SoundSpeed - Info

Satheesh S. Testimonial

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:53:03 -0800

...thanks for patiently guiding me here. I very much appreciate your honesty and integrity in trying to [explain] the details involved unlike most other service places that would do the explanation after charging.

GrapeVine Productions Testimonial

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:08:29 -0800

Greg continues to be an amazing resource for our company. He consistently goes above and beyond the basics of troubleshooting, and is constantly on the look out for better ways to do things. He keeps us updated on new technologies and programs, and is always available to help us in a "computer crisis" at a moment's notice. We really couldn't keep our company up and running without him!

Erin Carenzo

GrapeVine Productions
Partner/Exec. Producer

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:55:15 -0800

To those who have expressed an interest in Snow Leopard...

This brief article contains a summary of my first impressions with Snow Leopard. Within my environment I currently have the following workstations and they serve the following purposes.

- Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) Main office production machine (Mac OS X 10.5.8)
- Power Mac G5 (Late 2004) Leopard Server (Mac OS X Server 10.5.8)
- Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver Education) Office/Staff machine (Mac OS X 10.5.8)
- Mac Book Pro (15-inch Early 2008) Portable workstation (Mac OS X 10.6)
- Mac Mini (Early 2006) Media center (Mac OS X 10.6)

PRE-INSTALLATION INFORMATION

As most of you are aware, with the introduction of Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6), Apple has cut-off operating system support for its much loved (and much deployed) PowerPC architecture. The PowerPC architecture includes everything that is not an Intel based computer. For clarification, if it has a processor code name that includes a "G" (i.e. iBook G3/iMac G4/Power Mac G5) or the machine is identified with a number (i.e. Power Mac 7200, 6116CD) it is a PowerPC based machine. All machines that Apple has manufactured since about 2006 have included an Intel processor. Therefore, if you have purchased your machine in the last 2-3 years, it is LIKELY that you can run Snow Leopard. Those that haven't purchased a machine in the last few years run a good chance that they won't be able to take advantage of Snow Leopard. The reason I say "it is LIKELY" is that not all machines sold in the last 2-3 years meet the minimum system requirements. That being said, here are the official system requirements for Snow Leopard from Apple's website:

- Mac computer with an Intel processor
- 1GB of memory
- 5GB of available disk space
- DVD drive for installation

There are also some feature specific system requirements that are listed here:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/specs.html

Like with all things related to computers, a software developer's listing of "Minimum" system requirements does not mean it is a good idea to try to install the software on a machine that meets only those minimum system requirements. Those system requirements are such that those are the requirements to make the software function, not necessarily make it function WELL. Many of us work in fields that require more than a "functioning" computer but a "well functioning" and efficient computer. Generally I've found that any Mac with an Intel processor, 2GB of memory and 20GB of free space on the internal hard disk, makes a good candidate for Snow Leopard. In my environment, the oldest machine that can run Snow Leopard is my Mac Mini media center. That is a 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo Mac Mini that has 2GB of memory and an 80GB disk drive. In my experience, Apple's system requirements for Leopard which stated 512MB of memory an 867MHz PowerPC G4 or any G5 processor and 9GB of free space ran into the same problem. Anecdotally, I was forced to upgrade the memory in my Mac Mini media center from 1GB to 2GB to allow the unit to play movies. Take my word for it, you want at least 1.5GB of memory for either Leopard or Snow Leopard. More is better, less can be problematic.

Memory is the single best upgrade to do on any computer and right now is the perfect time for many machines as memory prices are the lowest I have ever seen them. Feel free to contact me, if you'd like to discuss memory upgrade options. We can of course assist with both the acquisition (usually at a better price than any retailer in the area) of the proper modules for your machine and get it installed for a reasonable price.

PRICING

Snow Leopard comes in two varieties. First is the standalone installer disk which is for those users that have machines that currently have Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) installed. Since Snow Leopard is being branded as less of a feature update and more of a stability and improvements update to Leopard (hence the name "Snow" Leopard), they have priced the upgrade from Leopard extraordinarily competitively at $29+tax.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MAC_OS_X_SNGL?mco=Nzk2MjE4OQ

For those upgrading from Tiger, there is unfortunately no upgrade pricing from Tiger to Leopard and the only way to acquire license for Snow Leopard is to purchase the "Mac Box Set". Before everyone gets aggravated by the pricing, the Box set includes "iLife '09" and "iWork '09" which are some of the best programs out there for your Mac. Both iLife and iWork are normally $79+tax, therefore, if you need iLife '09 and iWork '09 to round-out your Macintosh Application library, you are actually getting a better deal if you get the box set. If you already purchased iLife '09 and iWork '09, then I am sorry...I've got no better deal for you. That package is priced at $169+tax.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC209Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOA&mco=Nzk2MTEzOQ

Both are available at your local Apple Store, or at several online retailers including Apple and Amazon.

