A few queries from a new user

I purchased a new Macbook Pro on Friday and i'm very pleased with it. I do have some issues, however, and I hope you can help me please...
MPEG: I had alot of these on my PC, and whilst I got told these formats were not Windows-only, Quicktime and iTunes refuse to play them. Can anyone help me by recommending a plug-in or software that can play them... and I don't like the idea of paying $19.99 for a Quicktime plug-in.
EXE: I assume these are "exclusive" to Windows, but everytime I try to install or run an EXE program, it displays a TextEdit document saying "This Program Cannot Run In DOS Mode". Is there a way I can use EXE files on a Mac or are they only for Windows.
SpellChecker: I'm used to Microsoft Office spellchecking my work, but i'm not used to Mac OSX spellchecking every single thing I type, and it is very irritating if using "chat slang" on instant messengers. How can I disable this?
Safari: This seems to be one of few programs I cannot run fully maximized. Is it possible to do so?
Wireless Connections: My Macbook Pro keeps losing it's connection to my router. My PC and laptop are set to pick up the router's signal whenever it isn't connected. This saves me from having to reconnect everytime I lose my connection. Is there a similar technique I can use on my MBP?
Many thanks
Jay

There is a Mac version of Real Player.
EXE files can not be run on a Mac. Windows and Macs don't use the same operating system. You can install Windows on your Mac, however. See the following:
Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak 2 or Vista. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
3. VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system.
See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion.
Windows Media Player is not fully compatible with Intel Macs. Use Flip4Mac instead. WMP is no longer supported on the Mac by Microsoft.
When you setup your computer initially and created your admin account you should have created a username and password. Did you not do that? You can provide or change the password for your account using the Accounts preferences in System Preferences.
Spell checking is application specific. Go to the Edit menu of the application and look for a Spelling and Grammar item. Use it to turn spell checking on or off.
Open Network preferences, select "Set service order" from the tool menu located to the right of the "+" and "-" buttons. Move the Airport port to the top of the list and your Ethernet port next in the list. Click on the OK button then click on the Apply button. Next select the Airport port from the list and set the Configure drop down menu to DHCP then click on the Apply button. Do the same for the Ethernet port. You can check for other configuration options by clicking on the Advanced button. One such option you should configure for both ports is the Configure IPv6 option. I suggest turning it off.
If you are using any security settings in your router for access to your wireless network, then I recommend configuring the router to use WPA2 and not WEP. This will be more secure and more compatible with the Mac.
Quicktime should play your MPEG files. The files should have an extension of .mpg or .mpeg. Select one of the files and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. In the Open With section select Quicktime Player from the drop down menu then click on the Change All button.

Similar Messages

Few questions from a new user

Hi Guys
I've had my 3gs 16GB for about a week now. I am absolutely loving it, but I have a few questions.
I am completely new to apple products. I had never used itunes before I bought my phone.
First question is about the battery. I know this has been greatly discussed and I have searched through the forums and have found just about all of the answers I was looking for, so this is more of a comment than a question. I was a little worried about all the issues people are having with their battery life, so I did a few tests. I am pretty happy with the results. I have the following settings:
wifi - on
notifications - on
brightness - ~40%
bluetooth - off
3G - on
push - off
fetch data - hourly
After 48 hours the battery is at 10%. Usage is at 5 hours which included mostly internet browsing on wifi, about 20 sms messages, and about 10 minutes of calls. This is about what I was expecting. The only question I have about the battery is about charging. I am going to charge it daily and once a month fully drain and recharge. I haven't found out if it is ok to leave it plugged in after it has fully charged. Do I need to take it of the charger when it is fully charged, or does the battery shut off and just use the external power source? Ideally I would like to charge before I go to bed and take it off the charger when I wake up.
Next question is mainly about accessories. I would like a good case that is minimal, but still providing protection from scratches. Are there any good recommendations or is it just kinda personal preference. Also, has anyone tried some of the screen protectors on the market? Can you tell that they are there, or do they give you any problems with the "touch" and "feel" of the screen?
Thanks

