Make a simple slideshow with Keynote.app
Mac Tip #452, 01 September 2010

Do you do presentations? Apple’s Keynote.app, part of the iWork suite, makes creating presentations fun. Here’s how to get started with a very simple slideshow. Future Tips will add detail.

iWork replaces MS Office

Apple’s iWork suite (NZ$179, US$79) gives you a word processor and page layout program called Pages, a spreadsheet called Numbers, and presentation software called Keynote. They’re a delight to use, and years ago I replaced Microsoft Office with them.

Keynote is for presentations

As a trainer and presenter I quite often need to show ‘slides’ to the groups I work with. That’s where Keynote comes to the fore.

I add my graphics, text, sounds and video to Keynote as I prepare for my presentation. Then when I give my talk I plug my computer into a projector and perhaps a sound system to show the slides.

In this Tip I’m using Keynote ’09, version 5.0.4.

Choose a Theme

When you open Keynote the Theme Chooser window appears. You need to make 2 important choices in this window:

1. Choose the Theme that determines the look of your slides.
2. Choose the correct Slide Size. 800*600 is a fairly safe choice for many common projectors.

There are around 45 different themes to choose from. Hover over any theme and move your mouse a little to see a quick display of all the various layouts available in that theme.

Each theme uses different fonts and colours. You can change to a different theme later, or even modify a theme, but it’s a good idea to start with one that seems right for your project.

For this Tip I’ll choose the Vellum theme. Click on a theme and after choosing a slide size, click the Choose button. After a few moment a new, empty Keynote presentation file appears, displaying a single blank slide.

The Keynote window

By default Keynote opens with a window that shows a Toolbar across the top, a list of slides down the left and the individual slide on the right. It shows the Title slide for your presentation.

Double click to edit

The default Title slide probably shows two separate text areas, both with the default text Double click to edit. Double click in each area and type the title of your presentation and a byline if you need one. The text will be displayed using the default font, color and size for the theme you chose.

Add a new slide

To add a second slide:

• Choose New Slide from the Slide menu; or
• Press Command (⌘) Shift (⇧) N; or
• Press the + button in the Toolbar.

A new blank slide appears, this time using the default ordinary slide for the theme you chose. Again, double click where it tells you to so you can add text. The default ordinary slide may show a heading and body area, or for some themes it may show space for photos.

Change the style of slide

To change the style of the slide — eg to be able to add a photo or bullet points — click on the Masters button on the Toolbar. A menu appears showing all the styles of slide available in the theme you chose. There should be choices that include blank, bullet points, photos, and various arrangements of text. Choose the style you need for this slide. If you choose a photo style, the slide will contain a placeholder photo.

Add a photo to a slide

If you chose a slide style that includes a placeholder photo, you don’t need to remove the photo before you add your own.

There are many ways to add a photo to a slide. Here’s just one: drag it in from the Finder. As you drag the replacement photo over the existing placeholder a blue border appears around the placeholder and the cursor changes to show an arrow, with a green + below it.

Drop your new photo in and it replaces the existing image.

Continue adding text and images to slides, until you have everything in place.

Move a slide

You may find you need to switch Slide #3 and Slide #4. Here’s one way: drag the thumbnail of the slide in the left-column into a new position. A blue line and arrow mark the current position of the slide as you drag it. Drop it when it’s in the right place.

Play the slideshow

To see how your presentation is looking select the first slide and Play the slideshow:

• Choose Play Slideshow from the Play menu; or
• Press Command (⌘) Option (⌥) P; or
• Press the Play (▸) button in the Toolbar.

Press the right or left arrow keys on your keyboard to move to the next or previous slide. Press the Escape key to exit the slideshow.

Save and Export

When you’ve made all your slides and completed the presentation save it (File > Save).

You can now run the slideshow from your Mac.

Or choose File > Export… to export your slideshow to Quicktime, Powerpoint, PDF, HTML, iPod format or as a set of images.

There’s much much more

The steps above will see you through a very simple slideshow, and may be sufficient for your needs. Keynote is very powerful though and can do a great deal more than could possibly be explained in a single Tip. Future Tips will show you how to add more file types, customise single slides or a whole theme, how to work with images and graphs, and how to add a bit of flair with builds and transitions.

Tell us in the Comments about your experiences with Keynote.

Keyboard Maestro Clipboard and Scripts
Mac Tip #451, 25 August 2010

Keyboard Maestro can make your work quicker and easier. As a writer, I use the Filter Clipboard actions all the time to clean up text, and I love the way it can run Applescripts and even Shell scripts for me. Here’s how.

