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New in Labs: Advanced IMAP Controls – Official Gmail Blog

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:06:45 +0000

New in Labs: Advanced IMAP Controls – Official Gmail Blog.

From the team that brought you Mail Goggles, here comes…Advanced IMAP Controls, a Labs feature that lets you fine-tune your Gmail IMAP experience. You can choose which labels to sync in IMAP — useful if you find your mail client choking on a big [Gmail]/All Mail folder.

After enabling this Lab, just go to the Labels tab under Settings. You’ll see a new ‘Show in IMAP’ checkbox next to each of your labels. Uncheck the box and the corresponding folder will disappear from IMAP.

There are also some more obscure options for those of you who want to make Gmail’s IMAP work more like traditional IMAP providers: you can turn off auto-expunge or trash messages when they’re no longer visible through IMAP.

The IMAP protocol allows messages to be marked for deletion, a sort of limbo state where a message is still present in the folder but slated to be deleted the next time the folder is expunged. In our standard IMAP implementation, when you mark a message as deleted, Gmail doesn’t let it linger in that state — it deletes (or auto-expunges) it from the folder right away. If you want the two-stage delete process, after you’ve enabled this Lab, just select ‘Do not automatically expunge messages’ under the ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ tab in Settings.

Similarly, most IMAP systems don’t share Gmail’s concept of archiving messages (sending messages to the [Gmail]/All Mail folder rather than [Gmail]/Trash). If you’d prefer that deleted messages not remaining in any other visible IMAP folders are sent to [Gmail]/Trash instead, Advanced IMAP Controls lets you set your preferences this way. In the ‘IMAP Access:’ section of the ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ tab, find the ‘When a message is deleted from the last visible IMAP folder:’ option. Select ‘Move the message to the Gmail Trash.’ If you want to take it one step further, you can select ‘Immediately delete the message forever.’

Snow Leopard Graphics Update

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:23:21 +0000

Summary

The Snow Leopard Graphics Update contains stability and performance fixes for graphics applications and games in Mac OS X v10.6.4.

Products Affected

MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010), iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009), Mac Pro (Early 2009), Mac mini (Early 2009), Mac OS X 10.6.4, Mac mini (Mid 2010), iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010), iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010), MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010), Portal, StarCraft II, Team Fortress 2

What’s included?

The Snow Leopard Graphics Update contains stability and performance fixes for graphics applications and games:

Addresses frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 by Valve, on iMac (Late 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac mini (Early 2009 and Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009), MacBook (Early 2009 and Mid 2010) and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) models.
Resolves an issue that could cause Aperture 3, or StarCraft II by Blizzard, to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive.
Resolves an image corruption issue that may occur when disconnecting and reconnecting external displays while the system is running.

About the Snow Leopard Graphics Update.

Apple Releases Aperture 3.0.3 Update

cameron — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:26:29 +0000

This update improves overall stability and fixes issues in a number of areas in Aperture 3. The key areas addressed include:

Applying adjustments such as Retouch or Chromatic Aberration
Creating and using Raw Fine Tuning presets
Viewing, adding and removing detected faces
Switching target printers and paper sizes when printing
Duplicating Smart Albums
Repairing and rebuilding Aperture libraries
Reconnecting referenced files
Working with GPS track files in Places
Searching for keywords in the Query HUD or Keyword Controls

The update is recommended for all users of Aperture 3.

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website:http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2518

Apple’s Thoughts on Adobe Flash

cameron — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:50:34 +0000

Steve Jobs issue a press release to publicly confirm why Flash will not be incorporated into Apple mobile devices.

Read more on Apple’s site: Thoughts on Flash.

Culture Crisis, not a Health Care Crisis…

cameron — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:23:30 +0000

Thought this was right on… Dr. Starner Jones’ short two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a “Culture Crisis” instead of a “Health Care Crisis”.. It’s worth a quick read:

Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.
While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as “Medicaid”! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.
And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman’s health care? I contend that our nation’s “health care crisis” is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a “crisis of culture”, a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one’s self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that “I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me”.
Once you fix this “culture crisis” that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you’ll be amazed at how quickly our nation’s health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
STARNER JONES, MD

iPhone for Verizon?

