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ComputorEdge™ Online — 10/21/11

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Amazon Kindle Fire Enters the World of Tablet Computers

Apple iPad owns the tablet market. Can Amazon make its mark with the Kindle Fire?

Magazine Summary

List of ComputorEdge Sponsors

Digital Dave
by Digital Dave

Digital Dave answers your tech questions.

Movie Formats; Transfer E-mail Addresses from Outlook 2000; XPS File Problem.

The Amazon's Kindle Fire
by Jack Dunning

Will Amazon's Kindle Fire Challenge iPad?

The Amazon's Kindle Fire is soon to be the newest tablet competitor on the market. It does more than an eReader, but doesn't have all the capabilities of an iPad. Will this compete directly with the iPad? Jack explains the capabilities of the Kindle Fire.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm
by Wally Wang

Mac OS X 10.7.2, iOS 5, and iCloud

Mac OS X 10.7.2, iOS 5, and iCloud; The Legacy of Dennis Ritchie; The View From a One-Year Old; The Definition of Insanity; LiveCode 5 for iOS 5 and Other Operating Systems; More Confusing Ads From Microsoft; Find My Mac.

Beyond Personal Computing
by Marilyn K. Martin

Compatibility in Question: Kids, Pets and Computers

Marilyn shares some amusing stories and jokes that involve kids, pets and computers—sometimes an eventful combination.

ComputorQuick Reviews
by ComputorEdge Staff

DoubleMySpeed.com

A reader has had issues with DoubleMySpeed.com. It seems to be more of a scam then a helpful product.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers
by ComputorEdge Staff

Computer and Internet tips, plus comments on the articles and columns.

"Adding Audio to E-books," "Facebook E-mails," "Missing rundll32.exe"

Send mail to ceeditor@computoredge.com with questions about editorial content.
Send mail to webmaster@computoredge.com with questions or comments about this Web site.
Copyright © 1997-2011 The Byte Buyer, Inc.

ComputorEdge Magazine, P.O. Box 83086, San Diego, CA 92138. (858) 484-1998

Click to Visit ComputorEdge™ Online on the Web!

Digital Dave

“Digital Dave answers your tech questions.”
by Digital Dave

Movie Formats; Transfer E-mail Addresses from Outlook 2000; XPS File Problem.

Movie Formats

Dear Digital Dave,

My question is this: my friend has some movies on an external hard drive that were saved using a Mac computer. I have a PC computer and can't download the movies to my computer. Is there an easy way to change from Mac to PC format? I read your column all the time and I'm learning a lot from you.

Miguel
San Diego, Ca

Dear Miguel,

I'm not sure whether you can't find and copy the files on the Mac external drive, or you've found that you can't play the files once you get them to your PC. I'm guessing both.

If you're having the first problem, then the best solution would be to either get software which would allow you to read the Mac external hard drive directly on the PC, such as MacDrive or TransMac, or buy a FAT32 formatted flash drive or external hard drive which you will be able to plug into both the Mac and the PC. (Most new thumb drives come in FAT32 format since this is compatible with both Mac and PC.) The software may be the best bet since there is a four gig limit on the size of a FAT32 file. Video files are too cumbersome to e-mail, but if you can set up a network on which both the Mac and PC drives are recognized, then you could transfer the files over the network.

Once you have access to the files you will need either a player to view the movies or a program to convert the files to an compatible format. Mac uses MOV and MP4 as playable formats while Windows Media Player uses WMV (Windows Media Video). Downloading Apple's Quicktime would most likely solve the playing problem on the PC.

Digital Dave

Transfer E-mail Addresses from Outlook 2000

Dear Digital Dave,

I have Windows XP and until last Thursday I had Office 2000 on my computer at work. I haven't deleted e-mails as I should have and Outlook froze. :( Our IT Manager had to install Office 2003 and I love it, but now I cannot access the e-mail addresses in my contacts list! Help!

Virginia Leo
Denver, CO

Dear Virginia,

When Microsoft Office is first installed on a computer, it creates a number of files including the PAB (Personal Address Book) file. This is the file which Outlook uses for storing e-mail addresses.

As I understand it, the installation of Office 2003 should have automatically imported your old address book. However, since it didn't appear to happen, it may be in another location. As the created file is new, nothing will appear. You will need to set Outlook to use your old address file which presumably uses the same file type, but will be located in the old Office 2000 folders.

I'm not sure how those versions of Microsoft Office handle the folders, but there is a good bit of information at Microsoft Support which should make it possible to locate your old address book and either set it as the default or import it into the new file. I wouldn't recommend just pointing to the file in the old location. If would be preferable to either copy it over to the correct place or import it—if that is the process. It's best to avoid non-standard setups unless there is a good reason.

