Section D.2. Troubleshooting Resources

D.2. Troubleshooting Resources

Two Web sites tower above all others in the realm of general Macintosh troubleshooting information: Ted Landau's MacFixIt (www. macfixit .com) and Ric Ford's MacInTouch (www. macintouch .com). Both sites cover the ever-changing landscape of Mac hardware and softwareboth Apple's and that made by other companieswith daily reports , tips, tutorials, and searchable databases.

D.2.1. Discussion Lists

In addition to the aforementioned Apple Discussions, you'll find two iWork- related lists among Yahoo's online discussion groups. Here you can also post questions and receive answersor answer someone else's question.

Pages and Keynote both are located at http://groups.yahoo.com/ group /iwork/.

Keynotethe original and Keynote 2is the topic at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/applekeynote/.

The Mac-Wizards email listor listservis an email-based conversation where you can post questions about anything Mac related, then sit back and watch your email box while the other wizards give you a hand. You can subscribe to the list by visiting its Web page: https ://mailman.cc.gatech.edu/mailman/listinfo/mac-wizards.

D.2.2. Keynote Resources

The Web has become a veritable shopping mall for additional Keynote Themes. Visit these Web sites to see samples of themes that build on Apple's foundation and take slideshows to stylish new heights. These companies all began producing themes for the original Keynote, and have updated them and created more to take advantage of Keynote 2's new features.

• Jumsoft (www.jumsoft.com) . Here you'll find several collections of Keynote themes, as well as QuickTime animations, high-resolution alpha channel graphics (Section 4.3.8), and photographs.

  POWER USERS' CLINIC
  Mac Troubleshooting Basics

  By following a few simple rules and knowing when to reach for the proper tools when something is amiss, you'll often be able to repair your ailing softwareor protect it from ailments in the first place.

  The Golden Rule . Make sure Pages and Keynote are up to date. Use Software Update (as described on Section C.1.1) to be sure you've got the latest versions. Then check the Software Updates section of Apple's Pages and Keynote Support pages (see Apple Resources, above) to see if your software's up to date. Each new version update provides a bundle of software designed to squash bugs and improve performance.

  Force Quit the Program . When a program stops responding to your commands and displays the endlessly spinning beach ball cursor, the rest of the Mac operating system is still humming along; only that one program is stuck. Choose a Force Quit, select the problematic program from the list in the Force Quit Applications window that appears, and then click Force Quit. Your operating system instantly euthanizes the program. Reopen the document you were working on before the freezewhich opens as it was the last time you saved itand usually the program starts acting properly again.

  Trash the Preferences . When a program starts acting flaky a technical term that means it doesn't look or act the way it's supposed to (including repeated freezing)its preferences file may be scrambled. To delete the suspect preferences file, quit the program, open your Home Library Preferences folder, and trash the file called com.apple.pages. plist (or com.apple.keynote.plist or the similarly named file for a different program that's giving you trouble).

  When you next launch the program, it creates a brand new preferences file, which, one hopes, fixes the flakiness. Doing this has the side effect of returning the program's settings in the Preferences dialog box to the stock settingsa small inconvenience if this step fixes your problem.

  Maintain Your Hard Drive . Your Mac has the ability to self-repair a variety of behind-the-scenes file glitches .

  • After you install software, if the Mac is giving you troubles, use Disk Utility to repair file permissions. To do so, open your Applications Utilities folder and launch Disk Utility. Click the First Aid tab, click your hard drive in the left side of the window, and then click Repair Permissions.

  • Every couple of months or so, start your computer from the Mac OS X CD, choose File Disk Utility, click the First Aid tab, click your hard drive in the Disk Utility window, and then click Repair Disk.

  • The Unix operating systemwhich is actually running your computer beneath Mac OS X's gorgeous faadeprefers to be on 24 hours a day, in order to run a set of Unix maintenance programs. But if your computer is turned off at night, it never gets the chance to tidy things up. A handy program called MacJanitor will tell your computer to run these maintenance programs any time you give the word. Download your free copy from http://personalpages.tds.net/~brian_hill/.

  
  

• Keynote Gallery (www.keynotegallery.com) . You'll find a great variety of themes available at Keynote Gallery, which you can purchase in collections or one at a time.

• Keynote HQ (www.keynotehq.com) . In addition to their collections of Keynote themes, Keynote HQ features a discussion forum and a selection of free themes.

• Keynote Pro (www.keynotepro.com) . The themes you'll find at KeynotePro are all elegantly designed and very professional looking. You can purchase them individually or in sets.

• Keynote Theme Park (www.keynotethemepark.com) . You'll find some of the best themes in the business at Keynote Theme Park. Each set contains three themes, or you can purchase a disc of 12 for $100. You can also download free "lite" versions of a few of their popular themes

• KeynoteUser (www.keynoteuser.com) . Along with its themes for sale, KeynoteUser features Keynote news, tips, tutorialsand more free themes.