List of ComputorEdge Sponsors

San Diego ComputorEdge Sponsors

Colocation and Data Center

redIT

With approaches like smart security, customized colocation and an extensive range of managed services, redIT helps you intelligently leverage IT.

Computer Books

LOL Computer/Internet Humor

Anecdotes and Jokes about Computers, the Internet, Users, and the People Who Work on Them.

Windows 7 Secrets E-Books

Four-Book Windows 7 E-Book Special at Amazon!

Macintosh Specialists

Maximizers

Serving San Diego County Since 1988 * Onsite Macintosh Service for Home and Small Office Needs * ACSP: Apple Certified Support Professional ACTC: Apple Certified Technical Coordinator Apple Consultant's Network

Repair General

AAA Emergency PC Repair

If We Don't Fix It, You Don't Pay! 24/7 Off Hours/Weekends/Holidays Immediate Service. Mention ComputorEdge and receive 10% off repairs.

Hi-Tech Computers

Notebooks, Monitors, Computers and Printers We Buy Memory, CPU Chips, Monitors and Hard Drives Windows 7 Upgrades Phone (858) 560-8547

Software Package

IT Mentor Mobile Apps

Get Your Own Mobile App for Your Business or Organization. Fast! Affordable! Inexpensive!

Web Advertising

Google AdWords Help

Thinking of Advertising on the Web? \nWe Are Specialists Working with Companies to\nImprove Google AdWords Results.

Colorado ComputorEdge Sponsors

Computer Books

LOL Computer/Internet Humor

Anecdotes and Jokes about Computers, the Internet, Users, and the People Who Work on Them

Windows 7 Secrets E-Books

Four-Book Windows 7 E-Book Special at Amazon!

Computer Store, Full Service

AXESS (AXS) Computers

Systems, Laptops, Servers, Point-of-Sale, Security Components,

Software, Upgrades, Maintenance, Support, Networking

Software Package

IT Mentor Mobile Apps

Get Your Own Mobile App for Your Business or Organization. Fast! Affordable! Inexpensive!

Web Advertising

Google AdWords Help

Thinking of Advertising on the Web? We Are Specialists Working with Companies to Improve Google AdWords Results.

ComputorEdge™ Online — 06/29/12

Click to Visit ComputorEdge™ Online on the Web!

Introducing the Microsoft Surface Tablet Computer

Microsoft takes a risk by announcing its new entry in the tablet market.

Magazine Summary

List of ComputorEdge Sponsors

Digital Dave

by Digital Dave

Digital Dave answers your tech questions.

Internet Explorer 8 Problem; Infected by Phishing Scam; Olympus C3030 Digital Camera and SmartMedia Memory Card.

A Peek at the Coming Microsoft Surface Tablet

by Jack Dunning

Microsoft Doesn't Wait for Computer Manufacturers to Take the Lead

Defying conventional wisdom, Microsoft has announced their new Surface tablet computer. Is this a good move or another Microsoft hardware mistake? Jack reports, you decide.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

by Wally Wang

Microsoft and "The Osborne Effect"

The Osborne Effect; A Magazine for Intelligent Life; Another Program Supports the Macintosh; Making Better Slide Show Presentations; The Versatility of the iPad; Clean Up Your Hard Disk; The Department of Irony; Choosing New Default Programs.

Beyond Personal Computing

by Marilyn K. Martin

Salmon Nicotine and Creeps for Dessert: The Strange World of Texting and Auto-Correct

Amusing anecdotes about texting and the misunderstandings that can happen.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

by ComputorEdge Staff

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

"A Surprise Application for KompoZer"

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 © 1997-2012 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

Internet Explorer 8 Problem; Infected by Phishing Scam; Olympus C3030 Digital Camera and SmartMedia Memory Card.

Internet Explorer 8 Problem

Dear Digital Dave,

It seems like ever since I upgraded to Explorer 8 it takes forever to load a Web site. It starts to load and hangs up on the last item to load. Then you have to wait a few minutes and maybe it loads. I notice it more when I am in Facebook. It always hangs on the last item to load and you can't cancel it or stop it from loading because if you click on the red X to stop it from loading all I get is a message that Explorer 8 is not responding.

Is there something I can do to fix this problem?

Steve Bucher

Imperial, CA

Dear Steve,

My first answer is always, "Use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox." I'm not a big fan of Internet Explorer, although I do recognized that at times it may be necessary to use it.

If you see the problem at certain Web sites (Facebook), then clearing the history might remove some damaged cached files. Browsers save copies of Web site files in the history to increase loading speed. If for some reason some of the files are corrupted the loading could hang up. Clearing the history will force the browser to cache new copies of the Web site files.

Another possibility is a corrupted installation. You can try reinstalling Internet Explorer.

There are a variety of reasons why you could be experiencing problems. Even Microsoft recognized that. There is a special Microsoft help page dedicated to these issues. Even if you're using a different operating system version, the steps outlined are still useful.

Digital Dave

Infected by Phishing Scam

Dear Digital Dave

I have several Yahoo! e-mail accounts. Apparently one has been hacked and my address book stolen. People are receiving a hoax e-mail from me that I did not send. "Wow this is amazing you should look into it http://www.incomedi15news.com/work/?article=09470"

The hack came from me opening a phishing e-mail allegedly sent to me by my aunt. I opened the link. The e-mails sent to my contacts is identical to the one I received.

The e-mail appears in my sent area and bcc all contacts in my address book. I am still able to get into my account but I also get a pop-up about continuing a conversation. I have never done conversations. I read your February 24, 2012 column in the archive but that does not help me.

What should I do? Does my computer have a virus? Has everything been compromised? Do I close out the account and how do I do that? Should I create a new password and/or transfer any e-mails I want to keep as well as my contacts to a new account? Are my keystrokes being recorded? Help! I am not using the compromised account for your reply. I have McAfee Security which indicates everything is OK.

