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Filed under: .Mac

Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, .Mac, Mac 101

Mac 101: Publish iWeb '09 sites to FTP

More Mac 101, our series of tips and tricks for novice Mac users.

Now that the winter holidays are almost upon us, we're thinking about sharing stories, photos, and movies with far-flung relatives and friends. There's a slew of ways to get this done, and this post focuses on creating a simple site in iWeb '09 and publishing it not to Mobile Me, but to your own host via FTP.

If you're unfamiliar with iWeb '09, I'll say this: It does what it does well. If your goal is to share photos, movies and stories with minimal fuss and zero coding, iWeb will work. When I travel, I typically create an iWeb gallery and movie page. Yes, there are many other options, but this one works for me.

If you'd rather not publish your iWeb site to MobileMe and have access to FTP, you're in luck. The setup is simple. First, create your site. Next, click the title of your site in the iWeb '09 sidebar (this doesn't work with previous versions of iWeb) to reveal the publishing options. In the first drop-down menu, select "FTP Server." Give your site a name and enter a contact email.

Below that, enter your FTP settings. You'll need your server address, username, and password. Next, enter the path to the directory (http://mysite.com/paris, for example). Just make sure the directory already exists on your server or you'll get an error. It won't hurt to test the connection at this point by clicking the button that's available for just that purpose.

Finally, enter your site's URL and then click Publish. Off it goes! If you set it up correctly, your iWeb-powered site will be uploaded to the proper place on your site. Subsequent updates require re-publication, so just hit that Publish button again when you're done making changes

That's it! Have fun sharing your holiday experiences with iWeb '09.

Filed under: Bad Apple, Security, .Mac, MobileMe

MobileMe mixup: Address book snafu exposes personal data to strangers?

Face it: your address book and your contacts, they're personal. They reveal a lot about you: your friends, your business partners, your cake buying proclivities, and more. The address book you see at the top of this post appears to be for someone in the Denver area. I know that because of the REI Denver listing and Le Bakery Sensual on 6th, which I drive by whenever I head East from Broadway.

These contacts, along with their notes, their phone numbers, dates of birth, and other information say a lot about the person whose address book this is, and also about the people who appear in that contact list, with all their personal and professional info.

There's one big problem. The screen shot you see wasn't made by the person who owns this me.com account. Under certain very specific conditions, Apple is inadvertently sharing data from other people's accounts. Ouch.

A TUAW reader sent us a video made as he renewed his me.com account from the UK. The address book data he accessed during that time included this Denver-based set shown here, as well as data from an Ireland-based user of Polish descent (all his contacts were back in Poland although his business was based in Ireland).

This all went down during the period when his MobileMe account was renewing. Each time he logged off and back on, he was presented with yet another set of contacts--none of them his. He writes, "Each time I logged off and on I got a different address book. All the other options were disabled (because my renewal was being processed) but clicking the Contacts icon showed me *an* address book," just not his address book.

With a little Internet-fu, he checked out some of the numbers and found that they were valid and operational. This leads him to believe that this is real data. My inspection of the local Denver data from his screen shots convinces me of the same. Further inspection of work addresses and personal family names makes us believe we know whose Denver-based address book this is. We've attempted to contact this person but as yet have not heard back.

The address book glitch ended once the registration process finished, leaving our TUAW reader with a series of screen shots and videos and a deep concern about Apple's ability to safeguard personal data. He's already contacted Apple about the bug. "I contacted them by two means: their web-chat thing where they told me that they 'had no reports of such an issue'. They suggested closing and reopening Safari (helpful eh?) and a generic autoresponse saying they'd reply within 5 days when i sent an email." He adds, "I don't think the people manning the help desk appreciated the seriousness of the situation."

TUAW has sent a heads-up to Apple and will keep monitoring the situation to see how it develops.

