AAUG Reviews

by Chris Tofteberg ,AAUG Member

iWork is quickly becoming a full-fledged challenger to Microsoft Office. The addition of Numbers, a spreadsheet application, demonstrates this. And for the average user, there’s every reason to make iWork your default office suite.

iWork ‘06 included Pages, a word processor, and Keynote, a presentation application. iWork ‘08 also included Pages and Keynote but adds Numbers, a spreadsheet application. For Microsoft Office users, think of these as Word, PowerPoint and Excel, respectively. Only on steroids.

We’ll start with Pages. Previous to iWork ‘08, Pages felt like an application with an identity crisis. It was kind of like a word processor but also kind of like a page layout editor. Pages ‘08 keeps both of these functions but splits them into two functions. At launch, Pages prompts for either word processing tasks or page layout tasks. In addition to splitting these functions, Apple made the word processor look and act like a word processor and made the page layout editor look like a page layout editor. That’s not to say that one lacks the features of the other; Apple has just made it easier to start as one or the other. Now it looks and feels like an honest-to-goodness competitor to Word. And Publisher. Depends which one you want it to be. (more…)

by Rob LeFebvre, AAUG Member

iLife 08 contains iMovie, GarageBand, iPhoto, iWeb and iDVD. For the most part, iDVD, iWeb and iPhoto have been upgraded with some new features. GarageBand has one significant new feature, and iMovie has been redesigned from the ground up. If you’re unsure about upgrading, just know that iMovie is a different beast altogether, while the other iApps will feel familiar and comfortable.

iPhoto - Powerful and Familiar
iPhoto has a new organization scheme, called Events. It automatically organizes new imported photos into date-based “events,” which you can then customize and re-organize. It takes all your old “rolls” and creates new events based on the dates on the photos themselves. If you have a lot of photos from previous versions of iPhoto, like I do, you’ll need to wait while iPhoto upgrades its database, and then go in and title the newly created events with appropriate titles. There are new editing tools, an easier way to create online galleries (.Mac required), new calendar and book options, and a new theme-based home printing option, where you can create your own layouts and print right on your own printer at home. If you’ve used iPhoto before, you’ll feel right at home with this newer, more powerful version.

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by Mickey Templin, AAUG Member

After purchasing an iPod Nano and not knowing exactly how to get it programmed and in working condition finding the above manual at the July AAUG meeting was terrific.
For one who approaches computer manuals with fear and trepidation using this one has been a positive experience. The author’s sense of humor, clear writing style and descriptive guidelines makes it easy to follow the directions and accomplish the task at hand. He encourages the reader to ‘learn by doing’ and hopes the task can be learned quickly and painlessly if you use your computer, iPod and other needed tools while learning the task. I found this to be true and the directions very user friendly.
Each chapter begins with an outline of what is to be covered, clearly covers it, then ends with “the absolute minimum” summary. Scattered throughout the chapter are very helpful individual fact boxes titled tip, note, and caution that pinpoints worthwhile information. Tips help accomplishing the task quickly and easily. Notes provide related information but may not be absolutely essential. Caution is a warning that should be read before trying something you may not understand.
The material starts with the very basics of different iPods, battery charging, installing the software that comes with the book, touring iTunes, file formats, downloading, browsing, playing music, reviewing tunes, labeling, categorizing, and configuring your music, adding album artwork, playlists, shuffling music, building the library, listening to the music and ends covering the many peripherals that can enhance an iPod.
It truly is a manual the meets the author’s stated goal that it is “Everything you need for digital music, start to finish!” At least for a (more…)

by Devon Peake, AAUG Member

I knew I would like this book when I started off reading the Introduction - “…skip right to Chapter 2)”.  This is what I mean by how the book is written - light and upbeat, not at all like a textbook.  Although I did know many of the tips and tricks described in the book, there were many I did not know about which I now use all the time.  For example - while in the iTunes Music Store, you may wonder….”Do I already have that in my iTunes Library?”  The author describes the trick to check your library faster - by holding down the option key while clicking on the  arrow next to the artist’s name in the iTunes Music Store.  This trick sends you right out to your library and to that particular artist - to the songs, videos, podcasts and/or audiobooks by that artist which you already have.  VERY handy.

This book covers EVERYTHING, from the basics (how to use your iPod, navigating, updating, for example), the essentials (customizing your iPod, the equalizer, setting alarms,  audiobooks and games are some examples), and then covers some of the trickier things that you can do with your iPod, such as using it as a removable hard disk, a contact manager, and how to put together smart playlists by using keywords.  The section on using your iPod in the car covers a number (more…)

by Wayne Watson, AAUG Member

I couldn’t believe my luck when I picked this book up. A week ago I played around with iWeb and created a web page with photos and text for my family. I took the 8-step tutorial (very abbreviated) for iWeb on my .Mac account but needed additional information. I surfed a few bulletin boards to find answers to my questions but hungered for a book where I could flip through table of contents and an index.

I found the ideal tutorial book in the current iLife ‘06 Apple Training Series Book. This is the only “official” Apple-certified guide to iLife ‘06. This is the perfect book for any beginner and seasoned user of iLife ‘06. The 457 pages cover each element of iLife ‘06 in a mock real-life scenarios. Instead of presenting information in a sterile textbook fashion, the author involves the reader in real-life projects from real-life people, with time constraintse well-worn equipment, and concerns about budget. practical business and pleasure applications. For instance, one project involves a parent overseeing his daughter’s 12th birthday. Another project uses a high school student putting together a report for school. The third role is a small-business owner using her Mac for a variety of commercial media functions. The chapters are fun. The challenges presented in each project are real-life and mimic what aspects of the iLife ‘06 suite I was working on.

