Mac OS X “Lion” | here's the thing https://heresthethingblog.com Making sense of gadgets and technology Thu, 26 Apr 2018 13:40:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.7.2 https://heresthethingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/FB_icon_500x500-copy-130x130.jpg Mac OS X “Lion” | here's the thing https://heresthethingblog.com 32 32 Mac tip: How to sign a PDF without a printer or a scanner https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/07/11/mac-tip-sign-pdf-printer-scanner/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/07/11/mac-tip-sign-pdf-printer-scanner/#comments Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:50:27 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=11017 Got a contract or some other document that you need to sign and return via email? Well, you could always print it out, sign on the dotted line, scan the newly-signed document, and then send the new version as an email attachment—an effective, if cumbersome process. Another, better option: snap a photo of your John […]

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How to sign a PDF without a printer or a scannerGot a contract or some other document that you need to sign and return via email? Well, you could always print it out, sign on the dotted line, scan the newly-signed document, and then send the new version as an email attachment—an effective, if cumbersome process.

Another, better option: snap a photo of your John Hancock with your Mac’s iSight camera (just about any recent iMac or MacBook should have one), then paste it into the document you need to sign.

It’s a nifty trick—and one I wish I’d discovered a little earlier, given all the time I’ve been wasting slapping signed contracts onto my printer’s scanner glass.

All you need is latest version of Preview, the Mac software that lets you open photos, PDFs, Word files, and other documents.

[Note: Your Mac needs to be running on “Lion,” the new version of the Mac operating system, for this feature to work.]

Here’s how to get started.

  • First, open a PDF you want to sign using Preview. Just right-click on the document, hover your mouse over the “Open With” option, then select “Preview.”
  • Now that the document is open, click the View menu at the top of the screen and select “Show Annotations Toolbar.”
  • Right in the middle of the toolbar that appears, you’ll see a little, italicized “S” with a line through it, right next to a tiny downward arrow (as opposed to the “S” with the strikethrough line on the left). Click it, and select the “Create Signature from Built-in iSight” option.
  • A window titled “Signature Capture” should appear—and if your iSight camera is working properly, you should see yourself sitting there, staring at the screen.
  • Next, you’ll need a sheet of blank paper. Got one? Sign your name, and then hold it up in front of your Mac’s iSight camera lens. (Look for the little green indicator light above your screen.) Move the paper until you see your signature sitting just above the blue line.Once Preview has what it think is a good shot of your signature, it’ll appear in the “Signature Preview” window—and yes, you can go ahead and put the paper down.
  • How to paste your signature into a PDF using your Mac's built-in webcam

    Just hold up a piece of paper with your signature and let your Mac scan it with its built-in iSight camera.

  • Everything looking good? If so, click the “Accept” button.
  • Go back to the “signature” button in the Annotations Toolbar at the top of the Preview interface, click it, and select the signature that you just scanned.
  • Move your cursor down to the dotted line in your PDF, and hover over it until you see part of the line turn blue. Click, and a tiny image of your signature will appear, surrounded by six little gray “handles.”
  • Click on one of those handles and drag it open to resize your signature until it fits on the signature line.
  • All set? Select File, Save Version at the top of the screen.

That’s it! Now you can save, print, or email the signed PDF as you see fit, no scanner required. You can also saved your scanned signature for future use, or delete it if you don’t want it sitting on your hard drive.

Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!

Note: This updated and revised article was first published in December 2011.

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Mac tip: How to pin an app to a specific Mission Control desktop https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/06/20/mac-tip-pin-app-specific-mission/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/06/20/mac-tip-pin-app-specific-mission/#comments Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:02:44 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=10675 Tired of your various Mac apps winding up in the wrong virtual desktop? I know the feeling. Well, good news. You can, in fact, assign an app to a specific desktop in Mission Control—perfect for keeping your programs in their proper “spaces,” particularly when you’re booting up your Mac. Before we begin, something to keep […]

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Tired of your various Mac apps winding up in the wrong virtual desktop? I know the feeling.

Well, good news. You can, in fact, assign an app to a specific desktop in Mission Control—perfect for keeping your programs in their proper “spaces,” particularly when you’re booting up your Mac.