joshdsalley wrote:
Hi Guys
Next question is mainly about accessories. I would like a good case that is minimal, but still providing protection from scratches. Are there any good recommendations or is it just kinda personal preference. Also, has anyone tried some of the screen protectors on the market? Can you tell that they are there, or do they give you any problems with the "touch" and "feel" of the screen?
Thanks
I don't use a protective case on my iPhone has I think it spoils the look of it. Instead I have a leather case that provides protection from the screen getting scratched and can be easily taken out when I need to use the iPhone.
The case I got has a soft velveteen interior which protects the screen from scratches. It wasn't cheap (£25) but it is well made and is lovely soft leather, and you can tell it will last.
Here's the link to it:
http://www.knomobags.com/eshop/knomo_product.asp?SS=5&C=84&CA=227&P=394
I have read though that some screen protectors can interfere with the photo sensors on the iPhone (there the 3 little dots that you can see to the left of the earpiece) whereby the screen will remain on or off when it shouldn't be.

A few questions from a new user.

Good afternoon,
While I have been doing graphic art as a hobby for an extreemly long time, i am very much a student per say when it comes to photoshop having just got it recently. So please exuse me if my questions have simple answers i just simply have yet to find.
I am currently using gimp and photoshop CS5, i use them both since soome things i simply do not know how to do in photoshop.
1) Sometimes I will use gimp to set the transparency color on an entire image to try to capture certain aspects of an image like highlights or shadows to place into another image.
an example would be like, say i have a flame in the darkness and you can make out some Silhouettes in the background. I want to eliminate all the black to capture the flame and the greys/highlights. How would i set the transparency layer to remove all or part of the black in the image.
2) How do i scale a layer and keep it center of the image?
3) How do i make a custom pathing image and have the brush follow it?
4 when i have a brush following a path is it possable to have it auutomaticly turn as the path turns?
I answered two of my own questions while writing them so i guess for now i only have the two questions. I am sure i will have more as time ticks on. Thanks for reading.

OK, I am sorry I don't think i am making my self clear enough what i am trying to do.
here is a more complex example:
In this image I am making the windows transparent so they can be seen through while keeping the walls solid. to do this i take a section off the windows and set a color transparent, In this case i set light blue (94d3fb) as tranparent but only with in the window portion cause i do not want to see through my walls.
Now with the windows transparent i can use them to look out of and see the things on the other side.
In gimp i just make the color transparent,
would I use a mask and perhaps set the mask to mask a praticular color?
Again i apologise, i am simply trying to learn how to do what i know how to do in gimp.

Since upgrading to 10.8 I've had alot of issues burning DVD's. I've had the drive replaced and now I can burn from a new user account but not the old one. Is there any way of making the old one work?

Since upgrading to 10.8 I've had alot of issues burning DVD's. I've had the drive replaced and now I can burn from a new user account but not the old one. Is there any way of making the old one work?
Just want to avoild spending hours migrating everything across....

Yes, I can read but just can't write DVD's. I get:
This disc can’t be verified and might be unreliable. Try again using a new blank disc (error code 0x80020063).
Originally I thought it was the old Moutain Lion DVD drive issue (but have had the drive recently replaced by Apple), so I tried creating a new account, which worked.
In the old account I have reset SMU, Pram... but no change.

Learning Shake. Video tutorial advice from a new user...

