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your data?

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Genuine replies
or just lies?
Jobs has answered some emails, but
how can we tell the bona fide ones?

teve Jobs has found the send button. Apparently. More and
more people who send him a note are getting replies, but do
you think its actually him?
Lets consider the evidence. For starters, the address: sjobs@
apple.com. Can you imagine how much mail must land in that inbox
every day? Far too much for the CEO of your corner caf to handle,
never mind someone with a $25 billion cash pile. The new message
sound will be pinging so often hell think he has tinnitus. His real email
address will be far more obscure. sjobs is just a front.
Then theres the tone. Jobs is known for his businesslike manner, but
some of these emails are more than terse. Hardly good PR, and not a
great way to create the image of a friendly, approachable company.
So whats my gut feeling? Well, I do actually believe these emails
come from Jobs. Or some of them do, at least. The trouble is, we
dont know which ones. No doubt theres some kind of quality control
you have to get through before his eyes ever rest on your words
perhaps someone employed just to watch that mailbox but if he
does light upon your message, then the note you get back will be
from the man himself.
Congratulations. Tell the world, tell the web and revel in
your brush with email fame.
But how do we know that youre telling the truth?
Therein lies the rub.
While Jobs engaging with the general public, if indeed
it is him, is a move to be applauded, the fact that we
cant verify these messages makes it a dangerous
move. Remember a couple of years ago when
Apples shares tanked on the back of a supposed
internal email announcing shipping delays for
both Leopard and the original iPhone? It was
leaked to Engadget, and investors started
to weep. An hour later, the email was
unmasked as a hoax and the shares more
or less recovered.
These little email bulletins Jobs is
apparently sending are simultaneously so
hard to verify and so quickly seized upon by the
media (even The Daily Telegraph has published
The top ve terse Steve Jobs email replies)
that it wouldnt be difcult for someone who
wanted to manipulate the price of Apple
stock so they could buy on the cheap and
turn a quick prot to knock up a ve- or sixword note with faked headers. The ultimate
Fake Steve Jobs.
Whether or not these emails are real,
Apple has a duty to itself and its investors
to let us all know the last one has been
sent, and replace them with a public forum.
Keep sjobs@apple.com up and running, but
pick the best queries and answer them in
person, in public, at apple.com.

Nik Rawlinson is the editor. This

issue hes been trying to nd out
where in France he can watch
Eurovision after a booking mix up.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

THE NO. 1 CHOICE FOR MAC USERS

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

004

contents
MACUSER, 4 JUNE 2010 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 12

P98
P9

P56

P62

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The mobile

W
IN
MICROSOFT

OFFICE
FOR MAC 20
08
BUSINESS
EDITION

Specialist Real World Columnists

DESIGN FOR PRINT PAGE 76
Paper sizes: get to know your A, B, C
P

PHOTOGRAPHY PAGE 78

Is the Digital Economy Act wrong for rights?

VIDEO PAGE 80

Create a green screen for adding effects

AUDIO PAGE 82

The iPad isnt a great music tool yet

MAC TO THE FUTURE PAGE 84

3D adds new dimension to home entertainment

iWORK PAGE 86

iWork is a real hit when it comes to charts

Beginners Guide to
Mail
PAGE 104

We show you the ropes in

Apples email application

PAGE 62

FACEBOOK
PRIVACY

Switching to the Mac

Expos and Spaces
PAGE 106

Take control of application

windows and your Desktop

005

this
issue
News

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

PAGE 55

007

Adobe runs We love Apple newspaper

ad + Second iPhone 4G gets into
the wrong hands + Apple unveils
new MobileMe Mail app beta.
www.macuser.co.uk/news

Reviews

028

The latest products reviewed and rated

by our team of experts, including:
Epson B-510DN If you can live with the
looks, youll get decent speed and
low running costs Introducing Steam
Download games straight to your
computer from Valves online store
Everything iWant A round-up of the
latest, most-desirable gadgets available
for the iPad and iPhone + Finder addons Top tools for an efcient Finder.
www.macuser.co.uk/reviews

Features

056

Ditch your desk We look at how

Apples iWork fares on the iPad.
Facebook privacy Has the service
designed to bring people together
turned into something less friendly?

Method/Create 074
Method Using InDesign to take the
tedium out of indexing Plus Essential
tips in photography, audio, video, print
design, future Macs and iWork Create
Illustrator CS5s Shape Builder tool
+ Creating Alpha Transitions in Motion 4
+ Create your own eBook in InDesign.

Macshopper

113

Mac range Check the specs before

you buy + Hot Kit The denitive guide
to the best Mac products + Classied
Find specic products or services.

Help

124

Master of all things techie Howard

Oakley answers all your questions, and
tackles issues with Macs in business.

news

007
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

FOR THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS GO TO WWW.MACUSER.CO.UK

Adobe runs We Love

Apple newspaper ad

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is likely to reveal the actual

iPhone 4G at the WWDC on 7 July.

Second iPhone
4G gets into the
wrong hands

Apple and Adobe are engaged in a heated battle, each claiming the other is guilty of having proprietary
technology. Adobe believes Apples stance on Flash is robbing users and developers of the freedom to choose.

nce famous for its paranoid

obsession with privacy, Apple has
dropped the ball for a second time
with its hotly anticipated iPhone 4G.
Less than a month after gadget blog
Gizmodo gained access to a prototype left in
a bar by a young Apple engineer, someone
posting to Vietnamese sites Taoviet and
Tinhte seems to have got hold of another.
They quickly set about deconstructing the
phone to see exactly how it was put together
and what components it included.
Images of the handset were posted online
and a video review was uploaded to YouTube.
The two models that have surfaced appear
to be virtually identical, although the rear of
the Gizmodo handset was branded with the
placeholder text XXGB, while the Vietnamese
version reportedly bears a 16GB logo.
The Vietnamese handset also lacks the
screws on the bottom of the case that were
present on the Gizmodo handset.
In the video and images, the device
appears to be running a rmware
Page 009
diagnostics program called

Image PA Photos.com

n a surprise move, Adobe has come

your freedom to choose what you create,
out and pledged its love for Apple in a
how you create it and what you experience
new advert, despite the rms continued
on the web, it says.
stance to keeping Flash support from iPhone
The advert is the latest blow in a long
and iPad users.
and drawn-out battle between the two
Adobe placed the advert in The Wall Street
giant corporations, and despite doing its best
Journal, The New York Times and the San
to portray Adobe as the champion for users
Francisco Chronicle
rights, it shows the
in the US, and The
level of animosity
Despite doing its best to portray
Financial Times in
is building.
the UK, declaring in a
Apple claims
Adobe as the champion for users
banner headline: We
it has excluded
rights, the advert shows the level
Love Apple. The text
Flash from its
of animosity is building
underneath reads: We
mobile device plans
love creativity. We love
because Adobe still
innovation. We love
holds the reins on
apps. We love the web. We love Flash. We
the development of the standard. Although
love our 3 million developers. We love healthy
the specication for Flash is openly available,
competition. We love touch screens, it begins.
its still controlled by the company.
However, after that, the tone changes.
Adobe, meanwhile, argues that Apple
Page 009
What we dont love is anybody taking away
is in the wrong for denying

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www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

Adobe advert fires another salvo at Apple

over its refusal to support Flash technology
its users and developers the choice. In an
open letter posted on the Apple website last
month, Apple CEO Steve Jobs called Flash
100% proprietary.
[Flash products] are only available from
Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to
their future enhancement, pricing, and so on,
he said. By almost any denition, Flash is a
closed system.
He also hit out at Adobe over its security
and reliability, saying that Flash is the
number-one reason Macs crash.
In retaliation, the founders of Adobe,
Chuck Geschke and John Warnock, published
another letter that said: We publish the
specications for Flash meaning anyone can
make their own Flash player We believe that
Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has
taken a step that could undermine this next
chapter of the web.
Apple has remained deant about not
supporting the technology in the iPhone OS,
despite calls from Adobe and users alike.
Its backing HTML5 instead, which will see
video run without an extra layer of software,
straight from the browser.
Moreover, with popularity for the
standard increasing and the amount of sites
choosing it to display embedded video clips
rising, the likelihood of Adobe changing Jobs
mind looks increasingly slim. With sites such
as Facebook, YouTube and The New York
Times all opting to make their video visible
without Flash, many question the need for
Apple to cave in.

Apple bumps
power and price
of white MacBook

pple has tweaked the performance

of its entry-level laptop, the white
MacBook, but at a price.
The portable Mac now comes with a
slightly faster, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
processor and newer, Nvidia GeForce 320M
graphics. Maximum battery life has also been
improved, from seven to 10 hours.
All that (plus a weaker pound) adds up to a
price increase of 33 to 849 (723 ex VAT).
The rest of the white MacBooks
specication remains unchanged, comprising
a 250GB hard drive, 2GB of Ram and the
13.3in, 1280 x 800-pixel display.

Apple resolutely refuses to support Flash on the

iPhone OS and is instead backing HTML5.

Apple has further incensed Adobe, as

well as many third-party developers, by
banning the use of Flash technology to
create iPhone applications.
Jobs pointed out that its lack of multitouch support was a signicant factor, but
claimed that the fact that it was proprietary,
would drain battery life and was unstable
were also factors.
In the early days, Apple owned around
20% of Adobe, but theres no love lost
between the two rms now.

Vietnamese websites expose 4G prototype

Image Courtesy of Apple

Inferno and at no point is shown with the

iPhone OS loaded. Shots of it taken apart
show that it uses an Apple-branded processor
similar to the one in the iPad.
Its unknown where the latest leak came
from, but CNN reported that $4000 (about
2748) was allegedly paid for the iPhone.
Apple acknowledged that the rst device
was a real prototype, but its still unknown
whether the nal release version has been
changed since that model.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is likely to reveal the

actual iPhone 4G at the Worldwide Developers
Conference on 7 July.
Leaked photos and specications of the
update to the MacBook (see story above right)
also surfaced on the Tinhte website prior to
its launch and have turned out to be accurate.
In recent years, more and more of Apples
forthcoming hardware has been nding its way
onto the web since an early fourth-generation
iPod nano.

Apple unveils
new MobileMe
Mail app beta

pple has started public beta

testing of a new version of the
MobileMe Mail web app. New
features include a choice of views, rules, a
formatting toolbar and single-click archiving.
The company has introduced a new
widescreen view to show more of each
message with less scrolling, with options to
choose a compact view to hide folders or
classic view to see more of the message list.
The Rules feature will enable users to set
up rules at me.com to automatically organise
incoming email in the web app and on any
other MobileMe-connected device Mac and
PC, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
Apple is also promising improved
performance, with faster load times and the
ability to scroll all messages automatically, as
well as increased security.
MobileMe subscribers can apply to join
the beta test by clicking the Request an
invitation button in the current version of the
Mail web app.

Vietnamese site
Tinhte has also
leaked details of
the MacBook update.
The beta
version of the new
MobileMe Mail
app now offers a
choice of views.

Microsoft unveils
revamped Hotmail

icrosoft has unveiled a new version

of photos and updates from your closest
of Hotmail, its widely used webmail
friends on Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter,
service. Windows Live Hotmail
and over 70 other websites.
will launch in the summer, with signicant
The inbox also supports inline viewing,
changes to the inbox, mail handling and
and sharing of photos and other attachments.
mobile support, as
If you receive a
well as better security,
document, you can
support for multiple
now open it with the
The inbox also supports
email accounts,
full power of the new
inline viewing, and sharing of
improved contact
Ofce Web Apps,
photos and other attachments
management and
right in Hotmail,
more storage, with
explains Craddock.
sub-folders.
The inbox also has
Dick Craddock, group program manager
new tools to manage mail without resorting
for Windows Live Hotmail, outlined some of
to complex rules.
the changes on The Windows Blog. Weve
While Hotmail already supports many
introduced practical innovations to help
smartphone platforms, compatibility is
people manage the clutter and regain control
fairly limited on some devices, including
of their inboxes efciently, he wrote,
the iPhone and iPod touch. Microsoft is
noting that the Hotmail inbox will also be
promising improvements, with support
able to display email from other providers
for lters, inline message previews, HTML
such as Gmail, Yahoo and AOL. It can also
messages, ofine viewing, conversation
be plugged into social networks to display
threading, agging and an option to show
a consolidated, privacy-protected stream
or hide message header details.

Small ISPs escape

crackdown on
illegal file sharing

mall ISPs will be exempt from

the new anti-le-sharing strictures
introduced in the nal days of the
Labour government. The Digital Economy
Act requires ISPs to send written warnings
to alleged le sharers and, if they dont
stop, allows them to implement a series
of measures, such as bandwidth throttling,
to persuade them to do so.
The Act passed power to implement
the rules and determine what measures
should be taken to Ofcom, and the regulator
informed the Internet Service Providers
Association that the initial Code of Conduct
would only apply to small ISPs with around
400,000 land-based subscribers.
This means anyone not connected to the
Internet by one of BT, TalkTalk, Virgin Media,
Sky, Orange, O2 and KC in Hull would not
receive a notice from their ISP.

Nokia adds the

iPad to its patent
dispute with Apple

A new version of Hotmail, Windows Live Mail, will launch this summer, with a number of signicant changes.

okia has led a fresh lawsuit

against Apple, alleging that the iPad
infringes ve of its patents. The
Finnish phone maker claims that the 3G
version of the iPad breaches patents covering
antenna technologies, the use of positioning
data in applications, and technologies for
enhanced speech and data transmission.
However, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian
Marshall believes that the spats between the
two rms are overblown. I think the Nokia/
Apple lawsuits are a lot of noise My guess
is this lasts for years and they both issue
some cross licences to each other.
Apple is also embroiled in iPhone-related
legal disputes with Kodak and HTC.

iPad sells out across Europe

Image Danny Bird

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

010

pple appears to have sold its

entire allocation of iPads for its
international launch on 28 May.
The companys online stores in the UK and
the eight other countries where it went
on sale last week are now quoting a June
date for deliveries of new orders. Early
customers saw their iPads arrive on or
around 28 May.
The US is also suffering a shortage of
Apples newest device. Piper Jaffray analyst
Gene Munster found that within three days
of the 3G model going on sale, 49 of the 50
stores he surveyed had sold out. Apples US

online store is now quoting a delivery time of

seven to 10 business days.
The company said that the shortages
didnt reect a problem with manufacturing or
supply, but were simply due to unexpectedly
high demand, although it hasnt commented
on the latest delays.
It has, however, commented on the
ongoing problems some users have had when
trying to connect their iPads to wi networks.
Having initially suggested a series of possible
workarounds, Apple has now acknowledged
that there are faults, which it will address in
a future iPad software update.

011

Mayor promises free

wifi for London by 2012
Boris Johnson has promised free wifi
across the whole of London in time
for the 2012 Olympics. The capitals
mayor said the Wi-Fi London project
would put access points in every lamp
post and every bus stop. He said
that 22 of Londons 32 boroughs had
already signed up to the scheme.
Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the
Internet, was born in London, so we
claim paternity of the Internet, the
mayor told Googles Zeitgeist event in
Hertfordshire. London is the home of
technological innovation. We in City Hall
are doing our best to keep up.
London mayor Boris Johnson recently announced the Wi-Fi London project, which aims to put free wifi access points in every lamp post and bus stop across the capital.

Apple set to take on Spotify with

its new music streaming service

ith Apples Worldwide Developers

Conference approaching,
speculation is mounting over what
Apple may announce and high on the list is
a music streaming service. The new system
would allow customers to store their music
libraries on centralised servers and stream
them to mobile devices over an Internet
connection when away from home.
The digital locker of les, as its being
called, will require users to log into a
dedicated website, where theyll be provided

service, which had not been accepting new

users for some time, closed down on 31 May.
Much of the technology that underpinned
Lala is expected to be integrated into the new
streaming tool from Apple, as its engineers
have been kept on the payroll.

Online storage

Customers currently pay 79p per song

on the iTunes Store, but must download
les to a computer or transfer them to an
iPod or iPhone before listening to them.

With the new system, purchased songs

will be streamed instantly. The new service
is likely to be hosted at iTunes.com, which
currently points to a page describing the
iTunes software itself.
According to The Times, Apple has built
a huge server farm at a cost of around $1
billion (about 695 million), and its purpose
has been kept secret. This could be in
anticipation of running a streaming service,
which would require a vast processing and
bandwidth resource.

Its not yet known whether the

service will be funded by
advertising revenue or through
a monthly subscription charge
with an interface to play back remotely
stored les. Rather than being stored as
les on a home computer, they would be
kept online, negating the need for backups
or storage space.
Its not yet known whether the service will
be funded by advertising revenue or through
a monthly subscription charge, but further
details are expected to be announced at the
San Francisco Apple World Wide Developers
Conference on 7 June.
In December last year, Apple acquired
the established music streaming site Lala
for $80 million (about 55.7 million). The

Use
ed to download music
ic onto thei
ute Apple
treami service
vice iis set
et to cha
Users of iTu
iTunes need
their computer.
Apples streaming
change this.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

News ash

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

012

HTC asks ITC for

iPhone injunction
Image PA photos.com

Apple CEO Steve Jobs claimed that the company is all about freedom from programs that steal your data.

Price of freedom
O

ddly, the Apple brand is

they like they dont have to buy or develop
synonymous with two things that
or publish on iPads if they dont want to.
seem entirely at odds with each other:
Now, in the technology sector, there are
creativity, thanks to its adoption by the artistic
few issues as contentious. Should you plump
industries, and fanatical attention to design;
for an open, democratic system, or one thats
and restriction, because of strict guidelines
controlled by a single entity? In an equal
on how developers can make and customers
ght Im sure most people would choose the
can use content and applications.
former, but the ght is far from equal.
The debate between Adobe and Apple
I switched to Apple while studying software
seems to be bringing this dichotomy to the
engineering. Part of the appeal was that
forefront of everyones
everything just worked.
mind. Apple claims its
The same couldnt
Apple claims its doing whats in
simply doing whats
be said for my PC or
in the customers
Linux box. Spending all
the customers best interest,
best interest, opting
day making programs
opting for HTML5 over Flash,
for HTML5 over Flash,
drained what little
which it calls 100% proprietary
which it calls an
enthusiasm I had
100% proprietary
for tinkering with
system. If Apple cant
misbehaving ones.
control it, it shouldnt expose its customers
I didnt want to have to take time out
to it, goes the argument.
of writing code to get the application that
Adobe counterclaims that whats in the
transferred music to my MP3 player to work
best interest of the consumer is to allow
properly. So I got an iPod. And an iBook. And,
anything on the platform and see what
really, Ive never missed anything.
sticks, to let people have Flash whether it
Now that I use an iPhone, I dont miss
slows their iPads to a crawl and drains their
Flash, either. Playing with HTML5 video
batteries dry, or whether it doesnt. We can
demonstrations has convinced me that its the
only guess what would actually happen.
future. Maybe its not fair to shut out Adobe,
However, we do have a rare insight into
but by doing so Apple is ensuring the platform
Jobs opinion on the matter. Ryan Tate, a
will continue to be slick and seamless.
writer for Valleywag, red off an email to Jobs
Its a compromise I can live with.
complaining about the lack of Flash support
for iPads. Interestingly, Jobs replied.
Tate asked if Bob Dylan, who featured in
a classic Apple ad campaign, were 20 today,
how he would feel about the company. Would
he think the iPad had the faintest thing to do
with revolution? he asked. Revolutions are
about freedom.
Jobs red back a message that said his
actions were all about freedom. Just of a
different sort. Yep, freedom from programs
Matthew Sparkes has a couple of
that steal your data. Freedom from programs
degrees in computer science, but has yet
that trash your battery. He added: Users,
to pay even one of them off. He made
developers and publishers can do whatever
the leap from Redmond to Cupertino in 2006.

aiwanese mobile rm HTC has

demanded that Apple stop selling
the iPhone, iPad and iPods in the
US while a legal tussle over alleged patent
infringements is resolved.
The company is suing Apple over ve
patents, just months after the Mac maker
struck rst by suing it for allegedly infringing
20. Apple claims that the company has
copied technology relating to the iPhones
user interface and hardware, and HTC has
now struck back over patents relating to the
way that calls are placed to contacts and
power management.
When Apple led its original complaint in
March this year, CEO Steve Jobs complained
HTC had stolen technology to use in its own
smartphones. We can sit by and watch
competitors steal our patented inventions,
or we can do something about it. Weve
decided to do something about it, he said.
At the time, HTC warned it would defend
itself against the claims. It has done just that
by making the appeal to the US International
Trade Commission for an injunction against the
sales of iPhone, iPad and iPod. If successful,
the claim would even prevent Apple from
importing the devices into the country from its
manufacturing plants in China.
HTCs vice-president of North America,
Jason Mackenzie, said: We are taking this
action against Apple to protect our intellectual
property, our industry partners and our
customers who use HTC phones.
The day after the Taiwanese company
led its legal appeal saw its share price rise
by $16 (TWD), (about 34p), showing that the
legal problems arent affecting condence in
the company among investors.
The smartphone industry is awash with
a series of patent claims between the major
players, including Microsoft, Nokia, HTC and
Apple. With so many patents and alleged
patent infringements in the sector, its unlikely
that a speedy resolution will be found.

HTC claims Apple has infringed ve of its patents.

Apple claims HTC has breached 20 of its patents.

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www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

014

Google attempts damage

limitation after Street
View data theft
Google stops Street View car activities and readies encrypted
version of its search engine after wifi data theft dbacle.

Image Byrion Smith

oogle is set to launch an encrypted

version of its search engine and
has grounded its Street View cars
after admitting it had unwittingly collected
data from wi connections.
The company confessed that its
Street View cars had surreptitiously
harvested payload data from open wi
connections. The cars were meant to
merely record the hotspots SSID and
MAC address to help improve locationbased services, but the company claims
the piece of legacy code used to collect
the information was mistakenly reaping
payload data as well.
Google insists that this wasnt used by
the company and is in contact with the

relevant authorities in each country to

ensure the data is disposed of properly.
The search giant claims that only small
pieces of payload data were collected
from each connection.
We will typically have collected only
fragments of payload data because: our
cars are on the move; someone would
need to be using the network as a car
passed by; and our in-car wi equipment
automatically changes channels roughly
ve times a second, Alan Eustace,
senior vice-president of engineering and
research wrote on the Google blog. In
addition, we did not collect information
travelling over secure, password-protected
wi networks.

In a bid to head off criticism of its

privacy record, Google announced that
it would launch an encrypted version of
its search engine, ensuring that search
results couldnt be tapped over an open
wi connection, for example. Earlier this
year, the company turned on encryption
by default for users of its Gmail service.
In a further move to restore
condence, the company has also
announced that its Street View cars would
no longer collect any data on wi hotspots
as they roam around the country.
Only a month ago, Google was forced
to launch a staunch defence of the
collection of such data, claiming it was
common practice.

015
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

HP to hook printers
to net via WebOS

Today, geolocation services are an

increasingly popular part of the web,
Google said in a statement when it was
rst revealed that Street View cars were
collecting data on wi hotspots.
The statement continued: Wi
location information is by its very nature
publicly broadcast and collecting it for
geolocation purposes is not new or
unique to Google. Such information has
been collected by companies for years,
and many other Internet companies
are using exactly the same information
collected by different providers.
Google has grounded its Street View
cars until the necessary modications
can be made.

Good news for authors

with Lulu iBook deal

nyone will be able to publish a book

for sale through Apples iBook Store,
after self-publishing venture Lulu
announced a deal with the iPad maker.
Apple has anointed Lulu as a certied
aggregator, which will allow it to publish, or
re-publish, any submitted book in the ePub
format and sell that book on the iBook Store.
Lulu will price books to meet Apples
guidelines, with the author receiving 80% of
the prot after deducting Apples 30% cut.
Authors will either have to submit their
books as manually created ePub les or
employ Lulus converter, which does at least
guarantee that titles will meet Apples strict
validation process.

Apple reserves the right to decline to list

an eBook in the iBook Store if it determines
the book violates the companys policies on
inappropriate content. Daniel Wideman,
Lulus senior product manager, said the
publisher had submitted hundreds of titles
and to date had seen just one rejected.
Were committed to open publishing to
helping as many creators as possible reach
as many consumers as possible, no matter
the platform, Wideman said. Publishing at
Lulu means you can have your work in
hardcover and paperback and as an eBook
accessible on many popular devices,
including the iPad.
For more information, visit lulu.com.

Image Courtesy HP.com

P has revealed it plans to use its

which] one device would become ubiquitous.
recently acquired WebOS software
We believe the world is [heading towards]
to connect its range of printers
more mobility, not less, and more and more
to the Internet.
differentiation between what users want to
The company picked
have in terms of
up the ostensibly
capability all the way
Youve now got a series of webmobile operating
from a purely voice
system when it
product up through a
connected printers that, as they
acquired Palm last
smartphone capability
connect to the web, need an OS
month. Analysts
through a tablet
Mark Hurd, HPs chief executive
assumed it planned to
through a notebook,
use the software to
and we expect to
power a new range of
play across the
tablet devices, as well as existing Palm
gamut of capabilities the customers want,
and future HP smartphones. Now HP has
and thats where we expect to go.
added printers to the list.
We expect to leverage WebOS and
the Apps Store beyond smartphones into
form factors such as slates and webconnected printers, explained Mark Hurd,
HPs chief executive.
When [you] think of printers, youve
now got a whole series of web-connected
printers that, as they connect to the web,
need an OS. We prefer [that OS] to be our
IP [intellectual property], where we can
control the customer experience as we
always have in the printing business, and
thats a big deal to us.
Hurd added that the same case for
controlling the software could be made for
smaller-form-factor products such as tablets.
We think theres a market there and we
expect to be a participant in that market, so
we feel very good. Hurd said
When asked about the iPad, Hurd said:
HP CEO Mark Hurd said the company wanted to
leverage Web OS beyond smartphones.
Weve never felt like the market [was one in

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017

Chinese manufacturing plant that

builds devices for Apple, as well as
HP and Dell, has been beset by a
rash of suicides among its staff, leading to
criticism of its working conditions. Such is the
range of devices manufactured by Foxconn
Technology Group that if you own a Mac mini,
iPod, iPad, iPhone, PlayStation 3, Nintendo
Wii, the Xbox 360 or an Amazon Kindle, then
one of its factories probably built it.
The latest victim was 21-year-old Nan
Gang, who was the ninth worker to take his
own life, according to the national newspaper
China Daily. The Taiwanese-owned company
had already seen 10 attempted suicides this
year and had taken some radical steps to
stop that gure rising.
As well as employing 100 counsellors
since the suicides began, the rm has
taken on Buddhist monks to see to the
emotional and spiritual well-being of staff.
Its also set up a helpline for workers to call
if theyre feeling stressed, and implemented
a bonus system that rewards staff who
warn managers about people with potential
emotional problems.
Chinese police admitted the latest
suicide involved a young man falling
from a four-story building. The incident

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

Concern over increasing number

of suicides at Chinese factory
occurred in Shenzhen, where Foxconn
has a manufacturing plant that employs a
staggering 300,000 people. Many workers in
these large manufacturing plants are young
and live on-site in buildings that resemble
large university halls of residence.
With other plants in the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Mexico, Brazil, India and Vietnam,
the rm is thought to employ a total of
around 800,000 people.

The suicide gures are certainly startling,

but with such a high number of staff perhaps
not unexpected. The World Health Organisation
quotes Chinas suicide rate as 14 per 100,000
and with single Foxconn-owned plants holding
hundreds of thousands of workers, the
numbers become even more worrying.
In July last year, a worker at Foxconn
tasked with sending out 16 prototype iPhone
4G handsets realised that one of the devices
was missing. He was later
found dead after having
As well as employing 100 counsellors, the
jumped from the 12th oor of
his block of ats.
firm has taken on Buddhist monks to see to
In February of this year,
the emotional and spiritual well-being of
Reuters news agency claimed
staff. Its also set up a helpline for workers
that one of its reporters had
been assaulted by Foxconn
security staff while taking
While Foxconn has taken steps to avoid
photographs of a factory from a public road.
further suicides, there are still worries
Police were eventually called and managed to
about working conditions in the large plants.
resolve the incident, but allegedly told the
Critics have warned that young workers doing
reporter that if he were to make a complaint,
shifts of 10 or 11 hours under extreme
he should realise Foxconn enjoyed a special
pressure to keep to tight deadlines are
status locally.
simply being pushed too far. Coupled with
The company recently announced net
this, they claim, conditions in the large
prots of more than $568 million (394
factory dormitories away from friends and
million) for the rst quarter of 2010, more
family make matters worse.
than 30% up on the previous year.

UK designer takes bling to the next level

with gold and diamond-encrusted iPad
But there is a price, and its quite a high
one. Ordering one of these will set you back
129,995, and its of little comfort that for
the price of an average house, you get the
64GB version with wi and 3G support.
The iPad was designed by Stuarts wife,
Katherine Hughes, and will be modied in

the UK. It will also come stamped with all

the hallmarks you would usually nd on gold
jewellery to prove just how much it would
recoup for you if you melted it down.
If the golden iPad has struck a chord
with you, then head to goldstriker.co.uk
where you can place an order.

Only 10 special-edition gold iPads have been made, but youll have to fork out 129,995 to own one.

Image Courtesy of stuarthughes.com

s if showing off an iPad in the UK

wasnt exclusive enough already,
Stuart Hughes the Liverpudlian
designer who was also behind a 2 million
platinum iPhone has unveiled a solid-gold
and diamond-encrusted iPad.
The rear of the device and the screen
surround are made from one piece of solid
22-carat gold, and there are over 25 carats
of diamonds embedded in the case. A total
of 53 individually set gems are mounted
around the Apple logo. Staggeringly, the
heavy gold panel weighs in at just over
2kg, so its a lot harder to carry around
than a standard model.
The designers website (stuarthughes.
com) says that the iPads design is
outstanding even down to the precise
polishing to reveal its most beautiful
harmonious appearance. A magnicent
combination of top of the industry
technology and unrivaled craftsmanship
was involved in creating this masterpiece.
As well as the added bling, you also get
added exclusivity, because the company
will only make 10 special-edition iPads.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

018

coming soon
WATCH OUT FOR REVIEWS OF THESE PRODUCTS IN THE COMING ISSUES

This issues round-up of the latest new products features two digital
cameras from Sony, a LaCie networked hard drive and NECs 3D projector.

Sony Alpha NEX-3 and NEX-5

Price tbc
Contact Sony + sony.co.uk

The latest additions to Sonys Alpha range are a pair

of interchangeable lens digital cameras which, like Four
Thirds cameras from Olympus and Panasonic, are lighter
than a DSLR thanks to the lack of mirror and pentaprism.
The 14-megapixel sensor is physically larger than that
in a compact, so images should have less noise than
those shot on a compact. Both cameras can use lenses
from Sonys Alpha DSLR range with an optional mount
adaptor. The NEX-5 can also capture 1080i HD video with
stereo sound. Additional features include a Panoramic
Sweep facility that captures multiple exposures and
stitches them together in-camera, and an on-screen help
system that includes shooting tips.

019
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

LaCie Network Space Max

Price 2TB drive 235 (200 ex VAT);

4TB drive 405 (345 ex VAT)
Contact LaCie + lacie.com/uk
LaCies Network Space Max is a network hard
drive that comprises two 1TB or two 2TB disks. It
can be configured as Raid 0 for speed or Raid 1 for
security. The drive connects to your local network
using Gigabit Ethernet or can attach directly to your
Mac using a USB 2 port on the back. Theres also
a front-mounted USB 2 port, so you can download
files from a USB memory stick or digital camera.
The Network Space Max has support for UPnP
and DNLA media adaptors, direct download from
BitTorrent, and can act as an iTunes server.

Canon CanoScan 9000F

Price 229 (195 ex VAT)
Contact Canon + canon.co.uk

The 9000F has a 9600 x 9600dpi CCD sensor, which

Canon claims provides unsurpassed reproduction
with incredible detail capture. Its also capable of
capturing images at 48-bit colour depth. A film
adaptor allows scanning of transparencies and
negatives, and Canon claims that one frame of 35mm
negative film can be scanned in about 18 seconds
at 1200dpi. In addition to seven EZ scan buttons,
which let you Auto Scan to PC, email, copy or PDF,
the CanoScan can also be set to recognise text
automatically and save the results for editing.

NEC NP216

Price 511 (435 ex VAT)

Contact NEC
+ nec-display-solutions.com
NECs NP216 features DLP Link technology. This
has a refresh rate of 120Hz, and allows 3D images
to be shown from a single projector and seen by
viewers wearing active glasses. It doesnt need special
screens or a filter, nor an emitter to synchronise the
glasses. According to NEC, the impression of 3D is
created by the interaction with the active LCD shutter
glasses. The 1024 x 768-pixel resolution projector
also claims low power consumption, which can be
further reduced with its Eco mode. This increases
lamp life to up to 5000 hours.

Getting the perfect wildlife shot

becomes your life. Losing it would
be like losing part of yourself.
Stefano Unterthiner | www.stefanounterthiner.com

Portable Bus-Powered Dual-Drive System

Award-winning wildlife photographer Stefano Unterthiner has

learned to be tough, resilient and fast. For his hard drives, it
comes naturally.
Stefano spends months in the wilderness, often in brutal conditions,
making friends with his elusive, wary subjects so he can convey their true
character. On location, he uses a bus-powered G-RAID Mini to store
the extraordinary, up-close images he takes with his Nikon D3 camera,
always condent hell get them home in one piece.
Back in the studio, Stefano processes and edits in Adobe Lightroom,
backing up on a G-SAFE drive as he makes ne adjustments to coax out
even more drama and intensity.
Losing his precious images at any stage would be hard to bear. But thats
one danger hell happily live without.

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Stefano Unterthiner trusts his creativity to G-Technology drives. Find out more at G-Technology.eu

HAVE YOUR SAY. EMAIL US AT MAILBOX@MACUSER.CO.UK

Star letter
Air vs iPad

From Simon Pettman

I see Kenny Hemphills point regarding the
potential risk to the future of the MacBook
Air from the iPad (see MacUser, 7 May
2010, p130), but it would for sure be a
big mistake if Apple were to move in this
direction. During the ash cloud saga, I was
stuck for a week in San Francisco without
my Air. Life was looking bleak. Fortunately,
I was in the right city to buy an iPad. Its a
wonderful tool and it will no doubt be a
huge success. It was just perfect for web

Dennis Publishing Ltd, 30 Cleveland St, London, W1T 4JD

EDITORIAL
Editor Nik Rawlinson nik_rawlinson@dennis.co.uk
Deputy editor Kenny Hemphill reviews@macuser.co.uk
Contributing editor Howard Oakley
Technical editor Keith Martin
Staff writer Alan Stonebridge alan_stonebridge@dennis.co.uk
Senior reporter Paul Nesbitt

ART

Art editor Camille Neilson

Freelance designers Fanni Kosztolanyi
Images Danny Bird, Jan Cihak

PRODUCTION

work, and wasnt bad for email, but it

couldnt replace my Air.
My productivity is based on speed
and efciency in responding to emails,
drafting documents, developing
presentations and the like, and even
with more practice I couldnt become
even half as efcient on the iPad as I
am on the Air. So, my iPad now sits in
the ofce for clients to gaze admiringly
at and use to access the web, but
my work continues just as happily as
before with my Air.

