Macworld’s September Digital Edition: iOS 10’s Swift Playgrounds

Macworld Macworld's September Digital Edition: iOS 10's Swift Playgrounds

Every day, Macworld brings you the essential daily news and other info about all things Apple. But staying on top of that torrent of information can be a constant challenge. One solution: the Macworld Digital Edition.

Available as single copies or with a yearlong subscription, the Digital Edition comes in two forms: Enhanced and Standard. The Enhanced Edition has all the news, analysis, product reviews, and how-to's, along with interactive features, and videos—customized for consumption on your iPad. The Standard Edition is designed for your mobile device's touchscreen to allow pinch and zoom.

In the September issue

We take for a spin iOS 10's Swift Playgrounds, the learn-to-code iPad app that feels like a puzzle game. And, read how the Apple Watch saved one man's life.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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Top 10 Word 2016 tips

TechRadar: All latest feeds Top 10 Word 2016 tips

Introduction

We dare say you're a dab hand with Microsoft Word. You can write a letter. You can perform admin tasks. Maybe you're even capable of pulling off a flawless mail merge. But many of us don't go beyond Microsoft Word's most basic features.

With that in mind we're here to show you ten ways to get more out of Word, from interface streamlining to work practices which will make your documents look better and come to life faster.

Note that we're running Office 2016 on Windows 10 here, but you'll be able to pull off the majority of these tricks on any version of Microsoft Word post-2010, and they're even applicable if you happen to be running Microsoft Word on a Mac.

• Also check out our advanced Windows 10 tips and tricks

1. Configure the ribbon

Why not begin by making that Ribbon interface – controversial as it is, even after all this time – work for you? Go to File > Options, then head to Customise Ribbon. Click New Tab, right click your tab and select Rename to label it, then drag it to set where you'd like it to appear on your toolbar.

You can now drag your most frequently used controls over from the left hand column to the new custom ribbon tab, using the New Group control (renaming as appropriate) to break them up into neat sections. You can even rename the tools themselves, or give them new icons, by using the right click menu.

2. Style tips

If you're creating a large document, it's imperative to make it consistent – your readers will notice if it's all over the place. Rather than manually formatting your document's fonts and weights, select the text and use the Styles panel in the Home tab to apply different styles (normal text, headings, quotes and the like).

By painting your text in this manner, you can easily apply one of Word's built-in document formats (available from the Design tab) to completely transform your document in a click, or reconfigure individual styles (right click them in the Styles panel) to change them document-wide. This will also enable you to use Word's built-in table of contents tools without any further tinkering.

3. Make a note

Highlighting is more than just a way to add a pretty colour to your documents. First enter highlighting mode by selecting the appropriate tool in the Font panel of the Home tab, then drag your mouse over the text you want to highlight. You can also select the text first, then hit [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[H] to highlight it.

When you come to proof your document, bring up the find tool – [Ctrl]+[F] – then switch to the Advanced Find dialog by clicking the drop-down arrow on the search box and selecting the appropriate option.

Click More>>>, click the Format button at the bottom of the window, then select Highlight. You can now hit [Enter] in the 'Find what' box to skip through each highlighted area in your document. Or why not try the opposite? Click Format > Highlight again, and you'll search for non-highlighted text, allowing you to mark off sections of your document when they're done.

Select your entire document with [Ctrl]+[A] when you're done, and set the highlighting to 'No colour' to remove it completely.

4. New shortcuts

In the previous tip we were forced to go the long way around to get to the advanced search dialog, because the [Ctrl]+[F] shortcut is instead assigned to the much less useful Navigation panel. This injustice is easily corrected if we generate our own shortcut.

Head back to the ribbon designer that we used in step one (File > Options > Customise Ribbon) and click the Customise button on the bottom-left corner of the window. Find 'Home Tab' in the left column, then 'EditFind' in the right column. You'll see there's nothing listed in the current keys box; just click beneath 'Press new shortcut key' and hit your custom combination (you can even use [Ctrl]+[F] to replace the original shortcut) then click Assign to set it.

5. Quick access

Find the features you need even faster than you could with the ribbon by attaching them to the quick access bar, that area to the top-left of the screen above the ribbon tabs. By default this includes shortcuts for save, undo, and redo – all very handy, but what if you're performing some other function with greater regularity?

Click the drop-down arrow on the toolbar's right side, select More Commands, and click the Add>> button to move selected items from the left pane to the right pane. You can also check the box at the bottom of this window to put the quick access bar below the ribbon, but that's potentially a bit of a waste of screen real-estate.

