The Boyce Blog

How to Use iPhoto to Fix a Bad Photo (Episode 3)

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Mon, 20 May 2013 08:58:00 +0000

Episode 3 of a three-part series on using iPhoto on a Mac to fix bad photos.

This installment: removing blemishes (and lamp posts).

Click the image below to watch my video tutorial.

How to Use iPhoto to Fix a Bad Photo (Episode 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:14:00 +0000

Episode 2 of a three-part series on using iPhoto on a Mac to fix bad photos.

This installment: fixing pictures that are washed out.

Click the image below to watch my video tutorial.

How to Use iPhoto to Fix a Bad Photo (Episode 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:38:00 +0000

Episode 1 of a three-part series on using iPhoto on a Mac to fix bad photos.

This installment: fixing pictures that are too dark.

Click the image below to watch my video tutorial.

Can't Add a Printer? Reset the Printing System

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:46:00 +0000

Many new printers from Epson, Canon and Hewlett-Packard come with instructions to NOT install the software that comes with them on CDs. Rather, the instructions say, get the software from Apple, and indeed that is excellent advice. Apple long ago tired of waiting for printer manufacturers to provide software compatible with each new version of OS X, so they started doing it themselves, and on the whole this has been a good thing for Mac users.

In general, the process is

Connect printer to Mac with USB cable (or wirelessly)
Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click on "Print & Scan"
Click the "+" at bottom left of the Print & Scan Preference Pane
Let Apple deliver the software over the internet (totally automatically)

It almost always works. But sometimes it just won't. Usually the failure happens when getting the software from Apple: everything seems to be proceeding apace when all of a sudden, during the download, a message pops up saying something about the software not being available, and to "Please try again later." Try later all you want, but once you see that message it is NEVER going to work. Never, that is, unless you know what to do next.

The thing to do next is to "reset the printing system." That gives you a fresh start, and in my experience, resetting the printing system ALWAYS solves the problem, allowing the printer software to be downloaded successfully from Apple. I've never seen it not work.

The trouble is, resetting the printing system wipes out all of the printers in your Print & Scan Preference Pane. Here's what mine looked like before I Control-clicked in the printer list area (outlined in red here for you):

And here's what it looked like after. No printers. But, that's what "reset" means.

After you've reset printing (and wiped out all of your printers) you can click that little "+" (the one next to the "-", not the one in the middle of the screen) and add your printer, the one you couldn't add a few minutes ago. It's going to work this time. You can also go back and click the "+" to add your other printers. It's easier than it sounds and will take just a few minutes per printer. No one likes making extra work for himself but sometimes it's the only way, and like I said before, in my experience resetting the printing system always works. So, as a last resort, now you know what to do.

One Time Machine Mystery Solved

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:07:00 +0000

Every so often I solve a problem and the solution involves some luck. I had one of those the other day. In an attempt to save someone else from struggling with a similar problem I'm writing it down. Or writing it up. Whatever.

The problem involved Time Machine. The Mac was a brand-new MacBook Pro Retina and the Time Machine backup was set to use a Time Capsule for storage. The initial backup progressed a tiny bit (500 MB) but wouldn't go further. By the time I got there to trouble-shoot the estimated time for the initial backup was reported as 122 days.

Funny thing was, everything looked right. The Time Capsule disk was chosen in the Time Machine Preference Pane, there was plenty of room on the Time Capsule, and the connection to the Time Capsule, while wireless, was very strong. Restarting the Mac did not help and neither did restarting the Time Capsule. It was a real head-scratcher.

Out of the blue I had the idea of checking the contents of the Time Capsule. In the Backups.backupdb folder I found backups representing other Macs, but none representing the new Mac. That seemed odd: every backed-up machine should have a folder on the backup drive with its name on it, as shown below (for my Mac's backup).

And where does Time Machine get the name of the machine? From the Sharing Preference Pane, that's where. Here's what MY Mac's Sharing Preference Pane shows. You'll note that my Mac's backup folder has EXACTLY the same name as shown in the "Computer Name" section below (because Time Machine just reads the Computer Name and creates the backup folder to match).

When I looked at the Sharing Preference Pane on the MacBook Pro that wouldn't back up the Computer Name was completely blank. Completely! No one knew why it was blank, but blank it was. And as soon as I entered a Computer Name for the MacBook Pro the Time Machine backup got back to work. The time remaining went from 122 days to 8 hours to 7 hours to 6 hours in the space of twenty minutes. The owner reported a completed backup the next day and it's been backing up fine ever since.

The moral of the story is you have to have a Computer Name, in the Sharing Preference Pane, if you want Time Machine to work.

Siri Tip: Add Item to a Reminder List

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 19:01:00 +0000

Apple's Reminders app for iOS is super handy. It is even handier when you use Siri to add items to the Reminders by voice. All it takes is the keyword "Add." So, Kate (this is for my sister Kate who recently joined the iPhone Club), you press and hold your iPhone's Home button, wait for Siri's microphone to pop up, and then say something like…

"Add Gatorade to my Groceries list"

and Siri does the rest.

Of course you have to actually have a Groceries list (which you make in Reminders by tapping "Create New List…"). It works with other things too, not just Groceries, and not just Gatorade. I want to make that clear. Just remember to start your request with the word "Add."

Anyhow, if you go into Reminders, make a few lists, and then let Siri do the rest you are going to be one organized person.

Most people write stuff down so they don't forget things. Totally wrong. The point of writing stuff down is to ALLOW you to forget, because knowing that these little things are written down somewhere means you can stop clogging up your mind trying to remember them, and therefore have brain capacity for doing other, bigger, things.

Naturally if you're an iCloud member, and you have an iPad, or a Mac with Mountain Lion (10.8), the reminders you make on your iPhone will show up on your iPad and/or Mac. That's pretty cool too.

Forecast.io: Great Weather Website

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:46:00 +0000

Forecast.io is the nicest, cleanest, and most useful weather website that I've ever seen. It's from the same people who made the excellent Dark Sky app for iPhones and iPads, and like Dark Sky it's all about presenting data in a useful way. My favorite part: they don't hide behind any "50% chance of rain" predictions. Rather, they show you that it's going to start raining at 2 PM, and stop raining at 3. That's information you can really use.

Here's what the site looks like in Safari on the Mac:

(It looks just as good on the the iPad and iPhone. Don't you just love those blue bars showing the temperature ranges? Fabulous.)

Forecast.io's presentation is so good that there's almost no need for me to explain it. However, there are a few fine points, so let me save you some time by pointing them out.

1. If you click on (or tap on) the "Right Now" area you'll see the kind of details that other weather websites provide (wind speed and direction, humidity, visibility, pressure).

2. If you click on (or tap on) a day, or anywhere in the day's line, you'll get predictions by the hour. See below. Very, very useful-- if you know it's going to stop raining at 2 PM you can postpone running your errands until then, knowing you won't have to go out in the rain.

3. Tap the globe to see animated radar. It's just like the stuff on TV, only a million times nicer to look at. See below, and please click the Play button.

4. You can view local precipitation history and predictions (or regional history and predictions) by tapping the appropriate button at the top of the Precip Map. This little movie won't do that for you but the real site will.

5. The Time Machine option lets you see what the weather was like on any day in the past, or what it will be like on any day in the future. Looks as if I'll need a jacket for the UCLA-Cal game at the Rose Bowl October 12th, 2013.

Pretty nice stuff. And free. One tiny little ad pays the bills so it's free for you.

One last thing: those groovy icons-- so simple and so expressive-- are animated. They move. That's a nice touch. The Forecast.io guys didn't have to do that but they did, and little things like that make a difference.

I think you're going to like Forecast.io. Give it a try.