Please read Turn 100 steps into 1 with Keyboard Maestro, Point and Click with Keyboard Maestro and Keyboard Maestro Triggers and Actions for more tips on how to use Keyboard Maestro.

Use the coupon MacTips for a 20% discount on Keyboard Maestro. [Updated] This offer expires at the end of October 2010. It’s free to test the software.

Filter Clipboard

Tech Universe headline.

When I compile my daily Tech Universe column for the NZ Herald I have to write the headline in all caps, and the rest of it in ordinary sentence case. Somehow I almost always forget to use Caps Lock and my headline ends up lower case.

I have several choices to make it upper case, such as retyping it, or using 4 clicks to choose a suitable menu item to do the job. Instead Keyboard Maestro does it for me, with a Filter Clipboard action.

My uppercase macro.

Clipboard filters do many handy things with text you copy, such as removing styles, making text upper or lower case, counting words, or making an HTML list.

Here’s how to make a macro to Uppercase some text.

1. Make a macro, as explained in previous Tips.
2. Set a Trigger.
3. Add an action to Copy selected text.
4. Add a Filter Clipboard action and select Uppercase from its options.
5. Add an action to Paste selected text.

Note that Keyboard Maestro offers a dozen or more options for how to handle what’s on the Clipboard, including such handy items as counting words and characters, removing styles and encoding HTML entities.

Keyboard Maestro Filter Clipboard options.

When you use the macro on selected text it copies the text, makes it all upper case and then pastes the modified text over the original.

Restore a previous Clipboard

The problem with some macros is that if you use a Copy or Paste action you might wipe out something you’d copied previously to the Clipboard and had intended to keep.

For example, let’s say I copy the text http://mactips.info because I want to paste it in somewhere. Before I can paste it, and as I continue writing, I may use my Uppercase action on a different piece of text, perhaps the word test. When I go to paste in http://mactips.info it’s no longer on the Clipboard and instead I get the word test.

To get around this problem add a final action that restores a previous Clipboard: Set Clipboard To Past Clipboard 2, where 2 is a number you choose.

I chose 2 specifically because I needed to ignore both the Copy (step 1) and Paste (step 2) actions and get my original text back.

Incorporate Applescripts and Shell scripts

I use Applescript a lot in my work, and know enough about Shell scripts to be dangerous. To learn more about Applescript, see my series:

1. Applescript 101
2. Applescript 102
3. Applescript 103

Shell scripts are instructions you send directly to your Mac through the Command Line Interface. Take a look at Mac Tip #126/05-Nov-2003, A Historic Terminal for a glimpse into that world, and also because I base an example below on that one.

Use Applescripts

First create your Applescript. For example, this simple script speaks the text Hello Miraz. Most Applescripts would be a lot longer and more complex.

say "Hello Miraz."

Either save your Applescript as a script, or copy all the code, ready to paste into Keyboard Maestro.

Keyboard Maestro script options.

1. Make a macro, as explained in previous Tips.
2. Set a Trigger.
3. Add an action to Execute Applescript.
4. Choose to either Execute text scripts or Execute script file from its options. If you choose the ‘text script’ option you then paste your script into the text box, otherwise you then choose the saved script file from your computer.
5. Choose how to handle the results, such as display results in a window or type results. How you handle results depends on what your script does.

One of the strengths of Keyboard Maestro is that you can add actions before or after the script, or even ‘chain’ scripts together.

When you trigger the macro, Keyboard Maestro runs the script and carries out any other actions you added.

Use Shell scripts

Keyboard Maestro execute a Shell script.

Sometimes when you want to get your Mac to do something for you helpful people on forums and elsewhere will say That’s easy with this Shell script and then produce a bunch of code like this:
cat /usr/share/calendar/calendar* | grep `date +"09/11"`
or like this: pmset -g batt.

Except usually it’s a whole lot longer. One I use is about 100 lines long.

The first example above tells you what happened on a particular date. In the example, the date is 11 September.

The second example shows me how my MacBook Pro’s battery is doing: how much charge is left and how long I can expect to keep using it before the battery runs out.

Keyboard Maestro results of a Shell script.

To use a Shell script you take the same steps as for an Applescript, except that the Action you need is Execute shell script.

I use the option to display results briefly, and because I have Growl installed the info I want shows in a small transparent window that disappears after a few moments.

The window display options are configured inside Growl.

Last in the Series

This is the last in this series of Keyboard Maestro tips, and Peter Lewis, the developer has kindly extended the 20% discount until the end of October 2010.