Sandra Bliss

Cooperstown, NY

Dear Sandra,

I assume that you have contacted everyone in your e-mail address book telling them that they may have received hoax e-mails from that address. Then you should close that e-mail account. Yahoo should have procedures for closing accounts.

Since the hoax e-mails are all coming from the same account, it's possible that only the one was hacked when you received the phishing e-mail. It appears to be some type of Trojan that turns around and sends phishing e-mails to your entire address book. The referenced address is known for "make income at home" schemes.

Cleaning a computer can be tricky. Your computer is infected so you should try running multiple antivirus programs. There is no one program which catches them all so you should try some of the free programs (AVG, Avast, etc). You may need to uninstall your current e-mail program and reinstall to remove some of the problem files. Make archive or backup copies of your files.

You may be able to do a restore to an earlier restore point before the time of the infection, but the effectiveness of this is dependent upon the nature of the infection.

Your address book is already out the door, so there may be more Spam coming their way. The best you can do is close the account(s) that are infected and contact your friends. It is important to run virus scans.

This type of infection is one reason that I always check with the sender any e-mail referral that looks too generic—even if it appears to be from a friend. If I send a link to someone, I will include words in the text that only I would use, such as the name of my dog.

Digital Dave

Olympus C3030 Digital Camera and SmartMedia Memory Card

Dear Digital Dave,

I have been a subscriber and fan for many many years. This is my second question in all that time. I hope you can help.

I have an Olympus C3030 digital camera, and a Dell with Windows 7, but Windows 7 will not recognize the SmartMedia memory card. It is a great camera, but I can't upload my photos to my computer. Neither Olympus nor Canon (my printer) were able to help. They both suggested that I get a card reader adapter that the Dell and Windows 7 would accept. But I can't access Dell customer support to ask them their recommendation.

I think it boils down to this: What kind of adapter do I need and where do I get one? The camera is about 12 years old, but it works great. I hate to junk it. I know, I know, I should just get a new one. I already have. I just hate to give up on this one. This is not a time critical problem...so when you have some extra time (whenever that is), I would appreciate your advice. Who makes one and where can I get such a card reader?

Thank you for your help,

Gabby DeDonato

San Clemente, CA

Dear Gabby,

Unfortunately, the SmartMedia card has become a relic of the past and is no longer commonly supported. However there are a few possibilities for continuing to use your Olympus camera.

The first is to get a universal card reader which supports the SmartMedia card. I checked into a couple of them and found that working with Windows 7 can be hit or miss. The first was the ABC Products Multi Card Reader. It reviewed well for reading SmartMedia cards.

Another (more expensive) approach would be to switch media by using a xD Memory Card to SmartMedia Card Reader Writer Adapter. I presume that the adapter would fit into your camera as a replacement for the SmartMedia chip. You would also need the correct size xD memory card for the camera. You would only do this if your SmartMedia card went bad and you couldn't get a new one. (You might also need a USB xD Picture Card Reader for your computer.)

The second option is a little convoluted, but it is better than trying to track down one of the old floppy drive adapters which at one time were used to read SmartMedia chips. Good luck!

Digital Dave

A Peek at the Coming Microsoft Surface Tablet

“Microsoft Doesn't Wait for Computer Manufacturers to Take the Lead”
by Jack Dunning

Defying conventional wisdom, Microsoft has announced their new Surface tablet computer. Is this a good move or another Microsoft hardware mistake? Jack reports, you decide.

This fall, with the release of Windows 8, Microsoft is planning the introduction of two new tablet computers: the Surface RT and the Surface Pro. This is notable for a number of reasons, not the least of which is, with the exception of the Xbox video game console, Microsoft is not noted for hardware success. They have made many forays into hardware, but most have ended in dismal failure. Unlike Apple who has always been a hardware company first, Microsoft earns most of its billions from software—primarily the Windows franchise. For many people the reaction will be, "Who cares?" However, this move by Microsoft could make the computer buying decision much more interesting.

The success of the Apple iPad has convinced everyone that not only is the tablet computer is here to stay, but it's an opportunity which can't be ignored. Microsoft has responded with Windows 8, a dual interface operating system designed for tablets and other mobile devices which also runs traditional Windows programs. Windows 8 is targeted at all types of computers (tablets, laptops, desktops). Much of the computing community is skeptical about this one-size-fits all approach to Windows. How can an operating system be right for both mobile devices and the desktop/laptop market? (For more information on Windows 8, see the e-book Misunderstanding Windows 8: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Window 8—also available at ComputorEdge E-books) This is Microsoft's gamble and the Surface tablet computer is intended to prove the point.

Android tablet manufacturers have floundered in their attempt to eat into the market created by Apple iPad and no one else seems to be getting any traction. Would these same companies do any better with a Windows 8 tablet? Apparently, Microsoft has no intention of waiting to find out. Some believe that this move into tablet hardware will cause manufacturers to abandon current plans to introduce Windows 8 tablets. On the contrary, if the Surface is a success, Microsoft may decide to license the hardware itself to other computer builders. (See, "Should Microsoft's Partners Fear Surface Tablets?")

Microsoft is not content with merely introducing another iPad copycat. There are significant differences in the new Surface tablets that depart from the tablet paradigm. One might say that some of the concepts are a return to classic computing. But first let's take a look at the operating system options for the Microsoft Surface. Here's what you need to know.

Windows 8 Dual Interface

Windows 8 is essentially two operating systems in one. The first consists of the Metro interface which is oriented toward touchscreens and mobile platforms (see Figure 1). Apps which run only in Metro and not the Windows Desktop are available for through the Microsoft Store in much the same way that iPad apps are available through the iTunes App Store. If all you want is tablet capabilities, the Surface RT (Windows Runtime), which includes only the Metro interface, is all that you may need. However, you will not be able to run your traditional Windows programs. It's important to remember that if you see "RT" on the future packaging, then you won't get what we think of as "Windows" in your Windows 8 tablet.

