Kieran - thank you so much! I could have sworn I tried that but I obviously did not! :rolleyes:

I'm not telling my pals who told me so they will think I'm a Mac Ace! :)

Haha.. go for it! :D

There's a lot of hidden shortcuts like that. They just need hunting out! :D

Not really, the majority are listed here.

However.... there's also some fun you can have with Spotlight, for example :

Want to find photos taken at an iso lower than 400 ?
Want to find documents with more than 10 pages ?

Depends on the available metadata, but you can get a full list of options to play with using the following command :

Mystery photo in e-mail
 

Question from a non-Mac-user....

"Herself" uses a Mac-book, with OS-X

Since several days she suddenly finds herself with a small photo of herself (about "avatar-size") in the top right hand corner of every e-mail she writes (using 'Mail').
She has no use for this feature/bug, and would like to get rid of it.

She has been 'playing' recently with something called 'PhotoBooth' (?) and the photo was probably taken at that time by the camera in the Mac-book (as confirmed by the background of the photo).
However, she has no memory of having clicked on anything that would have inserted the photo in her e-mail template.

She's tried 'Apple Support', but they want to charge 57 euros for an answer.... :ugh:

Does anybody here have an answer to this riddle, and a solution for getting rid of the photo?

Christian (PC user)

Surely a (free) post on the Apple website under their Support Forums would have sufficed for such a simple question. Either that, or a Google. :E

Anyhow, here's the answer you're looking for....

How can I remove my photo from messages in Apple Mail? | Mac|Life

From what 'herself' said, she'd tried both, without finding a clear answer. Don't blame me....
It didn't work exactly as it said on the box... but after a bit more 'cleaning out' of various related odds and ends, the photo is now gone.
So, many thanks! PPRuNe at its best.

CJ

ChristiaanJ,

Have covered this in my PM.

For the public record, in short.... sorry. :cool:

FSX for Macbook pro
 

Hello fellow flyers

I'd like to know if it's possible to have FSX with the new PMDG installed on the macbook pro?knowing that apple has windows for mac,any compatibilities.Any help is appreciated

Hi,
FSX can be run on a MBP using 'BootCamp'.
Steps required are:

• Set up BootCamp using the instructions provided by Apple .(this basically creates a second partition on your drive)
• Install WindowsXP on this new partition
• Install FSX.

If you hold down the option key at startup you can choose to boot into MacOS or Windows.

Hey captainpeter
Thanks very much for the help,but by using the Bootcamp i can exclusively run it on apple if i want,or only on windows side?Will there be any graphics issues?Thanx for the help

Windows only I'm afraid.

There won't be any graphics issues. Apple has been using commodity PC hardware for their Macs for some time now. These days a Macintosh computer is simply a standard Intel PC running Apple's operating system rather than Microsoft's.

There are 3 ways to run windows apps on Apple hardware.

1. BootCamp: you choose the OS when starting the computer. Native performance for both OS's.
2. Virtualisation: (using VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop, ..). Windows runs like an application in a window of MacOS - which is very convenient for productivity apps but often too slow for games.
3. WINE based: (using CrossOver) Emulates Windows (i.e. no Windows installation necessary). You only install the PC Application and CrossOver fakes the necessary Windows parts around it to make it work.

Only #1 works with FSX.
#1 & #2 work with FS2004

I would use option #1 with a small Windows partition of 10 GB if FSX is the only MS app you would like to use.

Mac Mail Problems
 

I have raised this before and took it to an Apple Genius bar in SFO last month. Problem still remains.

Basicly, Mail freezes as far as receiving emails once it has been selected and has downloaded any messages. After this download it will not download any further messages however long it is left. It then will not shutdown. I select quit, the mail page goes but the account page appears and I have to use Force Quit to close it. Next start-up exactly the same happens. This has happened since installing Snow Leopard.

The Genius bar were helpful, reloaded mail, checked my macbook, said my hard-drive was a little slow but OK. Still have the mail problem.

Can't find any suggestions or tips anywhere so a few more ideas would be appreciated. I'm thinking I might need a new hard drive.:confused:

Hi BusyB,

Are you using IMAP or POP3 protocol to retrieve email in Mail ?
What version of OS X are you running ?

Hi Mixture,

IMAP and 10.7.1

:{

Maybe it's choking on one particular malformed/corrupt e-mail? Any chance you can download & then delete all the e-mail using another mail client, computer or a browser interface?

It's IMAP not POP3 le Pingouin, therefore protocol only downloads headers by default unless configured otherwise.


BusyB...

For testing purposes, could you perhaps try another mail client such as Thunderbird to see if the problem can be replicated there. At least then we can determine whether it's on your mac or your ISP.

Following LP's thoughts I tried but failed to export my emails to Outlook so had a look at my mailboxes. I deleted the RSS files and Mail now Quits normally. I'll monitor it over the next few days and see if it keeps behaving.

Thanks for your suggestions guys.:ok:

Greetings fellow macsters. I checked the software update app yesterday and it showed 2 updates ready (should I so wish as normal). I decided to go ahead with them and pressed download. The 2 files comprised of approx 250mb and I would expect with my highly contentioned (?) line to take 15mins to download that as per normal, however it jumped straight into a verification/installation phase and they were in the system within 3mins.....This leads me to suspect that Apple have started to 'pre-load' available downloads and just wait for the user to say yes by pressing the nice blue button, whereas before the user had to agree before anything would download. I have changed nothing in the last while on the mac, so this is why I am of the mind that Apple has changed the process. Has anybody else noticed this ?


SHJ

SpringHeeledJack,

Yup, as of 10.7.x, it can now pull and notify.... rather than just notify and pull on demand.

If you go to your Software Updates System Preferences, you will see an appropriately labeled checkbox (only two to choose from, so I'll leave which one as an exercise to the reader ... :E)

Bear in mind that it only downloads and doesn't install.... so you're not actually risking anything by letting it do that

Thanks Mr Mixture, I thought that I was imagining it for a moment. Did Apple inform 'us' of this change or did it just happen along the way ?

Secondly......Would one of the experts here please be so kind to explain to me in simple terms what is the purpose of empdaemons and what do they do exactly ? Thankyou!


SHJ

Think it just happened. But then it is quite a minor feature really, because it only downloads them, doesn't automatically install them which would be a more major thing.

Where did you find that term ?

A daemon in a computing sense is a background process. Traditionally the processes end with the letter d to reflect this (e.g. sshd).

They do a variety of useful things on a Mac, e.g. whenever you print stuff, cupsd takes care of that (point your web browser to localhost:631 .... cupsd will say hello ! ), launchd takes care of startup processes etc. etc.

Therefore my guess is that an empdaemon is something along those lines ? But let us know the context of the question as it's not immediately clear.

Thanks for the answers. When using the internet, just reading a basic webpage I noticed the router lights flickering away like crazy and wondered what it was, so checked the processes and there at the top using 20.3% was 'empdaemon' and after googling it (and not being any the wiser) decided to ask here :) I'm curious because it was obviously doing some communicating with..whom/whatever and as I was just reading a static text page there seemed no reason to be a busy bee working hard in the background, especially for a few minutes.



SHJ

empdaemon would appear to be associated with Elmedia Player. CPU usage doesn't equate to download activity & elpdaemom appears to be a known CPU hog so is probably just sitting sucking up cycles.

As a new convert to Mac (two weeks now, and, Man, it feels GREAT) there are lots of things to learn about how to use it, and to get the Microshyster out of my brain.

All in all the Apple and Mac side of everything works really well, and I have no issues with anything. Out of the box it just works, and really well (I can't compare with what went before such as Snow Leopard and so on) but Lion is working for me.

The problems come when I try to use Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac. It all looks good when you spark it up, but then it starts playing silly beggars. For example when I imported contacts from the old Outlook contacts, and added some birthdays to the contact cards. I expected to see them in the calendar, but not so lucky. So I added a 'reminder' which showed the birthdays in the calendar, but all a day early. I think the problem was a difference between the computer's time zone (I am Z+3 at the moment, and the default time zone in the appointment card). But even turning time zone off didn't help. So after several wasted hours I gave up on Outlook. ICal works well though.

The reason for trying to make Outlook work is that I have (ducks to avoid flack for being stupid) a Windows Phone 7... Live and learn: windows phone 6 was pretty good: the assumption that 7 would be better was just plain wrong. I don't think that wp7 works with Mac at all: I am not too bothered.

I hope to be able to contribute her at least a little bit, and thanks to all have left some ideas already!

Not sure if this helps, but when I went from Windows to Mac using both 'Outlooks' you had to convert everything to a pst file before Mac outlook would read it. This included calender events and contacts At the time I was using outlook 2008 for Mac and now I use outlook 2011 and transferred everything without a problem.

Maybe this link might help

Import a .pst file from Outlook for Windows

When I create events in Outlook on my work PC, sorry I don't have Office on a Mac to compare, but the reminders for events are always earlier than the event itself. For meetings at specific times, the default is a reminder 15 minutes before. An all day event, like a birthday, the default reminder period is 18 hours before the event.

Hi guys I'm looking for B737-700/800 CBT software to run on a Mac. Any advise where to get it from?
Thanks

CPAT and run it in VMware/Parallels/Bootcamp.... your choice.

Anybody using Ipad SSL VPN with RDP?
 

I am looking at a Sonicwall TZ100 router which does SSL VPN too.

This is to replace some Draytek 2900 routers which do PPTP VPN only.

Sonicwall do not reply to questions, except via their forum and the access to that is done using a product serial number ;)

Their FAQ says

>Overview / Scenario:
>
>User will connect to the SonicWALL SSL-VPN portal from IPad and tries to launch bookmarks like RDP, VNC, fileshare, Citrix...etc, but will fail to connect. Generally, all MAC Desktops or Laptops use Java as they do not provision ActiveX component on their browsers. In this case of IPad, Apple does not support Java and hence we get an error while trying to access any of the services which is mentioned above. The access will be limited only to URL resources.
>
>Again, please do note that Apple DOES NOT provision Java on IPad and since there is no alternative, we will not be able to launch the above-mentioned services.
>
>Workaround/Resolution: Not Available as Apple does not support Java on IPad.

I do not understand what that means.

At the simplest, a VPN gives you (at the client) a network connection (an IP).

Applications like RDP (I am interested only in RDP, or also PC/Anywhere if the client is a windoze XP laptop) just connect to that IP.

What does lack of Java got to do with that?

If one could not use RDP with the Ipad SSL VPN, what is the point of products like this (being an IOS developer they do not do much replying either ;) ).

If the Ipad SSL VPN does not provide a straight "local network" IP, then almost nothing will be able to use it.

Buying I-Pad in the USA
 

I am just about to holiday in Florida and I am going to treat myself to an I-Pad2 for $499 (£325ish). Does anyone know if the $499 is a walk out the door price, or are taxes added???????

IO540,

SSL VPN products use java/active-x tools in order to enforce endpoint security.

That is, requirements that sysadmin specifies prior to allowing access to resources (e.g. anti-virus software present etc.).

Surely you've read the manual for your aventail box ? The above is a basic operating concept. :E

The obvious work-around to your problem is to configure your normal packet-filter / proxy firewall to allow the RDP port. Ensuring of course that you take appropriate security precautions, as RDP exposed directly to the outside world is not recommended (and there is a virus doing the rounds at the moment that exploits this fact, even if it does somewhat rely on dictionary attacks).

Second option might be to switch vendors and get a Juniper box instead (see YouTube demos of Junos Pulse etc).

The newer Draytek routers do SSL-VPN if you require (alongside PPTP/IPSec)

I have 1 Sonicwall as a legacy device at one of my customer sites. Can't wait to get rid of it - it may be reliable, but it's not great from a usage POV.

Sure, which is why one would run RDP only via a VPN.

If one cannot get the VPN up (e.g. lack of password) then one will not reach the internal network on which the RDP server is sitting, surely?

Are you saying there is an issue there, e.g. the Ipad is prone to connecting without the VPN being up?

That is certainly a problem in a normal "travelling laptop" scenario where you open a VPN to your office (e.g. to check your POP email securely) but if the VPN connection drops, the email client will happily carry on making the access without the VPN ;)

With a browser one can force VPN-only operation.

I am trying to get rid of Drayteks. We have some 2900s here and they work fine but VPN stuff is very buggy. And the seg.co.uk support forums suggest that the new Drayteks are little better.

Are you able to elaborate?

taxes added

Thanks for that. :ouch: To save the cost of a call, any idea how much?

I have been deploying 2820s now for a few years and have one here at home. Very solid VPN reliability, but a PITA to configure with no meaningful logs.

If you want to go upmarket a tad, the Fortigate products are very good.

Indeed. Or one of the Microsoft perimiter security software solutions.

If that's how the sysadmin has configured your perimiter, yes.

If VPN has been configured as your only way in, then that wil be your only way in.

The iPad (or any other device) can only connect to what you have opened up on your network perimiter. Don't open up the VPN port and it can't connect to that either.

Only if your sysadmin has configured such a fallback mechanism.

As above.

tax is different from state to state, when I was in Seattle it was around 10% could be more or less, google will probably tell you.

I nearly bought one when I was there, but when you add the cost of a power adapter (£26) and you can't just take it back should it go wrong, didn't seem worth the £40 saving, yes I know it has a warranty, far easier to take it to the shop you purchased it from.

If you are looking at a 3G sim card one, they are locked to the provider, AT&T or Verizon, so another reason not to buy it.

some peripherals were cheaper, cases etc.

AIUI, if you have a standard NAT router, then the only way in from the outside will be

1) Via any open ports (and then there has to be a machine on the internal LAN, on the port-forwarded IP, which does something with the packets, e.g. a web server on port 80)

2) Via a VPN (comment as above - e.g. an RDP server)

3) Via some way which hacks NAT. I don't know of any such method, but possibly one might get in via a port which was previously opened by some internal machine accessing some external resource.

That seems to be the default position, anyway.

With PC/Anywhere, some people opened up the two PC/A ports in their routers, and relied on the PC/A authentication etc for security. I have always thought that was a stupid idea, because a hacker could just forget PC/A and feed all kinds of malformed packets to that machine; all kinds of such hacks have been developed.
I think you know far more about this than I do...

What I was getting at is the example I gave, where a VPN failure will result in the app trying to do plaintext logins (pop3, ftp, htaccess, etc) over an open network.

There is no easy way to stop that, because of the usually indeterminate way in which different apps fall back onto whatever network connection happens to be available.

If the RDP client on the Ipad can be forced to use only a VPN, that is OK, but what if not? VPNs are notoriously unreliable, especially on a GPRS/3G connection. The ither week I was in Greece, on a Cosmote 3G SIM card (2GB for 7 days), which disconnected you every few minutes. So the VPN will bomb after a few mins, and whatever app you are running over it may retry the login...