The About window tells me I’ve saved around 7 hours with Keyboard Maestro. That’ll be for the 4 months or so that I’ve been using this particular Mac.

There’s a lot more to explore in the program, and the Documentation will help you with that. Go and give it a try.

Use the coupon MacTips for a 20% discount on Keyboard Maestro. [Updated] This offer expires at the end of October 2010.

Have you used Keyboard Maestro yet? Tell us about your experiences in the Comments. Have you found any great Tips? Share them with us.

Keyboard Maestro Triggers and Actions
Mac Tip #450, 18 August 2010

Keyboard Maestro can work your Mac for you, but you need to tell it what to do and when to do it. This Tip explains Triggers, Options within Actions and how to Record a Macro.

Please read Turn 100 steps into 1 with Keyboard Maestro and Point and Click with Keyboard Maestro for a refresher on the basics of Keyboard Maestro.

Use the coupon MacTips for a 20% discount on Keyboard Maestro. [Updated] This offer expires at the end of October 2010. It’s free to test the software.

Please subscribe to the MacTips channel. Or just visit this video on YouTube, leave comments and rate it, as that helps spread the word about the MacTips.

Triggers

Previous Tips showed how to set up some macros for Keyboard Maestro to work with, but a big consideration is how to trigger a macro. There are triggers like typing something, clicking a button, choosing a menu item, or even setting things to happen at a certain time.

Here are some details about a few specific triggers. There are full details about all the Triggers on the Keyboard Maestro website.

Hot Key and Typed String

Keyboard Maestro Hot Key trigger: Home is pressed.

A Hot Key may be something like pressing Return or F8. You choose which key it will be and whether the trigger is simply held down or pressed or released.

How to choose the Hot Key and its options:

1. Click the green + beside a trigger and choose Hot Key Trigger from the menu that appears. Hot Key options appear below the words This hot key:.
2. Click the arrow (▾) beside the field highlighted in blue and labelled Type. Many keys, such as Return, Enter and Clear are listed. Choose the key you want to use. Its name replaces the word Type.
3. Click on the is pressed option to the right of the key selection box. A menu appears with choices: is pressed, is down, and is released. Choose the state that suits your project.

Now when you press, release or hold down the selected key the macro will leap into action.

A Typed String is where you may type something like teh. A possible Action is to automatically replace what’s typed by a correction. I explained that in the first Tip. Of course, you can choose any actions you like — perhaps opening a program, runing a script or something else.

Keyboard Maestro Time trigger.

Time Trigger

A Time Trigger activates at a selected time on selected days. My screenshot shows a Time Trigger that will activate at 08:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Select either the hour or minutes, then use the arrows beside the time field to increase or decrease the hours or minutes by 1. Or just type a new time.

When you create a new Time Trigger, all the days are selected. Click on any day to toggle the selection.

Keyboard Maestro Status Menu and Macro Palette.

Status Menu Trigger

The Status Menu appears in the Menu Bar. If you choose this as a Trigger the name of the macro will appear under the Keyboard Maestro Menu Bar icon.

The Status menu always appears, if you choose that Option in Preferences, whether there are any available macros or not.

The screenshot shows my Status Menu open, with about a dozen macros available.

Macro Palette Trigger

The Macro Palette Trigger is a bit tricky.

It appears in my screenshot as a dark grey button ‘floating’ on screen, and displaying the Keyboard Maestro icon. If I hover over it, it opens up to list available macros.

Keyboard Maestro Macro Palette — open.

The thing is, that if you don’t have any active macros that use it, then it doesn’t appear at all. Nor does it appear if you close it by clicking the grey x in the top left corner.

To be able to use the Macro Palette choose it as a Trigger for an Action. Then when you hover over the Macro Palette it expands so you can click an item. It collapses again when you move the mouse away.

To relocate the Macro Palette on screen hover over it to expand it, then drag by the Title Bar.

Options within Actions

Most Actions provide options for how they will work. For example, the Manipulate a Window action could resize a specific window by a percentage or a number of pixels, move the window to a specific location, close it or do various other things.

Keyboard Maestro Action details.

These options are slightly hidden. On any Action, look for the disclosure arrow (▹) beside the Action and click it to reveal more options. Also look for a double-headed arrow beside any text as it shows you can click an item to bring up a menu of options.

Record a Macro

Keyboard Maestro record a macro.

You may wish to click somewhere on screen or resize a window to certain dimensions as part of an Action.

