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October 2016 MaUsE DoubleClick 2016 MaUsE Executive • President : Michael Shaw [email protected] •Vice President: Ian Winton •Secretary & Apple Liaison: Marcel Dufresne [email protected] • Treasurer: Ken Jansen • Director: Stan Wild • Director: Stephen Wood • Director: Brian Elston MaUsE Contact Information: The MaUsE c/o Michael Shaw 237 Huntingwood Drive Oshawa, Ontario, Canada L1J 7C6 w w w. m a u s e . c a DoubleClick Produced and Edited by Michael Shaw Photographs by Irma Shaw Don’t forget to pay your MaUsE Membership fee: Still only $45 per year. From The Editor What you are looking at is the October 2016 Hallowe’en edition of the MaUsE DoubleClick, the online publication of the Macintosh Users East, (MaUsE), a motley collection of mostly harmless cranks who reside in Southern Ontario with their motley collection of old and new Macintosh,Hackentosh & MacClone computers. The DoubleClick is published using a 2009 2.93 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Mac Pro tower and QuarkXPress 2016. An antique Kodak DX7590 is STILL being used for all pictures. Everything not specifically attributed to someone else can probably be blamed on the Editor. Back issues can be downloaded from the MaUsE website at : < www.mause.ca >. Submissions from MaUsE Club members are almost always welcome. Maybe that last bit is an exaggeration. Send your submissions and articles to me at: < [email protected] >, especially if there are files or pictures attached. I have never refused a submission yet. Because we care about the environment, the MaUsE DoubleClick is created using only recycled electrons: matter was neither created nor destroyed in the process of creating this issue. There is always room for another piece on any Mac-related topic and Iʼll make room if there isnʼt. I would like your submissions. But I won't beg. About MaUsE Macintosh Users East. also known as MaUsE, is the oldest & most active Apple-authorised AUG (Apple User Group) in Southern Ontario. MaUsE is here for users of all Apple products, including Apple computers, iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Apple, Macintosh, and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc.®, registered in the U.S. and other countries. The MaUsE (Macintosh Users East) is an Apple Inc.-authorised Apple User Group. Michael Shaw, Editor MaUsE Meetings are held in Room 1 at the new Whitby Public Library on the corner of Henry and Dundas West in Whitby, Ontario on the fourth Wednesday of each month except December, July & August, starting at 7:00 PM. Facebook MaUsE https://www.facebook.com/Macintosh-Users-East-748334841881285/. MACINTOSH USERS EAST - MAUSE Apple User Group NOTICE OF ELECTIONS - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2016 In accordance with the club’s by-laws there will be an election held at the club’s Annual Meeting in November to replace the four Directors, (Michael, Ken, Stephen and myself) who, at that time, will have completed their current two-year term of service on the Executive Committee. * Macintosh Users East is your club and the club’s current Directors cordially invited to come forward and offer to serve on next year’s Executive Committee. Your serving on the 2017/18 Executive committee would be your opportunity to influence the future direction and growth of the club. The process of becoming a candidate for election is very simple! All you have to do is to talk with Michael or any one of the current directors at the October 26th Members Meeting, tell them that you would be willing to become a director and are ready to serve for two years if elected, and he will ensure that your name is included in the list of those members who are nominated. So, how about it? Are you willing to offer to ‘give back’ a little of your time to the club that gives so much to you? Please, Volunteer now. If you have any questions about being a MaUsE Director, please feel welcome to ask your questions of any current Director, or, if you wish, you may e-mail me personally at < [email protected] > and I will be most happy to answer your questions. Please do add your name to the list of nominees. Thank You. Sincerely, Stan Wild, A Director, MaUsE * Please note: It is possible that some of the retiring directors may choose to put forward their names for re-election. SGW Marcel will be stepping down as Secretary of the club with effect the end of December but will remain a director with the position of Apple Liaison. Therefore, the club needs a volunteer to step forward and assume the role of Director/Secretary as of January 2017. September MaUsE Meeting Report We had a good turnout for our first meeting of the autumn session. A few of Brian’s students attended and appeared to enjoy the agenda. Our presentations were done by Stephen, who talked about Siri, our Brian, who talked about new stuff from Apple and the importance of keeping your operating system and security updates current, Stan, who announced the 2016 MaUsE elections, Michael, who showed how to use Dictation in Enhanced mode on a MacBook, and Chris, who took Augmented Reality places he felt it needed to go. At the end of the meeting we held a quick raffle and just about everyone who attended got something to take home. News From Yahoo The most recent (September 2016) big news on the cyber security front comes from Yahoo. Yahoo has confirmed, based on a recent investigation, that a copy of certain user account information was stolen from their network several years ago, back in late 2014, by what they believe is a state-sponsored actor. They have not named the suspected party or parties involved. The account information that was compromised may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed pass• Yahoo has invalidated unencrypted security questions words (the vast majority with bcrypt) and, in some cases, and answers so that they cannot be used to access an acencrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. count. Yahoo confirmed that the breach affects the email accounts • Yahoo is recommending that all users who haven't of at least 500 million users. changed their passwords since 2014 do so. • Yahoo continues to enhance their systems that detect The ongoing investigation suggests that stolen informa- and prevent unauthorized access to user accounts. tion did not include any unprotected passwords, payment or • Their investigation into this matter continues. credit card data, or bank account information; payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the While it’s hard to say exactly what to look for, look for system that the investigation has found to be affected. things that don’t look right. Are there emails in your “sent” box that you didn’t send? Are you getting shady-looking Yahoo has taken action to protect their users, including: emails that ask you to click on links? Or official-looking • Yahoo is notifying affected users. emails asking for your password, or other personal informa• Yahoo is asking users to promptly change their pass- tion? Don’t fall for it. Remember, constant vigilance is the words and adopt alternate means of account verification. price of free email. 1TB USB 3.0 Portable External Drive Armor A85 from Silicon Power External drives and thumb drives are still an essential accessory to any computer. Thumb drives play a significant role in transferring data from one device to another, eliminating the fear of having the data hacked (a possible problem with the cloud). However, they are too limited in space for large amounts of data which computer backups require. Having an external portable drive would serve both purposes; that of backup and also secure file transfer. Silicon Power has quite a few of these portable drives, some of which I have reviewed in the past (see DoubleClick Oct 2015 for A80, May 2015 for A60 and Dec 2014 for A30). They vary mainly in their structural design and how the USB cable is attached. This review is for the Armor A85. All the Armor drives from Silicon Power are built for strength. If an external drive is to be truly portable, it is going to have to withstand a few bumps and bruises. The Armor A85 has a built-in suspension system as well as a rubber covering on the inside to dampen any sudden shocks to the drive. The heavy-duty aluminum case creates another layer to enable pressure resistant protection. The Armor A85 has a seamless rubber material and unibody cup-shaped design to provide waterproof and dust proof protection. Even the USB slot has a plastic cap which completes the protection. In addition, the metallic casing is processed with a matte sandblasting surface treatment that provides higher resistance to scratches, fingerprints and dirt. All of this makes it perfect for the road. The Armor A85 has a good read/write speed. It uses the latest USB 3.0 interface. It is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. I tested an older USB 2.0 drive and found the A85 to be much