The Hey Sage Podcast

Episode 23: Data Detectors in OS X Leopard

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:00:38 -0800

In this episode I show you how to:

Utilize Data Detectors in Apple Mail (for Address Book Entries)
Activate Data Detectors in iChat via the Command Line
Run shell scripts via Quicksilver

Here we go!

To utilize data detectors all you need to do is run your mouse cursor over any phone number, address, email, date, or time and a dotted rectangular outline will appear with a drop down arrow. Simply click on the drop down arrow and you will be presented with options such as:

Create New Contact
Add to Existing Contact
Create New iCal Event
etc. etc.

To enable this functionality in iChat you must run the following shell script:

defaults write com.apple.iChat EnableDataDetectors 1

You can do this several ways:

In Terminal : Open Terminal (Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and type the command followed by ⌅ (Enter)
Launch Quicksilver (⌃spacebar) enter text entry mode (.) and then type in the command. Once completed hit ⇥(tab) and then type R-U-N. Select Run this command in shell and hit enter. Presto chango you are ready to go!

Episode 22: How to place DVD content on your iPod or iPhone

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 20:49:10 -0700

In this episode I show you how to place your DVD content onto your iPod or iPhone. The steps are relatively straight forward and easy to follow. There are two steps:

Rip your DVD via Handbrake
Transfer it to you iPod/iPhone

I believe the podcast speaks for itself so I won’t elaborate much more. Enjoy!!

Episode 21: Impromptu Slideshows (Slideshows on the fly in Mail.app and Preview)

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:52:02 -0700

Title: Episode 21- Impromptu Slideshows (Slideshows in Mail and Preview)

In this episode I show you how to create slideshows on the fly within Apple Mail and Preview. As I typically do, I have incorporated some Quicksilver and keyboard shortcuts into the episode.

The concept is really quite simple. All you need to do is go to iTunes and play some music and then use the slideshow engine built into Mail and Preview. In the podcast I utilize Quicksilver and keyboard shortcuts with the hope of demonstrating additional ways to incorporate each into your workflow.

Send any comments to info@heysage.com

Episode 20: Quicksilver 101 (An Introduction to Quicksilver)

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:29:42 -0700

I recently had a request to do a show on the basics of Quicksilver so, here it is. In this episode I show you a few of the innumerable uses of Quicksilver. Quicksilver is an unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data. The possibilities are endless. These are just a few of the ways that I use Quicksilver on a daily basis.

In this episode I show you how to use Quicksilver.app for the following:

Application Launcher
Bookmark Access
Moving/Copying Files
iTunes Control
Address Book Access
Add iCal Events/To Dos to iCal

Follow along closely because things go quickly!

[tags]Quicksilver 101, How to use Quicksilver, OS X Tutorials[/tags]

Episode 19: Smart Playlists in iTunes

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 15:43:46 -0700

In this episode I show you how to create and utilize smart playlists. You may be asking yourself, what exactly is a “smart” playlist? A smart playlist is a playlist that is constructed based on parameters that you set via drop down menus in iTunes’ smart playlist dialogue box. Here we go.

Launch iTunes
Press ⌘ ⌥ N (or go to file new smart playlist)
Configure the Parameters as would like
Click OK
Name the playlist by typing the name of your liking

You are set. You can always edit your list by right clicking (⌃ clicking) the playlist name in the left hand column.

It is certainly worth mentioning that most  applications have a smart folder feature. Thus, you can create smart albums in iPhoto, smart folders in finder etc. etc.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge that I know that the notes for this episode are short. I also did not do any audio enhancement in post as I usually do. The summer has been quite busy for me. Not only have I gotten married and gone on an amazing honeymoon, but I am in the middle of purchasing an orthodontic practice. Expect the standard notes and production quality to return in the near future.

Episode 18: The OS X Application Switcher

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:38:41 -0700

In this episode I review the features of OS X’s application switcher. I recently had an email question regarding the application switcher. I responded to the question via email but I thought that I would do a whole show on the application switcher. So, here we go!

The first question, what is the application switcher? The application switcher is a very simple way to navigate between open applications. To launch the application switcher simply hold the ⌘ key and press ⇥ (the tab key). Once you have done this, the application switcher will launch in the middle of the screen with the last application that you used highlighted (as opposed to the current application). Continue to hold the tab key to keep the application switcher visible. Once you let go of the command key the application that is highlighted will be selected.

Once the application switcher is visible you may select an open application several different ways.

While holding the ⌘ key, you can cycle forward through the open applications by repeatedly pressing, or holding down, the ⇥ key (tab).
You may cycle through applications in the opposite direction by adding ⇧ (shift) to the previous equation. So, holding down ⇧ ⌘ tab will cycle through open applications in the opposite direction.
Once the application switcher is open you may use your mouse to select any application. Press ⌘ ⇥ and then click on any application.

