Wrangle Your Fonts with “Take Control of Fonts in Snow Leopard”

Posted on August 16, 2010 by admin

Managing fonts in Mac OS X is all too often like herding cats (all
those Fonts folders!), but you can now corral your serif and
sans-serif felines with the new “Take Control of Fonts in Snow
Leopard.” Written by Sharon Zardetto, this 225-page ebook covers not
only everything you need to know about fonts in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow
Leopard and 10.5 Leopard, but also special font situations in
software such as Adobe CS4 and CS5, Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008,
iLife, and iWork.

The ebook costs $15 ($10.50 after the 30% MUG
discount!) and includes a coupon worth 20% off on any purchase from
Ergonis Software, makers of the font utility PopChar X and other
software.

http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/snow-leopard-fonts?pt=TCMUG&cp=CPN90219MUG

Important topics covered include:

  • Where your fonts reside and in what order they load, and what, if anything you should do about it
  • The ins and outs of different font installation methods
  • Using Font Book to manage, validate, and organize fonts
  • Making the most of character-rich Unicode fonts
  • Using Apple’s Character Palette/Viewer and Keyboard Viewer to Insert and explore special characters
  • The quirks of fonts from Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008, and which ones you should keep around
  • Organizing fonts from Adobe CS2, CS3, CS4, and CS5 so they are available where you need them
Posted in Tips, mac, snow leopard | Comments Off

Six essential iPhoto editing tricks

Posted on August 5, 2010 by admin

Making edits to images in iPhoto is easy and fast with these techniques.

by Derrick Story, Macworld.com

iPhoto includes most of the image editing tools that casual photographers need to spruce up their photos. In fact, it may have more powers than even seasoned iPhoto users realize. Here is a handful of my favorite iPhoto image editing tips.

1. Make a shortcut for editing
I spend far more time looking at pictures in iPhoto than I do editing them. So in Preferences, I have the “Double-Click Photo” option set for “Magnifies.” That way, when I double-click on a thumbnail, I see a bigger version of the shot. However, when I do want to edit an image instead of just viewing it, all I have to do is hold down the Option key when I double-click. This takes me directly to Edit mode instead.

PastedGraphic-2010-08-5-11-43.tiff

Read all the tips >> http://www.macworld.com/article/153142/2010/08/iphotoedits_6_tricks.html?lsrc=rss_main

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Five tips for speeding up iPhoto

Posted on August 4, 2010 by admin

by Derrick Story, Macworld.com

If you find that iPhoto is running a bit sluggish on your Mac, here are a few suggestions for speeding it up—some tried and true such as rebuilding the library, and others a bit more esoteric such as vacuuming the database. While iPhoto ’09 performs well on my MacBook Pro 17” 2.5 GHz with 4GBs of Ram, performance can vary widely depending on the age and power of your machine, and the size of your library.
If you attempt any of the techniques that involve the iPhoto Library, I recommend that you back-up all of your images first. I’ve never had anything go wrong during a rebuild, but it is one of those things that is best not left to chance.

1. Rebuild iPhoto library for a faster launch

Over time the iPhoto database can accumulate some cruft that can affect performance. Rebuilding the library can act as a tune-up.
To test this, I timed a launch of iPhoto ’09, which clocked in at 11 seconds. I then quit the application and prepared to rebuild the library. I held down the Option and Command keys and opened iPhoto again. When greeted with the Rebuild Photo Library dialog, I checked the “Rebuild all of the photos’ thumbnails” and the “Examine and repair iPhoto Library file permissions” boxes. After rebuilding, I quit iPhoto. I then launched it one more time, and the application fired up within 2 seconds.

Read the full article >>

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Remote access: OS X’s built-in tools

Posted on July 20, 2010 by admin
by Glenn Fleishman, Macworld.com
OS X 10.5 and 10.6 both have the robust Screen Sharing program built in. It lets you access other 10.5 and 10.6 systems, and it’s backward-compatible with the industry-standard VNC (virtual network computing) protocol. Unfortunately, on its own, that program alone isn’t very good at reaching out over the Internet; it’s best for connecting to computers that are hooked up to the same router, using Bonjour.
http://www.macworld.com/article/152616/2010/07/remoteaccessosx.html?lsrc=rss_main
Posted in Software, Tips, productivity | Comments Off

Solution for iPhone 4 antenna problem

Posted on July 18, 2010 by admin

Antenna gap fix - http://www.marco.org/825489690

“It’s the tape trick, but with an excellent substitute for the tape:invisibleSHIELD film. It fits right over the gap and covers the entire left side, so when it’s held left-handed (as I always hold mine), there’s no electrical bridging.”

