An interesting issue has been plaguing some Mac users running OS X 10.7 Lion. When browsing in Column view, Finder sometimes won’t let you sort files and folders alphabetically by name. Even if the correct setting is selected, Finder simply refuses to comply. Luckily, there is a quick fix for those affected by this problem.

Lion’s new way of arranging and sorting in Finder

In previous versions of Mac OS X, the Arrange By function in Finder simply changed the order in which files and folders were displayed based on the user’s selection. In OS X 10.7 Lion, there are two ways to sort: Arrange By and Sort By. Arrange By now groups files and folders into categories. For example, if you select Arrange By > Kind, all of the items in the current folder will be separated into groups for Documents, Images, PDFs, etc. The same is true if you choose to arrange by Date, Size, Application, etc.

Kind of handy, right? So what if you’ve got arranged groups of files that you want listed in order of size? That’s where the new Sort By feature comes in. When holding down the Option key, the Arrange By menu changes to Sort By. You’ll see many of he same options as Arrange By – Sort By merely reorders the items that are already contained in the groups.

Replicating the issue

With that quick overview out of the way, let’s get back to the issue of sorting not working in Finder’s Column view. It all comes down to a conflict between Arrange By and Sort By. Even though you’ve got your Arrange By menu set to Name, the Sort By function is likely overriding it with another setting. Here’s how you can replicate the issue on any Mac running Lion:

1. Open a Finder window and select View > as Columns in the menu bar.
2. Go to View > Arrange By > Kind in the menu bar
3. While holding down the Option key, go to View > Sort By > Date Added. Notice the order of the files and how they are categorized.
4. Next, release the Option key and go to View > Arrange By > Name.

Whoops! That didn’t go as planned, did it? As you can see, your files are not arranged alphabetically by name. The groups are gone, but the files are still sorted by date!

The solution

Three easy steps resolve the issue:

1. Open the folder you’re having trouble with in Finder.
2. Go to View > Arrange By > None in the menu bar.
3. Hold the Option key and go to View > Sort By > Name.

Done! It’s interesting that this behavior only occurs in Column view and not Icon, List, or Cover Flow. One would expect Arrange By > Name to override whatever setting Sort By previously had, but that is not the case. In the future, it might be easier to leave Arrange By set to None and only use the Sort By setting to rearrange files. This behaves exactly like Arrange By used to in OS X versions prior to Lion.

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4. Shared volumes missing and not mounting in Finder’s sidebar?

Thanks to the folks over at Two Dollar Tuesday – a new site that features a fresh crop of discounted Mac apps every week – we have a bundle of three quality Mac App Store titles to give away for free! Together, these apps are normally worth almost $40. Learn more about each app below, plus find out how to enter to win for free!

Dropzone

Original price: $13.99
Dropzone makes it easier and quicker to do things on your Mac. For example, you can set up actions for moving and working with files, connecting to FTP, installing apps, creating custom shortcuts, and much more – all via drag & drop. If you’re a power user, you can even program your own extensions to give Dropzone additional functionality.

Socialite

Original price: $9.99
Socialite is for all the social networking addicts out there. It’s an app that gives you convenient access to all of your accounts and services, making it easier for you to stay in touch with others and post status updates, photos, links, etc.

Compartments

Original price: $14.99
Compartments lets you catalog just about everything you own so you can protect it in case of damage or loss. It organizes your belongings, keeps track of warranties, and generates insurance claim reports. To learn more, check out our review of Compartments from a couple years ago.

Win a free bundle of Mac software!

One lucky MacYourself reader will win free licenses for all 3 of the apps in this bundle – Dropzone, Socialite and Compartments! To enter, please leave a comment below, along with a valid email address (this is how we will contact you). In order to avoid spam filter issues, please type a coherent sentence saying you’d like a chance to win. Make sure you have access to the Mac App Store before entering. Multiple entries will be deleted, so please only add one comment per person. And finally, don’t worry if your comment doesn’t appear on the site immediately — it might be awaiting moderation and will show up shortly.

The winner will be chosen at random based on the comment number he or she happens to be. The lucky guy or girl will be announced on this page, so save this article’s URL and be sure to check back later. All entries must be made by Friday, May 25, 2012 at 11:59pm eastern U.S. time. In the meantime, check out the weekly Mac app discounts at Two Dollar Tuesday. Good luck!

UPDATE – May 26, 2012:
Congratulations to our winner, Edmund! His comment was randomly selected and he has been given free copies of Dropzone, Socialite, and Compartments for Mac! Thanks to everyone who entered!

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1. Free Giveaway! Compartments, a home inventory system for Mac
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4. Free Giveaway! Clean up your iTunes library with TuneUp

Have you ever watched music videos on TV? If so, you’re familiar with that small block of text that gets shown for a few seconds when a video first starts playing. It’s got information about the song and is a nice touch that makes the viewing experience so much better. It turns out you can get that same effect on your Mac while listening to music in iTunes!

No matter what application you’re using, you can get a quick glance at the details of the song that’s “now playing” right when it starts. Depending on your Mac’s version of OS X and the type of song information you want to see, there are a couple ways to do this.

Secret iTunes Notifications

Did you know this is already a hidden feature of iTunes in OS X Lion? All you have to do is enable it in Terminal (Applications > Utilities) with this command:

defaults write com.apple.dock itunes-notifications -bool YES

Press Enter, then type killall Dock and press Enter again. This will restart the Dock so the change can take effect. Now when a song starts playing in iTunes, a small bubble will appear over the iTunes Dock icon that contains the artist and song title. After a few seconds it will fade away seamlessly. Pretty cool!

If you ever feel the need to disable this feature and go back to normal, just run the commands again – but replace YES with NO.

SizzlingKeys

Since the previous method only works with 10.7 Lion, that leaves 10.6 Snow Leopard users out in the cold. Luckily there’s another solution that works even better (so Lion users might even prefer to use this one!) An app called SizzlingKeys does iTunes commands and a whole lot more! But let’s focus on this specific feature for now. You can download SizzlingKeys on the developer’s website for free or on the Mac App Store for $1.99.

Once you’ve installed SizzlingKeys, click on the Floater tab. This is where you can configure just about every aspect of your iTunes “now playing” notifications. Options include how long the popup stays onscreen, when it displays, the text size, and whether it should also show the album cover art. SizzlingKeys also displays the album title, unlike the previous Lion-only method.

One thing you’ll want to do before you’re done setting up SizzlingKeys is go to the Preference tab and check the “Launch automatically at login” box. This way the iTunes notifications will always be enabled, even after you restart your Mac. Now you’ll always know what you’re currently listening to in iTunes!

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Need to access or transfer files between Mac and PC? As simple as this task sounds, it’s not very straightforward for inexperienced users. Since Mac OS X and Windows use totally different file systems, the way a drive is formatted can determine what type of computer it will work with. In fact, there are four ways you can format an external or USB flash drive to achieve varying degrees of compatibility between Macs and PCs. Let’s take a look at them:

HFS+

Mac OS X’s native file system is HFS+ (also known as Mac OS Extended), and it’s the only one that works with Time Machine. But while HFS+ is the best way to format drives for use on Macs, Windows does not support it. If you’re only going to be using your external or USB flash drive with certain PCs – such as at home or the office – you might be interested in a program called MacDrive. When you install MacDrive on a Windows PC, it will be able to seamlessly read & write to HFS+ drives. This isn’t a good solution if you need your drive to work on any PC without installing software, though.

NTFS

The native Windows file system is NTFS, which is only partially compatible with Mac OS X. Macs can read files on NTFS drives, but it cannot write to them. So if you need to get files from a PC to your Mac, NTFS is a decent option. However, you won’t be able to move files in the other direction, from Mac to PC.

