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The Apple Blog
The Apple Blog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
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Microsoft Delivers Goodies For Older Office Users, Too

Along with Office 2008 updates and announced Macintosh Business Unit hiring, Microsoft has also bestowed blessings upon older Office users (2004) with the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update and version 1.0 of their Open XML File Format Converter for Mac.

The Office 2004 update adds enhanced compatibility for documents that are in Open XML Format and fixes an issue where installer was not properly ignoring backup copies of Office that were created by the Time Machine backup tool. Word 2004 has stability improvements and there are fixes for table display and “Page Setup” dialog functionality. Excel has four groups of fixes and improves compatibility when running 2008 and 2004 side-by-side (and copying/pasting data between applications). Running both is not uncommon as the older version of Office still provides VBA support unlike its newer, shinier cousin. PowerPoint has two improvement areas and will be a welcome update for those with large presentations. You can grab the 59 MB update directly from Microsoft.

The Open XML Converter allows you to convert Open XML files that were created in Office 2008 for Mac or Office 2007 for Windows so that you can open, edit, and save them in earlier versions of Office for Mac. Open XML Converter can convert Word documents, Excel workbooks, and PowerPoint presentations that are in the Open XML Format so that you can open and edit the files in Office 2004 for Mac and Office v. X for Mac.

If you experience problems opening the converter application after you install it, make sure that /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office Converter Support is installed on the startup volume. If it is missing, or if any of the files listed above are missing, try installing the converter application again.

If Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac is installed on your computer, you will also find the new fonts installed to either /Library/Fonts/Microsoft or /User/username/Library/Fonts/Microsoft (new fonts include: Cambria, Calibri, Consolas, Constantia, Corbel & Candara). Consolas makes a fairly decent Terminal font, btw.

Drop a note in the comments if you make use of either the update or the tool.

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Sequence: Screencasting On A Budget

App4Mac has introduced Sequence 1.0b1 a simple, yet powerful, screen capture/casting application for OS X Leopard. With Sequence, you can very easily capture and save an image or a movie of your screen to your computer’s clipboard or to a file in practically any image format (bmp, pict, gif, jpg, png, tiff & pdf).

The welcome screen explains most of the functionality pretty well. You can choose between image mode or motion capture mode and select fixed, free selection or full screen mode. Just move the selection area around, resize (if in free selection mode) and capture away. It’s that simple. You may select where the image goes (including MobileMe)

For movie captures, you have the option of turning on your Mac’s microphone (if available) and also including input from your iSight camera (again, if available). You can choose what part of the screen the picture-in-picture display will be placed and all audio will be included (if you chose that option). It saves the output to a Quicktime “.mov” file.

“Doodle” mode enables you to make annotations on screen, but options are limited at this point in the beta release. Application preferences are also not fully functional at this time.

There are two truly amazing points about the program. First: both modes (image and video capture) work very well, even without binding to the standard capture keys (which is a forthcoming option). Second: it’s $9.00 USD with lifetime free upgrades. While it may not have the high end features of similar programs, there is no way you can go wrong with ability to do picture-in-picture screen/app-casting with audiio for nine bucks (which may go up after July 4, 2008, so you might want to grab your copy now).

If you do a great deal of screencasting, appcasting or screen image captures, let us know if Sequence is or may become a valuable tool in your workflow processes by dropping a note in the comments.

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Red Sweater Makes Easy Work Of Black & White Squares With 1.1.1 Update
Red Sweater software (makers of the most excellent MarsEdit blogging tool) released 1.1.1 of Black Ink, your one-stop source for all things crossword puzzle-related.

Black Ink makes it easy to download free puzzles from sites like the New York Times & Wall Street Journal and 1.1.1 has added the Boston Globe & Little Rock Daily Record to its source list (and has removed the Washington Post). Print output (to printer or PDF) has been greatly improved to near typesetting quality with many tweaks and enhancements to the overall layout of each element. There are also some bug-fixes in the mix as well.

