Election Time!

December 21, 2012

Filed under: General — Steve Rea @ 6:57 pm

The March general meeting of the CIDER membership on March 14 will coincide with  CIDER’s Annual Business Meeting. All currently-held positions as CIDER Officer or Director will expire, and new individuals will be elected to these positions at that meeting. The Nominating Committee is currently looking for candidates for these positions, and you can help.

Apple CIDER is looking for individuals to serve on the board and to assist with such important functions as maintaining our program of presentations to members, handling public relations, coordinating our web site, and serving as Secretary.  We need your help in keeping CIDER vital.  You do not need to be a computer expert to help the organization function.  Please consider volunteering.  Contact kjackso1@rochester.rr.com.

 

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*** Transitioning email from MobileMe to iCloud under Snow Leopard

December 15, 2012

Filed under: General — cpeterson @ 9:12 pm

Some helpful tips from Bob Taylor.

If you qualify to simply open an iCloud account with Apple, do it! If you have established and have been using an email address under a MobileMe account you will have gotten mu;tiple offers from Apple to move everything smoothly over to iCloud. Providing you are running Lion on your laptop or desktop you will have been able to take advantage of this offer and you don’t need the information here.

However, if — for one reason or another — you have not yet installed Lion on your machine, you cannot move directly to iCloud. Apparently in the interests of keeping its customer base satisfied, Apple has made provision to allow users of Snow Leopard keep their .mac or .me email addresses if they are willing to sign the full iCloud User License Agreement. You should have gotten this offer from Apple; let us suppose you signed. What next?
In order to switch over from the old MobileMe mail server to the new iCloud mail server, you will need to change some of the information in the Accounts section of the Preferences set up in your copy of Apple’s Mail program. If you look at the list of accounts you have set up you will see that one is identified as a MobileMe iMap account — that’s the one that needs to be changed in order for you to begin using the new server.
If you select this account, you should see that the incoming mail servier is identified as mail.me.com, and further that this name is now grayed out, as that server no longer exists at Apple’s end. You will find, though, that you are not allowed to simply edit the information in this field directly — what you will need to do is completely delete this account (using the +/- keys at the bottom of the window) and then set up a new accound with the correct iCloud information.
That’s a bit of a scary step, especially as the first message you get when you click on “-” warns you that are about to permanently delete all sorts of information associated with the account, including mailboxes and messages. So before going ahead and deleting the account you will likely want to take careful note of how your mailboxes are currently set up, and you may want to copy any important messages you ahve been saving on the server to a local “on my Mac” folder. You may find some of your accumulated mail waiting for you after the switch, but don’t count on it! Of course, it is also a good idea to make sure you have a solid backup of your old setup via Time Machine or whatever other backup program you use.
When it is time, go ahead and delete this Mail account — it is useless anyway since Apple has taken down the old server. You should then be able to add a new account; the first thing you will be prompted for is your name and your Apple ID (the email address you want to keep active) and — of course — your password, to prove that it is actually you setting up the new account. A special tip at this point is to press the Option key while clicking Continue. Now you need to enter the name of the incoming Mail server, which should be entered as imap.mail.me.com (plus your Apple ID again).
Once you enter all the needed info the account will be set up and activated, and at that point should “find” much of what it needs to set up your new, working iCloud email account. You may need to spend a bit of time tracking down mailboxes that have migrated into new locations in your Mailbox list, but basically you should be good to go at this point.
Of course a disclaimer or two is in order here. All I can say is “this worked for me”; individual circumstances are likely to differ in quite a few ways. If you need to search further for information on this topic you may want to start at
 https://discussions.apple.com/message/18796617#18796617
which is where I got much of the info i provided above. There are probably other words of wisdom out there on the net, too — if you find any, please pass them along.
Good luck with your move.
/RWWT
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Apple Quickly Updates Malware Definitions to Detect New SMS Scam Trojan – Mac Rumors

December 15, 2012

Filed under: General — Steve Rea @ 5:19 pm

Earlier this week, Russian security firm Dr. Web published a blog post announcing the discovery of a new OS X trojan horse known as “Trojan.SMSSend.3666”. The malware masquerades as an installer for various software titles, but tricks users into signing up for subscriptions through their mobile devices.

via Apple Quickly Updates Malware Definitions to Detect New SMS Scam Trojan – Mac Rumors.

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Take Control of Messages book offer

December 14, 2012

Filed under: General — cpeterson @ 10:31 pm

Communicate more effectively with “Take Control of Messages in Mountain Lion”

In 10.8 Mountain Lion, Apple replaced the long-standing iChat program with Messages, which takes its interface cues from the iPad version of the program. Although Messages looks easy, many people have had trouble understanding how to integrate different chat services and Apple devices, now that messages can appear on Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

For instance, should you use iMessage or AIM to chat with your friend? What if he’s home on his Mac or out while using his iPhone? Can you add someone else to the chat? What if you want to switch to an audio chat? To video? For video, should you use Google Talk or FaceTime? And so on. The mechanics may be simple, but the setup and human interactions are anything but.

