Mac - page 64

Here’s a basic but essential trick that Windows users take for granted—making the mouse cursor bigger, which can help on larger screens of if you simply prefer it that way.

Did you know you can move a window from one space to another by dragging and dropping it to the edge of the screen? If so you’ll know there’s a delay before the space will switch to the new one, but a simple tweak can speed that up. Read on for more info.

For fans of vintage Macintosh computers and truly rare finds, a very unusual item has just surfaced in the wild: a 128k Macintosh prototype that used a 5.25” “Twiggy” floppy disk mechanism, the same kind Apple used with the first generation Lisa workstation.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 – The final day of Macworld / iWorld was my fifth day away from my wife, daughter and son, and despite spending time around technology that I’m passionate about and in a city that is as awesome as advertised, I was a little homesick.

That’s why when I came across a pod that demonstrated an app that may very well help me in the future when I am spending days away from my family, I was all ears. Babiis is the missing piece in my “travel puzzle” going forward.

SAN FRANICSCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — Before the 2012 edition of the expo wrapped yesterday, I had the opportunity to take one last pass on the exhibit hall floor to check out what the Saturday crowd was showing interest in. There was one product that grabbed my interest as a writer, especially considering how much I use my iPad for creating articles.

I’m not the best typist — not by a long shot — and I’ve used a keyboard for my iPad for longer posts over the past year. Whether it was a keyboard that was part of a case or my trusty Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, I had one with me at all times. That’s where the iKeyboard comes in.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/IWORLD 2012 — Here is some video of the big drum circle that wrapped up Macworld. Such a great way to end a conference!

Macworld is done, but we’ll have the remainder of our show posts tomorrow.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — The exhibit hall was hopping today, with plenty of Apple enthusiasts checking out the various booths and panel discussions throughout the day.

Today’s crowd — not surprisingly — was the most diverse of the three-day event due to the “weekend factor”, and among the crowd were a lot of first-time attendees who were pretty happy with what they saw.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/IWORLD 2012 — Rain Design’s new one-piece MacBook stand is made in the same factory that makes Apple’s unibody Macs, says the company.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — One of the Macworld Best in Show winners that caught my attention during the past few days is an audio solution by Australia-based Dev-Audio. The Microcone features a revolutionary technology that innovates the way multiple tracks are produced.

The Microcone is an incredibly intelligent microphone that is unbelievably simple to use and can help anyone manage group conversations. While it’s not going to be something everyone can use, there are some practical applications beyond traditional meetings that are worth looking at.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — I’ve been looking for a docking station for my 11-inch MacBook Air ever since I picked it up a few months back. Not only has there not been anything that has caught my eye, but there haven’t been many available to even look at.

But there’s a Kickstarter-backed docking station that is on display here at Macworld/iWorld that is on my radar: LandingZone.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/IWORLD 2012 — There seems to be more beautiful models here at Macworld than ever. Models are a great asset for companies. Especially the newer companies. I spoke to a few girls this afternoon to get some insight into their job.

This is what they told me…

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — One of the highlights on the agenda on the second day of this year’s expo is the appearance of Rob Corddry (The Daily Show, Childrens Hospital) for a live recording of the popular Mac Power Users podcast. Both he and Merlin Mann of 43Folders fame were in fine form during the 45 minute session led by podcast hosts David Sparks and Katie Floyd.

The theme of the episode revolved around Corddry’s workflow, including the tools he uses to get his work done and some of the strategies he employs to keep on top of his myriad projects.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/IWORLD 21012 — Silo Ink’s refillable ink cartridges are the last inkjet cartridges you’ll ever buy, according to the company. It offers a lifetime replacement guarantee to back that up.

Once installed, the cartridges are refilled from bottles of ink, which cost about $15 and are good for 10 refills. A special chip that makes the cartridges appear as new to the printer after a refill.

A set of refillable cartridges cost between $100 and $200, depending on how many you need for your printer.

Here’s a quick look at the system, which is being showcased here at Macworld.

Silo Ink.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/IWORLD 2012 — One of the closing events from the first day at Macworld / iWorld was the RapidFire session. If you wanted to learn about one cool thing about a variety of Apple-related stuff, it was the place to be.

