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Syncing info on your iOS devices







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Syncing info on your iOS devices

Dec. 10, 2011

It’s no surprise to anyone that an increasing number of people are using iPhones and iPads. And it seems logical to keep our contacts and mail synced on our devices. The iPhone and iPad use Apple’s iOS operating system, hence “iOS devices.” 

iCloud makes this an easy job if you have Lion (10.7) on your computer and iOS 5 on your iPhone or iPad.
Here is Apple’s web page for setting up iCloud.

If you don’t have those OS requirements you can sync your devices through your computer.  I’ve put together this information to start you on your way to syncing without iCloud. Much of this information is right from Apple’s website. (italic text)

For syncing devices: Other than iCloud
You can sync your iOS devices to you computer using iTunes.  You start by having an iTunes account. Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, and notes are synced with iTunes, as well as music. Photos are synced using iPhoto.

iTunes and App Store content
Set the iTunes option to “Transfer Purchases” for iTunes and app store purchases. This will keep your iTunes purchases synced to your devices automatically.

Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, and Notes
You can sync contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and notes with other applications on your computer. This allows you to keep all your information in sync across multiple computers and iOS devices. The settings for these items are all in the Info tab for your iOS device in iTunes. With your iOS device connected to the computer, select your iOS device. Then click the Info tab.


When you sync, iTunes determines whether your device or your computer contains the most recent information, and lets you choose the information you want to sync.

To sync contacts and other info with iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad:


     1, Connect your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to your computer.

     2, When your device appears in the iTunes window (below Devices), select it.

     3, Click the Info button and select the items you want to sync.

     4,  Click Apply.

Sync Calendars with your computer

To sync calendars with your computer, choose "Sync Calendars" or "Sync iCal Calendars."


    You can sync calendars with:
   
Microsoft Outlook 2003, Microsoft Outlook 2007, Microsoft Office 2010 (Windows XP, Windows Vista,     or Windows 7)
    iCal (Mac OS X)
    Microsoft Entourage 2004, Microsoft Entourage 2008
    Note: If using Microsoft Entourage, use Microsoft Entourage 2008 12.1.2 or later if syncing with Mac     OS X v10.6 or later. If you would like to sync data on your Mac with Entourage, enable syncing     between Entourage and Address Book.
    Microsoft Outlook 2011 for Mac
    Note: If using Microsoft Outlook 2011 for Mac to sync calendars you must update to Microsoft Office     2011 for Mac Service Pack 1 or later.
   
Notes:
    When syncing calendars, you can sync all calendars or sync specific calendars.
    You can limit the data that is synced to only events that have occurred in the last 30 days. The option can be changed to any number of days.

Sync Contacts

To sync contacts with your computer, choose "Sync Address Book Contacts" on your Mac.

  You can sync your contacts with:

Microsoft Outlook 2003, Microsoft Outlook 2007, Microsoft Outlook 2010 (Windows XP,     Windows Vista, or Windows 7)
    Windows Address Book (Windows XP)
    Windows Contacts (Windows Vista / Windows 7)
    Address Book (Mac OS X)
    Microsoft Entourage 2004, Microsoft Entourage 2008, or Microsoft Outlook 2011 for Mac
    Note: If using Microsoft Entourage, use Microsoft Entourage 2008 12.1.2 or later if syncing with Mac OS X v10.6 or later. If you would like to sync data on your Mac with Entourage, enable syncing between Entourage and Address Book.

Notes:
    When syncing contacts, you can choose to sync all of your contacts or only selected groups.
    You can select a group of contacts to which all new contacts created on your iOS device will be added.

Mail Accounts

Mail account settings (email address, display name, server name, and user name) are synced from the computer to the iOS device; iTunes does not sync settings from the iOS device back to the computer and does not sync any email messages.


Mail PreferencesFor keeping your mail messages synced, you can set the “Mail” Preferences to “Remove copy from server after one day,” “week” or “month,” rather than immediately. That way when you get mail on any of your devices all the messages will still be there to retrieve on other devices, providing you check your mail within your set time frame. This works if you use Mail or other email app on your computer. If you use web mail you’ll have to set the preferences according to the options available from your mail server.


