Mac Guide ®

What makes a Macintosh computer a Mac? It's primarily simply good, user-centered design . Good design is woefully infrequent in our lives. As Donald Norman observed in 1988, “well-designed objects are easy to interpret and understand. They contain visible clues to their operations. Alas, poor design predominates." ( The Design of Everyday Things , page 2). Moreover, designers too often ignore basic human nature:

"If an error is possible, someone will make it. The designer must assume that all possible errors will occur and design so as to minimize the chance of the error in the first place, or its effects once it gets made. Errors should be easy to detect, they should have minimal consequences, and, if possible, their effects should be reversible." Id, 36 .

Norman (Id, 179) provides guidelines for good design, and thus, also for bad design. To make something difficult to use: a) Make things invisible; b) Be arbitrary; c) Be inconsistent; d) Make operations unintelligible; e) Be impolite; and f) Make operations dangerous.

Good design helps users accomplish their tasks, and enjoy the process. Earlier studies demonstrated that Macintosh users generally more enjoy their computer work, more easily use diverse applications, and more readily learn advanced computer skills. For one set of comparisons between the Macintosh user experience and those other operating systems, see Apple's Switcher webpage, < http://www.apple.com/switch/ >.

By 2004, Norman realized that his earlier Everyday Design book was incomplete:

"Much of human behavior is subconscious, beneath conscious awareness. Consciousness comes late, both in evolution and also in the way the brain processes information; many judgments have already been determined before they reach consciousness. Both affect and cognition are information-processing systems, but they have different functions.

"The affective system makes judgments and quickly helps you determine which things in the environment are dangerous or safe, good or bad. The cognitive system interprets and makes sense of the world. Affect is the general term for the judgmental system, whether conscious or subconscious. Emotion is the conscious experience of affect, complete with attribution of its cause and identification if its object. Cognition and affect influence one another." ( Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things , page 11).

A puritanical view may see emotions as interfering with good decisions and with business. However, attention to emotions is critical for good decisionmaking. Many decisions have no simple rational solution, they are based on other or additional factors. Vanilla, chocolate, or Cherry Garcia ice cream; career path to pursue; marriage partner to pursue or reject. "A decision has to 'feel good,' or else it is rejected." ( Id, 12).

Norman discusses three interacting levels of emotion and their relation to product design. Product appearance impacts immediate, subconscious visceral emotion; pleasure and effectiveness of product use affects behavior; and personal satisfaction, self-image, memories, and other thoughts influence one’s mental reflections. ( Id, 39).

What does this engineering psychology have to do with the Macintosh? From the empirical research, Norman concludes aesthetically pleasing objects enable you to work better . ( Id, 10). "Without emotions, your decision-making ability would be impaired. Emotion is always passing judgments, presenting you with immediate information about the world. One of the ways by which emotions work is through neurochemicals that bathe particular brain centers and modify perception, decision-making, and behavior. These neurochemicals change the parameters of thought." ( Id. )

The original, colorful iMac computer created design emulations in diverse non-computer products. The iPod music player currently dominates our entertainment culture, both in market share and advertising style. In addition to their empirically successful attractiveness, iMacs and iPods have won praise for their unsurpassed ease of use. And people like their image with Apple products.

The Mac Mini G4 is small, cute, inexpensive, and powerful. Starting at US$499, it permits a Windows user to upgrade to Macintosh while using the Windows USB keyboard, mouse, and VGA/DVI monitor. At 6.5x6.5x2 inches, the Mac Mini readily travels.

The desktop iMac G5 continues Apple's good design tradition, providing meaningful computing power in an affordable two-inch-thin display. A Bluetooth keyboard and mouse eliminate desktop wire clutter. Easy Airport networking permits networks where Ethernet wiring would be difficult or expensive.

Organizations now have available the Macintosh Xserve G5, an industrial-strength server. It is available as a US$2999 base model or with dual G5 microprocessors, up to 16GB SDRAM, independent hot-pluggable serial ATA drive bays, fibre channel, and RAID (redundant array independent discs) for high fault-tolerant reliability.

Keychain USB 2.0 drives now offer inexpensive 128MB to 1GB storage, providing a super-sized sneakernet backup and transfer medium that fits on your keychain.