Before we begin, something to keep in mind: this trick applies only to apps running in standard “windowed” mode. Programs running in “full screen” (a handy new feature in Mac OS X “Lion”) automatically get assigned to their own desktops.

Related: Getting the hang of desktop “spaces” in Mission Control

Assign to this desktop menu

Just select “This Desktop” to pin an app to a specific Mission Control desktop.

So, ready to start “pinning” your apps to specific desktops? Here we go…

  • First, navigate to the desktop where you’d like a particular program to call home. If, for example, you want iPhone to sit in Desktop 2, launch Mission Control, then click on Desktop 2 from the overhead Mission Control view (or create a second desktop if there isn’t one already).
  • Launch the app you want to assign to the desktop—again, let’s use iPhoto as our example.
  • Go down to the Mac desktop dock at the bottom of the screen, find the icon for iPhoto, and right-click it.
  • In the menu that appears, select Options, then select “This Desktop” under the “Assign to” heading.

Now, let’s test. Go ahead and close the app you just assigned to a desktop, navigate to Desktop 1 in Mission Control, then launch the app again—and when you do, it should launch in the desktop you assigned it to.

Also, if the app you’ve pinned to a desktop opens automatically when you start up your Mac, the app will now launch in its assigned window.

Related: How to rearrange your Mission Control desktops

OK, but what if you want to “unpin” an app from a desktop? Just right-click its icon in the dock, select Options, then select “None” under “Assign to.”

Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!

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11 spring cleaning tips for your PC or Mac https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/05/01/11-spring-cleaning-tips-pc-mac/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/05/01/11-spring-cleaning-tips-pc-mac/#respond Tue, 01 May 2012 18:44:49 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=9532 Is your PC running out of hard drive space? Has it been ages since you backed up your Mac? Ready to declutter your desktop? Get your system back under control with these 11 tips and how-tos. 1. Back up your Windows PC Windows 7 boasts an easy-to-use utility that’ll regularly backup your personal documents, media, […]

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11 spring cleaning tips for your PC or MacIs your PC running out of hard drive space? Has it been ages since you backed up your Mac? Ready to declutter your desktop? Get your system back under control with these 11 tips and how-tos.

1. Back up your Windows PC

Windows 7 boasts an easy-to-use utility that’ll regularly backup your personal documents, media, settings, and other data. Read more…

2. Back up your Mac with Time Machine

Having a recent backup of your entire system will save you the heartache of a failed hard drive or a stolen computer—and the good news for Mac users is that Apple’s own backup utility, called Time Machine, couldn’t be easier to set up and use. Read more…

3. Stop programs from launching the instant you turn on your Mac

Want to shave a few seconds—or even minutes—off the time it takes for your Mac desktop to settle down after hitting the power button? Read more…

4. Protect your Windows PC from viruses

With just a few clicks, you can have virus protection up and running on your Windows system in about five minutes—and it won’t cost you a dime. Read more…

5. Customize the Mac desktop dock

You can expand, shrink, move, and otherwise tweak the Mac’s handy desktop dock in just a few clicks, as well as rearrange, add, or zap any app, folder, or file icon. Read on for a half-dozen ways to make the Mac desktop dock your own. Read more…

6. Clean junk files off your Windows PC

A quick way to clear some hard drive space is to haul out the junk—that is, temporary files, old program setup files, cached thumbnails, and other bits of digital detritus that pile up over time. Read more…

7. Customize the Windows taskbar

Don’t want the Windows taskbar at the bottom of your desktop? Wish it were smaller, or even gone? Read on for 5 ways to make the taskbar do what you want. Read more…

8. Give your Mac desktop icons a makeover

Got a jumble of icons cluttering your Mac’s desktop? Are the icons themselves too big—or too small? Wish they would just arrange themselves? Here’s six ways to whip your desktop icons into shape. Read more…

9. Take charge of the Windows Start menu

Frustrated whenever your favorite program slides off the Start menu? Wish you could make the Start menu icons a tiny bit smaller? And what about swapping the “Shut down” button with, say, “Restart”? Get ready for six of my favorite Start menu tweaks. Read more…

10. Set your Mac to check for updates automatically

Your Mac will run better over time if you update its system software on a regular basis—think weekly rather than monthly (or yearly). Read more…

11. 5 essential makeover tips for your Windows desktop

From changing your background theme to giving your mouse cursor a new look, check out five great ways to add some flair to your Windows desktop. Read more…

Click here for more Windows tips, or click here for help with your Mac.

