precarious position for a few seconds and then reinsert it into the bay. Leave it in the bay for another 30 seconds and if the X doesn't disappear, repeat the in and out procedure.

Apple claims you may have to perform this operation 10 to 12 times before the X disappears and you can fully charge the battery. Alternatively you can recharge the battery with an external battery charger.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Annihilation Cheat

Beginner
MacSoft has recently released Total Annihilation Gold Edition which includes the original Total Annihilation plus two expansion packs -- Battle Tactics and The Core Contingency (such a deal!). Because you're a busy person you may not have time to play through all the levels in order and may be seeking some outside assistance. Consider us your outside assistance source. To pick among all of the levels, try this:

In the New Campaign screen (the screen with the New Campaign, Skirmish buttons) type "Drdeath" (without the quotes, okay?). A bone icon will appear. Click on this bone to select from among the levels.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Word's Double-Clickable Shortcuts

Intermediate
Word 98 offers quick access to certain dialog boxes when you double-click on the appropriate item. Here are a few you might like to try:

Double-click on:

Indent marker in the Ruler to open the Paragraph dialog box.

The Ruler to open the Document dialog box.

A Tab to open the Tabs dialog box.

The Go To status bar to open the Go To section of the Find and Replace dialog box. An empty space in a menu bar to bring up the Customize dialog box.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updater May Not Update

Intermediate
The Mac OS 8.6 updater is a bit choosy about what it will and won't update. For example, it will only update components that reside in their original location. If you move a component, this updater is not about to search for it -- it assumes you moved it because you didn't want it and the updater isn't about to presume that you'd like an updated copy of an unwanted component.

If you do indeed want these components updated you can either move them back to their original location and rerun the updater, or, if you tossed them out, reinstall them from the Mac OS 8.5 installer and then run the 8.6 update.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iView Multimedia

Beginner
Increasingly -- thanks to digital cameras, MP3, and the ready availability of cool QuickTime movies -- Mac users have more multimedia files to keep track of. Sure, you could toss all your graphics, movie, and audio files into a single "Multimedia Junk" folder but why bother when a darned fine multimedia cataloging program is available for a scant $25 shareware fee.

That darned fine program is Script Software's iView Multimedia 3.7 -- a media cataloging application that allows you to organize and preview most of the media you're likely to find on your Mac. iView's interface is clean and easy to work with. The main window contains three tabs that represent different views of your media files-Info, a list view; Thumbnail, where you can see previews of your files in four selectable sizes; and Media, where you can view graphic files at magnifications ranging from 25-to-2,000 percent, play movies, or listen to audio files. The variety of files you can import into iView is impressive-these include any media type supported by QuickTime 4.0 as well as EPS, Freehand, Illustrator, AppleWorks, Flash, PageMaker, and, with the addition of Script Software's $48 iViewXT extension, QuarkXPress documents.

You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PowerBook Blues?

Intermediate
If your PowerBook or iBook is acting oddly -- not waking from sleep, refusing to power on, or failing to charge the battery -- it's possible that its Power Manager has become corrupted. If you suspect that such is the case, the method for attacking the problem is to reset the Power Manager. Here's how you do it with the PowerBook G3 (Wall Street), PowerBook G3 (Bronze Keyboard), and the iBook (No Parentheses Necessary):

Wall Street:
Shut down the PowerBook, press the Shift, Fn, Ctrl, and Power On keys at the same time. Wait five seconds. Restart.