6. Citation needed

Many documents require a proper bibliography, and Word includes tools which make creating one easy. Head to the references tab to find them, and use the Insert Citation button to place a reference at your current cursor location. When adding citations as you go, you (thankfully) don't need to fill them in entirely – you can pop in a bit of placeholder text to remind you of the exact data you need to input, and come back to it later to fill in the blanks.

Once you've inserted a citation placeholder, hover your mouse over it and click the drop-down arrow on the right-hand side. Choose Edit Source, and fill in the appropriate data for your citation – it defaults to 'Book', but there are numerous other sources to choose from. You can now insert a bibliography at the end of your document, also from the References tab – make sure you update this before publishing, as it doesn't automatically reflect changes made to citations.

7. Smart lookup

Perhaps a tool most suited to documents you're reading rather than writing, Smart Lookup (select a bit of text, right click it and select, you guessed it, Smart Lookup) can help you find out more information about the text in your documents by doing a neat Bing search in a column on the side. Click Define at the top of that column and you'll get a definition of the word from the Oxford Dictionary.

As long as you're connected to the internet, you can also use the right click menu to grab quick synonyms for words, and delve further into the synonym menu to look them up more deeply in a thesaurus sidebar.

8. See more options

The more you explore the ribbon, the less restrictive it feels. You may have noticed certain ribbon groups with a small icon on their bottom-right corner – click this to expand that group's options into Word's full selection. This will either take the form of a pop-up window, a sidebar, or a hovering panel depending on the particular group of options you've expanded.

Usefully the latter two are interchangeable and optional – click and drag the top of a sidebar to turn it into a panel, or drag a hovering panel to the edge of the Word window to dock it as a sidebar. Sidebars can be placed side-by-side, providing you have enough screen real-estate.

9. Many clips

Word's clipboard has much more than the basic Windows one-item memory. You can store up to 24 items on it at a time – just hit [Ctrl]+[C] twice to bring it up and see what's currently being remembered.

But did you know that's not Word's only clipboard? You can also make use of an almost-hidden tool called the spike to gather together chunks of text into an ordered line. Select the text you wish to cut and hit [Ctrl]+[F3] to add it to the spike. Repeat the process as many times as you wish to grow the spike. When you're ready to retrieve your text, either hit [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[F3] or type 'spike' (without the quotes) and hit [Enter].

Text on the spike even stays there between sessions – you can view it by choosing Quick Parts > AutoText in the Insert tab.

10. Building blocks

When you're constructing a document, it may be tempting to form all of its components by hand using Word's design tools; a text box here, a fancy footer there. That's certainly possible, but it takes time and effort that might be better spent writing.

Try, instead, Word's huge collection of page building blocks (Insert > Quick Parts > Building Blocks Organiser). They're quick, good looking objects that you can insert in an instant to add flair to your documents. If they don't quite fit your style, you can tweak the design and use Insert > Quick Parts > Save Selection to keep them on file for the next time you need them.

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Solving the "Virtual network myvnet is in use and cannot be deleted" issue when deleting a Windows Azure Virtual Network

While I like Azure, instructions for doing certain things are obfuscated or simply neglected.  Just purged my test network earlier today...

http://fabriccontroller.net/solving-the-virtual-network-myvnet-is-in-use-and-cannot-be-deleted-error-when-deleting-a-windows-azure-virtual-network/

Fabric Controller

Sandrino Di Mattiais a Microsoft Azure MVPand a Customer Success Engineer at Auth0.

On this blog he shares his day to day experience with the Microsoft Azureplatform.

© Sandrino Di Mattia

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May 3, 2013· LOCAL NETWORKSVIRTUAL NETWORKS

Solving the "Virtual network myvnet is in use and cannot be deleted" issue when deleting a Windows Azure Virtual Network

The last few days I've been testing out many different things with Virtual Networks (especially Site-to-Site VPN). Today I tried cleaning up all the mess I made but I had a few Virtual Networks which I couldn't delete.

Every time I tried to delete a Virtual Network I got this error message: 

Virtual network 'ContosoCloud' is in use and cannot be deleted. If you recently deleted resources, it might take some time to update the virtual network.

