I thought you might enjoy this comparison between the video quality on an iPhone 4s and a Canon 5D MkII
- you might be surprised (or not …)
Quality aside – try sending an email or making a call from your Canon 
Posts by
iPhone versus Canon
Oct19
2011
Written by John Philpin
2011
Written by John Philpin
The iPhone 4S Unveiled
Oct04
2011
Written by John Philpin
2011
Written by John Philpin
Today’s the day – and you just know the news media is going to be flooded very soon with this information ::
Apple’s new iPhone 4S doesn’t look all that different on the surface from the iPhone 4 it replaces. But the latest iPhone unveiled by Apple at a press event Tuesday promises an improved processor, new wireless system, and more powerful camera, along with voice control capabilities.
Click through to here for the full article
Alternatives to Quicken for Mac
Sep21
2011
Written by John Philpin
2011
Written by John Philpin
Our thanks to Dave Schlicher for presenting his views on alternatives to Quicken at our last User Group Meeting. The following is my summary of his talk – don’t hesitate to ping me if there are any errors or misunderstandings contained in the following.
Tried Three Products in Parallel
Caveat: Not an accountant – and not a tax expert. Also – does not own stock in any of the companies.
Why not Quicken ?
Quicken 2007 no longer will work under Lion – so the only alternative is Quicken Essentials – which will. BUT
Though it is easy to make the transition, it is not a good solution.
- Intuit has not treated mac users very well
- Quicken 1998 and 2002 have both been killed off before
- The Quicken product on the Mac was always a poor second to windows machine
- Quicken recommends changing format of data downloads – this ‘cannot’ be a good idea
- What is the future for Quicken ? Unknown
- All of this with the CEO sitting on the board of Apple
- Investment tracking limited
- Bill paying never imported
- Data import only under Snow Leopard
- If you put data into the product – will you be able to get it out ?
- It is the ‘Roach hotel of data’. YOu can get data in – but to get it out VERY gnarly
- CSV data files can be used – but complicated
- Perl being used to clean up data – too hard
- Proprietary format – but it is your finances we are talking about.
- For as little it does and need for flexibility in moving data around – not recommended.
iBank and Moneywell
- are both well regarded programs
- both handle budgeting
- both offer iPhone apps
- both free input and export
Trial in money dance – written in Java – so started away
iBank – igg software – 4.2.5 is latest version
- Comprehensive number of account types
- Auto downloads
- Multiple currencies
Moneywell - 1.6.8
- Overall more limited
- V2 under dev for a year – and still not ready
- In Moneywell, budgeting idea is integral to design
Importing data – both worked well though Moneywell a little bit better it handled reconciliation
- IBank can’t change account type on the fly – Moneywell can
Transaction entry
- Quicken good at entering data
- Both iBank and Moneywell have failings
Reconciling
- IBank not as easy
Budgeting
- Money well makes it as easy as it possibly can be
- But maybe so tied into budgeting that if you don’t use it, could be problematic
Support
- Excellent for both
- How To videos and documents are good
Conclusion
- Both are a real change
- Neither an exact fit – but both will work
- Entered the trial with a bias for Moneywell
- But with usage gravitated to iBank
- Moneywell v 2 will be Lion only – WHEN it is available
Another review to compare the two
The Towson Hack: The mystery of vanishing iTunes
Sep12
2011
Written by John Philpin
2011
Written by John Philpin
MY thanks to John Hardin for flagging this one. I hadn’t heard of this hack before I read the article. It SEEMS to center round starting with a gift card – and then exploiting a loop hole that connects your iTunes account back to your iTunes account.
IN other words – if like me you don’t have a credit in iTunes – you are fine (I THINK) …. but would love confirmation of that from someone that knows !!
Flagging it now for your information and if you have any additional info / experience of it = let us know.
The latest story can be read here : The Towson Hack: The Mystery of vanishing iTunes credit.
More Highlights from AUGD
Sep06
2011
Written by John Philpin
2011
Written by John Philpin
As I have said before, our friends at ‘User Group Central’ – Lynn Wegley, InfoManager, with coeditor Fred Showker send out a very detailed summary of info and links that are sometimes INCREDIBLY relevant, and ALWAYS good stuff.