Another wonderful use of the application switcher is to hide and quite applications. For example, you may have a slew of applications open and you may want to quite out of several of them. To do so quickly and efficiently, launch the application switcher and select the application that you would like to quit (either tab until it is highlighted or place the mouse cursor over the application without clicking). Once the application is selected use the keyboard shortcut ⌘ Q to close down the application of your choice. Holding the ⌘ key and pressing ⇥ and then Q multiple times will quite all of your applications. You may use the same technique with the keyboard shortcut ⌘ H to hide any application that you choose.

A variant of this trick is ⌘ ~ (tild) to cycle through windows in an application. As with most things in OS X, you can cycle backwards through windows within an application by adding ⇧ to the equation.

It is worth noting that in most instances where the ⇥ will move through fields, whether it be in Safari, AddressBook, or any other application, holding down the ⇧ key will allow you to move through fields in the opposite direction.

My last tip about the application switcher is geared towards the mouse lovers out there. If you have an apple mighty mouse you can program any button to launch the application switcher. I personally prefer the trackpad button but the side buttons work fairly well too. With mouse in hand this is extremely convenient. Once you press the trackpad button you can scroll through the applications with the scroll wheel. rthdfg

As always, send your feedback to info@heysage.com

[tags]Application Switcher, ⌘ ⇥[/tags]

Episode 17: How to Create Custom Ringtones on the iPhone

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:09:03 -0700

In this episode I show you how to create custom ringtones using GarageBand or Soundtrack Pro and them install them on your iPhone using iFuntastic. There is also a small section dedicated to text selection keyboard shortcuts. Here we go!

Warning: Use this tutorial at your own risk. Changing system settings on your iPhone may cause problems with your iPhone. A restore should let you recover but there are no guarantees (I have used iFuntastic numerous times without any problem but that does not mean that you will not have any problems)

The first step is to create yourself a custom ringtone. This may be done by editing one of your favorite songs, creating your own song, or using system/application sounds (my preference).

In the podcast I used two sounds from Adium (a great IM client) and stitched them together. I show you how to do so using GarageBand or SoundTrack Pro (I prefer soundtrack pro if you have it).

Once you have created the ringtone and have converted into the AAC format you are ready to pursue iFuntastic. Download iFuntastic from either iPhoneAlley or Rapidshare. The links to either download site is here.

The steps are clearly outlined within the application but they are as follows:

Sync your iPhone
Launch iFuntastic. Select the prepare tab and then click on the Jail button.
Hold down the home key and power button until you see the caution sign.
Allow the iPhone to think for awhile (this is the part where I digress into the text selection keyboard shortcut tutorial).
Click the continue button to relaunch iTunes if necessary (it has always been necessary for me).
Then click on the Ringtones tab to add ringtones.
Simply drag and drop the m4v files to the right panel. Click the plus button so that it is highlighted and then click the update iPhone button at the bottom of the window.
At this point feel free to change the carrier logo or the home screen in the respective pane of the application.
Once you are finished you need to go to the finish tab and click on the jail button. From there power off the iPhone and then reboot it.
Click done and you are the proud owner of a customized iPhone.

In this episode I also briefly review some text selection keyboard shortcuts. They all involve different variations of ⌘ ⇧ and arrow keys. I will probably do a podcast on keyboard shortcuts in the near future.

I am trying to get this episode out quickly as I have just returned from my honeymoon and I have not put out an episode for awhile. I apologize in advance for any shortcomings (especially in production quality). If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me at info@hesage.com.

Episode 16: Gmail in Apple Mail (How to Configure Apple Mail for Gmail)

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 22:19:25 -0700

In this episode I am going to show you how to configure your gmail account to work in Apple Mail. This is an extremely convenient way to handle your mail. If you have multiple email accounts Apple Mail allows you to receive all of your email in one centralized inbox. In addition, if you configure Mail to send and receive email from your Gmail account, you can easily Sync the account to your iPhone via iTunes. This is quite convenient since typing on the iPhone, although surprisingly fast, can be painful and laborious. Here we Go!

You can watch this episode here.

The first step is to create a gmail account. You can do so by visiting Mail.Google.com. From this page simply click on the Sign Up for Gmail Link. After setting up your account you must configure your account for the POP protocol. To do so, click on the settings link in the top right hand corner of the page and then choose the Forwarding and POP tab. From here be sure to enable POP (Enable POP for all email or Enable POP only for messages that arrives from now on) and choose what you would like Gmail to do when messages are accessed with POP. Once these two steps are completed click Save Changes.

