767
Inexpensive software
Ergo keyboards input
Re: Hello, and a question about OSX email clients
2.0 MB Mac floppy (re)formatter
Stupid filters
WF's Attachment Problems
Re: Applelinks Website Design
Polyneuritis[/url]


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Inexpensive software

From Noel McRae

We are thinking of a program featuring inexpensive to free software for the Mac. I know have seen this type of list before, but I have not seen one for some time. There seems to be a number of products in that area, but which ones are really worth putting on one's computer. I was hoping you or your readers might have some suggestions for us.

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If anyone has suggestiins for Noel, send them here.
Charles W. Moore





Ergo keyboards input

From Terri Harmon

Charles,

I’m a fairly novice Mac user, and really enjoyed your Applelinks article dated 2002 on ergonomic keyboards. I thought I’d give you my input in case you do another article. I ordered both the GoldTouch and the Fentek Comfort ErgoFlex keyboard. I kept the GoldTouch, and so far am happy with it. I was unhappy with the Fentek. The idea of the more flexible design, having 3 separate, independent parts, was a very good one to ensure maximum flexibility. Unfortunately, when the product arrived, it did not live up to my expectations. The look and feel of the keyboard is very cheap to my mind. Where the GoldTouch feels like a Toyota or Honda in quality, the Fentek felt like a cheap imitation. The housing did not even fit the product, so it would not sit flat on my desk. Finally, FenTek has an inflexible 20% restocking fee (unlike GoldTouch which has a no-risk full refund policy), and they would replace the defective product, but would not compromise on their 20% restocking fee.

I did some research before purchasing (I have a very slow dial up line being out in the boondocks so I am limited in my websurfing abilties), but did not see any of this information.

1) Do you have suggestions for where I could post this info to alert others in the market?

Changing subjects, I saw an Applelinks write-up on Toast, and a reference to a forthcoming article on how to put LPs onto CDRs, but am not finding the article. I have Toast & Jam 5.0, and am looking for the best option from here. When I read the Toast & Jam website for Mac users, I get discouraged with the problems and lack of Mac support listed there.

2) Do you have information on options after Toast & Jam 5.0 for transferring LPs?

3) Third subject – any advice on PDAs for Macs? I’m just starting to research, and see that PalmPilot is discontinuing upgrades for Mac software upgrades. Discouraging. Don’t want to get into another Toast & Jam situation with limited Apple support.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction,

Terri

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Hi Terri;

Thanks for the report on the ergo keyboards.

1) It's posted here.

2) For ripping LPs to CDRs, The Analogue Ripper is an alternate solution. Here's the developer's blurb:

The Analogue Ripper, or TAR for short, lets you record sounds from any analogue source onto your Macintosh Computer.You can record from cassettes, vinyl, 8 Track, reel to reel even VHS, in fact - anything that you have playback equipment for. Version 1.02 works with USB Audio devices and monitor sizes down to 800 x 600 pixels.

Record Vinyl, Record Cassettes

TAR records straight to disk so it does not require large amounts of RAM.

TAR has powerful editing features that let you easily break LPs, cassettes etc up into discreet tracks, nice if you don't always want to listen to tracks 1,2,and 3 before track 4.

TAR produces tracks in AIFF format which are suitable for burning direct to CD or encoding to Mp3 or other compressor.

TAR lets you choose an encoder - or other application - and send the tracks to this as you save them.

You can Register The Analogue Ripper at PayPal or Kagi. Registration costs $19.95 at PayPal or $21.50 at Kagi.

For more information, visit:
http://homepages.which.net/~i.mann/TAR/Ripper.html

3) Bryan Chaffin at MacObserver had a good analysis of the Palm Desktop issue here: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2004/02/11.5.shtml

Charles






Re: Hello, and a question about OSX email clients

From Heather Anne

My husband used the disc to fix OS9 permissions and that seemed to work. Unfortunately signatures in Outlook Express was very similar to signatures for Mail. It did not allow html.

All that work to find out that OE for the Mac is lacking. So... for now I am still using Mail.

I do agree with you about storing all messages in one database. Not good. I have about 50 mailboxes set up in Mail, Only 6 email addresses but I need that many mailboxes to keep me organized. So I would be highly upset to lose everything due to one corrupted message or something similar.

I think I might check out Eudora or Magellan. Haven't decided yet.

As far as Microsoft goes, I gave away my XP disc as soon as the iMac arrived. Now I have MS Money 2004 and Norton Utilities 2004 to either sell on ebay or give to a friend. It is kind of liberating in a way. I do not miss my Windows machine

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
Heather Anne

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Hi Heather Anne;

I consider Eudora to be a sort of blue collar email client. I't isn't especially pretty or flashy, but it gets the job done efficiently, has lots of powerful features, and in seven years of use for me it's never seriously malfunctioned or lost any data.