There’s no need to guess at the co-ordinates for such activities: instead Record a Macro. Keyboard Maestro will record everything you do, including extra clicks and actions.

After recording you can delete the extra stuff, or just pick out the smaller actions you wanted to do and use them in another Macro.

To Record a Macro make a new Action, then click the Record button at the bottom of the window. A red ‘alert’ appears under the Actions list in the Macro and a red ‘Recording’ button appears on screen.

Now click on windows, move things, open applications and so on. Keyboard Maestro records everything you do.

When you’re finished recording click on the red Recording button to stop recording.

Now sift through the recorded Actions to locate those you need. This is a great way to discover the co-ordinates for clicking the mouse as part of a larger action.

Triggers and Actions lie at the core of Keyboard Maestro. Just remember to look a little below the surface to access its full power.

Use the coupon MacTips for a 20% discount on Keyboard Maestro. [Updated] This offer expires at the end of October 2010.

Have you used Keyboard Maestro yet? Tell us about your experiences in the Comments. Have you found any great Tips? Share them with us.

Point and Click with Keyboard Maestro
Mac Tip #449, 11 August 2010

Keyboard Maestro lets you set up sequences of actions, called macros, and then does them for you. For example, I can set it up to start an application, enter defined text in the right place, click and carry out some menu actions. And so can you. Here are some guidelines and tips.

Please read Turn 100 steps into 1 with Keyboard Maestro for a refresher on the basics of Keyboard Maestro.

Use the coupon MacTips for a 20% discount on Keyboard Maestro. [Updated] This offer expires at the end of October 2010. It’s free to test the software.

Please subscribe to the MacTips channel. Or just visit this video on YouTube, leave comments and rate it, as that helps spread the word about the MacTips.

An example sequence

In this Tip I’ll use Keyboard Maestro to open a web browser and go to an URL, then to copy the URL from the browser, open Network Utility and run a Traceroute — all with one click.

My purpose is to show how to use Keyboard Maestro to open a program, click in specified places, insert text in a field, and get information from one program into another.

The all-important Pause

Keyboard Maestro Pause action.

As human beings, when we work through a sequence of actions, such as opening a web browser and typing in an URL, we know when and how long to wait before we take the next step. A web browser may open instantly, or there may be some delay — perhaps if our computer is busy on some other task.

One common reason for macros to fail is because everything happened too quickly. We need to build in delays at certain points, to make sure the previous step has been completed before trying to do the next step.

When you add Actions to a macro, insert a Pause action from time to time, and set it to maybe 5 seconds or longer. Then in testing see if you can reduce it to a shorter pause.

Macros can include other macros

Move and resize a window.

I have a handy macro that moves and resizes a web browser window. I just like my windows tidy. But moving a window is also a handy trick when you need to click in a specific place.

By moving a window to a defined location, you know that clicking at certain co-ordinates will always hit the target. If you don’t move it first, then the window may not be where you think it is — perhaps you moved it some other time by accident — and your click may miss.

Open Firefox and go to an URL

Keyboard Maestro go to an URL.

I set up this sequence of actions to cause Firefox to open my MacTips website:

Activate Firefox

This either opens Firefox if it’s not already open (which may take a few moments), or brings it to the front.

Pause for 3 seconds

If Firefox isn’t already open it may take a few seconds to start up. On my machine 3 seconds seems to be long enough. On your machine it may open more quickly or more slowly.

Execute a macro

This is my macro that moves the window to the top left of my screen: the co-ordinates for the top left corner of the window are 1 pixel across and 22 pixels down. The menu bar takes up 22 pixels. I like that 1 pixel of space on the left too. This macro also sets the size of the window to the dimensions I prefer: 1155 pixels wide and 800 tall.

Type the Command (⌘) T keystroke.

This makes a new Tab, so it doesn’t disturb any web page I might already have open.

Type the Command (⌘) L keystroke.

This puts the cursor in the Location Bar, ready for the address. Making a new Tab should have put the cursor in the right place. This is just in case it didn’t.

Insert Text by Pasting

This enters the URL I specify in the Action, in this case: http://mactips.info.

Type the Return keystroke.

This causes Firefox to attempt to go to the URL specified above.

With any luck, the web page will soon be displayed in the Firefox tab.

Test the macro

My macro worked and called up MacTips.

Now use the trigger you’ve set for the macro and see if it works. Remember: the macro relies on putting the cursor in the Location Bar in Firefox so don’t click elsewhere while the macro’s running. Just wait.