Now launch Apple Mail (aka mail.app) and select File —> Preferences (⌘,). Under the accounts pane press the + button at the buttom left hand corner to add a new account. This will bring up the Account Configuration Pane. Choose POP from the account type and fill in the Account Description and Full Name fields. In the Email Address field add your complete Gmail address (e.g. yourname@gmail.com) and click Continue.

In the Incoming Mail Server dialog box enter pop.gmail.com in the incoming email server field. Then enter your Gmail address (e.g. yourname@gmail.com) in the User Name field and your password in the Password field. Click Continue.

In the Outgoing Mail Server pane enter smtp.gmail.com into the Outgoing Mail Server field. Check the Use Authentication box and type your User Name (yourname@gmail.com) and Password in their respective fields. Click Continue (this usually takes a little while- be patient). Click Continue and then Click Done (unless you would like to configure another account). You are finished!

Please send any questions or comments. If you have any requests please let me know.

Episode 15: How To Create Custom Icons in OS X

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:09:47 -0700

In this episode I will show you how to create custom icons for files, folders, applications or whatever you would like within OS X (difficulty = hard).

You may watch the this episode here or download it via iTunes

In the screencast I use a number of applications. Although I use two applications that are not free (illustrator and photoshop) this process can be done by using all freeware applications. You may use any image creation and/or manipulation application but you will need:

Icon Composer (a component of the apple developer tools which comes with you installation disc) and
Icns2Rsrc

Here we Go!

Photoshop Steps

Open a new document with the dimensions of 128X128. Create your image within that document. You must make sure that you are in an 8 bit RGB color space so that you can save your image as a CompuServe Gif.
Hit ⌘⇧S (File —> Save As) and select compuserve GIF from the drop down dialog box for format. Choose an appropriate name for you file and then click Save.
Click OK in the indexed Color dialog box and make sure that the Transparency box is checked (Transparency is not necessary but it sure does look a lot better!).
From the GIF Options dialog box, select normal.

Icon Composer (Macintosh HD/Developer/Applications/Utilities/Icon Composer)

Open Icon Composer
Drag and drop the GIF file that you just created into each of the boxes in the image composer.
For the lower resolution icon versions you will get an alert asking if you would like to use a scaled down version. Select the Use Scaled Version button.
This warning will be followed by another warning asking if you would like to extract the mask. If you want your transparency preserved choose extract Mask.

It is worth noting that you could create different versions of your image for each of the Icon sizes and drag those into the Icon Composer. This works fine, the only downside is that it is more time consuming.
Choose File—>Save and choose an appropriate name and click Save.

Icns2Rsrc

Hit ⌘O or File Open
Navigate to the icns file that you just created via Icon Composer and click Open
In the Enregistrer Sous: dialog box Choose a name and a location to save your file to.

Finder

Choose the application, file, folder or whatever you would like to change the icon of and get Info. You can do this by clicking on the icon to highlight it and then hitting ⌘I. Select the .rsrc file that you just created and get info on that.
In the Get info dialog box for the rsrc file, select the icon in the top left corner. It will have a blue highlight once selected. Key ⌘C to copy the icon.
Go to the info pane for the file or folder that you would like to change the icon for and select the icon in the top left corner and hit ⌘V (paste).

That’s it. You are done!

Episode 14: Safari 3.0 Tips and Tricks

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:49:46 -0700

In this episode I show you some of the new features of the Safari 3.0 Beta as well as some of my favorite old features. This seems particularly relevant with the announcement of the Safari 3.0 Beta for Windows and OS X.4 at the World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

In no particular here are some of my favorite features of Safari (2.0 and 3.0).

Like most modern web browsers, Safari offers Tabbed Browsing: You may create a new tab by hitting ⌘T (⌃T Windows) in Safari. You are then free to enter any URL or even use keyboard shortcuts to access bookmarks located in your bookmarks bar. For example ⌘1 will load the first bookmark in the book marks bar (as of now this does not work in windows).

Other ways to create new tabs include: ⌘clicking (⌃clicking windows) on a link to open a new tab with the link you clicked, ⌘⇧clicking (⌃⇧clicking windows) a link to create and select a tab of the selected URL, and dragging links to the Tabs bar.
Using the tab key to select text fields: You can use the ⇥ key to select text fields and drop down menus in any web page. You can take this a step further by using ⌥ and ⇥ to select links any given web page (OS X only). Like the rest of OS X, ⇧⇥ will select text fields in the reverse direction and ⇧⌥⇥ (OS X only) will select links in the reverse order.
Using the space bar to select items from drop down menus (OS X only): As you tab through a site you may open drop down dialogue boxes by hitting the space bar. You may select any given element by typing in the first few letters of the item and you can select it by hitting the ⌅ (enter) key. From here you can ⇥ on to your next form element.
HTML mail via Safari and Mail.app (sorry windows users): You can send HTML easily via Safari and Mail. All you need to do is navigate to the desired HTML page in Safari and hit ⌘I. Mail will launch and the contents of the HTML doc will be loaded as your mail message. The page title will even populate the Subject header. This is very valuable and makes sending HTML messages a breeze. You can even launch HTML documents from your hard drive and mail the contents without posting the page to a web server.