But my Virtual Network wasn't in use because I made changes to it, it was in use because I didn't remove the resources linking to this Virtual Network. This is what you'll need to do to get rid of a Virtual Network and a Local Network (exactly in this order):

1. The first step is to delete the gateway in your Virtual Network. This can take a few minutes, so you will need to wait for it to complete before you can continue: 
   
2. Once you've deleted the Gateway you will need to delete the next link to this Virtual Network. You can find them them under resources in the dashboard of your Virtual Network. 
   Don't worry about deleting the Virtual Machine. By deleting them, you're deleting nothing more than an XML file which describes where to find the data disk, the size of the VM, which ports to open, … So its very easy to re-create the Virtual Machine (with the same data) through the portal or by using PowerShell.
3. After removing the gateway and the resources you'll be able to delete the Virtual Network. 
   
4. And the final step, if you linked the Virtual Network to a Local Network you can now also remove the Local Network (which was referenced by the Virtual Network): 

Enjoy!

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In the Bitcoin Era, Ransomware Attacks Surge - WSJ

http://www.wsj.com/article_email/in-the-bitcoin-era-ransomware-attacks-surge-1471616632-lMyQjAxMTE2MTExOTExODk2Wj

Malwarebytes reports new OS X malware that could easily fool less technical users

https://9to5mac.com/2016/08/19/os-x-malware-mac-file-opener/

Luxury Camping

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/travel/glamping-national-parks-camping.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0


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Windows 10 command line tricks

TechRadar: All latest feeds Windows 10 command line tricks

How to use the command line

The Windows Command Prompt is powerful yet often overlooked. It harks back to the days of DOS and the command-line, and continued to feature in early versions of Windows.

Over time, it's been forced into the background, as Microsoft has pushed bells and whistles, but the Command Prompt has never been ignored, and continues to play a big role, particularly when troubleshooting.

The big headlines may have gone to the new Windows 10 user interface, or some of its more crowd-pleasing features, but the Command Prompt is still nurtured by the Microsoft boffins, and Windows 10 introduced a number of handy improvements to the console window, making it more accessible and easy to use.

• Check out our collection of how to use Windows 10 guides

New tricks

You can now resize the console window more easily, simply through drag-and-drop – no more messing about with console buffer size settings (although you still can, if you prefer).

Word wrap means text doesn't get lost off-screen, forcing you to horizontally scroll to read particularly long lines of text. You can now easily select parts of the console output with your mouse, and copy them to the clipboard with just one click (or, more precisely, one right-click).

There are even useful new text-selection key combinations, which helps speed things up further, too. But even without these features, the Command Prompt remains a powerful and vital tool in any self-respecting PC user's armoury. So why let Linux have all the fun with its Terminal, when you can give your computer some command-line attention in Windows, too?

Join us as we dissect the Command Prompt, and reveal how to best use it.

System File Checker

One of the best-known Command Prompt tools is System File Checker (SFC), and most know that typing sfc / scannow should, in theory, detect corrupt system files and replace them with working backups. But, it's not always successful – if you get a message telling you Windows Resource Protection was unable to fix the files it found, try the following.

First, generate a text file with the information required to track down the files SFC couldn't fix:

findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log "%userprofi le%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt"

Now open the sfcdetails.txt file – this is a filtered view of the CBS.log, containing only the files SFC couldn't fix. Identify the corrupt files, and source working versions from another PC running the same version of Windows. Now issue the following commands for each corrupt file, replacing path with the file's path (such as C:\Windows\System32), and corruptfile with its full filename (jscript.dll):

takeown /f path \ corruptfile icacls path \ corruptfile /

GRANT ADMINISTRATORS:F

Copy the file you took from the other PC into the same folder, overwriting when prompted:

copy sourcepath \ sourcefile

path \ corruptfile

Run SFC again, which should now verify there are no corrupt files. For more, see Microsoft's Support page on the subject.

Customise the Command Prompt

Before delving too deep into the Command Prompt utility, make sure you take the time to customise its appearance to your personal comfort.

To do this, right-click the Command Prompt icon on its menu bar, and choose 'Properties'. You'll see options spread out over four tabs: 'Font' controls the text type, size and style, while 'Colors' lets you change the background and text colours, plus make the window semi-transparent.

The 'Layout' tab enables you to set the window size in lines (height) and text characters (width), while the Screen Buffer Size height reveals how many lines you can scroll through. The default size should be suffi cient – make sure you leave the 'Wrap text output on resize' option ticked.

The main tab – 'Options' – enables you to tweak the command buffer (this is basically your command 'history', and you can cycle through previous commands using the up cursor key). You can also change the mouse cursor size, plus enable or disable various features, many of which are new to Windows 10, such as the ability to copy and paste selected text using the keyboard ('Enable Ctrl key shortcuts').