As digital information increasingly permeates our lives, the inherent fallibility of physical objects needs to be remembered . Computer components wear, and sometimes fail without warning. People make mistakes. Pets tumble water glasses. Gravity moves perilously perched packages. Backup, backup frequently, backup frequently and redundantly. Backup on separate media. Backup offsite. Apple's .Mac bundle of services provides the highly desired mac.com email domain, easy digital photo and web page publishing, and simple iDisk backups. AppleCare extended warranty service mitigates against the unpleasant financial costs of hardware disruptions. Oh, and remember to backup.

NexGuide

Apple Computer often leads with its innovative, user-centered, attractive, useable designs. Apple was an early adopter of variable font computers, hard-shell floppy disks, CD-ROMs, FireWire, wireless WiFi, DVD-enabled computers, and easy integration of entertainment functions on computers. Sometimes Apple changes and joins pre-existing equipment, often with Apple’s innovative and user-friendly integrative design. Operating System OS X was built on pre-existing Unix and Next programming, made more attractive and usable for the rest of us.

June 2005 Apple announced it will, over the next couple of years, adopt computer microprocessors (chips) from Intel. The original 1984 128KB RAM Macintosh shipped with a 68000 chip from Motorola. After 68020, 68030, and 68040 upgrades, Apple shifted to the PowerPC chip, jointly developed by Motorola and IBM. Since the first Macintosh, IBM dropped its typewriter business and more recently sold off its personal computer business to Lenovo; Motorola spun off microprocessor facilities to Freescale Semiconductor. Apple’s move to Intel is reportedly to gain faster, cooler, more power-efficient chips than IBM was able to deliver.

The Mac has always been defined by its good design, its usability, and the enjoyable experience of using a Mac . Using a Motorola computer chip, one can make a frustratingly difficult to use computer or an attractive, usable, enjoyable Mac. Using an Intel computer chip, one can make a frustratingly difficult to use computer or an attractive, usable, enjoyable one. We’ve already seen other companies make unreliable, difficult to use, virus prone, ugly computers. Apple generally doesn’t disrespect its users that way.

The announcement of Intel Macs--first the Mac Mini, then additional desktops and laptops--for some raises the question whether to buy a needed new computer now or wait. There is always new technology coming down the road. Some companies announce vaporware, new technology that never appears but may be intended to diminish purchase of competitors’ products. Apple tends to avoid vaporware.

Many in the United States, and other generally affluent nations, have been using personal computers for five, ten, or more years. Compare how you would work, research, communicate, buy, or entertain yourself without a computer. Typewriters, postal service mail, department stores, and magnetic audio tape can still be used, but with such differences in speed, quality, efficiency, and effectiveness, that few computer users would readily give up their machines.

Apple made a major transition from the 68000 chips to the PowerPC chips, and another major transition with OS X and its Unix base. Binary applications that worked for both the 68000 and PowerPC chips eased the first transition; Mac OS X Classic eased the second. The specifics of Apple’s new Intel Macintosh computers will not be announced and known for some time, however, given Apple’s two-decade commitment to user-centered design, it seems likely Apple will make the upcoming changes easy transitions for most users also.

So the answer is the same as it has been for years. Yes, new technology is coming. Major advances are just around the corner. And the likely the best time to get a new computer is when you need it. Consider the Macintosh line.

OpenGuide

For some time, Macintosh computers have readily connected with a wide range of networks, including Windows networks. (See < http://www.macwindows.com > for Macintosh-Windows integration information.) As has long been true of technology, often the harder problems are not technical but human. The personal computer, email, the Internet, websites, blogs, and egroups have increased the communication power of individuals, and opened a potential Pandora’s box of problems for individuals, groups, and organizations.

Email is virtually universal among computer users. Along with email comes the good, the bad, and the ugly: electronic bulleting board groups, spam and fraud, and impolite email practices.

The good—egroups . Yahoo, Google, and others offer free egroup services that let you start a group for your friends, family, club, or other organization, and to join a group with others who share your own particular interest. < http://groups.yahoo.com/ > and < http://groups-beta.google.com/ > . These are free online community and discussion group services. Groups can range from a half-dozen cousins keeping in touch, to several hundred professionals sharing concerns, to communities brought together by the interest in anything and everything from apples to zoos.

