TidBITS Issue #795

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Maxum Development Sponsoring TidBITS

Maxum Development Sponsoring TidBITS -- We're pleased to welcome our latest long-term sponsor, Maxum Development. I've known John O'Fallon of Maxum for many years, ever since Maxum got its start in the heady days of the mid-1990s Internet by creating the essential add-ons NetForms and NetCloak for Macs running the WebSTAR Web serverShow full article

05 Sep 2005 | Print

iKey 2.1 Moves to iApp-like Interface

by Adam C. Engst

iKey 2.1 Moves to iApp-like Interface -- Script Software has updated their Macintosh automation utility iKey to version 2.1, adding a few features but mostly streamlining the interface to make it easier to create and edit shortcuts, menus, and palettes that automate repetitive actionsShow full article

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Default Folder X 2.0.2 Now Available

by Jeff Carlson

Default Folder X 2.0.2 Now Available -- St. Clair Software has released version 2.0.2 of their essential Mac OS X utility, Default Folder X. The new version improves compatibility with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, fixing potentially crashing problems with Safari, System Preferences, and other Cocoa applicationsShow full article

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Now Up-to-Date & Contact Updated to 5.0.4

by Adam C. Engst

Now Up-to-Date & Contact Updated to 5.0.4 -- Now Software last week released version 5.0.3 and then 5.0.4 of their powerful calendaring and contact management suite, fixing a number of bugs and cosmetic problems, improving performance, and adding a few small capabilities, such as Snooze All/Dismiss All buttons in the event reminder dialog, several new toolbar buttons, support for Word 2004 in QuickMerge, and moreShow full article

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Tiger Still Resists Showing Preferred Networks

by Glenn Fleishman

Tiger Still Resists Showing Preferred Networks -- Last week, I explained how to force a Mac OS X system upgraded from Panther to Tiger to display a list of preferred AirPort networks in the Network preferences pane that you could edit, remove, add to, or rearrange by preferred order of connections (see "Adding Tiger's AirPort Preferred Network List" in TidBITS-794)Show full article

05 Sep 2005 | Print

DealBITS Drawing: MathMagic Personal Edition Winners

by Adam C. Engst

DealBITS Drawing: MathMagic Personal Edition Winners -- Congratulations to Harvey Jeffries of mac.com, Orion Protonentis of noiro.org, Robert Rennie of anscom.af.mil, Robert Wildblood of erols.com, and Scott Ellsworth of alodar.com, whose entries were chosen randomly in last week's DealBITS drawing and who each received a copy of MathMagic Personal Edition, worth $119.95Show full article

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Net Responds to Hurricane Katrina Aftermath

by Jeff Carlson

Watching the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it unleashed upon Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama has been exceedingly difficult this past weekShow full article

Hide full article

Watching the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it unleashed upon Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama has been exceedingly difficult this past week. I still haven't fully wrapped my head around the fact that New Orleans, a major metropolitan city, was effectively destroyed in a matter of days. However, I've been heartened by the many online efforts by people who are coming up with innovative ways to help those in need, no matter where they're located around the world.

You've no doubt heard pleas to give money and assistance in any way you can, and we at TidBITS want to echo that call; to put our money where our mouth is, we're donating 10 percent of proceeds from September sales of Take Control ebooks to the American Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief Fund. The hurricane itself may have passed quickly, but the need for aid and assistance will continue for quite some time.

Financial Aid -- Sending money still seems to be the best way of providing support; based on reports we've received from people in that area, the American Red Cross was one of the earliest organizations providing support. Many other organizations are mobilizing their resources and accepting contributions; Charity Navigator, an outfit that evaluates the financial health of charities (and therefore helps steer people away from slimeballs - oops! I mean, the unscrupulous people who are already trying to get people's money by sending email messages pretending to ask for hurricane donations) includes a list of charities that are helping to provide disaster relief.

<http://www.redcross.org/>
<http://www.charitynavigator.org/>

Housing Assistance -- With so many buildings damaged by the hurricane and the related flooding, thousands of people are without homes. In this category, the Internet is making a big difference. Katrina Volunteer & Housing Opportunities enables people with beds available to post their information, and displaced people to locate housing assistance in their area. As I write this, nearly 31,000 beds are available. MoveOn has also set up HurricaneHousing.org for the same purposes, with over 125,000 beds currently available.

<http://katrinahousing.org/>
<http://hurricanehousing.org/>

Another great resource providing housing is Craigslist, which includes housing notices as well as posts for temporary employment, volunteer opportunities, and other services in Baton Rouge, Houston, Jackson, Mobile, Montgomery, New Orleans, Shreveport, and Pensacola.