INSTALLATION OF SNOW LEOPARD

First and foremost, prior to the installation, we used Apple's Time Capsule and Apple's Time Machine to do a backup of our data on both the MacBook Pro and the Mac Mini. For our internal machines, every major release of an operating system (Tiger 10.4/Leopard 10.5/Snow Leopard 10.6), is a tremendous opportunity to do some spring cleaning on the machine(s). We always utilize an erase and install for major system updates to clean up our drives and verify reliable drive functionality and a solid backup prior to the installation is essential. It takes more time (and requires storage space for the backup), but you will be thankful you took the extra time if you run into problems (like we did). The additional stress of installing an operating system forces a drive into utilizing its full capacity and premature failures can be detected as a result. Such was the case for the hard drive in my Mac Mini which had been displaying some stability problems recently, which I had attributed to software problems which restarting always seemed to resolve. However, when the Snow Leopard installation failed, further diagnostics determined that the internal hard drive was responsible for the failures, and replacing that drive resolved both the stability issues as well as the installation problems.

Once those initial problems were resolved, the installation of the software was relatively smooth. Those individuals accustomed to utilizing previous Mac OS X installers will notice the apparent lack of installation options. In an effort to streamline the installation of Snow Leopard (and eliminate accidental Erase and Installs), Apple has removed some of those options from the forefront of the installation process. Gone are the traditional "Erase and Install", "Archive and Install" and "Upgrade" options. By default, the installer attempts something similar to an "Archive and Install" but without most of the clean up required afterwards. I am rather disappointed by the removal of the official "Archive and Install" which was of great diagnostic use, but we will have to figure out a way around it. "Erase and Installs" can be done manually utilizing the Disk Utility application that is available in the "Utilities" menu at the top of the installer screen.

Since we were doing what is classically known as an "Erase and Install" we went ahead and used the Disk Utility, formatted the drive onto which we were installing Snow Leopard, and began the installer...

45 minutes later...

Once the installation was complete, the machine rebooted and we were on our way to getting Snow Leopard up and running.

THINGS THAT WORKED

- Right off the bat, I noticed that Snow Leopard boots 2-3 times faster than Leopard did. This is most likely a result of the re-engineered "Finder", the full utilization of modern firmware and the removal of the legacy PowerPC code. The Mac Mini which used to take around 45 seconds to boot, now boots (from power button press to ready to run) in about 17 seconds. I have had similar results with my MacBook Pro.

- Also, what I'm going to call "System Snapiness" is much more apparent. While the visual changes in Snow Leopard are relatively few, the efficiency of the system is vastly improved. The system utilizes memory more efficiently and for those applications that are optimized, they respond almost instantly. This is especially evident with Apple's web browser "Safari". Safari has long been the fastest browser on the Mac, but even it launches appreciably faster than its predecessor.

- Printers and Scanners - My two printers (Hewlett Packard DeskJet 5850, Brother HL-4070CDW) are working perfectly fine using the drivers that come preinstalled with Snow Leopard. Here is the current compatibility list and installed drivers list (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669). My scanner, an Epson Perfection series, also worked with Apple's Image Capture software without installing any additional drivers. You can check that list to see whether or not your devices (printers and scanners) are compatible with Snow Leopard.

- Playing back video. With the new software features installed with Snow Leopard watching videos on my Mac Mini requires less processing and looks better.

- Most of my software is functional without any additional upgrades. That is partially because I had updated everything for Leopard. Those individuals that are moving from Leopard to Snow Leopard should have very few compatibility issues. Those moving from Tiger to Snow Leopard may have more issues. That being said, here is a list of applications and their current compatibility status.

http://www.macintouch.com/specialreports/snowleopard/slcompat.html

Before upgrading, you should write down the applications you use daily and check that list to make sure that those applications will work with Snow Leopard. If you are attempting to install Snow Leopard on your own, those of you using older applications (Including Microsoft Office 2004) should make sure to select to install Rosetta during the installation process. The Rosetta option can be found by clicking the "Customize" button below the Installation location options during the install procedure. Rosetta is a programming translation layer that allows older applications that were built for PowerPC machines to run transparently (albeit not as efficiently or stably) within the newer Intel machines. Several applications that will require Rosetta are Adobe CS2 (and earlier) and Microsoft Office 2004 (as well as many other older applications that have been transferred through the years). If you have questions as to whether or not an application you use regularly requires Rosetta, you can either contact me and I'll let you know, or you can just go ahead and install Rosetta during the installation. It shouldn't affect the system's performance that much.