Charles





2.0 MB Mac floppy (re)formatter

From Wilfred Nelson

Some time ago during the days of the floppy I had a shareware program that would reformat Mac floppies from 1.4 MB to 2.0 MB. My searches via versiontracker have yielded no results. Do you know where I might find this program.

Thanks,

Wil Nelson

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I haven't a clue, Wil, but if it's still available, perhaps someone in readerland will point the way.

I'm skeptical that doing that would be a good idea in any case, and I strongly advise not committing any mission critical data to any such reformatted disks.

Charles





Stupid filters

From Eolake Stobblehouse

Dear friend,

I think we need a backlash against over-zealous spam filters.

I just had a conversation with a man about political and cultural aspects of nud*ty and porn*graphy. My mails to him bounced! And on a sudden hunch I deleted some letters in "offensive" words like "nak*d". And the mails suddenly went through...

Apparently his host, Juno.com, has decided that such words are so offensive that they will not permit anybody to have any kind of conversation where they appear!

If this goes on, these words will be deleted from future editions of American dictionaries. The situation is bizarre, and not good. How are we going to communicate in the future if nobody can use words that might be offensive to somebody somewhere?

Yours, Eolake

http://stobblehouse.com

"Moderation is a good thing, if you don't overdo it."

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Hi Eolake;

I agree. We are throwing the email baby out with the proverbial bathwater.

To cast it in another context, I moderate a Christian email discussion forum, and postings from even our most conservative members frequently make Eudora's "chili" "offense warnings" light up like a Christmas tree.

Charles

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Re: Stupid filters

From Eolake Stobblehouse

Really? What sort of words do that in such cases?

(I turned off the chilis long ago. I don't give a sheet if people swear. Actions may offend me, words don't.)

Yours, Eolake

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Actually, the same sort of words that would do it in porn and salacious solicitation emails, although discussed in a radically different context.

Context can be everything.

I'm not immune to being offended by words, and I (mostly) eschew vulgarisms and scatology in my own speech, but I'm not at all thin-skinned in that regard, context once again is what counts. I find the chilis amusing, so I leave then turned on.

Charles





WF's Attachment Problems

From Jamie Griffiths

Charles,

WF may consider the possibility that AOL and Apple's Mail (if that is what he uses with his .Mac account) are the sources of these attachment problems.

I haven't used AOL for quite a few years, but I recall that they use some proprietary encoding format, as opposed to the more ubiquitous MIME/Base64.

He should look at the origins of his problematic received attachments, as well as those recipients who have problems with his. I use OE on OS9.2, and have no problems at all. My wife does run into this using Apple's Mail on Jaguar, and it almost always involves AOL on the receiving end. My beef with Mail is that it doesn't allow you to set the encoding format in its prefs (this is another potential source for his problem). I'm not sure what its default is, but I hope the issue is addressed in Panther, which is still in the box waiting to be installed. I do recall that zipping/stuffing attachments, regardless of their size and/or format, helped undermine this problem. Unfortunately, their are a substantial number of people who do not have, nor know what compression software is, so that isn't as much of a help as it should be. He should use AOL for his AOL friends, where the encoding issue is irrelevant, and use a third-party mail client that allows you to set the encoding format with his .Mac account for his non-AOL friends. This may be a case where the flaw of one is simply substituted by a different flaw in the other- AOL's proprietery encoding and Apple Mail's mystery encoding. AOL has undergone several revisions since I've used it. Perhaps their is a preference for setting the encoding format that defaults to their own, but has other options as well. If it does he should select MIME/Base64. If it is a format issue, then Graphic Converter is definitely the way to go Hope this helps,

Jamie Griffiths

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Hi Jamie;

Thanks for the suggestions. Probably helpful advice. He did say that he uses mac.com, as well as AOL, and it seems to make no difference, though.

Charles




Re: Applelinks Website Design

From Steve Adams

Charles,

I'm also a bit put off by the new design. It's harder to read and some of the columns display with strange formatting issues.

I tried the "Original Applelinks" link you suggested and it was like a breath of fresh air. Then I realized it only applied the formatting to the home page. The columns, once opened, are in the "new and improved" layout.

For what it's worth, I like the "Original" layout much better.

Steve Adams

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Thanks for your feedback, Steve,

Charles





Polyneuritis

From Jordan F.

Hey Charles -

Just a thought came to mind reading your article... do you drink or eat anything containing aspartame (artificial sweetener?) -- that stuff is linked to all sorts of bodily problems.

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Hi Jordan;

Thanks for thinking of me, and it's a good point. Aspartame is ugly stuff.

However, it's probably been 30 years or more since I ate or drank anything with aspartame in it.

I've been on a whole foods diet for years. Lots of fresh vegetables, whole grains, legumes, some fresh fruit, fish, and fowl.

Nothing processed or containing chemicals, no sugar or any artificial sweeteners, no flour products, no dairy except for occasional eggs, and butter for cooking.

Charles



***



Charles W. Moore


Note: Letters to Moore's Mailbag may or may not be published at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context.

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