Figure 1. The Metro interface is the tablet/mobile interface for Windows 8.

The second part of Windows 8 is what we consider "Windows." It is very much like Windows 7 except that there is no Start Menu on the Desktop (see Figure 2). The Start Menu has been replaced by the Metro Start screen seen in Figure 1 above. If you want access to both the Metro interface and the traditional Windows Desktop, then you will be looking for the Surface Pro version of the tablet computer. The Surface Pro (scheduled to arrive three months after the release of Windows 8) will have a more powerful processor and be a little heavier—two pounds versus 1.5 pounds.

Figure 2. The classic Windows interface runs Windows programs and is accessed through the Metro interface in Windows 8.

It looks like Windows 8 will come in two versions: Window 8 RT which will only include the Metro interface and Windows 8 Pro which will include both the Metro interface and the traditional Windows Desktop. It's unclear whether there might be more versions of the Pro Windows Desktop (Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions).

What's Different about Microsoft Surface Tablets

With few exceptions, we've been taught by Apple iPad that tablet computers don't come with physical keyboards. Of course you can get one as an add-on, but tablets are meant for one-handed touchscreen computing so you don't need a keyboard. (I find that in most cases when using an iPad I get a along find without one, but all I do is the occasional Web search and a couple of other entertainment activities which don't require much typing.) As retro as it may sound, Microsoft has decided that tablets should come with keyboards (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. The Microsoft Surface Tablet has a keyboard.

There will be two types of detachable/attachable keyboards available. The first type will an ultra-thin Touch keyboard which also acts as a cover for the tablet when not in use. It reacts to the tapping of the key space although there is no physical depression of keys. The second is a more substantial Typing keyboard which gives a feel similar to that of standard keyboards. Picking your keyboard will probably be one of the buying choices and will affect the price.

Just last week Wally pointed out that it was Steve Jobs who banned any type of cursor keys on the iPad. This has been one of my aggravations with the iPad. Trying to accurately place the iPad cursor with my finger is a challenge at best. I'm sure that he envisioned the iPad as primarily a keyboard-less tool. Microsoft has decided that they will challenge this orthodoxy by including a keyboard with the tablet.

"The Touch Cover is the ultra-thin touch keyboard for those that value portability; the Type Cover is the slightly thicker keyboard with physical buttons for those that want keys that actually move rather than just the audio feedback of the Touch Cover." TechRadar gives an in-depth review of the physical characteristics of the Microsoft Surface tablet. (Quoted descriptions below are taken from the linked article.)

The other major difference, if you get the Surface Pro, is that it can act as a complete computer running all of your Windows programs. The thinking has always been that tablets are their own market and not designed to replace desktops and laptops. However, with the Surface Pro tablet, you essentially have a lighter weight laptop which can act as a tablet. It certainly offers greater flexibility.

Another feature of note is that a pop-out stand is built into every Surface tablet. It flips out from the back so that you can set the tablet down on a table for viewing as you would any other computer screen. My early iPad falls down if I don't hold it up.

The Screen

"Surface uses a 10.6-inch optically bonded ClearType display. The screen's 16:9 aspect ratio (AR) is identical to that of an HDTV, so many of your favorite movies and all newer TV shows will run in full-screen on the tablet, with no stretching or letterboxing. The vast majority of Android tablets feature a 16:10 aspect ratio, while the iPad uses the same squarish 4:3 aspect ratio you may remember from pre-HD TVs."

This Surface screen is more of what we have come to expect in a tablet. Rather than going the smaller, lower cost route taken by the Kindle Fire (or the upcoming Google tablet) with a 7" 16:9 screen which is to short in the horizontal view and too narrow in the vertical view, Microsoft has gone with a larger 10.6" screen. This is comparable to the iPad's larger viewing surface, although of a different shape.

Connections

"The bottom edge is filled with the magnetic keyboard connector, the top has the power button and the sides have two speakers, dual microphones, microSD, one USB 2.0 port (USB 3.0 for the Surface Pro) and Micro HDMI (on the surface Pro that's mini DisplayPort), plus a magnetic power connector."

Unlike the iPad, the addition of a microSD port, USB port, and display port increase the configuration and application possibilities for the Surface.

The Price

Although there has been no official release of pricing the rumors abound. Starting pricing of $599 for the Surface RT and $999 for the Surface Pro have been suggested by some. This could be comparable with the iPad—especially if the keyboard is included. However, the general tone of market reviews is skeptical about the ability of Microsoft to compete with Apple iPad on price. Plus the huge number of apps available for iPad appears to give Apple an almost insurmountable lead.

I personally see the Apple app lead as a little overblown. Most people only use a few apps on their iPads and I would bet that most of them are free. (I know that I use only free apps.) Nobody browses 100,000 apps looking for the perfect one. At some point, more choice in apps is meaningless. As for the Metro apps, Microsoft already has a decent collection of them available for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. There are nowhere near the numbers found at the Apple App Store, but they are certainly comprised of a competitive variety of apps (browsers, weather, Kindle, news, e-mail, photo, finance, etc). If the Surface tablet or Windows 8 computers in general have any kind of initial success, more apps will follow.

If the Microsoft Surface makes inroads in the market, it will be because it is viewed as something other than merely the next competitor for the iPad. Success will most likely come from the flexibility seen when viewing a tablet computer that can act as a laptop which includes the potential to run current Windows programs. It could almost be seen as a backdoor return of the Netbook with the usefulness of a touch tablet.

