November 24, 2009
Slanted Viewpoint is back. I am once again making regular entries to my (redesigned) Slanted Viewpoint blog.
November 12, 2009
Take Control of iPhone OS 3 is out. The third edition of my iPhone ebook is now available. It has the latest information on iPhone OS 3, iTunes 9 and the iPhone 3GS. Click here to read all about it and/or order a copy.
MyMac podcast. I did a podcast-interview for MyMac.com, back on October 16.
October 12, 2009
The new MacFixIt. The people at CNET overhauled the MacFixIt site back in September. Among the good news, the entire site is now free. There is no longer any MacFixIt Pro. The site is now integrated into the main CNET site structure. In comments, readers offer their opinions about the new format.
My final mac.column.ted column (with reader comments!). A problem emerged with the redesign of MacFixIt: reader comments from prior articles, including all of my columns, were stripped out. Comments were supposed to be restored within a couple of weeks; but it hasn't happened yet. I was especially disappointed that comments were MIA from my final column, as it contained numerous reader "thank you" replies regarding my departure from MacFixIt.
If you're interested in what people had to say, I've reposted the column here, including all the comments.
Latest Macworld article. Check out my latest online-only article for Macworld.com: iPhone Under the Hood: Carrier settings and configuration profiles.
User Group Talks. I had a great time giving a talk at the Silicon Valley User Group on September 21.
Previously this year, I spoke at the Diablo Valley Macintosh Users Group meeting (April 21) and via video chat at Austin's Capital Macintosh Users Group (May 21).
August 30, 2009
The end of mac.column.ted. My final column for MacFixIt, The Demise of Troubleshooters?, has at last been posted, a couple of months later than I initially expected. CNET held off until they were ready to unveil their redesigned MacFixIt site. My relationship with the site I founded comes to an end.
The reader comments at the end of the article took me completely by surprise. Thank you again to all who wrote.
Take Control of iPhone OS 3.0. I have now completed a draft of Take Control of iPhone OS 3.0, the update to my current iPhone book. There's still editing to be done, so the book will not be out for another few months. But it's getting there. Of course, if iPhone OS 3.1 or any other relevant updates are released soon, the book will be modified to include them.
Note: The title of the book has changed to better reflect the emphasis of the book. Also, the iPhone has become too big a topic for just one TCo book. A separate book on the iPhone apps is planned.
Solve Printing Woes. My latest Macworld article appears in the October 2009 issue. You can read it online here.
June 12, 2009
Macworld cover story. My feature titled Troubleshoot Like a Genius is on the cover of the July issue of Macworld. The article is available online as several separate items (as listed here).
WWDC. This year's WWDC has come to a close. You can read my coverage of the event at The Mac Observer.
February 12, 2009
Take Control of Your iPhone 2.0 is out. Finally! The second edition of my iPhone book is complete and available for purchase. It is current as of iPhone Software 2.2.1. Click here for details or to buy a copy.
December 17, 2008
Macworld Expo. I will once again be giving a session at the Macworld Expo Users Conference: US901: Bugs & Fixes: Real World Mac Troubleshooting. It's scheduled for Wednesday January 7 from 11:00-12:15.
I am also giving a talk on the iPhone at the User Groups Lounge.
Click here for details.
Sept 22, 2008
My MacFxIt email address is gone. If you read any of my articles at MacFixIt.com, you may notice my macfixit.com email adddress listed at the bottom. That email address no longer works. Do not use it! Instead use the address listed here.
June 24, 2008
Take Control of Your iPhone 1.1. In April, version 1.1 of Take Control or Your iPhone was released. This version updated the book to include all the changes through iPhone software 1.1.4, including expanded and updated information about how to jailbreak an iPhone.
Latest columns and blogs. Whew! I am now writing a minimum of 10 columns a month. First there are my two monthly columns: mac.column.ted for MacFixIt and User Friendly View for The Mac Observer. In addition, I write a weekly Bugs & Fixes blog for Macworld (part of Mac 911) as well as a weekly User Friendly Blog for The Mac Observer. At this rate, it is no longer possible for me to list here every blog entry I write. You'll have to check the blog sites themselves. For additional related information, check out the MacFixIt, Macworld, and Mac Observer pages here.
Plus, I still write occasional entries for Slanted Viewpoint, my blog for personal views on mostly non-tech topics.
TidBITs article. I occasionally write articles about the iPhone for TidBITS. The most recent one is Get More From the iPhone's Text Widget, posted in April.
