Adding US Holidays to iCal

In previous versions of iCal, you had to subscribe to any extra calendars you anted, like US holidays. Now, it’s an easy click.

1. In iCal, click on the Calendar menu
2. Click on Preferences
3. Click on the General icon
4. Put a check mark to show US Holidays
5. If you enter people’s birthdays in your Contacts and also want them to appear in your calendars, click Birthdays also

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

iCal–Where’s the Weekly View?

iOS 7 gives you choices for year, month and day, but how do you see an entire week?
Turn your iPhone or iPad sideways!

—————

Moving a Document from iCloud Back to Your Mac

If you use Pages, Numbers or Keynote, Apple assumes you want to save your documents to iCloud, which is why the SAVE box defaults to iCloud. If you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to accidentally save something there.

To move a document from iCloud to your Mac:

1. Open Pages (or Numbers or Keynote, whichever applies)
2. Click on iCloud
3. You should see the document
4. Open it
5. From the file menu, choose MOVE TO
6. Click on Where and click on Desktop
7. Save

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Yet Another iOS 7.1 Has Fixes and Features

Last week Apple released a new version for iPad and iPhone users. iOS 7. In addition to fixing bugs, iOS7 has a few improvements that are actually worth the upgrade.

For those of us who wished for a darker keyboard, Apple listened. Now, in Settings, in Accessibility, if you choose Bold Text, it will also replace the current keyboard with one that has thicker, darker letters.

Also in iOS7, the monthly calendar view has a new icon – a rectangle with two horizontal lines under it. Tap it to see that familiar list of an individual day’s events.

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Zooming in iPhoto

The ZOOM slider in the bottom left of iPhoto does two different things, depending on what screen you are in.

When you are browsing your Library of Photos (as photos, events, Faces) moving the slider will affect the size of the thumbnails and how many pictures you can see at a time.

When you are editing a photo or have double-clicked the photo to be bigger, the ZOOM slider can be used to zoom in on an area of the photo. This is especially helpful if you are using the Retouch tool for fine editing.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Two Ways to Delete Photos

There is no quick way to delete a lot of photos on your iPad or iPhone. You have to select them individually, then choose to put them in the trash.

Tap Photos
Tap the Albums
Find where the pictures are that you want to delete
Tap Select in the top right corner
Tap as many photos as you want at a time
Tap the Trash icon, top left

If you are wanting to delete all of your photos, connect your mobile device to your Mac and follow the online prompts in iPhoto to delete all.

Be sure you have transferred all of the photos to your Mac first if you want to keep them.

———–

Customize Your Screen Saver

When your computer is idle for a period of time, you can choose to have your favorite photos appear on the screen.

To set your Screen Saver:

1. From the Apple menu choose System Preferences
2. Click on the Desktop & Screen Saver icon
3. Click on the Screen Saver tab
4. In the left column, choose one of the styles. It will show a preview of what it will do
5. Click next to Source to choose the most recently added photos or, to access a specific album or event in iPhoto, choose Photo Library
6. Click on the desired album or Event
7. choose shen it should start

BONUS TIP:

If you don’t want to wait for the Screen Saver to activate, set a Hot Corner
In the Screen Saver set up, click on Hot Corners in the bottom right
It shows the four corners of a screen
Choose the corner you use least often, probably the bottom left or right
To try it, move your mose/cursor all the way into that chosen corner, off the screen. let go and wait a moment while the screen saver begins!

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Change Your Wallpaper

As fun as it is to have a favorite photo on your iPhone and iPad lock screen, it’s quite refreshing to change the images every once in a while.

1. Tap Settings
2. Tap Wallpapers and Brightness
3. Know whether you are changing the lock screen on the home screen (you might choose a less busy image for the home screen so you can still read the screen)
4. Navigate to find the photo is that you want to use
5. If you choose one of Apple’s wallpapers, know that Dynamic will use more battery power than Still
6. Choose the photo, choose which screen to apply it to
7. Enjoy!

Getting Your Mac Ready for Mavericks, the new OS

Mavericks, Apple’s new OS for Mac is packed with a new look and lots of new features.