If anyone has more specific information or tips about how to find a lost Office 2000 address file, please leave a comment.

Digital Dave

XPS File Problem

Dear Digital Dave,

Since my daughter who lives a half mile away doesn't own a working printer, she often e-mails me documents to print. They are usually DOC or PDF files, but I was stumped by one XPS file she sent me. Can you help me?

George
San Diego, CA

Dear George,

The XPS (XML Paper Specification) file is Microsoft's attempt to develop a file format which competes with PDF for printing documents. These files will use the .xps extension.

XPS is supported in most current versions of Windows. For Windows 7 and Windows Vista the XPS Viewer should have been automatically installed. If an XPS viewer does not load when you attempt to open the file, then you are either missing the viewer or you need to set the viewer as the default program for the .xps file type.

In any case, if you're using Windows XP or the files will not open in Windows 7 or Vista, you should download the latest free versions of the viewer from Microsoft. Once you've installed the viewer, you may need to reset the file associations for the new viewer.

Installation of the XPS Viewer will also install a printer driver called "Microsoft XPS Document Writer" which will create .xps files from various programs.

Digital Dave

The Amazon's Kindle Fire

“Will Amazon's Kindle Fire Challenge iPad?”
by Jack Dunning

The Amazon's Kindle Fire is soon to be the newest tablet competitor on the market. It does more than an eReader, but doesn't have all the capabilities of an iPad. Will this compete directly with the iPad? Jack explains the capabilities of the Kindle Fire.

The Kindle Fire, Amazon's entry into the tablet wars, will be released on November 15. It is undecided whether the Fire is more of a direct challenge to the Apple iPad or a response to the Nook Color eReader—probably both. Amazon already has millions of loyal Kindle owners who could seamlessly move to the Fire as their first tablet without ever leaving the Amazon collective.

The significant difference in the Kindle Fire from previous Kindle models is the support for multimedia. Now you can stream video, read multimedia e-books, browse the Web, and run apps in the same way as you can with any tablet computer. The Kindle Fire as moved beyond being an eReader, but sacrifices needed to be made.

The major advantage offered by the Kindle Fire is price. At $199 it is less than half the price of the cheapest iPad and 20% less than the Nook Color. But the lower price comes with fewer features. Although the Fire has the multi-touch screen we've come to expect in tablet computers, there is no camera or microphone (found on the iPad 2), a mere eight gigs of memory, and Wi-Fi only. The Kindle Fire is comparable to the Nook Color except that the Kindle does not have the Nook's slot for a micro SD card which can be used to expand the storage capacity. The Fire is no doubt an answer to the Nook Color, but it may give buyers more reasons to consider something other than the iPad when looking at tablets.

It may be the case that the greatest threat to the Apple iPad is an e-book reader such as the Kindle scaling up to encroach on the tablet market. So far, other Android tablet manufacturers have not been successful in attacking Apple iPad with their more expensive entries. Possibly Amazon's Kindle Fire (also running a version of Android) will make some headway.

Kindle Fire Applications

Certainly Amazon will have apps available for the Kindle Fire. The Web browser is being touted by Amazon as faster and better than most. It's unknown how many free apps will be available. At this time it does not appear that apps can be loaded directly from Google's Android Market. Therefore, if you already own Android apps, they may not be transferable to the Fire. There is also some question about the compatibility of Android apps on the Kindle Fire's version of Android. No doubt these issues (if they exist) will be worked out in time, but if you need to use other Android apps, you may want to wait until everything shakes out.

Size and Weight

Similar to the Nook Color, the Kindle Fire is slightly smaller (7" screen) and lighter (less than one pound) than the iPad (9.7" screen and 1.3 pounds respectively). This weight difference is significant when carrying the device or engaging in one-handed computing. For current Kindle owners, the Fire is about twice the weight of the smaller standard Kindle.

Limited Storage

The Kindle Fire only contains eight gigs of memory—the same as the Nook Color. (The iPad starts at 16 gigs.) However, the Nook can be expanded with a micro SD card for significantly more storage. Amazon says that eight gigs is all you will need since you will get free Cloud storage for all of your Amazon content. But where does that leave other non-Amazon content which you would like to load onto your Kindle Fire? Photos, music, videos, games and apps would all be competing for space. Also, what happens when you don't have a Wi-Fi connection readily available. Without wireless access there is no Cloud storage access.

Netflix Competition?

Currently Netflix is the most popular streaming video service. It's understood that Netflix is now in discussions with Amazon about providing an app for the Kindle Fire. For many people, this may make the difference when making a buying decision. But regardless of the Netflix situation, Amazon is determined to be part of the video streaming marketplace.

