Stop Saving These Tips!

I am thrilled that you save these. That you see the value in the information. Some of you even print them in a notebook and reference them.

But most of you never look at them again. Yet you save them in a Mailbox in Mail, or in a separate folder in your Documents.

Thank you. I appreciate the thought.

Now delete them all.

All of the tips are archived on the mac2school/tips website.

Just use Safari’s built-in search feature to find what you’re looking for.

1. In Safari, from the Edit menu choose Find
or hold down the Command key and type F

2. A search box appears in the top right of the toolbar

3. Type the text you’re looking for and press the Return key

4. It will tell you how many there are and the first match will be highlighted

5. Press the Return key again to move to the next match

Be sure to check on all pages by scrolling to the bottom and clicking on the next page number, then searching again.

To delete the folder where you’ve been saving all of these tips:

1. Click once on the folder (Mailbox)

2. From the Mailbox menu choose Delete Mailbox

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Secrets About the Flashlight

The new iOS7 includes a flashlight in the Control Center. Swipe UP from the locked screen or the Home Screen to access it.

There are several ways to turn the flashlight OFF:

1. Use Control Center to turn the iPhone flashlight on as usual

or

2. Tap the Home button to show the lock screen, then tap the Camera icon in the bottom right (no need to slide on Camera to access it, just touch the icon

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Typing Emoticons

Emoticons are those cartoon characters that people include in emails and on FaceBook. They are those winking smiley faces and colorful hearts and random, fun images of things in our lives.

Built into the Mac since Lion, you can easily add these characters.

For Mavericks:

When you’re ready to type a character, activate the Emoji keyboard by holding the Control key and Command key and pressing the Space Bar.
The Emoji characters will appear.Click on the one you want to use

For Mountain Lion and Lion:

1. Under the Apple menu, choose System Preferences
2. Click on the Keyboard icon
3. Check the box to Show Keyboard and Character Viewers in menu
4. A new icon appears in the top right menu bar, next to the clock
5. Click it to show the Character Viewer
6. The left column shows the different collections of symbols, shapes and arrows that have always been available on the Mac
7. Click Emoji to access the cartoon emoticons
8. Click on People, Nature, Objects, Places and Symbols to see the choices
9. To use one simply drag it to where you are typing

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Typing Emoticons

You can easily access these same fun graphics on your iPad and iPhone wherever you have a keyboard.

1. Tap Settings

2. Tap General

3. Tap Keyboard

4. Tap Keyboards

5. Add a Keyboard

6. Choose Emoji

7. Close Settings

Now, anytime you want to type a fun character:

1. On the keyboard, tap the world globe icon to the left of the space bar

2. Choose the characters you want

3. Tap the globe again to return to your regular keyboard

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Comparing Photos

You can compare two or more photos in iPhoto by clicking on one, holding down Command and clicking on the others.

Click Edit and they will appear side by side so you can decide which one is better.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Downloading Apps

The other day I suggested a popular app to a client for her iPad. But it didn’t appear in the App Store.
When you are searching the App Store, it limits what you see by iPad and iPhone. Many apps are designed for iPhones, but also work on iPads.

So if you don’t see what you’re looking for, try searching in the iPhone section.

By the way, the app I was recommending is GasBuddy, great for traveling to see what the price of gas is in any town.

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Upgrading to Mavericks

Lots of folks have been asking about upgrading, whether they should, what do they need, what will they gain.

While each person’s needs may be different, there are some primary reasons why a person SHOULD upgrade:

* if you have an iPhone or iPad and you want your Contacts and Calendars and Notes to sync between all devices

* if you want to start storing your Pages/Numbers/Keynote documents on iCloud so you can work on them from any device

Be advised that you will likely have to upgrade versions of software to work with Mavericks, including the newest iPhoto and Pages. You may also need to purchase newer versions of Word and other apps to work with Mavericks.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Teaching Autocorrect a New Word

1. If you have an iPhone and iOS7 you can teach it the correct word

2. Open Safari in iOS (yes, the web browser)

3. Open a new window

4. Tap in the topmost “Search” box and type the word you want Autocorrect to stop correcting

5. Tap on “Go” to search for it

6. Now go back to Mail, Messages, etc, to type the originally intended word – no more autocorrecting it!

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Full Screen

It’s a great feature – being able to fill the screen with the window you’re working with. You just click on the diagonal arrows in the top right of the window.

