Macking 20

Find That File
I visit many new and relatively new Mackers who are not using their system's Find capabilities. They tell me that a "download arrived, but I haven't the faintest idea where it is!" You need to start using the utility that Apple gave you for that purpose, and it all begins with Command-F.
There are two kinds of Find, one of which comes with System 7.5 and the other which has been included since 7.0. System 6 users also have a Desk Accessory that works a lot like the 7.5.x version.
The original Find... (Cmd-F) is under the File menu and works even when extensions are off. The common way to use this is to select it and type in all or part of a known filename. It then opens the window containing the first item matching search criteria. If that is not the correct item, type Cmd-G or select Find Again and the search continues and the next matching item is displayed. This is the basic process and the one used by most people who actually DO use the Find feature. But there's more. Click on the "More Choices" button before you start the next Search for more options to limit the search.
The other Find is the Find File application under the Apple menu, which is launched by the Find File Extension when you type Cmd-F. Instead of just opening the window containing the first matching item, it opens a Results window which displays all files matching your search criteria. Sometimes that can be dozens of items, so it helps to see all the complete filenames. When you click on one of the items, the path (folders within folders) is displayed at the bottom of the window. If you want to simply get at that file (say, to move it somewhere else), then just type Cmd-E for Open Enclosing Folder. If you want to Get Info on that file, type Cmd-I, just like in the Finder. If you want to Open the document or Launch the application, just double-click on it or type Cmd-O. You can also simply drag the document from the Results window to the Desktop or to another window, or the Trash.
Use the More Choices button to narrow the search down by 12 criteria, starting with the three most common: Name, Size, Kind. Any of these can be changed, so you can look for All files on any specific volume or All Volumes, Name Contains, Starts With, Is, Is Not or Ends With, or Doesn't Contain. Exclude anything that isn't within a day, week or month of today or any other day. Select only folders matching those criteria. The options are almost beyond limit and let you find anything on your drive in a few seconds, even if you don't remember more than a part of a name, or when you last worked on it.
Incoming downloads get lost in the first place because you forgot or never set the preferred folder for such files in the applications that you use for downloads (Eudora, AOL, Netscape, etc.). Also files get lost if you are not paying attention to the folder you see at the top of the Save File window whenever you go to save something. That window always tells you where you are and in grey text, the names of other items in the folder. Other folders within are in black text, and you can scroll down to them and open them to nest the items further. Common nesting of folders: Documents contains Clients, which contains Current. But when you first go to save a new ClarisWorks document, the Save window is likely to show you in the ClarisWorks Folder, along with the application. Don't save your file there! Move up and out of that folder by mousing down on the foldername and down-pointed triangle, to the level of your main hard drive (usually called Macintosh HD unless you changed the name) and then into your Documents folder. If you force yourself to be structured and disciplined about how you organize your folders (yeah, I know, it's tedious and difficult at first) you will be able to manage thousands of files and never lose anything.
Some people ask, why not save all my files in the same folder as the application -- PageMaker files in the PageMaker folder, Word files in the Word folder, etc.? You can, if this is easier for you. But if you upgrade the application you will have to move all those files over to the new version's folder, while being careful not to move the documents that came with the older version (options, dictionaries, sample files and the like) because they may cause problems with the newer one.
But when you do lose something, just type Cmd-F and enter as much of the filename as you remember. If it says File Not Found, check spelling and add or remove spaces and try again. Sometimes it is just that simple.
System 6 users (and there are still plenty of them around, running SEs and LCs and perfectly happy about it) will see Find File under the Apple menu. It works pretty much the same as the System 7 version, with a little running-man icon to click on after typing the name, and fewer options. It still works great, though, so try it out.

