Written by: hexley on Sunday March 30th 2008, 5:43 am
As Apple says, “opening files is so 2006″, we tend to agree. As our first post to the quick tips section, otherwise known as the Little Smokies category; we will explore just a little of Quick Look.
Quick Look saves time. For every file on your computer, if you want to view the contents of the file, you have to open the file. You then have to wait for it’s parent application to launch, and finally, you get to see what is in the file.
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Written by: Caroline Merchiers on Saturday March 29th 2008, 10:25 pm
As a kid, we would have family gatherings; one of the standard food items were these small mini hotdogs. They are called Little Smokies, or at least, that is what my family always called them.
To this day, I love the Little Smokies; a favorite treat for me every time I have them. They are tiny, quick, simple, and quite awesome.
In that spirit, we are adding a new category to OS X Help; Little Smokies.
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Written by: hexley on Wednesday March 26th 2008, 7:10 pm
If there ever was an area in which there seems to be massive confusion on OS X it is with downloading files. Time and time again, I see a user download a file, and not know what to do with it. Worse, once they figure out what to do with the file, they have absolutely no idea what to do with the remnants left behind.
If you are a new Macintosh user, and you only read one post on OS X Help, please, read this post. Downloading files is something almost all of you will do on a daily basis. From applications to photos, there is no shortage of file downloads to contend with.
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Written by: hexley on Wednesday March 26th 2008, 7:00 pm
Filed under: Misc
If you have not noticed yet, we have some very nice new icons to lead into each tutorial we post. At first, we were going to create single icons, for each category.
In talking this over with a friend, he suggested the “cube” idea that we are now using. Currently, we have most of the icons we need for future tutorials. We lack a few for broad topics like “hardware” and are in brainstorming mode to figure out how to fill those holes.
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Written by: hexley on Friday March 21st 2008, 12:10 am
With every post, I am getting emails or comments from users who are experiencing some small technical problems. I am learning there is one common thread amongst these users.
They have all bought a used Macintosh. Whether it was from eBay, a friend, or a donation, one way or another, they have a less than brand new machine.
Nothing wrong with this at all, everyone needs to eventually get a Mac. I would like to take this time to explain what you need to do to your newly acquired computer, to make sure it is trouble free.
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Written by: hexley on Wednesday March 19th 2008, 8:26 pm
It finally happened. Apple rolled out a software update, I can now write a post that will help some of you understand what the Software Update tool is.
The programmers at Apple are not perfect; from time to time, bugs will be found, and fixed. Apple’s software update tool is how those bugs are repaired. Oftentimes not only are bugs repaired, but new features are implemented as well.
Today we will cover the Apple Software Update tool. From how it works, when you should run it, to ignoring it and updating manually. If you continue reading, you should be able to keep your Macintosh up to date and in relatively smooth working order.
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Written by: hexley on Wednesday March 12th 2008, 10:56 am
Every window you open in the Finder of OS X has what is called a “sidebar” attached to it. The sidebar is nothing more than a quick way to get to places you often visit. Apple has been kind enough to seed it with some common items. These default items may or may not be useful to you personally.
The good news is, you are free to change the sidebar to your liking. You can even close off the sidebar and make it disappear if you are so inclined.
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Written by: hexley on Monday March 10th 2008, 2:35 pm
Filed under: Misc
The good folks over at Inside Mac Radio gave us a call a few weeks ago and did a short radio slot with me.
You can download just the interview portion, or you can listen to the entire InsideMac Radio podcast. The OS X Help interview is short; if you have a spare 10 minutes, give it a listen.
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Written by: hexley on Friday March 07th 2008, 10:05 am
Filed under: Misc
The following post can apply to anyone, Macintosh or PC user. It is important because I noticed 12% of our email newsletter subscribers email addresses end in aol.com.
If your email address also ends in aol.com, more than likely, you are being taken advantage of. Paying for something that is otherwise free is never a good feeling. Spare five minutes of your day; when done, at the very least, I think we can save you $120.00 a year.
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Written by: hexley on Thursday March 06th 2008, 12:01 am
Most Macintosh users have a clock and some other small icons in the upper right corner of their screen. These items are generally referred to as “menulets”. If you are running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, you probably see a clock, a small speaker, a magnifying glass, and perhaps a few other items.
The items you have as a default will largely depend on your computer. Laptop users will almost all have an Airport icon, and sometimes a Bluetooth icon.
What many people have not learned is that those menulets can be repositioned, deleted, and customized.
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Written by: hexley on Wednesday March 05th 2008, 12:01 am
How you name your files and folders on your computer is important. It is one of the best ways to locate them later. Often times, I will save a file, and give it the wrong name, spell the name wrong, or just want to change it later.
I would guess the reason many people have issues with how to change a file or folder name is that there is no menu item or command in OS X to start the process. I have a feeling many people stumble on the methods by accident; it certainly is not immediately clear.
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Written by: hexley on Tuesday March 04th 2008, 8:19 am
Safari seems to be riddled with small features that go unnoticed at times. One such feature is called “SnapBack”.
If you find yourself frequently pressing the back button in Safari, the SnapBack tool may save you a bit of time. Users that frequent large sites, such as Amazon.com, or Apple.com, or perhaps Ebay.com will find snapback to be valuable.
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