FAT32

The most universally supported way to format your drive is with the FAT32 file system. It works with all versions of Mac OS X and Windows. Case closed, right? Well, not so fast. Unfortunately, FAT32 is a very old file system and has some technical limitations. For example, you cannot save files that are larger than 4GB on a FAT32-formatted drive. This is a deal-breaker if you work with huge files. The other limitation is the total size of the partition. If you format your FAT32 drive in Windows, the drive partition cannot be larger than 32GB. If you format it from a Mac running 10.7 Lion, the drive partition can be up to 2TB. Much better, except for that pesky 4GB limit.

exFAT

The exFAT file system eliminates the two major deficiencies of FAT32: the largest partition and file sizes it supports are virtually unlimited by today’s standards. Awesome, it’s perfect! Almost… since exFAT is fairly new, it isn’t compatible with older Macs and PCs. Any Mac running 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard) or 10.7 (Lion) supports exFAT, while PCs running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows 7 are compatible. If you know you’ll be using computers running updated versions of these operating systems, exFAT is the clear best choice.

Format a drive using Disk Utility on a Mac

1. Launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities).
2. Select your external hard drive or USB flash drive from the list on the left.
3. Click on the Erase tab. Select the format – Mac OS Extended (HFS+), MS-DOS (FAT32), or exFAT – then name the drive.
   
4. Click the Erase button and the drive will start formatting. Be aware that formatting a drive deletes all of the files on it, so back up anything important before completing this step.

Format a drive using Windows

1. Go to Computer (or My Computer in Windows XP).
2. Select your drive from the list and right-click on it. Choose Format from the contextual menu.
3. A window will pop up where you can choose the format – NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label.
4. Click Start to format the drive.

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It’s surprising how often we make copies of files and folders on our computers only to let them sit and go unnoticed for years at a time. Then when our hard drives start to get dangerously close to full capacity, we frantically go searching for data we can purge in order to free up some space. Gemini is a new application that aims to take care of this problem for us. It’s a duplicate file and folder finder that can scan your Mac’s hard drive, removable media, and network volumes – pretty much anything you can mount in Finder. Developed by MacPaw, the makers of CleanMyMac, Gemini is available exclusively on the Mac App Store ($9.99) for systems running 10.7 Lion.

How it works

Gemini is not a multi-purpose application – it serves one purpose and stays focused on that task. The result is an extremely simple and intuitive interface for finding duplicate files and folders on your Mac. To get started, all you have to do is drag & drop a folder from Finder right into the Gemini window. It will take a few moments to analyze the folder depending on its size, but this is generally a quick process.

When the scan is done and you click through to the results, a 3-column window is displayed. The left column shows a breakdown of files types (such as Pictures, Documents, Movies, etc.) along with a graph that illustrates how much space each one is using. You can filter the list of results in the middle column by selecting a file or folder type. Each duplicated file is displayed with an indicator of how many copies were found and their combined file size. When you click one, the right column shows a preview of the file, where each instance is located on your Mac, and the modified date.

To remove files or folders, just check the box next to each of them. This adds them to a queue, so nothing really happens until you click the red “Remove Selected” button at the top. Once you click, it confirms exactly what will be removed and warns you so you don’t accidentally delete all copies of a file. When you give the final command to get rid of the listed items, it “shreds” them and moves them to the Trash. You’ll have to empty the Trash to get rid of those files for good.

Impressions & Notes

Gemini works really well and helps focus your attention on what’s taking up the most unnecessary space on your Mac. It makes what used to be a laborious task much more efficient. Best of all, I saved over 5GB in my Documents folder alone!

A big selling point for Gemini is the “Auto Select All Files” function, which uses an intelligent algorithm to decide which files to remove. While this may sound like a huge time saver, leaving your data to an algorithm’s judgement can be risky. When it comes to deleting your data, only you know what is safe to remove and what isn’t. My personal recommendation is to use Gemini as a helpful duplicate discovery tool, not an automated cleaner.

Overall, Gemini is a handy utility with an easy to understand interface. It’s very good at what it does and will certainly benefit any Mac user who is looking to clean up the clutter and regain hard drive space. Gemini is available on the Mac App Store for $9.99.

Win a free copy of Gemini for Mac!

The developers of Gemini have been kind enough to offer free software licenses to TWO (2) lucky MacYourself readers! In fact, the giveaway is open to any Twitter user! To enter, simply follow @macpaw and @macyourself on Twitter, then tweet this message:

@macyourself @macpaw I want to win a free copy of #GeminiApp for Mac! http://bit.ly/xWWGGK

All entries must be made by February 24, 2012 at 11:59pm eastern U.S. time. At the end, we’ll gather all of your tweets and pick two winners at random! The lucky guys or girls will be announced on this page, so save this article’s URL and be sure to check back later. In the meantime, check out Gemini on the Mac App Store to learn more about how it works. Good luck!

UPDATE – February 25, 2012:
Congratulations to our winners, @tashanzac and @marcoutsider! Their tweets were randomly selected and they have each been given a free copy of Gemini for Mac! Thanks to everyone who entered and remember to consider purchasing a copy of Gemini on the Mac App Store.

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If you’re a Mac user who frequently has a cluttered screen full of open windows, OS X’s app hiding feature is perfect for you. It’s simple: just press Cmd+H to hide all of the windows that belong to the app you’re currently using. They’re still running in the background, but are not visible on your desktop. To bring them back and instantly pick up where you left off, just click the app’s icon in the Dock.

Other than pressing Cmd+H, you can hide currently running apps in a few different ways too. For example, pressing Cmd+Option+H will “Hide Others,” or every window on your screen not belonging to the active app. This is really convenient for focusing on one specific task. You can also hold down the Option key when clicking away from an app to hide it.

Here’s the one downside to hiding open apps on your Mac: you can’t tell which apps are hidden by looking at the Dock. There’s no indication that they’re hidden, so they blend in with all of your visible apps. A buried feature of Mac OS X takes care of this issue, though, by making hidden app icons translucent in the Dock. This way you can instantly recognize which apps are visible and which ones aren’t. Here’s how:

Launch Terminal (Applications > Utilities) and enter the following command:

defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool YES

Press Enter on your keyboard, then type this command for the changes to take effect:

killall Dock

Press Enter again and you’re done! You’ve enabled a setting in the Dock’s preference file to make hidden app icons translucent. Hide an open app to try it out!

You can reverse this setting at any time by running this command:

defaults delete com.apple.Dock showhidden

Now just run “killall Dock” again and you’re back to normal.

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4. How to show hidden files on a Mac with the help of Automator

Let’s say you’re a parent who took a home movie of your child during a musical performance. Or maybe you’ve got a clip of the funniest scene from your favorite movie. Whatever the case may be, you can convert pretty much any video file on your Mac to an audio file (as long as it’s not copy protected by DRM). While there are a bunch of methods you could try, we’re going to focus on two: Lion’s QuickTime Player and a free third-party program called MPEG Streamclip.

Extract audio using QuickTime Player

Assuming you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, the version of QuickTime Player that comes with your Mac can help you get the job done. The only thing you might have to do first is download and install Perian – a popular free plugin that makes QuickTime compatible with all kinds of video formats. If you don’t install Perian, QuickTime will only open certain files.

1. To get started extracting the audio from your video file, open the video in QuickTime Player.
2. If you want to keep all of the audio from the entire video, you can skip to step #3. But if your video is long and you only want the audio from a certain part, you can use QuickTime’s trim feature. Just go to the menu bar and select Edit > Trim. Then you can move the yellow handles to change where the video starts and ends.
3. When you’re ready to make your audio file, go to File > Export. When the Export window comes up, select “Audio Only” from the Format drop-down menu. Name your file and click Export.

