shuffle March 2008 issue #17
middle east
monthly newsletter about all things apple
• Mac and Blogging • What’s in Your Bag? • Visit to an Apple Store • Confessions of a Mac Switcher • Reviews: MacBook Air, BlackBerry 8800, Ecto
Macs, Blogs, and Blogging
Contents
About Shuffle
May I Have a Word Please
4
Comic corner
4
Article Of the Month
4
SmorgasDashBord
5
Shuffle is published by EmiratesMac Apple User Group (EMUG). It is an independent, non-profit, newsletter containing news, commentary, tips and tricks, reviews, tutorials, and more, covering the world of Mac, iPod, iPhone, AppleTV, and anything else Apple, with a focus on the Middle East. Shuffle is also the official publication of EMUG detailing information about the user group and its activities. Editor in Chief is Omran Al Owais (omran@emiratesmac.com), Contributing Editor is Magnus Nystedt (magnus@emiratesmac.com).
Confessions of a Mac Switcher
6
Contact
The Power Supply Tale
7
Letters to the Editor
8
EmiratesMac on Campus
8
Apple’s How-To Tutorials
8
There is a discussion forum dedicated to Shuffle at EMUG’s web site (http://www.emiratesmac.com/forums/newsletter). There you can leave comments and suggestions and discuss Shuffle with other users. You can contact EMUG at mailing address: PO Box 70263, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Phone +971508171164; Fax +97126664289; Email shuffle@ emiratesmac.com; Web http://www.emiratesmac.com.
Visit to an Apple Store
9
Disclaimer
Mac Models 101
12
iPod Models 101
13
Publish Screenshots With Skitch
14
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content of this publication, we accept no responsibility for errors, omissions or changes to information printed. Views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of EMUG. Articles are copyright their respective author, unless noted otherwise.
17 Mac Blogging Applications
16
Mac and Blogging
17
Blogging With a Mac And a Mobile
18
What’s In Your Bag?
19
Shuffle Reviews
20
Brief Blogging Tips
23
Profile of a Mac Seller
23
This newsletter is the only publication in the Middle East that is dedicated to Apple products. By advertising in Shuffle you reach a dedicated audience of Mac and iPod users. We strive to make Shuffle a high-quality newsletter that people will want to read because it’s so good. It’s written and produced by members of EMUG and other User Groups around the Middle East. Wouldn’t you want to be associated with that? If you’re interested in sponsoring Shuffle, or buying advertising space, contact Crystal at +971508171164 or crystal@ emiratesmac.com to request our Media Kit.
Peel the Apple
24
Want to write for Shuffle?
Recipe: Apple Chutney
25
Weaving the Web
25
Adobe Tutorial
26
Hosted or Self-Hosted?
29
Join EMUG
30
If you’re reading this and you’re a member of the EMUG, or any other registered Apple User Group in the Middle East, we hope you will consider contributing. We’re looking for any type of articles you would be interested in writing, from something about the history of Apple and their products, reviews of hardware or software, essays, tutorials, or hints and tips. You can write in English or Arabic. The people who write for shuffle now are users just like yourself. If you would consider writing something for Shuffle, send us an email (shuffle@emiratesmac.com) or leave a message with your idea at the site (http://www.emiratesmac.com).
Want to advertise in Shuffle?
Cover photo: ©iStockphoto.com/molotovcoketail
Shuffle is sponsored by:
www.appleme.ae
www.arabcomputers.com.sa
www.centimetercube.com
May I Have a Word Please
Comic Corner
Blogging for me is about communication. Many of you have started blogs but let’s face it; very few blogs become really popular and attract thousands and millions of readers. But in many ways that’s an aspect of blogging that’s not that important for most of us. I’ve blogged at times just to keep myself writing, to leave myself little virtual postit notes for the future. And it’s something therapeutic about writing and knowing that others could read what you write. Not that they necessarily will, but that they might. It’s that possibility of creating an interest, which is one of the more attractive aspects of blogging. And although blogging started with text-messages being posted for others to read, the underlying technology has been put into use in other areas. Now you can post photos, video, and more to a blog and share your media with others. There’s moblogging, short for mobile blogging, meaning you blog from your mobile phone or other similar device. There’s even micro blogging, often seen as shorter posts than regular blogging. Sure the lines are blurred between all these types of blogging, but they seem to all have in common the personal publishing aspect. It’s about your creating content that you publish so others can consume it. And Mac is the perfect blogging tool, whether it’s photo and video editing with a powerful Mac Pro, or blogging on the road with a MacBook Air or iPhone. To get started with your blogging you already get a lot built in with your Mac in the iLife apps, mainly iPhoto and iWeb. And as you get more advanced there is very good software for creating your blogs, keeping them up to date, and promoting them to potential readers. I hope this issue can give you some ideas about blogging - see you in the blogosphere.
Geekculture.com has generously given their permission for EMUG to reprint their comic strip in our newsletter. Go to www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/ to see a new comic strip every day. Make sure you also check out all the other features on the Geekculture.com web site.
Article of the Month Each month, courtesy of Salam Studio & Store, the author of the best article in Shuffle will receive an AED250 gift certificate to be spent at any Salam store. This month’s winner is Brian
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Nielsen for his article “Confessions of a Mac switcher”. It’s the start of a series of articles where he will detail his experience of switching to Mac. Congratulations Brian!
Sm rgasDashB rd by Yasir (EmiratesMac)
Moments Widget Fill up space on your Dashboard with a piece of your memory. It shows a photo in a frame on your Dashboard, which is resizable. Different styled frames make it look nice. Now, if only I knew how to make the slideshow work! RANKING: LINK: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/webcams/momentswidget.html Snake ToDo A fast and oversized sticky note pad, which has access to your iCal and Mail’s to do’s. Some might think it’s pretty useless (at least I do), but I guess the main advantage is you can access your notes through Dashboard, instead of having to go through the applications menu. RANKING:
With five speed levels and an option to let you go through the walls of the widget and appear in the opposite direction, it’s a classic. A very cool and mind-twisting time-waster. It also keeps your highest score, and it’s easy to play with your arrow keys. But it would be better if it were a bit smaller. RANKING: LINK: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/ snake_amadeuszslawinski.html
LINK: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/email_messaging/todo.html
For an explanation of “SmorgasDashBord” go to:
www.emiratesmac. com/forums/ newsletter/3424smorgasdashbordexplanation.html
QOTM AKA “Quote Of The Moment”. This is not a useful thing to have. In fact, some of the quotes are so awkward and useless that calling this widget a “waste of time” might be unduly complimenting it. In addition, it’s huge and does not flip properly. RANKING:
(unfortunately we can’t grade any lower)
LINK: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/justforfun/quoteofthemomentdashboardwidget.html
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Confessions of a Mac Switcher by Brian (EmiratesMac)
I have finally made a “backward conversion” to becoming a Mac user. I say “backward conversion” because the first computer I ever bought was a Mac (a Macintosh Perfora in 1996). However, because my workplace provided me with a free Windows PC and free software, and because a lot more software back then was being written extensively for Windows, I finally abandoned my Mac in favour of Windows 98. So why have I recently converted back? My reasons seem to boil down to one thing in particular – I have slowly been won over by being constantly wowed by the cool things being done by the Mac-using colleague who sits next to me at work. I was amazed as he demonstrated things like Exposé and how the Dock works, its compatibility with MS Office documents, and the immediate sleeping & waking modes of his notebook. One day I asked this colleague to explain the fundamental difference between Mac and Windows mentality. He proceeded to unplug his Mac laptop and turn it upside down, and did the same with my Dell laptop. He asked me, “What do you see at the bottom of these two laptops?” The difference was immediately obvious: the bottom of the Mac was sleek and flat, while the Dell contained a multitude of clutter (docking connector, fan intake, hard drive access etc.). My colleague, an avid Apple user, went on to explain, “The basic difference in mentality is that Apple begins its production process with the finished Mac design, and then challenges its engineers to fit the workings of the computer within this design. Microsoft, however, does this in the opposite direction: ultimately resulting in the Windows engineer demanding that the finished computer design be fitted around the workings of the computer.”
almost every person I know involved in graphic art or web design extensively uses a Mac; Apple seems to better appreciate design. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that Mac software is now being developed with native Intel support. Since web and graphic design are part of my job description, I am very happy to know that a Mac version of Adobe CS3 software is available. An added benefit is that all Macs using Mac OS X ship with the application suite iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand and iWeb) enabling me to create, organize, view and publish digital content such as pictures, movies, music, and web pages. An important factor in me changing back to a Mac has been the realization that Macs run Microsoft Office, with all the features and shortcuts that I’ve grown accustomed to using with the Windows version of Office. Another important realization has been that, if I ever wish to, I can always install Virtual Machine software; enabling me to run multiple operating systems on my Mac. So, I finally made the switch last week by buying my friend’s secondhand iMac (he’s upgrading to a Mac Pro). Incidentally, I’ve heard that an added advantage of owning a Mac is that you can get a higher resale price than if you were selling a Windows machine of comparable specifications. I’m not going to pretend that my transition back to a Mac will be without its problems. And I hope to document some of these for readers over the next few issues of Shuffle – so hold on folks, it could be a bumpy ride!
If this is true, and so far I have little reason to doubt it judging from the attention to detail that Apple puts into its products, it is truly amazing. It also explains why
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The Power Supply Tale by iDubai (EmiratesMac)
After having become the proud owner of a 23-inch Apple Cinema Display, for about 30 minutes I could not figure out why it did not light up. I was sure that it was tested and it was working. Simply put, I was going nuts trying to figure this problem out. After trying to troubleshoot some more: restarting my Mac Pro again and again, reinstalling all the cables back, dusting some off, etc. - it still didn’t work. The LED in the front panel was blinking, but didn’t look very healthy. It showed that there was some kind of life, yet not very consistent. Anyway, it turned out to be a very silly mistake that was fixed later, and I want to share this with you. I was replacing my old 20-inch Cinema Display with a 23-inch, but I was using the power supply from the 20-inch. Duuuh! The answer was that the power
supply that comes with the 23-inch produces more amps to feed the larger screen. Anyway, this gave me another idea. I had my 1TB LaCie external hard disk die on me a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it was the end of it. So I bought a new external hard disk, a My Book 1TB. Then, after the experience with the power supply on the 23-inch display, I realized that I had made the same mistake with the hard drive: I had connected the power supply that was for my 500GB LaCie disk to the 1TB one - causing the same effect as that with the displays.
So, I’ve learned that you never mess with the power supplies. Either they will zap you, or they will make you go nuts. But at least this short story has a happy ending, and it might save you the angst I suffered from making such a simple mistake.
EmiratesMac Training Courses EmiratesMac’s course offerings start off with Introduction to Mac OS X and iLife. In the Mac OS X course you will learn the basics of how to log in and get going with your Mac, find your way around the interface, open and save files, do some simple maintenance, get online, and more. In the iLife course we cover how to manage and edit photos, create movies, burn DVDs, create web pages, and put together a music masterpiece, all with the iLife applications. ©iStockphoto.com/hdoggrafix
For more information and to sign up: http://www.emiratesmac.com/index.php?page=training shuffle@emiratesmac.com | www.emiratesmac.com | shuffle Middle East 7
Apple’s How-To Tutorials In early 2008, Apple posted a number of How-To videos on their web site (http://www.apple.com/findouthow/macosx/). The collection includes hundreds of short tutorials and many of them are video tutorials. These tutorials cover a wide range of topics, from basic Mac OS X to photos, movies, web and more. Videos are typically only a few minutes long, but they focus on very typical
things that most users would be interested in knowing how to do. And with QuickTime Pro you can download the videos so you can watch them at your own leisure. I sincerely hope Apple will continue posting these types of quick tutorials; they are a great service to users and especially to new Mac users.
EmiratesMac on
Campus There are many students who are members of the EmiratesMac Apple User Group, and we’re all about supporting them in various ways. We’re excited about education
and we want to be able to reach more students. So we’re starting a new initiative called EmiratesMac On Campus. If you’re a student at a school, college, or university, you could be the Campus Rep for EMUG. Send us an email at campus@ emiratesmac.com if you’re interested. You will have to become a member of EMUG first. Your job as Campus Rep will entail getting information from EMUG out to students on the campus, recruiting new EMUG members, supporting Apple fans on campus, and assisting EMUG with organizing events on your campus. The primary task is to be the main point of contact for students on the campus. All Campus Reps will be listed on the User Group page (http://www.emiratesmac. com/index.php?page=usergroup). If you’re a student on any of the campuses with a Campus Rep, check there for who you should first contact with any questions.
Wanna Save Some Money On Your Apple Purchases? Become a member in the EmiratesMac Apple User Group:
Letters to the Editor This is a new feature we’re offering in Shuffle, where our readers can send us their thoughts, suggestions, comments, complaints, or whatever else may be on their minds. As in most magazines and newspapers, just send an email to shuffle@ emiratesmac.com and it may appear in future issues of Shuffle. We hope that you’ll consider writing in and we promise to take everything you have to say seriously and add it to our growing list of things we need to work on with Shuffle. So I am hoping that from next issue this space could be used up by letters sent to us. I should mention that you can write in either English or Arabic, either way is fine.