New Features in Safari 3.0

The ability to rearrange tabs: It is nice to be able to finally do this. All you need to do is click on the tab and drag it to your desired location in the tabs bar.
The ability to ⌘click and ⌘⇧click bookmarks that reside in folders in the bookmarks bar to open the link in a new tab: This feature has been in firefox for some time now and it is a much needed addition to the 3.0 beta (once again, sorry windows users, this feature does not appear to work within the windows version).
Moving tabs to new windows and vice versa: To make a new window from any tab all you need to do is click the tab and drag it down. A thumbnail of the page will appear. On both windows and OS X you can hold the shift key while letting go of the left mouse button to slow down the animation process. This is a great introduction for windows users to the eye candy that has been known to mac users for some time.
Resizable Text Input Fields: As of version 3.0 you can resize text input boxes within Safari. This can be quite helpful if you are planning on composing a length comment. To resize a text box just click the bottom right hand corner and drag it to you hearts content.
⌃click (right click) the page header to navigate directories on the web site’s server: This can be very helpful if you get lost in a complex web site. Simply right click (⌃click) the page title at the top of the browser to view the directories of the site you are visiting.
Web Inspector: As of version 3.0 you can right click (⌃click) a link and select inspect element to bring up the web inspector. This tool allows you to view the node, style, metrcs and properties of the selected element. This is a wonderful tool for anybody that dabbles in web development or design. For this feature to appear you must have the Debug menu activated. You can activate the debug menu by typing the following command into the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1

Hopefully you gain something from this Safari overview. I have tried every browser out there and continually return to Safari. If you have not given it a try I encourage you to do so!

Episode 13: Custom Alarms in OS X

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:23:30 -0700

In this episode I show you how to create custom alarms in OS X. In this example I extract an .m4a audio file from an adium sound package, convert it to an .aif, and then place the file in the proper directory. To wrap it up I make an iCal event with the sound as an alarm.

One of the my favorite things about OS X is the ability to customize things. With that in mind, I really enjoy using custom alarms. I have many alarms that I have accumulated over the years and I really enjoy them. I find them much more satisfying than the standard 10 or so alarms that ship with OS X (basso, submarine, etc.). Keep in mind that these alarms can be used in any application that uses alarms or system wide.

So before we get started lets discuss what exactly a custom alarm is. Well, all it is, is a .aif audio file. That means that you can create a custom alarm be converting any audio file into an .aif and placing it into the proper directory (~/library/sounds). Here are the steps.

Find a sound file and convert it to an .aif. In this example I use Quicktime Pro but it could easily be done using iTunes. To convert the non .aif file into a .aif using Quicktime simply open the file with Quicktime and chose file—>Export (⌘E), select Sound to AIF from the drop down menu in the export dialog box and then click Save (⌅).

In iTunes (the default application for .m4a files) you need to go into preferences (iTunes —> Preferences or ⌘,) and select the advanced tab. Then select the importing tab and select AIFF encoder from the Import Using drop down menu and click OK. Then select the song or sound of choice and click advanced from the iTunes menu and then select convert to AIFF.
Now you need to take the audio file and place it into the sounds directory (~/library/sounds) in the library folder. To do so, in the Finder, go to your home folder (⌘⇧H) and double click the library folder. Then open the sounds folder (if it does not exist create the Sounds folder within the library directory) and place the new file into that folder.
All that is left to do is close any application that you would like to use the alarm in and reopen it. From this point on the alarm will be available in any application.

It is worth noting that there are a lot of really cool sounds within the package contents of various applications. To find them,

Right click (⌃click) the application or folder or whatever and choose show package contents.
Open the resources folder.
Look for sounds. There is usually a sound folder within the resources folder The sounds may be buried within another application which requires you to show the package contents. Just look around you will find them. By doing this you can use any sound from and application be it Skype, Adium, or any app of your choosing.

If you have any questions, comments, or a request please feel free to contact me at info@heysage.com.

Episode 12: Drag and Drop

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Thu, 31 May 2007 20:18:47 -0700

In this episode The Sage demonstrates several different uses of Drag and Drop in OS X.

