4 Products of The Month

GoodDrive Fresh

• Well protected in soft rubber material
• Up to 8GB storage capacity
• Distinct scent (three to chose from)
• Holder for the cap so you don’t lose it

Price: AED69 (4GB)
From: GoodRAM
Web: http://www.goodram.com/474

GorillaPod Go-Go

• Flexible, bends to any shape
• Holds small device like iPod securely
• Comes with suction cup, adhesive clip, and tripod mount

Price: Around $30
From: Joby
Web: http://www.joby.com/products/gorillapod/gogo/

Nokia N810

• Internet Tablet
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections
• Full-featured FireFox-based web browser
• Mounts as drive on Mac’s desktop

Price: Around $300
From: Nokia
Web: http://www.nseries.com/products/n810/

BlueLounge Sanctuary

• Charging station with connections for 1600 devices
• Hides cables not in use
• Functions as tray for keys, phone, iPod, wallet, etc.

Price: Around $120
From: Monster Cable Products
Web: http://www.bluelounge.com/thesanctuary.php

Publish a Web Page With Word 2008

Microsoft Word has been a good web publishing application for many versions now. In fact, Excel and PowerPoint can also publish to the web. I wouldn’t recommend it for a commercial web site for a company, but for occasional single pages, it’s not bad. In the 2008 version Microsoft included a new function, the Web Layout, which makes it even easier to create designs for web pages.
By Magnus Nystedt

Step 1
Create your document and consider carefully how you want it to appear on the web. Remember what works in print doesn’t always work on the web.

Step 2
You can work away normally in Word, but if you switch to the Web Layout mode you will find it easier to create nice web pages. You switch mode by going to View > Web Layout.

Step 3
If you type in a hyperlink, e.g. “http://www.emiratesmac.com” and hit enter, Word will recognize it as a hyperlink and make it blue and underlined. If you need to edit a hyperlink, right-click on it and select Hyperlink > Edit Hyperlink.

Step 4
When you’re happy with your web page, go to File > Save as Web page.

Step 5
In the dialog box that opens, click the Web Options button. Here you can enter a title for the page and keywords. Click the OK button and then the Save button.

Step 6
Now you can upload your web page to a server so it’s published online.

Mac of the Month: Mac Pro

Performance
There are two main configurations in terms of processors in the Mac Pro. You can get a quad-core model with a 2.8HGz processor or an eight-core model with two processors ranging from 2.8GHz to 3.2GHz.

Memory
The Mac Pro is the most expandable Mac in Apple’s lineup, not just in terms of memory. It can accommodate eight slots of 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM, supporting up to 32GB of total memory.

Communications
Standard on the Mac Pro are two 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet ports and Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR). You can also add 802.11n AirPort Extreme wireless networking and external Apple USB Modem.

Display and Graphics
With the full-size expansion slot you can put almost whatever graphics you want in the Mac Pro. The options from Apple include ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of memory, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB of memory, and NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 with 1.5GB of memory.

Storage
The Mac Pro has four 3.5-inch hard drive bays. Combined they can supply up to 4TB of internal hard drive capacity. There are also two slots for SuperDrives.

Expandability
Mac Pro supports three open full-length PCI Express expansion slots, which should be enough for even the most demanding situations.

Secure Your Mac With VirusBarrier and NetBarrier

As Mac users we’ve been almost exempt from problems with viruses, worms, and other malware, at least since the arrival of Mac OS X. Lately there has been more announcements of these nasty things becoming available but we’ve yet to see anything in the wild, attacking scores of users. If you want to already now go ahead and make sure your Mac is safe take a look at NetBarrier and VirusBarrier. You can buy VirusBarrier for $69.96 and NetBarrier for $49.95 or both together for $89.95.
By Magnus Nystedt

VirusBarrier
If you want reliable and fast virus-protection for your Mac today the only commercial choice is VirusBarrier X5 (http://www.intego.com/virusbarrier/) as far as I’m concerned. It’s simple, fast, doesn’t get in the way, but it has a non-standard Mac interface. But even if the interface looks a bit strange the functionality more than makes up for it and it’s actually pretty easy to use. It scans files quickly, automatically in the background or when you tell it to, and it doesn’t seem to affect the other things you do. My MacBook kept humming along very nicely even when VirusBarrier was scanning the entire hard drive. The interface shows you what it is doing in a very nice overview. When you buy VirusBarrier you get a one-year subscription to virus updates from Intego.

NetBarrier
NetBarrier X5 (http://www.intego.com/NetBarrier/) is like VirusBarrier an incremental upgrade to an already very good product. And it must be hard for them to come up with new things to cram in. To put it simply, NetBarrier is an extension of the firewall built-in to Mac OS X. It gives you more options, more functionality, and should provide better protection. Especially it’s anti-vandal functionality sets it apart from what comes with Mac OS X already. It protects you from potential exploits from the outside and there’s also functionality for cleaning up your tracks online, like removing cookies, saved passwords, etc. Like with VirusBarrier it sits nicely in the background and doesn’t bother you unless there’s something important you need to know about, or take down your Mac’s performance. For many users putting money on NetBarrier is a bit harder to justify compared to VirusBarrier but for total peace of mind, it’s a good investment.

Adobe Tutorial: Set Up a Site in DreamWeaver

Adobe DreamWeaver CS3 is a very powerful application for pretty much any aspect of web design and development. Much of the work you will do with DreamWeaver, if you’re going to create web pages and sites with it, will become easier if you set up a site in DreamWeaver in which you keep all the files for that particular site. In this tutorial we show you how to set up a site in DreamWeaver in order to make your future web development work easier. We assume you use MAMP (http://www.mamp.info) for developing and perhaps deploying the site in this tutorial. I’d like to thank a group of students at SAE, Dubai, who helped me refine this tutorial.