If the macro doesn’t work, look to see where it failed. You may need to add more or longer pauses. For example, if it started Firefox but didn’t even put the URL in the Location Bar, maybe Firefox wasn’t ready in time. Add a longer pause before trying to paste in the URL.

Run a Traceroute

Sometimes if you can’t reach a website you might use Network Utility to run a Traceroute — it helps identify where the problem is. This next macro:

1. copies an URL from the browser
2. opens Network Utility
3. calls up the Traceroute tab
4. pastes in the URL
5. edits the domain slightly
6. sets the Trace running.

Caveat: I assume the URL is in this form: http://mactips.info/. If it’s more like this: http://mactips.info/2010/08/turn-100-steps-into-1-with-keyboard-maestro then my editing won’t be sufficient.

Run a Traceroute.

Get the URL

Activate the browser, type the Command (⌘) L keystroke to put the cursor in the Location Bar, and then type the Command (⌘) C keystroke to copy the URL. Note: The Copy Action is a quick way to get the Command (⌘) C keystroke .

Activate Network Utility and place window

Activate Network Utility and pause to give it time to start, then move the window so its top left corner is placed at 6 pixels across by 22 down, so we can place subsequent clicks exactly, and pause again to give the window time to move.

Click on the Traceroute tab

Click at the correct co-ordinates (on my screen, and after the move in the previous step, that’s 366 pixels across and 48 down). This activates the Traceroute tab. I couldn’t find any keystroke or menu item to call it up, so clicking was the only way.

Paste and edit the URL

The URL I copied from the browser was: http://mactips.info/, but Traceroute doesn’t like that. After pasting in the copied URL I need to delete the trailing slash by pressing Delete. Then pressing Option (⌥) ← (left arrow) puts the cursor after the http:// portion. Press Delete 7 more times to remove it. Note: The Paste Action is a quick way to get the Command (⌘) V keystroke .

Press the Trace button

Finally Keyboard Maestro can press the Trace button to initiate the trace.

Traceroute.

How to prevent frustration and annoyance

It takes a lot of writing to describe anything step by step. It may seem like a lot of hard work to set up a macro, and it can take a while. You have to think through the steps. Luckily Keyboard Maestro can help by recording a macro for you, but more on that later.

If you spend 10 minutes setting up a macro that will save you 1 minute per day all year (6 hours over the year!), then you’re winning after the first few days.

And for me it’s not always about time savings either. It’s more the sheer annoyance of having to click a dozen times to do something that’s quite mindless really. One of my macros saves me 5 tedious clicks on a single web page I visit every day. I love it!

Use the coupon MacTips for a 20% discount on Keyboard Maestro. [Updated] This offer expires at the end of October 2010.

Have you used Keyboard Maestro yet? Tell us about your experiences in the Comments. Have you found any great Tips? Share them with us.

Turn 100 steps into 1 with Keyboard Maestro
Mac Tip #448, 04 August 2010

Computers are supposed to make our lives easier. So how is it we sometimes have to go through the same routine time after time: click this, open that, copy the other? If you find yourself doing mindless, repetitive tasks your computer should be doing, then you probably need Keyboard Maestro. It’s one of my most valued applications.

Keyboard Maestro lets you set up sequences of actions, or macros, and then does them for you. Watch your computer do the work, instead of the other way round. Let me show you how it works.

This first tip introduces Keyboard Maestro and shows one single way to expand some text. The program has infinitely more power than that though, so watch for future Tips too.

Use the coupon MacTips for a 20% discount on Keyboard Maestro. [Updated] This offer expires at the end of October 2010. It’s free to test the software.

Please subscribe to the MacTips channel. Or just visit this video on YouTube, leave comments and rate it, as that helps spread the word about the MacTips.

Leave the work to the machine

One website I visit gives me reports on advertising revenue. Once I log in I have to click 5 times just to get the report. I’ve set up a Keyboard Maestro macro to handle those 5 clicks for me.

I also sometimes use Keyboard Maestro to type bits of text that I hate typing myself, or where I always make typos. For example, I have a terrible habit of typing keyboard with the o and a switched around: keybaord. A macro fixes it without my even thinking about it. (I had to work quite hard to be able to make it appear with an incorrect spelling here.)

Macro software

A macro is a sequence of actions.

Keyboard Maestro provides macros. Each macro carries one or more actions. You need to do something to trigger a macro — perhaps type something, choose a menu item, click a button, or even just wake the computer from sleep. To make life easier for you, sort macros into groups if you wish.

