Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with software and apple

Quark Problems

aburd — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:58:21 -0800

My mom is a graphic designer and uses Quark. She just switched from a PowerPC based Macbook Pro to an Intel based MacBook Pro. Using the new Macbook Pro, she can't seem to open the Quark files she created using the old MacBook pro. It produces an error saying something about the processor. Is there a nice program for converting such files? I don't know much about Quark or design software but please let me know if I am skipping some obvious detail. I want to get her this software for Christmas so I can't be too obvious but I can probably get some details out of her without being too obvious.

Experiences running iTunes off an Airdisk?

yesno — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:30:29 -0800

Experiences running iTunes off an Airdisk--particularly when things go wrong? Hello, I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on running iTunes off an Airdisk. I tried moving the entire iTunes library over to the Airdisk and it was painfully slow (because it is almost always better to move entire iTunes folders rather than just the music subfolder).

This doesn't seem to have worked too well, as either Aiport Extreme or my iMac (yes, latest firmware on everything) will periodically drop its connection. If iTunes loses track of its library files for even a second it freaks the hell out. Plus, it makes launching really slow.

So, I've since moved all the support files over to my iMac and have symlinked (through ln -s, not an alias) the music directory, which is on the Airdisk.

So--

What will happen to the symlink if the Airdisk is disconnected? Is it persistent?

What will happen if the Airdisk disconnects while iTunes is running? I imagine I'll get an exclamation point for each song it tries to access. Will I have to rebuild my library in any way? Will "lost" songs be magically refound when the drive comes back? Will iTunes freeze the way it does if its library files go missing?

What do I need to look at when buying a new laptop?

reenum — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:28:05 -0800

I'm in the market for a new laptop. Should I get a PC or Mac? What specs are important for me to look at when making a decision? My Toshiba Satellite A65 seems to be on its last legs, so I think I'm getting a new laptop.

In researching, I've become confused as to which specs really matter when looking at a computer.

Here's what I would use it for:
- E-mail, IM, and Web
- Watching DVDs
- BitTorrent
- Word processing and spreadsheets
- Tracking my finances
- Some music creation (mostly breakbeats)

I've seen some places say that I need as much RAM as possible, others stress the importance of a large hard drive, yet others say I need the fastest processor.

Also, any recommendations as to brands that are more reliable than others?

Please help!

What is the best way to sync my contacts (name, email, phone number) between my iPhone, MacBook Pro, and Gmail? I am using Address Book at the moment but should I be using something else?

decrescendo — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:50:45 -0800

What is the best way to sync my contacts (name, email, phone number) between my iPhone, MacBook Pro, and Gmail? I am using Address Book at the moment but should I be using something else? What is the best way to sync my contacts (name, email, phone number) between my iPhone, MacBook Pro, and Gmail? I am using Address Book at the moment but should I be using something else?

I just synced them using the "Sync with Google" option in Address Book. Then, I deleted all the garbage contacts that Address Book pulled in from Google since it apparently takes in the "My Contacts" and "All Contacts" contacts. (I ended up with a bunch of stupid Craiglist emails getting pulled in to Address Book; aggravating.)

Then, I plugged in my iPhone and it updated itself with the Address Book.

After that, I went back and completely deleted my Gmail contacts since Gmail wouldn't sync itself back with Address Book in order to delete all the garbage Craiglist contacts it had created.

Then, I used "A To G" to create a .CSV from Address Book to import into Gmail. The big pain this creates (other than not having Gmail sync in the step previously) is that I have to re-add all of Google Talk contacts.

There HAS to be a better way? Does anyone have any ideas?

And I haven't even begun to bring my PC into this equation. Does anyone have any tips for that, too?

iPhone SDK: ApplicationVerificationFailed

remi — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:55:07 -0800

How do you get rid of the "ApplicationVerificationFailed" error when trying to test an application on the iPhone? I am using Xcode 3.1.2 with the iPhone SDK 2.2.1 on Mac OS X 10.5.6. I am trying to develop my first application for the iPod and iPhone. For testing, I have an iPod Touch 2nd gen with software version 2.2.1. I have also paid $99 USD for an iPhone single developer package with Apple.