As with any upgrade, you may want to wait until they iron out some of the bugs before you jump in. And before you rush to upgrade, you’ll want to make sure your Mac is ready for the new OS.

1. Confirm that your Mac will work with Mavericks

For a complete list of compatible Macs and software requirements, check out Apple’s www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/

2. Back up!

If you are not already using Time Machine to automatically back up your computer, now is the time to invest. Get an external hard drive, plug it in and follow the on-screen prompts.

3. Clean Up!

Mavericks requires 8GB of space on the hard drive for installation. For most computers this won’t be an issue, but MacBook Air users may be pressed for space.

Delete old files
Clear out the Downloads folder
Delete any apps that you never use
Archive your older photos to DVDs or another external drive

4. Run Disk Utility!

In the same way that you clean out your physical file drawers, throwing out old papers and then smooshing the file folders to create more space, you can have the Mac do a similar kind of cleaning up.

1. From the Desktop, click on the GO menu and choose Utilities, and then open Disk Utility
or, using Spotlight, type in Disk Utility and open in

2. In the left column, click on the icon of Macintosh HD, your internal hard drive

3. Click Repair Disk Permissions

It may take a while, even a long while, to complete the task.

If it reports errors that were fixed, Click Repair Disk Permissions again to run it again.

5. Confirm that your apps are Mavericks compatible!

While most software will still work with the new OS, you need to confirm this! Check out www.roaringapps.com for a complete compatibility list.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

In Case of Emergency

If you are in an accident and can’t communicate, officials will check your phone for an emergency contact person. To make it easy for them to find the correct person, add an entry in your Contacts for ICE (in case of emergency):
1. In Contacts, click the + to add a new person
2. Enter the person’s first and last name
3. In the Company field, type ICE
4. Click the box next to company to have Contacts list that person under the company name
5. Enter the appropriate contact information
6. Click Done
7. You’ll now have an entry in Contacts under the letter ‘I” for ICE

—————-

Is Your Mac Running Slow?

Here are three quick remedies to increase the performance of your Mac:

1. Restart your computer at least once a week

2. Quit any Apps that are open that you don’t use regularly

3. Repair Permissions

In the same way that you clean out your physical file drawers, throwing out old papers and then smooshing the file folders to create more space, you can have the Mac do a similar kind of cleaning up.

1. From the Desktop, click on the GO menu and choose Utilities, and then open Disk Utility
or, using Spotlight, type in Disk Utility and open in

2. In the left column, click on the icon of Macintosh HD, your internal hard drive

3. Click Repair Disk Permissions

It may take a while, even a long while, to complete the task.

If it reports errors that were fixed, Click Repair Disk Permissions again to run it again.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

iCal Tip

If you are looking at your calendar in the Month mode and want to quickly see the Day view, turn your device sideways. (This may not work with iOS7 on the iPad)

————

Saving Photos You Receive In An Email

There’s no need to keep an email just so that you have access to the pictures. Instead, save them right in to iPhoto.

1. Open the email.

2. In Lion and Mountain Lion Mail, first click Show Details.

3. Then click and hold down the SAVE button and choose Add to iPhoto.

4. iPhoto will open and the pictures will be added to your iPhoto Library.

5. Now you can delete the email.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Adding a Person’s Photo to Their Contact Info

It’s fun to have a person’s face appear when you are receiving an incoming call from them on your iPhone or a FaceTime call.

1. Find the person in your Contacts.

2. Tap Edit.

3. In the top left next to their name tap the circle that says Add Photo.

4. You can either take a picture of them or choose a photo from your Camera Roll.

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Facebook Security Settings

Facebook is THE social media program for connecting with friends and colleagues and meeting new people. People share photos, inspirational quotes, details about meetings. And many businesses are using Facebook to offer discounts and daily specials.

You can participate as much or as little as you want to.

But it’s important to set your privacy settings and notifications so that YOU have control over who sees what and what you you see.

Here’s a free guide to help you set up your Facebook account to ensure privacy and connection with only the people you want to connect with.

