There are some readers out there that will immediately say, "What the heck is he going to be talking about this week with a title like that?"
Sure, there is just a bounty of ways to go with this. However, this is MacNews and we have a wide audience and would not want to have readers think we have gone down the wayward trail.
Also I always like to keep my blog, tasteful without being gaudy.
So lets talk about cleaning your backside, shall we?
One of my favorite backsides I like to check out is the back of my Mac. Not all of the time but periodically, like 3 or 4 times a year. Why do I do that? Well in the back is where our good friend "Mr Fan" hangs out. His job is to make sure cool air is circulated inside of your Mac. Keeping it cool, if ya know what I mean. In the process of keeping it cool, it sucks in just about anything airborne. Mostly dust. Over time dust,dirt and debris will accumulate in the back of your Mac or PC. If too much dust collects, your computer will not cool properly and can lead to possible premature failure of internal parts.
How often should you clean your backside?
Once a every 3 months, I shut my Mac or PC down and turn it around or walk around back of the unit. I take a light weight paint brush ( 1 to 1.5 inches wide ) and my vacuum cleaner and brush and suck up any built up dust until my backside is clean.
Sometimes you may have to disconnect cables if you want to get all areas back there clean. Make sure to clean the area under the Mac or PC as well. You would be surprised at the amount of dust that will collect there as well. Now put your computer back in it's spot, reconnect all of your cables, ( this may be a good time to remove any cables you are no longer using and clean up the snake pit back there) and power the computer back up.
It's a good chance that you have extended the life of your Mac or PC by giving it the ability to breath and properly cool it's inside components. We all know that it's very hip to be cool.
This week's selection for your entertainment.
The way back machine spewed out a real goodie this week. Now it's not a musical selection ( I have just gone totally out of the box this week ) but it will give some folks a flashback of products, people and maybe mostly, a good laugh. Enjoy!
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The Apps created for use on the iPhone and iPod Touch number into the thousands many, many times over.
Apps vary in range from being ingenious and falling into the "Can't live without it" category to being utterly ridiculous and falling into the "You've got to be kidding me" category.
Here is Part 2 of my continuing list of Apps that shock or amaze as I make my way through the App Store.
iSteam
With iSteam:
- Blow in your mic to haze the screen. (iPod users need external mic)
- Use your fingers to write messages and draw just like you would on your mirror after a hot bath.
- Shake your iPhone to clear the screen and start over.
- Watch the droplets form and leave their mark thanks to our unique SteamX physics.
- Finger squeaking sounds included.
- Choose which of your favorite images you want to “steam.”
Cost: 99¢
iBeer
iBeer is a trick giving the illusion that many different types of beer is being poured
out of the device. Users can pretend to drink beer from their iPod or iPod Touch.
Cost: 99¢
Zits and Giggles
Forget the name and intent, the price is set at $249.99
Yes, you read that correctly. Don't believe me? Go see for yourself.
Hello Cow
OK, we've talked about using Migration Assistant for setting up a new (or new to you) machine. But what else can you do with it?
Well, nothing says that the machine has to be a new setup. What if you want to add a user from another machine? Maybe you're selling a family member's laptop and don't have a replacement yet. You can use Migration Assistant to bring over that user and all the data in the home directory. Later, when you get another machine, migrate it back.
There's also nothing that says all the data has to come from one machine. You can use Migration Assistant to get data and programs from as many machines as you'd like.
I've been asked what "Other Files and Folders" transfers. If you have any directories created outside the normal areas outside of the User directories and the OS directories), this option will grab those files.
For example, I use software call "Fink" (no, really!) to install Unix and Linux open source software (there's another good system, too, called "MacPorts," and I'm sure readers will bring up others). Fink by default puts all its software in the directory "/sw" so that it's easily contained and can be moved/removed or whatever. Checking the "Other Files" option will grab directories like this one and migrate them to your new system.
If you are keeping both machines (the new and old) then make sure you change the name of the system in System Preferences/Sharing (or you'll wind up with "Jack's MacBook 2" or some such name).
Another tip: if you do have a previously owned machine you are setting up, you should wipe the disk clean and install the OS yourself. Why? Well, you don't know what kind of time-bombs are lying in wait on that system. Maybe the person you bought it from tried out some software and didn't like it, so they threw it in the trash. But that software may have installed things in other directories you don't know about, and when you go to put in a patch a year from now, surprise! Your system is messed up. Even if the stuff left over is benign, why let it take up space? Whack the disk during the install and you won't have to worry about any time bombs.
I've used Migration Assistant with every new (or new to me) machine I get – it's just too easy to transfer over all my programs and data. I've done PPC to PPC, Intel to Intel and PPC to Intel and haven't had any problems. So don't make moving your data harder than it has to be by doing it manually – use this tool that's already on your system.
Even with one of the most stable operating system around, we all manage to run into trouble now and then. Sometimes, the simplest things work. Safari is my problem-prone app. I tend to only reboot my iMac when forced by a system update, and I generally have four or five apps that run all the time. Safari will reach a point where I get spinning beach balls with almost every page change. When that happens, I quit it, then restart it, and the problems generally go away — at least for a while.
Continue reading »
First off I'll use the word "MacBook" throughout this post. I'm doing that to keep from having to write MacBook/MacBook Pro, MacBook Air every single time. These tips are for all "MacBook" users despite your particular model. I'm a MacBook Pro user in case you were wondering.