I am brand new to Shake and compositing. I've used Final Cut Pro for a few years and done simple compositing after doing FCP tutorials. Shake is tougher to learn thank FCP, so I've purchased some videos from Gnomon workshop and cmiVFX. I wouldn't consider this a formal review, but some beginning advice for newbies like me...
1. First, do the tutorials in the manual that come with Shake. They start off simple, and one could probably learn almost everything you need for general use of Shake (from a newbie, don't forget).
2. This excellent book... Apple Pro Training Series : Shake 4 (2nd Edition) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321256093/103-0705051-1275827?colid=1T8L28XGM0 5IS&coliid=I3MUD718LP9EP9&n=283155) will get you started as well. It comes with a DVD full of material to work with as well. Good money invested here.
When you're ready to start spending more money....
3. cmiVFX.com has a number of free tutorials http://www.cmivfx.com/tutorials.asp, some of them for Shake, some for other compositing programs. Check them out for inspiration and for technique examples. I purchased the Shake Training Series 1 Kit (http://www.cmivfx.com/productshakekit.asp) which was quite good. They lead you through a series of examples, showing how some of the major functions operate and how to start working with all those nodes. I had previously purchased Combustion 4, and cmiVFX's video for Sky Replacement for combustion was excellent. They also make one for Shake, and I wish I would have purchase that one instead, although I've never seen it. The downside on this video series is that it runs as a regular DVD, and you need DVD Player, or a typical DVD player to view them. So, these are low-res videos (TV resolution), and not Quicktime files on disc.
4. The Gnomon Workshop (http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/index.html) has some excellent video tutorials. They're pretty technical, and not a good place to start unless you've got a background in visual effects or other compositing software. I think they're great, but I think the new user of Shake/compositing software should work on numbers 1-3 above. Don't get me wrong, this is a great resource, which would be in keeping with the image Gnomon Workshop gives of being an in-depth resource for serious computer graphics artists. I suspect the level of teaching in these videos would satisfy the higher level and more advanced users. These videos are Quicktime format, high resolution and very well done. Visual Effects Compositing Fundamentals (http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/gja01.html) is US$49 for 4 hours of instruction. Great value for money. I've also found Shake: Color Correction and Layers US$59 (3 hours) (http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/mli02.html) very good, as was Shake: Effective Keying Techniques US$59 (3 hours) (http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/mli03.html).
Personally, I'd like to see some more video tutorials of some experienced users showing how they get things done. Maybe now's the time???
G4 Laptop Mac OS X (10.4.7) FCP 5, Shake 4.1, Lightwave 8.5, Trying to get it to work v. 0.1

Personally, I'd like to see some more video tutorials of some experienced users showing how they get things done. Maybe now's the time???
I asked a couple of the Shake users I know (like Capt Mench), if they would be able to for the site http://www.proapptips.com
they are working on them but they are a little on the busy side at the moment.
I will post when they are up
DAVE

Few Questions From A New

what's up? new creative user, just jumped on board in april with a Muvo Micro N200 GB and bought my little sis a 256 Muvo TX FM. I just have a few questions for the experienced users.
. What's the point of the Zen Micro? Spend 80 bucks on a 5 GB player when you can buy a 20GB player for around 200 (Zen Xtra), what sense does it make?
2. Why doesn't the zen touch come in 60GB capacity like the XTRA?
3. Why is the Touch soo much more expensi've than the Xtra?
4. Why are people still buying ipods when creative is >>> the ipod in almost every way? Show me an ipod with 20 gigs that can hold 0,000 songs, FM radio, voice recorder, and with a 24 hour battery life.
5. why is Cnet.com sooo biased towards the ipod?
6. WHERE is the zen sleek available? I checked amazon.com - not there.
7. what's the difference between the muvo micro n200 and the zen nano plus that I've seen in walmart? features are the same.
8. Why doesn't creative include some REAL headphones with their mp3 players instead of those pieces of feces that they come with now? After spending 300 for a 40 gig zen touch, I deserve some decent headphones!
dang, didn't realize I had soo many questions.

Okay, let me give this a try:
. Simple - the Micro is smaller. For many folks, convenience and portability are more important than capacity. Try fitting an Xtra in your front pocket.
2. Again, it's a size issue. The Touch uses a single-platter .8 inch dri've. In any player the bulk of the space is taken up by the dri've and the battery. bigger dri've=bigger player. The Touch was designed to compete with the itty-bitty Ipod.
3. The Touch is a newer model that incorporates the whole "touch" interface. Newer things are almost always more expensi've.
8. No company provides decent headphones with their player. Have you ever heard Apple's headphones? Part of this is cost, and part of it is that for many people, especially audiophiles, headphone choice is very personal. It is akin to why most bikes don't come with pedals.
There you go Bitch!Message Edited by cameron on 08-02-2005 07:35 AM

