MacMost: Archives

Today Apple announced the new iPad. This 3rd generation device includes a high resolution retina display, a faster A5X quad-core processor, 5MP/1080p rear-facing camera, and voice dictation capability. As well as a wifi-only version, there will be 4G LTE-capable versions. It comes out on March 16, and the iPad 2 will remain on sale for a reduced price. There are also new versions of Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie and GarageBand, as well as a new iPhoto app. The new iPad will simply be called “The new iPad” not the iPad 3.
What do you think of the new iPad?

You can hide rows and columns in Numbers to effectively filter your data. Hiding can be done one row or column at a time, or by groups of rows and columns. You can also set criteria for rows or columns to be automatically filtered, allowing you to see only the data you need.

Learn how to create transparent images for use in Pages, iMovie and other applications. You can cut out part of an image using the app Pixelmator and that part of the image becomes transparent and shows the items behind it.

Learn how to force an app to quit on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. You may need to do this if an app freezes up, or you wish to see a portion of the app that only appears when you first run it.

Apple sent out a special announcement to the press this week inviting them to a presentation on March 7. The invite states: “We have something you really have to see. And touch.”
Rumor sites predict that this will be the announcement of the iPad 3 which will sport a new high resolution retina display and a faster processor. Some say there will also be a 4G data connection option. Other reports specify a slightly different case design.
It is hard to predict when the iPad 3 will be available. Sometimes Apple makes new products available immediately upon announcement. At other times a special launch occurs a week or two afterward.

You can use Lion's screen zoom feature to quickly get closer to items on your screen. You can use keyboard shortcuts to zoom in and out. You can also zoom in on content in Safari with a separate feature that maintains the look of the web page.

Mountain Lion, Mac OS X 10.8 coming later this year, will include a new feature called Gatekeeper. It divides all third-party software into three categories: from the Mac App Store, not from the Mac App Store but digitally signed by an official Apple developer ID, and anything else. By default the user will be able to only install software in the first two categories. But the setting can be adjusted to allow all three, or only the first one. The second category allows developers to create anything not allowed in the Mac App Store, like system tools, but still take responsibility for their work and allow Apple to take action if something malicious comes to light.
What do you think of this new feature of Mac OS X?

In previous versions of OS X you could find links to lists of recent items on the left side of the Finder window. You can add those back in Lion if you like them. You can create smart folders and place them in the sidebar to help you find files in ways that fit how you use your Mac.

Here's a look at some of the common email etiquette mistakes that people make, like typing in capital letters, including unnecessarily large attachments, quoting all of the previous message and forwarding unwanted emails. Many of the same mistakes are made in forums and message boards.

Attention peaked this week on working conditions at Chinese factories where Apple products are built. ABC’s Nightline took a look inside the Foxconn factory on Tuesday night’s episode. You can see the video here.
While talk about how Apple and other electronics companies manufacture their products has been going on for years, renewed interest started last month when the New York Times published an article looking in to the human costs of the process. Apple CEO Tim Cook will be commenting on this issue at today’s shareholder meeting.
In other news Apple is planning on building a new data center in Oregon. The new center, likely years away from completion, will use solar power like Apple’s North Carolina data center. It will also take advantage of the cool central Oregon climate to keep energy use down.

“I need a backup drive, the photos on my Mac are priceless!”
“Here’s one for $100.”
“Do you have anything cheaper?”

iCloud makes it easy to share calendars with others. You can create a public calendar that is read-only to others and anyone can subscribe to it. You can also create shared calendars that can be viewed and/or updated by a list of others you invite.

There are many rumors surfacing about an announcement and release of a new iPad next month. What new features would you like to see in the iPad 3? Post your wishes and ideas here below.

OS X 10.8 will arrive late this summer. Apple has given us a preview of new features and is providing an early release to developers. See what is in store for us with the next release of the Macintosh OS.

The Image Capture app that comes with every Mac is a good alternative to scanner manufacturers' custom software. You can use it to scan images from most scanners and it will adjust its features depending on the scanner's capabilities.

A new version of Mac OS X was announced this morning, named “Mountain Lion.” The new Mac OS X 10.8 was released for testing to developers. General release is scheduled for late this summer.
New features will include new apps and more: Messages, Notes, Reminders, Game Center, notifications, Twitter integration and AirPlay mirroring. All of these features mirror or tie in to similar features in iOS.

“I can’t believe those losers wait in line for hours to buy an iPhone when there’s absolutely no one in line to get this new Samsung phone!”

You can put solid colors, textures or animatics in your iMovie timeline for a variety of reasons. Use them to allow your audio to play when there is no video to show. Or, use them to plan your movie.

Twitter was buzzing last week when a Singapore-based iOS developer, Arun Thampi, posted a note about Address Book and privacy. It seems the issue did not travel far up the media pipeline to most of us, but a number of industry insiders commented on it, most notably ZDnet. Gizmodo republished the post and thousands of users showed concern. That’s thousands of users, while Apple reports that they sold 37.04 million iPhones in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012. This is an issue that concerns all of us that use iOS devices and we should be acutely aware of who takes our personal data and how they use it. Further, what safeguards does a company use to protect our data against potential misuse.
It all started with the reposting of Thampi’s notes by ZDNet Jason O’Grady and others that the popular Path social media app copied your Address Book data to its servers. Path claimed it needed your data to help you connect with friends across multiple social media sites. Once this news became public, Path addressed the issue, first by offering to remove your data if you emailed them, but later the company replied that they had removed everyone’s Address Book data from their servers. Path was updated on 2/13 and now prompts you to opt in or out of sharing your Address Book with their servers. While this one company responded to user complaints and reacted favorably, it is still unclear how many other apps may be storing your personal contacts on their servers.

Your short user name is both your account name and the name of your home folder. You can't really change it. But you can create a new user account and move everything to that account if you are willing to put a lot of effort into it.