MacMost: Video Podcast

A new feature of Amazon Echo devices is that they now support Apple Music. Previously, you could use a number of music streaming services with Echo devices, but Apple Music was left out. With Echo dots being so inexpensive, this allows Apple Music users to hear their music in many places without needing a Bluetooth speaker or Apple HomePod. You can now ask Alexa to play your Apple Music songs, albums, and playlists. You can even make Apple Music your default service.

If you want to keep a paperless office, you need to be able to scan documents. Previously, you needed a scanner to do this. But today you can use your iPhone to scan documents quickly and easily. With Continuity Camera you can scan directly into your Mac using your iPhone. You need to make sure you have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled with both devices and that they are using the same Apple ID and latest macOS and iOS.

The GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit, is one of the most important components of any computer or device. Macs come with a variety of different GPUs. For many users, the GPU power doesn't matter much, but for anyone working with graphics, video or playing games, the GPU is very important. Some MacBook Pros come with two GPUs and will switch between them to save battery life.

If you need to carry over the value of a cell from on table to another in Numbers, you can do that simply by including a formula that just references that other cell. There is no need to figure out the exact way to reference the original cell, as you can just click to grab the cell reference. The same technique can be used to reference a cell from a different sheet.

Mac users often freak out when they look at the Storage settings in About This Mac and find that System storage takes up way more space than they think it should. However, if they wait a bit the storage meter will continue to calculate what takes up space and allocate it to iCloud Drive and other things. Even once this is done, a fairly large System storage amount can be accounted for by looking at your System folder, system Library folder, and user Library folders.

If you want to watermark your photos before sharing them using a logo or other graphic, you can build a semi-transparent image in Pixelmator and then use an Automator Quick Action to easily apply that watermark to any image file. A special Pixelmator watermarking action helps to make it a one-step Automator workflow.

Formulas can get very large and complex. One way to simplify them is to use columns to perform parts of the calculation, and then hide those columns when you have your system working. In this example, we'll use columns to extract the year and month from a date, and then use that in a SUMIF formula that would be very complex otherwise.

If you wish to put a watermark, like a "Draft Copy" or "Classified" label on your Pages document before printing or distributing a PDF, you can do it easily using Section Masters. You can place anything back there, such as text, shapes, or images. In this example, we'll place some diagonal text across the background and it will appear on all pages.

If you are using more than one screen with your Mac, you can set where each screen is located relative to the others in your desktop's virtual space. You can choose which screen is the main one by dragging the menu bar representation to that screen. You can also adjust the rotation of your screens to use them vertically.

Apple has removed the direct link between the Photos app and Facebook in macOS Mojave. But it is still easy to upload Photos to Facebook using the Facebook website. You can use the Media option in the file open dialog, drag and drop into the file open dialog, drag directly onto the Facebook page, and a variety of other options. If you have trouble picking out a photo this way, you can always enlarge the photos you are viewing, or drag and drop direct from the Photos app or the Finder.

You can use the Shortcuts app to apply a watermark to a photo before sharing it on your iPhone or iPad. In this example, we'll take a transparent image file and have a Shortcut place it at the bottom right corner of the photo right from the Photos app. We can then share the photo. The watermark can be any image file. You can also manually size and place the watermark.

Keynote allows you to add links to text or elements to link to other slides. You can use this to build a presentation that allows you to jump to different slides while presenting, or use as a simple app that can be controlled by others. You can use some settings in Keynote to allow others to look through a presentation on their own.

HTML, Hypertext Markup Language, is the primary code behind most web pages. Hypertext is the idea that set can contain links to other documents. A markup language is one that includes instructions for styling, links and media along with text. HTML was created by scientist Tim Berners-Lee and has grown quite a bit more complicated over the years.

It can be tricky to get Flash content on a webpage to work in Safari. If you need Flash, make sure you get it only from the official Adobe site. Then only update Flash from System Preferences, never follow a link to update or install Flash. To use Flash, sometimes you get a button to activate the content, and other times you need to turn on Flash for a website in Safari's preferences.

You can bring video into GarageBand as a track and then use that video to sync your music, recording or sound effects to the action in the video. The preview window lets you operate with precision. You can then export the result as audio to bring into your video editing software, or export both the video and audio as a finished product.

Pages, Numbers and Keynote for Mac share a common code base and can support many of the same elements, like text boxes, shapes, images, tables and more. You can copy and paste elements from one into the other. This can be handy when you wish to include tables or charts from Numbers in a presentation of word processing document. Or, when you want to take a slide from Keynote and use it in a spreadsheet or Pages document.

You can use the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad to create scripts that calculate the results of complex formulas. In this example, we'll ask for the inputs needed for the simple physics position formula: time, initial position, initial velocity and acceleration. We'll then calculate the position of the object at that time. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to process a formula in Shortcuts yet, but we can use a series calculator functions to do it.

Here are some suggestions for gifts for Apple fans. You can buy some pricey accessories like AirPods, an Apple TV or Apple Pencil. You can also find Appel Watch bands at almost any price, as well as battery and charging accessories at a variety of prices too.

You can send a control signal through your AirPods by double-tapping them. These signals can pause your audio, advance to the next track, or activate Siri. You can customizing what tapping each AirPod does in your Bluetooth settings on your iPhone.

If your Dock gets cluttered with minimized windows on the right side, then you may want to switch to let windows minimize into the application icon instead. You can always find minimized windows in the Dock or the Window menu. You can also start using Tabs to reduce the number of windows on the screen.