A few Questions For A New User

Hi, I did a quick search, but did not get direct answers, so I am posting this thread as a group of new user questions (to save forum space). Sorry that they might cover more than one "Forum Category", but they are at least all iPhone 4 questions. Its also pretty sad that none of this is in a manual. As a matter of fact, there is no users manual !, what ever happen to the days where you got a correctly explained Users Manual with a $600 product that is 5" tall ? lol
Ok, yesterday I just bought a iPhone 4. I am running iOS 4.2.1 (the currently latest iOS as I type this).
Questions:
1- Exactly who can communicate with me on "FaceTime" ? Only other iPhone users with it ? Or is it part of iChat ? AOL ? What ?
2- On the opening/home page of the iPhone where you have all them little boxes of app's or stuff (Phone, Contacts, Mail, Safari, Settings, YouTube, iPod, etc..) how can I move them in the order I want them ? And also delete ones I do not want or will never need ? (like YouTube, Stocks, and Game Center)
3- On my older phone (and all older phones I've had including FREE Metro phones) I am able to bluetooth the phone to my laptop (or vice versa) to quickly transfer/send/receive files and stuff back and forth (photos, my voice notes, contact card files, etc..) via Bluetooth - Well I am trying it now with my iPhone, and my laptop sees the iPhone as a device, and even gets as far as a passkey thing, etc.. but the iPhone just sits there spinning its "connection wheel". Triple checked settings on both ends and connection, triple tested, etc.. and as my older phones do it no prob, under same settings, iPhone doesn't seem to bluetooth to my laptop for file sharing. NEITHER will it bluetooth to my other phones that all work elsewhere bluetoothing. Whats the deal ? Is this a known issue ?
4- I am absolutely astonished at the small amount of horribly lame ringtones/text tones, etc.. there is as choices on this iPhone. Is there anyway to get/buy/free download more of them and use them for various ring/tone and alert sources in the iPhone ? If so, where please ?
5- Where is the best place to get 100% supported apps for the iPhone ? Ones that are guaranteed to not cause system conflicts in the iPhone. Also, free ones ? And exactly how do you do it ?
6- Is there a "Extended Battery" available to buy for the iPhone 4 ? If so, whats the best one and where do I get it ?
7- Also, looking for the absolute BEST Bluetooth headset. Money of no concern, but quality of voice and hearing is. Along with intuitive features, etc.. Any suggestions ?
Thanks !

Roulette Records wrote:
Hi, I did a quick search, but did not get direct answers, so I am posting this thread as a group of new user questions (to save forum space). Sorry that they might cover more than one "Forum Category", but they are at least all iPhone 4 questions. Its also pretty sad that none of this is in a manual. As a matter of fact, there is no users manual !, what ever happen to the days where you got a correctly explained Users Manual with a $600 product that is 5" tall ? lol
Ok, yesterday I just bought a iPhone 4. I am running iOS 4.2.1 (the currently latest iOS as I type this).
Questions:
1- Exactly who can communicate with me on "FaceTime" ? Only other iPhone users with it ? Or is it part of iChat ? AOL ? What ?
2- On the opening/home page of the iPhone where you have all them little boxes of app's or stuff (Phone, Contacts, Mail, Safari, Settings, YouTube, iPod, etc..) how can I move them in the order I want them ? And also delete ones I do not want or will never need ? (like YouTube, Stocks, and Game Center)
3- On my older phone (and all older phones I've had including FREE Metro phones) I am able to bluetooth the phone to my laptop (or vice versa) to quickly transfer/send/receive files and stuff back and forth (photos, my voice notes, contact card files, etc..) via Bluetooth - Well I am trying it now with my iPhone, and my laptop sees the iPhone as a device, and even gets as far as a passkey thing, etc.. but the iPhone just sits there spinning its "connection wheel". Triple checked settings on both ends and connection, triple tested, etc.. and as my older phones do it no prob, under same settings, iPhone doesn't seem to bluetooth to my laptop for file sharing. NEITHER will it bluetooth to my other phones that all work elsewhere bluetoothing. Whats the deal ? Is this a known issue ?
4- I am absolutely astonished at the small amount of horribly lame ringtones/text tones, etc.. there is as choices on this iPhone. Is there anyway to get/buy/free download more of them and use them for various ring/tone and alert sources in the iPhone ? If so, where please ?
5- Where is the best place to get 100% supported apps for the iPhone ? Ones that are guaranteed to not cause system conflicts in the iPhone. Also, free ones ? And exactly how do you do it ?
6- Is there a "Extended Battery" available to buy for the iPhone 4 ? If so, whats the best one and where do I get it ?
7- Also, looking for the absolute BEST Bluetooth headset. Money of no concern, but quality of voice and hearing is. Along with intuitive features, etc.. Any suggestions ?
Thanks !
Hello there
1. For Facetime you can communicate with other iPhone 4 users, iPod Touch 4th generation users & Macs running 10.6.4 or later with the Facetime app.
2. To move apps into any order you want, tap and hold on an app until it starts to jiggle then just move them in any order you want. To create a folder drag one app on top of another. Default apps cannot be deleted however it can be moved.
3. Bluetooh file transfer does not exist on the iPhone possibly due to copyright laws.
4. For ringtones you can use your own. For text tones you can't unfortunately.
5. The only place to get Offical iPhone apps is the app store. All apps there are 100% safe and sandboxed.
6. Yes there is extended battery available, check the apple online store.
7. Don't have a suggestion. Sorry
Hopes this help ,
Regards
Andy

