Posts By: Gary Rosenzweig

When you have several clips that you want to use in the same project in iMovie, sometimes you have to deal with different sound levels in each clip. You can use the Auto Loudness button to quickly adjust the volume in each clip. You can also manually adjust the volume in a clip or part of a clip. You can also use noise reduction improve the sound quality in a clip.

There are many different ways to start a song in Garageband on the iPad. The Beat Sequencer is fun to play with all by itself, and can create a unique beat for your own song. You can set the location for each hit of each drum along a timeline, easily turning them on or off and adjusting the details if you want to get more specific.

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple will release a new Mac mini this year, alongside a new MacBook Air. There hasn’t been an update to the Mac mini in four years.

The report states that the new mini will have new storage and processor options that could make it more expensive than the current offering at about $500. The mini comes without a keyboard, mouse or screen and its small size makes it portable between desktops. The release of the new model could be as early as October.

Take a look at the Apple Museum in Prague, a collection of Apple hardware and Steve Jobs memorabilia. You can see the evolution of the Apple computer, Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and other Apple devices. This great museum is a must-see for any Apple fan passing through the Czech Republic.

Almost all new cars today come with wireless key fobs instead of old-fashioned keys. An Apple patent, noticed by Apple Insider, details possible plans for replacing these devices with extra functionality of the iPhone. (more...)

When you sign up or log in to a web site, or fill out a form, you will often be asked to complete a task such as typing some random characters from an image or selecting images from a group. This is called a CAPTCHA. These are used to protect web sites from automatic systems that try to log into accounts or create new ones.

Putting away my box of power adapters after my trip to Europe. Had to take both the standard European adapters plus special Italian ones. But I probably didn't need the Italian ones at all. There is a lot of misinformation out there about these things.I also travel with a power splitter and a compact extension cord, but I am wary about using them with 220v outside the U.S.

When you place an image in a Pages document, the image will either move with the text around it, or it will stay put on the page at the exact location where you placed it. Which rule it follows depends on one setting. If you set an image to follow the text, you need to be careful about the exact placement of the image to make sure it is anchored with the paragraph you want.

A minor note in a prediction by TrendForce mentions that new iPhones coming later this year will allow the use of the Apple Pencil. Support for the Apple Pencil needs to be built into hardware of a device, and currently only recent iPad Pros and the new iPad from earlier this year support it. (more...)

Many people still use cloning as a method of backing up a Mac. However, this method is not nearly as useful or robust as a standard Time Machine backup. Files you may think are safely backed up to a clone can actually be completely missing. If you use a clone as a secondary backup, better solutions exist such as online backups, cloud storage, or simply a second Time Machine backup.

If you are new to Mac, learn how some of the most common keyboard shortcuts differ from what you may have learned to use on Windows. Realizing that the primary keyboard modifier on the Mac is Command, not Control, is the first step. But there are other differences and some shortcuts that are completely different.

Apple released new beta versions of iOS 12 and macOS Mojave today, and the much-anticipated group FaceTime feature was removed. This feature had been in previous betas, but MacRumors is reporting that beta release notes now state that this feature will ship in a future update later this fall. (more...)

When you play a YouTube video on your Mac in a web browser you can use keyboard shortcuts to jump around in the video, control volume, go to full screen and turn on or off captions. Make sure you have the YouTube video selected as the keyboard focus by clicking on it before you try to use shortcuts.

Apple has offered the chance to trade in your old Mac, iPhone or iPad for credit for a while now. But now you can do so and get instant credit for the purchase of the new device at the very same time. (more...)

JavaScript is a programming language commonly used for making web pages interactive. Almost every web page on every major site uses JavaScript as it is one of the three fundamental web technologies along with HTML and CSS. JavaScript should not be confused with Java, which is a different programming language entirely. Using the term Java when you mean JavaScript could lead to misunderstandings that cause problems.

If you want to use Location Services on your Mac in the Maps app, web pages and elsewhere, you need to have Wi-Fi turned on. But if you use a wire connection, you may not want to have Wi-Fi enabled. You can, however, turn on Wi-Fi and tell your Mac not to connect to your home network. This leaves Wi-Fi on, but not connected, which is just fine for using Location Services.

There are two interesting articles dealing with Apple Music and curation. Fast Company has an interview with Tim Cook in which he criticizes other services relying heavily on algorithms to suggest new music to users. At the same time, 9to5Mac reports that Apple has just added a new Friends Mix to Apple Music. (more...)

There are two main methods for replacing a font in Pages. Typically, you would want to update some text and then apply that font change to the rest of the text that uses that same style. You can do that with a simple press of a button. But if you want to quickly replace a font that is used in multiple styles, you can use a special Replace Fonts function. This not only changes the text, but also updates all styles.

You probably know you can use Command+Option+Esc to bring up a list of all apps, select one, and force it to quit. But you can also simply double-click on an app in this list to switch to it. So you can use it as an application switcher, with the advantage being that the list is alphabetical.

With Apple's Print service being retired after September 30, many people are wondering how to order prints, photo books, calendars and other products. Apple opened up Photos to allow third-party printing services last year. Already, several companies offer ordered prints and products directly from Photos. More will probably appear after first-party competition from Apple is gone.