Hi Esther. Thank you so much for that very thorough reply. I am always humbled by the generosity of people on the list, especially after my massive rants. Your option return trick worked a treat. Very strange; I don't know why it didn't recognise the link as a download link, - weirdly the first download link on the page does work, it's just the rest that don't - but at least I have a way round it.
Regarding Safari Busy: I don't think I should be low on System resources since I have loads of ram and there shouldn't be anything else running in the background; however Safari hasn't been busy today so that's good. Thanks again for taking the time to respond. It is much appreciated. I am also very Impressed by your knowledge. It's amazing how used to windows I am, since I have used it all my life and still use it at work and a bit at home. I will get there eventually. On 03/10/2011, Esther <mori...@mac.com> wrote: > Hello David, > > First of all, I'm not sure from your description what is going on, but one > way to force the download of linked content such as mp3 files or PDF files > when you are focused on the link is to press Option+Enter. (A Mac purist > would call this key combination Option+"Return", which is how VoiceOver > identifies the key that most Windows users call the "Enter" key when you > press it while you are in Keyboard Help mode (turned on with VO+K and > terminated by pressing the Escape key; VoiceOver announces the pressed key > combinations and their actions but doesn't act on the keys in this mode); > on the older Mac keyboards there was both an "Enter" key which could be > assigned different functions and a "Return" key). For a few oddly coded > sites like the main Blind Cool Tech web site you have to first interact with > the link for a podcast before you can use either VO-Shift-M to bring up the > contextual menu to select your option (copy link, download linked file, > etc.) or press Option+Enter to force a download of the linked file. > > If your linked MP3 file has started playing in the browser after you > activated the link (e.g. by pressing VO-Space or pressing the up and down > arrow keys together with QuickNav turned on), then you can get the file to > download by pressing Command+L to highlight the URL in the address bar > followed by Option+Enter to force the download of your selection. These > keyboard shortcuts work generally under Mac OS X and do not depend on > VoiceOver. Also, it does not matter if you keep the toolbar of your web > browser hidden. Command+L will momentarily open the toolbar and highlight > your current address. Then, after you press your Option+Enter, it will close > the toolbar. This also works if you want to copy your current URL or go > directly to the Google search field with Command+Option+F to type in search > terms and press "Return" to execute the search, but still generally keep > your toolbar hidden. The toolbar will open for your Command+L, Command+C or > your Command+Option+F and entry of typed search terms, and then close again > after you press Return or perform your next action. > > The switch between Safari busy and Safari ready happens when you're running > low on system resources. In some cases this can be due to insufficient > memory, but if you see this behavior associated with certain web pages it's > more likely that the coding for that page is putting extra stress on your > Safari browser -- either by the use of dynamically updating javascript or > Flash content. Since VoiceOver uses the system memory resources, too, it's > sensitive to high usage and inefficiencies. The bigger consumers are Safari > and iTunes, which is why you're more likely to hear the "busy" message > associated with Safari. This is not specific to Voiceover -- sighted users > will refer to a visual cue for "busy" as the "spinning pinwheel of death (or > SPOD)" associated with system lockups in the same circumstances. In > general, good system maintenance helps minimize these busy messages. You > can try clearing out your Safari caches periodically to free up more memory. > The "Reset Safari" menu option accessed from the menu bar (VO-M or > Control-F2 to the menu bar; navigate to the "Safari" menu with VO-Right > arrow or the Right Arrow key of QuickNav, or by pressing "S"; then arrow > down to "Reset Safari" or press "r e s" to get there and press return). You > can also get there with TrackPad Commander (two finger double tap at the top > of the TrackPad to go to the Apple menu; flick right to "Safari" and double > tap to select; flick down to "Reset Safari" and double tap.) On the "Reset > Safari" menu pane there are various boxes you can check, including "Remove > all webpage preview images", "Empty the cache", and "Remove all webpage > icons". I always get ride of preview images, since they take up memory and > I don't use them. > > For general system maintenance tools, a good freeware product is OnyX, which > is accessible, and which has versions for all Mac OS systems: Lion, Snow > Leopard, Leopard, and Tiger. (Make sure to download the one for your > operating system). I usually look for programs that are not at the App > Store by Googling for them at the MacUpdate site, which uses a standard > format for brief description, download link, and information about the date > and version of the latest release, along with links to the developer's web > site. It also lets me read user comments and ratings about the current > version. Googling "OnyX Macupdate" gives: > http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx > and the description: > <begin quote> > OnyX is a multifunction utility for Mac OS X. It allows you to verify the > Startup Disk and the structure of its System files, to run miscellaneous > tasks of system maintenance, to configure the hidden parameters of the > Finder, Dock and of some of Apple's own applications, to delete caches, to > remove a certain number of files and folders that may become cumbersome and > more. > <end quote> > > You can also check which processes are using most of your system resources > by using the Activity Monitor application in your Utilities folder > (Command-Shift-U to navigate there in FInder; press "a" or "a c" to go to > "Activity Monitor" and press Command-Down arrow to launch). You may not > want to get into this unless you have unusual problems, but you can monitor > memory, disk, and CPU usage, as well as quit processes. This all works with > VoiceOver. > > Since you mention visiting the BBC web site, you might want to join the > mac-access list. That mailing list is hosted out of the UK, and the list > owners run their mail servers on Macs. Gordon Smith did the first extensive > podcast on setting up VMWare Fusion for ACB's Main Menu several years back. > While it's an international list, with several of this list's members on it, > there are a number of list members who discuss using the BBC iPlayer app, > and there were recent discussion of the free app "Get iPlayer Automator" > working under Lion on that list. Since some of the content to BBC web pages > is not available to users outside of the UK, you may find a better audience > for your questions about the BBC web pages on that list. > > I think the information about subscribing to the mac-access list may be > found at: > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access > > The posts are now archived at the Mail Archive web site, and can be searched > there: > http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access%40mac-access.net/ > > HTH. Cheers, > > Esther > > > > On Oct 2, 2011, at 12:21, David Eagle wrote: > >> It seems as if my relationship with the Mac is one really good >> experience followed by one really annoying one. Ive just had a really >> successful time subscribing to podcasts in iTunes. I ten went to >> download a file from the BBC website. I press VO key shift M like I >> would usually do to get to the list of options where I can download >> the file. But I don't get that. I get "forward, back, reload page" >> etc. If I press the link then it opens and starts plain so it's >> definitely a download. Where did my ability to get into the menu that >> says "copy link, download linked file" etc go to? I know this will be >> sacrilege to a lot of you but I find myself having to go back to my >> sluggish windows machine just to get something done because the Mac >> breaks things randomly like this. O and now just to top it all off, >> real speak Daniel is sounding like he's on steroids. What the hell are >> you doing to me Apple? O my god and now Safari keeps saying Busy then >> ready then busy then ready. Why can't you make your mind up? are you >> busy or ready? Sorry for the rant, but I get very frustrated by the >> Mac sometimes, especially since it costs a lot more and seems to just >> do the most quirky things. And now it's making silly plopping noises >> at me as if I've misspelt a word; but I haven't. I might start writing >> some words that will cause you to make plopping noises at me >> Macintosh, but they won't be misspelt words; it's just your database >> will not have the kind of words I'll be using. I suppose on the plus >> side the Mac does run incredibly fast, although that generally means >> it has more time to fit more annoying things in to a shorter space of >> time. OK, I'm off to check my date and time settings in case the Mac >> thinks it's April the first. >> >> >> >> -- >> http://www.davideagle.co.uk >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > -- http://www.davideagle.co.uk -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
