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MACTHE APPLE LOVER’S MAGAZINE

JUNE

winIS THE APPLE TAX INESCAPABLE?

The problem with the feminist movement was that the wrong women were burning their bras.

* As an Apple Premium Reseller we’re very un-pc. Sorry.

.co.za

Mac Action 1

Then we’ve got some very interesting feature content as well.

The Mac Tax article might be a touch lengthy but persevere

through it and there’s a fairly balanced, reasonable conclusion

in there. Quite rare for any MS – Apple comparison frankly. And

of course, there’s another healthy selection of detailed HowTos

to get you working better, easier, and more confidently with

your Mac.

Now, I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that you

guys had better start firing up your mail clients and sending

us some letters. We’ve secured several new Shuffles from

the generous crew at Core for the best letters every month,

but with a theme. “What drove me from my old PC into the

comforting embrace of my Mac” – all you have to do is send

us a few words on this subject and, if your entry is the best for

the month, one of these 4GB babies will be on their way to

your doorstep. Letters@macaction.co.za is the address, so get

typing.

We hope you enjoy reading our third issue as much as we

enjoyed putting it together. And keep on computing with

panache, it really is the least stressful way.

THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF INTERESTING

CONTENT IN THE PUBLICATION THIS

MONTH. SHOCKINGLY ENOUGH, OUR

EDITOR STEVE ALLISON HAS REVIEWED

THE NEW SHUFFLE, AND DESPITE

ALL THE HYPE HAS IDENTIFIED A

FEW WEAKNESSES IN ITS IMPRESSIVE

ARSENAL OF COOL FEATURES! QUITE

A SHOCK FOR THE APPLECOMMITTED

MAN, I CAN TELL YOU!

from the editor

Mac Action2

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MACTHE APPLE LOVER’S MAGAZINE

April 2009

NEWS

05. News

New products, new software

releases, new cool stuff in the

App Store, new crazily-priced

designer incarnations of Apple

products. And the imminent Apple

Worldwide Developer Conference,

read more details on the lot here in

our monthly roundup of hot Apple

news!

EDITOR’S CORNER

10. Editor’s Corner

Steve hates restrictions, and is

quite certain life is way too full of

them as it is. For his beloved Apple

to endorse and perpetuate yet

another, is a problem for our Ed

this month.

11. The other side

This month Russell Bennett stares

fear in the face, and wonders if a

technology tipping point is one

the cards?

FEATURES

14. Mac Tax

The infamous Mac Tax continues to

be perpetuated all over the place,

not least in Microsoft advertising

campaigns. But how true are the

claims? We build a direct desktop

comparison, let’s find out right

here, right now..

20. iSchools

The Core Groups bid at bringing

relevant, useful IT into the

underprivileged classrooms of SA

delivers the strengths of the Apple

brand where it may just be needed

most – developing the minds of

the country’s next generation.

PRODUCT REVIEW

24. We’ve got some tasty gear

Our Superdrives have been busy

loading up and trying out all sorts

of software this month, but we do

also have a detailed look at the

all-new, all-talking iPod Shuffle this

month. You can win one too, check

the letters page for more details.

25. iPod Shuffle 4GB

26. Apple iWork 09

28. MacFreelancer

30. Roxio Toast 10 Titanium

HOW TO

32. How To’s

Our monthly selection of detailed,

and useful, HowTo content starts

here. This month we launch out

onto the web with iWeb, delve

deeper still into iPhoto, and

elaborate on the thousands of

keyboard shortcuts on your Mac, at

least the important ones.

33. Building a website

37. Mastering keyboard

shortcuts

40. Manipulating your images

THE LITTLE THINGS

44. The Little Things.

Our new section dedicated to

those smaller bits that help you

get the most from your tech

purchases, and lifestyle itself. We’re

looking at two brands which are

locally represented by Phoenix

Software with this selection,

Exspect and Elonex, and although

not all of them are available locally

as yet, we reckon if enough of you

pester them they’ll bring them to

our shores!

IPOD COMPETITION

ILOVEMYMAC

MACS IN ACTION

GAMES REVIEW

52 Gaming Macs.

Colin Mcrae Rally is about as

close to the real thing as you can

get without the taste of mud, oil

residue, and unburnt hydrocarbons

filling your gob. All the thrills and

spills right here.

Mac Action team

Editor: Steve Allison

Deputy Editor: Russell Bennett

Editorial Contributors: Steve Allison, Russell

Bennett

Art Contributors: Plutonic

AVC

Management: Steve Allison, Russell Bennett

Advertising Sales: Sean Tingle

sean@plutonic.co.za

Hosting : www.virtualmags.co.za

Subscriptions: www.macaction.co.za

All data contained in this magazine is for information

only and every effort is made to ensure its accuracy.

However reviews, comment and instruction are the

views of the authors and may contain inadvertent

errors, for which Mac Action apologises but takes no

responsibility for any actions of any person resulting

from the use of information contained herein.

Any prospective contributor or correspondant

submitting unsolicited material with a view to its

publication automatically grant Mac Action license to

publish such material in whole or in part in any edition

of this magazine. Any material submitted is at the risk

of the sender and Mac Action cannot be held liable or

accountable for its loss or damage.

Whilst this magazine is devoted to the operation

and usage of Apple Mac hardware and software

products and such third party software and peripherals

which may be attached to or installed on Apple Mac

products, Apple Mac Corporation do not own in whole

or in part this magazine or its publishers. Nor does

the Apple Mac Corporation agree to or accept any

responsibility for any text or graphic

material published herein.

Mac Action4

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SO, REGULAR,

COMMONORGARDEN

IPHONE JUST NOT

DOWNRIGHT, WELL,

OSTENTATIOUS

ENOUGH FOR YOU?

Luckily for you, Stuart Hughes

is following-up on it’s 22ct gold

iPhone with this, the latest

iPhone 3G carved from 23g

of pure titanium and sprinkled

with 53 certified conflict-free

diamonds just for the ultra-elite,

and it could be yours today for

just USD37 4!

With the current state of the

global economy, we’re not

sure this functional titanium

sculpture could be called a

particularly good buy, especially

considering that Apple is

preparing to announce new

iPhones any day now, but it

would certainly get you noticed

in a crowd. Or, wait, no it won’t

really. How many people will

actually even realise it isn’t just a

skinned iPhone, unless you leave

it’s pricetag on printed in large

letters perhaps? Otherwise you’d

turn into an insufferable bore,

explaining to everyone who’ll

listen how you’re just so damn

rich you needed a phone that

would last longer than you will.

Nor can it even be art,

unfortunately, by its very

definition. An iPhone serves many

purposes beyond merely being

itself after all. In fact although

only a 16GB 3G model, this

one is even more useful than

most as it’s not locked to any

specific network. Surprised

Apple aren’t firing up the legal

department for taking these

elite rip-off artists on, but then

any company that can charge

USD4K for a cell phone surely

has bank-vaults full of cash to

blow on drawn-out courtroom

dramas.

Still, if you just can’t stand the

thought of the shiny metallic

case being scratched or the

class-leading display cracking,

this outlandish creation fits

the bill perfectly. And it is

quite breathtaking when you

know what’s gone into it –

copious amounts of raw wealth

engineered into a modern

handheld fashion-utility.

news

The $40K iPhone 3G

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iClone 3. is

an innovative

yet easy-to-

use software

application that

makes it simple

to add animation

to video projects,

whether you are

an aspiring filmmaker or

just someone who would like

to add talking 3D actors and

SIMS-like content to your latest

YouTube offering, podcast,

blog, corporate presentation, or

school project.

Put the camera where

you want it

The enhancements in iClone 3.

begin with the most elemental

of all filmmaking tools, the

camera. iClone’s camera system

is revised to allow you to add as

many cameras to a scene as you

require and actively switch the

live camera view throughout

your animation, enabling you to

record an animated scene much

like real-world filmmaking.

The camera system also has

capabilities to support first-

person recording with FlyCam

and WalkCam cameras that

follow terrain or soar through

the sky with adjustable speeds.

Wear different hats

iClone 3. simplifies the

animation process to two

production modes: Editor Mode

and Director Mode. Editor Mode

allows you to create

and refine your scene

and actors, and Director

Mode to command how

your actors behavement

with the ease of moving

around in your favourite

videogame.

For users who want to

go beyond the characters,

scenes and other content that

comes pre-loaded with iClone

3., there’s the iClone Content

Store (www.reallusion.com/

contentstore) where you can

select from thousands of props,

scenes, historical and fictional

themes.

With output options ranging from

HD-sized video to YouTube-sized

video and the new Flash video

option with a variety of quality

settings, iClone users can share

their productions in the full-

screen, DV video format for DVD

projects and as streaming videos

for Web sites. Videos can also be

produced for mobile handsets

and e-mails. iClone 3.0 is available

from leading retailers at a RRP of

R1 099.

For additional information, please

visit phoenixsoftware.

AMAZON’S KINDLE ON THE IPHONE

Amazon’s Kindle electronic

reading device hasn’t really had

any impact on the local market

as yet. It’s pricey, for such an

archaic-looking monochrome

screen, even if it is thin, light,

and “magazine-sized”.

But the format got a serious

shot in the arm when Amazon

released a free to download

Kindle viewer for iPhone last

month, essentially turning all

iPhones (and iPod Touches, of

course) into potential Kindle

e-book readers. Unfortunately

the software doesn’t extend

to newspaper or magazine

subscriptions, and you can’t

buy e-books directly from

Amazon onto your iPhone via

the application, instead having

to purchase your chosen e-book

online and then transfer the

downloaded file over to your

mobile.

The free software includes

a neat feature dubbed

WhisperSync, which allows you

to switch our of the reader app

and back to your iPhone OS

without losing your place in

your book, and is the first time

that Amazon has offered Kindle

e-book format support for any

mobile device other than the

Kindle platform itself.

news

PHEONIX BRINGS ICLONE 3.0TO SA

Mac Action 7

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Media Giant goes

massively mobile

To help cross this digital

divide, Gannett relies on

Apple iPhone 3G. Gannett

employees embraced iPhone

and the company launched

USA TODAY in the App Store,

adding to Gannett’s ability

to produce must-have news

and information updated

24/7 for mobile users.

iPhone has helped redefine

how it delivers content and

advertising to consumers.

As the largest newspaper

publisher in the U.S., Gannett

is well aware of the changes

happening in print publishing.

And for the McLean, VA-

based media giant, change

brings opportunity. “The

newspaper business is still a

good business. We’re looking

at how to get news and

information to people in the

way they want it, when they

want it,” says Mark Morneau,

Vice President of Information

Technology.

To do that, Gannett is moving

beyond print to digital

content published around the

clock for mobile consumers.

“The news and information

business has always been a

24-hour business, because

we don’t control when

news happens,” explains

Morneau. “The technology is

changing, and our business

is really in a transformation.

iPhone is making a lot of this

transformation happen.”

Maximizing Revenue

By delivering a customized

view of USA TODAY to iPhone

users, Gannett has created

a loyal — and growing —

audience who may have never

picked up the newspaper. “We

realize the more local, the

more updated, and the more

interactive we are with mobile

content, the more we can

connect with our audience,”

says Carroll.

