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Mac Tips
By Ernie Cox, Jr., member of the Computer Club of Green Valley, AZ
December 2011 issue, Green Bytes
http://ccgv.apcug.org 
Ecoxjr (at) cox.net

Trying to Keep Up
Apple is on the move with the iPhone, making improvements every year. The new 4S has "Siri," a program using a pleasant woman's voice, which is like having an assistant on board to help make your life a little easier. She's perfect. Well, not really, not yet, but Apple is working on improving the few problems that have cropped up. Siri can find places to eat, sleep and gas-up, remember your mate's name as well as remind you to get that bread, milk or beer before going home. Added to that, Siri will write out your emails, notes and any app you can type to. All to save those fingers.

All of you who have older Apple iPhones—before the 4S—and don't have a helpful phone in your pocket, don't feel bad. You are still in the game. There are programs that can be downloaded (for free) that will do similar functions as the iPhone 4S's "Siri."

"Vlingo" is a free program that works like "Siri" for finding places, making calls, and using street maps. Vlingo integrates with Safari, Google, phones and e-mails, etc.

"Dragon" is a voice/dictation program for use with your e-mails. After speaking into your phone, this program writes out the text of what you said that can then be used in e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and SMS (Short Message Service, a text-messaging service for phone, web or mobile communication systems).

These apps are good for older iPhones starting with 3G, 3GS and 4, for iPod Touch 2, 3 and 4, and iPad 1 and 2. Have fun keeping up.

Join the iCloud
Apple provides services with Find My iPhone and Find My Mac that are most useful if you ever misplace one of your iOS devices. All you need is an Apple ID, which is the same as your iTunes user name and password.

To enable Find My iPhone on your iOS devices (including iPad, iPod Touch), navigate to Settings > iCloud, sign in with your Apple ID, and flip the switch for Find My iPhone to ON.

Turning on Find My Mac is easy, too. In Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2, to go System Preferences > iCloud, and check the box next to Find My Mac. You may get a notification about allowing location services on your Mac. If so, click Allow.

Now log in to http://www.iCould.com with the same Apple ID, and click the Find My iPhone icon. A screen appears, displaying all of your devices that are linked to the service. Click the small GPS dot that appears on the map, and you'll see options for tracking down your device. "Play Sound or Send Message" will let you send a push notification to your device that will also play a high-pitched sound to alert you. Remote Lock lets you set a pass code on your device so that no one else will be able to unlock it and begin using it. And, if all else fails, you can perform a Remote Wipe to clear all the date on your devices. You can do the same with all compatible Macs.