More information about Rosetta can be found here:

http://www.apple.com/rosetta/

THINGS THAT DIDN'T WORK

- DiskWarrior (alsoft.com) - The popular disk directory repair utility didn't work after the installation, however, it appears they have an update that is free for all registered users of DiskWarrior 4.1.

THINGS THAT KIND OF WORKED

- While the installation was relatively straightforward, I was very disappointed by the time it took to restore data from the Time Capsule. Even with the addition of a faster wireless connection, I still find the Time Capsule to be a troublesome backup/restoration device. Using it for recovering a file here and there is a pleasure, however, recovering an entire drive took several times longer than if the Time Machine backup drive were local (USB/Firewire). That being said, after waiting for the restoration to complete, it did an acceptably thorough job.

- VMWare Fusion - My virtualization application of choice (which I had used for virtual machines for Windows XP Pro, Vista Home Premium and UBUNTU Linux) didn't allow for bridged connections to networks. It basically couldn't get the network connection from the host operating system. While this isn't wholly surprising, it is a major issue as many of my clients rely on VMWare Fusion everyday. I fully expect VMWare to resolve in the not-too-distant future.

- TypeIt4Me (had to update to version 4.2)

SUMMARY OF INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

While functionally, those users that are accustomed to Tiger or Leopard should have a very smooth transition, what Apple has done underneath the hood has truly paved the way for the future growth of the platform and its applications. If you are interested in more detail about those changes, feel free to let me know and I can go into more detail. I am very impressed by the performance of the operating system in general. It feels much "snappier" in its day-to-day function and I don't find myself waiting for the machine to catch up to me as often as I used to. That being said, as with any major operating system upgrade, there are some compatibility issues that need to be worked out prior to deployment in your environments. Those of you doing audio/video production work should be especially hesitant and make sure that your plug-ins and hardware are compatible before investing the time in backing up and installing a new operating system. While this update has had very few issues of this nature (when compared to Leopard) they do still exist and I would much rather let others discover them than you.

If anybody would like any assistance in licensing or installing Mac OS X Snow Leopard, please feel free to contact us for pricing and durational information. As always, if I can be of assistance with any other questions I will of course do my best to answer them.

Best regards.

Greg M.

SoundSpeed Computer Consulting

info@soundspeed.net

O. 818-392-8065

Huerta Quorum Testimonial

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:00:30 -0800

As a creative source for countless clients for whom we create, build and help manage their brands and reach out to their consumers in any number of ways from packaging to promotion, who would think that one of the most important people in our rolodex would be the IT guy. But since Greg Madore is so much more, it is no wonder that his name is next to every phone at every work station in our agency.

From hardware configurations to software issues, Greg is the person who keeps us up and running, but more importantly running smart. We know we can count on him to provide good counsel, smart solutions and prompt service 24 / 7.

Greg haas become like part of the family and someone we trust. So don't just let anyone tinker with your network after all, when your system needs TLC call the guy who'll love your business almost as much as you do.

Barbara C.
Huerta Quorum

Jeanne S. Testimonial

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:52:18 -0800

Greg has advised us and saved the day for us in a number of different situations, ranging from the creative to the technical. I am an actor and playwright, and Greg designed and created a terrific musical montage of production photos for my play DAWN'S LIGHT, which has been invaluable in marketing and advertising my play.

When my hard drive crashed, Greg saved the day and my sanity by retrieving all the data I thought I'd lost. To prevent this from happening again, he also created a backup system where I only have to insert a plug into my computer before I go to sleep, knowing that all my data would be safe and sound. He has also set up for us everything ranging from our internet system to budget templates. Best of all, he is a great guy----fair, reasonable, reliable, and has a great sense of humor. I'd enthusiasticallly recommend him any day!

Jeanne S.
Glendale, CA

Kelly N. Testimonial

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:22:06 -0800

To accurately articulate why I am so grateful to Greg, I feel it necessary to explain the extent in which he helped me.

My [laptop] crashed. As a college student, loosing everything on my laptop felt like the end of the world and I was devastated. [Another service provider] told me that to retrieve the files would cost around $2,000 with no guarantee they could even get any of it back. Then I [met] Greg.

On the phone, I explained to him that I [was on a tight budget]. He offered to meet me at a coffee shop and look over the computer, and evaluate what he thought the problem was. I was reluctant because as a female, I have been in several situations where the computer technician assumed I didn't know much about computers and overcharged me for doing little to no work; but the first second I met Greg I trusted him. He looked over my computer, and spent time actually explaining the way computers work internally, and specifically what the problem was. He asked to take it home with him and see if he could restore some of the files. He even went as far as to go ... and pick up a new hard drive and memory for me. Less than 24 hours later, he called me to tell me it was ready. Not only did he get every file off the broken hard drive and put it on an external one, but he even put it all back onto my computer for me. I basically had a brand new laptop.