I have no idea what the outcome will be, but the Microsoft Surface tablet certainly adds intrigue to the market. I've used the preview version of Windows 8 quite a bit and have found it quite easy (once you understand it). The only thing in Windows 8 new to current Windows users is the Metro interface, but it is a fairly intuitive tablet interface—even when on a desktop computer (despite "misunderstandings" to the contrary). If Windows 8 manages to become the next Windows standard, then it will make selling the Metro tablet to Windows users (and Windows machines to Metro tablet owners) easier.

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. Jack is now in the process of updating and compiling his hundreds of articles and columns into e-books. Currently available:

Just released and available from Amazon, Misunderstanding Windows 8: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Windows 8! Also available at Barnes and Noble and ComputorEdge E-Books.

Available exclusively from Amazon, Windows 7 Secrets Four-in-One E-Book Bundle,

Getting Started with Windows 7: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Using Windows 7,

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? Why You Should or Why You Should Not Upgrade to Windows 7,

and That Does Not Compute!, brilliantly drawn cartoons by Jim Whiting for really stupid gags by Jack about computers and the people who use them.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

“Microsoft and "The Osborne Effect"”
by Wally Wang

The Osborne Effect; A Magazine for Intelligent Life; Another Program Supports the Macintosh; Making Better Slide Show Presentations; The Versatility of the iPad; Clean Up Your Hard Disk; The Department of Irony; Choosing New Default Programs.

Adam Osborne pioneered the idea of portable computers and bundled software. Way back in 1981, Adam Osborne introduced one of the first portable computers called the Osborne I, which weighed 23.5 pounds and offered a minuscule 5-inch screen. Besides the novelty of portability, the Osborne I also came bundled with WordStar and other software so you could start being productive with it right away. In comparison, other companies sold you a computer and then expected you to buy software to make it actually work.

Despite its hefty bulk, the $1,795 Osborne I actually sold well, peaking at 10,000 units a month. The Osborne I ran the then dominant CP/M-80 operating system, which supporters probably thought would dominate the personal computer market forever since it had such a stranglehold on the market at the time. Then IBM introduced the IBM PC that ran MS-DOS. As businesses started to shift to MS-DOS, Adam Osborne made a fatal mistake.

Later known as the Osborne Effect, Adam Osborne pre-announced a new model called the Executive, which would run MS-DOS and be one of the first IBM PC compatibles on the market. While people waited to buy the new Executive PC, they stopped buying the current Osborne I computers or switched to less expensive and more capable KayPro luggable computers.

Until Osborne could ship the Executive PC, sales of the now obsolete Osborne I dried up. Eventually the company ran out of cash before they could start selling the Executive PC. Thus the Osborne Effect stems from pre-announcing a product that kills sales of your current product.

Guess what Microsoft just did last week?

By pre-announcing the new Windows Phone 8 operating system that can only run on newer hardware, Microsoft gave people no reason to buy Nokia's current line of Lumia Windows Phone 7 phones. If you buy a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 7 phone today, it will never run all the features of the newer Windows Phone 8 phones. Of course, you can't get the new Windows Phone 8 phones until sometime this fall, which means you either wait for the new Windows Phone 8 phones or buy a rival phone instead. What you probably won't do is buy a Windows Phone 7 phone that will be obsolete in just a few months.

Why Microsoft felt the need to announce Windows Phone 8 before people can even buy it remains a mystery, although it's no more puzzling than Microsoft's decision to pre-announce their Microsoft Surface tablets.

Microsoft's announcement of their Microsoft Surface tablets attracted positive excitement around the company that hasn't been seen in years. Then Microsoft tells everyone that the Microsoft Surface tablets won't be available until this fall with the Intel version available three months after the ARM processor versions come out. The big question is why bother announcing these tablets if excited and motivated customers can't buy them now? By the time these Surface tablets arrive several months from now, a percentage of people excited by these tablets will likely have bought something else or just forgotten about the Surface tablets altogether.

When given a choice between making a sale now or hoping that a prospect will buy from you in the future, smart sales people know that the longer you wait after making your sales pitch, the less likely you'll get that customer, so you always want to make a sale right away.

If Microsoft had waited to announce the Surface tablets on the day Windows 8 arrived, they could have generated positive publicity about Windows 8 and sold truckloads of Surface tablets. Now when Windows 8 arrives, announcing Surface tablets again will have much less hype and publicity, and result in fewer sales than if Microsoft had just waited and surprised everyone with these Surface tablets in the first place.

Even more puzzling is that the Surface tablet announcement focused exclusively on the impressive hardware design, but no one demonstrated the innovative keyboard cover while using an actual Metro app such as Microsoft Office. Why not show the Surface tablet in action by creating Word or Excel files to demonstrate the features of the Surface tablet, its keyboard cover, and Windows 8's Metro interface at the same time?

As Adam Osborne knew way back in 1981, computers are only as good as the software running on them. Nobody buys a computer just for the hardware if the software won't make it do anything useful. As Adam Osborne also found out the hard way, you don't pre-announce products that you can't sell right away, lest it kill sales of your current product line. Apparently, Microsoft is learning this lesson all over again at the expense of their hardware partners like Nokia.

A Magazine for Intelligent Life

The publishers of The Economist magazine have recently announced a new magazine (that you'll never see at the supermarket checkout stands) called Intelligent Life. The focus of this magazine is to cover interesting places, ideas and people who are actually worth reading about, unlike the current batch of reality TV "stars."

To help publicize this new magazine in the United States, the publisher has released a free iPhone/iPad app. Now you can download past issues and read thought-provoking articles about different events from around the world. By offering diverse topics such as fashion or science, Intelligent Life hopes to expand your awareness outside of your existing life.

Figure 1. The Intelligent Life app lets you read past issues for free.

