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<> Useful Mac OS Tips and Hints <>

TidBITS#889/23-Jul-07
 Perhaps it's the lingering glow of the iPhone launch, but this week's issue focuses on talking on the phone. First up, Joe Kissell reports from Paris on how he chose a Mac-compatible handset that works with Skype and discusses other devices that may work for you. Next, Tom Schmidt sorts out the confusing world of prepaid cellular phone plans and discovers that for many people this route is much more convenient and affordable than expensive monthly contracts. Also in this issue, Joe notes the release of FileMaker Pro 9, and Adam both points to MyFirstMac, a Web site with Mac information that's perfect for helping new users, and welcomes our latest sponsor, Parallels.

TidBITS#890/30-Jul-07
The big Apple news this week is a stunning $818 million profit for the third fiscal quarter of 2007, thanks to a record number of Mac sales (and a goodly number of iPhone sales too!). For those of us not rolling in that kind of cash, we have news about useful Mac products and techniques that won't stress your checkbook. Adam looks at options for mounting and reading bare hard disk drives that aren't strapped into enclosures (and why you'd want to do this). Glenn Fleishman notes the release of Webjimbo, a program that lets you access your Yojimbo data remotely. Joe Kissell stays up late trying to get his MacBook Pro to go to sleep, no thanks to Apple's Safe Sleep feature. And lastly, we have a pair of new Take Control ebooks: "Take Control: The Mac OS X Lexicon," which provides practical and witty definitions of over 500 Mac- and Internet-related terms, and an update to "Take Control of Syncing in Tiger," which now covers the iPhone and Apple TV.

• Click here to see tips from previous issues of Tidbits that have appeared here.
 


Macworld's Tips, troubleshooting, advice, and opinion by Macworld Senior Editor Christopher Breen:
Mac 911 Weblog : http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/mac911/?lsrc=mwweek

Mac 911 Secrets: Oct 2007: http://www.macworld.com/2007/09/secrets/oct07mac911/index1.php
Bug: Safari 3.0 PDF Crashes--and how to fix this

Mac OSX Hints: Weblog: Tiger:
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macosxhints/2007/08/dictionarywidget/index.php?
Dictionary widget tricks. The Dictionary widget in OS X 10.4 is a convenient (and nice-looking) way to look up the occasional word in the dictionary or thesaurus. There are, however, a couple of nuances to this little widget.

 

http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macosxhints/
 
 

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2007051510154393/
Performance tip: Keep the Desktop clutter-free (empty, if possible)

Mac OS X's Desktop is the de facto location for downloaded files, and for many users, in-progress works that will either be organized later or deleted altogether. The desktop can also be gluttonous, however, becoming a catch-all for files that linger indefinitely.

Unfortunately -- aside from the effect of disarray it creates -- keeping dozens or hundreds of files on the Desktop can significantly degrade performance. Not necessarily because the system is sluggish with regard to rendering the icons on the desktop and storing them in memory persistently (which may be true in some cases), but more likely because keeping an excessive number of items on the Desktop can cause the windowserver process to generate reams of logfiles, which obviously draws resources away from other system tasks.

As such, keeping as few items as possible on the Desktop prove a surprisingly effective performance boon. Even creating a single folder on your Desktop and placing all current and future clutter inside, then logging out and back in can provide an immediately noticeable speed boost -- particularly for the Finder.
 

See a "Mac OS X Tip of the Week" on the Apple Website at http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/

SAMPLES OF SELECTIONS FROM THE APPLE WEBSITE :

PDF: The Smaller PDF Secret Control
What If You Don't Want To Open The File?
Speed Navigating in Save As, Part 2
Searching Just Your Bookmarks
Preview: Hidden Sorting Options
Dropping Text on the Dock for Fast Results
Finding the Combined Size of More than One Document
The Ultimate Customize Toolbar Shortcut
Become the Ultimate Menu Master
Forcing A Document on an App
Creating Aliases Without the Word "Alias"
Resizing Photos for Emailing
Look Inside Multiple Folders Automatically
Searching by Color Label
Need the First Available Printer?
The Burn Folder Isn't Burning Aliases
Finding Where the © and ™ Symbols Live
The One-Click Trick to Moving the Dock
 

KEY STROKES AND SHORTCUTS: CAUSE AND EFFECT

KEYS or MOUSE EFFECT
Right mouse button, OR
Option--left mouse button		 Displays a "Contextual Menu", a list of very useful functions. I regularly use the Color Label to code and identify most recent and urgent files and folders.
command/apple--shift--3

Takes a "screen shot" of the whole complete screen, just as you see it. (Good to use to remember how you set up some new capability on your Mac with all the settings showing. )

OS 10.4 saves as ,png ( but OS 10.3 saves as .pdf. ) Then rename "Picture 1, 2, etc."
command/apple - shift-4

Take a "screen shot" by sweeping the crosshair/cursor over any portion of any screen to capture the highlighted area.
In Preview: click on the 'Save As' in the 'File' drop down menu

Change the format of an image. In the drow down menu, click on 'Format' option to select the graphic format you want ( as I did to change the 'png' file I made using the 'command/Apple key - shift - 4' into a PDF (or a JPEG so it can easily be used on a web site.)