Type text

I had to type the words Keyboard Maestro quite often while writing this Tip. I decided to make things easier by setting up a macro to do it for me. All I have to do is type the letters *km and Keyboard Maestro replaces them with the expansion.

The trigger is the letters *km. The macro has only one step: type the words Keyboard Maestro, replacing what I’d typed.

A new Keyboard Maestro macro.

Set up a macro

Download and install Keyboard Maestro. Start it up and you should see a window similar to mine in the screenshot. I’ve set up quite a few macros in groups, so yours won’t look exactly the same. The Macros column in the centre is where you want to start.

Click the + symbol at the bottom of the centre (Macros) column. A new item appears in the list of macros: Untitled Macro. The macro detail pane on the right shows information about this macro, in particular its name, its triggers and its actions.

Set up the Insert Text action.

1. Give the macro a meaningful name, eg I might choose MacTips URL for a macro that typed the address of the MacTips website.
2. Choose a Trigger. Click the green + beside the words New Trigger. A popup menu appears offering a choice of a dozen ways to trigger this macro. For this example, choose Typed String Trigger. The popup menu is replaced by a text box. Type in there what you wish to type as a shortcut. In my MacTips URL example I enter the letters *mt. Leave the box below checked.
3. Choose Actions. Click the green + beside the words New Action. The contents of the centre column change. The list of Macros disappears and is replaced by possible Actions, listed in alphabetical order.
4. For this example of a typing shortcut choose Insert Text. Double click the Insert Text action to use it. A new Insert Text action appears in the Macro Detail pane of the window.
5. From the popup menu beside the words Insert text by choose either typing or pasting.
6. Type the words you want the trigger to expand to in the text area. For example, if I were using a shortcut to type the URL of the MacTips website I’d type http://mactips.info. The replacement text could be short, as in my example, or it could be pages long.
7. Save the macro by clicking the edit button in the bottom toolbar. The list of possible Actions disappears, replaced by the list of macros, and the detail of the macro is no longer able to be edited. (To make changes click the edit button again.)

Test the macro

A reminder: the trigger I set up in this example is the letters *mt. When I type that, anywhere such as in my Mail program, in a text editor, in a spreadsheet, those typed letters will be replaced by http://mactips.info.

Open up a text editor or email program. Click in the main area where you can type text. Type the trigger text you set up — in my case *mt. As soon as you’ve finished typing, the replacement text appears.

Beware the trigger text

Do you know why I used an * as part of my trigger text?

Because the letters mt might be part of a real word, such as Mt Victoria. I wouldn’t want the first part of that name to be replaced by my URL. Similarly, I might want to write about a distance as being 10 km, and wouldn’t want km to be replaced by Keyboard Maestro.

Infinitely more power

Keyboard Maestro has infinitely more power than just typing a few words. The next Tips will show you more of what you can do. Meanwhile, try it out for yourself with some text replacements.

Have you used Keyboard Maestro for expanding text? Tell us about your experiences in the Comments.

Use the coupon MacTips for a 20% discount on Keyboard Maestro. [Updated] This offer expires at the end of October 2010.

How to set up a new iPad
Mac Tip #447, 28 July 2010

A new Apple iPad takes only a few steps to set up. Here’s how it went when I set up mine.

WiFi only, or with 3G?

MicroSIM.

The iPad was slow to come to New Zealand. Apple first starting selling them here just a few days ago. So far I’m loving mine. I bought the model that has both 3G and WiFi, on the theory that it would allow me to use it in places with no WiFi, if I needed to.

I’m holding off on buying the 3G access though until I do need it.

For me, the first step was to insert the MicroSIM card, by pressing the tiny tool provided into the small hole on the side of the iPad. That opened a tiny tray for the SIM card. It could only be placed one way, so I broke the card free from its cardboard holder, added it to the tray, then slid the tray shut.

Plug the iPad into a computer

Next up is to use the supplied cable to plug the iPad into a computer, in my case, a Mac. After a few moments iTunes opened up and displayed a screen inviting me to set up my iPad. From memory I had to agree to some terms first.

Register your iPad.

Soon a registration screen appeared. I entered my name and contact details. The screen also displays the iPad’s Serial Number. It’s useful to note that down somewhere for insurance purposes.

Choose how to set up the iPad

I already have an iPhone and a first generation iPod touch. iTunes offered to either set up this new iPad afresh or to restore the backup of my iPod touch. I chose to start fresh.

Set up iPad afresh.

Name your iPad

Next came the opportunity to name the iPad. iTunes suggested a name and I could have accepted that, but I chose to name it “Galaxy”.