One recent article in Intelligent Life explains why thinking too much can actually handicap you from making any decisions as you get paralyzed by too many options, so you wind up doing nothing. Another article explains how Russian scientists plan to drill through the ice in Antarctica to explore part of the world that has never been seen before.

By reading Intelligent Life, you can immediately realize that there's so much of the world that you don't know about and that people in other countries are pursuing fascinating work that doesn't fit into the stereotype that all people from other countries are evil communist terrorists intent on destroying the United States.

If you're interested in learning more about the world, download a free copy of the Intelligent Life app today. If you aren't interested in learning anything at all, feel free to read whatever celebrity gossip magazines you can find at the supermarket checkout stands.

Another Program Supports the Macintosh

In the early days of the Macintosh, critics complained that software available for Windows wasn't available for the Macintosh, so why bother getting a Macintosh? As the Macintosh grows in popularity, more companies are releasing software for the Macintosh. AutoCAD released their Macintosh version a while back and now another specialized company has released a Macintosh version of their Windows software too.

ARCOM, the developers of the Masterworks specifications software for AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) professionals has announced the upcoming Masterworks version for Macintosh, which will work with Microsoft Word 2011.

As more obscure programs transition to the Macintosh, the likelihood of finding a similar, if not identical, program for both Windows and the Macintosh continues to grow. As a last resort, you can always run Windows on a Macintosh through a virtual machine such as the free VirtualBox instead.

With so many specialized programs offering equivalent Macintosh versions, it's likely that you'll never run out of software choices for the Macintosh. The reasons for not getting a Macintosh continue to fall away with each passing day. Hopefully the number of illogical reasons (and irrational people spreading these illogical reasons) for not getting a Macintosh will also continue disappearing as well.

Making Better Slide Show Presentations

Almost everyone has been held captive in a meeting while somebody drones on and on with a boring PowerPoint presentation that tells you nothing but that they spent a lot of time making a useless slideshow. Too often, people use slideshows as a crutch. They cram dense text on each slide and then read the slides even though their audience can read the same text much faster. For many slideshows, the presenter is a hindrance rather than a help.

The first key is to recognize that each slide should convey a single idea much like a billboard. The second key is to make sure that each slide supports your overall objective. The third key is to use a slideshow to enhance your presentation, not distract from it. There's more to creating a slideshow presentation than learning specific commands to save files or add graphics to a PowerPoint or Keynote file. Instead, you have to focus on using a slideshow as a communication tool.

To help you understand how to create effective slideshow presentations, read Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte. This book not only offers tips for designing a slideshow presentation, but goes into specific detail about using color and layout effectively as well.

Figure 2. Learn how to create effective slideshow presentations.

Learning to develop and present a slideshow is a skill that schools rarely teach, so too many people stumble through their presentations because they don't know any better. After reading Slide:ology, you can learn the principles for creating and giving a slideshow presentation whether you use PowerPoint (that costs $149 as part of Microsoft Office) or Keynote (that costs $19.99 through the Mac App Store). Hopefully as more people learn how to create slideshows, we won't have to suffer through another dreadful slideshow presentation any more.

The Versatility of the iPad

From a hardware perspective, Microsoft's Surface tablet looks impressive. What may be a problem is the way Microsoft positions the Surface tablet as a laptop with a keyboard cover and a built-in kickstand. The moment you make the keyboard and its trackpad part of the tablet interface, you immediately shape how developers will create apps for the Surface tablet. Will Windows 8 developers optimize their programs for touch gestures only or rely too much on a keyboard and trackpad? Will Microsoft Surface's built-in kickstand encourage people to use the Surface tablet only in landscape orientation and not portrait orientation?

Until Microsoft starts selling their Surface tablets, we won't know the answer. In the meantime, we can look at how the simple design of the iPad allows users to decide how the iPad should work for them. A pianist decided to use his iPad as a piano, while a man who is unable to speak has used his iPad to deliver jokes for a stand-up comedy routine.

In both cases, these people could have used an Android or Microsoft Surface tablet (assuming the apps were available, which is another question mark for non-iPad tablets). However, the iPad has already demonstrated the usefulness of tablet computers that critics initially dismissed, so the next time you use any tablet computer, you can bet that the iPad influenced its design in some way.

For an example of an app that takes advantage of the iPad's ability to identify your current location in an interface that doesn't rely on anything more than aiming the iPad in different directions, download a copy of the $3.99 StarTracker HD iPad app. Just step outside at night, aim your iPad in any direction, and the StarTracker HD app shows you what stars and constellations you're looking at.

Figure 3. The StarTracker HD app lets you identify constellations in your area.

To further demonstrate the versatility of a tablet computer, the Miami Dolphins recently decided to dump their paper playbooks and use iPads instead, joining the Denver Broncos along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Baltimore Ravens. So many people are finding different uses for the iPad that you have to wonder how anyone could have questioned the usefulness of tablet computers in the first place.

Clean Up Your Hard Disk

The longer you use your Macintosh, the more likely you'll wind up with lots of unnecessary files cluttering up your hard drive. First, start by deleting any unnecessary programs. While you can drag any programs directly to the Trash icon, this doesn't always get rid of any additional files the program may have created. Leaving these extra program files on your hard disk won't hurt it, but it's just more useless clutter you don't need.

A second problem is that most programs include multiple language support. Unless you feel the urge to write in Hungarian or Vietnamese, you probably don't need these multiple language files. Strip these files away and you can save more disk space.

To make the process of finding and deleting unwanted and unnecessary files easy, grab a copy of the $29 Stellar SpeedUp Mac program. Using the program is easy with its simple interface that lets you click a button to choose an option.

Figure 4. The Stellar SpeedUp Mac program offers a simple interface.