Production editor Jon Lysons

Remote sub-editor Kirsty Fortune
Sub-editors Rob Woodcock
Ad production executive Michael Hills 020 7907 6129
Digital production manager Nicky Baker

ADVERTISING

Advertising manager Alexandra Skinner

020 7907 6623 alex_skinner@dennis.co.uk
Account director Nicky Crawford
0207907 6624 nicky_crawford@dennis.co.uk
Online group ad manager Gary Rayneau
020 7907 6812 gary_rayneau@dennis.co.uk
Classified sales executive Craig Chambers
020 7907 6652 craig_chambers@dennis.co.uk
US advertising manager Matthew Sullivan-Pond
++1 646 717 9555 matthew_sullivan@dennis.co.uk
List rental inserts executive John Perry
020 7907 6151 john_perry@dennis.co.uk

PUBLISHING & MARKETING

Marvellous iPad

From Scott Parker

Ive just returned from a visit to New York
where for me a trip to the glass cube Apple
Store was as necessary as seeing the Statue
of Liberty. The largest crowd was around the
iPad desk, understandably. I dutifully joined
the eager throng and eventually managed to
get my mitts on a well-handled and grubby
iPad. I went through all the apps and demos
on it, and had my questions answered by the
helpful and plentiful store staff on hand.
However, if Im honest, I was slightly
underwhelmed, probably because of the
hype, as I was expecting to be bowled over.
Just as well, really, as the store and, as it
turned out, most of New York, was sold out of
all models. Due to my reaction, I found myself
popping in to various Best Buy outlets to have
another paw at it and use the free Internet
access to locate places to eat. Eventually, on
my fourth happen to be passing visit to the
agship cube store, I was told it had received
a delivery of 64GB models 30 minutes earlier,
but word had somehow got out and a very
large queue had already formed.
My wife told me to just go for it, you know
you want to, so I joined the back of the
excited queue, picking up a case en route.
People were going mad, most buying the
maximum of two per customer. Having now
had time to play with it, I have to say I think
its an absolute marvel and so much fun to
use. The decision to use the iPhone OS is
a stroke of genius and it totally suits the
touchscreen input, while the bundled rewritten
apps show its capabilities and screen off to a
tee. If Apple had tried to shoehorn the full Mac

OS on here, it wouldnt have worked and it

would have over-complicated whats an
incredibly easy-to-use device.
The fact that Apple also has both the
App Store and iTunes Store in place
enabling the easy purchase of content is
another selling point. Even my gadget-phobic
wife enjoyed the ease and comfort of
ordering the weekly grocery shop on it
while sitting comfortably on the sofa. My
eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son
took to it instantly, instinctively knowing
how to use it. The age of the instant-on,
coffee-table Internet device is truly here.
The case is a must, as it raises it to the
perfect level for typing and reading. Finally,
as I paid 550 for the top-end wi- model
and a case (inclusive of all taxes), I think I
bagged a bargain, as Im guessing that the
UK price for the 32GB one will be around
510 [since conrmed as 499 Ed].
Sorry for the long letter, but I guess I
also wanted to make the point that you can
use the iPad for text heavy input too, though
it is denitely easier on a keyboard. I cant
recommend it enough.
BTW, loving the extra pages in the mag.

COMPETITION WINNERS

The seven winners of the Cygnett Maestro

Speaker Dock (see MacUser, 29 January,
p66 and 12 February, p41) is:
Kelly Easterbrook, Plymouth; Valerie Moran,
Bury St Edmunds; Susan Pasch, Cardiff;
Valerie Dalby, Cornwall; Georgina Horsburgh,
Edinburgh; Julie Mack, Bristol; Agnes
Martin ONeil, Kirkcaldy.

Publisher Paul Rayner 020 7907 6663

paul_rayner@dennis.co.uk
Marketing manager Claire Scrase 020 7907 6113
Editorial & marketing assistant
Emily Hodges 020 7907 6270
DENNIS PUBLISHING LTD

Managing director technology and motoring Ian Westwood

Production director Robin Ryan
Managing director of advertising Julian Lloyd-Evans
Newstrade director Martin Belson
Managing director digital Pete Wootton
Chief operating officer Brett Reynolds
Group nance director Ian Leggett
Chief executive James Tye
Chairman Felix Dennis
Printed in England by BGP Print Ltd, Chaucer International Estate, Launton Road, Bicester, Oxon
OX6 7QZ Distribution Seymour Distribution 020 7396 8000
MacUser, incorporating Apple User, DTP, MacShopper and MacBuyer, is published fortnightly
by Dennis Publishing Ltd, 30 Cleveland Street, London W1T 4JD, a company registered in
England number 1138891. Entire contents Dennis Publishing Ltd licensed by Felden 2009.
MacUser is an independent journal, not afliated with Apple Computer Inc. Apple and the
Apple logo, Macintosh, Mac, the Mac logo and MacUser are the trademarks of Apple Inc.

PERMISSIONS AND REPRINTS

Material in MacUser may not be reproduced in any form without the publishers written
permission. MacUser is available for international licensing and syndication. Please call
Ornella Roccoletti on +44 20 7097 6134 for details.
Reprints alex_skinner@dennis.co.uk
Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation
Jan-Dec 2007 14,502 per issue

HOW TO CONTACT US

Mail MacUser, 30 Cleveland Street, London, W1T 4JD

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Email
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PRODUCTS AND EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS
MacUser welcomes all information on new and upgraded hardware and software, but we are
under no obligation to review or return unsolicited products. Ideas should be submitted in
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SUBSCRIBE TO MACUSER
MacUser is available on subscription at a discounted rate. For as little as 17.95 per quarter,
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This issue is dedicated to the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Come on England.

The paper used within this magazine is

produced from sustainable bre,
manufactured by mills with a valid chain
of custody.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

inbox

021

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

022

showcase

MAC-USING CREATIVES SHOW OFF THEIR WORK AND REVEAL WHAT MAKES THEM TICK

Chris Buzelli is a New York-based illustrator, who has worked for a

number of high profile clients. These have included Time, Rolling
Stone, The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. He also
shows his work in galleries across the US and teaches once a week.
Creative workspace

CONTACT DETAILS

Name Chris Buzelli

Current employment Self-employed
Email buzstudio@earthlink.net
URL chrisbuzelli.com
Tel +1 212 614 8111

01

What was your rst Mac?

I think that my rst Mac was a Macintosh
Performa 6300. I have fond memories
of that big beige box. I actually won it
through the Adobe Design Contest when I
was in college.
What is the current Mac you are using?
I use a 2.53GHz 15in MacBook Pro thats
hooked up to a 20in Apple Cinema Display
What equipment do you use?
I also have an Epson Expression 10000XL
scanner and an Epson Stylus Pro printer.
Whats your favourite software program?
At present I mostly use Adobe Photoshop
CS4. The rst application that I used
was probably the ancient black-and-white
bitmap based graphic program MacPaint.
Can you offer any tips for success?
It took me about 10 years before I could
call myself a full-time illustrator/artist. I
dont really have any tips for success other
than work really hard and be stubborn
about reaching your goals.

How did you get your rst big break?

Now that I look back on it, my rst big
break came when I got a call from my
ex-girlfriend from back in college. She
was the art director of Plansponsor
magazine and needed a few last minute
illustrations. I guess the paintings were
satisfactory because she continued to
call me back offering me more work and
I started taking her out to dinner after
each job. We soon became friends again
and have worked together on numerous
projects for the past 15 years. It was
through this ongoing relationship that
I learned how to be an illustrator.
Talk us through these examples:
01 Pug Love
The Santa Fe Reporter asked whether I
could illustrate the cover of its special
Valentines Day issue back in 2007.
How often do you get a job to illustrate
Love and Sex?
02 The Star and Rockets
I had always wanted to work with the
fabulous art director Irene Gallo on a

023
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

02

04

03
project, so this was a dream come true.
This piece was for a historical short story
called The Star and Rockets and written by
Harry Turtledove. Its about Joe Bauman,
who played for the minor league team the
Roswell Rockets throughout the 1950s.
His stats magically jumped right after
the supposed alien landing in Roswell. In
1954, he had a freak break-out year and
in 138 games he hit 35 doubles, three
triples and 72 home runs, the latter being
a record that stood throughout pro ball
until it was topped in 2001 by Barry
Bonds. Check out the full story at
bit.ly/2mSf3O. Reminded me of one of my
favorite TV series, The Twilight Zone.
03 Sea Boy
This painting was for a nancial article in
Plan Adviser magazine. The only words
that I was given were Murky Waters.
04 Aging Tiger
Here is my contribution for an issue of
ai5000. The piece was about Singapores
crumbling economy and the article was
initially titled Aging Tiger. Recently, Ive
been working larger than usual and using
a board instead of paper. The larger scale
allows for more detail and some extra
freedom with my brush strokes. Every
once in a while I nd myself in a bit of a
creative slump and changing the way I
work just a little really helps.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

024

05

025

What mistakes have you learned from?

Im always hoping for a happy mistake.
My work is constantly evolving and
many of my steps forwards are a direct
result of mistakes.
Whats your ideal project?
I think I actually worked on my ideal
project a few years ago. It was for the
Tropen Museum, and I was commissioned
by Saatchi & Saatchi. The museum had
acquired ve new artifacts and wanted
to illustrate the story behind each piece
for a series of posters. I loved the idea
of researching and digging deep into the
history of each artifact, and translating
the information into a painting. The art
director gave me almost complete creative
freedom, and the project was a huge
success for both me and the client.
Tell us something good
One of my favorite pastimes is meeting my
wife after work and taking our dog to the
Tompkins Square Dog Park.

06
05 Macys Flower Show
Heres my painting for the annual Macys
Flower Show. Ive wanted to work on
this project for a while now after seeing
a beautiful poster by Gina Triplett and Matt
Curtius. And I also just wanted to paint
some owers.
06 Peneld Croquet Poster
A few months ago I was asked by the
Cramer-Krasselt Agency to work on a
poster for the 14th Annual Croquet
Ball. The event is held in aid of the
Peneld Childrens Center, a non-prot
organisation, which helps young children
with disabilities reach their full potential
through education, therapy services and
family programs.
Ive never played Croquet, but Im sure
a tiger would help. The posters will be
auctioned off at The Croquet Ball and all
the money earned goes to the Peneld

Childrens Center. The list of past artists

was intimidating, and features some of my
favorite illustrators, including James Jean,
Josh Cochran, Travis Lampe and Jon Han.
07 Jainism
Ive designed a number of posters for
the Tropen Museum in Amsterdam, and
this was for a Jainism altar piece. Jainism
is an ancient Indian religion. Its followers
seek to attain nirvana, and to achieve
this they need to escape the cycle of
birth, death and rebirth.
Where do you draw your inspiration
from and who are your inuences?
I have an unending list of inuences
in inspiration. I usually try to include
something personal in many of my
illustrations/paintings; for example, a
childhood memory, a family member
or friend, a personal relationship

Whats your favourite gadget and why?

Right now its the iPad. I had no intention
of liking the overly-hyped device, but
my wife brought one home from work
and now Im hooked. Its just so easy
and accessible to use. Im also really
interested in the move of publications
to the web and especially their use of
illustration. So far, Im really impressed
with the way Time magazine and The
New York Times functions on the iPad.

07

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

or a favourite animal. I nd that my

illustration work is stronger both visually
and conceptually when I include a little
something personal in the piece. Some of
my favourite contemporary illustrators are
many of the artists associated with The
Pencil Factory and Drawger.com.

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www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

028

reviews
FOR THE LATEST REVIEWS GO TO WWW.MACUSER.CO.UK/REVIEWS

Reviews
Epson B-510DN

Reviews policy
29

Low-running costs and speedy output offset

the rather ugly casing of this business inkjet

Aquamacs 2

32

WindowFlow

32

This text editor is an excellent all-rounder

for anyone coding on a budget

Window management tool that beats rivals

with its comprehensive feature set

Samsung ST500

This good-quality compact camera has a

front screen thats genuinely useful

33

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V 34

A solid choice and one of the more
compelling compacts weve seen this year

MarsEdit 3

36

HP Color
LaserJet CP3525dn

38

AverMedia Volar HD

39

This updated blog editing tool is a musthave for both new and existing users alike

HPs colour laser printer is easy to use and

produces good-quality business prints
A USB TV tuner that lets you schedule
recordings and then export them to an iPod

Espgaluda II

40

Copy2Contact Pro

40

Atomic Web Browser 2.9

42

Introducing Steam

44

Everything iWant

48

Finder add-ons

50

A stunning iPhone shooter that has an

incredible amount of on-screen action

Highly recommended if the iPhone plays a

central role in managing your contacts

This iPhone web browser lets you congure

many of its options to whats best for you
Download games straight to your computer
with Valves exciting online store
A round-up of the latest, most-desirable
gadgets available for the iPad and iPhone

Mac OS X is great, but there are a few

third-party tools that make it even greater

Awards system
Editors Choice

HOW

MacUser rmly believes that a proper,

detailed review can be carried out
only by rigorously testing the product.
We dont believe value is derived from
describing a products features without
any analysis. Well never give a positive
review to a product that we believe isnt
worth our readers buying, which means
that a positive MacUser review is of
enormous value to both the reader and
the manufacturer of the product.
Products are tested in-house wherever
possible, using a mix of industry-standard
and bespoke testing software suites.
Top-rated products earn themselves
a place in our exclusive Hot Kit section to
provide you with an issue-by-issue update
of the best products in any category for use
on a Mac. This, along with our denitive
awards system (below), lets you see at
a glance which products are worth the
manufacturers asking price.

EDITORS
CHOICE

This award can be given at the

editors discretion to a product
judged as outstanding and a
must-buy in the issue.

Labs Winner
LABS
WINNER

Given to the products that in

the opinion of the reviewer are
the best in their eld at the
time of testing.

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Only the very best products

make it into our Hot Kit
section. They are the products
on which the editorial team
would spend their own money.

MacUser ratings

PRODUCT SELECTION

We give priority to mainstream products,

but we also make every effort to cover a
broad range of items, and regularly feature
niche products.

COMPLAINTS

We do everything we can to publish fair

and accurate reviews. If errors do occur we
correct them in Search and Replace in the
Mailbox section.

A perfect product with great features

at a great price.

A product with minor aws but which

is nonetheless excellent.

A good product that does everything

its designed to do.

A product thats outclassed by

others in its eld.

A poor product that we cant

recommend in its current state.

029
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

Business inkjet printer

Price 424 (361 ex VAT)

Contact Epson + epson.co.uk
Pros Fast + Industrial design
+ Cheap to run
Cons Neither laser-like text nor inkjetlike photo quality + Sensationally
unattractive
Verdict If you can live with the looks,
youll get decent speed and cheap
running costs. However, theres better
quality to be found elsewhere.

Photography Danny Bird

Epson B-510DN

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

030

t isnt unusual for ofce equipment

to look underwhelming, but
while grey plastic and sharp
edges might be the norm for
laser printers and photocopiers,
its been a while since weve
seen something as singularly
unattractive as the Epson B-510DN.
Its not the size that makes it ugly,
although, at 312mm tall, its better
suited to living under a desk than next
to your MacBook. The ink cartridges live
in the box above and to the left of its main
frame. This lends it a certain spaceshiplike aesthetic, but its also a strangely
unbalanced look that wont exactly t in
with image-conscious ofces.
The B-510DNs most interesting claim is
that its fast Epson says it will hit 37 pages
per minute (ppm) in draft mode, which would
be impressive even for a workhorse laser. A
straightforward paper path coupled with its
32MB of Ram meant it comfortably put in
speeds of above 20ppm in our mono tests,
even if it never came close to the magical
37ppm. It was fast for colour prints as well:
even an A4 photo print at best-quality mode
nished in a minute and a half. Our standard
ve-page PDF test was output in just 10
seconds, making the B-510DN an excellent
choice for busy ofces.
Were used to using the term laser quality
to describe much of what modern inkjets can
achieve. Unfortunately, while the B-510DN is
fast, its some way short of the current high
watermark for quality. At its standard settings,
text suffered from slight but perceptible
spidering. We were pleased to see that
colourful business charts and graphics didnt
cause any dampness or wrinkling on the
page, but the four-colour, CMYK print system
was a bit of a let-down. Graduated lls werent
particularly ne, and although photo printing
is normally a strong point for inkjets, our test
photos suggested youll need another printer
if you want anything approaching lab-quality
prints. Borderless printing isnt an option,
and although prints look ne from a distance,
we noticed slight banding issues and a
denite lack of impact. Overall, the B-510DN
is best suited to proong jobs and internal
communications, as opposed to colour
documents that will be sent out to clients.

The B-510DN is certainly not short on features,

including an Ethernet port, duplexing and more.

black cartridge and 3500 from the colour

ones or high-capacity cartridges. Choose
these and you can expect 7000 pages
However, if the B-510DNs slightly
from each colour cartridge and 4000 from
underwhelming print quality is a
the black one. Theres even an extra high
disappointment, you cant say that it
capacity black cartridge with 8000 pages
compromises anywhere else. The DN sufx
worth of ink.
on this version denotes both a 10/100Base-T
Running costs are the name of the game,
Ethernet port and a duplexer slotted into the
and theres no arguing that the B-510DN is
incredibly cheap. A
page of black and
white text costs
Its difcult to name a signicant blind spot on its list
around 0.6p from the
of features, and its fast and cheap to run, all of which
4000-pages black
will be music to the ears of corporate buyers
cartridge, or 0.5p
per page from the
8000-pages cartridge.
back. The latter is particularly interesting,
Thats tough competition for laser printers. A
as it gives the B-510DN some truly top-end
full-colour page will cost around 2p.
paper handling options. Beneath the paperTheres plenty to like about the B-510DN.
out tray sits a 500-sheet paper tray, while a
Its difcult to name a signicant blind spot
ap at the top of the printer opens to reveal
on its list of features, and its fast and cheap
another 150-sheet feeder, giving you the
to run, all of which will be music to the ears
option of having two different types of stock
of corporate buyers. We also appreciate
available simultaneously, or simply allowing
that between its massive paper trays, highyou a whopping 650-sheet capacity before
capacity cartridges and durable duty cycle,
having to reload.
youll rarely have to go near it to keep it
Unusually for an inkjet, the B-510DN
stocked and running.
comes with a maintenance box for wasted
However, there are enough drawbacks
ink. Epson claims this will last for around
elsewhere. Print quality, while not disastrous,
35,000 pages, so its safe to say youll be
isnt superlative. Its mono prints dont come
able to forget about it for a few years. A nal
close enough to dislodging any laser printer
interesting number is Epsons claimed duty
weve seen, and its colour output, while ne
cycle of 20,000 pages per month, which
for business charts, wont knock anyone off
suggests the B-510DN should survive a
their feet. Then theres the small matter of the
signicant amount of use.
skyscraping price: for this much, you could
You dont need to remove any of the paper
buy a decent, networked laser printer such as
trays to get at the ink cartridges: when one
the Xerox Phaser 3435, with enough left over
expires, simply lift the ap on the face of
for a decent photo printer for occasional use.
printer; a chunky-feeling lever unlocks the
As it is, the B-510DN has plenty in its
cartridges. As weve come to expect from
favour, but its not compelling enough to sway
business printers, you can opt for standardus from a decent laser printer.
capacity cartridges 3000 pages from the
Dave Stevenson
Epsons latest business inkjet is an unwieldylooking beast, but theres lots to like about it.

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www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

032

Text editor

Aquamacs 2
Price Free
Contact Aquamacs + aquamacs.org
Needs Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
Pros Powerful + Flexible + Free
Cons Full preferences still too complex
Verdict An excellent all-rounder for
anyone coding on a budget.

Right down to the document tabs, Aquamacs fully adopts the look of a standard Cocoa application.

quamacs 2 is an advanced
programmable text editor for Mac
OS X. Its a lot more than that,
though: its two ambitious software projects,
one wrapped inside the other.
The rst is Emacs, the venerable
command line editor that was rst developed
by Richard Stallman in 1976. Its now at
version 23 and forms the core functionality
inside Aquamacs.
Wrapped around this core is code
that takes that command line complexity
and simplies it. There are two direct
consequences of this: rst, software that
some might nd intimidating as a command

line application becomes friendlier and more

approachable; second, with the system-wide
hooks built into Cocoa, Aquamacs can be a
better Mac OS X citizen, behaving well with
other applications and with the system itself.
Its important to remember that Aquamacs
is an amalgam of these two things. It offers
two experiences: the less technically inclined
can stick with the simple environment they
understand, while the advanced user has
access to all of Emacs power if they need
it. Most of the time though, that layer is kept
hidden from view.
Aquamacs menus are modal. Switch to
a different text editing mode (such as HTML,

JavaScript, PHP or even a dedicated Wikipedia

mode) and the menu options will change
accordingly. In HTML mode, for example,
theres not one but two different versions
of the HTML menu: one for experts, which
includes everything you can think of and a
few extras, and one for complete beginners,
which has just eight commands.
No amount of shiny wrappings can make
the default Emacs preferences section
known as the Customisations buffer
less intimidating for beginners. However,
Aquamacs does a good job of pulling out the
most important preferences and putting them
within easy reach via the Options menu. This

Window management tool

WindowFlow
Price $22 (about 15)
Contact Benedict Lowndes
+ windowow.com
Needs Mac OS X 10.5 + Intel only
Pros Comprehensive features + Fast
Cons More shortcuts to learn
Verdict With many similar applications
around, WindowFlow stands out by
offering more than most of its rivals.

WindowFlow gives you complete control over your windows, but youll need to learn a few new commands
rst. In the WindowFlow panel, you can go through the available windows and select them by hitting Alt-S.

indowFlow is the latest in a

sudden rash of window manager
applications for Mac OS X. This
commercial release combines a variety of
window moving, switching and arranging
features, and does so in a way designed to
minimise use of the mouse or trackpad.
A two-key shortcut brings WindowFlow
to the front. It displays a list of all open

and unhidden windows on the right, and

a thumbnail of the currently selected or
frontmost window on the left.
Note that it shows individual windows, not
applications. If you have six Finder windows
and three Safari windows open, youll see
all nine of them listed the built-in Mac OS
X application switcher would only show the
two Finder and Safari icons. It really does

give you much more control over the window

to which youre switching.
With the WindowFlow panel open, you can
go through the list of all available windows
and select several of them by tapping Alt-S
for each. Next, tap another shortcut and the
selected windows are rearranged instantly,
tiled across the screen so that their contents
can be easily and quickly compared.

033

The effect is constricted on small notebook

screens, but it can be striking on an iMac or
external monitor. Suddenly its possible to
shift groups of windows around depending
on your work context for example, a written

It gives you much more finegrained control over the window

to which youre switching
document can be edited with its previous
drafts in view alongside, or a web page can be
tested in multiple browsers simultaneously.
As with the Mac OS X switcher, you can
quit and hide apps from WindowFlow. You
can also minimise windows or zoom them
to their fullest size. If need be, you can
specify certain windows that WindowFlow
always ignores useful if you want to keep
a particular utility in sight at all times.
Theres more. WindowFlow can move
windows by fractions of an inch across the
screen. Adjacent ones will snap together,
or shift obligingly to one side to make room
if necessary. Little details, but they add up
to make WindowFlow more interesting and
worthwhile than some of its competitors.
Giles Turnbull

Digital compact camera

Samsung ST500
Price 130 (110 ex VAT)
Contact Samsung + samsung.com/uk
Pros Good-quality compact
+ Wide-angle zoom
Cons Can be a bit sluggish to get going
Verdict The front screen is a bit of a
gimmick, but we did use it more than
we thought we would. In all, a goodquality compact camera.

n the surface, the Samsung ST500

is just like many of the other
12-megapixel compact zoom
cameras on the market. It has a Schneider
lens with a 35mm equivalent zoom range of
27-124mm, built-in ash and a 3in LCD for
composing and reviewing images. The screen
is touch operated, but its something else that
sets the ST500 apart: it features a front-facing
LCD screen in addition to the one on its rear.
The front screen is half the size of the
one on the back of the camera and is useful
for a variety of reasons for example, you
can display the self-timer countdown, use it
for self-portraits and display cartoon pictures
to get your baby looking at the camera. In
addition, the front screen can show shutter
and function information.
The ST500s rear touch screen responds
to gestures, much like the iPhone, and has
an accelerometer so you can rotate images
at the ick of a wrist or start a slideshow by
tilting the camera. There are 16 automatic
modes, not to mention face recognition
to make sure its always focusing on your
intended target.

The ST500 has a front-facing LCD that can

show cartoons to attract kids attention.

The all-black nish gives the camera

a really stylish look and feel, and its thin
enough to carry in a pocket without too
much bulge. The ST500 has a small, 55MB
built-in memory for storing a few images and
takes the MicroSD memory card format. Not,
perhaps, as ubiquitous as full-size SD cards
as yet, but cheap enough.
As you might imagine, the novelty of a
front-facing screen can be a bit of a talking
point. Initial scepticism over its usefulness
was soon put to one side. Getting a toddler
to look directly at a camera can be a bit
difcult, but when they can see themselves,
their attention is immediately drawn. It also
means those arms-length shots no longer
require four attempts to make sure youve
not cut off someones head, while the selftimer display means everyone is ready when
the time comes. All that aside, the front
screen is a bit of a novelty that soon wears
off a useful rather than essential feature.
And the age-old issue of viewing LCDs in
bright sunlight does render it unusable in
some situations.
So what of image quality? Some of the
ne detail in images was a little fuzzy but,
overall, the pictures produced by the ST500
were impressive. Colour was particularly good,
with excellent accuracy; scenes were natural
without being drained of vibrancy. It also
coped well in low-light conditions where ash
was necessary, producing natural shots that
werent bleached out.
Our only real criticism is response times:
we missed a few shots due to shutter
lag, but nothing drastic. Otherwise, the
Samsung ST500 is a very decent compact.
The body is well built and the screen on
the rear is excellent. The touch controls are
responsive and although the menu is a bit
clunky, it gets the job done. Photo quality is
excellent, as is the video footage. Whether
the front-facing LCD screen is truly necessary
is debatable, but we did nd it useful on
more than on occasion.
Christopher Brennan

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

is where youll nd quick access to basic

essentials such as fonts and colours. Again,
its modal and will behave slightly differently
depending on your current editing conditions.
There are many small changes that
make things a little more comfortable for
newcomers. For example, word-wrap is now
switched on by default and is easy to nd
in the Options menu.
Everything behaves better now and looks
better, too. Simple things such as opening
and saving les work like youd expect them
to. Aquamacs now even supports the systemwide spellcheck, and can be set as the
default editor for various le types.
Printing is also improved, because the
Cocoa parts of Aquamacs know how to talk
to the rest of your printing system. Generally,
the look of the Cocoa wrappings is vastly
improved. New toolbar icons are large, bright,
friendly and descriptive of their function.
Things that used to look as if theyd been
ported from Linux now look like theyve been
purpose-built for Mac OS X. The modal menus
are kept as minimal as possible.
Aquamacs is an impressive project and
the result is an excellent all-purpose editor
for Mac users. But who is it for? Not experts,
who will already be using Emacs (or one
of its rivals) on the command line. Its well
suited for newcomers to programming and
web development, and is an excellent free
alternative editor for people who would rather
not spend money on some of the equally
powerful commercial alternatives.
Giles Turnbull

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

034

Digital compact camera

Sony Cyber-shot
DSC-HX5V
Price 289 (246 ex VAT)
Contact Sony + sony.co.uk
Needs Mac OS X 10.3 or later
Pros Excellent wide-angle to telephoto
10x optical zoom + Picture quality
at low ISOs + GPS + Novel sweep
panorama mode
Cons Detail at ISO400 and above
+ Barrelling in HD movie mode
Verdict The HX5V is a solid choice and
is denitely one of the more compelling
compacts weve seen this year.

ith its 10x optical zoom, HD

1080i movie option, built-in GPS
and manual exposure control,
Sonys high-end 10.2-megapixel HX5V stands
out for its feature-laden spec. Its aimed
squarely at Panasonics Travel Zoom (TZ)
range and packs a 25-250mm equivalent
optical-image-stabilised Sony G-series lens,
as well as the clever back-illuminated Exmor
R Cmos sensor that promises reduced noise
in low-light conditions, the innovative Sweep
Panorama, 10fps burst rate and HDR options
associated with the Sonys current H-series.
To accommodate the sizeable lens, it has
quite a chunky, if well-made, body. However,
in the hands, the HX5V has reasonable
ergonomics, with all of the controls within
easy reach. Most are intuitively placed and
labelled, although the burst-shooting button
can easily be mistaken for the power button.
At the rear, the 3in 230,000-dot LCD screen
has good viewing angles and reasonable
colour. Dont rely on it for exposure, though:
a real-time histogram option is offered and
well worth trawling through the menu to nd.
Weve been less-than-impressed with
built-in GPS options before, but the HX5V
had no problems with triangulation during
the test period. Coordinates are saved in

GPS

Continuing the
travel theme, the
Sony HX5V has a
compass-enabled
GPS system for
recording not only
the location with
altitude but the
position, too.

FEATURE-PACKED

With sensitivity running up

to a DSLR-like ISO3200, the
HX5V has the back-illuminated
10.2-megapixel Exmor R Cmos
sensor and Bionz processor,
delivering 10fps bursts,
intelligent Sweep Panorama
and Anti Motion Blur modes.

the metadata, so no additional software is

required. iPhoto, or Aperture if you have it,
will pinpoint the location in Places as well
as show the position in the Info window.
Interestingly, data captured includes the
altitude, while the HX5Vs built-in compass

As well as the intelligent program

auto options, another good feature
is the manual exposure option
shows the direction the camera was facing,
although the current version of iPhoto doesnt
support the latter feature.
As well as the raft of intelligent program
auto options and various scene-based
shooting modes, another appealing feature
is the manual exposure option. However,
while shutter speeds run in 0.3 stops from
1/1600th of a second to 30 seconds, there
are only two aperture settings f/3.5 and f/8
at its widest setting, which is a bit limiting.
Still, one of the highlights is the 25-250mm
lens. Theres a lot of in-camera correction of

TRAVELLING COMPANION

Ideal for travel, and boasting Sonys Optical

SteadyShot system to reduce the wobbles,
the HX5V packs a 10x optical wide-angle
to telephoto zoom, the equivalent to a
25-250mm in 35mm terms.

distortion and chromatic aberration. However,

it has good central sharpness through the
zoom range although, at its widest, there
was some softening at the edges, as well
as some fringing in high-contrast scenes.
In-camera Jpegs are generally undersharpened, looking rather soft in iPhoto or
Aperture, but thats easy enough to remedy.
Employing the same 1/2.4in-type Exmor
R Cmos sensor of earlier offerings, it wasnt
surprising to see that image quality largely
mirrored that of the Cyber-shot DSC-WX1
(see MacUser, 12 February, p34). Detail
wasnt bad until we used ISO400, where
noise levels remained low. It was the same
story at higher ISOs. The Sweep Panorama,
Anti-Motion Blur and Hand-held Twilight modes
all made extensive use of image processing
techniques but, while impressive at what they
do, image detail could have been better.
Be that as it may, the 1080i AVCHD
video is pretty decent even if it reveals the
severe barrelling thats corrected for in stills.
Recording time is limited to 30 minutes, but
is replete with stereo, unrestricted zooming
and very effective image stabilisation, even
at the longer telephoto settings.
Few cameras offer the wealth of features
and scope of the HX5V, and this is one of
those rare examples where the potential
isnt let down by mediocre performance.
Kevin Carter

MOVIE MODE

Departing from the more usual

720p HD video, the Sony HX5V
has 1080i (interlaced) video using
AVCHD for efcient storage, and
playback on HDTV primarily. An
Mpeg-4 option is also available at
sizes up to 1440 x 1080p.

Hello World.
Are you ready for this?

Its not often that you get a chance to

take on the world. Entrepreneur and
Stockbyte founder Jerry Kennelly is
heading up Gustavo, a new, disruptive
business which will operate globally.
Hes looking for the level of talent
which allowed his creative stock photo
company become one of the most
successful in the world, before it was
sold to Getty Images in 2006.
Hes brought some of his former team
along for a second whirl on the merrygo-round, but this time is taking on a
much bigger challenge than launching
one of the worlds first royalty-free
stock photography companies, like he
did in 1996.

Jerry is looking for supercharged,

hard-working creatives for our new
London office.

Advertising Creatives

Passionate ad pros who have spent a

few years working at a high level.

Senior Designers

A great opportunity for a fresh,

creative view. Clean design,
carefully crafted typography and an
eye for amazing images.

Senior Artworkers

High-octane artworkers who live for

interpreting and executing creative
vision.

If you dont have ambitions to change

the world with excellent work, then its
probably not worth reading any further.
However, if you do have that fire
in your belly, email your CV and
portfolio (smaller than 6mb) with
your best work to:
creative@gustavoltd.com before
June 25th. For file sizes larger than 6mb
please use sendspace.com
It might be a good idea to include
a letter to Jerry.Tell him why youd
like to work for him. He will read
every one. Soon enough, you might
be joining one of the most exciting
ventures in our industry.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

036

Blog editing tool

MarsEdit 3

EDITORS
CHOICE

Price $39.95 (about 28); upgrade

$14.95 (about 10.50)
Contact Red Sweater
+ red-sweater.com
Needs Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Pros Improved image handling +
Rich text editing + Custom elds
Cons None
Verdict A must-have upgrade for
existing users, and a must-buy tool
for everyone else.

arsEdit has long been a bloggers

favourite. Its interface is deceptively
simple, looking like little more
than an email application, but this hides
a rich feature set. Version two had some
shortcomings though, chief among them
being the fact that it only ever achieved its
full potential if you were online when you
used it, which missed the point of using
an application rather than a browser for
writing posts. In version three that issue
has been put to bed.
So, too, has its inability to edit anything
other than posts. Many content management
systems (CMS), such as WordPress, make a
distinction between posts that are regularly
updated entries, and pages, which feature

The media uploader can draw on Aperture and iPhoto libraries, and lets you set your alt tags at the point of upload.

less changeable content such as about and

contact pages. MarsEdit can now handle
both of these, and segregates them elegantly
in its sidebar, so that clicking on your blog
title shows both, but separate entries for
each one below the title let you view each
type in isolation.
The entry editing window is little changed,
resembling an email application with space
for a title, tags, excerpt and the body of your
entry. Categories run down the right-hand
edge, along with server options, such as

whether or not youre accepting trackbacks

or comments on an entry. Of greater interest
though, is the ability to add custom elds.
These are non-standard elds that may be
required by a specic plug-in or template in
use on your site. Previously, anyone using a
template like the popular Thesis would have
no choice but to work within the browser if
they wanted to use it to its fullest potential.
Custom elds allow you to add space for
extra data types that will be posted to your
CMS and can be drawn on by your theme.