Filed under: Accessories, Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Airport, Apple, .Mac, App Store, App Review

WWDC Quick/Cut: Dave Teare of Agile Web Solutions on 1Password

We, of course, had lunch with our favorite Canadian developers at WWDC. Talking with Dave, Roustem and the rest of the crew from Agile Web Solutions is something I look forward to anytime we're all in San Francisco. I didn't film the whole lunch; being filmed eating is almost as awkward as eating alone in the cafeteria, I think. So here's a quick -- but very interesting -- clip of Dave Teare explaining how cut-and-paste in iPhone OS 3.0 is going to be used in 1Password. If you're a 1Password user, you'll probably want to check it out!

Continue readingWWDC Quick/Cut: Dave Teare of Agile Web Solutions on 1Password

Filed under: .Mac, MobileMe

MobileMe login page sports a new look


After a brief overnight outage, the MobileMe services are back this morning -- and sporting a new look on the login page. Aside from the recently revealed file sharing feature, we don't know of any other changes behind the scenes, but putting on a fresh coat of polish never hurts.

If you're seeing changes on the inside of MobileMe please pass them along. Update: Richard spotted the release page for today's changes -- improvements to calendar performance, address book behavior and more.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Internet Tools, Reviews, .Mac, iPhone, MobileMe, App Store

FileChute to the rescue for sending large files

FileChute from Yellow Mug Software has been kicking around for awhile, but has been pretty much under the radar for most people. Some of our readers mentioned it when we reviewed YouSendIt last January. FileChute is powerful because it can send any size file, as long as you have space on your iDisk, FTP site, or WebDAV web server.

Using FileChute is a really simple operation. Just drag a large file (or a small one) to a target on the application and it uploads that file, allowing you to specify if you want to zip it and provide a short URL. FileChute will automatically create an email with the URL in it, ready to send to anyone. I take a lot of astronomical images, and they won't fit in an email at their native size. So when I want to share the high quality versions, onto FileChute they go and the person I send them to only has to click on a URL to download the file, or see it displayed in a browser, depending on what type of file you have sent. You can send applications, movie files, anything really.

Before Leopard came out Apple was making some noise about providing a similar feature in Mobile Me, but it never appeared, and in the messy launch of Mobile Me I think it was forgotten.

Recently, Yellow Mug added an iPhone and iPod touch version of the application, and it can see your files stored on the web server of your choice, and initiate a file transfer just as if you were sitting at your desktop or laptop mac. It's free for FileChute owners.

Sure, there are lots of ways to transfer files, but this application makes it drop dead easy. I find myself using it several times a week. It's the kind of thing that should be built into the Mac OS, but you can have the feature now for less than 20 bucks.

Filed under: Software, Beta Beat, .Mac

Beta Beat: fruux keeps you in sync

One of the most frequent questions we hear from readers on our Ask TUAW posts (and for our doting Aunt TUAW) is a simple one, with no simple answer: "How can I replace the synchronization features of MobileMe with a free service or a software package that doesn't cost me $99 a year?" We feel your pain.

For anyone looking to cut their cash outlay and maintain multi-Mac data sync, there are options for calendaring (BusySync, Google's CalDAV support) and some for address books (address-o-sync, or the free Google & Yahoo sync in Leopard's Address Book), and some products that handle both calendars and contacts (SpanningSync, Plaxo) -- but if you're in the mood for a free all-in-one approach, you may want to check out a promising beta service from a team of European developers: fruux.

Starting with address book sync in earlier versions, fruux has now progressed to include calendar, task and bookmark sync via Apple's built-in apps (Address Book, iCal & Safari) and a cloud service that stores the synchronized data. The system pref pane interface is no-frills and the product is definitely still a work in progress (there are prominent warnings to back up your data beforehand and frequently thereafter), so it may not suit your needs just yet -- but it's definitely one to watch. Future roadmap plans include an iPhone client and a web interface to your PIM data.

Thanks Dominik, Hagen & everyone who sent this in.

Filed under: Odds and ends, .Mac, Mac 101

Mac 101: Dealing without iCards

Apple has posted a nifty tip for Mail users who miss the discontinued iCards feature from .Mac: You can use Mail stationery to create an attractive card-like message with your own photos.

