How to Remove Previous Recipients from Your iPhone or iPad

Posted on by Tim Hannon in iOS and iPhone/iPad Apps, Software

Do you want to remove some of the email addresses that are listed when you begin typing a recipient’s name in the To: field of an email message on your iPhone or iPad?

The Mail application on iPhones and iPads automatically builds a list of recent email recipients’ email addresses. It then lists these addresses when you begin typing the recipient’s name in a new email message. Follow these instructions to remove one of these recipient’s email address. Read More from “How to Remove Previous Recipients from Your iPhone or iPad”

How to Make a Folder Appear in Two Places Using Aliases

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics, Getting Organized

Have you ever wanted to have a folder appear in two places at once on your Mac? If so, you should know about creating aliases. An alias is a pointer, or shortcut, to the original folder. An alias looks like the original folder, but when you double-click it, the original folder opens.

Follow these instructions to create an alias: Read More from “How to Make a Folder Appear in Two Places Using Aliases”

How To Display Scroll Bars and Slow Down Scrolling on Your Mac

Posted on by Tim Hannon in macOS (formerly OS X), Software

Starting with OS X 10.7 (Lion) Apple changed some fundamental ways that scrolling works. Specifically, the scrollbars are hidden until one moves the cursor on top of the scrollbar area, then the scrollbars appear. Additionally, the scrollbars no longer have arrows at the ends to let you slowly scroll up and down. Here are some suggestions to help address both of these changes.

Read More from “How To Display Scroll Bars and Slow Down Scrolling on Your Mac”

Options for Wall-Mounting iMacs and Monitors

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Hardware, Macintosh, Miscellaneous

Are you interested in mounting your iMac or a monitor on an articulated arm connected to either your desk or a wall? I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of requests I’ve had about this topic over the past year. Here’s a primer on what you should know. When you start to look into mounting a computer or monitor, you quickly hear the term VESA mount. VESA mount refers to a family of standards defined by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) for mounting flat panel monitors, TVs, and other displays to stands or wall mounts. Read More from “Options for Wall-Mounting iMacs and Monitors”

Understanding Apple’s Lightning Connector for iPhones and iPads

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Hardware, iPhone and iPad

Were you annoyed with Apple when they introduced a new connector for the iPhone 5, 4th generation iPad and iPad mini in Oct 2012? Did you wonder why they did this? Here’s some information to help you understand why Apple did this and the implications for you. Read More from “Understanding Apple’s Lightning Connector for iPhones and iPads”

Use Your Older MacBook Pro Charger on Newer Mac Laptops

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Hardware, Macintosh

Do you have an older, magnetically attached laptop power cord that you’d like to connect to your new Mac laptop which requires a thinner connector? If so, you could buy Apple’s MagSafe to MagSafe 2 Converter ($10). In 2006, Apple introduced magnetically attached laptop power cords, called the MagSafe Power Adapter, on their MacBook Pro. Since then, they’ve added this connector to all laptops and many monitors. In 2012, they introduced a thinner version of this power cord called the MagSafe 2 Power Adapter. You can continue to use these older monitors and power adapters with a new Mac laptop that requires the thinner MagSafe 2 connector by purchasing this affordable adapter.

You might also enjoy reading about using one Mac laptop’s power adapter with a different model of Mac laptop which I wrote about more recently.

Easily Create a Contact List

Posted on by Tim Hannon in macOS (formerly OS X), Software, Spreadsheets

Do you store your contact information in Apple’s Contacts application? If so, you can easily create a contact list by dragging contacts into Apple’s spreadsheet application, Numbers. Numbers is not as commonly used as Excel, but the more I use Numbers the more I like it. I recently discovered this incredible feature. Contacts is the new name for Apple’s Address Book, as it was known in previous versions of OS X. To create a contact list, simply select one or more contact records in Contacts and drag them into a Numbers files and a list will appear. Read More from “Easily Create a Contact List”

How to Use iCloud Tabs

Posted on by Tim Hannon in iCloud or AppleID, Services, Software, Web Browsing

Have you ever found a website while browsing the web on your iPhone only to find that the text was so small you’d rather read it on your Mac? Or, have you ever started to read a web site on your MacBook Pro, but wanted to finish reading it on your iPad while in bed? Apple has provided a simple solution with the introduction of iCloud Tabs. Read More from “How to Use iCloud Tabs”

Use Safari to Search the iTunes Store

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Music, Services, Web

Do you find it difficult to search the iTunes Store? Do you find it difficult to locate the song, book, or app that you seek? Do you find it difficult to compare similar applications since you can only view one product at a time? If so, there is a better way to search the iTunes Store — use Safari or any other web browser. Read More from “Use Safari to Search the iTunes Store”