English comments will be published here and the Arabic comments will be in the Arabic section. That makes sense, right? So send in your Letters to the Editor to shuffle @emiratesmac.com. Please note that we will not accept any letters to the editor to be published here unless they are accompanied by the author’s full name, their email address and their mobile phone number. None of this personal information will be printed in Shuffle, but it may be used in trying to help us solve your problems. Letters will normally be published with the author’s name after it. If you don’t want your name published, please indicate this in your email.
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http://www.emiratesmac.com/index. php?page=usergroup
Visit to an
Apple Store In February 2008 Crystal and I visited an Apple Store in the US, so we thought we’d share with you some of our experiences. Going to an Apple Store is one of those things that any serious Apple fan should do at some point in their life. There’s something very special about these stores, and by writing this article we hope we can encourage you to try to make the trip in the future.
Getting there We stayed with Crystal’s family in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the closest Apple Store was in Raleigh, North Carolina. That’s almost a four-hour drive away under good conditions! Since we were getting a few things at the Apple Store, we had contacted them in advance and given them a list of everything we wanted and even made an appointment
with one of the sales people there so we could meet up and go over everything. It seemed like the right thing to do, since we were only coming to the store for a quick visit and couldn’t really return if we were missing something - or so we thought (more about this later). Really early one Thursday morning, we set out for the long drive to the Apple Store. And after a safe drive with a few stops, we managed to find it. The directions and map on Apple’s web site weren’t the greatest, but we found it pretty easily. The store We had been to a couple of other Apple Stores before this one so we weren’t total newbies to the experience, but it’s always such a nice feeling walking into an Apple Store. Perhaps because we’re already devoted Apple fans, perhaps because we’re buying into the whole Apple digital lifestyle, or for whatever other reason it may be, it feels pretty special walking into an Apple Store. What struck us immediately was that on a Thursday mid-morning the mall was fairly empty as could be expected, but in the Apple Store it was really busy. The Genius Bar was full, and there was a two- to three-hour waiting list already. Apple Trainers were busy sitting down one-on-one with customers all around the store. And there were sales
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people helping customers everywhere, it seemed. Sales were probably really good, and this was when the rest of the mall was pretty much dead!
“We were taken care of extremely well, and we have to send our sincere thank you to John and Shane who took such great care of us and made us feel most welcome.” The store itself was bright, with white walls and light, wooden furniture. Most products were displayed on large tables, with software and accessories lined up against the wall. One table was dedicated to just iPhones, another one to iPods, two tables were for MacBooks and MacBook Pros, etc. The Genius Bar is just what it says: like a bar with bar stools for customers to sit on. Behind the bar there were displays, which most of the time displayed the schedule for the Genius Bar and which customers had upcoming appointments.
Occasionally, one end of the Genius Bar was turned into a small classroom for two or three customers. At the far end of the Apple Store was an area with iMacs and more stools where trainers had one-onone sessions with customers concerning various applications like iLife, Final Cut Express, etc. At any given time during our few hours in this place, there were some twenty to thirty customers in the store, and about 10-15 Apple employees. And there was always someone on hand to give a quick answer to a question, or whatever else the customers needed. We were taken care of extremely well, and we have to send our sincere thank you to John and Shane who took such great care of us and made us feel most welcome. MacBook Air It so happened that our trip to the US coincided with the MacBook Air being
released over there. Actually, just when we had landed, pretty much the first announcement came from people that their MacBook Airs had shipped - and that it was expected to hit stores in a matter of days. When we did make it to the store, the guys there weren’t sure when it would
arrive, but it turned out it didn’t arrive while we were there at the store. And since we were due to fly back to the UAE the following day, we were faced with the choice of trying to change our tickets (which would have been costly, but carry with it the chance of getting a MacBook Air) or fly home without one. So we contacted US Airways and after a trip to the airport (because we had paper tickets we had to go to an airport to make changes) we managed to arrange new tickets to fly back a few days later. In the coming days the rumors grew stronger about MacBook Air hitting the stores, and eventually people were reporting that they were actually buying them. In the store we had been to, they still didn’t have them but they did receive one for display
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only. So finally the Monday of the following week Shane informed us they had a MacBook Air and that he could hold it for us if we came right away. Getting the MacBook Air Of course we had to go and get it. So we got in the car again and this time it was more of a three-hour drive than four hour one, if you know what I mean. When walking up to the Apple Store we saw the MacBook Air on display in the window and just inside the store several of them were on display. My immediate impression when holding and lifting it was, “Wow! This is light and thin”. And I think most customers around us had the same impression. It seemed like people were flocking around them, kind of like when they see the iPhone for the first time. Yes, the MacBook Air has some of that “iPhone effect” on people, and that goes way beyond regular Apple fans. The return trip to the Apple Store was much shorter than the first one. We picked up the MacBook Air and all of the accessories for it and headed on back. Beforehand, we were worried whether we would be able to get the accessories, like the external SuperDrive, but they had them all there in the store. Final thoughts Many in the Apple Store asked us if we had Apple Stores “over there”, meaning in the UAE, and we had to explain to them about how it works here. Apple Store employees as well as customers we talked to seemed surprised about what we told them. I think they’d be pleasantly surprised, though, if they came over here and saw what we do have in terms of stores. We’re going to send back a few copies of Shuffle to the Apple Store in Raleigh, just to say thank you and to remind them about the Apple-world outside the US. Perhaps by doing so, we in some small measure can bring attention to us here in the Middle East. And if you ever go to a place that is close to an Apple Store, go visit and introduce yourself. Tell them where you are from, and tell them about EmiratesMac or your own User Group. Let them know there are Apple fans outside of North America and Europe. They will appreciate it, and you will have an even better experience at the Apple Store.
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Mac Models 101 Selecting what Mac to buy can sometimes be daunting, especially if you’re new to Macs. Therefore we put together this short guide to the different models of Macintosh computers currently on offer from Apple. This guide only offers some brief pointers. To evaluate what you should buy, we advice you spend some time with the Mac in a store.
Mac mini The introductory model, petite as it is, still packs quite a punch. Don’t take its small size as a sign that it’s slow. It comes with a Core2Duo processor of up to 2.0GHz, which is plenty for most things you’d want to do. It can also take up to 2GB RAM and 160GB hard drive as well as a SuperDrive. Its limitation lies in that it’s very hard to upgrade, and it has integrated Intel graphics, so don’t expect to play the latest 3D games on a mini. Price: from AED2699.
iMac The ultimate home desktop computer, the iMac is the all-in-one that packs a punch. You can get a 20 or 24inch screen, up to 4GB of RAM, and 1TB of hard drive. The iMac’s selling point is the integrated package, which also happens to look really awesome. Price: from AED6199.
Mac Pro For the ultimate in power and flexibility, you can’t beat Mac Pro but it’s not cheap. You can get it up to an eightcore configuration, 16GB RAM, four 750GB hard drives, and two optical drives. You also have a selection when it comes to graphics card. Price: from AED11999.
MacBook Air The MacBook Air is definitely the ultimate Mac in terms of portability. But even though it weighs in at about 1kg, it’s no lightweight in terms of performance. With a processor from 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, and 80GB hard drive it should perform most tasks with east. An external SuperDrive is optional. Price: from AED8199.
MacBook Pro For the technology you can find inside them, the MacBook Pros are surprisingly compact. But no one can say that the 17-inch model is light and easy to transport. The 15-inch model is slightly smaller, and both sport a gorgeous, large display. It has up to 2.6GHz Core2Duo processors, 4GB or RAM, and 250GB of hard drive. If its power and large screens you want, MacBook Pro is your choice. Price: from AED7999.
MacBook The main attraction of the MacBook is obviously its size. It has a 13.3-inch display which has enough resolution for most things (but is limited for tasks such as design), a Core2Duo processor of up to 2.2GHz, RAM up to 4GB, and a hard drive up to 250GB. The MacBook is a lot of power in a small package. If mobility is your primary concern, this is your choice. Price: from AED4999.
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iPod Models 101 As with buying a Mac, selecting what iPod to buy is not always easy. In every issue of Shuffle we present the current models of Apple’s iPods, what their main features are, and the starting price. Hopefully this can serve as a simple and quick guide to the iPods so you can make a more informed buying decision.
iPod Classic This is the iPod we have known and loved for so many years, hence the name Classic. With a large display, plenty of storage space, this is still the king of the iPods even though many new models have been released. Comes in versions of 80GB and 160GB and is available in silver and black. Price: from AED1199.
iPod Touch iPod Nano Available in different colors, the Nano is the ultimate fashion accessory. With a wonderfully crisp display it can play video and the small size means you can slip it into your pocket and take it anywhere. Comes in 4GB and 8GB versions in five different colors. Price: from AED649.
This is iPhone without the phone. You get wifi for web browsing with Safari, full-featured iPod of course for music and video, and the wonderful iPhone multitouch interface. Comes in 8GB and 16GB versions Price: from AED1399.
iPod Shuffle This miniscule iPod is different from the other iPods not just in terms of size and price but in the fact that it has no display. The idea is that you listen to music on the go and it shuffles through the songs. There’s even an handy feature in iTunes that will always put a different combination of songs on it when you sync. Price: AED329. Apple TV Although it’s not an iPod we present it here as it seems Apple feels the Apple TV is in the same family. With 40GB or 160GB storage capacity, the Apple TV can take all your music, podcasts, and movies. The multimedia can be synchronized from one iTunes library on a Mac or PC, or streamed from up to five other computers. It’s the easiest way to get your multimedia content onto a TV. Price: from AED1399.
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Publish Screenshots With Skitch The developers of Skitch have given it the tagline “Snap, Draw, Share” - and that’s a very good description of what it is. Capture a portion of the screen, or drag an existing file into Skitch. Draw an arrow pointing at something, circle what’s important, add some text and click to upload - and you’re done. Let’s go through one example of what you can do with Skitch. You can download Skitch from http://plasq.com/skitch.
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
Start Skitch and click the Snap button.
Draw around the area of the screen you want to capture.
The selected area will then be pasted into the Skitch window.
STEP 4
STEP 5
STEP 6
Use the various tools in Skitch to draw and write text that will get your message across.
Click the Webpost button to upload the picture to the server. This requires you to have set your server details up in Skitch’s Preferences first.
When publishing is finished, the upload button will read “copy link”. Click the button and you can then paste the URL (in my case http://www.
nystedt.org/images/EmiratesMac_Apple_ User_Group-20080221-195247.jpg) into
your blogging application or wherever else you need it.
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17 Mac Blogging Applications There is no doubt that you can blog without buying any extra software, or even without downloading anything that is free. But if you want to make your blogging experience a bit better and more enjoyable and if you want to go for some serious blogging and perhaps even try to make your living from blogging, then it’s time to consider some good tools. This is not meant to be an exhaustive collection of tools, but it’s a suggested start. Some of these applications come with every Mac, some you can download for fre, and some you have to pay for. We tried to give you a bit of everything. Ecto (http://infinite-sushi.com/ software/ecto/): If you are serious about blogging, and almost regardless of what publishing platform you’ve chosen, you would want to look at getting ecto. It just makes publishing that much easier.
ScreenFlow (http://www.
varasoftware.com/products/ screenflow/): Sometimes
you may want to show other people how to do something on your screen. ScreenFlow is the best solution for what’s usually called screencasts.
ImageWell (http://xtralean. com/IWOverview.html): It’s described as “the free and lean image editor” and it certainly is, both free and lean. Drop a picture file on its icon, and with a few clicks you can resize it and upload it to .Mac or an FTP account.
Adium (http://www.adiumx. com/): To keep in touch with as many
Skitch (http://plasq.com/skitch): If you want something more advanced than ImageWell, try Skitch. It will let you capture something on the screen, do a little editing to it, and upload it. One really cool thing is that Skitch integrates with iPhoto.
Firefox (http://www.getfirefox.com): Safari is a great browser but there will be times when you’ll want to check your site in Firefox, to see whether it displays correctly. And sad as it is, some sites just don’t work in Safari.
CyberDuck (http://cyberduck.ch/): Personally I like Transmit (http://www.panic. com/transmit/) but if you want to go for a free app, CyberDuck is a very good FTP application. And you’ll need an FTP to set up your blog, upload files, etc.