If you have a computer question, a computer user group is more likely to quickly and accurately answer your question than many computer company support websites. Often your question has already been asked and answered. Supplementing Apple’s support web information are the Apple Discussion groups, < http://discussions.info.apple.com/ >. Non-Apple egroups include MacInTouch, < http://www.macintouch.com >, MacFixIt, < http://macfixitforums.com/ >, and a flock of specialized egroups of The Macintosh Guy, < http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/ >. The Macintosh Guy initiates new lists when major new Apple hardware or software is introduced, as well as supporting vintage Mac platforms. (Also see < http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ > .)

There are three major ways members can receive information from most egroups: each individual post to the egroup is emailed to members; an approximately daily digest combining up to about 25 posts is emailed to members; or members receive no email but may review posts to the egroup on the egroup’s website. Relatively inactive egroups may have a few posts a week; very active egroups may have a hundred or more posts on many days. If you’re at your computer all day and need to be able to instantly respond to others in the egroup, remain with the individual email delivery option. However, many will find the digest delivery more convenient.

Many egroups permit anyone to browse the archives of past posts, but require subscriptions (generally free) to post messages or to automatically receive posts. To subscribe you generally need to agree to Terms of Service, which typically require all posts to be lawful and polite. Yahoo Terms of Service < http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ >, Google< http://www.google.com/intl/en/terms_of_service.html >, and Apple < http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?13@106.Q8WfapmcQ6N.0@.ee6bb48 >.

Netiquette includes using an informative subject line, including in your post only the minimal amount of earlier messages needed to provide the context for your post (but do include a few lines of context in your replies--some people will read your post days or weeks after the earlier posts to which you are responding); insuring you are not transmitting a computer virus; and not forwarding spam and fraudulent messages.

The bad—spam and fraud . “There is a catastrophe, forward this to everyone you know” is typically an alarming but false message. Many false Internet emails are reported at Snopes, < http://www.snopes.com/ >, and other sites: < http://urbanlegends.about.com/ >, < http://www.spamandscam.com/ >. For an official view on bad email messages, see the US Office of Cyber Security, Computer Incident Advisory Capability, < http://www.ciac.org/ciac/index.html >.

Let an improper thread of comments die rather than adding to its attention. A “flame” is a taunting, inflammatory post. "Trolls" seek to disrupt a constructive conversation by posting flames or specious arguments. Flames and other posts that are libelous, defamatory, indecent, harmful, harassing, intimidating, threatening, hateful, objectionable, discriminatory, abusive, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or offensive in a sexual, racial, cultural, or ethnic context are generally disfavored.

Most egroups have a moderator, generally the judge and jury for improper behavior. Generally, a moderator may send a private email warning to an offender, post a public reprimand, place a member on moderated status, so that all his or her messages must be approved by the moderator before they are posted to the group, and may expel a member.

The ugly—impoliteness . In some egroups, the moderator reviews everyone’s messages and must approve each before it is posted to the group. Other groups rely on common sense, or explicitly permit anything not unlawful. However, common sense is neither common nor universally similar. People differ substantially how candid they feel it is appropriate to be. The balance between candid discussion and self-censorship becomes more difficult when minors may be participants in an egroup. Groups develop their own norms.

If there is an egroup member whose posts you dislike or who is more outspoken than you feel appropriate, don’t read the messages. The header of posts identifies the poster and a subject. Just skip or delete what you don’t want to read. Sometimes egroup activity peaks, shifting for a day or weeks from ten posts a week to hundreds. Remember, you don’t have to read everything on the Internet, nor from your egroup.

Consider what you want to post and how revealing you want to be of your opinions and identity. Anything posted to the Internet may go anywhere, and may persist for years. On the Internet, nobody knows if you’re a dog, your age, gender, location, or appearance . It is easy to create and maintain a false identity on the Internet, including email address. Impersonating another person may not be lawful, but there are few Internet police. Likewise, in any email, consider who you want to receive a cc courtesy copy, and who you want to receive a bc blind copy. Generally long lists of addressees should be blind copied--some people don’t want their email addresses broadly disseminated.

Email is everywhere. But who owns what you post in a message? In the USA since 1978, a work receives copyright automatically, as soon as it is "fixed in a tangible means of expression," such as being written on paper or on a hard drive. Since 1989, no formal copyright notice (Copyright Elan 2005) is required, although such a notice is still often good practice to let others know a) the owner is claiming the work; b) who the copyright owner is; and c) if you add it, how to contact the owner, for example, via your email address.