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How to set your Mac to check for updates automatically https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/04/10/set-mac-check-updates-automatically/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/04/10/set-mac-check-updates-automatically/#respond Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:40:18 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=8933 So, quick question: when was the last time you updated your Mac’s system software? Yesterday? A week ago? Sometime last year? Or, worst of all, never? It’s easy to understand why you might only check for Mac system updates once in a blue moon. For one thing, running Apple’s Software Update tool probably isn’t the […]

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How to set your Mac to check for updates automaticallySo, quick question: when was the last time you updated your Mac’s system software? Yesterday? A week ago? Sometime last year? Or, worst of all, never?

It’s easy to understand why you might only check for Mac system updates once in a blue moon. For one thing, running Apple’s Software Update tool probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you power on your Mac in the morning—and if you’ve waited weeks or months between updates, you could be facing a huge download and a lengthy installation process.

How to set your Mac to check for updates automatically

Updating your Mac frequently can not only speed your system, it'll also help protect your Mac from online threats.

Also, updating your Mac’s software is typically a fairly thankless chore. Most of the time, we’re talking subtle, under-the-hood tweaks and fixes rather than flashy new features or dramatically improved performance.

But here’s the thing: Your Mac will run better over time if you update its system software on a regular basis—think weekly rather than monthly (or yearly). More importantly, the security patches included in some updates will protect your Mac from online threats like the recent Flashback “trojan.”

Of course, you can always check for updates manually by running the Software Update utility from the Apple menu; just click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of the screen, then select “Check for Updates.”

A better idea, though, is to set your Mac to check for updates automatically—and remember, the more frequently you check for software updates, the shorter the whole process will take.

Let’s get started:

  • First, you’ll need to launch your Mac’s System Preferences panel. Just open the Apple menu at the top-left corner of the screen and select System Preferences.
  • Next, click the blue “Software Update” icon, which you’ll find sitting in the middle of the fourth row of options.
  • Check the box next to the “Check for updates” setting, then select a frequency from the pull-down menu. I suggest picking “Weekly” rather than “Monthly”—although if you want to be really diligent about updates, you can also select “Daily.”
  • Another option you can check off is “Download updates automatically,” which does just what it says: sets your Mac to automatically download Apple’s latest software updates “in the background,” while you’re working on something else.
  • Finally, close the System Preferences panel by clicking the red dot in the top-left corner of the window. You’re done!

Now, once a week, you’ll see the Software Update utility launch itself and start checking for updates. You can go ahead and click back to Safari, Microsoft Word, or whatever else you were up to; the Software Update icon in your desktop dock will bounce when it needs your attention.

Have more Mac questions? Let me know!

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Prepping for Facebook Timeline; mobile hotspots explained; “Quick Look” for Mac (week in review) https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/01/28/prepping-facebook-timeline-mobile/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/01/28/prepping-facebook-timeline-mobile/#respond Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:00:58 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=5953 Like it or not, your Facebook wall is about to get the Timeline treatment. Don’t let the upcoming change to your Facebook profile catch you by surprise. Once you’ve learned the basics and snagged some must-know security tips, be sure to learn how to limit who can browse stories posted by others on your Timeline—or […]

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Prepping for Facebook Timeline; mobile hotspots explained; "Quick Look" for Mac (week in review)

Like it or not, your Facebook wall is about to get the Timeline treatment. Don’t let the upcoming change to your Facebook profile catch you by surprise.

Once you’ve learned the basics and snagged some must-know security tips, be sure to learn how to limit who can browse stories posted by others on your Timeline—or how to block second-hand Timeline posts altogether.

Also this week: everything you need to know about mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, taking a “Quick Look” at files on your Mac with the spacebar, and how to set up multiple iCloud accounts on a single iPhone.

