Change the Size of Things on Your Desktop

If you save a lots of things to your Desktop, it can often be hard to find what you’re looking for. Maybe the icons are too small or you can’t read the words.

In the Finder, under the View menu, choose Show View Options.

In this window you can drag the slider to make the icons bigger.

You can change the size of the text that appears under the icon. You can even choose to place the text label on the side of the icon if you prefer.

In this window you can also choose Arrange By… to automatically arrange your icons by date, by name or manually.

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Warning: Ignore Any Messages on Internet That You Have a Virus

If you ever see a pop up window on Safari or recieve an email warning you that your system’s security has been compromised, or that you have a virus, and you should click on a link to fix it, IGNORE IT! It is a scam to get you to run a program that may, in fact, GIVE YOU a virus.

An Easier Way to Browse Music in iTunes

We all look through our music differently. Sometimes you’re looking for a particular artist or a favorite album. Sometimes you may want to find all music of a certain genre.

I find that using the Column Browser makes it easier to navigate through my music library.

in iTunes, under the View menu, choose Show Column Browser. Go back up to the View menu, and choose to show it on the Top or Left side. You can also select which columns show in the Browser.

I’ve chosen Genres, Artists and Albums and, in the bigger, bottom pane, I have my music sorted by song name.

Now I can quickly browse and find music by any of these columns.

Yes, you can also type what you are looking for in the Search Music box in the top right corner.

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How To Add Numbered Lists in an Email

Sometimes you may want to add a list in an email and you’d like to number or bullet the list so that it stands out and indents and lines up perfectly when it wraps.

In a new email message, begin typing your regular text. When you’re ready to start your list, go up to the Format menu and choose Lists. Slide over to choose either a Bulleted List or a Number List. Begin typing.

Mail will automatically number or bullet each line when you press Return. To stop the numbering, press Return a second time.

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Secrets of the Scroll Bar

The scroll bar, on the right side of every window, allows you to move up and down the window to see the contents.

Dragging the scroll bar moves you fast, sometimes too fast. But Dragging the scroll button is the quickest way to go all the way to the top or bottom of a window.

Clicking the up and down arrows at the bottom of the scroll bar will move you a line at a time. This is great if you are reading a document line by line or looking at individual photos.

In the System Preferences, under Appearance, you can set the Scroll Bar to either jump to the next page or to the spot that’s clicked.

This is handy when you are scanning a document or wanting to quickly navigate through a section of your photos.

BONUS: In Safari, pressing the Space Bar scrolls the window a screen at a time.

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Cleaning Your Keyboard and Mouse

Keyboard:

If your keyboard is wired, first disconnect it from your computer. If it is wireless, turn off the power on the keyboard and remove the batteries.

Use a lint-free cloth lightly moistened with water. Don’t get moisture in any openings and don’t use aerosol sprays, solvents, or abrasives.

Mouse:

If your mouse is wired, first disconnect it from your computer. If your mouse is wireless, slide the power switch to off and remove the batteries. Clean the outside of your mouse or trackpad with a lint-free cloth lightly moistened with water. Don’t get moisture into any openings and don’t use aerosol sprays, solvents, or abrasives.

If the scroll ball on your Mighty Mouse has become discolored or dirty, use a clean, lint-free cloth lightly moistened with water to clean it.

Wipe the ball and the surrounding area, making sure to rotate the ball itself to ensure complete coverage.

If the scrolling feels rough or if the scroll ball isn’t scrolling up, down, or side-to-side, hold the Mighty Mouse upside down and roll the ball vigorously while cleaning it to help dislodge any particles that may have collected on the internal hardware.