The old HTML-based editing is

available if you want it, but by
switching to rich text, you can
use it more like a word processor
Version three marks the arrival of rich text
editing for MarsEdit. The old HTML-based
editing is available if you want it, but by
switching to rich text, you can use it much
more like a word processor and forget about
the underlying structure.

Working offline

MarsEdit 3s interface has some subtle improvements, including the ability to focus on just posts or pages.

Similarly improved is the way that it handles

media uploads, and this is where its ability
to work ofine comes into its own. Previously,
if you wanted to include images in your posts,
you would have to make sure that you had an
active Internet connection before you even
tried to embed them, as your only option
was to upload them right there and then. Not
any more. The improved media uploader can
link to Flickr images and libraries from iPhoto,
Aperture and Lightroom.
It also catalogues not only the images
you have uploaded through it in the past,

037
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

New to MarsEdit 3 is rich text editing, so you

can spend more time thinking about what you want
to say and less about how to say it.

For ofine editing, MarsEdit will use a placeholder in your post as a marker for images that havent been uploaded.

but also any other images on your server,

and now gives you the option of uploading all
of your media at the same time as posting
your actual entry. Choose this latter option
and it will embed a placeholder in your entry,

while still displaying the image itself in the

rich text view or preview.
Combine this with the ability to set the
underlying alt text in the uploader window
itself (previously you had to add this by hand

after the event) and media handling nally

works just as it should.
MarsEdit 3 doesnt look like much of an
update, but its a bigger deal than you think,
and a must-have upgrade for anyone using
an earlier edition. The $14.95 (about 10.50)
upgrade price is a bargain, and for anyone
looking to buy it rst time around, $39.95
(about 28) is very fair indeed.
Nik Rawlinson

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www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

038

Colour laser printer

HP Color LaserJet
CP3525dn
Price 763 (649 ex VAT)
Contact HP + hp.com/uk
Needs USB or Ethernet connection
Pros High duplex print speed +
High capacity cartridges
Cons Driver installation problem
Verdict This solid colour laser printer
is easy to use and produces good
quality business prints, though the
colour print cost is a little high.
Big, but effective, the Color LaserJet CP3525dn
is laid out like an ofce photocopier.

usy small ofces or medium-sized

workgroups need printers that can
produce good quality prints quickly.
To justify the extra expense of colour, they
need to produce it cheaply, so it can be used
to best effect. HPs LaserJet CP3525dn is in
some ways, such as its weight of over 30kg,
more like a photocopier than a laser printer.
Its internal design feeds A4 paper from
left to right rather than front to back, so
its both wider and less deep than many of
its competitors. HP appears to have been
waging a war against depth, as the power
cables and data connections USB and
Ethernet both feed into the back of the lefthand end, rather than behind, so the printer
can be positioned ush against a wall.
The control panel includes a bitmapped,
colour display thats attractive, but not much
use on a business machine. There are two
paper feeds, a 250-sheet front-loading paper
tray and a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray that
unfolds from the right-hand end. A third,
500-sheet, tray is available as an option.

CONTROL PANEL

The bitmapped colour display is

attractive, but not much use on a
machine aimed at the small ofce.

The four drum and toner cartridges slide in

from the front, and a strangely shaped wastetoner bottle clips in there, too. The 100,000page fuser slots in from the top, so is unlikely
to need replacing during the life of the printer.
Software installation was marred by the
CD installer reporting corrupt media. Initially,
this wasnt a problem as CDs occasionally
suffer glitches, but when we downloaded

solid, though blues and greens are over-dark,

compared with original on-screen shades
and may need tweaking to get, for example,
the correct contrast between black text and
underlying colour lls.
The four drum and toner cartridges
and the waste bottle are likely to be all the
consumables youll need to replace, and the
colour cartridges are each rated at 7000
pages, with the black
cartridge available in
HP has devised a separate paper path for the
two yields, of 5000
and 10,500 pages.
intermediate feed, before the paper is reversed to
These high yields
print the second side. This means it can interleave
mean maintenance
two pages at once, speeding up the overall print
costs are low and we
calculate the page
costs to be 2p for an
the 62MB driver package from HP and got
ISO black page, using the high yield cartridge,
the same message, we started to think that
and 11.6p for ISO colour. The black price
there was a software glitch. We eventually
is about average for a printer in this bracket,
had to use the default PostScript driver,
but the colour cost is a bit high, around 2p
which worked ne, but HP needs to check for
per sheet above some competitors.
possible problems with its installer.
Overall, this is a solid, mainstream colour
HP claims a print speed of 30ppm for
laser printer for ofces and workgroups. Its
both black and colour prints. As usual, this
easy to use, produces good quality business
is a bit ambitious, though we did manage
print and offers unusually high duplex speeds.
to get 18.2ppm out of the machine printing
Colour page print cost is a little high, but is
our 10-page black text document. The
offset by low maintenance costs.
black text and colour graphics test printed
Simon Williams
at 14.3ppm, but the real surprise was the
10-side duplex text job, which completed in
PRINT SPEED TEST RESULTS
just 39 seconds, giving a speed of 15.4ppm.
HP
Color LaserJet
Its very unusual for a colour laser
CP3525dn
printer, or any printer, to produce duplex
Time (min:sec)
sides nearly as fast as single-sided pages.
10-page text
0:33
10-side/5-page text duplex document
0:39
HP has devised a separate paper path for
5-page black text and graphics
0:21
the intermediate feed, before the paper is
15 x 10cm photo from Mac
0:17
reversed to print the second side. This means
0
1:00
Better
Worse
it can interleave two pages at once, speeding
Speed (ppm)
up the overall print.
10-page text
18.2
Print quality varies with the content of
10-side/5-page text duplex document
15.4
the page. Black text is ne with sharp, well5-page black text and graphics
14.3
formed characters, even at small point sizes.
0
20
Worse
Better
Colour business graphics are also bright and

039
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

USB TV tuner

AverMedia
Volar HD
Price 55 (46.81 ex VAT)
Contact AverMedia + averm.co.uk
Needs Intel processor + 512MB Ram
+ Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Pros Has good reception for most
channels + Support for Apple Remote
Cons Software pales by comparison
with EyeTV 3
Verdict A decent TV tuner thats let
down by disappointing software.

The Volar HD lets you

schedule recordings, so
youll never miss your
favourite show.

he Volar HD is a USB stick TV tuner,

and ships with AverMedias own
software and an aerial with twin
antennae. It has a full-size antenna socket on
the back, so you can also hook it up to your
roof aerial. Its technically capable of receiving
HD signals, but the Volar HD isnt compatible
with Freeview HDs DVB-T 2 format.
Setting it up is straightforward: connect
the antenna to the stick, plug the stick into

your Mac and then install the software. We

found that the supplied antenna did a good
job of picking up most channels, though ITV1
and Channel 4 proved difcult.
The software application has everything
you would expect: an electronic programme
guide; the ability to schedule recordings; and
the facility to export them to an iPod or Toast,
or upload them to YouTube. The iPod option
exports 320 x 192-pixel H.264 les. We
would much rather have an option to export
480 x 270 pixel les for viewing on an iPhone
or iPod touch, though.
While the AverMedia software is functional,
its sorely lacking when compared with EyeTV
3 (see MacUser, 15 February 2008, p30).
It doesnt, for example, have support for

smart playlists, nor can you select channels

as favourites and store them. There is a
picture-in-picture feature that allows you to
watch live TV in the corner of the screen
as you watch a recording, and you can
also preview 16 channels in 4 x 4 matrix
on-screen. In our tests, however, the tuner
took so long to display each channel in
turn that it would have been quicker icking
through them manually. It also supports
Apples aluminium remote for changing
channels and adjusting volume.
The Volar HD does what it sets out to
do, but without Freeview HD, theres no
reason to choose it over the EyeTV DTT
(see MacUser, 20 November 2009, p45).
Kenny Hemphill

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www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

040

iPhone app

Espgaluda II
Price 5.49 from the App Store
URL bit.ly/espgaluda
Verdict Espgaluda is a stunning
shooter that will confound your
expectations by presenting an
incredible amount of on-screen action
while still making it fun to play, even on
the iPhones small touchscreen.

ntil now, our favourite iPhone

shooter was Space Invaders Innity
Gene (see MacUser, 14 August 2009,
p37), largely because we didnt expect the
iPhone could pull off the more ambitious subgenre known as bullet hell, where the screen
is peppered with enough bullets to make you
queasy. Espgaluda II blows away all doubts.
Our concern was that the iPhones screen
would make this sort of game unplayable, but
its not as inhibiting as you might expect. The
protagonist is moved by dragging your thumb
around the screen. Forget the storyline,
though: the focus here is fast-paced and
frantic action, and its pulled off with aplomb.

The amount of action ying around is simply breathtaking. Its the most impressive iPhone shooter weve seen.

Focus on the bullets that swathe the

screen and navigate the gaps between
them. Like the best of bullet hell shooters,
Espgaluda II keeps you on edge to the point
that you dare not blink too often. Thankfully,
the collision detection is forgiving and you
can get very close to bullets without being
injured. Espgaluda uses the free Open
Feint to keep track of scores, bringing back

memories of trying to beat high scores in your

local arcade in bygone times.
Space Invaders Innity Gene is a better
choice if you want a game that treats you
gently, but give the free version a whirl on your
iPhone 3GS or third-generation iPod touch
(excluding the 8GB model) to see how much
detail the hardware can push around. Sadly,
you cant join in with older models.

iPhone app

Copy2Contact
Pro
Pri 2.
Price
2.99 fro
from the App St
Store
URL bit.ly/copy2contactpro
Verdict Overcomes some deciencies
in iPhone OS when turning text into
new contacts. Highly recommended
if the iPhone plays a central role in
managing your contacts and meetings.

he iPhone OS includes technology

that recognises certain types of
information in text. It lets you view
addresses on a map, and create new
contacts based on that and other contact
details. However, it doesnt capture all of
the adjacent information, such as website
addresses and company names in email
signatures. Copy2Contact Pro improves
matters signicantly.
Copy a block of text to the Clipboard, then
open the app. It dissects the data and splits
it between the various elds that make up a
contact, which you can review before saving.
It successfully split our email signatures,

Copy2Contact improves the way you convert selectable text in any app and turn it into a record in Contacts.

even recognising separate lines marked up

as landline, mobile and fax numbers, and
assigned them to the correct elds.
Impressively, the app doesnt just discard
information its unsure about. Its placed in
the comments eld, leaving you to tidy up
loose ends by hand.
However, the app doesnt deal well with
numbers that include a country code and a
zero in brackets. The brackets are discarded

but the digit remains, so youll have to remove

the zeroes by hand. Thats an irritating
oversight but easy enough to work around,
and youre still in a better position to ensure
that your contact details are complete, not to
mention the time saving.
A free version is also available, but the
ads that pop up at launch will slow you down
and youre better off with the Pro version.
Alan Stonebridge

0800 08 27753

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A lot of space is
wasted when browsing
websites in Safari.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

042

iPhone/iPad app

Atomic Web
Browser 2.9
Price 59p from the App Store
URL bit.ly/atomicwebbrowser
Verdict Full-screen mode is a real
bonus on the iPhone. Traditional
tabbed browsing, gestures and
other worthwhile features more
than balance out the drawbacks.

TABBED BROWSING
Atomic makes the pages you
have open more obvious than
Safari. Site icons help you pick
out the site you need.

Atomics full-screen
mode trims back the clutter
to let you see more of what
youre trying to read.

rowsing the web on Apples

touchscreen devices is so easy
because of the gesture-driven
navigation of pages. Atomic Web Browser
develops that aspect, and it packs in some
extra features that arent found in Safari.
Its full-screen mode makes great use
of the iPhones limited screen space. You
access it by tapping with three ngers, and
you can place up to seven semi-transparent
buttons over it to provide access to various
features, which you get to pick. You can add
a link to your bookmarks, back and forward
buttons, and even direct access to the
settings screen, and they still take up less
space than the toolbars they replace.
Multiple open pages can be shown as
traditional tabs or as a vertical list, complete
with thumbnails. Both are faster to navigate

than Safaris implementation. If youre only

dealing with a handful of pages at once, you
dont even need to use these mechanisms
to get from one to the next. Just swipe left
or right with two ngers.
That gesture, along with swiping up and
down with two ngers and the three-ngered
tap, can be overridden with a variety of other
actions. These include going back and forward
a page and jumping to the top of the page.
Normally tapping the clock does that but you
can turn it off to save even more space.
One of the great things about Atomic is
that you can congure so many of its options
to what works best for you. For instance, you
can turn on just the status bar in full-screen
mode to keep an eye on the time, while hiding
the larger interface elements that consume a
valuable portion of the viewing area.

SEARCH ENGINE
The search bar is far
more capable than
Safaris, and you can add
other sites to the list in
Atomics settings.

Theres also an ad blocker to which you

can add your own domain lters, and you can
stop images loading altogether. Thats great
if your network connection drops to GPRS or
Edge speeds for a prolonged time.
The search bar works with several
websites, including Google, Bing and
Wikipedia, and more can be added. Sadly,
the ability to search within the current
page caused us problems when the item
we were trying to nd was in a Web 2.0-style
collapsed section of the page.
The browser was also a bit less
responsive in forms than Safari, even on our
iPhone 3GS. Once a eld had the focus it
was ne, but the sticky pause beforehand is
an uncomfortable throwback to when Apples
browser suffered from a similar issue.
Atomic is a universal app, so it makes
full use of the iPads increased screen
resolution. And while full-screen mode
isnt really necessary on that device, the
additional gestures make browsing a bit
more comfortable.
However, bookmarks arent synced over
MobileMe, so you cant keep them in sync
with your Mac, although Atomic can import
bookmarks exported manually. Wed also
like to see integration with something like
1Password, especially as you can lock the
browser with a Pin code, in case you leave
your device unlocked.
Atomic wins out over Opera, which
recently appeared on the App Store, as
it retains the gestures youve learned in
Safari and extends them. Even so, its not
perfect. If you tell it you want to see the
same pages next time you open it, it reloads
them all, putting an unnecessary load on the
application. We hope this will change in an
update, given that iPhone OS 4 allows apps
to save their state when closed.
Alan Stonebridge

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

044

ONLINE GAME STORE:

Introducing Steam
Theres a new way to get games on your Mac. Steam is an
online store that downloads titles straight to your computer.

There are already dozens of games available on Steam, ranging from puzzlers like Bejeweled 2 and Zuma Deluxe to full-blown adventures and action games like Sam & Max.

Price Steam client is a free download

+ Price of games varies
Contact Steam + steampowered.com

aming on the Mac has been given

a massive boost with the arrival of
Steam, Valves online store. You
can now purchase and download games
directly to your Mac without having to visit
a retail store. This is great news for the
Mac, as games are often difcult to nd on
the high street, outside of dedicated Apple
Stores and resellers. With the Steam client

installed, youre just a few clicks away from

a broad selection of Mac games that covers
everything from kid-friendly favourites such as
World of Goo and Bejeweled 2 all the way up
to the epic strategy of Civilization IV and the
comedic adventures of Guybrush Threepwood
in Tales of Monkey Island.
Right now, there are a few dozen games
on the store, and soon theyll be joined
by Valves back catalogue, which features
some exceptionally high-prole titles. That
includes the perennially popular team-based
shooters Counter-Strike and Team Fortress
2, the zombie-infested wastelands of the

Left 4 Dead games and last, but certainly

not least, the phenomenally successful
Half-Life series. At launch, the only Mac
game available from Valves own stable is
the mind-bending puzzler, Portal, which is far
and away the highlight of the launch line-up.
Check out our review on p47.
Steam is much more than an online
store, though. It also incorporates gaming
news from around the web and a strong set
of community-orientated features. Heres a
guide to what Steam has to offer and why you
should download it immediately if you want to
enjoy a bit of downtime with your Mac.

045

STORE

Visit the Steam store to

browse and download
games directly to your
Mac. Its delivered over
the Internet, so you
get the added benet
of not having to dig out
a disc each time you
want to play.

Keep an eye out for the

Steam Play logo in the
store, which means
the game is available
for Windows and Mac
OS X. If youve bought
games from Steam in
the past to run under
Boot Camp, youre
entitled to download
the Mac version without
paying again.

UPDATES

ONLINE GAMING

Youll play games such as Team

Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead on the
same servers as Windows users,
which means there are already plenty
of people out there to join your
team or go head-to-head in online
multiplayer games, without waiting
for your friends who own Macs to
get on board with Steam.

Steam checks
whether your game
les are out of date,
and automatically
downloads and
installs updates, so
you dont have to go
looking for them.

COMMUNITY

Under Community,
you can check in
with your friends and
groups that youve
joined. Steam also
has a built-in chat
feature so you can
exchange messages.

GIFTS
ACHIEVEMENTS

BACK UP

Steam lets you back up the

purchases in your library,
and it breaks them down
into chunks that are small
enough to burn to CD or
DVD. Thats great if you
want to install a game on
your MacBook to take on
holiday, or to avoid the
possibility of re-downloading
several gigabytes if you get
a new Mac.

Some titles keep track of

your Achievements that
show how well youve
mastered the game. You
can get competitive with
friends who own the same
games by comparing
against their scores.

You can send games as gifts

from the Steam application, but
you dont need to install the
program if youre buying as a
gift for someone else. Just visit
steampowered.com and choose
to send the game either to a
specic Steam user or via email.

BUNDLE AND OFFERS

REMEMBER

Before purchasing games, dont forget

to check the system requirements to
ensure that your Mac is up to the job
of running them.

Keep an eye out for bundles and

weekend-only discount offers. On its
own, Portal will set you back 16.99.
Not all of Valves back catalogue has
appeared on the Mac yet, but Windows
users can pick up Portal as part of The
Orange Box, which includes Half-Life 2
and its two expansions and Team
Fortress 2 for the same price.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

STEAM PLAY

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

046

Available now through Steam

Altitude
Atlantis Sky Patrol
Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
Bob Came in Pieces
Bookworm Deluxe
Braid
Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity
Caster
Chains
Chocolatier: Decadence by Design
Chuzzle Deluxe
Sid Meiers Civilization IV
Civilization IV: Warlords
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Sid Meiers Civilization IV: Colonization
Cooking Dash
Diaper Dash
DinerTown Tycoon
DinerTown Detective Agency
Diner Dash: Hometown Hero
Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child
Escape Rosecliff Island
Eschalon: Book I
Europa Universalis Complete
Fairway Solitaire
Fitness Dash
Football Manager 2010
Gemini Lost
Guns of Icarus
Hearts of Iron III
Hotel Dash: Suite Success
Killing Floor
KrissX
LucasArts Adventure Pack
(contains The Dig, Indiana Jones and
the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and
the Fate of Atlantis and Loom.
Also available separately.)
Luxor
Luxor 3
Luxor: Mah Jong
Madballs in Babo: Invasion
Mahjong Roadshow
Max and the Magic Marker
My Tribe
The Nightshift Code
Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguars Eye
Parking Dash
Peggle Deluxe
Peggle Nights
Portal
Professor Fizzwizzle
and the Molten Mystery
Quantz
Sam & Max Season Two
Sam & Max: The Devils Playhouse
Steam Play Indie Pack (contains And Yet
It Moves, Galcon Fusion, Machinarium,
Osmos and World of Goo Also available
separately.)
Simplz: Zoo
Tales of Monkey Island Complete
Toki Tori
Torchlight
TriJinx: A Kristine Kross Mystery
Unwell Mel
Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal
Wandering Willows
Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World
Windosill
Zenerchi
Zuma Deluxe

Braid
On the surface, Braid looks like a
straightforward, if rather beautifully
animated, platform game. Dig a little
deeper and youll discover some mindboggling puzzles that can only be solved
by manipulating the ow of time. For our
review, see MacUser, 19 June 2009, p34.

World of Goo

This charming game sets you the task of

constructing objects by joining blobs of
goo together in order to reach the goal.
On its own, it will set you back 16.99,
but check the price of the Steam Play
Indie Pack, which cost less as we went
to press and includes four extra games.

Sam & Max: The

Devils Playhouse
and Tales of
Monkey Island
If you didnt rush out to buy Sam
& Max after our review (see
MacUser, 21 May 2010, p42),
you can pick it up on Steam.
It will set you back 24.99 on
its own and, as we went to
press, the previous season of
Sam & Max arrived on the Mac,
too. Telltales other big series,
Tales of Monkey Island, is also
available on Steam. All of them
are worthwhile if youre looking
for a humourous point-and-click
adventure to ll a few hours.

Wednesday
is games day

LucasArts Adventure Pack

The four games in this pack date back

to LucasArts hey-day as king of the
point-and-click adventure, but dont
discount them because of their age.
Yes, the animation is a bit creaky and the
voice-acting a little wooden compared
with modern games such as The Devils
Playhouse, but Indiana Jones and the Fate
of Atlantis is a bona de genre classic,
and The Digs writing credits include none
other than lm director Steven Spielberg
and sci- author Orson Scott Card.

By the time you read this issue, there

should be even more games available
through Steam. Valve promises that
new Mac games will appear every
Wednesday for the next few weeks,
but thats not the end of it. Civilization
V should be available in September,
and a sequel to Portal is expected to
arrive before the years end.
It looks like the Half-Life series will
see a slow roll-out, which is no bad
thing, since it covers the original game
plus two expansion packs, and Half-Life
2 and the two episodic installments
that see series hero Gordon Freeman
trying to bring down The Combine,
alien invaders that have subjugated
Earths population.

047
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

Game

Portal
Price 16.99 from the Steam store
Contact Steam + steampowered.com
Needs Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.6.3 or
later + 1GB Ram + Nvidia GeForce 8
or better + ATI X1600 or higher + Free
Steam application and account + Web
connection to download game
Pros Truly mind-bending puzzles
+ Deliciously dark sense of humour
Cons Only a few hours of play
Verdict Portal is thoroughly entertaining
from start to nish. Its even worth
sitting through the end credits, and you
cant say that about many games.
Thats you, looking back at yourself through the portals. If youre able to unravel that little brain teaser, youll
get a massive amount of crazy fun from Portal. Even if you cant get your head around it, youll have fun trying.

elcome to the Aperture Science

Computer-aided Enrichment
Center, where you play the role
of lab rat in a series of taxing tests that
will turn your world upside down and inside
out until youre dizzy with delight. Portal is
played in the rst person through the eyes
of a nameless heroine, who awakes deep in
the bowels of Apertures laboratory. A tuneful
computer voice directs you to step through
the portal and take part in a series of tests,
with the promise of the ultimate reward for
your time and trouble cake. If thats not
enough to clear your head and press on with
the task at hand, then what is?
In reality, you have no choice in the
matter. Things start off with a test to unlock
a door that even the stupidest of dogs could
master, but Portal soon blows your mind
with stunning puzzles that require you to
look at your surroundings in new ways. The
concept is simple: grab the portal gun and
re a blue portal at one wall and an orange
one at another to form an inter-spatial bridge.
Walk through one of the portals and youll
emerge from the other.
Thats Portal at its most basic, but your
objective isnt handed to you on a platter.
Inevitably, obstacles are thrown in your way.
Often its obvious what needs to be done,
whether its releasing a weighted cube from
a dispenser and getting it onto a switch that

Puzzles start out easy with simple pressuresensitive switches that open doors.

lies on a pedestal thats difcult to reach. The

challenge lies in making calculated moves,
carefully placing your portals and leaping
through at exactly the right moment in order
to achieve a goal.
Soon this experiment becomes a battle for
survival, with automated gun emplacements
searching with beady laser eyes, ready to
stop you dead in your tracks. Portal is laced
with dark humour. Turrets that have spotted

and then lost sight of you chirpily ask where

youve gone in a girlish voice thats chillingly
sinister. With your life hanging in the balance,
cake doesnt seem like much of a reward.
Portal demands that you suppress the
simplistic instincts of the real world that
make you think in one plane. With that skill
under your belt, youll end up placing portals
in strange places and leaping into them from
a great height, propelling yourself from the
other end with momentum to leap across
gaping chasms. Miss and youll plummet into
the toxic liquids that slosh far below.

Its easy to get wrapped up messing

around with the strange physics opened up
by the portals, opening one directly above
another and falling forever, or watching
an object bob up out of two holes in the
oor. That seems like a distraction, but its
as integral to the game as a toys are to
a childs learning. Portal doesnt so much
make you think outside the box as it makes
you turn it inside out.
After completing the main game, you can
take on select chambers again and try to
complete them in a limited number of steps
or portals, or within a strict time limit. This
breathes more life into an admittedly short
game. Valve says the aim of Portal is to
see how well the concept works in practice.
Luckily, it works very well, and you can look
forward to a longer sequel, due later this year.
Portal will set you back 16.99, the same
price Windows users pay for The Orange Box,
which includes Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life
2. Theyre coming to the Mac, too, and are
expected to support Steam Play, which gives
you the PC and Mac versions at one price.
Before you rush into buying Portal on its own,
check whether that bundle is available. Well
be looking at Half-Life 2 in a later issue, but
having played the Windows version already,
we can assure you its reputation as one of
the best PC games around is well deserved.
Alan Stonebridge

The portal gun creates gateways that get you past

insurmountable obstacles such as this pit.

Later on, youll have to deal with moving platforms

and split-second timing to reach the exit.

Portal soon blows your mind

with stunning puzzles that
require you to look at your
surroundings in new ways

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

048

Belkin Grip Sleeve

for iPad
Price 29.99 (25.52
52 ex VAT
VAT))
Contact Belkin
n + bel
belkin
kin.co
.co.uk
.uk

Belkin Leather Sleeve for iPad

Price
Pri
ce 4
49.9
9.99
9 (42
(42
42.54
.54 ex VA
VAT)
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Contac
Con
tactt Be
Belki
lkin
lki
n + bel
belkin
kin.co
kin
.co.uk
.co
.uk

Everything
iWant
Words Kenny Hemphill
Photography Danny Bird

These
The
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iPad
ad cases from Belkin are very different. The
he Lea
Leathe
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protects the back and sides of the iPad, lea
leavingg the
the scr
screen
een,,
buttons and ports uncovered so you can use it while
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sheath
athed
ath
ed
in black leather. The Grip Sleeve, on the other han
hand,
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neop
eopren
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ren
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zip-around case that provides all-over protectio
tion
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while
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049
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

Gear 4
Street Par ty
y4
Pri 49.99 (42.54 ex VAT)
Price
Contact Gear 4 + gear4store.com
Con
You can run Gear 4s Street Party
4 from the mains or from four AA
batteries. Its slim enough to slot
ot
easily in
into a suitcas
case or laptop bag,
and works
rks with any iPod with a Dock
ck
connector or the iPhone. It also has a
line-in port and a remote control
rol.
rol

Native Union
MM03
Pri 90
Price
0 (76.60
(
.60 ex VAT)
Contact Nat
Con
Native Union + nativeunion.
on.com
on.
Design
Design
igned by Dav
David Turpin
pin, this Bluetooth
handse
dset come
omes with a wei
weight
ghted base and
nd
comes in eit
com
either black or white. The MMO
MMO3
3
can be pa
paired
d with
w an iP
iPhon
hone and computer at
the same tim
time, so you can make and receive
calls thr
cal
throug
ough
h your
your mo
mobile netw
etwork and Skype.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

050

Finder add-ons

Mac OS X is a great operating system, but there

are a few third-party tools that make it even
greater, so here are MacUsers favourites.

Path Finder 5.5

LaunchBar

Price 24 (about 20.68)

Contact Objective Development + objdev.at

Price $39.95 (about 27.21)

Contact Cocoa Tech + cocoatech.com
t rst glance, Path Finder looks
fairly similar to Apples own Finder,
but its a far more powerful beast. For
instance, Path Finder supports all the views
that the Finder does Icon, List, Column
and Cover Flow but lets you combine them.
Cover Flow with Column view? No problem.
Icon and List sharing the same window? Ditto.
And there are tabs. Analogous to the same
function in a web browser, a tab can contain a
different view on the le system, and you can
re-order tabs by dragging them. To move items
between different areas of the le system,
you simply drag them from a pane and onto a
tab. There are two other ways to avoid clutter.
First, theres the Dual Browser, which opens
up a split-pane browser between which you
can drag les. Second is the Drop Stack.

Path Finder lets you mix and match views, so you

can have, say, List and Column view simultaneously.

This is an area on the sidebar onto which you

can drag les from all over the le system,
navigate to another location and deposit them.
If you get annoyed by the Finders
reluctance to display le sizes then Path
Finders Size Browser will do it for you. You can
also launch apps by typing in a shortcut.
In all, Path Finder neatly knocks the Finder
into a cocked hat. It can do more than the
Finder does, and its better at it.

aunchBar is a launcher utility

that can nd just about anything,
instantly. Its invoked using a
keystroke typically, Alt-Space which
causes a small text eld to drop from the
menu bar in any application. You then type
a few letters to locate an object on your
hard disk. Files, folders, applications,
iTunes music can all be opened with just
a few characters. Alternatively, once youve
located the item youre after, you can hit
Space to invoke Quick Look.
LaunchBar can also search inside your
Address Book to display your contacts.
Once youve selected the name you
want, press Return to open it in Address
Book, or hit the right cursor key to view
their address, email and phone number.
Selecting a phone number will display it at
large size on-screen, while selecting their
email address will automatically switch
to your preferred email application and
create a new message addressed to that
person. You can also create iCal events
and to-do items from within LaunchBar.
It has some clever Clipboard tricks,
too, allowing you to stack copied items
and paste them in reverse last in, rst
out order or merge them into one item.
Although some of LaunchBars features
are available in Google Desktop Search
and Quicksilver, theres plenty here to
make it well worth 24.

Default Folder X gives you instant access to your favourite locations via the Open and Save dialog boxes.

Default Folder X

Price 25.95 (22.08 ex VAT)

Contact St Clair Soft + stclairsoft.com

efault Folder X is a le dialog

enhancement that gives you instant
access to your favourite locations. It
appears in the Open and Save dialog boxes,
performing a range of tasks to speed up your
navigation. It provides instant bounce-back
to the last le opened or saved, and allows
you to navigate through recent folders using
the Alt and the cursor keys, making it easy to
snap back through your travels. This is useful

when you want to open a series of les from

one folder, modify them and save them in
a different folder. If you prefer to associate
individual folders with particular applications,
you can tell Default Folder X to bounce back
to these folders within dialogs.
Default Folder lets you assign your own
Spotlight keywords directly from within the
Open dialog. Favourite folders can be added
to a separate menu on the side of the dialog,
and you can jump to them quickly with a
keyboard shortcut.
Default Folder X, then, is an indispensable
utility for Mac users.

Once youve assigned a keystroke to invoke

LaunchBar, when you hit that shortcut a small
text search eld will appear in the menu bar
of whatever application youre using.

051
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

Dropzone

Price $14 (about 9.53)

Contact Aptonic + aptonic.com

ropzone adds functions to Mac

OS Xs Dock, although some would
argue they should have been
included there from the start.
Dropzones Dock icon becomes a target
for dropped les and folders, and when
activated it opens a grid of actions on
which you drop them.
The list of built-in actions includes Move
les, which can be assigned to any folder on
your Mac, as well as an FTP upload droplet;
a widget for uploading to Flickr; a print these
les controller; a le zipper; and a useful
script for opening, mounting and installing
new applications downloaded as disk images
from the Internet.
Dropzone also makes it possible to
create multiple instances of some actions.

Dropzone sits on the Dock and when activated, it

opens a grid of actions on which you drop les.

Built-in actions include a widget for uploading to

Flickr, a le zipper and an application installer.

You can set up several different versions

of the Move les action, one for each of
your favourite hard disk locations. Other
actions are tied to the Internet, such as
URL shorteners, blogging sites and image
hosting services.

The application displays neat, unobtrusive

alerts when appropriate, letting you know when
an action has completed, or text has been put
on the clipboard. You can also create your own
and with a growing community, many more are
likely to become available.

Little Snitch

Price 29.95 (about 25.80)

Contact Objective Development + objdev.at

If your Desktop clutter is driving you barmy, let Hazel bustle in and do all the tidying up for you putting
all downloaded music in your Music folder, movies in your Movies folder and so on.

Hazel

Price $21.95 (about 14.95)

Contact Noodlesoft + noodlesoft.com

azel is a System Preferences

pane that acts on rules you create,
keeping les in their proper places
and tidying up the mess of daily computer
life. It works by applying rules to specic
folders. An obvious choice is your Desktop,
itself a folder in the le system. Here, you
can create all sorts of rules that will keep
the Desktop clean. Without any fuss, Hazel
shifts downloaded music les to your Music
folder and movie les to Movies, where they
belong. Its also very handy for archiving the
contents of your Downloads folder.

Hazel has some clever tricks up its

sleeve. It can automatically change the
colour label of a le according to the folder
that its in, or according to how you name it
or what Spotlight comments you give it.
This way, you could colour-code all
your project les simply by giving them an
appropriate name. You could also save them
all directly to the Desktop and let Hazel do
the ling for you.
Furthermore, Hazel includes some Trash
management rules, capable of keeping the
Trash completely empty or just preventing it
from getting too full.
Hazel really is one of those tools, which,
once youve used it, youll wonder how you
ever lived without it.

ittle Snitch monitors applications on

your Mac to detect which ones try to
make outgoing calls. Every outgoing
connection attempt is logged and displayed in
real time, if you wish. Like Firewall exceptions,
Little Snitch operates rules that you can use
to allow or deny an application's activity on
a particular port.
You set rules to govern how Little Snitch
should deal with outgoing calls and can set
lters for viewing sub-sections of trafc. There
are a few built-in rules to start you off, but it
might be more useful to activate the head-up
display. This pops into view whenever an
application on your machine makes outgoing
calls. The (minor) disadvantage is that for
the rst few days or weeks after installing it,
you might nd yourself constantly pestered
for decisions. After a while, though, it dies
down and Little Snitch compiles a list of rules
based on the decisions youve made.
From then on, you can afford to forget
about Little Snitch. It watches for unexpected
outgoing trafc, and when something crops
up, it will make sure you know about it.

Little Snitch spies on your Macs applications to see

which ones are making outgoing calls to the Internet
and informs you of any suspicious activity.

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!
N
I
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MIC CE 2008
OFFI MAC
FOR NESS
BUSI ION
EDIT

MacUser and Microsoft are offering you the

chance to win a copy of Microsoft Office
2008 for Mac Business Edition, worth 440.

icrosoft Ofce 2008 for Mac

Business Edition is packed with
tools and features that are perfect
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Updated with Ofce 2008 SP2, the suite
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documents in and away from the ofce.
For more details, visit microsoft.com/mac.

