<div id="popup_box_thanks" style="display:none" onClick="close_popup_thanks('popup_box_thanks', 'ts')"><br>Thanks for submitting your tip! All submissions are moderated by an editor before appearing online. We've reset the form so you can enter another tip. Or you can close the tip submission box. <div class="x_close" id="thanks_upper_right"><a href="javascript:void(0)" onmousedown="close_popup_thanks('popup_box_thanks', 'ts'); return true;">Close</a></div></div>
<div class="tbf_row"><div class="tbf_wide_extra_top not_bold">Please submit only technical tips that will help other TidBITS readers better use their Macs, iPhones, and related software and hardware. All product announcements should be sent to <a href="mailto:releases@tidbits.com">releases@tidbits.com</a>.</div></div>
<div class="tbf_left">URL</div><div class="tbf_right"><input type="text" value="" name="tip_link_url" tabindex="3"><span class="tip_description"><br>Enter the URL to a Web page that supports your tip.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<div class="tbf_row">
<div class="tbf_left">Linked text</div><div class="tbf_right"><input type="text" value="" name="tip_link_label" tabindex="4"><span class="tip_description"><br>Enter the name of the page linked above.</span></div>
<div class="tbf_wide"><input type="submit" value="Preview Your Tip" name="preview_tip" onClick="fill_preview('tipbits_enclosure_preview', 'ts', this.form); return false;" tabindex="7"> <input type="submit" value="Send Us Your Tip!" name="submit_this_tip" onClick="handle_tip_submission('ts', '', this.form, 'tip'); return false;" tabindex="8"></div>
</div>
<div class="spacer"></div>
<div class="tbf_row">
<div class="tbf_wide"><span class="fine_print">When you submit a tip, you give us permission to use it. Read <a href="javascript:void(0)" onClick="generic_show_hide('tip_terms')">our terms</a> for more details. All submissions are reviewed before publication.</span></div>
<div class="tbf_wide"><span class="fine_print">Our terms: By submitting a tip, you agree to assign TidBITS Publishing Inc., a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual license to reproduce, publish, and distribute your tip in connection with the TidBITS Web site and associated products in any media. You agree that you created the content you submitted, and that you have the right to assign us this license. You give us permission to use your name, but your email address won't be publicly displayed or shared. We review all submissions before publication, and reserve the right to select which submissions we feel are appropriate for our readers and to edit those we publish.</span></div>
<div id="comment_thanks" style="display:none" onClick="close_popup_thanks('comment_thanks', 'comm')"><br>Thanks for submitting a comment! Please check your email for a link that, when clicked, will verify that you're a real person and cause your comment to appear immediately. <div class="x_close" id="comment_upper_right"><a href="javascript:void(0)" onmousedown="close_popup_thanks('comment_thanks', 'comm'); return true;">Close</a></div></div>
<div class="tbf_wide"><span class="fine_print">Our terms: We reserve the right to edit or delete any comment, so please post thoughtfully. We use your email address <i>only</i> to send you a one-time verification message confirming that you posted this comment. We also store your address to allow you to verify using other Web browsers in the future. For more info, see our <a href="http://db.tidbits.com/privacy.html">privacy policy</a>.</span></div>
<li><a href="/feeds/tidbits.rss" title="Subscribe via RSS" class="gettb">RSS <img src="/images/feed-icon-12x12.gif" width="12" height="12" border="0" class="nav_img" alt="Subscribe via RSS"></a></li>
<li><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=276986548" title="Subscribe to the podcast" class="gettb">Podcast <img src="/images/feed-icon-12x12_podcast.gif" width="12" height="12" border="0" class="nav_img" alt="Subscribe to the postcast"></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.twitter.com/TidBITS" title="Get Article Updates via Twitter" class="gettb">Twitter <img src="/images/feed_icon_12x12_twitter.png" width="12" height="12" border="0" class="nav_img" alt="Get Article Updates via Twitter"></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/TidBITS/195314925519" title="Go to the TidBITS Page at Facebook" class="gettb">Facebook <img src="/images/feed_icon_12x12_facebook.gif" width="12" height="12" border="0" class="nav_img" alt="Go to the TidBITS Page at Facebook"></a></li>
<li><a href="javascript:void(0)" title="Sections" class="tabhead" onClick="return showhide('articleslist')">Sections <span id="articleslist_triangle"><img src="/images/nav_triangle_open.gif" width="9" height="9" border="0" class="navtriangle" id="articleslist_tri_image" alt="Click to show or hide the contents of this section."></span></a></li>
<li><a href="javascript:void(0)" onClick="return showhide('stafflist')" title="Staff" class="tabhead">Staff <span id="stafflist_triangle"><img src="/images/nav_triangle_closed.gif" width="9" height="9" border="0" class="navtriangle" id="stafflist_tri_image" alt="Click to show or hide the contents of this section."></span></a></li>
<li><a href="javascript:void(0)" title="Issues" class="tabhead" onClick="return showhide('issuelist')">Weekly Issues <span id="issuelist_triangle"><img src="/images/nav_triangle_closed.gif" width="9" height="9" border="0" class="navtriangle" id="issuelist_tri_image" alt="Click to show or hide the contents of this section."></span></a></li>
<li><a href="javascript:void(0)" onClick="return showhide('abouttidbits')" title="About TidBITS" class="tabhead">About TidBITS <span id="abouttidbits_triangle"><img src="/images/nav_triangle_closed.gif" width="9" height="9" border="0" class="navtriangle" id="abouttidbits_tri_image" alt="Click to show or hide the contents of this section."></span></a></li>
<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>
