Macking 102

Jiggler Redux
Remember my recommendation last month for Jiggler, an application that would move the mouse for you every 60 seconds, to keep the screen saver and sleep mode from operating? Well, it is good for what it does, but be sure to quit it when done. I have found that if I leave it running when my PowerBook is closed (and forced into Sleep mode), it goes into Coma mode. Coma is where it is asleep but cannot be awakened, but not shut off either. The 'book is warm because the processor is still running but the screen is dead. Nothing but a Command-Control-Power push can reset it.
I thought this was a problem with Panther, but after making sure Jiggler was quit every night, the problem has not returned. But others exist.

Wait A While Longer
As yet I am not recommending Panther as a go-ahead for all my clients. As much as I love Expose, 10.3 is still a little too glitchy for non-advanced users. In addition, there are so many utilities that need to be updated to use it that it is probably worth waiting until 10.3.2 comes out in January. Advanced user, go for it. This is the future and you might as well get used to it. You know what to do to keep it simple, well-updated and functioning.

Repair Permissions
This is especially important for users of 10.1.x or Jaguar. Repairing permissions is something that the user has to do, and frequently. It's simple; it requires nothing more than lauching Disk Utility from the Utilities Folder, selecting your hard drive (startup volume, called Macintosh HD unless you changed the name) and clicking on the tab First Aid and then clicking on Repair Permissions button. Then sit back and watch as it does a UNIX maintenance procedure that if not done can cause you problems.
Yeah, I know, it sucks. We're Mac users. We should be able to remain blissfully ignorant of such low-level crap as this. But I'm sorry, reality says DO IT and keep it up. You can't go wrong by repairing permissions and you will learn something in spite of your reluctance. And: your Mac will work better. How often? Once a month, and after every major system upgrade and software installation.
Don't fret, though; one important maintenance item runs without your attention. Every time you restart your Mac, a program called File System Check (fsck) runs and repairs any problems it can find at startup. To fix the serious problems that can happen at random intervals to random people, buy a copy of Disk Warrior and a copy of Norton Utilities. You may wind up spending $180 or so, but it will save you a $90 house call from me.
Did you crash? If you are running 10.3 you are now running something called Journaling. The OS keeps track of everything you did up to the last crash and can return the hard drive to a saved state. This makes reboots run quicker and reduces the risk that some data on your drive will be damaged. If you use your Mac to record sound or video, though, you will want to turn off journaling at the time you install 10.3 because journaling imposes a bit of a delay to everything you do. It isn't noticable under normal use, but when recording you don't want a short pause for disk updating to occur at all. Many people doing recording use an external hard drive without journaling for just this purpose.

The Apple Store
I attended the press tour for the new Apple store in Washington Square last month. Very impressive. Portland is almost unique in the number and high quality of Mac retailers in the city, but none are as well designed and equipped as this place.
The other retailers will be visiting it for ideas in how to redesign their own layout, and what to keep in stock.
An amazing layout of third-party products all hooked up to all models Macintosh, ready for user testing and experimentation. The store is divided into sections, each dedicated to a particular interest. On one side is the professional hardware, on the other is the consumer focus. Music has its own section, digital photography next, then digital moviemaking, games and education.
At the back is the most complete kid section, with four eMacs set up in kid-size stools and table, all loaded with almost all of the games and edu software there is. Furthermore, any teacher or education purchaser can buy from the store at the educational prices. If you want to be able to preview the programs before buying, this is the place.
People were lining up like flies for hours before the 10am opening. As the moment approached, the sales staff worked the crowd like a football rally. You could hear the cheering all over the mall.
Finally the doors open and a number of Mac fanatics streamed in, filling the place to Fire Marshall capacity, which left hundreds more waiting for someone to leave so the next wave could be let in.
There must be about 25 people on staff there. I recognized a number of past and present PMUGers in the group.
With a staff that large, how can the store make any money? The answer is, it doesn't have to. The Apple Stores are funded by the advertising department, not the retail department. If their income helps defray some of the cost of operation that's good, but their purpose is to be a standing, active 3D advert for Macs. Mac resellers in other cities that get Apple stores have found that their sales go up, partly because the Apple store does not discount anything. You pay full list price for every item in the store. Macs are price-fixed, but most retailers can give you flexible discounts on other items you buy at the same time. Apple is fully satisfied if someone goes into the store, takes as much time as they like with the sales rep and then buys somewhere else. That means they've done their job.