How to enter
Simply answer the question below
and enter for FREE online at
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QUESTION
Who is the current
CEO of Microsoft?
Steve Martin
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The rst name out of the hat will
win a copy of Microsoft Office
2008 for Mac Business Edition.
Closing date: 17 June 2010
On completing and submitting this competition, you will automatically be entered into a draw for one of these prizes. No correspondence will be entered into and the winners will be notied by post or email within 28 days of the closing date. The competition is not open to employees of Dennis Publishing or
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St, London W1T 4JD. If the winner of a competition is unable to take up a prize for any reason, the editor reserves the right to award it to an alternative winner, in which case the rst winner chosen will not be eligible for any share of the prize whatsoever. The editors decision is nal, and it is a condition of entry to
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4 June 2010

competition

055

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

056

THE

MOBILE
OFWFITIHCE
K
iWONOTR
HE
iPAD

DITCH
K
S
E
D
YOUR

057
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

With the release of Apples

popular iWork on the iPad,
we look at whether its got
what it takes to become the
perfect mobile office.

Words Nik Rawlinson

Main image Danny Bird

Work is Apples ofce suite its rival to Microsoft

Ofce. On the Mac, its the replacement for the
long-lived and much-lamented AppleWorks, and
boasts both a great interface and some rst-class
layout tools. It comprises three programs: Pages for
word processing, Numbers for working with spreadsheets
and formulae, and Keynote for creating presentations.
The applications appeared slowly over several years,
starting with Keynote (named after Steve Jobs semiannual product unveilings). This was a breakthrough
product, but without any companion tools, you couldnt
really call it an ofce suite.
Pages came next, and over the years has been rened.
It started out with its eye squarely xed on document
layout in the style of Microsoft Publisher or a low-end
alternative to Adobe InDesign, but is now as competent
at handling plain text as any other word processing tool.
Finally, for the sake of completion, they were joined
by Numbers, a quite simply revolutionary spreadsheet
application. Why is it so revolutionary? Because where
most spreadsheet programs have one table per page, with
the table taking up the whole page, Numbers allows you
to put several tables on each page and lay them out with
pixel-point accuracy. The results look great, and not nearly
so dull as a regular spreadsheet.
With the arrival of the iPad, iWork now nds itself
unchained from the desk, free to travel with its users to
wherever we want to take it. But how do these applications
shape up? Are they worthy companions to their desktop
equivalents, and do they really make the iPad a viable
mobile ofce? This is where well nd out.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

058
Pages

Pages is iWorks word processor. You might think Words or

Letters would be a more appropriate name, but while the
rst would step dangerously close to Microsofts marketleading word processing tool, the latter would hopelessly
undersell its talents. Pages, you see, works just as well
as a page layout application as it does a word processor.
On the iPad, it works in both portrait and landscape
orientations, and with the 1.1 update, delivered during
the iPad pre-order period for UK purchasers, Apple made
a subtle but important change. Previously, when you
turned to landscape mode, it would take away your toolbar
and give you a blank screen. This wasnt great, as that
orientation was impossible to use with the keyboard dock,
meaning you lost the ability to use Command-B/I on your
keyboard for bold and italic, and the buttons to do the
same from the toolbar. Thats no longer the case, but
what hasnt changed with the update is the lack of a word
count. Some would claim this is a consideration only for
journalists, but its equally important for students, who will
have to write assignments to specic lengths. Lets hope
that will be added in a future revision.
Pages ships with 16 templates that cater for everything
from blank documents to project proposals and visual
reports. Even the most basic of these can be tweaked
to meet your own requirements. It handles headers and
footers with aplomb, allowing you to type into three boxes
within each one to lay out left-, right- and centre-aligned
text. There are four options for page numbering that cater

Pages makes it
easy to navigate
long documents.

Pages works with styles, like a desktop publishing application,

so while you can define the various elements of your text
formatting on the go font face, size, line spacing and so on
you should instead use the various pre-defined styles
for 1, 1 of 12, Page 1 and Page 1 of 12 styling and
moving margins is as simple as tapping your nger on
the one you want to move and sliding it left, right, up and
down. With tools like this, you can create documents from
scratch and email them to colleagues as nished projects:
Pages for iPad is most certainly not a cut-down version of
the desktop application thats suitable for nothing more
than quick and dirty edits on the go.
Pages works with styles, like a desktop publishing
application, so while you can dene the various elements

of your text formatting on the go font face, size, line

spacing and so on you should instead use the various
pre-dened styles, which include title, sub-title, body,
caption, and so on. Each of these can be underlined,
italicised, struck out or made bold for emphasis. There
are ve list styles with bullets, images, letters and
numbers, while alignment can be set to left, centre, right
or justied in up to four columns.
Combined, these various settings will allow you to
create some very sophisticated layouts, and its not
beyond the realms of possibility that you could use Pages
to write a whole book, although we would recommend
investing in an external keyboard if you plan on doing that.
As with Keynote and Numbers, Pages can make use
of media stored on your iPad. It has full access to your
photo albums and 15 built-in shapes in six different
colours. These arent particularly intricate, running to
squares, arrows, stars and so on, but they should be
enough to brighten up a document and draw your readers
attention to various points.
Even the most basic of Pages templates can be tweaked to meet
your own requirements.

You can use Pages

in both portrait and
landscape orientations
on the iPad.

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PRINTING
Theres no question that iWork for the iPad is
a very accomplished suite of ofce applications,
but they all have one very important feature
missing: printing. This isnt entirely surprising
no applications can print from the iPad right
now, as there are no drivers for any currently
available printers.
The long and the short of it is that this leaves
you with no option but to transfer your documents
to your Mac (or PC), and either print or email them
from there. At least for the time being.
However, if an email received by a reader of
Macrumors (see bit.ly/cfSPln) turns out to be true,
it seems that printing could be on the way. The
reader sent an email to Apple CEO Steve Jobs
asking Why no printing on the iPad? What gives?
The three word reply was: It will come. If this was
indeed from Jobs, its good news for all iPad users,
and particularly iWork for iPad users.

Double-tap in a cell
and the appropriate
keyboard will appear.

Key concepts can be illustrated with one of nine

different graphs, which can be edited within Pages itself,
so even if you havent bought Numbers, youre not without
some rudimentary number-crunching features. Pick the
chart type youre after and itll appear on your page in a
oating frame that you can reposition by dragging it around
the page with your nger. Double-tap it and it will spin
around like a Widget on the Mac OS X Dashboard to show
the underlying data sheet. This can be plotted with either
rows or columns as the series on which the chart is built.
So is Pages worth your money? Undeniably so. It may
look like a simple word processor the rst time you open
it, but youll quickly discover that it has many more tools
and features than some desktop and laptop applications
that cost many times its price. Its a true killer application.

Numbers

When Numbers appeared on the Mac, it was pretty

radical. Apple threw away years of spreadsheeting wisdom
and came up with something so much better than the
status quo. If youve used any other spreadsheet, youll
know that the grid into which you type your gures and

Numbers formatting
options rival those of a
desktop spreadsheet.

formulae takes up the whole of each sheet in your

document. You can have several of these sheets in each
document. Numbers, however, replaces the grid with
tables, like the tables you might like to drop into a word
processing document. Each of these tables is separate,
even if they sit on the same sheet (you can have several
sheets in a document) and can be used to organise
different kinds of information, such as ve tables for ve
different currencies, speed scores or weeks of rainfall.
Despite being separate, though, you can draw on the
data from all of them at once when producing formulae
in the others. You can then reposition them all pixel by
pixel on the overall page within your spreadsheet, and
even intersperse them with graphs. The result is a more
attractive set of spreadsheets that are not only simpler
to decipher, but also easier on the eye.
If youre a spreadsheet novice, you can take refuge
in the 16 bundled templates that start out with blank
spreadsheets and take in loan comparisons, mortgage
calculators and weight loss logs on the way. Open one
up and it will present itself in a tabbed interface highly
reminiscent of a buff ling system. Tapping the tabs
switches between the pages, while tapping on the
tables themselves lets you drag them around.
The really clever thing is the way the spreadsheet
is aware of its size and position on the screen. Pinch
and unpinch to make it smaller and larger, and when it
becomes too large for the screen, the grey header cells in
each row and column become sticky. This means that if
you then pan around the document, only the variable cells
(the white ones) reposition themselves within the header
cells, dragging the header cells with them, so you can
always see what youre entering.

BUYING iWORK
When youre buying iWork for the Mac, the 71
(60.43 ex VAT) asking price buys you all three
programs, so youre ready to work with a full ofce
suite as soon as you install it. Apple recognises
that iPad owners may have more specic needs
and that this is a lot to ask for a mobile suite,
so it has split up the suite into three separate
applications, each bought individually. On the US
Store, theyre priced up at $9.99 apiece.

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060

FILE FORMATS

Interface renements aside, spreadsheets remain

complex beasts, but mobile Numbers helps out with
no fewer than four data-specic keyboards. Double-tap
in a cell and the appropriate keyboard pops up. First
in the list is the number-focused keyboard, which is
highly reminiscent of an adding machine, with large digit
buttons and two enter buttons, one of which moves you
to the next cell in the row and the other which takes you
down the column. Beside these, there are dedicated
buttons for currency, percentage, ratings and checkboxes.
The ratings button sets a special condition within the cell,
so that as you tap the numbers one to ve, it displays
the appropriate number of stars. The checkbox button,
meanwhile, is ticked with a 1 and cleared with a 0,
and makes the iPad a handy list-making device.

You can create

complex graphs and
charts in Numbers.

Spreadsheets on a mobile device such as the iPad were

always going to be a challenge, but it seems they were one
Apple has embraced, and the result is a triumph.

Keynote

Formulae are the powerhouses of any spreadsheet, and key to

analysing your data. They can, however, be a challenge for the
rst-timer. This keyboard has a handy functions button that
gives you direct access to common spreadsheet commands
The date and time keyboard features digits and
months, and a clever input bar sporting variable tags.
Tap each of these tags and the appropriate button
on the keyboard, and youll quickly build up complex
strings. For example, tap Date & Time; month,
7; day, 8; year, 2009; and youll have a cell that
reads 8 July 2009. Admittedly, its quicker to type this
with a full keyboard on your Mac, but its an excellent
compromise for mobile working.
Perhaps the most versatile of all the keyboards
though, is the one that handles formulae. Formulae
are the powerhouses of any spreadsheet, and key to
analysing your data. They can, however, be a complex
challenge for the rst-timer. This keyboard therefore
has a handy functions button that gives you direct
access to common spreadsheet commands such as
sum, average and count. Pick the function you want and
it will be entered into the toolbar, ready to accept your
variables. If these are to be drawn from existing data on
your spreadsheet, you then need only drag your nger
across the appropriate cells and theyll be entered into
the formula. Tap the tick (or the cross if youve gone
wrong) and the result will be posted in your cell without
you having typed a single letter or digit.

Lets face it: iWork is great, but its les arent all
that widely accepted. Fortunately, both the Mac
OS X and iPad versions of all of the applications
let you export you work in a variety of formats for
sharing them with other users.
Every application can export its les to the
equivalent desktop iWork format and PDF. Pages
can also export in Microsoft Word .doc format
(although not, strangely, the widely accepted .rtf
format). If you want to download your les once
youve nished working on them, its essential that
you export them to one of these formats. Theyll
appear in the File Sharing window inside iTunes the
next time you connect your iPad.
You can also share your les through Apples
online iWork.com service, which lets your
colleagues review and comment on your work,
and download copies directly if you wish.

Keynote comes
with 12 templates,
which will help give
your presentation
a professional feel.

Unlike the other applications in iWork, Keynote only

works in one orientation: landscape. This is because
its designed to make presentations for display on a
screen or projector. Like Numbers and Pages, its what
we would consider a killer iPad application, but one
shortcoming is more serious here than on its sibling
products: the limited export options.
Although each of the applications can export PDFs, only
Pages can export a Microsoft Ofce-compatible le. This
could be problematic for Keynote users who need to use
PowerPoint if theyre part of a presentation party in which
all presenters are sharing a single machine perhaps a
PC. In short, you should only consider investing in Keynote
for the iPad if you also have Keynote on your Mac, or you
want to present directly from your iPad, on its own screen.
If you dont, your only export option is PDF.
Keynote ships with 12 templates, many of which will
be familiar with their equivalents on the Mac OS X edition,

061

Slideshows can be
created using pictures
from your image library.

When you resize

an image, youll see
dynamic guides pop up,
so youll know when
the edges or centre
are in line.

MACUSER ON THE iPAD

Have you got your hands on an iPad yet? If so,
check out MacUsers own iPad application, which
lets you download every issue of the magazine
for reading on the go. Every page of each
issue is reproduced in digital format, complete
with news, reviews,
masterclasses and features.
Every issue is organised
in your own iPad library for
ready access, saving space
on your shelves at home
and saving trees by cutting
down on paper use. The
application itself costs just
59p and includes your rst
issue. Subsequent issues
will be delivered as they
become available on a
fortnightly basis.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

including plain white and black, modern portfolio and

showroom. These are all high-quality and easy on the eye,
and should give your presentation a professional nish.
Slides feature text and graphics. The graphics
themselves are drawn from your iPads photo library.
You can also add tables, charts and shapes in six colours,
all of which will look immediately familiar to anyone who
has added the same elements to a Pages document.
Once again, double-tapping a chart spins it around
Widget-style to reveal the table of underlying data, which
can be ordered by either row or column, depending on
the point youre trying to illustrate.
Everything on your
slides, apart from
the background,
can be resized
and repositioned as
appropriate. As you
drag elements around,
youll see dynamic
alignment guides pop
up so that you know
when the edges or
centres are in line
with one another,
while drag handles
on the four corners

and four sides let you resize your assets. Here, again,
Keynote is quick to offer a helping hand. As you drag
from an edge (top, bottom, left or right), the opposing
dimension resizes simultaneously to keep everything in
proportion. Resize from a corner point, meanwhile, and a
dotted yellow guide will show you the path through which
your resizing can pass in either direction. We reckon this
is a good thing, as it keeps everything looking smart,
but if for any reason you want to deliberately change the
proportions of an image for example, to ll a space
thats slightly out of kilter youre out of luck.
Every slide can have a transition applied to it by
ensuring that nothing within it is selected and then
tapping the transition button (if you do have anything
selected then the transition button instead lets you
set build-in and build-out actions that control how an
element appears or disappears as you play back your
presentation). There are an impressive 20 transitions
at your disposal, each of which can be tailored to run
for a specic period and either play automatically or
only activate when you tap the screen.
Most impressive among them is Magic Move, which
is pretty radical even on the Mac OS X edition. Select
this and you can duplicate your current slide before
deleting what you dont want and repositioning whatever
should stay to their new positions. As you play back your
presentation, these shifted elements will animate, so that
they slide to their new positions on the second slide. This
is an excellent way to illustrate a point, such as the ow of
money around an economy, the effect of stafng changes
between departments, and so on.
Sadly, Keynote, which one would imagine to be the
easiest application to port from the Mac to the iPad, is
perhaps the least impressive of the three iWork programs.
However, this is perhaps precisely because of the relative
simplicity of its interface and the brilliance of the material
it produces. Keynote for Mac OS X is the best presentation
software on the platform, and the iPad edition is clearly
designed to work closely alongside it, which will explain
the lack of any PowerPoint export tools in this mobile
edition. Unfortunately, this brilliance somewhat dulls its
shine. As we said at the outset, this is certainly a mustbuy for anyone who already uses Keynote on their Mac,
but perhaps not for everyone else.

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062

Has the service that was designed to bring

friends together turned into something a little
less friendly? Simon Brew finds out if Facebook
has become the enemy within

Words Simon Brew

Photography Danny Bird

n Friday 14 May, it was reported that deep

inside Facebooks no-doubt secretive underground
lair, a company-wide meeting was being called.
Said meeting, if you follow the party line, was rmly in
keeping with the companys way of open working, whereby
employees can come together and ask whatever
questions happen to be on their minds. Said meeting,
if you dont follow such a way of thinking, was a panic
measure, hastily cobbled together in response to
mounting criticism over the rms stance on privacy.
Either way, it reportedly went ahead and if all staff
were genuinely invited to put forward questions and voice
their views, then its a fair bet what the theme of most
of those comments was likely to be. Because in recent
months, Facebook has been waging a PR war against an
increasing barrage of media criticism, with the thrust of
the arguments being that the service values customer
data more than it does the customers themselves.
People werent happy. The headlines were making grim
reading. Something, very clearly, needed to be done.
For Facebook had, in the eyes of some, gone from
being a friendly place where you could keep in touch with
real and pretend friends, and acquaintances old and new,
to a service with an overwhelming number of security
settings and options. No longer was it being seen as the
soft and uffy land of web trivia, silly games and pictures
that should never have left the scene of the ofce party.
Instead, with every creeping change to privacy settings,
theres been the sneaking suspicion that Facebook has
been turning just a little bit evil

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064

NOT MY FRIEND?

In hindsight, the changing of the perception of

Facebook has been a long time brewing, and to a
small degree can be put down to the sheer size
of the service now. After all, its easier to perceive
a rm as friendly when its not earning hundreds
of millions of dollars a year and when its value
doesnt run into the tens of billions. Plus, with
Bebo now effectively falling by the wayside and
MySpace struggling to keep up, Facebook has more
than 400 million active users and is only getting
bigger. In short, its a big target thats become the
establishment where social networking services are
concerned. And that means people will take pot
shots at it no matter what it does.
Yet theres more to the changing face of
Facebook than that, not least because a series of
negative stories have inevitably taken their toll on
the perception of the rm. Go back to the summer
of last year, for instance, and Facebooks policy of
holding onto user data indenitely was found to be
in breach of Canadian law. That, in turn, generated
headlines around the world and instigated another
meeting or two at Facebook HQ, forcing it to alter
its policies to stay on the right side of the law.
Thats not all, of course. At the end of 2009,
further changes saw a relaxation of privacy settings,
which made far more personal information viewable
to all, with this, too, coming in for heavy criticism
(were coming to more on this shortly). In recent
times, the company has been challenged over its
refusal to adopt a panic button to help protect
minors online, even though some of its rivals had
gone down that path.
Some of the problems werent the direct fault
of Facebook itself, but that didnt stop its logo
being attached to negative stories anyway. Take
March 2009, when the BBC reported that Facebook
was being specically targeted by hackers looking
to take advantage of the amount of data that
users upload about themselves. You can hardly
blame Facebook if end users pack the service
with information that would be best described as

unwise to share on a social networking site, even if

it does provide the platform for them to do it. The
easiest way to prevent personal data from being
made available, after all, is not to provide it at all.
Nonetheless, the attacks continued and it was
Facebook, rather than the invisible perpetrators,
that was left to take the ack.
However, all of this goes with the territory. Were
Microsoft a small and insignicant company, then
hackers wouldnt target it and the waiting press
would be less inclined to sharpen their pencils.
Thus, given the size, power and reach of Facebook
now, its always going to be in the crosshairs of
somebody. But is this all warranted?
Well, lets put it this way: Facebook certainly
doesnt always help itself out.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The bulk of the complaints aimed at Facebook

concern the changes its made to its own privacy
policy since its original inception, and several
further issues have spun out of this. This is where
the feeling that Facebook is turning evil is coming
from and is where most alarm bells are blaring.
Over the course of half a decade, Facebooks
privacy policy has gone from a set of standards
designed to protect your information at pretty
much all costs, through to the service we see
today where you simply dont have any choice but
to surrender certain bits of personal information.
Thats a fairly hefty change of position.
The personal details youre generally
surrendering are hardly earth-shattering, to be
fair, but theyre enough to trigger concerns and to
subsequently generate questions as to just how far
down the line Facebook is willing to go in relaxing
its policies. In ve years, its taken things a fair way.
But just where does it ultimately want to be?
To assess that, its best to see just what has
changed in the past half decade. The Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF) has digested the critical
changes that Facebook has made over the years

065
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4 June 2010

on its website and has highlighted areas where its

privacy policy has been clearly relaxed.
The digest kicks off with a quote from 2005,
where the service boasted that no personal
information that you submit to Thefacebook (sic)
will be available to any user of the website who
does not belong to at least one of the groups
specied by you in your privacy settings.
Few could argue with that. A robust, protective
stance, but one that didnt really help Facebook
when it came to try to make money from its
increasingly popular service and roster of members.
As such, over the following years, several salamislice changes to its policy have come about, each
of which liberates personal information just a little
bit more than the last. In 2007, for instance, prole
information became available to people who were
in one of the same networks as you, while your
name, photo and school name popped up in search
results. To the outside world, however, your prole
remained strictly invisible. Not for much longer.

Facebook has made

several changes to
its privacy policy over
the past ve years. It
has gone from a set of
standards designed to
protect your information,
through to the service
we see today where
you dont have any
choice but to surrender
certain bits of personal
information.

Late 2009 saw further revisions that brought

in variable privacy options and a ramping up of the
number of settings for you to choose from. Bafed
by the screen of options in front of them, many
users opted to set their information so that it was
viewable by everyone, which made it available to
even non-users of Facebook. After all, if youre just
logging on at lunchtime to nd out what Karen in
the next ofce had for lunch, burrowing through
more than 100 toggle-able options is unlikely to
be top of your agenda. Unsurprisingly, many just
accepted the status quo without really checking
how their privacy settings had changed.
This same raft of changes also made such
information available to search engines to index
for the rst time. Unsurprisingly, this wasnt well
received in some quarters (although we should
point out that the vast majority, as is usually the
case, stayed silent on the issue). Many users,
confused by the choices screen that Facebook
put in front of them when it made this particular
set of changes, soon discovered that their
Facebook details were popping up in Google
searches and not everyone liked it.
By the end of 2009, Facebook had made the
likes of gender, location and friends lists publicly
available. It was still possible to limit access to
such information, but it involved going deep under
the bonnet into the Facebook privacy settings
panel, which by this time was overowing with
several different screens worth of options. To
Facebook, the overriding assumption appeared
to be that some personal information, by default,
should be publicly available. Which is quite some
distance from the companys ultra-friendly privacy
stance of 2005.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg didnt help
dampen the unhappiness over the matter with
comments he made back in January this year. He
declared that while changing the privacy policy for
350 million users was not the kind of thing that a
lot of companies would do we viewed that as a
really important thing, to always keep a beginners

www.macuser.co.uk
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066

mind and what would we do if we were starting the

company now, and we decided that these would be
the social norms now and we just went for it.
To be fair, however, Zuckerberg has a point.
Whats often lost in the debate about relaxed
privacy settings is that theres a block of people
who dont mind, who are happy that their listing
can pop up on Google so their friends can nd
them just a little bit easier. Wed suspect that a
large proportion simply arent bothered at all, and
maybe thats what Zuckerberg talks about when
he describes the social norms.
Most recently of all, in just the past month,
Facebook has made general information such
as your name, friends list, connections and such
like available to any website or application to
which youre connected through the service. And,
crucially, you can no longer restrict it from sharing
some basic information about you if you used those
applications. You no longer have 100% control over
what information could be hidden from the wider
world. Presumably, every third-party application
publisher is likely to work on a differing set of
privacy standards.

MUCH ADO?

Facebook CEO Mark

Zuckerberg claims his
rms privacy policy is
simply a response to
current social norms.

However, still the question remains: is the resulting

furore nonetheless proportionate to the changes
Facebook has made?
Users should be worried, argues Rebecca
Jeschke of the EFF. Its very hard to make sense of
Facebooks privacy settings -- whats being shared
and what isnt.
Yet isnt Facebook doing what many others
already are? Is it really one of the worst offenders
where privacy is concerned?
Its hard to say if Facebook is one of the worst
offenders, says Jeschke. However, privacy issues
at Facebook affect millions of people, so the
decisions the company makes about the treatment
of its users have wide ramications.
Those ramications caught the attention of the
European Commission, whose Article 29 working
party wrote to Facebook in May 2010 strongly
criticising the changes to privacy settings. In
particular, it singled out the fact that, by default,
search engines were able to pick up on users data.
The letter urged Facebook to switch its policy so
that the standard setting was to exclude search
engines from indexing such material. As MacUser
went to press, Facebook was still considering its
response, and many of its users details were still
available for Google to index.
It does beg the question as to why Facebook
has continued to make the changes it has in the
rst place, although you dont have to look far for
the answer. Because, ultimately, its about the
money. For lest we forget, Facebook doesnt take
up-front fees from its users, and when theres even
a hint of it charging for its service (a rumour that to
our knowledge has never emanated from Facebook
itself), it seems a matter of seconds before a
protest group is set up.
This means 400 million users across the world
are using Facebook at no nancial cost to them
whatsoever. Theyre getting access to a service
with a virtually unparalleled ability to rob you of
lunchtimes, to help you keep up with your friends

067
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4 June 2010

and to let the world know what youre up to and

not a penny is charged for the privilege. You could
hardly call that evil, could you?

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL?

Playing devils advocate for a moment, is this a fair

trade-off? You do get a lot for free by signing up
to Facebook, and the price is that you surrender
some of your personal details. Furthermore, you
dont pay for the abundance of free games, plug-ins
and extras that can freely be added to a Facebook
account, either; instead, youre just asked to
exchange certain details instead.
Isnt this what Tesco does with its Clubcard?
Isnt this what the Nectar scheme is about, or any
form of loyalty card? Its us, the end users, engaged
in a contra-deal where we pay for what we get
with information, rather than having to dig into our
pockets. Granted, we might get a few junk emails
or some unwanted mail through the post, but isnt
that a modest price to pay? (Granted, this does
overlook the security worries that have surrounded
the Facebook system from time to time.)
In the furore over the changes that the rm has
been making, have we forgotten that Facebook does
have to make its money somehow? Its hardly going
out on a limb to suggest that the more information
it has on its users, and the more it can use, then
the stronger its business potential. As it stands,
Facebooks revenues are dwarfed by its value, and
its reported worth of more than $20 billion (about
13.74 billion) is based on its ability to make money
from its customer base. With the privacy policy as it
once stood, that would have been far, far trickier.
Yet does this make Facebook evil, or does
it instead simply remove the veneer and reveal
it to be a cold, hard business, underneath the
decoration of Farmville, status updates and newfound virtual friends? Facebook has clearly done
itself few favours in the manner in which its gone
about some of the changes its made, and that
aforementioned big company meeting will have

hopefully had that message conveyed to it loud and

clear. Its also got far more power than most, simply
down to the success of the service.
But is Facebook evil or is it just a big online
business trying to make a few more quid? Or in the
modern day Internet world, could it be that the two
are no longer mutually exclusive?

DELETING YOUR ACCOUNT

What hasnt helped the perception of Facebook is just how difcult

it can be to fully delete your account. Once upon a time, the option
to remove an account wasnt there. Now, you can close your
Facebook account, but that doesnt get rid of all the associated
data. Instead, it leaves the likes of photographs, personal data and
friends list still embedded somewhere on the Facebook servers.
So how do you go about fully deleting your prole, and
the personal data left behind? Its possible, but not a quick
process. And the best answer weve found, ironically enough, we
discovered via a Facebook page. Take at look at the full guide
here: http://tinyurl.com/deletefacebook.

Deactivating
your Facebook
account doesnt
automatically
empty your data
from the Facebook
servers you have
to jump through
hoops to do that.

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068

THE FACEBOOK RESPONSE

SECURITY

Facebooks assertions that data was safe

in its hands were delivered a blow in the
latest in a series of security issues that
have beset the service. The latest highprole case meant that users could exploit
a now-xed aw and basically spy on the
likes of personal instant chat messages.
To be fair to Facebook, when it was alerted
to the aw it shut down the chat system
and instigated a very quick x. Mysteriously,
a YouTube video about the security hole
was equally swiftly taken down due to
terms of use violation.
Nevertheless, it could have been worse,
and the end result was that the only damage
done was to Facebooks public image.

Privacy is built around a few key

ideas: you should have control over
what you share; it should be easy
to nd and connect with friends;
your privacy settings should be
simple and easy to understand
Facebooks privacy statement, taken from its website

When we asked Facebook how it responds to

concerns of security and privacy, and the suggestion
that these areas are being compromised in the
pursuit of maximising revenues, a Facebook
spokesperson told us: The privacy and security of
our users information is of paramount importance
to us. Everyone within the company understands
our success is inextricably linked with peoples trust
in the company and the service we provide. We are
grateful people continue to place their trust in us.
We strive to earn that trust by trying to be open
and direct about the evolution of the service, and
sharing information on how the 400 million people
on the service can use the available settings to
control where their information appears.
We then asked whether the rm has
fundamentally changed over the past few years or
whether its negative perception in recent times is a
product of the media. The spokesperson argued that
the rm constantly grows and adds new features,
and that it strives to keep our users informed of how
new innovations will affect how they use the service.
Facebook went on to say: We fundamentally
understand that maintaining users privacy is of
paramount importance, not just to them, but to the
ecosystem of the Internet as a whole. We believe
that upon close examination, the new features
that we have offered and the tools for our users
to engage with them or turn them off will be
embraced. At the same time, we are listening and
responding to concerns. We want to be sure that
our innovations are understood and, if there are
things we can do better, we will.
These are complicated issues. We have over
400 million people using Facebook around the
world, and these people, between them, have
millions of different denitions of friendship, and
of sharing and privacy. We understand that there
are also broader public policy concerns around
the issue of privacy. That is why we are committed
to a continuing dialogue with our users, elected
ofcials and regulators around the world. Everyone
in the technology industry must do his or her part
to preserve the common good and take these
concerns seriously.
The spokesperson also pointed out that the
Facebook service facilitates plenty of good things
in the world, from the connecting of people in
response to the Haiti earthquake tragedy, through
to helping to bring runaway teens home.

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070

Cheat sheet:
Keyboard shortcuts
Empower yourself and take command of your
Mac by mastering keyboard shortcuts.
Words Alan Stonebridge

he Mac brought the mouse to

the masses and its a mainstay of
desktop computers even today, well
into its third decade. Its great for getting
around in a graphical interface, but having
to grab it just to access a feature thats
tucked away in a menu slows you down. It
pays, then, to learn how to get around with
keyboard shortcuts. Once memorised, you
can perform tasks much more quickly.
Many shortcuts are listed alongside menu
items, to the right of their name. Theyre
largely consistent for common features such
as saving and opening les. Plenty of features
in complex applications have no shortcut
assigned at all. Thats not because those
features are redundant in any way. They just
arent needed by everybody, but Mac OS X is
smart enough to let you add shortcuts to any
menu item that you want, so your applications
are tailored to exactly what you need to do.

Mac OS X and applications provide their own keyboard shortcuts for speeding up your work. Many of these
are shown to the right of their name in menu items, and theyre worth committing to memory.

System Preferences pane

Press Ctrl-F7 to toggle between the functions of the bottom two radio buttons.

Shortcuts are customised in the System Preferences

application, which is found in the Apple menu. Go to
its Keyboard pane and click the Keyboard Shortcuts
tab. Here, you can turn off existing shortcuts for many
system features and assign new ones for useful menu
items that dont have them by default.
Snow Leopard organises the shortcuts into various
categories, making them easier to manage than in any
previous version of Mac OS X. Select a category and
youll see the relevant shortcuts to the right.
Turn off a shortcut by unticking the box at the left
of its row, and replace an existing key combination
by double-clicking it then pressing the combination
you prefer. However, there are conditions on how you
can use the various modier keys in shortcuts, which
weve detailed in About the modier keys (see right).
Before you start, take a look at the two radio
buttons further down the window. This is the option
to change if youve been frustrated when pressing
the Tab key to skip through an online form, only to be
forced to use the mouse to choose details in a pop-up
menu. Beware that this doesnt just affect forms in web
pages: it also means youll jump between buttons in
window toolbars, so its worth memorising the shortcut,
Ctrl-F7, so you can toggle it as needed.

071
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4 June 2010

How to set up a new keyboard shortcut

You can choose to have your keyboard shortcut

available to one application or all of them.

In the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, click the +

button beneath the right-hand pane to call
up a simple form for creating a new shortcut.
Choose All Applications if you want the same
shortcut to apply to a common command in
many applications, otherwise select a single
application from the list.
Next, type the exact name of the menu
item, including punctuation such as ellipses
(typed by pressing Alt-;) but theres no need

Type in the precise name of the menu item,

including capitals and punctuation.

to include the name of the menu in which the

item appears.
Click into the shortcut eld and hold the
key combination that you want to use for that
feature. After it appears in the box, click the
Add button to save the change.
System Preferences wont warn you if
your shortcut overrides a standard shortcut in
Mac OS X or an application. If you accidentally
override one, return to the preference,

Finally, type your desired shortcut for the menu

item in the Keyboard Shortcut eld.

double-click on your custom shortcuts key

combination and try another one. The original
will be restored.

TIP

What looks like an ellipsis in

a menu may actually be three
full stops, so if your shortcut doesnt
work, replace the ellipsis with that and
try to use it again.

About the modifier keys

Shortcuts must include at least one of
the three main modier keys: Control, Alt
and Command. Apple recommends that
keyboard shortcuts that control elements of
the graphical interface should include the
Command key, but mix it with other keys
that make sense to you.
You may well nd that simple shortcuts
are already taken by commonly used
features, so you can combine Command with
any combination of Control, Alt and Shift, too.
In fact, you can use shortcuts that only use
Control or Alt, or both. Shift can be used in
shortcuts, but not on its own, as that would
clash with typing symbols and capital letters.

The Control key is represented by the

^ symbol in menus, but that graphic is
unmarked on the key itself. The symbols for
Alt (") and Command (!) that are shown
in menus are also printed on the keys, so
theyre easy to commit to memory. The
same is true for the upwards arrow that
represents the Shift key.
When a shortcut involves a function key,
youll have to hold the Fn key on modern
Apple keyboards to use it. Thats found at
the bottom left on MacBooks and external
keyboards that lack a numeric keypad, and in
the block above the cursor keys on those that
do have a keypad.

Shortcuts must include at least one of the three main modier keys: Control, Alt and Command.

Force Quit/Front Row

The shortcut to call up the Force Quit
dialog, used to close applications that
are misbehaving, is Alt-CommandEsc, which is uncomfortably close to
the one that opens Front Row, the
Macs media centre. Its not unlikely
that youll hurriedly press the keys,
miss Alt altogether and end up in
that application by mistake. You can
disable or amend Front Rows shortcut
in the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.