The book’s graphics and organization are inviting and full of color photos and color screen shots. (more…)

By Simone Lange, AAUG Member
Reviewed 6/06

This program took me back to my dark room days of “Light Table” & “Loupes”. Aperture definitely brought back memories of many hours pouring over negatives and slides and heading to the dark room to try out different techniques. Instead of hours looking through the loupe and messing with smelly chemicals to create different versions of your photos, you can now do it all on your computer right in front of your clients with a few clicks of the mouse. If you have two monitors setup you can do all of your work on one and show the clients the end result on the other monitor all very effortlessly.

A note about this program it is a beast when it comes to your system requirements you need at the minimum 1GB of RAM, at least a MAC with a 1.8Ghz processor for the G5’s or a Powerbook G4 with 1.25Ghz or faster. Plus the latest Tiger and a good graphics card otherwise the program won’t even load.

Essentially Aperture which can run natively on Intel and PowerPc- based Mac’s is a great tool for professional photographers that allows for easy import, organization and “basic” adjustment and storage of photos.

There are many ways to import your images into Aperture. You can load directly from the camera or a storage device. You can also use existing photos that you may have on your hard drive(s). You can also import from your IPhoto library. Native RAW format as well as Jpeg, Gif, Tiff, PNG, PDF & PSD2 formats all work very easily in Aperture.
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By Andrew Renkert, AAUG Member
Reviewed 6/06

Aperture is a guide to Apple’s new program for managing, editing, and archiving digital photos. It includes a DVD to use along with the book and takes you step by step through the features of the Aperture program. Aperture is part of the Apple Pro Training Series and using the book and companion DVD are billed by the authors as the equivalent of a comprehensive two-day course. I would say that all the information that is in this book is at least a two day course and probably more. The book is through and easy to follow. Basically the authors, Ben Long and Orlando Luna, start with the system requirements necessary to use the Aperture program and in a series of twelve lessons explain everything from understanding the Aperture Interface and layout, importing, organizing and rating images and making image adjustments to more advanced features including advanced archiving and automation.

What I really liked about the book is that it did make the Aperture program which is complex in what it can accomplish into an understandable program through its step by step approach and companion DVD with practice files and images of a photo shoot. By using the book and following along with the companion DVD it was a hands on approach with instant feedback on your computer monitor. If you did something wrong you were aware of it right away because the image on your monitor did not match the image in your book.

The book is well laid out with goals for each lesson and a time line of how long each lesson would take to complete. I found this useful since you could judge how much time to devote to each chapter and most lessons were an hour to ninety minutes long. (more…)

By Chris Tofteberg, AAUG Member
Reviewed 6/06

The Missing Manual series has a long history of providing wonderful tutorials to Mac users. David Pogue also has a knack for writing great books for Mac applications. Combine the two of them, throw in iMovie HD and iDVD 5 and you’ve got a winner.

Note that this Missing Manual book covers iMovie HD version 5 and iDVD version 5. If you’re like me and you always have the latest and greatest, the current versions of iMovie and iDVD are version 6. This book does not cover features in version 6.

It is apparent from the first page that The Missing Manual: iMovie HD & iDVD 5 is much more than just a tutorial about using these two applications. In fact, the entire first section is dedicated solely to digital video hardware. I especially liked the comparisons between digital and videocassette technology which provided a nice walk down memory lane and reminded me why we’re in a much better place today for recording and editing video.

The book progresses in a logical fashion, from novice to advanced user. The tutorial for iMovie itself begins in Section Two at a very basic level, covering how to get footage onto your Mac and the basics on how iMovie puts things together. If you’ve never used iMovie, these chapters will be very useful to you. If you’re an experienced iMovie user, there’s not much here for you in these chapters.

Advanced users will find many resources and learn new tricks in the later chapters. Some of these chapters in the book provide hints for making your movie more interesting, such as composing your shot, adding effects, effective use of transitions, and audio tips. As an intermediate-advanced user, (more…)

By Richard Alexander, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/06

Mac Mini Hacks & Mods for Dummies is a fun “how-to” book full of ideas for your Mac mini. This book can guide you through the steps necessary to achieve the desired results you are looking for in a “Super Mac Mini” with plain and easy step-by-step instructions. You can upgrade your mini with a super drive, increased RAM, add or increase your hard drive, or make and control your “smart home” or entertainment center with just a few hardware and/or software modifications.

Authors John Rizzo (Author of Mac Annoyances, Mac Toys and How the Mac Works) and Arnold Reinhold (Author of Commonsense and Cryptography in Internet Secrets, E-mail for Dummies, Internet of Dummies) Together put a quite impressive “How to” book on the self, that any Mac mini owner should have in their collection.
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By Bruce M. Herman, AAUG Member
Reviewed 5/06

Let me say at the outset that I was not an iPhoto user until after reading this manual. I use Photoshop CS2 and Extensis. I had avoided iPhoto because until release 6 it required that the photos be within the iPhoto library. With that restriction gone, my interest was piqued. The book arrived just in time.

iPhoto 6 covers everything from the point where you decide which digital camera to purchase to publishing and backing up your photographs. That’s a lot of material, but I have to admit that Pogue and Story do an admirable job. For instance, I thought that the 75 page part on digital cameras and basic photography would be a throw-away, but it was not! The authors provide sound advice for purchasing your first digital camera as well as excellent basic information on making photographs. The section on landscape even included the adage often forgotten by practicing pros: don’t stop photographing just because the sun has set.

Pogue and Story cover the basics of iPhoto in just 100 pages, including getting your photos into the program, the directory structure and editing. Their writing is clear, to the point, and yet not dry. Humor and tips are injected throughout and help to keep your attention. (more…)