Each presenter delivered a quick-paced talk that offered information, tips and tricks that shed some light on a little known or understood piece of software or hardware. The scope of the talks ranged from unconventional uses of Photo Booth to how to fix some of your Apple devices on your own, but here were the ones that I felt were the best of the bunch.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — The Neat Company has long been known for its scanning devices, like NeatReceipts and NeatDesk. Those devices let you take your paper receipts, documents and business cards and scan them into your Mac so that you can organize them in a way that makes sense to you.

But here at Macworld/iWorld 2012, The Neat Company is focusing on their latest venture: conquering the digital realm. The thrust of what they are presenting here is all about the cloud. NeatCloud and NeatMobile, to be specific.

Sometimes within an OS X application you might want to search and replace all single tabs with two tabs, for example, or remove double carriage returns. However, if you type a Tab or hit Return in the search field of an app, it won’t have the desired effect. There’s a simple trick that can be used.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / IWORLD 2012 — It’s one thing to have your favourite photos sitting on your iPhone or iPad, giving you the chance to show off your kids or places you’ve been with others quickly and easily. Snaptotes is taking that one step further — by letting you put them on the cases and bags that you keep your devices in.

Snaptotes has a small booth at Macworld/iWorld 2012, but they made an instant impression with me when I saw the photos of kids making up part of their display. I’m on the road and I miss my kids, so I decided to check out what they had to offer.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/IWORLD 2012 — As you walk the exhibit floor here at Moscone West, there are the much larger booths that make up the bulk of what you’ll see. But there are also some of the smaller booths — known as “pods” — that a lot of the mobile apps are housed in. There’s plenty of iOS apps being featured in this area of the hall, and plenty to discover.

One of my favourite apps I’ve found here is called — oddly enough — FavorIt, an app that lets you and your friends share what their favourite apps are with one another.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / iWorld 2012 — At the media preview last night at Macworld/iWorld, VIPOrbit Software had a ton of news to offer.

First, they unveiled a new version of VIPOrbit for the iPhone. The latest version has new features requested by its users, an improved user interface and an enhanced Dashboard.

Then they debuted VIPOrbit for iPad, bringing signature features from the initial iPhone app to iPad users.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / iWORLD 2012 — There are no shortage of iPhone cases being showcased here at Macworld/iWorld 2012, but only one grabbed my attention at last night’s media preview. It was a case called Flygrip, and it promises to keep your iPhone in hand so you can do other things without worrying about dropping your valuable device.

Macworld/iWorld marks the launch of FlyGrip, and I was given a unit to test out.

As a bit of a productivity nerd, it was great to see a couple of apps that revolve around that niche having a presence at the Macworld/iWorld media preview. One of these apps was Pocket Informant, which looks both elegant and compelling. And its available for both the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. For those looking to get a little bit more productive and want a pleasurable-looking experience while doing so, this might just be the app for you.

Pocket Informant fully integrates your calendar, tasks, notes and contacts into one spot, which allows you to focus on everything you’ve got going on in a day. This is a bit of a departure from other productivity-type apps in that they tend to put the emphasis on your tasks and let everything else fade into the background. Pocket Informant keeps everything close at hand and visible so that you don’t miss out on somewhere you’ve got go, someone you need to get in touch with or something you have to do.

There might be certain situations where you need a snapshot of what your computer is doing. For example, if you spot a bug in a program, the developer might need to know what your computer is doing when the bug occurs. Here’s how to send the developer everything they could possibly need to know.

This year’s edition of Macworld, taking place January 26-28, is shaping up to be a bit of a departure from Macworlds of the past. 2012 is a year of evolution for the event, now branded as Macworld/iWorld.

And that evolution begins tonight with a blast.

Spotlight is a love it/hate it experience. Don’t stop reading if you hate it, however, because here’s a tip that shows how useful Spotlight can be if used correctly. A simple trick lets you search for emails or documents by a particular author, which can be extremely useful when trying to track down that elusive file or message.

Ever wanted to quit every single open application? Perhaps you want to free up memory for the launch of another app. Here’s one way of doing it quickly and cleanly.