faster. It has a hot plug and play functionality which means that it connects to just about any USB slot on your computer. I tried it through the keyboard port, which often fails to provide enough power to a drive, and it worked fine. The only source that proved difficult was an old USB 2.0 hub. The drive was unreadable through it. I tried it out on my newer USB hub which has both a 3.0 and 2.0 slot and it worked fine from both. There was quite the variety of speeds from each of these ports. The slowest was connecting the drive through a USB 2.0 cable to the back of my computer. Next came the keyboard. The best speeds were through the USB 3.0 cable that comes with the drive to the USB port on the back of my computer as well as using the USB 3.0 port of my hub. The drive speed is more than adequate for file transfers and backups. The drive does not heat up significantly. I found mine to be slightly warm after running for a few hours. You can hear it quietly humming if you hold it up to your ear and feel a very gentle vibration when held in your hand. Red and blue LED lights show that it is connected; blinking lights when it is reading. The drive is somewhat compact and lightweight. The shape of the disk is a flattened ellipse. It measures 132.5mm x 92.3mm x 25.9mm and weighs in at around 310g (add another 20g for the cable). The added pressure resistance makes it a bit thicker than other models. It comes with a short USB 3.0 connection cable (about 32cm long). The cable is short for easier packing when travelling. The cable can be inserted into the elastic band, that is found around the top of the drive, so that you do not need to search around for it. All the Armor drives I have worked with so far come with a different cable attachment system. My favourite is still the A80 with a deep groove in the side that holds the short 10cm USB 3.0 cable. Its elliptical shape is a great fit for your hand. There are no real corners to it. Its round edges will not cut into any surface. The USB cap is a brilliant addition to this model. It is about half a centimetre thick and seals the slot from water and dust. It takes a sharp fingernail to remove it. It also has a thin attachment that lets you swivel the plug out of the way and still keeps it connected to your drive. You will not be easily losing or misplacing this cap. As mentioned earlier, there is a compromise that exists between the weight and size versus the ruggedness of the drive. It is slightly heavier and larger than their other external drives. If you anticipate having to move this drive from place to place, or work with liquids around it, then I would lean towards the heavier, more rugged, drive for peace of mind. Silicon Power Computer & Communications Inc. has been around since 2003 producing flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, DRAM modules, solid state disks, and portable hard drives. Headquartered in Taipei, their products can be found worldwide. They are in the business of making durable hard drives and they have an excellent one in the A85. You can read up on the A85 stats by visiting their website at www.silicon-power.com. This silver drive comes in 5 sizes: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, and 4TB. Silicon Power's Armor A85 USB 3.0 is a great portable external hard drive which is waterproof, dust proof, and can withstand serious drops. It will keep your data safe and provide reasonably fast access with its USB 3.0 connection. The connecting cable is securely stored when not in use. And the price for this nifty device? As I mentioned, Silicon Power drives can be found world wide. In Canada, this drive sells at amazon.ca for about $102 for a 1TB drive. If you do some Internet searching, I am sure you can find it available from other sources. The Silicon Power Armor A85 portable hard drive offers good performance. With its reinforced housing aluminum and rubber layer for sealing in case of immersion, this portable hard drive is ideal for transport. It would theoretically even store safely in a backpack. I did not try this out, nor did I test the waterproofing. I will have to rely on Silicon Power's tested results. Any way you look at it, it makes an excellent portable drive for travellers and home offices alike. Submitted by Marcel Dufresne Storage Optimization macOS Sierra For years I’ve been fighting the battle of hard drive space on my computers. When you open up "About This Mac" on your computer and then select storage, you’re met with some basic information. The system will give you a very general idea of what’s on your computer and give you specifics on how much space is allocated to Apps, Photos, Audio, Moves and Other. The “other” category is perhaps the biggest mystery when it comes to your drive. Just what is in that “other” category anyway? Programs like - Disk Inventory X - were life savers for me. This software can help to locate large files on your machine and then you can determine if it’s something you want to remove. With the release of Sierra and the introduction of storage optimization all of my headaches with space have almost magically disappeared. Before installing Sierra on my Mac I had about 25GB of free space on my hard drive and for the past 6 months or so I have had limited success in freeing up more space. Basic tricks like actually shutting down my computer and rebooting, regularly dumping my trash and trolling through my files have had short term success in creating more space on my computer. Storage optimization has made all of this go away almost instantly, including the annoying ‘other’ category. When I initially installed Sierra I gained about 10GB of space as unnecessary files were removed, but I wanted more space. Upon looking at my storage I was delighted to see that the other category really is gone! Sierra breaks down what’s taking up space in several categories making it much easier to identify at a glance what file categories are hogging valuable space. You can see at a glance how much space Mail, Photos, Documents, iOS files and more are using. Click on the manage button in the top right hand corner and it will expand to provide suggestions for storage optimization. You can easily choose to send your photos to iCloud and you can specifically select and turn on storage optimization. Storage optimization will automatically remove iTunes movies and TV shows you’ve already watched, keep only recent e-mail attachments and discard the aging ones. Other options are to set your computer to automatically empty trash for anything older than 30 days or choose to reduce clutter. The reduce clutter option will sort through your documents and other content and delete what is no longer needed once you review the files. This article, written by Emily Dolloff, was sent to me by Chris Greaves, who thought it might be a good idea to share it with the membership. The program mentioned in it, Disk Inventory X, has been shown and demonstrated to the membership by Michael on several occasions. There is a link to a free copy of the program at the bottom of this page…. Within the storage optimization options you can click on the different storage categories and see specifics on what is in that category. If you select documents, it will show you the entire contents of your documents folder and the file sizes. It can do the same with Mail, iOS files, applications and additional categories. No longer do you need to dig through files. You can see everything in one quick view! In going through the categories I uncovered in less than 5 minutes that the major storage issues on my machine were old iOS backups of phones, almost 40GB worth! I deleted all my old iOS backups except the most recent one and significantly increased the amount of free space on my hard drive. Going forward it’s going to be much easier to manager my storage and better isolate my storage troubles. By Emily Dolloff www.smalldog.com Disk Inventory X, the free disk utility mentioned in the article, can be found here: http://www.derlien.com/downloads/index.html Virtual Private Network: Get a Free VPN with Opera Opera, makers of a suite of software for browsing the web on mobile and desktop devices used by some 350 million consumers, has made another acquisition to build out the services it offers to users. It has acquired SurfEasy, makers of a virtual private network (VPN) app that lets users browse the web more securely. A virtual private network, also known as a VPN, is a private network that extends across a public network or internet. It enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. VPNs can provide functionality, security and/or network management benefits to the user. But they can also lead to new issues, and some VPN services, especially "free" ones, can actually violate their users' privacy by logging their usage and making it available without their consent, or make money by selling the user's bandwidth to other users. Some VPNs allow employees to securely access a corporate