An Amazon Prime account ($79 per year) offers unlimited streaming of over 10,000 titles directly to the Kindle Fire, as well as computers and certain other televisions and streaming devices. Plus Amazon streams many other titles on a pay per view basis ($1.99 each). Amazon Prime (which includes two-day free shipping on any products purchased) is the company's answer to Netflix. If Amazon can contract enough content to compete with Netflix, it will become an attractive alternative. The annual rate for Prime unlimited streaming works out to $6.58 per month compared to $7.99 per month for Netflix streaming only.

Battery Life

For people who are accustomed to the 30-day battery life of the standard Kindle, eight hours for the Kindle Fire seems ridiculously short. However, that is comparable to most other tablet computers. In my experience with the iPad, battery life is rarely an issue. I use the tablet for maybe a couple of hours at the most, then plug it in to recharge it.

No 3G Wireless

I don't know how important 3G wireless (cellphone networks) is for tablet computers. (Opinions may vary.) Other versions of the Kindle are noted for their inclusion of free 3G. This may make sense when all that is being downloaded is a little Web browsing and e-books, but once multimedia is added to the mix, the cost to Amazon for providing free 3G service could become prohibitive. I know that I have no need for cellular Internet service (and the costly monthly contracts). I have Wi-Fi at home and it's in every home I visit. Plus, it's easy enough to find free Wi-Fi when traveling.

The Amazon Advantage

The Amazon Kindle Fire seems to be more of a souped up Kindle which will play videos than a full-blown tablet computer. I don't expect that anyone will be selling their iPad to buy the Kindle Fire, but Amazon does have a couple of advantages which could worry Apple. Kindle owners love their Kindles just as much as Apple customers love Apples. Millions will be sold to people who trust Amazon.

Next, when looking at how most iPads are used (Web browsing, reading e-books, playing games, watching videos), the Fire should run those applications without a problem. The Fire may be a little limited in storage capacity, but with Cloud storage it could be all that most tablet users need. Buyers may find the lighter design more to their liking and the millions of Amazon Prime members could see Fire as a natural add-on for video streaming. After all, at $199 a pop the Kindle Fire is almost an impulse item. I must admit that I'm tempted.

Jack is the publisher of ComputorEdge Magazine. He's been with the magazine since first issue on May 16, 1983. Back then, it was called The Byte Buyer. His Web site is www.computoredge.com. He can be reached at ceeditor@computoredge.com

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

“Mac OS X 10.7.2, iOS 5, and iCloud”
by Wally Wang

Mac OS X 10.7.2, iOS 5, and iCloud; The Legacy of Dennis Ritchie; The View From a One-Year Old; The Definition of Insanity; LiveCode 5 for iOS 5 and Other Operating Systems; More Confusing Ads From Microsoft; Find My Mac.

This past week, Apple released a flood of new software that practically overwhelmed the Internet as people all over the world tried downloading them. First, there's iTunes version 10.5, which links into Apple's iCloud service.

After you get the latest iTunes installed on your computer, you can download and install iOS 5 on your iPhone or iPad. For many people, this process was bogged down with cryptic error messages. However, if you try downloading and installing iOS 5 at night, you can wake up the next morning to find that it's done. If you want to use iCloud on your mobile devices, you need iOS 5.

If you're using the iWork (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) office suite on your iPhone or iPad, you'll need to download free updates so you can transfer your iWork documents through iCloud.

Finally, there's the latest Mac OS X 10.7.2 update, which also allows you to use iCloud on a Macintosh. This update can be particularly hefty, and given the rush of people trying to download it at once, you may want to run this update late at night.

With all of these updates in place, you'll finally get a chance to dig through all the new features of iOS 5 and iCloud. To get iCloud working, you need to create a free Apple ID. This Apple ID identifies all the devices you want iCloud to synchronize your data on such as an iPhone and a Macintosh.

On a Macintosh, you can define your iCloud settings by clicking the Apple menu and choosing System Preferences. Then click the iCloud icon under the Internet & Wireless category. This displays a list of items to synchronize through iCloud, so click the ones you want.

Figure 1. Choosing iCloud settings on a Macintosh running Mac OS X 10.7.2.

On iOS 5 (on an iPhone or iPad), tap the Settings icon and then tap iCloud. This opens all the iCloud settings you want to synchronize.

Figure 2. Defining iCloud settings on an iPad.

With your settings defined on multiple devices, you can now store data on one device and iCloud automatically shares that data with your other device. This only works through an Internet connection so if your iPad is out of Wi-Fi range and doesn't tap into a cellular network, iCloud can't synchronize data on that device.

Likewise if your iPhone can't connect to a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network, it also can't synchronize data through iCloud. As long as you have consistent Internet access, iCloud works amazingly well. If you happen to spend most of your time without Internet access of any kind, iCloud won't be as useful. Once you start synchronizing data between your iPhone, iPad, and computer on a regular basis, you'll find this convenience addicting.

