Take a look at how I use the YouTuber tool TubeBuddy to come up with the titles for my videos.
I tried two methods for creating my own dynamic wallpaper. One didn't work. The other is a little expensive. There is a way to make your own without any additional software, but it doesn't give you very many options.
So I checked out this interesting system extension called PopClip. You can get it in the Mac App Store, or there is a trial at <a href="https://pilotmoon.com/popclip/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><u>the website</u></a>. Seems to work well, and could be a game-changer for some people.
Glance is a free Mac App Store app you can easily install that gives you some extra Quick Look abilities. You can view various code files with coloring. You can also view the contents of a ZIP file when you view it with Quick Look or the Finder Preview pane. <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/glance-quick-look-plugin/id1513574319?mt=12" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://apps.apple.com/us/app/glance-quick-look-plugin/id1513574319?mt=12</a>
Take a look at this app that lets you control each sound output and input level and do all sorts of things with sound on your Mac. You can get it <a href="https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>, plus there is a free trial. Anyone use something like this or this one in particular? I could see this being necessary software for some people. But I've gotten along fine without it for this long.
I've been trying out iPhone-to-Mac webcam "solutions" for years. They always fall short. But this one has promise. Seems to work great now, and would be perfect if it could do audio too. But since we can always use the build-in mics in most Macs, maybe that isn't a problem. Works with everything, even Zoom and Screenflow. Playing with it now. Here is the link:<a href="https://reincubate.com/camo/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> https://reincubate.com/camo/</a>
Looks like the iPad has finally caught up with the Newton MessagePad! LOL.
One of the new features in macOS Big Sur is a whole new set of Alert sounds in System Preferences. They are actually the same alert sounds, but re-imagined. Apple says: <em>System sounds are all-new and even more pleasing to the ear. The new system alerts were created using snippets of the originals, so they sound familiar.</em> I created a video comparing them. But it was quite a task to pair them up since they have new names. The names match up in a fun, playful way too! Ping is now Pong, Frog is Jump, Hero is Heroine. Some are more subtle, like Bottle to Glass. Only one has the same name: Sosumi. Apple didn't want to let go of that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sosumi" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">little joke</a>. I'm not 100% sure I got Purr -> Sonar and Tink -> Pluck matched right. What do you think? I was making this just for Club MacMost. But I kinda like the result. Should I make it a regular MacMost video too? Maybe with some more explanation at the beginning and end?
Big news today as Apple updated its three iWork apps. They all get these neat title/caption features for images. Numbers gets a powerful new set of functions. Keynote gets the ability to present in the window. That and much more. Watch and I'll watch through most of it.
There are a few interesting new things in Safari that are worth knowing about. Here's a quick preview in Big Sur developer beta 2.
The old standard for evening out the sound in podcasts and other recordings returns with a <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-levelator/id1493326487?mt=12" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Mac App Store</a> app. Free!
I haven't installed beta 1 of macOS Big Sur on my Macs. But I do have a way to run it anyway. I installed it on an external drive. But not just any external drive. A spinning HD would be too slow. A USB thumb drive would be too problematic. So I created a small, inexpensive external SSD drive. Installing Big Sur on this external drive is tricky. Basically, you boot into Recovery Mode, and then choose to install Catalina on the blank external drive instead of "restoring" the internal drive. Once that is done, you boot to the external drive and finish the setup. Then I installed the Big Sur beta 1 "Profile" on it from the Apple Developers site. In the future, you'll be able to do the same with the public beta "Profile." Then I just let the system on that external drive update to Big Sur. All this time, the normal internal SSD on my MacBook Pro remained untouched. So I can just boot my MacBook Pro and nothing has changed. But if I want to look at Big Sur and test things out, I just connect this external drive, hold down Option during a restart, and choose to boot from the external. Shut down and reboot without the external to return to normal operation with my internal drive and Catalina. Here are the two products I used to create the external SSD for $64. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZGK3K4V/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Silicon Power 256GB - NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4 2280 TLC SSD </a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MNFH1PX/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">SSK Aluminum M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure Adapter, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) to NVME PCI-E M-Key Solid State Drive External Enclosure</a> As I point out in the long (too long, sorry) video, an external drive like this is much better suited for running macOS, as opposed to a cheap USB thumb drive, which is fine for storage and transfers, but not for active read+write constant access. Even better would be a Thunderbolt 3 case/adaater instead of USB 3.1. That would be faster, but more expensive and also impossible to access on a computer without Thunderboth 3.