Another Flash Update

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 04:35:00 +0000

Once again a bug in Adobe's Flash plug-in presents a serious security risk to Mac users, and once again Apple has disabled all but the very latest version of it. Which means that if you're using Safari on your Mac and you try to load a webpage that requires Flash you'll get a message about a blocked plug-in. You'll also see, if you click on the "Blocked plug-in" message, a little "sheet" sliding down from your Safari window, telling you pretty much what I've told you here.

Here's Apple's web page explaining the whole thing.

Basically, if you want to view Flash content with Safari you'll have to upgrade your Flash plug-in.

My advice to you is a little different than Apple's. Apple would have you click a button to download Flash.
I would rather you got in the habit of navigating to Adobe's site on your own as a lot of rotten things masquerade as Flash updaters and I don't want you to start clicking everything that says "Click here to update Flash!" You can read my write-up on that by clicking "What to do about the Flashback trojan."

So… get Safari going, and go to www.adobe.com (no link provided here-- type it in yourself to ensure you know where it's going). Then, roll over the "Downloads" button at the top, and slide down and click on Adobe Flash Player. THEN you download it, and then (very important) you have to actually install it. Adobe has instructions for that on its site and the instructions pop right up as soon as you start the Flash download.

The only thing they don't tell you is how to find the download. I'll handle that. Look for the Downloads button in Safari's toolbar (by default, it's at the far right) and click it once. You'll see a list of things you've downloaded lately, with the Adobe Flash Plug-in at the top. Double-click on its icon and you're on your way. Follow Adobe's instructions after that.

Here's what the Downloads button looks like:

You may be wondering "Why don't I see this 'blocked plug-in' thing in Firefox?" The answer is "Apple doesn't control Firefox the way they control Safari (because Firefox is not Apple's program to mess with)." So Safari users have Apple looking out for them, while Firefox users don't. But just because you don't get any warnings about Flash in Firefox doesn't mean Firefox users are safe. It just means that they're not getting warned by Apple. But, having been warned by ME, go get the Flash plug-in update, same as the rest of us.

You may also be wondering "Isn't it a little weird that Apple can turn something off on my machine? Are they watching what I do?" Yes, it's a little weird. But no, they're not watching what you do. They're just noticing that you're trying to load Flash content using Safari with an out-of-date Flash plug-in. Still, it is a little weird. I don't remember signing up for that and I don't think you can opt out.

Best of Macworld/iWorld 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 06:46:00 +0000

Best of Macworld/iWorld 2013

I'm back from Macworld/iWorld 2013, my 25th Macworld show in a row. Unless it's my 26th in a row. Anyway, regardless, here's a brief rundown of the best stuff at the show.

Rage Software previewed "EasyWeb," their website creation program for the Mac. It has a lot in common with Apple's Pages and they are positioning it as the successor to Apple's iWeb. It comes with templates to help you get started and it's very easy to whip up a really nice looking website. The best part: they handle the web hosting too. For $99 you get the software and a year of web hosting (and email hosting too). This means that after you make your website you can click a button to put it onto the internet. No need to obtain web hosting from a third party. This makes publishing a website as easy as printing. Read more about EasyWeb here.
Lantronix showed their xPrintServer, a small white box that makes your printer(s) available to your iPhone and iPad. All you do is connect xPrintServer to your network-- it does the rest. Very simple, very easy. It's practically magic.
Speaking of magic: Greg Rostami showed four magic iPhone apps. All were completely mystifying. I shuffled a deck of cards and chose a card and held it so that Rostami couldn't see it. He gave me a phone number for a psychic and when I called her I got her answering machine… and in her message she said "I've been expecting your call. I see the four of diamonds" and of course that was my card. Here's the link for that app (called iPredict+). Only $2.99.
Not quite magic, but still amazing: iPhone and iPad stands that used a miraculous new material called "micro foam." It looks and feels like a thin sheet of rubber, but what it really is is zillions of tiny suction cups. Put your iPhone against it and it sticks, eliminating the need for brackets and clamps. I saw it with my own eyes. Unfortunately, though there were two companies showing prototypes of their micro foam iPhone and iPad stands, neither were ready to sell anything. Keep your eyes open for this stuff when it becomes available. Visit https://www.facebook.com/gekostand and http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/297012779/slope-an-elegant-stand-for-ipad-nexus-7and10-kindl for more info.
iPhone cases don't usually make my "Best Of" list but Seido's "OBEX" iPhone case is an exception because it is completely waterproof while still giving access to the screen. They had an iPhone in an OBEX case, inside an aquarium (with fish) and the iPhone was on and playing a movie under the water. If you're someone who accidentally drops his iPhone into the sink or the swimming pool or pots of soup this is the case for you. I also saw BodyDock's iLumina case, which comes with interchangeable backs and bands so you can mix and match depending on your mood. They'll send you a new band and a new back every month for six months at no additional charge. Sounds like fun for the right person and it would probably make a great gift (but not for me, I already have one).
Last but not least, Flint showed a new way to take credit cards: snap a picture with the iPhone's camera and the Flint app OCR's the number so you don't need to type it in (and you don't need a hardware thingy to swipe the card through). Visit their website and see the introductory video.

This wasn't the biggest Macworld/iWorld but it was still a lot of fun. Next year's show runs Saturday February 1st through Monday February 3rd, 2014-- with Sunday February 2nd being the Super Bowl (and Mom's birthday, and Groundhog Day too)! I am hoping that somehow they change the dates for next year's Macworld/iWorld and if they do I will let you know.

Macworld/iWorld Report

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 04:36:00 +0000

Macworld/iWorld Report

I'll be speaking at Macworld as part of the RapidFire session. It's a lot of fun for everyone: each of ten speakers gets 5 minutes to demonstrate something cool. I'll be covering Moom, Desktop Curtain, and Typinator (and speaking very quickly). Here's a link to my PDF handout.

Macworld/iWorld 2013 runs this Thursday through Saturday. I'll be on the Digital Village radio program on Saturday at approximately 10:15 AM discussing the best (and worst) things I saw at the show. You can listen at 90.7 FM in Los Angeles (KPFK FM). You can also use this link which on an iPhone or iPad should start streaming whatever's currently on the air. On a Mac it should launch iTunes and start streaming things over the internet (if it doesn't happen automatically, look in your Downloads folder for something called "listen.pls." Double-click that. Bingo.) They do record the show and in a day or two you should be able to find the interview in the Digital Village archives.

UPDATE: time changed from 10:30 to 10:15.

UPDATE 2: Archived interview available here.

How to Use iPhoto's Batch Change feature

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 08:24:00 +0000

How to Use iPhoto's Batch Change feature

This is another one for Dad, but I'll bet it helps a zillion other people too.

Sometimes in iPhoto you want to change the names of a whole bunch of photos. For example, you might want to number them sequentially, with a prefix indicating the name of the album they're in. That's a great idea: a name like "Texas Barbeque Contest-001" is a lot more descriptive than "IMG_001.jpg" but who wants to do the work of renaming more than a couple of photos by hand? No one, that's who. That's why iPhoto has a Batch Change feature.

Here's an example.

A few weeks ago I had the bright idea of weighing myself more or less daily and using my iPhone to take a photo of the readout on the scale. Thanks to Photo Stream the pictures magically appear on my iMac, where I put them into an album. Here's how it looked a few days ago. Yes those are my toes.

Nice collection of photos but the names are not helpful at all. I wondered whether I could rename them to reflect the date that the pictures were taken (and of course the photos know when they were taken because the iPhone stamps that information into every photo it takes). Turns out it was easy. First, I selected all of the photos in the album. Then I went to the Photos menu and chose "Batch Change…", like so:

That led to a box, which I configured as shown below.

Then I clicked OK and that was it. Here's the result. So much better!

Very powerful stuff and it only takes a minute. You should try it.