BBEDit (http://www.barebones.com/ products/bbedit/): Some say BBEdit is a
Grab (part of Mac OS X): There are other screen capture utilities with more functionality (some also free), but I think you’ll find that Grab does most of what you need, and it’s already on your Mac.
people as possible, you need to be on several Instant Messaging networks: AOL, MSN, Google, etc. With Adium you can be connected to them all with one application - and it’s free!
bit too heavy for blogging, but I find it surprisingly useful - even for writing plain text. A bit pricey perhaps, but a great allround tool for editing code and writing text. WriteRoom (http://hog-
baysoftware.com/products/ writeroom): If distraction-free
writing is what you need, WriteRoom will let you blank out everything else on the screen so you can focus on your text. While WriteRoom
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doesn’t offer much else in terms of functionality, other than full-screen editing, that’s its killer feature. KeyNote (part of iWork): It’s a presentation program, but can double as a simple drawing tool. If you need to illustrate your blog post with a table or a chart, KeyNote is your friend. OmniGraffle (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/): If you need to draw something
more complicated and KeyNote can’t handle it, OmniGraffle is your tool. OmniGraffle makes easy to draw, eye-catching models, diagrams, and lots more. Mail (part of Mac OS X): Of course you need to send and receive email and Apple offers a great tool in their Mail application. iCal (part of Mac OS X): You will need to try to be as disciplined as possible if you want to create a successful blog. So it’s important to keep dates, meetings, appointments, and other activities in your calendar. Since iCal is already there in Mac OS X, it’s the first choice. iPhoto (part of iLife): Not just for photos, despite its name, iPhoto can become the hub of all your digital picture files. It can also help you do some simple editing. iMovie (part of iLife): If you need to edit movies, iMovie is a great choice. That it comes free with any new Mac makes it even better.
TaskPaper (http://hogbaysoftware.com/ products/taskpaper): If the to-dos in Mail and iCal aren’t enough for you, try TaskPaper. It’s deceptively simple but with a little effort you can manage very complicated projects, including your blogging, with it.
Mac and Blogging by Senthil (EmiratesMac)
The term blogging evolved over the last 4-5 years and has caught on big time in our lives. Before the advent of blogging, most of us used to maintain a record of our lives in a diary. Today, with the evolution of the virtual world, most of us have moved to recording our lives in the virtual world through a “blog”. Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, “blog” seems less likely to cause confusion, as “web log” can also mean a server’s log files. Blogs can be focused on one specific topic and written by one author who incorporates different ideas, resources and articles into each entry, or a blog can be written by many contributors on a common set of topics. This gives a distinct advantage over maintaining a diary. Also, blogs can be used for collaborative projects. A blog can also express a personal viewpoint, becoming essentially a public diary that documents one person’s daily experience. Some blogs do so, entirely through photographs – called photoblogs. This is where the power of Mac can be used. The way Mac integrates all its software is ideal for an amateur blogger. In a simple click, he or she can integrate his writing, photos and videos into a powerful communication tool. The simplest way to think of a blog is as an ongoing documentation that can be
viewed by anyone in the world with access to the Internet, and this makes it a powerful tool. During the diary days, the only way to expose your views and ideas was through media, such as a newspaper or television network. Now, it’s possible to see or read someone else’s first-hand experience on a blog in pretty close to real time. Personally, blogging is the best tool that could have been invented for me to air my views on the drudgery of corporate life, my personal travels and a lot of other stuff, and to share these with the world. Whether anyone goes through my posted information or not does not make much
The thing that makes iWeb so easy to use is that it’s fully integrated with the rest of the iLife suite. Media produced in other iLife applications shows up in the Media Browser - a floating window that contains photos from iPhoto, movies from iMovie, playlists from iTunes, and podcasts or songs created in Garageband. To add content to the page you’re building, simply drag elements from the Media Browser and drop them on the page. Drag a photo here, a podcast there. Photos can be rotated, layered, cropped, and resized within iWeb. The blogging feature includes full RSS support. Any time you add a post or a podcast, a new RSS file is generated. Subscription links are displayed prominently on the page. Photo galleries are also instantly made available as photocasts once your site is published. With these tools in hand, I have managed to publish and blog about my hobbies and share with the world the treasures that I hold, and also to meet and engage with people who share similar interests.
©iStockphoto.com/Eoseye
difference to me, but I hope that someday it might help someone to learn from my own experience. Also, it makes nice reading some years down the line. With Mac comes a great application called iWeb, which is well-integrated with .Mac. This application opens the world for you to be a great photographer, philosopher, moviemaker and web designer. This is, of course, not for professionals but for amateurs like you and me. Site building and blogging in iWeb starts with one of the Apple-designed templates that ship with the application. The iWeb templates mirror other template designs in the iLife suite, as well as the standard templates for .Mac sites.
I currently manage three blogs; one on my hobbies, one on the drudgery of corporate world, and one on my personal travels. I have to thank Mac and iWeb for allowing me this creative freedom. Though I have not managed to earn anything through blogging, I have come across people who have become professional bloggers. These blogs are followed all over the world and are ‘monetized’ by the blogger. As always I recommend the latest Apple Mac - this could be a Macbook, a Macbook Pro, or a Mac desktop with iWeb for getting the creative best out of you. Happy blogging and I hope to see your blog revolutionizing world opinion.
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Blogging With a Mac And a Mobile If you’re serious about your blogging and you want to be able to post using your Mac notebook from anywhere, even where there is no Wi-Fi internet connection, you could possibly use your mobile phone. This brief tutorial takes you through how to use a Nokia E61i (http://europe.nokia.com/A4344018) as a 3G mobile phone modem, connecting to it via Bluetooth from the Mac to post to a blog. You can read a review of the Nokia E61i in the September 2007 issue of Shuffle.
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
Go to http://www.taniwha.org.uk and download the “Scripts for Nokia 3.5G (HSDPA) phones (26kB): Nokia 3.5G Scripts”. If you have a different phone the script you would download would also be different.
Copy the three “Nokia HSDPA…” files from the downloaded archive to Library > Modem Scripts.
Set up a new Bluetooth device, select Mobile Phone.
STEP 4
STEP 5
STEP 6
Make sure “Access the internet…” is checked. When you enter “APN”, it is “Etisalat.ae”.
In System Preferences > Network > Bluetooth, the phone number is also “Etisalat.ae”.
Now you can connect via the menu at the top or from System Preferences > Network > Bluetooth.
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What’s In Your Bag? by Fangpyre
The bag
holds it and the firewire cable together.
I have a Blue Dicota BacPac Rain backpack with the following inside:
I keep the video converters for when I have a presentation to do, since I don’t always know where and what I will be giving. The iPod cable is for both my iPod and iPhone, which I usually end up recharging from. And I have a paperclip on it should I need to access my SIM card. The charger is usually disconnected from the power connector, since I have a power cables both at home and in the office. This way, all I have to do is plug it into the connector that is lying on the desk, instead of going under the table to plug it in every day. And it’s a lot cheaper than having 3 chargers (at home, in the office, and in the bag).
• Apple PowerBook G4 15” • 100GB firewire / USB external hard
drive PB’s charger Mini USB cable Firewire cable DVI <> RGB converter S-Video <> component converter iPod cable iPod headphone SD Reader 512MB SD (in the reader) Micro SD converter Mini SD converter Transcend Micro SD reader with 2GB in it I like the Dicota BacPac Rain because carrying a suitcase all day and in airports had started to take its toll on my back. Of course, it doesn’t look as professional as a leather suitcase, but I think my back is more important than public opinion. The fact there is a Mac inside helps, since people expect Mac users to be slightly eccentric or unconventional. The bag comes with a “wire hole” to keep my iPod inside while I listen to music, but I never use that. I prefer to have control over the iPod, which I can’t do while its inside. The bag also has a rain cover which was very helpful during Dubai’s last rainstorm.
• • • • • • • • • • • •
“What’s in your bag” is a regular feature in Shuffle. Each month we feature one Mac user and what’s in their notebook bag. If you’re willing to share what’s in your bag, send us an email at shuffle@emiratesmac.com. We need your name, what bag and Mac you have, and what’s actually in the bag, along with a few comments about the items.
The hard disk is a generic case with a hard disk I installed in it. The nice thing about it is that it comes with both USB and firewire, so I can boot from it when I need to. It also comes in a convineint faux leather case that
Non IT items A pair of Thumb Ease massagers that are nice to have after a long days work. A clipboard / folder (complete with old Apple logo, as well as a few other stickers) An Apple “envelope” to hold loose paper (used to come with some models of older Macs). I use the folder to further separate things, keeping my papers safe and organized as well as further protecting my Mac. I also use a plastic envelope to put small papers in. These envelopes used to come with the older Macs, and are very convenient to have, and have the Apple logo on them! A bottle of The Body Shop White Musk Perfume Oil, I can’t get enough of this and stock-pile it like gold. Swiss+Tech Utili-Key 6-in-1, which is helpful for all sorts of things. It’s a knife, 3 screwdrivers and a few other things, all the size of a key. I got this off souq.com.
Dicota: http://www.dicota.com/start.php?office=62&page=page_productDetails&ds=350 Body Shop Oil: http://www.thebodyshop.com/bodyshop/browse/product_detail.jsp?prod uctId=prod6180031&categoryId=cat5280015
Thumb Ease: http://www.massagewarehouse.com/itemdetailitem230+0015.asp Transcend: http://www.transcendusa.com/Products/ModDetail. asp?ModNo=178&LangNo=0
Swiss-tech Utili-Key: http://www.swisstechtools.com/productdetail. aspx?PID=VZ75GDTdP68A
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Shuffle Reviews This time we have a lot of reviews for you, most exciting perhaps is the one of the MacBook Air. As we’re writing this it has just been released in the Middle East. We also bring you some other interesting reviews.
FIND MORE ONLINE. You can find more information online and share your views about the items we tested in this issue or anything else on our web site at www.emiratesmac.com. ©iStockphoto.com/blaneyphoto
BlackBerry 8800 Price AED2205 From Research In Motion Distributor Etisalat Web http://na.blackberry.com/ eng/devices/series-detail. jsp?navId=H0,C201
I’m a big BlackBerry fan but this is not the greatest BlackBerry phone. The BlackBerry 8800 leaves much to be desired, but for a blogger on the go it makes a great platform for writing and posting. It has no 3G, no camera, no Wi-Fi, etc. But where this BlackBerry, like most other models from RIM, shines is email. I’ve yet to experience anything else that even comes close to the speed, reliability and ease of use in terms of email, that BlackBerry offers. Sure you can do email with other phones and devices, but it’s not comparable. If we start on the outside, the 8800 looks great. It’s black and shiny, with a large, gorgeous display. The controls are laid out in a logical fashion. One thing that made BlackBerry famous, the click-wheel, is replaced by a small joystick-like control, which I’ve been fairly impressed with. It’s easy to get around the interface, even with one hand. The keyboard is of course critical for a device such as this, and I’d like it to be a bit more distinct than it is. Pressing the keys is a bit too soft for my taste but it’s better than most other keyboards I’ve tried on similar devices. Battery life is impressive. RIM says it’s five hours of talktime or 22 days standby. I’m not sure it’s that much, but it probably isn’t far off. I’ve used it extensively for almost an entire working week before the batteries have died on me. Some people will miss having an inbuilt camera, but I don’t really. Since the 8800 has a MicroSD slot for a flash memory card, you can use a digital camera that takes SD cards with a card adapter, then put the card into the 8800 and send photos that way. It makes for a great mobile blogging platform. For anyone on the go and in need of fast and reliable email, the BlackBerry 8800 is a great choice. Don’t expect the latest and greatest in technology though.
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Shuffle Reviews
MacBook Air Price AED8199 From Apple Inc. Distributor Apple IMC ME Web http://www.appleme.ae/ara/ mac/macbookair/
When it comes to design and build quality, the MacBook Air feels very solid to say the least. Picking it up with one hand produces no flexing, squeaking from hinges, nor anything else. There is a bit of flex on the top, presumably because it’s the screen. Everything fits together perfectly and I’m sure this is one tough little machine. In typical Apple style the outside is sleek and clean. It has a thin rubber line running all around the screen, connecting it really tightly to the bottom part when it’s closed. Many have complained about the ports on the MBA, and I can see why. There will be many USB devices that will not be able to connect to the MBA because of the location of its only port. That the Magsafe Adapter has a new connection is also a sore subject for many, and I think Apple could have used the same old connector but hope they had good reasons for not doing so. The Micro-DVI connector and accompanying adapters (you pay extra for these) seem to work fine. We tested the 80GB hard drive version of the MBA and booting up took 75 seconds (an average of five reboots from power on to login screen). If it’s sleeping and you open the screen, it’s instantly on. That’s a small detail but really cool. Our MacBook Air was the 1.6GHz version, so it should be considerably slower than the 2.0GHz MacBook it replaces, but in regular use (web, email, iWork, iPhoto, Office 2008) we couldn’t really find any noticeable difference. The MBA was snappy all around and only stalled a bit in situations where it was to be expected – causing us to conclude that the MBA is going to be perfectly fine for most users. What I also loved was that in testing conditions where the MacBook’s fans would rev up, the MBA was completely silent. I love the MBA’s keyboard. It’s the same as in MacBooks, which I actually prefer over that on MacBook Pros. The wider track pad is also nice, but the “thinner” mouse button takes some getting used to. However, I could easily get used to the gestures on the track pad. Apple’s claim that you’d get five hours out of the MBA seem to be a bit optimistic. After a few weeks use, I suspect it’s about one hour less than what Apple claims. You’re probably used to doing migration over Firewire cable. But what do you do since there is no Firewire on the MacBook Air? You have three options: migrate over Wi-Fi, Ethernet cable, or via Time Machine backup. We tried the Wi-Fi option first but had no luck; it just wouldn’t work. Eventually we just connected the external drive with the Time Machine backup from our old MacBook and it transferred just fine. Since the MBA does not have an internal optical drive, we picked up an external SuperDrive too but we hope we won’t have to use it much. We did install Microsoft Office 2008 from DVD in the SuperDrive, but we also tried installing software from a DVD on a MacBook Pro through the Remote Disc feature - and that also worked fine, albeit a bit slow. In conclusion, the MBA is an extraordinary accomplishment by Apple. Whether the label “The world’s thinnest notebook” is true, and how long it’ll last, is really of little importance. The fact is that the MBA is a beautiful, functional, thin and light notebook that will serve well those looking for something small and light. It probably isn’t going to be many users’ main Mac, but rather an addition to something else - often a desktop. But for many regular uses, it’s actually fine as a main Mac as well. Let’s see what the price will be once it arrives in the Middle East.