In Safari: Command/Apple key - shift - + ( plus key )

Enlarge the text displayed in many windows. Works in Safari, Firefox, TextEdit, Apple Mail, Preview, and others... ( not AppleWorks, see below ).

Command/ - minus/dash key

Shrink the text displayed in many windows.
In AppleWorks: Command/Apple key - shift - . ' (period) Increase the display size of selected/ highlighted text ( works where ever you have text, word processing, spread sheet, etc )
In AppleWorks: Command/Apple key - shift - , ' (comma) Decrease the display size of selected/ highlighted text ( works where ever you have text, word processing, spread sheet, etc )

In most Apple supplied programs
Command/Apple key - arrow key ( any one of the 4 direction arrows ) moves the cursor in the maximum direction on that page
'option - arrow left/right key' moves the cursor to the front or back of the current/next 'word' in the text.
'option - arrow up/down key' moves the cursor to the front or back of the current/next 'paragraph' in the text.
'function - arrow key' seems to move to the extreme of the page, without moving the cursor ( but I dont see clearly what each individual key is doing, try it and let us know, ken morley ).

Option key View relative strength of available wireless signals.
In Apple Mail: Option-Command-J Send Junk mail to the trash / Double click on bottom of message window to prevent questionable messages from opening.
In Apple Mail, 'return key' or 'enter key' Display the message being displayed in the small Mail window in a larger window so you can see more of the message, or pictures at once.
   
http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/ http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/
   
   
   
 

OTHER HINTS AND SOURCES

• Use *Repair Permissions* on a regular basis.

• Use Wikipedia to search for links.

* PhotoCast - iPhoto and .Mac. Requires iPhoto and a .Mac account.

• Stellarium renders 3D photo-realistic skies in real time with OpenGL. It displays stars, con stellations, planets, nebulas and others things like ground, landscape, atmosphere, etc. Free. http://sourceforge.net/search/?type_of_search=soft&words=Stellarium

• Automatically download pictures of the day (POD) from... National Geographic, Astronomy, Earth Science, Wikipedia. Free
http://www.troz.net/Pic-a-POD/

• iGlasses - shareware - $8.00. Gives more functionality to iSight. (May be more fun then practical) ;-)
http://www.ecamm.com/mac/iglasses/

• Airfoil - Use Airport Express to send sound to remote speakers - Shareware - $25. Can send audio from most audio apps.
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/mac/

• Sticky Windows lets you move windows aside while making them easy to reopen when needed. - shareware - $15,95. Gain back monitor real estate lost when working with many different open windows.
http://www.donelleschi.com/stickywindows/

 
CMoM General Meeting
Friday April 11, 2008
”Tips and Tricks”
as shared by Ron Brunet and other volunteers

REMARKS DURING Q&A

How to turn analog vinyl recordings into digital recordings to replay with iTunes? Suggestions: new ION turntable with USB connection. Or Griffin iMike with RCA and USB connections. Try SoundStudio or WireTap software or maybe GarageBand.

An Internet SCAM on Craigs List was reported that directs money to go to a faux TNT money website.

Otherwise Craigs List (Monterey) was highly recommended, and also Freecycle, in order to give away or sell hardware and software and, indeed, anything else from your home.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MontereySalinasFreecycle/

A warning was given about downloading QuickTime 7.4 which disables video on some Macs. “Pacifist” software was mentioned to delete 7.4 and return to 7.2.

If someone was apprehensive about installing Leopard OS X 10.5, a suggestion heard was to purchase an external hard drive (which cost less nowadays) and install 10.5. Then restart from there.

TIPS DEMONSTRATED BY RON

iTunes: International radio stations are available. Several were demonstrated during the meeting.

Services is a less well-known feature in the menu bar. Click on the name of the software you are running: Scroll down to “Services” to see some very useful options to be accessed.

Press the F-keys, F9, F10, F11, for other ways to manage the Finder and folders.

In the Finder, click View/Show View Options to increase the size of icons and text.

Click Apple-Tab keys to quickly switch between several running programs.

Take “screen shots” with Use Apple-Shift-3 and Apple-shift-4-spacebar Also check out “Grab” software in the Utilities folder.

In the Finder menu bar, click “Go” in the menu bar to see a list of shortcuts.

In the Finder menu bar, click “Customize Toolbar” in the menu bar to see additional options added to folders.

And don’t forget “Help” is always available in the menu bar.

Select “Universal Access” from the Finder > Preferences. Enable “zoom” keyboard shortcuts to enlarge the images on-screen.

Both Spotlight and the “Find” command have powerful options that improve searches.

International radio stations are available within iTunes:. Several were demonstrated during the meeting.

Services is a less well-known feature in the menu bar. Click on the name of the software you are running: Scroll down to “Services” to see some very useful options to be accessed.

Press the F-keys, F9, F10, F11, for other ways to manage the Finder and folders.

NETWORKING BREAK (12 minutes)

The meeting continued with more tips until after 9:15 p.m.

 

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