How to Use Dropbox's Previous Versions feature

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:26:00 +0000

Or,
How Dropbox Saved the Day when My Customer Somehow Lost a Very Important Document
You probably know about Dropbox, the best way to keep your files in sync across Macs, iPhones, iPads, and even PCs. I put all of my current projects into my Dropbox folder and that lets me access my stuff from any of my machines. I can work on something from my MacBook Pro while I'm out, then continue the work on my iMac when I get back to my office, without sending files around by email or by USB thumb drives. I like Dropbox a lot. Steve Jobs liked Dropbox so much that he tried to buy the company! If you're not using it, go find out about it. Here's a link to my write-up on Dropbox from a couple of years ago.

Turns out there's another reason to like Dropbox: besides making sure that all of your devices have the latest versions of your documents, it also saves a copy of previous versions. This is fantastic, and last night it saved the day when one of my customers somehow corrupted a document that she'd been adding to for years. She didn't know about this special Dropbox feature and she thought she was doomed, but luckily she asked me for help, and double-luckily she mentioned that the file had been on Dropbox. That made recovering her document super-easy. This is going to bail you out one day too so pay attention over there.

Here's how you do it.

Go to www.dropbox.com and sign into your account. You'll see your files and folders, something like this:

Locate the file you're interested in and click NOT on the name of the document, and NOT on the icon, but rather anywhere else in the that line. In this example, we'll bring back a previous version of the document called "Macworld 2013 Talk.pages" and I'm going to click in the white space between "Macworld 2013 Talk.pages" and "document pages". It will look like this:

Notice the toolbar that appears, and especially notice the "More" button. When you click on that you'll see a little menu, like this:

Select "Previous Versions" and you're on your way! Here's how it looks:

From this screen it's a simple matter of choosing which version you want to roll back to and then clicking the Restore button. The restored file will replace the current version in Dropbox, so be sure you want to do this. (Or, make a copy of the current version somewhere else, like on a USB drive.) That's all there is to it.

A couple of other points:
1. You can control-click on the file's name at www.dropbox.com and get a contextual menu, from which you can choose "Previous Versions." Save yourself a step next time.

2. You can even recover deleted files! Look for a little trash can at the top of the Dropbox window. Here's what it looks like. The rest you can figure out on your own-- totally obvious.

3. You might be wondering, "why not just use Time Machine." Well, yes, that would be another way to get an older version of the document. Remember, though, that Time Machine backs up hourly, while Dropbox backs up every time you save. Look again at the Version History screenshot above and you'll notice that many versions were saved within just a few minutes of each other. Time Machine wouldn't have that kind of detail. So, in this case, Dropbox is the better choice.

Coming Soon: Macworld/iWorld 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 04:11:00 +0000

It's the most wonderful time of the year…

That's right, it's time for Macworld/iWorld!

The show runs January 31st through February 2nd, 2013 at San Francisco's Moscone Center. I'll be there all three days. Look me up.

There are two parts to the show: the Expo, which is a giant space filled with software programmers and hardware vendors and book publishers and iPhone case manufacturers and speaker designers (you get the idea-- if it has, or could have, anything to do with Macs or iPhones or iPads, it's in the Expo), and the Tech Talks, which are classes where you can go and learn stuff. (Of course, you can learn stuff in the Expo too-- walk right up to the exhibitors and start asking questions.) Admission to the Expo floor is $25 (good for all three days). The "iFan Pass" costs $100, gaining you entrance to over 60 Tech Talks in addition to getting you into the Expo. Prices are higher at the door so you should definitely register in advance.

Even better, use this link provided by our friends Other World Computing and get FREE admission to the Expo. Can't beat that. Check out their Macworld/iWorld web page, and see them on the show floor in booth 401. They only have so many of these passes so you should click that link right now. If you strike out, try searching www.retailmenot.com for a discount code.

UPDATE: David Sparks' MacSparky blog has an even better link because it not only offers free admission to the Expo but half off for the iFan Pass.

I will be speaking at the very exciting and informative "RapidFire" session on Thursday night. This session, scheduled for 6 PM on the Macworld/iWorld Main Stage, features several Mac and iPhone/iPad experts, each offering five-minute lessons on a variety of Mac and iPhone/iPad subjects. My lesson is called "More, Better, Faster, Funner" and it's 27 years of Mac tips presented in 300 seconds. I think you'll like it.

How to Print Mailing Labels from an iPhone or iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:14:00 +0000

How to Print Mailing Labels from an iPhone or iPad

It's Christmas-card time… and that means it's also "Help! I need to print mailing labels!" time. In the olden days it was easy: you used the Address Book program on your Mac (I wrote about printing mailing labels back in 2010). But what if all you have is an iPhone or an iPad? How do you print mailing labels then?

Actually, it's easier than you might think.

First thing you do is you get the Avery Templates Everywhere app from the App Store. It's free. So far, so good!
When you launch the app you'll see this. Choose "Create Project."

Next you'll see the GIANT list of Avery label templates. Choose the one corresponding to the labels you're going to use. If you just want to play around in advance of getting your labels try the 5160s. Three across, ten down. Standard as can be.

Next, you'll see this screen showing you how your labels are going to lay out. You can drag things around here but they start out with something that works fine for me. All you need to do is choose which contacts you want to print. That's what the "Contacts" button is for. So tap that.

You'll get a message asking whether Avery can access your contacts (that's nice of them, but it's also required by Apple's iOS). Tap OK. Next you'll see your entire list of contacts. Tap the checkbox to the left of the contacts you want labels for.

When you're done, tap "Done," and then tap "Preview." You'll notice by the way that the number of contacts chosen is displayed next to the word "Contacts." If you are trying to fill a sheet of labels it's nice to know how many names you've selected.

If it looks good to you, tap the Share button That's the curvy white arrow at top right. You'll get three choices.

Save lets you save your project for later revising (or for printing again). I highly recommend saving your project. You'll have to create an Avery account first but that's easy: email address and a password (NOT your regular email password-- just something for Avery). Print lets you print to an AirPrint-enabled printer. AirPrint is sort of new and only works with certain newish printers so you may be out of luck there. Go ahead and try-- you have nothing to lose. Email is your Ace in the Hole because it lets you email your labels as a PDF to someone who DOES have a printer. Here's what it looks like when you tap Email.

That's all there is to it. Nothing fancy but it works. If you have an extra label you can make one for me.

Christian Boyce
3435 Ocean Park Boulevard #107
Santa Monica, CA 90405

How to Eject a CD from a Mac

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:27:00 +0000

How to eject a CD from a Mac

Here's another tip for Dad, the new iMac owner.

You might be thinking "What could be so hard about ejecting a CD? Push a button and out it comes." Well, yes, but… sometimes things go wrong. Here's how to handle it when they do.

Actually, the first thing to do is NEVER insert a CD (or a DVD) into your Mac's SuperDrive unless it is the typical size and typical shape. That means "round and of regulation size." It also means "not like any of those in the picture below."

No star CDs, no saw blade CDs, no business card CDs, no mini CDs. Put one of those in there and it's not coming out. So don't do that.

This is not a good time to "test."

Assuming that all you did was put in a regulation-sized round CD (or a DVD), and now it's stuck inside and won't come out, let's run through some techniques that will help you get it out.

1. Press the Eject key on the keyboard and hold it down. The key looks something like this:

Sometimes people don't hold it down long enough for the "eject" message to get through. Apple decided a few operating systems back that pressing and HOLDING would be the better way to use the eject key because some people were inadvertently touching the eject button and accidentally ejecting things. Why WE should suffer because someone else can't type properly is not something I can answer. I don't like it either. But, at least you know how to make the keyboard's Eject key work-- hold it down.

Bonus Tip: on some keyboards F12 is the same as the Eject key. FYI.