If you’d like to Friend me on Facebook, I’m RuthRDavis.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Fast Access to Drafts

Often, you may start writing an email on your mobile device, but decide to finish it later. If you tap Cancel, you get the option to Save the email as a Draft.

To quickly access the draft to finish it, tap and hold the Compose icon (pen and paper) and it will show a list of all drafts that you created on your iPhone or iPad.

Sorry, drafts written on your Mac do NOT appear in this list.

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Fast Printing

Instead of opening up a document in order to print it, you can drag the icon of the document onto the printer icon in the Dock.

To get your printer into the Dock, open any document and print it. The printer icon will appear briefly in the Dock as it is printing. Click and hold the cursor on the icon and choose Options. Choose Keep in Dock.

Now, anytime you need to print something, just drag it onto the Printer icon.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Don’t Type Periods

Instead of actually typing a period at the end of a sentence, double-tap the space bar and it will put in a period and a space so you can just start typing the next sentence.

If this feature doesn’t work:

1. Tap Settings

2. Tap General

3. Tap Keyboard

4. Turn the “.” Shortcut ON

iOS 7 iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Essential Guide to iOS 7

I must admit, my first reaction to the new iOS7 was frustration and crankiness. I didn’t like the new colors and motion. I resented the change in swipe directions and the repositioning of buttons.

But then I had a change of heart.

Even though I still didn’t like the new look, my brain was learning new things, creating new neural pathways, which staves off dementia. So thanks, Apple, for giving my brain a workout!

If you have upgraded to OS7, you’ll want to check out Mac2School’s Essential Guide to iOS7.

Be sure to save it or print it for easy access–it’s packed with tips and shortcuts to help you get used to the new look and feel of the OS.

Get the Free iOS7 Guide here.

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Are You Missing Your Scroll Bars?

If you are using Mountain Lion, you may have noticed that your Scroll Bars have disappeared. In fact, the new default setting is to only show them when you are scrolling.

To change this, from the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, click on General and, next to Show scroll bars, chose Always.

Ahhhhhh…….

iPad Tip of the Week

Tall or Wide, How to Lock the Orientation

A helpful feature on the iPhone and iPad is that you can turn the device sideways to rotate the screen orientation. It’s a lot easier to read articles and emails in the sideways or landscape orientation. But it can also be annoying to have the screen randomly change orientation.

You can lock the orientation so that it no longer changes orientation.

On the iPhone:

Double-tap the Home button to reveal the line of open and active apps

Slide all the way to the LEFT until you see the iTunes icon and the play buttons. Also on this screen is the Rotation Lock icon

Tap it to lock the Portrait orientation so that the screen will no longer rotate to wide.

On the iPad:

Tap Settings

Tap General

Scroll down to the choice where you can use the side switch to Lock Rotation

Before you lock the switch, turn the iPad in the direction you want to use, either tall or wide, and then Lock the screen in position

NOTE: Even if you choose to lock in the wide/landscape orientation on the iPad, some apps may still open only in portrait.

————

Seeing Only Certain Contacts on Your Phone

All of your contacts are stored in one place and are automatically synced with all of your devices. But many folks don’t want to SEE all of their contacts on their iPhone. They just want to see the people they call.

On your Mac:

1. Open Contacts and, from the File menu, choose New Group

2. Name it “phone” or something similar

3. Click on All Contacts in the left column

4. Find the people you want to see on your iPhone

5. Move them into the new “phone” group

You can select them one at a time and drag them on top of the group you just created or

Click on one name, hold down the Command key and select others.

Drag one person on top of the phone group and they will all go.

iPad Tip of the Week

To See Only The Contacts in the “Phone” Group You Created

1. Tap Contacts

2. In the top left, tap Groups

3. Right now, the groups that are checked are all showing in the Contacts list

4. Tap Hide All Contacts to remove all the check marks

5. Tap the “phone” group to choose ONLY those people

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Are You Missing Your Scroll Bars?

If you are using Mountain Lion, you may have noticed that your Scroll Bars have disappeared. In fact, the new default setting is to only show them when you are scrolling.

