How-To - page 107

When you’re browsing a bunch of files in a Finder window, you can choose whether to view them as icons, as a list, or in columns. This tip shows you how to quickly switch from one view to another.

If only we could have experienced the iPhone in all of its glory from the initial release. 3G has only recently been opened to multimedia streaming. Tethering is still not available though the iPhone is fully capable. Why are we not video chatting with our loved ones these almost perfect devices?

Jailbreaking that iPhone is currently the only way to tether your device to you Mac and get that sweet 3G data access to you 13″ Macbook. In fact, with MyWi, a jailbreak app from the Cydia Store, you can create your own WiFi hotspot similar to the Verizon MiWi. Better charge up that battery now.

Spotlight is the built-in search system in Mac OS X. You can get to it at any time by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the very top-right corner of your screen.

Welcome to MacRx, a new category dedicated to some common setups, problems and headaches of All Things Mac. As we all know, how things should work isn’t always how they do work.  Sometimes a little assistance can be in order.

This week an issue I’ve seen many users struggling with, Managing Bookmarks in Safari. As a Mac consultant I frequently run into clients who can’t find the bookmarks they’ve added to their systems, or have so many bookmarks saved that the list is virtually endless and unuseable.

Getting to know the ways in which Safari stores bookmarks, and coming up with a simple organizing scheme you can follow, will go a long way in preserving your sanity – or at least help save some time occasionally.

$0.69 for an iPad stand? Bah, we say. Ian Collins shows us all how to make up to four free iPad stands out of its own packaging materials. Ghetto? Perhaps. We prefer to call it recycling.

[via Laughing Squid

Here’s a typical Finder window:

And here’s mine:

What’s different?

Some of our previous tips have guided you around the Dock, but you might not always want to use that.

Sometimes, you just want to quickly flit between applications, and constantly taking your hands off the keyboard to use the mouse or trackpad can be annoying.

This tip shows you a quick way to switch from one app to another, without taking your hands off the keyboard at all.

Even with a little boost to 20MB over a 3g connection, and VoIP recently being allowed thanks to an SDK update, the iPhone’s potential continues to be impaired by data restrictions set by AT&T. If you’ve taken the plunge and jailbreaked your device, there’s a $2 app that will let you stick it to the man with unlimited data access over 3G. Incidentally, 3G Unrestrictor was one of my reasons to jailbreak way back in 2009.

While the Emoji keyboard is not new to the iPhone, it seemed as if it was disabled in iPhone OS 4.0 .

For those of you developers big into the Emoji keyboard, here is how to regain the Emoji keyboard while still using iPhone OS 4.0 :

We’ve looked at the Dock, and we’ve looked at the Menu Bar. Today we’re taking our first look at Finder.

This is what you’ll see when you first start to use Finder in Mac OS X. Broadly speaking, it does the same job as Windows Explorer, but it does many of those things in different ways.

Before we go into any more detail (which we will, in forthcoming tips), it helps to understand the layout of a Finder window.

Last week, I wrote about an upcoming bullet hell SHMUP from Cave called ESPGALUDA II due to hit the App Store last Saturday. As promised, it did, and at a special low introductory price of $4.99 to boot.

Unfortunately, though, ESPGALUDA II came with some big problems.

For one, it would only run on the iPhone 3Gs or iPad. Even worse? Due to a developer error, third generation iPod Touches like mine were inexplicably incapable of running the game, even though the hardware supports it. This put iPod Touch owners in a nasty position: they either dropped five bucks on the ESPGALUDA II app now and hoped an update came along soon to fix the install problem, or waited for the fix and risk paying an extra four bucks for the game later.

If you’re a SHMUP-loving iPod Touch 3rd Gen owner, though, don’t despair. There’s an easy way to get ESPGALUDA II running on your device right now. Just follow the instructions below.

Exposé is a system built into Mac OS X, designed to help you find your way around windows and applications more easily.

When you have a lot of different windows cluttering up your screen, it can be hard to locate the exact one you want. Exposé makes it easier by momentarily displaying all of them, shrunk down a little so that they will all fit into view.

We’ve already explained how the Dock is split into two halves, and looked at the applications side of it in the last screencast.