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:28:40 +0000

Verizon, the largest wireless provider in the U.S., is reportedly investing in its network to make it capable of handling extra traffic from Apple’s iPhone, a company official said.

In an interview with BusinessWeek, Anthony Melone, Verizon Wireless’ chief technology officer, said his company is prepared if Apple decides to end its exclusive agreement with AT&T in 2010.

“We have put things in place already,” Melone reportedly said. “We are prepared to support that traffic.”

The company official did not, however, comment on the prospect of the iPhone becoming available on Verizon. But various reports as of late have suggested Apple could be working with chip-maker Qualcomm for a CDMA-capable iPhone that could run on the Verizon network. While there is some debate as to whether the phone would be a dual-mode, also compatible with GSM networks, or solely CDMA, reports have pegged the new handset for a possible launch in the third quarter of 2010.

Some analysts believe a Verizon iPhone in 2010 is a very likely scenario. Piper Jaffray believes there is a 70 percent chance Apple will launch the handset in mid-calendar year 2010. With 89 million customers, Verizon would add a great number of potential customers for Apple to expand the iPhone to.

But some others believe that a deal between Apple and Verizon would be too complicated, citing the incompatibility of the current phone with its network, and also the conflicting interests between the two companies. Others have viewed T-Mobile as a potential candidate, as it and AT&T are the only nationwide GSM networks in the U.S.

Verizon has invested nearly $19 billion in its wireless network over the last three years, and made acquisitions of companies like Alltell to improve its network. Melone said his company’s investment in its network is evidence that it takes its service seriously.

AT&T’s network, meanwhile, has struggled since the launch of the iPhone 3GS, and key features like multimedia messaging and tethering were delayed to prevent a strain on the network. But Melone told BusinessWeek that Verizon would not have those same issues.

“We will handle it if we ever get it,” he said.

iPartition 3.2.0 Released

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:47:20 +0000

iPartition 3.2.0 Released: “

We are pleased to announce the release of version 3.2.0 of iPartition.

Please note, this version will not run on 10.3 (Panther), so please do not attempt to upgrade if that is what you are using. We have also dropped support for PowerPC G3 machines.

iPartition changes in this release:

Fixed a problem with growing NTFS volumes by a large amount (and would have caused inconsistency warnings).
Fixed an issue with consistency warnings on wrapped HFS+ volumes.
Added a workaround for a Kernel bug to do with wrapped journaled HFS+ volumes.
Added support for putting HFS+ journals on external partitions/disks. Please note, this is only supported on Snow Leopard and Apple only officially support it on OS X Server.
Fixed an assertion that you might get when relocating files for a shrink operation on HFS+ volumes.
Fixed an issue with the bug report dialog where it wouldn’t retain information entered.
Now built as a 64-bit application although it will run as a 32-bit application by default in this release.
Fixed the cause of an assertion failure that you can get if you change the type of a partition and then rename it on a disk with a PC/MBR partition scheme.
Fixed a minor inconsistency issue when formatting case sensitive HFS+ volumes.
Fixed an issue with shrinking NTFS volumes where it might complain about needing defragmentation when not actually necessary.
Fixed an issue with compacting NTFS volumes that could have caused inconsistencies.
Fixed a very minor issue when compacting NTFS volumes on PowerPC machines which might have caused some files to be relocated to a legal, but not ideal location.
Fixed a crash that could occur if you tried to rename a FAT volume to something with more than 11 characters.
Fixed iPartition so that it will work sensibly with partition types on the MBR scheme that it does not know about.
Fixed a number of minor user interface glitches (for example, you can now correctly edit partition sizes in the partition table view).

iDefrag Lite changes in this release:

Fixed an issue with the bug report dialog where it wouldn’t retain information entered.
Fixed an issue with consistency warnings on wrapped HFS+ volumes.

For more iPartition news and release notes, go to
the Atom
feed.