With their permission – restated here ::
Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved. Affiliate User Groups are granted permission to reprint the InfoManager column or excerpts thereof so long as proper credit is given, and a clearly stated web URL link to: http://www.UGNN.com
What I consider the relevant highlights to our group
02 Phishing & Malware Update: 1109-04
Couple of surprises this week …
David Pogue looks at unsubscribing from spam, and those nasty
‘pump-n-dump’ schemes are back! But that’s not all…
* David Pogue: the *Never Unsubscribe* Rule for Spam
* Protect Yourself From the Threat of Mobile Malware
* Comeback of Malicious Pump-and-Dump Campaigns
* New Analysis: Who Do You Trust? (2 Parts)
* Morto worm surprises again
* Serious gaps in security
* BBB warns of email scam
* Antivirus on a Mac . . . and more
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/09/1109-04_phishing/
——————————————————
03 Quick, easy photo enhancement
Photo Sense is an easy photo enhancement software for
Mac OS and iOS. It is designed to make photographs more
attractive quickly and easily, without spending a lot of
time and money on learning, purchasing, and using
professional photo manipulation software.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/09/quick-easy-photo-enhancement/
——————————————————
04 Fully Automated Time Tracking
Timing is a unique new time tracking application for OS
X. In contrast to classic time tracking applications, Timing
doesn’t require users to manually operate timers. Instead,
users’ activities like editing documents, surfing the web,
and playing games are tracked automatically and can be
easily reviewed at a later time.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/09/fully-automated-time-tracking/
——————————————————
06 Camera PRO + XCOLOR
Camera PRO + XCOLOR for iPhone 4 and iPad 2 1.0. aims to
create a revolution in Photography applications for iPad 2
and iPhone 4, turning your iPad 2 and iPhone 4 to real
XCOLOR photo camera. You can take photos from app camera and
attach different effects to photos. Turn on the power of
your iPad 2 and iPhone 4 to new level.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/09/camera-pro-xcolor/
——————————————————
07 Fraud: It’s not a small world
An Internet fraud scam uncovered in Bozeman Montana in
2009 reached victims as far afield as Florida and Texas …
which goes to show : ‘It’s Not a Small World’ when it comes
to the internet.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/09/fbi_fraud_study/
——————————————————
09 Camera FX for iPad 2 and iPhone 4
Now you can replace your existing standard iPad 2 camera
application with our Camera FX application with many new
features and functions that standard camera does not have.
Camera FX is advanced powerful photo editing application for
you iPad 2/iPhone 4 and your photos and images. You can take
photos with our application or load existing from you iPad
2/iPhone 4 and then edit its from app and attach different
effects!
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/09/camera-fx-for-ipad-2-and-iphone-4/
HIghlights From AUGD
Aug23
2011
Written by John Philpin
2011
Written by John Philpin
Every now and then – our friends at ‘User Group Central’ (specifically in this case – Lynn Wegley, InfoManager, with coeditor Fred Showker), send out a very detailed summary of info and links that are sometimes INCREDIBLY relevant, and ALWAYS good stuff.
With their permission – restated here ::
Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved. Affiliate User Groups are granted
permission to reprint the InfoManager column or excerpts thereof so
long as proper credit is given, and a clearly stated web URL link to:
http://www.UGNN.com
Please note – I have maintained the original numbering of the points from the original email. the content below is as sent – no edits by yours truly.
06 Prepare for Back To School
What’s on top of the school supply list this year? It is
not a lunchbox or a backpack but rather a smartphone, a
tablet or a cool fun educational app that runs on both. Kids
as young as elementary age are looking for smartphone
upgrades, while the college students are living the advent
of tablets into their classrooms. Developed universally for
the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, NxtApp 4 Kids is the
perfect back-to-school math app with which kids learn number
sequencing, thinking they are playing a game.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/08/prepare-for-back-to-school/
———————————————-
07 Free ebook sites
On iPadForums, “Bremen” posted: “Free ebook sites,
already in iBook (ePub) format. I have posted a few of these
in various places, but thought I would tie it together here.
These are some sites that have FREE ebooks that are already
in ePub format. They will import and read as is in iBooks.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/08/free-ebook-sites/
———————————————-
08 60 Free Mac Utilities and Tools
This MobsJar article from February lists these
Mac Utilities. (As you know, I love lists.)
Here are a few of the ones they have:
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/08/60-free-mac-utilities-and-tools/
———————————————-
09 How To Save Online Videos
In this article from Read Write Web, we can
learn to save videos from the Web and
replay them later on the TV or iPad.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/08/how-to-save-online-videos/
———————————————-
10 Excel 2011 Tutorial
Training solutions provider Infinite Skills Inc has
released a new video series to help Mac users work
productively with the latest edition of Excel for OS X. The
Learning Microsoft Excel 2011 Tutorial, narrated by trainer
Guy Vacarro, includes beginner-targeted lessons that show
how to use Excel in common applications such as monitoring
sales data, calculating profits versus losses, creating
expense forms, managing contact lists and more.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/08/excel-2011-tutorial/
———————————————-
11 How To Capture Your Signature Using Preview
This is a quick note, because I think
it is so cool that this can be done so easily.
http://www.ugnn.com/2011/08/how-to-capture-your-signature-using-preview/
Managing Mac OS X Lion’s Application Resume Feature
Aug23
2011
Written by John Philpin
2011
Written by John Philpin
The THIRD in the series of THREE
Managing Mac OS X Lion’s application resume feature
Thanks to: MacFixIt / C|Net
Quick Look In Lion | Plus Handy Tips And Tricks
Aug23
2011
Written by John Philpin
2011
Written by John Philpin
The FIRST in a series of THREE quick catch up posts centered on Lion
All You Need To Know About Quick Look In Lion, Plus Some Handy Tips And Tricks
Thanks to : MacStories