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hile most car mounts are ugly

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and what makes the Xtand Go different from
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en
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The Xtand Go also works with other
ation
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ton,
devices, thanks to the glue-free Go Button,
king
which even xes to a case or cover, making
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The rst 15 names out of the hat will
each win a Just Mobile Xtand Go.
Closing date: 17 June 2010
On completing and submitting this competition, you will automatically be entered into
a draw for one of these prizes. No correspondence will be entered into and the
winners will be notied by post or email within 28 days of the closing date. The
competition is not open to employees of Dennis Publishing or participating
companies. No cash alternative will be offered. The prize(s) described are available at
the date of publication. Events may occur that render the promotion or the rewarding
of the prize impossible due to reasons beyond MacUsers control, which may at its
discretion vary or amend the promotion and the reader agrees that no liability shall
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proof of delivery and no responsibility can be accepted for entries lost, delayed,
mislaid or for any technical failure or for any event, which may cause the competition
to be disrupted or corrupted. Where necessary, in order to determine an outright
winner or winners to a competition, the editor reserves the right to request entrants
to take part in an eliminating contest (or tie breaker). Where for any reason there are
more winners than prizes on offer, the editor reserves the right to conduct a simple
draw to determine the winner or winners of the prizes. Unless otherwise stated, entry
to all competitions is restricted to entrants of 18 years of age or over. Names of
winners will be available on receipt of a request, enclosing a stamped self-addressed
envelope, to: Competitions Manager, Dennis Publishing, 30 Cleveland St, London
W1T 4JD. If the winner of a competition is unable to take up a prize for any reason,
the editor reserves the right to award it to an alternative winner, in which case the
rst winner chosen will not be eligible for any share of the prize whatsoever. The
editors decision is nal, and it is a condition of entry to any competition that the
entrant agrees to be bound by these rules whether they be published or not, and that
the decisions of the editor and judges on any matter whatsoever arising out of or
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073

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

074

method
OUR GUIDE TO ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS FOR EVERY DESIGNER

Using InDesign to take the

tedium out of indexing
Indexing is a tedious job, but InDesign makes the whole process much
less painful with its automated process. Heres how you do it

ndexing, traditionally the nal job in

compiling a book, can be one of the most
mind-numbingly tedious occupations a
writer has to perform. Its such an arcane
art that theres even a dedicated society for
its practitioners. These are people who nd
librarianship too exciting: cross-referencing,
sub-categorising and alphabetising are their
particular passions.
Many publishers employ professional
indexers to take an authors manuscript and
compile the index for them. But this requires
a signicant amount of technical knowledge
on the part of the indexer: for a book about
Photoshop, for instance, theyd have to know
that Unsharp Mask and Layer Mask are two
radically different terms that cant both be
indexed under mask, to give just one example.
And so, more often than not, its down to
the author to compile his or her own index.
The good news is that where this used to be
a mindless chore, InDesign makes the whole
process signicantly less painful. You no longer
need to worry about page numbers, or putting
entries in alphabetical order, as InDesign takes
care of all this. The one thing you do have to
concern yourself with, though, is consistency.
To create an index in an InDesign
document, all you have to do is to start

Steve Caplin is a designer and

illustrator working for a range of national
newspapers. His best-selling How to
Cheat in Photoshop, now in its fourth
edition, is published by Focal Press.

When you add an item to the index, the page

numbering and alphabetisation will be done
automatically as the index is generated.

indexing. It helps to have the Index panel open

(Window > Type and tables > Index), so you
can check your progress. On each page, select
a key word or phrase, and choose New Page
Reference from the pop-out menu at the top of
the Index panel. Since youll be doing this a lot,
its worth learning the keyboard shortcut for it.
The default is Command-7, but you can easily
add a more memorable shortcut, such as Ctrl-I,
using the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box (from
the Edit menu).
Pressing the key combination opens the
New Page Reference dialog box. The words
youve highlighted will be lled in for you
automatically, and thats all there is to it: for a
simple index entry, you can just hit Enter and
the reference will be stored, along with the
page number on which it appears, ready for
you to build your index at the end.

More sophistication

You can get even more sophisticated if you

wish. For example, while Unsharp Mask will
appear by itself in the index, it should also
appear under lters. So after youve added it
as a regular entry, you can press Command-7
to bring up the dialog box once more. This time,
pressing the down-arrow button in the dialog
box will nudge the words down to the second
slot, freeing up the rst. If you type lters in
here then a new category will be created in the
index, with any entries youve included in this
way appearing beneath it.
The Type pop-up allows you to choose a
special type of index entry. If you have a whole
chapter on Unsharp Mask, you could specify
that the entry runs for the next however many
number of pages, or to the end of the section
or document. You can also use this pop-up to
add cross-references, which must be added
by hand. So under Unsharp Mask, you might
choose to include See also: Smart Sharpen.
The Sort by eld is for when you want an entry
to be listed other than strictly alphabetically.

075
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4 June 2010

Adding additional topic levels produces nested indexes here, for example,
Unsharp Mask will appear nested under lters.

For example, in a book about rock music The

Beatles should be listed under B, and not T, so
youd type Beatles into this eld.
As well as clicking on OK, which adds the
entry and dismisses the dialog, you can click
the Add button to leave the dialog open. You
can also press the Add All button, which will
add every instance of the selected word in the
current document. This is useful for proper
names or for major topics, but it needs to be
used with care so you dont overwhelm the
index with minor entries. Its also worth noting
that the Add All button wont recognise different
forms of a word, so if you use Add All with the
word brush, it wont index any instances of
either Brush or brushes.
The bottom pane shows an expansible
list of all the entries in the current document,
so you can check what youve entered so far.
This is more signicant than it might seem, as
similar but not identical entries will be listed
separately in the resulting index. If on one page
you refer to the Burn Tool and, on another
page, the Burn tool, then theyll appear as
two distinct listings in the index: InDesign
isnt clever enough to recognise that theyre
essentially the same entry.

Usefully, InDesign enables you to specify precisely how a topics page

numbering should be listed if it runs for several pages.

panel. It may take a few seconds for InDesign

to complete the process, and then the index
will appear in place.
At this stage, youre likely to notice some
errors you may have indexed some items
both with and without capital letters, for
instance. You need to resist the temptation to
correct these on the generated index itself, as
this wont feed back into the indexing system.
Instead, you have to make the changes in the
Index panel, where all the index items will be
shown. By double-clicking an individual entry,
you can open and then edit it. If youre working
on a multi-document project, such as a book

in which each chapter is a separate le, then

you need to have all the les open for the Index
panel to show every entry in the book. Once
the editing has been completed, choosing
Generate Index again will update it.
As the index is created, InDesign will also
create paragraph styles for each entry and
heading type. You can edit these using the
Paragraph Style panel to use the font, leading
and indent type that you want.
Although its a bit of a bore, producing
an index gives you full control over the
nished project, and ensures that entries are
referenced in the correct way.

Fine-tuning

You can add simple index entries without

opening the dialog: after you highlight the word
or phrase you want to add, you can press
Command-Alt-Shift-[ to add that entry to the
index instantly. Theres a useful extra command
here, and thats to do with indexing proper
names. If you highlight Thomas Knoll, for
instance, pressing Command-Alt-Shift-[ will duly
add the name to the index as written. But if you
instead press Command-Alt-Shift-], the name
will be indexed as Knoll, Thomas.
When youve indexed every word, you can
create the index itself. Create a new text box at
the end of the document and choose Generate
Index from the pop-up menu on the Index

For a multi-document book, the Index Panel will show only items that appear in currently open documents,
even if others are listed in the index itself. So if you need to edit it, ensure all relevant documents are open.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

076

DESIGN FOR PRINT:

Paper sizes get to
know your A, B, C
As easy as A, B, C cant really be said of paper sizing conventions. Never,
fear, though, as we explain the intricacies of the various standards.

aper size is something to which we

dont give that much thought, most
of the time at least. If you have a
printer, chances are its an A4 model. If not,
itll almost certainly be an A3 inkjet, perhaps
even one that can print onto oversized A3
probably SRA3. However, have you ever
stopped to wonder where this A paper size
thing comes from?
Its all part of ISO 216, the International
Standards Organisation system of paper
sizes. The ISO system was dened in 1975,
but its based on a widely adopted 1922
German DIN standard. (In fact, its roots go
right back to paper formats developed in
1798 during the French Revolution, which
themselves came from the writings of a
German physicist in 1786.) This is used
almost everywhere in the world. Only our
American and Canadian cousins have held
back, sticking with the less-logical Letter and
Ledger sizes, and the ANSI paper sizes spun
from this just 15 years ago.
The ISO system is based on some
fascinating (well, to me at least)
mathematical logic. It starts with the largest
of the A paper sizes, A0. This has an area of

precisely one square metre, and the long size

of the paper is the short size multiplied by the
square root of two or 1.4142135 Those
of us who arent complete number freaks can
be forgiven for pausing there and feeling a
little blank. Another way to describe it is this:
the long side is the length of the diagonal line
across a square made from the shorter side.
What makes this particularly clever is that
Keith Martin is MacUsers technical
when you take the A0 sheet of paper and
editor. He has been using Macs
cut it in half, you end up with two A1 sheets.
since the beginning, and has a
background in everything from graphic
Theyre proportionally exactly the same, just
design and print to multimedia.
smaller half the area to be precise. Keep
cutting the sheets
in half and you
step down the
What makes this so clever is that when you take the A0
A paper size list:
sheet and cut it in half, you end up with two A1 sheets.
A2 to A3, A3 to
Theyre proportionally exactly the same, just smaller
A4 and so on.
This helps reduce
paper waste in
commercial printing and simplies scaled
reproduction for instance, photocopying
up or down sizes.
Put like this, it seems so obvious and
Here, you can see how cutting the sheets of paper
sensible that its strange to think this has only
in half results in the next size down, so cutting A0 in
really been standardised in most of the world
half gives you A1, dividing A1 gives you A2 and so on.

A0

Another way to describe it is this: the long side is

the length of the diagonal line across a square made
from the shorter side.

ISO 216 size ratio

A2

A4

le

ng

th

length

A1

A3
A5
width

A6
A7

077
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4 June 2010

C5 (229x162mm)

C-series paper is only used for envelopes, and these

correspond to the same-numbered A and B sheets.

during the mid- and late-20th century. Britain

settled on this in 1959, long after Iran, Italy,
Norway and dozens more.
As well as controlling production waste
and simplifying stock control, it also helps in
calculating weight. For example, a sheet of
A4 paper is a sixteenth of the area of A0. If
a papers weight is 80gsm (80 grammes per
square meter, the area of A0) then the A4
sheet is 5g (80gsm divided by 16). Use this
size stock to produce a 200-page magazine
and the result will weigh 1kg, plus negligible
allowances for cover stock and binding. Cut
this to 70gsm and 160 pages and youll save
almost a third on weight. If youll be shipping
or posting large quantities, this can be an
important concern.
Americas Letter size, shorter and wider
than A4, has a rather less-precise foundation:
its said to be based on a quarter of the
maximum reach of a papermaker vatmans
arms. Even stranger, it existed as two slightly
different sizes until the 1980s, when thenPresident Ronald Reagan stepped in and
picked one. Okay, the weight thing can be
worked out in a roughly similar way, but its
nowhere near as elegant or easy. US paper
weight is generally based on 500 sheets of
17 x 22in stock, typically then cut in four to
make Letter-sized reams. Divide the paper
weight by 2000 (1/500th of a quarter of the
given weight) to get the actual per-sheet
weight, then extrapolate up from there for
nished document weights. Not fun at all
when working in pounds and ounces.
Okay, enough history and comparison, lets
look at some practicalities. Understanding
how paper sizes relate can be very useful
when talking to printers or planning out some
work. The A sizes are nished, trimmed ones.
For paper to go through commercial printing
presses, there has to be room for mechanical
gripping, and full-bleed artwork needs to
print onto larger areas and be trimmed down

and B sheets. A particular A-sized sheet will

t into an equivalent C-sized envelope, and
that can t into a matching B-sized envelope,
although thats probably overkill in terms of
preparing something to be posted. C sizes
werent part of the original ISO or earlier
DIN standards, but as paper sizes were
standardised and post-sorting machines
were developed, it became an essential
step. Until the 1840s, all envelopes were
made by hand, and in the US and Canada
there are still dozens of different standard
sizes. (Oddly, some of those North American
envelope formats are named A2 through to
A10, although they have nothing to do with
the ISO paper sizes. Hows that for a recipe
for confusion?)
There are even more series in Sweden
they went overboard with the paper size
idea and created further ones labelled
D, E, F and G as well. Fortunately, most
arent common even in Sweden and theyre
unknown elsewhere. Japans B-series is
slightly oversized,
but otherwise it
follows the full ISO
Youre not likely to see B-size paper in ofces, but its
paper standards.
common in the printing industry, where multiple pages
The ISO
are printed together before folding and trimming
paper sizes work
together with
impressive logic.
True, the names arent as interesting as the
this copy of MacUser. It isnt always obvious,
English sizes that were ousted. From Albert to
and adverts also cloud things, but magazine
Emperor, via Foolscap, Duchess, Elephant and
structures are based on the number of pages
others; not as practical but highly evocative.
in each print production section. For example,
Youre free to choose non-standard sizes
news is usually the last to be written, laid out
for your design projects if you prefer, but
and printed, so thats done in its own section.
remember to think about how your choice
The B series is also used for envelopes,
ts into the paper size your printer uses. If
posters are also often produced in B formats,
it doesnt work out well, youll have a lot of
and B5 (larger than A5, smaller than A4) is
waste and increase your print costs. The
not an unusual nished size for books.
next time you put a sheaf of A4 paper in your
The C-series sizes are only used for
printer, take a moment to remember how this
envelopes, and the sizes are wait for it
size works and where it came from.
geometric means of the same-numbered A

afterwards. Put an R prex onto the paper

size name for sizes big enough for trimming.
SR sizes (SRA3 and so on) are big enough for
full bleed and grip as well.
There are two other ISO paper standards:
B and C. The B-series sizes are the geometric
mean (sorry, maths again) of the nearest
A-size sheets. B1 paper sits between A1
and A0 sizes, while B0s width is precisely
one metre, so the smaller sizes are clean
fractions of a metre.
Youre not likely to see B-size paper in
ofces, but its common in the printing
industry, where multiple pages are ganged
up and printed together before folding and
trimming. A B2 sheet-fed printer is typically
used for printing eight-page sections (A4 fourup, two-sided) for magazines and brochures.
B1 allows 16-page sections (A4 eight-up,
two-sided). Printing in sections is what
dictates the length of production schedules
for different magazine sections, and hence
the length of the different parts. Flick through

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

078

PHOTOGRAPHY:
Is the Digital Economy
Bill wrong for rights?
Copyright is a complex issue, which is why its so galling that the Digital
Economy Bill was passed by MPs with little understanding of it

allowing lazy designers to head straight to the

f there is a sight more depressing in
government-appointed body to license the
modern political history than watching
photo. Perhaps an unresponsive user on Flickr
40 Members of Parliament debate the
might also count as reason enough to simply
Digital Economy Bill on its second reading in
start using a photo commercially. It would
the House of Commons, I cant think of it.
have effectively turned Google Images into a
The bill, a crucial bit of legislation with widemassive stock library, controlled by a single
ranging effects on digital content creators,
government body. And, the Internet being
users and distributors, was pushed through
simultaneously enormous and more multithe second reading at the tail end of the day,
Dave Stevenson has been a camera
national than a Gap advert, photographers
with just 5% of its members present. At one
buff ever since the whirr-click of his
from other countries could potentially miss
point, just 15 MPs debated it. That made
rst auto-winding compact in 1993.
His best friends are now his camera,
out on years worth of royalty payments
for a fair few empty seats in a house with
a tripod and a copy of Lightroom.
before discovering their work had been
capacity for 646 members.
declared an orphan and was being used
The catalogue of mistakes, missteps and
to sell something in Britain.
near-disasters associated with the Digital
However, while IT-illiterate MPs wreaked
Economy Bill would be hilarious if it wasnt
merry havoc on other areas of the Internet,
going to either seriously impact creative
the ejection of clause 43
professionals or occupy a great deal of the
meant photography survived
new coalitions time as they repeal bits of
The catalogue of mistakes and near-disasters
largely unscathed. Thats very
it, as the Conservative Party has promised,
surprising, as the average
despite helping vote it through. An enjoyable
associated with the Digital Economy Bill
MP has the same grasp of
highlight of the third and nal reading was
would be hilarious if it wasnt going to
copyright nuance as the
watching Mark Todd, former Labour MP
seriously impact creative professionals
average Page 3 model does
for South Derbyshire, making the most of
of nuclear physics.
his moment in the limelight by suggesting
This was beautifully
you didnt need to notify your ISP if you
encapsulated in early April
moved house.
when the Labour Party ran a brilliantly
Importantly for the photographically
destructive poster casting David Cameron as
minded, the bill came within a whisker
Gene Hunt from the TV programme Ashes to
of costing photographers serious money.
Ashes. When I say brilliantly destructive, of
Hoisted out at the last minute, section 43
set out a new government
body for orphan works. An
orphan, it was proposed,
was a creative work whose
author or copyright holder
couldnt be found. So, if you
were a creative director who
found a great image online
but couldnt trace the author,
you could claim it and pay the
government to use it instead.
The problem and its a
problem that pervades the
entire bill, more or less was
that the clause was worryingly
non-specic about all kinds of
minutiae. It didnt specify how
much of an effort you had
to make to trace the creator
of a photo. So a picture
with its Exif data stripped
out might excuse you from
The posters that both Labour and the Conservatives thought were okay to run, despite breaching the rights of the copyright holder.
making serious enquiries,

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4 June 2010

Clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill would have allowed websites such as Flickr to become giant depositories for unscrupulous stock agencies.

course, what I mean is slapdash and lazy.

The Conservative Party instantly seized on the
image of David Cameron as a go-anywhere,
do-anything TV hero, and ran its own derivative
poster using the same image, thereby proving
my point that MPs are to copyright law what
staplers are to gunpowder.
The picture they used was a publicity
shot from Kudos, the production company
that makes Ashes to Ashes. The terms
and conditions attached to the image say
magazine and newspaper editors are free to
use it as long as theyre doing so in editorial
that promotes the show in some way.
Doing the work that Labour Party should
have done before David and Ed Miliband were
allowed to enthusiastically gurn in front of it
before the media, I established within ve
minutes that, yes, the shot was copyrighted
by Kudos; no, you cant use it for anything but
promotion of Ashes to Ashes; and, no, neither
the Labour Party nor the Conservative Party
had approached Kudos to nd out whether
it was okay for them to use the image.
Someone found it online, slapped David
Camerons face on it and before anyone could
blink it was a poster. The kicker? Kudos has
instructed its lawyers to demand that both
political parties cease using the poster.
Finding all this out took a herculean
amount of effort and the kind of detective
nous that would make Poirot blush with
pride, so its understandable that lawmakers
from both parties made such a fundamental
mistake. Sorry, what I meant to say was that
it took 10 minutes of searching online and
ve minutes more on the phone to conrm it.
Of course, political parties messing things
up is what makes the world go around in
an election month, but the near-calamity of
the Digital Economy Bill for photographers,
married to the main parties recent

Google Books is the subject of a multi-million dollar lawsuit in New York over its supposedly unlawful use of
photographers images. Clearer legislation would go some way to prevent such cases.

demonstrable lack of either knowledge or

respect for existing copyright law, suggests
theyre not the best people to be drafting laws
that will affect copyright owners.
Its not that the way work is protected
doesnt need considering. Googles impressive
books service (books.google.com) is under the

to creative types needing to go to court when

their rights were trampled on.
However, the onus is on photographers as
well. Putting full-resolution, un-watermarked
les on the Internet to share with your fans
is like wandering around West Ham wearing
an Arsenal shirt youre inviting trouble.
The easier you make it for
unscrupulous webmasters to
The main parties recent demonstrable lack of
pinch your work and pass it off
as if they have the rights to it,
knowledge of existing copyright law suggests
the more its going to happen.
theyre not the best people to be drafting laws
Protecting your work
that will affect copyright owners
doesnt mean the end of
online galleries or Flickr, but it
does mean making sure that
consideration of a court in Manhattan, where
your work is unmistakably yours, and that
the American Society of Media Photographers
its all but useless at larger sizes. Politicians
and others are suing because their work has
should be doing more to make sure they fully
been reproduced by Google. Whatever the
understand the laws on which theyre voting,
outcome, clearer legislation would put an end
but protecting your rights starts at home.

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4 June 2010

080

VIDEO:
Create a green screen for adding
special effects to your videos
Once the preserve of blockbuster movies, green screens are becoming
an increasingly popular tool. Heres how to set up your own.

against, but obviously if youre lming in front

reen screen effects may have once
of blue, you cant wear jeans and if you go for
been the preserve of big-budget
green, then its best to steer clear of khaki or
Hollywood movies, but chroma key,
any earth tones.
as its also known, is increasingly cropping up
The area that youre shooting against
in places you wouldnt expect to see it.
also needs to be one solid colour to get
Take a peek at Stargate Studios Virtual
good results once it comes to cutting out
Backlot Reel 2009 (bit.ly/d4PnpE). In addition
everything on the Mac. Depending on the size
to scenes where you would expect it to be
of the subject youre lming, youve got a few
employed, such as explosions, spaceships
Will Head is co-founder and director
options available.
and exploding spaceships, you can see that
of Fixation Video an online video
If youre just shooting the head and
its even used for general outdoor shots in
production company that specialises
in making video content for the web.
shoulders, then you could get away with a
TV shows such as Ugly Betty.
portable collapsible screen, since theres
While some of the more advanced
only a small area you need to ll. You can
techniques used still require blockbustershaped budgets, the basic
principle is simple enough to
While some of the advanced techniques used
execute with just a solid area
of colour to shoot against,
still require blockbuster shaped budgets, the
and a powerful enough Mac to
basic principle is simple enough to execute
process the video afterwards.
with just a solid area of colour to shoot against
The basic principle behind
chroma keying is to shoot
your subject in front of a
nd suitable 1.5 x 2m screens for around the
single-colour background and then remove
100 mark, and theyre often reversible, with
that colour completely, so its transparent
blue on one side and green on the other, so
once youve imported the footage to your
you have options when it comes to shooting.
Mac. So rather than standing in a studio in
If you need more of your subject in shot,
London, the actor could be on a beach in
or youre lming more than one person, then
the Caribbean or in front of the Eiffel Tower.
youll need a bigger area to shoot against. A
Alternatively, you could place a presenter in
3 x 6m fabric backdrop should be sufcient,
front of a virtual set, which saves having to
but its best to check that its designed for
put a set together each time you shoot a
Rosco makes paint specically designed for painting
chroma key work and not just as a regular
video for a regular production.
walls to create a permanent chroma key screen.
Perhaps the most important thing about
any work that involves chroma keying is to
start with the best possible footage to work
from. Since youll be digitally manipulating
every single frame, the easier you can make
the job for your Mac, the better the nal
results will be. Thats not to say you cant tidy
things up a little later, but youll have a much
easier job if you have good original footage.
The rst thing to consider is what colour
to shoot against. You could choose any shade
you like, but you need to ensure that the
colour you want to remove doesnt feature in
any part of the foreground image you want to
keep. If it does, youll end up with transparent
areas in the part of the foreground shot,
which will ruin the whole effect.
If youre shooting people, that rules out
red and leaves either blue or green (the
purer the colour, the easier it is for your Mac
Here, the subjects colours are signicantly different to the background, which makes it easy to chroma key.
to handle). You can choose either to shoot

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background. A suitable material backdrop will

set you back around 50, and youll need a
stand, too, which you can pick up for around
80 if you dont have one already.
A stand thats 2.5 x 3m will provide plenty
of space for your subjects. By draping the
fabric on the oor and taping it in position
to create a curve, youll also produce a
seamless transition that will appear to be
solid colour where the oor meets the screen.
The main disadvantage of fabric screens is
that they can often get creased or wrinkled
while being stored, so the nish isnt always
completely at.
If you have a large, smooth wall available,
then you can buy specic chroma key paint
and make your own permanent screen.
Rosco Chroma Key paint comes in both
blue and green, and a 60 tin will easily
cover a couple of walls. If the plaster nish
is smooth, then you wont need to worry
about uneven surfaces complicating your
shot. The downside of painting a wall is
covering the join where it meets the oor.
For perfect results, youll need to create a
curved ramp also called an innity cove
that blends the wall into the oor. Installing
one is considerably more expensive than
just painting a wall, however. If youre just
shooting from the waist up, though, then its
not an issue. If you do need a person fully
in shot, then the other option is to create
a raised platform for them to stand on and
paint that the same colour as the wall.
Provided the platform is far enough away from
the wall and lit correctly, the result should
appear to be solid colour to the computer.
Once youve got your screen in place,
the next thing to consider is lighting. In
addition to lighting your subject as normal,
youll also need to light the screen as evenly
as possible. Differences in light levels will
result in the colour varying in shade when the
footage is imported into your edit program, so
the more uniformly you can light it the better.
More low-power lights are better than a few
high-power ones. You also need to ensure
that theres sufcient light on the wall to avoid
any shadows being cast by your subject,
as that can also make things difcult once
youve captured the shots to your Mac.
One way to help reduce this is to place
your subject as far away from the screen as
possible. Obviously, youll need to ensure that
the screen still covers their outline, so how far
away you can move the subject depends on
how big your screen is (as well as the size of
your studio). Ideally, you should be aiming for
at least a couple of meters gap more if the
space will allow. Green light can be reected
back from the screen onto foreground
elements if theyre too close. If any of this
spills onto things you want to keep in the nal
shot, then cutting them out on your Mac will
be tricky. The greater the distance between
the screen and what youre shooting, the less
likely this is to happen.
Putting a decent amount of space
between your subject and the screen also

Uneven lighting on your green screen will create problems later on, as youll need to cut out the footage.

You need to make sure that theres sufcient light on the wall to avoid any shadows cast by your subject.

has another advantage if you then shoot

with a short depth of eld, your performer
will be in focus and the screen blurred
slightly. This helps create the appearance of
a solid area of colour and will remove some
of the imperfections in the screen, which
is especially useful if youre using a fabric
screen thats creased.
When it comes to framing your subject,
you dont have to worry about safe areas
or even too much about where they are
in the shot. Since youll be cutting out
the background, you can then place them
anywhere on the frame during the edit. The
main thing is to ensure that the background
fully covers the area behind their outline.
If they need to move during the shot, then
rehearsing this rst lets you double-check

that theyll be in front of the screen at all

times. Even if theyre going to remain relatively
static, its worth getting them to extend their
arms to ensure they dont go out of shot or
off the background.
Finally, youre ready to start lming, but
even at this stage its worth shooting some
quick test footage to check everything will
work once you get the footage onto your Mac.
If you can quickly test a shot while youre in
the studio, youll know that it works and not
have to spend a lot of time later trying to x
mistakes or possibly even reshoot.
Of course, shooting your green screen
footage is only half the challenge theres
still plenty to do once youve got it onto your
Mac, which is something well be covering in
a future column.

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082

AUDIO:
Why the iPad isnt a great
music production device yet
Apples new baby has a lot of potential, but for some musicians,
is hamstrung by lack of hardware input, at least for now.

useful on such a small screen. Most rely on

sequencing pre-created loops, drum hits,
phrases or melodies. There are tiny virtual
keyboards, guitar strings, beat boxes and
turntables, some more usable than others
and some admittedly great fun. You can
multitrack audio with apps like FourTrack and
there are external microphone accessories
that you can add too, since relying on the
iPhones built-in mic for professional recording
is a bit of a non-starter. If you do manage it
though, the recordings are at least technically
in CD quality, even if they might
feature lots of room noise and be
A broad cross-section of sensible opinion
highly directional thanks to the
design of the microphone.
seems to suggest that while its not quite
Perhaps more interesting than
the game-changer that the iPhone was on
the slew of novelty iPhone apps is
launch, its still pretty darn impressive
the upcoming app/hardware combo
from guitar bods Line 6, called the
Midi Mobilizer. From the previews
suggest that more than any of Apples other
this looks pretty handy, letting you record
devices, its all about the apps. The hardware
from any Midi keyboards Midi outputs into
is a blank canvas its what you run on it
the app on your iPhone, saving the data and
that matters.
allowing you to then email it in SMF format,
Why is this relevant to musicians? Well as
the standard for Midi les. You can also back
I have noted before, audio production is right
up there with the most heavyweight tasks
you can throw at any computer. The iPads
hardware is good, but on paper not up to
the levels we are used to needing to make
music. I admit its not quite an apples-withapples comparison (no pun intended), but
it has a 1GHz processor and 256MB Ram
very broadly what you might have got as
standard on a desktop Mac around the turn
of the century. The storage is decent enough,
with 16GB, 32GB or 64GB ash memory, and
the touchscreen is great. The problem at
the moment for anyone wanting to use it for
music creation is the lack of expandability
and inputs, the closed ecosystem and
hidden le system that would make content
creation like multitracking audio rather more
difcult than it should be.
If you have followed the coverage, you
will know that Apple isnt marketing the iPad
as a music-making machine. I dont think
even Steve Jobs legendary powers of reality
distortion could convince us that it could
replace a Mac for music, at least not yet. But
then it didnt market the iPhone as one either,
and there are hundreds of music-based apps
for that, even if most of them arent all that
pparently, Apple has released
something called the iPad, not that
Id heard about it. Okay thats not
entirely true, weve all been saturated with
news, reviews and opinions about it for weeks
now, despite the fact that at the time of
writing it had only just been released in the
US and not yet in the UK. A broad crosssection of sensible opinion seems to suggest
that while its not quite the game-changer
that the iPhone was on launch, its still pretty
darn impressive. People who have used one

Hollin Jones is a full time musician,

music producer and writer. His
music has been used in TV and
lm. In a previous life he was a
Mac support specialist.

New iPad apps like

StudioTrack demonstrate
what could be possible on
the iPad, if proper audio
input hardware existed
and was allowed by Apple.

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Daw remote control is much easier to implement over wi and there are already some excellent apps coming out, like AC-7 Pro from Saitara Software.

up settings and download them into Midicapable devices. Of course Midi data isnt
sound: its a series of instructions to tell other
software what notes to play, how hard and
in what order. Midi data must be connected
to a sound source to generate any noise. As
such, this isnt a studio replacement by any
means, but still interesting.
Which brings us back to the question of
the iPad as a viable music-making device,
given that the way you interact with it is
much the same as the iPhone, and with
the caveat that its brand new and handson experience has been limited so far. Its
probably helpful to be a bit clearer about
the phrase music making. You can break
this down into at least three categories:
music generation, audio recording and music
production. The iPhone, and by extension
the iPad, arent bad at music generation, as
this can often be achieved using synthesis
through the CPU or fairly simple algorithms
to randomise pre-created content like beats.
Audio recording is hampered by the lack
of any kind of really usable audio input
that isnt a tiny and relatively fragile mini
jack connector. Music production: editing
and using effects to create songs in a way
you could on a Mac, is still something of
a pipe dream. For all the marketing speak
surrounding the apps and as much fun
as they are, youre not going to replace a
digital audio workstation (DAW) on a Mac
with an iPad or iPhone until some of these
limitations are overcome either by Apple or
some revolutionary hardware/software product
from a third-party manufacturer.

All is not lost, though. The will is there and

for a device thats so new to market there
are quite a few music apps appearing, which
do take advantage of the best bits of the
iPad. Multitrack, GrooveMaker, Looptastic and
other catchily-titled apps to name but a few.
Sonomas StudioTrack (sonomawireworks.
com) is relatively costly at $40 (about 26),
but still much cheaper than desktop software.
Its remarkably slick and looks almost

conventional DAW running on Macs. People

have already made iPhone apps for this, but
the large screen of the iPad is perfect for
remote control. There are plenty of protocols
out there already for controlling playback
and mixing without touching the mouse or
keyboard, and these are being tapped into
already by developers to make software like
MidiPad, TrixMix 2 and Entrackment, which is
designed to control GarageBand.
This really is something
that professionals can get their
I cant see it becoming a serious recording
teeth into, and compared to
the alternatives, things like the
or production tool in itself just yet, but the
excellent but pricey JazzMutant
potential is there, and as a Daw controller,
Lemur, a basic wi only iPad, with
it already seems to be pretty advanced
an app costing under a tenner
or thereabouts is an attractive
proposition. Would I buy one just
like something Apple might have made. It
for that? Probably not at the moment, but
supports eight tracks of audio recording
I know many pros who would once theyd
(funny how things come full circle), mute and
seen it working. Recording in one room
solo, built-in effects, bounce down for added
but playing in another? No problem do
tracks and wi sync among other rather cool
it yourself with a dedicated app. In fact,
features. The problem is that it only works
other live performance controllers could be
with the iPads built-in audio hardware and
built in much the same way. Lights, VJing,
this is, I imagine, what will seriously hamper
DJing, and so on.
the chances of it being used in any really
I will eventually buy an iPad maybe a
professional setting.
second or third generation one, when like
Its difcult to imagine using the iPad as
the iPhone, the feature set has matured
it stands for anything really serious to do
sufciently. I cant see it becoming a serious
with music. Beyond the hype, the excitement
recording or production tool in itself just yet,
and hyperbole, its still a musical sketch
but the potential is denitely there, and as a
pad until Apple opens up the system or
DAW controller, it already seems to be pretty
developers port versions of their DAW to the
advanced. Lets hope that the hunger from
platform. One thing it is good for though, and
musicians to make it even better keeps the
in a professional context too, is controlling
pressure on Apple to do just that.

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084

MAC TO THE FUTURE:

3D is bringing a whole new
dimension to home entertainment
The red-and-blue glasses are long gone and 3D tech is on the rise; but one
company more than all the others has learned the lessons of the past.

ve been to Tokyo several times and I

always make time to visit Akihabara, the
area of the Japanese capital devoted to
the geekiest of pastimes: comics, games
and computers. Its true that recently,
Akihabara has become more touristy weve
got to the point where Hollywood director
McG lmed a music video set there, featuring
Kirsten Dunst singing, entirely without irony,
1980s power-pop paean to solitary pleasure,
Turning Japanese and also less relevant
to the mainstream, looking inward to the
nerdiest interests of the fanboys.
That said, this just means you have to
hunt a bit harder for the genuinely interesting
stuff. Both can be found in Super Potato,
a shop devoted to retro video games. Its
difcult to nd (although everything is difcult
to nd in Tokyo, thanks to its ludicrously
complex address system, and the fact
that I cant read or speak Japanese). Like
many Japanese businesses, Super Potato
occupies several oors of a building but
not the ground oor. The trip up the narrow,
windowless staircase nds you squeezing
past other Otaku, their shy eyes usually
hidden behind big, black-framed glasses,
backs pressed to walls lined with posters for
old Final Fantasy games.
The shop looks like a university library,
thanks to its cabbage-grey vinyl ooring,
buzzing strip lights and the fact its dominated
by oor-to-ceiling shelves. These are all
lled with old games, all neatly wrapped in
cellophane, and many are boxed and look
brand new. To a lifelong gamer, it presents
the feeling of being transported back in time
to the early 1990s, when 8-bit graphics were
realistic and the two button controller of the
Nintendo Entertainment System (Nes) was a
sophisticated input device.
I had come to Super Potato with a very
specic mission, though. Its one of the few
places in the world with a working Virtual Boy,
reputed by legend to be quite the worst piece
of hardware Nintendo ever made. Originally
introduced in 1995, it was discontinued within
a year, and effectively ended the career of
its inventor, Gunpei Yokoi. The fact that Yokoi
created the ludicrously successful Game Boy
and is credited by Marios Shigeru Miyamoto
as rening his own approach to game design,
should give you an idea of how bad a career
stopping train wreck the Virtual Boy was.