Access to the iPhone audience

has unleashed advertising

opportunities as well, creating

new revenue potential for

Gannett. The company, along

with its subsidiary PointRoll,

has developed the first mobile

rich-media advertising for

iPhone. The mobile ads are

fully expandable and provide

advanced features such as

video tap-to-play, coupon

downloads, integrated

mapping technology, and

user-initiated tap-to-call.

“iPhone presents a new

business opportunity that

allows our traditional print

advertisers to extend into

mobile and leverage that

influential, affluent audience,”

says Jones. “We are very

pleased with the feedback we

are getting from our users and

advertisers. Developing for

iPhone is a very bright future

for us.”

Media powerhouse Gannett knows how to work fast and furious under deadline. Its recent challenge was to go mobile — transform its 9-plus publications, including the flagship USA TODAY®, from traditional

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Apple will kick off its annual

Worldwide Developers

Conference (WWDC) with a

keynote address on Monday,

June 8 at 1: a.m. A team

of Apple executives, led by

Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior

vice president of Worldwide

Product Marketing, will deliver

the keynote. WWDC will offer

in-depth sessions on both

iPhone OS 3., the world’s most

advanced mobile operating

system, and Mac OS X Snow

Leopard, an even more powerful

and refined version of the

world’s best desktop operating

system and the foundation for

future Mac innovation.

“Last June, we gave developers

an early look at the powerful

new technologies that form

the underpinnings of Mac

OS X Snow Leopard,” said

Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior

vice president of Software

Engineering. “At WWDC, we

will be giving our developers a

final Developer Preview release

so they can see the incredible

progress we’ve made on Snow

Leopard and work with us as we

move toward its final release.”

Snow Leopard and Mac

technical sessions will showcase

hundreds of refinements to

the operating system and dive

deep into its new technologies

including a 64-bit architecture,

QuickTime X, next-generation

multicore and GPU processor

support, and amazing new

accessibility technologies.

iPhone OS 3. technical sessions

will cover introductory and

advanced concepts to help

developers get the most out of

the iPhone OS 3. SDK and over

1, new APIs available for

iPhone OS 3..

WWDC also offers attendees

the unique opportunity to

work side-by-side with Apple

engineers to solve code-

level issues, gain insight into

development techniques and

get expert advice on interface

design.

Other activities at Apple’s

WWDC 29 include:

�� More than 1 technical

sessions presented by Apple

engineers on a wide range

of technology-specific

topics for developing,

deploying and integrating

iPhone OS 3. and Mac OS X

technologies;

�� Over 1, Apple engineers

presenting the latest in

Apple technologies and

providing one-to-one

direction in hands-on labs;

and

�� The opportunity to connect

with thousands of fellow

iPhone and Mac developers

from around the world.

Visit the Apple Worldwide

Developers Conference 29

website for registration and

more details at http://developer.

apple.com/wwdc.

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference

to Kick Off with Keynote Address on Monday,

June 8

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How much do you love your Mac?

Send us pictures of your devotion

and you could win great prizes

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There was a time when I

could sit down at work or in

a restaurant and light up a

cigarette without thinking

about it. Those days are long

gone. There was a time when

people could express an

opinion without fear. Political

correctness has put an end to

that.

I can’t ride my motorcycle

around Kyalami if it makes

too much noise. The nearby

residents get all upset. Kyalami

has been there since 1961.

When people built their houses

next door to a racetrack, what

did they expect? Back to

the road, I can’t drive my car

without a seatbelt and the list

goes on and on.

It is frustrating that we can’t

enjoy the benefits of using the

iTunes store in this country. I do

have an iTunes store account in

the U.K. but even that is of little

use because of the fact that

Telkom will only allow me 3Gb

of data a month, yet another

restriction.

I am a Mac person through

and through, as you all know.

The reason is simple, Apple

has the best hardware and

operating system, it just works.

The original reason I changed to

Mac all those years ago though

was that I was tired of the

restrictions involved in using

a PC, the way that Microsoft

treated me like a criminal. Apple

has never been like that but

recently, I have been frustrated

even with the company I’m such

a supporter of.

IT IS FRUSTRATING THAT

WE CAN’T ENJOY THE

BENEFITS OF USING THE

ITUNES STORE IN THIS

COUNTRY

I downloaded a series of my

favourite television program

from the iTunes store on a

recent trip to the U.K. Had I

bought the DVD, I could have

lent it to my family for them

to watch as well. I decided

to create a DVD using Toast,

which I would lend to them.

Guess what? I can’t, the files

are locked! I understand that

they don’t want the files to be

distributed around the Internet

but surely I should be allowed

to burn a DVD, I can burn a CD

of iTunes music. I wouldn’t even

mind if they put some security

in so that the DVD couldn’t be

copied.

The other thing that has been

annoying me is the iPhone.

As an Apple user, I really want

my mobile phone to be an

iPhone. Why shouldn’t I be

allowed to use the phone on

the network of my choice?

Changing networks is not easy.

We are usually locked into

long contracts with our service

providers, another restriction.

Changing your number is quite

difficult, having to get new

business cards and so on. Worse

than that, I live in an area where

the Vodacom coverage is so

poor that the phone is virtually

unusable.

So, I guess I do have freedom

of choice. Either don’t use a cell

phone at home or don’t have

an iPhone. I love living in a free

country!

editors column

I don’t know about you but I find there are more and more restrictions on our lives every day. Governments and corporations around the world talk about freedom, democracy and choice and yet, in reality, the opposite seems to be the order of the day.

Life’s Restrictions

Mac Action 11

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I had one of those fiery debates this week, with

the tech ed of a very well-known consumer

mag, about no less than the merits of the Mac

versus the PC. His viewpoint, as ever with these

sorts of polarising issues, was straightforward.

Macs are the worst, and PCs rule the planet. That

sort of concept for an argument really gets to

me.

Now this bright guy who usually has a pretty

measured way about him actually started using

nonsensical statements like “This latest MS TV ad

proves that Mac is ridiculously overpriced” and

“Wow Steve Jobs really did a number on you”...

You know, the sort of grown-up, thoughtful stuff

that it always seems to degenerate to in such a

discussion.

And I suddenly saw what the problem is

with the Apple way, the Mac concept, for

people like him. After all I am a person like

him, so his disproportionate vehemence had

editors column

Tippinngpoints

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to come from something in

that background. We’re both

PC wizards, diagnostics and

repair skills bordering on the

intuitive, ability to just “pick up”

technology honed and sharp...

It’s fear.

You see people like us, we

actually quite like it when

our PCs fall over. It gives us

the opportunity to dive into

them wholeheartedly and fix

the problem. Maybe, while

we’re in there, make it even

better. Faster. Even heavier

on juice. We’re the extreme of

the PC world, modders and

tweakers and overclockers. A

troublesome machine is a great

challenge, and an opportunity

to utilise our talents.

These monstrous skills allow us

to do things with computers

which others can’t. We don’t

in any way fear them, as some

members of the general public

still do. We aren’t crippled when

anything goes wrong, merely

delayed until we get it sorted

out. Our machines are stable,

only really still crashing when

we deliberately provoke them

anyway. Any piece of hardware

you give us, we can install,

configure, and work with in a

few minutes.

If, suddenly, tomorrow, the

market share were reversed,

and Mac was the dominant

environment by a huge margin,

many of these hard-earned and

proud skills would be largely

irrelevant. Obsolete. Or simply

not supported. Overnight

the hardcore techie would

become a dying breed, caged

up in dank dungeons filled with

mouldy old systems like a mad

scientist’s main tower. Large

businesses built around selling

and maintaining such machines

would collapse, and digital

outlaws would start hinting the

Web.

You see people like

us, we actually quite

like it when our PCs

fall over

The fear of redundancy makes

even the suggestion of this

scenario becoming a reality a

terrible idea.

I totally understand this. In fact,

it’s precisely the same emotion

which still has me grimacing

in sheer distaste whenever a

DSG gearbox, you know one of

those ones that are operated by

panels behind the wheels and

operate insanely smoothly and

quickly complete with digital

blips of the electronic throttle

to ensure total smoothness on

down shifts, is mentioned in

casual conversation.

In just about every way, from

a technical standpoint, I have

to admit the damn things are

superior. They’re faster than a

manual shift, smoother, waste

less power and are totally

consistent. I still quite regularly

fluff a good heel-and-toe down

shift, which the electronic

throttle blipping mimics

perfectly every time. That isn’t

the point.

The point is that a driver who

hasn’t for years practised these

driving techniques, can now

simply buy them in the shape

of a DSG-like gearbox, and have

more efficient and effective

gear changes than I can slam

through with all my years of

focussed practice. It’s downright

galling.

Anyway, naturally, the world

still needs both sides of the

equation. It still needs people

who are happier working a stick

than paddles, and it still needs

die-hard enthusiasts who love

little more than getting into

the oily bits of their computer

systems.

I just wonder if, like with DSG,

the balance might tip at some

point in the IT world in favour of

sheer useability?

editors column

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THE ONLY TWO THINGS, APPARENTLY,

INESCAPABLE IN OUR LIVES. CAN THE SAME BE

SAID OF THE APPLE TAX?

Mac Action 15

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Now naturally there are

several arguments against

his flawed thinking, most of them

quite reasonable. The simplest is,

Mac users don’t care. The price

premium is worth it for a machine

which gets the job done in a

faster, friendlier, and more efficient

manner. With a healthy dose of

style alone worth a few bucks

here or there.

But having just a few weeks

earlier read a great report

on AppleInsider completely

debunking the MS-commissioned

report, “What Price Cool”, by

analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint

Technologies, focussed in

particular on the new xServe,

I’d like to talk rationally for

the purpose of this feature,

about pure costs. The result,

incidentally, of the AppleInsider

piece is (not surprisingly, to be

sure) startlingly in favour of the

Apple server. Once the various

CALs had been added-up over

a five year licensing period, the

xServe still only cost its original

supposedly costly (some USD7

more than the MS server), while

the branded midrange server

stacked up against it more than

tripled in price to get the same

functionality for a 5 year period.

But let us take a look, in Rands,

at a similar cost-focussed

comparative of desktops.

Being a technical journalist for

more than a decade, I know how

to put together systems at a

decent price point – the trick is

to pick your parts carefully, order

them as components and then

build the machine up yourself

of course. So, in half an effort to

give every advantage possible

to the MS team, that’s what I’ve

gone and done. I know a few

good places to get hardware at

appealing prices, without dipping

into resources the consumer

doesn’t have readily available to

him like obliging press officers.

I’m also comparing against one

of the costliest-looking Macs

available, the fully-featured iMac

24” upgraded to a 3.6GHz Core 2

Duo with 1 TB Mac HD.

Let’s quickly look over the iMac

first. Yes, R28 999 looks whopping.

In the pre-built world of Windows

you have to go to the surreal

sector of hardcore gaming

laptops to hit this kind of money,

so surely a comparable desktop

machine is going to kill it in a pure

price comparison? Well now let’s

compare it part for part against

our self-built desktop and add up

those prices.

That all comes up to just R15 426.

