OT: (partially) Where to submit Macbook questions?

[Jon M. Hanson]

---
Jon M. Hanson (N7ZVJ)
Homepage: http://the-hansons-az.net/drupal
Jabber IM: jon at the-hansons-az.net




On Aug 1, 2009, at 1:27 PM, Josef Lowder wrote:

> Macbook has many very nice features, but I am shocked by the number of
> things that it does not have (or allow) ... or at least I have not yet
> been able to find solutions.
>
> So, what is the best forum to submit questions on how to do things on
> a macbook?
>
> Macs are supposed to be so "intuitive" but I am certainly not finding
> that to be the case.  And, as I've submitted numerous queries to
> Google, I have found that I am not alone.  For most of the questions
> that I've asked so far, I've found many dozens if not hundreds of Mac
> users asking the exact same questions ... and rarely find an answer.
> Instead of answers, in many cases I read rather arrogant "why would
> you want to do that?" or "you really don't need that." responses.
>
> Simple things like how to resize a window.  Finally found that it can
> only be done by grabbing the bottom right corner.  Not any other
> corner or side. Why?  Seems such a senseless omission and limitation.
>
> And how to delete a folder.  (Still haven't found an answer to that
> ... except to go to the command line).  But even that was very
> difficult to find. And then files are hard to find ... 'locate'
> doesn't work

Drag the folder to the Trash. Right-click (or option click if you  
don't have a two-button mouse) and select Move to Trash.

>
> And there is no simple "notepad" or simple/efficient editor (that I
> could find).

TextEdit is in the Applications folder.

>
> And how to copy a DVD movie to a file so I don't have to carry a bunch
> of DVD's with me on my flight tomorrow.

Now you're talking about breaking the CSS encryption on DVDs. Of  
course that's not going to come with the OS as a matter of legal  
reasons. To do that you want MacTheRipper (it's free).

>
> As I said at first, Macs have many very nice features, but the
> omission of what should be very simple and obvious functions and
> utilities that are standard on every Linux system and even on M$
> garbage is really quite ridiculous.
>
> The trackpad is horrendously slow, jittery, and unreliable.  I have to
> keep moistening my fingers to get it to work.  So a USB mouse has been
> the only remedy so far ... and that isn't all that reliable.

You shouldn't have to lick your fingers to get the trackpad to work.  
You might want to take it in to a Genius Bar on that one.

>
> Safari has crashed several times, so I downloaded Firefox and it works
> okay (stable), although the Mac version is lacking some key features
> that should be obvious to have included.

I've never had any problems with Safari itself. The only time I've had  
it crash on me is with some Flash applet that goes out of control.

>
> Like how to view the source code for a web page?

I'm guessing this is for Firefox but in Safari select View from the  
menu and then "View Source." I'm sure it's pretty similar for Firefox.

>
> So, back to my original question ... Where is the best place to submit
> macbook questions and hope to get sensible answers?
>
> And if someone could just tell me how to copy a DVD to the hard disk
> ... at least one that I've recorded off-air if not a prerecorded
> (stupid DRM) movie that I own ... so I can view it from a HD file or
> folder ... and how to then delete the file(s) and/or folder(s) when
> I'm done.  (Moving files to trash and having the only option to delete
> everything in trash is not a proper solution.)
>
> Thanks for any suggestions and guidance.
>
> PS: I installed Virtual Box to try to run Linux and it *sort-of*
> works, but not entirely and I haven't been able to figure out how to
> install win98 via VB as there is no floppy disk drive to use for the
> required boot floppy.  I prefer win98 for my purposes rather than xp
> because 98 doesn't require so much memory and overhead and it isn't
> intrusive like xp always popping up with new update notices (that I do
> not want).
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