Done! QuickTime will create an M4A audio file that you can use with iTunes to load onto you iPod, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.

Extract audio using MPEG Streamclip

MPEG Streamclip is a free program that was previously featured in our list of the 6 best free Mac video converters. The benefit of using this software instead of QuickTime is the level of control you have over file type, bit rate, etc. Once MPEG Streamclip is installed on your Mac, it’s easy to turn your video into audio only.

1. Launch MPEG Streamclip, then drag your video file from Finder right into the window. You can also go to File > Open Files if that’s easier.
2. Just like QuickTime Player, you have the option to trim your video first and use only the part you want. Move the playback indicator to the position where you’d like the video to start, then go to Edit > Select In. Now move the playback indicator to where the clip should end and go to Edit > Select Out. Choose Edit > Trim from the menu to finalize your changes.
3. Next, go to File > Export Audio. You’ll be able to choose from AIFF, MP4 AAC, and MP2 (not recommended) as the format, as well as other details like the sample and bit rates. Somewhere between 128-256 kbps will do the job most of the time. Click OK to name your new audio file and save it.

Now you’ve got an audio file to do whatever you want with. You can send it to a friend, use it in a audio/video project, import it to iTunes, etc. Enjoy!

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Mac users have long complained that there’s no easy way to copy the location of a file or folder on their computer and paste it in a document, email, internet browser, etc. There are a bunch of third party utilities and convoluted workarounds to get this functionality, but let’s be honest – they’re all pretty terrible. Even MacYourself’s clever workaround from 2009 doesn’t work anymore in OS X 10.7 Lion.

So what do we do? We take matters into our own hands, of course! Let’s come up with our own solution – and let’s make it awesome.

Before we get started, we should establish some goals. Obviously we want to copy a file path or folder path from Finder and paste it somewhere else for reference. Let’s take that a few steps further and say we want to:

• Support the selection of multiple files and folders at a time
• Require no third party software or plugins to accomplish our goal
• Integrate with Finder so this feels like a real, native solution
• Set up a keyboard shortcut for quick & easy access
• Copy the path to OS X’s clipboard so it can be pasted in any application

Sounds like a plan! Here we go…

1. Launch Automator from your Mac’s Applications folder. If you’ve never used Automator before, that’s not a problem. This is going to be so simple anyone can do it.
2. Double-click the Service icon from Automator’s start menu.
   
3. Toward the top of the right column, you’ll see this line of text: “Service receives selected _____ in _____”. Choose “Files or Folders” from the first menu and “Finder” from the second.
4. Next, click on Utilities in the Actions library on the left side. Double-click “Copy to Clipboard” in the middle column. You’ll notice that this action has been added to our workflow on the right.
   
5. Go to File > Save in the menu bar and name your service Copy File Path. Our work with Automator is now done, so you can safely quit it once the service is saved.
6. Launch System Preferences and go to the Keyboard pane. Click on the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
7. Select “Application Shortcuts” from the list on the left. Next, click on the + button at the bottom of the list.
8. A small window will come up with a few options that need to be set. Select “Finder” from the Application menu, type Copy File Path as the Menu Title, and create your own Keyboard Shortcut. If you don’t know what to put here, you can just press Shift+Command+C on your keyboard. Click Add and we’re done!
   

Now let’s test our fancy solution! Here’s how it works…

1. Select any file or folder (or a mixture of multiple files and folders at once) in Finder.
2. Press your keyboard shortcut – in our case, Shift+Command+C. This copies the path to OS X’s clipboard.
3. Open a text document, email message, or other place you’d like to use your location path. Press Command+V (or right-click and select Paste) to paste the file path(s). Hopefully you should see something like /Users/YourName/Documents/Work/Files/resume.doc

From now on these 3 easy steps are all you have to do to copy and paste file paths from Finder to your clipboard and, ultimately, another application. Pretty cool!

A few things to mention… If you’re not keen on keyboard shortcuts, the service you created is also accessible when you right-click on an item in Finder and select Services > Copy File Path from the contextual menu. The actual file we created for this service is located in: ~/Library/Services in case you ever want to delete it or copy it to put on another Mac. Finally, this tutorial was written specifically for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, so the steps involving Automator might be a little different if you’re running an older version.

How does this solution work for you? Does it give your Mac the functionality you were looking for?

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Don’t panic, but there’s only two more weeks until Christmas! With the big day rapidly approaching, it’s time to check off all the names on your shopping list. Or, for the purposes of this article, at least all of those who own Apple products. Our iPhones and iPads play such a large role in our lives that getting a cool new accessory can be just as good as getting a whole new device! There are thousands of compatible products out there, but we’ve got a nice collection of 11 iPhone and iPad accessories that are sure to pique your interest and get you started.

Kensington Apple iPad 2 KeyFolio Pro Performance Case with Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard

Price: $61.62 (previously $99.99)
The iPad isn’t quite a laptop replacement, but with this product it comes real close. It acts as a stand, protective case, and wireless keyboard for the iPad 2. When in use on a table or desk, the laptop form factor makes iPad typing a whole lot easier.

Apple TV

Price: $94.99 (previously $99.00)
The ultimate iPhone and iPad accessory comes in the form of this little box that connects to a HDTV. Music, videos, photos, games, and more can be wirelessly beamed from an iOS device directly to the Apple TV. Not to mention, media can be streamed from iTunes on a Mac or PC and movies can be rented right on the TV.

Withings WiFi Body Scale

Price: $159.00
Who knew a scale could be so high-tech? This body scale is perfect for fitness and diet freaks. You step on to weigh yourself, then the scale wirelessly sends the data to your account, which can be accessed with iPhone and iPad apps. It’s a great way to track long term progress on weight, fat mass, BMI, etc.

Monster Cable iSplitter Mini Y-Adapter

Price: $7.04 (previously $9.95)
Have you ever watched a movie or listened to music on your iOS device, but wanted to share it with a friend sitting right next to you? This adapter solves that problem by splitting the headphone jack into two. Now both of you can listen together.

Griffin GC16040 Stylus

Price: $11.54 (previously $19.99)
Steve Jobs once said that companies who shipped phones and tablets with a stylus “blew it.” And he was right… our fingers are much better for input on a screen. Unless, of course, you’re using an iOS app for drawing or sketching. In this case, a stylus designed for touchscreens is a big help for your artistic creations.

Logitech Speaker Stand for iPad

Price: $62.40 (previously $69.99)
Let’s not forget that the iPad is an iPod too. This product pumps out terrific sound quality from your iPad and fills the room with music. It also serves as a great place to store and charge the iPad too.

Aglove Sport Touchscreen Gloves

Price: $23.99
Live in a cold climate? The gloves most of us wear make it impossible to use an iPhone or iPad on the go. Since the skin isn’t making contact with the touchscreen, it can’t register taps and swipes. This special type of gloves, however, are made with materials that are compatible with touchscreen devices so you don’t have to keep taking them on and off.

Griffin Powerjolt Dual Universal USB 12V Adapter

Price: $6.55 (previously $29.84)
Charging an iPhone in a car that doesn’t have USB connections is a pain. Rather than buy an expensive charger that can only be used in the car, this affordable adapter makes any car compatible with the iPhone’s regular USB cable.

RND Power Solutions 6-Foot Apple USB Cable

Price: $10.99 (previously $19.99)
The USB cable that comes with iOS devices is only about 3 feet long. If that’s not long enough for your syncing and charging needs, this cable is cheaper than Apple’s and twice the length.