So I installed the first beta of macOS Big Sur on my MacBook for a look around. I recorded a 20-minute look at different things so I've got the ability to look back at that recording for reference. I'll restore that MacBook back to Catalina for the time being. Here's that recording, with my commentary if you want to see it. I discovered some interesting things, like changes to System Preferences and how to customize the new Control Center. Also some hints on what changes still need to be made as the beta testing continues.
Here's my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLFZnxFzuRk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">rundown of today's big Apple news</a>, including macOS Big Sur and the switch to ARM processors in Macs. I hope to post a look at Big Sur for Club MacMost later today perhaps. So now that we know that Macs will really start using ARM processors in the future, I thought I'd give Club MacMost my thoughts on how this will work and what to expect over the next few years as we transition. Ask me any questions!
Adobe released a new free app called Photoshop Camera that is getting some attention this week. It allows you to apply filters to photos or your live camera shots, but in a much more complex way than other photo filter apps. It separates the background from the subject and lets you replace the background. So you can replace a cloudy sky with a sunny sky, for instance. Here's a walkthrough of the app. At the very least, it is fun to play with. Here's a link to the app: <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/photoshop-camera/id1274204902" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://apps.apple.com/us/app/photoshop-camera/id1274204902</a>. I hear that it is very processor-intensive, so it will run slower or perhaps not at all on older iPhones.
Here's a handy Quick Action that will allow you to take whatever is selected and send it right to a new Preview document. This makes it even easier to do a technique I'll be showing in a future video on printing from Numbers: <a href="https://archive.org/download/strategies-for-printing-from-mac-numbers-macmost-2199/2199NumbersPrint.mp4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Strategies For Printing From Mac Numbers</a>. The for the two pieces of JavaScript it is simply: <blockquote>function run(input, parameters) {</blockquote><blockquote> var se = Application('System Events');</blockquote><blockquote> se.keystroke('c', { using: 'command down' });</blockquote><blockquote>}</blockquote>The second one is just using n instead of c. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention in the video! You need to go to System Preferences, Security & Privacy, Privacy, and then look for Accessibility on the left. Unlock by clicking the padlock. Then drag and drop Numbers into the list for Accessibility and make sure it is checked. This gives permission for the Quick Action to send the keystroke. But for some reason you don't seem to need that for Preview. Or at least I don't have Preview in my list and it seems to work fine.
Remember in February when I did that video on <a href="https://macmost.com/how-to-create-simple-animation-with-mac-keynote.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">simple keynote animation</a>? Or how about this week when I made a <a href="http://macmost.com/create-the-double-exposure-effect-without-photoshop.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">double exposure effect</a> image in Keynote? Well, one YouTube commenter suggested I combine them. So here it is, that same image I used in the double exposure video, but with a very long image behind it, animated horizontally. Actually, that is what I did first. Then I realized I should also have it scale from 100% to 200% so it looks like the woman's thoughts are "flying" into the scene. All done in Keynote. Source file attached.
While it is easy to create a keyboard shortcut for most many bar items, one seems to resist this attempt at increasing productivity. Creating a shortcut for the File, Tag... menu item seems to just not work. The problem seems to lie in the little color circles that accompany the item. You can use them to assign some favorite tags to files easily, as long as you use the cursor. But with a little trick, you can get the File, Tag... menu item to work with a keyboard shortcut. Then you can apply any tag using only the keyboard.
I had previously reported that printing with the Mimeo extension from Mac Photos worked well. Now I have tried Mpix as well. I ordered a collage poster from them and was pleased with the quality and quick shipping time. <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mpix-photo-prints/id1282488470?mt=12" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mpix-photo-prints/id1282488470?mt=12</a>
So I happened across a bunch of cheap Wi-Fi extended gadgets at Amazon and bought the cheapest one. My hope is that this $35 extender will give me Wi-Fi in the backyard without needing to run new cables or get a whole new system. Yep. Seems to work. Pretty easy to set up too. Works with an Airport Extreme, in case you were wondering. Why didn't I get one of these earlier? The only major drawback: It looks like another network, so I have to switch to it. And that means it won't work with old-fashioned file sharing, at least not without some advanced setup, maybe. But now I can FaceTime and stream Netflix while out back! Here's a link to what I bought: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085ZK3VJY/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085ZK3VJY/</a>