Sync using other web sources
Additional options for syncing include syncing your contacts with Yahoo or Gmail/Google Mail or other service. You will need to configure it with the user name and password for your Yahoo or Google account.

Google sync.
You can use Google Sync to keep your contacts and mail synced to your devices. You’ll have to set up a Google calendar and set your applications accordingly.

This link is to a Google website that lists the steps for setting up Google Sync with your iOS devices.

Setting up Google Sync 


Photos
On a Mac, iPhoto is set as the default application for importing photos and video from connected iOS devices and will automatically launch when you connect your device to your computer.

To delete photos from your iOS device
  In iTunes, select the device icon in the Devices list on the left. Click the Photos tab in the resulting window.
        Choose "Sync photos from."
        On a Mac, choose iPhoto or Aperture from the pop-up menu.
        Choose "Selected albums" and deselect the albums or collections you want to delete.
        Click Apply.

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Organizing Photos and iPhoto Calendar Project
by Ron Sharp

One thing about winter coming I enjoy is that it’s time to start indoor projects. My indoor winter projects often include getting creative with photos and with holiday projects like cards and seasonal family letters. So I decided to document steps for making a New Year calendar with my photos which is one of the projects that iPhoto helps make easy. Whether you have used this iPhoto feature already or not I hope this might inspire you to get started on your own creative projects with your photos.

Organizing Photos
To do any project with your pictures it helps to know the features of the iPhoto program. Some of this is basic but I’m starting with organizing your photos. I’m just familiarizing myself with a few of the organizing options now even though they’ve been available for a long time. You may be in the same boat. If you’re a particularly experienced iPhoto user then skip down to the projects paragraph. Otherwise here are the options for organizing which are: Events, Albums, Smart Albums, Slide Shows, Projects, using photo information such as titles, dates, size, keywords, ratings, descriptions, and in iPhoto 09, Places and Faces. Like me you probably have a lot of photos and you’re not going to sort them all at once. Whenever you’re looking through your photos just start labeling them with either titles and or keywords or ratings. Then the real advantage and fun becomes evident with Smart Albums. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Events
I’m still using iPhoto 08 and most of the basics are the same for 09 except you will have more options with Faces and Places. Organizing starts with Events which is automatic. Every time you import photos a new Event is created and dated. The advantage, for instance, is if you go to a wedding and then download the photos from your camera, the wedding will all be in one event which you can title accordingly. If a relative emails more wedding photos for you a new event will be created when you import them to iPhoto but the two Events can easily be merged by dragging one Event onto the other or choosing Merge Events under the Events menu. You can also split one Event into two.

Albums & Keywords
Create an album by choosing New Album under the File menu and typing a name for it. You may want an album for family pictures or trips or whatever. Then when going through your pictures at any time just drag the pictures you want into the new or appropriate album.

iPhoto infoNow, as you go through your photos you can name and mark photos for future organization. At the bottom of the left menu bar is the information window. If it is hidden then click the little information button ( i ) in the row of buttons on the bottom menu. With the information window open type a name for the picture or Event  you’re working with. You can also label a photo with keywords or you can rate a photo. Just select a photo and click the menu Photos>My Rating, then choose 1 to 5 stars. There is also a space in the information window to type a description .

Using Keywords, which at first I thought was redundant, is really quite useful. In the top menu bar there are two buttons for keywords. One is under the Window menu that says Show Keywords and it is used for setting up keywords and shortcuts. The other is under the View menu and is for viewing your keywords in the regular thumbnail mode, under the photo title. If you have that option selected you can enter keywords by selecting a photo and just typing a keyword under the title where it says “add keywords.” To make keywords even easier to use, you can use one letter shortcuts. Open the keywords edit window by clicking the “Show Keywords” from the Window menu and create your own keywords to use and select a key shortcut. Then when adding a keyword instead of typing it out you just type one letter, like an f for family or r for Rogers  Paintings. To mark a photo to come back to later you can also just put a “check” on a photo by typing a period (.) but the keyword edit window has to be open for this “check”option to work. (at least in 08)