The Legacy of Dennis Ritchie

Dennis Ritchie, the man who created the C programming language with his book The C Programming Language and helped develop the UNIX operating system with Ken Thompson, recently passed away. Amazingly, both C and UNIX still influence the computers of today with variant programming languages like C++, Objective-C, and Java, and operating systems like Linux and Mac OS X.

One of the drawbacks and benefits of the C programming language is its sparse syntax. Unlike other programming languages such as Pascal and Ada, the C programming purposely relies less on words and more on symbols. This makes C easy for computers to understand but more difficult for humans to understand, which is the opposite approach of languages like Pascal or Ada.

However, the benefit of C is that its terse language (which can't even recognize strings of text like other programming languages) makes it extremely easy to create compilers for different operating systems. Instead of cramming every possible feature into the C programming language, C only offers the bare basics.

To make up for its lack of features, C compilers often come with standard libraries that add additional functions like strings. Because these additional libraries of functions are written in C, this helps makes C portable among different operating systems. Because it's easy to create C compilers on any operating system, it's also easy to port C programs from one operating system to another.

Since a large percentage of programs are written in C, including Windows, nearly everyone using a computer has benefited from the C language or a variant of the C language. Likewise, since UNIX has influenced the design of practically every operating system, anyone using a computer has benefited directly or indirectly from UNIX. Without Dennis Ritchie, today's computers might not be possible.

The View From a One-Year Old

Talk about e-books to most older people and they wax nostalgic about the tactile feel of paper and the smell of a new book. How can an e-book possibly replace printed books that offer such a sensory delight?

Yet, such a point of view ignores the other side of the picture. How can people tolerate the limited options and functions of printed pages? In this YouTube video, a one-year old girl happily interacts with an iPad, but gets frustrated and bored with a printed magazine.

She tries to pinch to enlarge the text of a print magazine to no avail. Next she tries to scroll with one finger to see more information. Again, nothing. Finally she gives up and goes back to the iPad.

To her, the iPad is the new norm and print magazines are hopelessly obsolete and limited like a broken iPad. When she grows up, do you think she'll miss the tactile feel of paper or the smell of opening a new book? To the newer generation, the interactivity of the iPad defines reading while printed books and magazines are as restrictive and limiting as clay tablets.

The next time you think technology can never replace the past, there's someone younger who thinks technology has already surpassed what the older generation finds valuable. If it wasn't for young people, older people would forever freeze the world in a time capsule that reflects their fantasy of the pinnacle of progress.

The Definition of Insanity

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. In the business world, companies spend millions hiring CEOs who don't have experience in the business that they're running, and then inevitably fail to lead the company. Then companies hire a new CEO who also doesn't have experience in that industry either and repeat the cycle of futility all over again.

Yahoo! Finance recently ran a story about clothing retailer The Gap. Howard Davidowitz, president of Davidowitz & Associates and a long-time retail industry insider, says, "Fashion people win in fashion companies. I've never seen a numbers guy come in and be successful in a fashion company. I've never seen one example of it."

Substitute "fashion" for "computer" and the quote still remains relevant. "Computer people win in computer companies. I've never seen a numbers guy come in and be successful in a computer company. I've never seen one example of it."

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were obviously passionate about computers so it's not surprising that they made decisions based on their experience in the industry. Steve Ballmer (Microsoft's CEO) and John Sculley (Apple's former CEO) aren't that passionate about computers and you can see the much weaker results that they achieved.

Why companies continue hiring CEOs who have no experience or passion for their industry remains a bigger mystery than the 1947 UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico. The fact that corporations continue spending millions of dollars hiring inexperienced CEOs, yet refuse to hire ordinary workers who don't have experience in that same industry, indicates an extreme short-sighted, double standard.

The reason new companies like Google can succeed is because they're still run by their founders who have a passion for that industry. The reason why older companies flail and flounder (think Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard) is because they're run by CEOs who make decisions based on numbers and not on their passion for delivering excellent products in that particular industry.

As this article from ZDNet points out, companies only get rewarded on Wall Street by not innovating since innovation costs money and doesn't provide an immediate return on profits. If a CEO only focuses on short-term profits and not on a long-term corporate vision, that CEO will never achieve anything that can't be monetized within a single fiscal quarter.

The future of Apple depends on how well Tim Cook (Apple's new CEO) really cares about technology. The minute Apple hires a CEO who used to work in the farming industry or the trucking industry, or who coasts along on the past like Steve Ballmer at Microsoft, that's when you can expect Apple to go downhill rapidly.