<!-- begin centercolumn -->
<div id="centercolumn">
<!-- begin rightcolumn_container -->
<div id="rightcolumn_container">
<!-- begin rightcolumn -->
<!-- rightcolumn is embedded within centercolumn so featured text wraps around it -->
<div id="rightcolumn">
<p class="top"> </p>
<!-- begin tearoff box wide for bio -->
<div class="tearoffbox_wide_container">
<div class="tearoffbox_wide_p">
<p class="tearoffbox_wide_top_p"> </p>
<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>
<div class="tbf_wide_80" id="hc_rc_17">To help us avoid automated posts and misuse of our site, please enter the words below.</div><div class="x_close_row" id="hc_upper_right4_17"><a href="javascript:void(0)" onmousedown="HidePopupContent('hc_17', 'hc', '17'); return true;">Close</a></div>
<p><p>If you create a lot of documents, coming up with a name for them can sometimes be a hassle. This is especially true now that search is becoming a more prevalent way to find documents. Pear Note provides a way to have the application automatically generate a filename so you can avoid this hassle. To use this:</p><ol>
<li>Open Saving under Pear Note's preferences.</li>
<li>Select a default save location.</li>
<li>Select a default save name template (Pear Note's help documents all the fields that can be automatically filled in).</li>
<li>Check the box stating that Command-S saves without prompting.</li>
<li>If you decide you want to name a particular note later, just use Save As... instead.</li>
</ol></p>
<p>Visit <a href="http://www.usefulfruit.com/tb">Useful Fruit Software</a></p>
</div>
<div class="tearoffbox_wide_bottom_tips">
<div style="padding-bottom:35px"><div class="tip_display" style="float:left"><p><br><a href="/tipbits/236">Link to this tip</a></p></div><div class="tip_display" style="float:right; width:150px">
<p class="credit">Written by<br><a href="/author/Adam%20C.%20Engst">Adam C. Engst</a></p></div></div>
<a href="/article/5468"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5468', 'show')">PhotoGIF 3.5 Improves Color Processing</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5468" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5468">PhotoGIF 3.5 Improves Color Processing -- BoxTop Software has updated PhotoGIF to version 3.5, improving the GIF-creation utility's core color reduction algorithms and revamping its PhotoGIF Filter component</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/5458"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5458', 'show')">Mac OS ROM Update 1.0 Targets USB Problems</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5458" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5458">Mac OS ROM Update 1.0 Targets USB Problems -- Apple has released Mac OS ROM Update 1.0, which corrects USB device troubles on iMac, blue and white Power Macintosh G3, and bronze keyboard PowerBook G3 Series computers</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/5462"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5462', 'show')">Interest in Internet Faxing</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5462" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5462">As reluctant fax users, we were surprised at the reader response to two articles about faxing from a Macintosh, "FAXstf Pro Echoes Sad State of Fax Software" in TidBITS-476 and "Facts about Internet Faxing" in TidBITS-484</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/5440"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5440', 'show')">No TidBITS Next Week</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5440" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5440">No TidBITS Next Week -- We try to take a couple weeks off every year, especially as summer approaches in the U.S. So, the next issue of TidBITS will appear on 05-Jul-99</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 21 Jun 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5441"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5441', 'show')">ATI Video Update Fixes Crashes</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5441" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5441">ATI Video Update Fixes Crashes -- Apple has released ATI Video Software Update 1.0, which corrects a few crashing problems with recent Power Macintosh, PowerBook, and iMac models containing ATI RAGE graphics accelerators</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 21 Jun 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5435"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5435', 'show')">Synchronize Pro 4.0 Syncs over Internet</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5435" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5435">Synchronize Pro 4.0 Syncs over Internet -- Qdea has released Synchronize Pro 4.0, an update to its industrial-strength synchronization utility that now works over the Internet</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 14 Jun 1999</div></div>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5426" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5426">Mizer Gets Wiser -- Antimony Software has released Mizer 1.5.3, an update to its drag & drop utility for squeezing bytes out of bloated HTML files</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 07 Jun 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5401"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5401', 'show')">SETI Brings Space Exploration to Home Macs</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5401" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5401">SETI Brings Space Exploration to Home Macs -- The SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project is now offering a Macintosh version of its SETI@home client, an idle-time screen saver application that crunches data collected from the Arecibo radio telescope in 340K "work units" downloaded from SETI's servers</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 24 May 