4 in 1 Camera Lens Kit for Apple iPhone 4 and 4S

Price: $56.95
The iPhone’s camera is so good that most people don’t even need a real camera anymore. This kit aims to take iPhone photography to the next level by offering different lenses that can be attached to the back of the phone – wide angle, fish eye, and telescope. It comes with a mini tripod and case, as well.

Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit

Price: $29.39
The iPad’s beautiful 10″ screen is perfect for looking at photos. Syncing with a Mac or PC is inconvenient, though. The best way to get photos on an iPad is with Apple’s Camera Connection Kit, which supports USB connections and SD cards.

Prices accurate as of 12/11/11 and are subject to change. Please note that some of the products listed above have not been tested by MacYourself. They are presented here for informational purposes and not necessarily as endorsements.

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Despite its 35 year history, Apple sold more computers in 2011 than ever before. With millions of new Mac users in the world, related accessories will be popular items this holiday season. Whether your budget is small or large, there’s a lot to choose from. Can’t decide what to get the Mac user in your life? Let’s make your Christmas shopping experience a bit easier by starting with these 11 Mac hardware accessories!

Silverhill 20 Piece Tool Kit for Apple Products

Price: $11.99
Alright, so it’s not the most glamorous gift you can give. But if your Mac lover is also a tinkerer or do-it-yourself type of person, this is right on. Apple’s products tend to have unique screws and are often difficult to take apart, but this is a tool kit specifically made for disassembling Apple products.

Mobee Wireless Charger for Magic Mouse

Price: $49.99
There’s nothing worse than having a wireless mouse’s batteries die only to discover you don’t have any new ones handy. This product is an inductive charger specifically designed for Apple’s Magic Mouse. There’s nothing to remove or connect – when the mouse isn’t in use, just place it on top of the charger. It will charge the batteries wirelessly.

Mobee Magic Bar Inductive Charger for Apple Keyboard and Magic Trackpad

Price: $59.99
Why stop at just the Magic Mouse? There is also a matching inductive charger available for Apple’s wireless keyboard and the Magic Trackpad. It sure beats throwing away regular AA batteries or regularly having to open the device to replace rechargeables.

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1TB External Hard Drive

Price: $129.00 (previously $169.99)
Many Mac users eventually run out of storage space. And those who don’t still need a good backup to protect their irreplaceable documents, photos, videos, etc. An external hard drive might be the most thoughtful Christmas gift because it can offer peace of mind and prevent headaches down the road.

Belkin 10 Foot USB Cable

Price: $5.02 (previously $34.99)
External hard drives, flash drives, printers, and many other peripherals connect via USB. With that said, you can never have too many USB cables around. You never know when you might need an extra one.

Kensington SmartSockets 6-Outlet Circular Surge Protector

Price: $37.99 (previously $60.00)
Whether it’s an office or living room, the place where a Mac and its related peripherals reside should be protected from power surges that can instantly fry them. There are a ton of options out there, but the circular shape of this product makes it much more practical for the different types of plugs manufacturers use.

Apple Thunderbolt Cable

Price: $49.00
Most new Macs purchased in 2011 feature a Thunderbolt port that is ridiculously faster than USB 3.0 and FireWire 800. Thunderbolt is still new, but it’s clearly the future and is even in use right now. There are external hard drives that take advantage of its fast speeds and Thunderbolt is used to connect Macs to Apple’s 27″ Cinema Display. It’s also the best way to transfer files from one Mac to another.

Mobee Magic Numpad for Apple Magic Trackpad

Price: $29.90
Apple’s wireless keyboards do not have the number pad found on the right side of full-size keyboards. If a Mac user needs those keys for quick number crunching, this product turns a Magic Trackpad into a number pad. It even includes different keyboard layouts and software to recognize touch input.

Cisco-Linksys USB Ethernet Adapter

Price: $25.99 (previously $29.99)
MacBook Air owners enjoy the luxury of a super-slim form factor partially because Apple removed some of the ports commonly found on other computers. For example, there is no Ethernet port. If a MacBook Air user wants to connect to a wired network, they’ll need a USB Ethernet adapter such as this.

JLab USB Laptop Speakers

Price: $29.95 (previously $69.95)
Admittedly, the built-in speakers on Apple’s MacBooks are pretty weak. They’re low-power, but not particularly loud or rich in audio quality. Portable speakers like this are a great way to beef up the sound without creating a hassle when traveling.

VT 12-Inch Touch Screen Graphic Pen Tablet

Price: $69.43 (previously $129.00)
Mac users are a creative bunch. Many of us are designers, artists, or hobbyists who like to draw. Graphic pen tablets are typically quite expensive, but this is geared towards non-professionals looking for an affordable entry level product. Perfect for those who want to draw on their Macs for fun!

Prices accurate as of 12/5/11 and are subject to change. Please note that some of the products listed above have not been tested by MacYourself. They are presented here for informational purposes and not necessarily as endorsements.

Related Articles:

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2. Holiday gift ideas: 9 affordable Mac hardware accessories
3. Holiday gift ideas: 12 Apple-related books, manuals, and guides
4. 10 holiday gift ideas for 2010: Mac software titles we could all use

Following our collection of 9 obscure iOS 5 tips & tricks, let’s take it a step further and get into what’s new for iPad users in particular. All of these iPad-only features improve how common tasks can be completed, so it’s not just power users who can benefit. Even the most casual iPad user will be able to take advantage of these improvements.

Tabbed browsing

Web browsing on iOS devices is better than on any other mobile platform, but switching between open pages wasn’t so convenient before iOS 5. Now Safari on iPad is more like Safari on Mac and Windows, with full support for tabbed browsing.

Back & forward history buttons

When you’re in the midst of a vicious web browsing session in Safari, you can rapidly go through a ton of different pages. By tapping and holding either the Back or Forward button, a pop-up containing a convenient list of your recent history will appear.

Year view in Calendar app

iOS 5 introduces a new way to look at your calendar on the iPad – year view. This turns your calendar into a heat map of your year’s events. The more events you have scheduled on a day, the darker it appears.

Split keyboard

Are you used to typing with your thumbs on your iPhone or iPod touch? The iPad’s larger size makes it hard to do the same thing, but with iOS 5 you can split your iPad’s keyboard in two. Just tap and hold anywhere on the keyboard with two fingers, then drag each finger in the opposite direction towards the sides of the screen. The keys will shrink and each half of the keyboard will be pinned to one side. Much easier on those thumbs!

Move keyboard up and down

The iPad’s keyboard got another upgrade, too. By holding down the Hide Keyboard button in the lower-right corner of the screen, you can choose to Undock it. Now when you hold the same button and move your finger up and down the screen, the keyboard moves with it. Top, middle, bottom – it can move anywhere you put it, even in split keyboard mode.

Multitasking gestures

The iPad now supports a number of convenient multi-touch gestures thanks to iOS 5. For example, you can use 4 or 5 fingers to swipe up on the screen and reveal the multitasking bar. This is in comparison to pressing the Home button twice, of course. You can also swipe left and right with 4 or 5 fingers to switch directly between open apps. It’s kind of like hitting Cmd+Tab on a Mac to cycle through running programs. Finally, iPad users can use 4 or 5 fingers to pinch inwards on the screen and go back to the home screen.

Having trouble getting your multi-touch gestures working? Make sure they’re enabled by going to Settings > General > Multitasking Gestures.

Related Articles:

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2. Pros and cons of AT&T’s new iPhone & iPad data plans
3. 4 new features the iOS 4.2 software update brings to iPhone
4. 4 hidden or buried features in iOS 4 that make life much better

It seems like every time Apple releases a new product, there are little gems and nuggets of functionality that don’t become widely known until weeks or even months later. That’s because the heavily marketed features like Notification Center, Siri, and iMessage understandably get all of the attention at first. Having had some quality time with iOS 5 under our belts, let’s look at 9 lesser-known tips and tricks power users might enjoy.