To change this, from the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, click on General and, next to Show scroll bars, chose Always.

Ahhhhhh…….

iPad Tip of the Week

Tall or Wide, How to Lock the Orientation

A helpful feature on the iPhone and iPad is that you can turn the device sideways to rotate the screen orientation. It’s a lot easier to read articles and emails in the sideways or landscape orientation. But it can also be annoying to have the screen randomly change orientation.

You can lock the orientation so that it no longer changes orientation.

On the iPhone:

1. Double-tap the Home button to reveal the line of open and active apps

2. Slide all the way to the LEFT until you see the iTunes icon and the play buttons. Also on this screen is the Rotation Lock icon

3. Tap it to lock the Portrait orientation so that the screen will no longer rotate to wide.

On the iPad:

1. Tap Settings

2. Tap General

3. Scroll down to the choice where you can use the side switch to Lock Rotation

4. Before you lock the switch, turn the iPad in the direction you want to use, either tall or wide, and then Lock the screen in position

NOTE: Even if you choose to lock in the wide/landscape orientation on the iPad, some apps may still open only in portrait.

———–

Seeing Only Certain Contacts on Your Phone

1. Open Contacts and, from the File menu, choose New Group
2. Name it “phone” or something similar
3. Click on All Contacts in the left column
4. Find the people you want to see on your iPhone
5. Move them into the new “phone” group

iPad Tip of the Week

A Faster Way to Scroll in iCal

——————

Printing those Passwords

While you can’t print the password list directly, you can take a screen shot and then print that.

1. Resize the window so that you can see as many passwords as possible

2. Hold down the Command and Shift keys and type the number 4

3. The cursor will become a crosshair

4. Starting in any corner, drag to surround everything you want to print

5. Release the mouse and you’ll hear a sound like a camera shutter

6. Click on your Desktop to find the file named “Screenshot”

7. You may have to take several shots to get your complete list

8. To print these Screenshots, just double click to open, then choose Print from the File menu

iPad Tip of the Week

A Faster Way to Scroll in iCal

Instead of tapping the forward and back buttons to go to a different month:

Tap and HOLD on that arrow to navigate faster

Remember to tap Today to quickly return to the current month

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Website Passwords

I’m a big proponent of keeping a written list of all of your passwords in a notebook so that you always have access to them.

One of the new features in Safari stores all of your website passwords, in case you forget them.

1. Under the Safari menu, choose Preferences

2. Click on the Passwords icon

3. To reveal the actual passwords, click Show Passwords

4. You will need to type the password for the computer to gain access

You can remove any saved passwords or clear the entire list.

iPad Tip of the Week

Cleaning Out Storage Space

Believe it or not, iMessage and texts take up quiet a bit of storage space on your mobile devices.

This is particularly true if you send and receive a lot of multimedia messages with photos, animations, etc.

To clear out old Messages:

1. Open Messages app

2. Tap Edit

3. Tap the red (-) button to delete an entire message thread

4. Repeat as necessary

New Screen Savers in Mountain Lion

Mountain Lion users no longer have that wonderful Mosaic Screen Saver option. Instead, Apple has introduced more than a dozen new options for displaying your photos when you’re not actively using your Mac.

To set your Screen Saver:

1. From the Apple menu choose System Preferences

2. Click on the Desktop & Screen Saver icon

3. Click on the Screen Saver tab

4. In the left column, choose one of the styles. It will show a preview of what it will do

5. Next to Source, you can choose the most recently added photos or, to access a specific album or event in iPhoto, choose iPhoto Library

6. Click on the desired album or Event

There are also 43 stunning photographs of nature, the cosmos and others from National Geographic that you can choose as your Screen Saver from the source list.

BONUS TIP:

You can access these 43 additional photos in the Collections to use elsewhere.

1. From the Desktop click on the GO menu

2. Choose Go To Folder

3. Copy and paste this link:

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/Default Collections/

4. Scroll through the different folders

5. If you View by Column or Coverflow you can see a preview of each image

6. If you find one you like, drag it to the Desktop so you can easily move it to another folder for safe keeping or choose it for your Desktop Picture

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Numbers and Punctuation

If you press the 123 key, the keyboard layout switches to numbers and punctuation. Then you have to press ABC again to get back to the letter keyboard.