When Stellar SpeedUp Mac searches through your hard disk, it lists all the files it thinks are unnecessary so you can see what the program will delete before it actually does so. Not surprisingly, the program will likely find plenty of wasted disk space the longer you've been using your Macintosh.

Figure 5. The program shows you how much wasted space your hard disk contains.

Since deleting anything can be risky if you delete the wrong files, always make a backup of your crucial files to make sure SpeedUp Mac doesn't accidentally wipe out an important file. As long as you have recent backups, you should have no problems using Stellar SpeedUp Mac to wipe out the clutter from your hard disk. Even novices can use the program with confidence (as long as they have backups such as through Time Machine). For more advanced users, you can dig through the program's Preferences options to define the exact types of files you want the program to delete.

If you think your Macintosh is running a bit sluggish, it could be wasting time skipping over all the unnecessary files cluttering your hard disk. With a program like Stellar SpeedUpMac, you can wipe out the clutter and make your Macintosh run more efficiently.

The Department of Irony

When Research in Motion marketed their Playbook tablet, they trumpeted that "Amateur Hour was Over," implying that the Playbook was a real tablet and the iPad was just a toy. Now Research in Motion's ads about "Amateur Hour is Over" appear to refer to Research in Motion constantly losing money and laying off people while trying to compete against the iPad with the amateurish Playbook tablet.

Nokia recently launched a marketing campaign declaring that the "Smartphone Beta Test was Over," implying that people were being fooled into being unwitting beta testers for smartphones that weren't complete. Now with Microsoft announcing Windows Phone 8 as being incompatible with any current Windows Phone 7 phones, including Nokia's models, it appears that Nokia's "Smartphone Beta Test is Over" campaign refers to people who are now upset that they were beta testers for Nokia's obsolete smartphones.

Beyond the problem of offering products that can't compete, both Research in Motion and Nokia relied on an out-of-touch marketing department that focused on pointless boasting rather than emphasizing the product's actual benefits. Then again with such weak products as the Playbook and Lumia smartphone, even the most creative marketing department would be hard pressed to find any advantage to promote.

If you're in business, the first criteria is that you need a product that actually competes against rival products. Failing that, no amount of advertising can sell a mediocre product in the face of a far superior one.

The second criteria is if you actually have a product that can compete, emphasize its actual advantages rather than make up fictional advantages. If you can't sell a competitive product and can't market its advantages, then don't be surprised when you find yourself on your way to bankruptcy much like Nokia and Research in Motion. Hopefully, Nokia and Research in Motion will lay off all the people responsible for creating their useless marketing campaigns since it's obvious those people can't help either company one bit.

*                    *                    *

By default, every Macintosh opens audio CDs in iTunes and video DVDs in the DVD Player. In case you have other programs that you'd rather use, click the Apple menu and choose System Preferences. When the System Preferences window appears, click CDs & DVDs to open a CDs & DVDs dialog where you can define another program to use every time you insert an audio CD or video DVD into your Macintosh.

Figure 6. The CDs & DVDs dialog lets you choose a new default program for CDs and DVDs.

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, Lion Edition

My New iPad 2

Steal This Computer Book

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 and Gerald Fisher

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

The Secrets of the Wall Street Stock Traders

Mac Programming For Absolute Beginners

99% Fairy Tales (Children's Stories the 1% Tell About the Rest of Us)

The Zen of Effortless Selling with Moe Abdou

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." Wally can be reached at wally@computoredge.com.

Beyond Personal Computing

“Salmon Nicotine and Creeps for Dessert: The Strange World of Texting and Auto-Correct”
by Marilyn K. Martin

Amusing anecdotes about texting and the misunderstandings that can happen.

"On the cell phone pad of life, always keep one finger on Disconnect."

One of the neatest things about having a smartphone is to be able to text. It's real-time communication, short and snappy, with few—if any—emotional overtones. While this avoids phone chats with rat-a-tat talkers who won't let you get a word in edgewise, or family who always want to launch into other subjects you don't want to talk about, there is still a downside to texting.

Beyond the burgeoning laws against texting while driving, the brevity of texting can make for alarming directness, misspellings and all. And some questions and answers make little sense if you're not looking or listening to a real person on the other end. And if you've got Auto-Correct? You may never live down the "Remember when you texted...?" jokes for the rest of your life.

Kids' Advice on Texting

1) Don't send text messages that hurt people's feelings or ruin reputations.

2) Don't text people who have asked to be left alone.

3) Try to avoid texting while talking to real people. It's rude, and they'll get angry.

4) Unless there's an emergency, don't text past midnight, since people are asleep.

5) It is not advisable to text a person who just sits beside you. They might get the wrong idea.

6) Sending the same text messages repeatedly to the same person will just irritate them.

7) Use a smiley face to convey emotion.

Me? Make A Mistake?

Please turn your cell phone upside down now! Hurry! 370HSSV 0773H

Teens' Advice On Texting

1) Don't drink alcohol, take drugs or gamble while texting.

2) Don't flaunt your mobile phone in public, you might draw the attention of phone thieves.

3) Before putting your phone in your pocket, lock the keypad to avoid making unwanted calls.

4) Avoid texting while driving. If you can't, then avoid driving while texting.

5) Be cautious and don't text near gas stations.

6) Be courteous when responding to a texter who sent you a message by mistake.

7) Avoid word contractions that are too hard to recognize. (No one will know that Ndpndnc is a contraction for Independence.)

Parent-Child Text Messages

Some of the funniest text messages are between parents and their kids. There is even an entire Web site devoted to "Crazy Things Parents Text." Here is a sample:

Kid: How did you and dad afford a babysitter all the time when we were growing up? They are so expensive!

Mom: We didn't hire babysitters. We put you guys in the basement and told you there was a tornado coming. A lot.

Kid: Did Mom really have a c-section with me?