Create Custom Maps using Google’s Map Engine Lite

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Companies, Google, Services, Web

Have you ever wanted to create your own custom map online? For example, maybe you have a list of addresses and you’d like to see them all in one picture. Now you can. In March 2013 Google released their Maps Engine Lite tool that allows you to make maps of your own address list by importing an Excel file. (Note: You can also manually add items to your map using the Google Maps search function.) Read More from “Create Custom Maps using Google’s Map Engine Lite”

How To Monitor Your Comcast Data Usage

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Networks

Are you a residential customer using Comcast’s Xfinity High-Speed Internet service? If so, you can easily monitor your monthly data usage. Historically, Comcast has monitored and capped monthly data usage. As people increasingly stream videos using AppleTVs and iPads and backup the MacBook laptops to the cloud using online backup services, more users were approaching Comcast’s cap. Thus, it can be useful to periodically see how much data your household has been using.

Read More from “How To Monitor Your Comcast Data Usage”

What Are Conflicted Copies in Dropbox?

Posted on by Tim Hannon in File Sharing, Services

If you use Dropbox, the very popular file sharing service, you might have noticed that some of your files have the words Conflicted Copy appended to their file name. There are two circumstances which can cause conflicted copies. They most commonly occur when two people edit the same file at the same time. They can also occur when a file is left-open on a computer in an application which uses auto-save. Read More from “What Are Conflicted Copies in Dropbox?”

Fiber Optic Internet Service Coming to Seattle

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics, Networks

Update December 2016 – CenturyLink, WaveG and Frontier Communications have offered fiber-optic based Internet service for a while. Service is not available in all neighborhoods and towns. Use the links, above, to check availability in your neighborhood. I’m not aware of any smaller players who are offering such service.

Update: January 2014 – Seattle’s deal with Gigabit Squared has fallen apart amidst unpaid bills and assorted allegations. The Puget Sound Business Journal has this report on the situation.

Gigabit Squared, a new Internet Service Provider is coming to Seattle in 2014. They will be offering Internet service over fiber optic lines and speeds that are between 10-1000 times faster than currently offered by Comcast, CenturyLink, Frontier (formerly Verizon) and Megapath (formerly Covad). I find this an exciting development. While faster speeds are always good, I’m more excited about the prices, which are a great value. Gigabit Squared’s Internet service will be faster and less expensive than Comcast’s service. I think this will be helpful competition to introduce to the marketplace. Read More from “Fiber Optic Internet Service Coming to Seattle”

How to Sync iPhone Notes With Your Mac

Posted on by Tim Hannon in iCloud or AppleID, macOS (formerly OS X), Services, Software

Do you use your iPhone’s Notes application? Would you like to view those notes on your Mac? If your Mac is running OS X Mountain Lion, you can view them easily. In Mountain Lion Apple added a new Notes application. You can sync your iPhone notes to the Mac Notes application using your iCloud account. If your Mac is using an older version of Mac OS X you have two other choices. You can either email them to yourself or, if you use an IMAP email account and Apple’s Mail application, you can use that account to make the notes appear in Mail. Here are instructions for each of these options. Read More from “How to Sync iPhone Notes With Your Mac”

How To Retrieve An iPhone Custom Voicemail Greeting

Posted on by Tim Hannon in macOS (formerly OS X)

Here’s an overview of how to retrieve a custom iPhone voicemail greeting. A client recently changed her data plan with AT&T. Somehow, as a consequence of this change, her custom outgoing voicemail greeting was lost. Typically, this greeting is stored on AT&T’s system, so it can be played to a caller even if one’s iPhone is turned off or not connected to AT&T’s cellular network. I learned that a copy of this voicemail greeting is also stored on the iPhone. Read More from “How To Retrieve An iPhone Custom Voicemail Greeting”

How To Search By Filename Rather Than By Content

Posted on by Tim Hannon in macOS (formerly OS X), Software

When you type a word into a Spotlight search field on your Mac, your Mac will perform a search of the contents of your files by default. Personally, I tend to search for files by file name most often. Here’s an easy way to get your Mac to search by file name instead of file content. Simply add “name:” before your search term. For example, if you want to find a file on your Mac whose filename contains the word penguin type in name:penguin. Read More from “How To Search By Filename Rather Than By Content”

How To Install LogMeIn

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Remote Access, Security/Privacy

In last week’s Tech Tip, I provided an overview of a few ways a person can remotely access their own Mac, including LogMeIn. I tend to use LogMeIn to provide my clients with remote support. If you’d like to set up your Mac to allow me to remotely control it, please follow these instructions for downloading and installing LogMeIn on your Mac. Read More from “How To Install LogMeIn”