So, if you write something for an egroup, save it to your computer hard drive, and then post it, you probably own the copyright to what you wrote.

Is it copyrightable? Short phrases are not copyrightable, nor are mechanical fact collections displaying no creativity--the names and addresses of all the members of an egroup, for example.

Are you the legal author? If you are an employee and you are writing for the company about company-related matters on company time on a company computer, then the company likely owns your writings as a work-made-for-hire.

When you post to an egroup, your posting will be governed by: copyright law; your contract with your Internet service provider (ISP); the group owner's contract with the group service provider, such as Yahoo; the egroup membership conditions, typically established by group owner on home page; all the other laws (defamation, stalking, interference with contractual relations, etc); the group members’ contracts with their ISPs (dealing with their reading of your post); for readers/posters outside the USA, other laws and agreements; and, for some folk, their personal moral and religious beliefs.

In the USA, balancing copyright restrictions on copying is the First Amendment and copyright fair use. The First Amendment is a foundation of an informed democratic citizenry, but it restricts government, not private organizations nor individuals. And as with any right, it is not absolute; there are often competing rights to be equitably balanced .

Whatever the copyright and contract results of authorship, ownership, fair use, and possible infringement, enforcement is quite a different matter, practically. Enforcement in USA requires identifying the potential defendant(s). For a USA lawsuit, you generally do need a registration certificate for your copyright. Copyright may be automatic, but you have to apply for the copyright registration.

Generally, for egroups and noncommercial computer communications, culture and collegiality are often more important than copyright and contract.

More information is available at the Copyright Office website, < http://www.copyright.gov >. KeganLaw's website also has FAQs and answers on intellectual property and new business ventures, < http://www.keganlaw.com >. Also on KeganLaw’s website, newsletters (Clippers) on the Web and Political Trademarks may be of interest.

YMMV Disclaimer. This is a general description, not applicable to any particular fact situation. If you have an important legal issue, promptly consult competent intellectual property counsel.

PowerGuide®

Electronic Internet groups facilitate communication. Whether among a family cousins group, collectors of Pez candy dispensers, Macintosh using attorneys < http://www.maclaw.org >, or your community volunteer organization, an egroup provides many easy functions. Currently egroups on Yahoo and Google are free.

Egroups provide an electronic bulletin board , letting all members of the group read the posts of other members. Egroups can do much more. Yahoo Groups, for example, offers live chat, posted files, posted photos, posted links, databases, calendars, and polls.

An Internet “chat room” lets people instantly message others in the room. Many email providers limit large attached files, and some egroup members dislike any attachments. The egroup posted files area permits members to post large files, a brief notice of the post is sent to members, and those who wish to download the file may do so when they want. Likewise, links to other websites of interest to the members may be posted.

Yahoo permits egroups to set up several databases, up to ten variables (columns) per database, and many rows. Typical databases may include additional information about egroup members (last name, first name, state, city and address, phone, comments on group issues, etc), upcoming regional meetings, favorite books/ movies/ recipes, etc.

Yahoo polls offer several moderator-set options: vote for only one or for one or more of the choices; display results during polling or only when poll is closed; display or hide identity of each voter. Polls can be for group-elected moderators, for books to collectively read, or for anything.

Egroups, being composed of humans, will develop disputes . Disputes may be reduced if the purpose of the group is clearly stated on the egroup’s home page, and reiterated in an introductory message with netiquette guidelines sent to new members. (Yahoo Groups can automate this initial email welcome message.) However, in time, some members will do things to offend others.

A good group moderator remembers that members are human, and thus they sometimes will neglect to edit messages to which they are replying, will inadvertently include a whole digest in their message, will use intemperate language, and otherwise violate both egroup and service provider rules. If the egroup is to survive and mature, gentle off-list reminders generally function better than harsh messages posted to the whole group.

However, an egroup is generally not a democracy. A particular person, the egroup owner, starts an egroup, serves as or appoints other moderators, and invites members. The original owner may wish to appoint a co-owner; useful insurance in case the owner becomes unable to attend to the group, for health, inclination, or computer causes.

If the group values its posted information and archives, keep your own backups on your own computers; don’t trust the service provider to maintain them.

Power Moderation . Moderating an egroup is simple, but there are a few tips that will make egroup life easier for you and more enjoyable for your egroup members.