About a week after having my computer fixed and running perfectly, I was sitting outside a coffee shop when a man stole my laptop right out of my hands. Needless to say I was an emotional wreck. My mom gave me her [laptop] to use except that it wasn't working either. So once again I called up Greg. At that point, I was feeling so low and kept thinking, "How can my luck be this bad?" It seemed absolutely impossible that anyone could make me feel better about the situation; but Greg did. Once again we met and I showed him my mom's computer. In less than an hour, he had it working perfectly with all my files back on it. And of course that created relief, but what really affected me was his compassion. He understood the emotional connection we have with our computers and helped to make the situation as easy for me as possible. I left our meeting that day smiling for the first time in about a week and the computer hasn't had a single problem since.

So if I were to sum up what is so great about Greg's company is his knowledge of computers, willingness to explain the process, dedication to fixing the problem quickly, and in my opinion, the most important, is his genuine concern and care for his clients. I would recommend him to any person I meet because I know he would give them the exact same wonderful experience that he gave me.

Kelly N.
Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising

Teresa S. Testimonial

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:16:54 -0800

My wife, Teresa and I highly recommend Greg Madore and his company SOUNDSPEED. They understand our computer and website needs and always find a way to accommodate those needs. They always do a great job at a very affordable price.

Why do we choose to stay with Greg's services over other computer specialists?

Greg is a dedicated, clear-headed professional who honors his commitment to his clients with an exemplary work ethic. Greg is prompt to respond to our inquiries, diligently and accurately diagnoses problems, offers well-researched upgrade options, and completes the upgrades or repairs without delay or excuse.

Thanks Greg!
Teresa Wilson-Summerville and Scott Summerville
Owners-Wilson & Associates, Interpreting

AEGLive Testimonial

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:43:06 -0800

I am the Art Director of AEG Live, a large concert promotions company. As such I am in charge of a series of graphics machines, all of which are Macintosh. Everything from G4s to newer MacIntels.

We have used Gregory Madore to initialize systems (install all the necessary software and make sure our network connections are working), troubleshoot problems as they arise, and in general help us keep our machines working 24/7.

I highly recommend him as an all-around Mac specialist. I have tried other "Mac experts" and we keep coming back to Greg.

What we like about him:
Him - he's a very nice guy
Scheduling - he is very good about working with our time constraints
Timely - repairs are done in a timely manner
Rates - very reasonable for his level of expertise

I also run a Digidesign studio at home and have asked his advice about that, system upgrades here at work, anything Macintosh. What I really like about his advice - he is conservative, making sure that the steps taken will lead to a machine that runs 24/7. He does not recommend all the latest software and hardware unless it's going to seamlessly work.

I wholeheartedly recommend him for any of your Macintosh issues.

Paul C.
AEG Live

5 minute management lesson

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:41:08 -0800

LESSON 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.

Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.'

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'

'It was Bob the next door neighbour,' she replies.

'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

LESSON 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift.

She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.

The priest nearly had an accident.

After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story:

If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

LESSON 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.

The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'

'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'

Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.

The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Moral of the story:

Always let your boss have the first say.

LESSON 4

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?' The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:

To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

LESSON 5:

A turkey was chatting with a bull.

'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'

'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. 'They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:

Bull Sh*t might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..

LESSON 6:

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:

(1) Not everyone who sh*ts on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of sh*t is your friend.

(3) And when you're in deep sh*t, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

THUS ENDS THE FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Email etiquette

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:27:22 -0800

So I found this great posting on a website (http://www.emailreplies.com/) that I happened to stumble upon about the unofficial rules of email etiquette. Now if I forget to do any of these somebody please yell at me.

--

1. Be concise and to the point.

Do not make an e-mail longer than it needs to be. Remember that reading an e-mail is harder than reading printed communications and a long e-mail can be very discouraging to read.

2. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions.

An email reply must answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions – If you do not answer all the questions in the original email, you will receive further e-mails regarding the unanswered questions, which will not only waste your time and your customer’s time but also cause considerable frustration. Moreover, if you are able to pre-empt relevant questions, your customer will be grateful and impressed with your efficient and thoughtful customer service. Imagine for instance that a customer sends you an email asking which credit cards you accept. Instead of just listing the credit card types, you can guess that their next question will be about how they can order, so you also include some order information and a URL to your order page. Customers will definitely appreciate this.

3. Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation.

This is not only important because improper spelling, grammar and punctuation give a bad impression of your company, it is also important for conveying the message properly. E-mails with no full stops or commas are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the text. And, if your program has a spell checking option, why not use it?