LiveCode 5 for iOS 5 and Other Operating Systems

Back in 1987, Apple introduced HyperCard, a combination programming tool and database with hyperlinks that inspired the World Wide Web and visual programming tools like Visual Basic. Back then, Apple thought like most corporations and killed HyperCard, despite its popularity, because they couldn't see how they could make money giving away HyperCard for free, not realizing that people were buying Macintosh computers just to use HyperCard.

Apple has long since discontinued HyperCard, but the spirit of HyperCard lives on in LiveCode 5, a HyperCard clone that lets you create cross-platform programs for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. (The original HyperCard only let you create Macintosh programs.) With the popularity of iOS 5 (for the iPhone and iPad) and Android, LiveCode 5 now gives you the ability to create mobile apps as well.

Figure 3. LiveCode 5 lets you compile your program for iOS.

Figure 4. Configuring settings for compiling an Android app.

Since Android continues dominating the smart phone market while iOS dominates the tablet market, developers often have to choose which platform they want to support. That means learning Objective-C and Xcode to create iOS apps and learning Java to create Android apps. With LiveCode 5, you can design one app and compile it for both Android and iOS. Now you can tackle two markets by just writing a single program and mastering a single programming tool.

When compiling an iOS or Android app, LiveCode 5 lets you define the hardware that your app requires such as a camera, Wi-Fi connection, or a gyroscope. By defining these requirements for your app in LiveCode 5, you don't have to waste your time writing code to check for these hardware features within your own app.

One growing feature of the app market are in-app purchases. This lets you create a free app that offers limited functionality. In the past if people want more advanced features, they had to download and buy a separate version of your app. With in-app purchasing, you can create an app that sells advanced features within the app itself. Now people can upgrade your app without the hassle of downloading and paying for a separate app.

Programming in-app purchases in Java (for Android) or Objective-C (for iOS) can be messy and time-consuming, but in LiveCode 5, in-app purchases rely on LiveCode's much simpler language with commands such as:

mobileCanMakePurchase()
mobileEnablePurchaseUpdates
mobileDisablePurchaseUpdates
mobilePurchaseState(purchaseID)

Unlike the cryptic nature of Java or Objective-C, LiveCode's programming language more closely resembles English so you can quickly understand the logic of your program. Besides making programs easier to understand and modify, LiveCode's language also makes programming easier for novices to learn and master.

Now if you have a great idea for a mobile app, you can torture yourself learning Java and Objective-C, hire someone (or multiple programmers) who knows Java and Objective-C, or just write your app in LiveCode 5 yourself and compile and sell your app for the two most popular mobile markets in the world. With LiveCode 5's easy to understand programming language, novices can get started developing mobile apps right away.

As a cross-platform tool, LiveCode 5 won't offer complete access to every possible feature available on different operating systems. If you need to take full advantage of a particular operating system, you'll probably want to use a specialized programming language like Java or Objective-C. However, for the large majority of projects, LiveCode 5 can be a much simpler, faster and less frustrating experience.

Anyone familiar with programming knows that the typical steps for writing a program involve writing code (in a language such as Java or Objective-C), designing your user interface, and compiling your program to test if it works. This common edit-compile-test procedure just to test your program can be time consuming and annoying.

LiveCode 5 works differently than practically every programming tool on the market. With LiveCode 5, you can modify your code or user interface, then immediately test your program without wasting time compiling it first.

With programming tools like Xcode, you must make changes to your program, take time to compile it, and then run your program in a separate window. With LiveCode 5, you can make changes to your program and test it within the LiveCode editor itself. Once you experience this shift in testing programs in LiveCode 5 compared to other programming tools, you'll realize how clumsy other programming tools really can be.

If you use Windows or Linux, you can use LiveCode 5 to create Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Android apps. However, you can only create iOS apps by running LiveCode 5 on a Macintosh since you need Apple's Xcode tools, which only run on Mac OS X. Only with the Macintosh version of LiveCode 5 can you create programs for all types of operating systems.

With the ability to create programs for multiple platforms, including Android and iOS, LiveCode 5 is one of the most versatile programming tools on the market. Even if you just want to create a program for a single operating system, you'll find LiveCode 5 much easier, faster and simpler than practically any other programming tool on the market.

While you can choose free programming tools like Visual Basic Express or Xcode, LiveCode 5 will cost you money (ranging from $99 and up, depending on which operating systems you want to write programs for). Unlike free programming tools, LiveCode 5 won't limit you to developing for a single operating system. If the idea of writing a program once and creating multiple versions for several operating systems sounds appealing (and profitable), then you'll want to take a close look at LiveCode 5.

More Confusing Ads From Microsoft

Microsoft must be an advertising agency's dream client. They pay a lot of money and aren't worried about tracking any actual results, so you can keep going back to Microsoft and ask for more money to create more ads that aren't going to lead to increased sales.

Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Microsoft's favorite ad agency that has produced Windows Phone 7 ads that didn't lead to an increase of Windows Phone 7 sales along with creating the much derided Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ads that didn't increase sales of Vista one bit, recently developed two more ads supposedly demonstrating the "family" aspect of Microsoft's various products.

In the first ad, a daughter uses her Windows Phone 7 phone to record her dad playing a dance video game using Kinect on an Xbox. Then she sends that video to her brother who uses Windows Movie Maker on a Windows 7 PC to post it on the Internet.

In the second ad, a boy uses a PowerPoint presentation to convince his parents to let him have a dog. Both ads conclude with the announcement that "It all starts with a Windows 7 PC."

Despite this claim, neither ad demonstrates anything unique about Windows 7. Recording a video and posting it on the Internet is a capability available in Linux, Mac OS X, Android and iOS, and creating a presentation is a feature that has long been available as far back as MS-DOS.

The purpose of these ads is to demonstrate how Microsoft's family of products work together, yet both ads fail to show anything unique about using a Windows Phone 7 phone with a Windows 7 PC or how Windows 7 makes creating and presenting a PowerPoint presentation easier.

Perhaps the real message in both of these ads is that Windows 7 doesn't offer anything that a Macintosh or Linux PC can't do just as well. If this is another example of Crispin Porter & Bogusky's marketing capabilities, it looks like Microsoft just got ripped off by the same ad agency all over again.

*                    *                    *

If you have a laptop Macintosh, you can now use iCloud to track your Mac's location in case you lose it or get it stolen. First, make sure you upgrade to Mac OS X 10.7.2. Next, click the Apple menu and choose System Preferences.

When the System Preferences window appears, click the iCloud icon under the Internet & Wireless category. When the iCloud window appears, make sure a check mark appears in the Find My Mac option.

Now if you lose your Macintosh, visit iCloud.com, type in your Apple ID (which is free to create) and you'll be able to track the location of your Macintosh as long as it has Internet access.

In the early days, before Wally became an Internationally renowned comedian, computer book writer, and generally cool guy, Wally Wang used to hang around The Byte Buyer dangling participles with Jack Dunning and go to the gym to pump iron with Dan Gookin.

Wally is responsible for the following books:

My New Mac,

My New iPhone,

My New iPad,

Steal This Computer Book 4.0,

Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies,

Beginning Programming for Dummies,

Beginning Programming All-in-One Reference for Dummies,

Breaking Into Acting for Dummies with Larry Garrison,

Strategic Entrepreneurism with Jon Fisher and Gerald Fisher,

How to Live With a Cat (When You Really Don't Want To).

Mac Programming For Absolute Beginners

The 15-Minute Movie Method

In his spare time, Wally likes blogging about movies and writing screenplays at his site "The 15 Minute Movie Method" along with blogging about electronic publishing and how authors can take advantage of technology at his site "The Electronic Author." Wally can be reached at wally@computoredge.com.

Beyond Personal Computing

“Compatibility in Question: Kids, Pets and Computers”
by Marilyn K. Martin

Marilyn shares some amusing stories and jokes that involve kids, pets and computers—sometimes an eventful combination.

Homework Help

According to Doug Larson, "Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions—including the consumption of homework, formerly eaten by the dog."

Giving a Child Their Own Computer

A U.S. education report, based on research from the University of Chicago, concluded that giving kids computers to boost their education is a waste of time. The surprising results were that kids spent more time playing games than doing homework, and poor children actually had lower test scores with a computer at home. Although all the children in the study improved their computer skills.

So my question is: Exactly what ages were used in this study to define children? I've worked with people in a corporate setting who spent hours playing computer games on their office computers!

A British site has great articles on how to teach children to properly use a computer, beyond games and play. It stresses teaching kids how to use Search Engines, to help with their homework: "If you just put 'Dogs' into a search engine you will get a huge range of sites from news to shopping and images to health."

Helping Mom and Dad

One oft-told joke, is about the ten-year-old who stood behind her father as he typed in his password on the family PC. She then snuck out and ran to the kitchen, to announce to her mother and siblings: "I know daddy's password!" When asked what it was, she proudly announced "Asterisk, asterisk, asterisk, asterisk, asterisk!"

Toddlers love punching buttons. Especially if it results in something exciting "happening." Such as the toddler who walks up while Daddy's working on the computer, and punches the power switch OFF. (Especially memorable if Daddy did not just save his work!)

And kids are quick to notice things that are "special" to Mom and Dad—such as the family computer. Parents have reported furious youngsters who have ripped out cables, or kicked a monitor or computer across the floor. (And I've already written about Repair Techs finding everything from coins to toys to a plastic fork in DVD trays.)

Ahoy, Doggy-mate!

Sometimes our pets become part of our "computing experience." Usually accidentally, but not always. One Support Tech was answering message board questions, and came across a letter complaining that their zip disk had blinded a user's dog.

