These articles appear in the Times Record each Friday in the Technology section.
Current Year 2008
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Date Title
05-02-08 Leopard’s Preview Handles PDFs and Photos With Ease ... This week I rise to sing the praises of an unsung hero of the Leopard operating system.  It’s one of many helper applications that come standard with Leopard that have “secret powers” that many users never encounter.  Our purpose today is to spotlight the strengths of one such application, called “Preview”.
04-25-08 Apple Photo Books A Perfect Mother’s Day Gift ... My gift idea can be created on any computer.  However, me being the “MacMaineiac” and all, I’m only going into detail on the Mac way of doing it.  Those of you using Windoze will just have to suffer through tortuous user interfaces, “maybe this will work” software, and Microsoft’s legendary lack of taste.
04-18-08 Some Timely Talk About A Computer Time Test ... Recently, Popular Mechanics published an article entitled “Mac vs. PC: The Ultimate Lab Test for New Desktops & Laptops”.  Any test of this kind has two parts: subjective and objective.
04-11-08 Slim Down Sent Messages to Combat E-Mailer Bloat ... So, did you do your homework assignment from last week?  You remember – you were supposed to find and determine the size of the folder that holds your e-mail files.  (And don’t tell me your dog ate it.)
04-04-08 Mining Goodies From Email Messages A Snap With Quick Look ... If you’re using Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard”, Mail also has a “Quick Look” button.  As the name implies, Quick Look is a system-wide Leopard feature that lets you view the contents of almost every document on your Mac without opening the application that created it, or that you might normally use to view it.
03-28-08 Swamped With Email? Become an Email “Miner” ... If you’re a “casual” emailer it may take some time to build up bloat.  If you’re a “professional” emailer (even though the subject matter could be urban legends, rumors, and gossip instead of business meeting notes), your email application will soon be working overtime to keep up.
03-21-08 Put Spam In Its Place With Filters ... So, you’ve taken my recent advice and decided to start using a dedicated email application (like Mail or Entourage for the Mac or Outlook Express or Windows Mail) to manage your email.   This week we’ll look at some features common to all quality email applications and a few things you can do to make reading, organizing, and replying to your email more enjoyable.
03-14-08 IMAP A Better Choice For Mobile Email ... Nowadays, many users want to access and manage their mail from their own computer(s) as well as remote computers and smartphones.  A better email protocol for the “multiple and mobile” email user is IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol).  I’ve been using IMAP since I got my iPhone, and I love it.
03-07-08 Improving Your Life on the Web: Email ... This week we’re starting a series of articles discussing ways to make your “web life” easier, more efficient, less stressful, and more trouble-free.  We’ll begin with three tips on email.
02-29-08 Tuesdays in 2008 are Special Days for Apple Users ... What is it about Tuesdays at Apple?  Tuesday seems to be their preferred day to introduce new stuff.  On January 8th, one week before January’s Macworld Expo, Apple upgraded their Mac Pro desktop, making it the fastest Mac ever made, with eight screaming cores of Xeon goodness.
02-22-08 Latest Software Update Takes Apple TV to Next Level ... ATV2 also brings added support for viewing photos on your HDTV.  As I’ve mentioned before in this space, digital photos from newer digital cameras have a higher resolution than the best 1080p HDTVs, and there’s no better way to view digital photos (especially with a group of family or friends) than on an HDTV.
02-15-08 Apple TV “Take 2”: HD Movie Downloads Done Right ... This week the “hobby” became a full-time job, with the release of Apple TV “Take 2”, a free software upgrade to existing ATV hardware.  Before we get into the new features of Take 2, let’s review what ATV is and does.
02-08-08 Waxing Nostalgic For the Videophone ... So here we are, forty years later.  Forty years.  What happened to the videophone?  Was it “electric-car-ed”, the victim of a huge corporate conspiracy?  Do people really not want other people to see what they look like, to look them in the eye as they communicate?
02-01-08 Thin is In: Apple’s New MacBook Air ... Earlier this month Apple announced the “MacBook Air”, which they bill as “the world’s thinnest notebook” (we’ll call it the “MBA” for short).  The “Air” moniker refers to two of the MBA’s signature features: weight (get it - lighter than air) and wireless (as in through the air, without wires).
01-25-08 iPhone Software Upgrade Helps You Find Yourself ... So I did a test.  Using my home WiFi (the Skyhook method), accuracy was within half a Bath city block.  Pretty good.  Turning off the WiFi and using the AT&T mobile tower (Google) method, accuracy was within the 1000 meters claimed.  Actually, AT&T thought I lived under the Leeman Highway overpass, which is plenty close enough if I’m just trying to get some driving directions.
01-18-08 Notebook Computers and the Travelers Who Love Them ... As a frequent traveler (my “real” job is an airline pilot) I spend a lot of time in airports.  As your humble and dedicated technology reporter, I am ever vigilant in observing technological things.  To put it more plainly, as I walk through the concourses in airports, I notice the many diverse and varied people using diverse and varied techo-gadgets.
01-11-08 Gazing into the MacMaineiac Crystal Ball for 2008 ... I predicted that Apple would announce high(er) definition movie and video content available through their iTunes Store in conjunction with the release of their Apple TV set-top box.  This did not happen, due in most part to contractual differences (money) with the content providers (movie and television studios).  But that’s a whole ‘nother article.
01-04-08 Care and Feeding Tips For Your New iPod ... One, buy a case.  There are many different styles of cases to choose from.  Some engulf the whole iPod, with a leather or plastic flap of that must be flipped open to access the screen.  Others protect the body, but have openings to access the controls (clickwheel) and view the screen (either directly or through a clear plastic cover).  Some have belt clips.  Remember that if you wear your iPod on your belt, it can bump into things, or, heaven forbid, fall off.