Get invisible shield cover for iPhone 4 from ZAGG -http://goo.gl/sj9T

Posted in IPod - iPhone, Tips, hardware | Comments Off

Smartphone antenna performance

Posted on July 16, 2010 by admin

Every smartphone has a cellular antenna. And nearly every smartphone can lose signal strength if you hold it in a certain way.  To demonstrate this, we tested iPhone 4 alongside other smartphones.

Read more ….. http://www.apple.com/antenna/

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The Essential Guide to Digital Photography

Posted on July 13, 2010 by admin

You may think that picking up a digital camera, turning it on, and taking the photo is all that you need to know about digital photography. Think again, as there is a whole heap more to learn that you might not even realise.
To add to MakeUseOf’s latest PDF collection, Bakari Chavanu from Mac Photography Tips has combined his knowledge to produce an 8000+ word, 59 page PDF eBook.
Download : The Essential Guide To Digital Photography

It’s jammed packed full of useful information for all type of photographers – from beginners photographers to advance photographers. Inside, you will find information about:

  • The different types of digital cameras to choose from
  • What digital camera is right for you
  • What to look for when buying your digital camera
  • Accessories that you should have for your digital camera
  • Features that you should know about your camera

But wait, there’s more. There are also 5 beginner exercises for you to complete to help you become a professional photographer, and helpful instructions and information about editing your photo’s to make them even more magical.

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Smoking Hot Mac Interface Design: 30 Stunning Apps

Posted on July 12, 2010 by admin

Mac applications are known for their superb design, and in the past few years UI designers have really embraced this trend by creating some really remarkable interfaces. They embrace realism, ooze texture, and generally make you stop and stare.

Today we’ll look at 30 pieces of Mac software that really push the limit of great interface design. First we’ll say what the app does, then provide a screenshot followed by a brief statement about what I really love about the interface.

Let’s get started – prepare to be dazzled!

http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/graphics-roundups/smoking-hot-mac-interface-design-30-stunning-apps/

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Useful keyboard shortcuts

Posted on July 6, 2010 by admin
Keyboard shortcuts are a useful way of controlling your Mac and are sometimes faster than using a mouse or trackpad.  The following are some well known and not so well known key combinations for your Mac. (*Note: the Command key is also known as the “Apple” key or the   key).
• Command-W: Closes current window
• Command-Option-W: Closes all windows
• Command-Q: Quits current application
• Command-M: Minimizes current window
• Command-N (in Finder): Opens new finder window
• Command-A: Selects all text, pictures or windows on the screen
• Command-C: Copies selected text/pictures/files/folders
• Command-V: Pastes copied or cut text/pictures/files/folders
• Command-Z: Undo
• Command-Space: Opens Spotlight
• Command-Tab: Shows all open app icons in bar on screen (continue to hold Command and tap Tab to move through the open apps or use the arrow keys to highlight a specific app, hit enter or click and it will bring you directly to the app)
• Command-F: when on your desktop – brings up a finder search window, when browsing the web or looking at a document – brings up the search box to search within that specific document or website
• Command-I: Get Info on selected file/folder
• Command-drag file: move file to new location
• Option-Shift-Command-Esc (held for 3 secs): force quits current application
• Option-Command-Eject: Start Sleep Mode
• Control-Command-Eject: Quit all apps and restart
• Control-Option-Command-Eject: Quit all apps and shut down
• Control-Eject: bring up shutdown options window
• Option-Shift-Command-Q: Quick Logout
• Command-Delete: Move to Trash
• Shift-Command-Delete: Empty Trash
• Command-Shift-3: Take a picture of entire screen
• Command-Shift-4: Select specific part of screen and take picture
Posted in Tips, mac, productivity | Comments Off

The Original Macintosh

Posted on June 30, 2010 by admin

Anecdotes about the development of Apple’s original Macintosh computer, and the people who created it. (119 stories). Lots of interesting historical material here.


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