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”
Mousepose, A Presenter’s Best Friend
Do you give a lot of computer-based presentations or training? Do you need you audience members to be able to easily view and track your mouse, see when you click the mouse and see the keyboard shortcuts that you press? If so, Mousepose, could be your best friend. Read More from “Mousepose, A Presenter’s Best Friend”
How To Display Keyboard Shortcuts During A Presentation
I regularly provide small group training and I want audience members to be able to know when I use keyboard shortcuts. This way they can see how I made something happen. For example, I might press the Command key and the P key to tell an application to print a document. Since the audience can see my screen but not my hands, it’s very useful to have an application display my keystrokes on screen. Read More from “How To Display Keyboard Shortcuts During A Presentation”
How To Put Your iPhone Or iPad To Sleep When The Timer Expires
Do you listen to either music or audio books on your iPhone or iPad as you fall asleep? If so, you could set the iPhone or iPad’s timer to stop playing music, then let the device go to sleep on its own a minute or two later. Here are the instructions: Read More from “How To Put Your iPhone Or iPad To Sleep When The Timer Expires”
Data Recovery Using Stellar Phoenix Macintosh
A few months ago a representative of Stellar Data Recovery contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in reviewing their product Stellar Phoenix Macintosh, a data recovery application. I was happy to oblige. At long last, here’s my assessment. Read More from “Data Recovery Using Stellar Phoenix Macintosh”
How To Enlarge Text Size In Safari, Firefox Or Chrome
Here are some simple instructions on how to enlarge the size of text on a web page when you’re using Safari, Firefox or Chrome on a Macintosh computer. I use this feature on a daily basis since web sites use a variety of font sizes. This is especially handy in low-light settings or if one typically needs glasses but they aren’t handy. Read More from “How To Enlarge Text Size In Safari, Firefox Or Chrome”
How To Change Safari’s Home Page
Would you like to change Safari’s Home Page? Apple typically sets Safari to open to this page on their own web site.
You can easily configure Safari to show you any web page you’d like. Here’s how: Read More from “How To Change Safari’s Home Page”
How Long Will My Mac Last?
Are you wondering how long your Mac will last or how frequently you’ll need to replace it? This is a very difficult question to answer, since many factors can affect the durability, longevity and compatibility of a computer. I’ll do my best to provide some concise and useful guidance. Read More from “How Long Will My Mac Last?”
How to View RSS Feeds in Apple Mail
RSS is a convenient way to stay abreast of news stories or articles added to a particular web site. Rather then needing to visit your favorite web site over and over, you can use RSS to be notified when a new story or article has been added as well as read some or all of that article. I like to read my RSS feeds in my email application, Mail. Read More from “How to View RSS Feeds in Apple Mail”
Should I Buy AppleCare With My New Mac?
I strongly recommend the AppleCare Protection Plan (APP) for all MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac and MacPro purchases under most circumstances. I know that extended warranties have a poor reputation in general, but I think AppleCare is a good value for most Mac models. For the rest of this article I’ll simply refer to the AppleCare Protection Plan as AppleCare. Read More from “Should I Buy AppleCare With My New Mac?”
How Can I Learn to Use iMovie Better?
Would you like to learn to use iMovie better? Here’s a list of some online information that can help you. iMovie has grown and evolved since it was introduced in 1999. In 2007, Apple gave iMovie’s interface and workflow a complete overhaul with the introduction of iMovie ’08 (aka version 7). This same general interface is still present in the current version, iMovie ’11. The interface overhaul throws experienced iMovie users for a loop and confuses many novice users. Consequently, I frequently provide iMovie training to help users get oriented. There are some very good online resources to help you get started learning iMovie as well. Read More from “How Can I Learn to Use iMovie Better?”
Will Adding Memory to My Mac Make it Faster?
Adding memory (RAM) is one of the most common upgrades made to a computer. Many people think that this will speed up a computer. Adding memory to a computer can slightly improve its performance if the computer didn’t previously have sufficient memory installed to accommodate the applications running simultaneously. Let me elaborate to add some clarifying detail. [Update 2015: Many Macintosh model now have their memory soldered in place so additional memory can’t be added in the future. Thus, it’s important to equip new Macs with enough memory when you purchase them.] Read More from “Will Adding Memory to My Mac Make it Faster?”
Tetrax’s XWay – A Great iPhone Holder for Your Car
Are you looking for an iPhone holder which will move with you between cars and work with various iPhone models? If so, you should take a look at Tetrax’s XWAY. Read More from “Tetrax’s XWay – A Great iPhone Holder for Your Car”