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Bwana Zulia: Macs In Africa
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| What is this all about? |
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| It all started one day while reading the EvangeList when the suggestion came up (from our fearless leader) that it was time we started to make individual Mac web pages based on a certain topic and not all-in-one pages. So, with that thought in mind I decided to set up a web page all about Macs in Africa. Why? Well, I figured that if we could get enough information for people in Africa (heavily dominated by the evil empire) we could get a foot in the door. I am looking for help on this one so if you have any suggestions or comments please let me know at Macs@bwanazulia.com. |
My Story I have been coming to Africa for the last ten years (going on eleven) and have been a Mac person for all of that time. I started off on a Commodore 64 (remember those puppies?) which was the absolute thing to have when I got it. I don't remember how I got from that to the SE30 but I did and have never looked back.
Whenever a family member has slowly stepped into the computer age I would happily hold their hand and lead them down the right path. I got my father onto a Duo (and he does work for Lotus!) and started my mother off with a my old SE way back when and now having her eyeing the new PPCs (no she is still not working with the SE!).
I will try not to go on and on about how great I think Macs are I will let others (who are being paid) do that. Let these web pages serve as a shining light in the deepest darkest Africa.
Macs in Africa
My Africa version of the The EvangeList
Macs are in Africa!I have found that while The Dark Side has a major grip on Africa people are slowly seeing the light. Home users are the first to switch over with businesses following up. The great thing is that behind the scenes Macs are really running the show. Take the East African Standard Newspaper here in Kenya. I went in one day to drop off an ad that I had printed out so they could scan into whatever Windoze Box they had. I was ushered into a back room and there before my eyes was an assortment of Macs doing the layout for the entire newspaper. I just had to smile. Later that day I sent down a disk with the ad (which I had done on my Powerbook anyway) which they easily put into the paper. Go Mac!
Can't Print? The people who do stray and get the wrong computer always get my pity. I was once sitting in a local office (all running on two PowerBook 145s and a Mac Classic) watching a customer print something out. I had seen her there a couple of times and asked if she had a computer at home. She did. And a printer? Yes indeedy. Were they broken? Nope. Well why was she printing out her things here if she had a computer at home? It turns out she had a brand new Windoze 95 Box and just couldn't figure out how to use the printer. Same old story. The good news is she was easily printing away on one of the 145s. I am sure her next computer purchase will be a better one.
It is OK I have a Mac... When setting up my web site (shameless plug) I needed to scan in some pictures. I called a lot of places and they all wanted from $5 to $30 a scan! When I went to ask my friend for some advice he invited me over to use his scanner (Hey... thanks!). My friend is a complete Windoze fool (try not to hold it against him) so I knew I was in for some fun when it would come to the scanning. He got it set up in just under an hour and half which was pretty quick for 95. I just sat back, smiled and had a few beers. When it came time to scan he asked how I was going to get things from his format into the Mac OS. "No problem" I said, "I have a Mac remember?" I first formatted the disks for the PC in my 540c giving them to him to scan on. The disks worked just fine in his Box (never had a doubt) and the images were saved as TIFFs. I just took the disk out of his machine, stuck it into the Mac and converted it all with Graphic Converter. Never a hassle never a worry. Try doing the same thing between a IBM and a Toshiba that run with the same OS.
If you have a story to tell about Macs in Africa please email me at macs@bwanazulia.com and I will be glad to include it here.
| Links to Macs in Africa |
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 | Africa Online Internet Provider Uses Macs | ARCC
Internet Provider Uses Macs |
| More Mac Links | ||
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| The EvangeList The Ultimate Mac Mailing List | Mac Celebs The "who is who" of Macs | Mac Assist To get FREE help |
| Mac Netscape Plug-Ins All the latest & Greatest | MacWare Review software, software, software | MacWeek A great Mac Mag |
| Pro Mac Page To help out in the battle | MacNews For all the latest | MacLinks Yup... more links. |
Mac Tips
| The Launcher & Apple Menu Folder Tip |
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| This one I just stumbled on. If you use the launcher you know what a great tool it can be. You also probably know that you can add folders into the launcher to make other buttons on the launcher (NO THIS IS NOT THE TIP!). You should also know that you can add folders to your Apple Menu folder (7.5?) and they will become submenus (make sure to turn it on first). The tip is to combine the two. Go into your System folder and make an alias of your Launcher folder. Throw the alias into your Apple Menu folder and you immediately have a great set of submenus of the programs/documents you use all the time. And since it is all based on aliases every time you change something in the Launcher folder it is changed in the Apple Menu Launcher folder. It can really come in handy when you are knee deep in applications and want to get to the launcher but don't even want to try hiding all the applications and closing all the windows to get there. It is right in your Apple Menu. |
| 1st Comes 1st Tip |
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| All folders, aliases and files when viewed through any OPEN window of an application automatically get alphabetized. In other words every time you go to open your recipe on Zebra Steak out of your 101 Ways to Cook Game Meat folder it will always be at the bottom. There is a way to make it come to the top. Open Simpletext and in a new document press the return key. Now SELECT that return (it should select what looks like a whole line of nothing) and copy it. Take this to the alias, folder or file that you want to send to the top and select the icon. Now position the pointer over the name and click again. This should select the name so you can edit it. Go to the front of the name (before Z in Zebra Steak) and make sure your cursor is blinking there. Now PASTE that return you copied out of Simpletext. Don't worry if the whole name disappears it will come back. Now press the RETURN key again. The name should come back but if you are viewing it by NAME it should be first. This tip is really great even if you use ICON view since everything gets changed to NAME view when you are opening it through an application. The other great place to use it is in the Apple Menu folder (like with the tip above). You can also paste as many returns as you want so something with one return will be lower than one with two. Very useful. |
| The Plea for Help |
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This web page is just the beginning and I am going to add to it all time but I do need help. If you know of any information, topics, web pages, newsgroups or anything else that would add to this page please email me. The Apple Community is the best and I know that the battle can be won. I plan to add the following so if you can help with any of these let me know. Of course if anyone want to donate time I am always willing to accept that as well. |
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Individual pages for all the topics More Macs in Africa links (need MORE!) More Macs in Africa Stories Apple Dealers across Africa Travel with Macs tips A Bulletin Board for people looking for info on Macs in Africa. And more if I can think of it.... |
| macs@bwanazulia.com |
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| Legal Stuff |
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Apple, the Apple logo, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the USA and other countries. All other brand names mentioned are registered trademarks of their respective holders,
and are hereby acknowledged. Everything else here is copyrighted © 1996 by Bwana Zulia |
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