There are many ways in which drag and drop can be used in OS X. In this episode The Sage demonstrates a few of the less conspicuous implementations of drag and drop. They are:

Drag and Drop while holding ⌥ to copy files or folders
Drag a file over a folder and hold the mouse cursor over the folder for several seconds to reveal the subdirectories of that folder. Using drag and drop with spring loaded folders can enable you to drag and drop files into folders buried deep within a directory.
Dragging files over the dock to open the file with that application.
Dragging links to the menu bar to open the link in a new tab.

It is probably worth mentioning that there is usually a quicker way to accomplish the tasks listed above without even using a mouse. Moving and copying files can be quickly achieved via quicksilver. Attaching files to email can be also achieved via quicksilver. Using the quicksilver method the address field will already be populated. Finally, ⌘clicking links will open the link in a new tab. This is much quicker than dragging links around.

In-spite of the quicker keyboard options, many people (my wife to be included) are not geeky enough to pursue the keyboard alternatives. Mouse actions are much more intuitive for everyone. So, feel free to give drag and drop a try. If you are not using it, you will find that it can enhance your workflow.

Episode 11: PDFs from anywhere

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Thu, 24 May 2007 11:53:09 -0700

In this episode The Sage show you how to create PDF documents from any text or photos from anywhere within OS X.

OS X has the ability to create PDF documents from almost any application (any application from which you can print). To create a PDF from a webpage, email message, Word document, etc. all you need to do is save the content as a PDF. To convert the content of an application to a PDF:

Go to File/Print (⌘P) and click on the PDF button at the bottom of the dialog box.
Enter a name for the PDF to be created and choose the directory to which you would like to save the document.
Then all you need to do is click Save (hit ⌅) and you have your PDF.

This is very simple yet invaluable. It is great for storing online receipts. At the end of each month The Sage will combine the PDF receipts from the month using monkey bread software’s freeware combine PDFs. This is a great way to keep your receipts organized.

Episode 10: An iTunes Alarm Clock (Automator 101)

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:51:20 -0700

In this episode The Sage show you how to create an alarm clock that plays songs from a playlist in iTunes. This tutorial will require the use of Automator, iTunes, and iCal.

You can watch this episode here.

The first step is to launch iTunes (Applications/iTunes) and create a new playlist. The steps to create a playlist are:

Click on the plus icon at the bottom left hand corner of iTunes.
Type the name of the playlist you would like to create and press ⌅
Drag song/songs from your music library to your newly created playlist

The second step is to launch Automator (Applicatioons/Automator) and create the workflow. The steps are as follows.

Select the System library and double click the Set Computer Volume action to add it to your workflow. You will want to drag the volume slider in the workflow pane so as to ensure that you can hear your alarm if the system volume was previously muted.
Select the iTunes library and double click the Set iTunes Volume action. Again, drag the volume slider to your desired volume.
Double click the Get Specified iTunes Item action. A dialog box will prompt you to select the songs or playlists that you desire. Select the playlist you would like to wake up to and click Add.
Double click the Start iTunes Playing action.
Double click the Start iTunes Visuals. You can configure the iTunes visual action within the workflow to display full screen, small, etc.
Test your work flow by pressing ⌘R

Once you have verified your workflow, you will need to save the workflow as a Plug-in for iCal

Press ⌘⌥S or go to File/Save As Plug-in
Type in the name for the Plug-in and select iCal Alarm from the Plug-in for: drop down dialog box.
Click Save

Once you click Save iCal will launch and an event will be placed in iCal at the current time. You can change the date and time of this event or you can create new events. To create a new iCal event with the iTunes alarm:

Double click on the date you would like to set the alarm.
Type in the name of the event
In the information pane click on the alarm text and select Open File.
Select the file you would like to open (e.g. Alarm) and you are all set.

This is a very simple example of how automator can be used to automate tasks. The Sage has an alarm that he uses which not only plays his desired tunes but also uses the voice utility to create a reading of his RSS feeds, convert that to an audio file, and load it onto his iPod.

Episode 9: Application Installation

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:12:13 -0700

In this episode The Sage shows you how to install applications in OS X (difficulty level: easy breezy)

The application installation process is a little less than intuitive for newcomers to OS X. But, once you know how it works, you will love the simplicity and speed of the process. So, let’s get started.

Beg, borrow, or ~~steal~~ your application of choice.
Double Click the .dmg file (e.g. Joost.dmg) wherever it may reside (Desktop, CD, etc.)
This will mount a disk image that may nor may open in finder. If it doesn’t, double click the disk image

You are almost done. Now you need to copy the application (e.g. Joost.app) to a folder. The folder you want to copy to is called, believe it or not, Applications. The easiest way to do this is to simply drag and drop it into the Applications folder. To do so open a new finder window (⌘N) and go to applications (⌘⇧A). Then drag the application into that folder.
- Advanced users may choose to perform this entire feat via quicksilver or the command line
That’s it

Summary:
Double Click .dmg file —> Drag the application to the Applications folder.

