MacMost: Archives

MacMost Now 834: Using GarageBand for iPad Part 1: Drums
3/4/13
GarageBand for iPad is a fun and useful app where you can build your own music. In this episode, we'll look at the two ways you can create drum loops. You can build them with a grid using the Smart Drums function. You can also play a virtual set of drums and record the session. Afterward, you can edit the drums beat for beat.
MacMost Now 833: 18 Google Search Tricks
3/1/13
You can do much more with a Google search than just enter plain search terms. You can use modifiers like quotes, dashes and asterisks to search for more specific things. You can also search on a particular web site or for specific terms in a page title. There are also many bits of information that you can find without having to leave Google, such as definitions, weather, movie times, flight times and conversions.
2/28/13

Apple held its annual shareholder’s meeting this week, and it was largely uneventful. Answering questions, Apple CEO Tim Cook did reiterate that Apple is looking to create new products in new categories. In addition, Apple is planning to move into its new 2.8 million square foot building in 2016.
In other news, it is being reported that Mac sales in January were strong after a week December causes by stock shortages. The new iMac was only available in limited numbers in December, but is now shipping in 2-3 weeks according to the online Apple store.

2/28/13

“We have more than 200 different iPhone cases to choose from.”
“I don’t know if I like any of these. Are there more in the back?”

MacMost Now 832: Organizing Your iOS Apps With iTunes 11
2/27/13
By syncing your iOS device with your Mac or PC, you can use iTunes 11 to organize your apps. You can sort your iTunes app library by size or date to remove old apps you no longer use. You can also search for apps on your device and re-arrange them using iTunes.
MacMost Now 831: Widow and Orphan Lines In Pages
2/25/13
You can tell Pages to prevent single lines from appearing at the top and bottom of pages. You can also keep entire paragraphs together on a page, or with other paragraphs. You can even force a paragraph to start on a new page. These options can all be found in the Text Inspector under the More category.
MacMost Now 830: Exporting Contacts Using Numbers
2/22/13
Export and printing options for Contacts are limited. But you can do almost anything you want with your Contacts data if you know this one trick. By dragging and dropping your Contacts into Numbers, you can then organize, sort and format the information in any way. You can then export it from Numbers, or use Numbers to print a list any way you desire.
2/21/13

A few minor software updates this week addressed small but annoying bugs that have been causing problems for some users. iOS 6 was updated to 6.1.2 to address a problem when iOS devices were used to get email from Exchange servers. iTunes was updated to fix problems with syncing and store purchases. But it also seems to make it easier to sort search results, a problem many were complaining about with the initial release of iTunes 11.
Apple also released another update to Java to prevent another type of potential malware attack. This update gained more attention as this type of attack was allegedly used to infiltrate computers of Apple employees. MacMost recommends turning Java off in your web browser unless you absolutely need it.
In other news, the Mac Pro is no longer available for sale in Europe. This is due to the now-aging model not meeting regulatory standards. Many believe that Apple is simply removing the old model because a new Mac Pro is on the horizon.
Microsoft is pushing Mac users toward its new Office 365 subscription service by raising the price on stand-alone copies of Office for Mac 2011. These are now $140 or $220, depending on whether you want to include Outlook. A subscription to Office 365 costs $100 per year and allows you to use the software on up to five computers.

2/21/13

“Our IT department is against letting us get Macs.”
“Why? Because they don’t know how to fix them?”
“No, because they won’t need to.”

MacMost Now 829: All About the Desktop
2/20/13
The Desktop is really just an ordinary folder where files are also shown on the Desktop background in addition to a normal Finder window. You can also choose to add items like disks and servers on the Desktop. It is easy to keep your Desktop clean and organized with the help of a few commands. But best practice is to use your Desktop only for temporary storage of files and organize them in your Documents folder as soon as you can.
MacMost Now 828: Adding Text To Images With Pixelmator
2/18/13
You can use Pixelmator to add text directly to an image. You can use different fonts, sizes and styles. You can also rotate the text and add a drop shadow. Pixelmator special effects can be applied to text once the text has been converted to a bitmap layer.
MacMost Now 827: Using TinkerTool To Customize Your Mac
2/15/13

If you want to go beyond System Preferences and change other settings on your Mac, you can do so with the Terminal window. But TinkerTool makes it even easier by giving you a list of potential settings and a user interface to make the changes without typing.

2/14/13

Apple has quietly updated the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, and also dropped its price. The low-end MacBook Pro with a 13-inch Retina display and 128GB of storage is now $1,499, $200 less than before. The 256GB model is $300 cheaper at $1,699. These now come with a slightly faster 2.6GHz processor. The 15-inch models also received a processor boost to a 2.4GHz or 2.7GHz quad-core processor. The high-end model now also ships with 16GB of memory. The MacBook Air is also less expensive now, with a price tag of $1,399 for the high-end 13-inch 256GB model.
Apple is busy with legal matters as usual, but this time in disputes with its own shareholders. At issue is Apple’s large cash holdings. At least two groups of shareholders are arguing that Apple should find a way to return some of that money to the shareholders. Apple currently issues a $2.65/share dividend each quarter, including one this week.

2/14/13

“Make sure you check in often!”
“Facebook or Foursquare?”

MacMost Now 826: Creating a Recovery Disk
2/13/13

While today's Macs have a recovery disk partition on the internal hard drive that makes it easy to recover from problems, it can also be useful to have an external recovery disk. It is very easy to create one using Apple's Recovery Disk Assistant for Lion and Mountain Lion. it could come in handy if your hard drive is damaged or you need to swap it out for a new one.

MacMost Now 825: Using Your iPad As a Second Display For Your Mac
2/11/13
By using the app Air Display, you can use your iPad as a second screen for your Mac. This can come in handy if you only occasionally need a second screen, or you want to have a second screen while traveling. You can also mirror your Mac's display on the iPad to make it easier for others to see what you ate doing. You can get Air Display at http://macmost.com/a-368158927
MacMost Now 824: Handling Multiple Layers Of Audio In iMovie 11
2/8/13
It is easy to end up with many layers of audio, such as background sounds, voiceovers, and music, in a typical iMovie project. iMovie includes several tools for letting you control these audio tracks and adjust the volume and position of each.
2/7/13

A slow news week was interrupted only by Apple’s announcement of the sale of its 25 billionth song on iTunes, the introduction of the AppStore.com domain name during a Superbowl commercial, and an OS X Server update.
The only real event of the week was the launch of the 128GB iPad in Apple Stores, which had been announced the previous week.
Rumors were active, as usual, with the idea of a new Mac Pro surfacing again. The current Mac Pro will no longer be sold in Europe starting March 1 due to regulatory issues, giving more credence to rumors of a new model coming soon. In fact, one report pegs the arrival as soon as this spring.

2/7/13

Mittens never forgave Cynthia for switching to a trackpad.

MacMost Now 823: Image Editing With Mountain Lion Preview
2/6/13
You can perform some basic and fun image editing using only the Preview app that comes with your Mac. You can cut out a part of one image and paste it into another. You can also crop and resize an image before exporting it to share it.