Here’s a shortcut:

Tap and HOLD the 123 key and slide to the number you need. When you release, the keyboard will automatically switch back to the letters.

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Back to Basics: Creating Folders

A reader who’s been using his Mac for years recently wrote and asked how to create a simple folder and place existing documents into it.

As with all things Mac, there are several ways to accomplish this task.

If you are using Snow Leopard or earlier versions of the Mac OS:

1. First click on the Desktop (or be in the folder where you want this new folder to go)

2. From the File menu choose New Folder or Right Click on the Desktop and choose New Folder

3. An Untitled Folder will appear with the words highlighted

4. Without clicking or moving the mouse, type a name for this new folder and press the Return key when you’re done

5. Now you can drag files and documents on top of this folder to put them in it

If you are using Lion or Mountain Lion, you could do it this way or,

1. Highlight the documents you want to put into a new folder

2. From the File menu choose New Folder With Selection or Right Click on one of the selected files and choose New Folder With Selection

3. Title the folder and press the REturn key when you’re done

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Format Text in Email

Did you know that you can bold, italicize and even underline text in Mail? And you can indent paragraphs too.

1. Select the text you want to change

2. Tap the right arrow at the far right of the Cut, Copy, Paste menu

3. Tap BIU to change the format or Quote Level if you want to indent

4. Tap your desired format choice

5. Tap on the page to get out of the menu

————

Setting Reminders in iCal

iCal is great for keeping track of appointments, birthdays, and other important dates. One of the features in iCal is that you can set a reminder so that you are alerted minutes or even days before the event.

To set an alert:

1. Double-click on the event

2. Choose Edit

3. Next to the word Alert click on the menu choice

4. Choose whether you want to be reminded with an onscreen message, email, etc.

5. If you’ve chosen Message, choose when and at what time

6. You can change the number of days by clicking on the number showing and typing

7. If you’ve chosen to receive an email notification, choose which email address to receive it (if you have more than one) and when

8. Be sure to click DONE for your settings to take effect

Learn more about iCal with The Virtual Classroom video lessons. Check them out at
http://www.mac2school.com/virtual-ical-lion/ for Lion and Mountain Lion
or http://www.mac2school.com/virtual-ical-snow/ for Snow Leopard.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Add a Web Page to the Home Screen

If you have a few favorite websites that you always go to on Safari, why not make them be icons on your home page for faster, easier access?

This is especially helpful if you are a Kindle reader, since the Kindle app no longer includes a button to go the the Kindle Store.

1. Open Safari
2. Go to the desired website
3. Click the “+” to Add a Bookmark but instead of choosing Add a Bookmark
4. Tap Add to Home Screen

Now that site is just a tap away.

To Add the Kindle store:

1. Go to Amazon.com
2. Search for Kindle ebooks
3. Click the “+” to Add a Bookmark
4. Instead of choosing Add a Bookmark, tap Add to Home Screen

——————–

Claim More Desk Space: Move The Deck

The Dock is that strip on the bottom of your Desktop with all of the icons on it. It’s a handy tool for quickly opening all of your favorite programs.

Most computer screens are wider than they are tall, and the Dock takes up precious screen space. Some people solve this issue by Hiding the Dock.

If you like to see your Dock, but still want more screen space, consider moving it to the side.

Under the Apple menu, choose Dock.

Slide the mouse over and choose Position on Right or Left.

It may take a day or two to get used to the new location, but I think you’ll really appreciate the full screen space.

For more great tips about the Dock, the Desktop and more efficient ways to use the Finder, check out the ALL ABOUT THE FINDER video lessons in the Virtual Classroom.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Selecting More Than One Photo

It’s pretty simple to email one photo:

1. Tap the Photos icon on the Home screen

2. Tap the Photo

3. Tap the arrow icon in the top right corner

4. Select Email Photo

To select more than one photo at a time to email (or delete):

1. Tap the Photos icon on the Home screen

2. Tap the arrow icon in the top right corner

3. Now tap the photos you want to send and a check mark will appear on the photos

4. Tap Share in the top left corner

5. Choose Email

iCal: Moving an Event from One Day to the Next

Instead of deleting an event and recreating it on the correct day:

Hold down the Option key and drag the event to the desired day.