Once you have done this you may delete the .dmg file and eject (⌘E) the disk image on the desktop.

It is probably worth noting that you will be prompted to authenticate the installation when you release the application into the Applications folder if you are running as a user without administrative privileges (if you are not… you should be). The prompt will ask you for the username and password of an account with administrative privileges. Simply type that into the dialogue box.

Episode 8: Creating Keyboard Shortcuts for Menu Items

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:17:36 -0700

In this episode The Sage shows you how to create a keyboard shortcut for any menu item in any application (difficulty level: easy).

You can watch this episode here.

There is a very useful feature within OS X that allows users to setup keyboard shortcuts for any menu item, both system wide and within specific applications. This episode uses Microsoft Word as an example, although the following steps could be applied to any application or globally. Let’s get started.

In almost every application within OS X the keyboard shortcut ⌘⇧S will open a Save As… dialog box. As much as The Sage loathes word, he finds that he is forced to use it, especially for its document tracking capability. Of course, Word is one of the only applications that does not have a keyboard shortcut for Save As…. So this is how to create one.

Open System Preferences (Apple/System Preferences…)
Click on Keyboard & Mouse
Select the Keyboard Shortcuts Tab
Click the + button to create a new shortcut
In the Keyboard Shortcut dialog box select the application from the drop down menu. If the application is in a subfolder (i.e. applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Microsoft Word.app) you will have to navigate to the application through other.
Type in the Menu Title exactly as it appears in the application menu. For this example you must type

S-a-v-e-space-A-s-⌥; (Save As…)
Highlight the Keyboard Shortcut box and press your desired keyboard shortcut. For consistency The Sage recommends ⌘⇧S
Click Add
Presto Chango! You are done. All you need to do is relaunch Word (or whatever application you are creating the shortcut in).

Send comments here.

Episode 6: Google Search from Quicksilver

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:56:10 -0700

In this episode The Sage shows you how to search Google from Quicksilver (difficulty level: intermediate).

You can watch this episode here

Many power users find Quicksilver at the center of their OS X universe. Quicksilver is a freeware application and is described (by the elusive developer) as a unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data. It has been stated that Quicksilver is the greatest productivity application ever. If you are not familiar with Quicksilver, LifeHacker and 43 Folders have wonderful introductions to this obscurity known as Quicksilver.

Now, to the tutorial.

This is really simple and can be done in about ten seconds. Here we go.

Launch Safari
Google Search for ***
Press ⌘D to bookmark the search. Title the bookmark GS (or whatever you would like). The bookmark title is what you will type in quicksilver to initiate the search.
Close (⌘Q) or Hide(⌘H) Safari.
Launch Quicksilver (⌃SpaceBar) and rescan the catalog (⌘R).
Type GS and tab past Search For… and start typing away. Whatever you type will be searched for and the results will be displayed in Safari (of course you can do this with Firefox too).

The Sage uses this little trick daily. The Sage hopes that it helps you too.

Episode 5: A Literal RSS Reader In Safari

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:16:49 -0700

In this episode The Sage shows you how to have your Mac read your RSS feeds to you (literally), using Safari and Text to Speech (difficulty level: intermediate).

You can watch this episode here

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) has revolutionized the way we consume our news. RSS a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts. Since the release of Tiger (OS X 10.4), Safari, Apple’s native browser, has had built in RSS detection and display functionality. Thus, you can customize and compile your feeds from directly within Safari. Combine this with the Voice Over utility (to be vastly improved in Leopard) in OS X, and you can create a literal RSS reader. This may seem unnecessary and possibly ridiculous but, it is very useful when you cannot look at the computer screen (e.g. getting ready for work), yet you want to read your feed. Keep in mind that you can use each of these OS X features alone or in combination with other applications.

So, onto the tutorial.

What are the steps. The first thing we need to do is to subscribe to some RSS feeds. Once we do that, we need to bookmark and organize the feeds within Safari. From here it is only a matter of highlighting the articles and utilizing the Voice Over Speech Service. To stream line this process we will create a keyboard shortcut in System Preferences. Let’s get started.

Let’s begin by setting up a dedicated folder in the bookmarks bar to hold all of our RSS feeds.

Press ⌘⇧B to show the bookmarks (it will hide them if they are already showing).
Click on the BookMark button on the left hand side of the bar (this opens up the bookmark configuration page).
Press ⌘⇧N to create a new bookmarks folder. Type in any name you would like (might The Sage suggest RSS).
Click on the BookMark button again to return to the browser.