1. Swipe to view Camera Roll

When you’re in the Camera app before or after you’ve taken a photo, you don’t have to tap the little thumbnail in the lower corner of the screen to see your pictures. Just swipe anywhere on the screen from left to right and your Camera Roll will instantly slide into view.

2. Hourly forecast in Weather app

The Weather app in iOS has always been very basic, which often meant downloading a 3rd party app was necessary to get more detailed information. Apple has given the Weather app a nice upgrade in iOS 5 by including hourly forecasts. Just tap on a day of the week and the hourly breakdown will appear.

3. Remove specific website data

In the past, we’ve had to delete the entire cache and all of Safari’s cookies in order to remove one site’s data from our device. Not anymore! By going to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Website Data you can pick and choose which website’s data should be deleted from your iOS 5 device.

4. Quote level control in Mail

Have you ever had to copy something from a previous message in an email chain and then paste it in the message you’re composing? Those “quoted” indentations came along with it and were a hassle to remove. Now you can select the text after you’ve pasted it, tap the arrow pointing to the right, and select the Quote Level option. From there you can decrease or increase the indentation level.

5. Draggable recipients in Mail

It was incredibly frustrating to reply to certain emails in previous versions of iOS because you couldn’t move a recipient between the To, CC, and BCC fields. Deleting and retyping the email address was the only way around it. Now, in iOS 5, you can simply tap, hold, and drag recipients between these fields.

6. Custom keyboard shortcuts

If you type certain phrases or lines of text often, iOS 5 can automate the process with custom keyboard shortcuts. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Add New Shortcut. For example, you could enter “I’ll be right there!” as the phrase and “brt” as the shortcut. Anytime you type “brt” in an email, message, note, etc. your phrase will appear.

7. Swipe to navigate in Calendar

When you’re in Day view in the Calendar app, you don’t have to tap those tiny arrow buttons to switch between days. Just swipe left or right anywhere on the screen to navigate.

8. Draggable events in Calendar

In Day view, you can edit an existing event without ever going into Edit mode. Tap on an event and hold it until a drop shadow appears underneath. Now try dragging it up and down to change the time of day it occurs, or left and right to switch which day it appears under. You can even drag the dot handles up and down to change the duration of the event.

9. Disable iMessage read receipts

When someone sends you an iMessage and you read it, the other person is notified. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to reveal that kind of information for whatever reason, you don’t have to. By going to Settings > iMessage, you can switch “Send Read Receipts” off. Now the sender won’t know whether you saw their message or not. Sneaky!

What are your favorite “obscure” iOS 5 tips & tricks?

Related Articles:

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4. iPhone calendar syncing wrong event times from your Mac’s iCal?

Analog, developed by Realmac Software, is now available on the Mac App Store for $7.99. With services like Instagram taking off, there’s a lot of interest in retro photography right now. And for good reason! Applying stylized filters infuses photos with personality or, as the developers of Analog would say – soul. There’s no doubt that’s exactly what this app can do with seemingly mundane images.

Optimized for Lion’s full screen and restore features, Analog presents a very Mac-like experience. It’s user interface is incredibly simple with a preview area on the left and a filter gallery on the right. There’s also a switch to toggle between filters and border styles. Getting started is as easy as dragging a photo to the Analog window and clicking on a filter to see the results.

Analog’s ease-of-use really empowers you to experiment with different image styles until you find just the right one. There are 20 filters and 14 borders to choose from, which is enough of a variety to get the desired effect most of the time. You can also crop and rotate photos by hovering over the image and clicking the appropriate icon. When you’re all done, Analog has sharing capabilities built in. You can save, email, or post your creations to social networks like Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa.

While Analog does make modifying your photos extremely intuitive, there are some tradeoffs. For example, applying filters with one click means you can’t adjust or customize the effects. They are what they are, so some work for certain photos while others do not. In addition, Analog seems to require serious horsepower for such a seemingly simple app. Messing around with filters on a few large images brought my MacBook Pro to a crawl. The developer is aware of these issues, though, and plans to include a fix (and new features) in an upcoming free update.

In summary, if you’re looking for a quick and affordable way to stylize photos on your Mac, Analog is definitely worth checking out. It’s available now exclusively on the Mac App Store for $7.99.

Win a free copy of Analog for Mac!

The developers of Analog ($7.99 on the Mac App Store) have been kind enough to offer a free software license to one lucky MacYourself reader! We’re going to try something new and take the giveaway to Twitter this time. To enter, simply mention @analogapp and @macyourself in the same tweet with a link back to this article (http://bit.ly/o8Gu3q).

All entries must be made by October 26, 2011 at 11:59pm eastern U.S. time. At the end, we’ll gather all of your tweets and pick a winner at random! The lucky guy or girl will be announced on this page, so save this article’s URL and be sure to check back later. In the meantime, check out Analog on the Mac App Store to learn more about its features. Good luck!

UPDATE – October 27, 2011:
Congratulations to our winner, @xJaredCummingsx! His tweet was randomly selected and he has been given a free copy of Analog for Mac! Thanks to everyone who entered and remember to consider purchasing a copy of Analog on the Mac App Store.

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4. Free Giveaway! Cram for Mac, a study tool that actually works

Transferring files from Mac to Mac is so easy in Mac OS X Lion that there’s barely anything to it. Just go to the AirDrop menu in the Finder sidebar on both Macs and they will automatically find each other. Next, drag one or more files to the icon of the computer you’re sending them to. The person on the other end will approve the transfer and that’s it!

While the beauty of AirDrop is its simplicity, that doesn’t mean there aren’t caveats. For example, the awesome technology that lets AirDrop work without both Macs being connected to the same wireless network (or any network at all, for that matter) also makes the feature exclusive to recent Macs. Apple has a rundown of Mac models which support AirDrop on their website and the list is limited to those that have a special kind of wireless chip inside them. AirDrop relies on Wi-Fi’s PAN (Personal Area Network) interface, which is capable of establishing peer-to-peer connections. But what if your Mac doesn’t support PAN, even though you’re running Lion? A couple lines of code will keep you from feeling left out.

1. Launch Terminal (located in Applications > Utilities) and paste the following command:
   

   defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1

2. Press Enter to run the command.
3. Next, paste this line in Terminal to restart Finder:
   

   killall Finder

4. Press Enter again and you’re ready to go!

Let’s say you have two Macs running Lion – one that supports AirDrop out of the box and another that is unsupported. If you’re going to be using this technique to share files between them, it’s a good idea to follow steps 1-4 on both computers. You can always reverse this setting by going through the process again, except replacing the 1 at the end of the first command with a 0.

What exactly have we just done? In essence, we’ve told AirDrop to work over any kind of network, not just a PAN. The only difference is that now both computers need to be connected to the same local network in order see each other and transfer files. So you can have one Mac connected to your network over Ethernet and another connected via Wi-Fi. Perhaps both have Ethernet, or maybe both have Wi-Fi. Whatever the combination, it’ll work just the same.

One thing to keep in mind is that Apple likely chose to only allow AirDrop to work over PAN connections because they are heavily encrypted. Whatever files you transfer using AirDrop with its default settings are secured and safe from snoopers. With the technique in this tutorial, you’re getting more flexibility at the cost of security. Files are only as safe as the network you’re connected to. If it’s your home network, it’s probably no big deal. If you’re using the public Wi-Fi at Starbucks or a college campus, make sure you’re not sharing anything important.