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Moving Apps From One Screen to Another

It’s handy to have your most frequently used Apps in the first page. And it’s pretty easy to move your Apps around.

First, press and hold on the App you want to move. They’ll all start wiggling. Now drag the App to the edge of the current page and it should move to the next page.

If it doesn’t seem to work, here’s a faster way:

Once you have everything wiggling, drag the App onto the bottom dock of favorite Apps. Switch to the page you want to move it to, then drag it from the dock onto that page.

Yes, you can add and rearrange the Apps in that Favorites dock this way too.

When you’re done rearranging, press the Home button to stop the wiggling.

==============

The Difference Between the APP store and the iTunes Store

The APP STORE, found in the Dock and under the Apple menu on your computer, is where you can now go to purchase applications for your Mac. Instead of going to a store and purchasing a DVD, you can now download hundreds of programs and games that work on your Mac.

To find APPS to use on your iPhone or iPad, you don’t use the APP store. Instead, open iTunes and click on the iTunes Store.

To quickly find APPS for your Device, try the POWER SEARCH feature.

On the right side of the iTunes Store Home screen is a list of Quick Links.

1. Click on Power Search

2. Click on All Results and change to Apps

3. Under Device Compatibility, choose your Device

4. You can search by title, category, even choose to only look for Free Apps.

iPAD and iPHONE APP OF THE MONTH

Clients Share Their Favorite Apps

With the thousands of Apps available, it’s hard to know which ones to try. So each month I’ll share some of my clients’ favorite apps.

The easiest way to find a particular APP:
On your iPhone or iPad:

1. Click on App Store icon

2. Click the Search icon at the bottom

Or, if you purchase through iTunes on your Mac,use the Power Search feature:

1. In iTunes, click on iTunes Store

2. In the far right column under Quick Links, Click on Power Search

3. Change “All Results” to APPS

4. Enter words in the Keywords

5. You can also limit to just iPad or just iPhone

This month’s recommended apps, available for iPhone and iPad, are all about relaxing. And they’re all FREE so try them!

Buddhist Meditation (Lite): A free collection of five soul-stirring Buddhist melodies.

Relax Melodies: Rain, gong, piano, birds, thunder, xylophone, wind–you can combine your favorites sounds to achieve deep relaxation and meditation.

iZen Garden2 Lite: All the peace and tranquility of a Japanese Zen garden without the sandy mess.

YogaFree: 250 yoga poses with instructions and photos and more.

==============

Emails Print Too Small to Read

Several clients have asked why their emails print in such a tiny font that they can’t read them.

In the print window, there are several choices.

If you don’t see them, first click the triangle next to the name of your printer.
Or, in Lion, click Show Details.

To have emails print so that you can read them, be sure that
Keep the same apparent font size is the selected option.

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Charging the Batteries

The fastest way to charge your iPhone and iPad is with the USB power adapter.

They will also charge, though slower, when connected to your computer. But if your computer is turned off or in sleep mode, the batteries will NOT charge but, instead, will continue to drain.

==============

Emailing Pics with iPhoto ’11

The newest version of iPhoto gives you two choices for emailing photos. By default, a new, fancier email is sent that allows you to choose different styles, like a corkboard or snapshot or collage.

While these are really fun, the recipient cannot download the pictures because they are embedded in the email and are not attachments.

To send photos as attachments, you need to change a preference.

1. In iPhoto click on the iPhoto menu and choose Preferences
2. Click on the General button
3. Next to the choice, Email photos using, click on iPhoto
4. Change it to Mail
5. Close the Preferences and now choose some photos to send.

==============

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Taking a Screen Shot

Sometimes you have something on your screen that you want to share with someone in an email.