4. Make it personal.

Not only should the e-mail be personally addressed, it should also include personal i.e. customized content. For this reason auto replies are usually not very effective. However, templates can be used effectively in this way, see next tip.

5. Use templates for frequently used responses.

Some questions you get over and over again, such as directions to your office or how to subscribe to your newsletter. Save these texts as response templates and paste these into your message when you need them. You can save your templates in a Word document, or use pre-formatted emails. Even better is a tool such as ReplyMate for Outlook (allows you to use 10 templates for free).

6. Answer swiftly.

Customers send an e-mail because they wish to receive a quick response. If they did not want a quick response they would send a letter or a fax. Therefore, each e-mail should be replied to within at least 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day. If the email is complicated, just send an email back saying that you have received it and that you will get back to them. This will put the customer's mind at rest and usually customers will then be very patient!

7. Do not attach unnecessary files.

By sending large attachments you can annoy customers and even bring down their e-mail system. Wherever possible try to compress attachments and only send attachments when they are productive. Moreover, you need to have a good virus scanner in place since your customers will not be very happy if you send them documents full of viruses!

8. Use proper structure & layout.

Since reading from a screen is more difficult than reading from paper, the structure and lay out is very important for e-mail messages. Use short paragraphs and blank lines between each paragraph. When making points, number them or mark each point as separate to keep the overview.

9. Do not overuse the high priority option.

We all know the story of the boy who cried wolf. If you overuse the high priority option, it will lose its function when you really need it. Moreover, even if a mail has high priority, your message will come across as slightly aggressive if you flag it as 'high priority'.

10. Do not write in CAPITALS.

IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response in the form of a flame mail. Therefore, try not to send any email text in capitals.

11. Don't leave out the message thread.

When you reply to an email, you must include the original mail in your reply, in other words click 'Reply', instead of 'New Mail'. Some people say that you must remove the previous message since this has already been sent and is therefore unnecessary. However, I could not agree less. If you receive many emails you obviously cannot remember each individual email. This means that a 'threadless email' will not provide enough information and you will have to spend a frustratingly long time to find out the context of the email in order to deal with it. Leaving the thread might take a fraction longer in download time, but it will save the recipient much more time and frustration in looking for the related emails in their inbox!

12. Add disclaimers to your emails.

It is important to add disclaimers to your internal and external mails, since this can help protect your company from liability. Consider the following scenario: an employee accidentally forwards a virus to a customer by email. The customer decides to sue your company for damages. If you add a disclaimer at the bottom of every external mail, saying that the recipient must check each email for viruses and that it cannot be held liable for any transmitted viruses, this will surely be of help to you in court (read more about email disclaimers). Another example: an employee sues the company for allowing a racist email to circulate the office. If your company has an email policy in place and adds an email disclaimer to every mail that states that employees are expressly required not to make defamatory statements, you have a good case of proving that the company did everything it could to prevent offensive emails.

13. Read the email before you send it.

A lot of people don't bother to read an email before they send it out, as can be seen from the many spelling and grammar mistakes contained in emails. Apart from this, reading your email through the eyes of the recipient will help you send a more effective message and avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.

14. Do not overuse Reply to All.

Only use Reply to All if you really need your message to be seen by each person who received the original message.

15. Mailings > use the Bcc: field or do a mail merge.

When sending an email mailing, some people place all the email addresses in the To: field. There are two drawbacks to this practice: (1) the recipient knows that you have sent the same message to a large number of recipients, and (2) you are publicizing someone else's email address without their permission. One way to get round this is to place all addresses in the Bcc: field. However, the recipient will only see the address from the To: field in their email, so if this was empty, the To: field will be blank and this might look like spamming. You could include the mailing list email address in the To: field, or even better, if you have Microsoft Outlook and Word you can do a mail merge and create one message for each recipient. A mail merge also allows you to use fields in the message so that you can for instance address each recipient personally. For more information on how to do a Word mail merge, consult the Help in Word.

16. Take care with abbreviations and emoticons.

In business emails, try not to use abbreviations such as BTW (by the way) and LOL (laugh out loud). The recipient might not be aware of the meanings of the abbreviations and in business emails these are generally not appropriate. The same goes for emoticons, such as the smiley :-). If you are not sure whether your recipient knows what it means, it is better not to use it.

17. Be careful with formatting.

Remember that when you use formatting in your emails, the sender might not be able to view formatting, or might see different fonts than you had intended. When using colors, use a color that is easy to read on the background.

18. Take care with rich text and HTML messages.

Be aware that when you send an email in rich text or HTML format, the sender might only be able to receive plain text emails. If this is the case, the recipient will receive your message as a .txt attachment. Most email clients however, including Microsoft Outlook, are able to receive HTML and rich text messages.

