Mac Tips for Switchers and Those Curious About The Mac

Great resources to get you started!

Apple Apple Switcher tutorial

iLifezone Podcast subscribe via iTunes or Podango [especially look for the tip monster shows]

Macworld OS X hints

The Unofficial Apple Weblog now running a Mac 101 series

Mac Gems – Find What You Need

Looking for some great software? Can’t remember where you saw that awesome review or what the name was? Read on!

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One of the best features of Macworld [online] is their regular column called Mac Gems. Great pieces of software reviewed and rated by the editors at Macworld Magazine and you can find the whole list right here.

Mac OSX Mail.app tip- it’s the little things

Mac OSX Mail.app tip- it’s the little things

Here’s a little tip for cleaning up the mail piled in your mail.app inbox. Whether you have lots of folders for sorting or just a few with maybe some sub folders this will work. It’s easy for the mail to pile up especially when you don’t have time to read it all or you have lots of subscriptions. If you click on a message in the inbox there is some added functionality if you use the control key or right click. Right click or control click on a message brings up a pop out menu for additional tasks you can perform.

You can quickly move messages to a folder or sub folder by accessing the “move to” flyout menu. Of course you have to have some routine for getting back to all those messages you’ve tucked away. That is where your own “Getting Things Done” methodology comes into play.

Having a system where you quickly determine what is an actionable message will go a long ways towards making sure that things don’t fall through the cracks.

Menu Calendar -On Track and On Time – Mac OSX Tip

Here’s a great little application that I’ve used over the years which now has iCal integration. Quick access to all your events and to-do items right in the menu bar. Very easy to use, intuitive interface and small process load. The iCal integration is very well done and features several different ways to view your calendar information. I highly recommend you surf on over the Objective Park Software and give MenuCalendarClock a try.

Free version as well as a option to register for $19.00 to unlock additional features. There is a reminder popup for using the advanced features.

Technorati Tags: Calendar, GTD, productivity

Why No Third Party Programs on the iPhone? Prediction!

Some have lamented the fact that apparently Apple wants to keep the iPhone a closed system so that they can control the user experience across the board. Not altogether a bad idea since many of the customers that Apple hopes to reach are probably not Mac users and simply want an easy to use phone, iPod and Internet communicator.

The market share of Mac users will be considerably smaller than the total number of people likely to buy an iPhone. Although presumably Apple could offer some kind of SDK for the iPhone would it make sense to incur the overhead for the smaller number of users who want to run some specific, perhaps more geeky apps on their iPhone. Historically Apple is known for the closed system due to their desire to control the whole experience. That approach has it’s trade offs and the debate goes on about how useful that is. We do note that Mac OSX is much more open and people who run their Mac’s to the edge are taking advantage of all sorts of applications that fit just about every niche.

So what about the need to run a wide array of applications on a mobile device [meaning something smaller than a laptop]. My prediction nay hope is that these needs are slated for another device. Somewhere in size between a iPhone and a 12″ laptop. While I can’t guarantee that this will happen, I think that Apple could make it happen. Let’s face it; many of us would like to have some access to the web, email and few other apps while we’re on the go but do not want to lug the laptop plus all the other stuff that goes in the bag.
Here’s what I predict should Apple see fit to develop such a device:

• Will employ the Multi Touch user interface
• Will include wifi and GPS built in
• Uses Flash Memory
• Will run an optimized version of OSX
• A sensible amount of Ram
• All the necessary ports
• Probably will not have a CD drive [will rely on Web storage]

• With this new user interface a whole new crop of applications and approaches to computing will be developed over the next 5 years.

  Are you getting it!

Technorati Tags: Apple, archive, iPhone, Mac News, speculation, touch Screen

All the iPhone, Leopard Talk; Does It Really Matter

We have cell phones and we have Mac OSX Tiger, although we might wish they did things differently or better, our machines are humming along nicely for the most part. Much of the talk, writing, and blogging about the new technologies from Apple Inc. are speculation. I am sure there are a few tips and real sources that know a little bit about what is going on. If you really want to know what’s going on, call Apple Inc. and ask for a guy named Steve; cannot promise you will get through though.

What fuels all of this has to do with our dependence on, and desire for, better digital tools and to some degree it’s just tech for technologies sake. We like gadgets and all the whiz bang wow factor that goes with it. Also there is a certain industry that has grown up and thrives on all of this. The bloggers, podcasters and other tech pundits rely on this talk about technology. I don’t think there is anything wrong with talking tech but there are aspects of the coverage that goes beyond helpful information.

Some writers editorials are not based on sound information and as such lead the unsuspecting reader to erroneous conclusions.

Steve Jobs Keynote in January of this year confirmed what many had said or hoped was true there was indeed an iPhone and the reaction was very strong; hardly anyone was indifferent. Many, but not all the features we’re given their moment in the spotlight and since then many of us, small and great have weighed in on what we think it is or will mean in the future.

My final analysis is that no one really knows how the iPhone will affect things in the future but I will predict that even if it was a flop [which I doubt] it still will have far reaching implications. The cell phone makers can no longer get by with hard to use confusing interface design. Today I took another look at the iPhone and it’s features afresh and have a renewed appreciation for what only exists as some code and image files on Apple.com. It is an amazing device and at the core is some very impressive code that drives the interface. That started me thinking about Apple’s need to move resources to the iPhone team in order to meet the deadline. My instincts tell me that is not entirely true or we don’t know what Apple meant when they said they had to move resources.

I am no programmer but the iPhone supposedly uses the ARM chip and Mac’s have Intel chips so doesn’t that mean they have different instruction sets? Which means these programmers would have to bat right or left handed correct? If I am wrong about that feel free to clue me in. Hmmm..