First, review the preferences and options available to the moderator. Do you want to let anyone join the group or do you want to approve all requests? Do you want to let anyone post to the group or do you want proposed messages approved first by a moderator? Can anyone post a photo, a file, a web link, or a database entry; can anyone modify a database record that has already been entered? Will you share moderation tasks and privileges with a few others?

It is helpful if you have at least two email addresses, in different domains, and give yourself full owner privileges at both email addresses. That way, if one email account does down for a while and the egroup provider removes you from your own egroup for “bouncing” email, you have a decent chance of maintaining control through your secondary email address.

Likewise, after several weeks of egroup activity, you will probably identify a couple of individuals with judicious, concise, member-supportive posts. Consider inviting a couple of these wise individuals--they largely share your values and style--to be formal or informal co-moderators or advisory members. When you have a tough decision to make--whether to place an outspoken member on moderated post status or to eject them from the egroup--having more than your single perspective will help, especially if you are personally attacked. However impartial you wish to be, it is helpful to have another voice concur or temper your initial judgment.

If you value the group, ensure someone you trust has your egroup logon and passwords, especially if you don’t have a co-owner for the group. Disability may strike without warning. Just as with identifying your financial assets, maintaining a reasonably updated will, and providing lawful instructions of your life-support preferences, ensure that your egroup can survive and flourish if you cannot maintain moderator responsibilities.

Pay special attention to how your egroup is classified by the egroup provider. Once you are tagged as an “adult” group, you may not be able to change, even if your adulthood is exploring poly-syllable Middle English prose rather than triple-X prurient pictures.

Tips for scanning and posting digital images to a website and, if desired, egroup DVDs (abstracted from suggestions by videographer Sandra Butler, San Francisco). Scan at the highest available resolution, at least 120 ppi (pixels per inch) resolution, 150 ppi is better. Make the primary scan into TIFF format (no information lost) and if you have time then Save As, or rescan, as JPEG or GIF (compressed format). If someone will touch up the scanned photos (color, brightness, etc) that task is easier and quality better working from uncompressed TIFF files. If a page to be scanned is only text, results are likely somewhat better scanning in black & white mode, but if switching modes is bothersome for volunteer scanners, acceptable images result with all scans in RGB color, or grayscale for non-color. Use a logical, simple, convention for titling scanned files, whether one or many people are now working on the project. For example, “GpYBnnnnppp” for GroupName, Yearbook, year, and page. Save the high-memory TIFF images offline, by at least two-reliable egroup members, for possible DVDs; post the compressed JPEG images (about 72 ppi) on the egroup website. A 5MB TIFF may compress beautifully to a 100KB JPEG, which will load quickly in the viewer’s browser.

WinGuide

Computer users, especially users of Windows operating system, continue to be plagued by viruses (malevolent computer files that spread among computers). One common strain attacks the user’s address book, sending spam (mass, unsolicited email) messages to the addresses found in the address book. The user’s friends and colleagues get spam, and the user’s own inbox may be flooded with could-not-deliver and did-not-deliver notices. Moreover, some Internet Service Providers, having found the user to be a spammer, may block the user’s legitimate email.

Just displaying the text of a virus-infected-email can launch the executable programming code and infect your computer. The solution is two-fold: a reliable, updated virus-blocking program and even more importantly, healthy skepticism. Don’t read suspect emails, delete them. Many mail programs can filter suspect spam to a separate folder. Skim a few dozen subject lines and sender addresses and you’ll soon learn the pattern to identify highly likely spam. The Macintosh platform rarely is attacked by disabling viruses. However, Macintosh computers can receive Windows viruses and retransmit them to Windows users.

Spoof email appears to be from a legitimate institution, such as a bank or PayPal, and typically requests you click a webpage link to confirm or update your account. These are usually phishing ploys to obtain your personal information, credit card number, account password, and the like. Because of prevalent spoofs, most legitimate institutions won’t have a hyperlink in their email.

Beyond spam and viruses, computer users need to attend to security . Most people have some information on their computer they don’t want broadly disseminated: personal notes, a personal address book, passwords for ecommerce sites such as Amazon, eBay, and iTunes. Basic security suggests using easy to remember and use but difficult to guess passwords. Names of children and birthdays are not secure passwords. The first letters of a personal favorite song or poem is much more secure. For example, tlhfck12 was generated from the first six of the Boy Scout Laws, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind.