Except a lot of folks are writing because they clicked it inadvertently and now don’t know how to get back to normal.

To return to your regular screen, hover your cursor in the far top right corner to reveal the menu bar and click on those same diagonal arrows, which are now blue.

Now you can consciously choose when to use Full Screen.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Quickest Way to Take a Picture

I love walking up to strangers who are using their iPhones to take a picture and sharing this tip.

Instead of swiping to unlock your iPhone or iPad and then opening the camera app, try this:

From the locked Home Screen, look for the very faint icon of the camera to the right of the Slide to Unlock. Drag the camera icon up and you’ll be right there, ready to snap a photo.

It takes a little practice to get the right pressure for the upward swipe, but once you master it, you’ll never do it the old way again.

 

Comparing Pictures in iPhoto

You can compare two or more photos in iPhoto by clicking on one, holding down Command and clicking on the anothers.

Click Edit and they will appear side by side so you can decide which one is better.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Taking Pictures is Even easier

If you’ve ever wished your iPhone camera had a physical shutter button, look no further. The phone’s volume up (+) button doubles as a shutter button whenever the Camera app is opened. This hard button feels sturdier all around, plus it makes it a cinch to take self-portraits or to tell strangers how to take a photo of you and your friends.

You can also quickly access the camera even when your phone is locked.
From the locked Home Screen, slide up on the camera icon. It takes the right touch and the right slide, but once you master it, it’s the fast way to access your camera.

You can do this with anyone’s phone, regardless of whether or not you know their password because it only opens the Camera app, locking you out of all other apps-and other photos and videos-on the phone. Just the photos or videos you take at that moment will be visible to you.

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Searching in Mail

If you’re like most of my clients, you have a lot of emails in your Inbox and 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.)

A list of suggestions will appear as you type.

On the left side of the window, just below the icons of the toolbar, you’ll also see that you can limit the search to a specific folder.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Taking a Picture of Your Screen

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

Maybe it’s an odd message that appears, or your high score in Words With Friends.

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.

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Using DropBox Like a Backpack

Many of my clients work between several devices, maybe a laptop and an iMac, an iPad, even on their iPhone and they ask me, “What’s the best way to have my documents available to work on, no matter where I am?”

While Apple will suggest you use iCloud, I think it’s much easier to use DropBox. DropBox is also a cloud-based storage space that you can access from any computer and mobile device, and it’s easier to use and access than iCloud.

Storing your working files on a cloud-based system is like carrying them in a backpack so they are wherever you are.

Download the free DropBox app onto your Mac and onto each of the devices you want to share your documents with.

Set up your free account (you get 20GB of storage for free) and sign in with the same account on each of your devices

Drag the files you want to share with yourself into DropBox.

Make sure you have an internet connection when you do this so that the current documents go up to the cloud for universal access.

Note: When you drag the document from your computer to Dropbox, they are now ONLY on DropBox. If you copy them, the version you leave on your computer will NOT be changed when you change the one on DropBox)

Then, open the files directly from your DropBox, make your changes and the changes will appear on all devices.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Faster Charging

Your iPhone and iPad will charge faster if you plug them directly into a wall outlet instead of your computer.

Be sure to drain the battery at least once a month to maximize performance.

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Scroll Bar Secrets

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

In the System Preferences, under General, 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.

If you don’t see your scroll bars all the time, this is where you can also choose to Always show them.

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

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

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Copy and Paste

Yes, of course you can copy and paste text on your iPad and iPhone.