When I'm trying to install an application for testing on my iPod using Xcode, I always get the following error message:

Your mobile device has encountered an unexpected error (0xE800003A)
ApplicationVerificationFailed

I do have all the necessary certificates installed in my Keychain and provisioning profiles installed on my iPod. The provisioning profile is for development (not deployment), and is correctly associated with my developer's certificate, application ID, and device (iPod) profile. For here, I'll say my App ID is "9876543210.*".

Here is what I tried so far:

- I restarted my iPod and Xcode several times already.
- I restored my iPod.
- For the application's "Target" listed in the Project's window (not the Organiser), I brought up its "Info" window and under the "Properties" tab, I tried the following "Identifiers": blank, 9876543210.${PRODUCT_NAME:identifier}, 9876543210.*, *, ${PRODUCT_NAME:identifier}.

Can anyone help me with this? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Help me trick out my kid's Mac

mds35 — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:23:44 -0800

Help me trick out my old Mac for my preschooler. I'm handing my old G4 down to my son who is almost 4 years old. What kind of fun learning software (for Mac OS X 10.4 - PPC) do you recommend?

He's starting to learn to read and he likes trains, dinosaurs and space. I'm looking for educational games that he can enjoy on a rainy day. I'm thinking simple reading/spelling skills, matching games.

The computer is an old G4 "Sawtooth" PowerMac, 450MHz, 768 gigs of RAM, running OS X 10.4.11. It has trouble with Flash, and there is only 32MB of VRAM, so I want to avoid graphics-intensive games.

I'd also like to hear your own experience with setting up computers for kids. And if you have peripheral hardware recommendations as well, please share!

Games used to teach kids to research pre-Google

MCMikeNamara — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:52:40 -0800

[Apple II educational software AND encyclopedia filter] When computers came to our library/learning center when I was in elementary school (between 1983-1986), I was one of the first kids to get to play a library learning game during "learning center" time and was the first to finish two games. 1) What were the names of these games? 2) What encyclopedia was used? I believe there were two different games. Somewhat ironically, ithey was supposed to help us learn how to use the sets of the published sets of encyclopedias as reference materials. Each game required you to research questions in a volume of the encyclopedia -- one was in A, the other in M (again, I think) -- as you travelled from point to point.

Each game was on multiple 5.25" disks -- or used both sides. (I remember this because once my partner and I reached a certain point, he, ignorantly, thought that when it said to pull out the disk to change it, you had to turn it off, which meant we lost our work.)

I think the game was created by the encyclopedia that was necessary to use to answer the questions, but I'm not sure. Either way, finding the answers to the questions were specific to that "brand" of of encyclopedia. It wasn't World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica.

So my questions are:

1) What were the names of these games?
2) What encyclopedia was used?

Thanks

Kids: Don't do this at home.

Dr-Baa — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:42:23 -0800

Please help me remember this educational software which warned of the dangers of binge drinking. When I was in middle school (late 80s) our school computers (Apples of some variety) had a software program on them which ostensibly was to warn kids of the dangers of binge drinking.

From what I remember, at the beginning of the ~~game~~ educational software program, you would pick if you were a boy or a girl, and how much you weighed. It then would whisk you away to the "party", where you decided how many drinks you would have and of what type (wine, beer, or liquor) and whether or not you would have pizza with your drink. The program would then tell you the results of your night of reckless abandon (passing out, puking in the bushes, etc).

The best part was if you could pick out the right balance of drinks and teenager weight you wouldn't pass out and could keep drinking. If you kept up the right amount, you would be rewarded with a small graphic of an ambulance driving up to the house.

