tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5343642890050334192012-01-27T09:38:58.032-05:00<!-- google_ad_section_start -->This is a blog where you'll find a new tip about Mac every day. It is aimed at both Apple desktop and laptop computers. Many useful features are hidden in OS X. It is time to uncover them!<!-- google_ad_section_end -->MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.comBlogger7901100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-54930577592518099212008-12-29T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-29T04:01:00.615-05:00

The Mail that comes with Leopard has a feature called "Mail Activity". What is displayed in this is mail that is being sent or received. It is very useful to see when a large email with attachments is finally sent. You can also see mail arriving before it is even displayed in your inbox. To see the "Mail Activity" window, just click on the arrow in the lower left corner (2nd button from the

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com123tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-20735873241870644942008-12-28T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-28T04:01:00.415-05:00

By default, mailto links (websites that integrate a link to an email address) are loaded in Mail and it is not very useful if you only use webmail. In the Firefox preferences, you can change that to Gmail (website), Yahoo Mail (website), or another application. It is under "Applications" and the content type is "mailto".Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-29586716575603382302008-12-27T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-27T04:01:00.557-05:00

It is possible to customize the color of highlighted text. It is in "System Preferences", under "Appearance". The setting is "Highlight Color". The change won't just happen with highlighted text, but also when you select files and you take screenshots.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new website at http://www.tips4mac.info/ Tips will soon only be

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-59011871247985148992008-12-26T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-26T04:01:01.036-05:00

Using the "Shapes" icon in the toolbar to select a shape will automatically add a default shape that you can then resize and adjust. To actually draw the shape instead of modifying a default version, you want to hold down "Option" while clicking on the "Shapes" icon in the toolbar.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new website at http://

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-51037695647349874982008-12-25T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-25T04:01:02.228-05:00

As you might know if you read my Tweets, my internet connection is not always as great as it should be and watching previews on iTunes doesn't really work well, because unlike YouTube when the buffers runs out, iTunes just closes the preview window and returns to the information page. I finally figured out how to fix this problem in the iTunes preferences. It is under "Advanced","Streaming

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-26300485256807449992008-12-24T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-24T04:01:01.239-05:00

I didn't even know this was possible until I found the feature in OnyX (OS X maintenance & optimization application). You can enable an additional "Quit Finder" menu item in the Finder menu. It is totally different than the "Force Quit Finder" feature that will quit the Finder and relaunch it immediately. This will actually quit the Finder ant it won't relaunch until you load it by clicking on

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-37283886182551696832008-12-23T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-23T04:01:00.234-05:00

The Leopard version of Mail added the "Stationery" feature. One thing that isn't obvious about how to use the feature is if you have selected a stationery, how do you remove it to go back to a text only email. Here is how:1. Once you clicked "Show Stationery", choose the "Stationery" category.2. Click on "Original". Mail will switch back to the text only template.Don't forget to update your

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-89467721706697379302008-12-22T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-22T04:01:00.936-05:00

The default way iTunes displays the total time of a song or a playlist in the lower bar is approximate. You can toggle between the approximate and exact time by clicking on the time displayed.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new website at http://www.tips4mac.info/ Tips will soon only be posted on the new website.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-79064803662380456562008-12-21T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-21T04:01:00.420-05:00

The latest 0.9.3 update to Handbrake modified the way Audio Tracks are handled. You can now keep up to four audio tracks. I really like this feature because an advantage DVD had over H.264 QuickTime videos was the multiple languages. You can now decide to keep multiple tracks and multiple languagues. The default track is automatically set at 160 kbps, but additional tracks default at 128 kbps

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-2138184329920564192008-12-20T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-20T04:01:01.024-05:00

ForkLift is one of the best Mac applications for FTP and it just got better with the last update (update 1.6). The 1.6 update added "Color labels" like in the Finder. Of course, "Color labels" are a feature of OS X, so that feature won't be available if you are accessing a Linux or Windows server.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new website at

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-70024796721745195012008-12-19T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-19T04:01:00.354-05:00

I nearly always use the keyboard shortcuts for taking screenshots, but occasionally when I need more features, I use the "Grab" application. I have just discovered, however, that Preview now has most of the features available in Grab. The Grab feature is under the File menu and includes "Selection", "Window" and "Timed Screen".Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-84600431364590542852008-12-18T04:02:00.000-05:002008-12-18T04:02:00.111-05:00

There are only a few hours left to get the MacUpdate 11 applications bundle.You can get the MacUpdate Holiday Bundle here (11 applications worth $467.64 for $49.99): DriveGenius X, RapidWeaver, Default Folder X, VirusBarrier X, MacGourmet Deluxe, LittleSnitch, KeyCue, MacPilot, WhatSize, iVolume and Pangea Arcade.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-91560627446040339142008-12-18T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-18T04:01:00.783-05:00