Bottom line; iPhone will ship, Leopard will ship, iLife will ship, iWork will ship and more importantly a whole bunch of really geeky stuff will happen, that right now, is not on anybody’s radar. The ship dates aren’t really that important, what is important is that Apple is innovating and there are thousands of coders and geeks of every stripe that are extending the capabilities of this technology for the sake of managing that part of our lives that is digital.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, Leopard, Mac News, speculation, touch Screen

Leopard Secret Features and the Delay

According to Appleinsider there is suspicion that the real reason for the delay of Leopard 10.5 is related to the secret features more so than the iPhone.

“American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu told clients on Friday. “We believe the extra time Apple is allocating is for developers to test secret features that will likely be revealed at its WWDC 2007 conference starting on June 11, 2007.” [from Appleinsider]

Another possible consideration is that this would give Apple an opportunity to announce the features at WWDC and then give the developers a chance to react to the new features between June and October.

iPhone and Leopard and iPod Oh my!

Sensible Voices! Much conversation about the intention by Apple to delay Leopard till October and focus it’s attention on the iPhone in order to make the ship date in June.

Whether it’s a resources problem or the “secret features” aren’t ready in Leopard is anybody’s guess. The real reason! The iPhone is the most talked about cell phone is a long while it’s just TOO big to be pushed aside. At lot is resting on Apple’s performance and they don’t want to falter at the starting gate.

It would be disastrous to Apple’s PR momentum to miss the ship date. Also they already have an installed base of happy Mac customers who are doing just find under Tiger and truth be told not everyone is tapping the full potential of that release and that includes me.

iPhone priority simply makes sense. There are also rumblings about a wi-pod with wireless capability and if that is true, there is one more reason they are stretched so thin. Flying below the pundit radar is a strategy that Apple is working towards and it clearly points in two directions; wireless connectivity and a more useful, dynamic and spectacular UI. Touch screens, super core animation and more portable devices would not surprise this reviewer in the least.

Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPod, Leopard, Mac News, speculation, touch Screen

How To Improve Focus and Get More Done

If you are one of the many who use computers everyday to accomplish your work you are already aware of the mountain of sensory input there is coming from that little acreage of pixels sitting on your desk. The call us knowledge workers since we are always sifting and sorting our way through vast amounts of stuff that we already know while adding to that body of information. The problem is how to manage the rate of and appropriateness of what we are faced with.

What really helps is if you can focus on just one thing. It’s a problem for everyone. As an educator I find that children are having a hard time slowing down to reading speed and being able to focus on the subject at hand. Add to this the distractions of things going around us and you have a recipe for wasted time. We have to read things over and over to get the point and thus we become tired and more frustrated because it takes longer to accomplish the task. How do we fix this?

Here is one way to capture what you are working on and keep at least some of the distractions out of view. I mentioned theses little applications once before but here’s how you make them work. As I type this I am looking at nothing but the window in which I am typing. To accomplish this there are three components to getting a blacked out screen so that all you see is one window. No menus, open windows, web pages, clocks or other things to attract your attention.

Step one is simply to hide the dock, you can do this from the Apple menu.

For steps two and three you need a couple of freeware applications, the first is Menushade and the other is Isolator. Menushade simply hides the menubar at the top of your display or lets you adjust the amount of transparency you wish.

Isolator on the other hand blacks out and hides the whole desktop and as you switch between applications only the active application is seen with the rest of background a solid black or another color of your choosing. In the isolator preferences you can adjust colors, amount of transparency etc.

Isolator feature active window on black

Cmd Tab feature showing the open applications. It should be noted that
when you use Isolator you may have to Cmd Tab twice to show all the applications
that you might have open.

We note that this is not the only way to accomplish this lack of screen clutter but this one works pretty well and it’s free.

Technorati Tags: Faster, Getting Things Done, GTD, productivity

How To Improve Focus and Get More Done

If you are one of the many who use computers everyday to accomplish your work you are already aware of the mountain of sensory input there is coming from that little acreage of pixels sitting on your desk. The call us knowledge workers since we are always sifting and sorting our way through vast amounts of stuff that we already know while adding to that body of information. The problem is how to manage the rate of and appropriateness of what we are faced with.

What really helps is if you can focus on just one thing. It’s a problem for everyone. As an educator I find that children are having a hard time slowing down to reading speed and being able to focus on the subject at hand. Add to this the distractions of things going around us and you have a recipe for wasted time. We have to read things over and over to get the point and thus we become tired and more frustrated because it takes longer to accomplish the task. How do we fix this?

Here is one way to capture what you are working on and keep at least some of the distractions out of view. I mentioned theses little applications once before but here’s how you make them work. As I type this I am looking at nothing but the window in which I am typing. To accomplish this there are three components to getting a blacked out screen so that all you see is one window. No menus, open windows, web pages, clocks or other things to attract your attention.

Step one is simply to hide the dock, you can do this from the Apple menu.

For steps two and three you need a couple of freeware applications, the first is Menushade and the other is Isolator. Menushade simply hides the menubar at the top of your display or lets you adjust the amount of transparency you wish.

Isolator on the other hand blacks out and hides the whole desktop and as you switch between applications only the active application is seen with the rest of background a solid black or another color of your choosing. In the isolator preferences you can adjust colors, amount of transparency etc.

Isolator feature active window on black

Cmd Tab feature showing the open applications. It should be noted that
when you use Isolator you may have to Cmd Tab twice to show all the applications
that you might have open.

We note that this is not the only way to accomplish this lack of screen clutter but this one works pretty well and it’s free.

Technorati Tags: Faster, Getting Things Done, GTD, productivity