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Shuffle Reviews
Bose QuietComfort2 Price $299 From Bose Distributor Bose Web http://www.bose.com/
controller?url=/home_entertainment/headphones_headsets/ headphones/qc2/index.jsp
Let me tell you straight up - I love these headphones. Bose is well known for creating high quality audio equipment, and its QuietComfort2 headphones are no exception. These are actively noise-cancelling, or more appropriately, noise-reducing headphones. This means they reduce the noise in the listener’s surroundings so they can enjoy the audio instead. Technically they do this by listening to the sounds in the environment and emitting into the headphones sounds that “cancel out” the noise. The most obvious place this makes sense is when you’re on an airplane, and that’s where I’ve experienced the greatest effect of these Bose headphones. I should add that this type of noise reduction works on steady background noise, but not on most other sounds: So at work it won’t cancel out your colleagues talking or a phone ringing, but it will at least reduce computer and copy machine noise, AC system humming, and sounds like that. The Bose QuietComfort2 headphones totally enclose the ears with a soft padding. For some people the “seal” is a bit too tight so the ear gets too warm, but I’ve not had that problem. They don’t press too hard on the head and just sit comfortably. I had them on for most of a nine-hour flight and had no discomfort issues. Bose includes a nice hard case and an airplane headphone plug with the QuetComfort2, and since you’ll invest quite a bit of money you’ll want to keep these safe. They require one AAA battery to operate, but according to Bose this should last around 30 hours so it shouldn’t be much of an issue. I’ve tried other, cheaper, headphones that are also noise-reducing, but I’ve not experienced anything as effective as these Bose ones. And I guess I forgot to mention that they also make any audio sound absolutely fantastic! They come at a premium price, but to me it’s well worth it.
Ecto Price $17.95 From Infinite Sushi Distributor Infinite Sushi Web http://infinite-sushi.com/software/ecto/
Ecto is a desktop application with which you can write your blog posts on your Mac and post them with just a few clicks. It has a very nice built-in editor with rich text controls, making styling your text simple. Adding pictures is as easy as clicking on a button called “iPhoto” and selecting a picture from the iPhoto library. You get a song from iTunes in the same fashion. Ecto is well-integrated with your Mac and feels like a very Maclike application. In my mind the main advantage of something like Ecto is that you can set up any number of blogs and, just by clicking on one of them, you have determined which one to post to. Instead of logging in on the web to the blog to which you want to post, writing your post, and publishing it, you can do it all in one application on your Mac - regardless of which blog you’re posting to. Ecto supports every major blogging platform, so you should be able to use it with your blogs without problems. You can start posts offline, save them as drafts, and come back to them later to finish and publish them. One feature I use a lot is the “bookmarklet”. It’s a shortcut you place in your browser’s toolbar. When you visit a web page you want to blog about, select the text you want to quote and click this “bookmarklet”. Ecto then opens a window for a new post, and the quoted text from the web page, and title already filled in. So all you have to do is some final editing, add a comment, select which category the post should go into, and click Publish. And finally, the developer of Ecto, Adriaan Tijsseling, is very approachable about problems and new ideas, which only makes it easier to recommend Ecto to anyone who is into some serious blogging. He is currently working on version three of Ecto, and you can try a public beta version.
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Brief Blogging Tips Blogging can be about anything from your full-time job to something you do once in a while when you have time. In either case, here are a few quick tips for how to blog, when to blog, and what to blog about: Blog about something you’re passionate about: This is even more important than to blog about something you’re knowledgeable about. If you’re both passionate and knowledgeable in a particular area it’s of course even better, but the passion will keep you going when you go through tough times. Be consistent: Readers are looking for new stuff to be posted regularly - if not daily, at least a few times a week. After all, why should they bother subscribing to your blog’s RSS-feed if there is no new content regularly posted? Take notes about blog topics: Whenever you get an idea, write it down or make a note somewhere. At some point your ideas will dry up, so save them for when you need them. Get your own domain name: If you’re really serious about your blog, give it a unique identity. A part of doing that is getting your own domain name. Include pictures: To save some money, get one of those monster-size clipart collections on several DVDs and use them. People love to see pictures. Follow other blogs and forums: To figure out where you fit in, in the blogosphere, and what others are writing about, follow other blogs. You will eventually drive traffic to your blog, and you can also make some friends.
Profile of a
Mac Seller Name: Title: Store:
Saleh
ve Sales Executi r, iStyle Khoba KSA
Q: When did you start working for iStyle? A: December 2007. Q: What did you do before working at iStyle? A: I was working for HP (Hewlett-Packard) Middle East as a Sales and Merchandise Excutive. Q: When was the first time you used a Mac and what was your first impression? A: That was in 2004 and it was a iBook G4. I thought it was a very good computer, especially the graphics were amazing. Q: What’s the best part of your job?
Set a routine: Whether you blog as a profession or just for fun, get into a routine for your writing and posting. Do it early in the morning before going to work, during breaks, late at night, or whenever it suits you.
A: Technical support. When I can help someone solve a problem, especially new users and first time buyers, and explain something to them.
Have fun: More than anything, have fun blogging. Once you see that other people come to read your blog, you will get excited.
A: Everything that is produced by by Apple has nice design, but I prefer the
Q: What is your favorite Apple product and why?
MacBook becuse it helps me in everything I need. It has a compact design with powerful performance. Q: Do you have a funny story about something that has happened in your job? A: I don’t have a particular story, but when customers bring in their iPods, they say it’s not working. What I normally do is I hold down a few buttons and reset it, and they ask how did you do that? Which usually happens with all employees in any Apple store. Q: What is the most challenging part of your job? A: Helping our clients and finding the best solutions for them and theirneeds, and making the Mac a good environment for all requirements. Q: Is there any particular product you wish Apple would release? A: Sure, I wish many things beginning with iMac with touch screen like iPod touch, a tablet like many said before. And not last the iPhone for the Middle East.
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Peel The Apple Get answers to your Apple tech support questions. Email techsupport@emiratesmac.com
Q: I have a MacBook and I just purchased a new AirPort Extreme. I was trying to set it up earlier but the amber light kept flashing, even though I had connected the WAN cable from the wall to the WAN port on the extreme. What am I missing? I’ve done the AirPort Utilities set-up and everything is completed, but cannot detect a connection. Can you help? A: Let’s hope so. It sounds like you’re missing a modem. The Airport Extreme is not a DSL or cable modem, so if you want to connect it to the internet via DSL or cable you need the appropriate modem. Then the modem connects to the wall with what looks like a regular phone cable, and to the Airport Extreme with an Ethernet cable. Once you’ve got that connected, you need to configure both your modem and the Airport Extreme correctly. For this configuration you’ll need some settings from Etisalat for the modem, and you can select how the Airport Extreme should work as well. I can’t really say much about that part of your setting up because I would need more information about exactly what modem you get, how many computers you will have on your wireless network, and more. Q: Do you by chance know anyone who can fix an iPhone in Dubai? A: No unfortunately I don’t. Since the iPhone is not officially sold here, all you would find is someone who would be willing to fix something themselves, not
an official service provider. That’s one of the risks you take if you buy an iPhone and want to use it in the Middle East, and that’s not going to change until Apple decides to start selling the iPhone here - and when that is, no one knows (or at least no one is saying in public). Q: I just bought an iMac and it has the Apple mouse with the little ball on top. I am a new Mac user and I’m trying to find out how to right-click with the mouse. I heard there is no right-click, is that true? A: There is and there isn’t, if that makes any sense. With the mouse you have, which is called Mighty Mouse, Apple actually has put in a right mouse button. So if you click over on the right where you would normally find a separate button, the mouse should do a right-click. In my experience the right-click on the Mighty Mouse isn’t very good and most of the time, at least for me, trying to right-click only produces a regular click. But even if your mouse only has one button, or if the Mighty Mouse right-click button doesn’t work very well, you can always rightclick by pressing the Control key on the keyboard at the same time as you click the mouse. I should also add that you could use almost any other mouse with a Mac, as long as it connects with USB. So if you have a favorite mouse already from another computer, you can probably use it. Q: The MacBook Air looks amazing and I am thinking about getting it to
replace my old PowerBook G4. From the reviews I read, I wonder if it’ll be fast enough. Do you have any advice to offer? A: Let me add one more review for you to read then, the one in this issue of Shuffle. We’ve used a MacBook Air for a number of weeks now and our conclusion is that a MacBook Air could very well be a user’s main Mac. For what most people do with computers – email, web, write a letter, etc. – the MacBook Air is plenty fast enough. But it’s not as fast as a MacBook Pro, obviously, so you’ll have to base your decision on what you need to do with the Mac.
Send your Apple tech support questions to techsupport@emiratesmac.com. Your questions are answered by Magnus Nystedt, a Certified Apple Help Desk Specialist, with experience of Macs going back to the Mac Plus. Also with over ten years of teaching IT at college and university, he’s in a perfect position to help you sort out your problems. You can reach Magnus at magnus@ nystedt.org or at www.nystedt.org. Apple photo ©iStockphoto.com/creacart
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Recipe:
Weaving The Web
Apple Chutney by Crystal (EmiratesMac) This is a wonderful roast chicken dish, with all of its wonderful little hints of flavors. You have the sweet yet tart apples, with the vinegar, orange peel, and allspice, which together makes the chutney just pop - and they all work together! Hope you enjoy this as much as I did. This recipe makes about two cups of chutney. Recipe from Raleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supermarket magazine.
Ingredients
Instructions
2 large tart cooking apples (such as green Granny Smiths, not those pictured), peeled, cored, and chopped
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir well.
1/2 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 tbsp grated orange peel 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
http://www.macworld.com/ article/47198-2/2005/10/betterblog. html
Best blogging tools for Mac
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer while covered for 50 minutes. Uncover and simmer over low heat for a few minutes more to cook off excess liquid; let cool.
http://www.blogtrepreneur. com/2007/05/23/101-essential-blogging-resources/
Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
101 Essential blogging resources
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Crystal is the founder and editor of EmiratesBaby.com. She writes about various kinds of issues of interest to parents in the UAE. Crystal will be bringing us a new recipie based on apples in each edition of the newsletter. She promises it will be an exciting and mouth-watering mix of dessert, main courses, snacks, and more. Apple photo ŠiStockphoto.com/Wael Hamdan
http://www.problogger.net/ archives/2006/11/17/5-essential-osxblogging-tools/
5 Essential OS X blogging tools
Wanna Learn More About How To Use Your Mac? Become a member in the EmiratesMac Apple User Group: http://www.emiratesmac.com/ index.php?page=usergroup
http://www.wordpress.org/
WordPress
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Adobe Tutorial
Adobe Tutorial:
Use Arabic in Photoshop by Zaid (EmiratesMac)
How can I add Arabic text in non Middle Eastern Adobe Photoshop? I would get rich if I charge one dollar for every time I answer above question. Any one could buy Adobe ME version of their applications, but they they are released six to eight months later than International version, and when it is time to buy an update for it, you must get an ME version as well. Now if you rarely use Arabic and other ME scripts in your design, it is not worth buying ME version. You need to get a simple software that will convert limited Arabic text with special fonts to a suitable and editable text in Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign. In this tutorial I have used the free arPix Professional from www.grapheast.com
Zaid Al-Hilali is an Adobe Certified Instructor operating from Dubai. You can reach him on +971 50 736 2306. You can find him hanging out at… www.emiratesmac.com www.digitalmediame.com
BIRTHDAY CAKE DECORATED; © 1998 PhotoSpin, Inc.
STEP 1
STEP 2
Open arPix Pro and type Arabic text. You don’t need to specify an Arabic font here, any font will do.
Highlight text then press on the right red circle to copy text, don’t chose Edit > Copy.
Arabic language can be added in Mac OSX form the System Preferences > International, then click on Language tab to add Arabic, then click on the Input Menu tab to place activate Arabic keyboard.