One of the core features of Black Ink is the ability to actually help solve crosswords, which should be a boon to anyone who is captivated by these puzzles but is often left stuck. For true aficionados, there are numerous features hidden beneath the surface. You can jump instantly to any clue simply by typing its number, or right-click to enter multiple letters and even start a timer if you plan on getting ready for some serious competition.

The program really is easy to use and makes solving hard crossword puzzles much easier. I’m seriously hoping for an iPhone/iPod Touch version, either just as a solving aid or being able to do crosswords on the device. As it stands, Daniel has plans for even more printing enhancements, including mechanisms for adjusting print size and accommodating you left-handers out there.

There is a 30-day free trial with the full version priced at $24.95. Downloads are compatible with OS X Tiger (10.4) or Leopard (10.5).

If you use Black Ink, let TAB readers know what your experiences have been in the comments.

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Microsoft Stabilizes Office 2008 & Is Taking Names
On June 24th, Microsoft released Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 Update which included numerous fixes to stability & performance. This is almost a mandatory update as it addresses significant bugs in almost all Office components. Users experiencing crashes in all Office applications will be glad to know that this has been fixed across the board and Microsoft has also fixed a date issue in charts displayed in Word & PowerPoint.

Six issue areas were corrected or improved in Word 2008 specifically, many of which are conversion-related (between various Word versions) and one involved a macro-glitch may have had a nasty impact in a multi-platform shop (as it lay waste to VBA macros in some circumstances).

Eight groups of issues in Excel 2008 have been addressed including a formula bug that you may not have even noticed (formulas were not executed properly under a few scenarios). PowerPoint 2008 is not nearly as sluggish as it has been and you can more confidently sleep/wake your Mac with Entourage 2008 running.

The Microsoft Office 2008 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Update (12.1.0) must be installed on the computer before you install the Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 Update. The 153 MB installer is available now from Microsoft via direct download or through their local software update service (that is installed with Office 2008).

I have downloaded and installed the update with no ill after effects and can confirm that PowerPoint is noticeably speedier.

Looking For A Few Good Macophiles

Microsoft is also expanding its commitment to Mac products and is on a hiring frenzy. They are in search of candidates for multiple roles including Program Managers, Developers, Testers, User Experience, and Marketing, primarily in Redmond and Silicon Valley. You can send your resume to macjobs@microsoft.com if you are interested.

This is your chance to make a difference if you are a fit for any of the open positions.

If you have loaded the update, let us know your experience in the comments and if you successfully land a job, definitely drop us a note!

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Top Ten Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts

With the release of Firefox 3, I thought I would share my top ten Firefox shortcuts. So without further ado, here they are:
1. ⌘ + l = focus address bar
2. ⌘ + d = bookmark current page
3. ⌘ + k = focus google search bar
4. ⌘ + f = find
5. ⌘ + g = find next
6. ⌘ + t = new tab
7. ⌘ + w = close current tab
8. ⌘ + shift + t = reopen accidentally closed tab (Best one ever!)
9. crtl + tab = tab through tabs
10. crtl + shift + tab = tab backwards through tabs
Bonus for Delicious Extension users:

⌘ + Shift + . = pulls delicious page if you have delicious firefox extension installed

Be sure to checkout our Browser Shortcut Cheat Sheet for a comprehensive listing of shortcuts for both Firefox and Safari.

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Do Not Use iTunes to Make Bombs!

One of my favorite random sites to read is Freakonomics. There is always something that I never thought of before on there, and today was no exception. They pointed out a clause in the iTunes license agreement that puts a damper on weekend plans. It says that you can’t use iTunes for anything illegal:

…including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear missiles or chemical or biological weapons.

I don’t really know how anyone would use iTunes to make a bomb. Maybe this means that you can’t listen to iTunes while you are making it. That makes sense.

The other warning they pointed out is that you can’t use iTunes in any system that is used to keep people from dying:

The Apple software is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, life support machines, or other equipment in which the failure of the Apple software could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage.

This is understandable because you wouldn’t want to have iTunes crash your life-support system and cause something to happen. I would be furious at the person who was rocking out to iTunes on the computer that was controlling a loved one’s life support equipment.

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