1. Press and hold your finger at the beginning of the text you want to select. A menu appears, and the text is highlighted in light blue and there are blue circles on either end of the selection

2. Drag the blue circles to highlight all of the text you want to work with or choose Select All

3. Choose Copy

4. Press and hold your finger where you want to put the text you copied

5. Choose Paste

Editing Text

Use this same technique of pressing and holding your finger to reposition your cursor to Edit text

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Drafts in Mail with Mountain Lion

Lots of folks are asking where the Drafts Folder went in Mail after they installed Mountain Lion. It used to be that SAVE AS DRAFT was a choice. Now, just close the email you want to save and it will give you the option to Save As Draft.

Once you’ve saved something, the Drafts Folder will appear in the Mailbox list in the left column.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

A Week’s Worth of Weather

The weather widget in the Notification Center doesn’t just show you the weather for today. It can also show you the weather for the next five days.

Just swipe left or right for the full forecast.

 

Printing Mailing Labels

Apple’s Address Book/Contacts makes printing mailing labels so easy. You first need to create a Group of only the people you want to print labels for.

Here’s are three great videos from The Virtual Classroom that will show you how easy it is to create a group and print your labels.

The steps are different, depending on the version of the OS you’re using (Mountain Lion, Lion or Snow Leopard), so choose the video for your situation.

Printing Mailing Labels with Snow Leopard
Printing Mailing Labels with Lion
Printing Mailing Labels with Mountain Lion

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Groups in Contacts

iOS6 changes how you see your Groups in you Contacts. When you tap Groups, it now shows a list of all of your Groups. But if you tap on one, all it does is remove the check mark next to it.

So how do you see who’s in a group?

1. Tap Groups and they will all be checked
2. Tap All Contacts and it will uncheck every group.
3. Then tap the Group you want to see
4. Tap Done
5. Now it shows you only the people in that Group

To see All Contacts again:

1. Tap Groups
2. Tap All Contacts
3. Tap Done

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Adjusting the Brightness

Does your computer screen seem dim? Does the screen get dark if you don’t touch it for a while?

One way to brighten the screen is by pressing the key on your keyboard above the number 2 with the picture of the sun on it.

To change the setting that automatically dims the screen:

1. Under the Apple menu, choose System Preferences

2. Click on Energy Saver. It looks like a light bulb

3. Adjust the time settings for the Display Sleep

4. Remove the check mark next to Automatically reduce brightness before display goes to sleep

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Picture Frame

Family gatherings are a great time to share photos. And it’s fun to be able to have your photos displayed in the background.

When your iPad is asleep and locked you can still view Photos using the Picture Frame mode. It’s different than the Slide Show mode when you are in your Photos.

To set your preferences for Picture Frame:

1. Click Settings

2. Click Picture Frame

3. Choose your Transition

4. Choose how long it shows each photo, whether to Zoom in on faces, and if you want them Shuffled, in a random order

5. Choose which photos and albums to show

6. Sit back and enjoy.

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Finding and Searching on the Mac

Every program on the Mac has a Search tool. Usually it’s a rounded rectangular box with a mini magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner of the screen. (If you don’t see it, try dragging your window wider to reveal it.)

Just type what you’re looking for in this box to save you time and aggravation.

In Mail, when you Search, you can limit where Mail looks and what it looks for by clicking on one of the choices across the top: All Mailboxes or just the one selected, whether the text is in the Entire Message, From, To or part of the Subject of the email.

To find a folder or document saved on your Mac, you can use click on the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner to open up Spotlight, which gives you a list of all items.

A second way to Find documents is to choose the Find command under the File menu in the Finder. Type in what you’re looking for and a list will appear. Click once on the item and at the bottom of the window, you’ll see the path listed, so you know where to find the item.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Finding and Searching on the iPhone and iPad

Are you looking for a person’s phone number? While you might think it’s pretty easy to click on your Contacts and scroll to that person’s name, there is a much faster way.

Slide to the screen to the left of the first Home screen to reveal the built-in Spotlight program.

Begin typing the person’s name.

Not only will their name appear next to the icon of the Contacts, but you’ll also see all emails related to that person, any iCal appointments, even text messages.

Click on any entry and you’re there.

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Back Up Your Contacts/Address Book

Even if you use Time Machine to backup your computer, it’s a great idea to have a separate backup of just your Address Book, just in case.