2. If that didn't work, restart the Mac, and when you hear it go "Bong" click on the mouse and hold the mouse button down until the disc ejects. (Trackpad users: click and hold on the trackpad.) If the Mac starts up completely and still the disc doesn't eject we will have to move on to Step 3.

3. If you see the disc's icon on the Desktop you can drag it to the Trash in the Dock. I know it's weird and I know it makes you feel as if you're going to erase the disc by doing it. Everyone feels that way (except for the people at Apple who came up with the idea.) Turns out that the Trash can icon will change to look like an Eject icon (like the Eject key on the keyboard) as soon as you start dragging the disc, so you're "ejecting" and not "throwing away" the disc but there's no way of knowing that until you do it. But… by default, CDs and DVDs don't show up on the Desktop, so you may not have anything to drag anyway. You might have to change a Finder Preference to make the discs appear. So, on to Step 4:

4. In the Finder, choose Finder/Preferences… and in the General section check the box for CDs, DVDs and iPods. While you're in there, in the Sidebar section check the box for CDs, DVDs, and iPods too. Close up the Finder's Preferences and have a look around the Desktop. Maybe now you'll see the icon for the disc, and maybe now you can drag it to the Trash. If you click on the disc ONCE you'll select it, and if it's selected you can choose Eject from the Finder's File menu. You can also use Command-E and do it from the keyboard. Click and drag, or click and File/Eject, or click and Command-E. All fine methods.

If you can't see the disc on the Desktop maybe you will see it in the sidebar of a Finder window. If you do, move the mouse over the name of the disc and a little Eject icon will show up to the right. Click that and maybe it ejects. Maybe.

(There is of course a chance that you don't have a disc in there at all. Maybe someone else ejected it when you weren't looking. It is worth asking around.)

5. Still can't get the disc out? Maybe you had the icon on the Desktop, dragged it to the Trash, and now the icon's gone but still the disc is inside? Try launching the Terminal program (in the Utilities folder, which is in the Applications folder) and typing this in:

drutil eject -drive internal

and then press Return on the keyboard. That will tell the Mac to try to eject the disc from the internal drive. Maybe you'll get lucky.

6. Still no dice? Still can't get it out? I would not reach for pliers. You might get the disc out but you'll probably break the SuperDrive. Instead of reaching for pliers try reaching for your car keys and driving the Mac to an Apple Store. They will probably try all of the things I listed here but they can also take the machine apart so they can actually see the SuperDrive and (perhaps) manually eject the disc. I would not try taking the Mac apart as the modern Mac's SuperDrive is pretty hard to get to.

In my experience-- more than 20 years-- I've seen just a couple of stuck discs. Most were from those non-standard discs, the ones shaped like business cards or stars or saw blades etc. Don't let it happen to you.

TRUE STORY: Once upon a time I was asked to come see a Mac whose CD drive "didn't work." I asked what "didn't work" meant and the owner said "Well, it worked great for the first disc. But I had some trouble putting in the second disc, and after I got it in it didn't work. So then I tried another disc and it wouldn't go in at all. That's when I called you." I couldn't get the disc to eject either, but since this was an older iMac and easy to open up I took it apart and found the second disc AND THE FIRST DISC jammed very tightly into the drive. Turns out that the person using the Mac didn't understand that the SuperDrive holds only one disc at a time, and if you want to put in Disc B you'd better take out Disc A first.

Best Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 05:10:00 +0000

Dad is now a Mac owner. He used a Mac at work way back when but things have changed a lot. And, even the things that haven't changed a lot are ancient memories for him. I thought it would be a good idea to put together a series of Mac hints for Dad, a little at a time, for the next thirty days or so. Here's the first one:

Best Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

PC guys are friendly with the Control key, but here on the Mac side we use the Command key. A lot of keyboards don't show the word "Command" on them, so you may have to look for the Command key symbol:

(click to read Andy Hertzfeld's story of the Command key, from folklore.org)

Turns out that every Mac keyboard shortcut involves the Command key. Knowing where the Command key is (actually, where the Command keys are) means you're halfway home for an awful lot of shortcut keys. See how easy this is?

Refer to the handy picture of a keyboard (below) for the shortcuts that follow. Note that these shortcuts work just about all of the time, whether in Mail, Safari, Pages, or any other program. That means one can learn things once and use them all over the place. Dad likes to be efficient!

Command-Q: Quit
Command-W: Close Window
Command-P: Print

Command-A: Select All
Command-S: Save
Command-F: Find

Command-Z: Undo
Command-X: Cut
Command-C: Copy
Command-V: Paste (sorry, P was already taken for Print. Besides, V is next in line, next to the C on the keyboard, and it is important to have these frequently-accessed shortcuts laid out together, in a group)

Command-N: New (new Mail message, new Safari window, new Finder window, new Pages document, etc.)

Wondering how you're supposed to remember all of this? Here's how: just look at the menus as you choose them with the mouse or trackpad. Notice the shortcuts written to the right of the menu commands. For example, in Mail's File menu we see shortcuts for New (Message), Close (Window), Save, and Print. Those hints are there all the time, reminding you that there are shortcuts for triggering these menu items. See below.

Bonus Nice Touch: notice, when you use a keyboard shortcut, that the menu containing the menu item you're triggering flashes, as if to say "Got it, Chief." It's a subtle but helpful reinforcement that the Mac's received your command, no pun intended.

OK Dad, that's it for tonight. Try these shortcuts now and in a week they'll be second nature.

UPDATE: try this page from Apple-- "OS X keyboard shortcuts."

How to Use Safari's Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 22:44:00 +0000

Every so often I show my Mom something on her iPad (or her iPhone, or her Mac) and her reaction is incredibly enthusiastic. Actually, sometimes it's more along the lines of "I wish you'd shown me this before." Either way, when that happens, I write it up for everyone. This is one of those times.

Safari's Reader feature has been around for a bit but since Mom didn't know about it I'm assuming that there are at least a few others who don't know about it too. In a nutshell, it makes web pages easier to read by eliminating the ads and other distractions. It's available on the Mac, on the iPad, and on the iPhone. It makes a huge difference in readability, especially on the iPhone. You really ought to try it.

Here's an example of a web page on the iPhone, in the normal view:

Here's the same page, after clicking the big grey "Reader" button at the top of the page:

Which would you rather read? Of course you'd rather read the second one. It's a million times more readable. Note the buttons at the top for changing the font size and for sharing the page by email or printing or Twitter or whatever. There's also a "Done" button which takes you back to "normal."

Interestingly, the Reader button is blue when using Safari on a Mac, while it's grey on the iPad and iPhone. Double-interesting: when Reader can't figure out which part of a web page is the "real" content, it disables itself… and on the Mac, it indicates "I can't do this in Reader" with a grey button while on the iPad and iPhone, the button simply doesn't show up. Just to confuse things more, when you're using Reader on the iPad, the button turns purple, and you tap it again to turn leave Reader and turn the button grey. Save us, Jony Ive.

Interface inconsistencies aside, Safari's Reader is a fabulous feature. You should try it.

BONUS: you've probably had to deal with stories on the web that are split into multiple pages, such as the one shown below (with the "next page" buttons highlighted). This screenshot is from an iPad.

Sites that cut their stories into pieces that way do it because it gives then another chance to display ads, which means money for the site. It also means it's more difficult for you to read because you have to read-click-read-click-read. Safari's Reader feature takes care of sites like that by "reading ahead" so that page 2 follows page 1 without a click.

Here's how it looks in Reader:

Did I mention you should try it?

How to Use Safari's iCloud Tabs

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 07:33:00 +0000

(No, that's not the official iCloud logo, but I thought it would be fun to build one from Safari icons.)