Apparently the zip disk ejected clear across the room, and hit her dog in the eye. The dog supposedly lost vision in that eye, and wanted that company to pay the vet bill. The tech jumped right on it, and wrote back asking for a photo of the injured dog eye. What he got in return was a picture of a dog wearing a pirate patch.

The Science Experiment Approach

A fifth grader talked about how much she liked LimeWire, a free peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) client program. Her cousin (a second grader) overheard, and wanted to use it too. The next day the second grader reported that he'd acquired a copper wire, dipped it in lime juice, and tried to attach it to his computer. And absolutely nothing happened. (Note: Since October 26, 2010, LimeWire has been under a court order to stop distributing their software.)

Top Reasons Dogs Don't Use Computers

• Can't stick their heads out of Windows.

• "Fetch" command not available on all platforms.

• Hard to read the monitor with your head cocked to one side.

• Too difficult to pee-mark every Web site they visit.

• Can't help attacking the screen when they hear "You've Got Mail!"

• Fire hydrant icon simply too frustrating.

• Keyboards too hard to type on with paws.

• Involuntary tail wagging is dead giveaway they're browsing Pethouse.com instead of working.

• Keep bruising their nose trying to catch that MPEG frisbee.

• No one's fooled by the Chuckwagon screen saver.

• Still trying to come up with an "emoticon" that signifies tail-wagging.

• Barking in next cubicle keeps activating your voice recognition software.

• "SmellU-SmellME" still in beta test.

• Saliva-coated mouse gets pretty difficult for master to maneuver.

• Annoyed by lack of newsgroups, canines created alt.pictures.master's.leg.

• Butt-sniffing more direct and less deceiving than online chat rooms.

Toddler Property Laws—or Microplush Business Plan?

• If I like it, it's mine.

• If it's in my hand, it's mine.

• If I can take it from you, it's mine.

• If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

• If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.

• If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.

• If it looks just like mine, it's mine.

• If it sounds just like mine, it's mine.

Virtual Pets

There are even sites online that allow children and teens to create and care for pets in an online world. Adopt Me advertises that "your pet will have their own blog and profile page, it can get a job, join a pet group, chat with other pets, send e-greeting cards to other pets, enter the Pet of the Month contest, and dress up in fancy clothes. You can even chat with your pet." Foopets.com advertises that they feature "the world's most realistic virtual puppies and kittens," while Neopets.com is more of a virtual landscape with fanciful animals, fantasy maps and games.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology even has an ongoing study that "collects stories from virtual pet owners around the world," including owners of "any kind of robotic, virtual or digital creature, pet or doll."

How a Massive Computer Malfunction Could Affect Disney World

• Ticket machines accidentally dispenses Day Passes for less than $600 per family.

• Accidental switch back to "19,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

• Messed up computer reports that Euro Disney is actually turning a profit.

• Air Traffic Control glitch causes Dumbo to smack into a DC-10.

• The dolls in "It's A Small World" all fall over at the same time.

• Scarey scenario: Catapulting teacups.

• "Main Street Electrical Parade" becomes "Couple Guys With Plastic Flashlights Parade".

• When you wish upon a star, nothing happens.

Animal Testing Versus Computer Modeling

There has been a long and acrimonious argument on going about animal testing in human research projects. One organization, AltTox.org lists "Non-Animal Methods For Toxicity Testing."

On the other end, computer modeling of the human body, to totally eliminate animal testing, is still in development. Both Stanford and MIT offer at least graduate studies in Symbolic Biology, or a blend of Computer Science/Life Sciences. In addition, the Rochester Institute of Technology, among others, offers degrees in Biomedical Engineering.

Kids' Computer Jokes

• What do you call a computer superhero? (A Screen Saver)

• Who chases computer criminals? (A hacker-tracker.)

• What do you get when you cross a dog and a computer? (A machine whose bark is worse than its byte.)

• Why was the computer so angry? (Because it had a chip on its shoulder.)

• Why did the computer get glasses? (To improve its Web sight.)

• What do baby computers call their dads? (Data!)

• What do spiders do for fun on the computer? (Surf the Web!)

• How did the computer criminal get out of jail? (He pressed the escape key!)

• Why did the computer cross the road? (Because the chicken programmed it to.)

(Many of these amusing stories are on multiple computer joke sites. But special thanks to ComputerJokes.net, CraziestJokes.com and AhaJokes.com.)

Marilyn is a freelance writer and humorist with many interests. She has sold teen anti-drug articles, as well as had numerous esoteric articles published. She has almost seventy mini-articles on Helium.com, and is writing a humorous Young Adult Science Fiction series, Chronicles of Mathias. Volumes One and Two have received a "Gold Star for Excellence" from TeensReadToo.com, and are available from most on-line bookstores.

