MacMost: Patreon Video

I did a video recently showing 3 ways to center a window. I missed one! Turns out that there is a hidden menu item Window, Arrange in Front. You have to hold down Option to see it. That can be used to center a single window or group windows in a neat way and center the group. <strong>Note:</strong> Only seems to work in apps where a window = a document. So in Reminders and Notes it doesn't work (actually does on a floating-window Note, just not the main window). Have to investigate more as to which apps do it and which don't.

It is annoying that there is no way to jump from the Photos app to the Maps app. You can see a little map for each photo, but if you want to jump to the Maps app to explore more or get directions and such, you can't do it. So here are two ways to get around that. The first is to use Edit With and choose Preview. Then in Preview you have a button to jump to Maps. The second is to build a Shortcut in macOS Monterey. But the Photos app doesn't seem to want to send photos to Shortcuts via the Services menu. However, you can copy to clipboard to do it.

This free vector graphics tool can come in handy when you need a shape for Pages or Keynote, but don't have anything like Adobe Illustrator to create it. By exporting as a PDF, you can bring a vector graphic into Pages or Keynote so it looks great.

Did you know you can use Swift as code in the Mac Shortcuts app? You can do other languages as well: Perl, Python and Ruby. AppleScript and JavaScript too, of course. Here's an example of using a bit of Swift in a Shortcut to sort lines of text. And here's the Shortcut if you want it. <a href="https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/8ef27a8d83334ece808e699ce086de67" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/8ef27a8d83334ece808e699ce086de67</a> 

Recently I've been trying to use LaunchPad instead of Spotlight, because it seems a little more reliably fast.

I was thinking that I could take today's video about 20 places to look to clean up your Mac and turn it into a Shortcut. Then you can just run that Shortcut and it will tell you how much space is being used by these things. Here is where I'm at so far, with three of those items in the Shortcut. Here's some of that code. You can use it in the Terminal as well as in Shortcuts. I'm hoping this works out and I can turn this into a tutorial and share the final Shortcut. du -sh '~/Movies/TV/Media.localized/Home Videos' | cut -f1 du -sch '~/Movies/TV/Media.localized/Movies' '~/Movies/TV/Media.localized/Downloads-TV' | tail -n1 | cut -f1 du -sch '/Library/Application Support/GarageBand' '/Library/Application Support/Logic' '/Library/Audio/Apple Loops' '/Library/Audio/Apple Loops Index' | tail -n1 | cut -f1

It is probably a good idea to go to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/</a> every once in a while to check on things. In particular, I don't like how they will put your name next to ads for companies when showing them to your friends.

So impressed by how well these AI features work in the latest version of Pixelmator Pro. Check them out.

I often get asked how to convert numbers (123) to words (one hundred twenty three) in Numbers. This isn't a great solution, but better than nothing. It is a Shortcut that will convert any number selected in text to words. So you can use it in Numbers and elsewhere by selecting the number text (not the cell) and triggering the Service or with a keyboard shortcut. Here's a link to get the Shortcut: <a href="https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/7a66e201b7474b2b90821a774300c1c5" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/7a66e201b7474b2b90821a774300c1c5</a> 

While TextEdit is usually used for plain text or RTF documents, you can also create and edit very simple HTML documents. These can be used for notes, documentation and other things. They have the advantage of being able to be viewed on any computing device without special software. Could be a good alternative to sending PDF or other files in some situations. (Sorry if I ramble on a bit in this one)

I tried out the augmented reality exhibits at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Interesting. I think we are just at the start here with AR. This same app with the same exhibits works at many other U.S. Botanic Gardens.

macOS Monterey includes a handy little app you can access in the Terminal to get your network quality. No need to use "speed test" websites anymore.

Hidden in the Apple Gifts page is a little Keynote template you can download. You can use it to learn a little about using Keynote or to create holiday cards using graphics from artists and your own photos. Found at <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/gifts" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/shop/gifts</a> 

If you launch some apps from the Terminal, you can force them into standard resolution mode instead of using the retina/HiDPI screen. While this makes text and images look pretty bad, it does require less graphics power and memory so it could be useful in some situations. The parameter to add is this. Remember if it doesn't work with an app, that just means the app doesn't support it. <h3>-AppleMagnifiedMode YES</h3>

There was one time, for 18 months, where I had to use Windows for work. I almost chose another job (and another life) because I wanted to choose Macs instead. But it turned out I made the right choice.

There's been a lot of talk about SF Symbols 3 being a new "feature" of macOS Monterey. Besides the new app with new symbols, it seems to work the same for me. But it is worth mentioning again as this is pretty neat.

New MacBook Pros: lots to like.

Radar charts got overshadowed by Pivot Tables in the latest Numbers release. They are apparently used to find values that stand out in your data. Take a look and let me know if you'll be using them.

Found this version of the MacOS 9 emulator SheepShaver that is actually easy to install and use. You can even transfer files to and from it. I was able to get some of my old projects working and a copy of MacWrite from my old archive drive. Here's the link: <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/macos9osx.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/macos9osx.html</a>