Matt-Helps-Macs News & Update RSS Feed

Yahoo Messenger 3.0 for Mac - NO Big Deal

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-10-01T15:00:41-07:00

Yahoo announced the release of Yahoo Messenger 3.0 for the Mac yesterday... ...Yahoo has always treated the Mac user community as red headed stepchildren when it came to Messenger support. Hell, just look at the release numbers to get a clue - 10.0 for windows, 3.0 for Macs. ...It was a painful loss too because the one thing I always liked about Messenger versus iChat was that you could leave messages for your buddies even if they weren't logged in. Then that benefit was negated when spam grew to such a huge problem that every time you signed on your window filled with a hundred tabs or more of crap messages for people you had no idea who they were. Since that time iChat has improved significantly and in my opinion, leapfrogged ahead of all the other chat applications. Apple uses the AIM protocols so its possible to chat with everyone now, and in addition, they've added the ability to leave messages for folks that aren't signed in - BUT only if those people are on your buddy list. ...Another great feature of iChat is that since the release of Leopard (10.5), you have the ability to share your screen with other Leopard (and now Snow Leopard) users. This one feature is unbelievable - just ask any of my clients that I have where we use it for remote support... Why anyone would waste their time on Yahoo Messenger is beyond me. ... The only good thing I can say about it is that Yahoo Messenger is free...

New Organizing Tool for the Mac

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-09-15T13:08:34-07:00

It not often that a tool comes along that revolutionizes the way we work, but the Livescribe Pulse Smart Pen may just be doing that. Smartpens have been around for quite some time, but none of them have come up with the concept and method of integration that Livescribe has. This approach is so intuitive - it just works the way we humans do. This is a MUST HAVE tool for anyone that takes notes. I can't think of a single person that wouldn't benefit from the use of this smartpen. This is especially true for anyone that transcribes their notes and then shares those notes with others. I'll admit that I tend to be a gadget junkie, but I seldom jump on the bandwagon just for the sake of gadgetry - they must work and fit a need in order for me to come onboard. Watch the video and see if you can stop yourself from getting one of these for yourself. ...Note: The authors of this video have taken a 'Tongue-in-Cheek' means of presenting the facts. They poke fun at themselves and I think thats a great way of demonstrating a product that should come as second nature to us.

Should You Upgrade to Snow Leopard (OSX 10.6)?

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-09-04T15:47:10-07:00

These have all been eliminated by the 10.5.8 update, but let's just say I've become a bit gun shy to suggest doing any updates that comes along since. ...Note: [To find out what type of processor you have, just go up to the apple menu in the upper left hand corner of your screen and click your mouse. ...With prior operating systems, every time your computer needed to perform a function, first it had to determine what type of processor it was dealing with and then perform the instructions unique to that processor. As you might imagine, this decision making process caused delays, introduced possible places for bugs to occur, and made the operating system take up a lot of space on your computer. ...The operating system should be easier to maintain and improve upon as well because it won't be necessary to write two different pieces of machine instructions (code) for both types of processors. I completely agree with the theory here but as I said, was just a bit apprehensive to jump into the deep end of the pool without first finding out if there were any sharks in the water. So now that the new version of Leopard has been out for almost a week now, I have to say that Apple has done a remarkable job of creating a new operating system release. ...In addition, you should see some added speed improvements and you should also see some recovery of disk space as the new operating system takes up less of your hard drive. As I mentioned earlier, if you have a PowerPC based Mac, this update will not work for you and you will have to stay at 10.5.x until you decide to purchase a new machine. Those of you on an Intel machine can feel free to upgrade if you want, but there again, it's not absolutely necessary as you will not gain any significant features. The only reason I see to upgrade at this time is to gain some speed improvements, recover a bit of disk space, and poise yourself for the next round of improvements.

Free Social Music Site for Streaming Audio

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-08-14T07:36:50-07:00

I love to listen to music, especially when I'm working on my computer. One of my favorite sites for finding new music to listen to and stream down to my computer is at LAST.fm This is a fantastic site. You can join for free and if you want, you can use your browser to stream music to your computer. You can also download a small piece of software that runs in the background and will stream the music for you there-by not tying up your browser. AND, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can download an application that will do the same for these small portable devices. I use my iPod Touch app to listen to music while I'm in bed getting ready to go to sleep. Here are some links to look at and see if this site is something you might be interested in. Last.fm Stand alone application for your computer Application for your iPhone and/or iPod Touch

Are Any of the New Apple Announcements Relevant?

