MacMost: Video Podcast

Learn about the different hard drive formats like Mac OS, NTFS and FAT32. Find out how you can use NTFS drives with a Mac, and Mac OS drives using Windows. See how FAT32 formatted drives can be used to store files accessible to both systems.

With RSS reading functionality being removed from Safari and Mail in Mountain Lion, it is a good time to come up with an alternative. Google offers a free, easy-to-use and powerful RSS reader web site. It also works with several different apps so you can read your news on different devices and keep your data in sync.

If your carrier supports it, you can set up a personal hotspot with your iPhone so other devices like a MacBook or iPad can access the Internet. You can also connect with a dock cable or via Bluetooth.

One of the export options in iPhoto will let you export a set of photos as a web gallery, but not tied to any specific Internet service. You get a set a files that can be uploaded to your independent web host to your own site.

If you need to create printable forms that have blank spaces, you should use tab stops instead of underscore characters. Using tab stops allows you to line up blank spaces perfectly, making your forms look more professional.

Google Drive is a new cloud storage system that is tied into Google Docs and your Gmail account. It is similar to DropBox and also offers a reasonable amount of storage space for free. You can use it to sync documents between your Macs or simply keep backup copies. You can also share Google Drive files with others.

By setting a soundtrack to your Keynote presentation and then recording the presentation you can create a slideshow timed to music. You can use Keynote's special transitions and effects to make the slideshow interesting and unique. You can then export the presentation as a video.

Learn how to control which apps send you notifications and how they do it. You can choose how and where the notification appears, whether the app puts numbers in the icon or plays sounds. You can also arrange the order for notifications when viewed in the notifications center.

In OS X you have various ways of setting default applications for files and other actions. You can set your default email and web browser applications with settings in Mail and Safari. You can set what happens when you connect a camera or SD card, or insert an optical disc. You can also set which application will be used to open specific file types.

Learn about all of the different Safari browser preferences that affect security. You can find them in more places than just the Security tab. Learn what each one does to protect you while you surf online and decide what the best settings are for you.

Hidden in your Applications/Utilities folder is the complex graphing program Grapher. You can use it to plot 2D and 3D equations on your Mac. You can also export 3D animated graphs. Very useful for math students or those who use complex equations in their work.

There are many ways to share music between computers and user accounts with iTunes. The one you choose depends on with which devices and computers your are sharing. iTunes Match may be the ultimate method for a single person, but iTunes Home Sharing allows you to share music with other people whom have separate iTunes accounts.

With AirPlay and the help of the Mac app AirServer, you can bring your iPad or iPhone's screen to your Mac. You can then capture the screen using your favorite video capture software. This new method replaces the old method of using expensive HDMI cables and capture hardware.

With Preview in Lion, you can record your signature in Preview and then apply it to PDF files and other documents. Use your Mac's camera to take a picture of your signature. Add a variety of signatures and other stamps to your Preview preferences and use them with the annotations feature.

There are many things you should be doing with your Mac. But one is the most important of all: backing up. Any computer can have a hard drive failure, suffer from a user mistake or simply be stolen. Backing up is the most important thing that every Mac user should do.

There are many tips and tricks you can use to make it easier to type on the iPad. You can hold down keys to bring up special characters, ignore apostrophes and learn to tap-hold-release to get to some characters with less effort. Also learn about splitting and undocking the keyboard on the iPad.

Multicam editing can be used to combine multiple angles of the same shot. But it can also be simply used to combine a video show with separate audio. You can record video from one device and audio from another and easily combine the two in Final Cut Pro.

In addition to some standard shapes, you can create your own custom shapes in Pages using a series of points. These custom shapes can be used to wrap text around images in creative ways.

Learn how to arrange your app icons on the Home screen of your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. You can also put apps in app folders or along the bottom of your screen. You can launch hard-to-locate apps from the search screen instead of finding the app's icon.

Spring-loaded folders are a part of OS X that many people may not know about or use often. You can drag and drop files onto folders and the folders will open for you to continue to place the file in the place you want. This lets you drag items in the Finder without first needing to set up a destination.