Does this sound familiar to any of you? I may have misremembered or imagined a few aspects of the program, but I distinctly remember the ambulance part. That was pretty much the greatest easter egg ever!

Turn John Hodgman into Justin Long

lukemeister — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:39:51 -0800

What are the Mac equivalents of great Windows software? This was a great question about what a Mac person should install on a Windows box. I'm going the other way, as my office kindly bought me a new MacBook Pro. I'm a scientist and haven't used a Mac since OS 7.5. For the past decade my machines have been Windows, Linux, or dual-boot. Freeware/shareware programs I use a lot under Windows: Cygwin, Essential PIM, FLVplayer, IrfanView, Maxima, Openoffice.org, Scilab, Winamp, Xemacs, Xplorer2 pro. Commercial software: Mathematica, IDL, occasionally Microsoft Office. I'm mostly interested in freeware or shareware such as great text and image editors, tex/latex, and other nerdware. Thanks! Naturally, the new laptop runs Leopard.

The Business of iPhone Software Development

alms — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:32:57 -0800

I have started developing and selling software for the iPhone. What websites should I read on a regular basis? I'm primarily interested in sites that discuss the business and marketing side of things, e.g. what applications and categories are doing well, PR and marketing strategies, pricing strategies, advertising channels, success/failure stories, ad-based or sponsored application trends, etc.

I want to keep up with the buzz on new and innovative applications (not just games), from both the user and the vendor standpoints, and also word about significant new companies entering the market.

Of course, I want to keep up with the technology side of things, too, though I'm not the primary programmer.

Who should I be reading on a daily/weekly/etc basis? There's got to be some stuff out there, but I haven't found much yet.

Artist/album in itunes, not on ipod

ObscureReferenceMan — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:57:17 -0800

iTunesFilter: Songs/artists in iTunes not in iPod. Huh? So I'm feeling in the mood for a little Kingston Trio, but when I search for them on the ipod, I can't find them - not under "Kinsgton" or "The Kingston". The "Greatest Hits" album is also not listed under Albums.

I was pretty sure I had synced up the ipod to itunes, so I plug it into the computer, and re-sync. Go back into ipod, still not there. What's up? I have 7905 songs (as per itunes AND ipod). That's 26GB out of 160GB. I'm stumped! (This might be happening with other artists/albums, but the Kingston Trio was the first I noticed, and I haven't dug much deeper.)

Damn it! I just went through all songs (on the ipod), and I was able to find MTA, Greenback Dollar, etc. And they're listed correctly (Artist = Kingston Trio). Why can't I find them by Artist or Album?!?! Grrrrr!!!!

Other details; running itunes 8.0.0.35 on Windows XP (SP3), Dell XPS 2.8GHz, with 2GB RAM.

Thanks!

Sandboxie equivalent for Mac?

concourse — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:54:16 -0800

Who knows of a program like Sandboxie but for the Mac? Wikipedia's description: Sandboxie is a sandbox-type isolation software for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It creates a "container" in which programs can be safely launched without modifying the host's OS.

Mac replacements for Windows software: Bonus points for open-source and/or freeware

curagea — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:35:50 -0800

I'm in the market for an MBP, and thus will need to migrate stuff from my PC eventually. I'm looking specifically for Mac software that are very similar in UI and/or features to the Windows software I'm using now. I found this AskMeFi post, which helps a bit, but doesn't cover everything I'm looking for

My list (sorry, this will be long):
- Notepad++
- FileZilla
- Trillian - I understand there's Adium
- Manga Studio EX - it's kind of stupid how the Debut edition is available in Mac, but not the EX version. Might downgrade.
- VirtualDub
- Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP)
- MozBackup
- Bink and Smacker
- WinRAR
- I need CD/DVD burning software. Nero crapped on me a while back.
- A simple font viewer. Right now I have Free&Easy Font Viewer.
- Cabos - Am looking at AcqLite
- CamStudio
- MP3Gain
- Total Audio Converter
- PowerISO and MagicDisc
- if anyone can think of a better torrent client than Deluge, let me know
- OpenOffice - I know it's available for Mac, but I'd like to know if there are better suites.
- Acronis Disk Director (is partitioning available on Mac?)
- Notebook Hardware Control

Again, it'll be great to get Mac software that are similar in interface so I don't spend too much time hunting for some task that used to appear on the left hand side of my PC screen, or something like that.