Bronze Keyboard:
Shut down the PowerBook, press the Reset button on the back of the 'book (between the video port and modem jack). Wait five seconds. Restart.

iBook:
Shut down the iBook, press the Reset button (use a paperclip to push this small button that's located above the Power button). Wait five seconds. Restart.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More Total Annihilation Cheats

Beginner
Last week's Total Annihilation cheat -- starting from any level of the game -- may not have been satisfying enough for the real cheaters among us. For those who need a little more help, try this:

Press Enter and type the following:

+atm = increase metal and energy by 1000
+radar = complete radar coverage
+nowisee = reveals map and turns off line of sight

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Irksome Word Lists

Intermediate
When you create a numbered or bulleted list in Word 98, it can be difficult to create a blank line between numbered or bulleted items -- you press Return and whether you like it or not, Word prefaces the next line with a numeral or bullet. To insert a blank line, do this:

Press Return and then type Command-0 (that's a zero). This command adds 12 points of blank space above the line on which your cursor resides. To remove that space, just type Command-0 again.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New iMac (Slot Loading) Button

Beginner
The new iMac -- referred to by Apple as the iMac (Slot Loading) -- features a Power button that works differently than Power buttons of the past. When the iMac (Slot Loading) is switched on and you press the Power button, the iMac (Slot Loading) goes to sleep unless a server is mounted. If a server is mounted a dialog box pops up and warns you that the iMac (Slot Loading) is about to go to sleep and you should make plans to deal with that situation.

If the iMac (Slot Loading) is turned off or sleeping, pressing the Power button fires up the iMac (Slot Loading) or wakes it from sleep.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FretPet

Beginner
If you are guitar-enabled (meaning you have such an instrument or have some idea of how such a machine operates) and would like to explore music through your Mac and a guitar interface, take a look at Scott Lahteine's $15 shareware program, Fretpet, a musical application that allows you to create chords, add picking patterns and bass lines, and generally have a good old time.

You can find your copy at http://www.macdownload.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Startup Options

Intermediate
The iMac (Slot Loading), iBook, and Power Mac G4s have a nifty new feature that allows you to select, at startup, which drive the Mac will boot from. To reveal this feature just press and hold the Option key at startup. When the Mac boots you'll see a Circular Arrow icon, icons that represent any bootable devices attached to your Mac, and an Arrow icon. Pressing the Circular Arrow icon causes the Mac to rescan all busses for any bootable device. The Arrow icon causes the Mac to continue the boot process with the currently selected device.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fun on Campus

Beginner
Okay, so Electronic Arts and Maxis can't be bothered to provide a set of building tools for Mac users interested in creating their own structures for SimCity 3000. EA and Maxis have tipped their little corporate hats to Mac folk in this regard however: They've created an Apple Campus Landmark for SimCity 3K. Dropping Apple HQ on your SimCity has no effect on the surrounding neighborhood but what the heck, it looks pretty darned cool.

You can find your copy at http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-107mac%2C00.html

Once you get there, locate the link that reads "Download the installer here." Click this link, download the file, run the installer, and the Apple Campus will yours.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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Shifty Microsoft Word

Beginner
To quickly shift between Microsoft Word windows press Command-F6. To go to the previous window, press Shift-Command-F6.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iBook Sleep Disorder

Intermediate
A number of users have reported that Apple's iBook refuses to wake up after you put it to sleep. One cause of the errant behavior may be that you've chosen the "Preserve memory contents on sleep" option in the Energy Saver control panel.

Apple suggests that if you've chosen this option and your iBook doesn't wake properly that you restart the iBook (by pressing the Reset switch with a paperclip) and immediately press and hold the Esc key as the iBook restarts. Let go of the key once you see the Happy Mac icon.

Pressing Escape forces the iBook to skip the preserved memory file and should allow the iBook to restart as Jobs intended.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iCoolPad is Cool

Beginner
The second you lay hands on the iBook you'll notice that the keyboard is quite flat. To those accustomed to typing on an angled keyboard, this flatness may be disconcerting. RoadTools offers a colorful workaround for this issue. It's called the iCoolPad.

Like its sibling, the CoolPad, the iCoolPad is a two-piece, swiveling pad that elevates the back of any laptop computer and grips any surface it comes in contact with (take note, airline travelers and students using desks with tiny tops). Unlike the CoolPad, the iCoolPad comes in two colors -- the iBook's Blueberry and Tangerine -- and, offers a greater degree of elevation to counteract the iBook's flatter form factor.

