answers

q&a Mad Magazine has been running its back-page satire Fold-In since 1964. What many don't realize is that one man has been the driving artistic force behind every Fold-In since then: Al Jaffee.

Now 91, Jaffee is still painting the Fold-In monthly, and says he has no plans to give it up. It started as a parody of a regular feature called the fold-out in much higher-brow (and higher-profile) publications of the time, and caught the public's attention instantly.

He now has numerous collections and books out, including "Tall Tales," a collection of his syndicated comic strip from the New York Herald-Tribune that had a unique vertical orientation; "The Mad Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010"; and a biography by Mary-Lou Weisman called "Al Jaffee's Mad Life: A Biography."

Jaffee hasn't missed an issue since he started, and his work is widely appreciated. In 2006, Stephen Colbert celebrated Jaffee's 85th birthday with the birthday cake equivalent of a Fold-In.

Since the Fold-In in this month's Mad answers the question, "What's the only thing unavailable on the Internet?" we figured we'd turn the tables on Jaffee and ask him some far less humorous questions of our own. … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions on external hard drives appearing as read-only, Apple's USB modem not working after upgrading to OS X Lion, whether triple-booting OS X and Windows will work properly, and Safari's menu bar disappearing after zooming the window. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions, post them in the comments!

Question: External hard drive appearing as read-only MacFixIt reader Orlando asks:

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about the best way to move data from an old user account to a new one, the purpose for the key given to you when you enable FileVault, and how to add new menu extras to the menu bar. Others asked how to manage exceptionally large virtual memory used by programs, and how best to move an OS installation to a new partition. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions, post … Read more

Ever since Apple introduced its support forums, they've always been a great option for people to get support on the various products that Apple sells. The forums are a peer-based support system where Mac users can discuss and troubleshoot problems. Apple users do not have to rely solely on AppleCare or Apple Store representatives to fix problems or learn how to use their Macs.

The Apple forums have long been a separate section of the Apple Support site, but Apple has implemented new options for the support forums. Support forums have been rebranded as "Communities," which are … Read more

Apple owners in need of help can now tap into community support sections at the company's product pages.

Launched a few days ago, the new sections are set up like standard Q&A forums where you can post your own questions and answer those of other people. Getting to a particular support section is just a matter of launching Apple's Web site, navigating to the page for the product in question, and then clicking on the Buy button in the upper right corner. Scrolling down the page then reveals the Answers from the community section for that … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about the options for performing a clean install of OS X Lion, restoring an iTunes library after formatting and reinstalling the OS, and whether virtual machines will be affected after reinstalling OS X. In addition, some people have wondered about Intuit getting other older PowerPC-based software packages running in Lion, and whether Address Book contacts can be shared among local user accounts. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions, then post … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about log-in items returning after being deleted, installing Lion to another partition within Snow Leopard, missing menu extras for Spaces in Lion, whether or not it's feasible to customize a Mac's wakeup schedule, and how to reset a lost account password. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions, then post them in the comments!

Question: Log-in items returning after being deleted MacFixIt reader Thom asks:

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about a Mac continuously booting to Safe Mode, an apparent missing option to ignore ownership on an external volume, where and how to look up Mac model information, and ways to prevent OS X from reopening programs and windows at startup. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions then post them in the comments!

Question: Mac continuously booting to Safe Mode MacFixIt reader Andreas asks:

After more than four years writing the Cheapskate blog, I've been asked the same questions more often than I can count.

Alas, time doesn't always permit me to answer each reader's inquiry, so I've put together this FAQ page (at the ingenious suggestion of CNET's George Latourette).

The primary goal of the Cheapskate is to spotlight one killer deal (and maybe a bonus deal or two) every day of the week. I love cheap stuff, and I love sharing deals even more.

Think of me as your buddy who walks into the office every morning … Read more