<http://craigslist.org/about/help/katrina_ aid.html>

People and Pets Search -- Each of the cities served by Craigslist also includes forums for finding people who have not yet appeared following the hurricane. These listings are worth scanning if you haven't heard from someone, as there are a few "found" postings noting that people are alive and well.

<http://batonrouge.craigslist.org/laf/>
<http://jackson.craigslist.org/laf/>
<http://mobile.craigslist.org/laf/>
<http://montgomery.craigslist.org/laf/>
<http://neworleans.craigslist.org/laf/>
<http://shreveport.craigslist.org/laf/>
<http://pensacola.craigslist.org/laf/>

Another novel project, PeopleFinderVolunteer, has been created to take a lot of the raw data coming in about missing people and organize it into a useful, consolidated database. It provides a way for people across the Internet to help out by donating their time: log in, claim a listing (such as from Craigslist), and fill out an online form to put as much data into fields that can be searched by others.

<http://katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/ PeopleFinderVolunteer>

Looking at the problem from the other side, CNN has begun compiling a Hurricane Katrina Safe List, where survivors can post their details as another method for friends and family to know that they're okay.

<http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/hurricanes/ list/>

Amid all the talk about the human suffering, we often forget about pets struggling to survive after the hurricane and flooding. The United States Humane Society and other sources are helping to scour the area for lost animals.

<http://www.hsus.org/>

Wikis Prove Timely and Useful -- Although the mainstream news media has been following the tragedy, some of the most effective information has appeared online in various wikis. Wikipedia's Hurricane Katrina entry is a constantly updated collection of news, resources, and statistics, documenting facts as they appear. It also includes lots of related information such as the impact of the storm on the space shuttle program and Internet infrastructure damage.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina>

And for a good general reference, the Katrina Help Wiki includes information for people in need, people who want to help, and links to other resources.

<http://katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/Main_ Page>

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Netopia Adds Security, Multiple Monitors to Timbuktu Pro 8.5

by Glenn Fleishman

The latest release of long-developed Timbuktu Pro remote control software appeared last week. Version 8.5 adds several options designed to improve security and provides support for viewing multiple monitors remotely. Several new modes are available in this release, including: Lock-down or "Help Desk": A computer can't initiate remote sessions, but is available for remote viewing by, for instance, in-house technical support. SSH-only: Timbuktu Pro can be prevented from connecting using the old, less secure protocol, after which it will allow only SSH (Secure Shell) connections. Remote screen blanking: The remote computer's screen goes blank when being controlled from afar by Timbuktu ProShow full article

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Make Your Own Menu in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

by Tonya Engst

Do you like menus? Menus tend to be overlooked in the desire to show every possible option at once in a toolbar or palette, but the nice thing about a menu is that its there when you need it and out of the way - but not gone entirely - when you don'tShow full article

Hide full article

Do you like menus? Menus tend to be overlooked in the desire to show every possible option at once in a toolbar or palette, but the nice thing about a menu is that its there when you need it and out of the way - but not gone entirely - when you don't. Typically, a program comes with certain commands on its menus, and you, the user, are stuck with them. Microsoft Office doesn't suffer from this particular limitation, at least in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In this article, we share with you an excerpt from our latest Take Control ebook, Kirk McElhearn's "Take Control of Customizing Microsoft Office." It explains how to make your own menus in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (both v.X and 2004), and how to take advantage of Word's Work menu. Take it away, Kirk!

Create a Menu -- In this brief tutorial, I explain how to create a menu that contains a handful of frequently used commands. (I use Word in this tutorial; the procedure is nearly identical with Excel and PowerPoint.) To make your own menu, follow these steps:

Display the Menu Bar toolbar so you can work with it: Choose Customize > Customize Toolbars/Menus. If the Menu Bar toolbar does not appear along with the Customize Toolbars/Menus dialog, click the Toolbars tab and select Menu Bar in the list of toolbars.
Put a new menu on the toolbar: In the Commands pane, at the end of the Categories list, click New Menu. In the Commands list you'll see just one command: New Menu. Drag it to the position where you want it in the Menu Bar toolbar.
Name your menu: You don't want the name to be too long, since it takes up space in the menu bar. Double-click the New Menu button in the Menu Bar toolbar to display the Command Properties dialog. Enter a new name in the Name field, and then click OK.
To copy commands from other menus to your new menu, click a menu in the Menu Bar toolbar, and Option-drag a menu command from that menu. For example, to begin copying the Format > Font command to the custom menu, click the Format button to display the contents of its menu. Hold down the Option key and drag the Font command toward your new menu. (If you hold down Option when dragging, the command will remain in its original location and copy to the new menu; if not, it will move. It's much safer to copy commands than move them.) When you reach the button for your new menu, move the pointer over the button to display the menu). Release the mouse button when the command is in the desired location in the menu.
If you don't find the commands you want in the existing menus, go to the Commands tab of the Customize Toolbars/Menus dialog and in the Categories section, click All Commands. You can then look through the list of commands to find the ones you want.
Rename long menu items: Commands that you drag from menus have concise names, but ones you drag from the All Commands list may have awkward, long names. To make the change, double-click a menu command in the menu from the Menu Bar toolbar to display the Command Properties dialog and change the name by entering a new name in the Name field.
Organize your menu with a separator: To help group commands, insert a separator above a menu item. Double-click the desired menu item in the Menu Bar toolbar to display the Command Properties dialog and select the "Begin a group" checkbox.