A new Aperture plugin was just released by Pixelpipe and it lets you upload photos to many social networking websites, blogs, etc. Once you've downloaded the plugin, you have to create an account with Pixelpipe. It is a really great solution, because there are so many social networking websites now that it just takes too much time to upload photos separately to each website. You can download

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-7928635864918123092008-12-17T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-17T04:01:01.074-05:00

MacTubes is a great YouTube downloader that will let you download the high-quality version of YouTube videos. It was just updated however, and it now includes the download of HD YouTube videos. The huge advantage this application has over other ways of downloading YouTube videos is that the download is an MP4 instead of a Flash (FLV). MacTubes is a free download and you can get it here from

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-60592781380355152572008-12-16T20:00:00.000-05:002008-12-16T20:27:23.758-05:00

MacUpdate just added a bonus app to the bundle that ends in 2 days. It is the game "Pangea Arcade" (value of $19.95). Everyone who already purchased the bundle will get the serial number sent by email (can also be accessed through your web receipt). The bonus app is a limited time offer only available for the first 20 000 bundles sold.You can get the MacUpdate Holiday Bundle here (11

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-2960712484523552642008-12-16T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-16T04:01:00.579-05:00

I talked about enabling the OS X firewall yesterday, but here is another feature to enhance security even further. In the firewall advanced preferences, you can enable the feature called "Enable Stealth Mode". This will ensure that traffic that you didn't allow won't receive a response, not even an acknowledgment.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-75664918210284775802008-12-14T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-14T04:01:00.766-05:00

I really use Firefox because of the amazing add-ons and one I just discovered is Tab Mix Plus! It really improves the tabs in Firefox, adding a progress bar to each tab and highlighting the title of the tab when it is done loading. You can also use it to "Lock Tab" or "Protect Tab". The "Lock Tab" feature will keep the tab on that website, loading a new tab when you enter another URL. The "

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-74351889751396011282008-12-13T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-13T04:01:00.648-05:00

A great feature that is part of Numbers (included with iWork) is "Send to iWeb". It is a great way to publish Numbers documents to the web. The options include "PDF" or "Numbers Document". Of course, if the people you are sharing the document with don't have iWork, PDF is the best option. The "Send to iWeb" feature is located in the File menu.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-47298996239640186312008-12-12T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-12T04:01:00.158-05:00

At some point, a Skype software update added my Address Book contacts to my Skype contacts and it is useful because I use Skype Out a lot. The latest software update did the opposite and removed my address book contacts from my Skype contact list. Here is why you can enable or disable this feature:1. Go to "Skype", "Preferences...".2. Enable or disable "Show Address Book Contacts".Don't forget

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-32638030281487791912008-12-11T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-11T04:01:00.735-05:00

A great tip submitted by Dominic P. Tremblay: View info of multiple files! When you select multiple files in the Finder (but not too many) and you press "Command - I", the info will be displayed in a separate window for each file. There is a point when you select a lot of files that the information is combined in a single window. I find the multiple windows incredibly annoying and I have been

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-73489964200910226052008-12-10T12:10:00.001-05:002008-12-10T12:10:37.075-05:00

Drive Genius 2 is part of the MacUpdate 10 applications bundle (you can get more info or buy the bundle here from MacUpdate).Drive Genius is a very complete disk optimizing application that has a lot more features than Disk Utility that comes with the OS. One of the features of Drive Genius is "Defrag". It is argued that it is not necessary on OS X, because the OS does it on the fly. The truth

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-33270724414668536032008-12-10T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-10T04:01:00.594-05:00

To delete more quickly, you can use "Option - Backspace" and instead of deleting a letter at a time, it will delete a word at a time. It is a much quicker and precise way of deleting text. YouTube video: Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new website at http://www.tips4mac.info/ Tips will soon only be posted on the new website.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-10400635600759308262008-12-09T14:00:00.000-05:002008-12-09T14:00:00.174-05:00

Default Folder X is part of the MacUpdate 10 applications bundle (you can get more info or buy the bundle here from MacUpdate).Default Folder X lets you access recent, favorite and open folders right from the toolbar of Default Folder X that can be accessed through the Open and Save dialog of any application. It also comes with a Dock icon and a menu bar icon. Another feature that I really

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-36202529559804384362008-12-09T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:01:00.873-05:00

Well it looks like the day is here, the most popular video sharing website isn’t the worst in terms of quality of service anymore. Everyone was going to YouTube, because, well, everyone was on YouTube! But now at least it is on par with many competing services.The introduction of widescreen was long overdue. Widescreen just make videos look more professional even if they were shot on a Flip Mino.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-68703017245496645052008-12-08T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-08T04:01:00.356-05:00