             Keyword window


Smart Albums
Now the fun part. Once you’ve set up one smart album you’ll see how simple and convenient they are. Lets say you want to find a good picture of Whidbey Island for a brochure or newsletter. You can just type Whidbey into the search window but if you create a New Smart Album from the File menu you can add up to ten different conditions for the photos.  You just select the condition “Keyword” “Contains” and type in “Whidbey.” Now every photo you’ve labeled Whidbey as a keyword will be displayed in this album. And any photo afterwards that you label “Whidbey” will automatically be added. So you can imagine with all our photos titled or labeled in some way they can  be located and grouped by the subject that you’re working with. 

You could add another criteria to your Whidbey smart album, for instance, that any photo “Title” “Includes” “Whidbey.” With more than one criteria you have to pay attention to the very first choice that says "Match  “any” or “all” of the following conditions." At a later time you might add another criteria for your Smart Album by selecting "Edit Smart album" under the File menu and adding a Keyword, for instance Keyword includes “Ferry” if you want Whidbey Ferry boat pictures. You get the picture.

    Smart Album Window


Projects: Calendar
Now we get down to the creative projects available from iPhoto which are Slide Shows, Books, Calendars, and Cards. Most of you know you can create slide shows, add different transitions between slides, include music and save the slideshow. This time of year seems good to start a calendar project, and that’s what I’ll describe, and save books and cards for another time.
iPhoto CalendarClick on the Calendar icon on the bottom of the thumbnail window to get started. There are Themes, Layout and Autoflow buttons on the bottom menu. With the Layout button you can change the number of photos on a page for each month, from one to six. You get a second side menu column that shows thumbnail views that you simply drag to your calendar. You can switch from this thumbnail view to page view for each month. Use the two buttons on top of that new column to switch between page view or photo view. You’ll see what I’m talking about when you try it. You can drag photos from any of your iPhoto library to your Calendar project in the left side menu. All the photos you choose for the Calendar project will show in the new side column. If you choose Autoflow it arranges the Calendar image 2
photos for you. If you get a small exclamation mark on a photo it means the quality is not quite good enough for a real clear print. There’s not a lot you can do about it but a few options are listed in the help menu.

You can type special events into the calendar and with the Settings button you can also have birthdays added from your address book. Now you know about the Calendar project. It’s really easier to do than to read about it. Apples price is $19.99 to print your 12 month 13” by 10” wall calendar.





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What to clean up on your Mac
By Ron Sharp,  Sept. 4, 2011

Fortunately Apple operating systems take care of a lot of basic computer maintenance, especially Leopard and newer. So we can use our computers without worrying about procedures to ensure good operation.
However, things we put on our computers sometimes need to be cleaned up and cleared away. Especially things we download from the internet or from emails. These reminders might help.

Trash
Empty the Desktop trash can once in while.

eMail
If you use internet mail, then as for email there is nothing you need to clean off your computer. If you use Mail, or other mail program that downloads mail to your computer, you need to delete stuff regularly from your “Inbox.” You can set your Trash, Junk, and Sent folders to delete messages on a regular schedule with the preferences. In Mail, those options are in the Preferences, Accounts, Mail Behaviors, menu. If you have any of them set to “Never” delete, then you have to delete them yourself periodically.

Internet Download
In your Browser Preferences you can choose which folder your downloads go to. The default is the “Downloads” folder. This folder should be checked and cleaned out periodically. Often when a pdf link is clicked on, whether we know it’s a pdf or not, it is saved to the Downloads folder. The same applies to some audio links. It’s ok to keep pdf files in that folder, but you may end up with a lot of stuff you don’t need or want.