The iCoolPad costs $24. You can take a look at the iCoolPad by visiting http://www.roadtools.com.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iMovie Import

Intermediate
iMovie, the new consumer-level video editing application based on Apple's Final Cut Pro looks mighty nifty but some may think that it's niftiness is reserved only for those with movies that have been captured via direct DV link. It's like this:

iMovie can only capture video via FireWire and a digital camcorder -- iMovie's Import command doesn't recognize QuickTime movies not saved in the DV format. Therefore you can't use this command to import non-DV movie clips. However, you can use these clips if you convert them to DV streams, but you'll need QuickTime Pro to do it. Here's how:

Open the non-DV clip in QuickTime Player 4.0 and choose the Export command. In the resulting dialog box select Movie to DV Stream in the Export popup menu. The default settings are fine so don't bother changing them. Name and save the movie. Place the converted movie into your project's Media folder.

When you next launch iMovie you'll see a dialog box that contains this awkwardly phrased thought, " There was 1 stray clip file in the project folder. It will be loaded onto the shelf for you to decide what to do with it."

Ignore the poor grammar and click OK to import the clip to the Shelf.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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More Quake II Missions

Intermediate
If you've hacked and slashed your way through the single-player missions of Quake II at every level of difficulty you may long for more single-player carnage. That carnage can be yours if you're willing to taint your Mac by inserting a CD-ROM originally intended to work only with PCs.

Thanks to the folks at Logicware, you can now use two add-on mission packs with the Mac version of Quake II. To use these mission packs -- The Reckoning and Ground Zero -- download a copy of Logicware's Q2MacMissionPacks from
http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-mac025%2C00.html .

Follow the instructions provided in the Read Me.

These two mission packs are sold separately and can be obtained from any store that sells PC games.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where's Nanosaur?

Beginner
The iBook ships with not one, but two Pangea games -- the delightful Bugdom and Brian Greenstone's Paleolithic effort, Nanosaur. However, only Bugdom is actually installed on the iBook's hard drive. If you want to play Nanosaur as well, you must install it from the iBook Software Install CD. On this disc you'll find the Nanosaur installer inside the Nanosaur folder inside the Application's folder.

Note that Nanosaur is not included on the iBook Software Restore CD so should you use this disc to restore your iBook's hard drive, you'll once again have to install Nanosaur separately.

--This tip contributed by Chris Breen

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WORD PROCESSING TIP: RETURN TO BEAT THE AUTOWRAP

Here's a general-use tip for users of Microsoft Word and most any other word processing program. It concerns what we'll call "auto-wrapping," which is NOT a personal assistant for the holiday season.

Auto-wrapping is the way your word processor knows that, as you're typing, you've reached the end of a line and should automatically jump to the beginning of the next line. Maybe you've occasionally tried to tap the space key or hit the tab key to insert space at the beginning of that line, only to see the cursor stubbornly refuse to move from the beginning of the line. Maybe you're trying to indent a bullet line or a quote, for instance, and the dang cursor just won't move off the left-side margin.

The key here is to use a return or, even better, a "soft return." See, your word processor is busy trying to stuff as many characters as possible on each line; and when it auto-wraps you to the next line, if you tap the space bar or the tab key, those characters are stuffed onto the previous line. Because those characters are invisible to you, it looks as if nothing is happening--until you insert a goodly number of spaces or tabs, and the cursor jumps out to an unexpected (and undesirable) place.

The solution to this dilemma is to hit Return in order to insert a line-break (or paragraph break, if you prefer to call it that) at the end of the previous line. Alternately, you can do what's called a "soft return" by putting your cursor at the end of the line and holding down the command key and hitting return. (Some applications prefer Shift-Return, so check your documentation.) This will quietly end the "auto-wrap" mentality for just that one paragraph--and even though the next line will appear to be a part of the previous paragraph it will actually behave independently.

That's the beauty of the Soft Return.

--Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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WARNING: MOST VIRUS WARNINGS INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE!

Oh my, the glory of email. It allows us to stay in touch with loved ones, glean the latest news, trade funny stories and bad jokes... But how many of us are plagued by the relative or friend who forwards every virus warning, every e-petition to help save Sesame Street, every rumor about the impending taxation of email?