Safari's iCloud Tabs is a feature I didn't think I'd be interested in, and now I use it all the time. Give it a try and see if you're not hooked, same as me.

iCloud Tabs keeps track of every Safari window (and every Safari tab) on all of your Apple devices, including Macs, iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Then, it makes the combined list available from each device. What this means is you can start reading a website on your iPhone and have it automatically waiting for your on your Mac so you can finish reading it there.

Before we go any further I have to tell you that this only works with Macs on Mountain Lion (10.8) or higher, and iPhones/iPads/iPods on iOS 6.0 or higher. OS X 10.7 won't do and neither will iOS 5. And, you have to have an iCloud account, but that's free so it's not much of a hurdle.

Let's see how it works.

Here's a screenshot of a fresh-from-the-box Mac Safari window. Notice the toolbar buttons (circled in red). All we have is the back button, the forward button, and the Share button.

(If, in addition to the back, forward, and Share buttons you also see an iCloud button it means your Mac is already set up to sync Safari via iCloud. If not, go to System Preferences, click the iCloud button, and check the box next to Safari. This will lead to a box asking you whether you want to merge bookmarks across your devices. You probably do, so click Merge and move along.)

When your iCloud settings include a checked box next to Safari your Safari toolbar will look like this:

The middle button is the iCloud Tabs button, and it shows up automatically.

Click the iCloud Tabs button and you'll see something like this: a bold grey heading for each of your iCloud Tabs-enabled devices (except for the one that you're currently using) and under each heading the Safari web pages that are open on that device.

You can select an item from the list and load up that web page on whichever device you're using. For example, in the picture above we see that I was looking at a web page called Simran Design | portfolio on my iPhone 5. If I want to see that page on my iMac (the machine I'm currently using) I can select it in the iCloud Tabs list and load it right up. See below.

(In this real-life case, I was browsing the Simran Design site on my iPhone and became distracted-- then, hours later, I was on my iMac, clicked the iCloud Tabs button in Safari, and I could easily go right back to where I'd been earlier. All without having to "do" anything other than ONE TIME going to the iCloud preference pane to be sure the Safari box was checked.)

Here's how it looked on the iPhone.

Actually, there's one more thing you have to do, and that's "set it up on your iPhone too." That's easy:
Tap Settings, then iCloud, then be sure the switch for Safari is "on."

If you want to work it in the other direction (that is, you want to use your iPhone to see web pages that are open on your other devices, such as your Mac), just tap the Bookmarks button (looks like a book), then tap the left-pointing arrow at the top of the iPhone's screen until you see something like this:

Tap the iCloud Tabs button and you'll see the list of open web pages:

Tap any item in the list and you'll load it in Safari on the iPhone.

Pretty cool stuff.

A few things you need to know about iCloud Tabs:
1. You can't do iCloud Tabs without merging bookmarks. This is probably not an issue for anyone.
2. This doesn't work with Google Chrome, and it doesn't work with Firefox. Sorry.
3. Obviously (I think), you have to be signed into the same iCloud account on all of your devices.
4. Remember: Mountain Lion (or higher) on your Macs, and iOS 6 (or higher) on your iPhones, iPad, and iPods.

iCloud Tabs is a great example of the kind of service that iCloud provides. It's not something you interact with directly-- rather, it's something that allows you to get to "your stuff" no matter which device you're using, in a completely transparent manner. It's about as close to magic as it gets. You should give it a try.

Written by +Christian Boyce

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Stuff I Use (2012 Mac Software Edition): Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Here are some software goodies that I use on a daily basis. They don't cost much, but man do they make a difference.

Keyboard Maestro
Keyboard Maestro lets me assign shortcut keys to just about everything. I can press F9 and bring up the calendar, F10 for the address book, F12 for the calculator, and so on. Extensive testing here at Boyce Labs has proven that pressing a key to launch a program is approximately 100 times faster than using a mouse, saving you at least a couple of seconds many, many times a day. But launching programs with one touch is just part of what it does. Keyboard Maestro can execute macros (sequences of events) at the touch of a key as well. For example, suppose you want your Mac to read a web page to you out loud. You may know the steps: turn on the "Reader" feature in Safari, select the text, then go to Edit/Speech/Start Speaking, but who wants to do all that? It's easy to tell Keyboard Maestro to do all of that for you, at the touch of a button. For another example, suppose you want to automatically quit the Microsoft Office Reminders program that pops up every time you restart your Mac. Keyboard Maestro can keep an eye out for Office Reminders, automatically sending it a "Quit" command as soon as it launches.

The examples above are actually things I use Keyboard Maestro for here. Yes, it takes a little work to set things up, but it's worth it. Teach Keyboard Maestro to do some of the menial tasks that slow you down each day and you'll free up your mind for bigger things.

Keyboard Maestro: $36. Free trial available. Click here for three videos demonstrating Keyboard Maestro's features.

Typinator
Typinator is a text expander: it watches what you type, and when you type certain sequences, it changes them into something else. For example, if I type "cbem" (4 characters) Typinator changes it to "macman@christianboyce.com" (25 characters) in the blink of an eye. I can get "Christian Boyce and Associates" (30 characters, complete with proper capitalization) by typing "cba" (3 characters). I can even assign the same expansion to two shortcuts-- for example, I've set it up so that "cb&a" also expands to "Christian Boyce and Associates" because I know I won't be able to remember whether I used the ampersand in the shortcut or not.

If that's all it did, I'd think it was great. But it does a lot more. I use it as a system-wide auto-correction feature, watching what I type and ensuring that things like iCal, iPhone, AT&T, AppleScript, MacBook Pro, and iMac are properly capitalized. I can be lazy about it (for example, I only have to type "mbp" to get "MacBook Pro" and "att" to get "AT&T"), and that saves keystrokes and reduces the chances of errors. It also makes my writing more consistent, because with Typinator watching me I'll always capitalize things the right way. No more accidentally writing "iPhone" one time and "iphone" another. (Ever make a typo in your own name? I've done it… but not since Typinator. Now, I type "cbname" and Typinator expands it to "Christian Boyce." How lazy can you get.

Typinator works in every program (at least, it works in every program I've tried it in: Mail, Pages, BBEdit, Text Wrangler, iCal/Calendar, Address Book/Contacts, RapidWeaver, FileMaker Pro, and many, many more). That means you can set up a shortcut once and have it work everywhere. (Don't want it to work everywhere? You can control that too. For example, maybe you don't want Typinator to be active in Safari. No problem: Typinator lets you turn expansion off on a program by program basis.)

Typinator is incredibly fast-- you'll never have to wait for it. Just type away and let Typinator clean up after you, saving you lots of keystrokes and fixing spelling and capitalization. It's also incredibly powerful-- I can type "ds" and get a date stamp (like this: Sunday, October 21st, 2012), and I can type "cbface" and Typinator replaces it with… you guessed it.. my face.

Incredible.

Typinator's great. I don't know what took me so long to discover it. Bonus: you can use Dropbox to keep your Typinator shortcuts in sync across multiple Macs. Imagine having all of the Macs in your office running the same set of Typinator shortcuts (company name, return address, standard boilerplate paragraphs, directions to the office, tech support answers, rates and policies, etc.) but only having to do the setting up once!
Typinator: 24.99 € (click here for conversion to US Dollars-- about $33 at press time). Free trial available. Click here for a short video demonstration of Typinator's powers.

Desktop Curtain
Desktop Curtain does a very simple thing-- it makes my Mac's desktop look neat and clean-- and it does it very well. A touch of a button is all it takes to go from messy to neat. I don't know about you, but for me a messy Mac is distracting. I like to focus on the thing I'm working on. Desktop Curtain takes care of that for me. Check out these before-and-after pictures.