Net Nannies Censor More than Sex
Although it is not directly relevant to Mac users, the protect-the-children Web censorship software "CyberSitter" blocks out more than naughty pictures. It also secretly censors political sites as well. From the CyberWire Dispatch, 12/20/96:
"Sites with decided political or activist agendas, such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) or animal rights groups, also are blocked. Trouble is, these blocking software programs don't make this known to the user. For some companies, shedding a spotlight on their underlying agenda, makes them sweat bullets or foam at the ascii mouth. Such is the case with Brian Milburn, president of Solid Oak Software, developer of an insipidly named blocking program called "Cybersitter."
When confronted with his agenda-ridden software, Milburn isn't shy about it, indeed, he was outright indignant when he originally told Dispatch: "If NOW doesn't like it, tough... We have not and will not bow to any pressure from any organization that disagrees with our philosophy."
I wrote him and asked him NOT to port his product to Macs, the only time I have ever done so. I also asked him to include my web site in his list of secretly blocked political sites. His terse response came immediately the same Sunday (with a cc to the postmaster at my provider): "Please do not contact this compay again." CyberSitter is sold by (among others) "Focus on the Family," an extremist rightwing PAC.
The list of sites, instead of being used as promotional information to encourage censor-minded parents to buy their software, is tightly guarded. But if you want to find out what those are, try this URL: http://www.peacefire.org/censorware/CYBERsitter.html; or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest/CUDS8/cud850, or just visit one of the blocked sites (if you can): Jim Galasyn's High Weirdness home page, and go from there.
Worse yet, CyberPatrol (another net.nanny service) doesn't store the complete URL for blocking -- it abbreviates the last three characters. So when it blocks the "CyberOS" gay video site by banning http://www.webcom.com/~cyb, children are barred from attending the first "Cyber High School" at ~cyberhi, along with 16 other accounts that start with "cyb." In attacking Shawn Knight's occult resources at http://loiosh.andrew.cmu.edu/~sha, the program cuts off 23 "sha" accounts at Carnegie Mellon University, including Derrick "Shadow" Brashear's web page on Pittsburgh radio stations.
Many of these other cyber-nannies that censor political information are available for Macs so don't feel left out. Mac, Wintel or Unix, these companies are dangerous and destructive. Their products are only for those people too incompetent to do their own parenting or think that hiding information will somehow protect little Spawnie from learning that not everyone in the world thinks like Mom & Dad. To help you keep up with all this, try the Computer Underground Digest. If you have no Web access but/or would like to subscribe to the ezine weekly, send post with this in the Subject line: SUBSCRIBE CU-DIGEST. Send the message to: cu-digest-request@weber.ucsd.edu. This is also a great source for updated info on the war between advocates of secure cryptography for us all to use, and government spooks who think that privacy in email is something that should not be permitted to Americans (and others). (Not that I am biased or anything here!)

Turn Off Desktop Printing
There are three extensions in your Extensions Folder that control this variation on the printing architecture: Desktop Spooler, Desktop Print Monitor (not the regular Print Monitor) and Desktop Printing Extension. Depending on the version, the names may vary slightly, and on some Macs there will be a fourth. They create an icon on your Desktop that has the same name as your printer. The latest version of this is 2.0.x (there may be yet another upgrade as you read this), but most people have version 1.x and therein lies the problem. It's buggy as hell.
Desktop Printing is a good idea in theory, and the current version works pretty well, but unless you have two or more printers that you switch between often, you are better off without it. Don't just use Extensions Manager to disable them, though, because it will leave one behind and that will display an annoying message every time you start up. Open the Extensions Folder and manually drag them to a different folder, or Trash them entirely. Then, after Restart, you can throw away the printing icon on the desktop (which will have an X through it).
If you DO have and use different printers, or are on a network with multiple printers, then make sure you get the latest version and choose each printer in turn in the Chooser. Be sure to click the Setup button for each one. An icon for each printer will be created on the desktop, and you can easily choose which one you want to be your default printer, and just as easily change printers without going to the Chooser each time.

Annoyances OnLine
Using AOL? Stick with version 2.7 for now and think seriously about leaving them for a true Internet Service Provider (ISP). Many people are reporting serious flaws with version 3.0 of the AOL software, and the browser, a variation on MS Internet Explorer, too. The 2.7 web browser was nothing short of awful, but now there is a whole class of web pages that you cannot access because they do not support the latest version 1.1 of the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). If you already have another ISP along with AOL, installing the new version also trashes all your preferences files.
Others report that their support for Mac users has gone into the toilet. Even though it started as a Mac-only service, they have lost the ability to care about us beyond the monthly fee. If you don't actually need them, i.e., for a specific chat area, then save yourself some money and headaches and dump America OnLine for good. They have only two advantages remaining over a standard ISP: they enable you to have five net.names on the same account at no extra charge, and their automated "flashsessions" enable you to have your Mac autodial them at night, download waiting mail, upload outgoing mail, and log off without you even being there. Sure, you can cobble something together with AppleScript and PPP and Eudora, but one glitch and the setup fails. It is increasingly not worth the fee for the features.