And before you climb into me

for inflating anything, let me

highlight one or two things.

Yes you can get an LGA775

motherboard for R7, not R3K.

And yes this pricey board does

Item Cost

Core 2 Duo 3. GHz CPU R2245

4 GB Corsair DDR3 R19

Desktop chassis with

38W PSU

R1548

Intel LGA775

motherboard

R2941

Radeon 485 (512 MB) R215

Keyboard/mouse

combo

R126

1 TB WD HDD R188

Samsung 26” LCD R4225

82.11n WLAN (PCI) R625

Speakers R324

JUST YESTERDAY, GOOD OLD STEVE BALLMER YET AGAIN QUOTED THE “US$5 APPLE

TAX FOR NO MORE THAN A LOGO” ARGUMENT WHILE GLEEFULLY EXPLAINING THAT THE

COMPANY HAD ACTUALLY, FINALLY, SEEN ITS MARKET SHARE DIP IN THE MOST RECENT

STATS. THIS, CONCLUDES BALLMER, COULD WELL BE THE END OF THE GROWTH FOR

APPLE, THE DIFFICULT FINANCIAL ENVIRONMENT MAKING PAYING THE INFAMOUS TAX

LESS AND LESS SENSIBLE.

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come with things that the iMac

can’t compete with, like dual

PCI-E slots for multi-GPUs for

instance, but we had to base

it on a criterion, so we’ve used

the support of DDR3 RAM.

Believe it or not, this is about the

lowest price you’ll pay for a PC

motherboard which supports

DDR3.

Speaking of the RAM, why didn’t

I grab some more value-oriented

RAM? After all the iMac runs at

only 166 MHz, these Corsair

modules are rated at 1333 MHz.

Well, for 4 GB, you’d save just

R2 by going for the lesser RAM

modules, and every good PC

builder knows that skimping too

much in RAM will bring down the

performance of the entire PC. It

just isn’t good practice.

I’d be a bit concerned about that

38W PSU as well to be honest. I’d

probably consider upgrading it,

which is going to cost still more.

The iMac comes with just a 28W

PSU installed, and it can handle

the load just fine because of the

power efficiency built-in to the

laptop-oriented hardware needed

to squeeze everything in to that

sleek, shiny package.

I didn’t come up with an exact

match for the 24” (viewable) size

of the iMacs screen, but went

with the 26” rather than the 22”

because there’s a psychological

barrier that you cross in terms

of desktop real estate when you

go beyond 24”, that you’d sorely

miss on a 22” PC if your other

alternative was a 24” iMac. Same

with the smaller bits and pieces,

the 82.11n WLAN card, desktop

microphone and webcam have

to be added if you can claim to

be building a directly comparable

user experience.

Really, the input devices should

be substantially more expensive.

This cheapie combo I’ve specced

will feel rubbish beneath your

fingertips compared to the slim

aluminium Mac keyboard, but

because I’m not the biggest fan

of the Mighty Mouse and would

therefore want a decent Logitech

for my iMac as well, I’ll cut this

slack.

So you’ve got all your

components together, and

at R15 426 it looks like you’ve

managed a substantial saving

over the coolly costly iMac. I guess

Ballmer was right – R14K for pure

“cool” and being able to proudly

display that famous logo at my

desktop would be inconceivable

for me...

But...

There’s no way it’s over yet. All

we’ve got on the PC side are a

huge pile of bits so far. To make it

into a PC, you need an OS at the

very least, right? So, on to round 2,

software.

There isn’t any point buying the

latest hardware then hobbling

this with an old OS, besides we

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want all the flashy features we

can get our hands on to compete

with OS X so it’s Windows

Vista Ultimate. Then we need a

productivity suite, so we’ll add

Office 27 on to the cost of the

PC, and iWork 9 onto the cost

of the Mac. Now we at least have

strong, office-related productivity

capabilities on both machines. I’m

not even going to add the cost of

AV to the PC, although technically

I probably should (and recurring

over the lifecycle of the machine

at that), but although the Mac is

barely affected by threats from

malicious code its probably good

netiquette to include it on this

side as well, for the sake of not

accidentally passing nasty worms

on to your colleagues using PCs.

Besides, there are still decent,

free AV packages available for

download.

But, if you want to match what’s

pre-installed on our iMac on the

Vista box blow for blow, there’s a

lot more to consider. Every new

Mac comes with a complete

installation of iLife 9 already

set up. So that’s iWeb, iPhoto,

GarageBand, iDVD and iMovie,

all ready for you to be productive

with.

iMovie and Windows Movie Maker

are hardly comparable, while

iPhoto makes the Image viewer

app in Vista look ridiculous – you’d

need at the very least to add

on a decent image cataloguing

package, if not a full-blown

professional image manipulation

suite. iWeb, GarageBand, and

iDVD bring three very useful

built-in functions and again

exist somewhere between the

void the Microsoft environment

leaves you in and the massive

cost of a professional solution.

And although you may argue

that you’ll never use GarageBand

for instance, you can’t deny that

having it there makes the iMac

more versatile a default system

configuration.

Yes, if you want, you can get all

of this, from the OS up, for free

on the PC. Technically though,

that’s entirely illegal, friend, and

if you tried to use an unlicensed

Windows box like this in your

business you’d be risking fines of

closing-down proportions, which

isn’t really worth it to me.

So let’s tally up then:

Just these brings the Windows

machine up to R21 841. Add

R899 for iWork 9 to the price of

the iMac and you come out at

R29898. But it honestly cannot be

left there either.

For GarageBand-like functionality,

you’d need to add at least R2

to the Vista machine. No free

website builder gives you the

flowing, easy design capabilities

of iWeb, but a truly professional

environment like Dreamweaver

setting you back five grand may

be stretching it. You can get a

similarly middle-of-the-road third-

party app for Windows at R15,

and then for a fully functional

DVD-creation suite like iDVD,

you’d need at another R5.

Item Cost

Vista Ultimate R219

MS Office 27 Std R4225

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Just for effectively cataloguing

an extensive photo library, add

another R1.

And then, of course, you’d

be doing without the close

integration of all of these

applications in the Mac

environment, each third-party

app behaving like the standalone

it is rather than as part of a

complete suite. At R27 841 for

the PC with all of its software,

the Apple Tax has shrunk to just

R3.

Now, consider what premium

you would pay for all of the

softer advantages? The neat,

clean, room-lifting real-estate

of the Mac versus the sprawling

cabling nightmare of the PC?

The productivity benefits of a

machine which runs faster and

almost never fails, surely worth

at least 2 minutes of extra work

time a day (5 hours a month, at

a billable rate of let’s say R3,

sees the Mac paying for itself

in 2 months)? The satisfyingly

high-quality components

bringing an air of luxury to your

ICT interactions and improving

the perceived quality of the tool

you’re working with? The peace

of mind of using an entirely legal

software environment? The sheer

feel-good factor of working daily

on a Mac versus a more mundane

(albeit high-end) PC? Difficult to

quantify, very difficult to attribute

a cash value to, but nonetheless

all tangible.

There is one final thing. If

you’re a hardened old techie

like me, building and installing

your Windows machine from

components up is going to take

you in the region of four to five

hours. The build process itself,

done lovingly to try and ensure

that nothing suffers from that

common malady installation

failure rather than rushed through

production-line style, will be

about two hours. Then half an

hour for the Windows installation,

and another 2 hours installing

all the drivers for your individual

components, setting up your

productivity environment and

associated software. Of course if

you aren’t a technician, you’ll have

to pay a professional to cobble it

all together for you...

An iMac will be up and running

within minutes of arriving home

with the box. It will consume less

power than the PC, saving you

something on your electricity

bill every month, be relevant for

longer than a PC (A 5-year old

Mac can still be resold, as it’s still

useful. Try that with a PC without

finding one hell of a sucker),

and does all of this through that

slick OS X interface which is

easy to learn and improves the

mechanics of content creation –

what many of us do daily with our

PCs – enabling you to produce

better results for your client and

yourself in a shorter timeframe.

These softer points are, to me

and many like me, worth the

suddenly tiny upfront cost delta

(R3 before even considering

the build cost) by a huge margin.

With ongoing cost savings which

over the lifecycle of the system

(electricity, support builds,

upgrade costs) and the high

likelihood of recouping some of

that investment when it does

finally come time to replace,

and it appears as though even

here, with test conditions set

up to favour the generalised,

competitive hardware

environment of the Windows

box, the Mac Tax argument takes

only a few moments thought and

some elementary addition to turn

around.

Oh yes, and you get the logo

which Microsoft themselves

have admitted is far cooler than

any of the Windows-run white

box builders can even come

close to, let alone the software

environment. That sounds like a

good deal to me.

And to add insult to injury, you

haven’t even got a genuinely

high-end PC there... my own

home PC would cost quite a lot

more and perform better, while

you have got the range-topping

Mac desktop. Perception versus

cold hard fact, however, is always

going to be one Titanic struggle.

Office-in-a-box for

small/medium businesses

ConvergenceConveConve eWireless Office Communicator

All-in-one wireless office communicator

PSTN WiFi

DSL

LAN

IP PBX

VoIP

Cellular

Connecto is a cutting edge appliance for 2G/2.5G/3G/3.5G

cellular networks that bundles a wide range of services into one

integrated solution. A true multi-service business gateway (MSBG)

appliance, Connecto is unique in its ability to operate on both

wireless and wire line networks.

With embedded full featured IP-PBX, data router, FMC

(Fixed-Mobile-Convergence) gateway and WiFi access point,

Connecto is the foremost integrated solution for voice and data

over cellular, NGN, and wireless networks. It’s your

office-in-a-box.

This innovative blend of advanced features and interfaces

enhances business productivity and reduces costs. It delivers the

convenience of a single unified IP environment—with seamless

handover of voice and data between VoIP, PSTN, WiFi, and

cellular networks. With Connecto, offices can go completely

wireless with internal WiFi and external GSM/HSPA networks.

With Connecto running over the cellular network, cellular

operators can match the offerings of land-line operators to the

SMB market, introduce new revenue streams, and extend their

reach in familiar territory.

All-in-one voice and data solution for SMB

over the cellular / NGN networks

Fully featured IP PBX, data router, FMC

gateway, and WiFi in one box

Multiple connectivity options via wireless

and wire line interfaces

Simple and reliable: one integrated appli-

ance, one network, one provider

High-end telephony and data system at an

affordable price with lower monthly costs

Mac Action20

MANY OF YOU WILL HAVE THE GAUTENG

ONLINE FIASCO FRESH IN YOUR MINDS AND BE SCEPTICAL TO SAY

THE LEAST. THAT’S UNDERSTANDABLE

BUT CORE GROUP IS CONVINCED THAT

IT KNOWS WHAT MISTAKES WERE MADE IN THIS DISASTER AND

HAS COME UP WITH WHAT IT BELIEVES IS A

VIABLE ALTERNATIVE.

There can be no doubt that

technology is a valuable tool

for education. Often though,

educators have taught school

children about technology rather

than integrated it into the daily

learning experience. This is one

of the limitations of Gauteng

Online. They set up a classroom

full of computers where children

come to learn about computers,

and many of these classrooms lie

vacant today.