1. Secure it with a password
When you first set up your Mac and create a user account by default that user account is set to automatically log you in each time you boot up or wake up from sleep. While this may be less of an issue for a desktop Mac in your home, I highly recommend that you turn OFF the automatic login on any MacBook notebook. This way if you lose it, or it's stolen or someone tries to access it when you're not looking, they can't just get in and have immediate access to all of your info.
2. Put your name on it
Sounds silly, but once upon a time I accidentally left my MacBook Pro at the TSA checkpoint on my way to my flight. See the details of my saga here. Luckily I got it back, however, I would have got it back before the flight took off if they knew whose it was? There was no name on it and therefore they didn't know who to page. I use this Brother labeler to label ALL of my portable gear.
3. Dim the display, turn off the keyboard light and bluetooth while on battery
It never fails, I'm on a flight I walk down the isle and I see a fellow MacBook user and I can tell right away that it's a MacBook because the keyboard is lit up. While this is great when you have plenty of power it's an extra drain on your battery. So ways that I stretch my battery life when I travel include turning off the keyboard backlighting, turning off Bluetooth an dimming the display as low as I possible can especially if I'm watching a movie. I can usually get away with one notch above off. Continue reading »
Many people ask me,
"Calvin. How often should I backup?'
There are an endless number of responses to that question. Most responses are questions. Let's start shall we?
Here are some example responses
1) How often do you want to do the same project over that you put 12 or 14 hours into?
2) Do you like crying cause you lost $372.00 worth of iTunes and the electronic receipts?
3) You really enjoy reconstructing your computer by reloading the Operating System, all the patches and updates, all of your applications like Word, Excel, Photoshop, etc and all of the patches and updates, all of the utilities and other downloads and freeware and all of the patches and updates? Are you getting the picture?
4) Do you want the opportunity to re-live your daughter's wedding again so you can retake the pictures and video over again that you lost because you did not back up? When I say re-live I mean re-live. You know, make all the arrangements over again with the flower guy, the caterer, the house of worship, the photographer – well… maybe not him, he might have just what you need in photos so you won't have to stage the wedding again with a daughter that is 7 months pregnant and she can't fit into the original wedding dress. You know, I think I just lost all control in this blog.
Let me get back on track.
You need to back up on a regular basis. How often you backup is based on how much exposure are you willing to take in regards to the effort it would take to get your computer back to the point it was, before the data loss. Back up more often, less effort to recover. Back up less often, more effort to recover.
Nuff said, you have your weekend assignment now. You can backup your computer during that football game.
Friday Musical selection time —- Whooo Hooo!
I won't be on the "Internet Advisor Show" on 760 WJR this Saturday but it is the show's 12th year anniversary! Tune in to Gary, Ed, and Foster for some tech celebration and fun on Saturday evening. Due to an annual commitment I will be away officiating for Ice Skating this weekend.
Since it's SuperBowl weekend and we all know our Detroit Lions are SuperBowl bound sometime next year, let us flashback to a year when the Lions had the greatest year I can ever remember. It was 1980 and the Lions adopted this theme song.
You find stuff like this happening…
Do you have those moments when you do something so ridiculous or stupid that you hear yourself chastising you out loud? Don’t bother to answer, I know that the answer is yes. We all do it.
I was recently in a local retail store pricing merchandise and of course using my iPhone. I was using an iPhone app that required me to manually enter keywords or a UPC code. As I started to enter the code, I decided to save myself time, make life easier for myself and download an app that would just read the UPC code for me.
I’d been waiting to download this app until I really needed it, so right there as I was standing in the aisle, I downloaded RedLaser. I knew that Redlaser has become the app to use for pricing. Being able to scan the Bar code makes it that much easier to use and faster. We like fast.
OK. Once downloaded, I launched the app and saw the arrows and brackets that you are supposed to align the UPC barcode between. Well, I looked at the brackets, looked at the barcode on the package, looked back at the brackets, looked back at the barcode…..and was stumped.
X
So you've picked up a new Mac (or new to you, anyway) and now you want to get all your music, photos, applications, and settings on your new system so it's comfortable, like your old one. This comes up on the iBBS occasionally, and people start asking about how to move their iPhoto library or their iTunes library. What they may not know is there's an app for that! If you have a brand new Mac, after you turn it on and register, you may see it come up (and maybe you send it away without a second thought). It;s also in the Utilities folder. This program is called Migration Assistant, and it will transfer all your important files and programs automatically to your new Mac.
Continue reading »
I've been sitting here thinking about the practical uses for the iPad. With iWork being added to the available apps, my first thought was about all of the inventories I've had to assist with over the years. These were restaurant/bar related, and I can tell you, they are a time-consuming but necessary nuisance. Spreadsheets take care of the actual value dollar calculations, but you still have to physically count items and enter them into the spreadsheet.
Continue reading »
1. Subscribe to your favorite calendars
The real power behind iCal is the ability to bring in calendars from others and see the events and activities right along side your own.
Here's a great list of available calendars to subscribe to and here's another great source. Of course don't forget to subscribe to our MacGroup iCal.
2. Publish your calendar
Not only can you subscribe to calendars of others but you can also publish your own iCal so that friends, family and colleagues can know what's on your schedule.
I love this! It does require either access to a WebDAV/CalDAV server such as the one built-in to Mac OS X Server or simply use a MobileMe account. Once you publish it people can either subscribe to it in iCal or Outlook on Windows or just see it on the web like this one.
3. Use Data Detectors to Create Events
If someone sends you an email about an event or appointment there's a good chance that you can create an iCal event directly from that email. Just hover your mouse over the date/time, etc and see if the little arrow appears.
If it does you can have an event created right there on the spot. Continue reading »
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