Maria’s Guides

Information from Software Update

iPod Updater 2006-06-28 delivers:

• New iPod Software 1.1.2 for iPod
• New iPod Software 1.2 for iPod nano
• New iPod Software 1.1.4 for iPod shuffle
• For all other iPod models, iPod Updater 2006-06-28 contains the same software versions as iPod Updater 2006-03-23.

Important: After downloading the iPod Updater software, connect your iPod to your computer and launch the iPod Updater application. If iPod Updater determines that your iPod needs to be updated, click the Update button to install the latest software on your iPod.

Features of iPod Software 1.1.2 for iPod:

• Bug fixes

Features of iPod Software 1.2 for iPod nano:

• Nike + iPod support
• Bug fixes

Features of iPod Software 1.1.4 for iPod shuffle:

• Volume limit
• Bug fixes

Note: iTunes 6.0.5 or later required to set a maximum volume limit for iPod shuffle. For information about how to set the maximum volume limit, open iTunes and choose Help > iTunes and Music Store Help.

iPod, update, iTunes

I try out a del.icio.us feature uncovered by Miraz.

Miraz must surf the ‘Net a lot more than I do. She finds all kinds of cool, geeky things to do with software like WordPress.

Yesterday, she added a tip in our jointly maintainted WordPress Visual QuickStart Guide Web site for automatically adding links from your del.icio.us account to a WordPress blog. Since I’m always looking for cool things to do with my computer (it sure beats working on a book about a certain unnamed software program that runs on Windows), I decided to set it up for myself.

If all goes well, sometime in the middle of the night a new post should automatically appear here, in the This just in… category, with a list of at least two links I just added to my del.icio.us account.

Of course, if nothing appears, either the instructions are wrong (unlikely) or I screwed up when I tried following them (possible). We’ll see. Tune in tomorrow for the results.

And if you prefer to go right to the source, check out Kevin Lim’s guide for this little-known feature.

Information from Software Update

QuickTime 7.1.2 addresses an issue previewing iDVD projects. This update is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.

Important Notice to QuickTime Pro Users: Installation of QuickTime 7 will disable the QuickTime Pro functionality in prior versions of QuickTime, such as QuickTime 5 or QuickTime 6. If you proceed with this installation, you must purchase a new QuickTime 7 Pro key to regain QuickTime Pro functionality. After installation, visit www.apple.com/quicktime to purchase a QuickTime 7 Pro key.

QuickTime, update, Mac OS X

Information from Software Update.

The 10.4.7 Update is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies. It includes fixes for:

• preventing AFP deadlocks and dropped connections
• saving Adobe and Quark documents to AFP mounted volumes
• Bluetooth file transfers, pairing and connecting to a Bluetooth mouse, and syncing to mobile phones
• audio playback in QuickTime, iTunes, Final Cut Pro, and Soundtrack applications
• ensuring icons are spaced correctly when viewed on desktop
• determining the space required to burn folders
• iChat audio and video connectivity, creating chat rooms when using AIM
• importing files into Keynote 3
• PDF workflows when using iCal and iPhoto
• reliable use of Automator actions within workflows
• importing and removing fonts in Font Book
• syncing addresses, bookmarks, calendar events and files to .Mac
• compatibility with third party applications and devices
• previous standalone security updates

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n303771.

For detailed information on Security Updates, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798.

Information from software update.

This update to iPhoto contains a variety of new Greeting Card and Postcard themes for use with Apple print services, including invite and thank you card designs for summer parties, weddings, birthdays, etc.

Keeping count of visitors.

Ever wonder how many visitors your site or blog attracts? While you may have access to site statistics software that tracks and reports site visitors and hits, you may not. Or you may prefer a simple, old-fashioned visitor counter that’ll make this information easily available to visitors.

I use the free visitor counter offered by SiteMeter on my wickenburg-az.com Web site. And, for illustrational purposes, I’ve just added the same kind of counter to the sidebar of the WordPress book support Web site site. (Let’s see if Miraz lets me keep it there.)

Here’s how you can add a counter like this to your site or blog.

1. Sign up for a SiteMeter account. It’s pretty straightforward and easy to do, so I won’t provide step-by-step guidance. Go to www.sitemeter.com, click the appropriate link, and provide the required information. You’ll get an e-mail message from the SiteMeter webmaster with login information for future use. You’re already logged in.
2. Click the Manager link near the top of the page on the SiteMeter site. Then click the HTML Link on the left side of the page. You’ll see a list of links for adding code to various sites and blogs.
3. Click the link labeled “Adding Site Meter to a WordPress blog hosted on your server.” (If you have a WordPress.com blog, you can click the link for that. Then follow the instructions there. These instructions assume you’re setting this up on a sever-installed WordPress blog.)
4. Scroll down in the page that appears and select the contents of the edit box that displays the code for the counter. Use your browser’s Copy command to copy the code to the clipboard.
5. Now open the sidebar.php or footer.php file for your theme with your favorite text editor or WordPress’s built-in theme editor.
6. Position the insertion point where you want the counter to appear.
7. Use your text editor’s or browser’s Paste command to paste in the code you copied.
8. Save the file.
9. View any page of your blog that includes the sidebar or footer (whichever file you modified) to make sure the page isn’t messed up. You should see a counter similar to the one shown in the sidebar of this page.

A few things to keep in mind:

• You can set options on the SiteMeter site for your account to modify the appearance of the counter. If you want more options, you can pay for a premium account that gives you more control over the appearance.
• You can also set option on the SiteMeter site to prevent the counter from including your computer, based on its IP address, to restart the counter, or even to count by an increment other than 1 (which is cheating, of course).
• You should always back up a theme file before editing it, just in case you mess up the editing and need to go back to the original.
• You can put the code in any theme file for your site, but it’s best to use a file that is accessed by all pages. That’s why I suggest sidebar.php or footer.php.
• Depending on the theme and the file you modify, you may have to add additional HTML formatting codes for the counter to appear correctly. For example, you may have to surround the counter code with <li> and </li> codes to display it in the sidebar properly. Experiment with coding until you get it just right.

Of course, you can learn more about editing theme files for your site in Chapter 6 of our book, WordPress 2: Visual QuickStart Guide.

SiteMeter offers reports for activity on its site. Wait until you have some statistics and then use your login information to check it out. I think it’s cool — but then again, I love stats.

WordPress, visitors, counter, SiteMeter