What was so bad about it? Well, that

was why I was in Super Potato. The Virtual
Boy literally has to be seen to be believed,
because its a 3D games console, and this
brings us to the crux of this column 3D is
once again the tech industrys obsession.
This years CES show was dominated by
3D televisions and Avatar proved the public
could take a 3D movie to their hearts. Sky
Alex Watson is the editor of
is trialling sports coverage in 3D, and its
Custom PC and bit-tech.net; he
making progress in games, too graphics
can survive both the blue screen
of death and a kernel panic.
chip manufacturer Nvidia launched a method
for PC gamers to see graphics in 3D, and 15
years after the Virtual Boy disaster,
Nintendo has announced a new
3D console, called the 3DS.
This years CES show was dominated by
How does this relate to
3D televisions and Avatar proved the
Apple? While the interest of the
public could take a 3D movie to their hearts
movie studios in 3D is currently
conned to the cinema, 3D lm
in the home is the obvious next
step for the industry (if not the consumer)
and whether Apple is licensed to supply
3D movies via the iTunes Store will be a

The Virtual Boy was a justly short-lived 3D games console developed by Nintendo in the mid-1990s.

085
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4 June 2010

good indicator about how the studios are

feeling about Apple. If it does start supplying
3D movies and if 3D lms become more
widely popular then there will be pressure
on Apple to start tting 3D screens to its
laptops and portable devices.
Current 3D displays involve the use of
glasses and fall mostly into two camps: those
that use polarised lenses in the glasses, and
those that use active shutters. Hollywood
lms tend to use the former; Nvidias 3D
vision is the most notable kit using the latter.
With polarised glasses, each lens has
a different polarised lter, which only lets
similarly polarised light through. The cinema
then shows a lm that comprises two
polarised images, projected onto the same
screen (this is the reason that, if you take
your glasses off in a 3D lm, you see a
very fuzzy picture its actually two images,
intentionally misaligned); when the glasses
and your brain recombine them, you see an
image with real depth.
This method works very well if youre able
to create special 3D content (something
Hollywood is happy with); active shutters can
help create depth with existing content, which
is why Nvidia has opted for it. This requires
glasses with built-in liquid crystal lters that
are wirelessly synced to the computer and
in Nvidias system, an LCD monitor running
with a 120Hz refresh rate. This is precisely
double that of a standard LCD screen. The
liquid crystal displays in the glasses icker on
and off dozens of times a second, blocking
and unblocking the lens to control what
each eye sees, while the screen displays
different images for each eye, resulting in
the perception of depth.
Weve tested Nvidias system for
MacUsers sister title, Custom PC, and in
some games its really rather good. The
problem is that as the games it works with
werent built for 3D, you end up with niggling
problems such as HUDs that are difcult
to read, and the cost of the glasses and a
120Hz screen, which are expensive and yet
often based on mediocre TN panels.
It doesnt exactly sound like an experience
Apple is going to be rushing to implement,
does it? Can you imagine Steve Jobs standing

Super Potato is located in Akihabara, an area of Tokyo thats devoted to comics, games and computers.

The fact Nintendo is going for 3D

implies its found a method it thinks can
be comfortable for the mainstream that
is social and without clunky glasses and
early indications are its either clever camera
trickery or an autostereoscopic screen from
Sharp (or a combination of both). You can see
the former in effect in a Japanese Nintendo
DSi game called Rittai Kakushi e Attakoreda,
which uses the DSis player-facing camera to
track the position of your eyes to
give the image depth. The video
is amazing, you can see it here:
The fact Nintendo is going for 3D implies
tinyurl.com/macuser3d.
that its found a method it thinks can be
Autostereoscopic screens
comfortable for the mainstream
work in much the same way as
stereoscopic 3D only without using
glasses with polarised lenses.
Instead, they use a parallax barrier, a layer
You need to press your eyes up against it,
of material placed on the screen with angled
sealing off your peripheral vision. Inside the
slits that sends slightly different visuals to
darkness, everything is bright red the Virtual
each eye of a correctly situated viewer.
Boy uses two motorised, monochrome LED
Both of these methods are signicantly
displays, and they move across your eld of
more elegant and appealing than the 3D
view to create a 3D image.
being touted by the rest of the industry and
Its a uniquely horrible experience. 3D has
as such, much more likely candidates for
always been an attempt to create a more
inclusion in an Apple product. The fact that
realistic view of the world on a at screen,
Nintendo is using one (or both) in a portable
and the Virtual Boys weird, red-and-black
gaming device whose main rival is the iPod
graphics are exacerbated by the solitary
touch only makes it all the more likely
experience created by having a sealed screen
Apple will be paying close attention.
clamped to your face.

on stage to introduce a new iMac or iPod and

producing a big pair of plastic glasses from
his pocket to use with it?
Lets return to the Virtual Boy, because it
exemplies everything thats wrong with 3D,
problems Nintendo must have xed to want
to return to 3D. The Virtual Boy looks like a
discarded prop from The Lawnmower Man, a
giant, bright red visor resting on a wiry tripod,
with a standard game controller underneath.

Images Alex Watson

Super Potato is packed full of vintage video games.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

086

iWORK:
iWork is a real hit
when it comes to charts
Creating good-looking charts and graphs can be a real chore in Excel.
Thankfully, iWorks built-in templates make the whole process a breeze.

Numbers to illustrate this table and then

copy it. Open Pages or Keynote, position the
cursor at the point you want to insert the
chart and choose File > Paste. Its really that
simple. The only thing that tripped me up the
rst time I did this was that I wasnt working
from a saved Numbers le. Neither Pages
nor Keynote will link to an untitled Numbers
document, so remember to save it rst.
Tom Gorham has worked with Macs
When you click on a chart that has been
since 1991. Although his background
copied from Numbers to Pages or Keynote,
is in print and web publishing,
hes a devotee of any software
you should see a black arrow pointing towards
that makes his life easier.
it. This arrow it can be extended to reveal
more information shows the le name of the
original Numbers document to
which its linked. Clicking on
this takes you straight back
Having one source of data for a chart or graph
to the Numbers document
obviously makes life simpler and means
making it a quick job to return
fewer chances of the data getting out of sync
and edit the data on which the
chart is based. The arrow also
includes a chunky Sync button
In fact, its so easy to create and edit
and whenever you click this, you re-import
3D bar charts, exploded pie charts and
data from the spreadsheet and the chart is
mixed charts, that Ive found myself using
automatically updated accordingly.
iWork to create diagrams that I use in other
While Ive been experimenting with
applications. Thats not as awkward a solution
this feature, Ive noticed a few things that
as it sounds. Ive exported charts from
I havent seen widely documented. For
Numbers to Adobe InDesign documents by
example, if you subsequently decide you
putting the chart on its own sheet and saving
it as a PDF (either by exporting as a PDF or
using the Print menu to create a PostScript
le and saving this as a PDF). From there, you
can drag it into InDesign, where it remains as
high-quality vector artwork.
While that has proved useful enough on
occasion, though, what I nd most underappreciated about iWork 09s charting
abilities is the way you can share chart
information across all applications.
Keeping charts and data separately
updated in each iWork application can be a
chore if the underlying data changes, and
what iWork 09 allows you to do is to share
the data from a Numbers spreadsheet and
reference it from Pages and Keynote. Having
one source of data for a chart or graph
obviously makes life simpler and means fewer
chances of the data getting out of sync.
Establishing a link to the data in different
applications is simple. If you have tabular
data in a Numbers spreadsheet that you
want to display as a chart in other iWork
Charts can look entirely different in various iWork applications, but can be linked to the same data source.
documents, you rst create a chart in

s bets a suite made by Apple,

iWork applications carry a deserved
reputation for good looks. Base
a document on one of its built-in templates
and its well nigh impossible to produce
something ugly.
And if youve ever wrestled with creating
attractive pie charts in Excel something
thats exposed my design limitations its
clear that nowhere is iWorks presentational
beauty more marked than in the charts it
creates. Whether youre in Keynote, Pages or
Numbers, graphs look great, irrespective of
the data that sits behind them.

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You can tell when a chart is linked to a Numbers spreadsheet, as you should see
a black arrow. This can be extended to display more information.

would like the chart youve already embedded

in Pages to appear in a Keynote presentation,
you can copy and paste it. The link back to
the original Numbers document survives
the second pasting. You can, however, only
use Numbers as the source of the data. If
you create a table and chart in Pages, you
can copy it to Keynote or Numbers, although
theres no link between them.
Its also important to remember that for
fairly sensible reasons the syncing works one
way only. While youre free to edit the data
and the chart in Pages or Keynote as if youd
created it locally, when you press the arrows
Sync button these changes dont translate
back to the Numbers document. In fact, an
inadvertent press of this button could ruin
everything: if youve made changes to the
data in Pages and attempt to sync these
back to Numbers, its the data from the
Numbers document that will be reimported
again and the changes to the data that you
made locally are wiped out. If youve made
changes in Pages or Keynote and want to
keep them, you need to remember to click
the Unlink button in the arrow to remove
the link between applications.
Not everything has to be the same
in Numbers and Pages charts. While the
data has to be consistent between the
applications, you can make substantial
changes to the appearance of the charts
in your Pages or Keynote for example,
changing their colours, adjusting the angle
of 3D charts or even turning them from
pie charts to bar graphs, without breaking
the link back to Numbers. You can do this
without ill effect because, although it appears
that youre copying the chart from Numbers
to other iWork documents, the link youre
actually making is to the Numbers data itself.
As an aside, as were talking about
personalising charts, its worth highlighting
the rather confusing way iWork deals with
colouring them. The obvious way for chart
newcomers to select chart colours is by
clicking the Inspectors Chart tab and
pressing the Chart Colors button, which is
useful if you need to apply a set of colours
or textures to a particular chart (click the

Theres more than one way to colour a chart in iWork often the simplest way
is to drag a colour from the Colors palette onto the chart element.

Apply All button to do this). Its just as easy

Numbers spreadsheet, even when that
to select the Graphic Inspector, and with the
spreadsheet is stored remotely something
bar or segment in a chart selected, choose a
that comes into its own if youre giving a
colour from the Fill menu. Even quicker is to
presentation somewhere while the data
drag a colour from the Colors Palette (View >
on which its based was still being worked
Colors) over the relevant element of the chart.
on back in the ofce. Its something that I
But back to linking charts. The biggest
couldnt see a way to do with iWork, even with
weakness of whats otherwise an excellent
the help of AppleScript or Automator.
feature is that charts dont automatically
It turns out that there was a simple
update either when the underlying data
solution. I just needed to keep the original
changes, or when the
document is opened or
saved. Nor do you get any
The obvious way for chart newcomers to select
indication that data in the
chart colours is by clicking the Inspectors
linked document has changed,
Chart tab and pressing the Chart Colors button
so you nd yourself nervously
pressing the Sync button
every so often, just in case.
And as theres no universal Sync button, if
Numbers document accessible on a cloud
you have linked multiple charts in a Keynote
storage service such as MobileMes iDisk
presentation, you end up having to perform
or Dropbox, and reference the chart in
the same syncing routine for each one.
Pages and Keynote from that. As long as you
Still, the features potential is superb.
remember to sync from Keynote or Pages,
I really wanted to have a chart in a
you should get the latest chart information
presentation that could update from a
no matter where you are.

Charts can even make an unblemished transition from iWork to Adobe InDesign.

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090

DIFFICULTY
RATING

create

GET MORE FROM YOUR MAC AND APPLICATIONS WITH OUR STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES

Illustrator CS5s Shape Builder tool

Building complex objects in Illustrator has become easier than ever before
with the introduction of CS5s Shape Builder tool, as we show.

n early versions of Illustrator, building

complex objects meant drawing or modifying
individual paths, cutting rectangles and
ellipses to remove unwanted areas and then
joining the endpoints together manually. It was
a slow, laborious process, often frustrated by
warning dialog boxes advising you that you were
trying to join two incompatible endpoints.
The Pathnder panel made the process a
lot easier, in that it allowed you to select pairs
of objects and combine them into one, to
remove the front object from the back one (and
vice versa), and to remove all but the overlap
between the two shapes. However, Pathnder

had its own problems: youd frequently nd

Illustrator unable to work with complex forms,
and youd have to remember the stacking order
of your objects in order to remove the front
from the back one correctly.
With Illustrator CS5, however, Adobe has
made a giant leap forwards in terms of ease
of use and sheer power of operation. The new
Shape Builder tool is an intuitive tool that you
simply drag over selected objects to combine
or remove them from the composition. This
has made object construction easier than ever
before, enabling you to work with shapes in an
entirely new way.

Illustrator CS5s Shape Builder tool

removes the pain from combining
multiple shapes. Its far more intuitive
than the Pathnder panel as you dont
have to worry about the stacking order
of objects and joining endpoints.

Steve Caplin is a designer and

illustrator working for a range of national
newspapers. His best-selling How to
Cheat in Photoshop, now in its fourth
edition, is published by Focal Press.
Kit required Illustrator CS5

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1. Start with the elliptical shapes

Were going to draw a simple graphic of a coffee mug, using only the
Rectangular Marquee, Elliptical Marquee and Shape Builder tools. Start
by drawing an ellipse for the top of the mug, then duplicate that for the
bottom (Alt-drag to move a copy; Alt-Shift-drag to move it vertically). A pair
of concentric ellipses drawn on the right will form the handle.

3. Give the object some physical presence

Another ellipse at the top of the mug will form the opening. To stylise
it further, you can add a couple of rings around it: simply duplicate
one of the original ellipses (Alt-Shift-drag it) to make two pairs of rings
that are roughly equally spaced between the top and bottom of the
mug. Here, weve set the ll to None so we can see the construction.

5. How the Shape Builder tool works

Select the Shape Builder tool from the Tool panel, or use the shortcut
Shift-M. As you move the tool over the artwork, you can see each region
marked out by a dotted grey overlay. Even though youre yet to perform
any operations, Shape Builder is already seeing the artwork as a set of
independent shapes divided by the bounding lines around each region,
rather like using the Magic Wand on a bounded Photoshop selection.

2. Draw the body that joins them

To make the body of the mug, you can use the Rectangular Marquee
tool to draw a box that lines up with the extreme left and right sides
of the ellipses youve already drawn. If you make sure Smart
Guides is switched on (Command-U), the rectangle you draw will
automatically snap to the correct points on the two ellipses.

4. Selectively manipulate objects

Shape Builder only works on selected objects, which means you can
protect other artwork on the page from the tool by selecting only those
items you want to manipulate. When you select the whole mug, the
Shape Builder tool will affect the entire artwork. Here, weve lled the
shapes with a pale yellow, set to Darken mode in the Transparency
panel, so we can see the effect more clearly.

6. Pick out the shapes you want

When you drag with the Shape Builder tool, it marks your drawn path
with a straight line between the start point and the end point, and
all the shapes that lie along that path are tinted grey. Although weve
dragged over both the bottom ellipse and the rectangular body, only
the lower two segments are highlighted here.

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092

7. Extend the active region

You can use this approach to drag over all the segments you want
included in your initial operation. Here, dragging from the bottom ellipse
all the way up into the top-right corner, within the handle area, causes all
the segments we pass over to be highlighted. In addition, the perimeter
of the selected segments are highlighted with a red stroke to make the
active region even clearer.

9. Reduce the number of strokes with a marquee

Although the Shape Builder tool defaults to tracing a straight line, if

you hold down the Shift key when dragging, you trace out a marquee
selection. This is useful for selecting multiple regions that cant be
selected with a single line drag. All the segments touched by the
marquee are selected they dont need to be enclosed by it.

11. Tidy up the top section

You can repeat the process three more times to complete the top
portion of the mug. Drag within the top third to combine all those
segments, drag across the inner top ellipse to return it to its original
form, and then repeat the process for the outer top ellipse. These last
two operations remove the rectangular body of the mug that previously
intersected the ellipses.

8. Amalgamate the complex selection

As you release the mouse button, the selected segments are

instantly merged into a single object. The grey highlighting
disappears, as does the red stroke that popped up while you were
dragging: these are both temporary indicators to aid the merging
process and dont colour or stroke the objects themselves.

10. More about strokes and marquees

This is the result, which merges all the segments in the middle portion of
the mug into a single object. Although you held down the Shift key to
perform a marquee selection, you could also have combined the objects
with the standard line selection: you would just have to have made a
couple of additional strokes to include all the segments. Fortunately,
Illustrator can now add multiple segments to an object.

12. Subtracting from a selection

If you hold down the Alt key while moving the Shape Builder tool over
a segment, its still highlighted in grey, but the cursor changes from a
small arrow cursor with a tiny plus sign next to it, indicating that the
tool was set to add two or more segments together, to a small arrow
with a minus sign, showing youre now working in Subtract mode.

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13. Click to remove

When you click the mouse button, the inner portion of the handle is duly
removed from the assembly. But you can also Alt-drag with the Shape
Builder tool, and once again the areas you drag over are highlighted.
Here, the tool is being dragged through the segments that make up the
upper ring, although were unable to drag all the way to the left without
including the upper portion of the mug in the selection.

15. Unite objects to affix the handle

Finishing the mug requires just a couple more steps. You can drag
with the Shape Builder tool from the handle into the top part of the
mug, and again into the bottom part of the mug, to unite all those
objects. You can also Alt-click within the inner ellipse at the top to
remove it from the assembly, creating the hole in the top of the mug.

14. Remove the last traces of overlaps

When you release the mouse button, the segments you dragged over
are removed, and you can repeat the process for the bottom ring.
Here, theres a small segment left behind, on the far left of the upper
ring we couldnt select it as part of the removal operation. No
problem: we can Alt-click within that unwanted object to remove it.

16. Manipulate particular strokes

As well as selecting regions, you can click the Shape Builder tool on
a stroke to select just that part of an objects perimeter here, were
selecting the lower half of the upper ellipse. When you Alt-click the
button, that part of the stroke is removed from the object. The result
is an object bounded by an open path, in which Illustrator completes
the ll by joining the two open ends of the path.

17. The Shape

Builder tools
options

Double-clicking the Shape

Builder tool opens its
Options dialog box. Here,
you can set the gap
detection as with Live
Trace and Live Paint, the
Shape Builder tool can
work around small holes
in drawn artwork. You can
also set the way the tool
highlights and strokes
rolled-over selections.
Of particular interest,
though, is the Colour
Picker, with a checkbox
thats marked Cursor
Swatch Preview.

18. Recolouring with a swatch preview

When you check the Cursor Swatch Preview

button, a tiny row of three coloured boxes
appears above the tool. When you click to
merge objects, the result is coloured using that
swatch. The three colours show a selection from
your current Swatches panel, with the selected
colour in the middle: pressing the left and right
cursor keys on the keyboard will cycle through
all the swatches you currently have available
in the document.

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094

DIFFICULTY
RATING

In association with

Creating Alpha
Transitions in Motion 4
Alpha transitions add personality to your video, so we show you how to
make your own unique transitions in Motion 4 for use in Final Cut Pro 7.

lpha Transitions were introduced as

part of Final Cut Pro 7 and theyre
a great way to create dramatic,
eye-catching and out-of-the-ordinary transitions.
While you could create the same result by
using a variety of compositing techniques
in Final Cut Pro, or any number of other
compositing applications, the real advantage
of Final Cuts Alpha Transition is that it does
all the heavy compositing work for you.
The simple, easily adjusted controls enable
you to quickly change the settings and timing
of the transition without having to recreate or
unnecessarily manipulate the elements that
go into creating that transition. You can also
save your Alpha Transition as a favourite just

Kit required Motion 4, Final Cut Pro 7

like any other effect, ready to be reused again

and again, saving you the job of rebuilding the
transition each time.
To get started, you can download a free set
of Alpha Transitions for both HD and SD work
from Apples website (apple.com/nalcutstudio/
resources) and you can buy others from a
variety of third-party sources.
However, the real fun and value of Alpha
Transitions is to be had by creating your
own. In this tutorial, well look at the different
elements needed for an Alpha Transition and
how you can create those elements in Motion
4. Well also consider some of the things of
which you should be aware to get the very
best results from your new transitions.

Chris Roberts is an experienced professional

video editor who teaches at NTI Birmingham,
one of Europes leading Apple Authorised
Training Centres, boasting a world-class roster
of Apple Certied Master Trainers and Apple
EMEIA Mentor trainers. Teaching-certied
courses cover Final Cut Studio applications
for both beginners and advanced levels.

In association with

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4 June 2010

1. Create a new
Motion project

Open Motion 4
and create a new
project. Were
using the DVCPRO
HD 1080i50
preset to match
the source footage
and sequence
settings used in
our Final Cut Pro
project. Choose
Edit > Project
Properties
(Command-J)
and ensure the
background is set
to transparent and
your project is the
correct duration of your completed Alpha Transition. Here, were
using a two-second (50-frame) duration.

2. Create animated elements

Use the Paint Stroke tool (press P) to draw a stroke across the
Canvas. Press Command-2 to go to the Library and apply the Write
On behaviour. It will match the strokes 50-frame duration. In the
Inspector, set the Shape Outline parameter to Draw and Erase. Click
the Shape tab and look for Outline settings in its Style pane. Set
Brush Type to Airbrush, then adjust the width and spacing so the
paint dabs are close. In the Geometry pane, change the Shape Type
to B-Spline and increase the roundness to further smooth the path.

3. Changing the colour and width of the stroke

TIP
Jump across to the Stroke pane,
change the Stroke Color Mode to Color
Over Stroke and use the gradient
control to adjust the strokes colour,
starting and ending opacity.

095

Further down the pane, click on the

disclosure triangle next to Width Over
Stroke. It expands to reveal a graph.
Add new control points somewhere near
its centre, and then increase the values
so the stroke lls the screen near the
mid-point of the animation.

Return to the Style pane and tick

the Additive Blend option to give
your stroke a nice glow as the
dabs overlap.

Parameter
sliders top
out at a reasonable
maximum value, but
you can go beyond that.
Either drag a control
point upwards beyond
the top of a graph, or
click in the numeric eld
and type a value, or click
and hold the mouse
button on that eld and
keep dragging right.

4. Export to Apple ProRes 4444

Watch your paint stroke animate and further adjust

the settings as necessary. Remember that you can
leave Motion looping playback as you make these
adjustments and, provided your Mac is powerful
enough to render the effect youre building, this
allows you to preview the effects in real time.
Once youre happy with your paint stroke,
choose File > Export and export your video with the
default settings. The Apple ProRes 4444 codec will
preserve the transparency of your Motion projects
background. Next, import this video le into your
Final Cut Pro project.

In association with

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096

TIP

5. Apply and adjust your Alpha Transition

Select an edit point in your Final Cut Pro sequence and choose Effects
> Video Transitions > Wipe > Alpha Transition. Double-click the transition
to change the duration to two seconds. Drag your imported video le to
the Clip clip well. With the transition full screen at its mid-point, it should
hide the underlying edit. Use the Mid-point Offset slider to adjust this cut
point within the duration of the transition if required.

To save this
transition as
a favourite, double-click
the transition and
choose Effects > Make
Favorite Effect. Your
transition will be added
to the Favorites bin at
the top of the Effects
tab in the Browser.
Rename this transition,
then right-click it and
choose Set Default
Transition. You can
now quickly apply this
completed transition
to an edit point or group
of clips by selecting
them in the timeline
by pressing Command-T.

6. Working with wipe mattes

TIP

Change the amount of Motion Blur for

animated objects in a projects properties
under the Render Settings tab. Adjusting the number
of samples gives a higher-quality effect, while shutter
angle denes the blurs size. Motion Blur is only
rendered in your exported le if you enable it (see
step 6) via the Render pop-up menu in the Canvas
or in the Export Options box (see step 11).

7. Creating the
wipe matte

Open the Project Pane (F5)

and create a new group
below the existing Buzzsaw
group. Move to the start
of the project and select
the Bzier Tool. In the HUD
(F7), ensure Fill is selected,
set to white, and Outline is
deselected.

In this next example, were creating a

two-second animated buzzsaw transition.
Weve already animated the buzzsaw
graphic with a Throw behaviour and a
Rate parameter behaviour applied to
the images Z-rotation parameter.
Weve also enabled Motion Blur (View
> Render Options > Motion Blur) to give
the sense of a spinning blade. However,
because the buzzsaw wont ll the entire
screen, we have to create a wipe matte
to complete the transition so that when
we apply this to a cut point in Final
Cut Pro, the blades motion across the
screen will seamlessly blend from one
clip into another.

Press Shift-V and

scale the Canvas to
see the full view area.
Draw a shape over the
Canvas (remembering to
go through the buzzsaw
and around the hole
in the middle, as that
portion of the graphic is
transparent and the video
thats beneath it will show
through). Rename the new
Bzier layer Wipe-Matte.

In association with

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8. Animating the wipe matte

In the Wipe-Matte layers Properties

tab, open the Position parameter, rightclick the X parameter and add the Link
parameter behaviour.

In the Layers tab, click and hold on the Buzzsaw layer and drag it into the Source Object well of
the Link behaviour. Use the X-offset value to realign the wipe matte correctly under the buzzsaw.
Your wipe mattes X position is now linked to the movement of the saw.

9. Exporting the clip and wipe matte

In the Layers tab, disable the Wipe-Matte group by unchecking the

activation box. Press Command-J and ensure that your projects
background is transparent. Export it as an Apple ProRes 4444
video le called Buzzsaw-Clip. Disable the Buzzsaw group and
re-enable the Wipe-Matte group. Export another video le, this time
using the DVCPRO HD 1080i50 settings (or whichever settings
best match your project preset) called Buzzsaw-Wipe-Matte.

11. Using clip alpha mattes

If you need to send your custom Alpha

Transitions to an editor via the Internet,
you may be able to reduce the le size
by using a foreground clip that doesnt
have an alpha channel. In this case,
youll need to create an additional le for
the Clip Alpha Matte well, which will be
used to create an alpha channel using
standard compositing techniques.

10. Using the clip and wipe matte videos

Import these les into your Final Cut Pro project

and reset the existing Alpha Transition. Drop the
Buzzsaw-Wipe-Matte le into the Alpha Transitions
Wipe Matte clip well. Where the matte is white,
it shows the transitions outgoing clip. Where its
black, it shows the transitions incoming clip. Drop
the Buzzsaw-Clip le into the Alpha Transitions
Clip clip well to set the transitions foreground.

TIP

With Scale
Transition
Asset Durations
selected, adjusting an
Alpha Transitions
duration in Final Cut
Pro adds or removes
frames as required.
This may result in a
loss of temporal
quality and
inconsistent playback
as frames are skipped
or repeated.

In Motion, ensure the Buzzsaw group

is enabled and the Wipe-Matte group is
disabled, then choose File > Export. In
the dialog box, choose an appropriate
output codec other than Apple ProRes
4444 (based on your project settings).
Click Options and then the Output tab
in the Export Options box. Make sure
Motion Blur is enabled if required. Once
exported, choose File > Export and click
Options again. In the Output tab, change
the Color to Alpha and again enable
Motion Blur if required. Use the rst le
in the Clip clip well and the second le
in the Clip Alpha Matte well. This creates
transparency on the new foreground clip
wherever the matte is black.

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098

DIFFICULTY
RATING

Create your own

eBook in InDesign
InDesign can turn your publications into eBooks for the iPad. We show
you how to do that while working around some of the limitations.

hanks to the iPad, the ePub format

has gone from being the name of
a dull but worthy technical format
used by devices someone else owned to
something of major interest to the whole
publishing industry. This is the format used
in the Apple iBookstore, and it is an
open-source standard. It can contain DRM,
but it isnt, itself, proprietary. These ePub
les can be read in many other tools too,
including Adobes Digital Editions reader
software. In this tutorial, we use this
for testing our work.
The ePub format is actually based
on a zipped folder with a specic set of
items inside. It uses XHTML and CSS, and
its possible to create these with a text
editor, some code reference guides and
a great deal of patience.

Here were going to look at using InDesign,

which is a much more visual and friendly tool
to use, to do this.
If you havent looked into this before,
you may nd what the ePub format can and
cant do is quite surprising. In the regular
sense, the ability to design layouts in ePub
form is largely non-existent, but from an
information design standpoint this is a rather
interesting development.
Both InDesign CS4 and CS5 have ePub
export features, referred to as Export
for Digital Editions and Export for ePub,
respectively. InDesign CS3 can do this too, to
an extent, but we recommend that you dont
bother until youve upgraded to at least CS4.
The following steps were performed
using InDesign CS5, but doing this in CS4 is
essentially the same.

Keith Martin is MacUsers technical

editor. He has been using Macs
since the beginning, and has a
background in everything from graphic
design and print to multimedia.
Kit required InDesign, Adobe Digital Editions

PART 1: FORMATTING
Creating an ePub book requires thinking in a
slightly different way from normal. First of all,
you cant just take a regular page layout and
convert it to the ePub format. Instead, you
have to create everything using an inline
structure that uses a single owing stream of

text, with graphic elements inserted within

the text ow.
Yes, this can impose restrictions on the
layout possibilities, but theres nothing you
can do about it. In fact, just put aside any
ambitions to make layout-driven, design-rich

ePub pages. It isnt that this is something

were waiting for (as such, anyway), it is more
that the whole ePub-based eBook concept
isnt about sophisticated layout. It is a way to
read information in a virtual book-like manner,
with exible attitudes to page breaks.

DOCUMENT SETUP

1. Getting started

First, create your document. The concept of page size in eBooks

is vague and variable, but begin with something more book-sized
than magazine-sized; B5 is a good choice. eBooks dont
automatically show facing pages, but you may nd it useful to
see a couple of pages at a time as you work.

2. Working with multiple documents

If you are dealing with a long document, you may nd it easier to

work with multiple documents set as an InDesign book. Choose
File > New > Book to control everything using the Book panel.
Use the panels menu to add and reorder InDesign documents,
update cross-references and export to ePub format.

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3. Hold the front page

Your rst page should hold your cover image. This is the one thing
that wont be placed in the ow of text, so it is seen as a separate
entity. This should be a single graphic, and in our experience a box
size of 348 x 502 points or pixels (123 x 177mm) is the maximum
thats used in Adobes reader.

4. Set the margins

Set your margins to something comfortable; InDesigns half-inch default

is ne. Just remember youre not making a regular layout, youre just
approximating a typical eBook display area. On the page after your
cover, make your text box. When you place text into it, hold down the
Shift key so InDesign ows it into as many new pages as necessary.

TYPE

TIP

Embedded
fonts work in
Adobe Digital Editions,
the free eBook reader
software. Internally,
this uses the regular
@font-face CSS2 spec.
Sadly, however, this fails
to work in the majority of
todays eBook readers. If
you rely heavily on this,
youll be rudely awakened
when you test it in less
forgiving readers.

7. Need some space

5. Choose your type

Adobe
Ado offers the ability to embed fonts
in your published ePub les. If you use
Ope
OpenType
fonts this works, and it also
wor for many, but not all, TrueType
works
fon Forget attempting this with
fonts.
Pos
PostScript
fonts, though.

If you want to have spacing between paragraphs, set this in the

Indents and Spacing section of the Paragraph Styles Options for
the relevant style. Alternatively, do this in the Paragraph panel
for one-off uses. Simply adding Returns wont work as these are
collapsed down in the nal ePub eBook display.

6. Setting up a style guide

Whether youre embedding fonts or not, set up paragraph and

character styles for your type formatting. This way, youll get
control over size, style and position, at the very least. But dont
use InDesigns Nested Styles feature; its not built into the ePub
export. Apply all styles directly, or through style mapping or
generation when importing styled text.

8. Produce bulleted or numbered lists

Select your text, go to Type > Bulleted & Numbered Lists, and pick
either Apply Bullets or Apply Numbers. These are mapped to unordered
or ordered HTML lists in the output. If you dig into the le and use
custom CSS, you can control these structures.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

100
GRAPHICS
9. Scale and align graphics

You can scale graphics, but

remember that the images will
be resampled to screen
resolution in the end result.
When output, images are
smaller, relative to text, than they
appear inside InDesign. Again,
this underlines how unsuitable
ePub is for pixel-precise layouts.
When aligning images, dont use
the Custom options in the Anchored Object
Options dialog. Although Adobe suggests
using this, it doesnt make any difference
to the nal ePub output. Instead, use
standard paragraph alignment settings (left,
centred and right) to position the graphic
horizontally. Cut and paste elsewhere in the
text ow to reposition vertically.

10. Use custom positioning

If you want to create a single document thats useful for both print and
ePub output, you could use custom positioning to get the print output
to look more interesting. As long as the graphics are pasted into the
right point in the text ow thats where theyll appear in the ePub
output. This approach brings the possibility of a not-insignicant level
of work, so consider your options.

11. Indenting a graphic

If you want to indent a graphic, you can either use non-breaking

spaces (Command-Alt-X) or other boxes. Text boxes dont work, and
graphic boxes with no content arent preserved in the output.
Graphic boxes, however, do publish with the image dragged out
of the visible bounds. All this type of fudging is frowned upon
though, so try to get around the need to do this.

PART 2: NAVIGATION
So whats left for the eBook
designer to work with? The ePub
format isnt that useful for the
illustrated non-ction market, at
least not as it stands. Its also a
non-starter for magazines. But
if youre publishing text books,
ction, reference works or any
publication where simple image
alignment within the text ow is
good enough, theres a lot that can
be done. You may have to rethink
your ideas about presentation, but
it isnt a pointless exercise.
Enough of the layout difculties;
instead, think about how eBooks
are supposed to enhance the
reading experience; not by form
but by function. Bookmarking, notetaking, searching and interactive

table of contents navigation are all

things that make eBooks more
useful than their printed cousins.
Setting up a Table of Contents
(TOC) is important for all but the
shortest eBooks, as this helps
readers jump to different sections
in the publication. There are two
different ways of implementing
these: as a section of text with
navigation links and as a specic
navigation panel or menu thats
shown separately from the actual
content. Dont try using InDesigns
TOC-generating feature; that data
is stripped from the ePub output.
Instead, use hyperlinked text
or rather, the cross-reference
variety as that adds automatic
control possibilities later.

NAVIGATION PREPARATION

12. Adding section headers

Start by making sure that your section headers have their own
distinct paragraph style. Just select an instance of your styled-up
section header text, choose New Paragraph Style from the
Paragraph Styles panels menu, name it and click OK.

101

13. Add cross-references

Move to the start of your text and

choose Type > Hyperlinks &
Cross-References > Insert
Cross-Reference. Choose
Paragraph from Link To, pick your
section head style from the list on
the left, then choose the correct
item from the right-hand one.
Choose Full Paragraph or
Paragraph Text as the format.
Press OK. Now add another crossreference. Repeat until all your sections
are listed. InDesign wraps each crossreference in double-quotes. You can
remove these and customise the text if
you like, being careful not to delete the
original text. But before you do anything,
make sure you understand the options.

14. Edit section headers and update cross-reference links

Choosing Type > Hyperlinks & Cross-References > Update Cross

Reference will sync your handmade TOC with the linked text. Use this
to control your cross-link TOC text, or leave the editing to the end.

15. Customise cross-link items

If you dont want quotes and want to customise your cross-link

items, youll need to edit the cross-reference formats or make a
new one. In the New Cross-Reference dialog, click on the pencil
icon. Here, you can edit an existing format to update existing
cross-references or make a new one with the + button.

NAVIGATION SETUP
To make a true table of
contents that shows
in the Digital Editions
navigation pane or the
navigation menu of
most other eBook
readers, use InDesigns
Table of Contents
Style dialog.
With your section
headers (or whatever
you want to use as your
navigation targets)
styled, choose Layout >
Table of Contents Styles.
In this dialog, click
Edit to edit the default
TOC style.