Letters
Wade Anderson writes: "Just wanted to provide some quick feedback on your article regarding national providers of DSL for the Mac.
"I used Qwest for about 1.5 years in Woodburn with our Mac, using OS 10 with no problems (local ISP). I found the best solution to avoid the whole mac/pc thing is to simply use a router. I've been using SMC and have been happy with the results. I've heard mixed reviews but it has been quite stable - and the 802.11b coverage is great - both on my Mac using an airport card and on a PC laptop that I bring home from work.
"I just moved to Wilsonville and am now using Verizon. My service experience has been perhaps different from what you share.
"I'm only paying $29 per month, including both the DSL charges and the ISP. A tip - you don't have to sign up with MSN; you simply click 'cancel' when the final step in the setup asks to install MSN. Using this, you have only verizon.net as your ISP. The good part about this is that there is no longer the blame game that goes on between the ISP and the phone company. Having Verizon for both means that they are both on the hook to get things fixed.
"Things have worked perfectly and a throughput of 1.5down/256 up is pretty amazing for $29. I was paying $60 after all charges using Qwest and I was only getting 640K/256 ($39 for DSL, $20 to ISP, $6 modem rental). Verizon at $29 including the modem and no commitments is a pretty amazing deal. Comcast would have been $20 more.
"These routers are as cheap as $40 at Frys. Seems like a simple solution to me to end any of the PC/Mac troubles as they have an HTTP:// login and are system independent."

On National ISPs
Chuck Coleman writes, "You can also use some the the free or near-free ISP's that have numbers nationwide. I use access-4-free right now. I am using CDPD with my laptop on the ambulance.
"The beauty of this is that it loads fast because it is not full of graphics and I just want to send email. The rate is free for the first 10 hours and after that it is $1 per hour to a maximum of $10. I use it a lot when I travel and connection is good just about everywhere. In remote places I have to insert a calling card in the dialup sequence to get to the nearest node but it has worked well.
"I was at Lake Chelan and had to call long distance to Wenatchee. I got 24k to 26.4 at best. Then I put in a Seattle number with a v92 modem and got 36k....go figure."

The Blob
This tip from the e-newsletter Kibbles and Bytes. I recommend you subscribe to this interesting and entertaining Mac tiplist. Small Dog Electronics is a Mac reseller in Vermont, similar to our own PowerMax. They're good people and publish a number of interesting newsletters.
____________
One of my favorite old horror flicks was The Blob - the original version with a very young Steve McQueen. So it was natural when someone pointed out a neat little Blob hack for Panther that I had to give it a try.
Using the Terminal mode is a little like tightrope walking without a net, so please only do this if you are confident in Terminal mode. The Blob is a floating aqua blue blob that floats on top of the other windows on the desktop, and allows you to activate Exposé with a mouse click. You click on it to activate the Applications Windows feature of Exposé (which dims all but the active application windows), option-click on it and you activate the all-windows feature. I especially like the shift-option-click feature which does it all in slow motion.
To activate the Blob, go into Terminal Mode (remembering my caveat above!) and type the following after the "%":

defaults write com.apple.dock wvous-floater -bool true

Then type:

killall Dock

This will relaunch the Dock and activate the Blob. If you ever want to kill the blob, you enter terminal mode again and type:

defaults write com.apple.dock wvous-floater -bool false

Then type:

killall Dock

From a letter in Macintouch:
“I have seen this on my 12" PowerBook, and so have my friends.
“This is with the 867MHz model (the first one). In Terminal, type the following:
sysctl hw.cpufrequency
“Odds are, you will see that your CPU is running at 533MHz, not 867. This is with the processor set to "Highest," etc.
“The only work-around we know about so far is:
1. Shutdown.
2. Reset power manager (shift-control-option-power; hold 5-10 seconds).
3. Start up.
4. Launch Terminal and test.
“RESTARTING or SHUTTING DOWN (and not resetting the power manager) makes the problem appear again.”
I followed this tip and guess what: My powerbook had the same problem and was fixed, just like he said. My date and time needed resetting afterwards, but since I am on DSL with Use Network Time Server checked, the clock adjusted itself. If you are on dialup, don't forget to reset your clock immediately after you start up.
Unfortunately the problem returned immediately after the next restart.
I called Apple and the level 1 tech had no clue, kicking me upstairs to level II (this is where they keep the people who really know what's going on) and guess what: They were able to reproduce the problem! This was the first they had heard about it, so I guess that means that the people who should be keeping up with things are NOT reading Macintouch. YOU can know more than an Apple Level II technician by doing nothing more than reading Macintouch, every day. Do it. You may not understand most of what you are reading (if you are a new user with less than a few years with Macs) but you will learn useful stuff if you just keep it up.
They aren't perfect; always remember that these are user reports and as they say on the Net, YMMV (your mileage may vary, or what worked or didn't work for me may be different for you).
It took Apple until four days after deadline, but they finally got an answer. The problem is in the Terminal command and response: It is returning false information. The processor really isn't slowing down. They will release a document to the tech info database about it and see if there is a fix for future versions. Since it is not so much a problem as erroneous information that only hardcore Terminal geeks will run into, they aren't terribly concerned.

No Microsoft products were used in the production of this column.

email mp at moonmac dot com. (I took out the mailto link because that's how the spammers find me.)