How to control who can post stories to your Timeline, and who can'tHow to control who can post stories to your Facebook Timeline—and who can’t
Don’t want any and all of your Facebook friends marking up your Timeline—or sifting through Timeline stories posted by others, for that matter? No problem. Read more…

Take a “Quick Look” at almost any file on your Mac with the spacebar
Want to sneak a peek at just about any document on your Mac’s desktop? Try this: just use the space bar. Read more…

Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots: Your questions, answered
So, how do mobile hotspots work, what are their drawbacks, and how much do they cost? Get answers to those questions and more, right here. Read more…

Mac OS X Lion tip: Miss the scroll bar arrows? Try the arrow keys instead
Yes, you can get Lion’s missing scroll bars back, but the same can’t be said for the arrow buttons that used to flank the scroll bars. Read more…

Sneak a peek at your Windows desktop with Aero PeekSneak a peek at your Windows desktop with Aero Peek
Want to take a quick look at the files and folders on your desktop without minimizing all your open windows? It’s easy, thanks to a handy Windows 7 feature. Read more…

3 ways to declutter your Facebook news feed
Seeing too many links and photos in your Facebook news feed from perfect strangers? Read on for three ways to whip your bloated news feed into shape. Read more…

How to make your iPad’s keyboard float in the middle of the screen
Want to set the iPad’s on-screen keyboard free? With a tap, you can undock it from the bottom of the screen, allowing it to float in the middle of the display. Read more…

Podcast 009: The Facebook show, starring Timeline
Ready or not, Timeline is coming to your Facebook account, and this week we guide one of our co-hosts through the process of making the switch. Read more…

Best way for my wife and me to set up iCloud on our iPhones? (reader mail)
You can pick and choose the contacts, calendars, email, and photos you want to share with your better half in iCloud, but the setup can be a bit tricky. Read more…

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How to bring the Mac’s virtual desktop “spaces” to a Windows PC https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/01/18/bring-macs-virtual-desktop-spaces/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/01/18/bring-macs-virtual-desktop-spaces/#respond Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:02:33 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=5664 One of my favorite features on Apple’s Mac operating system is “Mission Control,” which lets you create and easily switch between multiple desktop “spaces”—perfect for anyone who, for example, wants one virtual desktop for work and another for play. Sound confusing? Just try it; chances are, you’ll become addicted in no time flat. Windows, on […]

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How to bring the Mac's virtual desktop "spaces" to a Windows PCOne of my favorite features on Apple’s Mac operating system is “Mission Control,” which lets you create and easily switch between multiple desktop “spaces”—perfect for anyone who, for example, wants one virtual desktop for work and another for play. Sound confusing? Just try it; chances are, you’ll become addicted in no time flat.

Windows, on the other hand, doesn’t offer its own, built-in equivalent to Mission Control on the Mac, a crucial omission that always leaves me feeling cramped whenever I’m working on a Windows PC.

Enter Dexpot, a free utility that’ll bring some, though not all, of the features in Apple’s Mission Control to your Windows desktop or laptop.

How to bring the Mac's virtual desktop "spaces" to a Windows PC

Just click a window in the task bar to switch from one virtual desktop to another.

You can grab Dexpot right here, and it’s a free download for personal users. (You’ll have to pay up if you want to use it at your company.) The installation process is a snap; just select the download link, click the “Run” button when prompted, and double-click the Dexpot icon that appears on your desktop.

If you have Windows 7 running on your system, you’ll notice a new tab for Dexpot sitting in the Windows task bar. Hover your mouse over the tab (which should be marked “1,” for Desktop 1) and a pop-up window displaying your collection of four virtual desktops will appear. Just click the desktops to switch back and forth.

Related: Getting the hang of virtual desktop “spaces” in Mission Control

Next, open some applications in your various Dexpot desktops and try switching between them. You could put, say, Internet Explorer in Desktop 1, a couple of Office documents in Desktop 2, your email inbox in Desktop 3, and a browser window for Facebook in Desktop 4.

Now click on the Dexpot tab in the Windows task bar again and switch desktops. Nice, right? In a flash, you can jump from a word-oriented desktop to a personal desktop “space.”

How to bring the Mac's virtual desktop "spaces" to a Windows PC

You can move windows from one desktop to another using Dexpot's Desktop Manager.

One of the drawbacks of Dexpot for Windows is that moving a window from one desktop to another isn’t as easy as it is with Mission Control for Mac (which lets you drag and drop windows between desktops with your mouse). That said, it can be done, albeit with a few extra clicks.