Dad: Yep, that's right. You weren't born, you were surgically removed. Like a tumor.

Mom: (family text) Did anyone see my broom?

Dad: Why? Are you going somewhere?

Daughter: Dad, what would you do if I got pregnant?

Dad: Keep the kid. Give you up for adoption.

Son: I got a tongue-ring.

Dad: What happens if you are innocently trying to catch a drop of rain on your tongue, and lightning strikes? Your tongue will fall off.

Daughter: Mom, prepare to disown me.

Mom: Did You Just Buy Another Justin Beiber CD?!

Dad: I.just.figured.out.how.to.text.

Son: Great, now just remove those periods and you're all set.

Dad: Thats.what.he.said.

Kid: It's raining cats and dogs out there.

Dad: I know. I just stepped in a poodle.

Mom: Your father can be so embarrassing.

Teen: What did he do now?

Mom: Jehovah Witnesses just knocked on the door. I answered to be polite, and he yells "Honey! Come back! This goat is bleeding all over the altar!"

Attempts at Being Romantic

Whenever I hear people say something bad about you, like when they say that you aren't cute enough, I always come to your defense and say "She's trying to be cute!"

You're like my asthma, you take my breath away. Like dandruff, I can't get you off my head. Like my car, you drive me crazy. Like dentures, I can't smile without you.

Your kisses are like nectar from a flower. Without the stickers and pollen.

Generational Misunderstandings

Kid: Got an A in Chem!

Mom: WTF, well done.

Kid: What do you think WTF means?

Mom: Wow That's Fantastic?

Kid: OK, thanks dad! <3

Dad: What is that? A butt with a cone?

Mom: The concert was great, but the kids in front of me must have been poor. They had to share a cigarette between the six of them!

Kid: It probably wasn't a cigarette...

Dad: He was one of those people who wear black tight jeans, with that weird hair that covers one eye. You know...nemo.

Kid: I think you mean Emo.

Mom: <3 for dinner.

Kid: Yes, I always love going out for dinner.

Mom: Doesn't <3 mean ice cream?

Parents' Take on Employment is Always a Little Bit Different

Teen: Can you leave me some money to go to the movies?

Mom: My sweet little parasite. That's why this planet has a thing called jobs.

Daughter: Hey Dad, I got a job!

Dad: Does it include a pole?

Daughter: Real funny, Dad.

Son: Dad! We are going to the strip club! Wanna come?

Dad: I never understood strip clubs. Give women your money and they won't sleep with you? Sounds like marriage to me.

When The Kids Are Grown—and Mom and Dad Still Try to Connect

Dad: I'm in the family room. Bring me another beer please

Kid: Uh, Dad...I'm still gone for another week.

Dad: I'll wait.

Mom: Do you think you would ever have use for a rock collection? It is a small set with about fifty rocks.

Grown Kid: Uh, no. I live in an apartment with three other people, Mom. We don't even have a garage.

Dad: Here's a little life lesson for you...It's all poops and giggles until someone giggles and poops. :) You're welcome.

Auto-Correct For Texting

Not long ago, some genius came up with a smartphone feature called Auto-Correct. It seemed like a good idea at the time, a program to instantly correct your misspellings and spell-out your abbreviations (B4 was sent as "before"). What actually happened to a lot of texters, however, is that misspelled words or slang got "corrected" to something that changed the whole message, and/or thoroughly embarrassed the sender. Here are some classic and supposedly true examples:

A: How's ur day going?

B: Awful. I have a bad case of the manboobs. OMG! The Mondays! I meant Mondays!

C: Happy mothers day, sh*tstain! OMG! I meant sweetness! Really!

D: Hahaha!

G: Your mother and I are going to divorce next month.

H: OMG! Why??? Call me, please!

G: I wrote Disney and this phone changed it. We are going to Disney. No divorce.

I: Guess who just got their ass pounded!

J: I don't know, but tell me there's video.

I: OMG! I wrote Grounded! I hate this phone!

K: I broke my penis and it exploded all over my pants. Damn! My Pen—I broke my pen!

L: Hahahahahahahah! That makes my week!

M: Is someone giving me a ride home? I won't be able to badonkadonk myself...Damn this autocorrect! How is badonkadonk even close to "Drive"?

N: LOL! I'll do it.

O: Menu is salmon nicotine for starters, chicken classier for main and perhaps creeps for dessert. OMG! LOL! That menu sounds horrendous! I meant salmon nicoise, chicken chasseur and crepes.

P: Hahaha! Despite the insane typos, I knew what you meant!

Q: When you come to my house, look for the pompous ass at the top of the driveway.

R: Pompous ass? Who might that be?

Q: No, he's on the couch...I meant pompous grass. Damn smartphone!

S: I'm going to take a howler.

T: The moon isn't full.

S: LOL—Shower! I swear I typed shower!

U: I'm sorry you have allergies, but I have a whole box of slavery with your name on it.

V: Oh my god!

U: Sorry! I tried to type Alavert and my phone put slavery in instead.

W: I'm sorry, I was teething.

X: Teething?

W: Dang it, I meant tweeting. Stupid auto correct!

Auto-Correcting Disasters

Yes, it occasionally happens: auto-correct causes mayhem. In March 2012, all the middle schools and high schools in Gainesville, Georgia, were put on lock-down when a student's innocent text was auto-corrected into something alarming.

The student wrote "gunna be at West hall at 4". But "gunna" was auto-corrected to "gunman", and then the text message was sent to the wrong receiver. All heck broke out, and several schools were put on lock-down. It was all straightened out, eventually. And we can only hope little "gunna" met his/her friend at West Hall sooner or later.

(Many of these funny text messages are on multiple Internet joke sites. But special thanks to crazythingsparentstext.tumblr.com, txtmania.com, humorsphere.com, damnyouautocorrect.com, funnyordie.com.)