Don’t use the same password for all your accounts. If security is breached, some accounts will remain secure. Most users will acquire dozens of passwords, and thus will need a list to record them. Don’t trust your memory. However, don’t place your list near your computer, either. Keep your main password list stored in an encrypted format, with a program that can readily decrypt.

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates privacy and security for health-related information. < http://www.cms.hhs.gov/hipaa/ >. Organizational computer security should consider: a) changing passwords every 93 days for all users; b) not reusing old passwords; c) using passwords at least 6 characters long, ideally mixing case-sensitive letters and numbers; d) automatically logging out a user after 10 minutes of non-use.

What happens if your computer dies or needs repair? That’s why you maintain a recent backup of all your critical data and files offsite. Typically, you can keep a copy of your home computer information at work, and a copy of your work information--subject to your employer’s regulations, safely at home, or with a trusted neighbor or relative. Computer information is more widely distributed than it was two decades ago; reasonable security precautions are prudent.

HyperGuide

HIGHLIGHTS From prior Hyper Guide and Mac Guide issues.

< http://www.promo.net/pg > Project Gutenberg, 6000 public domain ebooks.
< http://www.macdesktops.com > Pretty pictures for Mac desktop, place in Home>Pictures folder
< http://www.osxfaq.com/Tutorials/LearningCenter > Mac OS X Unix tutorial
< http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists > Helpful elists on lots of Mac topics
< http://www.info.apple.com/usen/cip > Do it yourself, user installable parts info
< http://www.diveintoaccessibility.org > Website design for broad accessibility
< http://www.section508.gov > Federal guidelines, public access to resources
< http://www.apple.com/retail/ > Apple’s Retail Stores
< http://home.mindspring.com/ ~lawjeff/lobby.htm> Senate and House Representatives
< http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=20 > Perspectives on current journalism
< http://www.versiontracker.com > Download latest versions of freeware and shareware, weblinks to commercial software
< http://www.everyrule.com > For sports, games & etiquette
< http://www.runsdeep.com > Instantly accurate sports scheduling for schools and clubs

SEARCH
< http://www.google.com >
< http://www.froogle.com > Google's comparison shopper
< http://www.google.com/mac.html > Google Macintosh topics
< http://scholar.google.com > Google targeted for academic and scholarship research
< http://www.soople.com > Easy front-end for Google searches
< http://www.firstgov.gov > Portal for federal and state government websites
< http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml > FirstGov portal for seniors
< http://searchenginewatch.com > Analysis how search engines work

REFERENCE
< http://www.gurunet.com >
< http://www.answers.com >
< http://www.about.com >
< http://www.refdesk.com >
< http://www.anywho.com > AT&T's online yellow, white, reverse phone directory.
< http://www.hoovers.com/free/ > Corporate information
< http://www.archive.org > Internet Archive of past webpages, Way Back Machine
< http://www.babelfish.com > Language translations
< http://www.netlingo.com > Dictionary of Internet terms
< http://www.acronymfinder.com >
< http://www.fedstats.gov >
< http://www.charitynavigator.org >
< http://www.tigernt.com/onlineDoc/2005_2010.html > US & CN Holidays 2005-2010

COMPUTERS & INTERNET
< http://www.wotsit.org > File extensions, formats, and other programmer resources
< http://www.maclaw.org > Macintosh user group for attorneys and law professionals
< http://www.macintouch.com > Mac news & information
< http://mac.wikicities.com/wiki/Main_Page > Mac knowledge base, user contributions
< http://www.yourmaclife.com > Shawn King's web Mac broadcasts
< http://www.atpm.com > About This Particular Macintosh.
< http://www.networksolutions.com > NSI WhoIs
< http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html > Google Zeitgeist--Top search trends
< http://www.xlr8yourmac.com > Upgrade (accelerate) your Mac computer
< http://macs.about.com/od/manuals/a/manuals_2.htm > About's Mac User Guides & Repair Manuals
< http://www.fixyourownprinter.com >
< http://www.macwindows.com > Mac-Windows integration
< http://www.keynoteuser.com > For Mac Keynote presentation software
< http://www.iworkusers.org > For iWork Mac software
< http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_dye.shtml > CD/DVD dyes & reliability
< http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm > CD/DVD disc quality & reliability
< http://www.jiwire.com > WiFi hot spots
< http://www.wifinder.com > WiFi hot spots
< http://tinyurl.com > Avoid emails breaking long URL (web addresses)
< http://www.videohelp.com >
< http://www.vintage-computer.com >
< http://www.useit.com > Jakob Nielsen on website usability & design
< http://colorfilter.wickline.org > View webpages as seen by color-blind persons
< http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html > Resolving kernel panics

