And I thought “Quark 7” was a good punchline

Wow. Just when the tech world is debating whether Flash is going to remain a viable and widespread platform on the internet, Quark announces massive, even "Magic!" support for Flash design and development. 

OK, OK – I am glad that someone continues to create competition for InDesign, but … really?

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Quark <cservice@quark.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 3:58 AM
Subject: Perform Magic with Flash in QuarkXPress 8
To: info@j2mac.com

Perform Magic with Flash in QuarkXPress 8
Purchase QuarkXPress 8 today and access €500+
worth of Exclusive Flash Resources for FREE
A Magical Offer
Buy or Upgrade QuarkXPress 8 NOW and you’ll get the only professional page layout software to produce integrated print, web and Flash design. PLUS you’ll gain access to Flash resources and assets worth over €500
Amazing Flash Resources
Choose from hundreds of fully editable QuarkXPress 8 Flash assets to help build your own, customised projects. Download web templates, animations, media players and much more!
Learn Magic

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Our Current Methods

Attached: Our Current Methods
Message from info@j2mac.com:

http://bit.ly/j2currentmethods I am inspired to create a doc that has all of our current methodologies. I'm going to update it from time to time, and rely on Google Docs to keep revisions.

Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Google Docs logo

The Usual Scenario

Client buys a new Mac

Typical Purchase

Single CPU for home or small biz. Client should walk out of the Apple Store with at least:

  • Mac

I think everyone should have a laptop as their main computer, buy maybe they really want an iMac.

  • AppleCare

Maaaybe someone wants to buy at Best Buy and get their extra coverage, but I want every Mac to have AppleCare. Businesses can negotiate for custom AppleCare quotes.

  • External hard drive
    (See the section on Backups for current software selections.)

This can be a 1TB or 2TB Time Capsule, but if they already have a wireless router, then an external drive with FireWire is essential. In San Antonio, the 3 brands that both are available and don’t suck completely are LaCie and G-Tech (Apple Store) and Seagate (Best Buy). 

The number of LaCie d2 Quadra drives we have unpacked and installed has probably entered 3 digits: FireWire 800 is now standard on every Mac except the MacBook, and the extra option of eSATA rocks. Until recently, we spec’ed the 500GB model, but since the 1TB unit is $154 on Amazon, that size has entered the sweet spot of price-per-gigabyte.

 

Email

  • Consumers

If a client uses an email address given them by their ISP, we immediately start pushing them to sign up for a Gmail address. If they don’t want to do it, fine, but it’s easy to assure them that the process, described below, is quite easy and painless.

So, obviously you sign ’em up http://gmail.com. Then we turn on forwarding in the ISP’s webmail, and the vacation responder as well, to say, “Thanks for writing me. Please know that, from now on, you can find me at yaddayadda@gmail.com.” Also, in Gmail settings, we configure a filter that “labels” any mail sent to the old address as, for example, “satx.rr.com” or “sbcglobal” or whatever.

Other Gmail settings to tweak are: keyboard shortcuts ON, IMAP enabled, and HTTPS/SSL enforced.

Obviously, we are usually going to configure Apple’s Mail.app. See this hint for a good tweaking of Google’s recommended config for Mail (I am going to comment on that hint with a couple of amendments that I have found useful). But I want people to get familiar with the Google webmail interface. Show them filters and labels. Consider showing them Docs, Calendar, and Buzz, and even Wave if they’re a bit nerdy.

  • Businesses

Business clients are always asked who their email host is, if any. 

New Mac setup

  • Run Software Update.
  • Next, System Preferences:

    1. Desktop & Screen Saver: Turn off “Translucent menu bar,” and demo RSS screensaver.
    2. Security: Turn on the Firewall and enable Stealth Mode. Consider “Require password to wake from sleep.”
    3. Keyboard: Turn on “All controls” for a tab-able interface.
    4. Trackpad: Turn on “Tap to click.”
    5. Sharing: Anonymize computer name. Consider File and Screen Sharing for desktops, but turn off every service on laptops.
    6. Accounts: Configure second admin account called “Administrator,” with the same password as the primary user. On laptops, turn off “Automatic login.” On any Mac, turn on “Allow guests to log in,” and turn off “Allow guests to connect to shared folders.” Consider additional user accounts and fast user switching.
    7. Date & Time: Make sure network time service is enabled.
    8. Time Machine: (See section on Backups.)
  • Next, install freeware: See this blog post for Things I Download on Every Mac. Direct links are included.
  • Safari: Turn on Autofill for “User names and passwords,” and “When a new tab or window opens, make it active.” Set new windows and new tabs to open to “Empty Page.”
  • Mail.app: Bold unread messages. See above for configuring Mail for Gmail.

Backups
  • On-site
1 Partition on external hard drive. SuperDuper backup will live side-by-side with Time Machine.
Time Machine
SuperDuper (Carbon Copy Cloner is great, but just not as clean, and not anywhere near as FAST as SuperDuper. Also, CCC can’t co-exist with Time Machine backing up to the same partition.)
  • Off-site
MobileMe Backup is fine for basics. If they don’t have MobileMe, consider MozyHome (free) or Carbonite ($5/month and unlimited, use coupon code TWiT.)

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Patience becomes me not.

But I had nothing to do but wait.


  • Multitasking

    Developers will have access to seven multitasking services, which will allow tasks to be performed in the background while preserving performance and battery life. So you’ll be able to make a Voice over IP call while playing a game or checking email, find a restaurant on Urbanspoon while listening to Pandora, and more.

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Netflix on iPad! Wheeeeee!

Pardon the long URL below, but streaming netflix is so freakin huge. And Apple has posted a list of HTML5-compliant sites: http://www.apple.com/ipad/ready-for-ipad/ . Sorry, Flash, but you’re no dealbreaker.

We just left Best Buy. It’s as good as I need it to be for now.

iTunes link to netflix app:
http://www.google.com/m/url?cd=4&client=safari&ct=res&ei=d463S8jfAo27twf96vK-…

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Project management and Google Apps Marketplace

I’m looking for another project-management solution. Basecamp just seems to confuse clients, consultants and staff. Definitely not a file-sharing solution. The only benefit I get is a task list with reminders. Whoopee. Their customer service is argumentative and unhelpful, and the workarounds too time-consuming. 

Have you played with Zoho Projects? 

Also, Google Apps Marketplace has just come into play. They’ve put a compelling new twist on the relatively-new-itself “app store” idea. Now, whenever I think “I need an online service that does [insert ingenious time-saving mechanism here],” I going straight to Marketplace.

I did a search for “project management”, and came up with a list of options — some free, some not. (Mind Meister Mind Mapping, recommended recently by a friend, was in there.) Then I saw the “Project Management” category in the navbar, which oddly came up with a differently sorted list with some different items.

Marketplace is interesting. The obvious immediate upside is “single sign-on,” i.e. signing into any of the listed services with your Google Apps login (in your case, the sitenb.com ID). They also list the benefit of “Google’s universal navigation.” I am definitely looking forward to imposing a consistent, extensible look between my cloud-based application — but I don’t know if that’s what “universal navigation” means yet.

I’ll admit I’ve had some problems getting a couple to work, especially with existing accounts at the respective services like Freshbooks. But I think it’s gonna be cool. By the way, I’m starting to see that Chrome should become one’s centre for all of this software-as-service, online app, cloud-tastic, web-2 stuff. Now I do all my research and reading in Safari, and all my mail, docs, invoicing, task management, and dish washing in Chrome. It’s just so springy!

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iPhone abroad redux

We are going to be in Europe for 3 weeks, and we want to have service on our iPhones. Is there anything available (even cheaper?) than AT&T?

 
I have an earlier post on the subject, but thought I'd expand a bit:

I'll say the less positive stuff first: Unless one's iPhone is unlocked, the AT&T $6/month World Traveler plan, which drops per-minute charges a bit, is an iPhone owner's only option for over-the-phone communication. 

Unlocking happens through a hack, as described in this Wired article. Unlocking and jailbreaking — alowing non-Apple-sanctioned apps — are doable and ultimately not that hard, but we recommend against these hacks on phones that are still in use as primary phones (as opposed to being sold or converted to an iPod touch).

Now, AT&T has some good recommendations for travelling overseas with your iPhone, including something I just found out, and wish I had known for my South America trip last year: their Data Global plan. This might come in handy; there was a lot of travel research I wanted to do on the fly. 

But my bestest tip for people travelling internationally with their iPhones is still Wi-Fi! It's so awesome to have a great, little internet device in one's pocket. Whenever I'm travelling, and have a moment or a need, I scan for free wireless. Café-sitting is one of my favorite touring activities, anyway. I was happy enough with this for email and chat, but now you can make free iPhone-to-computer voice calls with the Skype app [iTunes link], and supposedly one-way video chat with Fring [iTunes link].

If you don't get the World Traveler plan, do read those AT&T instructions for turning off roaming, or you can wind up with a huge bill. Even if you do buy the plan, it turns out that you get charged for any incoming calls, whether you answer them or not(!), and voicemails, even if you don't listen to them.

My technique was to leave the iPhone in "Airplane Mode," and then turn on only Wi-Fi and scanned for open networks when I needed one. I had no surprises when I came home.

Posted via email from J2 Tech Blog

iPad … ?

LG wrote:
So, about the iPad.

Can’t wait!
Can you back up the data, same as with a lap top?

Most of the data on my iPhone is synced either over the internet (email, contacts & calendar, notes, passwords, clipboards, bookmarks) or over a cable with my Mac’s iTunes and photo management app (music, photo, movies, voice memos). Beside that material, iTunes backs up all my phone service settings and app data whenever I plug in the cable. So I just need to make sure my Mac is backed up.
What are the biggest cons?

Right now, this is mostly anybody’s guess. I could list the major gripes of Apple’s not including Flash support, which I have resolved not to miss, or a bloody camera, which decision Apple can roll up and choke on.
Cost?

Less if you wait a few months. I don’t think they’re gonna make the mistake of dropping the price in 3 months like they did with the iPhone, but eventually used and refurbished models models will be on the market.

2010 is set to be pure mobile fun. The recent massive success of Google’s Android operating system, now proliferated on dozens of phones, means that the iPad won’t be the only decent tablet for very long. New features, lower prices … good times!
Protecting the screen?

Don’t click on this pretty funny link if you’re easily offended. There are going to be enough cases on the market to make your head spin, but any i-anything owner needs to be ready to pay for screen repair. 

In other words, good luck!
I’m thinking of one for my college student.

I wish I had had one in school. I’d go for the $499 one. It’ll be plenty. (I’m going to buy the $629 model with wifi and 3G.)

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Don’t try to email a really large file

I’ve always tried to discourage people from emailing files bigger than 10MB, even if their email host says they can. Email just wasn’t built for it. Turns out, Apple Mail wants to discourage this behavior, too. Or, more likely, it just has a massive freaking bug that should have been addressed years ago.

The bug is, if you try to send an email with an attachment that’s too big for your host, Mail.app can’t get the message out the door, and it stays stuck like Winnie the Pooh in Rabbit’s door, blocking anything from coming in or out.

To continue to mix my animal metaphors, this bug coincidentally randomly bit four different clients in the same week, so I figured I’d post the solution:
  1. Quit Mail.
  2. Go to ~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes.
  3. Move Outbox.mbox to the Trash.
  4. Open Mail again.
That should fix it.

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