Well, these warnings are, more often than not, just so much bunk, friend. Mostly these are Urban Legends, see? Toss 'em away, I say. And if you're a big heart (I hope you are), you can do a little checking before forwarding that "Microsoft is giving away free trips to Disneyworld" email to your entire address book.

My favorite Websites for hoax-busting are Urban Legends Reference Pages and AFU & Urban Legends Archive (listed below). These sites are great for dishing the truth about circulated rumors, and they provide an easy way for you to tell your well-intentioned friend that he has been duped. (Something along the lines of "Don't feel bad, so many people have been fooled by this hoax, it's actually described at the following Website..." usually does the trick.)

Computer viruses are, of course, another area of concern for many computer users. Once again, the bulk of warnings that arrive in your mailbox are suspect (and often even the true ones apply only to PCs, not Macs). To check out virus-related rumors, consult Vmyths, also listed below.

So, you can now relax your soul, leave the virus hunt to the professionals, and quit worryin' yourself (and me) half to death.

Urban Legends Reference Pages
http://www.snopes.com/

AFU & Urban Legends Archive
http://www.urbanlegends.com/

Vmyths
http://www.vmyths.com/

--Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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VINDIGO FOR MAC-FRIENDLY PALM DEVICES

There's a navigation miracle on the radar for city dwellers (and visitors!) in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. It's Vindigo, a software package for those of you with Palm OS-based handhelds (or PDAs as they're also known).

You can tell Vindigo where you are or where you want to go by street intersections. Then you can tell it that you want to eat, shop, or play, and Vindigo will display matching restaurants, shops, or clubs. For any given place, Vindigo provides a review from sources like zagat.com and local newspapers, as well as walking directions with approximate distances, and contact information. The service is ad-driven, so it's free to use.

Vindigo
http://www.vindigo.com/

--Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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VERSION TRACKER

It's always worth revisiting THE site to keep pace with all the flurry of updates to your fave programs: Its name is Version Tracker, and it knows what's out there. If you've never visited, go to Version Tracker and you'll see a list of Mac software that's recently been updated and find links to all kinds of helpful pages (Mac OS updates, for example, or the Top Downloads page).

Version Tracker recently unveiled a new interface design and now offers expanded information about (and even reviews of!) most of the software updates.

Version Tracker
http://www.versiontracker.com/

--Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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USE THE LIST VIEW. MORE INFORMATION FOR YOU!

Even though the Mac pioneered the idea of icons to represent files and folders, some people find that viewing folders by Icon doesn't show enough pertinent information. That's where List View can really help: In any open window, you can go to the View menu and select the As List option to immediately switch to a column-type listing that includes valuable information THAT YOU CAN CONTROL.

For instance, if you go back to the View menu, and select View Options, you can pick which bits of info you'd like to display about documents. (Simply check the appropriate boxes.) My mainstays are date modified, size, and kind. Whatever you choose, you can instantly sort a folder by clicking on the tabs listed at the top of an open list-view window. For example, if you click the Date Modified tab, the window will reshuffle to display the contents accordingly. Same thing for the Size tab--if you're trying to quickly figure out which file in a folder is the space hog.

One last thing: The little pyramid-shaped thing at the far right side of the row of tabs? It toggles the order in which items are sorted. You know, oldest to newest versus newest to oldest. Biggest to smallest, or the opposite. A to Z, or vice versa. It's called the Reverse-Sorting Pyramid, and it's a VIB (Very Important Button).

--Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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TYPEIT4ME MS. HATHAWAY!

Sometimes, the old days of a secretary seem attractive. Just somebody to TypeIt4Me, you know? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to say "Hey, write a letter to 'So-and-so'" and have a secretary who can fill it up with meaningful phrases like "I'm so glad that you and I had this chance for a few important and personal words between friends."