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5403"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5403', 'show')">Tools We Use: Synchronize</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5403" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5403">Although my PowerBook G3 now acts as my main computer, both on the road and on my desk, my earlier PowerBook 5300 existed primarily as a satellite machine</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 24 May 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5384"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5384', 'show')">PowerBook G3s Get Thinner, Lighter, Faster</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5384" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5384">PowerBook G3s Get Thinner, Lighter, Faster -- Mobile Mac users with sore shoulders will be happy that Apple announced a thinner, lighter successor to the current PowerBook G3 Series at this week's World Wide Developer Conference</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 10 May 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5375"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5375', 'show')">VST Ignites FireWire with New Drives</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5375" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5375">VST Ignites FireWire with New Drives -- Need more hard disk space, but don't have a free outlet to plug in a new hard drive's power cord? If you own a FireWire-equipped Power Macintosh G3, you can now purchase FireWire drives from VST Technologies</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 03 May 1999</div></div>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5376" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5376">QuicKeys 4 Enhances Automation Power -- CE Software is now shipping QuicKeys 4.0, the latest version of its utility for automating repetitive tasks on the Mac (see "Form, Function, and QuicKeys 3.5, Part 1" in TidBITS-347 for a review of the previous version)</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 03 May 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5378"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5378', 'show')">StuffIt Deluxe 5.1 & Expander 5.1.3</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5378" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5378">StuffIt Deluxe 5.1 & Expander 5.1.3 -- Aladdin Systems has released a free update to StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 that rolls in enhancements to DropStuff 5.1.2 and StuffIt Expander 5.1.2, plus fixes several bugs</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 03 May 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5379"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5379', 'show')">New Buddy System for Mac Palm Users</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5379" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5379">New Buddy System for Mac Palm Users -- Nearly every Palm organizer owner suffers from the terror of activating his or her handheld and discovering all its data has been wiped out</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 03 May 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5381"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5381', 'show')">Crunch GIFs Quickly with PhotoGIF</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5381" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5381">Web designers create heaps of graphics. I'm not referring to the image-heavy Web pages that load in the time it takes to get coffee or read a historical novel</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<div class="featured_meta"><a href="/index.cgi?tbcat=" class="category"></a> | by <a href="/author/Jeff%20Carlson">Jeff Carlson</a> | 03 May 1999</div></div>
<a href="/article/5366"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5366', 'show')">Update Firms Performance for Blue G3 Macs</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5366" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5366">Update Firms Performance for Blue G3 Macs -- Apple is recommending that all owners of blue and white Power Mac G3 computers install the Power Macintosh G3 Firmware Update 1.0.2</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/5368"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5368', 'show')">QuickTime 4 Preview with Open Source & Final Cut</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5368" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5368">QuickTime 4 Preview with Open Source & Final Cut -- Sporting enhanced features and a radically revised brushed-metal facade, a public preview of Apple's QuickTime 4 has appeared, along with the completed version of Apple's $1,000 video editing application Final Cut Pro</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/5360"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5360', 'show')">Virtual PC 2.1.3 Features Floppy Fix</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5360" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5360">Virtual PC 2.1.3 Features Floppy Fix -- Connectix has released a small update to Virtual PC that corrects a problem where PowerBook G3 users running version 2.1.2 were unable to access the floppy drive from the left expansion bay (see "Virtual PC 2.0: Not Just a Minor Upgrade" in TidBITS-433)</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->
<a href="/article/5346"onMouseOver="blurb_slide('5346', 'show')">Extensis Unpacks New Suitcase 8</a></h4>
<div class="article_preview" id="blurb_5346" style="display:none"><div id="popup_inner_5346">Extensis Unpacks New Suitcase 8 -- After resurrecting Suitcase from Symantec's Macintosh product graveyard (see "Extensis Rescuing Suitcase" in TidBITS-466), Extensis announced today that a new version of the venerable font control utility is now available via Extensis's Web site</div><!-- blurb inner --></div><!-- blurb outer -->