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-06-11T18:56:05-07:00

A faster processor (3.02Ghz), increased memory (ram) capacity of up to 8GB, an SD slot for direct access to the entire SD card family, and improved hard drive capacity. All of these new features are available across the entire MacBook Pro lineup; it’s just that the 15” was the showcase model. ...OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard) is still in beta, but it’s been released to developers so they can exercise it some. ...All that supporting code has been stripped out and now the system is strictly 64 bit – something only the Intel processors can work with. ... Another benefit of 64 bit technology is that the system will now be able to access more memory and disk storage – up to 16 Billion GB. ...A month’s wait is long enough for all the kinks (if any) to be worked out and then you should upgrade. ...The beta version had quite a few things that I didn’t like BUT, the official release is much more to my liking. It’s much faster and there is some new technology that keeps the software running even if you have one tab or window that’s hung up. ...Instead of using it to view your album/CD art - in Safari, you get to view a snapshot or thumbnail of the websites you visit most. ...Some of the more impressive elements are: Landscape Keyboard, Spotlight Search, Voice Memos, Stereo Bluetooth, Parental Controls, Internet Tethering (using your cell connection to provide internet access on your computer), and my favorite – Remote Wipe. ... To view the entire list and find out more about this update, visit the link: iPhone 3.0 OS Feature List

Are You a Polyglot?

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-05-29T07:31:34-07:00

For those that don't know the meaning of that term (I had to look it up myself), it means a person that can speak, write, and understand a number of different languages. In my last post I talked about how to trim your hard drive down by going after some of the big files... Well it turns out that there's another way to free up a ton of space but this is done by going after a bunch of small files - that in the end add up to a lot of space. ...While none of these files are all that big in size (usually 8 - 64KB), there are an unbelievable number of them on your machine. ...To give you some idea of how much these add up to, I did a purge yesterday and from my system files, I recovered 380.2 MB of space. ... And the application I used to strip this stuff out doesn't touch any of the Adobe or Microsoft products. ...What I really like about this product over all other language purging products is that there is a 'Dry Run' mode. You can let it run in this mode and it will report what it finds but does not delete anything. ... If you want to preserve some languages in any or all sources, you can specify this in an EXCLUDE dialog box. Then when you run this again in a 'Live' mode, it will delete all the files it finds Except for those you specify. ...One again though, I want to EMPHASIZE the need to have a backup in place before you delete anything.

Spring Cleaning Your Mac

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-05-01T08:28:22-07:00

Call it what you will, but Spring Cleaning is just as important on your Mac as it is in real life. From cleaning out old files to organizing music/movies/TV shows that you threw into iTunes over the past few months, spring cleaning is a necessary task. While we tend to accumulate a lot of small files, the biggest bang for the buck is going after the big ones. One way to find large files that might be eating up space on your Mac is with a smart folder. ... To create a smart folder that will find large files on your hard drive, simply follow these directions: ...In the resulting window, select "Other" from the first drop-down menu (the default selection is "Kind), and search for the key word "size." If you wish this item to remain in the menu, select the "In menu" check box. ...Finder will immediately begin searching your Mac for any files that match the criteria we just specified. When you are ready to save your smart folder, select the "Save" button from the top right of the Finder window. ... Now whenever you want to look for large files that might be hogging space on your system, just open this smart folder, and let the search begin! ...If you're using Time Machine you should be safe but never delete a file without having a backup just in case you might need to restore it.

iClarified is my new Apple Resource

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-04-22T12:53:35-07:00

Added another link to the Resources page. iClarified is a unique site for finding help about the Mac and other Apple products. It's a very clean and straightforward site. Find news, comments, calendar, bookmarks, and my favorite section - tutorials, on just about every aspect of the Mac computer. There is an incredible number of iPhone tutorials as well - probably the best I've ever seen. Visit these guys for some excellent self help.

X-Lab Resource Inclusion

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-04-09T04:39:06-07:00

Found another great source link and added it to the Help Resources page. The link is for X-Lab. It's a great source for finding solutions and solving problems with the Apple Mac OS X operating system. This site may just put me out of business .

Apple Releases iTunes Update

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-04-19T04:07:25-07:00

Apple released an update to the iTunes application (ver 8.1.1). Here is an excerpt from the source page:

iTunes 8.1 is now faster and more responsive. You will enjoy noticeable improvements when working with large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, preparing to sync with iPod or iPhone, and optimizing photos for syncing

My Review: I have a quite large iTunes library (11,040 songs - 58.68MB), so I was hoping for a significant performance improvement... I was not disappointed. iTunes started up quickly and I was able to scroll, change play lists, and make changes to my library in quick order. I would recommend you apply this update. The update is 68.0 MB in size.

About this Apple Mac News & Reviews Blog

matthelpsmacs@gmail.com — 2009-04-01T03:12:53-07:00

There is always plenty of news to be had about Apple products and the supporting technologies around them. Come here to find the latest "goings on" about the Apple Macintosh, Apple computer software & OS X operating system, the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and all the 3rd party vendors building accessories to support and augment these Mac product lines. Find reviews and recommendations here to help guide you through these technologies and locate the Best Apple Mac, iPhone, and iPod goodies.