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2. 11 common myths that keep people from switching to Macs
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To those who know a bit about photography, depth of field plays a big role in what separates good pictures from great pictures. But for those who aren’t pros with top notch equipment, it’s difficult to achieve that level of quality with a point and shoot or smartphone camera. Focus, now on the Mac App Store for $4.99, helps non-pros get the results they’re looking for with intuitive blurring effects.

Since Mac users are generally a creative bunch, Focus will likely appeal to a lot of folks. It can breathe new life into photos, especially if they are already good to start with and just need that little something extra to reach the next level. And since Focus does just one thing and does it well, all of the complexity of other photo editing applications is nowhere to be found.

To get started with Focus, just launch the app and drag a photo to the window. Next, select a tool preset – Portrait, Nature, Architecture, Macro, Tilt & Shift – and customize the area of focus along with the level of blur. It’s really simple to do, especially with a live preview of exactly what the finished product will look like. You can also crop, zoom, and make other adjustments to experiment with the photo’s composition. Focus takes full advantage of Lion features like Multi-Touch gestures, versions, full screen, and resume so it feels like a Mac application in the same family as iPhoto, except with a much more streamlined interface.

In my experience, Focus produced really nice results, especially given its price and overall simplicity. There are other tools that give users a greater level of control, but they’re also more complex and require more fine tuning to get the desired effect. The presets that come with Focus provide a great starting point, so customizing adjustments should only take a few moments. The only complaint I have about Focus is its lack of file format support when exporting. Currently the only export option is JPG, so adding PNG and TIFF would be a great feature enhancement. With that said, Focus is only on version 1.0.1 and the developer plans to release updates in the future. Considering how solid the app is already, I’m looking forward to seeing what they add next.

Win a free copy of Focus for Mac!

The developers of Focus (regularly $4.99 on the Mac App Store) have been nice enough to offer a free software license to one lucky MacYourself reader! To enter, please leave a comment below, along with a valid email address (this is how we will contact you). In order to avoid spam filter issues, please type a coherent sentence saying you’d like a chance to win. Make sure you have access to the Mac App Store since this is the only way to get Focus. Multiple entries will be deleted, so please only add one comment per person. And finally, don’t worry if your comment doesn’t appear on the site immediately — it might be awaiting moderation and will show up shortly.

The winner will be chosen at random based on the comment number they happen to be. The lucky guy or girl will be announced on this page, so save this article’s URL and be sure to check back later. All entries must be made by September 23, 2011 at 11:59pm eastern U.S. time. In the meantime, check out Focus on the Mac App Store to learn more about what it can do. Good luck!

UPDATE – September 25, 2011:
Congratulations to our winner, Gail! Her comment number was chosen from a random number generator and she has been given a free copy of Focus for Mac! Thanks to everyone who entered and remember to consider purchasing a copy of Focus on the Mac App Store yourself.

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Most Mac users have no need to encrypt their Time Machine backups, but those who are extra careful or have sensitive information on their computers will appreciate the peace of mind. After all, if someone got their hands on your external hard drive and plugged it into their Mac, they could easily grab all the files from your Time Machine backup. It’s literally that easy – no hacks or workarounds necessary. That’s why encryption might be worth taking a look at, if you’re concerned about security.

Both new and existing Time Machine backups can be set up with encryption. There are a couple important things to keep in mind before password protecting your backup, though. First, Time Machine uses FileVault 2 to encrypt the disk, so it will only be readable on Macs using Lion. Older Macs won’t be able to access the data. Second, encryption is only available for directly connected backup drives. That’s USB and FireWire only, not Time Capsule or other wireless drives.

To password protect your backup, follow these easy steps:

1. Launch System Preferences, then click on the Time Machine icon.
2. Go to Select Disk and select the disk you’re using for your Time Machine backup.
3. Check the box next to “Encrypt backup disk” and click the Use Backup Disk button.
4. Type in a password of your choice. Make sure it’s difficult for others to crack, but easy for you to remember. If you need to restore from your backup in the future and forget this password, you’re going to be out of luck.

Time Machine will now start encrypting the disk, which will likely take quite a bit of time on the first run. It might be a few hours or even up to a full day, depending on how much data is on the disk. Make sure you can leave your Mac connected to the drive for an extended period of time – you cannot interrupt the process once it starts.

Related Articles:

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MacYourself previously published a popular article explaining how to reset the password on Macs running 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6. Unfortunately, those methods no longer work in 10.7 Lion. That doesn’t mean you’re out of luck – there are new ways to reset a password in Lion.

As mentioned in our original article, it’s important to remember that anyone with physical access to your computer (whether it is a Mac, Windows or Linux) can eventually find a way in. There’s no such thing as complete security if someone who knows what they’re doing is sitting in front of your computer. If you’re truly concerned about the security of your files, you should look into using FileVault to encrypt them.

Reset password using Lion Recovery

If you bought a brand new Mac with Lion pre-installed, the hard drive includes with a recovery partition that gives you access to a bunch of different tools. Here’s how to take advantage of this utility to reset your Mac’s password:

1. Shut down your Mac and turn it back on while holding down the Command and R keys at the same time until you see the Lion Recovery screen.
2. From the menu bar at the top, select Utilities > Terminal.
3. In the Terminal window type resetpassword and press Enter.
4. Use the Reset Password utility to select your hard drive, choose your user account, and enter a new password.

Reset Lion password with Single User mode

Anyone running Mac OS X Lion can take advantage of this method:

1. Shut down your Mac and turn it back on while holding down the Command and S keys at the same time until your see a black screen with white text. This is known as Single User mode.
2. You can skip this step, but it’s recommended that you don’t because it will check the consistency of your hard drive. At the prompt, type fsck -fy and press Enter.
3. Once the disk check is complete and the prompt returns, type mount -uw / and press Enter.
4. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist and press Enter.
5. Type ls /Users and press Enter. All of the usernames on the computer will be listed, which is helpful if you don’t know or remember what these are.
6. Type dscl . passwd /Users/username password while replacing username with one of the users displayed in the previous step and replacing password with the new password of your choice. Press Enter. You will likely get an error message about a file or directory not being found – it’s safe to ignore this.
7. Type reboot and press Enter.

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The marketing behind Mac OS X Lion touts it as being influenced by iOS from iPhones and iPads. Those are wildly successful products that people love, so why not bring some of that magic to Macs? For the most part, it seems to be working out great. It makes Apple’s products even more consistent and unified than they already were. On the other hand, change is difficult for a lot of users who are set in their ways. If you’re in that group, you can disable new features in Lion.

While it might seem like a good idea now to go back to what you’re used to, it’s not necessarily recommended that you revert to the pre-Lion way of doing things. Apple is a fast-paced company known for leaving slow adopters behind. It’s entirely possible that future versions of Mac OS X will not give you the same opportunity to disable these features, so is avoiding the inevitable really worth it? That’s for you and only you to decide!

Disable App Resume / Restore

When you quit an application in Lion it will restore the window or document that was last open next time you launch it. In other words, the app will resume from its state before you quit so you can pick up right where you left off – just like the iPad. If you don’t want to take advantage of this feature, go to System Preferences > General and uncheck “Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps.”

Get The Dock Indicator Lights Back

Those little blue glowing orbs under icons in the Dock are gone in Lion. That is, unless you upgraded from Snow Leopard – in which case they’re still there. But if you bought a new Mac or did a clean install of Lion, they’re nowhere to be seen. Reverse this change and bring them back by going to System Preferences > Dock and then checking “Show indicator lights for open applications.”