URL of the Month, I
Astrology fans: if you have ever done a search on Astrology in Yahoo, you probably wound up with dozens of sites offering nothing more than a hustle for your money. Well right here in Portland you will find a site that contains actual content, updated almost daily and referencing cosmic events that can affect you now. Point your browser to The Cosmic Clock. There are also links to cool astronomical and NASA sites, and background information on what the aspects mean, so check it out. Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure: the site is my girlfriend's.

URL of the Month, II
For those of you who want to get on the Web with a Plus, SE, Portable or other 68000 series Mac, get a copy of the MacWeb browser. It will work with Macs with 4 megs minimum. And here's the instruction manual on how to do it. Thanks, MacWay.

URL of the Month, III
In a half-hearted (according to Macintouch) way, Apple is responding to the shrinking shelf space for Mac software, by starting a Web-based retail outlet called Apple Club. It is at but at deadline time the page contained only a placeholder announcing its debut at MacWorld Jan. 7. Stop by now and see how it looks. Macintouch said it is probably similar to one run by Apple Hong Kong. This site is part of the beginning of the end of toll-free tech support; eventually Apple will give only 90 days to new Mac owners and additional help will be on a contract basis, or through a non-toll-free number which will be will be 512 SOS-APPL, offering the 'lifetime free support' Apple promised on many systems, with the customer footing the phone bill. Also visit the Macintouch AppleClub page. (Note added Feb. 22: I joined after 3 failed attempts to get my credit card accepted, and ordered the 7.6 upgrade. Not only did they have it in stock, but as an owner of 7.5.3 and an Apple Club member, I got it for $59 plus shipping. It was here in two days; no one else had it in stock, even for $99 retail.)

What Will Be NeXT
In last month's Chicago Tribune Online, a technology writer and Wintel apologist claimed "Mac users rioting in the streets because they will be orphaned by NeXT System." That's why we Mackers need to keep up with the real Mac news everywhere we can -- so we can educate all the people misinformed by the mainstream press. The Oregonian is just as guilty of misinforming or just ignoring us, so keep an eye out for this nonsense and be vocal in your protests.
As to the Apple/NeXT deal: it did surprise a lot of us who thought Be was going to be the "next" version of the MacOS. Don't worry about it. The issue was not just money; it was personality. Jean-Louis Gassee is known to be difficult to deal with, he voluntarily left Apple to create something to take business away from Apple and produced an exciting but largely unfinished OS that could have, with lots of work, become the next MacOS. Jobs, on the other hand, was forced out of Apple by the ex-Pepsi hustler that HE hired; always loved the Mac and Apple, and is a lot easier to work with. He created an OS that was exciting, Mac-compatible and with lots of work, will become the next MacOS. And under NO circumstances will Apple be abandoning all those 680x0 Mac users; there will be updates to System 7.x at least two more times (along with updates to separate items like Open Transport, PPP, Desktop Printing, QuickTime and the like). Already abandoned but still perfectly useable are the 68000 Macs (see URL of the Month II) and the pre-IIci Macs with "dirty" ROMs that cannot address 32-bit software without the free MODE32 patch. The latter will not be able to use System 7.6 or later.
Big deal. If you have one of those Macs, they will continue to run for years, doing what you expect them to, without needing all the bells and whistles of the upcoming systems. Most users of the older systems also use older programs with them. You can write novels, calculate data, develop Web pages and even edit photographs on LCs, IIcxs, SE-30s just fine. And those of you who use their Macs for writing, all the power you will ever need is in a 1-meg MacPlus (except a large monitor). Writing is the least demanding possible application and if that is what you do, don't worry if you can't run the latest and greatest system. You don't need to. And be thankful that you have your Mac, still useful after 11 years. Configure it with Eudora 1.4.3, MacWeb, Fetch and 4 megs RAM, and you have a perfectly acceptable Internet machine. Try that with an old 286 or C/PM box from the same era!

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.)