“

(Via iPartition 3 News.)

7 Essential iPhone Tips

cameron — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:34:06 +0000

7 Essential iPhone/iPod touch Tips

by Jeff Carlson

I’ve owned an iPhone since shortly after it was introduced – yes, I was one of the saps who paid $600 for the original model just before Apple dropped the price to $400. Despite using it every day, and eventually upgrading to an iPhone 3GS, when I started writing “Take Control of Your iPhone Apps,” I was happy to discover many new techniques that had previously slipped under my radar.

The $10 book covers the main built-in apps – Calendar, Phone and Contacts, Safari, Mail, Messages, Camera, Photos, Maps, Compass, and iPod (plus Music and Video on the iPod touch) – as well as Apple’s free Remote app. It’s available for purchase and download now, and there’s also a bundle deal to buy it with Ted Landau’s excellent “Take Control of iPhone OS 3,” which was also just released.

Here are a few of my favorite techniques from the many I collected for “Take Control of Your iPhone Apps.”

Silence an Incoming Call — I don’t always answer my phone. If the phone rings when I’m talking to someone face to face, I prefer encouraging the caller to leave a voicemail message rather than interrupting my conversation. One option is tapping the Decline button on the screen, but that involves more attention to the phone (and away from the person I’m with) than I’m generally willing to give.

Instead, here are two excellent shortcuts you can perform when the phone is still in your pocket or purse:

Press the power button once to silence the ringer; the phone still rings on the caller’s end and then goes to voicemail.
Press the power button twice to send the call directly to voicemail.

I like the second option better because the short amount of time between the first ring and going to voicemail tells the caller I’m aware of the call and not just away from the phone.

Set the Camera as Your Instant-On App — If you frequently grab your iPhone to take photos, set the Camera app to launch when you double-press the Home button. You must still use the Slide to Unlock slider to wake the phone, but then you can double-press the Home button to go straight to the Camera.

Open the Settings application, go to General > Home and tap Camera in the list of options. If you listen to music often, set the iPod Controls switch to Off; otherwise, a double-press of the Home button brings up playback controls while music is playing.

The Best iPhone Camera Tip Ever — The iPhone doesn’t capture a photo until you release the shutter button. Instead of tapping the button to take a photo, press and hold the button as you frame your shot. On the iPhone 3GS, you can still tap the screen to set a focus area with the shutter button held down. When you’re ready to take the picture, release the button. This technique minimizes camera movement because you don’t have to both press and release the button with your finger.

Use Spotlight Search from the Home Screen — The system-wide Spotlight search function turns out to be quite handy. Press the physical Home button to view the Home screen and then swipe to navigate to the screen to the left of the first Home screen. (You can also press the Home button, wait a moment, and press it again.)

If your iPhone or iPod touch is packed full of apps, you may find it easier to use Spotlight the way you would use something like LaunchBar on the Mac (see “LaunchBar 5.0.1 Runs on Snow Leopard, Adds Clipboard History,” 20 October 2009). Start typing the name of the app and then tap it when it appears in the list of matches.

Spotlight can drill down into more specific items on your device. If you want to listen to a particular song, for instance, you don’t need to first open the iPod or Music app, tap the Songs button, and scroll down the list to find it.

(By the way, here’s a tip-within-a-tip: If you’re already in the iPod or Music app, swipe down to reveal the Search field, which is normally hidden at the top of the list.)

Instead, start typing the name of the song in the Spotlight search screen. The song appears in the list with other items; tap it to jump directly to the iPod or Music app, where the song begins to play.

Spotlight search sometimes gets results that the Search field within an app won’t find. In the Mail app, you’re limited to searching only the mailbox you’re currently viewing, such as an account’s Inbox. When you perform the same search from the Home screen, you can locate messages from other mailboxes, too, such as a message that has been filed and a reply to the message in the Inbox.

Scrub Playback in the iPod or Music app — When you’re listening to a song, podcast, or audiobook, tap the progress slider at the top of the screen to move to another section of the track. However, the combination of a relatively small screen, the size of most people’s fingers, and sometimes lengthy media make this a coarse way of scrolling. What if you just want to back up a few seconds in an hour-long podcast?

