Story by Stox Dude ( in english, coz Mac user do know english ;-)
MAC FACTS
It is nice to have friends. Of course, this fact is never so obvious as when you
need help. But owning a Mac puts you in the position of having millions of
friends all over the world who will take time out of busy schedules to share
what they know because that is the Mac culture.
The trick is finding these friends when you need them. This depends on what
type of help you require. I will limit this column to finding troubleshooting
and technical advice, but if you use the same techniques given below, you will
find that there is no limit to the kinds of help available.
The first step is to go to a broad Mac list page for directions to the most
influential Web sites in your specific area of interest. These link sites
have listings of hundreds of Mac specialty sites. If you do not see exactly
what you are looking for, drop an e-mail to the owner of the site. They will
usually have a contact or Web site that fits the bill. Like yours truly, these
folks rarely fail to respond to a Mac comrade in distress.
I suggest keeping your request to one or two questions on one subject only.
(If your correspondence has 20 questions, a few which need research, the odds
are that the letter will be put off and eventually forgotten.) It also helps
to remember that the person answering the e-mail is doing it out of the kindness
of their heart, so politeness and offers of some type of reciprocation can aid
process.
Here are several general Mac link sites:
* Graphics Links:
users.rcn.com/jashear/mac_graphics.html
*Music Links:
www.macmusic.org/links
*The Ultimate Mactintosh
www.ultimatemac.com
*Everthing Macintosh
www.everythingmac.com
If what you want is help troubleshooting a problem with your Mac go directly
to Mac Fix it www.macfixit.com , or its sister site, Version Tracker
www.versiontracker.com. The reason I put Version Tracker under troubleshooting
is that 90 percent of the time a software update will fix your problem.
If you check under the review comments on the page dedicated to the software
in question, you can find out if others are having similar problems.
The best place to read about problems involving new equipment or software
is at Macintouch, www.macintouch.com . They maintain site pages by topic, such
as Disk Fragmentation in OS X or Virtual PC Performance Improvement. You can
post your problem, share its symptoms and ask questions of the audience. If
anyone has an answer, they will add it to the page. This site has the best
workaround solutions.
If the help you need involves learning to do something specific on your Mac,
the best sources are the better Mac Magazines. The most useful how-to articles
are found in the irreverent Mac Addict Magazine. www.macaddict.com
A good example of their work is their tutorial on how to set up Colorsync on a
Mac so that the monitor, scanner and printer end up with the same colour.
This was recently posted on the Apple Web Site and I recommend that anyone
woh does graphics or photo work read it. It is at guide.apple.com/tips/macaddict/howto04_2002.lasso
If you want to learn how to use all those graphics apps that you have so much
money tied up in, I recommend MacDesign Magazine.
www.macdesignonline.com
THey specialise in short, digestible projects that teach the most requested
tricks,effects and features of the more popular graphics, video and Web
applications. Learning a little bit each month has become the way to get
computer education, and these magazines have filled this responsibility
admirably.
Occasionally, you may need the help of an unbiased expert. In every area of
Macdom, you will find web sites run by caring people.
For 3D, check out www.3dsite.com/3dsite. For Security, go to Secure Mac,
www.securemac.com . And for CAD and architecture, my favourite is the
Architosh site at www.architosh.com .
From any of these Web pages you can jump to other, more focused sites and
from those you can find even more. My experience is that each of these sites
is owned and run by Mac-sympathetic friends willing to help you on the path
to Mac enlightment. If you need some help in your request, rest easy in the
knowledge that you have a million caring friends no more than a few links
and an e-mail away.
Looking good MacDudes
MAC FACTS
It is nice to have friends. Of course, this fact is never so obvious as when you
need help. But owning a Mac puts you in the position of having millions of
friends all over the world who will take time out of busy schedules to share
what they know because that is the Mac culture.
The trick is finding these friends when you need them. This depends on what
type of help you require. I will limit this column to finding troubleshooting
and technical advice, but if you use the same techniques given below, you will
find that there is no limit to the kinds of help available.
The first step is to go to a broad Mac list page for directions to the most
influential Web sites in your specific area of interest. These link sites
have listings of hundreds of Mac specialty sites. If you do not see exactly
what you are looking for, drop an e-mail to the owner of the site. They will
usually have a contact or Web site that fits the bill. Like yours truly, these
folks rarely fail to respond to a Mac comrade in distress.
I suggest keeping your request to one or two questions on one subject only.
(If your correspondence has 20 questions, a few which need research, the odds
are that the letter will be put off and eventually forgotten.) It also helps
to remember that the person answering the e-mail is doing it out of the kindness
of their heart, so politeness and offers of some type of reciprocation can aid
process.
Here are several general Mac link sites:
* Graphics Links:
users.rcn.com/jashear/mac_graphics.html
*Music Links:
www.macmusic.org/links
*The Ultimate Mactintosh
www.ultimatemac.com
*Everthing Macintosh
www.everythingmac.com
If what you want is help troubleshooting a problem with your Mac go directly
to Mac Fix it www.macfixit.com , or its sister site, Version Tracker
www.versiontracker.com. The reason I put Version Tracker under troubleshooting
is that 90 percent of the time a software update will fix your problem.
If you check under the review comments on the page dedicated to the software
in question, you can find out if others are having similar problems.
The best place to read about problems involving new equipment or software
is at Macintouch, www.macintouch.com . They maintain site pages by topic, such
as Disk Fragmentation in OS X or Virtual PC Performance Improvement. You can
post your problem, share its symptoms and ask questions of the audience. If
anyone has an answer, they will add it to the page. This site has the best
workaround solutions.
If the help you need involves learning to do something specific on your Mac,
the best sources are the better Mac Magazines. The most useful how-to articles
are found in the irreverent Mac Addict Magazine. www.macaddict.com
A good example of their work is their tutorial on how to set up Colorsync on a
Mac so that the monitor, scanner and printer end up with the same colour.
This was recently posted on the Apple Web Site and I recommend that anyone
woh does graphics or photo work read it. It is at guide.apple.com/tips/macaddict/howto04_2002.lasso
If you want to learn how to use all those graphics apps that you have so much
money tied up in, I recommend MacDesign Magazine.
www.macdesignonline.com
THey specialise in short, digestible projects that teach the most requested
tricks,effects and features of the more popular graphics, video and Web
applications. Learning a little bit each month has become the way to get
computer education, and these magazines have filled this responsibility
admirably.
Occasionally, you may need the help of an unbiased expert. In every area of
Macdom, you will find web sites run by caring people.
For 3D, check out www.3dsite.com/3dsite. For Security, go to Secure Mac,
www.securemac.com . And for CAD and architecture, my favourite is the
Architosh site at www.architosh.com .
From any of these Web pages you can jump to other, more focused sites and
from those you can find even more. My experience is that each of these sites
is owned and run by Mac-sympathetic friends willing to help you on the path
to Mac enlightment. If you need some help in your request, rest easy in the
knowledge that you have a million caring friends no more than a few links
and an e-mail away.
Looking good MacDudes