Core Group has taken a different

approach, and one which seems

to have been recognised as

preferential. The iSchoolAfrica

iGnite project integrates the

computer into the regular lessons

in the curriculum, making the

technology a tool which improves

learning across the board.

iGniting the flames of knowledge

Mac Action 21

School children, or learners, as

we’re supposed to refer to them,

from wealthy backgrounds

generally outperform

learners from underprivileged

backgrounds in school grades,

according to recognised studies.

Take two children from opposite

ends of the social scale and

give them access to the same

technology and their grades will

be a lot closer says the theory.

Unfortunately we live in a country

where the gap between rich

and poor is huge. What some

children take for granted, others

can’t even imagine in their lives.

Our government has never been

known for it’s generous spending

on education, and whether that

is due to a poor economy or

ministers feathering their own

nests is not the point. The fact

is millions of young people are

receiving sub-standard education

due to a lack of facilities, skills,

and funding support. Core has

recognised that we need to

elevate education levels across

the social spectrum if we are ever

to make this a great country.

Core is ideally suited to providing

technology to schools as the

distributor of Apple products

in South Africa. The Apple

platform has so much to offer

in the education arena - that

is a given. The fact that the

platform is so stable and that

the hardware, operating system

and software come from the

same manufacturer, virtually

illuminates support problems. The

iLife suite, which is used for the

iSchoolsAfrica projects, is standard

on all Mac computers so all the

participating schools are using

the identical software. Then, of

course, there is the ease of use

for which Apple computers are

famous. Learners can get right

into a project without spending

time learning the software. The

whole focus is to teach children

regular curriculum using a

computer rather than teach them

to use the computer.

Core Group hopes that the project

will be funded by both public

sector and private organisations.

There will no doubt be public

private partnerships as well.

There is some healthy scepticism

here; in addition to a heightened

sense of corporate-social

responsibility, Core Group

obviously support the project so

that they can sell a pile of Apple

laptops into the educational

sector. Core are contributing to

the development of the country

as a whole with the focus on

education though. Not only

that, alhough Core is looking to

external organisations to fund

the project, it is providing all of

the training and the teaching

models itself, as thrashed out in

the Core-funded project which

covered a total of thirteen schools

in three provinces early this year.

As executive director of Core, RJ

van Spaandonk pitches it, ‘Give us

the money and put your name to

it and we’ll do the rest’. In addition

to the R1.5-million pricetag

per iSchools “mobile class”, the

sponsor is required to provide a

facilitator who will at first remain

on-site full-time to ensure that

both teachers and learners can

extract the most from their Apple-

branded educational tools.

Core has put its money where

its mouth is by funding the pilot

project. And from this investment

has come some compelling

evidence of its efficacy, the

THE FACT IS MILLIONS OF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE

RECEIVING SUBSTANDARD EDUCATION DUE TO A

LACK OF FACILITIES, SKILLS, AND FUNDING SUPPORT.

CORE HAS RECOGNISED THAT WE NEED TO ELEVATE

EDUCATION LEVELS ACROSS THE SOCIAL SPECTRUM IF

WE ARE EVER TO MAKE THIS A GREAT COUNTRY.

Mac Action22

participating schools all returning

tales of delight, enthralment,

and proof of quality learning in

progress.

The project

The iSchoolsAfrica iGnite project

is designed to group 5 schools

together in a cluster. Each

school is provided with 12 Apple

MacBooks, 1 for the learners 1

for the resident school facilitator

and 1 for the class teacher. The

External facilitator will carry

their own laptop as they roam

between the 5-school cluster. Also

included in the kit is a projector, a

wireless router and 1 mini video

cameras. The whole kit is packed

up into a heavy-duty metal

case, which purportedly fits into

the back of a Toyota Conquest

without hassle. The case is small

enough that it can be easily

carried between classrooms.

The idea is that learners will work

in groups which is why 1 laptops

is sufficient for a class of 35 or so

children. Working effectively with

others as a member of a team

is one of the objectives of the

Governments favoured ‘Outcomes

Based Education’ (OBE). The iGnite

program is in fact designed to

meet all of the main objectives of

OBE.

The pilot

What we need to do in order to

assess the likely success of the

project is to cut through all the

corporate jargon and look at the

pilot in practical terms.

Children were divided into

groups and given a task, which

was to make a film about an

environmental issue concerning

them. Taking this approach was

a deliberate attempt to make the

learning interesting, which would

inspire the children. The teams

had to work together to achieve

their end result. They would also

have to carry out some research

before starting filming. Each

team was then issued with the

mini video camera and went

out to shoot their very own,

highly localised documentary

on their chosen subject, or even

find another creative way of

highlighting their findings. Once

they got back to the classroom,

they used the MacBook to

download their footage and

iMovie, being part of the iLife

suite, to turn the footage into a

watchable short film.

Scripting, directing and editing

all encourage creativity, while

the pre-filming fact-finding

teaches sound research principles

and logical thought processes.

Teamwork, understanding and

discussion of the key issue, and

creative presentation skills are

WHAT WE NEED TO DO

IN ORDER TO ASSESS

THE LIKELY SUCCESS

OF THE PROJECT IS TO

CUT THROUGH ALL THE

CORPORATE JARGON

AND LOOK AT THE

PILOT IN PRACTICAL

TERMS.

Mac Action 23

all keys to every aspect of the

project.

The learners interviewed after

the pilot project were very much

in favour of their Apple learning

experiences, after all all of this

flash tech and interesting ways

of approaching the same-old

curriculum subjects makes

learning more fun. The teachers

were very positive as they

recognised that they were able

to get more out of the children

who were downright enthusiastic

about participating. Teachers were

also at ease knowing that the

facilitator was on hand to step in

should they be unsure how to use

the equipment, and often put in

after-schools hours learning with

the guidance of their facilitators

the ins and outs of the MacBooks

themselves.

All in all, I think the pilot project

was a success and what is

amazing is the quality of work

produced by children that have

never had access to technology

before.

Technology is becoming

more and more a part of the

way we educate our children.

First world countries’ schools

and even wealthier private

schools in this country have

been using technology to

enhance and support advanced

learning methods for several

years. It is good to see that the

iSchoolsAfrica iGnite program

aims to deliver these same

advantages to children in less well

off schools.

On the other side of the coin, it

is a concern for me that children

educated using technology lose

some basic skills. My generation

lost mental arithmetic skill that

our parents have because of easy

access to calculators. Even though

we had plenty of spelling tests at

school, it is a skill I’m losing due to

the lazy technique of leaving it to

the computer spell checker. But

such is the way of the high-tech

age I suppose, I suppose in a few

years it’ll be more commonplace

to know the correct formatting of

HTML than regular old English.

Technology is brilliant and

is definitely a huge benefit

to learners of any age and

background. iSchoolsAfrica is a

commendable project which

looks far more likely to have an

effect than any of the digital

training implementations have

done so far, even if it does help

Apple sell a host of systems and

expose the youth of our country

to the Apple ecosystem as their

very first hands-on experience

with technology. Clever both

in the short and long term, and

beneficial to the entire country as

well.

Mac Action24

Mac Action 24

Product reviewsLots of tinkering with software going on this month. Our one piece of Apple hardware

getting a thorough going over is the new 4GB Shuffle, and we came to an interesting

conclusion on this one!

25 IPOD SHUFFLE 4GB

Yes, it’s tiny. Yes, it speaks to you. And yes,

it’ll go even better with your stretchy, tight-

fitting health club apparel. But is it a step

forward? Steve’s not so sure.

26 APPLE IWORK 09

Apple’s iWork suite is an even more relevant

alternative to Microsoft’s expensive Office

for Mac than ever before in 9 guise. Get

to grips with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote

here and decide for yourself.

28 MACFREELANCE

A useful little workflow management

packaged designed specifically for the

freelancers of the world. For a centralised

solution to the admin needs of your small

business, this package is well worth a look.

30 ROXIO TOAST 10 TITANIUM

It may be the de facto Mac toasting suite,

but is the latest version full of great new

features or just cashing-in on the good ‘ol

name? Join us for a spot of Toast and find

out.

Mac Action 25

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THE IPOD SHUFFLE

HAS ALWAYS BEEN

A GREAT LITTLE

DEVICE.

TINY, LOW

COST AND

WELL BUILT.

UNLIKE OTHER LOW

COST MUSIC PLAYERS,

IT SYNCS SEAMLESSLY

WITH ITUNES JUST LIKE

ITS BIGGER BROTHERS.

The new Shuffle is available in

1Gb, 2Gb and 4Gb capacities and

doesn’t cost much more than a

memory stick of equivalent size.

The Shuffle has changed shape

although, overall it’s probably not

much smaller than the outgoing

model, which, let’s face it wasn’t

known for its bulk. What is

interesting about the new model

is the array of new features,

previously only found on more

expensive models.

The new Shuffle can now handle

things like multiple playlists and

podcasts. The big new thing

though, is that it talks. As

someone who has 65 songs

in my iTunes library, I quite often

hear a song that I like and can’t

remember the song name or

the Artist. Shuffles don’t have a

screen so there’s no way to find

out right? Wrong. The new Shuffle

will tell you using a rather cheesy

digitised voice. You can also use

the Shuffle as an external drive if

you select Enable disk use.

Something that appealed to

me was the Shuffle’s ability to

communicate with my iMac

using the USM 1.1 port on

my keyboard. The supplied

cable is quite short so it

saves you having to squeeze

your arm up around the back of

the computer. It does throw up

a couple of warnings telling you

that it is going to take longer to

charge and sync but it does work.

Once connected, it informed me

that it couldn’t accommodate all

of my music and asked if I would

like it to create a playlist. It created

the playlist and then told me that

the playlist wouldn’t fit? What I

do miss though, is the absence of

the “Auto Fill” feature of the older

unit. I can see that being able

to manage playlist has certain

advantages but I liked the ease

of plug in and go. It’s all my own

music so I’m sure I’ll like whatever

iTunes chooses.

review: iPod Shuffle

The new 4Gb

iPod Shuffle

Price : R199

Supplier:

www.apple.co.za

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All in all, I think I preferred the

ease of use you got with the older

Shuffle but then I also have an

iPod classic. The new Shuffle offers

a lot more functionality even if it

is fidgety to get to. After all, it is a

feature rich iPod for the price of a

memory stick. What more could

you want?

Summary: Still a great device, but

somewhat more flawed than the

old one.

Click hereto learn more about the Shuffle.

Our rating 3/5

Another problem with all of

this functionality in such a small

device is that it’s a little bit tricky

to operate. The standard iPod

control has been removed and

everything happens using a little

button on the headphone cable.

The control sits right up under

your chin so you can’t actually

see what you are doing. Not only

that, you have to remember how

many clicks are required for each

function. A single click to pause, 2

clicks skips to the next track and

3 clicks restarts the current song.

I got it wrong several times and

ended up selecting the next song

instead of the previous one. Click

and hold and the little Shuffle will

tell you the name of the song and

artist. You have to click the top

or bottom of the control switch

to adjust the volume, which is

difficult if you have large fingers.