Congratulations! You've set up a custom menu. If you want to delete it, simply drag it off the Menu Bar toolbar.

Use the Word Work Menu -- Word offers a special menu called the Work menu. Located between the Window menu and the Help menu, this menu is designed to store a list of your commonly used files. Unlike the recent files list at the bottom of the File menu, Word doesn't add documents here automatically; you must add them manually. If you regularly use the same files, the Work menu saves you a trip to the Finder. Just select your document from the Work menu and get to work.

All you have to do to add a document to the Work menu is open the document and make sure it is frontmost. Then, choose Work > Add to Work Menu.

Word is pretty good at finding documents that you have moved after you added them to the Work menu, as long as you move them somewhere on the same volume or disk. If Word cannot find the file, it displays an alert asking if you want to locate it. Click OK, and you'll see a standard Open dialog. Navigate to find the document, and Word will open it and update its path so it can find it again next time.

To remove a document from the Work menu, press Command-Option-Hyphen. The pointer changes to a thick, black dash. Choose the document you want to remove from the Work menu, and it disappears.

Go Further with the Ebook -- Although this excerpt focuses on menus, the 82-page "Take Control of Customizing Microsoft Office" doesn't stop there, teaching you how to put commands on a toolbar for one-click access or how to assign memorable keyboard shortcuts to frequently used commands. It also shows you how to insert frequently typed pieces of text, explains how to use templates so you don't have to create every document from scratch, and more. It costs $10, and note that we and Kirk are donating 10 percent of the proceeds from the September sales of this ebook to the American Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief Fund.

<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/office- customizing.html?14@@!pt=TRK-0022-TB795- EXCERPT>

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Talk for Free with FreeConference.com

by Adam C. Engst

Widely distributed groups often need to meet via telephone rather than attempting to travel to a single centralized location, so for some people, regularly scheduled conference calls have become a way of lifeShow full article

Hide full article

Widely distributed groups often need to meet via telephone rather than attempting to travel to a single centralized location, so for some people, regularly scheduled conference calls have become a way of life. In the past, setting up a phone bridge, as these systems are sometimes called, was an expensive proposition. Large companies would sometimes have their own service, but if no one in the group had access to a phone bridge, an independent service was required, and the costs could be quite steep.

A few months ago, I had a conference call with the Web Crossing folks, and when I received the online RSVP, I was intrigued by the domain in the sending address: www.freeconference.com. A quick trip to my Web browser revealed that FreeConference.com was indeed an entirely free conference call service. When I quizzed the Web Crossing folks about it later, they said that they'd been using the service happily for years. Somewhat shocked, I asked, "And how is this free?"

<http://www.freeconference.com/>

Business Model -- The answer would appear to be that FreeConference.com offers three types of conference calls: Reservationless, Web-Scheduled, and Web-Scheduled Premium 800. The first two are entirely free, but with the third, you pay $0.10 per minute for callers to use a toll-free 800 number when calling in. You might expect there to be significant other limitations on the two free services, but that doesn't turn out to be the case. For instance, the Web-Scheduled Premium 800 service supports 150 callers for a maximum time of 5 hours, but the free Web-Scheduled service drops that only slightly, to 100 callers for a maximum of 3 hours. There are a few other differences, most notably the option for conference recording (with MP3 download and telephone playback) for an additional fee, but the option for toll-free dial-in numbers is the main distinction. The Reservationless service has more limitations (25 callers for a maximum of 3 hours), but you don't even need an account to set one up, making it quick and anonymous.

<http://www.freeconference.com/Services.asp>

In other words, FreeConference.com itself is free, but any given conference call placed through the service may not be, since each participant must pay his or her own long distance phone bill. However, in this day and age of flat-rate long distance plans (which is what I currently have) and cell phone plans that treat long distance calls no differently than local calls, FreeConference.com can be effectively free for many people.

