Dorchester — Mar 13th 2012
We began with the raffle of a copy of the Steve Jobs biography, and Mark then explained the wonders of the WAMUG website to the uninitiated, including how to access the website, subscribe to the WAMUG calendar, and details of the content.
Following the previous talk on Garageband, a different John then introduced us to Garageband for iPad, which, although the iPad does not support Midi, has its own feature set. This makes it a separate programme in its own right. It includes the ability to introduce a variety of 'smart instruments', and to generate chords with them which can be combined using different tracks, which he then used to accompany stage performances. This is all aided by audio loops which are widely available on the Internet, and video tutorials which help the novice to get to grips with the programme. John did confirm that a large amount of time could be spent perfecting the product, and thus any spouse would need to be understanding.
Steve then explained how the cmd - C and cmd + alt + shift - V keystrokes can be used to generate a text copy of a folder or a disc directory in TextEdit.
After the interval, Mark then described a possible alternative to the obsolescent Apple iWeb iLife programme. On June 30th, Apple will cease to host sites generated using iWeb, although these can continue to be hosted by other hosting providers - at a cost. His suggestion was to use Google Sites, a free online facility which enables users to create their own website on line, and then hosts them completely free of charge. The drawback is that the sites can be no larger than 100 MB, unless a fee is paid, but Google suggest that a number of such sites can be created, and then linked invisibly from the perspective of anyone accessing the site. Lots of templates are available, with a range of themes. To start, one just goes to sites.google.com which gives access to a number of resources which explain how the whole thing works. Mark has used Google Sites to generate his own website for an organisation, and he demonstrated this to us, showing how different members of the organisation could be granted access to contribute material to different parts of the site.
Finally the Q&A session covered topics including generation of full length ringtones using Garage Band, and a problem which can occur when awaking the Mac from sleep - on awakening, the screen may be erased. The 'cure' suggested is to use the mouse as an eraser which then reveals a login screen and repeat login. It was also mentioned that when calling Apple Stores under Applecare, there is a phoneback service whereby a return phone call is made at a time to suit the user, which can be useful if they are busy.
SR
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