A few suggestion from a new BlackBerry 10 user.

Hello everyone. Im a new BlackBerry user and BB Z10 is my first BlackBerry device ever. I moved from Android to BB 10. BlackBerry 10 is a nice OS but some of the basic things are not functioning correct even after 1 year of release. I will mention some here.
I can type first letter of my message/note etc in small alphabet letters. No matter what i do first letter (after full stop or first letter itself doesnt matter) is typed in full alphabetical letter. thats a big pain and it isn't solved yet.
When you are deleting a written text like you typed a message but you want to delete the first 3 or 4 words and you press and hold the backspace key on your BB 10 keyboad, it deletes the 3 or 4 words but if you dont release the key then it also starts deleting other words as well. well show a video demo if you don't understand what im saying.
there is led light but i don't see much use of it. its only used for notfications and only one light is used Red and there is no built-in led pattern editor. BlackBerry should atleast add a charging and battery full indicator as its very useful and must have one for led notification lights.
File transferring via BB link is toooo much slow. only 300 to 600 kb/s which too much slow. Improve this. I dont know whether its BB link issue or BB 10 issue.
No Built-In backup app. Come on BlackBerry even Asha 200 have a Built in backup manager.
Thats it for now. I will update post when i will find something else. BlackBerry 10 is really a nice OS. Its smooth and Fluid, swipe gestures are great. Im in love with my Z10.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

1. You "can not"? That's not a bug. Just backspace and type the letter again, and it might require a third try, but it will work. That won't change, it's not a bug, it is intentional.
2. I understand, you are holding down the backspace key too long. Tap to set your cursor at the end of the words to delete. Swipe ONE finger across the keyboard from right side to left side to delete ONE word. Use two finger swiping right to left to delete TWO words.
3. There several third-party LED control and notification apps, BeBuzz, Hub++, and others. Check your App World.
4. Transferring via the USB cable? Doing so over WiFi is quicker in my experience. If you need help with this, please ask.
5. Link has a built in backup. In the past, Protect would backup over the air, but not on BlackBerry10 OS devices. I use FireChest Backup, for good and varied backup options.
The z10 is a great device, glad to hear you're enjoying it.
1. If any post helps you please click the below the post(s) that helped you.
2. Please resolve your thread by marking the post "Solution?" which solved it for you!
3. Install free BlackBerry Protect today for backups of contacts and data.
4. Guide to Unlocking your BlackBerry & Unlock Codes
Join our BBM Channels (Beta)
BlackBerry Support Forums Channel
PIN: C0001B7B4 Display/Scan Bar Code
Knowledge Base Updates
PIN: C0005A9AA Display/Scan Bar Code

A few basic questions from a new user - backups, moving files, sharing

I'm a Mac user considering getting an iPad. I'm hoping someone can clue me in to some basic aspects of the experience:
1) are backups easy? can you "clone" it (the way I do with my desktop and laptop) so that everything (content, settings, preferences, etc.) can be restored exactly in the event something happens to it?
2) how does one move files to it? Specifically, PDFs - I have a ton of PDFs I plan to be reading on this thing. Does it show up as a drive (drag-and-drop) when connected to my desktop machine, or does it work through a special conduit or? Does it have a filesystem we can see?
3) is there any notion of "users" - can multiple people share it and have their own sets of preferencs settings/content?
4) is the iPad 2 date still best estimated as April? I need it for a trip in mid-March and I don't want to buy the 1st model if the second is coming out shortly thereafter. Is there any likelihood of having it be available in the first week of March? If not, is there a good place (on-line) to rent one for a week perhaps?
thanks in advance!
Mike