intranet while located outside the office. Some can securely connect geographically separated offices of an organization, creating one cohesive network. Individual Internet users can use some VPNs to secure their wireless transactions, to circumvent georestrictions and censorship, and/or to connect to proxy servers for the purpose of protecting personal identity and location. But some Internet sites block access via known VPNs to prevent the circumvention of their geo-restrictions. A VPN is created by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of dedicated connections, virtual tunneling protocols, or traffic encryption. A VPN available from the public Internet can provide some of the benefits of a wide area network (WAN). From a user perspective, the resources available within the private network can be accessed remotely Normally, your browser connects directly to websites, allowing websites to identify your IP address and its approximate location. With VPN, you connect to websites via a VPN server. As a result, your apparent location changes to the location of the server. To enable Opera VPN: Download and install Opera Launch the Opera browser Select Opera > Preferences. Click Privacy & Security on the sidebar. Under VPN, tick the Enable VPN check box. When you enable VPN, it starts automatically, and the blue VPN badge appears in the combined search and address bar. Click on the badge, and you will see an on/off switch, information about the amount of data transferred, the virtual location, and the the virtual IP address. From the point-of-view of websites, your browser is now located in the country given by the virtual location. To change your virtual location, select a country from the list. If you do not choose a country, you are automatically assigned an "optimal location". To turn off VPN, flip the switch. Because the connection from your browser to the VPN server is encrypted, even if the local network is not, VPN enhances your privacy on the local network. You can hide your browsing activities from other users of that network. To enhance your privacy with regard to websites, making it more difficult for them to track you, you need a combination of features. The issue is cookies. Even if you disguise your location, websites can still identify you if they have set a cookie. Notice however that by blocking ads, you block the source of many tracking cookies, and at the end of a private browsing session, when you close the browser, all cookies from that session are deleted. Opera’s VPN is a free service, and the amount of data you are allowed to transfer is unlimited. Note that using a VPN built into your browser ONLY creates privacy for you when you visit websites using the browser. Any third-party apps that can be used outside of the browser to download or view streamed content will not be affected and for those activities your true IP address will still be shown and your location will be open to public scrutiny. Michael Shaw This service is also available for iDevices at http://tinyurl.com/j6ltult . Requires iOS 8.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Enable Internet Sharing in Mac OS X to Turn Your Mac Into a Wireless Router Did you know you can turn your Mac into a wireless access point by using Internet Sharing? Internet Sharing works for nearly all versions of Mac OS X, from 10.6, to OS X 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion, OS X Mavericks, and beyond, and with internet sharing enabled, your internet connected Mac will broadcast a wifi signal that can be used by another Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, or whatever else you need to get online from.  Connect the ethernet cable from any WAN port on the modem or router to the Mac that will be used as the router.  Launch “System Preferences” from the  Apple menu and click on “Sharing”  Click on “Internet Sharing” from the left menu  Select the pull-down menu next to “Share your connection from:” and choose “Ethernet”  Alongside “To computers using:” check the box next to “Wi-Fi” or “AirPort” (name depends on OS X 10.8+ vs 10.6)  Next, unless you are comfortable with an open network, click on “Wi-Fi Options” and name the network, and then click to enable security/encryption, and then type in a WEP or WPA2 key as the wireless password Though it may sound like an advanced feature, internet sharing is actually really easy to set up on a Mac, and if you follow along you’ll have it working in no time at all, effectively turning a Mac into a wireless router. If you’re wondering when and why this is so useful, here are some common situations where Internet Sharing is particularly helpful:  You don’t own a wireless router – no problem, let the Mac become one.  There is only a wired internet connection (ethernet) available, and you need to get a wireless-only device online, like an iPad or MacBook Air.  You’re at a location that charges internet access per device, rather than a flat rate for all devices. This is the usual condition found in airports.  Skirt the connected device limitations of Personal Hotspot (iOS) and Internet Tethering from mobile phones.  Hotels have a bad habit of charging customers a per device fee rather than a single per room cost for internet access. Using Internet Sharing gets around that greatly inflated expense. This is the the process required for setting up a secured wireless access point, broadcast from an internet connected Mac to be shared with other Macs, PC’s, iOS devices, or anything else. The wired internet connection can come either from something like a hotel or office ethernet network, or even directly from a cable modem or DSL modem from a standard broadband provider. Once everything is up and running, you can connect many devices to the Mac’s signal just by connecting to it’s broadcast SSID (the router ID). It’s easy to set up, let’s get started. That’s all there is to it. Your Mac is now broadcasting a wireless signal that can be picked up by any other wi-fi enabled devices. And it doesn’t just work for wired computers connected directly to a modem or route: Through the magic of Internet Sharing you can share the signal and connection you are receiving from any source and send it out to any device within range(if Wi-Fi) or any device connected via your specified other method. You can even accept a wireless signal to share to any old Mac that only has ethernet. Your network will be named by default after the name on your computer (see above) but you can change the name to anything you want to via the Wi-Fi Options button. The new Macs put out a strong signal, but if you’re a perfectionist, you could then run the Wi-Fi Diagnostics tool and get the optimal signal for the network by reconfiguring the setup by rearranging things physically. For most purposes though, whether it’s in a brief hotel or airport usage situation, so long as the devices are fairly close enough together the optimization is less important, and you won’t need to worry much about getting things perfect. Anything in the same room or in direct line of sight should function at full speed. The Wi-Fi Options button is where you set the security and exclusive access to your network. In terms of security, the network is relatively secure thanks to password set during the setup process. If you find that you forgot the password you used when you set up Internet Sharing, you just have to disable security and re-enable it to set a new one. The newest versions of OS X support WPA2 encryption, adding even more security to the network, but older versions of Mac OS X offer WEP which, while certainly better than nothing, is less strong than WPA. Any open network is an invitation for abuse and if you do not want strangers using your IP address to download questionable material from the internet you should put something in the Password field. Connecting to the Mac’s shared internet connection is now the same as connecting to any other wireless network, the process of which is generally the same for each device, though obviously it will be slightly different per operating system. Basically, all you need to do is treat the Mac’s broadcasted signal as any other wireless router: Find the wifi access point name you set (known as the SSID), enter the wireless password, and you’re online as if you connected to any other network. Literally any wireless equipped device can connect to the Mac shared connection at this point, whether it’s another Mac, a Windows PC, linux box, XBox, Playstation 3, an iPhone, iPad, Android tablet, Apple TV, you name it, as long as it as wifi support it will treat the Mac broadcasting it’s signal just like any other router and won’t know the difference. Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues from HeR Interactive Codes and clues is a new story-driven hidden-object mobile game. HeR International has been developing Nancy Drew games for many years. They are up to game number 32 and I have reviewed some of these in the past. Now with Codes and Clues they are branching out into the iOS field. This game is mainly designed for a much younger audience than their OS series. I decided to try Codes and Clues out with my two grandchildren. The storyline plays out along the lines of a children's book. Nancy Drew and her two friends, Bess and George, are invited to compete in a Science Fair. Not long after they arrive at the room where the contest is to be held, some mischief occurs with the submission from the contestant next to them. Her project has been tampered with. Nancy is quick to point out that she is a budding detective and that she and her friends will get to the bottom of this mystery. Each storyline scene has colourful pictures which will keep the young players interested and some spoken dialogue. The dialogue shows up at the bottom of the page so that each scene is like turning the page of a book. As a plus that you don't get in a book, the background music is very engaging and has those playing tapping their toes to the various beats. At first glance, it might appear that this game is geared more to young girls but I quickly found out that my grandson liked it just as much. There are three main parts to the game. First, a wardrobe has to be chosen. They need to dress so as to blend into each of the scenes they are investigating. A dress does not suit someone visiting a stable. Then there is a set of Hidden Object Games for each setting. Lastly, a robot dog has to be programmed to walk through an obstacle course to help out our heroines. This is where the coding part of the game's name comes in. These three parts are repeated through the game's six chapters. My granddaughter liked the change of clothes the best. My grandson preferred the HOG. The coding was a bit difficult for the four year old to begin with. I had to assist her through some of it. Nonetheless, after a couple of chapters, she was showing me what to do next. The kids had no problem maneuvering through the game. Blinking green arrows and red exclamation points highlight what to do next. Each chapter consists of a series of tasks that start off locked. Each task can be expected to be completed in very little time and your progress is saved. You can leave the game and return to it at any time. You can repeat any step after you have unlocked it. You can fast forward some of it and skip dialogue. Coding and Clues is a great introduction to computer programming. The coding challenges increase as the story progresses and leads to a super coder award. Three stars are awarded for each coding process. These are won, not by using the fewest steps, but rather by completing all the tasks assigned. There is no precision needed nor time penalties. The player can go back and forth as often as they need until all has been accomplished. I like that there is no pressure on the child to progress through the task in as short a set of steps as possible. They can have the robot move one step at a time or combine a sequence of steps. There is even a loop setup so they can combine a set of actions. It is up to them how complex they want to get. They are learning first what each step does and then, if they choose, combining them to arrive at their goal. Ultimately they will learn some of the basic logic used in computer programming. The coding is so important to the educational value of the game that the developers have added some bonus coding that is not part of the story line. There are two points to make as far as playing a game in iOS. I find that the hidden objects are often very difficult to find on an iOS device. They are small and hard to pick out. Fortunately, with Codes and Clues, the scene can be zoomed in with the two finger pinch out gesture. The grandkids did not get frustrated trying to find the objects even though they started out very small. Secondly, to replay a game, you are required to delete the game from your device and reinstall it. As with most iOS games, you can't save the game with different names. Only one player is active at a time. There is real replay value to the game. This comes mainly from the fifteen charms awarded as prizes for completing a variety of tasks. There is one for trying on all the clothes and another for getting through the coding. I know that I will replay a game over and over until all the achievements are mine. Kids are no different. They wanted to go over what they had done until they had all the charms. You can read about this game by visiting the HeR Interactive web site, herinteractive.com. Codes and Clues sells for $3.99 CAD and is well worth the small cost. There are no in-app purchases. This game comes complete as is. To my mind, the coding that goes into moving the robot dog is too educational to pass on. Plus, you will be opening these youngsters to a vast amount of reading material that many of us have enjoyed in the past. I have no doubt that by playing this game I have instilled in my grandkids the desire to read some Nancy Drew books. They will remember playing this game and will want to further explore the escapades of this detective. Submitted by Marcel Dufresne How to Create a Backdoor To Downgrade MacOS X I’m sure you are in a rush to upgrade to the newest version of OS X. This year it is Sierra and, as in the past years with OS X El Capitan and Yosemite, the upgrade is free of charge and will be distributed via the Mac App Store. Though most of us are excited to try the new version, not everyone is aware that Apple doesn’t allow a downgrade. So once you have upgraded to Sierra and find that not everything is running as you expected it, there’s no out of the box path to go back to your previous installation of Yosemite or El Capitan. One way of downgrading of course could be to create a Time Machine backup and in the unlikely event of having to revert to your older OS X you can replace your installation with the backup. However that will take a while and you first need to upgrade. Or you could Google it, see whether others have encountered issues. Well, not really workable, as nobody is alike and hey, we are curious and want to get our hands on it, right? So what’s best practice to test a new version of OS X to see whether you can use it in production? If you have several machines, obviously the best way is to try it on a machine that is not critical in our production environment. However that has two downsides:  First, you really want to test the new version of OS X on your most use machine to see whether all applications and small tools are running fine.  Secondly, not everybody has two or more new machines Here’s how to safely test a new OS X and being able to revert immediately or – even better – to just temporarily revert to a previous version of OS X. It is important is that you do this BEFORE you install Sierra. Best Practice to safely test a single Mac with a new version of OS X. Here’s my way of creating myself a backdoor to be able to revert and downgrade to a previous version of OS X. If you just have one Internet device, please print this to be able to reference. Before you start, please turn off Time Machine, as it might mess up your backups when working from a cloned disk.  1 Buy an external hard disk that is at least as large as your internal hard disk (“Macintosh HD”) and connect it to your Mac.  2 Use Disk Utility to format the external disk as “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and in options “GUID Partition Table”.  3 Download Carbon Copy Cloner (http://bombich.com/). It has a free trial for 30 days, however I strongly recommend purchasing it as it can save you a lot of trouble and money.  4 Clone your hard disk to the external disk. So source is “Macintosh HD” and target is “External Drive”. Clone it completely. Everything. Bootable.  5 Note that CCC tells you what it will create before doing it. Read the manual if you are unsure.  6 Important: Reboot your Mac and hold the Option key pressed. Boot from the external hard disk. Note: This might take  longer than normal, as you are using a connection that is typically a bit slower than an internal hard disk. Test whether everything works as before (ignore the slight difference in speed), it’s important to check that this is a real clone. If everything has worked fine, that’s your 1:1 backup and it’s even bootable.  7 Shut down your Mac. Unplug external hard disk. Restart.  8 Now upgrade your Mac to the new OS X (so to Sierra).  9 Look for upgrades of the applications and tools you use, update your printer drivers etc.  10 Important: Test everything thoroughly. Test all the applications you use frequently, all the goodies, and see whether you like the UI, whether all your input and output devices work (scanners, printers etc.). You can even simulate production.  