MacMost: Video Podcast

When purchasing a new Mac, you may want to pick up some accessories to go along with it. Which accessories you pick depends on your needs. A Time Machine hard drive is a must. Some people may want a printer, while other may want a scanner to go paperless. You may want to consider a network router, UPS or MacBook case as well. A set of EarPods can come in handy as a small headset for those that record audio or video or use FaceTime often.

If you use an external drive to share music, photos or other files, then you should know about the "Ignore ownership on this volume" option. This allows you to have multiple users on the same Mac, or multiple users across several Macs to have the same access to files and folders regardless of which user put them there. It can greatly simplify sharing the data on an external drive.

If you wish to delete photos from iPhoto, you must first understand the difference between events and albums. However, you can still use Albums to delete photos if you know how. You can also use flagging to select photos to delete. There are several ways to review your photos before you delete them, and you can also archive photos as files before removing them from your iPhoto library.

Check out some gift ideas for Apple fans that cost less than $100. See Gary's picks for his favorite iPhone cases to give as gifts. Consider ideas like AirPrint printers, iPhone tripod adapters and the Apple TV. Also get some other ideas that are fun and unusual, in addition to being practical.

Every iOS device comes with an array of physical switches on the body. You can use the Home button for various tasks, as well as the weak/sleep button. The side switch and volume controls can be used for more than just controlling volume. You can also combine the switches and use movement to activate some functions.

There are many ways to password protect and encrypt small pieces of data on a Mac. You can use Keychain Access to encrypt a note in your keychain. You can use Disk Utility to create a small encrypted disk image. The app Evernote allows you to encrypt a piece of text inside a note. You can also use the Terminal to create a password protected zip file.

Learn how to use layers in Pixelmator. You can place one image on top of the other and then use masks to blend them. You can use a simple clipping mask to quickly reveal only part of an image. You can use a layer mask to create cool effects like blending two images together gradually.

Take a look at iBooks reading options on the iPad. WIth iBooks 3 you can change the font, font size, background style and even switch to a continuous scrolling mode. Each style has its merits depending on what you like, the size of your iPad and whether you are holding it horizontally or vertically. But textbooks and PDFs will not give you as many options.

It is quick and easy to create an online survey using Google Drive. You can simply add some questions to a form and then publish it, sending the link to the people you wish to take the survey. You can then get the results in a spreadsheet. It is so easy to create one of these that you can use them to help with all sorts of work, school or personal tasks.

There are various ways you can automatically fill cells in Numbers. You can copy and paste to quickly fill cells one time. Or, you can construct your table so cells automatically fill in as you expand the table. You can also fill in cells with a series like months, dates, numbers or letters.

Learn how to crop photos using Pixelmator and then resize and export them. You can also cut out a part of an image and trim it. Pixelmator has a variety of ways to modify a selection to create better cut outs.

For those buying their first iPad, or looking to upgrade from an older one, they now have to choose between the iPad and the iPad mini. They are very similar, except for differences in size, screen, speed and price. In the end it is a subjective choice with size and price being the deciding factors for most people.

Classic role playing games from the 80s and 90s can still be played on brand new Macs running Mountain Lion. Take a look at NetHack and Ultima IV, two of the all-time best. They are both available for free. Another classic, Baulder's Gate, will be coming out later this month.

With Automator you can create your own application that will resize any image dropped onto it. In this example it will create a new file, name the file appropriately, and resize the image in that file. You can use this for a single image or to batch process several images.

Posting stylized photos online is very popular today. You can get these effects through apps on your iPhone, but also using filters in iPhoto. See which filters provide the best results and how to adjust them to your liking.

A new storage option from Apple is a compromise between a solid state drive and a hard drive. It uses both to create a single volume and automatically put the most used files in speedy SSD storage and the rest on the slower hard drive. This all goes on behind the scenes and gives nearly the speed of an SD drive at a fraction of the price.

Apple announced many new products today including a new iPad mini, a 4th generation iPad, new iMac, new 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display and a new Mac mini. They also updated iBooks and iBooks Author with new features.

You can type Emoji characters on your iPhone, iPad or Mac and add them to your text messages, email messages or documents. Emoji characters are color characters with small images like smiling faces, map symbols, hearts, and so on. On the iPhone and iPad you need to enable the Emoji keyboard to easily type these. On the Mac, you need to turn on your character viewer.

If your iPhone is stolen much of your personal data, including access to your email and online accounts, can be stolen as well. Protect yourself by setting up your iPhone correctly in advance. Turn on passcode protection and also the Find My iPhone feature. With Find My iPhone you can erase or track your iPhone.

When you buy a new iMac you will need to choose between the Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad. Which one is better? While it is somewhat a matter of personal preference, the trackpad has several advantages over the mouse that you may want to consider before making your decision.