First, right click the Dexpot tab in the Windows task bar, and select Desktop Manager to display a small row of four desktop icons in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Now, say you want to move Microsoft Outlook window from Desktop 2 to Desktop 1; just right-click the Desktop 1 icon, select “Move other windows to this Desktop, and choose Microsoft Outlook.

You can also get a bird’s-eye, Exposé-style view of the open windows in all your desktops by selecting “Windows catalog” from the Dexpot menu, or see quarter-size thumbnails of all four desktops at once using the “Full-screen preview” option.

Feeling ambitious? Advanced users can tweak dozens of settings, from expanding the number of available desktops (up to 20) to assigning keyboard shortcuts for each desktop “space.”

Have questions about virtual desktops, either in Windows or on the Mac? Let me know!

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5 tech tips to kick off the New Year https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/01/03/5-tech-tips-kick-year/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2012/01/03/5-tech-tips-kick-year/#respond Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:42:23 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=5369 A new year means a new start—for both you and your gadgets. Get off on the right foot in 2012 with these five essential tech tips, from backing up your hard drive (you are backing up your hard drive, aren’t you?) to taking charge of your pile of passwords. 1. Back up your PC or […]

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Time Machine backup how-toA new year means a new start—for both you and your gadgets. Get off on the right foot in 2012 with these five essential tech tips, from backing up your hard drive (you are backing up your hard drive, aren’t you?) to taking charge of your pile of passwords.

1. Back up your PC or Mac
Yes, backing up all your files and system settings is a hassle, and most days it’s not terribly rewarding—but you’ll be happy you did when your hard drive up and dies on you (and yes, it’ll happen sooner or later).

The first step is getting a USB-enabled external hard drive for your system—one that’s big enough to back up all your essential files. The good news is that they’re relatively inexpensive; think less than $100 for a 500 gigabyte external drive, or less than $200 for a whopping 2 terabytes (or about 2,000 GB) of storage.

Related: How big is a gig (GB), anyway?

If you’ve got a PC running the latest version of Windows, you’re in luck. Windows 7 comes with a couple of built-in utilities that’ll automatically back up the most important files in your user directory (such as your music, photos, videos, Office files, and other personal documents), as well as create an “image”—that is, an exact copy—of your entire hard drive.

While the “Backup and Restore” tool (which you’ll find by clicking the Start Menu and selecting Control Panel, then “Back up your computer”) won’t back up your entire hard drive, it will let you pick and restore a previous version of any individual file. On the flip side, the “Create a system image” utility will make a copy of your entire drive, but it won’t let you pick and choose individual files to restore; instead, you’ll have to restore the entire drive in one shot.

My advice: make sure to set up and run the “Backup and Restore” utility, at the very least (and yes, you can even schedule backups to occur automatically). Feeling more ambitious? Go ahead and create a system image.

Got a Mac? If so, meet Time Machine, the built-in Mac OS X utility that automatically backs up your hard drive every hour. Like the backup tools in Windows, Time Machine is free and easy to set up—and here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started.

2. Speed up your system with more RAM
Has your PC or Mac been feeling poky lately? Well, you could always just start over with a brand-new system, or you could give your old desktop or laptop new life with an infusion of memory, or RAM.

Adding more RAM is an easy way to boost your system’s speed, and the best part is that it’s cheap—for example, you can snag 8 GB of RAM for a new MacBook Pro for less than $50. You can save even more money by installing the RAM chips yourself (a process that typically involves little more than cracking open a panel with a screwdriver), or you can always have your local computer repair shop do the work for a nominal fee.

If you’re thinking of getting more RAM for your PC or Mac, I advise checking out Crucial.com, a online memory retailer that can scan your system to determine the exact type of memory that you’ll need.

3. Install virus and malware protection
Mac users are still relatively safe from viruses, but if you’re using Windows, be careful out there. Just last week, I visited a friend who was busy reinstalling Windows thanks to a particularly nasty piece of malware hiding in a software download—one that briefly took control of her system and crammed it full of eye-popping images that would make Hugh Hefner blush.

There are plenty of commercial, for-pay virus-protection packages on the market (Norton and McAfee among them), but I’ve got a free solution for you—Microsoft Security Essentials, which you can download and install right here.

4. Take charge of your passwords
Can’t keep track of all passwords—you know, the ones for your online banking account, Netflix, Facebook, Google, iTunes, and so on? Or, even worse, are you using the same password for all your online accounts?