Next we will add a couple of feeds to our RSS folder in the bookmark bar

Open Safari and navigate to any site with an RSS feed (preferably one you would like to subscribe to, how about heysage.com).
Click on the RSS button in the Menu Bar (this will display the RSS feed in Safari).
Bookmark the feed by pressing ⌘D or going to bookmarks/add bookmark.
Continue steps 1-3 and add as many feeds as you like to the RSS folder.

Now the RSS reader is set up. To view your RSS feeds click on the RSS folder in the bookmarks bar and select any individual feed or select view all RSS articles. In the right hand sidebar you can search articles, sort articles, configure the article length displayed, and control which articles (temporally) will be displayed. When new articles are published a number will appear in parenthesis next to “RSS” in the bookmarks bar. The number indicates the number of new articles in your folder.

To have Voice Over read your feed all you need to do is highlight the text and select Safari —> Services —> Speech —> Start Speaking Text. For the sake of the tutorial we will set up a keyboard shortcut to initiate the reading. Creating the shortcut is easy.

Go to System Preferences and select Speech.
Click on the Text to Speech tab at the top of the window.
Click on the Set Key… box and press any key combination you like (e.g ⌘⇧⌅) and click OK
You are ready to go.

(you might want to change the default voice. The Sage recommends Victoria although Vicki is probably second best.)

Now head back to Safari

View your RSS feed (see above if you already forgot).
Highlight the desired text by clicking and dragging (if you hit ⌘A you will highlight the sidebar too. Unfortunately the Voice Over reads it before the articles. Nonetheless, you will likely get into your articles more quickly by selecting all of the text than you would if you take the time to select only the article text).
Press ⌘⇧⌅

Presto, you now have Vicki (OS 10.4s default voice) reading your feed to you. The voice can bother some people but you may find this quite handy. You would probably rather hear the news that you are interested in, being read by Vicki, than the news you are not interested in, being read by Matt Lauer.

It is worth noting that Voice Over can be used with any text. This means documents, stand alone RSS readers, eMail, you name it. By combining the power of Quicksilver proxies and a few keyboard shortcuts you can pull up all of your RSS articles and have it being read in seconds.

The Sage would love to hear your comments or suggestions. You may also request a tutorial. If you have any question The Sage is more than happy to answer them (as long as he knows the answer). To contact The Sage click here.

Special Episode: iGTD in Quicksilver

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:10:29 -0700

In this episode The Sage shows you how to add tasks to iGTD via Quicksilver (difficulty level: intermediate).

Quick side note. In this episode The Sage decided to embed a flash version of the movie. The traditional quicktime link is here.

iGTD is a donation ware application developed by Bartek Bargiel that incorporates some of the concepts of the Getting Things Done methodology and makes them easy to implement in your every day life. Think of it as an OS X way to organize your life by context and project.

One of the greatest things about iGTD is that it integrates with Growl and Quicksilver, two of The Sage’s favorite Mac applications. To add a task to iGTD via Quicksilver the steps are as follows.

Choose a context, project, due date, and priority rating for your task. In the screencast the context is Computing, the project is HeySage, the due date is today, and the priority is urgent.
Launch Quicksilver (⌃spacebar)
Type . to launch text edit mode in quicksilver
Type @ and the context (e.g. @Computing). You do not need to type the entire context. You only need enough for iGTD to recognize it as unique.
Type the project name enclosed by brackets ([HeySage])
Type the name of the task (e.g. Create iGTD to Quicksilver ScreenCast)
Type !! for urgent. The scale ranges from !! (urgent) to ??(not urgent).
Type #theday (e.g. #friday or #today or #sat etc. etc.)
Tab to the Action pane in Quicksilver.
Type p to display, “Put into iGTD Inbox” and hit ⌅

That’s it. Let’s summarize

@Com [HeySage] Create iGTD to Quicksilver ScreenCast !! #today

This may seem a little daunting at first but becomes extremely useful.
[tags]iGTD, Quicksilver[/tags]

Episode 4- Don't Get Caught (how to protect yourself from phishing scams in OS X)

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 10:01:18 -0700

In this episode The Sage shows you how to prevent yourself from falling prey to phishing scams using some of the built in features of Apple Mail and Safari (difficulty level: easy).

You can watch this episode here

There are several features within Apple Mail and Safari that should be used routinely to ensure that you do not fall into phishing scams.

So What are They

Let’s start with Mail.app

When placing a link on a web page or in an email, the link can be created so that it says whatever the author would like. For example I can make a link that says WHATEVER and have it link to the heysage homepage. This ability is used and abused to trick unsuspecting users into phishing scams.