This time, we’re looking at more ways to customize the Dock, and make it bend to your will.

Having some problems with your iPad’s WiFi connection? Apple’s aware of the problem, and has some ideas on how to fix them.

According to Apple, the iPad might not automatically rejoin known WiFi networks using third-party routers that are dual-band capable (802.11 b/g and 802.11 n) when each band’s network uses the same name or use different security settings.

Apple’s recommendation? Try creating separate network names for each separate band’s network (ie: add a G to the end of the name of the 802.11 b/g band) and making sure both bands’ networks use the same security settings.

We’ve been lucky enough to not have this problem, but what about you? Is this solution fixing your problem, or is their a bigger issue afloat?

[via Gizmodo]

By having an iPad, you now have the internet in your hands (and probably on your couch), at least according to Steve Jobs. But are you wishing you had a bookmarks bar like in regular Safari? After reading this quick guide you soon will.

Windows PCs have two distinct keys for deleting text in different directions – delete and backspace. But on some Macs, there’s no sign of anything called “delete”. What gives?

My guilty little secret is that my ugly Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook is my favorite Mac laptop.

It’s certainly not the prettiest (a Frankenstein) or the most powerful (a sloth) but it’s the one with the twenty hours of battery life spread between two interchangeable batteries always swinging from a satchel (read: man purse) on my hip.

What was once a lackluster Windows XP lilicomputer is now, thanks to the OSx86 project and this wonderful guide, the one Mac I’m always guaranteed to have on me.

A couple of weeks ago I canceled my MobileMe account. Why? Because it didn’t do the one thing I wanted it to do: share my calendar with my wife so we could coordinate our busy lives. That’s all.

I love MobileMe’s email, calendar, contact syncing (especially on the iPhone) and even iDisk. I gave Apple a year to improve it, but nothing happpened, so I switched.

Here’s how to recreate all of MobileMe’s features for FREE (except one) and how I use it to sync my iMac, MacBook and two iPhones.

In the Hackintosh community, the MSI Wind is somewhat legendary for being the first netbook out there that could essentially run OS X out of the box, with all features working and no hardware hacking required.

Now it looks like the venerable Wind has another Apple bragging point: with its keyboard ripped out and its display replaced with a touchscreen and reversed, the MSI Wind U100 makes a good poor man’s substitute for the iPad.

Sure, it doesn’t use the iPhone OS — it’s running Snow Leopard 10.6.2 — and it’s got some rough edges (it can only be turned on and off by wiggling a little paperclip in a hole), but if you were hoping that Steve Jobs was going to announce a MacTablet on January 27th instead of a big iPhone, this might be just the project to devote your weekend to.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLZRNVzKGAQ

This iPhone 3Gs video camera stabilizer is probably too extreme a DIY project for anyone to actually carry out, but if you choose to brave Google Translate’s gobbledygooked English translation ofthese Japanese instructions, you should be able to get the jist and make your very own iPhone steadicam… just the thing to make your own backyard Evil Dead remake.

Just like my fascination with the bulbous iMac G3 series, I tend to be fascinated by the shapes of gadgets, and in my explorations at the local Berlin flea market, I have a habit of picking up delightfully non-conformist pieces of obscure and obsolete retro technology, never quite knowing what I’m going to do with them.

That’s why I love this guide over at Unplggd explaining how to convert a vintage 8-track player into an iPod speaker dock.

It’s not really very hard: all you do is take an 8-track cassette adapter, plug a regular cassette adapter into it, and plug in your iPod.

It’s intuitive, but not particularly ingenious or elegant. The real reason I’m delighted with this DIY, though, is because I just picked up almost that exact same 8-track player a couple of weeks ago, and now I can turn it into something more useful than an overly precious conversation piece. If you’re over 30 or 35, you’ve probably still got an 8-track player just like this in your garage: do some digging, and you’ll probably find that you can do the same.

The Internet can always be counted on to promptly deliver simulacrums of the latest announced Apple product created in two distinct geek mediums: LEGO and papercraft.

Last week, we had the inevitable LEGO iPad, so it was only a matter of time we got the origami version. Here it is, courtesy of Obamapacman: a DIY iPad papercraft mockup.