Which Mac would you like working on? I know I like "After." Yes, you can come close to this with "Hide Others" in most apps but that always leaves the Desktop's cluttered-with-icons mess in the background. Desktop Curtain hides the Desktop's mess too, and that's what makes it so great. (Of course you can also simply quit every app you're not currently using but that isn't any fun. Better to simply toss a table-cloth over everything but the app you're currently focused on.)

I only wish I could "Desktop Curtain" my real desk (and my dining room table, and my bedroom floor). Now that would be a trick.
Desktop Curtain: $5. Free trial available here. Watch the video here.

Moom
Here's a big waste: a giant monitor and a single window filling it up (see below). The actual content of the web page shown below would fit just fine in a window half the size. In that case, it would be possible to have two windows open, side by side, in the space that used to display just one.

That last picture shows two websites, each taking EXACTLY half the screen. It's perfect. The only problem is, it's a pain to move windows around and resize them precisely, so hardly anyone does it. Instead, we just click the green "zoom" button and make each application's windows take up the entire screen-- even if half of the window is empty space.

Enter "Moom." Moom means "Move and Zoom" and it makes arranging windows really easy. Moom gives each window's green-dot zoom button super-powers, allowing you to move and resize a window with a single click of the mouse. No more clicking the green-dot zoom button and being surprised (and disappointed) when the window does not resize as expected. No more "first we move the window, then we resize it" stuff. Now, with Moom, it's one touch.

The bigger your Mac's display the more Moom can help you, because the bigger your Mac's display the more potentially wasted space. Moom helps you get more out of your display and it works in every program that has a standard green-dot zoom button. For $10 it's a no-brainer.
Moom: $10. Free trial available here. Demonstration video here.

Signature Profiler
Signature Profiler adds advanced features to the Signature part of Apple's Mail program. It lets you use "placeholders" in your signature(s), filling them in the moment you create a new email. The placeholders can include quotes taken at random from a list you create, or the name, artist, or album you're currently listening to in iTunes, or information related to the email account that you're writing from. I use Signature Profiler to keep my email signature up-to-date with a link to my latest blog post, and it's all automatic. Setting it up took a little thinking but after that it's been easy.

Power users can extend Signature Profiler using AppleScripts (and other kinds of scripts). This feature allows you to automatically insert dynamic information into your email signature, such as:

iChat status
Weather information
Stock prices
Number of days until your birthday
etc.

if you send a lot of email, and you'd like your signatures to be snappier (and a lot more dynamic), Signature Profiler is exactly what you need.
Signature Profiler: $12. Free trial available here. Tutorials available here.

There you have it. Five great bits of software that make my Mac life a whole lot better. They've helped me to do better work, more easily, and more pleasurably, day after day after day. Check 'em out for yourself and see if you don't agree. I think you will.

Six Safari 6 Tips (for Mac)

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 00:46:00 +0000

Safari 6 is loaded with features that you're not likely to stumble upon. Here are six of my favorites. Check 'em out:

1. If you type search criteria (or a web address) into the Unified Search Field, and hold the Shift key down when you hit Return, you get your results in a new page. So cool. For example, let's say you're on this web page (what a coincidence!), and now you want to do a Google search to find a Mac expert in Los Angeles. Type "Mac expert Los Angeles" into the Unified Smart Search Field, hold Shift, and then Return. Voila! Your search results are presented in a new window. This saves one keystroke: you used to have to hit Command-N for "New Window" and then type the search criteria, and then hit Return. Those saved keystrokes add up.

2. If you hold the Command key down when you click a link, the link opens in a new tab, in the background, rather than loading in the current tab. Of course this is customizable: see Safari's Preferences. Try unchecking "Command-click opens a link in a new tab"-- all of the options below also change.

3. If you want to scroll down a screenful, tap the spacebar. Want to go back up? Hold Shift and tap the spacebar.

4. If you want to scroll down a little, swipe down (or up, depending on how you've set things) with two fingers at the same time.

5. You can email an entire web page to someone, using File/Share/Email this Page. But sometimes you'd rather send just a link. In that case, hold the Shift key, and it changes to File/Share/Email Link to this Page.
(Bonus: if you're using Apple's Mail program-- please do-- you'll get a chance, in the Mail message itself, to change your mind about whether you want to send the whole page or just the link. Look carefully. Double-bonus: if you choose an option in your email, that option will be remembered until you change it, so future sharing of web pages will be just the way you like it.)

6. Ever quit Safari accidentally, closing all of your windows, and wish you could get them back? That's easy. Just go to the History menu and choose Reopen All Windows from Last Session. Really handy.

That's six, but that's not all there is and that's not all I like. Some of the other features that I really like in Safari are the Reading List and Reader. You should check them out. Or wait for me to write about them (next).

Big Day of Updates: iOS 6, Mountain Lion 10.8.2, and Lion 10.7.5

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Who says there's nothing new under the sun?

I don't, especially after today. All in one day, Apple released:

The short story: back up your devices, then go ahead with the updates.
(Click here for an excellent and exhaustive Macworld article on how to back up your device and then how to install the updates.)

Here's the longer story.

iOS 6

iOS 6 is the software that comes on the soon-to-be-available iPhone 5. But you don't have to buy an iPhone 5 to enjoy iOS 6, because it will run just fine on a variety of new-ish Apple i-devices. Here's what Apple says:

Apple claims 200 new features in iOS 6, but I stopped counting. Here are a few features that I noticed right away:

They added a clock app to the iPad. It's a lot like the one on the iPhone: world clock, alarms, stopwatch, timer. I'll use that for sure.
They upgraded "Cards" to a universal app, meaning it now runs natively on the iPad as well as on the iPhone.
Siri's gotten smarter. In particular, she knows a lot about sports. I asked her "Who's playing on Monday Night Football?" and here's what she told me:
I asked Siri "Who did UCLA play last week?" and she gave me this answer:
(Siri was right both times.)
Siri now knows how to launch apps. It's really great. You can say "Launch the calendar" and Siri does it for you.
With previous iOS versions, when the phone rang all you could do was answer it, decline it, or let it ring until it went to voice mail. In iOS 6, when the phone rings you get a new option, right next to the answer and decline buttons, and it lets you tap a button to send a quick text message to the sender, with "Can't talk right now" and then your custom one-touch message ("In a meeting," "I'll call you shortly," "I have to go in for an emergency appendectomy but I'll call you right after that"). It's a great way to tell people "I know you called and I'll be calling you back as soon as I'm able."
The Mail app checks for messages automatically, as before, but now will also check when you pull down on the list of messages. Used to be you had to tap the curvy arrow at the bottom. Pulling down on the list is easier (bigger target). Also, you can now be in Mail and add a photo as an attachment. Previously, you had to go to Photos first, then share the photo via email. This new way is more natural (as if sending images and text around the world by tapping on glass is "natural" in any way). Also, you can now do fancy HTML signatures as well as plain text ones, and you can have a different signature for each account (or the same one for all). It's a lot like the Mail program on the Mac.
Bye-bye, Google Maps. Hello, Apple Maps. The new Maps app does a better job of displaying traffic information than the old Maps app did, and it gives turn-by-turn directions (out loud). On the other hand, I've read that the new Maps has less information in it than the Google Maps app did, and that some of what is in the new Maps app is not so accurate. And the satellite views in Ireland are blocked by clouds. Among other issues.
iOS 6 now has a "Do Not Disturb" feature that lets you specify "Quiet Hours" when you don't want to be bothered by phone calls, texts, and other notifications. It's customizable, so you can let your favorites (in the Phone app) get through while blocking everybody else. You can also set it to ring if a person really, really wants to get through (two phone calls within 3 minutes from the same number). Or not.
The App Store app doesn't quit when you download something. Instead, you stay right there in the App Store, so you can immediately download something else. And, new apps have a little blue "New" sash across them, Miss America-style, making them easier to find on your Home screens. Updated apps don't get this treatment but I think they should.

