Owner: iUseApple: Mac OS X Tips and Tricks URL:http://iuseapple.com/blog/ Join Date: Mon, 07 May 2007 20:12:39 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: iUseApple.com is a Mac OS X Tips and Tricks Blog created just for you! Swing by iUseApple.com to learn everything you didn't know about your Mac!
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Edit and Correct Images in iPhoto 2007-05-07 12:03:59 I want to get the most out of my photographs! Scrapbooking family memories with an Apple is a piece of cake, but how do I make the photos look their best? When my pictures reach iPhoto
they can be tilted, blurred, overexposed, afflicted with red eye, the list goes on… Well, there are things we can do inside the camera to reduce the amount of problems with our photos. Here is a basic tutorial about good photo composition.
First, let’s review the basics of editing photos in iPhoto. To edit any photo, double click the photo in Library view. A window like the one below will appear.
Any change I make to the photograph will be automatically saved once I click Done or move onto another photo in my Library. If I make a change to the photograph I do not like just Undo or hit Cmd+Z. I can not undo the changes once I click Done or move to another photo. iPhoto keeps the original image stored on my Mac. When I make a change, iPhoto creates a whole new image in the Modified folder i Read more:Correct
, Images
OS X Tips and Tricks in Your Email! 2007-05-05 17:33:53
iUseApple visitors can now receive new Tips and Tricks inside email! Be the first to learn new and helpful hints about Apple computers straight from iUseApple! Get direct access to questions and answers from Steve Blue!
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Cluttered Desktop? Hide Applications 2007-05-05 12:16:32 Multitasking is just a new word for not paying attention. Sometimes I want a simple solution to clean up my computer and focus on one open window. This makes me extremely more productive. There are some applications I can download that are perfect for this problem. I wrote a blog post about making a Distraction Free Mac. But I don’t need a bunch of fancy applications to do this. Apple already thought of the concept of hiding applications.
If I have multiple windows from different applications open, I can Select Hide Others from the Application’s drop down menu in the menu bar. Or I can do this with a keyboard shortcut, by pressing Shift + Cmd + H. This will hide all the other open applications and just leave the window on top. So, if Safari is the front most application, select Safari -> Hide Others from the drop down menu at the top of the screen.
Alternatively, I can hide the current open application in the foreground and reveal the application behind it. Select Hide (th Read more:Desktop
, Applications
Import Photos From My Camera Using iPhoto 2007-05-02 17:47:59 Importing images from my camera is so easy! All I need is my digital camera, USB cable, and the application iPhoto
to be open to import photos automatically to my Mac. This method should work with pretty much any consumer or professional camera on the market including Kodak, Canon, Nikon, FujiFilm, and even more.
Open iPhoto. If iPhoto is not in the Dock, I can find it by opening the Finder and navigating to the Applications folder.
Connect the smaller end of the USB cable to my camera. The bigger end goes into my Mac.
Wait a few seconds. iPhoto will respond by displaying a black window asking if I want to import the photos from my camera.Click Import. This may take a few minutes. A progress bar will appear at the bottom of the iPhoto window and a thumbnail of each image will appear as I import them. That’s all there is to it!
Now I can organize the photos in Photo and view them individually or even make a slide show with Audio!
iPhoto places imported images into a specific fold Read more:Import
, Camera
iUseApple Gets a Fresh New Look! 2007-05-01 17:33:35
iUseApple received brand new features and design this morning! You can expect the same old quality information with a stunning new design and exciting new opportunities for you to put your two cents in as well! Below I list some of the changes. Thanks for visiting and please tell me what you think!
Ask Steve Blue!
Possibly the best new feature of iUseApple.com is the ability for you to directly ask me questions about your Mac via the Ask Steve Blue link at the top of the site. An example of this is found at the bottom of this post. Please contact me concerning any problems with your Apple computer, cool ideas for new articles and posts, and comments and critiques. I love to hear from anyone reading iUseApple.com. I will help you as soon as I can with any problems or questions you may have about a Mac. New Apple customers especially! Please feel free to Ask Steve Blue anything!
Stunning New Look!