In Safari, "Command +" makes the text bigger and "Command -" makes it smaller. In Firefox 3 however, it actually resizes the images and the whole page. Of course, images might look pixelated at some point, but it is still a much better way to zoom in than how it is handled by Safari. If you prefer, under the "View", "Zoom" menu, you can change the Firefox zoom to the way Safari works. The

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-46520617885436857022008-12-07T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-07T04:01:00.557-05:00

It is possible to enable a hidden feature in OS X that makes the Dock icon of hidden applications semi-transparent. You can use the following Terminal command:defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool YESYou then just have to use the Terminal command "killall Dock" to restart the Dock. An easier way of doing the same thing is with OnyX. Once OnyX is installed, the feature is under "

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-77443941788256393662008-12-06T12:01:00.000-05:002008-12-06T12:01:00.651-05:00

MacPilot is part of the MacUpdate 10 applications bundle (you can get more info or buy the bundle here from MacUpdate).I have to admit, I didn't think MacPilot was going to be this great before I tried it. I thought it was going to be similar to OnyX which is free, but it is different in many ways. I haven't had time to go through every feature, because there is so much there. The feature "

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-90619733353250037282008-12-06T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-06T04:01:00.479-05:00

This is not specifically a Mac tip, it works with every device that can browse google.com, but it is so useful in replacing the built-in calculator widget. The built-in calculator widget is slow and not convenient, especially when the dashboard developer mode is not enabled. It is much simpler to use Google. You just have to enter the equation in the Google search bar and the result will appear

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-50553774187974596642008-12-05T13:00:00.000-05:002008-12-05T13:00:02.125-05:00

Rapidweaver is part of the MacUpdate 10 applications bundle (you can get more info or buy the bundle here from MacUpdate).Well Rapidweaver is a pretty well known application that has often been compared to iWeb, but here are my thoughts. I think it is pretty much what iWeb should be. Rapidweaver fits very well with the Leopard Mac look. It includes a good selection of template (at least as

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-1657001500664694362008-12-05T04:01:00.001-05:002008-12-05T04:01:00.788-05:00

There is a standalone Stickies application that comes with OS X and it is useful because it doesn't fill the Dashboard like the Stickies widget. All the stickies are displayed as soon as you load the app, so if you have too many stickies, it will fill your screen. To save space, you can collapse the stickies that you don't use often. To collapse the sticky, you just have to double-click on the

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-38891672564653156502008-12-04T04:01:00.001-05:002008-12-04T04:01:01.006-05:00

An easy way to batch apply keywords in Aperture is to use "Lift Metadata". To do so, you just have to set the keywords you want to batch apply to one picture, right-click on the picture, select "Lift Metadata", select the pictures you want to apply the keywords to and click on "Stamp Selected Images" in the "Lift & Stamp" window that just appeared.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-92211218345172419592008-12-03T04:01:00.000-05:002008-12-03T04:01:00.788-05:00

If you often convert videos to the iPod or Apple TV format, you can use Automator instead of constantly having to load QuickTime Pro and selecting the right format. There is a QuickTime action in Automator for the iPod and Apple TV presets. You can then export the script to the Finder or to the script menu to easily access it.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-38480868516148526822008-12-02T04:01:00.001-05:002008-12-02T04:01:00.971-05:00

More and more images have transparency and it is not always obvious where the edge of the image is. When you are checking out an image in Preview, you can hold down "Ctrl" to show the edge of the image.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new website at http://www.tips4mac.info/ Tips will soon only be posted on the new website.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-10326725360504196082008-12-01T04:01:00.001-05:002008-12-01T04:01:00.745-05:00

A great feature in Address Book is that the date when the card was last updated is displayed in the lower right corner. It is very useful to eliminate duplicate cards as the card most recently updated should be the one with the latest info.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new website at http://www.tips4mac.info/ Tips will soon only be posted on the

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-1715018090777157982008-11-30T04:01:00.001-05:002008-11-30T04:01:00.720-05:00

If you are using Firefox to save passwords and you forget a password in the future, you can recover it through Firefox. You just have to navigate to the page where the password is automatically entered by the browser and press "Command - I" (or go to Tools, Page Info). In the Security tab of the Page Info window, you'll have information about saved passwords. You can display the saved

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-4811475877221186892008-11-29T04:00:00.000-05:002008-11-29T04:00:00.414-05:00

Well I've had the chance of testing Handbrake more in details and I've found out that there is a lot more to this update than the main features highlighted. Something new with this update that is not included in the download of the new version is the presets. To update the presets, you just have to click on the gear icon just under the presets and choose "Update Built-in Presets".Don't forget

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-61089672516857580802008-11-28T04:01:00.000-05:002008-11-28T04:01:00.374-05:00

