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Archive for the ‘Tips’ Category

How-To: Full Screen Browsing and Forced Tabs With Safari

Written on August 06, 2009 by Bryan Schuetz and 12 people have commented

With support for emerging web standards in HTML 5 and CSS3, topflight built in developer tools, fast performance, and the other 150 new features packed into its Snow Leopard release, Safari is now the only browser left on my dock.
After reading through David’s great tips for supercharging Safari, I was inspired to pimp out my [...]

Academic Appeal: Comparing Pages and Word 2008

Written on August 05, 2009 by Mark Crump and 30 people have commented

This time of year, it seems almost inevitable. There’s a forum post somewhere, a plea for help in the middle of the night, asking a time-honored question. No, it’s not “the answer to Life, the Universe, Everything!” It’s more profound than that: “I’m starting school this fall and I want to know what to get, [...]

OS X Tips: Taking Charge of the Color Picker

Written on August 04, 2009 by Chris Ryan and 8 people have commented

The infamous color picker is present among many of the built-in OS X applications and is quite a powerful tool once you dig into it. With the ability to store your favorite colors in “wells” and use them between applications, the color picker can quickly become an indispensable tool in your daily workflow. Here’s some [...]

Tip Jar: Getting More Out of Google Voice

Written on August 03, 2009 by Chris Ryan and 21 people have commented

With invites going out every day and Google and Apple being in the news many times over because of the rejection of its native Google Voice app for the iPhone, many are giving this service a close look. If you’re a Mac or iPhone user, here are some tips that’ll help you get the most [...]

iPhonetography: Yeah, There’s an App for That

Written on August 03, 2009 by Bryan Schuetz and 11 people have commented

Since the first camera phone, the Sharp J-SH04, was released back in 2000, new cell phones have continued to raise the bar by delivering an ever increasing number of pixels and functionality into the waiting hands of mobile photographers. With the arrival of the iPhone App Store and the new iPhone 3GS, the bar has [...]

Hot CPU? Three Ways to Keep Your Cool

Written on July 30, 2009 by Liam Cassidy and 23 people have commented

For a product as cool as the MacBook Pro, it sure does get hot. Too hot, sometimes. I’ve had many laptops in my time, and I’d never go back to plastic IBM compatibles as long as Apple keeps churning out these beautiful aluminum machines. But heat dissipation is a real problem for anyone who makes [...]

Workaround: iTunes Video and Dual Screens

Written on July 29, 2009 by Bryan Schuetz and 27 people have commented

Like a lot of folks out there, I run dual monitors on my Mac. In my home office where there’s no TV, it’s nice to occasionally dedicate one of the screens to playing movies while I continue working away on the other.
There’s an inherent problem in running iTunes in this kind of setup, though, that [...]

Using Drafts to Easily Get Text To and From Your iPhone

Written on July 28, 2009 by Mark Crump and 33 people have commented

As I mentioned in the My Netbook: The iPhone article, my iPhone is central to my life. But one area that’s been a challenge is getting text to and from it. As I mentioned in the article, most of what I write on the iPhone is blog posts where any formatting is done after the [...]

Six Tips for Supercharging Safari

Written on July 22, 2009 by David Appleyard and 43 people have commented

Although Safari improves with every version released, it remains difficult for one browser to cater for everyone’s needs. Firefox has successfully approached this problem through the use of Add-Ons, but Safari continues to lack any widely promoted form of plugin or extension functionality.
Despite this, I still remain a huge fan of Safari’s simplicity and speed [...]

Jailbreak: The Poor Man’s iPhone 3GS

Written on July 21, 2009 by Clayton Lai and 9 people have commented

Having iPhone 3GS envy? Well, if you already have iPhone OS 3.0 jailbroken, here’s how to make your last-year gadget feel just a tad more like the new iPhone 3GS.

Battery Percentage
Many users were disappointed to learn that Battery Percentage is exclusive to the iPhone 3GS, and not a general feature in iPhone OS 3.0.
There are [...]