When you install arPix Pro, you will get a set of 10 AGE fonts along with it. Fonts will be placed automatically in the User > Library > Fonts folder.
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Adobe Tutorial
STEP 3
STEP 4
Open Adobe Photoshop, click with Type tool to create a text layer, then paste your arabic text from Edit menu. Apply one of the AGE fonts that arPix Pro installed in your system to the Arabic text.
For management purposes, in Layers Panel rename your Arabic text layer(s) with proper names since Photoshop will not recognize Arabic text.
Make sure text is not inverted, if it is inverted, then you have pressed the wrong copy button in arPix Pro.
STEP 6
STEP 5 The reason why we bring live Arabic text into photoshop is to have an advantage of editing it later if necessary. To change text, switch back to arPix Pro, type different word/phrase, copy, then switch to Photoshop and paste it instead of existing text to see that we still have live and edit able text.
With live Arabic text, we can apply layer styles. Here I have added embossing. From Layer > Layer Style > Bevel and Emboss, change settings as desired, add a drop shadow or any other style, then press OK to apply.
shuffle@emiratesmac.com | www.emiratesmac.com | shuffle Middle East 27
Adobe Tutorial
STEP 7 Since this is a live text I shall add Warp Text to my text layer. Target text layer, then press “Create warped text” button on the top Options bar. Add any warping style and adjust its settings.
STEP 8 Now if you want to play further with this Arabic text without rasterizing it (convert it to image) you may want to convert text layer into a Smart Object. From Layer > Smart Object > Convert to Smart Object. Next Choose Edit > Transform > Warp, once you see a net shape, start dragging points around and press Enter key to apply warping.
STEP 9
STEP 10
With all these changes, I wanted to demonstrate two things, that Arabic text can be used in non ME Adobe application. Second, you may change text form so much and still could be edited.
Once again, we can change the text by going back to arPix Pro type new word/phrase, copy it, then back in Photoshop, double click on the Smart Object layer to open your text this time in a new window, paste text there, save it and close window to see the result in original Photoshop window.
Let’s add filters to the Smart Object layer. Apply any desired filter from Filter menu.
28 shuffle Middle East | www.emiratesmac.com | shuffle@emiratesmac.com
Hosted Or Self-Hosted? When you want to start a blog, you’re faced with many choices. One such choice is whether you should go for a hosted or self-hosted service. Basically, this means – should you have your own web server account and install the blogging software there, or should you use some other company’s already set up software? Hosted Let’s deal with the hosted option first. Hosted means you use a company’s installation of the blogging software, which in turn often means you pay them for the use of their service. The main benefit for you is that it’s easy to set up; often you don’t have to do more than establish an account and make a few simple choices. It’s also easy to run and post to; you log in to your account, write your post, click a button, and that’s it. This is a worry-free option since the company you get the service from handles all the storage, maintenance, etc. Clearly, the easiest way of getting going with blogging is to go for a hosted solution. WordPress, probably the most popular blogging platform in the world, offers a hosted option at http://www. wordpress.com. Other popular hosted solutions include TypePad (http://www. typepad.com/), Google’s Blogger (http:// www.blogger.com), and with iWeb and .Mac you can host your own blog on Apple’s system. Self-hosted If it’s so easy and trouble-free to let someone else host your blog why would you go through the trouble of doing it yourself? The simple answer is control. With a self-hosted option you can download whichever blog software you want and then upload it to your web hosting account. This option requires you to have a web hosting account somewhere, but often when you get internet access at home you get a web hosting account. You will also have to check that your web hosting account supports the technology that is required
by the blogging software you’ve chosen. Since you host it yourself you have total control over the software, the configuration, the maintenance, and more. You can give your blog any look and design you want, install any add-on software, etc. This is important for some bloggers and it’s likely that, as you continue to blog, you will want to experiment more and can do so to different extents with hosted solutions - but with a self-hosted blog you can do whatever you want. This flexibility comes at a price, of course, and the price is that you take on the responsibility of taking care of the blog, backing it up, making sure it’s up and running all the time, etc. All of this takes time, and it’s time you’re going to have to put in so that your blog can keep running.
Wanna Hang Out With Other Mac Users? Become a member in the EmiratesMac Apple User Group: http://www.emiratesmac.com/index. php?page=usergroup
Another problem with self-hosted blogs is that, if you’re lucky and your blog becomes very popular and draws a lot of traffic, you face the risk of the server not being able to handle the load. If you go with a hosted solution it’s more likely that the service provider has put in place systems that can deal with high peak loads. Probably the more common blogging systems that you can download and install in your account is WordPress (http://www.wordpress.org) but there are others such as Chyrp (http://chyrp. net/), and Movable Type (http://www. movabletype.org/). TypePad is essentially the hosted version of Movable Type.
Icons ©iStockphoto.com/kemie
If you’re interested in Adobe software, whether it’s for Windows or Mac, join Digital Media ME (DMME), the only registered Adobe User Group in the UAE. Check out their web site at http:// www.digitalmediame.com and join in their meetings and other activities.
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• ﻣﺠﻤﻮﻋﺔ »ﻣﺎﻙ ﺍﻻﻣﺎﺭﺍﺕ« ﻫﻲ ﻣﺠﻤﻮﻋﺔ ﺍﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔ ﻏﻴﺮ ﻫﺎﺩﻓﺔ ﻟﻠﺮﺑﺢ ﻫﺪﻓﻬﺎ ﻧﺸﺮ ﺍﻟﻮﻋﻲ ﺍﳌﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎﺗﻲ ﺣﻮﻝ ﻣﻨﺘﺠﺎﺕ ﺃﭘﻞ ﻓﻲ ﺩﻭﻟﺔ ﺍﻻﻣﺎﺭﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ ﺍﳌﺘﺤﺪﺓ ﻭﺍﳌﻨﻄﻘﺔ ،ﻭﺯﻳﺎﺩﺓ ﻭﻋﻲ ﻭﻣﻬﺎﺭﺍﺕ ﺍﻋﻀﺎﺀ ﺍﺠﻤﻟﻤﻮﻋﺔ. • ﺭﺳﻢ ﻋﻀﻮﻳﺔ »ﻣﺎﻙ ﺍﻻﻣﺎﺭﺍﺕ« ﺍﻟﺴﻨﻮﻳﺔ ﻫﻲ ١٥٠ﺩﺭﻫﻢ ﺇﻣﺎﺭﺍﺗﻲ.
• ﻣﺰﺍﻳﺎ ﺍﻟﻌﻀﻮﻳﺔ ﺍﻭ ﻋﺮﻭﺿﻬﺎ ﺍﳋﺎﺻﺔ ﺧﺎﺿﻌﺔ ﻟﻠﺘﻐﻴﻴﺮ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻱ ﻭﻗﺖ، ﻭﺗﻘﻮﻡ ﺍﺠﻤﻟﻤﻮﻋﺔ ﻣﻊ ﺍﻋﻀﺎﺀﻫﺎ ﻭﺍﳌﺆﺳﺴﺎﺕ ﺍﳌﺴﺎﻧﺪﺓ ﻟﻬﺎ ﲟﺮﺍﺟﻌﺔ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﳌﺰﺍﻳﺎ ﺳﻨﻮﻳﺎﹰ .ﺭﺍﺟﻊ ﺍﻟﺼﻔﺤﺔ ﺍﳋﺎﺻﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﻀﻮﻳﺔ : . www.emiratesmac.com/index.php?page=usergroup
• ﺑﻌﺪ ﺗﻘﺪﱘ ﻃﻠﺐ ﺍﻟﻌﻀﻮﻳﺔ ﻭﺩﻓﻊ ﺭﺳﻤﻬﺎ ،ﺳﻴﻜﻮﻥ ﲟﻘﺪﻭﺭﻙ ﺍﺳﺘﻼﻡ ﺑﻄﺎﻗﺔ ﻋﻀﻮﻳﺘﻚ ﻓﻲ ﺍﺣﺪ ﺍﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎﺕ ﺍﺠﻤﻟﻤﻮﻋﺔ ﺍﻭ ﻓﻲ ﺃﻱ ﻣﻨﺎﺳﺒﺔ ﺍﺧﺮﻯ.
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تصدر مجلة “شفل” من مجموعة ماك اإلمارات ،وهي إصدارة مستقلة غير هادفة للربح حتتوي على أخبار ،وتعليقات ،وإرشادات ِ وح َيل ،ومقابالت شخصية ،ودروس، والكثير الكثير .هذه االصدارة تغطي عالم ماكنتوش وآي پود وآي فون وتلفزيون أپل، وأي شيء يخص أپل مع التركيز على منطقة الشرق األوسط. شفل هي اإلصدارة الرسمية ملجموعة مستخدمي ماك اإلمارات EMUGفيها ننشر معلومات تفصيلية عن املجموعة ونشاطاتها .يرأس حترير إصدارة “شفل” عمران العويس ،omran@emiratesmac.comومدير التحرير ماغنُس نيس ِتد .magnus@emiratesmac.com
لالتصال بنا
لشفل منتدى متخصص للحوار مبوقع مجموعة ماك اإلمارات وعنوانه www. emiratesmac.com/forumsميكنكم طرح التعليقات واملقترحات والدخول في مناقشات مع مستخدمي املوقع اآلخرين .كما ميكن االتصال باملطبوعة على عنوانها البريدي على ص ب ، 70263 :أبوظبي ،اإلمارات العربية املتحدة ،هاتف رقم + 971508171164 :فاكس 97126664289+ :أو زيارة املوقع األليكتروني www.emiratesmac.com
حق التنازل
بينما نبذل جهود ًا مخلصة للتأكد من دقة محتوى هذه املطبوعة ،إالإننا النتحمل أية مسؤولية إزاء األخطاء ،أو احلذف ،أو التغييرات في املعلومات املطبوعة ،اآلراء التي يتم التعبير عنها في هذه اإلصدارة ليست بالضرورة آراء مجموعة ماك اإلمارات. ميلك ال ُكتّاب املعنيون حقوق نشر مقاالتهم ،إال إذا مت النص خالف لذلك.
هل ترغب باإلعالن في “شفل”؟
هذه اإلصدارة هي املطبوعة الوحيدة في دولة اإلمارات العربية املتحدة ذات التوجه اخلاص نحو منتجات أپل ،مثل أجهزة حاسبات ماكنتوش وآي پود .عندما تُعلن في “شفل” فإنك ستستهدف شريحة واسعة من مستخدمي ماكنتوش وآي بود في املنطقة ،إننا نسعى حثيث ًا جلعل “شفل” إصدارة عالية املستوى يتطلع األشخاص القتناءها لفحواها الق ّيم .هذه اإلصدارة يكتبها ويصدرها أعضاء مجموعة ماك اإلمارات .أال ترغب اآلن في أن يرتبط اسمك بكل ذلك؟ إن كنت تتطلع لرعاية “شفل” أو شراء مساحة إعالنية في هكذا إصدارة مميزة ،اتصل بنا على هاتف ( 971508171164كريستال) أو على عنوان البريد اإلليكترونيcrystal@ . emiratesmac.comللحصول على متطلبات املواد اإلعالمية.
