Quoted from "Monsignore"
On my iMac keyboard I have buttons F13-F19. Anyone know how I can assign things to them? Specifically, I want to assign passwords to them for my various log-ins.

This is what the Keychain is for. If you click "Remember Password" when you login it will store your login information in the keychain and your keychain has separate password.

If for some reason you don't want to use the keychain:

You set keyboard shortcuts through the "Keyboard Shortcuts" pane in the "Keyboard & Mouse" preferences. However, you can't assign anything but a menu item from there.

You need a program like QuicKeys to assign text.

There are other options, like writing a quick applescript with the login request using the following syntax:

tell application "Finder" -->Mount backup server try mount volume "afp://login:password 10.0.2.XXX/UserData" end try end tell

Where "login" is the login ID, and "password" is the password, and "10.0.2.XXX" is the IP address of the server.

Quoted from "Wexie"
Make sure you have Flip4Mac installed. Also install VLC player. It will play many video file formats that Quicktime cannot, even with Flip4Mac. (Also, install Divx as part of your standard.)

Thanks...I just installed Flip4Mac, VLC player and Divx, and although the first two could not play the file, Divx could and does! It works great. Thank you!

If you are thinking about upgrading to Leopard, be careful and do your homework first.

Start Here.

Ahem. <img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/linux_user_at_best_buy.png" title="We actually stand around the antivirus displays with the Mac users just waiting for someone to ask." alt="Linux User at Best Buy">

Seriously, though, is this the point where Mac users need to start being paranoid about viruses?

Just had my first "pissed at Apple" moment.

I have one of the new nanos it rocks and the video is cool. One of the things that would make it even cooler is to be able to watch it on a TV. You can buy cables that let you do that, so...okay.

I go to the Apple Store in the mall and they have the cables for 50 and include a charger um, I just bought a charger, I don't need it or want it, I just want the cables. Apparently that's not an option.

So, I go online and order one through eBay for a much more sane price, it arrives, I plug it in, set it up and:

Quote
"TV Out Enabled: Please Connect Video Accessory"

I do some more research and apparently Apple has added an "authentication chip" to make sure that it's an official Apple Accessory .

Not pleased. :crash:

iPartition saved my bacon - remapping the partitions worked fine. Leopard is now installing. About 12 minutes to go!

Quoted from "kimpossible"
Macs make cents!

That's some of the worst math I've seen. So after two years you'd sell your mac for 500, buy another for 800, for a total of 1100/4 years not including twice as much computer parts that need to be disposed of and recycled (larger carbon footprint). If you bought the PC that was more powerful you'd spend the 700 and it would last you for four years (true - you wouldn't sell it and just keep using it) since it has more significantly more space and is faster. I don't get it. :dunno:

Quoted from "Air"

Quoted from "kimpossible"
Macs make cents!

That's some of the worst math I've seen. So after two years you'd sell your mac for 500, buy another for 800, for a total of 1100/4 years not including twice as much computer parts that need to be disposed of and recycled (larger carbon footprint). If you bought the PC that was more powerful you'd spend the 700 and it would last you for four years (true - you wouldn't sell it and just keep using it) since it has more significantly more space and is faster. I don't get it. :dunno:

I dunno, Air. I bought my Dual 1GHz G4 PowerMac in the summer of 2001 and it's still humming along just as strong as it did back in the day. I've been able to upgrade all the way from 10.1 (Puma) to 10.4 (Tiger) and I can definitely run Leopard on it if I choose to. The only major systems upgrade I gave it was some extra RAM in 2003 and I replaced the burner with a dual layer.

Unlike Windows where OS updates can slow your system down, Mac's OS updates speed your system up. My computer shows very little signs of its age. eBay says I can still sell it for about 350 dollars.

If I had bought a PC in 2001 I wouldn't expect that kind of resale value in late 2007, nor would I expect it to work as well as it did the day I bought it, which my computer does today. My dad bought a very nice PC in 2004 which is now totally obsolete and plagued with problems, slowness, etc. He replaced it with an iMac last month. The main factor in switching to Mac for him was that he knew he could get 5 years or more out of his machine with no visible issues.