First things first: yes, it’s easier to remember one password for every account, but it’s a recipe for disaster if your password is ever stolen or compromised. At the very least, make sure you use a unique, strong password for your online banking account.

Next, think about using a password manager to keep track of all your password—and indeed, this is something I need to do this year. PC World has a handy roundup of four top password managers right here.

At the very least, consider doing something that might sound verboten: writing your passwords down. Yes, your online life will be an open book if your list of passwords is ever found, but it’s probably a safer solution than using a single, weak password for all your accounts. Also, if you do decide to write your passwords down, do so using pen and paper, and not in a document on your hard drive.

5. Lock your smartphone with a passcode
Speaking of passwords, do you have a passcode set up for your iPhone or Android phone? It may seem like a nuisance, but you’ll be sorry of your unlocked handset—along with all your email, contacts, photos, and other personal information—falls into the wrong hands.

To set a passcode on your iPhone, tap Settings, General, Passcode Lock, then follow the instructions. You can set either a simple, four-digit passcode, or switch “Simple Passcode” off to create a longer passcode.

For Android phones, tap Settings, “Set up a screen lock,” and then “Password” to create a PIN or “Pattern” to unlock your phone with a simple pattern that you trace on the touchscreen.

And one more thing: don’t create a passcode along the lines of “1234,” “5555,” or “1212.” Yes, they’re better than nothing, but just barely.

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10 tips for taking control of your new Mac https://heresthethingblog.com/2011/12/29/10-tips-control-mac/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2011/12/29/10-tips-control-mac/#respond Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:00:09 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=5254 Excited about your new MacBook or iMac? Sure you are. But even with its easy-to-navigate desktop and intuitive menus, mastering the myriad settings and controls in the Mac operating system can be a little intimidating. Here’s a few tips and how-tos to get your started. How to back up your Mac with Time Machine Having […]

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10 tips for taking control of your new MacExcited about your new MacBook or iMac? Sure you are. But even with its easy-to-navigate desktop and intuitive menus, mastering the myriad settings and controls in the Mac operating system can be a little intimidating. Here’s a few tips and how-tos to get your started.

How to back up your Mac with Time Machine
Having a recent backup of your entire system will save you the heartache of a failed hard drive or a stolen computer—and the good news for Mac users is that Apple’s own backup utility, called Time Machine, couldn’t be easier to set up and use.

Mac OS X Lion tip: Getting the hang of desktop "spaces" in Mission ControlGetting the hang of desktop “spaces” in Mission Control
Learn how to get the most out of the virtual desktop “spaces”—each filled with its own assortment of open documents and applications—in Mac OS X Lion, the latest version of the Mac OS.

How to get your missing scroll bars back
While Lion’s no-scroll bar aesthetic might be daring from a design perspective, it’s a bit disorienting for the rest of us. Luckily, it’s easy to get those scroll bars back.

How to paste your signature into a PDF using your Mac’s built-in webcam
Got “Lion”? If so, you can scan your signature using your Mac’s iSight camera, then paste it onto the dotted line of a PDF. Here’s how.

Mac OS X Lion tip: 5 handy gestures to try5 new, handy trackpad gestures to try
Pinching, swiping, and tapping have come to the Mac in a big way thanks to Apple’s new “Lion” software update. Here are five new gestures that got my attention.

How to stream all your music from iCloud with iTunes Match
The $25-a-year service will scan your music library and “match” your songs with high-quality versions in iCloud, perfect for streaming from your iPhone or iPad.

How to create a new desktop in Mission Control
Making a new “space” in Mission Control, the Lion feature that gives you a bird’s eye view of all your virtual desktops, is easy—if you know where to look.

Mac OS X Lion tip: How to protect the data on your Mac with File VaultHow to lock your Mac’s hard drive with File Vault
Apple’s new-and-improved File Vault utility will lock even the most determined thieves out of your Mac’s hard drive. Learn how to turn it on right here.

Why “natural” scrolling feels backwards—and how to turn it off
Mac OS X Lion introduces “natural” scrolling—which means (somewhat counter intuitively) that you flick up on your mouse to scroll down, and down to scroll up. But if you’d rather forget “natural” and go back to normal, there’s an easy way to do it.