If you are using Mail to follow RSS feeds, you can force Mail to update the feeds in the Mailbox menu, under "Get New Mail". You just have to choose "RSS". Mail will then download the latest posts from the RSS feeds.Don't forget to update your bookmarks, download the new widget and check out the new website at http://www.tips4mac.info/ Tips will soon only be posted on the new website.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-58333598653997681192008-11-27T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-27T00:01:00.718-05:00

A great tip submitted by David Kinnander: Airport hidden menu! Wow, I didn't know this. It is awesome. By holding down "Option" and clicking on the Airport menu, you'll get a lot of additional info. You'll get info about signal strength, MAC address, etc. The MAC address displayed is the MAC address of the base station, not of your Mac. Thanks for the great tip David!Don't forget to update

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-718019076011949172008-11-26T23:00:00.001-05:002008-11-26T23:00:20.500-05:00

I've wanted this for a while, I just didn't have time, but here it is: the new "A New Mac Tip Every Day". You can check out the new website at http://tips4mac.info/ It is a totally new design, based on Wordpress instead of Blogger.That's not it! It also comes with a new widget (version 2.5) that links to the new website. The widget is also completely redesigned to make it more efficient. You

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-79315224381253100272008-11-26T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-26T00:01:00.259-05:00

If Handbrake was in my top 10 applications to install right away when I get a new Mac, it now holds the #1 spot. The version 0.9.3 was released and it is packed with improvements. I first want to talk about the downgrade, it is not possible to use it with encrypted DVDs anymore unless you have VLC installed. So it is not much of a downgrade, you just have to make sure to have an up-to-date

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-68581503708033648182008-11-25T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-25T00:01:00.138-05:00

If you want to eject a DVD or a CD, you have to hold down the Eject key for a few seconds, otherwise, it won't eject. You can bypass the time delay however. You just have to press "Option - Eject" and it will eject instantly, without having to wait a few seconds.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-77058210133778442462008-11-24T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-24T00:01:00.629-05:00

A great tip submitted by Stephen: Drag and drop bluetooth transfer! If you are using Bluetooth File Exchange to transfer files between bluetooth devices (including Mac to Mac), you can add the icon to the Dock and just drop the files you want to transfer on the icon. If you don't have a local network setup, it is a quick way of transferring files between Macs. Bluetooth File Exchange.app is

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-35526871665505541762008-11-23T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-23T00:01:00.286-05:00

If your Time Machine drive is not hooked up for a while (on a trip without your external hard drive), a warning will keep coming saying that Time Machine failed backing up. You can disable it in the Time Machine preferences to avoid the warning when you are often away from your external drive. You just have to uncheck "Warn when old backups are deleted" under "Options...".

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-20370316287377035852008-11-22T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-22T00:01:01.048-05:00

This tip comes from Automator.us. It is an Automator workflow that can convert text to audio and send the audio file to iTunes. Of course, the Leopard voices are used for the conversion so it doesn't sounds as great as an audiobook, but it is very useful if you have to read a text and don't have time. You can just convert it and transfer it to your iPod and listen to it in the car, etc. To

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-36617501468745449432008-11-21T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-21T00:01:00.320-05:00

If you close a tab accidentally in Firefox, you can easily reopen it by right-clicking in the tab bar and choosing "Undo Close Tab". Of course, that will actually reload the page, so you might lose information that you entered in text boxes.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-82016415068225751192008-11-20T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-20T00:01:00.349-05:00

One of the options for the status in Adium is "iTunes" and what it does is it takes the metadata of the currently playing song in iTunes and set it as your status. You can also set a different status for each account in Adium under the "Status" menu.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-86382267205878770982008-11-19T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-19T00:01:00.244-05:00

I talked about how to zoom in and out in QuickLook when Leopard was released, but that was only through a keyboard shortcut. What I discovered is that you can do the same thing by holding down "Option" and zooming in and out using the scroll wheel. It works both in the QuickLook window and in full screen QuickLook.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-81326786117397828122008-11-18T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-18T00:01:00.954-05:00

I am so used to having to type exact URLs in the address bar that I hadn't noticed until now that in Firefox 3, you can enter keywords of previously visited website in the address bar and relevant URLs from the Firefox history are displayed. I used to search with Google when I didn't have the exact address, but it is now a much quicker way to find a URL that I know I have already visited. You

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-21334506598745052012008-11-17T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-17T00:01:00.910-05:00

Uninstalling an application on a Mac is usually as easy as dragging the file from the Applications folder to the trash. It doesn't work with Final Cut Studio, because so many files are installed everywhere. I've had a few issues with Pro Apps where updates broke the app and I had to reinstall from the DVDs. I had to look through forums to find out exactly what files to delete before

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-5767139121925596072008-11-16T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-16T00:01:00.876-05:00