The headphones are not the

greatest but you can’t replace

them because you’ll lose the

control unit. I’m sure there will be

aftermarket headphones available

soon but they are bound to be

expensive.

iWork 09

MICROSOFT OFFICE

IS PRETTY MUCH THE

INDUSTRY STANDARD

OFFICE SUITE.

SEVERAL PC USERS

THAT CHANGE TO A

MAC IMMEDIATELY

SEEK OUT A COPY

OF THE MICROSOFT

PRODUCT. THERE

IS HOWEVER AN

ALTERNATIVE, AND

A MORE COST

EFFECTIVE ONE AT

THAT.

review: iPod Shuffle

ALL IN ALL, I THINK I PREFERRED THE EASE OF USE YOU

GOT WITH THE OLDER SHUFFLE BUT THEN I ALSO HAVE

AN IPOD CLASSIC. THE NEW SHUFFLE OFFERS A LOT

MORE FUNCTIONALITY EVEN IF IT IS FIDGETY TO GET TO

Mac Action 27

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iWork 9 is Apple’s own office

suite and since the introduction

of the last release, 8, it is now

fully grown up. iWork has been

around for a while but previous

releases lacked the all important

spreadsheet application. That

oversight was rectified; the 8

release included an Excel rival

called Numbers.

Those of you familiar with iWork

will know that you get three

applications in the suite although

Pages is really two applications in

one.

Keynote is the presentation

graphics program which is

regarded in the industry as one

of the best in its class. Pages is a

word processor and a desktop

publishing solution all in one.

Last but not least, Numbers is the

spreadsheet program of the suite.

New in the 9 release of Pages is a

full screen view as well as several

new templates. Numbers 9 has

a range of new templates as well.

Keynote 9 includes some rather

impressive new visual effects and

of course the obligatory new

themes.

ONE OF THE MOST

IMPRESSIVE FEATURES OF

IWORK IS THE ABILITY TO

OPEN AND SAVE FILES

IN MICROSOFT OFFICE

FORMAT

One of the most impressive

features of iWork is the ability to

open and save files in Microsoft

Office format. There really is no

need to worry about compatibility

if you are thinking of trying iWork.

I sent a couple of spreadsheets

to Windows users that I’d created

using Numbers. They were able

to open and edit them and

weren’t aware that they had been

created in a different application.

Documents have to be saved

in their native format and then

exported but it’s no real problem.

Documents that were sent to

me in Office format opened

without any conversion being

necessary. The only problem I

experienced was that Numbers

changed the currency in a couple

of my spreadsheets from Rand to

Malaysian Ringet.

iWork 9 is a fairly minor upgrade,

without any real whiz bang new

features. It is nevertheless a fully

featured office suite that can

easily rival any of the competition.

Being an Apple product, it

integrates seamlessly with the

iLife applications as well as iTunes.

At a price of R899. for a 5 user

“Family Pack”, it represents much

better value than its Microsoft

rival.

For more information click here

review: iWork09

Our rating 4/5

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$�� ���������������������������������������������� ���������������� �� ������ � �������� ������������������������������������������������� �������������� �������������������� ������� ���������&�#���������������%����� ���������������� ������������� ���������������������� ���� ������������������ ������������������������������� ��������� ������������ ��������#��������������� �������������

'����� ��������� ���������������� �������� ������������� ����������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ������������ �������������������������(���������������������������� ����������"������)�$����������������������"���������������������� ��� � ������������ ������������������� �����������*�+�' ����������������� ���� �����������"� �����"�����)�$������������������������������� ��������

review: MacFreelance

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Our rating 4/5

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(���������� ��������������������� ��������� ����������)��������������� ����"�������@����������� ����������������������#���������������� ��)�$����������� �?�� ������� �������� � �����������������������������3?���������������%� ���������������������� �������@�������� � �������������������,������=$�������>�� ���������"������������������������ ����=���������%������ � >�3��������������#������ � ������������"����������%� ��������������������������������)��A ��������� �������B��)�$��������������� ���������� ����������� ���3�?����������� �������������������������� ��������������������������� ��

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Our rating

4.5/5

Over the years, Toast has become

so much more than a straight

forward disc creation tool and

offers more and more with each

release. Version 1 now has so

many features that it would

almost be worth buying even if

you didn’t want to create discs.

The extract video clips feature

is particularly interesting.

Although it says “from any DVD”,

that isn’t strictly true. It won’t

rip commercial DVDs which

are encrypted. It does however

convert video from DVDs created

in your DVD recorder for example.

The great thing about this feature

is that you simply select what

device you want to convert for,

Apple TV or iPod for example and

it takes care of all the settings for

you. It even puts the converted

file straight into your iTunes

library. You can use the conversion

feature for files that are stored on

your hard drive as well.

Another new feature that should

prove popular is the Save Web

Video option. You can capture

video from a web site and save it

for offline viewing and, of course,

you can burn it to a disc. You can

also convert the file to another

format, again for your Apple TV or

iPod.

Videographers can archive AVCHD

video directly from the camcorder

onto a disc. Toast will also keep

a preview version of the clip on

your Mac. Fans of audio books will

appreciate being able to convert

audio book CDs into an iPhone or

iPod format with chapter markers

included. If you have ever needed

to synchronise the data in two

different folders, Toast can do

that for you as well. You can even

synchronise folders with different

computers on your network or

folders on an external hard drive.

The new features are great but

even without them, Toast is

still the best disc creation tool

available. It’s easy to use and

takes care of most settings for

you making it an easy, click and

go application. Of course, all the

settings can be manually tweaked

for all the control freaks out there.

The way Toast integrates with

your Media Browser is an added

bonus. It is just so easy to make a

disc of photos from your iPhoto

library or an Audio CD from your

iTunes library.

Toast Titanium 1 is one piece of

software that no Mac should be

without.

Summary: If you want to make

CDs and DVDs on your Mac, you

need Toast.

For more information go to www.

phoenixsoftware.co.za

news

ROXIO’S TOAST TITANIUM IS ESSENTIALLY AN APPLICATION FOR

BURNING CDS, DVDS AND NOW IN THIS VERSION, BLUE RAY DISCS.

TOAST HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A FEW YEARS NOW AND HAS

BECOME THE STANDARD DISC CREATION TOOL FOR MAC USERS.

SO MUCH SO THAT YOU VERY RARELY HEAR MAC USERS TALKING

ABOUT BURNING A DISC, THEY ALWAYS TOAST IT.

Review

Toast 1 Titanium

Price: R1299.99

Supplier:

www.phoenixsoftware.co.za

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how to?

33 IWEB

Part of the iLife 9 suite pre-installed

onto every new Mac, iWeb is a great Web

design and publishing solution pitched at

people who haven’t necessarily study HTML

programming. A design suite for designers.

We guide you through creating, building,

and publishing your very own Web site in

iWeb.

37 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

There are pages, and pages, and pages

of shortcuts on the Mac, just for the OS

let alone any apps you might be running.

This month we share some of the more

useful ones with you to help make your

Mac experience that bit smoother, faster,

and even more efficient.everywhere in

Internetland in no time at all.

40 IMAGE MANIPULATION

After touching on the image cataloguing

strengths of iPhoto last month, this month

Steve goes into more detail about actually

working with your enormous repository of

images, now that you have them organised

nicely, in this iLife 9 application.

Have you ever been somewhat

bewildered when it comes to doing

things, cool things, on your new Mac?

We know the feeling, but over the

years Steve has figured out a host of

brilliant applications and tools which

will help you along your way, and his

uncompromising nature allows him

to document detailed step-by-step

instructions to assist you in getting the

most from your Mac. Welcome to our

HowTos pages – we hope that there’s

something here that will help you out

whether you’re a Mac newbie or a

seasoned user.

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Design for designers

So you’re quite interested in

design and, rightfully so, see the

Web as an excellent avenue for

exploring your as-yet nascent

talents and getting some honest

feedback on whether or not to

pursue your budding career any

further. You want to build your

own killer site, basically, which

is so slick, stunning, and chock-

full of kick-butt content that the

major players sit up and take

notice.

Perhaps you’ve even tried your

hand before, but been daunted

by the often highly technical Web

development environments out

there. While the free, online, drag-

and-drop solutions are just too

limited to really let your innate

creativity run free.

Luckily, if you have a Mac, there’s

an easy answer to your search. In

fact, if your Mac is relatively new,

this answer is already sitting there

on your applications dock just

waiting for you to take advantage

of it. Here’s our guide to getting

started in your endeavours with

iWeb 9, part of the iLife 9 suite

installed onto every new Mac

system since the package came

out.

Here’s a quick guide to get

you started with iWeb, and get

your digital presence designed,

uploaded, and live to the globe in

no time flat.

1 Open iWeb

It’ll be down there on your

dock, but if you’re struggling to

find it of course just go up to

Spotlight (the magnifying glass in

the top right of your screen), type

in iWeb and press enter.

2 Creating your site

When iWeb opens you’ll

be greeted with an information

window which asks if you want

to use a MobileMe account

with your project. MobileMe is a

separate matter altogether, if you

do have an account you’ll know

what it is already. It can be useful

for enabling certain functions,

like comments on your blog for

instance, but it isn’t at all essential,

so just decline.

Now open your iWeb File menu

and choose New Site, or just hit

Shift-Command

N. You’ll then

be presented

with a healthy

selection of

templates to

choose from,

which will

define your

basic look and

feel to a large

extent. Don’t

worry too

much about what you choose

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right now, pick one you like and

start with the Welcome page that

comes up in the preview pane

to the right. You needn’t worry as

you’ll either use this template as

just a baseline or, if you’re happy

to go with the stock look, you can

change the theme at any time

and retain your actual objects, as

in the images and text your site is

built around.

The selected Welcome page will

appear, as well as a site structure

down the

left hand

side of the

main iWeb

window,

which

for now

includes

just your

welcome

page.

It’s a good

idea to

immediately

go to your

site name

(Site by default), double-click on it

and type your own name. This has

the secondary effect of bringing

up the site properties in the main

window, so you may as well go

ahead and fill these in. It’s just

important stuff like the contact

email, where you’ll be publishing

to (leave this to Local Folder for

now for development purposes),

and the URL where your site will

live.

You’re certainly going to need

more than just a welcome page

for the site to be at all useful, so

click the Add Page button in the

bottom iWeb toolbar, or just hit

Command N, go through the

same theme selection routine and

you’ll have expanded your site by

one page.

One of the beautiful, user-

friendly things about iWeb is

that it automatically creates a

navigation bar for you as you add

new pages. Double-click on and

change a page name, just like

you did when you first made your

site, also adjusts what’s displayed

on the sites own navigation

bar, with all links automatically

updated and working. That’s

usually a lot of wasted effort

in other Web development

environments.

3 Designing your site

Now it’s time to let those

creative juices flow. Even if

you choose to stick with the

themed pages exactly as they’re

provided, you’ll need to replace

the placeholder images with your

own visuals at the very least, and

generate some catchy text as well.

Just select the Photos tab at the

top of the right hand objects

window, and if you’re using

images already catalogued in

iPhoto choose

this application

as your image

source. A full

listing of pictures

in your catalogue

will appear in

the browser

portion of this

menu, find the

one you like, and

just drag it over

and drop it on

the placeholder.