Change The Scrolling Direction

This is the one that’s giving people so much trouble. Scrolling with a trackpad or mouse is reversed in Lion – scroll up to move the page down, scroll down to move the page up. This is how it’s done on iOS devices and it does make sense, but it’s a big adjustment for Mac users. It really is something you can get used to in a matter of days, though, so don’t disable it without giving yourself a chance to adjust. But if you also use a Windows PC or a Mac not running Lion, it could be difficult for your brain to figure out when to scroll which way. In that case, you can go to System Prefereces > Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom and uncheck “Scroll direction: natural.” If you are using a mouse, just go to System Preferences > Mouse > Point & Click for the same setting.

Make Scroll Bars Always Visible

Just like in iOS, Mac OS X Lion does not show scroll bars on the side of a page unless you’re in the process of scrolling – otherwise they just disappear until needed. It’s a clever way to clean up the user interface and make it less cluttered. On the other hand, knowing when there is more content to see than what fits in the window becomes more difficult. You can make scroll bars always visible again by going to System Preferences > General and selecting “Always” under Show Scroll Bars.

Related Articles:

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Yesterday Apple unleashed Lion, the latest version of OS X for Mac computers. Beyond all of Lion’s great new features, it’s also the first Apple operating system to be sold and distributed through the Mac App Store. That means no driving to the store, no waiting for a package to be delivered, and no lines! It also means no physical media such as a DVD to keep as a backup in case of emergency.

Let’s say your Mac’s hard drive dies a few months from now and you originally upgraded from OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to Lion. When you get a new hard drive, you’d have to install Snow Leopard from its DVD first, then download and install Lion all over again after that. Or you could save yourself the frustration and create your own Lion boot device that, technically, would be able to install Lion on any compatible Mac. This could be a DVD, a USB flash drive, an SD card, or an external hard drive.

—

UPDATE – August 9, 2011:
Apple has released a utility called the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, which makes all the steps in this article unnecessary. While the solution below is still accurate and usable, it is recommended that users take advantage of Apple’s official solution.

—

There is one catch – you must go through this process after you download Lion, but before you actually install it. If you’ve already installed Lion, skip to the bottom of this tutorial before attempting this set of steps.

1. After downloading Lion from the Mac App Store, an installer window will launch. Quit the installer – we’ll come back to it later.
2. Navigate to your Applications folder in Finder and find the Install Mac OS X Lion file.
3. Right-click on the Lion Installer and select “Show Package Contents” from the menu.
4. Go to the Contents folder, then the SharedSupport folder. Once there, you will find a file called InstallESD.dmg.
5. Copy InstallESD.dmg to your Desktop.
6. Launch Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities.
   • If you’re creating a bootable DVD: Click the Burn button, then find and select the InstallESD.dmg file on your Desktop. Insert a blank DVD and the burning process will start.
   • If you’re creating a bootable USB drive or SD card: Make sure it’s 8GB or larger because 4GB is just a tad too small. Select the device you’ll be using in the list on the left of Disk Utility. Go to the Restore tab. Click the Image button next to the Source field and select InstallESD.dmg from your Desktop. Drag the new boot device from the list on the left to the Destination field. Please note any files on your USB drive or SD card will be erased. With that in mind, click the Restore button.
7. After the process has completed, you can restart your Mac to test the boot disc or drive. Just hold the Option key down as soon as the screen turns back on and select your bootable Lion device from the list.
8. If all is well, restart your computer to boot back into Snow Leopard. Go to the Applications folder, then open the Lion Installer file to upgrade your Mac!

Already Installed Lion?

If you’ve already upgraded to Lion and want to create a boot disc or recovery drive, all hope is not lost. Just follow these steps first:

1. Go to the Mac App Store. While holding down the Option key, click the Purchases icon.
2. Once there, hold down Option again while you click on the Install button next to OS X Lion. If you receive a warning about purchasing or downloading Lion again because you already have it, it’s okay. Go ahead and do it anyway – you won’t be charged again.
3. The Lion installer will download again. When it’s done, you can start the process of creating your boot device.

Related Articles:

1. Boot your Mac from CD, DVD, external drive, or USB flash drive
2. How to reset password for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
3. Disable OS X Lion’s app resume, reverse scrolling and more
4. How to use AirDrop over Ethernet and on older Macs running Lion

We’re constantly touching our iOS gadgets and gunking them up with greasy fingerprints. Wiping the screen of an iPhone on your pants is usually effective enough, but it mostly just spreads the oils (and germs) around rather than removing them. Monster has developed a new product to combat this problem.

The Monster CleanTouch Pen retails for $24.95 and lasts for up to 100 uses. It’s unique in that there is no bottle to carry around with a cloth or cleaning solution to spray on your device. You simply pop the cap of the CleanTouch Pen, “write” all over your screen with the tip, and wipe the thin layer of solution off with the built-in microfiber pad. Within seconds your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad screen is spotless.

One thing that sets the CleanTouch Pen apart from other cleaning products is that it doesn’t streak, stain, or damage the special coatings on the screen. Better yet, it’s alcohol and ammonia-free, and it helps prevent the spread of germs. Monster points out that the CleanTouch Pen is TSA-approved for air travel as well.

In my use, the product did a great job cleaning my iPhone and iPad screens. They looked fantastic afterwards and even felt smoother to the touch. I can definitely see why many would want to throw this in a bag to clean their device on the go when it starts to get filthy. Monster claims the CleanTouch Pen applies a thin coating to the screen that resists scratches and fingerprints, but those results were less obvious. Fingerprints reappeared within minutes of use, although they didn’t smear as easily.

Win a free Monster CleanTouch Pen!

The makers of the CleanTouch Pen (regularly $24.95) have been kind enough to offer free product samples to 2 lucky MacYourself readers! To enter, please leave a comment below, along with a valid email address (this is how we will contact you to get your shipping information). In order to avoid spam filter issues, please type a coherent sentence saying you’d like a chance to win. Multiple entries will be deleted, so please only add one comment per person. And finally, don’t worry if your comment doesn’t appear on the site immediately – it might be awaiting moderation and will show up shortly. Please note only those living in the 48 contiguous United States are eligible to enter.

The winners will be chosen at random based on the comment numbers they happen to be. The lucky guys or girls will be announced on this page, so save this article’s URL and be sure to check back later. All entries must be made by July 21, 2011 at 11:59pm eastern U.S. time. In the meantime, check out Monster’s website to learn more about the CleanTouch Pen. Good luck!

UPDATE – July 24, 2011:
Congratulations to our winners Chris and Megan! Their comment numbers were chosen from a random number generator and they will each be sent a free Monster CleanTouch Pen! Thanks to everyone who entered and remember to consider purchasing one yourself to keep your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad screen clean.

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For those who are unfamiliar with Safari’s Private Browsing feature, it’s a mode users can enable to prevent the browser from logging any temporary files, history, or cookies. So rather than clearing your history after you’ve been to a bunch of websites, Private Browsing never saves that information in the first place. Pretty easy, right? Firefox has the same capability, as does Google Chrome (which calls it Incognito Mode). The difference is that those browsers have keyboard shortcuts to toggle their private modes on and off, while Safari requires you to select it from the menu bar.

In an effort to make enabling Private Browsing more convenient, let’s create a custom keyboard shortcut for Safari. To do this, follow these simple steps:

1. Launch System Preferences on your Mac and click on the Keyboard pane.
2. Select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, then click on the Add (+) button towards the bottom of the window.
3. In the box that comes up, choose Safari from the Application menu, type “Private Browsing” (without the quotes) in the Menu Title field, and then choose your custom keyboard shortcut. The example below uses Shift+Command+P, which is the same shortcut Firefox uses.

Now when you launch Safari, you can use your keyboard shortcut to enable Private Browsing mode. Pressing the shortcut again will toggle Private Browsing off. The “Private” indicator will be displayed in the address bar to help you remain aware of which mode you are in.

