Take Control’s latest offering is an ebook that covers all aspects of syncing in 10.4.

It covers every conceivable combination of devices from syncing between Macs to mobile/cell phones, Palm OS handhelds and iPods.

Of course, Apple’s built-in iSync app gets the full treatment, but syncing software from third party developers also gets a look in.

Even those who are old hands at syncing will learn from the chapter which explains how syncing works and from the troubleshooting section, especially useful the press release says for “anyone who has experienced a syncing feeling upon realizing that the wrong data was overwritten”.

The ebook costs USD 10 and comes with a 50% discount voucher for PocketMac’s syncing software.

You can read more about the book and sample a free 24 page preview on the Take Conrol web site .

In another new development (at least, new to me), Take Control Books now offers a “print on demand” service for this title and for “Running Windows on a Mac”. The price for this service is USD 10-15 and the end result looks good:

syncing, isync, take control, mobile, cell phone, palm device, ipod, tips, productivity

Take Control Books is holding a half-price Spring Sale on its complete range of titles.

Hawk Wings readers may be particularly interested in “Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger” , “Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail” and “Take Control of .Mac”.

I think that “Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger” is a terrific book, good enough to earn a place in the Hawk Wings list of Top Ten Things every Mail user should have.

It’s great value for money at full-price. Now at USD 5, it’s twice as good—the perfect gift for your favourite Entourage user, for yourself (I learnt more about Mail.app from this book than any other single source) or for that annoying uncle who is on the phone day and night wanting to know how to do this or that. Bargain!

You can find the full list of titles on Take Control Book’s web site. This link automatically adds the half-price coupon code to your order.take control, mail.app, apple mail, .mac, dotmac, sale

When I switched to Macs just over two years ago, hardened Mac-heads told me that I would never have to worry again about all the maintenance tasks that sucked up my time and energy on the PC. “Hey, it all just works”, they grinned.

How wrong was that!

Joe Kissell has written an ebook in the Take Control series that outlines the essential steps for keeping your Mac in good shape.

What’s the point of tricking out Mail.app with all the bling-bling addons and plugins you can find on this site, if the computer that runs the whole show is limping along at half-efficiency underneath?

Joe sets out the maintenance jobs you need to perform, divided into suggested daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks. He covers everything from daily backups to weekly Desktop spring-cleaning, how and when to “Exercise” your notebook battery for best performance, to using Snippet or Information Managers to organise all those little files that clutter up your Mac and to the importance of a yearly “de-dust” of your Mac.

He also presents frequent lists of useful apps, web sites and resources, making the book a treasure trove of tips.

It only took me three months with my (then) new PowerBook to trash Mail.app by plugin abuse and bring Panther to its knees.

You may be kinder to your Mac and so avoid the need to do these things for longer. But whether it is three months or a year, Joe’s advice is good advice:

maintaining your Mac—like maintaining your teeth, your car, your health, or your home—is a good habit whose rewards are having fewer problems later on and being able to recover more easily from problems that do arise. You can sometimes get away without doing any maintenance for a few months or perhaps much longer, but you risk losing data, wasting time, and having to spend a great deal of money repairing or replacing your computer.

For only USD 10, you can get hold of one of the best collections of good habits going around.

I’ll be buying a copy for my mother-in-law. If it cuts her tech support calls in half, it will be worth its weight in gold.

You can check it out on Take Control’s web site .take control, joe kissell, tips, spring cleaning, maintenance, mail.app, prevention is the best medicine

Janet Tokerud has had enough.

She is frustrated by the constant updating of Spotlight search results:

Today I was looking for my copy of Take Control of Apple Mail and saw something close right away. Before I could click on it, it was long gone as more and more updates occurred every couple of seconds. Eventually, there was no sign of the Take Control documents — I have about 6 different ones.

Of course there are even better reasons to buy oneself a copy of the new Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger for Christmas, but I can’t find any blog posts on which to hang them.

No doubt he has many fine achievements, but Joe Kissell is also the only person ever to have published a book dedicated to Apple Mail, Take Control of Apple Mail. On Hawk Wings that makes him the USA’s greatest living writer ;-)

In a blog entry on his life as a freelance writer, he mentions that the next version of that book, Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger, is almost ready for publication (or at least, “ebookhood” as he puts it).