هل ترغب أن تساهم بالكتابة في “شفل”؟
إن كنت تطالع هذه املساحة وكنت عضو ًا مبجموعة ماك اإلمارات ،أو أي مجموعة أخرى ملستخدمي أپل مسجلة في الشرق األوسط ،فإننا نأمل بتلقي مساهمتك. نحن نبحث عن أي نوع من املوضوعات التي ترغب بكتابتها ،وما عليك سوى اختيار موضوع الكتابة سواء عن تاريخ أپل ومنتجاتها ،أو عرض جهاز أو برنامج، أو مقاالت ،أو مواد تعليمية ،أو إرشادات ونصائح .كما وميكنك الكتابة باللغة اإلجنليزية أو العربية .إن جميع من يساهم بالكتابة في “شفل” هم من املستخدمني، مثلك متام ًا ،فإذا كنت تفكر بكتابة موضوع ،ارسل رسالة الكترونية على العنوان contact@emiratesmac.comأو اترك رسالة تتضمن فكرتك على املوقع اإللكتروني www.emiratesmac.co
نشرة شفل تصدر برعاية:
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shuffle@emiratesmac.comالعدد السابع عشر إصدارة َشفل من ماك االمارات
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هل لي من كلمة رجاء؟ ً يعتبر التدوين بالنسبة لي كنوع من التواصل مع االخرين .البعض منكم قد انشأ مدونة خاصة به ،ولكن لنواجه االمر ،بصراحة اقولها بأن معظم مدوناتكم لن جتد لها ِمن قاريء .فهناك عدد ضئيل جد ًا من املدونات ذات شعبية وجتتذب االالف واملاليني من القراء .على أي حال هذا احد جوانب التدوين وقد ّ اليهمنا واليؤثر فينا حتى. في بعض االحيان كنت ازاول التدوين فقط كي اشغل نفسي بالكتابة ،استطيع تشبيه ماكنت افعله احيانا هو كمن يكتب لنفسه مالحظات للمستقبل .واحيانا تعتبر العملية عالجية حيث تكتب وانت تعلم بأن هناك من سيقرأ ماتكتبه .ليس بالضرورة أن يقرأ الناس ماتكتبه ،بل إن ٍعلمك بوجود اناس ما قد يقرأون ماتكتبه وقد يع ّلقون على كتابتك هو الدافع للكتابة والدافع إلثارة اهتمام القاريء سلب ًا او ايجاب ًا من خالل التدوين .وبالرغم من ان التدوين ابتدأ برسائل نص ّية توضع على االنترنت ليقرأها االخرون ،إال ان وجود التكنولوجيا املتاحة هي ما اضافت بعد ًا اخر للعملية .بإمكان املد ّون االن ان يضع صور ًا ومقاطع فلمية وغيرها من االمور الكثيرة كجزء من املد ّونة ومشاركة االخرين بها .لقد ظهر لدينا مايسمى بتدوين املوبايل ،حيث يستخدم الهاتف احملمول لوضع نًص على املدونة .وهناك ايضا تدوين «املايكرو» حيث تكون موضوع التدوين مختصر ًا بشكل واضح يختلف عن التدوين االعتيادي .اليوجد بالطبع لوائح وانظمة توضح مايجب تدوينه وكيفية عمل ذلك إال ان املتفق عليه هو كل مدونة تعكس شخصية صاحبها .إن عملية التدوين عبارة عن نتاج خاص بك ليستهكله االخرون .ومما اليدع مجال للشك بأن املاكنتوش هو افضل ماميكن استعماله من أدواة التدوين ،سواء كان تدوينك حاوي ًا على صور او لقطات فيديو فإن اجهزة املاكنتوش ابتداء من Mac Proاجلبار او MacBook Airاحملمول للطريق ،او االيفون كل اوالئك ادواة طيعة في يد املدون. لتبدأ مبدونة خاصة بك ،ما عليك سوى استخدام املزايا املتاحة للتدوين في برامج iLifeالتي تأتي مع كل ماكنتوش لهذا العمل حيث لديك برنامج iPhoto و برنامج .iWebوحينما تتطور جتربة التدوين لتصل مستوى اعلى سيكون مبقدورك استخدام برامج ممتازة اخرى النشاء ونشر تدوينك ،وحتديثها وتسويقها للقراء احملتملني .لذا أمتنى ان تقرأوا في هذا العدد معلومات قيمة عن موضوع التدوين وتخرجون بأفكار بنّاءة. 4
ماك االمارات
في الحرم المدرسي والجامعي
لدينا العديد من الطلبة اعضاء في مجموعة مستخدمي أپل -ماك االمارات ،ونحن نسندهم بكل ما أوتينا من امكانات وبأشكال متعددة .ملاك االمارات نشاطات تعليمية حالي ًا ولكننا نود ان نتواصل بشكل اوسع مع اكثر عدد من الطلبة ،لذا بادرنا بتكوين مايسمى ماك االمارات في احلرم املدرسي واجلامعي. إذا كنت طالب ًا او طالبة في مدرسة او كلية او جامعة فبإمكانك ان تكون ممثل ماك االمارات مقرك .إذا رغبت بأن تصبح ممثلنا فراسلنا على campus@emiratesmac.com في ّ عليك بأن تصبح عضو ًا في املجموعة او ًال لكي تصبح ممثال للمجموعة .مهامك كممثل للمجموعة هي مترير املعلومات من مجموعة ماك االمارات الى موقعك التعليمي والى الطلبة واملدرسني ،وجذبهم ليصبحوا اعضاء في ماك االمارات ،ومساندة مستخدمي اجهزة أپل في احلرم املدرسي واجلامعي لديك ومساعدة ماك االمارات بتنسيق فعاليات في املدرسة /اجلامعة. الغرض االساس من موقعـــك هو القيام بدور مباشر في االتصال مابني الطلبة في احلرم املدرسـي/اجلــامعـي .سنقوم بدورنا بنشر اســــماء ممثلــي مـ ــاك االم ـ ـ ــارات فــي احلــــرم املدرســـي /اجلـــامـعـــي علــــى الصـفحـــة التــــاليـة فــي موقعنـ ـ ـ ــا http://www.emiratesmac.com/index.php?page=usergroup
إذا كنت طالب ًا في أي حرم مدرسي/جامعي فما عليك سوى البحث عن ممثلنا في مدرستك/ جامعتك لطرح اسئلتك عليه/عليها.
الفائز بمقالة الشهر
ّ وفر نقودك عند شراء منتجات اپل إنظم لعضوية ماك االمارات لتحصل على خصومات الشراء اقرأ املعلومات على موقع ماك االمارات… http://www.emiratesmac.com/index. php?page=usergroup
في كل شهر وبرعاية محالت وستوديوهات السالم ،سنقوم باختيار املقال الفائز لذلك الشهر في اصدارة شفل .الفائز سيتسلم كوبون/شهادة بقيمة 250درهم اماراتي للتبضع من اي متجر حملالت السالم. الفائز في هذا الشهر هو برا َين نيلسن عن مقالته اعترافات منتقل للماك تهانينا يابرا َين.
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من كل صنف نوع فضاء الويجت ليس له حدود ،فهل تعرف أين وجهتك؟ اسأل باحث الوجت… لحظات Moments سيمأل هذا الوجت الفراغ في واجهة الداشبورد لديك بصورة من ماضيك .اسحب صورة الى داخل االطار ثم ك ّبر او صغّر االطار مبا يناسب شاشتك .يحوي الوجت على عدة امناط جميلة لإلطارات .مايزعجني هو أنني لم استطع جعل الويجت يظهر اكثر من صورة بشكل متتابع.
دفتر مالحظات To Do هذا دفتر مالحظات ذكي ،حيث يقرأ مواعيدك وجدول اعمالك من برنامجي iCalو .Mailقد يعتقد البعض ان هذا الويجت غير مفيد (على االقل بالنسبة لي)، ولكن بنفس الوقت ارى ان اكبر ايجابية فيه هي انك تستطيع الولوج ملالحظاتك من الداشبورد ،بدال من قائمة البرامج.
تقييم: رابطhttp://www.apple.com/downloads/: dashboard/webcams/momentswidget.html
تقييم: رابطhttp://www.apple.com/downloads/: dashboard/email_messaging/todo.html
أفعى Snake لعبة من طراز قدمي جميع املقاييس ،فهذا الويجت يتيح لك خمسة مستويات للعب، ويسمح لك بتحريك االفعى عبر جدران الوجت لتخرج من الطرف االخر .طريقة ملتوية للتسلية ومتضية وقت ممتع .كما وتتيح لك اللعبة بتسجيل ارقام قياسية واالحتفاظ بالسجل .يتم اللعب باستخدام ازرار االسهم ،ولكن كنت امتنى لو كانت اللعبة اصغر قليال. تقييم: رابطhttp://www.apple.com/ : downloads/dashboard/games/ snake_amadeuszslawinski.html
اقتباس اللحظة Quote Of The Moment هذا الويجت غير ذي اهمية ولو نقول ان استعماله مضيعة للوقت فان هذه الكلمة مجاملة بعض الشيء .ولو شئت أن تقرأ بعض االقتباسات فستجدها غير ذات معنى والتستحق حتى النشر .باالضافة الى ان حجم الوجت ضخم والينقلب كباقي الوجت بشكل سليم. تقييم: للتقييم)
(مع االسف هذا ادنى مستوى
رابط nhttp://www.apple.com/dow : loads/ dashboard/justforfun/quoteofthemmentdashboardwidget.html www.emiratesmac.com
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5
نهاية اسبوع مثيرة عـــــادل الغــــامدي
مـــــــاك ارابيـــــا www.macarabia.net
امضيت يومي الخميس والجمعة في البيت ولم اخرج ابداً ،ولما الخروج وانا استخدم ماك؟ بالنسبة لمستخدم كمبيوتر عادي سيتساءل والوضع يبدو غريباً له :يومين وانت تستخدم الماك ولم تخرج من البيت بسببه؟ ساجيبه :والوضع اكثر غرابة اذا علمت اني طوال ايام االسبوع وانا اعمل في منطقة نائية! وحيث اني اعمل على كمبيوتر الشركة (نظام ويندوز) فالفرصة امامي لتعويض الحرمان في الويك اند! عن وبعد ١٤سنة خدمة مع ويندوز ،لم اشعر بهذا القدر من المتعة ،والرغبة في االستمرار نفسي بالعمل والشات واالستماع الى الميوزك وتأليف االلحان وتحميل الملفات واستكشاف قدرة النظام مثلما شعرت به مع نظام ماك.. كنت انام واستيقظ وانا اقاوم النوم لكي اعود الى العمل على الماك، فيغلبني النوم واعود فأصحو! جميع ماكنت افعله في الويندوز كنت افعله في الماك واكثر مع فارق المتعة والسهولة واللطافة ،ماكنت افعله بـ ٦نقرات على الماوس بالويندوز كنت اعمله بحركة بسيطة بالماوس وبدن اي نقرات! كنت اتنقل بسهولة بين صفحات الويب عن طريق السفاري و اعود الى iChatللتحدث الى اصدقائي الماكيين! ثم يطلب صديقي الماكي الذي يشاركني شبكة الوايرلس ان اعطيه فلم (العراب) فاعطيه بواسطة خاصية ( )Bonjourالمدمجة عن طريق الشات في اقل من ١٣ثانية ! كل هذا وانا انتقل بين GaragBandلتأليف مقطوعة موسيقية تحمل اسمي ،واالستماع الى iTunesالذي اليمل من عرض االغاني ثم العودة الى اصدقائي الذين اليملون من اكتشاف الماك ،وال الماك يمل من ابهارهم!
