After owning an iPhone for several years, I was pleasantly surprised when I recently learned a new iPhone shortcut that I now use everyday. You can jump to the top of your Contacts list by simply touching the “top bar” which is where the time and battery level indicator are. See the picture on the right to understand this more easily. Simply touch where I put the red mark in the photo. Read More from “Quickly Jump to the Top of your iPhone Contact List”
How to Recycle Batteries in Seattle
Our computers, peripherals and gadgets use a range of batteries including alkaline batteries, rechargeable batteries, button batteries and UPS batteries. In previous Tech Tips I mentioned that UPS batteries can be recycled at Staples and Interconnection will take laptop batteries. Read More from “How to Recycle Batteries in Seattle”
What is TV Overscan and How Can I Turn It Off?
If you connect your Mac to your TV, you might need to deal with TV Overscan. Explaining what it is and why TVs do it is complicated, but recognizing it is easy. If your TV screen cuts off the outer edges of your Mac’s image then you’re suffering from TV overscan. For example, you might not be able to see all of the menus at the top of your Mac’s screen or the lower half of the Dock icons might be cut off. If this is the case then you should figure out how to turn off the overscan feature on your TV. Read More from “What is TV Overscan and How Can I Turn It Off?”
How Secure Is Your Password?
The purpose of this article is to help you assess the strength and security of your password and to encourage you to start using more secure passwords. As a consequence of the fact that we all need to keep track of many passwords, many people use just one or two passwords over and over again. If this is true for you then please make sure that those few passwords are very difficult to guess. Read More from “How Secure Is Your Password?”
How To Connect Your Mac To Your TV
Would you like to stream a movie from Netflix to your computer and watch it on your TV? Would you like to show iPhoto pictures on your TV? If so, you’ll want to read about how to connect your Mac to your flat panel TV to send both audio and video to it.
[Nov 2014 Update: This article talks about how to connect your Mac to your TV using cables. A few years ago, Apple added a feature named AirPlay which lets you wirelessly send (stream) audio, video or pictures from a Mac, iPhone or iPad to an AppleTV and ultimately to your TV, via the AppleTV (which is connected to your TV set using an HDMI cable.) Look for a forthcoming article about Airplay. Use this Apple article to see if your Mac supports Airplay.]
Donate Your Old Computer to Interconnection
In previous Tech Tips, I’ve recommended that you donate your old computer and computer peripherals to Interconnection. I like this group so much that I’d like to tell you more about them. Read More from “Donate Your Old Computer to Interconnection”
How to Identify Which Macintosh Model You Own
There are a number of instances when it could be really useful to know exactly which model of Macintosh computer you own. Here are instructions to identify which model you have. Read More from “How to Identify Which Macintosh Model You Own”
Use Delivery Status to Track Shipping Orders on Your Mac
Do you receive a lot of packages in the mail and want to have one place where you can easily monitor their status? Then you need Delivery Status by JuneCloud. Read More from “Use Delivery Status to Track Shipping Orders on Your Mac”
Replacements For Fax Machines
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.]
[Update, August 2025: I recently learned of another company, Swappa, that offers to buy used Apple products. ]
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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”