I updated the iUseApple theme this morning with a stunning new look created by Xu Yiyang.
Apple Internet Video Made Easy! 2007-04-17 04:12:46
Now that I am done editing my video masterpiece, it may be time to output the video to a format necessary for the Internet
. Uploading a video to YouTube is pretty easy. Making it look good is a bit of a challenge. Most online videos are plagued with artifacts, pixelations, and lag time (the latter is mostly dependent on my Internet connection). But I have a Mac, so I can make a fantastic looking video for the web using Final Cut Studio, iMovie, or Quicktime Pro.
Last time I heard, about 20% of the population has actually purchased a HDTV for their home. Yet, everyone seems so content watching the poorest quality video on YouTube. Now that Apple
TV has been released, a flood of similar products will probably hit the market. This will bridge the gap between online videos and television. It is time to start making online videos at a reasonable quality for both the Internet and TV.
I am going to make this easy by providing the settings necessary to output a fine looking video for the Int
Free 3D With Blender! 2007-04-09 14:54:46 Blender
is a free open source application for 3D modeling, animation, and game design. At first, I was skeptical of Blender’s capabilities since 3D Giants like Maya and 3D Studio Max have dominated the scene for quite some time. Once I downloaded and installed Blender, my misconceptions were completely erased by a wonderful 3D experience. Blender offer comparable features, pulls off Multi-OS Support way better than it’s competitors and it is totally free!
To the noob, Blender may seem daunting with a mess of buttons and available layouts. Like any good graphic application, there are many ways to do the same thing. This can be complicated. Blender.org offers Tutorials and Wikis to get started making 3D models. These resources far exceed my previous experiences with documentation for Maya or 3DSMax.
Check out what Blender has to offer.
Sherlock 2007-04-07 16:23:49
I have lately grown restless and annoyed with my growing clutter of Widgets. I turned to Sherlock and found some useful features.
For all us Mac veterans, we remember Sherlock being a handy one stop shop for internet searching, flight tracking, movie schedules, eBay, even language translation. Sherlock was introduced back in OS 8.5, but since Apple introduced the Dashboard, Sherlock has been abandoned but is still available in the Applications folder.
Growl 2007-04-07 16:05:24
Growl is a system notification application that resides in System Preferences. “Notifications are a way for your applications to provide you with new information, without you having to switch from the application you’re already in.” More and more developers are adding support for Growl. Applications such as Adium, Transmission, Max, and Transmit use Growl.
Growl is extremely customizable. When installed, take a gander in System Preferences and a new icon for Growl will appear at the bottom. Here, I can choose from a variety of display styles, enable specific notifications from different Applications, and even stylize the notifications.
Download Growl Here.
Time Lapse Using a Mac! 2007-04-03 14:35:45
Gawker is a free application that will make time lapse movies from the iSight or DV camera connected to a Mac. Time lapse photography allows me to make a movie of an event with a long duration shorter by recording a frame every few seconds. I can specify the frequency that Gawker takes each shot for the time lapse. I could use Gawker for video surveillance, a webcam, or just to suit my creative impulse. Gawker even lets me share my time lapse and view others’ online.
When the opportunity is right, I’ll upload a time lapse I make with Gawker.
Download Gawker here.
Read more:Lapse
, Time Lapse
Convert Audio Files with Max 2007-03-27 20:14:21
Max will rip CDs and convert audio files using many different available formats for free! Max is easy to use and has every modern convenience for the avid music enthusiast.
I used Max to convert a bunch of MP3s to a lower bit rate. Max can batch encode in multiple formats fast and even handles ID3 tags nicely. I recommend it over iTunes, since iTunes likes to handle the sorting of MP3s on it’s own. With Max, I can specify a specific folder I want the converted MP3s to go.
Read more:Convert
, Audio
Using BitPim with my cell phone 2007-03-23 02:18:20
I bought a new cell phone
after deliberating for a month on which one to buy from Verizon Wireless. I finally decided that the The LG VX8600 suit my fancy. It’s the flip version of the Chocolate and is ultra-slim, has bluetooth, can hold up to 2GB of mp3s, pictures, games and videos. I wanted to sync Address Book, iCal, and various media to my new cellphone via USB or Bluetooth.