This is an automator workflow to convert a selected PDF file to plain text. Of course, it doesn't always work well, because most of the formatting is eliminated. It also won't work with PDFs that have text as images. It is still very useful to quickly convert the main text of a PDF. You can refer to last's week Automator tip to get more info about how to use the script and save it more

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-81191025931150773242008-11-15T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-15T00:01:00.288-05:00

Someone asked me if I had a calendar with the moon phase this week. What is great about iCal is that it is totally customizable. You can download calendars or subscribe to calendar feeds. I didn't find a feed for the Moon Phase, but I found a downloadable calendar on Apple.com that is good until 2015. To subscribe to a calendar in iCal, go to "Calendar" and choose "Subscribe...". You can

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-45836566358907514372008-11-14T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-14T00:01:00.326-05:00

I talked about using Automator to simplify repetitive tasks in OS X a few months ago. I hadn't opened it in a while and I don't know when it improved that much (probably with Leopard), but there is so much more in there. One thing that surprised me is that even Pixelmator now has Automator actions. One that I like in particular is "Resize Images". Using a few simple actions, you can create a

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-24845053486980447172008-11-13T00:01:00.002-05:002008-11-13T00:01:00.073-05:00

I was impressed when Steve Jobs first showed the multitouch trackpads, but I really don't use it that often now that I have a MacBook Pro that can do it. A few things are wrong with how it works. It just doesn't work in enough applications to really make it useful. One thing that totally makes me hate the way it works is when it resizes icons on the desktop. I talked about a beta of Firefox

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-81883123521233791952008-11-12T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-12T00:01:00.431-05:00

Preview is very fast for viewing PDFs and the way it works for search is great. When you search through a PDF in Preview, you can check the box next to "Group by page". There will be a lot less results and often times you can find what you are looking for a lot more quickly. When the results are grouped by page, the results are sorted by relevance. Here is a screenshot:

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-90456721764737887282008-11-11T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-11T00:01:01.090-05:00

I talked about the amazing service of Dropbox a few weeks ago and I have now discovered another great feature. The Dropbox automatically comes with a Public folder and you can use it to share files easily. When you drop a file in the public folder of the Dropbox, it automatically gets a public URL where it can be accessed. You can get that URL by right-clicking on the file, and choosing "Copy

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-18417301599869635312008-11-10T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-10T00:01:00.631-05:00

A very important feature when you are editing in Final Cut Pro is snapping. I constantly turn it on and off depending on if I want to align clips without having to zoom in frame by frame or if I just want to move a clip accurately. You can easily try with both snapping on and off by hitting "n" and then moving a clip in the timeline. Something that I have just discovered today is that you can

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-1237313581384528912008-11-09T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-09T00:01:01.035-05:00

There really is a QuickLook plugin for everything now, even for Apple installer packages. I didn't think the idea was that great at first, but it is really well implemented. It shows relevant information such as if an administrator password is required and if a restart is required. It also shows information about the install scripts. You can get the plugin called Suspicious Package here from

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-3108836451594101822008-11-08T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-08T00:01:00.803-05:00

A great tip submitted by Kenneth Fung: I really like Firefox 3, but sometimes there are just a few features from Safari that I wish were also part of Firefox. The Firefox extensions pretty much solves whatever is missing in Firefox and there is also one for viewing PDFs just like in Safari. It is very simple and it works great. Thanks for the tip Kenneth! You can download the Firefox

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-51305581893761123762008-11-07T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-07T00:01:00.849-05:00

Hulu was launched just after NBC left iTunes and it is actually pretty great. There is a lot of free content and the ads are very short. It unfortunately only works in the US and I've looked for a solution in the past, but I hadn't found anything. The solution came this week from the podcast Command-N. It is called AnchorFree and what it does is using a VPN, it shields your IP address. It is

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-37959966956743617612008-11-06T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-06T00:01:01.044-05:00

One thing that I was disappointed about Time Machine is how little you can customize the preferences. There is a freeware called "TimeMachineEditor" that lets you change the default one hour backup interval. You can download TimeMachineEditor here from MacUpdate.I think this solves a part of the problem, but there is still a feature that I would like to see and I really hope Apple will consider

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-61402333305642761212008-11-05T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-05T00:01:00.680-05:00

This is not new to iTunes, but I have never talked about it and Apple probably assumes it is obvious, because it is not explained anywhere. In the lower left corner of the iTunes window, the third button is for "repeat". There are three repeat modes and here they are:No repeat:The playlist repeats:The individual song repeats:

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-16355319793427555922008-11-04T00:01:00.000-05:002008-11-04T00:01:00.558-05:00

That's probably obvious for many Photoshop experts, but even though I use Photoshop daily, I didn't know that was in there. It is probably because I don't take the time to learn Photoshop, I use it for what I need to do and I look for the features when I need them. I was doing some rotoscoping today and I absolutely needed to put points outside of the canvas. In the past, I just unzoomed to