1, yes they are easy, but they are not a clone. When connected to iTunes on your computer you just tell it to backup. That will backup your notes, settings, app data, but not synced data (i.e. not your music, films or contacts and calendars synced from your computer).
2, via iTunes, not as a drive. PDFs can be dragged into iTunes and then synced to the iPad to go into the (free downloadable) iBooks app. Alternatively you can buy an app like Goodreader which allows you to transfer PDFs wirelessly from your computer (can also be used to read/store PDFs emailed as attachments).
3, no. There is only one set of options. If you have children (or even other adults) then you can set a passcode to restrict access to, for example, Safari, iTunes, or the ability to install and delete other apps. But it's basically a single user setup.
4, speculation as to what Apple may, or may not, be planning is prevented by the terms of use of these forums. All that can be said here is that no new version has been announced, and when/if one is it will be on the apple.com frontpage. You should ask yourself whether the current one meet most, if not all, of your requirements, not whether some unannnounced item might.

A few questions from a new iMac user!

So far I am loving this computer! However there are a few things that I can not figure out how to do and really dont have time to go to the store for a class at the moment. So hopefully you will be able to help me out.
1. We have iWorks installed and I am trying to make a simple calendar to hand out to my students with information about due dates and such. Previously I was able to do this on Word but I can not figure out how to do this here!
2. How do I copy and paste?
3. With this new mouse how do I get it so that there is a right click?
Thank you all so much and I am sure you will see me on here plenty!

1. We have iWorks installed and I am trying to make a simple calendar to hand out to my students with information about due dates and such. Previously I was able to do this on Word but I can not figure out how to do this here!
Pages, presuming you're referring to Apple's iWork suite, doesn't have a template for a calendar included. There are some suggestions in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6949516
You might also consider using iCal. You could set up a calendar just for student dates and then print that calendar only.
3. With this new mouse how do I get it so that there is a right click?
You'll need to go into the Mouse system preferences and define the right-click action. The default is for the "left-click" and "right-click" both to be a standard click.
Hope this helps.

Questions from a New User

I have just started using LabVIEW 7.1 Student Edition w/ NXT Toolkit. I have a few questions I would like answered.
Loops: In NXT-G, you could make a loop run a certian number of times. How is that done in LabVIEW?
Variables: In NXT-G, Variables could be easily created. In LabVIEW, all I can find is the LOCAL variable. I can't figure this out.
Documentation: Where is a good user manual or set of tutorials?
How on Earth do arrays work?
I'd like it if someone can help me with these.
Team RoboSquad
http:\\teamrobosquad.blogspot.com

Hi RoboSquad -
You certainly ask lots of questions -- a good characteristic for a beginner to have! I don't have all the answers, but hopefully I can address some of your queries.
Loops: sounds like you've worked out the idea that you can watch the loop counter (i) of a while loop and wire a true value into the stop condition terminal when you've finished the number of iterations you want. Albert's comments are correct for "for" loops in full LabVIEW, but you're correct that the NXT Toolkit only includes "while" loops. Auto-indexing will still work; see my comment on arrays.
Variables: local variables are basically "references" to front panel indicators or controls, and can be read or written just like normal variables. But depending on what you're really trying to do, just adding a constant to the block diagram or using wires to pass a value to different parts of your program may be a better solution.
Documentation: the LabVIEW help is pretty extensive and comes with LabVIEW. You can also use the Example Finder to search for examples for a particular topic, including "while" and "array."
Arrays: from your post, it isn't clear to me whether you're completely unfamiliar with what an array is, or you're just confused by LabVIEW's implementation of them. If it's the former (what is an array?), your best bet is to use Google or Wikipedia to build some basic knowledge. If it's the latter (how do arrays work in LV?), try using the Example Finder to find and work through some examples. If you're still confused, try to ask a more specific question. One thing that may be confusing is that, by default, arrays don't have a type. If you drop an array constant on the block diagram, you get an array of <nothings> with a black border. To tell LV what types of values will be in that array, you have to drop a constant of that type inside the black box: a numeric constant, a boolean constant, a string constant, etc. Then the array constant which change color to match the data type it will hold, and you'll be able to type in values for the different elements of the array. Maybe that's the key realization you're missing?
Debug gray-out: when you turn on Execution Highlighting on a LV block diagram, LV will gray-out parts of the program it hasn't executed yet. Once the sensors have been read and are ready to be displayed, the meter indicator should get "re-colorized."
Input dup: "dup" is an abbreviation for "duplicate," meaning you'll get back the same value that you wired into "Input." This is purely an aesthetics thing; it makes block diagrams a little less messy. Rather than wiring one value separately to a whole bunch of subVIs in your program (and having wires going around all of your subVIs), you can instead wire that same value "through" each of the subVIs. This results in a clean-looking diagram where the subVIs look like traincars sitting on a "railroad track" of wires.
Whew! That was certainly a long post, but I hope it gave you some new ideas to investigate. Let us know when you have more questions!
James Blair
NI R&D