My research into how compatible the LG VX8600 was with my MacBook Pro was a bumpy road indeed. I had two different Verizon representatives tell me the phone could not communicate with a Mac via Bluetooth, LG announced that they would no longer support OS X.
I managed to find a fledgling beta of an Application called BitPim. BitPim is an ugly looking application for Windows, Linux, and OS X that allows communication between a computer and CDMA cell phone. I can browse and edit most of the features of the phone, including the “PhoneBook, Calendar, WallPapers, RingTones (functionality varies by ph
Change the Desktop Background… 2007-03-15 04:40:02
Changing my desktop background is easy to do. Ctrl + Click the desktop and select ChangeDesktop
Background&hellip
; This will open System Preferences.
My current Desktop Picture is displayed in the image well. I can drag any image into the well to set it as my Desktop Picture. I can also browse through all the images on my Mac by selecting a folder on the left of the Preference Pane. I can select an image from one of Apple’s preloaded image folders, a solid color (a neutral color a great background for image editing), my Pictures folder, Photo Booth images, or even my iPhoto Library and albums. Once I select a folder, the images contained in that folder will appear in a gallery on the right of the preference pane. Select an image’s thumbnail to set it as the Desktop Background.
I can tell Desktop Preferences to change the Desktop Background randomly. Select the folder of images, check Change picture:, select the time I want the change to happen, and check whether or not
Wireless Connection Problems? Remember Location 2007-03-06 19:08:00
Sometimes I got over to a friends house and have to keep hounding them every time for the password for their wireless. This gets annoying, so I found a way to set my location via Network Preferences. I can now tell my MacBook Pro where I am and it will automatically connect me to the correct Wireless
router!
My MacBook Pro is set to automatic in it’s location settings out of the box. This means the computer is always looking for an airport, firewire, bluetooth, and ethernet connection simultaneously. When I am at home, I like to sync my bluetooth phone, connect to the wireless, and hookup my firewire drive. If the location is automatic, the MacBook will do this fine. Sometimes I am sitting in a coffee house and I only need the airport connection. I figure maybe I can save a little battery power if these connections are not always on when they are not necessary. Think of it like turning off the lights to conserve energy in the home.
OS X allows me to assign a location for my net Read more:Remember
, Location
Recent Items 2007-03-04 14:44:42
Sometimes I close an Application and a Document and want to to get back to it quickly. Maybe I frequently use an Application that is not in my Dock. I can access recently used Applications and Documents via the RecentItems
Selection in the Apple Menu.
Find the Apple Menu and Select Recent Items from the drop down menu. I can open any recently used Application. If I select a document, the Finder will open it in the application it is assigned to. Select the item I want to open. I can change the amount of listed items in the Finder Preferences.
Force Quit (Cmd+Opt+Esc) 2007-02-28 22:48:36
Sometimes an Application will stop responding. Take a deep breath. “Don’t overreact,” I tell myself. “Save often” is what my professors always told me to do. Be patient, just wait a moment or two for my Mac to compute. If an Application stops responding completely, I can find out in the Force
Quit menu.
There are a few ways to get to the Fore Quit menu. Select Force Quit in the Apple Menu. Sometimes the Finder stops responding. When that happens, the Apple Menu may be inaccessible. The best option is to learn the keyboard shortcut: Cmd+Opt+Esc. Kinda like Ctrl+Alt+Dlt on a Windows computer.
I can Force Quit an application I accidentally click on in the Dock. Ctrl+Click the Unresponsive Application’s icon in the Dock and Select Force Quit. I can usually do this too when an Application stops responding.
Select the Application that is not responding from the list and Click Force Quitin the Force Quit Menu.
The Ultra Portable Mac 2007-02-27 22:37:15
Sometimes I don’t want to haul around my laptop but like to my carry information. So, I went out and bought an inexpensive 2 GB USB thumbdrive during a sale at CompUSA. After scouring the internet for portable applications to put on my thumbdrive, I found this awesome list over at http://portable-apps.subiectiv.com/.
