These articles appear in the Times Record each Friday in the Technology section.
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Date Title
12-28-07 2007: The Tech Year In Review ... 2007 began with the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.  Chairman Gates (Bill) led off the event on Monday with a keynote address (yawn) where he demonstrated (stretch) Microsoft’s vision for the digitally connected world of tomorrow (fidgety legs).  A vision which, by the way, has you plugged in to the Internet much like Neo in The Matrix.
12-21-07 Leopard’s Spotlight: Search and Ye Shall Find ... The ability to search a computer has certainly evolved from the early days, when the only file attribute you could search for was the file name.  And even that took a very long time.  With the advent of more powerful computers and file systems came the ability to actually search within files for specific content.
12-14-07 Leopard Mail: Something to Write Home About ... Prior to getting the Leopard goodies I’m going detail, Mail was already a top-notch email application.  The new Leopard Mail builds on those strengths, and leverages the system’s graphics and search features to become even more of a joy to use.
12-07-07 Leopard’s Parental Controls Easy Yet Powerful ... Parents spend big bucks each year to install third-party software trying to make the computers in their household “safe” for their children to use.  Apple’s new operating system, Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard”, includes a myriad of Parental Controls that give Mac using-parents added weapons in their war against “bad” computer use.
11-30-07 Leopard’s Time Machine: A Giant Leap Backward ... For the initial backup, Time Machine copies all the files on your Mac to the external drive, without compression, and sk 092807a.html ipping caches and other files that aren’t required.  Subsequent backups are “incremental”, meaning only files that have been added or changed since the last backup are copied.
11-23-07 My Favorite Leopard Feature: Quick Look ... Quick Look, as the name implies, gives Leopard users the ability to see the contents of almost any file on their Mac, without having to open the application that created it or is otherwise used to view it.  Here’s how it works.
11-16-07 Another Leopard Remedy for Clutter: “Spaces” ... Nowadays, with an abundance of cheap RAM and operating systems (like Leopard) that love to multitask, computers willingly indulge humans who love to multitask as well.  Many humans (and not just “power users”) commonly work with several applications open on their computers at a time.  However, this multitasking comes with a price.
11-09-07 Combat Cluttered Desktop Syndrome With Leopard’s Stacks ... You can create your own Stacks by simply dragging any folder into the Dock.  For example, you could drop your Applications folder into the Dock and launch your applications from the resulting Stack.  Fast.  Easy. Effective.
11-02-07 Leopard: New King of the Mac Jungle ... We’re going to spend a few weeks getting to know Leopard.  Not intimately, as time and space won’t allow that here.  No, that task is up to you.  I can tell you one thing – whether you’re a seasoned MacHead or a “newbie” refugee from Windows tyranny – you’re gonna like this big kitty.
10-19-07 Microsoft Office Alternatives Abundant For Your New Mac ... The other three parts of the Office suite – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint – are all in Office for Mac. In the past Microsoft “ported” the Windows code in the programs to work on the Mac, often creating very different and crippled Mac versions. Not any more.
10-12-07 Continuity and Compatibility As You Make The Switch ... Most potential “switchers” I talk to are concerned about continuity and compatibility within four basic computer functions: web browsing, email, media (music and video), and MS Office (particularly MS Word). Your new Mac handles these tasks with style and aplomb...
10-05-07 Mac Widgets Put Information at Your Fingertips ... Widgets are simple yet powerful mini-applications that let you perform common tasks and access data and information contained on your Mac or available via the internet. Mac OS X comes with 18 widgets preinstalled. There are literally thousands of third-party widgets available for download from Apple’s website.
09-28-07 "My First Mac” – Pointing and Poofing in the Mac’s Dock ... There are two icons in the Dock that are immune to “poofing”. They’re on opposite sides, at the ends of the Dock. On the left is what I call the “smiley Mac guy” icon. Clicking on it opens a Finder window, which we know from last time gives us access to everything on our Mac.
09-21-07 "My First Mac” – A Trip to the Dock ... As a refugee from Windows tyranny, you’re certainly familiar with the Task Bar. Your Mac’s Dock performs many of the same functions as the Task Bar, with a bit of Apple’s visual flair thrown in for good measure.