ComputorQuick Reviews

“DoubleMySpeed.com”
by ComputorEdge Staff

A reader has had issues with DoubleMySpeed.com. It seems to be more of a scam then a helpful product.

Dear Editor:

This has nothing to do with any recent ComputorEdge articles, but I was wondering if any of your readers have tried the doublemyspeed.com Web site to try to get their bogged down PC to speed up?

If they haven't, then good for them. I fell for it and the bottom line is that I noticed no increase in speed. In fact, I call it "doublemytime.com."

They charge your credit card $50 to analyze your PC. Then they hit you up with the "we can fix it" spiel. This of course is more money—lots more. An obscene amount that I am ashamed to divulge lest your readers peg me for the moron that I am. But instead of deducting the $50 from the obscene amount, they offer a $50 rebate. I filled out the first forms that they sent me. And the second forms that they sent me. I have yet to receive the rebate. And it's been more than a year.

If anyone has had a positive experience with these people, good for them. But I surely can't recommend them.

Wes Nelson

Broomfield, CO

ComputorEdge always wants to hear from you, our readers. If you have specific comments about one of our articles, please click the "Tell us what you think about this article!" link at the top or bottom of the specific article/column at ComputorEdge.com. Your comments will be attached to the column and may appear at a later time in the "Editor's Letters" section.If you want to submit a short "ComputorQuick Review", or yell at us, please e-mail us at ceeditor@computoredge.com.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

“Computer and Internet tips, plus comments on the articles and columns.”
by ComputorEdge Staff

"Adding Audio to E-books," "Facebook E-mails," "Missing rundll32.exe"

Adding Audio to E-books

[Regarding Jack Dunning's September 30 article, "Adding Audio to Your E-books":]

Boy are you guys behind the times, grin.

Hand coding is so "yesterday." But I enjoyed the fact you verified it was possible to amend an existing ePub. I meant to research that some but you beat me to that one.

If I were a better writer I could have blown that article out of the water, but since you guys are the professionals let me give you some tips.

I just finished an ePub with 31 audio files and 31 chapters. It only took a minute or so after I prepared the audio source by converting MP3 files to M4A used in iBooks. (Used iTunes on a Mac Book Pro => right click => Create AAC version.) The secret, Apple OS 10.7 Lion has new hidden capabilities in its OS that you can tap with Automator and Scripts.

I selected my 31 text files, right clicked on my Lion Service Extension which popped up "Create ePub from selected text files," filed in a few items of meta data, added the audio files by using Add button for my ePub, hit continue and 30 seconds later a completed ePub was on my desktop. Each chapter after the heading had an audio player control to play the selected file for that chapter as it was read.

Other options we have in Lion are "Create ePub with text in clipboard," "Create ePub from selected file folders."

But that is not all, it gets better and better the more you play with Lion and iWork's Pages 09's "EXPORT to EPUB." (Very, very big grin here.)

I would rather write you direct on each topic using Mac Mail as I can illustrate points with screen shots and hyperlinks for reference.

BTW, I also solved (for myself) the problem of examining my work on the Mac desktop since all eReaders other than iBooks really are very poor in dealing with ePubs with multimedia in them. The reason I want to make sure I didn't make an obvious mistake in preparing my file in Pages before I go thought the slight pain of transferring my Opus to the iPad and its copy of iBooks.

I found two scripts "Unpack ePub" and "Re Pack ePub" ... too long write for more, Jack.

-Victor Healey, Marietta, GA USA

FYI, that sample "Goodnight E-book" plays sound just fine in my Nook Color eReader.

-Michael Powell, Escondido, CA

Facebook E-mails

[Regarding the September 30 Digital Dave column:]

I run Win 7 Pro and use Thunderbird for e-mail. I agree that Facebook is not my style, but use Thunderbird in Ubuntu (Linux) and Win 7 Pro. No problem with Facebook e-mails.

-Ted Medin, Poway, CA

Missing rundll32.exe

[Regarding the September 30 Digital Dave column:]

I have been a support professional for the last seven years. The problem you describe (missing rundll32.exe) is usually caused by spyware on the computer. In most cases, it will be impossible to restore the computer to working order without the help of a professional trained to remove the problem. In most cases, this can be done without destroying your data.

-Robert Simmons, San Diego, CA

ComputorEdge always wants to hear from you, our readers. If you have specific comments about one of our articles, please click the "Tell us what you think about this article!" link at the top or bottom of the specific article/column at ComputorEdge.com. Your comments will be attached to the column and may appear at a later time in the "Editor's Letters" section.If you want to submit a short "ComputorQuick Review", or yell at us, please e-mail us at ceeditor@computoredge.com.

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