Open and Save Word Documents With TextEdit

Written on July 17, 2009 by Charles Moore and 12 people have commented

Microsoft Word was one of my favorite and most-used applications back in the early days. I started Mac word processing first with Word 4 and upgraded to Word 5.1 in 1993. Amazingly, that old application still starts up and works fine in Classic Mode on my G4 PowerBook.
However, the disastrous Word 6 broke my Word [...]

Jailbreak: The Lock Screen is a Barren Land (Part Two)

Written on July 16, 2009 by Clayton Lai and 14 people have commented

In my previous Jailbreak: The Lock Screen Is A Barren Land, I wrote about IntelliScreen and Lock Calendar, two apps for enhancing the Lock Screen of your iPhone and iPod touch. Today, in part two, I’ll be exploring a handful of other tweaks you can make to the Lock screen.
HomeScreen and MultiBarLockscreen
HomeScreen 2.0 (aldwin, Free) [...]

10 Instant Messaging Apps for the iPhone

Written on July 15, 2009 by Mark Crump and 31 people have commented

When push notification finally made its way to the iPhone, a lot of people were anticipating IMs pushed to their iPhone. At first, I scoffed at this idea. I’d always figured IMs were based around the “instant” part of the phrase, and someone pushing an IM to me might be disappointed if I don’t get [...]

Five iPhone Apps for the International Business Maverick

Written on July 14, 2009 by Peter Venero and 5 people have commented

When it comes to business and travel, there are a few things one shouldn’t be without: passport and credit cards, travel confirmations and itineraries, essential toiletries, and, of course, an iPhone or iPod touch.
In an effort to make your business trips (and really, any kind of trip) more manageable and efficient, I’ve put together a [...]

Tips & Tricks: What’s Your Alias?

Written on July 13, 2009 by Chris Ryan and 10 people have commented

Aliases in Mac OS X are essentially equivalent to shortcuts in the Windows world. They work by creating a link to an original file located somewhere on your Mac or network and maintain the link even if the original is moved or renamed.
How to Create Aliases
Creating aliases is pretty easy. You can right-click on a [...]

Patience Is a Virtue: Wait to Buy Your Mac and Save

Written on July 10, 2009 by Dave Greenbaum and 11 people have commented

They say you can’t time the market, but for some lucky folks, there is special time to buy a new Mac and related accessories. By doing nothing other than waiting for this magic time, you could save an average of 5-9 percent on a new computer. It’s all about being at the right place at [...]

How-To: Sync an iPod Using Open-source Software

Written on July 09, 2009 by Lisa Hoover and 8 people have commented

It’s hard to deny how handy it is to plug an iPod into a Mac, fire up iTunes, and watch your device sync with your computer automagically. Take the Mac or iTunes out of the equation, though, and syncing gets a little trickier.
If you don’t like iTunes, or you use Linux as your primary operating [...]

The Ultimate MacBook Pro Protection Suite by Moshi

Written on July 07, 2009 by David Klein and 17 people have commented

I’m a huge fan of Moshi’s Apple-centric line of products and accessories. In fact, my entire collection of Apple products has now been complimented by Moshi. For example, I use the iLynx USB/Firewire hub and Celesta keyboard with my iMac; my iPhone is protected by the iGlaze 3G; and recently, my Macbook Pro experienced a [...]

Would You Be “Lost” Without Your Mac on Vacation?

Written on July 07, 2009 by Dave Greenbaum and 4 people have commented

As you head out the door, you have your tickets, you set the alarm. What did you forget? Unless you’re boarding Oceanic Flight 815, you probably have little to really worry about, but there are a few things that will ease your anxiety and ensure that your trip is as stress-free as possible.
Sometimes you just [...]

14 Free iTunes Visualizers

Written on July 02, 2009 by James Dempsey and 17 people have commented

Apple’s iTunes application is perhaps the most popular app ever installed on the Mac. It’s also one of the least flexible in terms of customization. There’s little you can do to “make it your own,” so to speak. However, all is not lost for habitual tweakers like myself; the iTunes Visualizer can satisfy your need to not leave well-enough alone. I’ve put together a list of 14 cool (and free) Visualizers to get your started with your collection.