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<div class="center_top">Thoughtful, detailed coverage of the Mac, iPhone, and iPad, plus the best-selling <a href="http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/?pt=TB-TAGLINE" style="color:yellow">Take Control</a> ebooks.</div>
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<h5>Author Biography</h5>
<p class="tearoffbox_text"> Jeff Carlson gave up an opportunity to intern at a design firm during college because he suspected that they really just wanted someone tall to play on their volleyball team, and instead worked in the <a href="http://www.whitworth.edu/">Whitworth</a> publications office where he got to actually, you know, design stuff. In the intervening years, he's been a designer and writer, authoring best-selling books on the Macintosh, Web design, video editing, and Palm organizers. He's currently a columnist for the <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/practicalmac/">Seattle Times</a>, the Managing Editor of the respected electronic newsletter <a href="http://www.tidbits.com/">TidBITS</a> (www.tidbits.com), and consumes almost too much coffee. <a href="http://www.neverenoughcoffee.com/">Almost</a>. </p><p class="tearoffbox_text_email"><span class="shift_down"><img src="/images/gettb_button_email.gif" height="12" width="12" border="0" alt="Send Email to Author"></span> <a href="javascript:void(0)" onClick="document.check_human_17.submit_type.value='email'; document.check_human_17.author_id.value='17'; ShowTipBox('hc_17', 'hc_recaptcha_17', 'cb_item_add')">Email the author</a></p>
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<h6>Smarter Parental Controls</h6>
<p><p>If you've been using the parental controls options in Mac OS X to lock your child out of using a particular computer late at night, but would like to employ a more clever technique to limit Internet access, turn to MAC address filtering on an Apple base station.</p><p>To do this, launch AirPort Utility, select your base station, and click Manual Setup. In the Access Control view, choose Time Access to turn on MAC filtering. You'll need to enter the MAC address of the particular computer, which (in 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard) you can find in the Network System Preferences pane: click AirPort in the adapter list, and click Advanced. The AirPort ID is the MAC address.</p></p>
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<a href="/article/10658"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10658', 'show')">Apple Reports $1.67 Billion Profit for Q4 2009</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10658" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10658">Record profits, iPhone unit sales, and Mac unit sales this quarter show Apple continuing to defy the reality of consumer and business spending in uncertain times.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=6" class="category">Tech News</a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> and <a href="/author/Glenn%20Fleishman">Glenn Fleishman</a> | 19 Oct 2009 | <a href="/article/10658#comments">7 comments</a></div></div>
<a href="/article/10641"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10641', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 12-Oct-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10641" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10641">In this week's TidBITS Talk discussions, Snow Leopard gets a workout with reports of FTP issues and other aggravations that some readers have discovered. The iPhone also gets attention, with readers looking for voice recording apps, inexpensive device holders, dealing with international data roaming charges, and how to resuscitate a dead unit. Also this week, the topic of backups comes up - specifically, synchronizing folders - and the search is on for a resource to replace the discontinued Apple Macintosh Products Guide.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=14" class="category">Inside TidBITS</a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 12 Oct 2009</div></div>
<a href="/article/10604"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10604', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 28-Sep-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10604" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10604">Readers are busy in this week's TidBITS Talk discussions, covering recent articles such as the availability of HP printer drivers, Gmail push service to iPhones, and widespread SuperDrive problems. They're also looking for help and solutions on topics ranging from making scrollbars reappear in Word, dealing with spotty behavior in Eudora, encrypting information on disk, recovering a deleted login keychain, troubleshooting RSS problems in Mail, extending an AirPort network, speeding up a sluggish Mac, scheduling software updates, and separating Web browser sessions.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/10599"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10599', 'show')">Enable MMS on the iPhone in the United States</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10599" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10599">AT&T started offering MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) in the United States after a long delay. Learn how to activate and use it.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10596" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10596">Jeff sat down with Chuck Joiner on MacVoices to discuss his latest book, "The Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Pocket Guide." In addition to looking at what's new in Snow Leopard, he and Chuck also touched on why 10.6 is as much a release for Apple's benefit as for users', as well as the considerations that go into writing a focused book about such a general topic.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10578" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10578">It's become common for companies such as iFixit to buy Apple's latest hardware, strip it down to its bare parts, and opine on what's inside. Benj Edwards at Technologizer is a bit late with his latest entry - exactly 20 years late, in fact. He tears apart a Macintosh Portable, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this week, exposing cutting-edge technology for the time.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/10580"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10580', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 21-Sep-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10580" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10580">This week's discussions cover a broad range of topics: the severity of the recent malware intrusion at the New York Times Web site; using a wireless keyboard and mouse on an older iMac; tracking down an age-old bug in Microsoft Word; problems starting a Power Mac G5; disabling the system-wide spelling checker in Mac OS X, and running Dragon Naturally Speaking in a virtual Windows environment on the Mac.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10571" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10571">Jason Kottke looks at how the iPhone (and similar smartphone devices; be sure to read the first footnote) is upsetting business models that you wouldn't expect to be impacted. My favorite quote: "We tend to forget that the iPhone is still from the future in a way that most of the other devices on the list above aren't. It will take time for device makers to make up that difference."</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/10565"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10565', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 14-Sep-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10565" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10565">TidBITS Talk continues to be a great resource for good information, as this week proves. Readers share their experiences with Snow Leopard upgrade stumbles, AirPort connection problems, recovering iCal calendars, and buying external hard drives. Also, readers discuss Mac OS X support for the ZFS file system in Snow Leopard, cropping photos in iPhoto prior to making a book, and whether the new iPod nano with video can be controlled by a computer.