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-32201400214729759112008-11-03T00:01:00.001-05:002008-11-03T00:01:01.188-05:00

One thing that I really wish Apple had implemented in Aperture is the possibility of applying adjustment settings in batch (to multiple photos at once). It is possible to do something similar by copying adjustments and pasting them on multiple photos. To do so, you just have to right-click on the photo that has the right adjustments and choose "Lift Adjustments". A semi-transparent window will

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-64846666898229335842008-11-02T00:01:00.000-04:002008-11-02T00:01:00.314-04:00

If MobileMe mail doesn't work the way it should in Mail, you can change the port used for the connection and it usually solves everything. This is actually AppleCare's recommendation. Checking the box next to "Use SSL" in the account preferences will change it from the default 143 to 993. I have had this problem happen a few times with new Macs and using this has always solved the problem.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-15591080793017413672008-11-01T00:01:00.000-04:002008-11-01T00:01:01.214-04:00

The shortcut "Command - M" already minimizes a window in most Mac applications. Adding "Option" to the shortcut will actually minimize all windows currently open in a specific application. It doesn't work with every app, mainly with apps from Apple (it doesn't work with Firefox, but it does with Safari).

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-2581701242065094132008-10-31T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-31T00:01:00.810-04:00

All the currently open Finder windows are displayed in the "Window" menu of the Finder. There are three possible indicators at the left of the name of the window: nothing, a checkmark or a diamond. When there is nothing at the left of the name (like next to "Scratch Disk" in the screenshot), it means the window is opened but not currently active. With a checkmark (like next to "Macintosh HD"

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-4009632897124292022008-10-30T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-30T00:01:00.235-04:00

There is a great feature in Perian and it is "Play Soft Sounds:". The options are "Normally", "Louder" or "Custom...". It is actually Dynamic Range Compression. When it is enabled, loud sounds are played softer and soft sounds are played louder. The advantage is that you don't have to keep adjusting the volume throughout the movie.The Custom option:

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-16092506162740673672008-10-29T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-29T00:01:00.997-04:00

It is possible to insert a Custom Footnote in Pages. It is actually hidden under the "Footnote" feature. You just have to hold down "Option" and in the "Insert" menu, "Footnote" will change to "Custom Footnote".

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-82109301846137342032008-10-28T20:49:00.004-04:002008-10-29T13:14:07.090-04:00

There are only a few hours left to get CrossOver for Mac free. It usually retails for $39.95. It lets you run some Windows applications on OS X without the need of running Windows in virtualization. Link: http://lameduck.codeweavers.com/free/ PROMOTION IS OVER.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-31064157682011069162008-10-28T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-28T00:01:00.067-04:00

When you are looking for a process in the Activity Monitor and it is a currently running application, you'll have to go through many OS X processes. In the "Show" dropdown menu, you just have to switch "All Processes" to "Windowed Processes" and only the process of the running applications will be displayed. It is much easier to go through the list and find the one you are looking for.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-27113138324189253102008-10-27T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-27T00:01:00.493-04:00

A great tip submitted by Denver in the comments! I really like the calendar and the clock that comes with iStat menus. There is one reason why I still kept the OS clock and it is because I want the day to be displayed. I knew it was probably possible to customize it in the iStat menu preferences, but I never took the time. Here is how you can customize the iStat clock:In the iStat menu

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-57551539905336765232008-10-26T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-26T00:09:50.827-04:00

"Secure Empty Trash" is a great feature for confidential data, but if you erased a file and forgot to do it, it is still possible to truly erase it. In "Disk Utility", under "Erase", there is a feature called "Erase Free Space...". It will actually overwrite all the free space on your hard drive. You can choose "Zero Out", "7-Pass" or "35-Pass". Zero Out is usually fine, but if you want to

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-21842202802424250702008-10-25T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-25T00:01:00.227-04:00

My desktop always ends up with hundreds of icons, to the point where I run out of desktop space (on a 23" ACD). I had already switched to smaller 32x32 icons, but I have now found a solution that takes even less space. I switched the Label position to "Right" instead of "Bottom". It really makes a huge difference and even more text is displayed. You can change the Label position in the "View

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-64390053385276540152008-10-24T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-24T00:01:00.042-04:00

A developer has just released a multi-touch compatible version of Firefox. Firefox is open-source so any developer can modify it and repackage it. It is only compatible with a MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air that has the multi-touch trackpad. The gestures that are in this release of Firefox are:swipe: move three fingers on the trackpad on any directiontwist: rotate two fingerspinch: move

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-23272649575534460202008-10-23T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-23T00:01:01.034-04:00

There is difference between the healing brush and the spot healing brush in Photoshop and here is how you can use these features:The spot healing brush is usually perfect and it is really the fastest way of quickly fixing imperfections in photos, but if what you are trying to fix is too close to an edge, it won't work really well. The healing brush can work better in this case, because it works

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-58409925332135398442008-10-22T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-22T00:01:00.323-04:00

If you want to go back to the page where a file was downloaded in Firefox, you just have to right-click on the download in the Firefox download window and choose "Go to Download Page". The page where you downloaded the file will load in a new window or a new tab!