16. Style guide

You can ignore the

options for styling the
TOC; it wont be used
in your page content.
Select the style used
for your section
headers (and any
others you want
to include) in the
right-hand list and
Add it to the eld on
the left. Click OK, and
the setting up is done.
All the important work
was done when you
applied the chosen
section head style in
the rst place.

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4 June 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS SETUP

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102
EXPORTING

TIP

17. Adding metadata

18. Export your ePub document

If youre an
InDesign CS4
user, choose the Dened
Styles, Include Embeddable
Fonts and View eBook after
Exporting options in the
General section, then go
to the Contents section.
Pick XHTML as the format
and enable the Include
InDesign Table of Contents
Entries. The Default style
is automatically selected.
Click Export.

One last step before generating your ePub document involves

adding the metadata. Choose File > File Info, and add the
document title, author, description, keywords and copyright
notice. The rest is ignored by the ePub export, so you can
ignore it as well, at least for this project.

Choose File > Export for > EPUB (or

File > Export for Digital Editions if youre using CS4), name the
le, and check through the export options in the next window.
Include the documents metadata and add the publisher data
the one bit of data not handled in the previous step.

19. View your eBook

20. The finished article

21. Customise your eBooks CSS

22. Validate your eBook

If youre using InDesign CS5, choose the Page Layout ordering

and View eBook after Exporting options in the General section,
then go to the Contents section and choose XHTML for the ePub
format and include the InDesign TOC entries. The Default style is
automatically selected. Make sure all the boxes in CSS Options
are ticked, then click Export.

You can use the free Sigil utility from code.google.com/p/sigil to

delve into the code of an ePub le and customise the CSS. There
are some rendering errors in this application, but it generally does
a good job of opening up the technical parts of what InDesign has
generated for you, should you want to explore this area.

Your ePub document will be opened in Adobe Digital Editions,

so you can test things out and see what changes you need to
make. Once youre satised, you can move on to uploading
your ePub document for others to use. InDesigns output throws
errors in many ePub validators, but Lulu.com accepts these.

You can validate your document against the epubcheck 1.0.5

standard that Apple expects at bit.ly/doxcDw. It trips with an
invalid date format, but were told this isnt a problem. If you have
an account at Lulu.com, you can add iBookstore distribution and
upload your ePub le. Theyll take it from there, but be certain
your ePub eBook is ready.

DONT MISS OUT: SUBSCRIBE BY CALLING 0844 844 0063

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The Mac is attractive and easy to use,

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103

www.macuser.co.uk
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104

Beginners Guide to...

Mail
Here, we take you on a guided tour of Apples
email application, an integral part of Mac OS X.

ail is Apples default email application. It works

with the companys own MobileMe service, as well
as regular Pop and Imap servers, so has excellent
all-round support for common industry standards.
As an integral part of the operating system, it works well
with other tools in Mac OS X, including Address Book, from
which it can draw names and addresses, and iCal, to which
it can post appointments and reminders.
Here, well walk through the key parts in its interface and
explore a security feature that could save you from a deluge
of unwanted email.

UNREAD COUNTS
The numbers in lozenges show you
how many unread message you have
in each account.

Mail doesnt display remotely hosted images by default,

as these can be tagged to reference your email address.

If you want Mail to display remotely hosted images, just click

the load Images button on the blue strip below the toolbar.

ANTI-SPAM MEASURES

unsubscribe link. Spammers can tag these

images so each one is unique, and tie those
unique references to the email address to
which each message was sent.
Opening the message calls down those
images from the server so they can be
displayed in the body of the message and,
as with the rogue unsubscribe link, conrms
your email address as valid and active.
For this reason, Mail doesnt display
remotely hosted images by default; instead,
it builds up the body of the message with
empty image holder boxes. However, if
youre absolutely sure you know who the
sender is and youre happy for them to
continue sending you messages, click the
Load Images button on the blue strip below
the toolbar and theyll be downloaded and
inserted into the message.

We all know that we shouldnt click on links

in emails from people we dont know, and
we should also all know that clicking the
unsubscribe link in a spam email is often
a shortcut to getting even more junk mail.
Why? Because all youre doing when you
click on such a link is conrming that your
email address works. In all likelihood, youve
just automatically added your details into
a veried database that can be sold for
megabucks to the highest spamming bidder.
However, did you know that you could
be conrming your address as an active,
valid destination simply by opening and
reading your messages? Opening any email
that makes use of remotely hosted images
may have the same effect as clicking that

105

SEARCH BOX

All of your mailboxes are organised in

the sidebar. You can add as many as
you like and click on each one to see
only the messages it contains. Clicking
Inbox shows all messages in all
incoming mailboxes together.

Mail plugs into Spotlight, Mac OS Xs

system-wide search tool, so its search
tool is both fast and comprehensive.
Enter your search term here and the
results will show up in the mailbox
below. The more you type, the better
it will lter the results.

HIGHLIGHTED MESSAGES
Rules allow you to mark out important
messages so that theyre quickly brought to your
attention. Here, all emails from Apple are given
a blue background. Related messages will also
be highlighted so that clicking on one shows you
which other ones could be relevant.

JUNK MAIL BOX

SENT BOXES

Mail tries its best to recognise spam

and lter it out. Messages it believes are
unwanted will be dropped in the Junk
folder. You should check in here periodically
to make sure its doing it right and rescue
any mislings. The more often you do this,
the more accurate it will become.

Your outgoing messages are kept

separate from your incoming mail. This
makes it easier for you to sort through
your mail. Again, these are separated
according to the account from which
each message was sent.

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4 June 2010

MAILBOXES

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106

Switching to the Mac:

Expos

Take a closer look Even with the

windows neatly arranged, it can be
difcult to pi
pick out the one you want.
Rolll over
Rol
over on
one
e and
and pre
press
ss the Sp
Space
ace ba
barr
to take a closer look. Keep rolling around
und
to inspect other windows, too. When
youve found the correct window, click
ck on
it and youll be returned to the Desktop
with
wit
h that
that wi
window at the front of the st
stack
ack
and re
ready
ady to us
use.
e.

03

02

About Expos

Working on
n your
your Ma
Macc gets
gets me
messy
ssy wh
when
en
lots
lot
s of
of wind
wind
indows
ows ar
are
e open
open
pen.. Expo
Expo
xpos
s get
gets
s
the si
situa
tuatio
tua
tion
n unde
underr cont
control wi
with
th some
keyboard
keyboa
key
board
rd and mo
mouse
use sh
short
shortcuts
ortcut
cuts
s that
that wi
willll
help you to get around your applications
windows. It takes all of the windows
on your Desktop and tiles them neatly,
without overlaps, so you can nd the one
you want among many. There are different
ways to use it: with keyboard shortcuts,
mouse buttons and on-screen gestures.

01

Via the Dock Click and hold an

applications icon in the Dock to see all of
its open windows. In this mode, click on the
icon for another application thats running and
its windows will appear instead.

Open and minimised windows Expos

divides windows into two groups. Those
above the line are open and visible on
the Desktop, while the ones below it are
minimised into the Dock.

Expos preferences

04

Go straight into Exposs preferences by holding down Alt

and pressing the Expos key, or open System Preferences
from the Apple menu and click the Expos & Spaces icon.

05

06

5
07

You can set each corner of the screen to trigger different

Expos actions, or to start the screen saver or put your
Macs display to sleep. Provided you set the corresponding
action in the Security pane to immediately request your
password, that allows you to lock your Mac without logging
out when youre leaving your desk for a while.

Click one of the pull-down menus in this pane and hold

down any combination of Shift, Ctrl, Alt and Command, and
the symbols for those keys appear in the menu. You need to
hold that same combination when moving the pointer to a corner
of the screen to trigger the action, which helps prevent Expos
kicking in when youre trying to use Apple or Spotlight menus.

If youre using a multi-button mouse and as long as

Mac OS X recognises all of its buttons (which may
require installing additional software from the manufacturers
website), you can assign Expos functions to those buttons.

107

Spaces preferences

Spaces gives you several Desktops on

which to arrange your applications. Theyre
not real Desktops, of course its just a
way for you to tell Mac OS X that you want
to work with a specic set of applications

(or even just one) at a time. When you

jump to another space, Mac OS X shifts
everything else out of the way so that you
can concentrate on the applications you
want to use at that precise moment.

01

Click the + and - buttons to create up to

16 spaces in a grid of up to four columns
and four rows.

Applications can be assigned to a space

in two ways. First, you can click the plus
button to pick from a list of applications that
are running. Second, you can choose Other
from the list and browse to the application.
Hold down Command if you want to add more
than one application, or you can drag them
into this box from the Finder.

You can set applications to appear in one

space or all of them, so you can always
keep an eye on iChat or iTunes in its Mini
Player mode, for instance.

4
03

02

05
04

Jump between spaces by holding down

Ctrl and using the arrow keys, or by
holding down Ctrl and pressing a number.
Ctrl-0 takes you to space 10 and Ctrl-Alt-1
through Ctrl-Alt-6 take you to spaces 11
through to 16. You can customise these
shortcuts just as you can for Expos: go to
Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts. Just make
sure your choice doesnt clash with shortcuts
in your favourite applications.

Press F8 to zoom out and see all spaces.

In this view, you can drag windows to new
spaces. Hold down Command at the same
time and any other windows that belong to
the same application will follow suit. Windows
can also be moved by dragging them to the
edge of the Desktop and holding the pointer
there until you jump into the adjacent space.

Expos and keyboard shortcuts

Recent Apple keyboards have special

icons on the function keys. The one
marked F3 shows a rectangle with several
smaller ones inside it, which represents
the Desktop and windows within it. Thats
the Expos key, and it behaves differently
depending on which other keys you hold
down before pressing it.
Pressed on its own, the Expos key shows
windows for all applications that are running.
Hold down Ctrl and press it to show only the
current applications windows. Holding down
Command, every window is moved out of the

08

way so you can interact with the Desktop to

open les or drag them into windows.
While dragging a le, you can press the
same combination to bring back the windows
or use the other Expos shortcuts to once
again tile the windows and nd the one you
want to drop the le into. To do that, drag the
le over a window preview and hold it there
for a short while until youre returned to the
Desktop with that window in front.
You can also trigger Expos by dragging a
le icon over an application icon in the Dock
and holding it there for a moment.

If you kept your old PC keyboard or just

prefer a different type, you can still
access Expos with function keys. As you
dont have an Expos key, instead press F9
to show windows for all applications running,
F10 to show only the current applications
windows, and F11 to temporarily move all
windows out of the way. These shortcuts
can be changed in System Preferences.
Try setting them in Keyboard > Keyboard
Shortcuts > Expos and Spaces as you can
pick from more key combinations there than
you can in Exposs own preferences pane.

09

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4 June 2010

Spaces

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4 June 2010

108

THE MAC RANGE

Apple has a variety of Macs to suit different
needs and pockets. Find out which ones for you.

pples Mac range can be split into

six families: three desktop and three
laptop. Of these two, the Mac Pro
and MacBook Pro are aimed at professional
users. Of the others, the iMac will suit anyone

but the most power-hungry user; the Mac mini

is a budget option for those who already have
a keyboard, mouse and display; the MacBook
is the budget laptop; and the MacBook Air is
for anyone who values portability.

MAC PRO
The Mac Pro hasnt been updated in over
a year and, with the imminent launch of
Intels six-core Gulftown processors, a
new model is likely to appear soon. The
new chips, which will be marketed as
Xeon 5600, will run at up to 3.33GHz
and have 12MB of Level 3 cache. Theyll
almost certainly be used in dual-processor
congurations in the Mac Pro, giving a
total of 12 cores.
The current Mac Pro range comprises
two models, one with a 2.66GHz quad-core
processor and the other with two 2.26GHz
quad-core processors. Both have 8MB of
shared Level 3 cache and an option to
upgrade to 2.93GHz, and an integrated
memory controller with three channels
that delivers up to 2.4 times the memory
bandwidth of the previous model, while
cutting memory latency by up to 40%.

iMAC

The current family of iMacs features 21.5in and 27in

16:9 widescreen displays. The enclosure is aluminium and
the glass screen covers the full width of the computer.
The iMacs have Core 2 Duo processors starting at
3.06GHz, which can be upgraded to 3.33GHz. Theres also
a 27in model with a 2.66GHz Core i5 quad-core processor,
which can be upgraded to Core i7.
All four iMacs come with 4GB of Ram, which can be
upgraded to 8GB on the 21.5in models and 16GB on the
27in iMacs. One of the 3.06GHz, 21.5in models has a
500GB hard drive, while the others all ship with 1TB disks.
Those drives can be upgraded to 2TB, but the 500GB
disk cant be changed. For graphics, the least expensive
model has an Nvidia GeForce 9400M, the next two have
ATI Radeon HD 4670 chips with 256MB of Ram, while
the Core i5 model has an ATI Radeon HD 4850 with
512MB of Ram. The Core 2 Duo 27in model can have
its graphics upgraded to the Radeon HD 4850.
All iMacs have a built-in iSight video camera, AirPort
Extreme 802.11n wi networking, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR,
Gigabit Ethernet, a total of four USB 2 ports, one
FireWire 800 port and a built-in SD card slot.

The quad-core model costs 1940 and

has 3GB of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRam,
which can be upgraded to 8GB. The eightcore Mac Pro costs 2553 and boasts
6GB of the same high-spec memory, which
can be upgraded to 32GB.
Both have 640GB serial ATA, 7200rpm
hard drives, although storage can be
expanded up to 4TB via four 1TB serial
drives in the Macs four drive bays. Theres
also a 18x double-layer SuperDrive for
reading and writing DVDs and CDs.
The Mac Pros Nvidia GeForce GT
120 graphic card with 512MB of GDDR3
memory provides both Mini DisplayPort
and dual-link DVI video output, providing
almost three times the previous
performance. For even more graphics
power, the ATI Radeon HD 4870 card
is also available.

109
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4 June 2010

MACBOOK

Theres only one MacBook currently

available a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
model in a white polycarbonate
unibody enclosure, costing 849.
It has 2GB of DDR3 SDRam, a 250GB
hard drive, an Nvidia GeForce 320M
graphics processor and an 8x doublelayer SuperDrive. Theres a Gigabit
Ethernet connection, two USB 2 ports,
and digital/analogue audio input
and output. Battery life is quoted
at 10 hours.

MACBOOK AIR

The two MacBook Air models have Core 2 Duo

processors running at 1.86GHz and 2.13GHz,
and cost 1174 and 1378 respectively.
Both have 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRam
and Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics. The
1.86GHz model has a 120GB hard drive,
while the 2.13GHz MacBook Air has a 128GB
solid-state drive. Neither has a SuperDrive
nor an SD card slot. Both have a single USB
socket and audio output jack. Battery life is
quoted at ve hours. The MacBook Air and
all the MacBook Pros have Mini DisplayPort
connectors to attach external displays. These
can be used to connect to DVI and VGA
displays by using adaptors, which are sold
separately. All have built-in iSight cameras,
802.11n wi and Bluetooth.

MAC MINI

The Mac mini ships in three

congurations. Two have a
SuperDrive and Snow Leopard
installed, while the other
one has two hard drives, no
SuperDrive and ships with
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server
installed on one drive.
The Server model has a 2.53GHz Core
2 Duo processor, dual 500GB hard drives,
4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRam and
Nvidias GeForce 9400M graphics chip.
The hard drive, memory and graphics card
cant be upgraded.
Of the other two models, one has a
2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of
Ram and an 160GB hard drive. The other
has a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processor,
4GB of Ram and a 320GB hard drive. The

2.26GHz model can have its processor

upgraded to 2.53GHz, its Ram boosted
to 4GB, and the hard drive expanded to
320GB or 500GB. The other model can
have a processor upgrade to 2.66GHz and
a 500GB hard drive.
Both of the latter models have the
Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip and
an 8x SuperDrive.

MACBOOK PRO

The 13in MacBook Pro now has

the Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics
processor, which has 48 processing
cores, three times more than the
9400M processor in its predecessor.
A 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with a
250GB hard drive costs 999 and a
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 320GB
hard drive costs 1249. Both models
have 4GB of Ram and a quoted battery
life of 10 hours.
The 15in and 17in models get Intel
Core i5 and i7 processors, and a new
graphics-switching technology that
toggles between more powerful Nvidia
GeForce GT 330M and energy-efcient
Intel HD Graphics processors. The
Core i5 and i7 processors include an
integrated memory controller, hyperthreading, and Turbo Boost.
The 15in MacBook Pro is available
in three congurations: one with a
2.4GHz Intel Core i5 and 320GB hard
drive priced at 1499; one with a
2.53GHz Intel Core i5 and 500GB
hard drive at 1649; and one with a
2.66GHz Intel Core i7 and 500GB hard
drive at 1799. The 17in model has a
2.53GHz Intel Core i5 and 500GB hard
drive for 1899. All the above MacBook
Pros have 4GB of Ram.
All models have LED-backlit wideangle displays at up to 1920 x 1200
pixels on the 17in, while the 15in
model is available with an optional
high-resolution 1680 x 1050 display.
Apple also offers 128GB, 256GB
and 512GB solid-state drives (SSDs) as
an option on all models, together with
other build-to-order options that include
bigger and/or faster 7200rpm hard
drives and the option to double the
amount of memory to 8GB of Ram.

MAC BASICS
Every Mac desktop has Gigabit Ethernet,
Bluetooth and 802.11n wi as standard,
with the exception of the Mac Pro, on
which the wi card is optional. The Mac
mini and Mac Pro have ve USB 2 ports,

while the iMac has four. The Mac Pro and

iMac also have FireWire 800 connections:
four on the Mac Pro and one on the iMac.
All laptops have 802.11n wi and
Bluetooth. The MacBook and MacBook

Pro also have Gigabit Ethernet, while

the MacBook Air needs a USB-toEthernet adaptor. All models have an
iSight camera, microphone and at least
one speaker.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

110

iPOD/iPHONE/iPAD RANGE
Want one of these small objects of desire? Check
their specs to find the one with your name on it.

iPOD SHUFFLE

The iPod shufe comes in two capacities

2GB (46) and 4GB (60) and a choice of
silver, black, pink, blue and green. The latest
model has a new feature called VoiceOver,
which announces the name of the artist and
track thats currently playing. The supplied
earphones have an inline remote control and
theres a clip on the rear of the shufe to
allow you to attach it to clothing.

iPOD NANO

The nano is available in nine colours,

including silver, black and (Product)
Red. Theres an 8GB version, which
costs 118, and a 16GB model, which
will set you back 138. The nano now
has a built-in FM radio with a buffer, so
you can pause live radio. It also has a
built-in video camera.

iPOD CLASSIC

The iPod classic is the most capacious of

all Apples music players. It comes in either
black or silver. Both have a capacity of 160GB
and cost 193. The classic plays video, like
its nano and touch siblings, and you can ip
through album covers using the click wheel,
thanks to Cover Flow.

iPOD TOUCH

The touch is best thought of as an iPhone

without the phone features or a 3G data
connection. It comes in three capacities:
8GB for 152, 32GB for 234 and 64GB for
306. It features a 3.5in, 480 x 320-pixel
display, and comes with several built-in apps
such as Safari, Mail and Address Book. The
touch supports any iPhone app that doesnt
require a 3G connection or GPS.

111
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4 June 2010

iPAD

The iPad, Apples new tablet

computer, has a 9.7in
screen with a resolution
of 1024 x 768 pixels. It
comes in 16GB, 32GB and
64GB versions, and you
can choose a model that
uses only wi to connect
to the Internet or that has
a 3G chip to allow you to
connect from anywhere.
Like the iPhone and iPod
touch, it also has support
for Bluetooth. It uses the
same Dock connection
as the iPod and iPhone
for syncing and charging,
and also has a microphone,
built-in speaker and
headphone jack.

iPHONE 3G

As youll know if you read our iPhone buyers

guide (see MacUser, 12 March 2010, p44),
deciding which iPhone to buy is a mineeld.
However, choosing the hardware is less
complicated than selecting a pricing plan.
There are two very different models available.
The iPhone 3G comes with 8GB of storage
and costs approximately 349 on a pay-asyou-go tariff. It has a slower processor than
the 3GS though, and lacks that models builtin compass and upgraded camera.

iPHONE 3GS

There are two iPhone 3GS models

available: 16GB (449 on pay as you
go) and 32GB (549 on pay as you go).
Both are available in black or white. The
3GS can record and edit video as well as
still images, has a 3-megapixel sensor,
and has a lens that can auto focus or
allow you to focus manually. The other
differentiating feature between it and
the 3G is Voice Control a feature that
enables you to control some features of
the iPhone using your voice.

113

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Macshopper contents
114 HOT KIT
119 PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
122 LOCAL DEALER GUIDE

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

macshopper

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4 June 2010

114

cool kit

FOR MORE DETAILS GO TO WWW.MACUSER.CO.UK/REVIEWS

The whos who of top products

Dont shell out for a product until youve checked out our top-fives, from
video editing and DTP software to printers, monitors and digital cameras.
Top 5 displays
APPLE LED
CINEMA DISPLAY
The rst LED-based Cinema
Display is designed for
MacBooks with a Mini
DisplayPort, and it can be
used to charge them, too.
Reviewed 16/01/09
URL apple.com/uk

LG Flatron M2294 Wide LCD TV Monitor

Rating 4 Reviewed 07/11/08 URL lge.com/uk
Samsung SyncMaster F2380
Rating 4 Reviewed 26/02/10 URL samsung.com/uk
Eizo CG301W
Rating 4 Reviewed 01/02/08 URL eizo.co.uk
Samsung SyncMaster XL2370
Rating 4 Reviewed 06/11/09 URL samsung.com/uk

Top 5 external hard drives

SEAGATE
FREEAGENT
DESK FOR MAC

An inexpensive 1TB external

hard disk that delivers good
performance. It has one USB 2
and two FireWire 800 ports.
Reviewed 02/01/09
URL seagate.com

Western Digital My Book Studio II 4TB

Rating 5 Reviewed 03/07/09 URL wdc.com
G-Tech G-Drive 2TB
Rating 4 Reviewed 26/02/10 URL g-technology.com
Freecom Hard Drive Pro 1TB
Rating 4 Reviewed 02/01/09 URL freecom.com/uk
LaCie 5big Network 5TB
Rating 4 Reviewed 21/11/08 URL lacie.com

Top 5 DSLR cameras

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

NIKON D300S

A 12.3-megapixel sensor,
eight frames per second
shooting, HD video and dual
memory card slots all packed
into a sturdy metal body
make the D300S a winner.
Reviewed 11/09/09
URL nikon.co.uk

Nikon D5000
Rating 5 Reviewed 03/07/09
Nikon D3s
Rating 5 Reviewed 26/02/10
Olympus E-30
Rating 4 Reviewed 05/06/09
Canon Eos 500D
Rating 4 Reviewed 05/06/09

URL nikon.co.uk
URL nikon.co.uk
URL olympus.co.uk
URL canon.co.uk

Top 5 super-zoom cameras

NIKON
COOLPIX S570

The Coolpix S570 has a

12-megapixel sensor, 5x zoom
lens and slips easily into a
pocket. It also takes great pics
and offer good value for money.
Reviewed 12/02/10
URL nikon.co.uk

Olympus Pen E-P2

Rating 4 Reviewed 26/02/10
Fujilm FinePix S200EXR
Rating 4 Reviewed 15/01/10
Ricoh GR Digital III
Rating 4 Reviewed 29/01/10
Canon PowerShot SX1 IS
Rating 4 Reviewed 09/04/09

URL olympus.co.uk
URL fujilm.co.uk
URL ricoh.co.uk
URL canon.co.uk

Top 5 video applications

CAMTASIA
FOR MAC 1.1

Camtasia can record video

and audio from your Macs
iSight and mic, add transitions,
effects, and share the nished
video easily on YouTube.
Reviewed 08/05/10
URL techsmith.com

ScreenFlow 2
Rating 5 Reviewed 20/11/09
Final Cut Studio 2009
Rating 4 Reviewed 28/08/09
DV Kitchen
Rating 4 Reviewed 24/10/08
After Effects CS4
Rating 4 Reviewed 10/10/08

115

URL telestream.net
URL apple.com/uk
URL dvcreators.net
URL adobe.com/uk

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

116

Top 5 office applications

MERLIN 2.5

Merlin is a top-notch project

management application. Its
powerful, easy to get to grips
with thanks to its manual and
templates, and works well with
Mail, Address Book and iCal.
Reviewed 01/02/08
URL pro
projectwizards.net
projec

Daylite 3.7.3
Rating 5 Reviewed 06/06/08
Nisus Writer Pro 1.3
Rating 5 Reviewed 31/07/09
Kerio Connect 7
Rating 5 Reviewed 12/03/10
Studiometry 6
Rating 4 Reviewed 22/05/09

URL marketcircle.com
URL nisus.com
URL kerio.co.uk
URL oranged.net

Top 5 audio products

LOGIC STUDIO

Its headline grabbing new

features for guitarists, Amp
Designer and Pedalboard
are certainly the highlight,
however, theres plenty
here for all musicians.
Reviewed 28/08/09
apple.com/uk
URL app

Guitar Rig 3 Kontrol

Rating 5 Reviewed 15/02/08
Logic Express 9
Rating 5 Reviewed 23/10/09
Reason 4 Premium
Rating 5 Reviewed 26/09/08
Hear
Rating 4 Reviewed 09/05/08

URL native-instruments.com
URL apple.com/uk
URL propellerheads.se
URL joesoft.com

Top 5 web publishing tools

DREAMWEAVER
CS4

For years, Dreamweaver has

been the de facto standard for
professional web development.
Its now fully integrated with
Adobes Creative Suite.
Reviewed 26/09/08
URL adobe.com/uk
/uk

BBEdit 9
Rating 4 Reviewed 30/01/09
Coda
Rating 4 Reviewed 29/02/08
Flash CS4
Rating 4 Reviewed 10/10/08
Flux 2
Rating 4 Reviewed 26/02/10

URL barebones.com
URL panic.com
URL adobe.com/uk
URL theescapers.com

Top 5 laser printers

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

XEROX
PHASER 3435

A good choice for workgroups

that need mono printing.
The high purchase price is
offset by low running costs
and speed output.
Reviewed 09/04/09
URL xerox.co.uk

Samsung ML-1915
Rating 4 Reviewed 20/11/09
Kyocera Mita FS-1300D
Rating 4 Reviewed 26/09/08
Canon i-Sensys LBP5100
Rating 4 Reviewed 21/11/08
Oki C710n
Rating 4 Reviewed 24/10/08

URL samsung.com/uk
URL kyoceramita.co.uk
URL canon.co.uk
URL oki.co.uk

Top 5 multi-function devices

CANON PIXMA
MP990

The MP990 does duplex

printing, labels discs, captures
35mm slides and negatives,
and it has six ink tanks:
including grey for mono prints.
Reviewed 04/12/09
URL canon.co.uk

Samsung SCX-4600
Rating 5 Reviewed 26/02/10
Canon Pixma MP540
Rating 5 Reviewed 28/08/09
HP Photosmart C6380
Rating 5 Reviewed 30/01/09
Epson Stylus Photo PX710W
Rating 5 Reviewed 29/01/10

URL samsung.com/uk
URL canon.co.uk
URL hp.com/uk
URL epson.co.uk

Top 5 inkjet printers

HP
PHOTOSMART
A636

Photo printer with slots for

common camera media cards.
Includes 120mm touchscreen
LCD and 20-sheet input feed.
Reviewed 10/10/08
URL hp.
hp.com/uk
/uk

Epson Stylus Pro 3880

Rating 5 Reviewed 01/01/10
HP Photosmart Plus
Rating 4 Reviewed 20/11/09
Epson Stylus Photo R2880
Rating 4 Reviewed 02/01/09
Canon Pixma Pro9000 MkII
Rating 4 Reviewed 08/05/09

117

URL epson.co.uk
URL hp.com/uk
URL epson.co.uk
URL canon.co.uk

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

118

Top 5 publishing tools

INDESIGN CS4

Adobes latest page-layout

environment delivers various
improvements including tighter
integration with Flash, precise
alignment tools and numerous
other important tweaks.
Reviewed 26/09/08
URL adobe.com/uk

QuarkXPress 8
Rating 5 Reviewed 15/08/08
Fusion 2
Rating 5 Reviewed 21/11/08
Universal Type Server
Rating 4 Reviewed 18/07/08
Acrobat 9 Pro
Rating 4 Reviewed 04/07/08

URL quark.com
URL extensis.com
URL extensis.com
URL adobe.com/uk

Top 5 photo editing tools

PHOTOSHOP
CS4

One of the most important

applications on the Mac, the
CS4 edition helps it retain its
crown as the king of all photo
editing and montage tools.
Reviewed 26/09/08
URL adobe.com/uk
/uk

Aperture 3
Rating 5 Reviewed 26/02/10
Portrait Professional 9
Rating 5 Reviewed 09/10/09
Eye Candy 6
Rating 5 Reviewed 15/01/10
OnOne Plug-In Suite 5
Rating 4 Reviewed 15/01/10

URL apple.com/uk
URL portraitprofessional.com
URL alienskin.com
URL ononesoftware.com

Top 5 illustration/3D tools

ILLUSTRATOR
CS4

The CS4 edition of Illustrator

builds on the rich toolset of
CS3, adding more intelligent
features and some fantastic
new tools.
Reviewed 26/09/08
URL adobe.com/uk
/uk

Phantasm CS Studio
Rating 4 Reviewed 01/08/08
Cheetah 3D 5
Rating 4 Reviewed 15/01/10
Cinema 4D Release 11
Rating 4 Reviewed 10/10/08
Live Interior 3D Pro
Rating 4 Reviewed 07/11/08

URL phantasmcs.com
URL cheetah3d.com
URL maxon.net
URL belightsoft.com

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

122

Apple dealers are thriving all over the

UK, ready to answer your Mac queries

local dealers

LOCATION
FINDER
Scotland
North
Wales
Midlands
South-west
South-east
London
Nationwide

TO ADVERTISE, CONTACT CRAIG_CHAMBERS@DENNIS.CO.UK OR CALL 020 7907 6652

Albion Computers
London, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey

Call 020 7212 9090 Email info@albion.co.uk

URL albion.co.uk
22 years experience with Apple for Business and Education
Apple Premium Reseller Apple Authorised Service provider
Apple Solutions Expert for Education New iStore in Crawley

SupportPlan (UK) Ltd

Central London

PowerPlay Services
East Sussex
)#*$"%#) ' )+!&("+,S

Call 08448 157167

URL powerplayservices.co.uk

Apple Authorised Service Provider PowerPlay offers a

local drop-in service or a nationwide courier service for
all Apple repairs and upgrades

Cancom
Brighton Cambridge Edinburgh Guildford
Kensington High Street

Call 0800 027 2292 Email info@supportplan.com

URL supportplan.com
Supporting Mac and Windows in creative environments
since 1991 Apple Authorised Service Provider Apple
Solutions Expert for Print & Publishing Web solutions

Call 0845 6863500 URL cancomuk.com

Part of a 420 million company Apple Solutions Expert
in Education Authorised Apple Service Provider
Congure your Mac on our advanced website

Whellams Computer Services

Central London

iCentre:
The Meadows Shopping Centre, Chelmsford

Call 020 71831969 Email sales@wcscomputer.co.uk

URL wcscomputer.co.uk
Professional Mac support and solutions company,
specialising in the print and publishing industries Flexible
support contracts Support for Xserve, backup and networks

Call 01787 477664 Email lee@icentre-headofce.com

URL icentre-chelmsford.com
iCentre is the perfect environment for test-driving the latest
Apple iPods, Macs and software, while also offering 1-2-1
demonstrations, advice and a full range of accessories

MR Systems
Central London

Robert Harding Computers Ltd

Sussex; South Coast

Call 020 7697 2200 Email sales@mrsystems.co.uk

URLwww.mrsystems.co.uk
Experienced Apple Authorised Service Provider
Remote support and helpdesk
Competitive prices

Call 01273 728827 Email info@rh-computers.com

URL rh-computers.com
Authorised Service Provider since 1979 Privately owned
company, giving personal & professional service always
Student Discounts also available

Trams Ltd
Central London and Christchurch, Dorset

Encompass
Home Counties

MicroMend Ltd
3 Tottenham Street, London, W1
(Near Goodge Street Tube station)

Serviceweb Ltd
Kent

Call Trams Sales: 020 7820 7111; Rapid Sales: 01202 703040
Email sales@trams.co.uk URLs trams.co.uk and rapidgroup.net
One of the UKs premier Apple resellers and Authorised
Service Providers. With 20,000 items available online, we
provide a comprehensive range of products and services

Call 020 7636 6667 Email help@micromend.co.uk

Walk-in computer repair centre Fast turnaround
Apple Authorised technicians Data Recovery Service
iPod repairs

Square Group Ltd

Central London High Wycombe Derby

URL squaregroup.co.uk Email sales@squaregroup.co.uk

Call 0800 08 27753
Apple Premium Reseller Video, Print & Publishing &
Education Apple Solution Experts Apple Authorised Service
Provider Training Centre

Call 01462 790773 Email sales@encompassuk.com

URL encompassuk.com
Authorised Service Provider Mac OS X server specialist
Mac OS X Leopard roll-out Digital colour specialist
Consultancy (network design) Cross platform

Call 01227 794768 Fax 01227 792765

Email sales@serviceweb.co.uk URL serviceweb.co.uk

Authorised Reseller and Service Provider On-site and carry-in

service Software and hardware installations iPod service
Xserve specialist Showroom Windows-to-Mac migration

Visual Information Services Ltd

Reading; International Services

Call 0118 9886633 Email parts@applemacparts.com

URL visparts.com

Independent Apple parts supplier. We also repair and upgrade

all Apple computers at our workshop. Our engineers have over
20 years experience and knowledge of all things Apple.