Did I mention that iOS 6 is free?

You can get it through the air and you can get it via USB cable. Either way, be sure you're backed up first. Read Macworld's very thorough article on how to install iOS 6 and you'll have all you need to know. Yes, I know I told you before. It's a great article.

Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion)

This is the update we've been waiting for: the first one to really address problems found in the initial release of Mountain Lion. The list of new features goes on and on (and here is Apple's web page telling you all about them) but the biggies are Facebook integration, a return to the old Save As method (maybe you didn't notice, but 10.8.0 and 10.8.1 had a very weird way of doing a Save As), and better integration between Messages on the Mac and iMessages on iOS. There are also bug fixes, but Apple is pretty quiet about what they've fixed.
As with all system updates, the first thing you ought to do is back things up. If you're using Time Machine, just go to the Time Machine menu and tell it to "Back Up Now." The next thing you ought to do is click this link to go to Apple's site to download the 10.8.2 Combo Update. Download it, then install it, and after a restart you're all set. Enjoy.
You are probably wondering why you can't just use Software Update and get the update that way. Well, you can. But in my experience, the Combo Update method is better. The Combo Update contains everything needed to take the system from 10.8.0 to 10.8.2, while the incremental update from Software Update only has the difference between 10.8.2 and 10.8.1. Applying the Combo Update can "freshen up" a system that's misbehaving or behaving erratically. It takes a little longer but it's worth it. That's how I do it, and that's what you should do too. If you've already gone to 10.8.2 via the Software Update method you can still apply the 10.8.2 Combo Update. Naturally there is no charge whether you get the update "my way" or via Software Update.
If you're on 10.8.1 going to 10.8.2 is a no-brainer. Back things up then go for it. If you're on 10.7 and were waiting for the right time to go to 10.8, now is that time.

Mac OS X 10.7.5 (Lion)

Some of our older machines can't run Mountain Lion-- the highest they can go is Lion. I have a machine like that myself. Apple's 10.7.5 is available as a Combo Update via this link-- click to read all about it, then download and install. Of course you'll back up first. This update is basically bug fixes, and because of that if you're on 10.7.x you will probably have a better experience after the update is applied. As with the 10.8.2 update, you could use Software Update and get the incremental update but it's better to do it the Combo Update way. Either way, it's free. So back things up, and then update.

The Stirring Conclusion

It turns out that I applied all of these updates to my own devices today: iOS 6 to my iPhone 4S and iPad 2, Mountain Lion 10.8.2 to my iMac i5, and Lion 10.7.5 to my black MacBook. They are all tied together via iCloud, which is pretty much invisible but obviously being improved behind our backs. The connection between my Apple stuff is better than ever before, with Photo Stream (an iCloud component) working faster than ever, to name one noticeable improvement. Little by little everything is coming together, and I like it. You will too.

BetterTouchTool Puts the Magic into Apple's Magic Trackpad

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 03:00:00 +0000

This is Apple's Magic Trackpad. It's like a MacBook Pro's trackpad, only bigger, and designed for use with a desktop Mac. I'm using one with my iMac and after a couple of days getting used to it, I'm hooked. I think you will be too.

The Magic Trackpad has a couple of big advantages compared to the mouse. First, you don't need a lot of room on your desk to use the Magic Trackpad. In fact, you don't need any room on your desk to use the Magic Trackpad. Just place it on top of the giant pile of stuff where your desk used to be and the Magic Trackpad is ready to go.

Second, the entire surface of the Magic Trackpad is clickable. That's a big target, which means you don't have to put your clicking finger into any particular position in order to click. Your finger(s) get to move around. This reduces repetitive motion, which is what tires out your clicking fingers. Also, you can program the Magic Trackpad to click with just a tap instead of a full-on "click," reducing effort.

The Magic Trackpad is wireless, comes with batteries, and is $69 (list price). You can save a little (and support this blog) by getting it at Amazon.

You get to customize the Magic Trackpad's settings to a certain degree using Apple's Trackpad Preference Pane in the System Preferences. It defaults to having everything turned on, but you'll probably want to turn a few things off, at least at first, lest you inadvertently trigger some action by making an accidental gesture you didn't know existed. If you have a Magic Trackpad (or, come to think of it, if you have ANY kind of trackpad, including the built-in ones on the MacBooks and MacBook Pros), a careful review of the options available in the Trackpad Preference Pane is well worth the time. You might, for example, want to turn off the "two-finger double-tap smart zoom." That one drives unsuspecting users absolutely bonkers.

I told you what to turn off. Now let's talk about turning something on: namely, the free "BetterTouchTool (donations accepted). With BetterTouchTool your Magic Trackpad will be ultra-configurable, super-programmable, and highly-personalizable. Here's how I've used it to configure my Magic Trackpad:

That is, if I tap in the top left corner of my Magic Trackpad, the Contacts app comes to the front. Top center: Safari. Top right: Mail. At the bottom, I have a button to toggle the effects of Desktop Curtain (it hides all other apps, and also hides desktop icons, making it easier to focus). I also have buttons to toggle Mission Control and to show the Desktop. Sure, you can do some or all of this from the keyboard, but for me the trackpad is handier. The keyboard requires a firmer touch, and when you're switching between apps all day it's nice to do it without having to press very hard.

I also added a three-finger-tap-in-the-middle-of-the-trackpad gesture to automatically center the frontmost window. Very handy. I use it all the time. And, in case you're hungry for more, get a load of the things that BetterTouchTool can do:

Here's what BetterTouchTool looks like (these are the settings that I use). Note that it has sections for the Magic Mouse and the keyboard in addition to the one for the Magic Trackpad. Which means-- Dave-- that you could use BetterTouchTool to create a keyboard shortcut for moving windows from screen to screen on your enviable two-monitor rig.

You might be wondering what took me so long to get on board with the Magic Trackpad. After all, it's been out more than a year. The answer is that I had grand ideas for programming one but hadn't found the software I needed to do it. Now, in BetterTouchTool, I have.

Mountain Lion Hints and Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:37:00 +0000

I've had Apple's $19.99 Mountain Lion installed here on an iMac (2.7 GHz Intel Core i5) for about two weeks, enough time to find a few niceties and doodads that you might be interested in. Here goes.

Address Book has been renamed "Contacts" (matching the iPhone and iPad apps) and it has some improvements. First, the no-one-understands-this-feature red bookmark is gone. Replacing it: a useful three-column view showing the Groups list, the current contacts list, and the current contract. Second, Contacts handles drag-and-drop of vCards better than Address Book did. You can click on a person's name in the contacts list and drag it to Now Contact and the person is added to Now Contact with no additional steps. Previously, the vCard had to make a temporary stop on the Desktop-- you could not drag straight to Now Contact. But now you can. I don't know whether it's because Contacts is better than Address Book, or whether Mountain Lion is better than Lion. All I know is it works.

iCal has been renamed "Calendar" and it's a little bit better now. Calendar shows "mini months" and they're clickable-- click on a mini month and Calendar displays that month. Also, Calendar once again shows the calendar list, like it did in 10.6. Apple taketh away, then Apple giveth back, then I writeth it up as if it's a new feature.

Nice Touch, Apple: if you use Spotlight to search for "iCal" it brings up Calendar, and if you search for "Address Book" it brings up Contacts. This makes it easier for those with old habits. Also, if you have AppleScripts that refer to Address Book and/or iCal, they are magically changed to refer to Contacts and Calendar-- without you doing anything. VERY nice, Apple. Thoughtful and thorough.

Mail has a new feature called "VIPs." You can tell Mail that messages from this person, that person, and the other person are important-- that is, their senders are "VIPs." From then on, messages from those senders show up in a special "VIPs" mailbox. (Actually, each VIP gets his own mailbox, and they're all grouped together in an expandable folder). The emails still show up in your Inbox but they also show up in the VIPs section. This is nothing but a "Smart Mailbox" that looks for mail from certain senders, so it's nothing really "new" but it is a lot easier to set up.