WEB SECURITY & SANITY
< http://www.snopes.com > Urban legends, myths, fake virus alerts, etc
< http://www.ciac.org/ciac/index.html > US, Cyber Security, Incident reports
< http://www.419eater.com > Nigerian 419 (& other) fraudulent solicitations
< http://www.j-walk.com/other/conf > 3d Annual Nigerian Email Conference
< http://redwing.hutman.net/ ~mreed/index.htm> Flame Warriors by Mike Reed

TRAVEL
< http://www.cdc.gov/travel > CDC Travelers' Health, National Center for Infectious Diseases
< http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis_pa_tw_1168.html > US Dept State, Travel info
< http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook > US CIA World Factbook

FUN
< http://www.virtual-bubblewrap.com/popnow-insane.shtml > Bubble Wrap
< http://www.njagyouth.org/Liberty_.htm > Fireworks
< http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html >
Properly place the US States
< http://www.darwinawards.com > Darwin Awards
< http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/ ~pizza/pizzaweb.html>
< http://www.lileks.com/institute/index.html > Gallery of Regrettable Food

HUMANITIES
< http://www.gutenberg.org > Free ebooks, 15,000 public domain texts
< http://www.imdb.com > The Internet Movie Database
< http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu > Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
< http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/index.html > Shakespearean Insults
< http://www.readinggroupguides.com/index.asp > Guides for reading groups

PSYCHOLOGY
< http://www.apa.org > American Psychological Association
< http://www.siop.org > Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
< http://www.ciop.net > Chicago Industrial/Organizational Psychologists
< http://www.illinoispsychology.org > Illinois Psychological Association
< http://www.masspsych.org/index1.html > Massachusetts Psychological Association
< http://www.apa.org/psychologists/resilience.html > Fostering Resilience- Response to Terrorism
< http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/mentalhealth/bestpracticesguide.shtml >
Mental Health Best Practices Resource Guide
< http://www.theinfinitemind.com > Public Radio, The Infinite Mind
< http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov > US HHS Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator
< http://www.socialimpactgames.com > Video & computer games--more than entertainment
< http://www.jnd.org > Donald Norman on design of everyday things, emotional design, etc.

SCIENCE
< http://www.aaas.org > American Association for the Advancement of Science
< http://www.fas.org/main/home.jsp > Federation of American Scientists
< http://home.howstuffworks.com > How Stuff Works.
< http://hubblesite.org/gallery/wallpaper > Hubble Space Photos, for Monitor wallpaper
< http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10 > Powers of Ten
< http://www.quackwatch.org > Quackery, Health Fraud, Etc by Stephen Barrett
< http://www.embarrassingproblems.co.uk > Embarrassing Problems & their solutions
< http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/medlineplus.html > US NIH Medline Plus health info
< http://www.spaceweather.com > Space (Sun-Earth) Weather

LAW
< http://www.illinoislegalaid.org > Illinois Legal Aid, by Chicago-Kent College of Law
< http://www.ilga.gov > Illinois General Assembly
< http://www.state.il.us/court/CircuitCourts/JuryInstructions/default.htm > IL Jury Instructions
< http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage > Hear US Supreme Court cases
< http://www.illinoislegalaid.org//index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=784 >
Guidebook of Laws and Programs for People with Disabilities
< http://www.illegal-art.org > Art & Freedom of Expression
< http://www.americanpresidents.org > CNN on American Presidents
< http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov > US Federal Court Case Pleadings & Opinions
< http://www.uspto.gov > US Patent and Trademark Office
< http://www.copyright.gov > US Copyright Office
< http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/rules.htm > FTC Spam Rules
< http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/grnrule/guides980427.htm > Environmental Marketing Claims Guide
< http://oami.eu.int/en/default.htm > Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (EU)
< http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/urls.jsp > World Intellectual Property Organization, News
< http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa > US HHS HIPAA, Medical Privacy

All information subject to change; check out your own needs; no warranty from Élan.