No painstaking

image resizing is

necessary, iWeb

takes care of it all

for you, but if you want to fine-

tune it just click on the image. A

slider bar and “Edit Mask” button

will appear

beneath the

image box.

The slider

allows you to

zoom in on

specific areas

of the image,

while the

button will

let you set

exactly how

much of the

image you want to display.

You can add new photos, audio

or video clips, or Widgets,

Google Maps, AdSense, YouTube

elements, RSS feeds and the like)

how to? design a website

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to your page by selecting the

appropriate button

alongside the Photos

button and dragging

your content onto

the page. For adding

other elements,

such as a PDF file for

instance, you need to

click Insert, Choose,

or hit Shift-Command

V, and then use the

browser window

which opens to find

your media.

Text is similarly straightforward,

and if you’re remotely capable

with a word processor you’ll

immediately get the hang of

adding and editing the words you

put on your site, no sweat.

There’s also a

useful HTML

Snippet

widget.

Admittedly,

iWeb is very

designer-

oriented so

there isn’t a

raw HTML

editor built-

in. But you

can add useful code snippets,

like Google Analytics for instance,

using this widget, so it’s not

too big of an issue. Hardcore

developers who still claim its best

to write HTML directly into a text

document won’t like it, but then

they’re pros who really

ought to shell out the five

grand for something like

Dreamweaver.

4 Tweaking

Click on any object

on the layout page and

the context of the editing

pane will automatically

display the section most

relevant to refining that

element. You can add

picture frames or line

borders around images, for

instance, manipulate the flow and

look and feel of the text (although

not the font, that’s a separate

issue, second-last icon in the

bottom row of the iWeb toolbar),

and set the URLs and general

behaviour of Hyperlinks.

One useful feature in the

Hyperlinks section, is the ability to

enable or disable hyperlinks while

working on

your site,

so you can

test them,

then disable

them again

so that

you aren’t

accidentally

opening

up multiple

instances of

Safari every

time you click on the element to

edit its properties.

This is really where the lion’s share

of the actual custom designing

resides, in this pane. You can

manipulate all aspects of the

blank page itself, as well as the

finer details of all your Website

elements here. And it all works

really easily too, you needn’t know

an HTML Tag from a JavaScript to

build sexy, functional websites

in iWeb and that is its deepest

appeal.

5 Publishing

Now you’re done actually

designing and laying out your

site, it’s time to get it up onto

your host’s server so that the

world can see what you’ve been

doing! Click on the top line site

name (in our case, FTMP) and the

editing window will be filled with

the Publishing options, which

you’ll recall we earlier set to Local

folder so that your site only ever

appeared on your

own Mac while in

development. Click

the drop-down menu

and change this to FTP

server now.

Several new options

will be presented

in the grey block

underneath. The

FTP URL and its

login credentials are

needed, of course, and you can

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also specify the server path you

want to upload your content

to as well as choose to use

secure FTP protocols rather than

unencrypted data.

If you’re a Facebook user already,

there’s also a link beneath

the space for your URL to

automatically publish an update

to your Facebook profile when

you upload, effectively making

the site live. That’s a nice touch for

the social networking-aware, as

we’re all rapidly being forced to

become.

Now just open up Safari and

browse to your site yourself, not

the local version that you’ve

been working on but the live,

remotely hosted URL. Not only is

it gratifying to see the final result,

you should also re check every

link and element to ensure that

it’s translated faithfully online.

Then just sit back and watch the

hits come rolling in.

That’s really all there is to it with

iWeb. The application genuinely

brings Web design down to a

designer’s level - the user who

certainly knows how to create

what people will like to see but

gets lost trying to figure out the

difference between HTML and

XML. And iWeb makes every step

of Web publishing not only easy

and intuitive, but in fact a whole

lot of fun!

Hopefully this skeletal guide will

get you started on your own

projects with iWeb, so you can

find out for yourself just how

effective it is and how lame most

of the free online options actually

are. Best of all, as I said right at

the beginning, this functionality

comes free with every new Mac,

so what have you got to lose,

really?

how to? design a website

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SPEAK TO A SEASONED

MAC USER AND THEY WILL

TELL YOU THAT THERE IS A

REASON THE MAC MOUSE

ONLY HAD ONE BUTTON

FOR YEARS. THE REASON

IS THAT MAC KEYBOARD

SHORTCUTS ARE SO GOOD

THAT USERS HAD ONE

HAND ON THE MOUSE

AND THE OTHER ON THE

KEYBOARD. JUST BECAUSE

THE MAC MOUSE NOW HAS

2 BUTTONS DOESN’T MEAN

THAT YOU SHOULD IGNORE

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS,

THEY CAN SAVE YOU A LOT

OF TIME.

There are so many keyboard

shortcuts that we obviously

can’t cover them all in this

article. Aperture, the Apple

photographer’s tool has 4 pages

of shortcuts. Once you start

working with applications like

Photoshop, you’ll find that there

are even more. Nevertheless,

let’s look at some of the more

common and most helpful

shortcuts.

Most keyboard shortcuts make

use of the key known as the Apple

key, which on older keyboards has

the Apple symbol on it. This key is

actually the Command key so I’ll

be using the abbreviation CMD

when describing this key. The

Option key is another one that’s a

little confusing since it’s labelled

alt on your keyboard.

Let’s start with the simple ones

that you will use almost every

day. Cut, copy and paste I’m

sure will be something that

every computer user does, and

frequently at that. Moving your

mouse to the menu bar, clicking

edit, before selecting “copy” is a

long drawn out process. Not to

mention that you have to repeat

the process in order to paste the

item. In order to cut, select the

item or text you want, hold down

the [CMD] key and the [X] key

how to? keyboard shortcut

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together. In order to copy, use

the [CMD] + [C] combination. You

can select where you would like

to paste your selection using the

mouse and then use the [CMD]

+ [V] keys to paste. Once you get

used to the key combinations,

you will wonder how you ever

managed the old way.

Every now and then, you do

something and immediately

think “Oops, I didn’t mean to do

that”, no problem hit [CMD] + [Z]

which is the “undo” shortcut. Don’t

bother dragging your mouse over

to the corner of the screen to use

Spotlight, [CMD] + [Spacebar]

and start

typing

whatever

you want

to search

for .

Copying files from one folder to

another is much easier when you

have multiple finder windows

open. The [CMD] + [N] shortcut

is the tool for the job. Once you

have the finder window open,

you might want to select all of

the files in the folder and that’s

where the [CMD]+[A] shortcut

comes in handy. You can also use

the [Option]+ [A] to deselect all of

the files. These two shortcuts work

in most applications to select

and deselect all. The [CMD] + [N]

shortcut also works in most other

applications to open something

new, be it a new document or

new window. Internet junkies

on the other hand don’t have to

open multiple windows these

days since the advent of tabbed

browsing. Firefox displays a little

tab for you to click on to open

a new one. Safari has no such

luxury. Don’t panic though, use

the [CMD] + [T] shortcut to open

another tab. - The same shortcut

also works when you are using

Firefox.

Mac users,

particularly

those new to

the platform,

often

bemoan

the absence of the Print Screen

key. Not only can you capture a

screen shot, you can even select

a specific area of the screen to

capture. The [CMD]+[Shift]+[3]

shortcut captures the entire

screen and places the

screenshot on your desktop. The

[CMD]+[SHIFT]+[4] shortcut will

change the mouse pointer into a

crosshair. Simply drag the mouse

to make your selection. As soon as

you let go of the mouse button,

the selection will be captured and

placed on the desktop. You will

hear the rather amusing sound of

a camera shutter being released

so that you can be sure that the

capture was successful.

There are some single key

shortcuts, which I find particularly

handy when I’m using a laptop

without an external mouse.

Expose, which tiles all open

windows, can be activated by

using the [F9] key . You can then

use the arrow keys to select the

window you want brought to the

front followed by the [CR] key.

You can hide all active windows

by using the [F11] so that you can

easily get to something on the

desktop. The actual keys that are

used have changed on some of

the new generation laptops but

they have icons on the ‘F’ keys to

show you what each of them do.

There are of course several more

shortcuts so take some time to

discover the ones most relevant

to you. Should you want to learn

more, click here. You will also find

that most applications display the

keyboard shortcut next to each

item on the menu.

how to? keyboard shortcut

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The fact that there is a shortcut

for pretty much anything you

want to do is quite cool but what

happens if there isn’t a shortcut

or the existing one doesn’t suit

you? Well, no problem, you can

customise keyboard shortcuts

and, even better, create your own.

Click on the System Preferences

icon on the dock. Click on the

Keyboard and Mouse icon

and then select the Keyboard

Shortcuts button. Should you

decide that you want to change

a shortcut to suit yourself, double

click on the keys in the order you

want to use them for the shortcut.

Make sure you click on the actual

keystrokes on the right hand side.

Clicking on the description on

the left does nothing. If you make

a mistake, don’t worry; just click

on the Restore Defaults button at

the bottom of the screen and the

original shortcut will replace your

input.

Creating your own shortcut is

a simple process; click the [+]

button at the bottom of the

window. A new window will pop

up where you can chose the

application you would like the

shortcut to be used with. Click on

the drop down arrow next to All

Applications and then select the

specific application you want the

shortcut to work with. You can of

course leave the all applications

selected to create a global

shortcut, which is a shortcut

that works with all applications.

In the menu title box, enter the

exact text that appears on the

application’s drop down menu.

Click in the keyboard shortcut

box and then press the key

combination you want to use.

You will notice that there is a

checkbox next to each shortcut.

This is so you can deactivate and

reactivate any of the shortcuts,

including the ones you created

yourself. Deactivating a shortcut is

helpful if it interferes with a third

party application. Gamers find

this particularly useful as games

often have

non-standard

shortcuts.

There’s

nothing more

infuriating

than playing

a game

and having

your calendar

display an appointment for

example.

Keyboard shortcuts are

particularly handy so take some

time to learn them. Once you get

used to them, you’ll wonder how

you ever managed without.

how to? keyboard shortcut

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How to -

Work with images

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iPhoto uses non destructive

editing which means that every

time you work on an image, a

copy of the image, including your

changes, is made. Your original

files remain unchanged so you

don’t need to worry about ruining

your pictures. The down side

is that with all the copies, your

library can grow in size quite

quickly.

So, let’s get down to business, the

first thing you need to do is select

the image you want to work with.

Open an event and click once

on your chosen image. Click on

the Edit icon on the bottom of

the screen. If you would like to

start editing an image by double

clicking it, this can be set in

Preferences. Select Preferences

from the iPhoto menu and click

on the General tab. Click to select

Double-click photo – Edits photo.

The default is to edit in full screen

but if you would prefer, select the

drop down next to Edit photo and

select In the main window.

Assuming that you have chosen

full screen mode, the edit tools

will hide themselves so that you

can see the entire picture. Move

your mouse to the bottom of

the screen and the edit menu

will reappear. Move your mouse

to the top of the screen and a

filmstrip will appear showing all

of the photos in the event so you

can start work on another picture

by clicking on it.