For this reason it is good to check out the true address of the link before clicking on it. Don’t take the text for granted and assume that it states where the link will take you. To check the link destination in apple mail:

Place your cursor over any link (denoted by blue text and an underline).
When you do so the link address will be displayed in a small window by the link

You can also inspect the long header in the email message by pressing ⌘⇧H. Look through the information to gain information about the message (be careful, some of this information can be easily spoofed).

Now, assume you blew it and clicked on the link in the email message. There are some features in Safari that can still save you.

In Safari.app

Activate the status bar by pressing ⌘/ (this is deactivated by default)
When you hover over a link the status bar will display the URL of the link. By using this information you can potentially avoid visiting undesirable locations.

Another “good practice” is to check the Verisign Secured SSL Certificate to verify the authenticity of the site. In the podcast example, the VeriSign link redirects back to the same phishing site rather than to VeriSign’s site.

Of course there are a number of other things that can be done to keep you safe from the phisherman. One of the easiest ways to protect yourself is to disable Rich Text or HTML email. Plain text email is not as nice to look at, but it is certainly safer. As a general rule it is always better manually enter the URL instead of following an email link.

Hopefully this is of help.

[tags]Phishing Scams, Apple Mail Security, Protect from Phishing Scams, Safari Security[/tags]

Episode 3-Hidden Folder (Terminal 101)

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:54:25 -0700

In this episode The Sage shows you how to create hidden folders using the command line (difficulty level: intermediate).

You can watch this episode here

How do we do it?

Open up Terminal. Terminal can be found in Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app. To do so, in Finder press ⌘-Shift-U to open the utilities folder. Once there double click Terminal.app.
Go to the directory (or folder) that you would like to create your hidden folder in. You can do this by typing
```
cd yourDirectory (e.g. cd Desktop)
```
The Sage suggests using the Desktop since the folder is hidden
Once in the desired location create you hidden folder by typing
```
mkdir .yourFolder (e.g. mkdir .Folder)
```
mkdir means make directory. The . before the folder name means that it will be hidden.
Then all that is left is put things in your hidden folder. There are several ways to open the folder via the finder. In the finder press ⌘-shift-G (or go -> go to folder) and then type the folder name with the associated path.
```
~/yourDirectory (e.g. ~/Desktop/.Folder)
```
In the the terminal type:
```
open yourDirectory (e.g. open ~/Desktop/.Folder)
```
Once you open the folder via the finder you can place anything that you would like within that folder by dragging and dropping (remember that dragging while holding the ⌥(option) key will copy the file to the location).

Of course you could move or copy contents to the folder using the command line by using the following commands respectively.

    mv TextFile.txt ~/Desktop/.Folder

    cp TextFile.txt ~/Desktop/.Folder

To remove the the folder all you need to do is use the rm (remove) command.

    rm -r .Folder

Be careful with this. You cannot undo this one.

A few other basic commands that you may find helpful (and are in the podcast) are:

    ls

    ls -a

The first commands list the contents of the Directory that you are in while the second command lists every file (including the invisible ones) in the directory.

This has been rather long winded. Lets summarize. To make a hidden folder called Hidden on the desktop type the following into the terminal:

    mkdir ~/Desktop/.Hidden

Please send your feedback to info@heysage.com
My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-e04810d597d1c477b91f4c93f88c734b}

Episode 2-Screen Grabs 101

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:56:52 -0700

In this episode The Sage shows you how to make screengrabs using the built in features of OS X (difficulty level: easy).

You can watch the latest episode here

How do we do it

There are three ways to make a screen grab anywhere in OS X. They are:

⌘-Shift-3

This method will make a screen capture of your entire screen. All you need to do is press all three keys at the same time and an image will be placed on the desktop.
⌘-Shift-4

This method will bring up cross hairs that you can use to make a selection of the area that you would like to capture. All you need to do is simply click and drag. Once you let go the screengrab will be made and the image will be placed on your desktop.
⌘-Shift-4 and then The Space Bar

The third method (⌘-Shift-4 and then The Space Bar) makes a window grab. If you would like to capture the contents of a single window this is the preferred method. Once you press ⌘-Shift-4 the cross hairs will become visible. Pressing the space bar changes the cross-hairs to a camera. As you move the camera over a window it becomes highlighted. Simply click to capture that window. Once you do the .png file will appear on your desktop.

It is probably worth mentioning that you can make screengrabs by using Grab, a free application that ships with OS X. With grab you have the option of grabbing a window, selection, screen, or timed screen. The options can be found under grab > capture.

Last but not least grab can be accessed through the services menu of any application that supports services.

How To Create an Encrypted Disc Image

info@heysage.com (The Sage) — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:02:13 -0700

Episode 1: In the inaugural episode, The Sage shows you how to create an encrypted disc image using OS X's built in Disc Utility. Visit HeySage.com to view the show notes.