To take a snapshot of your screen:

Press and HOLD the Home button and also press the Sleep/Wake button at the same time. The screen will flash and you’ll hear a click, indicating that a photo has been taken.

Your screen shots are saved automatically in your Photos gallery where you can view and then email them.

Mastering the Keypad

One of the biggest changes that users are experiencing with Lion is how much you can do with the Trackpad, whether it’s the built-in trackpad on your laptop or the stand alone bluetooth Magic Trackpad that you can purchase for $69.00 from Apple.
Even with Snow Leopard, the trackpad can be set to do all kinds of things, from rotating photos to enlarging text.

To customize the Trackpad:

1. Under the Apple menu choose System Preferences

2. Click on the Trackpad icon

Depending on the age of the computer you’re using, you’ll see a variety of options. On newer Macs you’ll also see video demonstrations of each of the option.

For a complete description of all of the Trackpad options, click on the question mark in the bottom right corner of the Trackpad window.

It takes a little practice to learn where to click and how many fingers to use, but if you try one new technique at a time, you’ll soon be a trackpad master.

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Be Sure to Update

Even if you do all of your syncing with MobileMe, it’s important to connect your iPhone and iPad to your Mac regularly so that it can check for updates.

You always want to update to the latest versions of the software so that you can take advantage of all of the newest features. Mark it on your calendar to update once a month.

———–

Before Upgrading to Lion:

Apple released Lion today, the newest version of the Mac OS. But before you rush to upgrade, you’ll want to be sure that you have what you need, and that everything you use will still run with the new OS.

Lion requires an Intel Core 2 Duo processor
and recommended 4 GB RAM

You can check your system by clicking on the Apple menu in the top left corner and choosing About This Mac.

There are several popular programs that will no longer work once you upgrade, including Quicken, Appleworks, Microsoft Office X and many older games.

Click here for a great article that offers the essential steps before upgrading, including backing up and checking to see what applications you have that will no longer work.

If you’re not sure, or not ready, hold off on upgrading to Lion. But do upgrade to 10.6.8, the latest version of Snow Leopard.

If you have any questions, or need help, send me an email!

———–

Searching in mail

If you have a lot of emails in your Inbox, it can be pretty tedious to scroll up and down, looking for a particular email.

In the top right corner there is a search box. Type in what you are looking for. (If you don’t see it, make your window wider.)

Now, just below the icons of the toolbar, you’ll also see that you can limit the search criteria: where you are searching, and whether you are looking for that text in the Entire Message, From, To or Subject.

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Numbers and Punctuation

If you press the 123 key, the keyboard layout switches to numbers and punctuation. Then you have to press ABC again to get back to the letter keyboard.

Shortcut:

Tap and HOLD the 123 key and slide to the number you need. When you release, the keyboard will automatically switch back to the letters.

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A Great Way to Use Mobile Me

My favorite feature about MobileMe is that I can save important emails on the cloud and am able to access them from my computer, my laptop, my phone AND my iPad, and even from someone else’s computer via the web. I find this especially helpful when I am traveling–all of my flight information, reservation confirmations and other important stuff is with me.

To set this up:

1. In Mail, click the plus sign at the bottom of the left column that shows all of your Mailboxes.

2. Chose to create a New Mailbox.

3. Title it (ie. TRAVEL)

4. Next to Location, choose ME.COM (or Mac.com if you’ve had the account for a while)

5. Now, drag any important travel emails into this Mailbox and those emails will be on every other device that has your MobileMe account set up.

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Mobile me Mailboxes

See the above tip to set up Mailboxes in Mail that you can access from your iPhone or iPad.

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Changing Dates in iCal

iCal has so many great features that make it easy to schedule appointments, celebrations, meetings and more. It’s easy to color-code each entry, set it to be a recurring event every week, every month or on a customized schedule. You can even set an alarm to remind you ahead of time.

Sometimes, you’ll have an event set for a particular day but then the day is changed.

Instead of clicking on the Event, clicking Edit and changing the information, just drag it to the new date.

To duplicate an event, hold down the Option key and drag the event to the new date.

