X-From_: owner-nowonder-mac@nowonder.com Sat Apr 24 18:44:35 1999 Subject: [NW-Mac] 4/24/99 Newsletter Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 12:16:57 -0500 x-sender: maclist@pop.nowonder.com From: MacList To: "MacList" , "Jason Thoms" , "Dan Schmidt" , "Darin Takemoto" Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-nowonder-mac@nowonder.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: MacList This is the NoWonder! MacList for Saturday, April 24, 1999. You can find archived newsletters at http://www.nowonder.com/maclist/

Information for Mac users

Correction: Last week it was stated that Macintosh was immune to the Melissa Virus. This is not entirely true. Word 98 for Macintosh can be used by the virus to infect other documents if the document is open. However, it spreads only under Word 98. Thank you to whomever pointed this out.

Virus Myths or Hoax of the week: "You can get infected by reading (such and such) E-mail!" This is false. You need to download an attachment and run this attachment to get a virus. The exception is Microsoft Outlook which the writer of the Melissa virus used to open the word file, thus allowing it to run. (this only worked on the PC though)

Macro Viri: Macro Viri primarily relate to Microsoft products namely the components of office. Microsoft one offered a free Virus protector called ScanProt, which people had so little regard for that nobody even mentions it in regards to virus protection.

Here are some steps one can take to avoid Macro Viri:

- Don't download Word/Excel files. Most reputable sites from the internet have downloadable text files, HTML files, or .PDF files. Very few reputable places have Word files due to the fact that not everybody has word; especially recent versions.

- If you don't know, don't open it! (this could apply for anything) A good method is to convert it to a BBedit document using Maclink Plus and THEN read it. BBedit can't run macros.

- Do not open any word or excel documents that have been forwarded or mass mailed to you unless you personally know the person who send them. This is the PRIMARY way these viri are spread.

2) Bug/Software Updates - By Dan Schmidt

The PPC interrupt extension If you have system 7.5.5 and a PowerPC, you should use the PPC interrupt extension. This extension solves one problem with crashes on PPC computers. Read about and get it at: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n20621 I highly recommend this patch to all users.

3) Easter Eggs - By Darin Takemoto

The Map Control Panel

1) Click on the version number and get a credit.
2) To get a zoomed-in view, double-click on the Map Control Panel and press the shift key while it launches. To get a more zoomed-in view, option double-click the Map Control Panel.
3) Type "mid" and hit return, and you'll find out exactly where the "middle of nowhere" is.
4) To page through the database of cities, type option-return. Once you get to the end of the list (Zurich), keep typing option-return and get the database of cities in the local language.
5) Click on the mi text, and it converts the distance to kilometers. Click on km to get degrees, and dg to get miles.
6) If you have System 7, you can change the boring black and white map to a spiffy color map. Open the Scrapbook and find the map. Copy it into the clipboard (command-c) and close the Scrapbook.
Open the Map control panel and paste it in (command-v). You can actually paste any picture you want into the Map control panel, but the result might look a bit silly ;-)

4) Tips/Tricks - By Jason Thoms

Just a Tab Cleaner: Okay, last week I told you how to make your windows into pop up tabs. This can be used to make your life a tab bit easier... or maybe your desktop a tab cleaner. Take a look at your drag & drop aliases and applications on your desktop, like Stuffit Expander, File Buddy, ShrinkWrap, JPEG View... and any other application you can drag file to for instant access or conversion. Even your most used apps like your email and browser... Drop them in a folder, name it whatever floats your boat. Turn it into a tab at the bottom of your screen. Bam, instant clean desktop with instant access to your apps. Sounds cool but useless? Well, try it and see what you think.

Mac Terminology 101: "Try rebuilding your desktop file and call me in the morning'"

How To Do It- option-command during startup, or when you insert a removable, unlocked disk.

Why?- Every volume your Mac comes into contact with has a desktop file. Every floppy, hard drive, zip, jaz, etc has one. Your Mac uses this desktop file as a database for all sorts of information about that particular volume. Icons, locations of files, times, dates, etc.

When you rebuild your 'desktop file' you're actually making your Mac rewrite two hidden files on the volume. The first, called Desktop DB, handles the icons and what Apps and files they belong to. The DB stands for Desktop BNDL or Bundle. I know its a redundant name, Desktop Desktop Bundle... I'm only telling you about it, I didn't name it. When your icons start coming up blanks or garbage... something is amiss in this file.

The second, named Desktop DF, handles the locations of the files and how they're sorted. What files are in what folders. The DF stands for Desktop Files, yep another double 'Desktop' name. Rebuilding your desktop files can only happen when your Mac is trying to mount them... during startup for your hard drive, when you insert your floppy disk or zip disk. Or when your finder quits and restarts... its not recommended you force quit your finder just to rebuild your desktop file, that's sloppy computing at best.

Every so often its a great idea to rebuild your desktop files on your frequently used volumes. The desktop files get bloated with all the icons, dates, times, and other stuff that it takes longer than it should to access the info. So rebuilding may make your Mac a little more quicker on the click. Floppy disks and removables need this too especially if you transport files a lot. You can tie up a few hundred kilobytes just with bloated desktop files... it all adds up.

When you select Shutdown from the special menu or sing the Apple Menu app, your Mac updates the desktop files with all the info that's changed in the last little while and prepares for a powerdown. This is the best reason not to turn off your Mac without shutting down first, you'll corrupt your desktop files...

Using the free utility, TechTool from Micromat to rebuild your desktop takes it one step further... TechTool deletes the files and makes your Mac start from scratch, ensuring slim and accurate desktop files.

5) Troubleshooting - By Darin Takemoto Question: the computer doesn't make any sound. It used to beep for mistakes and play cds, but now no sound comes out. I checked to make sure the volume is turned up. When I put a CD in, it acts like it is playing, but I still hear nothing. Mute is not on.

Answer: There have been a few reports of sound loss using System 8.5.x due to a software bug. A fix is scheduled for the next update (8.6). In the meantime there are a couple of workarounds:

1) If this behavior happens only after restarting after a system crash, try restarting again. For some people, this seems to work.

2) Try selecting "None" as the Sound Track in the Appearance Control Panel. A downside of this solution is that you will lose sounds associated with system events. If this is not acceptable, don't do it, but keep it in mind as a last resort.

3) Try forcing Sound Manager to load before Extensions Manager or Conflict Catcher (if you are using that).

4) If all of the above fail, try a clean install of the System Software.

5) If this fails, you may have a hardware problem. Given that there is a known sound bug with System 8.5.x, this is unlikely.

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