Peel the Apple

Q: Is there any way where I can save the book I create in iPhoto as a PDF or something, so that I can send it as an email to people?
A: Yes, you can. As with any application in Mac OS X print your book to a PDF file, then take that file to the printer. Make sure that you check with the printer concerning the specifications of the book, so you know the format, colors, etc. that you want will be accepted. In the US and UK, customers can buy books online, straight from within iPhoto. That would be something we’d like to see Apple IMC ME implement as well.

Q: I just bought a Blackberry 8310, and it doesn’t come with any software for Mac. How can I sync it with my iMac?
A: Blackberry themselves don’t provide any software for Mac, which is a shame, but they do distribute PocketMac for free (http://www.pocketmac.net/products/pmblackberry/). PocketMac is pretty good; not bad at all for something that is free. But when I’ve used it I’ve had nothing but problems with it. Personally I prefer Missing Sync for Blackberry (http://www.missingsync.com/missingsync_blackberry.php). Even though it’s $40 compared to PocketMac’s $0, it’s well worth the money. The interface is better, it seems more reliable, and it can sync more different kinds of information.

Q: I forgot my password for the parental control lock on system preferences on my Mac OS X 10.5. I can’t find help on Apple support. I can’t download anything because it requires a password – a password I don’t have. Is there anything I can do? Please help me, please.
A: You should be able to fix this by restarting your Mac from the installation DVD (hold down the C-key when restarting) and running the Reset Password Utility from the Tools menu. Select your startup hard drive and select your account. Then type in your new password twice, and restart the Mac.

Q: I’m putting together a DVD with iDVD and I keep getting an error saying something like “total menu error exceeds 15 minutes”. What’s wrong and how do I fix it? I can’t seem to figure it out.
A: The problem is that you’ve placed too much audio or video content in the theme’s menu or drop zone. If it all together exceeds 15 minutes, you will get that error. You can fix this by opening up the inspector (View > Show Inspector), and adjusting the slide at the top of the inspector pane to be as short a possible. For example, if you drag a 20 minute movie clip into a drop zone, that will count against the time allowed. If you then adjust the slider to something like 20 seconds, you free up time, and should be able to get rid of the error message.

Q: I take a lot of video with my small Canon camera and they’re in AVI format. I know I could take them into iMovie, make a project, and then make them into Apple TV format because I want to watch them with my Apple TV. But that’s complicated and I just want something simpler, since I don’t want to edit. Is there a solution that’d be quicker?
A: I’d recommend something like VisualHub (http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/, $23.32). You just drop your AVI-files on its icon, select the Apple TV preset, and VisualHub will do the proper conversion and even add the movies to iTunes when it’s finished. As long a your iTunes and Apple TV are then set to stream or sync, you should be able to enjoy your movie on the Apple TV. It’s certainly not an ideal process but it should be simpler than going through iMovie.

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