In the picture below you can see 3389 unread messages in the Inbox but only 171 unreads in the VIP list. I still need to read the rest of them but with the VIPs at least I know where to start. Note: messages are not "moved" to the VIP list. They are DISPLAYED there but not actually moved. You can still find them in the Inbox, so you get to have your cake and eat it too. Yum, cake.

(Elevate someone to VIP status by mousing over the address section in an email, then clicking on the star.)

I'm into the address book (I mean Contacts), Calendar, and Mail all day long so these improvements help me a lot. They're small, but when you benefit hundreds of times a day it really adds up. I'd have paid $19.99 for these improvements alone.

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Advice and Info

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 03:36:00 +0000

Apple released Mountain Lion today, also known as OS X 10.8. This comes less than a month after the MobileMe-to-iCloud transition deadline, which means less than a month after a whole lot of people converted to OS X 10.7 (Lion). My advice, based on over 21 years of full-time Mac consulting, is wait. Mountain Lion looks like a real improvement to Lion, with new apps and new refinements, but who knows for sure that the things you need to do can still be done with 10.8? Will Quicken work? How about Microsoft Office, and Adobe's Creative Suite? How about your printer and your scanner? How about your Apple Fax Modem? (Actually, scratch that last one: the Apple Fax Modem quit working in 10.7.)

Apple no doubt is hard at work on a 10.8.1 update, and probably has been for weeks. This may come as a shock but Apple's software-- like everyone else's-- is released with known bugs and imperfections, for the simple reason that if you wait until your software's perfect you'll never ship anything. You have to draw a line and say "This is good enough, let's ship it, and let's get going on an update." "Point One" updates, then, generally address bugs that Apple identifies prior to shipping "Point Zero." While they're working on the Point One update, early adopters-- those using the initial release-- are finding new bugs and incompatibilities, stuff that isn't on Apple's list yet. Those issues generally have to wait for the "Point Two" update. And that's what you should do, if you can stand it.

I shouldn't tempt you, but here are a couple of links to educate you about Mountain Lion.
Click here to see Apple's short video touting Mountain Lion's new features. Click here to read John Siracusa's extensive Ars Technica review of Mountain Lion. (The video takes 5 minutes and 30 seconds to play. Siracusa's review, which as usual is the best of the best, took me over two hours to read.) Click here to visit Roaring Apps, home of the best Mountain Lion compatibility table on the web.

Mountain Lion is available for $19.95 and only through the Mac App Store (under the Apple menu, or via this link). When you click the button to buy it you may be turned, away due to the age of your Mac. You won't be charged in that case, so go ahead and experiment.

How to Use Rules in Mail to Process Email Automatically

noreply@blogger.com (Christian Boyce) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 23:12:00 +0000

In the olden days, mail came in an envelope and if you were lucky, a secretary went through the mail for you, prioritizing and filing and sometimes handling things personally so you wouldn't have to. Unfortunately, most of our mail comes electronically, but fortunately, we can create a "virtual secretary" to process your mail, reducing your work and making you feel as if you're in control of your email instead of the other way around. We do it using a feature called "Rules" in Apple's Mail. Here's how it works.

StatCounter.com emails me a report every week with statistics about my website. Those reports are important to my business so I don't want to miss reading them. My idea: I'll colorize the emails from StatCounter.com, turning them purple so they stand out.

I'll start by opening Mail's Preferences (Mail/Preferences…). In Preferences, I click Rules. Apple gives us the "News From Apple" Rule by default-- it looks for emails from Apple and sets their backgrounds to a light blue. (You may have seen this in action on your own Mac and wondered how it was done. Now you know.)

Now I click Add Rule. There's a place to name my rule, so I do. In the menu that shows "Any recipient" I change that to "From" and I put in the email address that I'll ask Mail to watch for. BONUS HINT: if you click on an email of the sort you're trying to watch for, before making the new Rule, Mail will fill in the blanks for "From" and "Subject" etc. for you. Very nice.

Reading from top to bottom in the picture below, I've set it up so that messages where the "From" contains "reports@statcounter.com" will have their text changed to purple (I chose my own shade of purple by choosing "Other" in the pop-up menu). The text we're talking about here is the stuff that shows up in the list of emails, not in the body of the email itself. We're not changing the email, we're just changing how it looks in the list.

I'm happy with the Rule so I click OK. This is where things can go terribly wrong, so be careful now.

You would think that the correct answer would be Apply. The problem with this is, clicking Apply applies ALL of the Rules (not just the one we just created) and it applies them to every piece of mail in whichever mailbox we're looking at. Likely that's the Inbox. In this case, there would be no problems, but suppose I already had a Rule to automatically forward every piece of email from a particular customer to someone on my staff. If those emails were still in my Inbox, and if I clicked Apply, that Rule would be applied to those same messages AGAIN, so they'd be forwarded AGAIN, and my staff would get them AGAIN, and there'd be a lot of confusion about why a bunch of old messages were suddenly forwarded as if they were something new. No, the answer here is to click Don't Apply. That doesn't mean the Rule won't be saved-- it will be. It just means you want to be in control of things.

It's important to know that Rules are applied to mail as it comes in. That's it-- just that one time (unless of course you choose Apply when making a new rule, but you wouldn't do that after I warned you not to, would you?). Actually, there is one more time that Rules are applied, and that's when you tell Mail to do it by choosing Apply Rules from the Message menu, as shown below.

The difference between choosing Apply Rules in the menu and clicking the Apply button in the Rules dialog box is, choosing Apply Rules only affects the messages that you've selected, while the Apply button affects every message in the mailbox you're looking at. So, if you want to apply Rules to certain selected messages, just highlight them and choose Apply Rules. That way, even if you've made a mistake somewhere, the impact is small, since you won't select a thousand messages at once (I hope). Think of it this way: you make a Rule to handle future emails (as they arrive). If you want to go back and select some messages and apply your Rules, that's fine. Just know that you are applying ALL of the rules to the selected messages. It would be nice if we could apply one Rule at a time but Mail does not provide this feature.

After selecting my StatCounter emails (I searched for them first), I applied my Rules to those selected messages only, and here's what I got.

Hey, it works! Now I'll go back to the Rule and make it a little better by automatically filing the emails as they arrive. I don't have to make a new Rule-- I can simply modify the one I already have. Once it's open, I click the little "+" at then end of the colorizing step, and it gives me more options. Here I've chose to file the mail into a folder called "2 NEED TO ACT ON."

You get a lot of options. Here they are:

I worked a few more actions into my Rule so that in addition to being colored purple and filed automatically, messages from reports@statcounter.com will trigger a sound and also be forwarded to someone else for review. Here's how that looks.

This is powerful stuff. In real life, I have many, many rules. Messages from Southwest Airlines are forwarded to the TripIt service (they put my travel schedule into my calendar, automatically). Messages from Mom are announced (I made a recording that says "Mom sent you an email" so news from home gets my attention). Messages that tell me about appointments have their backgrounds set to light green. Messages with invoices attached have their text set to dark green. Messages that come from certain senders (spammers) are sent to the Junk folder (because sometimes the Junk mail filters miss things). All in all, Mail Rules do a whole lot of filing and sorting and processing for me, and they can do the same for you. I highly recommend you make use of this incredible, time-saving feature.

(Outlook users: for you it's almost the same. Go to the Tools menu and choose Rules. Just be sure you pick the right kind of Rule: IMAP Rules for IMAP accounts, POP Rules for POP accounts, and so on. It's only a little more trouble.)

Thanks to Managed Service Customer Patty L. for suggesting I blog about Rules.