That screen also gave options for how to handle Photos, Music and Applications.

What to sync automatically.

I wanted the Applications, but decided to wait for photos and music.

Software update

At one point an alert advised me a software update was available. I selected to go ahead with that.

Sync

Finally all the choices were made and the sync proceeded. It took a while. How long yours takes depends on how much data is being synchronised.

After the sync was complete I unplugged the iPad and started exploring it, in particular adding more apps, both paid and free.

Once I’ve had more time to work with it I’ll bring you some more detailed Tips.

Do you have an iPad? Tell us in the Comments at the website your favourite iPad features.

Calculator’s 7 hidden features
Mac Tip #446, 21 July 2010

Apple’s Calculator.app has some interesting, if hidden, features. Check these out.

Calculator.app — standard view, with Paper Tape.

Calculator speaks

The standard Calculator screen is very basic: add, subtract, divide and multiply, using the Memory functions if you need to.

One nifty feature is that Calculator can speak the keys you press, and the result. Go to the Speech menu and check Speak Button Pressed and Speak Result. Provided you have the volume up, you’ll hear each number and operation key you press, and the result of the calculation. It’s very handy as a check on what you’re doing.

Show Paper Tape

Not sure if you pressed 4 instead of 3? Once you’ve pressed a second button you have no record of what came before. That’s where the Paper Tape comes in: it keeps track of everything you did. Choose Show Paper Tape from the Window menu. A new window appears that displays the result and the operations that led to it.

Save the Paper Tape as a text file by choosing Save Tape As… from the File menu.

Separate the thousands

Change the Thousands Separator.

If you’d like it to, Calculator can use the System default Thousands Separator when you have those larger numbers. Choose Show Thousands Separators from the View menu.

In my case it adds a comma, as that’s what we use in New Zealand. If you’re in a European country it should show a dot.

To change the Thousands Separator go to System Preferences > Language & Text > Formats. Click the Customize… button beside the Numbers section. A window appears where you can select separators for Numbers and Currency.

How many decimal places?

You may or may not need accuracy to several decimal places. Set any number of decimal places from 0 to 15 by choosing the Decimal Places item from the View menu.

Scientific, Programmer and RPN modes

Quite honestly, my maths isn’t up to being able to use advanced modes on the Calculator, but they are there if you need them. Look under the View menu.

Check the Help menu for information about RPN mode.

If you choose Scientific or Programmer mode the Calculator totally changes its appearance to include the various keys you need, with a larger display area.

Tell us in the Comments at the website your favourite Calculator features.

Change currency with Calculator
Mac Tip #445, 14 July 2010

I often buy software from overseas, or sometimes earn a little revenue in US Dollars. But with the Exchange Rate changing all the time, how can I know how much those items cost, or how much I’m earning? Apple’s Calculator.app tells me in seconds. Here’s how it works.

Calculator.app — standard view.

Calculator has hidden powers

Right there on any Mac you buy these days is Calculator.app, and it’s very handy too. On its virtual keypad you can do basic arithmetic. Press Command (⌘) C when you’re done to copy the results to the Clipboard, ready to paste into another application.

But take a look up in the menu bar to see a whole load of options under the Convert menu.

Convert weights and measures, speed, temperature, time and more.

But those are all static: last time I looked a metre was still a metre and miles per hour hadn’t changed either.

Not so with currency: exchange rates are constantly fluctuating.

Uh oh, the exchange rates are out of date.

Convert a number

Let’s say you want to convert 98°F to degrees Celsius. Open up Calculator and make sure there aren’t any numbers already on the virtual screen. If necessary, press the C key to clear it.

Press the C key on either the virtual keyboard or your real keyboard. Ditto with the numbers and maths symbols.

Type in the numbers you need: for my example that’s 98.

Choose Temperature… from the Convert menu.

Select the units and click the Convert button, or press the Return key on your real keyboard. The display now shows the converted temperature: 36.67°C. That’s hot.

The Convert menu keeps Recent Conversions at the top of the list. If you commonly do a particular conversion, look there first.

The exchange rates are up to date. Now I can convert.

Convert Currency

Be careful with the Recent Conversions item if you’re converting currency though.

My screenshot above shows a warning in red that the latest update to the exchange rates that Calculator.app knows about was on 28 June 2010.

As I write today, that’s already more than 2 weeks ago, and things have changed a lot since then. A quick test showed me a difference of NZ$5 on US$100.