19. Do not forward chain letters.

Do not forward chain letters. We can safely say that all of them are hoaxes. Just delete the letters as soon as you receive them.

20. Do not request delivery and read receipts.

This will almost always annoy your recipient before he or she has even read your message. Besides, it usually does not work anyway since the recipient could have blocked that function, or his/her software might not support it, so what is the use of using it? If you want to know whether an email was received it is better to ask the recipient to let you know if it was received.

21. Do not ask to recall a message.

Biggest chances are that your message has already been delivered and read. A recall request would look very silly in that case wouldn't it? It is better just to send an email to say that you have made a mistake. This will look much more honest than trying to recall a message.

22. Do not copy a message or attachment without permission.

Do not copy a message or attachment belonging to another user without permission of the originator. If you do not ask permission first, you might be infringing on copyright laws.

23. Do not use email to discuss confidential information.

Sending an email is like sending a postcard. If you don't want your email to be displayed on a bulletin board, don't send it. Moreover, never make any libelous, sexist or racially discriminating comments in emails, even if they are meant to be a joke.

24. Use a meaningful subject.

Try to use a subject that is meaningful to the recipient as well as yourself. For instance, when you send an email to a company requesting information about a product, it is better to mention the actual name of the product, e.g. 'Product A information' than to just say 'product information' or the company's name in the subject.

25. Use active instead of passive.

Try to use the active voice of a verb wherever possible. For instance, 'We will process your order today', sounds better than 'Your order will be processed today'. The first sounds more personal, whereas the latter, especially when used frequently, sounds unnecessarily formal.

26. Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT.

Even more so than the high-priority option, you must at all times try to avoid these types of words in an email or subject line. Only use this if it is a really, really urgent or important message.

27. Avoid long sentences.

Try to keep your sentences to a maximum of 15-20 words. Email is meant to be a quick medium and requires a different kind of writing than letters. Also take care not to send emails that are too long. If a person receives an email that looks like a dissertation, chances are that they will not even attempt to read it!

28. Don't send or forward emails containing libelous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks.

By sending or even just forwarding one libelous, or offensive remark in an email, you and your company can face court cases resulting in multi-million dollar penalties.

29. Don't forward virus hoaxes and chain letters.

If you receive an email message warning you of a new unstoppable virus that will immediately delete everything from your computer, this is most probably a hoax. By forwarding hoaxes you use valuable bandwidth and sometimes virus hoaxes contain viruses themselves, by attaching a so-called file that will stop the dangerous virus. The same goes for chain letters that promise incredible riches or ask your help for a charitable cause. Even if the content seems to be bona fide, the senders are usually not. Since it is impossible to find out whether a chain letter is real or not, the best place for it is the recycle bin.

30. Keep your language gender neutral.

In this day and age, avoid using sexist language such as: 'The user should add a signature by configuring his email program'. Apart from using he/she, you can also use the neutral gender: ''The user should add a signature by configuring the email program'.

31. Don't reply to spam.

By replying to spam or by unsubscribing, you are confirming that your email address is 'live'. Confirming this will only generate even more spam. Therefore, just hit the delete button or use email software to remove spam automatically.

32. Use cc: field sparingly.

Try not to use the cc: field unless the recipient in the cc: field knows why they are receiving a copy of the message. Using the cc: field can be confusing since the recipients might not know who is supposed to act on the message. Also, when responding to a cc: message, should you include the other recipient in the cc: field as well? This will depend on the situation. In general, do not include the person in the cc: field unless you have a particular reason for wanting this person to see your response. Again, make sure that this person will know why they are receiving a copy.

--

I put this out there because I know I sometimes need a friendly little digital reminder of these rules.

Email forward: "The Law is THE LAW"

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:59:18 -0800

So if the US government determines that it is against the law for the words “under God” to be on our money, then, so be it.

And if that same government decides that the “Ten Commandments” are not to be used in or on a government installation, then, so be it.

I say, “so be it,” because I would like to be a law abiding US citizen.

I say, “so be it,” because I would like to think that smarter people than I are in positions to make good decisions.

I would like to think that those people have the American public’s best interests at heart. BUT, YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE I’D LIKE?

Since we can’t pray to God, can’t Trust in God and cannot post His Commandments in Government buildings, I don’t believe the Government and its employees should participate in the Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.

I’d like my mail delivered on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter. After all, it’s just another day.

I’d like the US Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter as well as Sundays. After all, it’s just another day.

I’d like the Senate and the House of Representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the “Christmas Break.” After all it’s just another day.

I’m thinking that a lot of my tax payer dollars could be saved, if all government offices & services would work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter. It shouldn’t cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be “politically correct.” In fact….

I think that our government should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshiping God…) because, after all, our government says that it should be just another day…

What do you all think????