In a post on the Mobile Me blog (hey, it's not dead!), Apple says "...it's like the old Make Your Own iCards feature on steroids, and a whole lot easier to use in the bargain."

For Leopard users, Mail comes with 30 email templates you can customize in lieu of sending an iCard. Personally, I think an email is better than an iCard anyway, what with all the greeting card spam that goes on.

You can use photos that you take with Photo Booth, for example, or pictures from iPhoto. Customize it with a clever note, and away you go.

If you don't have Leopard or still want to use an online greeting card site, there are plenty to choose from.

(And if you like our series for beginners, Mac 101, there's much more to learn.)

Filed under: Bad Apple, .Mac, MobileMe

Unlucky 1 percent of MobileMe email users may get relief

How big is one percent? If it's a surcharge on your restaurant check, not that much; if it's a point on your mortgage, ow. If it's a chunk of .Mac/MobileMe email account holders who are left hanging for a week without access to their email... well, let's just say that anyone in that select and sorry lot who used a mac.com email address for professional or vital communications is justifiably furious right now.

The good news, if you can say that under the circumstances, is that the outage that started July 18 may be coming to a close. Apple has posted a tech note on the ongoing issues, launched a blog to cover the MobileMe introduction challenges, and provided some additional details about what happened. As of 10 pm PDT last night, the one-percenters should be able to log into MobileMe webmail and retrieve messages from the July 18–25 outage window, though none from before the problem started are available yet. Apple also warns affected users NOT to change MobileMe passwords, aliases or storage allocations until the problem is cleared up, so be alert.

As the problem was triggered by a "serious issue" on one of Apple's mail servers, some messages got dropped in the bit bucket and will never come back (unless you have them cached in a local client like Mail.app, Entourage, Thunderbird or Outlook). Apple's statement:

While the vast majority of your email messages will be fully restored, a small percentage of email messages in the affected accounts have regrettably been lost. This includes approximately 10% of messages received between 5:00 a.m. PDT on July 16 and 10:20 a.m. PDT on July 18. We sincerely apologize for any email messages you may have lost.

Apologies are well and good -- but considering the MobileMe terms of service, that's about all you can expect to see, as Apple isn't liable for lost business or damages due to the outage. If there's a lesson in this, maybe it's that mission-critical users should own their own domains and public-facing email addresses, so that they can redirect incoming mail in a crisis. Depending on a single provider for mail (even ones with a reputation for reliability) can bite you.

Written by Michael Rose
. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Filed under: .Mac, MobileMe

Apple: MobileMe transition taking longer than expected



I don't think it will come as a shock to anyone that the MobileMe transition hasn't gone as smoothly as Apple would have liked. A recent update to the .Mac support page (shown above) states, 'The MobileMe transition is underway but is taking longer than expected. Please refer to the official System Status to the right for current information on the availability of MobileMe services. We apologize for any inconvenience.'

Cory was able to sneak into MobileMe and take some pictures, so at least you can check out what you're missing. Here's hoping that this rocky start leads to a much more solid product since, as Mike pointed out, .Mac wasn't exactly a hallmark of uptime itself.

Filed under: Internet, Software Update, .Mac, MobileMe

Apple releases OS X MobileMe update

Apple has released a new "MobileMe" update that allows your OS X system to "see" and interact with the new MobileMe service. As many may know, the change over from .Mac to MobileMe happened last night into the wee hours of the morning. This software adds the new MobileMe system preference pane and adds MobileMe support for Mail.app. We have uploaded a gallery of images for your viewing pleasure showing the subtle changes in System Preferences.

"The Mac OS X Update For MobileMe is recommended for users running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.4 and includes general system fixes that enhance your Mac for MobileMe," Apple says.

You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update).



[via GearLive]

Filed under: .Mac, MobileMe

And so it begins...



.Mac as of 9:14 PM PDT. It looks like the changes are underway!