To bring some sense to the situation, we asked networking guru Glenn Fleishman to explain how you can bend Messages to your will, and the fruits of his labor are now available for in the 113-page “Take Control of Messages in Mountain Lion.” The book normally costs $10, but the 30% MUG discount drops that to $7. Learn more about the book via the coupon-loaded link below.

http://tid.bl.it/tco-messages-mountain-lion-mug-discount

With this ebook in hand, you’ll discover:

* The difference between SMS, instant messaging, and iMessage – plus why you should care.

* How to convert your iChat experience to the brave new world of Messages.

* Why it is that Messages lets you set up accounts at five different services (plus Bonjour), and how to figure out which you should use in any given situation.

* In an iMessage account, how to configure which email address(es) and iPhone number(s) should receive messages on your Mac.

* How to use Google Talk with Google two-factor authentication.

* How to send messages – and set your online status – with an eye to etiquette and conventions.

* What an instant-message buddy is, why it’s awkward that iMessage doesn’t have buddies, how to get buddies, organize buddies, and even delete or block a buddy.

* How to exchange photos, videos, business documents, and other files via Messages.

* The best way to add a spoken conversation or video to a connection, whether through an iMessage/FaceTime chat or an instant-messaging service.

* How to view and control the Mac screen of the person you’re chatting with (or vice-versa).

* And much more…

As always, thank you for your support of the Take Control series!

cheers… -Adam & Tonya Engst, Take Control publishers

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recycled information

December 13, 2012

Filed under: General — cpeterson @ 9:38 pm

While walking my dog this morning I noticed a copy of the June issue of Fortune magazine at the curb on top of papers in a recycle box. It had an interesting article by Adam Lashinsky about Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and the direction Apple appears to be heading. If your interested you may also read it on their website.  http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/24/apple-tim-cook-ceo/

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Keeping your Apple e-mail account going

December 12, 2012

Filed under: General — cpeterson @ 11:08 pm

A note from Bob Taylor with more info to help with the MobileMe transmigration.

Apple has been vigorously encouraging everyone who has been maintaining a MobileMe account to upgrade to their new iCloud service, since all benefits that come with the old service will disappear on June 30. A lot of attention has been focused on rescuing data stored on one’s iDisk and migrating any hosted web sites to a new server of some sort.

What hasn’t received a lot of attention is the email address and mailing capability that came with the old arrangement — there are implications for everyone who has established and is using an xxxx@mac.com or yyyy@me.com mailing address. If you use such an address regularly without having yet moved to iCloud, you will have been getting urgent notice from Apple that special action is required in order to keep  your address in effect after June 30, and you may have already taken appropriate action.

But if you keep such an address without using it regularly you may have missed these notices. If you wish to hang on to this address, but will not be moving to iCloud before June 30, just access your MobileMe account and you will be guided through the quick process. Basically, all that is required is that you formally agree to the new Terms of Service agreement that comes with iCloud.  You can do this in under one minute if you don’t bother reading carefully through the agreement. This piece of language is a very interesting document, however, a masterpiece of legalese, and it may be worth studying a bit. There’s everything but the kitchen sink in there, it seems, the fruit of thirty years of experience on Apple’s part setting up licensing agreements.

Hmm, why not just move to iCloud directly? The big sticking point is that to do so you need to be running OS7 (Lion) or else a current version of some IOS system on a mobile device. Moving your whole setup up from OS6 (Snow Leopard) in a hurry would be a big deal, and perhaps not even possible depending on your hardware configuration. Apple presumably recognizes the importance of this legacy market, which is why they are offering this compromise. Grab it while you can!

Frequently asked questions about the MobileMe transition and iCloud

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Use iTunes 11 The Right Way With These Tips And Tricks [Feature] | Cult of Mac

December 12, 2012

Filed under: General — Steve Rea @ 9:46 pm

iTunes 11 just came out, and if you’ve upgraded, you know that it has changed many of the familiar features and moved many of them to different places. Let’s take a look at the different ways to use iTunes 11 the right way, with the following tips and tricks.

via Use iTunes 11 The Right Way With These Tips And Tricks [Feature] | Cult of Mac.

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Is iTunes Plus gone? iTunes 11 offers DRM-free audio re-downloads | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

December 12, 2012

Filed under: General — Steve Rea @ 9:39 pm

No need to pay any more for iTunes Plus to upgrade your 128k MP3’s to the better quality 256k AAC.  Using iTunes download from the Cloud now!

Is iTunes Plus gone? iTunes 11 offers DRM-free audio re-downloads | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

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How Not to Become Mat Honan: A Short Primer on Online Security | Threat Level | Wired.com

December 12, 2012

Filed under: General — cpeterson @ 8:41 pm

Here Mat tells what you can do to prevent what happened to him (see previous blog entry).

How Not to Become Mat Honan: A Short Primer on Online Security | Threat Level | Wired.com.

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How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

December 12, 2012

Filed under: General — cpeterson @ 8:40 pm

How secure is your digital life? Mat Honan, in an article in the WIRED magazine Gadget Lab blog  tells about how easy it was for hackers to wipe out is photo collection and information stored in various cloud based systems as well as his entire laptop archive.

How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.

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