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-20170128524043569572008-10-21T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-21T00:01:00.897-04:00

There are many ways to select multiple files in either list, coverflow or column mode. The one I always use is I select the first file, I hold down "Shift" and I click on the last file. It selects all the files in between. There is another way to do this however. You just have to click on the first file at the right of the name, not on the name of the file, and scroll down to select all the

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-57554745434147156652008-10-20T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-20T00:01:00.998-04:00

I actually saw this tip on Tekzilla, but it is so cool that I had to post about it. What it lets you do is move windows that are not the currently active windows without bringing them to the forefront. It is hard to explain, but you'll get a good idea once you try it. You just have to hold down "Command" and click on a window that is not currently active to move it. It doesn't work with all

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-69669736151549026842008-10-19T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-19T00:01:00.663-04:00

There is a feature called "Sound Check" in iTunes and what it does is it adjusts the volume of playlists so that you don't have to change the volume all the time. iTunes actually analyzes the volume of all songs to make the adjustments. You can enable the feature in iTunes' preferences, under Playback.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-71021125759476067492008-10-18T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-18T00:01:06.337-04:00

You can quickly display the path of a file in Spotlight by just moving the cursor on top of the Spotlight result and waiting a few seconds. A small box of text will appear with the Name and the Path.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-63106681752639230512008-10-17T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-17T00:01:01.043-04:00

A great tip submitted by Dominic P. Tremblay: iPhoto to Photoshop, Pixelmator or any editing app! What is great on a Mac is how you can just drag a file to an app on the Dock. You can do the same thing with photos in iPhoto and just drag the photo on top of an editing application. What is even better is that once you are done editing the photo, you can just save the file and when you go back

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-31844342358316634192008-10-15T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-15T00:26:53.763-04:00

QuickCal is a new widget to add events to iCal from the dashboard. It is also possible to add to-dos. It is not obvious how to use the widget at first, but as soon as you start typing in the box, it suddenly makes sense. You are also sure that it is doing what you want, because it displays what it is going to do just under the text box as you are typing. You can download the widget here from

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-39977904340510052602008-10-14T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-14T00:01:00.927-04:00

The shortcut we all use for Quick Look is Space Bar, but it has another shortcut that I didn't even know about. It is "Command - Y". The shortcut can be useful if you want to go directly to full-screen Quick Look. You just have to add "Option" so that it is "Option - Command - Y" and that new shortcut will go directly to full screen. If you select multiple photos, it will also launch a

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-48714615481120095982008-10-13T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-13T00:01:00.295-04:00

In the Edit mode of iPhoto, there are easy effects that you can apply really quickly. What is really great is that these effects are stackable even if they are not applied yet. To access these effects, you just have to click on "Effects" in the bottom toolbar. Some effects are not just "ON" or "OFF", but are customizable as 1, 2, 3 and more. You just have to use the arrows to remove or adjust

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-1320981872366426562008-10-12T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-12T00:01:00.831-04:00

A few years ago, I really thought Elgato products were the solution, but IPTV has really improved since. Joost was never really quite there because it is not live. A new app was released recently. It is Livestation. There are a few channels included with the app that nearly always work and the quality is great. For a better selection, you can search through user streams. The quality of user

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-35098578175860804682008-10-11T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-11T00:01:00.108-04:00

A feature that I just discovered recently in ForkLift is "Batch Rename". There are a few freewares that can do the same thing, but ForkLift really does it well. Batch renaming wasn't as necessary when I started storing music and photos in apps like iTunes and iPhotos. When many photo, music or video files are stored in the Finder however, batch renaming is very useful. A freeware that can do

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-49418176641150945862008-10-10T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-10T00:01:00.271-04:00

CoolIris was released to replace PicLens and there are some great new features. You can now launch it on any website even if the website is not compatible. The photos and videos from the website won't be displayed of course, but a new "Discover" menu now lets you browse through photos from the Web. You can also search Flickr, YouTube, Google Images and many other websites directly from

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-37994865592539500942008-10-09T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-09T00:01:00.870-04:00

When you install additional Apple loops on your Mac, they are only available to the account that you used to install them. If you installed the loops on an admin account, you can make the loops available to all accounts. You can change the setting in GarageBand preferences, under "Loops". It is "My Apple Loops:" that you can change to "Share with all users on this Mac".