Filed under: Internet, .Mac, Apple History, MobileMe

Saying "goodbye" to .Mac

Tonight, we will all say "goodbye" to .Mac, a service that has been a small part of Apple for almost 8 years. iTools, .Mac's predecessor, was launched on January 5, 2000 at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco and was a free service that included a HomePage, iCards and the much coveted @mac.com e-mail address that is commonplace today (as well as the forgotten 'KidSafe,' which was a database of kid friendly websites Apple compiled so you could make sure your children weren't up to no good on your Mac). As more users came to the service and the cost of bandwidth went up, Apple began charging for the service and called it .Mac.

The name ".Mac" was born at the Macworld Expo in New York on July 17, 2002 and provided several new services including: a beefed up iDisk (with a dizzying 100 megs of space), Backup, and a free copy of Virex. On September 17, 2002, Apple announced that it would discontinue the free iTools service in favor for .Mac.

That brings us to, well, tonight. Apple is scheduled to take down .Mac and replace it with a newer, rebranded service named "MobileMe." While some scoff at the name, TUAW can't help but see the other side of the picture: look how far iTools has evolved over the past 8 years. So, join us in saying, "So long old friend, we hardly knew ye."

Do you have a favorite story to tell about iTools or .Mac? Be sure to mention it in the comments below! Apple is scheduled to take down the .Mac service between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m. pacific time.

Filed under: Apple Financial, .Mac, MobileMe

Apple To Ship 2.5 Million Macs Thanks to Vista?

With all the current hype surrounding the imminent release of both the upgrade to Apple's .Mac service, now to be forever known as MobileMe, and Friday's launch of the new, improved iPhone version 2.0, let's not forget that Apple also makes other types of hardware that seems to be selling pretty well these days. In fact, according to a recent article up over at AppleInsider, Apple is apparently poised to ship 2.5 Million Macs in the Spring -- thanks, in some measure, to the poor reception of Microsoft's Windows Vista.

According to BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman, Apple's potentially strong quarter, which ends in June, can be attributed to several factors. Among them, user dissatisfaction with Vista. "Thus far, user satisfaction ratings for Vista have been weak, and startup times for Vista have been known to be much slower than the Mac OS X," Bachman said in the article. "Thus, more than 50% of recent customers buying Macs in Apple retail stores are first-time buyers."

In addition, the analyst added that this problem could help Apple's bottom line well into 2009 and could potentially improve the company's current world market share, raising it to 3.9% or higher. This is good news for those of us who remember the time, not so long ago, when most in the press and analysts like Bachman predicted Apple's certain demise. Still, even with this good news, we still need to hope Apple doesn't do something to hurt itself -- like bungle the .Mac to MobileMe transition or run out of shiny new iPhones at 8:30AM on Friday. That would not be a good thing.

Filed under: Retail, Apple, .Mac, Deals, MobileMe

Apple, Amazon offer boxed versions of MobileMe

Early Tuesday morning, Apple started offering boxed versions of the much awaited MobileMe web service. While buying from Apple costs $99 for the boxed version, Amazon is offering MobileMe for $89.99 (US).

According to Amazon, MobileMe has been on sale since "July 1, 2008," however, they also say "This item will not be released until July 12, 2008."

We did learn last night that MobileMe is scheduled to launch on Wednesday, July 9th around 6 p.m. pacific time.

Stay tuned to TUAW for the latest information regarding the .Mac to MobileMe switch, iPhone 2.0 software, and the iPhone 3G coverage.


Thanks, Jay!

Filed under: .Mac, MobileMe

MobileMe launch date set: July 9th at 6 p.m. PT

Apple has just updated the .Mac status page with the date/time of the .Mac to MobileMe switch. So, for those of you wondering when Apple might start the switch will not have to wonder any longer. July 9th from 6 p.m. until 12 a.m. PT is the scheduled date and time.

Apple says that during the switch, users will be "unable to access www.mac.com or any .Mac services ... with the exception of .Mac Mail accessed via a desktop application, iPhone, or iPod touch."

According to Apple, "MobileMe will be available as soon as possible during this maintenance window." Be sure to stay tuned to TUAW for the latest on the .Mac to MobileMe switch.


Thanks, Andy and Barry!

Tip of the Day

Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.


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