Desktop 
You can change the destination for your internet downloaded files with the browser preference to any folder you want. If your downloads go to the desktop you can deal with the files immediately, but do not use your desktop for storage. Desktops cluttered with files will slow down your start up time and has a limit that when reached will crash your computer. Granted it’s a large number, somewhere around 11 GB depending on your computer.

Identifying files to save or trash
If you come across files that you don’t know what they are and are not sure whether you should trash them or not, here are some tips. First, try to identify the file type from the extension, the three or four letters at the end of the file name. Here’s a list of the common file extensions and what they are. Also, you can select the file and choose “Get Info” under the Finders “File” menu. The Get Info window will tell you the kind of file it is, when the file was created, and often will list the software it was created with.

However, a .dmg file is a disk image compressed file and you will not be able to tell what it is without it being uncompressed. Once a .dmg file is uncompressed, then it can be saved or deleted, but the .dmg file will still exist and can be deleted also. See Disk Images for more info.

If the file in question is in your Downloads folder, then it most likely was downloaded by your browser from the internet. If you don’t recognize it, delete it. Otherwise, if the file looks safe so far, then open it and see what it is. If it does’t open and you are being asked what application to use then you have to make a choice depending on all the info you’ve gathered. If the file is in your User Library, for instance, it’s most likely a file the operating system or an application uses. Don’t delete it. If the file is in one of your own folders, it’s your call but error on the safe side.

Other Clean Up
I would be remiss not to mention a clean up and maintenance program such as Onyx. It will tidy up odds and ends and clean up temporary files that applications sometimes use.

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Saving Photos to iPhoto (Leopard & Snow Leopard)

When you receive photos in an email, with Leopard (10.5.x) and Snow Leopard (10.6.x) operating system, there is an easy way to save them to iPhoto. After opening a mail  message containing photos you’ll see the bottom line of the heading indicates there are attachments. Next to that are two buttons, one says “Save” and the other “Quick Look.” If you click the Save button the attached photos will be saved to your Downloads folder. But if you click on Save and hold the mouse button down for a second you’ll get a contextual menu that offers the choice to save the attached photos to iPhoto. Your photos will be displayed as a new event and in the “Last Import” folder in iPhoto.

If you have photos on your desktop or in a folder other than iPhoto, that you may have downloaded from the internet or from other media like a flash drive or cd, and wish to save them in iPhoto you can drag them to the iPhoto icon in your Dock. Or you can open iPhoto and use the “Import to Library” option from the File menu.

Now here is one more option. It is a bit geeky I’ll admit but it’s also a way to show you how to use scripts. Below are two Automator scripts I’ve created. One of the scripts will allow you to choose photos and then will import them to iPhoto, the other does the same but will remove the images from your folder or desktop after saving them to iPhoto. The advantage to using the script that deletes the source image is that... it removes the source image! If you drag images to iPhoto, or Import to Library from iPhoto the image will not be moved but duplicated in iPhoto. So if your have a bunch of images on your desktop that you want move to iPhoto you will have to go back and then clean up your desktop.

If you haven’t used scripts before, here is how to set them up for easy use. After downloading the scripts, drag them to your User Scripts folder. That Script folder is in your Home folder Library folder. Now the next thing is to get the Script icon to show on the top menu bar. You have to open your AppleScript Editor application which is in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder. Then open AppleScript Preferences and check the box “Show Script menu in menu bar.”


AppleScript Editor

Now when you need to use the script, just click the Script icon script
                      icon and choose a script.

Script menu
Scripts Folder

Scripts icon Import to iPhoto  Download 
Scripts icon Import to iPhoto, & delete source   Download

You can also get a script for resizing photos  here.


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Sharing Files, Music and Photos

If you have more than one computer in your household you’ll be interested in sharing information between them. There are, as usual, several ways to go about it.

1, You can connect wirelessly to each computer and drag files and folders between them.
(Or, of course, you can connect the computers with a firewire or ethernet cable)
2, You can use flash usb drives to copy info and then plug it into another computer.
3, You can email some stuff too.