2007 Screenwriting Expo going on now

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:07:13 -0800

As we speak the 2007 Screenwriting Expo is going on. I think the title speaks for itself as to what will be there, but aside from the obvious (Producers, screenwriters etc.) there is also several major vendors including Final Draft. In addition to these, one of my best clients Julie Gray of the RougeWave blog and her business The Script Whisperer and its other members will be there the entire week. You can go and check-out all of the wonderful folks out there but also see some of my handiwork including two LCD presentation displays, one is playing several movies (some that Julie actually worked on) and the other is displaying a UBUNTU Linux installation running OpenOffice.org's presentation software.

Enjoy all!

Mozilla's Firefox updated for Leopard

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:24:28 -0800

While Mozilla admits that it isn't perfect (yet) Firefox has been updated for use with Leopard and is publicly available as I'm typing these.

Click here to download Mozilla Firefox.

Sorry about the hiatus...

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:01:23 -0800

I've spent the last 9 months transitioning from being a Mac Genius, to starting my own freelance computer consulting, training and audio production and post-production business. Its been a crazy time filled with a lot of interesting observations. Some of which I can share, others of which I can't, but now that MovableType has been upgraded and SoundSpeed is getting a new look, I look forward to doing more posting. Write now, I think this is more for me, but over the upcoming 6 months to a year, my hope is that people actually start checking out my blog for information about Apple computers and audio equipment.

Leopard recommendations

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:45:47 -0800

Since most of my clients are based on Apple hardware, most of you are probably well aware that next week (Friday, October 26 at 6:00PM) Apple is releasing Mac OS X v. 10.5, which has been code-named "Leopard." Leopard is a full release version of the Macintosh Operating System and therefore is not a free upgrade. It currently has the following pricing:

- Single User License: $129
- 5 License Family Pack: $199
- Single User License (Edu): $116

Apple's educational pricing for software is NOT available in the retail stores. It is only available at your respective educational institutions or via Apple's online educational stores. While the educational pricing is higher than it was on this version of the Operating System, there are great deals on other Apple and third party products if you are an educational customer. To find out if you qualify as an educational customer you can consult Apple's Educational store gateway at:
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/routingpage.html

COMPATIBILITY OF LEOPARD WITH LEGACY HARDWARE:
Well, this is a sore subject. Finally, Apple has determined that my faithful Blue and White G3 Server is no longer good enough to run the most recent version of the operating system. Oh well, Tiger is running just fine on it, and it will stay that way. For the past decade or so (since Steve's return to the company) Apple has basically had 5 different machines in its hardware lineup:

Desktop:
- Power Macintosh (now Mac Pro)
- iMac
- Mac Mini

Portable:
- Powerbook (now MacBook Pro)
- iBook (now MacBook)

The official system requirements are available on Apple's website:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs/

The basic idea is that you need at least an 867MHz or faster G4 (eliminating all of the Power Mac G3's, and iMac G3's, the first two revisions of the Power Mac G4 and even some of the Quicksilver Power Mac G4's as well as all of the iBook G3's, the first implementation of the iBook G4 (800MHz), the Powerbook G3's and all of the Titanium Powerbook G4's except the last 867MHz model). You also need at least 512MB of RAM. I really would advise against installing Leopard on anything that has less than 768MB of RAM for basic office purposes (email, web surfing, word processing) and less than 1GB of RAM for basic production purposes. And of course, you will also need a DVD capable optical drive to do the installation.

THE LEOPARD INSTALLATION OPTIONS:
Thankfully you don't need to call me to do the upgrade as Apple has provided three different ways to install the OS. The method you choose depends on how "clean" of an installation you want to do (and how much work you want to have to do after the installation). Those three different ways are outlined below for your own information.

Upgrade; "Dirtiest" but easiest:
Upgrading is the default choice when making the change from at least 10.4 (no official stance yet on 10.2 or 10.3). This option replaces your current versions of files wherever they are necessary and upgrades any applications that were previously installed (that still reside in your Applications folder) with those that are installed with the OS. This is the only option for those that are running close to the capacity of their hard drives as it installs all necessary files in place and shouldn't affect installed applications.

Archive and Install; "Cleaner" but moderate amount of work after installation:
If you are having any kind of intermittent software problems, but don't want to have to re-setup your user account or if for some reason the upgrade option isn't available, this is the option for you. This option moves your current root level "System" and "Library" files to a folder called "Previous Systems" and installs fresh clean Leopard-friendly versions of those folders.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are running any kind of applications that rely on data in those folders (including, but not limited to applications by Adobe including Photoshop, as well as Apps like Final Cut Pro) or are running peripherals that required driver installation (Wacom tablets, All-in-one Printers), those installations will have to be redone as those types of applications and software rely on data within those two folders to function.