Core Technical Solutions

London, Surrey and surrounding areas

MacKing.co.uk
Harrem House, Ogilvie Road, High Wycombe

On-site and workshop repair services Helpdesk and

remote support Apple Certied technicians Sales
and installations Businesses and Home users

We sell refurbished and used Macs. We also do repairs and

with a parts library spanning almost every Mac for the past
10 years, why look anywhere else for the part you need

Call 0800 756 9905 Email support@coretechnicalsolutions.co.uk

URL coretechnicalsolutions.co.uk

Call 01494 355333

URL macking.co.uk

123
www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

Meet your local dealer

We catch up with your local dealer to nd out
what they offer Mac users. This issue, we talk
to iCentre, previously known as CT Solutions,
about its new business-to-business services.

ormerly known as CT Solutions (a

new name, logo and brand refresh
took place in August 2009), iCentre
has ourished in the consumer market since
its May 2008 opening at The Meadows
Shopping Centre in Chelmsford, Essex,
afrming its position as an established
retailer on the high street.
As one of the 47 Apple Premium
Resellers in the UK, the company provides
more than just the full range of Apple
products it also offers one-to-one
demonstrations, and expert advice both
before and after sales.
The business-to-business sector in Essex
has seen healthy growth in recent months
and iCentre has been quick to get involved.
The company has taken some serious
steps to push its prole in the businessto-business sector, including organising
business suppers, business breakfasts,
Chamber of Commerce activities, business
shows and even some exciting enterprises
with local schools.
iCentre is currently expanding its efforts
in Essex, having appointed a UK business

sales manager, Lee Jiggins. Jiggins has

a wealth of experience and understands
the full benets that can be achieved by
introducing customers to using Macs for
their business.
iCentre caters for all types of business
needs, whether they just want to upgrade
a desktop Mac through to overhauling an
entire system. Services include:
Pre-sales advice
The full Mac and accessory range
Software
Server solutions with backup
Cabled and wireless networks
Installations
Telephone and remote support
Maintenance contracts
Consumables, cabling, storage and
accessories
If you would prefer to discuss your
objectives, budget, questions and iCentres
business-to-busines service in more
detail, you can book a consultation with
Jiggins. For further information, contact Lee
Jiggins on 01787 477664 or via email at
lee@icentre-headofce.com.

iCentre
The Meadows Shopping Centre,
Chelmsford
Call 01787 477664
Email lee@icentre-headofce.com
URL icentre-chelmsford.com
iCentre is the perfect environment for
test-driving the latest Apple iPods, Macs
and software, while also offering one-to-one
demonstrations, advice and a full range
of accessories.

Apple Tree Graphics LTD

Bromsgrove, Worcestershire

Jennings Computer Services Ltd

Scarborough and York

SL Electrotech (Instrumentation) Ltd

Loomer Industrial Estate, Staffordshire

GBM Digital Technologies LTD

Manchester

MCC Group
Warrington Chester Liverpool Stoke-on-Trent

Evo Data UK Ltd

North West

Call 01527 570535 Fax 01527 570355

URL atg-it.co.uk
Apple Centre Retail and business showroom
Training for major software packages Pre-sales
and consultancy Network design and installation

Call 01782 563999 Email sales@slelectrotech.co.uk

URL slelectrotech.co.uk
Apple Authorised Service Provider & Reseller Fast
turnaround On-site and workshop repairs Helpdesk and
remote support Apple Business Solutions and Consultancy

Call 01723 374196 Call 01904 796580

Buy Online jcsltd.co.uk
Authorised Apple Reseller & Service Centre Apple warranty
repair Out-of-warranty repair Mac, iPod, accessories,
upgrades Cross-platform support Online store

Call 0161 605 3838 Email sales@gbmdt.co.uk

URL gbmdt.co.uk
Retail and business sales specialists with a technical
support team to provide maintenance, installation and
support services for business and education

Call 01539 898232 Email support@evodata.co.uk

URL evodata.co.uk

Call 0870 444 4990 Fax 0870 444 1373

URL mccdigital.com
Apple Premium Reseller Apple Solutions Experts
for Education/Creative Apple Authorised Service Providers
Training Installation Maintenance

Troubleshooting Hardware/software Repairs Full Mac

Server network installations Re-designs Support contract
Guaranteed response times Mac products and equipment

The Bookyard Ltd.

Liverpool, Nationwide Service

RGB Solutions Ltd

Edinburgh, Scotland

Call 0151 291 6240 Email info@thebookyard.com

URL thebookyard.com
Online store offering new and used Apple spare parts with
next-day delivery Old or faulty Apple hardware purchased and
recycled Expert diagnosis & repairs with nationwide collection

Call 0131 554 8888 Email info@rgbsolutions.co.uk

URL rgbsolutions.co.uk
Apple Sales Service & Support Server & Network
Installation Creative Industry Specialists RGB Solutions
provides Apple Macintosh Sales, Service and Support

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

124

WE CAN HELP YOU

THEY CAN HELP YOU

If you need technical advice,

write to us explaining the
problem in full. Please include
all the details of hardware and
software you use.

Theres a wealth of information

and help available online. Here
are some useful sites that may
be worth turning to along with
the MacUser site.

Email help@macuser.co.uk
Post Help, MacUser,
30 Cleveland Street,
London, W1T 4JD

Apples pages provide helpful

information; try the search
options to nd specic help.
URL info.apple.com

EMAIL YOUR PROBLEM TO HELP@MACUSER.CO.UK

Keep abreast of software

releases and xes, and track
down new utilities and tools.
URL versiontracker.com

The big read

Before electronic books can take off, a universal format that can
be read on different devices needs to be agreed and implemented.

t seemed a simple enough request: a

leave the house, and another that you can
well-illustrated history of painting that I
only read when standing up.
can browse on both Mac and iPad. Theres
DRM aside, the formats are a mess.
no shortage of excellent printed books that
PDF, the lingua franca for computer-readable
would t the bill, but it all gets a bit messy
documents, still suffers problems owing
when you go electronic.
content when browsed on smaller screens.
Amazons much-touted Kindle Store only
When you create your own books for iPad,
operates from amazon.com, not amazon.
its worth avoiding, as existing conversion
co.uk, and despite its huge range of titles,
tools struggle most with PDF input. If youre
it still concentrates on texts rather than
unlucky, you can waste hours trying to tag
colour illustrated volumes, as bets more
your PDF, or simply give up and convert it to
restricted devices
HTML, which is much
such as the Kindle.
more amenable to
PDF, the lingua franca for
Understandably, the
conversion. ePub
vast free Gutenberg
seems better suited
computer-readable documents,
library has a limited
to electronic books,
suffers problems owing content
range of illustrated
and enjoys good
when browsed on smaller screens support on the iPad.
books, being drawn
from an age when
Lacking any major
colour reproduction
commercial proponent,
was limited. Unlike most other online eBook
though, its authoring tools are a motley crew,
stores, WHSmith has a wide range of
as detailed later in Mac Business (see p128).
products that dare to have colour illustrations,
Having long been a PDF evangelist, it
from which I quickly bought nine titles
doesnt come easy to admit that its the
published by Scala Vision; these are Adobe
wrong format for anything. With its plethora
ADEPT-protected ePub (or PDF) titles that
of different variants from PDF/A to PDF/X, this
require Adobe Digital Editions, which being
might seem unlikely, but the fundamental
Flash-based is not available on iPad or Linux.
problem is its focus on appearance rather
Thankfully, both the Mac and iPad boast
than structure and content of documents.
a gamut of reader applications that ease
If only Adobe had learned from Knuths LaTeX
this digital babel. Armed with Apples iBooks
and Goldfarbs SGML, we might have a truly
application, Amazons Kindle Reader, Stanza,
generic tool. Instead, applications such as
and others, the iPad is something of a
Word, when fed the wrong fonts, spit out
polyglot. But these are far from ideal: iBooks
words irrespective of paragraph structure,
doesnt play with protected ePub works, and
leaving you hundreds of pages over which
while Stanza may be terric value, it has its
to touch up the reading order.
fair share of foibles, and cant access the
Finally, electronic books bear VAT at
majority of protected books. For the moment,
full rate, unlike their paper counterparts.
protected iBooks cant be browsed on your
I presume this is because anything thats
Mac, meaning that youll need to buy two
downloaded is classed as software. How
copies of each commercial book: one for your
much longer can it be before HM Revenue
Mac, the other for your iPad. Its a bit like
& Customs deems books to be decorated
having to buy one physical book that cant
processed timber and taxable accordingly?

Howard Oakley has used Macs in science

and medicine for 20 years, and developed
commercial software.

125

27in iMac models with quad-core Intel

Core i5 and i7 processors should have
SMC Firmware Update 1.0 applied to
x problems with Target Display Mode, and
EFI FW Update 1.0 to resolve problems
when playing audio through the headphone
output mini-jack and turning on the display
backlight. Theyre at support.apple.com/kb/
DL1030 and DL1031.
Mac OS X Security Update 2010-003
for 10.5.8 and 10.6.3 closes a vulnerability
to maliciously crafted fonts. Its available
from support.apple.com/kb/DL1029 (Snow
Leopard), DL1027 (Leopard) and DL1028
(Leopard Server).
AirPort Base Stations and Time
Capsules are unable to support NAT port
forwarding to L2TP VPN servers at private

addresses if MobileMe is enabled. Apple

suggests working around this by disabling
MobileMe if NAT port forwarding is required,
in support.apple.com/kb/HT3944.

Mac OS X Server 10.6.x Setup

Assistant doesnt allow host names to
start with digits. Changing the name to
start with a letter resolves this.

Mac OS X Server 10.5.8 may crash

AFP services when a le residing on a
share and aliased on a client system
is placed in a folder to which that user
doesnt have access. The crash can occur
when the user tries to access the le
through its alias. The only workaround is
to avoid this situation.

Color 1.5 may display anamorphic SD

media both letterboxed and vertically
squeezed on external video devices.
Apple suggests either setting the external
output to HD (720 or 1080) resolution, or
deselecting the Anamorphic 16:9 checkbox
in Sequence Settings before setting video
output to anamorphic SD.

MacBook Pro Software Update 1.3

for the latest 15in and 17in mid-2010
models improves graphics stability for
high-performance video and gaming, and
xes other bugs. Its available from support.
apple.com/kb/DL1026.

Mac OS X v10.6.3 1.1 Update (Combo)

is recommended to complete the update to
10.6.3 if the original release of the Combo
update was applied to 10.6 (not 10.6.1 or
later). Go to support.apple.com/kb/DL1017
(client) or DL1019 (Server).

Update confusion

From Russell Caplan

Q When ploughing through a recent load
of updates, I became a bit confused about
how comprehensive Software Update
is when it checks my Mac. Can I safely
assume it picks up everything that I need
to update, or do I still need to check some
areas manually?
A The aim of Software Update is to check
your hardware and installed software, and
spot all Apple updates that might be required.
In practice, it seems to work quite reliably at
that. The biggest problems arise when Apple
applications are moved from their default
locations in the main Applications folder,
perhaps onto another volume, in which case
they may get forgotten. If you dont always
use a wireless keyboard, its possible that
updates needed for that wireless keyboard
might get omitted when its disconnected.
Software Update relies in part on the
packages stored in /Library/Receipts (as
does repairing permissions), so tampering
with the contents of that folder is likely to
result in glitches or failure. Those les arent
the original installer packages, but much
smaller lists of les received, husks of the
original updates.
If youre in doubt as to whether you need
to apply an update, simply download the
standalone version, mount and install it. If it
isnt required, Installer will soon tell you.

Snow Leopard bugs me

From Richard Hallas

Q Having used Snow Leopard almost since
its release, Im frustrated by the number
of bugs that remain even in version 10.6.3.
Among the more irritating are those in the
Finder and Dock for example, the Dock
icon for iCal doesnt update its date daily,
but shows the date on which my Mac last
started up. Why is this?

Software Update relies on the contents of the /Library/Receipts folder, so dont tamper with its contents.

A This isnt one of the

generally accepted bugs in
Snow Leopard, but probably
results from a damaged
Property List le somewhere,
determining the way the Dock
handles the iCal icon.
An easy way to x it is
to drag the iCal icon from
the Dock, and replace it.
However, if you dont restart
before putting the icon back
in your Dock, its possible that
Like some other applications, iCals Dock icon should show useful
the mistake will recur after
additional information, the current date. If that gets stuck, remove it
from the Dock, restart: and replace it.
a while. Restarting should
allow your Mac to ush its
caches and repair any underlying damage
Among the many internal changes in
that could be the cause.
10.6 was a complete rewrite of the Finder
Another common issue that has troubled
and its underling libraries, and that appears
early releases of Snow Leopard is incorrect
to be the cause of this and other issues. As
display of icons, which can appear pixellated,
Snow Leopard matures, we should see these
as if an icon image of low resolution is being
progressively resolve, and a Finder as reliable
used instead of a higher-resolution one.
as that in Leopard restored.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

Bug buster

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

126

Stopping sticks
From [name withheld on request]
Q Our students need to use Macs with
devices connected to their USB ports,
but we want to prevent them from
accessing USB memory sticks. Is there
any way to do this without using glue?
A Youre wise to avoid gluing USB
connectors into the ports on your Macs,
which would cause support problems in
the future. This limits you to a software
solution, which inevitably requires that
your students dont have administrative
status on their Macs. If they do have the
ability to access the System folder, they
could circumvent or reverse your security.
The preferred method for disabling
connected USB storage devices of all
types is to move the le at /System/

Phantom shares may disappear when you try to

open them, leaving you with a cryptic network
error message. Check network and modem/router
settings in case theyve gone awry.

The name game

From Robin Forrest

Q I have a similar problem to that reported
by Liz Denton (see MacUser, 26 March,
p93), in that a PC server named Thomson
has appeared under Sharing on my two
Macs running Mac OS X 10.5.8. Both are
connected rst to an Ethernet hub and that
to a BT Home Hub. Thomson appears when
AirPort is disabled, and disappears when the
Home Hub is turned off. What is this server?
We also had this question concerning the
same problem.
From David Ward
Q Recently, one Mac running Mac OS
X 10.6.3 has been showing a shared
item named pop. My house is remote,
so it cant be a real computer. Could it
be because I have recently had a lot of
problems connecting to my mail server?
A Reports like this have become surprisingly
common, but neither of these phantom shares
are likely to be intruders. BT Home Hubs are
rebadged Thomson modem/routers, so in the
rst case it looks as if the modem/router is
declaring itself to the Macs as a shared PC.

You can disable access to external USB storage devices such as USB memory sticks by moving out the
IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext kernel extension and restarting the Mac.

Library/Extensions/IOUSBMassStorageClass.
kext into another folder, perhaps named
Extensions (Disabled), and restart. As this
is a Kernel Extension, it could possibly have
undesired side-effects, but should achieve
your aim better than anything else.

An alternative might be to capitalise

on the fact that USB memory sticks use
MS-Dos FAT le systems, so moving
/System/Library/Filesystems/msdos.fs
to another folder and restarting should
prevent them from mounting.

Web design software like Dreamweaver can be

ddly to connect to a remote server, as some
older versions may only support password-based
authentication for SFTP transfers.

In the second case, pop is the name of

the Internet protocol used to deliver email to
your Mac, and could be the modem/router,
or an artefact left in one of the Unix hidden
folders following connection to a Pop mail
server. Before resigning yourself to living with
this quirk, you should check carefully through
your Network pane in System Preferences,
and connecting to your modem/router using
your browser, to ensure that everything is
still set up properly. Its also worth running a
general health check: restart from your latest
Mac OS X install disc, run Disk Utility from
there, and rst repair your startup disk before
repairing its permissions and restarting from
your normal disk.
If none of those does any good, the
chances are that these phantom servers
will disappear as spontaneously as they
appeared in the rst place.

attained. Leaving out a camera has kept

both power consumption and cost down,
although its widely expected that a future
model of iPad will sport a still if not video
camera. Only time and sales will tell whether
Apple has made the right compromises in
this initial model.

Missing iPad features

Bad connection

From Mike Bird

Q Why doesnt the iPad run Snow Leopard,
have a Xeon processor and a camera?
A Hopefully, by now, youll have had a chance
to use an iPad and realised that Apple didnt
conceive it as a highly portable computer, but
as a quite radically different device. Although
iPhone OS is fundamentally Mac OS X, it
has substantial tweaks and changes that
are needed for its different purpose. Some
of these, such as its inability to run multiple
applications at once and its approach to
security, are intended to maintain system
integrity, increase reliability and prolong
endurance on battery power.
The choice of a custom system-on-a-chip
based around an ARM processor greatly
reduces power consumption, too: although
a low-power version of a general-purpose
processor might have packed a bigger
punch, it would also have shortened battery
endurance to less than half that actually

From Neville Grey

Q Im struggling trying to connect clients
running Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 to a
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server. Although
SFTP works ne in both Terminal and
Fetch from those same clients, it fails
every time in Dreamweaver, reporting
an FTP error of an incorrect login or
password. Do I have to upgrade those
clients to CS4, which does seem to work
reliably with the same server?

Did you know

Failed Internet protocol connections
ons
are often misreported as being the
result of incorrect user names or
passwords for example, if you try to
collect your mail when the server is
not responding. Simply click on the
Cancel button rather than re-entering
your login details, and try again later.

127

A While it would be good to upgrade those

clients in due course, you should still be
able to get Dreamweaver CS3 to connect
properly to most if not all servers, including
Snow Leopard. The error that is being
reported gives a clue to the problem, but
is nevertheless slightly misleading: older
versions of Dreamweaver only support
password-based authentication for SFTP,
and this is usually disabled by default.
You can rectify this by editing the text le
at /etc/ssh/sshd_cong on your server; note
that this is a different le from ssh_cong.
Open sshd_cong in a text editor, locate the
PasswordAuthentication option and switch
it from no to yes. Save this, then restart
SSH on the server, and older versions of
Dreamweaver and some other products
should then be able to connect properly. You
should, however, avoid leaving passwordbased authentication open if the server
is open to the Internet, as its too easy to
hack even with quite robust passwords.

Did you know

Because theyre aimed at consumer
mer
markets where security and
robustness is paramount, iPhone
and iPad software development is
controlled by Apple. If you want to
create your own tools and widgets
for your iPad, look to Dashboard-style
Mobile Safari web apps rather than
standalone applications.

are severely limited and trying to add error

bars, multiple axes and other essentials can
quickly drive you crazy.
If money were no object, the best graphing
package is Aabel (gigawiz.com), but even
with educational pricing, this is hard to justify.
Two free options that have strong support
for technical graphing are the statistics and
graphing language R, from stats.bris.ac.uk/R,
which is script-based but has extensive
documentation, and the more friendly crossplatform Veusz, from home.gna.org/veusz.

From Andrew Heaps

Q Ive just bought a new 27in iMac.
I understood that Mac OS X 10.6
runs in 64-bit mode, but my machine
appears not to. Why is this?
A There are currently three groups of
Macs. A few models, mainly Xserves that
will only run Mac OS X Server edition
by default, start up with the kernel and
extensions running in 64-bit mode. As
servers, theyre unlikely to need to run
old Kernel Extensions to support external
devices, and should only be running
server software, which all benets from
being 64-bit now. Some older models,
such as Intel iMacs manufactured up to
September 2006, can only run in 32-bit

Power up my Mac

From David Ward

Q Living as I do in a remote corner of
Scotland, Im used to power cuts, but
during the snow just before Easter, we were
blacked out for 30 hours. Im now looking
for a battery-powered ADSL modem/router
that would allow me to keep connected
with my laptop. What do you suggest?

A The only practical way of coping with such

prolonged power outage is with a generator;
From Jonathan Tate
a modest-size petrol unit should be up to
Q Which application would you recommend
supplying your laptop, a modem/router and
for students to construct good-quality
a little lighting.
science and engineering graphs with
For shorter periods, a good uninterruptible
features such as multiple axes, which
power supply (UPS) could sufce. Connect
have defeated us all when trying to use
your desktop Mac to it, conguring the Energy
Microsoft Excel and Numbers?
Saver pane to shut down your Mac in the rst
couple of minutes after mains power is lost.
A General-purpose business charting
Use another of its protected outputs to power
software, such as Excel and Numbers, cater
your modem/router; once the computer has
very poorly for scientists and engineers.
shut down there should be ample in the UPS
Although both offer X-Y graphs, their options
battery to keep your modem/router going for
several hours, which
could give you time
to decide whether to
start up a generator,
for instance.
If you can, stick
to wired Ethernet
networking to eke
out batteries as
long as possible. For
that reason, it might
be wise to have a
separate modem/
router without wireless
support, and a
wireless base station,
the latter being shut
One strategy that can be employed to cope with prolonged mains power loss
down when theres no
is to set your desktop Mac to shut down soon, and then use remaining UPS
power to keep your modem/router running for laptop access.
mains power available.

Chart success

A bit of trouble

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

If you dont fancy creating scientic graphs using

Rs sophisticated script language, the more
accessible Veusz supports features such as
multiple axes and error bars.

Some Macs, such as early eight-core Mac Pros, have 64-bit

capable hardware, but their EFI rmware is still 32-bit. Apple
will need to provide 64-bit rmware upgrades for these.

mode and have no option but to remain

in full 32-bit mode. However, the great
majority of Intel models are capable of
running in 32- and 64-bit modes.
For the time being, Apple
recommends that they should normally
start up with a 32-bit kernel, but they
will benet from running as many 64-bit
applications as possible. This gives
them the best of both worlds: the 32-bit
kernel supports the great majority of
current Kernel Extensions, so you should
not suffer kernel panics from bugs in
newer 64-bit versions. Once your Mac has
launched a 64-bit kernel, its committed
to running all extensions in 64-bit, too,
which could disable graphics tablets,
screen colour calibrators and all manner
of external devices.
If youre condent that you dont
rely on 32-bit extensions, you can try
running in 64-bit. Free tools such as
Kernel Startup Mode Selector, from bit.ly/
WGKG2, will help you try it out by letting
you switch between the 32-bit and 64-bit
kernels. Once theres better support for
64-bit extensions, Apple will make 64-bit
mode the default.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

128

macbusiness
FACING A BUSINESS DILEMMA? EMAIL HELP@MACUSER.CO.UK TODAY

Inside ePub and iBooks

iPads may support many electronic book formats, but Apple has chosen
ePub. But why ePub rather than PDF, and how do they differ?

f the iPad is all about content, getting

the most out of your iPad and the
business opportunities that it invites
are likely to depend on creating content for
it. When you wish to load an iPad with your
own books, or want to publish to the iPads
of others, you need to understand ePub, the
format used by Apples iBookstore.
The ePub format is founded on XML and
XHTML, markup languages descended from
the work of Charles Goldfarb and others on
SGML at INM in the 1960s. XML emerged as
a more practical solution for the structured
representation and storage of data, from
the generic SGML. A simple example of
structure given in XHTML (or HTML) might be:
<html>
<body>
<p>
EPUB rules.
</p>
</body>
</html>
This can then be rendered as a single
paragraph of body text containing:
EPUB rules.

Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format

(PDF) adopts a fundamentally different
approach to content. It was previewed as
Carousel in 1991, a time when PostScript
had only been available for a few years and
there was a profusion of different document
viewer formats. By its launch two years later,
few foresaw it as anything distinct from the
handful of competitors at the time, but it
has since stormed to success as the most
universal le format apart from plain text.
Acrobat didnt perhaps develop universal
appeal until version 3 was released in 1996,
by which time it had good web integration,
initial colour and prepress features, forms
and scanning support.
PDF was, at its inception, a layout-oriented
format intended to preserve the placement
and appearance of every letter and graphical
element on each page. Its success in
markets such as pre-press has hinged on
control and preservation of layout, typography,
and colour rendition. It has achieved this
through its close link with PostScript, Adobes
most fundamental and pervasive technology.
While PostScript remains rmly wedded to

high-quality output devices, and formed the

basis of the text and graphics display engine
in Steve Jobs NeXT computer, PDF has shown
itself to generalise much better, and has
become the engine of choice for Mac OS X,
replacing Apples more primitive QuickDraw
from classic versions of the Mac OS.
An equivalent PDF text object displayed
on a page might be represented by a
stream (normally compressed and encoded)
of the form:
stream
BT
/F1 12 Tf
100 100 Td
( EPUB rules. ) Tj
ET
endstream
This uses operators to set the display font
and size (Tf), to move to a xed position
on the page to start rendering the text
(Td), then to paint the glyphs (Tj) supplied
in parentheses.
Recognising the need to organise content
better within PDF les, Adobe has tried to
merge control of layout with structuring tags,

From web content

If you can, create well-structured content in
XHTML 1.1 using OPS Style Sheets, a subset
of CSS 2, as these are standard in the ePub
2 format. Convert illustrations to Jpeg, PNG,
Gif or Svg les, so they arent reliant on
non-standard rendering. For iPhone and iPad
targets, ensure that PNG images are left
uncompressed, as there are circumstances
in which these devices may not decompress
them properly. If you want a custom cover,
create this as a separate Jpeg or PNG image
and place it in the book folder.
Having assembled your content in a clear,
structured manner, start Calibre and click
the Add Books tool, selecting the top-level
XHTML le in the subsequent dialog. If your

book is parsed without error, you should

next check its metadata using the Edit Meta
Information tool, adding any custom cover.
Then click on the Convert eBooks tool to
turn it into ePub format. You may need to
experiment with the settings in this complex
series of dialogs, but should start with ePub
as the output format, a base font size of
10pt or 11pt, and a default output prole
in Page Setup. Calibre will then create the
ePub le in the given path, typically in the
rst-named authors folder in Documents.
Make further adjustments to the .epub
document in Sigil. Content can be displayed
as the reader will see it, as source, or split
between both, but youll observe how Calibre

Calibre also has a built-in book reader that lets you

browse and check titles youve added to its library.

and Sigil add their own markup to support

their features; avoid tampering with Sigils
as it will block its features. Most importantly,
use the TOC Editor command in the Tools
menu to check and edit your books table
of contents, which depends on marked-up
headers h1, h2 and so on.

129

From page layout

The next best starting point for ePub books
is in an authoring platform such as InDesign
CS4 (or CS3), though you may need to
adopt different practices for example,
converting styles to tags. Its best if you
have tags that correspond to the h1, h2
and similar markup dened in an XHTML 1.1
DTD, so they can convert directly into ePub
format. When designing layout and other
visual aspects of your book, remember that
much of this will be left to defaults imposed
by the book reader software. Typographic
control is best encapsulated in images.
iStudio Publisher, 34.99 (29.78 ex
VAT) from bit.ly/dCjtol, is a newcomer that
features the direct export of books in ePub
format. Although this could be a refreshing
change and is a bargain, its still early in
its development cycle, so has signicant
limitations, such as not yet supporting
iStudio Publisher offers good features to support the use
of images, but they arent exported to ePub books yet.

features of Kovid Goyals hugely capable

freeware Calibre (from calibre-ebook.com)
or Julian Smarts free eCub from juliansmart.
com/ecub. Working from pre-existing PDF
will involve much more work if your book
is going to be readable, as youll need to
create properly owed and tagged PDF
before conversion will be worthwhile. It may
actually be quicker and less frustrating to
use Docudesks DeskUNPDF ($69.95, about
45, from bit.ly/deikPp) to convert from PDF
to HTML, rather than trudge along for hours
in Acrobat Professional. Good though Calibre
is, youll probably still need to tidy up chapter
divisions and the table of contents using Sigil,
free from code.google.com/p/sigil.
Protecting ePub les with DRM is most
likely to be accomplished using Apples
FairPlay system through the iTunes Store; this
contrasts with Adobes dominance of the PDF
protection market. Barnes and Noble offers
eReader (ereader.com), which can either
be read using Stanza or its own tools. Third
parties such as LockLizard (locklizard.com)
who have so far concentrated on PDF DRM
may offer ePub solutions, although pricing is
likely to be out of reach of smaller businesses
and self-publishers. Aside from its benets
in handling content, ePub is thus set to
keep Apple in control of retail sales of
electronic books for iPad.

inclusion of images in ePub output. Youll

also need to be careful to employ its styling
structure so that output is properly tagged.
If theres no other option, you can tag
up existing PDF documents using Adobe
Acrobat Pro. The problem of hard line
breaks disrupting ow results from painting
of individual lines as blocks of glyphs using
a single Tj operator, which makes a book
all but unusable. Another essential is
structuring headers to generate the table
of contents. One approach is to open the
Content/Order/Tags navigation panel through
the View menu, which lets you touch up
properties and reading order, and insert
tags if preferred. Experiment with different
approaches to see which works best with
your workow, particularly the all-important
conversion to ePub format. If all else fails,
use Acrobat Pro to export to XML or HTML.
Creating good ePub books from PDF documents
depends on how well structured their content is.

Summary
! Although the iPad has third-party
support for other formats, its primary
electronic book format is ePub.
! ePub books are Zip-compressed
folders containing textual, graphic and
other content.
! Text content uses XHTML, which
doesnt support the same control of
layout and appearance as in PDF.
! Converting existing books to ePub
is easiest if theyre in HTML or XHTML
format, for which Calibre and eCub
are helpful tools.
! PDF can be extremely difcult as a
source, as it may lack structure in its
content, resulting in disrupted line ow
and blank tables of contents.
! Theres no primary authoring tool for
ePub at present, but Adobe InDesign
CS3 and CS4, and iStudio Publisher,
offer export to ePub books.
! The sole ePub editor and tweaking
tool is Sigil, which is great for adjusting
structure and tables of contents. It
can be slow at times, though.
! DRM is most easy through Apples
iTunes store, using FairPlay, although
there are third-party options.

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

exemplied by a tagged version of the same

trivial text:
/P << /MCID 0 >>
BDC
BT
/F1 12 Tf
100 100 Td
( EPUB rules. ) Tj
ET
EMC
This denes the paragraph (/P) as a
marked-content sequence ID 0 (/MCID 0),
begins the sequence (BDC), places the laid
out text within it as before, and then ends
the sequence denition (EMC).
ePub books, despite their .epub
extension, are Zipped folders normally
containing a minimum of one sub-folder
named META-INF, and a top-level le called
mimetype, holding the single line of text:
application/epub+zip
Inside the META-INF folder is an XML le
named container.xml that varies little between
books, as it merely species the root le
within which the rest of the book contents
are listed. However, that root le (which is
named content.opf) can be placed at the top
level of the book folder, or within a sub-folder,
provided its path is given in container.xml.
The root le content.opf is another
essential structural component that
provides metadata, a manifest of les that
make up the book, and its spine. In the
same folder given by container.xml is the
table of contents navigation map, toc.ncx.
Content of the book is delivered in XHTML
and supporting les that may be placed at
its top level folder, or within sub-folders, in
the manner of a website. There can also
be images, CSS style sheets, fonts, XSL
templates, thumbnails and more, normally
structured into sub-folders for clarity.
Protected books encrypt those content
les, with complete details being stored in
encryption.xml and rights.xml, added to the
META-INF folder.
Its perfectly possible to author ePub
books with a web design tool, or even handroll them in a text editor, and then build your
own structural XML les, with help from the
excellent tutorial provided at bit.ly/cyQw6N.
However, the format has some limitations
that youll need to take into account. Most
importantly, free styling and formatting of
text wont be transferred into an eBook, which
only contains styling that has been marked
using Character, Paragraph and Object Styles.
Font usage is limited to OpenType, and
must also be incorporated into styles. Most
frustratingly, text box layout with respect to
pages and other objects may be discarded
by authoring software when exporting as
an eBook, needing to be restored by direct
editing of the eBooks constituent les. This
is particularly important if you wish to keep
gures and their captions together at a
particular point in the text.
By far the easiest route to ePub is from
HTML or XHTML, through the conversion

www.macuser.co.uk
4 June 2010

130

LAST WORD:
Keeping an open mind
Flash, as Steve Jobs is eager to remind us, is clearly not an open standard,
despite Adobes very public claims to the contrary

he relationship between Apple and

was swift. Flash is open, said Warnock and
Adobe is cooling faster than a midGeschke, because Adobe publishes the
May evening in the Cairngorms. And
specications for Flash, allowing anyone to
it seems neither party is in the mood to warm
make their own Flash Player. Users, they said,
things up. Just in case you havent been
should able to make up their own minds
following the sorry tale, Apple doesnt want
whether they want Flash on their iPhone or not.
Adobes Flash technology on the iPhone or,
Having read Adobes response, the only
by extension, the iPad. This much has been
possible conclusion is that it realises it
clear for a couple of years and was enough
doesnt have any sort of reasonable argument
to persuade Google to re-encode the video
and has decided instead to obfuscate. Saying
on YouTube so that it doesnt rely on Flash.
that Flash is open because it publishes the
The latest spat was sparked when Apple
spec is like saying the iPhone OS is open
forced Adobe to abandon its Packager for
because Apple publishes an SDK. Openness
iPhone, which was due to ship with Creative
requires that third parties can contribute to
Suite 5. This would have allowed developers
the development of the spec themselves,
to publish ActionScript 3 (the Flash scripting
not merely employ it to build something.
language) projects to run as native apps
Despite Adobes denial, Flash is not, and
on the iPhone OS and have them delivered
never has been, open.
through the App Store. Apples immediate
Next, theres the issue of choice. Sure,
response was to update the License
in an ideal world we would be free to choose
Agreement for the iPhone SDK and ban the
whether or not to have Flash on our iPhones
use of anything other
or iPads, but that
than Xcode-supported
choice would be
languages for writing
an illusion, as it is
Openness requires that third
apps. Bottom line:
on Macs and PCs
parties can contribute to the
Apple doesnt like
currently. If you want
Flash and doesnt
to watch much of
development of the spec
want it anywhere
the webs video or
themselves, not merely
near the iPhone.
animated content on
employ it to build something
If youve ever
your Mac today, you
experienced Flash
need Flash. Thats
content slowing
not choice. Its not
your web browser to a crawl or crashing
a choice when choosing not to have Flash
it completely, youll get the gist of Apples
means denying yourself access to a huge
argument. And if youve ever tried to view
chunk of content on the web. We tolerate
Flash content in Google Chrome on a Mac,
Flash not because we like it or want it, but
youll be cheering from the rooftops that you
because theres no alternative. Allowing Flash
wont have to put up with the same on your
on the iPhone would risk the same situation,
iPhone or iPod.
where the ability to run certain apps would be
Performance isnt the only issue cited by
dependent on choosing to have Flash. The
Apple. In Steve Jobs Thoughts on Flash,
arrival of HTML5 with its audio and video tags
he detailed a litany of problems: security,
means theres now an open alternative.
the interface, battery life, and the fact that
None of this means Apple is entirely
app developers would be reliant on Adobe
right, though. As Jobs acknowledges in his
keeping the Flash development tools up to
Thoughts on Flash, Apple itself develops
date in order to make use of the new features
proprietary technologies. It also places
available to them in the iPhone OS.
strict restrictions on their use. In fact, to
That last point seems to have hurt Adobe
many people, Jobs words in favour of open
the most. Flash, says Apple, is proprietary.
standards will have an extremely hollow ring
And that means that anyone using it to
to them. Theyre wrong: Apple has a good
develop apps is tied to Adobe. On the other
record of adopting open standards, from
hand, HTML5, which is Apples preferred
PDF to BSD and WebKit. Others point to
alternative for video and animation on the
Apples dreadful and inconsistent approvals
iPhone, is open.
process for the App Store, and theyre right,
Adobes response, a full-page advert in
its awful. Its also irrelevant in this argument.
some US national newspapers, signed by
Whether or not Apple is justied in its
founders John Warnock and Chuck Geschke,
anti-Flash stance, and I believe it is, the

crude, and perhaps ugly, truth is that it

has developed a platform that has proved
wildly popular and over which it has retained
absolute control. It doesnt have a monopoly
in any recognisable market and therefore
isnt in danger of breaching anti-trust laws.
If developers dont like that, theyre free,
as many have done, to walk away. If users
dont like it, theyre free to buy another
device. It is, as Adobe says, all about
customer choice.

Kenny Hemphill has been at MacUser since

the week Apple bought NeXT and Steve Jobs
returned to the company, and the Internet was
something that ran on one Mac in a cupboard
in the corner of the MacUser ofce.