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في وسطنا يجلس ولد خالة صاحبي! وهو مدمن برنامج البالتوك ويستعمل ويندوز اكس بي! كلنا نشتغل على شبكة السلكية واحدة ،كان لنا عاملنا اخلاص من اغاني و iChatو صناعة االحلان ،حتى اجهزة الهاتف احملمول من نوع سوني اريكسون! طبع ًا اال هو ينظر لنا بترقب و استغراب مع مسحة "حسرة" اولى مشاكله كانت مع كرت الصوت وقد طلبني باالسم الصالح املايك ،كرت الصوت سليم ويسمع احملادثة في البالتوك واليستطيع التحدث! املايك سليم ولكن اليستطيع التحدث! وجميع من في غرفة البالتوك يبربرون اال هو ميارس دور املستمع احلكيم رغم ًا عنه! اين املشكلة اذن؟ يقول انه عمل فورمات للجهاز قبل شهر واملشكلة من يومها تتكرر معاه! نظرت الى صديقي (املاكي) وقلت له "بخبث" :فورمات؟؟ يعني ايه فورمات؟! هز صديقي كتفيه مبعنى "انا عارف بيجيبو االسامي دي منني!" عدنا انا وصديقي الى ماكنا عليه ،ثم انتبهنا الى اخونا صاحب الويندوز وهو يعمل اعادة تشغيل جلهازه للمرة الثالثة منذ بداية السهرة ،وهو ينظر لنا و يردد :ليش يعلق اريد افهم؟ نظرت الى صديقي وقلت له :يعلق؟ يعني ايه يعلق؟! رد علي وهو يقلب شفايفه مبعنى :الله اعلم! كنا منارس على ضيفنا اسلوب الضغط النفسي ،فانت ياضيفنا www.emiratesmac.com
تشتغل على البالتوك فقط ،ومع هذا ال تستطيع االستمرار اكثر من ساعة عمل! بينما انا وصديقي عاملني (استديو فني) وشات وماسنجر وحتميل اغاني ونقل ملفات ملدة ٥ساعات متواصلة دون توقف ودون اي تأخير! كانت هذه بذرة زرعناها في قلبه ليعشق املاك، واعتقد انه سينظم لنا ان لم يكن قد انظم! ميزة نظام ماك انه يفهمك ،فانت تستطيع ان تعدل فيه مبا سواء في االطارات او في ترتيب البرامج او يتناسب مع ذوقك، ً طريقة العرض او االلوان في كل اطار من كل برنامج ،وترتيب عرض البرامج والتنقل بينها وتصغيرها وتكبيرها بحركة املاوس فقط.. وهو نظام يدير الذاكرة بذكاء بحيث التنشغل الذاكرة مع اكثر من برنامج وتطبيق ،وتتركك معلق في النهاية كحال ضيفنا! عالم اخر كان كاحللم بالنسبة لي.. حلم اظنه مستحيل ان يتحقق في اي نظام غير املاك! والشي اجلميل هنا اني اشتغل على اكثر من ٦برامج في نفس الوقت بدون ان يعلق النظام وبدون ان اعمل اعادة تشغيل وبدون ان تواجهني رسائل اخلطأ والشيئ االجمل ان جميع البرامج السابقة ،باالضافة الى حترير الفيديو ونشر الصفحات على االنترنت ضمن حزمة برامج ilifeوببالش! كل هذا وجهازي قدمي نوع ًا ما ،والنظام اجلديد ()Leopard والذي يحمل ٣٠٠اضافة متيزه عن سابقه ،يجعلني ال استطيع االنتظار للحصول عليه.. فهل تستطيع انت االنتظار؟
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ماهي خدمة بونجور
في نظام Mac OSX؟ ماغنس نيستد (ماك االمارات) وهي مختصر لكلمة مسمى بوجنور من أبل هي تسمية ملا هو متعارف عليه اصطالحا ،Zeconf الى بروتوكول خَ َدمي Zero Configruationاي «ايجاد نسق بشكل تلقائي» .خاصية Zeconfتنسب او اس اكس والبرامج التي تعمل يكشف ماعلى الشبكة من اجهزة ،وهذه اخلاصية مستخدمة بشكل واسع في نظام ماك على هذا النظام .فاالجهزة والبرامج املتصلة بشبكة محلية تستخدم تكنولوجيا Zeconfللكشف عن نفسها والكتشاف بعضها البعض، هذه اخلاصية متكن املستخدم من التواصل مع االجهزة االخرى دون اللجوء لتعيني النُسق لكل جهاز على الشبكة وتعريفها جلهاز املاكنتوش بشكل يدوي. إن من اكثر استعماالت خاصية بوجنور على املاك هي في حاالت االتصال بطابعة على الشبكة ،وملشاركة امللفات عبر الشبكة ايض ًا بني اجهزة احلاسبات املختلفة .هذه اخلاصية تُستَخ َدم ايض ًا في البرامج الشائعة على املاك مثل اي تيونز ملشاركة امللفات الصوتية ،و على برنامج آي فوتو ملشاركة الصور الفوتوغرافية ،وبرنامج آي شات للمحادثة ،وغيرها من البرامج .باالضافة لذلك ،يقوم سفاري باستخدام مبسط فنقول ان هذه هذه اخلاصية حينما يبحث عن اي خادم انترنت عبر الشبكة احمللية .إذ اما أردنا تعريف خدمة بوجنور بشكل ّ التعرف على االجهزة االخرى املربوطة ببعض عبر شبكة محلية دون اللجوء لتعريف بعضها ببعض اخلاصية متكن اجهزة احلاسوب من ّ يعرف نفسه تلقائيا لتقدمي بطريقة يدوية ،مما يجعل كل جهاز على الشبكة سواء كان حاسبة او طابعة ان «يرى» اجلهاز االخر ّ وينسق أو ّ اخلدمات. فكما هو معروف في حاالت الشبكات املعتادة ،يقوم املستخدم بتعريف كل حاسبة شخصية او طابعة او جهاز خادم بنفسه ،ويتم الربط الشبكي باسلوب DHCPاو DNSوبطريقة يدوية مرهقة ومزعجة .بينما اذا مااستعمل املستخدم خاصية بوجنور فلن يكون تعريف االجهزة بشكل يدوي مطلب ًا لذلك بل تقوم خدمة بوجنور بتخصيص رقم IPلكل جهاز بشكل آلي يستخدمها اجلهاز لتعريف نفسه على الشبكة .طبع ًا بهذه الطريقة سيكون مبقدور اي مستخدم غير ذي خبرة بربط اجهزة حاسبية وطابعات شبكية وغيرها من التجهيزات ببعضها على شبكة محلية وستجد هذه االجهزة طريقها عبر الشبكة واستخدام االجهزة االخرى بشكل تلقائي ،وهذا غير ُمستغرب على اجهزة أبل حيث كان هدف الشركة دائما هو تبسيط املهام املعقدة للمستخدم العادي. كما اسلفت ،إن كل ماتقوم به خاصية بوجنور هي جعل اجلهاز يفصح عن نفسه عبر الشبكة لكي يكون متاح ًا لألجهزة االخرى كي تستخدمه بسهولة دون تعريف ودون اضافة اي برامج على املاكنتوش الستخدام هذه اخلاصية .وللعلم فإن خاصية بوجنور التقوم مث ًال باالفصاح عن املاكنتوش على شبكة االنترنت. خاصية بوجنور اصبحت جزء من نظام ماك او اس اكس منذ عام ٢٠٠٢وكانت تسمى حينئذ Rendezvousإال أن شركة اخرى قاضت ابل في عام ٢٠٠٣لتشابه املسميات ومايرافق هذا من تضارب في احلقوق املُلكية مما استدعى أبل لتغيير اسم اخلاصية في عام َ ٢٠٠٥بعدما تراضى طرفي القضية. إن من اهم مزايا بوجنور االخرى هي عملها على االنظمة االخرى غير ماك او اس اكس ،حيث ان ابل كتبت النواة املكونة ملَص َدر كمصدر مفتوح ،مما اتاح هذا امام املستخدمني واملصنّعني االخرين لكي يجعلوا من انظمتهم «تتخاطب شفرة بوجنور وجعلته متاح ًا ٍ بالبوجنور» مثل نظام ماك او اس ،٩ونظام لينكس ،و بي اس دي ،وويندوز .وباملناسبة ،توفر ابل خدمات متعددة على شكل برنامج يتم تثبيته على نظام الويندوز .باالمكان قراءة املزيد حول بوجنور من موقع ابل www.apple.com/macosx/features/bonjourكما باالمكان حتميل خدمات بوجنور للويندوز من املوقع www.apple.com/support/downloads/bonjourforwindows.html 8
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اعتـــــرافــــــــات
منتقل للماكنتوش براين نيلسن (ماك االمارات) َ واخير ًا انتقلت للوراء ألصبح مستخدم ًا للماكنتوش .أقول انتقلت للوراء حيث أن اول جهاز حاسب اشتريته في حياتي كان ماكنتوش من نوع پيرفورما في العام .١٩٩٦إمنا لكون جهة العمل قد وفروا لي جهاز ويندوز بي سي مع العديد من برامجه باملجان ولكون اكثر البرامج في ذاك احلني كانت تُكتب لكي تعمل على الويندوز ،فقد تخليت حينها عن املاكنتوش لصالح ويندوز .٩٨ولهذا انا اقول بأنني انتقلت للوراء. إن اسباب انتقالي تنبع من مصدر واحد بعينه، فهناك زميل لي في العمل مكانه بجانبي كان يبهرني باستمرار مبزايا املاكنتوش ومايقدر ان يعمله ،حتى بدأ زميلي ينال مني تدريجي ًا .إن اكثر ما ابهرني في نظام املاكنتوش هو ظاهرة Exposéوكيف يتحرك شريط البرامج «الدوك» في اسفل الشاشة وكذلك توافق مستندات مايكروسوفت اوفيس معه وكيفية جعل ماكنتوشه النقال يغفو ويستيقظ بشكل سريع وسلس.
في يوم من االيام طلبت من زميلي هذا ان يشرح لي جوهر االختالف بني عقلية املاكنتوش واجهزة بي سي/ويندوز .فما لبث أال وهو ينتزع قابس الكهرباء من جهازي Dellاحملمول ثم سألني «ماذا ترى في اسفل هذين احملمولني؟» .الفارق كان ظاهر ًا بوضوح فاسفل املاكنتوش كان مسطح ًا واملس ًا ،بينما جهاز Dellيحوي على اخاديد وثقوب عديدة ومتنوعة االحجام احدها للربط بقاعدة وهناك فتحات التهوية ومدخل للقرص الداخلي… الخ .واصل الشرح زميلي هذا الذي هو باملناسبة مستخدم لبرنامج Avidعلى املاكنتوش فقال «الفرق الرئيسي بني العقليات هي ان ابل تبدأ عملية االنتاج على ماكنتوش مكتمل الصنع ،فتقوم بتح ّدي مهندسيها لتحشر كل املكونات في داخل اجلهاز بشكل دقيق .بينما تعمل مايكروسوفت بشكل مغاير متاما ،فترى مهندسي الويندوز يطالبون بأن يأخذ شكل اجلهاز النهائي قالب املكونات الداخلية للكمبيوتر».
10إصدارة َشفل من ماك االمارات العدد السابع عشر
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إذا ما كان هذا االمر صحيح ًا ،وحلد االن يبدو لي االمر كذلك من خالل احلكم على تفاصيل اجلهاز الصغيرة والكبيرة حيث يظهر لي بأن أبل تصب كامل االهتمام على مظهر منتجاتها بشكل مذهل .وهذا يشرح كذلك ِل َم كل معارفي الذين يعملون في مجال االخراج الفني والتصميم يستخدمون املاك باملطلق .فأبل ت َق ّدر املظهر والتصميم. والأنسى مااثار استغرابي واعجابي في نفس اآلن هو معرفتي بأن برامج ماكنتوش حالي ًا تعمل على شريحة انتل .ومبا أن تصميم املواقع واالخراج الفني هو جزء رئيسي في عملي ،فقد كنت مسرورا جد ًا ملعرفتي بأن اصدارات ادوبي CS3متوفرة للماكنتوش .وكميزة اضافية اخرى فإن كل جهاز ماكنتوش تشتريه يأتي مع حزمة آياليف التي حتوي برامج (اي فوتو ،وآي موڤي، وآي دي في دي ،وكراج باند ،وآي ويب) مما يتيح لي انتاج وتنسيق ومشاهدة ونشر الصور واالفالف واملوسيقى وصفحات االنترنت. إن احدى العوامل املهمة التي دعتني لالنتقال مرة اخرى للماك هي إدراكي أن باستطاعة املاكنتوش تشغيل حزمة برامج مايكروسوفت اوفيس بكل مزاياها واختصاراتها التي ترعرعت على استخدامها لسنني طويلة في نسختها على الويندوز .وهناك ميزة اخرى وهي إن خطر ببالي ان استخدم انظمة كمبيوتر اخرى فإن هذا سيكون ببساطة على جهازي املاكنتوش وباستخدام خاصية ازدواج االنظمة املتاحة. وبعد ،فقد امتمت عملية االنتقال االسبوع املاضي وذلك بشراء جهاز آي ماك مستخدم لصديقي (هو قد تطور بشراء جهاز ماك پرو) .وتصادف الى مسمعي مؤخر ًَا بأن قيمة املاكنتوش لن تندثر بشكل سريع كما لو كنت تبيع جهاز ويندوز مبواصفات مشابهة. طبع ًا لن اتظاهر بأن عملية انتقالي مرة اخرى للماك كانت خالية من املشاكل ،فأنا سأدون للقراء على مدى االعداد القليلة بعض ًا منها ّ القادمة من شفل ،فتريثوا قلي ًال ،من يدري قد يكون االنتقال ذو معوقات!
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3قم بتوصيل وصلة usbفي اجلهاز والكاميرا كما يظهر في الصورة.
ّ تعلم iPhoto يوسف بركات
مـــــــاك ارابيـــــا www.macarabia.net
ماهو برنامج iPhoto؟؟ هو برنامج تنظيم صور ،ويوفر البرنامج العديد من الطرق لنشر و مشاركة الصور الرقمية و لتحسينها والتعديل عليها ،ميكنك عن طريق البرنامج إستيراد وتنظيم الصور بسهولة وبسرعه فائقه ،وبالتأكيد طباعة هذه الصور. ميكنك عمل عروض شرائح ،كتب ،تقوميات وبطاقات عن طريق آي فوتو .كما ميكنك إرسال صورك عبر البريد اللكتروني أو استخدامها كحافظة للشاشة ،أو نشرها إلى معرض صورك على الويب ليتمكن اآلخرين من مشاهدتها وحتميلها. برنامج رائع إذا كيف ميكنني العمل عليه! واجهة آي فوتو : عندما تفتح أي فوتو سوف تشاهد منطقة العرض ،حيث ميكنك أن تقوم بالعديد من األمور ،مثل تنظيم و عرض الصور ،التعديل عليهم ،أو إستخدامهم لصنع عروض الشرائح ،الكتب ،التقوميات ،أو البطاقات كما أسلفنا.
