Macking 37

Action Files
Last month I mentioned that I had just acquired ActionFiles. My experience with it was so positive I registered it only two days into the 30-day demo!
It patches the Open and Save dialog boxes to include a row of drop-down menus that add all kinds of Finder features to the standard dialog box. For instance, you can add permanent files to the file menu and folders to the folder menu. They will always be there whenever you open or save in any program. It actually converts the dialog box to a window that can be resized and dragged anywhere on your screen, even to a second monitor.
Action also includes a Find feature, so if you are in your word-processor program, for example, and you find you are not already in the folder that contains your document, you need merely type cmd-F and type in part or all of the name of the desired file, and it will locate it and display it right in the find window. If it finds two or more similarly-named files, they are all displayed in a single window!
See Figure 1 for an example of the Folder menu, then hie yourself over to download.com or any other Mac FTP site and pick up a copy. You will wonder how you did without it, and if you have been missing Now Super Boomerang, your quest is over.

Upgrade for LCs
Still hanging on to your old LC? Check out Sonnett Technologies for a 33-MHz 68040 upgrade card. The card, announced at Summer Macworld Expo in New York, also works on Performa equivalents and the Color Classic. The upgrade is claimed to include RAM, a RAM expansion slot, and built-in Ethernet.

MacNC
According to MacOSRumors, the iMac is indeed the much vaunted Network Computer, but Apple's lack of confidence in the NC monikor motivated them to drop any reference to it. Good move.

SmartCard Reader for Mac (from the EvangeList)
Check out Litronic NetSign. The kit includes a Smart Card reader, crypto-capable Smart Card, power supply, documentation, and a coupon for a VeriSign Digital ID that can be loaded onto the card.
The kit is installed on my PowerBook 3400c. The NetSign kit works with recent versions of Netscape Communicator and Navigator (US domestic, strong-crypto versions only). Installation was simple, I just plugged the Smart Card reader into the serial port and ran the installer. Then I requested a certificate from VeriSign. Next I used the private key and certificate stored on the card for SSL v3.0 client authentication and S/MIME signing.
Litronic and Schlumberger partnered to produce the kit (also available in Unix and Windows versions). The reader and driver were supplied by Litronic, and the Smart Card is a Schlumberger Cryptoflex card.
Other Smart Card readers and software will work with PC emulation software on the Mac, but it's great to see a Mac native solution that supports the full performance of a PowerPC-native browser!

Macs at The Habit
The Habit cybercafe, the first one in Portland and now on SE Hawthorne as well as inside Powell's Technical Books, will be getting new iMacs, courtesy of The Computer Store, in exchange for promotional considerations.
Throughout its history, the Habit has kept their site Microsoft-free by employing XWindows terminals running Netscape for web browsing. They will also be bringing back the UNIX text-only terminals, desired by the UNIX community and originally in their first site on SE 21st.
But those who need a Windows fix will find satisfaction at the Multnomah County Library. Nothing but Windows terminals running IE.

CyberSitter at it again
CyberSitter, a net.censorship program, has employed nasty harassment tactics including mail-bombing sites that criticise them for inappropriate blocking of sites. To find out more about this nut-case company, visit one of the blocked sites and then read about their harassment campaign. If you dare, then you can email Solid Oak Software, the publisher, to thank them for not releasing a Mac version of their software. Be prepared for a hostile response.

Hilarious Bug
The Wall Street Journal reports on a bizarre bug called the "Tourette's Syndrome filter," in "Secret Writers' Society," a Mac program that helps seven- to nine-year-olds learn to write by, among other things, reciting their compositions back to them in the Mac's voice. Under certain conditions it vocalizes a stream of obscenities before reading the text.
The bug is in the filter that is supposed to prevent the program from reciting from a list of banned words, encoded into the program, when those words are typed into a document. But the bug manifests itself sometimes under low-memory conditions, and other times if you select a large range of text (longer than a few sentences) and then double-click on it.
Panasonic Interactive Media, the publishers of the program, have pulled unsold copies and replaced with a debugged version so it's too late to get one of your own. The company has also set up an 800 number (which the WSJ did not print) so owners of the program can get the updated version.