MacFixIt sold again. Last September, TechTracker (the parent company of MacFixIt) was purchased by CNET. Last month, CNET, in turn, was purchased by CBS. So now, MacFixIt is owned by CBS!
April 7, 2008
Bugs & Fixes goes weekly online. I have been doing a monthly column for the print edition of Macworld, called Bugs & Fixes. It appears as a sidebar to the Mac 911 section. Items from this column were (ir)regularly culled to be posted online at macworld.com. Macworld has decided to reverse this sequence (an idea I endorse, as it will make online postings much more timely).
Bugs & Fixes is now a weekly feature (every Friday) of the Mac 911 blog at macworld.com. At the end of each month, the weekly entries will be gathered together to form the print column.
You can read the first of these weekly entries here.
February 5, 2008
User Friendly Blog debuts. As you may already know, I currently write a monthly column for The Mac Observer called User Friendly View. Starting today, I am also doing a weekly blog, called (appropriately enough!) User Friendly Blog. The first entry is now online.
January 29, 2008
iPhone articles. I have had a variety of iPhone-related articles published recently (and one soon-to-be-published):
Everything You Need to Know about iPhone 1.1.3. This is a new article, but the information will be included in the next update to my Take Control of Your iPhone book.
Roll Your Own Ringtones. This is an excerpt from my iPhone book, posted online at The Mac Observer.
Manage iPhone Syncing with Multiple Computers. This is an excerpt from my iPhone book, posted online at iPhone Atlas.
Avoid iPhone navigation and typing hassles. This is an excerpt from my iPhone book, posted online at Macworld.
Recovering from Crashes and Freezes. This is an article I wrote for the Macworld iPhone Superguide.
Total Leopard: Macworld Superguide. I contributed two articles to this new Macworld book: Troubleshooting Your Mac and 7 Upgrade Features.
January 17, 2008
Macworld Expo session slideshow posted. I have posted the slideshow presentation (in PDF format) for the session I gave at Macworld Expo 2008. Click here for a download link.
January 7, 2008
Take Control of Your iPhone updated to version 1.0.1 . It's a minor update to my 195 page iPhone book. You can order it from this Take Control Books page.
Macworld Expo. I will once again be speaking at Macworld Expo in January 2008. You can get the details here.
December 12, 2007
Take Control of Your iPhone is out. My iPhone book is finally done and published! Titled Take Control of Your iPhone, it is 195 pages of problem solving info and more generally how to make the most of your iPhone.
November 3, 2007
MacFixIt sold to CNET. Techtracker (the parent company of MacFixIt and VersionTracker) was sold to CNET in late August 2007. At least for now, CNET has happily let MacFixIt to continue on its own path.
MDJ vs. MacFixIt (MDJ loses). For my reaction to MDJ's outrageously unfair column about MacFixIt, click here.
To see other Apple-related columns from my Slanted Viewpoint blog, click here.
August 24, 2007
Books: Good news; (Sort of) sad news. Let's start with the good news:
I am currently writing a new book on the iPhone. The working title is Take Control of Troubleshooting Your iPhone. It's part of the Take Control ebooks series of books. I'll have more details soon.
The sort of sad news is that I will not be updating Mac OS X Help Line for Leopard. The current Tiger edition is the end of the line for this book. The main reason is that the cost (in terms of the time needed for me to write the book) to benefit (in terms of my royalties) ratio was too high to make it worth doing anymore. At over 1200 pages, it took 9 months to a year to research and rewrite!
July 10, 2007
Slanted Viewpoint. My personal blog, called Slanted Viewpoint, has some recently added Apple-related items, including a couple on iPhone and one on an iPod hassle that Apple should fix.
Louisville User Group appearance. I did a live iChat at the Louisville Computer Society on June 26. Had a great time! And the iChat software worked like a charm.
June 7, 2007
MacTech 25 announced (and guess who made the list?). The 2007 MacTech 25, a list of the "most influential people in the Macintosh community," is out. I am pleased to announce that I am one of this year's honorees!
MacMania VI. The MacMania cruise to Alaska ended on June 2. I was a speaker, with a session titled: "The 4 P's of Mac OS X: Preferences, Packages, Permissions & Passwords." I had a great time, along with fellow MacManiacs Rob Griffiths, Ben Long, Joe Schorr, Sal Soghoian and the rest of the crew.
June 6, 2002
Today's news is that the site is up and running.