All Hail TypeIt4Me, which will do just the trick, reducing repetitive phrases to a single key combination. So instead of typing "We should really get together soon for some lunch and a few laughs," you can just type a key shortcut or an abbreviation (that you specify). TypeIt4Me is so great that it's available in Italian, French and Dutch versions--as well as the English, of course. And the program is so solid and simple (it was written in 1989), that the newest version update is over a year and a half old.

TypeIt4Me

http://www.hebel.net/~rettore/TypeIt4MeIndex.html

Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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TO EVERY DESKTOP, TILE, TILE, TILE

We've talked a little in the past about the fun of the Appearance Control Panel and how it allows you to set your own desktop pictures as well as desktop patterns.

If you've enjoyed tinkering with this feature, you may have wondered how the System decides what's a Desktop Picture and what's a Pattern. Here's the answer: If the image in question is less than 128 pixels square, it treats it like a pattern and will add it to the Patterns list. If it's even a pixel bigger in either direction, your Mac will treat it like a Picture, which overlaps and covers any pattern.

Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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TIME FOR FASTER HTML

Slow HTML, your time is up. They don't call it the World Wide Wait for nothing. All those graphics and whatnot can make surfing something of a drudge. So if you're an HTML programmer working in a Mac environment, you might want to give HTML Timer a spin. It'll look at your code and tell you if it's great, or overweight.

HTML Timer is $10 shareware, available from Monkey BreadSoftware.

MonkeyBread Software
http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.com/

--Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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THIS SMALL DOG IS A MAC BIG DOG

Where, oh where is your next fabulous Mac system going to come from? For years now, smart Mac shoppers have been getting their hardware from Vermont's Small Dog Electronics. But today's tip isn't just free advertising for Small Dog--there's something here for you too: You can go to the Small Dog site and sign up for their Kibbles & Bytes newsletter. Written by Small Dog's CEO, Don Mayer, Kibbles & Bytes "contains great deals on Macintosh hardware and software as well as a bit of Macintosh industry news and commentary." Every now and then, the newsletter even offers bargains by way of a "Garage Sale."

http://www.smalldog.com/

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THE QUICKER CLEANER-UPPER

So, you've had enough, dang it. After hours of doing computer-intensive projects, you've realized it's time to go outside. No, wait; not just yet. Let me finish, already!

If you find that your desktop is a sea of opened and cast-aside folders, and you want to tidy up before walking away, it's super easy: Just hold down the option key and click the close box (upper left hand corner) of any open folder, and SHAZAAM! All open windows will close, leaving a clear desktop.

You could call it a Desktopple...

--Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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THE NUMBER ONE SYSTEM FIX

Do you know the Mac equivalent of "take two aspirin and call me in the morning?" It's rebuilding the desktop, doc. Long a useful tool for correcting odd behavior, this cure also makes good preventative medicine.

There are two methods: The Finder method is to hold down the Option and Command keys while your Mac is booting up. Keep holding them down until you see the dialog that says "Are you sure you want to rebuild the desktop?" Then, let go of the keys, click OK and carry on. (Never you mind if it says something about "Info comments may be lost.")

Some people use TechTool, or other utility software, to rebuild the desktop. TechTool is diagnostic freeware with a solid following in the Mac community. Supposedly, it wipes clean all the desktop nooks and crannies that the Finder method sometimes misses.

Techtool

http://www.micromat.com/

--Mick Jeffries surfs the Mac Fantastic in a daily lifelong search for the Perfect Leisure-Time Moment.

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SAFE TRAVEL MODE (POWERBOOK)

Talk about get-up-and-go computing: Powerbooks seem like the wonder of the world, once you've had one. So much information, software, music and whatnot in a luggable form. What's not to like?

If you do haul your Powerbook around a lot, and tend to use the CD-ROM drive, too, Apple recommends that you not keep a disc loaded in the Mac. When you're on the go, pop out that CD before you pack your Powerbook--for the safety of your hardware.

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RELATIVE DATE (LIST VIEWS FEATURE)

If you're just a customization freak, well, you can't help it, can you? Maybe it's just an old Willie Nelson song, Three Days*, stuck in your head that you want your computer to reflect. If so, g