But there are even more convenient ways to share music and photos. Both iPhoto and iTunes applications have a sharing feature that can be turned on in the preferences menu. You have the option to set passwords to add security before sharing can be accessed. The iTunes or iPhoto applications also have to be open on both computers before sharing is enabled.

You will be able to listen to shared music but you won’t be able to drag music from one computer to another. You can, however, import music from the other computer in most cases, if you know where the music file is stored, which is something like this: Music>iTunes>iTunes Music>Name of author>Name of album>Name of song.

I say “in most cases” because both computers have to be on the same iTunes store account to have permission to import purchased music between computers. This is according to info found on Apple’s support page for transferring music from an iPod to a computer and I assume it applies to computer to computer transfers also although I have not tested it with music from other sources.

For sharing other files and folders or setting sharing preferences you can peruse this article from the MAGIC (Mac Appreciation Group of Island County) newsletter archives:
http://www.whidbey.com/magicmug/archives/2008-09.html#Permissions


iPhoto Sharing




Do Not Track

Some web sites track your shopping habits which helps retailers target ads. The new ads then show up on web sites you visit. Some people think that’s a little creepy so a few browsers like Mozilla’s Firefox 4 has a preference option that says “Do Not Track.” Although it’s a nice option it is only a request. Retail advertisers just see a web flag and then can choose to comply, some aren’t sure how to comply.

So until more is done with this feature the best way to avoid tracking and ensure anonymity is to use private browsing, clear your cookies and turn off or don’t allow cookies and clear browsing history. Of course, then some web sites will not work properly, forms will not work and secure sites you log in to will not work.

I personally don’t have a problem with targeted ads. Yet. It takes me long enough to find what I want online, so if ads target my needs, ok.

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Tracking Passwords

Keeping track of passwords is really fun! Ha Ha. I have passwords stored on my computer in an encrypted folder, but also have them written down on paper. It may not seem like a good idea to write them down but I do. Suppose I forget the password for the encrypted folder? Any way, my passwords fill both sides of a page with three columns per side. I’d guess about 100 passwords.

Of course the problem with just keeping them on paper is that you have to continually update them, which means your page looks like a mess that’s not alphabetized or you have to print out a new list every time.
There are still times, we all have experienced,  when the password doesn’t work. Then you have to look it up and find that you must have forgotten to update your records the last time you had to change the password.
As usual, there are options. Your Mac, as you know, comes with the Keychain utility to keep track of your Keychainpasswords. So you can just open the Keychain application and find your password, as long as you remember your one login/master password. Although you may not find the one password you’re looking for there. Why? Because if you use internet browsers or mail programs or any programs other than Apple’s Safari and Mail, etc. then those passwords most often are not stored there. The Keychain keeps track of Mac stuff.

So, now what? Fortunately your internet browser does store passwords that you use for websites. Open your browser and check for a password manager, possibly in a Tools menu or in the browsers preferences. Here you find all your internet passwords but again you may need to know a master password. I generally use the same master password as my Mac account login password.

Other password saving options are to use other third party password managers. There is Keepass (free), and Password Caddy, and 1 Password, (for iPhone and iPad) to name a few, although I have not used them.

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Finder Tips

Finder is the application that handles all your files and folders and desktop chores and offers your view options such as Column view, List view, Icon view and Cover Flow.

Action
                      IconA few tips for convenience for using Finder options.
The Action button can be used for Action
                      Menuquick access to making Duplicates of files or folders, creating New Folders, and selecting a color to label a file or folder making it easier to spot. You can also make an Alias of a file or folder and drag it to the desktop or to the document side of your Dock for quick easy access. The action button is in the Finder window toolbar and is similar to the File Menu in the top menu bar. If you don’t have the Action button showing you can add one with the View > Customize Toolbar menu.

And I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before somewhere in my incredibly helpful tips, but I like using the Column view for my Finder window preference because it’s easier to see a file path to where your files are located. However, for searching a large image folder for a particular file or photo, especially when you can’t remember what you named it, Cover Flow view is cool to use. Try it, you’ll see. It’s particularly cool when using a track pad, sliding your fingers across the pad to “flip” through file images.