Macs last longer and they do have higher resale value. Any way you choose to go you're getting more use of your computer than you would on a PC. They're like Hondas. They last forever, they don't go obsolete as quickly as PC's do, and you can sell them off for a lot more than you would a PC.

run the Address Book application on the old drive and export the addresses to a Vcard or something. Then you can import them back into Address Book on the new drive.

I have no idea. Maybe the apple support forums will be more specific about where the addresses are located?

yeah, as Josh said, you just need to drag the file from the applications support folder, put it in the same folder on your new computer, and it should open with your data.

Another one of those articles about Macs being targets of hackers. Posted as a heads up only.

Quote
Apple s rising popularity lures hackers By Kevin Allison in San Francisco Published: December 5 2007 19:18 Last updated: December 5 2007 19:18 After years of relative safety, the Apple Mac is becoming an increasingly tempting target for malicious computer hackers, according to a new report published this week. Security researchers have been aware of the threat to Apple since last year, when they detected the first piece of malicious code or malware specifically designed to target Apple. Over the past few months, however, the number of malicious programmes has increased, according to a report published this week by F-Secure, an internet security company. Over the past two years, we had found one or two pieces of malware targeting Macs, said Patrik Runald, an F-Secure security researcher. Since October, we ve found 100-150 variants. The rising security threat could present a challenge to Apple, which has long touted the security advantages of its platform over those of Microsoft, whose software is a perennial target for hackers. As Apple s platform becomes more visible, it will increasingly come under the gun, said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies. Apple declined to discuss specific steps it was taking to counter the growing number of attacks. However, Apple said: We take security very seriously and have a great track record for addressing vulnerabilities before they can affect users. Mr Runald said the jump in attacks against Apple appeared to be the work of a single gang of professional hackers. The group, known in security circles as the Zlob gang , makes programs that infect PCs by tricking users into thinking they are installing software needed to view copyrighted video files. As with other attacks against Apple, the Zlob gang relies on tricking users to install its malicious software, rather than on exploiting any inherent software vulnerability. Apple sold 2.1m Macs in the third quarter, up from 1.1m in the first quarter of 2006, according to Gartner, the research group. After years of catering to a niche audience of Mac lovers, Apple now commands about 10 per cent of the consumer PC market, according to Mr Kay. News of Apple s growing profile among professional criminals comes as the number of viruses and other malicious computer programmes loose on the internet has doubled over the past 12 months, according to F-Secure. F-Secure said it had detected 500,000 viruses, trojans and worms in 2007, compared with 250,000 last year.

Quoted from "Air"
Hey Wexie - going to go check this out tomorrow?

Leaving for Swing &amp; Soul baby!

PS: You are a pervert.

Quoted from "Air"
One thing I don't understand: (pics of the glass staircase) How long will it take for someone to grab some up-skirt shots on a display iPhone?

I &lt;3 structural glass.

There's a Koolhaas building in the Netherlands that I toured on a class trip, and they originally had areas of clear glass floor that got switched to frosted shortly after the building opened for just the reason you mentioned. They may end up doing the same thing here eventually, depending on how many people complain about it.

Quoted from "VLG"

Quoted from "Air"
One thing I don't understand: (pics of the glass staircase) How long will it take for someone to grab some up-skirt shots on a display iPhone?

I &lt;3 structural glass. There's a Koolhaas building in the Netherlands that I toured on a class trip, and they originally had areas of clear glass floor that got switched to frosted shortly after the building opened for just the reason you mentioned. They may end up doing the same thing here eventually, depending on how many people complain about it.

There's probably an elevator. Not that that's always convenient, but it's something of a solution. I'd be a little annoyed if I stopped in that Apple store after work on an errand and was confronted with a glass staircase while wearing a skirt. I'd also be annoyed waiting for an elevator.