4قم بتشغيل الكاميرا ،يفترض الن أن تظهر الكاميرا أسفل قسم األجهزة Devicesفي قائمة مصادر Source listآي فوتو( يقع على يسار إطار آي فوتو) ،إذا لم يحدث شيء بعد توصيلك الكاميرا تأكد من تشغيلها و تعيني الوضع الصحيح الذي يسمح لك بإستيراد الصور ،وملزيد من املعلومات راجع التعليمات املرفقه مع الكاميرا. كما ميكنك تعيني تفضيالت آي فوتو بحيث تقوم بفتح البرنامج مبجرد توصيلك الكاميرا .ولفعل هذا قم بفتح آي فوتو ثم إضغط على iPhotoمن شريط القوائم و إختر Preferencesواختر Generalمن أعلى اإلطار ،واختر آي فوتو من القائمة املنبثقة املسماة "وصل الكاميرا يفتح" "Connecting "Camera opens الستيراد الصور من الكاميرا: 1قم بكتابة إسم يصف مجموعة الصور التي تقوم بإستيرادها في حقل إسم احلدث ( Event nameعلى سبيل املثال :رحلتي إلى ماليزيا). سيتم إستيراد صورك إلى مجموعة حدث بهذا اإلسم .و في آي فوتو يتم تنظيم الصور على شكل أحداث Eventsفي مكتبة آي فوتو ليسهل عليك إيجادها و عرضها. 2قم بكتابة وصف في حقل الوصف ملجموعة من الصور. 3ميكنك كذلك إختيار "تقسيم األحداث تلقائيا بعد اإلستيراد". سيفيدك هذا اخليار إذا قمت بإستيراد صور من أيام مختلفه .حيث سيقوم آي فوتو بتقسيمه إلى أحداث مختلفه في مكتبته. 4إذا كنت قد قمت بإستيراد بعض الصور سابقا فيمكنك إختيار "أخفي الصور املستورده أصالً" ""Hide Photos already importedبعد تفعيل اخليار لن ترى إال الصور اجلديدة. 5كما ميكنك إستيراد صور معينه ،لفعل هذا إستمر بالضغط على زر األوامر Commandواختر الصور التي تريدها. 6الستيراد كل الصور قم بالضغط على زر إستيراد الكل .Import Allإذا قمت بتحديد صور معينه وتريد إستيرادها قم بالنقر على إستيراد احملدد Import Selected
إليقاف عملية االستيراد خالل أي وقت أثناء العملية أنقر أوقف االستيراد Import
إستيراد الصور : قمت بإلتقاط بعض الصور الرائعة عن طريق كاميرتك الرقميه ،إذا حان الوقت لنقوم بإستيرادهم إلى أي فوتو وتنظيمهم ،فهذا سيسهل علينا مشاركة هذه الصور .لتبدأ التعديل على الصور حتتاج ألن تنقله إلى جهازك أو ًال .تُعرف عملية نقل امللفات باسم االستيراد importingحيث تقوم بإستيرادالصور من مكانهم األصلي و تنقلهم إلى iPhotoحيث ميكنك التعديل عليهم بعدة طرق. لتوصيل الكاميرا إلى اجلهاز : للتأكد من توافق الكاميرا مع جهازك راجع هذه الصفحه :
http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/cameras.html
1قم بفتح أي فوتو ،يوجد في مجلد البرامج Applicationعلى جهازك. 2قم بإطفاء الكاميرا . www.emiratesmac.com
Stop
قبل أن تقوم بفصل الكاميرا ،إنتظر إلى أن يتم إستيراد جميع الصور (أو إضغط إيقاف االستيراد .)Stop Importإذا كان في كاميرتك وضع نوم تأكد من إلغاءه أو تعيينه ملدة طويلة تكفي الستيراد جميع الصور. ملزيد من املعلومات راجع التعليمات املرفقه مع الكاميرا. لعرض الصور أنقر "أخر املستورده Last Importفي قائمة املصادر Sources ،Listأو أنقر األحداث Eventsوتصفح الصور حسب احلدث.
لفصل الكاميرا : 1قم بسحب أيقونة الكاميرا إلى سلة مهمالت آي فوتو. 2أطفئ الكاميرا. 3قم بفصلها عن جهازك.أنت اآلن جاهز لتبدأ بتنظيم صورك وهذا ماسنتناوله في العدد القادم.
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ورشة مبرمج الماكنتوش ()MPW سلمان عبد الحفيظ فرحات جامعة عجمان للعلوم والتكنولوجيا اإلمارات العربية المتحدة www.mac4arabs.com
تتألف هذه الورشة من ثالثمائة برنامج وأداة ،ليست كلها من إنتاج Apple (مثل Think Cو ،)Code Worrierوتوفر الورشة جميع ما يحتاجه املطور إلنتاج برامج تعمل في بيئة املاكنتوش ،ومما يهمنا ذكره أنها تدعم جميع اللغات (كالعربية والفارسية) .وتزود الورشة شيفرات خاصة تستخدم في صناعة واجهة نظام تشغيل املاكنتوش مثل شيفرة ( )Rezوهي من ابتكار ،Appleومتتاز هذه الشيفرة بأنها قابلة لالندماج مع لغات البرمجة الشيهرة (مثل Cو ،)Pascalو مما امتازت به هذه الشيفرة هو سهولة حتويلها إلى برمجة صورية يتم تخزينها في شوكة املوارد وهي السلسلة الثانية من امللف ،ومن اجلدير بالذكر أنه يتم إعادة حتويل البرمجة الصورية إلى الشيفرة األصلية بكل سهولة (بضغط زر واحد فقط!) ،وال تزال هذه الشيفرة تستخدم إلى يومنا هذا في نظام التشغيل ( .)Leopardوتشتمل الورشة على جميع كتب Appleالعلمية التي متت اإلشارة إليها في العدد السابق.
3الضوء الكشاف ،ويعرف باسم ( )Spotlightوهو اسم التقنية اخلاصة بنظام أي من محتويات األقراص ،ومتتاز هذه املاكنتوش في البحث والعثور على ٍ ّ التقنية بسرعتها الفائقة في العثور على امللفات التي ليس لها منافس في أي من األنظمة في ميدان ساحة احلاسوب. 4سهولة املنال ،أو املوصلية :وهي إمكانية الوصول بسهولة وسرعة ،وتسمى ( ،)Accessibilityوتساعد هذه الركيزة املستخدمني من ذوي االحتياجات اخلاصة بتأدية مهامهم احلاسوبية بيسر وسهولة. الركيزة الثانية :بنية نظام التطبيقات وتسمي Appleهذه الركيزة بـ ( ،)Application FrameWorksوتقدم هذه الركيزة ثالث تقنيات هامة لتطوير أي برنامج لنظام تشغيل املاكنتوش :X 1تقنية ( )Cocoaهي تقنية خاصة من إنتاج Appleوهي عبارة عن التطوير باستخدام العناصر على طريقة Appleوليس على طريقة العناصر املستخدمة في لغة .C++ 2تقنية ( ،)Carbonوهي مجموعة هائلة من الروتينات تتيح للمطورين الوصول إلى جميع مزايا نظام التشغيل Xباستخدام إحدى لغات البرمجة كلغة Cو .C++ 3تقنية ( )Javaوهي تقنية البرمجة اخلاصة بالشبكات واخلوادم.
الركيزة الثالثة :الرسوم والوسائط املتعددة وتسمي Appleهذه الركيزة بـ ( ،)Graphics and Mediaوتقدم هذه الركيزة ستة تقنيات هامة وهي:
البنية الداخلية لنظام التشغيل :Mac OS X Leopard ُب ِن َي نظام تشغيل املاكنتوش Xبطريقة فريدة وجديدة لم نعهدها من قبل في أي نظام سبق ،وحتى لم تتوفر في األنظمة املنافسة كنظام .Windows Vistaويقوم نظام التشغيل ( )Leopardعلى ركائز أساسية :الركيزة األولىِ :ح ْن َك ُة املستخدم وتسمي Appleهذه الركيزة بـ ( ،)User Experienceوتقدم هذه الركيزة أربعة أجزاء هامة يتعامل معها املستخدم بشكل مباشر وهي: 1واجهة االستخدام في النظام وتسمى ( )Aquaوتعني املاء وهي التي نراها ونتعامل من خاللها مع نظام التشغيل. 2لوحة العدادات وهي اللوحة التي يزودها برنامج (.)Dashboard 12إصدارة َشفل من ماك االمارات العدد السابع عشر
1تقنية ( )QuickTimeوهي تقنية Appleالرئيسية لصناعة األفالم واألصوات والرسوم املتحركة والرسوم الهندسية والنصوص والتفاعل واملوسيقى كما تدعم تقنية ( )QuickTimeمئات األنواع من ملفات الصور والفيديو واألفالم واألصوات وكما تقدم دعما مللفات ( )MPEG-4القياسية. 2تقنية ( )Core Audioو هي وحدة من وحدات نظام التشغيل توفر للمطورين كافة احتياجاتهم لدمج ميزة الصوت في إنتاجهم البرمجي وغيره ،كما توفر دعما كامال لألدوات املوسيقية التي تعرف باسم أجهزة ( MIDIو .)DSP 3تقنية ( )Core Imageوهي تقنية بدأت في نظام التشغيل ،10.4وتز ّود املطورين بخصائص أجهزة الرسوم الفنية املستخدمة ،كما تزود املطورين بقائمة روتينات هامة تتيح لهم الوصول إلى الفالتر اخلاصة بالصور كالتي يزودها برنامج ( ،)PhotoShopوالتي تستخدم في أجهزة اإلخراج وعلى الصور الساكنة (الغير متحركة) كما تزود دعما (للفالتر اخلاصة).
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2افتح املجلد ( Contents -->Resources -->English.lprojثم افتح امللف: ،)MainMenu.nibسيفتح امللف عن طريق برنامج (.)Interface Builder
4تقنية ( :)Core Videoالفيلم هو مجرد صور ساكنة تعرض متتابعة خالل فترة محددة من الزمن ،وتقنية ( )QuickTimeمت ّكن إلتقاط األفالم وعرضها ببساطة .وهذه التقنية ( )Core Videoمت ّكن املطورين من احلصول على الصور ( )Framesمن األفالم واللقطات بسهولة مما يجعل املطور قادرا على استخدام ( )Core Imageليجري تطبيق (الفالتر) والتعديالت عليها ،ومن ثم إعادة إنتاجها. 5تقنية ( :)OpenGLوهي التي تزودنا بها أنظمة التشغيل بأحدث ما توصل إليه العلم لتدعم كال من الرسوم الثنائية األبعاد والثالثية األبعاد على حد سواء. 6تقنية ( :)Core Animationوهي التقنية التي تقوم بتحويل وإذابة الصور ثنائية األبعاد لتنتج منها الرسوم املتحركة الشاقة ،وهي األن املسؤولة عن حركات واجهة نظام التشغيل اجلديد (.)Leopard
3ستظهر نوافذ توضح محتويات امللف ،إحدى هذه النوافذ تسمى ( )MainMenu.nib (English) - MainMenuحتتوي على شريط القوائم اخلاص بالبرنامج ،انقر مرتني فوق كلمة ( )Fileلتغييرها ،واكتب باللغة العربية (ملف) ،غير ما شئت من القوائم ..ثم احفظ التعديالت بالنقر على Command-Sوقم بإنهاء البرنامج .Interface Builder
الركيزة الرابعة واألخيرة :بيئة نظام التشغيل Unixوتسميها Appleبـ ( ،)Darwinوتتيح للمستخدم التحكم في وظائف نظام املاكنتوش عن طريق كتابة أوامر نظام التشغيل .Unixكما مت ّكن املستخدم من تشغيل وتنفيذ شيفرات برمجية موجهة لنظام ،Unixومن اجلدير بالذكر أن بيئة Unixطورتها Apple باستخدام ،Carbonوتوفر Appleملفات Darwinالبرمجية على شبكة االنترنت .و من أراد احلصول على امللفات يتوجب عليه الدخول إلى صفحة املطورين اخلاصة بـ .Apple
افتح البرنامج ( .)Previewستشاهد تغييراتك! ال حتتاج ألن تكون مبرمجا ..إن هذه العملية يستطيع أن يقوم بها أي مستخدم في نظام املاكنتوش ..كذلك تستطيع تغيير جميع محتويات البرامج ،وتستطيع أن تضيف واجهة اللغة العربية للبرنامج إذا لم يكن يوفرها! .ال ننسى أن البرنامج أصبح بلغة اآللة وتعليماتها.
برنامج الورّاق قيد التطوير
تعريب وتعديل في بيئة املاكنتوش:
سنتعرف األن على طريقة تغيير لغات واجهة البرامج التي تعمل في بيئة املاكنتوش ،بحسب رغبة املستخدم. و لنقوم بذلك يجب تثبيت مجموعة التطوير ( )Xcode Toolsوالتي تتوفر على قرص النظام األصلي الليزري.
تعريب قوائم النظام والبرامج
البداية :اختر برنامج العارض ( )Previewمن مجلد برامج نظام التشغيل (.)Applications
تنويه واعتذار
خطوات العمل: 1قم بالنقر مرة واحدة بزر الفأرة األمين فوق رمز البرنامج ( )Previewلتظهر القائمة املنبثقة ..واختر ( )Show Package Contentsمنها.
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نستميح العذر من الكاتب سلمان فرحات عن السهو الذي بدر منّ ا في العدد الماضي حيث كان الجزء االول لمقاله عن برمجة الماكنتوش.
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ترغب بالكتابة في شفل؟ في شـفل نرحب بكتابات أي عضو في مجموعات مستخدمي أپل في منطقة الشرق االوسط .نقبل بالمواضيع العربية واالنجليزية المقدمة إتصل بنا على لنا والتي تعكس اهتمامات القاريءّ .
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14إصدارة َشفل من ماك االمارات العدد السابع عشر
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