Now once you really get all the Finder options mastered, the new approach in Lion as well as iOS for mobile devices, is Launchpad instead of using Finder.

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Keyboard Tips

Do you know how to type the degree symbol for temperatures? (70˚) I often forget myself. Here is all you have to do; hold the option key and type the letter k. That’s it. You can see other optional keyboard functions with the Keyboard Viewer by clicking the American flag icon on the top menu bar. In Snow Leopard the icon looks like a tiny monitor screen with little dots on it. When the Keyboard Viewer shows the keyboard, just click on the option key in the image or on your keyboard to see other key options. If there is no keyboard icon on the menu bar, this is how to get it there; Open System Preferences > International. On the top of that window select Input Menu and just below that select the box for Keyboard Viewer and then at the bottom of the window select Show Input Menu in Menu Bar.

You can also access the degree symbol from the Character Palette. In the Finder click Edit from the top menu and then select "Special Characters." In the Character Palette that opens you’ll find the degree symbol in the Punctuation group of symbols. When you choose a symbol it will show in the small window below on the left. Clicking the symbol in the small window will put it into your document. You can add it to your favorites list by clicking the little gear icon on the bottom of that window and then selecting "Add to Favorites." In fact, in the Miscellaneous group is also the degree symbol with the Fahrenheit symbol; ℉.

This information applies to Snow Leopard, Leopard and Tiger with one exception: in Tiger, the Keyboard Viewer shows all fonts so some font options may not show the degree symbol. Leopard’s Keyboard Viewer only shows a Standard keyboard and Webdings and Wingdings fonts. Very odd.

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Backup photos to disk with “multisession burning” 

There are an abundance of options and variables so this procedure is not your only choice. You can get software specifically for multisession burning, some work better than others. These Disk Utility instructions work fine but dedicated software may simplify the process.

Use rw disks for mutisession burning. (read/write, versus read only) You can use CDs or DVDs. For this procedure using “Disk Utility." This chart shows the different disks.
DVD+R is a newer format than DVD-R and will only work on devices that are about 2004 or newer.

dvd
                      cd disks
DVD discs hold 4.7 GB of data. You can burn files on them only once, they are not rewritable. DVD-R is more common that DVD+(plus)R .



DVD-RW hold 4.7 GB of data. They are rewritable, you can burn files on them, erase them and burn again. DVD-RW is more common.  DVD+RW is an alternate format intended to provide higher compatibility with set top boxes.



CD-R discs hold about 700MB of data. They are not rewritable.



CD-RW also hold 700MB but are rewritable.




By the way, some DVD players will work for showing your photos on your television if you use DVD-RW  or the non reusable CD like a music CD. So you may choose a disk type depending on your reasons for use other than backup.

You can burn photos to a CD from the iPhoto application but to burn multiple times to one disk you have to use “Disk Utility” or other non-Apple software application.

This requires the extra steps of creating a “Disk Image” and then exporting your photos to the disk image.  So open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder, which may be in your applications folder. Under the File menu select New > Blank Disk Image and name it. You can choose to create different size disk images. 40 MB should be good for about 50 to 60 photos depending on the megapixel size your photos/camera settings are. At 100MB size disk image you can do about six burns to a CD.
(You can also create a disk image from an existing folder if you happen to have the pictures in a separate folder.)
disk image
Then, in iPhoto, select the albums or events you want to burn. Hold down the Command key to select non contiguous events or albums.  After selecting your photos, the information in the lower left corner will tell you the MB size of the photos you’ve chosen.  Then select “Export” from the iPhoto File menu. When iPhoto asks where to export choose the “Disk Image” that you created that will show in the left menu bar of the Finder window. It’ll say Disk Image instead of the name you gave it.

Now, back in the Disk Utility app select the new disk, this time the one you named, and click the “Burn” button on the tool bar or from the “Images” menu. When the window comes up, make sure you check the box that says “Leave Disk Appendable.”  Then click Burn.