09-14-07 "My First Mac” – Finding Your Way ... Let’s look around the Mac desktop. In the upper right corner you’ll find an icon labeled “Macintosh HD”. This icon represents your hard drive, which holds, of course, everything on your Mac. You can change the name to something more personal, and change it at will without affecting any of your files.
09-07-07 Get “In Touch” With the New iPod Lineup ... his Wednesday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs addressed a gathered throng of tech journalists to announce that Apple has retooled, re-skinned, revised, revamped, restructured (and some other words that start with “re”) their entire iPod line, of course in time for the holiday buying season.
08-31-07 “My First Mac” Primer – With Your Permission ... The reason for the Mac’s immunity is two-fold. Last week we learned that the very structure of Mac OS X, built upon the rock-solid and time-tested foundation of open-source UNIX, is resistant to intrusion. Mac OS X’s second line of defense is its UNIX-derived system of “permissions” that prevent unwanted entry. Here’s how it works.
08-24-07 "My First Mac” Primer – The Power of Ten ... Here’s the ten words you need to know about Mac OS X security: There’s never been malware “in the wild” on Mac OS X. There have been a couple of “laboratory” concepts that have made headlines, but Apple has exterminated (patched) them with haste.
08-17-07 “Back to the Mac” Primer – Let’s Turn It On! ... You’ll notice no other icons on the desktop. Unlike PCs, the Mac desktop doesn’t “awaken” with a plethora of shortcuts (called “aliases” on the Mac) to software and services you don’t want or need. Your Mac belongs to you – it is not an electronic “billboard” for two dozen trial versions of software and ads for web sites and services.
08-10-07 The MacMaineiac's Crystal Ball’s “Got Game” ... Apple CEO Steve Jobs presided over the affair, in a small auditorium on Apple’s campus in Cupertino, CA. This cozy atmosphere is much different from the large room at the Moscone Center in San Francisco where MacWorld Expo keynote addresses are held. It was kinda like watching U2 or the Rolling Stones perform in an intimate nightclub. But, I digress.
08-03-07 My First Mac – A Primer for the Newly Liberated ... If you’re new to the Mac, welcome. However you got here, we’re glad you’re here. Perhaps you finally tired of losing hours of your life (and countless processor cycles) attempting to ward off the many species of Windows malware. Maybe you bought an iPod, installed iTunes on your PC, and over time came to appreciate the iTunes/iPod interface that “just worked”, and wondered why Windows couldn’t do things that way. Whatever the reason, we’re glad you’re here.
07-27-07 Shareware Utilities to Extend and Maintain Your Mac ... While the Mac certainly comes loaded with excellent applications that blow anything loaded on Windows (Vista, XP, doesn’t matter) out of the water, there are many applications that either enhance the capabilities of the Mac’s bundled software or extend them. Here’s two of my favorites.
07-20-07 Will the iPhone Kill the iPod? ... OK. This is it. Unless something big happens in the next few weeks - and I mean really big, like definitive research linking the iPhone to global warming or prostate cancer – this will be my last article for awhile on what some are calling the most successful product introduction of the 21st century. But what about the iPod?” you seemed to ask. “Surely the iPod is the most successful tech gadget of the 21st century”.
07-13-07 Debunking iPhone Myths and Misinformation ... I’ve discovered is that there are some “journalists” smearing the iPhone’s good name who appear to have never laid a finger (so to speak) on one. This was somewhat excusable in the conjecture and rumor-filled days before the iPhone’s official release, but has become flat-out dishonest as the iPhone’s been publicly available for a couple of weeks.
07-06-07 First Night With the iPhone Has Its Ups And Downs ... I considered describing in detail the almost spiritual act of opening the iPhone box for the first time (Apple does have amazing packaging), then cradling the telephonic talisman in my palm, my pulse quickening and the nerve endings of my fingers tingling in anticipation of my first multi-touch zoom into and out of a photo or web page. But I decided not to get into all that, ‘cause it just sounded too creepy.