If you're resolutely old-school and like things as they are, you can tick 'Use legacy console', and do without these feature improvements, but in the majority of cases, we suggest leaving well alone.

Command Prompt Tips and Tricks

Windows 10 introduces some handy time-saving features to the Command Prompt, including QuickEdit mode (actually introduced in Windows 8, but let's not split hairs).

This enables you to select and copy text from the console quickly, using the mouse – click and drag to select, then right-click to copy it to the clipboard. Place your cursor where you wish to paste it in the console, and right-click again.

Many commands generate pages and pages of data – to save you the onerous task of scrolling back up to review them, add the | more option onto the end of offending commands, to force them to show the first page, then pause.

From here, press Enter to move down a line at a time, or Space to scroll through the next page.

Alternatively, redirect the information to a text file with the switch – for example, drivequery -v drivers.txt creates the file in your current directory. Some commands can appear to get stuck or keep on looping – break out of them without closing the Command Prompt window by simply pressing Ctrl + C.

Want to clear the screen buffer and start with a fresh new 'page'? Type cls and hit Enter. The Command Prompt also keeps a handy history of previous commands – how many is configured via the 'Options' tab under Command Prompt Properties, which you can cycle through using the up and down cursor keys, speeding up text entry.

Working with Batch Files

Batch files are specially created text files that contain a list of Command Prompt commands, which are executed in the order they're written. They can also be used to call executable programs (use the start command), and are a great way to make repetitive commands easy to process.

You can create and edit batch files in Notepad – place each command with its options on a separate line. When you come to save the file, set 'Save as type:' to 'All Files (*.*)', before giving the file a .cmd extension.

There's a number of commands designed for use in batch files. One of the easiest to use is the pause command. Place this in your batch file, and when it's reached, the Command Prompt throws up a 'Press any key to continue' message, and waits for a key to be pressed.

You can also make use of the echo command to display text on-screen, and insert an @echo off command at the top of your batch file to prevent the commands themselves from appearing in the Command Prompt window as they're run.

Other useful commands include call, which enables you to call a second batch file from within the first, plus choice and set for introducing interactivity through the form of choices for the end user (you can also introduce conditions through the if and goto commands).

Batch files can be run from within the Command Prompt window (you can drag them from File Explorer into the window), or simply by double-clicking them in File Explorer – you'll see the Command Prompt window appear, and it disappears when the script completes.

• Enjoyed this article? Discover how to get the most from your PC and new things to do in Windows Help & Advice. Take advantage of an exclusive offer in our sampler today.

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Quick Tip: New Website Features List of Siri Commands

Other World Computing Blog Quick Tip: New Website Features List of Siri Commands

While it's almost always there for you, Siri isn't always the most helpful tool. But often, that's because we don't know what we can and can't ask it.

To make things easier, there is a new website that lists many of the different Siri commands that are actually functional. The site, hey-siri.io, makes for a very good quick reference guide to the voice-activated virtual assistant's abilities and will continue to add more to its list. The list contains the most familiar commands, but also contains some lesser-known commands such as Device Control & Settings, HomeKit capabilities, People & Relationships, and more fun commands like Decisions & Random, and Funny.

Siri will also be making its way to Macs this fall with the release of macOS Sierra and will hopefully bring a new batch of capabilities. For now, though, you can see what Siri currently can do for you at https://hey-siri.io.

Related articles

• Tech Tip: Using Siri as a Quick Calculator
• Siri, Your Tireless Vacation Assistant
• How You'll Be Able To Control Your Home With Siri
• Using Siri to Find the Owner of a Lost iPhone or iPad

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Round up: The best password manager 2016

TechRadar: All latest feeds Round up: The best password manager 2016

Download the best password manager

Keep your passwords secure

Passwords are a pain. It's easy to mock the people using '12345678' for everything, but creating and recalling strong passwords that are unique to each website is a huge PITA. Thank goodness, then, for password managers: not only do they do the remembering so you don't have to, but they can usually do all the typing too.

The apps we've selected here are all master password managers, and many of them have useful extra features too. Have we missed your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.

1. LastPass

There are two versions of LastPass - free and premium. Both can store an unlimited number of account logins in a secure vault protected by a master password, will complete online forms for you automatically, and can employ multi-factor authentication.

The premium edition also syncs across multiple devices, stores passwords for desktop programs, and lets you share secured folders with other people. with customizable permissions.

One of LastPass's best features is its ability to generate strong, unguessable passwords for all your accounts, which it then stores for you. There's no need to remember long, awkward streams of characters, or re-use the same password for multiple accounts. It's a class act.