USB Right On Track
Sure enough, after the announcement of the iMac and its commitment to the Universal Serial Bus, one developer after another has announced products for it. Umax was the most recent, porting a version of their popular under-$250 scanners to USB. The official release date for the iMac is August 17, not sooner as was previously announced, and the peripherals that buyers will want most should be in the same stores on the same day.

New Email Lists for Mac Users
Dan Knight, manager of Low End Mac, and publisher the QuadList for users of Quadra Macs, has announced the creation of new machine-specific emailing lists.
"Three lists are spin-offs from the popular Quadlist, which was originally intended for users of 68040-based Macs. The list has diverged greatly, covering topics as diverse as compact Macs, G3s, Duos, clones, networking, monitor repair, upgrades, and more.
"To help bring focus and better serve the needs of subscribers, Quadlist now has three daughters: Vintage Macs, PowerBooks, and Power Macs.

• Vintage Macs covers primarily the 68000, 68020, and 68030-based Macs.
• PowerBooks covers primarily the portable Mac OS computers.
• Power Macs covers primarily the PPC-based Mac OS computers.
• Quadlist covers primarily 68040-based Macs.
• And, especially for those buying "fire sale" Umax SuperMac computers (and all those who beat us to the punch), SuperMacs will be geared primarily to the needs of SuperMac users.

Control Panel reminders
I have written this before, but for the benefit of new and recent readers, please be sure to make these changes to your Control Panels:

• Energy Saver: Open the panel, click More Choices, then click Separate Timing for Display Sleep. Slide the Put System to sleep option to Never, and the Separate Timing slider 30 minutes, one hour, or whatever you prefer your screen to switch off when the Mac is unattended. Do not choose the option for Hard Disk Sleep. Reason: Some Macs do not recover well from System or Hard Disk sleep and slow down dramatically after wakening, or outright freeze up. The monitor uses 90% of the system's power anyway; sleeping an Energy Star-compliant monitor saves all that energy. If you have an older monitor that is not compliant, at least your screen is turned off. Test for compliance: If the monitor comes back instantly after wake, it isn't really asleep and no energy is being saved. Forget about using Energy Saver and just physically switch the monitor off when not in use. It's okay to leave your Mac on 24 hours a day; or at least turn it on once in the morning and off at night.
• Norton Utilities FileSaver: Click on More options, then Preferences button, and then select the popup menu displaying the word General. Select Prevention, and uncheck Idle Time box. Do the same for the Protection options. Reason: Sometimes during an idle-time scan, the Mac does not recover from the scanning process. The symptom is your cursor toggles between the selection arrow and the life-savor icons, and things slow down noticeably. This is an unrepaired bug in Norton 3.5.x and affects multiple versions of the system software. The check-at-shutdown or -restart is all you need anyway, unless you seldom shut down, in which case you should do that every few days to allow FileSaver to check your drive.
• Quicktime Settings: Your first line of defense against some versions of the AutoStart Worm, aka Hong Kong Virus, you should open this control panel and uncheck the CD-ROM AutoStart option. Then go buy Virex. Norton Antivirus for Macintosh (NAV) has been updated to eliminate the data corruption problem, but I still recommend Virex anyway. And finally,
• Virex Control Panel: Click Preferences, then the Automatic icon and check the boxes for Floppy Disks, Hard Drives and both Ejectables (meaning Zips, etc.). These important settings are NOT part of the default install and you must do it yourself to be fully protected. Do not scan Server Volumes, especially if one of them is an NT server. It'll take forever and offer no additional protection, as long as everything else is scanned. To give yourself the option of not scanning every CD-ROM you plug in, or the same Zip over and over, choose the Ask First radio button. But be sure to ALWAYS scan a disk or cartridge the first time you see it, or you risk infection. The AutoStart Worm is all over Oregon and the rest of the planet, so be ready for it!

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.)