06-29-07 iPhone Activation: Easy As, Well, iTunes ... It’s finally here. Apple’s revolutionary iPhone goes on sale today at Apple Retail Stores, AT&T retail outlets, and through Apple’s online store. Long shrouded in secrecy, the final pieces of the iPhone puzzle were revealed this week in a carefully planned media blitz. Lucky tech writers for major media outlets who have been stealthily putting the iPhone through its paces over the last few weeks have broken their vows of silence and published their impressions. Their verdicts?
06-22-07 Leopard’s “Quick Look”: Look Before You Launch ... The next major update to the Mac OS X operating system, called “Leopard”, due to start prowling store shelves in October, takes the ability to see what’s in a file without opening the application that created it to the next level.
06-15-07 Apple’s Leopard: Beautifully Simple and Simply Beautiful ... If you’re a Windows user, it’s pretty easy to sum up Leopard. The Mac operating system two revisions ago was more advanced than Windows XP. The most current version of Mac OS X, called “Tiger”, was a more advanced operating system when it was released two years ago than the long-awaited Windows Vista is today. Leopard raises the bar even higher, and, taken as a whole, makes Vista look dated already.
06-08-07 What’s In YOUR iTunes Plus Song File? ... My experience with the new system has gone without a hitch, and the reports of others I’ve culled through internet research seem to be overwhelmingly favorable. This week, however, a minor firestorm erupted among some internet citizens concerning information that is still encoded in the DRM-free music files.
06-01-07 Gates and Jobs Make Rare Joint Appearance ... When asked what the other had contributed to the industry, Jobs complimented Gates on “being focused on software before anyone else had a clue”. Gates credited Jobs with building products “we want to use ourselves”, and pursuing that with “an incredible taste and elegance”.
05-25-07 It’s Actually Pretty Easy Being “Green” ... Macs running OS X make this easy. Anything you can print on a Mac can be “printed” (actually converted and saved) as a PDF file, viewable by any computer with Adobe Reader (formerly known as “Acrobat Reader”) installed. Macs even have a folder within the Documents folder called “Web Receipts” into which these PDF files can be deposited with one-button ease.
05-18-07 More Tips For Digitizing Video At Home ... So you’re ready to start digitizing your old home movies on VHS or other analog formats, giving them a new lease on life as digital video (DV). You’ve assembled all the parts: a capable computer with lots of memory (RAM and hard drive space), an analog-to-digital conversion device (either a dedicated converter box or a DV camcorder with “flow-through” capabilities), and some way to play the old media
05-11-07 Digitizing Your “Memories Media” ... Film, video, and audio cassette tapes (basically any analog media) break down over time, and most people don’t store their “memories media” in conditions conducive to its longevity. Like a shoebox in a dusty, dank basement (yes, that’s me – guilty as charged).
05-04-07 Apple Promises Greenpeace To “Get The Lead Out” ... So this week Apple CEO Steve Jobs published a missive on Apple’s web site entitled “A Greener Apple”. In it Jobs apologized for not being more forthcoming in the past, and promised increased candor in the future. He also cited several areas where Apple is actually cleaner and greener than its competitors today.
04-27-07 Good Things Come to Those Who Wait ... They blamed the delay on their much-ballyhooed iPhone, which will be released in late June. Apparently, since the iPhone runs on Leopard, Apple decided to divert some Leopard development resources to the iPhone project in order to meet the announced June release date.
04-13-07 The Pins and Plugs of Connecting An HDTV ... This week I realized that I have given short shrift to discussing the “pins and plugs” (nuts and bolts) of the different TV connection options. So, this week we’re going to rectify the situation with as non-geeky an approach as I can muster. Wish me luck.
04-06-07 Throw on the “Handbrake” to Rip Your Own DVDs ... So how does one get movie content onto their ATV other than purchasing it from the iTunes Store? Several software solutions are available, both for Macs and PCs, that can “rip” commercial movie DVDs onto one’s computer, similar to how iTunes and other digital jukeboxes “rip” CDs. For those of us over 25, “rip” means to convert the contents of a CD or DVD into a format playable on a computer.
03-30-07 Apple TV: iPod For Your TV ... The purpose of ATV is to connect iTunes on your Mac or PC to your “modern” TV. When I say “modern”, I mean any fairly new TV that accepts component video input. Older TVs with red, white, and yellow RCA jacks, S-video, or coaxial cable inputs need not apply.