Thanks in advance!

What are the Mac Software Must Haves

arniec — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:00:21 -0800

I just switched to Macs and I was a Windows power user (video editing, audio editing, scanning, graphic design, presentations, flowcharting, spreadsheets, databases, web design). What software can I absolutely not live without for the Mac? Being a fan of Open Source software (and excessively cheap) I'd prefer open source apps when possible.

Personal Finance Software for Mac Question: Deluxe 2008 Edition

harkin banks — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:13:51 -0800

Mac switcher / Intuit hater question: Is there a good alternative to Quicken for the Mac? My wife just got me a new MacBook as a pre-Valentine's day present (yes, she's awesome.) There are obvious equivalents for all of the applications I have on my old desktop (running XP), except one: Quicken.

I know there's a Mac version of Quicken, but from what I hear it lacks a lot of the functionality of the Windows version. I also know that I could run the Windows version via Parallels, but that doesn't appeal to me for two reasons: a) the only reason for me to install Parallels/XP would be for Quicken, which makes the whole thing rather expensive, and b) over the last few years I've come to hate Intuit with the proverbial heat of a thousand suns just as much for their product-sunsetting, privacy-invading ways as for their insecure software. (Bastards.) So Quicken in either form is right out.

Our requirements are fairly typical, I think. Our financial life is not crazily complex, but we've got investments and a mortgage so I think we need something more than an spreadsheet or an "envelope-based" program (like Budget). Some budgeting and forecasting capability would be nice. Being able to download transactions from online banking is a necessity. Whatever I choose, I don't want to be locked into a proprietary format, so the ability to use or export to a common format is vital. (Ability to import our previous history from Quicken is NOT important. I haven't been keeping up recently, so our Quicken file is pretty out of date at the moment -- I would be OK with starting over in a new program.) So, what personal finance software for the Mac should we look at?

There's this thread asking the same question, but it's almost three years old, and the situation has probably changed. Mentioned in that thread are Liquid Ledger, iBank, and Moneydance. I also know about GnuCash. Any opinions about these four programs? Are there other alternatives I should look into?

What is the best (or any) Mac software to put protected WMAs on my iPod?

x41-pbj — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:48:26 -0800

What is the best (or any) Mac software to put protected WMA audiobooks, from my local library via NetLibrary, on my iPod? I'm trying to put the free audiobooks that my library offers on my iPod, but can't find a Mac solution.

My library, like many many others, is using NetLibrary to offer audiobooks to its members, but for whatever reason, not only do NetLibrary's wma files not work on iPods, there is no way to access the site with a Mac -- I've tried Firefox, Safari, Camino, Flock and none of them have worked. Bleh!

So there is one previous AskMeFi thread on this topic -- posted here -- which offers the good suggestion of TuneBite on Windows, but I can't find anything comparable for Macs, or anything free for Windows (Tunebite is $25).

Any help is hugely appreciated. Libraries are supposed to be free, right? Right!

Resell Apple Software?

nikko — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:28:17 -0800

I'm an idiot. I bought my first Macbook this week, and I added iLife '08 to my order. My Macbook CAME with iLife '08. Can I resell my Apple Software?

iPhone SSH

yesno — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:34:34 -0800

After installing OpenSSH on your iPhone, is there a way to disable it except when needed? In order to easily put files on my iPhone, I installed the BSD subsystem, ssh, and a terminal. Of course, I changed the root password. But I find it strange that I can log on to the iPhone through ssh all the time, not just when I have launched the terminal and run ssh in some way. Is there a way to turn off the ssh service except when needed? I am bothered by the security and possible battery life implications. Or am I misunderstanding what is going on?