By Magnus Nystedt

Step 1
After you start DreamWeaver, click on the sites drop-down menu in the File panel (press F8 if you don’t see it) and click on Manage Sites.

Step 2
Click on the New button and in the drop-down that appears, click on Site.

Step 3
Give your site a name and type in a complete URL for your site, in our example “http://localhost/shuffle/”. Remember this last part, “shuffle”.

Step 4
If you’re using a server technology, such as PHP, click the Yes button and select the technology in the drop-down.

Step 5
Click Edit and test locally. Then click the small folder icon.

Step 6
Now you need to find (or create) a folder in the MAMP\htdocs folder which as the same name as the last part of the URL in Step 3 (in our example “shuffle”).

Step 7
Enter the same URL as in Step 3. Click on the Test URL button and you should get a message whether it worked or not.

Step 8
On this screen, click No.

Step 9
This is just a confirmation screen, if everything looks in order, click the Done button.

Step 10
Click the Done button.

Step 11
If you now click the sites drop-down like before you should see your new site listed there.

Step 12
Now you have a site set up in Dreamweaver. If you create a new web page file and save it in the folder, it’ll appear in the Files panel.

10 Great Firefox Extensions

fzami
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3393
Select your location and it shows you the times for prayer where you are.

GSpace
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1593
Will let you use your GMail space for file storage. My current total space in GMail shows as almost 7GB right now.

DownloadThemAll
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/201
An advanced download manager for various types of downloads.

Zotero
http://www.zotero.org/
If you’re doing a lot of research online, need to keep references and notes, this is a great extension for you.

Del.ici.us Buttons
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1532
Del.icio.us is a great online bookmarking service and you should be using it to store your bookmarks. This extension makes it a lot easier to store and retrieve bookmarks.

FaceBook Toolbar
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3794
You all know FaceBook. Using this toolbar to interact better with your FaceBook friends.

Wizz RSS News Reader
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/424
Follow a lot of RSS feeds? Get this extension and your life might just become a bit easier.

Sxipper
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4865
Securely manages your passwords for forms and web sites. Never forget another password again!

CamiFox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7527
Make FireFox look like Camino. It’s not an exact match but close enough.

TwitterFox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5081
Post to Twitter and keep up with what the people you follow are doing.

by Magnus Nystedt

Three Products of the Month

Time Capsule

• Airport Wi-Fi base station with built-in hard drive.
• 500GB or 1TB models.
• Time Machine backup over network.
• Support multiple Macs.
• Price: Around AED1500 (500GB) and AED2400 (1TB)

From: Apple Inc.
Web: http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/

Mophie JuicePack for iPhone

• Gives hours of extra life to iPhone.
• Stylish design.
• Excellent as extra battery when traveling.
• Offers limited protection.
• Price: Around $100

From: Mophie
Web: http://www.mophie.com/products/juice-pack

H20 iFR Sport Combo

• Durable polycarbonate construction
• Includes band for wearing on arm.
• Shock and impact procection.
• Protects your iPhone in the desert.
• Price: Around $30

From: H2O
Web: http://www.h2oaudio.com/shop/product.php?productid=35

WriteRoom: Wonderfully Yummy Mac Software

“Distraction-free writing” is something it seems more and more people talk about. It basically means that modern operating systems offer too much menus, gadgets, widgets, docks, and other stuff sitting on the screen, and all that takes away attention from the task at hand- writing. So WriteRoom makes it very simple. It blanks the screen and shows your text, and only your text in the middle of the screen. In fact, writing in WriteRoom can look exactly like this page. I love this idea and use it all the time. Must of my writing takes place with WriteRoom. It’s just scrumptiously delicious to use. You can try WriteRoom for free (http://hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom) and if you wish to keep using it, it’s $24.95.

by Magnus Nystedt

Bento: the Personal Database

I’ve just got a copy of Bento a smaller version of FileMaker Pro with capabilities more aimed at personal use. I just had it for a little while, actually, I installed it today. By first impression it is a great little piece of software. If you need to do anything with database type of filing and at a reasonable price this is the perfect solution. For a heavy programmer this might not be flexible enough. But for a reasonable expectations and an intermediate needs from such type of software I would say it is one of the best. We would like to thank WinSoft (http://www.winsoft.eu) for providing a copy of Bento.

Key Features:

• Easy to use, no programming required.
• SQL capabilities.
• Integrates easily with iCal and Addressbook.
• Pre-loaded formats for differing needs.
• Customizable to a certain extent (but more than basics).
• Capability of creating your own structure that fits your specific needs.
• Around AED443 for a family pack of five.
• Allows storage/attachment of other external files within individual records.

by Sarie

Three Products of the Month

NetBarrier and VirusBarrier X5

• Faster performance.
• Checks for more malware and 
attacks than before.
• Updated interface.
• Command-line access in VirusBarrier.
• Price: NetBarrier $50US, VirusBarrier $80US

From: Intego
Web: http://www.intego.com/virusbarrier/ and http://www.intego.com/netbarrier/

Knomo Hayden Black

• Stylish, 17” Messenger Bag
• High quality finish.
• Makes a strong fashion 
statement.
• Protects your notebook.

Price: AED1510
From: Knomo
Web: http://www.knomobags.com/eshop/knomo_product.asp?SS=11&C=157&P=48

Logitech v470 Mouse

• Wireless (Bluetooth).
• Small, light and doesn’t require dongle.
• Software is easy to use and makes mouse customizable.
• Exact operations, nice grip.

Price: Around $50US
From: Logitech
Web: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/3287&cl=us,en

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