To be sure you’re using current exchange rates don’t use the Recent Conversions item. Instead always choose the main Currency… item. A window appears where you choose the currencies you want to convert, but click the Update button before doing anything else.

After Calculator has updated the rates, then click the Convert button.

Coming soon: how to use the Advanced Calculator features.

Tell us in the Comments at the website about your favourite Calculator features.

Use Safari 5′s Web Inspector -- a gift for web developers
Mac Tip #444, 07 July 2010

If you develop websites for a living you may be familiar with the Firefox extension called Firebug. If you’re not, you should install it immediately. But Safari has a similar function built right in. You just need to know where to find it. Here’s how.

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The Web Inspector

If you’re a web developer trying to analyse or troubleshoot a web page you’ll be familiar with looking at the HTML source and the CSS stylesheet to figure out how things fit together.

But sometimes it’s a mystery as to exactly why that heading is pushed down too low, or that text is black even though you set it to green. And finding all the right bits of HTML and CSS and putting them together can be very hard work.

That’s where the Web Inspector can save you time and stress: Control (⌃) click on the errant text and choose Inspect Element from the contextual menu. A window pane opens up and shows you exactly the correct part of the HTML coding and the CSS rules that are being applied.

Turn on the Develop menu.

Turn on the Develop menu

The first step is to turn on the Develop menu:

1. Go to Safari Preferences.
2. Click on the Advanced tab.
3. Check the box beside Show Develop menu in menu bar. A new Safari menu item appears, labelled Develop.
4. Close the Preferences window.

The Develop menu offers a lot

The Develop menu provides easy options for things such as opening a page with another browser, disabling images or styles, and debugging Javascript. But you can now also Inspect page elements.

Inspect page elements.

Inspect an Element

Control (⌃) click on any item on the page to bring up a contextual menu.

Choose Inspect Element. The bottom part of the Safari window slides up to reveal 2 additional panes.

The left pane displays the HTML for the page, with the element you clicked on selected and highlighted.

The right pane displays CSS rules that apply to your selected element.

Hover over different parts of the HTML to see them highlighted in the main part of the window.

Double click an item in the Web Inspector pane and you can edit it. Make changes and see them reflected in the main part of the window.

Note: you’re not actually editing the live website. Any changes you make are being applied only to what you see on your own screen, and so are useful for testing purposes. To actually edit the site you should use your usual methods.

The Web Inspector window

The Web Inspector pane.

I could write several more Tips about the Web Inspector pane alone.

If you prefer to see the Web Inspector as a separate window, rather than just a pane in the main window, click the Undock into separate window icon at bottom left of the window (shown enlarged in the screenshot). It looks like one box emerging from another.

Web Inspector Toolbar.

To see a list of errors and warnings, click the Console button (beside the Undock button). The Web Inspector pane divides so the lower part can display any errors.

A powerful tool for web developers

Safari’s Web Inspector is a powerful tool for web developers, and for anyone interested in seeing what’s really going on behind a web page.

This Tip has really only highlighted its existence. Explore it more thoroughly to get the most use out of it. I may write more about the Web Inspector at my KnowIT blog. I have already written there about using Firebug in a similar way in Firefox: Burn through web development with Firebug.

Tell us in the Comments at the website your experiences with Safari’s Web Inspector.

In September 2010 I’ll be presenting at Creative Tech, at the AUT, 55 Wellesley St in Auckland:

Creative Tech.

CreativeTech is the new technology forum about all things Apple. Expert guest speakers offer a broad mix of ‘byte-sized’ talks or presentations, from practical ‘how to’ showcases of the latest Apple, Adobe, FileMaker and Microsoft software, to advanced developing for the iPhone and iPad, and expert insights into tomorrow’s technologies.

Kiwis: I hope we’ll see you in person at CreativeTech. If you’re a MacTips reader, please come up and introduce yourself.

I’ll present 50 Mac Tips in 50 minutes on Saturday 11 September 2010 at 1:00 pm in Lecture Room 2.

50 Tips in 50 minutes is quite a challenge. I need to get busy soon with putting them together.

Clearly, to fit 50 tips into 50 minutes they really do need to be tips, and not tutorials. Each one will be short and sweet: things like quick key commands, speedy ways to access functions, nifty things you might not have noticed.

I’ll be drawing heavily on this MacTips website with its archive of hundreds of practical Tips for those who use Apple products.

I’m open to suggestions too though. I wrote a blog post over at KnowIT about this. Please use the form over there to send your suggestions: 50/50 MacTips — can you suggest a Tip?