The iPhone engineers came up with a brilliant workaround. Tap the playhead on the slider and then drag your finger down to scrub the playback at various speeds; the rate appears above the slider, such as “Quarter Speed Scrubbing.” The farther down the screen you slide your finger, the more fine-grained control you have over moving the playhead.

Use the Clock App to Set a Sleep Timer — If you enjoy going to sleep to music or an audiobook, a combination of two apps lets you do it with the iPhone.

Open the Clock app and tap the Timer button.
Set the duration of the timer.
Tap the When Timer Ends button and instead of selecting an alarm sound, tap Sleep iPod.
Open the iPod app and play your audio.

When the timer expires, playback softly ends. But you’ll be asleep by then, right?

Hidden Functionality — By necessity, Apple’s iPhone designers had to be clever about adding functionality to a handheld device, making the experience richer for those of us who use an iPhone or iPod touch regularly while keeping the interface uncluttered.

That need has resulted in these and other tips and techniques – all covered in the book – that make a big difference in my everyday use of the iPhone. If you’d like to make your little digital companion even more useful than it is now, check out “Take Control of Your iPhone Apps.”

No, you’re not infected…

cameron — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:31:58 +0000

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous is concerned about a very scary looking website. I attempt to calm the waters.

I used Yahoo to search for something and was sent immediately to the following [redacted] site. I believe my Mac was invaded and don’t know what to do!

First, relax. Your Mac wasn’t invaded, infected, compromised, co-opted, or conquered. If you’d clicked through a few of those dire pop-up warnings you might have been as amused as I was to see a phony Windows Security Alert appear on a Macintosh. What you’ve encountered is termed “scareware”—a scam that attempts to frighten those confronted with these pages into downloading a hunk of software that will allegedly deal with the problem.

The chain of events goes like this: A perfectly legitimate URL is hijacked by the scammers and you’re redirected to the scareware page. That page is designed in such a way that several dialog boxes pop-up, warning you that your computer is infected. Click Cancel and you’ll just get more warnings and an interface that makes it appear like your computer is being scanned. If you fall for the trick and click the buttons necessary to download the offered antivirus software, you’ll pay for a product that is likely a hunk of malware (and I hate to think what happens to your credit card information). This malware is bad for Windows PCs but has no effect on Macs.

Typical scareware warning:

Regrettably, these pages are sometimes difficult to dismiss because the constant pop-up warnings prevent you from leaving. Clicking OK may get rid of the pop-ups so that you can close the window or tab (and no, doing so won’t automatically download the software to your Mac), but I faced a situation with my wife’s Mac (who was just concerned as you were) where I had to force-quit Safari to get away from the scareware page.

You can take some comfort in knowing that the search engine folks do their best to weed out this junk and that those who promote it have been—and will continue to be—prosecuted for engaging in such malicious and scammy activities.

Garmin GPS Problems

cameron — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:07:12 +0000

Garmin Issues Software Update for Widespread Problem

Garmin, the GPS device giant, has issued a mandatory update targeted at correcting a widespread updating bug that renders them either useless or entirely inoperable. The bug causes affected GPS units to attempt to update their firmware repeatedly, and then either to shut down or lose their GPS satellite signal. Affected devices include the nuvi 7×5 series, nuvi 800 series, nuvi 8×5 series, zumo 660, GPSMAP 620 and GPSMAP 640.

If you own a Garmin nuvi 7×5 series device that is no longer able to receive a GPS satellite signal, you may download the firmware update immediately via Garmin’s WebUpdater. Owners of other affected Garmin devices will be able to access the update in the near future, also through the WebUpdater. Registered users will receive notification of the availability of these updates via email.
On the other hand, if your Garmin nuvi 7×5 series device is no longer able to power on, a return authorization is required so you can send the unit back to Garmin for repair under warranty. To request a return authorization, follow the steps listed on this page in Garmin’s Knowledge Base.