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

All About Sounds

You can control what sounds play when different things happen. Maybe you don’t like the sound when you unlock your device. Maybe you prefer NOT to hear a sound every time you receive or send an email or when someone sends you a text or leaves a voicemail.

It’s easy to choose which sounds and alerts you want to hear.

1. Click on Settings.

2. Click on Sounds.

3. Scroll through the list, choosing which you want on and which you want off.

This is also where you can choose a different ringtone and make the Vibrate feature silent.

Clearing Safari’s Auto Fill-In

One of the many great features of Safari is the Auto-Fill function. You begin typing and it fills in the rest. This is helpful for forms with your name and address, but what about all of those sites you’ve googled that automatically re-appear every time you search?

You can clear out all or some of the auto-fill items.

1. Under the Safari menu choose Preferences.

2. Click on the Auto-Fill icon. Your personal information is pulled in from your Address Book card and everything else is stored under “other forms.”

3. Click Edit next to Other forms to see a list of all the websites with stored information. To clear out the fill-in information, click on the site and click Remove or choose to Remove All.

4. For example, to clear out the google search fill-ins, click on google.com in the list and click Remove.

The next time you search, nothing will automatically fill in but it will begin remembering your new entries.

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Setting Your Mac to Automatically Turn On and Off

Turning your Mac on and off several times in a day is not very energy efficient. But it’s good housekeeping to restart your Mac regularly. Restarting takes care of all kinds of behind the scenes file maintenance to keep your Mac working efficiently.

Many of my clients forget to do this and so here’s a way to schedule a daily or weekly shutdown and start up. This is also great if you turn off your computer every night and don’t like waiting for it to start up in the morning.

1. Under the Apple menu, choose System Preferences

2. Click on the Energy Saver icon

3. In the bottom right corner, click on Schedule

4. Put a check next to Start or wake up and choose your preference for how often from the pulldown menu.

5. Set the time.

6. On the next line, choose Shut Down from the pull down menu and set those preferences.

7. Click OK, close your System Preferences.

Restarting will perform the necessary housekeeping duties. Shutdown will also save energy and even give the computer a chance to fully cool down.

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Skype Security Preferences

It used to be that long distance phone calls were the only way to stay in touch with faraway family and friends.

Now there’s Apple FaceTime and iChat for video chatting with Macs and iPhones and iPod2 users and also Skype, which works with anyone on any computer.

As with any program where you communicate with the world, it’s important to check your privacy settings and ensure the safest, most secure situation.

Today’s tip offers some Skype Security Settings to keep your online identity safe and secure.

When you first sign up for your Skype account, you have to fill in your name, email address.

Only fill in the required information, noted by an asterisk. You do NOT need to share your address, sex, birthday or anything else that doesn’t have an asterisk.

Once your account is set up, it’s important to set your Privacy Preferences.

1. From the Skype menu, choose Preferences.

2. Click on the Privacy icon.

3. I recommend changing all of the choices to ONLY SHARE INFO with people on your contacts list.

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Changing How You Choose Colors

You can apply colors to text in email, your calendars in iCal, as well as within your other programs.

When you click on the Colors icon, a palette of colors appears.

But did you know you can change how you choose your colors?

Across the top of the Colors window are five icons, for the five different ways to view colors.

The furthest left icon is for the Color Wheel. You can slide the vertical scroll bar up and down to adjust the intensity of color.

The second icon is for the Color Sliders that allow you to adjust the values of a color, adding and removing red, greed and blue until you get the desired color.

The middle icon allows you to choose colors by Palette.

The fourth icon shows you all of the colors as a Spectrum.

The icon to the far right is the simplest way to choose color–from a box of Crayons. The Crayon Box is also the easiest way to get back to using black.

BONUS:

You can also create and save your own colors.

Try this:

1. Go to the Color Wheel and click to choose a color.

2. Slide the scroll bar to get the perfect intensity.

3. The color chosen appears in the rectangular box at the top.

4. Drag the color from that box to one of the small squares at the bottom of the window and that color will now be available in every color tool and in every application that allows you to use colors.