Alternative uses for Apple's Keynote

Gideon — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:58:53 -0800

Playing with the new version of Apple's Keynote I'm really impressed with the software. However, I never really have cause to do a presentation needing slides. Still, Keynote being part of the iWork suite I have it anyway, and it seems like a waste not to use it. What other sorts of things, besides, presentations, could an individual use Keynote for?

Recomendations for qualitative data management

carmen — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:00:34 -0800

What are your experiences with qualitative data coding software? Generally, and Apple specific. I'm preparing for a year-long fieldwork project in which my data will consist primarily of digitally recorded interviews, written interviews, notes, and digital photographs. I'm trying to figure out the best way to keep track of my data on my G3 iBook. Obviously, the volume of data will be fairly large.

I'm looking for specific recommendations about programs, but also general experiences with how well these programs work. Are they worth the time it takes to learn them? What features should I be looking for? What features sound great but aren't that useful? I found Transana in my searching, and it looks like it might be a good way to actually transcribe less, by allowing you to code audio clips. Has anyone tried this? Did it work?

Basically, anything you can tell me about your experiences with these programs other than "this PC-only program is the one and only, best evar!" would be greatly appreciated.

A Grand Does Come for Free

Falconetti — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:04:36 -0800

If you had $1000 to spend on peripherals/software/extra things for a new MacBook Pro, what would you buy? Assume that you have no need for a printer or really expensive software like LogicPro or FinalCut. Through a generous gift, I find myself in this position.

Need help from someone familiar with LibraryWorld Gold

SuperSquirrel — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 06:57:21 -0800

Attention tech-savvy librarians! I need some help from anyone who is familiar with the library cataloging software LibraryWorld Gold. Is there a way I can write some kind of batch utility to add a field and a tag to about a thousand records? I'm helping out at the library of a local school. They need to add one field (containing four tags, with data in three of those tags) to the records of about a thousand books. Right now I am doing this as a data entry project, one record at a time. At the rate I'm going, with the time I have available, this project will be completed in about 10 years or so.

I'm a programmer, and was reasonably sure I could figure out a way to automate this process, but I've run into problems:

* Their system runs on an Apple network, and I only know my way around Windows machines.

* I haven't been able to find any helpful information from the software manufacturer's web site, or any other online forum, on how the files/database/whatever is set up behind the scenes. (Admittedly, part of the difficulty here is my unfamiliarity with the Apple OS.)

* Any documentation on the system that may have existed is currently misplaced or has been thrown out (!!).

So, can anyone give me some clue as to where to start? Or if this is even possible?

On Aperture and missing my photos.

coolhappysteve — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 01:32:19 -0800

I switched to Aperture from iPhoto and love it, but I miss feeling connected with my old photos like I used to. Help develop strategies to stay in touch with them in Apple's grown-up photo client. I've been on Aperture for a while now and love it, but don't interact with my photos as much as I did in iPhoto. Once I import, edit, and Flickr, I never see them again - there was always something about that accessibility of the cascade/roll view in iPhoto that encouraged me to look back. Aperture is just so expansive and project-oriented - much more about getting the job done. What are common practices that can feel as natural as iPhoto for not forgetting where I came from?

Old B&W Mac Pyramid Maze Game?

BigBrownBear — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 07:32:24 -0800

There is this addictive old black&white Mac game where you were in a pyramid maze and ran into monkey, picked up jewels, etc. This is probably circa 1990. Does anyone have any idea what it's called and where I can find it online?

Any competitors to Airfoil?

gregoryc — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 10:08:18 -0800

Are their any competitors to Airfoil for Mac? I like the program and can't find anything else, but want to make sure I'm not missing something cheaper and/or better b/f I shell out 25 bucks. Thanks.