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/10541"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10541', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 07-Sep-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10541" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10541">This week's TidBITS Talk discussions still focus on Snow Leopard, specifically incompatibility with Novell networks and PGP, and finding a replacement for Tex-Edit Plus. Also, readers talk about measuring how much data one downloads from an ISP, using iWork files with SugarSync and Dropbox, and making function keys work on an Apple aluminum keyboard.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10536" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10536">Is your screen looking a little darker? Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard adopts a default screen gamma setting of 2.2 (the same as Windows) instead of the traditional Mac setting of 1.8. Adobe's John Nack consulted with a color expert to get some perspective on why the Mac has always been 1.8 (and the reason doesn't even involve color).</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10528" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10528">In a New York Times article about AT&T's struggles to keep up with the demand that iPhone users are placing on its cellular data network, author Jenna Wortham writes that the MMS and tethering features of the iPhone OS 3.0 are delayed because AT&T can't handle the existing capacity.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/10516"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10516', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 31-Aug-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10516" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10516">Surprise! Snow Leopard dominates the discussions this week, as readers talk about the prices of the upgrade, the software's capability to screen for known viruses, the versions of iLife and iWork included with the Mac Box Set, and Snow Leopard compatibility with Adobe CS3, external trackpads, and PGP products. Also this week, suggestions for beginner Mac books for seniors, saving money by replacing an optical drive yourself, a discussion of what is meant by "technological literacy," and more.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=14" class="category">Inside TidBITS</a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 31 Aug 2009</div></div>
<div class="link_hover" id="link_box_full_10514" onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10514', 'show'); link_hover_swap('10514', 'in')" onMouseOut="link_hover_swap('10514', 'out')"><div class="link_hover_title"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/business/media/30ad.html" id="link_hover_title_10514">Behind the Mac vs. PC Ad Campaigns</a></div><div class="link_box_right" id="link_box_right_10514" style="visibility:hidden"><img src="/images/external_link_arrow.gif" height="15" width="15" border="0" alt="arrow"> <img src="/images/favicons/nytimes.png" border="0" alt="favicon"> </div></div><div class="spacer"></div>
</h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10514" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10514">We're familiar with Apple's and Microsoft's latest competing ad campaigns, and this New York Times article provides a look at the competition from the advertising standpoint. Especially interesting is the section in the middle about how Apple's iconic "Think Different" and "Switchers" campaigns came about.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=21" class="category">External Links</a> | 30 Aug 2009</div></div></div>
<a href="/article/10507"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10507', 'show')">More Hidden Refinements in Snow Leopard</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10507" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10507">When Apple says Snow Leopard is full of "refinements," they're not kidding. The TidBITS staff has collected even more of the interesting details that may be easily overlooked.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=8" class="category">Macs & Mac OS X</a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> and <a href="/author/Glenn%20Fleishman">Glenn Fleishman</a> | 27 Aug 2009 | <a href="/article/10507#comments">32 comments</a></div></div>
<a href="/article/10500"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10500', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 24-Aug-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10500" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10500">The number of topics this week is low, but the amount of discussion isn't: Adam's article, "Have We Entered a Post-Literate Technological Age?" dominates TidBITS Talk this week, with some side discussion about pre-paid iPhone data plans.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=14" class="category">Inside TidBITS</a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 24 Aug 2009</div></div>
<div class="link_hover" id="link_box_full_10496" onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10496', 'show'); link_hover_swap('10496', 'in')" onMouseOut="link_hover_swap('10496', 'out')"><div class="link_hover_title"><a href="http://mashable.com/2009/08/17/iphone-flickr/" id="link_hover_title_10496">iPhone Poised to Become Top Camera on Flickr</a></div><div class="link_box_right" id="link_box_right_10496" style="visibility:hidden"><img src="/images/external_link_arrow.gif" height="15" width="15" border="0" alt="arrow"> <img src="/images/favicons/mashable.png" border="0" alt="favicon"> </div></div><div class="spacer"></div>
</h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10496" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10496">Mobile phones with integrated digital cameras have been around for a while, but it's the combination of a camera and always-on Internet access that is boosting the iPhone's ranking as the top digital camera used on the photo sharing site Flickr. </div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=21" class="category">External Links</a> | 20 Aug 2009</div></div></div>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10491" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10491">Christopher Breen at Macworld ventures into the often-confusing morass of video encoding options available in HandBrake. If you know what you're doing, you can improve the output of video you throw at it (such as DVDs), but it's not easy to grasp the myriad of options.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=21" class="category">External Links</a> | 18 Aug 2009</div></div></div>
<a href="/article/10486"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10486', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 17-Aug-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10486" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10486">A lot of questions and answers dominate this week's TidBITS Talk discussions. Readers are curious about which notes people keep on their iPhone or iPod touch devices; wonder whether Leopard will run acceptably on old Mac hardware; seek advice on keeping iPhone SMS and phone logs on the Mac; and ponder the value of paying for the highest-speed MacBook Pro processor. Also this week, people discuss Apple's upgrade pricing and licensing terms, getting out of an AT&T contract when moving to another country, and troubleshoot problems with LetterRip and with older AirPort hardware.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=14" class="category">Inside TidBITS</a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 17 Aug 2009</div></div>
<a href="/article/10472"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('10472', 'show')">Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 10-Aug-09</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_10472" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_10472">Readers this week are tracking recent Mac news items, such as the release of a higher-capacity Time Capsule, Apple's decision to reject the Google Voice app for the iPhone, NewsGator's surprise switch to Google Reader, and issues with Mac OS X 10.5.8. Also this week, readers talk about the Windows software that drives some Ford car dashboards, get help with AppleScript, relate experiences with Web hosting companies, and recommend printers.</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=14" class="category">Inside TidBITS</a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 10 Aug 2009</div></div>
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