Repeat this process for new backups. (You can delete/eject any disk images that end up on your desktop.) The next time you insert the disk, each burn will show as a separate disk.

Repeat this process for new backups. (You can delete/eject any disk images that end up on your desktop.) The next time you insert the disk, each burn will show as a separate disk.

smart
                      album
You can also create a “Smart Album” in iPhoto and set the date in the album “condition” to the date you do a backup. It will show all the photos from then on. Reset the condition to the current date each time after you backup.









smart
                    album items

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Checking a Files Permissions

Apples' operating systems uses permissions for all data and files. It sets permissions on all information so that it knows who to let have access to it. If you create a data file, anything such as a picture or text document, it gets labeled with permissions so that you can read and change that file but other users can't.

If you drag files from one computer to another sometimes you get the message that you do not have permission.
Sharing & Permissions
To check on a files permissions, select a file then click on "Get Info" in the top Finder menu under "File." (Finder>File>Get Info) Or use the keyboard shortcut "command i."  You can see at the bottom of the info window the Heading that says "Sharing & Permissions." Click the little arrow to get all the sharing info if it isn't already showing. You'll see that for each group listed their privilege is listed as "Read" or "Read & Write or “No Access.” You can change the permissions and add more users/groups by clicking the little padlock and entering your administrator password.


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Common File Extensions



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Disk Images: downloaded files

Disk
                      ImageHere’s a reminder about disk images for anyone still feeling weirded out by them. When you download a file from the internet and it arrives as a disk image, it is the same as a compressed or zipped file. Double clicking on it creates an uncompressed copy of the file. If you continue to click on it, you will keep getting more files created, like this; new file, new file copy, new file copy 1, new file copy 2, etc. Once you have one uncompressed file you can delete the disk image. Then just open the new uncompressed file, or if it’s an application, drag it to your applications folder.


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System Files

There are system files and user files. If you click on your hard drive to show it’s files you’ll see a folder  named System. These are the operating system files. You’ll also see a folder named Library. They are files for your computer to use. Both these folders are files you don’t normally want to mess with.

Now if you select the Users and then the Home folder, these are the files associated with you, the logged in user. But you’ll notice that there is a Library folder for each user also. The files in the User Library are also files for the computer to use. All the other folders in your User folder are files you can use, with some slight exceptions or warnings. A few applications ( such as some versions of Quicken) will put data files in the folder named Documents. If they are moved then the application that put them there will not be able to find the data it stored. So I tend not to use the documents folder much and just create new folders for my own use. You can, of course, create as many folders for yourself as you like and put them in your home folder or anywhere else.

Other files that should stay put are iTunes files in the Music folder. Also the Sites and Public folders have specific functions. Files in the Public folder are shared files, meaning they can be accessed by other User accounts on your computer and users on a local network. And similarly, the Sites folder is for allowing others to access web sites that are on your computer.

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Fixing Problems
By Ron Sharp

If you have an application function that's not working, something you used to be able to do but for some reason it's no longer cooperating, then here are a few tips. 

Check your preferences. Some applications, particularly when updated, may return to a default setting.
Pages
                      Preferences

Check for Apple software updates. There may be an update that fixes the very thing that's affecting you. Software Updates

Check the "Help" for the application you're working in. The Help menu in the top menu bar changes for each application. If you don't find what you are looking for try other related applications help such as the Finder Help.
  Finder Menu

Check online discussion boards. 
The Apple Support page has links for Manuals and "Communities."  Communities is their label for the discussion boards. The only downside here is that it can take a long time of searching and perusing to find a helpful answer for your particular concern.

Here are a couple specific situations you may encounter:

Passwords. If you have a problem with a password protected item not being accessed properly, try Keychain Access First Aid from the Keychain app. in the Utility folder. It's the option just below the Preferences option. You can verify and repair your Keychain just like verifying and repairing permissions with Disk Utility.

A situation I recently encountered after updating to Snow Leopard was my Mail program asking for my account password every time I checked mail. Repairing the Keychain corrected the problem.

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