So, let’s start from the left and

see what’s available. The Info icon

will open a small pop up with

various pieces

of information

about the

photo such as

file size and

format.

The Compare

icon opens up

the next image

in your event

so that you can

decide which

one to edit. I guess it assumes

that duplicates of an image would

live next to each other. It doesn’t

allow you to make changes

and compare your changes to

the original. As I said, this isn’t

Photoshop.

The rotate tool is fairly obvious,

if you took a picture in portrait

format and your camera doesn’t

have an orientation sensor, you

can rotate the image. This tool

prevents neck ache from trying

to edit the image with your head

tilted to the side.

The crop tool, as you might

expect, is used to crop the

picture. There is often something

distracting in the picture that you

didn’t notice when you took it.

Click the crop tool and

a crop frame appears

over your picture. You

can move the frame

and resize it until you

get only what you want

in the picture. It is a

good idea to click the

“Constrain” check box.

This will keep the aspect

ratio the same as the

original picture, most

important if you want to print

the picture and don’t want large

how to? work with images

IN LAST MONTH’S MAC ACTION, WE LOOKED AT STORING IMAGES IN IPHOTO. SOME USERS WILL HOWEVER WANT TO GO A STEP FURTHER AND START TRYING TO IMPROVE THEIR PICTURES. WHILE NOT A PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION IN THE LEAGUE OF PHOTOSHOP OR APERTURE, IPHOTO WILL BE MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR MOST AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHERS.

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empty borders. Once you are

happy with the crop, click on the

Apply button.

The straighten tool is used for

straightening the horizon if you

took the picture without the

camera being straight. It is not

used for correcting converging

verticals. You will need much

more expensive software and

a lot of skill to do that. Use the

straighten tool cautiously, I

find the image tends to loose

sharpness when this tool is used.

iPhoto will provide a grid to

assist you in getting the picture

perfectly straight. You straighten

the image by moving the slider

to the left or right until you are

happy with the result. Click the

cross to the left of the slider when

you are done.

The “Enhance” tool is always

available if you find the thought

of adjusting images yourself

too daunting. Its icon is a magic

wand because it is supposed to

magically correct everything that

might be wrong with an image.

Click on this tool and iPhoto will

try to make all the adjustments for

you. It may not be to your taste

but, again, any changes can be

undone. I do find that in most

instances, the Enhance tool works

remarkably well.

The “Red Eye” tool works very

effectively. Open an image where

your subject has red eyes, and

click on this tool. Click on the

eyes and iPhoto does the rest,

it’s almost like magic. On those

occasions where iPhoto gets it

slightly wrong, change the size to

manual and set the cursor size to

the size of the eyeball to achieve a

more precise result.

Dust on the sensor is a problem

that all digital SLR users are

familiar with. The “Retouch” tool

takes care of this problem to a

certain extent although there is

no substitute for sensor cleaning.

Click on the “Retouch “ tool and

change the size of the cursor to

the smallest size possible to just

cover the dust spot. The larger

the cursor, the more chance

there is of affecting other areas

of the image. The tool will try to

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match the corrected area with the

surrounding pixels. The bigger the

selection, the more chance that

the surrounding pixels will be a

different colour. Click on the dust

spot and hey presto, you have a

clean picture. The retouch tool

can also be used like a paintbrush,

which is handy for removing

scratches from an image scanned

from film.

The “Effects” tool opens a pop up

window where you can select

various effects. It’s good for

changing a picture to black and

white or sepia. The other effects,

I find to be a bit gimmicky but

that’s just my opinion. Try some

of the effects yourself; you might

like them. The middle one is the

original image so you can click on

it for a comparison.

The “Adjust” tool also opens a pop

up window from which several

adjustments can be made. You

will need to know a little about

enhancing digital

images to use

the adjustments

to best effect.

This is however

where you will

have the greatest

creative control.

Don’t be afraid to

experiment, you

can always undo

any changes you

make.

The levels histogram at the top

is a mystery to most people but

a simple rule of thumb, move

the sliders to the edges of the

histogram if there are blank

areas on each side. The exposure

contrast and saturation sliders

will help with under and over

exposed images. Click the Avoid

saturating skin tones button if

you like punchy colours but don’t

want the people in the picture to

have orange faces.

The highlights and shadows

sliders help with overly contrasted

images such as pictures taken

into the sun. The highlights slider

will tone down burned out areas

of the picture and the shadow

slider will bring out detail in

underexposed areas. There is no

magic though, if the detail wasn’t

there in the first place, you can’t

get it back.

Most digital cameras produce

slightly soft images that benefit

from a small amount

of sharpening. The

sharpness slider will sort

that out for you. Again,

there’s no magic here,

you can’t make an out of

focus picture sharp. Use

this slider with caution,

over sharpened images

look quite blocky.

One last thing, and this is

important. On the right

of the editing toolbar is a cross.

Hold your mouse over it and the

tooltip will say Exit full screen.

This is the only way to save the

changes you have made. If you

exit full screen by pushing the

Escape key, all your changes will

be lost!

You may be wondering why

iPhoto doesn’t just ask you to

save your work when exiting full

screen. Well, if you hit escape,

it assumes that you didn’t want

to save your changes. If you

exit using the cross, it assumes

that you do want to save. It will

save without asking, safe in the

knowledge that your original

image file is still intact. Should

you decide at any time that you

prefer the original picture, click on

Revert to

Original

at the

bottom

of the

Photos

menu.

This takes

you back

to the file that was imported into

iPhoto, it won’t simply undo the

last change.

Experiment and have fun with

your photos, you can always

revert if you make a complete

pig’s ear of it. Don’t forget, if

there is any specific question you

have, not just about iPhoto but

anything Mac related, email us and we’ll answer it for you.

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gadgetsAll of the accessories featured this month can be found at

authorised Phoenix Software resellers. Visit their website,

www.phoenixsoftware.co.za, for more information.

gadgets

Exspect iPod Cube Clock RadioThat’s right, plug your iPod into this at night and at your desired

wake-up hour, you can be roused from your slumber by your own

iPod playlist! The Cube also charges your iPod and it’s own internal

battery while you sleep, and can be powered by battery alone

making it perfect for when you’re away from any wall sockets.

Exspect iPod Shuffle speakersThis little audio solution brings similar levels of widespread

enjoyment to the music stored on the babiest of iPods, the

Shuffle, as has been enjoyed on larger versions for some time

already. Available in either pink or silver, it also hides a USB

cable inside it’s housing so that you can update your Shuffle

playlist from your PC while the unit remains installed in this

compact speaker set.

Exspect Wii Illuminated Cooling standExspect also have a full range of accessories for other gaming

consoles, but this blue-light decorated stand, well, stood out

for us. It’s not just pretty either, with a built-in fan ensuring

that your Wii remains suitably chilled even during the hottest,

heaviest gaming sessions.

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Elonex soundBAR i32Don’t let the contemporary aesthetic fool you, the soundBAR

also delivers genuinely powerful audio to your living room. It

features a side-mounted MP3 port as well as a fully motorised,

front-loading iPod dock as its main party tricks.

ElonexCUBE 3Remember those mini Hi Fis that were so popular back in the early 9s and have largely become the

norm for a�ordable consumer audio today? The Elonex CUBE 3 takes that idea a step further, also

incorporating a 7” 16:9 aspect ratio TV screen and supporting both digital and analogue video playback

as well as good old DVDs and MP video playback. When not in use, the screen doubles as a digital

photo frame, and the unit can also be hooked up to your presumable larger TV screen with Composite

video and digital audio outputs. For ultimate versatility, there are even a trio of games built-in!

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Hi thereI just wanted to compliment you on your Mac-azine, I was quite impressed:) the design is simple, clean and easy to read (doing Mac justice) and your pictures are great.

I have been looking for a free video converter for ages, so THANK YOU for sharing Handbrake with us! Amazing!

One thing I wanted to mention though, that the “bold statement” that iPhoto is the best photo cataloguing software in the world bar none, is a very bold one, and I think you should take a look at Adobe Lightroom, which I find to be vastly superior. My main cringe with iPhoto is the way it eats hard drive space by creating copies of all your photos once you have done anything to them...Anyways, I’m just being a little picky... Haha. Well done again on a fine publication, looking forward to the next edition.

RegardsDevin Paisley

Thanks Devin, glad that you’re enjoying the

magazine. Let me clarify, I said that iPhoto is the

best image cataloguing application, not the best

image manipulation application.

Hi,I heard about your magazine via a DigiCape newsletter. The magazine is most welcome, as most Mac info is usually from a US/European source.

With regards to the magazine, is it possible to download and save a copy to my Mac? This does not seem to be possible from the Virtual Magazine platform. There is a download section on your website, but there is no files available for download. It is a bit difficult to read the magazine via Virtual Magazine, as the text is not that legible. Using the zoom facility does not provide for a smooth reading experience. It would be better if I could read a pdf version of the magazine. I would then also be able to read the magazine at any time, and not only while connected to the internet.Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and kind regards,Mohammed Yakoob

letters

�������

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Hi thereWith regard to your MacAction magazine. The articles are very well-written and I think as a free publication it is a great offering. However, a few issues that border on the side of frustration need to be highlighted. Firstly - the only way to read the magazine is to zoom in on a page - then you have to drag the page around to read it properly (I’m using Safari 4.0) Secondly - to go to the next or prior page, you first have to zoom out again. Thirdly - there isn’t a way (as far as I’m aware of, anyway) to print the magazine as a whole. Instead one has to choose ‘print left page’ or ‘print right page’.

I feel if these three issues could be resolved, your magazine would be an even better one.I look forward to reading the rest of your issues and a big up to you guys for the work you do behind the scenes.

Kind regardsBradley Millar

Thanks for the comments Mohammed and

Bradley. I’m pleased that you are enjoying the

content. We have had several requests from

our readers for a downloadable copy of the

magazine. We have been working tirelessly this

month looking at various options, so that the

download will offer the best possible reader

experience. I hope that by the time you read this,

the downloadable will be available here, if not,

we will certainly have it for you next month.

Send us pictures of your

devotion and you could win

great prizes.

ilovemymac@macaction.co.za

ac

tio

n

MACTHE APPLE LOVER’S MAGAZINE

Love

your

Mac?

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win

Win a brand-new iPod Shuffle!We’ve had a request for a bit of an informal online Mac survey to be done. Just, simply, via

letters from any of you out there willing to share some insight. And you can score yourself a

brand-new iPod Shuffle 4GB if you do! That’s right, the tiniest and coolest portable music player

in the world, which now even talks to you, and so much more. Read a full review this month

right here.

So what do you need to do to get your hands on one of these babies? Well we’re giving away

one a month for the next six months, to short submissions to letters@macaction.co.za speaking

about the main reasons why, if you were a PC user before opening your eyes to the Mac, you

ultimately made the move. Was it a particular app that you regularly used that just worked

so much better, did you tire of random crashes and viscious virus attacks, or were you simply

smitten the first time you laid hands on a Mac and had to have one, for sheer lust of the thing?

Give us a few words on the subject and a sexy new Shuffle could be all yours. We’ll choose the

submission we like the best each month and this cool prize will be winging its way to your

door courtesy of MacAction and The Core Group.