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-55908741372686017262008-10-08T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-08T00:01:00.470-04:00

In Safari, simply clicking on the magnifying glass in the search bar will let you "Clear Recent Searches". The magnifying glass in Firefox's search bar doesn't work that way however. Clicking on the Google icon will only display a list of websites where you can search. Recent searches will be displayed automatically when you type. To clear the search history, you just have to right-click on

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-6987800405157019632008-10-07T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-07T00:01:00.297-04:00

Growl notifications are great and are so well implemented in many applications. There is an option in Growl preferences so that it leaves the notifications on screen when the computer is inactive for more than 30 seconds (you can change the length of time). It works well when you are away from your computer. You'll be able to read everything that happened on your Mac when you come back. The

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-84119996328639669592008-10-06T00:01:00.000-04:002008-10-06T00:01:00.873-04:00

There really is no difference between MP4 and M4V, but M4V files automatically load in iTunes. Handbrake lets you create either an M4V or an MP4. If you get an MP4 file however, you can easily change it into an M4V to make it iTunes-friendly. There is no conversion necessary because it is already using the right codecs. You just have to change the extension. Double-clicking on an M4V will

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-41583603440128278042008-10-04T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-04T00:01:00.964-04:00

Many video formats will work for uploading to YouTube, but there are ways to get the best quality possible once uploaded and the smallest file to upload. If you want your video to have the "watch in high quality" link just under it, you'll have to upload the video at 640x480 or 640x360 for widescreen. I usually encode the video using H.264, but set the quality to High. I don't want to compress

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-25473435991148571872008-10-03T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-03T23:38:21.389-04:00

I talked about DropBox in a previous tip, but there is even more to it. If you click on the DropBox icon and select "Preferences...", you can set a bandwidth limit. That is very useful if you are often uploading large files to your dropbox. The advantage of setting a bandwidth limit is that you can keep a good chunk of bandwidth free so it doesn't affect your browsing experience. Pretty much

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-65924356224398185232008-10-02T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-02T00:01:00.403-04:00

Adium lets you connect to many instant messaging accounts, but there is also a way to set different avatars for each account. You can change it in Adium Preferences, under Account. From there, you just have to select the account and click "Edit". The avatar is in the "Personal" tab. To set it only for that account, change it to "Use this icon" instead of "Use global icon". You can then

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-43144569259785917102008-10-01T00:01:00.001-04:002008-10-01T00:01:00.767-04:00

Genius is a great new feature of iTunes 8, but the playlists created are not always perfect. Unfortunately, Apple didn't include a feature so that you can tell Genius what songs are not a good match to the playlist. One thing that you can do to improve what Genius does is to rate songs. Of course, it won't improve songs that don't match with a specific playlist, but it will choose more songs

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-50232452442938568082008-09-30T00:01:00.000-04:002008-09-30T00:01:00.519-04:00

By default, when you reply to an email in Mail, the content of the email is included in your reply. If you only want to quote a part of the email, you can just select what you want to include and when you hit Reply, it will only include the selected part. You can change that behavior in Mail Preferences, under Composing.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-76587863585840818832008-09-29T00:01:00.000-04:002008-09-29T00:01:00.500-04:00

Ctrl-Tab is a Firefox add-on to visually switch between tabs. The Ctrl-Tab shortcut already works in Firefox, but once the add-on is installed, you get a preview of all tabs in the currently active window. You can also get a grid with a preview of all tabs open in Firefox with "Command - Shift - A". You can get more info or download the add-on here from Mozilla's website.Screenshot of "All

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-28273322254138551892008-09-28T00:01:00.000-04:002008-09-28T00:01:01.032-04:00

I know there are more and more options for tethering the iPhone, but I don't think they work well enough right now. There is one official app that is not for sale anymore and it didn't offer complete internet. It worked through a proxy. Other options are only for jailbroken iPhones and often have the same limitations. It is one of the reasons why I switch between an iPhone and a Blackberry.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-76110605416689457082008-09-27T00:01:00.001-04:002008-09-27T00:01:00.669-04:00

There are many features in OS X that are just not included with Windows, like PDF. Another one is zip. You can right-click on any file to compress it and it will create a zip of that file. If you are going to transfer a Pages document to a Windows or Linux computer, it is really better to zip it first, because Pages documents are actually folders. I often store documents on my Linux server

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-534364289005033419.post-53230335446855087582008-09-26T00:01:00.000-04:002008-09-26T00:01:00.075-04:00

There are some useful preferences that are not in System Preferences but in Finder Preferences. You can get it in the Finder menu, under Preferences. The one I want to talk about today is "New Finder windows open". This applies to when you open a new Finder window using "Command - N". You can change it to any folder on the hard drive.

MacGeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217907875517130801noreply@blogger.com0