Erase and Install; "Cleanest" but usually requires a great deal of work after installation:
This type of installation while easy to complete, can be difficult to work with as the user would have to restore data from a previously backed up user account, or use Apple's included Migration Assistant to move your settings back over if the internal drive was cloned, prior to the installation. While this is the cleanest type of install as it removes all of the original data from the hard drive and installs all new copies of applications and the operating system, any and all personal data and purchased applications will have to be reinstalled from backups, web based downloadable installers or original installation disks.

PLEASE NOTE: As always, when doing a major operating system change, I recommend that you backup the contents of your computer prior to making that change just in case something should go horribly wrong. There are an infinite number of ways to "clone" your internal hard drive. The following are the two that I recommend for clients:

Built-in, Mac OS X's Disk Utility:
See http://www.macinstruct.com/node/147 for a tutorial on using the Built-in Restore feature of Mac OS X's Disk Utility application.

Free add-on Application:
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

Words of Caution:
Since we live in Los Angeles and a great many of us rely on our computers day-in and day-out to manage our daily personal lives as well as our professional lives, I need to caution anyone doing any kind of media production work on their computers to hold off installation of Leopard (if you can). I'm sure application developers like Avid, Digidesign and Propellerhead work very hard to maintain compatibility with the latest and greatest operating systems on the market. This is especially true of Apple's third-party software developers. Case in point is the recent release of Microsoft's new operating system Windows Vista. Vista was released almost 1 year ago and we are finally starting to see professional class applications being released that are compatible with Vista. I don't want to compare Apple's software pipeline with that of Microsoft's as they are very different. Typically it takes 2-3 months for the major Applications to become qualified for the new version after a major update to the Mac OS. Just to give you an idea, Digidesign is officially stating the following with regard to ProTools compatibility with Windows Vista (even after 1 year in production):

While Digidesign originally anticipated bringing the entire Pro Tools® product line to Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system during the summer of 2007, delays in software development have occurred. We now expect to release Vista-compatible versions of Pro Tools LE® and Pro Tools M-Powered™ in winter 2007/2008.

Because Pro Tools software will not function with Windows Vista at this time, please wait to upgrade your operating system if you’re using Pro Tools on Windows. Stay tuned – all the power of Pro Tools paired with the benefits of Windows Vista is coming soon.

http://digidesign.com/index.cfm?langid=100&navid=48&itemid=24626

My hope is that this doesn't happen with Leopard since there are many great features I would love to see all of my clients in production take advantage of, I just felt that I should warn everyone about the possibility of delays in application deployment.

In addition, I share Digidesign's recommendation that if individuals want to test drive a brand new version of an operating system (like Leopard) in their production environment, that they dual-boot their computer instead of simply upgrading immediately. To dual-boot the user should clone their current drive (using the methods discussed above) to a practical backup solution, and repartition their current internal drive into two separate partitions.

NOTE: The act of repartitioning a drive will eliminate all data that is stored on that hard drive. Make sure that you do backup the drive completely before attempting to repartition the drive.

The user can then use one partition for their production environment and the other as a temporary test environment for the new operating system. In addition, if you are using a desktop tower workstation, then (if space allows for it) the user can install a second hard drive into the tower and install Leopard onto that new internal drive and test drive it completely separate from your production environment.

Once the individual vendors qualify your various production applications (and plug-ins) then you can feel secure in moving to the new OS once you have access to those applications. For some developers (like Adobe) you may find that a free software update brings full compatibility, for others (classically Digidesign) you may find you need to purchase a whole new version or a dot upgrade to bring compatibility to your environment.

If you are simply using your Mac for daily office work (as many of us do on our laptops) I'm sure you will see very few speed bumps on your way to Leopard.

I will be waiting in line at the Glendale Galleria on October 26th to pickup my copies of Leopard for my Powerbook G4 (1.5GHz) and my CoreDuo Mac Mini media center (1.66Ghz). Once I get these two machines up and running on Leopard I will be sending out another email with my impressions of the new OS. If you have any questions in the meantime I, of course, will be available to answer them. If any of you would like assistance backing up your current machines and installing the new OS we can definitely discuss that as well.

Information Links for Leopard:

Apple's official Leopard Site:

Apple's official technical specifications:

Information about Apple's Up-to-date program.
This is for people that have bought a Macintosh since October 1st. They can purchase Leopard at a dramatic discount:

Unofficial (but thorough) Leopard hidden features list.
This is a list of little known features that are apparently part of Leopard:

Google search for Native-Instruments' Leopard Support:

Google search for Digidesign's Leopard Support:

Cubase and Nuendo Leopard support statement:

Google search for AVID's Leopard support: