Posted by Matt Shultz on Macintouch

Working with a Genius at the Apple Store, we came up with a solid work-around for an issue (that I hope will become a recognized bug) in Address Book 6.1 under Lion 10.7.3.

Deleting members of a group does not effectively remove those members from receiving email. Apparently, AB 6.1 caches these names pretty firmly. As I initially was, this Store Genius was also surprised that a deletion in a previously created group was not honored. This is easily repeatable.

However, simply changing the name of the group after deleting the recipients desired, quitting AB 6.1 & then re-launching, will produce the desired results.

Here’s hoping this tip prevents disaster somewhere

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Adobe Flash Player Install Manager (the application) checks for updates automatically, and will present you with a window asking if you want to continue with the install. That’s a legitimate application from Adobe. If you see something that looks like a Flash Player install window, and the app name is not exactly Adobe Flash Player Install Manager, quit the app immediately.

If you’re ever in doubt — or if it just makes you more comfortable — you can quit Adobe Flash Player Install Manager, go direct to Adobe.com and click on the Flash Player link (at the lower right when I just checked). The next page will allow you to download the Flash Player installer dmg. Open that, run the app inside, and you’ll get the same window as if Adobe Flash Player Install Manager started itself. It’s incredibly unlikely that Adobe’s site could be hacked, so this is a very safe way to keep Flash Player up to date. And, unless you never have Flash turned on, you need to keep Flash Player up to date.

Adobe Flash Player Install Manager can also be used to uninstall Flash Player.

Thanks to Stephen Hart

Additionally, depending on your OS (this works in Lion, at least) there is a Flash pane in System Preferences, where an option can be set to check for updates. If you click on it you’re taken to Adobe’s page where your Flash version is checked and the current version is noted, and if you don’t have the current version you’re directed to Adobe’s download page.

This is a sure way to keep Flash updated safely.

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OSXDaily posted today a list of 24 multi-touch gestures used by Mac OS X and compatible hardware… newer Mac laptops and touch pads, and commonly used Mac apps.

Finder, Mission Control, and Desk

top

• Push Windows Aside to Show Desktop – Four Finger Spread
• Activate Mission Control – Four Finger Swipe up
• Switch Desktops & Full Screen Apps – Three finger swipe left or right
• Mission Control All Windows for Current Application – Four Finger swipe down
• Zoom Into Window in Mission Control – Two finger swipe up over window
• Open Launchpad – Four finger pinch
• Drag Windows – Three finger hold and drag over window bar
• Tap to Click – Tap with a single finger
• Right-Click – Two finger click
• Scroll – Two finger swipe in direction to scroll

Safari, Chrome, Firefox

• Zoom In & Increase Font Size – Spread
• Zoom Out & Decrease Font Size – Pinch
• Go Back – Two Finger swipe right
• Go Forward – Two Finger swipe left
• Look Up Word in Dictionary – Three fingered double tap over word (Safari only)
• Smart Zoom – Two finger double tap (Safari only)

Quick Look & QuickTime Player

• Enter Full Screen – Spread
• Exit Full Screen – Pinch
• Scrub Video – Two finger swipe right or left (QuickTime only)

Preview

• Rotate Image – Two finger rotate gesture
• Zoom Into Image – Spread
• Zoom Out Image – Pinch

Misc

• Flip Calendar Pages – Two finger swipe left or right (iCal)
• Refresh Tweet Stream – Two finger pull down (Twitter)

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One question I’ve heard a lot recently is “how can I securely send or share files, so only the person intended can read them?”

One solution is Dropkey, currently available on the Mac App Store for $19.99.

Check here to see the web site and download a trial, and let me know how you like it.

One thing I’m not yet sure of but have inquired about is if I send files to Windows users, will this work? Also, if Mac users don’t use Address Book, but Outlook or another app for contacts, will it work?

I’ll post the answers to these questions when I receive them.

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MacFixIt’s Topher Kessler has a great post addressing this. I highly suggest you read it carefully.

In part:

if you are browsing the Web and see a notice pop up about the need to update Reader, there are several things you can do.

1. Do not trust it
Immediately be skeptical of any automatic software update, especially those for Flash or Reader. Instead of accepting it and downloading the update, check the interface for any apparent typos or grammar errors, and if found, then close it down. Additionally, check online by simply doing a Google search (or more accurately visiting Adobe’s support site) to see if any updates have been recently issued.

Right-click the Flash installer package in the Dock, and reveal it in the Finder to see if it is in your user account or in a location that would first require authentication before the program could be placed there.

2. Standalone application
Adobe’s updates are automatically distributed via utilities such as Update Adobe Flash Player, which are run from the Adobe Flash Player Install Manager program that is installed when you install Flash or Reader. To see if this program is what is running, right-click the installer icon in the Dock and select the option to show it in the Finder.

If the program is in your downloads folder, or somewhere in your user account, then do not trust it and throw it out. However, if it is in the /Applications or /Applications/Utilities/ folder, then it suggests the program is legitimate, since installing to these locations would first require a username and password (as is needed when installing Flash for the first time).

3. Quit your browser
Often malware will be presented as a download from within a specially crafted browser window that displays a Web page which is intended to look like a program running on your system. If you see a notice to install Flash, and then quit your Web browser and the notice goes away, then this is a good indication that it is not legitimate and is likely an attempt to lure you into downloading malicious software.

If you observe these three steps when dealing with an automatic update window that suddenly appears, you should be able to better avoid malware attempts on your system.

As a final note, the easiest method by far for avoiding malware attempts when updating your programs (any software, and not just Adobe’s) is to avoid the automatic update solutions altogether. Instead, enable them to notify you when an update is available, and then only download the update directly from the developer. By doing this you will be sure the software you download is legitimate and up-to-date. In the case of Adobe’s products, you can easily get them from the following Web pages:

• Adobe Flash Player
• Adobe Reader

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Unless you’re using a mouse and/or tablet exclusively, you’re like me, and have your hands on the keyboard most of the time. I, for one, resent the time and effort it takes to move my hand from the keyboard to the mouse, click or drag something, then back to the keyboard. I love shortcuts, because they keep me more productive.

Sure, it only takes a second or two to mouse up to the menubar, but it interrupts my train of thought, and over the course of time, adds up considerably.

So, I use a number of shortcuts. You may use them too, or use others. It all depends on what we do, in what applications. No matter what, tho, shortcuts are great.

OK, so you’re sold on the idea. Now how do you figure out what the shortcuts are?

Plan A… in any application mouse over the menu items and see what shortcuts are to the right of the menu item. This works, and allows you to learn only the shortcuts you use all the time.

Plan B… use a chart to get a sense of the available possiblilities! There are things you can do easily if you only knew, like change the view in Finder windows, for example, and the shortcut is not in a menu anywhere.

Plan C… you can create your own shortcuts in the Keyboard preference pane. More on that in another post…

OK, so I want to find a chart. Where?

Here: Apple’s Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts or my personal favorite, Dan Rodney’s very well thought out page, which includes a thorough description of gestures available to trackpad users, and lots of other great info.

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OK, it’s an old trick, but I was reminded of it today. It’s particularly useful with Lion.

I for one do NOT like the light grey text used all too frequently, but it’s easy to read when you simply press Control-Option-Command-8. This changes the viewing mode to white-on-black, so instead of trying to read grey text on a white page you’ll see white text on black. Much easier to read, and when you’re done, simply press the keyboard command again to shift back to normal viewing.

Thanks to Ian Crew’s tip on MacInTouch!

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I subscribe to Mac Tip of the Week from Peachpit Press, and this week they had such a good one I have to share.

Force an Application to Quit

To give you a menu choice to force an application to quit, Option-press (don’t click) that application’s icon in the Dock.

Of course, the Command-Option-Escape key combination will bring up the Force Quit window, as will going to the menu item under the Apple menu. You can also force quit by opening Activity Monitor, selecting the application and clicking the “Quit Process” button. This tip provides a quicker, more direct way to force-quit an application, tho.

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Have you downloaded the newest version of iTunes, and set up iTunes Match yet? I did the other day, with trepedation and caution, but it worked out pretty well. I have about 20,000 tracks in my iTunes library, so I haven’t set up my iPhone or iPad to use Match yet, but that’s the next step.

My real interest was to upgrade the quality of CDs I ripped years ago at a lower-than-256 kps bitrate. I had a collection of over 400 CDs that I ripped over the course of a year shortly after iTunes made it possible, back when. Some are as low as 128kps, so the upgrade in quality is pretty major.

I was really concerned about deleting music that had been Matched, but it turned out to work perfectly when I followed the directions posted by Matt Elliott on MacFixit yesterday. How to use iTunes Match to upgrade audio quality spells out the easiest way to determine which tracks are available and in need of upgrading, and how to actually do it.

I started with one track I didn’t really care about and deleted it from my iTunes library (but didn’t trash the file). Immediately it was back with an icon in the “iCloud” column showing a cloud with downward pointing arrow. I highlighted the track and pressed Command – I to see the bitrate and other info, and sure enough, instead of the 160 kbs it was, now it showed 256.

Then I option-clicked on the track to downolad the track, which it did nicely, and I checked the folder in my iTunes library where it was stored, and sure enough, both versions of the track were there. I deleted the old one, and began to feel comfortable.

Then I set up the Smart Playlists as suggested in Matt’s post, followed his instructions, and it worked perfectly!

Oh, and artwork and ratings stayed intact, too!

Addendum: Here’s another page full of good info on iTunes Match from ars technica.

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Hard drives are made to last as long as the warranty these days… like most everything else. If your drive has a three year warranty, the likelihood of it working the full 3 years is very near 100%. That percentage will fall at an unknown rate after the warranty period ends. Your drive may last 5 years, or more, or it may die shortly after the three years are up. The longer it goes, the greater chance of failure.

So, along with death and taxes, you can add hard drive failure to the only things you can depend on happening. All drives fail. The trick is to replace them before they fail, AND to have a good backup so if you miss the trick, you can restore your data to a new drive.

One of the best articles on the subject I’ve yet found is a new post on Barkings – The Small Dog Apple Blog. If you want to know a bit more about your drive, how and why it works, and how and why it can fail, this is where to go.

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