Experiences from an new user

I've been using these forums for a while now, but haven't introduced myself yet.
After reading the 'Has the arch philosophy changed? No.' thread i felt it could be useful if i listed some of my experiences as a new arch user.
I have been working with computers as hobby from 1982, switched to x86 pc's around 1991 and learned a lot about Dos and hardware.
For the past 8 years i have been helping people with windows systems, and tried suse linux a few times, but felt it wasn't mature enough yet.
3 years ago i followed an education for MCSA and since then have been working as 2nd/3rd line helpdesk employee for a company that almost exclusively uses M$.
The more i learned about M$, the more trouble i had in getting it to do what i wanted, not what THEY wanted.
Early this year i decided to give linux a try again and installed suse linux 9.3.
Although it worked, and i could do almost anything i needed (except some windows games), it had far too many packages that i didn't want.
Several things i wanted to used were not in their collection, or had older versions that didn't work good enough.
Switching to newer versions meant i had to figure out a lot of dependency errors and solve them.
their packet management tool, yast2 had a lot of drawbacks, unless you used only their packages.
Also it was very tough to switch to another WM/DE .
Suse had automated so much in their configuration that it was far from easy to change things, unless you settled for the options the provided tools had.
The main difference with M$ was that the documentation is freely available and the accompanying tools were a lot better than the M$ tools.
I started looking for another distro, found distrowatch and read many of the articles about different distros.
Arch drew my attention, i quickly found the wiki and could see a lot of topics were covered in it.
I kept suse and windows in a multi-boot system, installed arch about 10 times over the next 3 weeks, asked a few questions on the forum, experimented for about a month with LVM and Raid, then made a final setup plan using FTP-install.
Now arch is the only OS installed on that pc, for M$ i use VMware, and i don't miss suse.
I estimate i have used AL approx 3 months now, and have learned more about linux in those 2months, than in the about 2 years (spread over 6 years or so) of using Suse.
Sofar i have stayed out of testing, but have used the AUR and even tried some modifications on an existing pkgbuild.
Soon i will be setting up a LAMP server on my former windows DC to gain experience setting up forums and wiki, and after that i probably will try to get my laptop runnning with arch.
I am very pleased with AL's speed and flexibility and have found the community to be helpful (although a bit slow sometimes).

I should state that the aforementioned thread brings up the point that (paraphrasing) you learn alot with arch, but after a while, you learn that things could be simpler.
I'm not saying I agree with it, and I find this thread here to be in nice contrast with that one.
My experiences are similar to your own, and while I understand what Dusty was saying, I still have yet to find a "simpler" distro which is akin to arch. Sure, automated stuff would be really nice, *if* you could override it, which is usually not the case.
Arch is a middle ground - between Slackware and (Suse/Fedora/Ubuntu). Some things are automated, but not such an extent that they become problems. Things which are automated can always be overridden.
That's what I like about arch. It generally works like one of the auto-distros, only you need a little more knowledge, and a little more time.
Lone_Wolf wrote:I am very pleased with AL's speed and flexibility and have found the community to be helpful (although a bit slow sometimes).
What? Slow how?