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iLoveMyMacWe’re in the process of securing some more cool goodies to give away to

you our good readers next month, and while we do the deals needed in the

background we’re putting the section on hold for this month, as we don’t

want to pick a winner this month making them ineligible for entry when

we’ve got something to give away next month – that just wouldn’t be fair!

So keep sending us your pictures of weird, wacky, or wonderful things

you’ve done to demonstrate your devotion to your Mac, or the Apple Way

in general, and you’ll be in line for taking our first goodie bag home next

month. You can send them through on Facebook or email ilovemymac.

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BACK IN THE LATE8S/EARLY9S, ANTHONY RODSETH BETTER KNOWN AS WOODY WAS

SEEING THE MARGINS IN HIS LINE OF WORK AS A DENTAL TECHNICIAN BEING RAPIDLY

SQUEEZED AWAY. PRICES WERE LARGELY SET BY MEDIAL AIDS OF COURSE, AS THEY STILL

ARE TODAY, AND SELDOM INCREASED, WHILE THE COSTS OF PROVIDING A QUALITY DENTAL

SERVICE GREW AND GREW. WOODY DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO FOLLOW THE HOBBY HE’D

BEEN PASSIONATE ABOUT HIS WHOLE LIFE, AND STRUCK OFF ON HIS OWN TO BECOME A

MOTORSPORT PHOTOGRAPHER!

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In partnership with Frans Dely,

today a celebrated aviation

photographer, Woody’s photography

career got off to a slow but steady

start. “I owe Frans a lot, a lot of my

success has come from lessons he

taught me. Not only lessons in the

then-new art of digital photography,

but also what he taught me about

the Mac as a productivity tool. It took

me a while to follow his advice, but

when I moved over to Macs-only in

1998, I would never look back. I still

don’t go out and tell everyone I meet

they should be using a Mac though,

they’ll realise in time how I achieve

the productivity and end results I

deliver, and until then my Mac is

actually a key component of my

competitive advantage so...”

Today, Woody’s company Final

Image Digital, provides the highest-

quality motorsport photos available

to corporate and press customers,

but has capitalised on the chosen

working platform and diversified

into a lot of graphic design work.

Woody creates corporate brochures,

promotional materials, and basically

anything that needs to look Hot

Hot Hot for a wide range of major

corporate customers.

“It was really my motorsport roots

that got me the relationships with

these big clients,” he comments.

Today the stunning images Woody’s

well-practiced Nikons produce also

find their way onto his impressive

range of themed calendars, which

he produces at high quality and

in limited numbers for interested

customers looking for a reliable,

high-impact way of catching the

attention of existing and potential

customers alike.

His workstation is an impressive dual-

core Mac Pro, upgraded to 12 GB of

RAM and sporting a TB of internal

drive space and another TB of

external capacity. “I’ll never struggle

with a PC again. With the size of the

highly-detailed files I work with every

day, the PC just doesn’t cope. My Mac

Pro is just perfect, always stable, very

responsive.”

And including gargantuan desktop

real estate, with a gorgeous 3-inch

Apple Cinema LCD attached this Pro

has the display space to open and

manipulate four full A4-sized projects

at once. Woody elaborates; “You

don’t actually realise the productivity

benefits of a screen like this until you

get one. I used to run a pair of LCDs

on my setup, but this one 3” display

gives me all the space I need in

one screen. It’s also like looking at a

photo, and I can be focussed on it all

day long and not feel any eye-strain!”

Woody still owns every single

generation of Mac he’s ever worked

on, from the original 7 he

switched over to back in 1998,

through every generation of G4

and PowerBook up to his current

Pro workstation, as well as a pair of

MacBooks for those mobile jobs.

“I just don’t sell my Macs, although

I could, as they’re all still useable

machines. They all still work perfectly

well, a lot of people don’t understand

that about the benefits of a Mac.”

Just two things bother Woody

about his choice of technology

platform. The first, is the 1-year

warranty on their screens, which

just isn’t competitive any more.

As mainstream manufacturers like

Samsung offer more and more

competitive high-end digital displays

for similar or less money, topped

off by full 3-year warranty periods,

Woody believes that Apple should

follow suit. And the second facet of

Mac ownership he disapproves of,

are his experiences of poor service

levels from Core, Apple’s official SA

importer.

“The Mac is undoubtedly the best

platform for professionals. There’s

the stability, the performance, that

awesome OS. And the things I can

make it do for me definitely give me

a bit of a competitive edge, even

over the younger guys constantly

coming into my market. It gives me

the freedom to diversify my offering,

especially important in rough

economic conditions like today,

which the young bucks often aren’t

able to do,” concludes Woody.

Contact Final Image Digital on

12 361 6341 and talk to Woody

today if you re looking for

motorsport images of simply superb

quality. His shots of the recent WSBK

round held at Kyalami include some

breathtaking scenes, 12 of which

already form part of a striking new

calendar.

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Driving simulators are

designed for people

that fancy themselves

as racing drivers. They

are for those wannabes

that know they would

have been faster than

the pros, if only they’d

had the chance. So, that’s

just about all of the male

population then.

Driving simulators give us

the chance to show our

friends just how good we

really are. They give us a

chance to beat the pro

drivers, albeit software

simulated professionals.

All of that in the safety of

an office chair, without

the risk of damaging

an expensive car; or

ourselves. So look out

Seb Loeb, here I come!

Driving games fit into

two categories, there

are arcade games and

then there are simulation

games. Arcade games are

mindless fun with very

little in terms of realism.

Colin Mcrae Rally fits very

firmly into the simulation

category. In fact, some

have criticised it for being

too realistic - it’s really

not easy to drive a rally

car so the realism makes

it difficult to master. If

you’re prepared to take

the time needed to begin

to master it though there

is a very real sense of

satisfaction when you get

it remotely right.

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There are four game play options

– starting with Challenges for

when you just want to dive in and

have a quick stage or two against

no one but yourself and the

clock. There is a Championship

option for those who have a bit

more time and want to gauge

their performance against the

computer opponents. There is of

course the seemingly obligatory

Career mode - start at the bottom

and work your way up through

the ranks driving several different

cars competing in events all

over the globe. Then there is the

Online mode so you can test

your skills against the world’s best

gamers.

Colin Mcrae Rally offers 3

different cars which have been

modelled to be as close to the

real thing as possible. There’s no

doubt that each car feels distinctly

different. Once you get the hang

of driving them, you can start to

tweak the set up by fiddling with

suspension, tyre choice and other

bits and pieces.

There are a total of 72 rally stages

that take place across 9 countries.

All of the stages are actual rally

stages although how accurate

they are I couldn’t say. Certainly,

the graphics give you a real feel

of being in the location. What I

found particularly amusing is that

if you choose random weather for

a British stage, it seems to always

rain.

The weather effects are first

class and it’s not just a case of

occasional rain. There is rain,

snow, ice on road surfaces, mud

and some spectacular sunsets.

The handling of the car is affected

by the nature of the road surface,

although when I drive, the car is

all over the place regardless of the

surface!

The graphics are not quite up to

the standards of a high definition

Playstation 3 game but they are

none the less quite good. You

shouldn’t have too much trouble

getting the detail you want to see;

even a modest spec Mac seems

to run the game without any

trouble.

I tested the game on an iMac

2.GHz and turned the detail up

to maximum, even though the

game itself suggested I turn the

dial down a bit. Not me, I want to

see all of the glorious graphics.

The gameplay was smooth even

at my higher detail level and

loading was fast enough not to be

of any consequence.

Unfortunately, I was forced to

play the game using keyboard

controls, which is less than ideal.

I have an old Thrustmaster wheel

lying around which I plugged

in, but although I don’t have any

drivers for it the game recognised

it. I thought all was well, it

calibrated fine but once I got to

the start line, the pedals were

inactive.

Overall, Colin Mcrae Rally is very

realistic except for a couple of

things. Firstly, if you go too far off

the track, a magic hand picks you

up and puts you back on. It also

happens if you take a wrong turn

even if you are in the process of

turning round. When you lose it

altogether and go driving through

the fields, the navigator just sits

calmly telling you what’s coming

up next. It would be a lot more

realistic if he said, “Where are you

going you idiot!”

I really enjoyed CMR, it appeals to

my nature as a petrol head. I like

the realism and I like the fact that

I can go and unlock all of the cars

manually without having to wait

until I’ve finished x number of

stages.

If you enjoy driving simulation,

this is the game for you. If you

want an arcade game, look

elsewhere.

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MacBook

WELL, AFTER YEARS OF

BRAGGING TO WINDOWS

USERS THAT MACS DON’T

FAIL, DISASTER STRUCK.

WORST OF ALL, I WAS IN

THE U.K. WITHOUT MY TIME

MACHINE BACKUP.

The strange thing is that I wasn’t

doing anything that taxed the

processor; I had just plugged in

my iPhone so that I could charge

its ridiculously poor battery.

The mouse pointer froze and

the keyboard stopped working.

No problem, I thought. I held

the power button for 5 seconds

and switched off. I switched the

computer back on and all seemed

well, there was the normal boot

sequence and the desktop

reappeared. Ah, I thought,

problem solved but I was wrong.

The mouse pointer was stuck in

exactly the same place and the

keyboard was inactive. I plugged

in an external mouse but that

didn’t work either.

My heart sank, I might have

lost all of my data or be in for

an expensive repair if not both.

Using a friend’s computer, I got

onto Google and found, after a

long search, that only two other

people had experienced the same

problem and no solution had

been posted.

I managed to borrow an OS X disc

and slid it into the drive, which

was still working. Holding the

[ALT] key, I booted up onto the

operating system disc. Hey presto,

the keyboard and mouse worked

so the problem was obviously

software related. I spent the next

half hour trying to work out what

I had worked on and downloaded

since I left home where my Time

Machine backup had been left.

I DID FIND OUT HOWEVER

THAT YOU CAN TAKE YOUR

LAPTOP TO AN ISTORE AND

THEY WILL INSTALL THE

UPDATES FOR YOU.

Eventually, needing to use the

computer, I decided to re-install

OS X safe in the knowledge

that most of my work was on a

memory stick. I chose the Archive

and Install option, which I had

never used before. I clicked on

Preserve Users and Network

Settings and then held my breath.

I need not have worried, the

MacBook fired up and everything

was the same as before the

problem. My email accounts had

been preserved and all my data

was safe including my iTunes and

iPhoto libraries. iTunes wouldn’t

open complaining that the library

had been created in a newer

version of iPhoto. Still, all my

pictures were safe.

That really was the only problem,

reinstalling using the Archive and

Install, preserving user settings

option puts your computer back

the way it was but without all of

the updates.

In a normal country, that wouldn’t

be a problem but here, where

our national telecoms provider

perseveres with ridiculously low

data caps, downloading 8 odd

Megs of updates has quite an

impact. I did find out however

that you can take your laptop to

an iStore and they will install the

updates for you.

The old Mackbook is now working

perfectly again. Even when things

go wrong, you know why you’re

an Apple user. It could have been

so much worse. Still, it teaches

you the importance of regular

backups.

Steve

sta macs

Mac Action20

Mac Action 55

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