How It Works -- Intrigued, I signed up for a free account and set up a call for the next time I needed to talk with several people at once (my normal phone service allows three-way calling, which is usually all I need). Once I had an account, it was simple to walk through the steps to schedule a call. These steps include:

Choose the number of participants (up to 100)
Pick a date and time
Set the likely duration of the call
Create or accept a participant access code
Set conference controls
Send email invitations

The conference controls are interesting. You can toggle entry and exit chimes, have the conference start and end with the arrival and departure of the organizer, and choose from three possible conference modes. Conversation mode allows anyone to speak at any time. Presentation mode goes in the other direction, automatically muting everyone but those with an organizer access code. Q&A mode is in between, allowing participants to un-mute themselves to ask questions.

Although FreeConference.com doesn't offer an option for a recurring call (many organizations have regularly scheduled weekly calls, for instance), you can create groups of contacts, making it trivial to run through the setup steps and choose the same contact group at the end.

I'm particularly impressed with the email invitation and confirmation tools. After you've configured your conference call, you can invite people directly from within FreeConference.com's interface, at which point FreeConference.com generates an email invitation to each person you've entered. (The email addresses you enter are used only for invitations, according to FreeConference.com's privacy policy.) The invitation includes all the call and schedule details (including properly adjusted time zones, something that often causes confusion among widespread groups), and provides a link the recipient can click to RSVP for the conference, causing FreeConference.com to send a short email message informing you of the RSVP. If you've entered any comments or an agenda, that information is included in the email invitation. Helpfully, the email invitation includes a cheat sheet for the controls each caller can issue from her phone during the conference. And lastly, the email invitations come with vCal file attached that the recipient can drop into iCal or Outlook to add to her calendar.

Similarly, you as the organizer receive a confirmation message in email, summarizing all the settings, and providing you with organizer-specific information like your own access code and a cheat sheet of all the additional controls you can access from your phone during the call. Overall, FreeConference.com provides a smooth and elegant interface, and after the first time or two, you can probably set up a call in less than five minutes.

Once you're in the actual call, sound quality is excellent. The one call I've been on that had an audio problem was related to the phone of one of the callers. In this respect, FreeConference.com is doing well - I've been on plenty of paid conference calls where the equipment introduced audio feedback or a whine that required help from an operator.

International Versions and Private Labels -- Often, these sort of services are limited to the United States. Not so with FreeConference.com. In the United Kingdom, there's ConferenceUK, and in Germany, FreieKonferenz.com. All three are run by Integrated Data Concepts, a 20-year-old telecommunications firm that claims to be the first distributor to deal exclusively in computer telephony products. In fact, IDC even has an option for other firms or organizations to relabel, resell, or adapt the FreeConference.com site and service.

<http://www.conferenceuk.com/>
<http://www.freiekonferenz.com/>
<http://www.freeconference.com/OEMInfo.asp>

Give It a Try -- Historically, and largely due to the expense, conference call services have been aimed exclusively at businesses, and I'm sure they'll continue to be used primarily by companies and other organizations. However, FreeConference.com really is good enough and sufficiently close to free for many people that it could help extend the concept of conference calling beyond the business world. I could easily see families setting up weekend calls where the entire family could participate in the same call rather than calling each other separately.

Although computer telephony is improving rapidly thanks to programs like iChat and Skype, people don't need a fast Internet connection or even a computer to participate in conferences set up via FreeConference.com. Plus, my experience with computer telephony is that when it works, it's generally fine, but there are still far more hiccups and other problems (every time I want to use Skype or iChat, I have to fiddle with the input and output settings in the Sound preference pane, for instance) compared to the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) network.

So do yourself a favor, and the next time you think that it might be nice, or at least more efficient, to have several people on the phone at once, set up a call via FreeConference.com.

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Take Control News/05-Sep-05

by Tonya Engst

New Ebook Helps Readers Customize Microsoft Office -- I've been working with author Kirk McElhearn for nearly a year on this title, and neither of us can believe how long it's taken to explain clearly how to customize the toolbars, menus, and keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft OfficeShow full article

05 Sep 2005 | Print

Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/05-Sep-05

by TidBITS Staff

The second URL below each thread description points to the discussion on our Web Crossing server, which will be faster. iTunes Vs. The Titans -- Rumor has it that the major music labels want to charge more than $0.99 per song, even though Apple's pricing has proven enormously successfulShow full article

TidBITS Watchlist

Expand Finder Columns Quickly

Recent TidBITS Talk Discussions

TidBITS#795/05-Sep-05

Maxum Development Sponsoring TidBITS

iKey 2.1 Moves to iApp-like Interface

Default Folder X 2.0.2 Now Available

Now Up-to-Date & Contact Updated to 5.0.4

Tiger Still Resists Showing Preferred Networks

DealBITS Drawing: MathMagic Personal Edition Winners

Net Responds to Hurricane Katrina Aftermath

Netopia Adds Security, Multiple Monitors to Timbuktu Pro 8.5

Make Your Own Menu in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

Talk for Free with FreeConference.com

Take Control News/05-Sep-05

Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/05-Sep-05