11 If everything works fine, you are done and can enjoy the new OS X. How does Murphy says “The only backup you’ll ever need is the one that you didn’t make.”  12 Ignore the rest of this list ;-) If you feel the new OS X isn’t right for you yet and you want to work with your previous version of OS X for the next weeks (and then maybe test again), here’s how how to downgrade OS X permanently:  1 First make sure that you save everything important that you have created since using the new OS X.  2 So if you created a QuarkXPress document under Sierra already and you’ll still need that, save it to a USB stick (or something similar).  3 Now shutdown your Mac.  4 Connect the external hard disk again.  5 Important: Start your Mac from the external hard disk (by holding the Option key and choosing the external drive).  6 Use CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) to duplicate the cloned drive back to your internal hard disk. Clone everything back from source “External Drive” to target “Macintosh HD”. That’s important, don’t clone it the other way around.  7 Shut down your Mac. Remove external hard disk.  8 Restart your Mac.  9 Work Everything should be now exactly the same as it was before you upgraded OS X. Test it to be sure. Remember to copy any files you saved on the USB stick to your drive and continue working. Make a mental note to try that in a few weeks again once the applications that haven’t worked correctly are updated to support Sierra. And, like Brian said at the September MaUsE meeting, always back up critical files before you perform a system upgrade, just in case something goes wrong in the process. Garage Sale Find #1: Belkin Surgemaster F9h520-06 ($1.00) The hardware reviews in this month’s issue are of a couple of handy items I picked up at garage sales. First up is the Belkin Surgemaster F9h520-06 pictured here. I don’t know if the rest of you are using a surge protector to protect your sensitive electronics for power surges, and I honestly don’t know how frequently power surges occur or how effective surge protectors actually are but I know that Belkin has a reputation for building surge protectors that are more than just a power bar. When I saw this one at a garage sale on offer for a couple of dollars ( I bought it for one dollar) I grabbed it. Unlike most surge protectors that look like a power bar and just have multiple plug-ins and a reset button, the Belkin Surgemaster F9h520-06 has multiple outlets on the back controlled by solid rocker switches on the front. The rockers are labeled monitor, computer, aux, aux. Rather than a reset, the unit has an on / off rocker with status two lights. Many low quality surge protectors keep power flowing even after their protection fails. This Belkin unit has the added feature of a green “protected” LED that will go out or change color if the protection circuits fail. Besides protection for the computer, this Belkin SurgeMaster model come with a built-in splitter for phone/fax/modem surge protection on the back. Electrical surges can travel on any type of wire so the unit has one input port for the telephone line from the wall jack and two protected output ports that can be connected to a phone, a fax machine or a modem. The reset button is on the back as well. Electrical surges are disturbances to the electrical supply. A power surge can occur for several reasons. For example, high-power electrical devices can create a spike in the electrical current when they're switched on or when their motors kick on. Refrigerators, air conditioners and even space heaters can cause a power surge strong enough to damage electrical systems. This is especially true if you have faulty wiring that affects your home's ability to withstand spikes. Tripped circuit breakers and short circuits in your wiring system can also lead to power spikes. If surges are caused by a problem in the wiring of your home, you should talk to an electrician to see if you need to rewire the house or replace the circuit breaker. Lightning strikes are another common cause of power surges. A lightning strike doesn't have to occur near you to cause a spike in your electrical current. In fact, striking close to a power line can cause a spike. A single strike can cause a spike strong enough to burn out a computer monitor, router and even your television. All surge protectors are not created equal. In fact, there is a tremendous range in both performance and price of protection systems. At one end, you have your basic $5 surge protector power strip, which will offer very little protection. On the other end you have systems costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars, which will pro- tect against pretty much everything short of lightning striking nearby. Most systems have limitations of some sort; picking out a protector system that suits you is a matter of balancing the cost of the system with the cost of losing data or electronic equipment. As with insurance, you find the level of coverage you're comfortable with. No surge protector is 100 percent effective, and even top of the line equipment may have some serious problems. Belkin Components warrants to the original purchaser of any Belkin Surge Protector for the life of the product, that the surge protector shall be free of defects in design, assembly, material, or workmanship, and will repair or replace, at its option, any defective product free of charge. This model comes with Belkin’s Connected Equipment Warranty that covers damages to equipment connected to the device of up to a maximum of $75,000.00. Contributed by Michael Shaw Garage Sale Find #2: Targus Notebook Cooler ($3.00) duces heat. That’s why your laptop battery gets warm while in use. In fact, there have been many claims that the batteries on the bottoms of some older laptop MacBooks actually gets so hot that it can be uncomfortable to use. Running an external fan to cool your computer is a heavy drain on the battery and will produce more heat than it dissipates while drastically shortening the time you can use your computer before the power drain shuts it down. For that reason, USB-powered (active) notebook coolers should only be used when the computer is plugged into a power supply. The Targus laptop cooler I use is very quiet, though not as quiet as the fan inside the computer but ut delivers a lot more air flow. It has two large multi-vaned fans and plugs into one of my USB ports or, when I have a hub connected, into the USB hub. It has an on / off button and runs off current provided to the USB bus by the external power supply, not by the battery, so it does not cause the battery to get hot. Some laptop coolers have a built-in USB hub so they do not monopolise the USB ports but this one does not. It is especially effective with the older aluminum laptops which have their batteries on the bottom and clad in aluminum, which is a good conductor. The battery radiates the heat and the fan blows it away. As we all know, excessive heat is a factor that can potentially shorten the lives of electronic devices. There have always been cooling issues with Apple computers and there have been many engineered responses to the conflicting attempts to achieve the absolutely best computing experience for the user vs the best computing environment for the computer itself. Older desktop towers had up to half a dozen fans and copper heat sinks the size of grapefruits. The need to blow large quantities of cooling air through the CPU brings with it potential exposure to a huge volume of dust and particulate from the surrounding air, especially in environments where there are smokers and pets. Cooling can be achieved easily by equipping the computer case with baffles and several large, high-volume fans but this solution can mean excessive power to run them all and a lot of noise. Huge efforts have been made and progress is obvious: the newest computers are equipped with efficient processors that use far less electricity, produce far less heat, and have superior engineered heat sinks that make it possible for them to require a lot less airflow. For those of us with older portable Mac stuff that still requires forced air cooling, there are a lot of after-market devices, both active and passive, that are designed to help keep our computers cool. I have used both types and find that for home use the active coolers are best. The thing to remember is that in order for any fan to cool your computer, it must be powered. The production of power also pro- If you find that your old laptop tends to get uncomfortably hot, consider getting a cooler to help it keep its cool. Michael Shaw. Book Review: Desk Top Publishing With QuarkXPress 2016 It has been quite a while since we had a book review in the DoubleClick. For a while, about a decade ago, MaUsE regularly received books to review from several publishers and we even published a list of our books and set up a lending library where MaUsE members could request anything from the list and keep it for a month. But that was back when we still bought records at the music store instead of on-line and software came in boxes with printed manuals, instead of a download link. Now we get many of our our books as searchable .PDF