Past Meetings

July 29 , 2013 - Hammondsport Mac Users Group

ATTENDING: Tom B, Ed W, Nancy C, Shelley M, Bob S, Dottie E, Jerry L, Gene N, Ed M, Jan S.

TOPIC: STUFF (Q+A)

 

A wide variety of questions, topics and comments were shared at the meeting.

Jerry brought a small, bottomless box of interesting gizmos and gadgets he has found useful:

 

OTHER TOPICS DISCUSSED

ClamXav - Tom noted that this free anti-virus application has a handy feature called 'Sentry' which allows you to run a continuous guard on specific folders such as Mail, Download, etc and will alert you to any suspicious files. Read more about setting the up Sentry feature here.

How to Test Your Anti-Virus Software - the simplest way to test ClamXav and its Sentry feature is to simply download a file called the EICAR test file. This file, actually a harmless text file, is an industry-standard test designed to activate antivirus applications. If your antivirus protection reacts to it, chances are that it is configured properly and working as expected. Download a 'test virus file' from EICAR. To get it, go to this page and download the files listed at the bottom, from the left to the right. These are basically the same file but it is increasingly disguised, zipped, and stealthed to make it harder for your antivirus to detect it. ClamXav should detect all the files in a flash and warn you about them.

The Safe Mac - great Mac malware guide with many excellent links to ways of protecting your Mac from bad stuff.

Mac OS X Security Guides for Apple operating systems (10.6, 10.5, 10.4, 10.3)

Ed asked how one might find an older version of a particular software for his scanner. The best answer seemed to be to go to the scanner manufacturer's website and search for drivers for the model you need. Often older drivers and apps are still available but tucked away in the support pages. Another great source for earlier versions of apps is the website Old Apps for Macs

Target Mode - two Macs can be connected via a Firewire cable for convenience and speed during installation of large files such or a new operating system. This is especially useful, for example, if the targeted Mac does not have a DVD player. Also see Apple's help site on using target mode.

MONOPRICE is a great place to buy FireWire cables for a few bucks - for example, the 6 ft. 400/800 bilingual firewire cable shown sells for $4.75 + $3 shipping.

Digital Color Meter - Apple's handy utility built into all Macs - very helpful in identifying exact color hues

 

 

SOFTWARE

Pixelmator - Tom highly recommends this inexpensive app ($14.95) for retouching photos - available at the Apple App Store - he showed how to retouch a photo a pixel at a time to remove a fire hydrant

VirusBarrier Express - free anti-virus app from Mac App Store (1.9MB) - easy to use

Carbon Copy Cloner - clone your entire Mac HD onto a bootable external HD - programable for auto or manual backup - current version is $39.95 - earlier versions were free and will still work on Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5.

 

 

IN THE NEWS

Cockroaches to the Rescue - future of search and rescue?

False Memories Can Be Planted in Brain Say MIT Scientists - do you recall reading this before? heh-heh. Scary stuff.

Computing Pioneer Douglas Engelbart Is Dead at 88 - invented the first mouse - watch a really fascinating presentation made in 1968 to the science crowd of the day - see the 'Mother of All Demos' (1 hour 41min)

Sunday Afternoon On The i-Pad of La Grande Jatte?

 

 

NEXT MEETING : Monday, August 19, 2013 - MORE STUFF (Q+A)


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