03-23-07 The Father of the iMac Turns Ten ... Its price was commensurate with its lofty design. It retailed for about $7,500. However, for an additional $2,500 an Apple technician in a tuxedo would show up at your house in a limo and set it up for you.
03-16-07 “Tidy Up” and Keep Your Mac Running at Full Speed ... Get more RAM. Mac OS X, and the applications that run on it, love RAM. They eat up RAM like it grows on trees. The more RAM you have, the more merrier your Mac. When your Mac runs out of “physical” RAM, it creates “virtual memory” on your hard drive. Since access speeds of hard drives are slower than RAM chips, your Mac slows down. I recommend one gigabyte of RAM minimum for Macs running OS X.
03-09-07 Who Wins, Who Loses In A World Without DRM? ... Has DRM been beneficial to consumers? Not to those who have chosen to purchase music online. Due to DRM restrictions, music purchased from one online store cannot be easily played on computers or players hard-wired to another store. Apple has certainly benefited from this “lock-in”, as the profits from the iTunes Store (reportedly only four cents of the 99 cents charged for every song) dwarf the profit margins of their wildly popular iPods.
03-02-07 DRM-Protected Music: Here to Stay or Dinosaur? ... When you install some newly purchased software, the serial number that you must have to “activate” the program is DRM. In the not-so-distant past, entering the serial number was enough. However, nothing prevented multiple users from installing the software on multiple computers using the same serial number. Serial numbers were passed around the web in figurative buckets.
02-23-07 iLife: For the Spielberg In All Of Us ... Sometimes when you’re around something all the time you take it for granted. You forget what makes it special, what attracted you to it in the first place, the “little things” (that are actually big things) that keep you coming back. Sometimes you just need to get away, spend some quality time with it, and recapture “the fire”.
02-16-07 Purchased or Pirated: What’s On YOUR iPod? ... Roughly three-of-four songs purchased online are purchased at the iTunes Store and three-of-four players in use are some model of iPod. PlaysForSure has been so ineffective that Microsoft chose to change directions, build their own player, the Zune, and create a store and DRM system separate from PlayForSure. Another in a long list of reasons to not partner with Microsoft. But, I digress.
02-09-07 A Layman’s Primer on Digital Rights Management ... So what is DRM? It is “secret” computer code built into digital media (software, music, movies, etc.) to prevent a user from using the media past the rights bestowed on them by the creator or seller. Some examples? The serial numbers without which some software won’t install or function properly. Apple’s “FairPlay” DRM code that prevents playing a song purchased from the iTunes Store on more than five “authorized” computers.
02-02-07 There’s No Place Like (Your) Home (Page) ... if you don’t know what a “Home Page” is, it’s the page your browser opens to when you first start it up (or when you click the “Home” icon in you browser’s toolbar). Although most computers users may be blithely unaware, a high-stakes gambit rages over the control of their Home Pages.
01-26-07 Tips for Saving Streaming Media for the Internet Pack ... This week I’m going to give you some tips to make your hard drive storage situation worse, not better. I’m gonna tell you how to save media files (audio, video, and movies) onto your computer that you thought you couldn’t. While I’m going to focus on Mac solutions, with a little Google-ing solutions for Windows can be found as well.
01-19-07 Wasn’t There Another Tech Show Last Week? ... Jobs’ iPhone announcement certainly made a big splash – more of a full-fledged tsunami, really – with powerful waves felt as far inland as Las Vegas. Why Las Vegas, you ask? That’s where the rest of the world’s consumer electronic junkies (hundreds of thousands of them) were gathered, milling around looking at high definition TVs and gaming boxes at the fortieth annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
01-12-07 Hold the Phone! Apple's Revolutionary iPhone, That Is ... Jobs announced three revolutionary devices: a widescreen, touch-controlled iPod; a feature-rich mobile phone; and, a powerful internet connection device. In true form, Apple engineers combined the three devices into one product, and called it the “iPhone”
01-05-07 So You Got An iPod For Christmas ... Anyway, if you got your first iPod this Christmas, here’s some tips for building a strong and fruitful relationship with your new best buddy.