2. Dashlane

Dashlane is LastPass's most serious rival, and like LastPass it's absolutely superb with strong password security, exceptional ease of use and ability to store notes for future reference.

It works on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS and with Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer, and like LastPass there's a premium version that adds unlimited syncing and sharing. That costs US$39.99 (about £30.24, AU$52.86) per year, but the free version provides all the essentials: you get the core password manager, autofill and digital wallet features, all of which work flawlessly. Don't settle for LastPass without trying Dashlane first, and vice versa.

3. True Key

True Key, by Intel Security, is the successor to the hugely popular PasswordBox. In addition to using a master password to protect all your other passwords, True Key can also recognize your fingerprint or your face for two-factor authentication. It's free for up to 15 passwords, and after that the premium version is £19.99, (US$19.99, AU$19.95) per year.

The app is available for PC, Mac, iOS and Android, although fingerprint recognition isn't available on Mac or Android yet.

4. RoboForm

Roboform claims to be the world's best password manager, though its free version only lets you store up to 10 logins and lacks the breadth of features offered by some of its rivals. If you need to store more passwords, a premium account costs US$9.95 (about £7.55, AU£13.20) for the first year, though the mobile apps are free.

It's available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, and is a good option for anybody who wants a simple and secure way to sync passwords between desktop, laptop and mobile devices.

RoboForm doesn't have quite the same features lists as Dashlane or LastPass, but it's a very good app nonetheless and the free mobile apps are excellent.

5. Keeper Desktop

Keeper is available for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux, and its autofill extension works in all the major browsers. The free version is limited to a single device with local password storage, and the £20.99 (US$29.99, about AU$39.62) Individual plan offers unlimited password storage and syncing, fingerprint authentication and a web app. There's also a Family plan at £44.99 (US$59.99, about AU$79.17) per year for five users.

In addition to passwords there's also a digital vault for secure storage of photos, videos and documents, all of which are backed up securely if you're a subscriber. If you own a smartwatch, you can use it for two-factor authentication, which is a nice touch.

6. Password Depot

Password Depot offers a free 30-day trial for 20 devices, after which you'll be asked to hand over US$29.95 (about £22.62, AU$39.52) for the full version. The app enables you to generate and store passwords and move them to a USB device or phone as well as on your PC, and it can store credit card numbers securely.

The PC app is complemented by mobile apps for iOS and Android, and there's an option to attach files to password entries that you can use to encrypt and securely store important documents. It also enables you to import passwords from other apps, which is handy if you've fallen out of love with an existing password manager.

7. KeePass Password Safe

It isn't the prettiest password manager around, but KeePass Password Safe is both free and open source with strong security, multiple user support and a whole bunch of plugins to expand the app further. The app is small enough to run from USB without installing on a PC, it can input from and output to a wide range of file formats and there are stacks of customization options to play with.

The fact that KeePass is open source means anybody can inspect the code for potential weaknesses, which means that any security issues can be identified and fixed quickly. It's a great little app, if a bit intimidating for absolute beginners.

8. 1Password

1Password is free for 30 days and then US$2.99 (about £2.26, AU$3.95) per month for an individual or US$4.99 (about £3.77, AU$6.59) for a family of up to five people. The app is available for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, includes 1GB of secure file storage and keeps track of your item history for a full year, enabling you to recover deleted items or passwords. The family version adds document and password sharing, permission control for other family members and account recovery for family members who forget their logins.

It's a nice app, especially on the Mac and on iOS, where it can use TouchID for authentication.

9. Sticky Password

Sticky Password comes from the team behind AVG Antivirus, so you can be confident that security is its top priority. There are two versions of Sticky Password: free and premium. The latter adds cloud syncing and backup and costs £29.99 (about US$39.64, AU$52.44) a year.

The app works on PC, Mac, Android and iOS, supports fingerprint authentication on mobile, is available as a portable USB version and offers lots of synchronisation options including Wi-Fi syncing with local devices. It doesn't support the Edge browser just yet but it will once the Anniversary Update introduces extension support.

10. iCloud Keychain

If you're on a Mac, don't forget the password manager you already have. Apple's own iCloud Keychain may not have all the advanced features of 1Password or LastPass, but it does a perfectly decent job of generating and managing strong passwords as well as securely storing and using your credit card details, logins for various servers, wireless network accounts and anything else involving logins.

It's an Apple-only affair - iOS, OS X and macOS are the only supported platforms - but if you don't need PC or Android access then that's not a problem.

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