How to take charge of where your downloads go
Sick of trying to find where your browser stashed your downloaded files on your Mac? Good news: there’s a better way.

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Year in tech: The 5 “improvements” you hated the most https://heresthethingblog.com/2011/12/22/year-tech-5-improvements-hated/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2011/12/22/year-tech-5-improvements-hated/#respond Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:05:44 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=5260 From the redesigned Gmail to the stubborn Newsstand on the iPhone, here’s 5 new and “improved” features on your favorite products that you wanted undone, pronto. How did I pick the most hated new features of the year? Well, I didn’t pick them; you did. While looking at the most popular posts on here’s the […]

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Year in tech: The 5 improvements you hated the mostFrom the redesigned Gmail to the stubborn Newsstand on the iPhone, here’s 5 new and “improved” features on your favorite products that you wanted undone, pronto.

How did I pick the most hated new features of the year? Well, I didn’t pick them; you did. While looking at the most popular posts on here’s the thing this year, I saw that many of them had to do with tweaks, changes, redesigns, or all-new features that you wish had never happened.

In some cases, there were workarounds; in others, chagrined company executives hit the brakes and reversed course. A few, though, we’ll just have to live with—for now, anyway.

So, in ascending order of most hated tech improvements, let’s begin with…

#5: Facebook’s revamped News Feed, and the new “ticker”

Year in tech: The 5 improvements you hated the most

The new, much-hated Facebook "ticker."

How it used to be: A live feed of posts, photos, and status updates from our friends, neighbors, and loved ones on Facebook. You could sort the old feed chronologically, or filter the updates according to your Friend Lists. Easy.
What they changed: In September, Facebook rolled out two major new features: “Top” and “Highlighted” News Feed stories that the social geniuses at Facebook figured mattered to you the most—whether you thought so or not—and the “Ticker,” a live feed in the top-right corner of the screen that reported your every move, no matter how insignificant.
Why you hated it: The live Ticker felt a little too much like an eye in the sky, and there wasn’t (and still isn’t) a way to hide it. The new News Feed, meanwhile, wouldn’t let you sort updates from friends in chronological order anymore; instead, you were stuck with “Highlighted” updates that were often hours or even days old.
Status: The Facebook Ticker is still there, telling the world every time you “like” something or hit “play” on Spotify. But while “Highlighted” updates are still around, at least you can now sort the News Feed chronologically again.

#4: Netflix website redesign

Year in tech: The 5 improvements you hated the most

Netflix's revamped home page, complete with those slowly-scrolling rows of videos.

How it used to be: It’s hard to remember now, but earlier this year, Netflix’s home page featured a fairly standard grid of smallish, clickable rows of movie cover art, as well as long listings of videos that you could sort by year, MPAA ratings, or (best of all) user “star” rating.
What they changed: In June, Netflix unveiled a major home-page revamp, complete with large, slowly scrolling rows of “Watch Instantly” movies and TV shows.
Why you hated it: The slow, stately pace of the scrolling video covers drove many of you nuts, as well as the fact that you had to hover over a box with your mouse to read the video details. Also annoying: the fact that the redesign seemed to kick DVDs to the curb in favor of instant-streaming movies. Worst of all, though, you couldn’t sort videos at all anymore—or at least, not on the Netflix website.
Status: Netflix hasn’t budged on the scrolling video boxes, but you can once again sort movies and TV shows by year and rating.

#3: Mac OS X “Lion” and the missing scroll bars

Mac OS X Lion tip: How to get your missing scroll bars back

Hey, where'd the scroll bars go?

How it used to be: Back in the day, the windows on our desktops used to have these little bars on the edges that you could click and drag for scrolling—you know, scroll bars. Indeed, those handy scroll bars are still standard issue on Windows PCs.
What they changed: With its big “Lion” update for the Mac operating system, Apple decided to take several features from the iPhone and iPad and bring them “back to the Mac”—including the near absence of scroll bars, which only appear as slivers while you’re actually scrolling.
Why you hated it: While many have grown to love scrolling with two-finger gestures on their trackpads, plenty of Mac users—and particularly those who do precision editing in programs like Photoshop—missed the visible, easy-to-click scroll bars, not to mention the arrows that used to sit on either end.
Status: You can turn scroll bars back on in the Mac system settings, but they’re still awfully slim and tough to grab. And those scroll bar arrows, by the way, are history.