Among the list are portable internet browsers, image and audio editors, instant messaging clients, office, ftp clients, even a complete web authoring application!
I can download and install these applications on my thumbdrive and now I have a super portable version of my digital life. I can backup my bookmarks, documents, some mp3s. Now I can walk into work, plug in my thumbdrive to the Mac and have my computer from home.
Read more:Ultra
, Portable
Top 13 iTunes Applescripts 2007-02-27 22:13:23
Over at LifeHacker.com, they have a rather excellent listing of iTunes
Applescripts! Lifehacker is an excellent resource for finding hacks on any computer.
At Lifehacker.com can learn how to:
Remove dead tracks
Create block parties from my library
Gather one hit wonders
Make album playlists
Nag me to rate my songs
Get lyrics
Search wikipedia
Search for music videos
Search for Pandora stations
Import iPod audio files
Make PDF Booklet
Make a CD case
Make all these add ons keyboard shortcuts
Find out more at LifeHacker.com.
Dashboard Widgets: Gas 2007-02-27 21:14:11
Gas tells me the best prices for gas weather I am driving across country or in my hometown. I simply give the Gas widget my zip code and it will give me the cheapest gas prices in a 15 miles radius. Gas will even link to Google Maps, allow me to single out my preferred grade, and stays up to date thanks to participants over at GasPriceWatch.com.
Download Gas from Apple’s Dashboard
Widgets site.
Import and Export Word .Doc in Pages 2007-05-10 12:13:01 Pages actually makes formatting letters fun, doesn't it? With all the templates for making newsletters, storyboards, even brochures and business reports, who could ask for more? Well Windows users, I guess... Read more:Import
, Pages
Create Visuals with NodeBox! (Part 1) 2007-05-08 12:12:48
I get excited when I find new and easy methods to create art with my Mac. Quartz Composer is a fantastic free application created by Apple that uses OpenGL and Core Image to create 2D and 3D animations in real time. Installing Quartz is a little bit of a hassle, which is why I am excited to tell you about NodeBox! Read more:Visuals
Donate to iUseApple 2007-05-07 16:37:11 Did you learn something new about your Mac? Donate
to iUseApple.com now, so I can improve the site and set up an online community for Mac users. If you donate $50 or more, I will give you a FREE 1 hour tutoring session on iChat AV. Read to find out more...
Plant Audio with Soundflower 2007-02-27 20:57:24 Soundflower is an audio router for OS X. It allows me to send audio from one application to another. According to Cycling 74, "Soundflower is easy to use, it simply presents itself as an audio device, allowing any audio application to send and receive audio with no other support needed." Read more:Plant
, Audio
Burn 2007-02-20 18:51:48 Burn is a free CD/DVD burning application for OS X. I can burn Audio/Data CDs, Mp3 discs, VCD, SVCD, DVD and DivX discs.
Dashboard Widgets: Stac 2007-02-18 04:59:32 The best part about Stac is that I can take a short break from working and play a quick game... Read more:Dashboard
Become a VJ with VDMX 2007-02-09 21:56:15 VDMX 5 is the premiere Live VJ application for OS X. The interface behind VDMX 5 is revolutionary, freeing the video editor from a timeline or even keyframes. Read more:Become
Dashboard Widgets: Starry Night 2007-02-09 11:15:02 Anyone interested in Astronomy will probably cite Starry Night
Pro as the best application star gazing money can buy. Starry Night recently released a free Dashboard
widget for Astronomy enthusiasts that is a solid astronomy widget, linking to images found on Starry Night online...
Managing Disk Usage w/ Disk Inventory X 2007-02-09 10:56:34 Ever since I bought my new MacBook Pro, I have been working on project after project. After six months, my 80GB hard drive became cluttered up with files. I started looking the usual places to free up some place: Delete useless language files (2GB), Garageband Demos (3GB), iDVD Themes (1.7GB), Final Cut render files (varies). But that wasn't enough. I still felt there were some files lurking in the background that were hogging space on my hard drive. Read more:Usage
, Inventory
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