Posted by Clayton Lewis on January 11, 2009 under Blog Articles, Mac Tips, News, Announcments & Rumors | 
As expected, Apple released the latest and greatest version if iWork this year at MacWorld, iWork ‘09. This collection of apps is the perfect replacement for those of you who are tired of shelling out big bucks for Microsoft’s Office suite and best of all.. iWork ‘09 is completely compatible with Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
Today we’ll look at Pages ‘09
Pages ‘09 is iWork’s page layout program. A very simple and intuitive program that lets you design your own newsletters, brochures, flyers or type simple letters. What’s new in this update?
- Full Screen View – Clear the clutter and view your document without all the distractions. With a click, distractions instantly disappear and your words become the most important thing on the screen.
- Dynamic Outline Creation – It’s easier to write when your ideas are structured. The new Outline mode helps you organize your thoughts so your writing stays on track.
- Mail Merge with Numbers – Now it’s even easier to address invitations, create invoices, personalize letters, and build mailing lists. Mail merge works directly with a Numbers table or Address Book
- Enhanced Template Chooser – Find inspiration for your writing or design project even faster. Over 180 Apple-designed templates are included — professional letters, detailed lab reports, beautiful cards, modern flyer layouts, and more.
- Math Type and EndNote - In Pages ’09, you can now create sophisticated equations for research papers, lab reports, and journal articles using MathType 6.1 Compose your equations with the MathType point-and-click equation editor and instantly add them to your Pages document. Pages also works with EndNote X2.1 Choose from over 3800 bibliographic styles supported by EndNote X2 and easily insert citations into your Pages document.
- More Ways to Share – Share your Pages documents with anyone on a Mac or PC. You can open Microsoft Word files in Pages and save your Pages documents as Word files. Thanks to powerful graphics tools in Pages, it’s easy to make Word documents look great. Pages also lets you export your documents as PDF files.
To learn more, there are some great tutorials about Pages ‘09 on Apple’s website.
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Posted by Clayton Lewis on January 1, 2009 under Blog Articles, Mac Tips |
Happy New Year to everyone and as most folks tend to commit to making changes in their lives, allow me to toss in a few “geek” resolutions to add to your list.
1. Check your backup. Make sure the files you’re backing up are easily and reliably recoverable. And if you don’t have a backup solution, run out and purchase an external drive and start copying your important files TODAY!!
2. Change your password(s). I try to update my passwords that I use on my computers and my online banking each year. It’s never a good idea to use the same password for everything. So I have 3 or 4 that I tend to use. Remember that a good password consists of a combination of at least 6 letters and numbers.
3. Perform some maintenance on your computer. Like your car, your Mac/PC needs some regular loving. Have your hard drive and files checked. Inspect the hardware and RAM. Update your software, anti-virus, and OS as needed and blow out all the dust bunnies inside the case.
4. Maybe it’s time to replace your machine with something new and spiffy. Sometimes keeping that old Mac G3 or Pentium isn’t worth it any longer. You’ll get more accomplished with a newer, faster machine.
So along with thar resolution to lose weight, quit smoking or save money, add these to your list as well. Your Mac or PC will love you for it.
Posted by Clayton Lewis on December 26, 2008 under Blog Articles, Mac Tips, misc |
While I was living in Salt Lake City, I enjoyed the break and being away from friends and relatives who would always hit me up for free computer advice or have me take a look at their computer problems while I was “off-duty”. Now that I’m back in DC and visiting the relatives again for the holidays, I’m back to being the “go-to” guy for computer issues. I get asked all sorts of questions, such as… “Can you tell me why my computer is running so slow”? or ” I think I have a virus.. can you take a look at it?”. Since most of my relatives are PC users, my first response is always… “Toss it and buy a Mac.” 
LifeHacker’s Gina Tripani, has posted an article on this very subject, just in time for the holidays called “Helping Clueless Relatives with Their Computer Problems“. It gives great advice on how to deal with the most common questions I get asked as I’m trying to choke down my Christmas ham.
1. Why does my computer take so long to start-up?
2. I keep getting a pop-up from my anti-virus software asking me to pay, what do I do?
…and more.
So, if you’re the family “go-to” person for computer problems, read the Lifehacker article and arm yourself this year for when the relatives come-a-calling.
Let me add that I am a big fan and supporter of the Free AVG Antivirus when it comes to protecting a Windows machine. I have taken off every version of Norton or MacAfee from every relative’s PC and replaced it with AVG Free.
Also for those long distance relatives that need support after the holidays are over, check out LogMeIn. They offer a FREE version that will allow you to connect and control any remote computer, Mac or PC. Just sign-up for free account and install the client software on any computer you want to control. Makes phone support with the relatives SO MUCH easier.
So, while I’m in the middle of my holiday vacation with my relatives, I’m properly armed for any questions that might get thrown my way. But my first response will always be. .”Dump that POS and get a Mac”
Just kidding.
Posted by Clayton Lewis on December 23, 2008 under ALERTS!!, Blog Articles, Mac Tips |
Apple released an update to Leopard last week. OS X 10.5.6. As wtih any updates, I always recommend not jumping on the proverbial bandwagon and WAIT to see what kind of issues other folks experience. It’s not unusual for some to have problems.
Right now, I’m still hesitant to install this new update on anyone’s computer and cannot recommend it to anyone else. If you follow Mac FixIt, you will see the list of problems people have had to deal with during or after the installation.
Installation hangs and not booting past the white screen seem to be the biggest issues thus far. Apple has posted a fix for the installation hangs but if you’re one of the ones suffer through an installation hang then you may be in for a bit of trouble. Worst case, a failed install of the update can cripple your hard drive and have you recovering from a backup.
If you do decide to install the update (and I have successfully installed it on a couple of test machines without issue) then follow this bit of advice.
1. BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP. Before you do ANY update, make sure your machine is backed up.
2. Quit all running Applications
3. Repair Permissions BEFORE updating
4. Go to the /Library/Updates/ folder and remove all files in it. (As per Apple, Removing these files may prevent the problem from recurring for future updates)
6. Instead of using Software Update, download the stand alone Combo Update for 10.5.6 and install that. The download could take awhile as it’s over 650MB.
7. Once installed and rebooted. Repair Permissions once more.
Prior to installing an update, I typically take the added step of running Disk Utility on my drive by either restarting from the Install DVD, that came with the Mac or rebooting into Single User Mode and running FSCK. Click here for more information.
Good luck and feel free to leave a message on your experience.
I love my iPhone so much that I want to marry it. Ok, that was a bit much but for the most part it’s true. I’ve been able to accomplish SO much with just my iPhone while traveling and working in the city. And when a new iPhone app comes out and makes my life easier, I’m going to shout its praises.