files and in various Epub formats. As you may have gathered from the title and images, this is a book about Desk Top Publishing and not merely “Desktop Publishing”, the common name for a category of software coined in the 1980s. In an attempt to make the book more appropriate to a wider audience, the author has included a lot of information about the traditions of desk top publishing that predate modernity. Along with chronicling the early history of printing with movable type and mechanical presses, the book condenses the important developments of the past 30 years of DTP, print and digital experience, into 356 pages, suitable for the general public and for students of the subject. Because of the scope of the material covered, fully the first of the book is designed to explain and clarify the nuances of good desktop publishing. Anything done can be done better to achieve a more subtle and more successful effect if the psychology behind good design is properly understood. To this end, the author describes how effects can best be achieved and how documents can be made more effective and professional through the proper selection and manipulation of design elements. The back half of the book concentrates on describing the powerful tools and environment of QuarkXPress. Working from the basics, it covers mastering publishing, digital, deep features such as job jackets and automation, and lists and explains every panel, palette, menu and function of QuarkXPress 2016. The marginal notes are full of hard-to-find information, protips and trade secrets. Author Martin Turner writes: “Over the years, I’ve seen dozens of designers, some straight from college, some hardened veterans, whose work came to a halt because they lacked some crucial piece of knowledge. In this book, I have tried to include the answers to all of their questions, and to uncover the richer possibilities that QuarkXPress 2016 offers. Its new features—especially native import and HTML5 publishing—allow us to be more productive, more creative and more satisfied in our work. Whether in print or online, more than ever before, QuarkXPress 2016 gives us the power to delight the eye and intrigue the mind.” Michael Shaw macOS Sierra For the first time since Apple released OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in July 2012, Apple has dropped support for a number of older Macs that had supported OS X 10.8 through 10.11 El Capitan. No MacBook and iMac models prior to Late 2009 and no MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro models prior to 2010 are officially supported by macOS Sierra, although workarounds have been developed for most unsupported 2008 and 2009 Macs. Mac OS X is no longer being called OS X, and Apple is not promoting Sierra with a version number either (although, it is internally identified as OS X 10.12). Now it’s simply macOS Sierra – in keeping with iOS, tvOS, and watchOS. macOS Sierra was released on Sept. 20, 2016 and officially requires a supported Mac with at least 2 GB of system memory and 8.8 GB of available storage space. (We recommend at least 4 GB of RAM.) Officially Supported Macs All Late 2009 and later MacBook and iMac models are supported in macOS Sierra, as are all 2010 and newer MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro computers. Hardware requirements for macOS Sierre include a CPU with SSE4.1, so it cannot be run on any Mac with a CPU prior to the Penryn Core 2 Duo. In theory, it should be possible to get Sierra running on any Penryn or later Mac. It may be possible to swap out the Merom CPU in some Macs for a Penryn, which would then allow Sierra to run. Sierra can run with 4 GB of system memory, but as with all recent versions of OS X, more memory will allow it to run even better. In order to install macOS Siera you will need a USB drive 8 GB or larger and Mistr’s patch tool, which is linked below on his page. WiFi does not function on these unsupported systems if they have the Broadcom BCM4321 WiFi module: Late 2008 and Mid 2009 MacBook Air Early 2008 and Mid 2008 MacBook Pro Early 2008 iMac Early 2008 Mac Pro New Features  Siri comes to the Mac with macOS Sierra.  macOS Sierra can automatically sync all files on your Desktop and in your Documents folder with other Macs running Sierra. You can also access these files in your iPhone or iPad using iCloud Drive.  The new Universal Clipboard lets you copy on one device and paste on another – whether it’s a Mac with Sierra or an iPhone or iPad with iOS 10.  Tabs are almost everywhere in Sierra, and they work much as they do in your browser. Third party apps will also be able to use tabs.  Apple Pay is now part of macOS, not just iOS.  If you have an Apple Watch, Auto Unlock will authenticate you and log you in automatically when you approach your Mac.  Optimized Storage can store infrequently used files in iCloud while keeping them immediately available any time you are online. Michael Shaw Hacking macOS Sierra for Unsupported Macs Colin Mistr has published a macOS Sierra Patch Tool, (available at: http://dosdude1.com/sierrapatch.html) which currently allows you to install and run macOS Sierra on the following officially unsupported hardware: Early 2008 iMac or later Late 2008 Aluminum Unibody MacBook Mid 2009 MacBook (white) or later Late 2008 MacBook Air or later Early 2008 MacBook Pro or later Late 2009 Mac mini or later Early 2008 Mac Pro or later 2009 Xserve Note: If you have the Early 2009 Mac Pro and have installed the firmware update patch so it identifies itself as MacPro5,1, you can run the standard installer. You do not need the patch tool. Colin Mistr‘s macOS Sierra Patch Tool, is available at: http://dosdude1.com/sierrapatch.html) Kronville: Stolen Dreams from Alawar Games This is one of the many hidden object casual games. These come in many styles, depending on what they spotlight. The traditional hidden object game is one in which locating a number of items, such as a bat or a candle in the scene shown, is emphasized. Unfortunately for you, the picture is a hodgepodge of various items carefully blended together to render it difficult to locate anything in particular. The item you are trying to detect is kind of camouflaged until it pops out at you and you wonder how you could have had so much trouble finding it. Once the items for that location are found, you then proceed to a map and work on the next location. The second type is more of an adventure game where you roam around locating tools and such that may help you along the way. The third type emphasizes the mini game and the puzzles more than the hidden objects. The main differences between the various games are the story line, the amount and type of mini-games that often have to be solved to enter the subsequent location, and the type of hint that is provided. Stolen Dreams fits into the third type as you roam around the numerous scenes looking for inventory items that will help you solve puzzles as well as many challenging mini-games. The story places you in the town of Kronville where 12 children have recently vanished from this once peaceful locale. You play the game as a school teacher named Astrid. You must guide her as she investigates the disappearances, and in so doing uncovers an evil plot involving an ancient artifact. Your primary task consists of saving these 12 little ones. This requires you to explore the city and solve clever puzzles in this hidden object game. Can you uncover the truth before a lunatic kidnaper realizes his goal? Besides having to explore the town itself, you must also roam in a children's fantasy dream world. You will encounter Peter Pan's Neverland, the Red Queen from Alice's Wonderland, Red Riding Hood and the Snow Queen. The diverse areas to explore produce a very captivating game. You are not bored by having to visit the same places over and over again. The game play itself is simple. You use the mouse to find hidden objects and active areas in the scene. The cursor will change from an arrow to a magnifying glass or another icon to indicate a hot spot that has to be explored. Since the emphasis is more on the minigames, you will find more puzzles to solve than hidden objects. I found the puzzles quite demanding and I did resort to skipping the puzzle a couple of times. I just could not figure out how to get through some of these. The hints are excellent and will lead you through all encounters. I particularly liked the branching conversations that followed each character I spoke with. The dialogue provided a choice as to what to ask next. Rather than being linear in nature, you could sculpt your encounters. I am sure the final results would be the same but it was nice to have that choice built-in. It added some reality to the game. I have reviewed other Alawar games in the past and I have always really enjoyed playing them. Kronville: Stolen Dreams is definitely up to their quality game standard. I am looking forward to playing the game a second time, and hopefully getting