MySimmons - Simmons College Community Intranet

About Apple's Dock

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

Apple TechNote on the Dock

Posted: June 16, 2008 8:23 am | 0 comments
Tags: Apple, Dock, Mac OS X

Apple Updates Safari

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

Apple has released an update/upgrade to it's Safari browser.

I tested the new version of Safari on some our our hardware and images on Campus and found little or no problems. AARC, eLearning, WebMail, Kronos. I found that the new version is wicked fast.

So far I have found no terminal failures or problems.

For eLearning, there were two instances where I had to reset Safari to get eLEarning's browser check to complete. One Mac was a Mac Book Pro, running 10.5.2 and the other was a G5 tower running 10.4.11. Probably resetting the Cache, instead of completely resetting Safari would have been sufficient. eLearning worked fine regardless. To "reset Safari", go to the Safari menu item and choose reset Safari.

There have been posts on websites and forums of quite a few people having issues after upgrading. MacFix article I have not seen or personally heard of any of the issues that this article describes.

Posted: March 19, 2008 4:12 pm | 0 comments
Tags: Mac OS X Safari Update Upgrade Browser

Basic Safari Tutorial

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

Safari Basics

Posted: March 10, 2008 10:40 am | 1 comment
Tags: Mac OS X Safari

KeyChain Issues

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

See the MacWorld Magazine article below for more information:

MacWorld 911 Manual Keychain Editing

Posted: March 10, 2008 9:43 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac Leopard OS Mac OSX Keychain storing passwords

Microsoft Office 2008 & TurningPoint

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

Microsoft Office 2008 and TuningPoint software have compatibility Issues

Micrsoft Office 2008 and Turning Technologies Macintosh based version of TurningPoint are not currently compatible. TurningPoint is an audience response software used in conjunction with "clickers". TurningPoint software uses VB scripting and depends on certain program files. Microsoft has deprecated VB scripting in Microsoft Office 2008 and has moved program files within the application.

Both will install, but TurningPoint will not open. An error stating that PowerPoint cannot be found occurs.

TurningPoint has verbally acknowledged this issue in a support call and stated that they are working on
a new version that is due out in the 2cd quarter of 2008.

Microsoft Office 2004 is fully compatible with current and past versions of TurningPoint software.

Posted: March 10, 2008 9:35 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac OS X Mac Office Turning Point

MS Office 2008 & Math Type

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

If you use Math Type, read the link below before upgrading to Microsoft Office 2008

Math Type: http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype%5Fmac/office2008.htm

Excerpt from the link: "Microsoft has omitted VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) support from Office 2008, claiming that it would cost too much to port this to the Intel Mac platform. Lack of VBA support is going to cause problems for many users, especially those that use Excel macros, MathType, and many other products that contain features implemented as VBA macros. MathType's toolbar and menu inside Word are no longer possible. Features such as equation numbering, formatting, etc. will not be available."

Initially I though that you could run both Office 2004 and Office 2008 at the same time, apparently not:

From a MacFixIt forum: ".. When you install Office 2008, you are given the option not to uninstall Office 2004, presumably so you can revert to Office 2004 if something important doesn't work right. Well, at least in my cas ... more »

Posted: February 26, 2008 11:20 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac Leopard OS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Office 2008, MS Office

Mac OS X Performance tip

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

Performance tip: Keep the Desktop clutter-free

From MacFixIt website:

Mac OS X's Desktop is the de facto location for downloaded files, and for many users, in-progress works that will either be organized later or deleted altogether. The desktop can also be gluttonous, however, becoming a catch-all for files that linger indefinitely.

Unfortunately -- aside from the effect of disarray it creates -- keeping dozens or hundreds of files on the Desktop can significantly degrade performance. Not necessarily because the system is sluggish with regard to rendering the icons on the desktop and storing them in memory persistently (which may be true in some cases), but more likely because keeping an excessive number of items on the Desktop can cause the windowserver process to generate reams of logfiles, which obviously draws resources away from other system tasks.

As such, keeping as few items as possible on the Desktop prove a surprisingly effective performance boon. Even creating a single fold ... more »

Posted: February 26, 2008 9:46 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac OS X, Mac Troubleshooting

iTunes 7.6.1: Problems After Updating

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

MacFixIt has reported issues the iTunes 7.6.1

I have tested this update at home at here at Simmons on the General Access computers.
I have not run into any issues with sound, volume, playing music, videos or podcasts.

According to a recent MacFixIt posting:
"Users are experiencing a variety of significant issues after the update to iTunes 7.6.1 including inability to playback music and other media, repeated freezes and unexpected quits, lower or non-existent volume, stuttering playback, Apple TV issues and more."

Suggested fixes and downgrade to iTunes 7.5 instructions are included on the following web page:

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2008022510015322

Posted: February 26, 2008 9:12 am | 0 comments
Tags: iTunes, Mac OS X

Time Machine Backup Will Not Restore When Upgrading to New Mac

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine backups are not visible

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306928

Upgrading to a new Mac?
If you are upgrading from one Leopard-based Mac to a new Leopard-based Mac, and you wish to use Time Machine backups from the previous Mac, make sure the computer name of the new Mac (in Sharing preferences) is the same as your previous Mac's computer name was when its Time Machine backups were made. Afterwards, if the previous Mac is still on your network, give it a different computer name.

Posted: February 13, 2008 7:50 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac Help, Mac Leopard OS, Mac OS X, Mac Troubleshooting, Time Machine

Time Machine Restore Not Visible

Posted by Janice Canero-Conklin

Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine backups are not visible

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306928

Issue or symptom
In the Mac OS X 10.5 Time Machine "time travel" window, past backups may not appear if your computer name includes certain characters.

Products affected
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Time Machine
Solution
Check your computer name in Sharing preferences. Make sure the computer name only includes ASCII characters from following set and is not blank (no matter which Mac OS X language version you are using):

0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Posted: February 13, 2008 7:48 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac Help, Mac OS X, Mac Troubleshooting, Time Machine