#2: The new iOS “Newsstand”

Year in tech: The 5 improvements you hated the most

There's no getting rid of Newsstand.

How it used to be: Newspaper and magazine apps for the iPhone and iPad have been around for years now, and they used to function just like any other app. You could put them on any home page, put them all in a folder, put magazines in one folder and newspapers in another, whatever you wanted.
What they changed: Enter “Newsstand,” a new feature in iOS 5 that organizes all of your newspapers and magazine apps—well, many of them, anyway—into a single folder, complete with automatic updates whenever a new digital issue gets published.
Why you hated it: Not only can you not hide Newstand into a folder, you also can’t put magazine and newspaper apps into Newsstand unless they’ve been Newsstand-enabled by individual publishers—and in some cases, publishers have specifically decided to keep their apps out of the Newsstand due to Apple’s revenue-sharing terms.
Status: Apple hasn’t budged on Newsstand—well, not yet.

…and, drumroll please…

#1: The Gmail redesign

Year in tech: The 5 improvements you hated the most

Yes, please.

How it used to be: The old Gmail wasn’t anything special, really—just a standard, unexceptional green-and-white design that millions of users knew inside and out.
What they changed: Google is in the process of revamping all its web-based services with a boxy, modern-looking black-and-white design, complete with a big black bar at the top and new icons—and Gmail is next in line.
Why you hated it: Your comments pretty much tell the whole story, ranging from “too annoying” and “not user functional” to “cumbersome” and a good old-fashioned “I HATE IT.”
Status: You can go back to the old Gmail look temporarily, but all Google users will have to switch to the new Gmail eventuall—or at least, that’s the current policy.

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Why won’t Mission Control label my desktops? (Mac OS X Lion tip) https://heresthethingblog.com/2011/11/15/wont-mission-control-label-desktops/ https://heresthethingblog.com/2011/11/15/wont-mission-control-label-desktops/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:34:20 +0000 http://heresthethingblog.com/?p=4466 Cybersi writes: I noticed on the Apple site that in Mission Control, it shows desktops labeled as iTunes, Mail etc. That seems better than straining my eyes to see what’s in my desktops, but I can’t seem to make them show on my Mac. Any suggestions please? Greetings, Cybersi! Yes, it’s true: a little label […]

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Why won't Mission Control label my desktops? (Mac OS X Lion tip)Cybersi writes: I noticed on the Apple site that in Mission Control, it shows desktops labeled as iTunes, Mail etc. That seems better than straining my eyes to see what’s in my desktops, but I can’t seem to make them show on my Mac. Any suggestions please?

Greetings, Cybersi! Yes, it’s true: a little label for each of your desktops in Mission Control would make life easier for those of us who have to squint to see those tiny desktop thumbnails, and the good news is that Mission Control will label at least some of your desktops.

The bad news? It requires a little effort on your part—and unfortunately, not all your Mac apps will be up to the task.

Related: Getting the hang of desktop “spaces” in Mission Control

The secret is the new full-screen viewing mode in Lion, the latest version of the Mac operating system. Once you enter the full screen mode for an app, that app will appear as its own desktop in Mission Control, and it’ll be clearly labeled.

Why won't Mission Control label my desktops? (Mac OS X Lion tip)

Mission Control won't label your desktops unless you're viewing your apps in full-screen mode.

But here’s the thing: not all apps have been tweaked to take advantage of Lion’s full-screen mode.

If you see a little pair of arrows in the top-right corner of an app’s desktop window, that’s a telltale sign that it’s full-screen ready. You can also check if there’s a full-screen option in the View menu along the top of the screen. And if you still come up empty, well … you’re out of luck, at least as far as that particular app is concerned.

And here’s another thing: there will probably be plenty of cases where you don’t want to use the full-screen mode for your apps, anyway.

Personally, I like having two browsers and my instant messaging client running in my main desktop, and I keep them in “windowed” mode so I can jump quickly between all three windows. That’s all well and good, but it also means that in Mission Control, my main desktop is labelled (rather unhelpfully) as “Desktop 1.”

Hope that helps—and if you still have questions, just let me know!

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