through all the mini-games this time. You can purchase the game from the BigFishGame website (bigfishgames.com/games/11250/kronville-stolen-dreams/?mac) for $7.14 and it being from BFG, you can play the one hour trial for free. Try it out before deciding that you are up for the challenge. Remember, it is not a pure Hidden Object Game as such. It is all those mini-games that will provide the hours of fun. This game is entertainment for both novice and expert HOG players. Submitted by Marcel Dufresne Early 2009 Xserve Xeon Nahalem 5 For articles that have appeared in many issues if the DoubleClick I have done what most of us never get around to - I have opened up a Macintosh CPU just to see what is inside. I hope that you find this sort of thing interesting. For this issue I have opened up a Macintosh Xserve model that is a rare bird. I sure that most of us have never laid eyes on an Apple Xserve computer. These things are designed to be rack-mounted in a secure data storage room and never appear on a desktop or in public. The one pictured here is one of the last ones Apple made, a Xserve Xeon Nehalem 2.26 "Eight Core" with the top cover removed. This is technically a "build-to-order" configuration of the Xserve Xeon Nehalem 2.26 "Quad Core" (Early 2009), but also is documented as a separate model. Both of two 64-bit 45-nm Xeon E5520 (Nehalem) processors have four independent processor "cores" each with a dedicated 256k level 2 cache, 8 MB of "fully shared" level 3 cache, an integrated memory controller, and "a 128-bit SSE4 SIMD engine". It also supports "Hyper-Threading" -- which "allows two threads to run simultaneously on each core" -- and "Turbo Boost" -- which "automatically boosts the processor speed based on workload" (so if an application is only using one of the four cores it will automatically increase the speed of the core in use and turn off the unused cores). The last iteration of rack-mounted Xserve computers was introduced in April 2009, topped out at 2.93GHz, and were discontinued at the end January 2011. Then Apple simply stopped making servers. 6 8 3 To put things into scale, this computer measures 30 inches from front to back, is about 18 inches wide, and less than 2 inches high. And it weighs about 30 pounds. If you look closely you will see that there is a place for everything:  1 Hard Drive  2 Hard Drive  3 Hard Drive  4 Optical drive. An 8X double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD RW/CD-RW) is standard.  5 Power supplies (two of them) 2 9 7 4 1  6 CPU A with 4 independent cores  7 CPU B with 4 independent cores  8 RAM slots (two banks of six for a total of 12 RAM slots)  9 GeForce GT 120 video card with 256 Megs of GRDDR3 SDRAM in one of two PCIe expansion slots. Apple explains that this system offers "two open PCI Express 2.0 x16 expansion slots: one half-length (6.6-inch) and one 9.25-inch length". There are many features besides their appearance that differentiates the Xserve models from other Macs. Since their purpose is different for consumer models, they ship with a unique operating system designed to function as a server rather than as a desktop model. And the Xserve is loud and runs hot. Apple engineers have gone to great lengths to make your consumerlevel desktop Mac as user friendly as possible, including making it look pretty and run quietly and cool but Apple Servers are located far from end users and do not have to be civilized. They are more like industrial (or military) grade computers and have been constructed with other priorities than user comfort. You would not want to have one of these in the same room, let alone on your desk. Plus the graphics capabilities of the Xserve are rubbish in comparison to the desktop models. From a close examination of the video card, it appears to be solidly attached to the logic board and not upgradeable. You do not have very many options as the Xserve does not have an extra power supply plug for a higher end video card. High end video cards usually require extra power from the computer to run their onboard fans. Also.… no modem, no bluetooth, no keyboard, no mouse, no AirPort, and built in a case that defies aesthetics. 3 Unlike Apple’s desktop model, the Xserve does have up to three hot-swappable hard drives, located in drawers with openings arranged on the outside of the case so they can be installed or removed without opening the computer. When the computer is running any hard drive except the one with the Operating System files on it can be pulled out and replaced. The usage models for desktop systems versus enterprise systems results in very different requirements for hard drives, which in turn influences the robustness of hard drive design, and the implementation of features to enhance reliability, and the related costs. These features can include heavier actuator magnets, faster spindle speeds, denser magnetic media, and faster drive electronic components with 2 1 more cache memory and faster hard drive micro-processor speeds, better mechanics for faster and more reliable data access (more servos), more components for error detection and correction, vibration compensation or reduction to reduce likelihood of data corruption induced by moving parts in the server, (rotating fans and spinning disks). The Xeon Xserve drive bays support 7200 rpm SATA and 15,000 rpm SAS drives and can be configured with up to 3TB of internal storage. Long-time Xserve customers may be confused when configuring disks for their new Xserve: Unlike the prior two generations, with the new Xserve SAS (serial attached SCSI) drives are no longer listed among the configuration options. Indeed, Apple does not sell Applebranded SAS disks for the new Xserve; customers who need SAS disks must instead purchase Promise-branded SAS disks in the Apple Store or from an Apple reseller. (Promise’s SAS disks are available for both the Xserve and the Mac Pro, packaged in the drive carriers used by those respective computers.) These disks are not available as configure-to-order options, but as accessories that arrive in separate boxes and must be installed by the customer. The usage models for desktop systems and enterprise systems results in very different requirements for hard drives. Server drives are expected to run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, at 100% work load. Michael Shaw ClamXav Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware The Solution for Mac OS X In the past, we Macintosh users have not felt the need to use anti-virus protection on our computers. This was a good thing because most of the anti-virus applications I used on my Windows computer greatly slowed down the computer's speed. As of now, there is still no great need to use this type of software. But this might change in the near future. Viruses are only one aspect of the malware that might infect your system. There is more and more malware popping up all the time. Malware, short for malicious software, is any software utilized to disrupt computer operations, gather sensitive information, gain access to private computer systems, or display unwanted advertising. It is an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software, including viruses, worms, trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, scareware, and other programs. It may be stealthy, intended to steal information or spy on computer users for an extended period without their knowledge. Or it may be designed to cause harm, often as sabotage, or to extort payment. It can take the form of executable code, scripts, active content, and other software. It is frequently disguised as, or embedded in, nonmalicious files. Spyware is sometimes found embedded in programs supplied officially by companies, downloadable from websites, that appear useful or attractive, but may have, for example, additional hidden tracking functionality that gathers marketing statistics. Depending on your downloading habits, you might feel the need to start using some anti-malware software. ClamXav has been around for over ten years, protecting against just this type of activity. ClamXav can be set up to scan either the specific files you tell it to, or your entire hard drive. When you start it up, the first thing it does is to check that it has the most up to date virus definitions. Virus definitions are small snippets of code which enable ClamXav to detect malware and must be kept up-to-date for ClamXav to be effective. You can schedule when it updates and let it run continually in the background, safe in the knowledge that its database is current. I did not notice any speed reduction when this application was running in the background. You can also schedule scans. The main ClamXav application does not need to be running for scheduled scans and updates to take place. If you prefer immediate scanning then choose to activate the secondary application Sentry to monitor your computer and scan any new files as they arrive. This program resides in the menu bar and can run