Marilyn is a freelance writer and humorist, with a special interest (besides computers and technology) in Science Fiction. A SF Horror story appeared in July 2011 in Deadman's Tome. And in January 2012 she had a SF Police Procedural appearing in Cosmic Crime magazine, and a SF Dystopian Romance appearing in the Strange Valentines anthology. She also has almost seventy articles on Helium.com, and is writing a humorous Young Adult SF 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.

ComputorEdge E-Books has converted many of Marilyn's computer humor columns into four e-books.

* Computer Confusion in Paradise: Lo! And in the Beginning There Was Total Befuddlement!, in both EPUB format for iPad, NOOK, etc., and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle.

* Computer Hardware: "Parts Is Parts", in both EPUB format for iPad, NOOK, etc., and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle.

* Computerholics Anonymous: PC Users, Abusers and Confusioners, in both EPUB format for iPad, NOOK, etc., and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle.

* My Computer, My Nemesis: Bravely into the Smiley-Face Virtual Void!, in both EPUB format for iPad, NOOK, etc., and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle.

* All four e-books can be found at our E-Book Store.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

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

"A Surprise Application for KompoZer"

A Surprise Application for KompoZer

[Regarding Jack Dunning's June 15 article, "My Favorite Free Web Design Program":]

Dear Jack,

Greetings from Southeast Asia. I am working on a long-term translation project here in Thailand, traveling back and forth from San Diego once or twice a year.

I appreciate your ComputorEdge Online magazine, which I have read for quite some time, and where I keep up on things—with an eye peeled for any new and useful application or utility. Last week, I took note of your article on KompoZer: "My Favorite Free Web Design Program." I downloaded it, opened a couple of my own Web pages in it, and was favorably impressed. KompoZer is definitely a "keeper."

However, that's not the reason for my letter. Being a translator into the Thai language, I translate using Thai (and sometimes Lao) fonts. Recently (since WinXP, Win7, Word '07, Word '10, and multi-language Unicode fonts) I have noticed an annoying font-oriented "bug" that imposes itself on me quite often.

As a matter of explanation, written Thai employs a left-to-right, consonant/vowel/tone-marker language format. For some odd reason (likely only known to Mr. Gates's crew), various spots in the draft version of translation text are converted to the Arabic right-to-left character formatting style. This also shows in the status bar readout when the cursor is over the corrupted area. Where this occurs, characters are swapped around, and the cursor jumps back and forth when traveling over the area.

This is unacceptable, making the text unusable. To correct this annoyance, I first tried a search/replace routine of the right-to-left Arabic language formatting style, hoping to remove or replace it with the left-to-right Thai or English alternative. No good. Although all the search data would appear correctly in the search and replace data windows, Word's search routine refused to locate anything.

I then tried removing all the Arabic fonts from the computer—why the Microsoft people thought we all needed so many Arabic fonts escapes me. I don't need or want any of them. I then went into the language and keyboard selection control panel and removed Arabic option from the default selection, which got put there automatically somehow.

None of these things seemed to work, period. I then tried copying a line of the mixed-up Thai text into various data entry windows, hoping to strip the offending right-to-left text formatting. Remarkably, it worked when I tried this technique using my e-mail program's subject bar. I resigned myself to this boring and time-consuming process as being the only way out of the woods, so to speak. One drawback was, this process completely stripped any and all formatting: text colors, underlining, bold, italics, etc., which I then would have to reformat.

Enter KompoZer: I decided to try KompoZer to see what it might do in the way of stripping the unwanted formatting bugaboo. Nothing! After unsuccessfully poking around, trying various menu options, I came upon the "Writing direction" selection option, located under the "Format" menu heading.

Three options were available 1) Unspecified, 2) Left-to-right, and 3) Right-to-left. I selected "Unspecified" and Bingo! It Worked! Not only did it remove all of the pesky Arabic font formatting (magically rearranging things back to where they belonged), but as an added bonus, all the other formatting remained fully intact. Even highlighted and hidden text remained as it was.

I was practically giddy with excitement. This serendipity discovery was certainly a godsend. Being a longtime, committed user of quick-key keyboard shortcuts (instead of constantly reaching for the mouse), I found that the "Alt+O+W+U" key sequence worked great. It allowed me to complete each sentence or short paragraph repair cycle in a few short seconds.

I am including a single-page PDF file of some before-and-after text examples, including a screen shot of KompoZer in action.

Some before-and-after examples, including a screen shot of KompoZer in action.

That being said, as great an improvement as it was, it soon became a finger-tiring nuisance, due to the great amount of text that needed repairing. I tried searching KompoZer's help files, hoping for a macro-recording option (so as to utilize a single quick-key stroke option), but none was available.

NOTE: I believe that KompoZer needs a macro option, or an option like MS Word, to assign one's own single-stroke quick-key choice to a function. Nevertheless, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I remained quite delighted over my new discovery.

Finally, to save time after spending hours on repairing a single file, I tried dumping a huge 200+ page file into KompoZer. It ruminated on it a while, but then allowed me to apply the "Unspecified" text-direction option. Bingo again! It worked on the whole huge file!

Thanks, Jack. You have saved me many hours of repetitive, carpal-tunnel producing toil.

-Ron Myers, San Diego via Thailand

The information on KompoZer and other free Windows programs used by Jack is available in the e-book Jack's Favorite Free Windows Programs available exclusively from Amazon.com. ComputorEdge readers can get the book free from Amazon on Friday, June 29th and Saturday June 30th.

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. If you would like to review our recent e-books, please visit ComputorEdge E-Books.

Send e-mail to ceeditor@computoredge.com with questions about editorial content.

Send mail to cewebmaster@computoredge.com with questions or comments about this Web site.

Copyright © 1997-2012 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!