A few questions from someone new to Aperture (and DSLR photography)

Hi - I have just got my first DSLR camera (A Nikon D3000) and am trying out Aperture 3. I had a few questions which aren't all just necessarily Aperture related:
I have imported my library from iPhoto, however now all my albums are in alphabetical order, rather than date created. I only seem to have the option to arrange my albums by, "Kind", "Name" or "Manual". Any idea how I restore the date created order?
This may be too large a subject for here (I should probably buy a book on the subject), however JPEG, NEF and TIFF - I am shooting in raw mode which is generating NEF files. I had tried RAW+JPEG, but the basic JPEG this creates is really quite poor. The NEF files are generally around 7-12Mb. If I open them for editing in Photoshop, a TIFF file is generated in Aperture which looks to be over 8x the size of the original raw file, sometime over 100Mb. I then seem to be able to save it back as a JPEG at pretty much maximum quality which results in a file slightly smaller than the original raw file. Is it necessary to keep the large TIFF files once I've created a jpeg? Am I best off just keeping the finished jpeg and the original raw file in case I want to make changes?
When publishing to flickr, It would be good to be able to just publish the latest versions of all photos in an album. ie not the same photo in tiff, nef and jpg format. Is there an easy way to do this, or is it a case of manually picking each one?
Also - When uploading NEF files to flickr it would appear to convert them to jpg, which is kind of good I suppose, but does anyone know what level of quality the jpegs created are? Am I best off converting them to jpeg myself first and then uploading? If I did this then my albums would be full of duplicates in different formats, which leads back to my previous question about uploading just one version of each. That may be a question for the flickr forum...

You have jumped into the deep end with both feet.
With Aperture running select the single the Browser and you will find the sort controls under the Mobileme to New Smart Album icons depending on how stretched out you have the Inspector panel. There is the ability to sort by just about every parameter there either ascending or descending.
Can Aperture not convert your NEF files? You dont have to have Tiff files at all. See your Preferences regarding External Editor. How much storage space and your archiving requirements will influence your decision about retaining Tiff files.
I know nothing about Flickr but assume you will have to choose your own images. I doubt a Smart Album can select exactly what you need.
When uploading files online galleries generally optimise the images. You are wasting your time uploading massive Tiffs IMHO. Most web services work with jpegs I understand. Consult the Flickr help and support for their requirements and advice.
Enjoy your new hobby.
AW
Whether you have the room to save Tiff files as well as Raw files will probably decide whether you keep them or not.

A few questions from a new tech...

It is based on the conversion process of a Cisco 6500 Series switch (WS-Sup720-3B release) w/MSFC3 from a hybrid mode (CatOS/IOS) over to a native mode. I've found a few conversion processes online however, I do not know which process is the best to use (as some of them seem outdated) and detailed enough:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/switches/catalyst-6500-series-switches/12031-catos-ios-conversion-6500k.html
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/switches/catalyst-6500-series-switches/70273-70273.html
http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=102093&seqNum=5
Also, another question that I have is about the correct, most up-to-date software. Whenever I use the Cisco software download navigator to search for an applicable image, I see different images based on various network requirements. Are these images applicable to this process?
https://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=280829702&flowid=20135&softwareid=280805680&release=15.1.2-SY4a&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=ED&reltype=latest
Any help would be very much appreciated.

It depends on how complicated your configuration is.
When I did this a long time ago I just did it by hand ie. I didn't use a conversion tool I just created a new configuration in a text editor and then copied in the new configuration.
A lot of the commands in a configuration are defaults and you don't necessarily need to replicate them because you will get a new set of defaults when you convert.
If you have a lot of extra configuration eg. QOS then it may be worth using one. It really depends on how well you know what your switch is currently doing.
In terms of IOS image key things are -
1) feature set ie. you need a feature set that supports all the things you are currently doing
2) memory on your supervisor and whether you have enough
3) module support ie. you need to check the release notes for each release because they may not support all your existing modules
Jon

2 questions from a new user........

7/26
Hi! Forgive me but I am a new Iphone user and have 2 questions. 1) How/where do you find what the remaining
memory on your phone is after some apps have been added? 2) I have deleted the icon of a free app I downloaded
but understand that does not delete the content of the previously downloaded app. How/where do I delete the
content of a no longer needed app? Many thanks for your assistance. PA Dennis

Number one. Connect the iPhone to your computer, launch iTunes. Select the iPhone under Devices left side of the iTunes window. Select any of the taps to see storage availability at the bottom of the window.
Number two. Select Apps under Library left side of the iTunes window. Right or control click an app then click Delete.
Connect your iPhone to your computer, select the Apps tab from the menu then click Sync.

A few queries from a new user

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