Would you like to free up some desk space by retiring either your stand-alone fax machine or multi-fuction printer which has faxing capabilities? Or, if you’re paying for a dedicated fax line, would you like to reduce you phone bill by dropping that line? If so, here are a few alternatives you could consider. Read More from “Replacements For Fax Machines”
What Is “Streaming” And What Does It Mean?
Clients are often unsure how to properly use the term streaming or unsure about what this term means. In a slight misuse of terms, you could substitute broadcast for stream. For example, you might hear a person say, “Last night, I streamed Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino on Netflix”. You could think in your head, “Last night, I broadcast Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino on Netflix”. It isn’t 100% accurate to think this, but it could help you while you work on getting your head around the term streaming. Read More from “What Is “Streaming” And What Does It Mean?”
Short iPhone Cable, iPhone Dock And Dock Extenders
Here are some products which can make it easier to sync your iPhone or connect it to other accessories. Read More from “Short iPhone Cable, iPhone Dock And Dock Extenders”
Options For Converting Old Video Tapes, Films And 35 mm Slides
GT Recording, HomeDVD and iMemories are three companies that clients have used to convert VHS tapes to DVD. All companies also convert audio tapes and film and will scan 35mm slides. Read More from “Options For Converting Old Video Tapes, Films And 35 mm Slides”
How To Forward Delete On A Mac Laptop
Do you have a MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? Have you noticed that its keyboard doesn’t have a “Forward Delete” (aka delete to the right) key like the one that exists on an iMac’s keyboard? This tip tells you how to perform a forward delete. Simply hold down the Function key, which is labeled “fn” while pressing the delete key. The fn key is located in the lower left corner of the keyboard. Read More from “How To Forward Delete On A Mac Laptop”
What Is The Default Password For My Router?
Here’s an easy way to determine the default password for many routers. You might need to know your router’s default password if you forget or don’t have a record of your router’s current password or if you end up resetting the router to its factory defaults.
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Staples offers UPS and Paper Shredder Recycling
Do you have an old UPS (uninterrupted power supply) that you need to recycle? How about a paper shredder? You can recycle both of these items, as well as other items, at your Staples office supply store. Read More from “Staples offers UPS and Paper Shredder Recycling”
Intuit Plans To Make Quicken 2007 Compatible With Lion
Intuit recently announced that it plans to release an update to Quicken 2007 that will make it compatible with Mac OS X 10.7, aka Lion. This news is a big relief to a number of my clients who have intentionally held off on updating to Lion. Those clients use Quicken 2007 and migrating to another application is not a simple task. Banktivity (formerly iBank) and Quicken Essentials are two applications that users could consider as a replacement, but an update to Quicken 2007 simplifies the entire situation.
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How to Recycle Floppy Disks, Zip Disks, Videotapes and More
Do you have a pile of old zip disks, floppy disks or videotapes that you want to get rid of? If your pile isn’t too large then you could hand it to me at our next appointment and I’ll send it on to GreenDisk. If your pile is larger or you aren’t one of my clients, you can mail it to GreenDisk. GreenDisk is located in Sammamish, Washington, but they don’t have any drop-off centers. For $9.95 you can ship up to 25 pounds to Greendisk. Read More from “How to Recycle Floppy Disks, Zip Disks, Videotapes and More”
Options To Sell Used iPhones And Other Electronic Gadgets
In previous tech tips, I’ve talked about ways to donate your computer and peripherals to groups that will reuse or recycle them. In some instances your used electronics may still have some value. Here’s an overview of options you have to resell your used electronics to a company, which, in turn, will refurbish and resell or recycle them.
[Update, June 2017: A client recently mentioned a new player named IGotOffer. She plans to give them a try since their offered prices are noticeably higher than Gazelle’s offer for her two older MacBook Pros.]
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How To Enlarge iPhone Text
There are a few ways to enlarge the text displayed on the iPhone. Each method is useful in different situations. You may already be aware of some of these options, but I’ll bet you don’t know all of them.
[Update – March 2018 – I wrote an an article in 2017 about how to make your iPhone easier to read which talks about how to use the Zoom and Larger Text features on current versions of iOS.]
Ten Add-Ons For Apple’s Mail Application
Do you use Apple’s Mail application on your Mac? It’s a capable email application. One of its best features the ability to extended its functionality using plug-ins. These plug-ins let you customize Mail so it can better meet your preferences and needs. Here’s a list of 10 plug-ins for Mail that’ll let you increase your productivity. Read More from “Ten Add-Ons For Apple’s Mail Application”
Creating A Holiday Newsletter Using Pages
Do you send out annual updates about your family around the holiday season? If so, MacWorld has written a good article about how to create a newsletter using Pages. Pages is Apple’s word processor which competes with Microsoft Word. It comes bundled with some Macs, so you may already have a copy. If not, you can buy it as part of iWork. Or, if you have Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher on your Mac, you can use the App Store to buy it stand-alone for about $20. I used the MacWorld article as a guide to design our holiday newsletter this year. Here’s a brief overview. Read More from “Creating A Holiday Newsletter Using Pages”
How to Connect Headphones to a TV With Only Digital Audio Connectors
In 2011, a client presented me with a new problem. I devised a solution and wanted to share what I learned. My client bought a new Panasonic 55 inch flat panel TV, model Viera TVP55VT30. After he’d set up the TV in his home, he looked for a headphone jack and was surprised that he couldn’t find one. This particular model of TV only had a digital audio output connector! Read More from “How to Connect Headphones to a TV With Only Digital Audio Connectors”
How to Use Safari’s Top Sites feature
Safari version 5 introduced a new feature named Top Sites which automatically displays your most frequently visited web sites. Top Sites displays thumbnail depictions of each web site in a grid of several rows and columns. This tech tip tells you how you can customize Top Sites. Read More from “How to Use Safari’s Top Sites feature”
How To Easily Share Large Files Using Dropbox
Do you ever have a problem sending files to a colleague or friend because they are too big to be sent as email attachments? If so, you could use Dropbox’s Public Link feature. In a previous Tech Tip I spoke about the convenience of Dropbox’s files sharing services. Most of these services require each person on your team to have their own Dropbox account. Conveniently, Dropbox’s Public Link feature does not require that everybody have a Dropbox account. Thus, it’s a great way to share large files with friends or family. Here are some step-by-step instructions. Read More from “How To Easily Share Large Files Using Dropbox”
SpeakWrite.com Is An Affordable Online Transcription Service
Do you ever have the need for a transcription service? SpeakWrite is an affordable online transcription service which uses live typists to transcribe your work and send you the finished work within 3 hours. Read More from “SpeakWrite.com Is An Affordable Online Transcription Service”
How To Force Quit A Mac Application
Sometimes an application stops behaving properly and doesn’t respond to menu commands or keyboard commands. When this happens, you’ll often want to use the Force Quit command to force the application to quit. There are several ways to issue the Force Quit command. Read More from “How To Force Quit A Mac Application”
How To Troubleshoot Firefox And Safari For Mac
Firefox and Safari for Mac are the two most popular web browsers for Mac users. At times, both of them can act up and not perform properly. When this happens, here are a couple of basic troubleshooting steps you can take. Read More from “How To Troubleshoot Firefox And Safari For Mac”
Easy Window Management Using Cinch
Do you ever want to do any of the following tasks?
- View two Word documents side-by-side so you can compare them or more content between them.
- View two Finder windows side-by-side so you can move files from one folder to another
- Make a window fill your entire screen Read More from “Easy Window Management Using Cinch”