It’s a pretty simple project. Just print the model out on a color printer at 150 DPI, cut along solid lines, fold on the dotted lines and glue the yellow seams together; then off to the local cafe, prowling for Apple-loving geek girls, gullible suckers or both!

Google’s Chrome Operating System is a Google’s answer to Mac OS X or Windows 7  — a lightweight operating system designed for netbooks and other portable devices. It’s also designed for an always-on connection. The Net is as much a part of the system as the software installed on the computer.

It’s also lightweight, fast, and easy to use. Boot up in just a matter of few seconds, log in and get onto the internet instantly. No distractions at all. Moreover, everything remains in  the cloud so you never have to worry about running out of the disk space.

It’s also fun to play with. Here’s how to install it on a Mac using Parallels Desktop 5 virtualization software. Be aware that Chrome OS is currently in pre-alpha developmental stage. Install at your own risk!

‘Tis the season to get and give presents, and with prices through the floor, many will have gotten new digital cameras this year. If you’re one of the lucky ones who received a nice shiny new SLR camera, here are 10 tips that will help you become the next Ansel Adams.

I hope you’ll never have to use these tips, but in the freak moments when you just can’t go back and pick up your iPhone because you have a plane to catch and you just realized you left your iPhone at home while parking your car in Lot B at LAX these steps might come in handy.

Consider it a Holiday Blessing

Though I think everyone should own and use an iPhone because it’s the most powerful computing tool you can fit in your pocket, it’s nice to take a break for a while. My wife was able to hold conversations with me and I didn’t google something or check to see what made my phone vibrate.

It was also entertaining to see how many times I would try to reach for my absent phone. I use it for everything. So when I needed directions to a restaurant or wanted to know the time, I had to use the Yellow Pages and a GPS or find a clock. Not fun, but I felt like I was being all nostalgic or something. Using a clock… that’s old school.

Another fun activity is noticing how many people are consumed by whatever is happening on their smart phone. For the past five days, I was able to look down on these people as the poor addicted souls that they were, and I felt pity. I wanted to drop a couple coins in their empty starbucks cups and tell them to buy themselves a life, or a better marriage/relationship. Then I would ask them for the time and if they could pull up a terminal map so I could find the nearest McDonalds.

News To Me: Call Forwarding is Free

The last time I used call forwarding AT&T charged me $.75 a minute and I ended up paying $125 in fees. When I arrived in Cleveland, I called them up and asked to set up forwarding and Customer Service Associate Matt told me the forwarding is free. Minutes are charged twice, but other than that my calls went to the wifey’s phone penalty-less. This doesn’t help with SMS messages, but your incoming calls are covered. You might want to change the voicemail on the phone you’re forwarding to so you don’t confuse people.

When you get back to your forgotten iPhone, you can turn off call forwarding in Settings>Phone>Call Forwarding.

If You Use Google Voice, You’ll Be OK

If you receive incoming calls and SMS through Google Voice, you can just add another phone to your account and direct incoming activity to the newly added phone.  Once you add the number, Google Voice will call the phone and ask for a confirmation code. Just dial the numbers (mine was two digits) and you’re good to go.

It’s a good idea to just embrace using your Google Voice number as your one and only number. Sure, Google owns another part of your communicative life, but convenience is worth it even if you’re bringing the apocalypse one step closer with every call/email/document/wave/search/checkout.

My MBP Saved Me

I don’t like to bring my notebook with me on trips involving family because I’ll typically ignore people when I’m using my phone and I don’t want to double ignore them while on my Mac. But since I forgot my phone, my Mac gave me just enough of the internet to hold me over. My nephew scored an iPod Touch for Christmas and I was able to show him my app library in iTunes for ideas on what to download. I didn’t have to open the Yellow Pages for an address to plug into the GPS–thank you baby Jesus. And photo and video sharing ends up being more enjoyable on a 15″ screen rather than 2″x 3″.

Hopefully, this article is useless to you because you’ll forget clean underwear before you leave your iPhone at home. That said, I think I enjoyed my time at the in-laws a bit more without my iPhone ant it’s nice to know that life is ok without it.