even if you quit ClamXav. You determine which folder it is to watch from its preferences. Sentry will monitor any drives, such as a thumb drive, that you connect to your computer. Again, I found no speed interruption when this application was scanning my drives. I did not feel the need to scan a thumb drive every time I plugged it in. The second time I plugged it in, I chose the ‘never scan’ option, and avoided the pop up window. I can always rescan it in the future if I am at all suspicious of what I might have put into it. When I first ran ClamXav, I was informed that I had two spyware extensions running on my Safari app. As I really did not use either of these extensions, I immediately uninstalled them. I had only added them in because I had read somewhere that they might increase the functionality of Safari. My computer now scanned as malware free. Considering all the downloading I do in order to research my reviews, I feel pretty happy that I had so few malware items. I now have the peace of mind that I can detect and remove any malware that might pop up. When you launch ClamXav, you'll see the main window which contains five primary sections: Toolbar, Source List, Infection List, Console, and Status Area. The toolbar at the top of the window allows quick access to frequently performed actions such as scan, pause or delete. The Source List on the left hand side enables you to keep a list of favourite items to scan. I keep my downloads folder there for quick access as well as my Safari app and Apple Mail. ClamXav does not automatically scan the contents of individual email messages for malware. You need to tell ClamXav to scan the appropriate folder containing your email. The Infection List on the upper right hand side shows details of any infected files found during a scan. The console area on the lower right of the window gives verbose output about what ClamXav is doing such as starting to update or scan complete. The status area is the bar at the very bottom of the window. Initially, it displays the version of ClamXav and the date of your latest virus definitions update. It changes during a scan to show which file is currently being examined. To the right of this is a progress bar to give an indication of how many files are still waiting to be scanned. ClamXav comes with a Finder contextual menu item, and a Services Menu item. What these allow you to do is select a file or handful of files in the Finder and scan them directly from there. When you choose one or more files in the Finder and right-click to access the contextual menu item, 'Scan with ClamXav' will appear in the Services submenu. Choosing this will start up ClamXav which will first update its virus definitions and then scan your selection for viruses. The keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-S will do the same. ClamXav has no yearly subscription fees as some other virus scanners have. You get free malware database updates and free customer support. ClamXav comes with a Notification Center/Today Extension. This allows you to see at a glance: the Date and Time the malware definitions were last updated, the Date and Time and result of the last scheduled scan, and the result of the last 5 items scanned by ClamXav Sentry. The Today Extension will only work in OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) or newer. There is extensive documentation online that will answer any of your questions about this app. It is not viruses that I am mainly worried about. These are few and far between for the Mac OS. It is the spyware that I want to do away with. ClamXav will scan for these malicious additions and enable me to get rid of them. ClamXav requires Mac OS X 10.6.8 or higher. There is a 30 day free trial. Download it and try it out. (Even if you do not purchase it, at least you can get rid of whatever is afflicting your computer at this time.) If it finds and removes malware from your computer, you might want to consider purchasing ClamXav to stop it happening again. Learn more about it from the developer’s web site, www.clamxav.com. It sells for $40.25 CAD. Let ClamXav give you peace of mind. Submitted by Marcel Dufresne Take Control eBooks Audio Hijack DoubleClick features an ebook from Take Control Books every month. These ebooks have been published in PDF format and cover issues related to Mac OS. Because they are in PDF format, these ebooks have a lot of advantages over the traditional paper books. Electronic books are a new experience for many people, but they provide you with a good deal of flexibility that isn't available with printed books. With your purchase of the ebook you get expert advice on various topics but with an Apple perspective. These are the same expert authors of some best-selling print books. The download is immediate and you don't have to leave your house to get it. Because it is paperless it can be purchased for much less than a paper edition. Also, if a new edition of the book comes out, your original purchase of the book allows you to easily update your current copy for free. There are clickable links right in the text so that your book immediately leads to other sources on the same topic. It is readable onscreen which means you can control the size of the print. If you use Preview you can even highlight sections without messing up the book (use a copy of the original if you are worried). You can even print up a paper copy of the book if you feel the need. The catalog is very extensive and can be accessed from http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/catalog. They offer free sample sections of all their ebooks and a money-back guarantee, so try one out anytime. As readers of the DoubleClick, you also now have access to this coupon (CPN90219MUG) which entitles you to a 30% discount on the purchase of a book. Learn how to use Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack 3 to capture and enhance any audio playing on a Mac. This book provides instructions for setting up common scenarios — recording audio playing in Safari, capturing Skype and FaceTime calls, digitizing your old LPs, extracting audio from concert DVDs, and working with mics and mixers, among much else. Also get help editing recordings in Rogue Amoeba’s Fission audio editor. You’ll learn how to pipe sound through Audio Hijack to enhance its quality without recording. For example, by boosting the volume or tweaking the bass — movies on Netflix never sounded better. You’ll discover special features such as reusable sessions, recording to more than one file (and format) at once, scheduling recordings, time shifting during live playback, effects like ducking and panning, adding automatic metadata before recording, and more. The Fission chapter has directions for trimming, cropping, adding, replacing, splitting, and fading audio. It also explains how to turn an audio file into a ringtone and — podcasters and educators take note! — how to make a chapterized AAC file. As far as recording goes, you’ll find help with:  Recording literally any audio played on your Mac.  Breaking a digitized album into separate songs.  Recording to multiple files and formats.  Setting up reusable sessions with Audio Hijack’s Audio Grid interface.  Scheduling when your Mac should record something automatically.  Recording from a mic. Or two mics. Or a mixer.  Capturing a chat from Skype, FaceTime, and other VOIP apps.  Checking volume levels before you record.  Ducking one audio source when a second source kicks in.  Digitizing an LP or cassette, while reducing hiss and noise.  Finding your recordings in Audio Hijack and the Finder. If you’re interested in enhancing your aural experience, you’ll find help with:  Enhancing audio while you listen to it. For example, your little laptop’s speakers might not provide enough oomph for an action thriller’s soundtrack, but with Audio Hijack you can boost that sound and enjoy the flick.  Piping audio around your house while you listen in creative ways: Rdio might not be able to use AirPlay to send music to your AirPort Express, but Audio Hijack can.  Time shifting live audio while you listen. If you’ve ever used a TiVo, you know what this means: You’re listening to a live stream, but you can’t pay attention continuously. Even though it’s live, you want to pause and resume, or go back a few seconds or jump ahead (if there’s anything to jump ahead to). Lastly, you’ll learn how to use Fission to polish your recordings. You can:  Trim unwanted bits.  Insert one audio file into another.  Fade in or out from silence.  Adjust a recording’s volume.  Create a ringtone or alert noise.  Make a chapterized AAC file.  Batch convert nearly any audio file to MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, or WAV format. Find sound advice for recording anything on your Mac!! This 119 page ebook costs $10.00 normally but using the coupon will make a difference. Check this ebook out and a lot others at www.takecontrolbooks.com. Submitted by Marcel Dufresne