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A few weeks ago I noticed some new appointments I entered in iCal on my Mac were not syncing correctly to my iPhone. One event I created for 11am was oddly showing itself as 2pm. And another later that day was displayed as 5pm instead of the 2pm entered in iCal. If I corrected the error on my iPhone and synced to my Mac again, now iCal would have the wrong start and end times. It was pretty frustrating, to say the least.

Upon further research, I discovered this is actually an issue many people with iOS devices experience. Surely there must have been a software glitch to blame for all these headaches, right? It turns out that wasn’t the case. Neither iCal on my Mac nor the calendar app on my iPhone were configured to handle time zones correctly. Here’s how I fixed the issues:

Configuring iCal on a Mac

Assuming you’re using a Mac and not a Windows PC, the first place to go is iCal preferences. Under the Advanced tab, is “Turn on time zone support” enabled? If not, check the box to enable it. Now in the upper-right corner of the iCal window you will see a drop-down box with the current time zone and an option to change it. Every time you move between time zones and work in iCal, it would be a good idea to make sure this setting is correct.

Configuring calendar on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

The most important part of solving this issue is changing your iOS device’s time zone settings. To do this, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and scroll to the bottom of the list until you find Time Zone Support. Tap this field, switch Time Zone Support to the on position, and select the correct time zone below.

After completing these steps my iPhone no longer displayed wrong calendar event times and accurately synced with my Mac. The cause of all my troubles was that my Mac was set to Pacific time, while my iPhone was incorrectly set to Eastern time – hence the persistent 3-hour difference.

From what I can tell, calendar time zones on all devices need to be manually changed every time a user travels. If anyone knows a way to make it happen automatically, please share in the comments!

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Ever since Mac OS X was introduced over ten years ago, Mac owners have watched from afar as Windows users have suffered through viruses and spyware. There are always bugs and holes in any kind of software, but Mac OS X has remained free of self-installing viruses for a decade. In light of the recent MacDefender outbreak, many people are declaring the end of Apple’s virus-free reign. The problem with these claims is that Mac OS X’s security has not actually been breached. In fact, users themselves are giving explicit permission for this software to install.

For those who are unaware of the MacDefender issue, many people with Macs have been coming across malicious webpages that trigger a download of unwanted, fake antivirus software. Many times, these webpages fraudulently claim that a security scan has found malware on the user’s Mac. The solution, they say, is to install their software, pay for it with a credit card, and run it to clean out the system. Obviously, this is all a big scam to get money and credit card numbers. The MacDefender program does absolutely nothing but pester people for payment and open adult sites if they don’t comply. While this sounds bad, there’s not much Mac OS X could have done to prevent it from happening.

Unlike Windows malware and viruses that install themselves with no interaction from the user, this new Mac trojan requires the user to do most of the work. Here’s what must happen for MacDefender to be installed on a Mac:

1. The user must go to an infected website. Many people have come across these through Google Image searches, so it could happen to anyone.
2. The infected page runs a script that downloads the MacDefender installer file. Most of the time, this is the end of the line. Nothing has been installed and the Mac has not been infected. Just drag the file to the Trash – no harm, no foul. However, if Safari is set to “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading,” the process moves to stage 3.
3. When Safari is configured to automatically open downloaded files, the MacDefender file will launch the application installer. Even still at this point, nothing harmful has occurred. If the user wisely realizes this is not a trusted or desired installation, they can quit the installer. Again, the file can then be trashed and the whole thing can be forgotten. On the other hand, if the user chooses to click the buttons to select a destination disk and continue the installation, they move to stage 4.
4. Mac OS X, as a built-in layer of security, will then ask for an Administrator password. The user must willingly enter this password to complete the installation, otherwise it will fail and MacDefender won’t infect the system. Some new variants of the MacDefender malware don’t require a password if an Administrator account is being used, though. But Apple has always recommended people create Standard user accounts for day-to-day use, which would still require a password. Regardless of the type of account, the user must still manually click through the installer to get to this point.
5. Assuming the user has completed all of the previous stages and is using an Administrator account and/or has entered their password, the MacDefender trojan will finally be installed. At this point, adult sites and security scare tactics will try to persuade the user to provide their credit card information.

As you can see, the process a user must go through to infect their Mac with MacDefender requires a number of poor decisions. Specifically, decisions where the user explicitly circumvents Mac OS X’s built-in security measures and their own best judgement. This method is called social engineering – manipulating a person (by scaring them into thinking they are infected with a virus) into doing something they don’t want to do (installing malicious software that poses as something else). Social engineered malware differs from the majority of traditional Windows malware, which can install itself without the user doing a thing. MacDefender doesn’t take advantage of a weakness in Mac OS X, but rather a weakness in the user. That’s why Macs continue to be virus-free and third-party security software still isn’t needed for most folks.

Of course, that isn’t to say Apple can’t make some improvements. For one, the “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading” setting in Safari should not exist. It’s highly recommended that every Safari user go to the program’s Preferences menu and uncheck this option right now. Second, Apple should modify Mac OS X setup process to create a Standard user account by default. This is more secure because a password is required for all software installations under a Standard account. Administrator accounts should remain hidden so unknowing users don’t log into them for everyday use. Nonetheless, these are relatively minor gripes. The major issue here is training users so they are better prepared not to fall for social engineering scams.

To sum everything up, this is a human attack, not a computer attack. How can a Mac – or any piece of technology, for that matter – protect users from themselves? Aside from turning Mac OS X into a curated platform like iOS where every piece of software must be approved by Apple through the App Store, there is no way to do this. Users must stay aware of what’s going on and use their best judgement. If you don’t have antivirus software installed and you get a warning that a scan has revealed security issues, don’t believe them. If an installation starts and you don’t know what program it is or why it’s there, quit it. Most importantly, if something is asking for your Mac’s Administrator password and you don’t know why, don’t give it.

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Front Row was introduced with the iMac G5 in 2005 and soon became bundled with all new Macs. Usually controlled with an Apple Remote, it lets users browse their iTunes and iPhoto libraries through Apple TV-like menus. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but rumors suggest Apple will no longer include Front Row in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. Apple likely realized most people don’t use Front Row and many actually get annoyed when they accidentally activate it.

If you’re a Mac user who mistakenly presses Cmd+Esc or a button on your Apple Remote only to get interrupted by Front Row, you’ll probably be interested in one of these three methods to disable it.

Disable Front Row Keyboard Shortcut

The most common annoyance with Front Row is how easily it can be inadvertently launched with a keyboard shortcut. If all you’re concerned with is disabling the Cmd+Esc shortcut, the fix is simple. Just open System Preferences, go to the Keyboard pane, select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, choose Front Row from the list, and uncheck “Hide and show Front Row.”

Turn Off Front Row Remote Receiver

Are your Front Row problems related to the Apple Remote? This is particularly common if you have an Apple TV and a Mac in the same room. One solution, if you never use the remote with your Mac, would be to turn off its infrared receiver. To do this, open System Preferences, go to the Security pane, select the General tab, and check “Disable remote control infrared receiver.” You might have to click the lock icon in the lower-left corner and enter your password first.

Uninstall Front Row

If you know you’ll never ever use Front Row again and just want to rid your Mac of it completely, that’s an option too. Using Finder, go to your Mac’s hard drive, and navigate to this folder: /System/Library/CoreServices. If you don’t know how to get there manually, just select Go > Go to Folder in the menu bar and copy and paste this path: /System/Library/CoreServices. When the folder opens, you’ll see Front Row there. Drag it to the Trash, enter your password (if prompted), and it will be gone forever.

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