You can keep the file on your hard drive or also copy it to a flash drive or your external hard drive. Better save than sorry!

Here’s a free video lesson that will teach you how to back up your Contacts!

And, remember, deleting a person from your Contacts on your iPhone or iPad will also remove them from your Contacts on your Mac!

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Signatures in Email

By default, every email you send says “Sent from my iPhone or iPad.” You can remove this and even add your own signature. And, with iOS6, you can now have a different signature for each of your email accounts.

1. From the Home screen, click on Settings

2. Scroll down to Mail, Contacts, Calendars

3. Scroll all the way down to Signature

4. Choose All Accounts if you want to use the same signature for all of your email accounts

5. Click Per Account if you want to create unique signatures for each email account

6. Delete the existing text and type what you’d like it to say

7. There is no need to Save it, just tap back to Mail and you’ll see that, next to Signature, it now shows either the text you typed or the number of how many email accounts you have

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Ram vs. Hard Drive Storage: What’s The Difference?

Computer memory is RAM. It’s like your physical desk. How much RAM you have determines how many apps you can have open at one time and work with efficiently.

If your computer is slow, or freezing, or you get the spinning ball, you need more working space–you need to install more RAM.

Hard drive storage space is like your closet. You can store a whole lot more in your closet than would ever fit on your desk to work with at any given time.

Uninstalling Apps, deleting photos and documents creates more storage space. Buying and installing RAM will create more efficient working space.

To find out how much RAM and hard drive storage your Mac has:

Under the Apple menu, choose About This Mac

The RAM amount, measured in GB, is listed in this first window.

To see how much hard drive storage you have, click More Info

If you are running Lion or Mountain Lion, click on the Storage tab across the top and a graphic will appear, showing you how much you are using and how much is left.

If you are running an earlier version of the OS, in the left column of the More Info window, scroll down and click on Serial ATA and click on the hard drive listed for the information.

In my opinion, you need a minimum of 4GB if you are running Lion or Mountain Lion. Anything less than that, and things may run slow, or freeze.

Contact Apple or a third party dealer (MacMall, MacMemory) to find out how much more you can add to your particular Mac.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Free Apps

The cool, crisp weather of autumn is an invitation to get outdoors and spend some time in nature. This month’s free apps can enhance your experience.

LEAFSNAP

Have you ever found a leaf and wondered what kind it was? This virtual field guide lets you take a picture of the leaf, then matches it to the correct leaf in the apps database.

iBIRD LITE GUIDE TO BIRDS

This intro app is a pared down version of iBird, one of the most popular bird identifying apps. iBird Lite includes 31 species of birds, including search capabilities and bird songs.

RELAXING SOUNDS OF NATURE LITE

If you can’t get outdoors, you can bring the sounds of nature indoors with this free app. With 22 different nature sounds, you can create your own combination of sounds to relax, reduce stress and feel better.
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Reminders in Mountain Lion

Mountain Lion is packed with so many new features, like Smart Browsing in Safari, VIPs in Mail and Reminders.

Reminders, like Notes, sync between your iPhone, iPad and Mac. Unlike Notes, you can set an alert by date, time, even location in the Reminders App.

I’ve just added a whole new course to The Virtual Classroom so members can learn all about these great new features.

Click here to watch a free video from the Virtual Classroom that will show you how to use the new Reminders feature.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Quick Scroll To The Top

When you reach the bottom of an article, an email, or your Facebook posts, instead of scrolling all the way back to the top, just tap in the very top black horizontal menu space where the time and battery are displayed and you’ll zip right up to the top of the screen.

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Turn Off Facebook Notifications

Do you get an email every time something is posted or commented on in FaceBook? This can make for a very full and overwhelming Inbox.

Here’s how to turn them off:

1. In FaceBook, click on the down triangle in the top right next to HOME

2. Choose Account Settings

3. In the left column, choose Notifications

4. Anywhere you see an icon of an envelope, it means you are asking to receive an email notification

5. Click Edit

6. Click on the envelope to remove all checkmarks

7. Do this with each category

8. Now breathe….

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Editing Text

Instead of deleting and retyping, you can edit text, just like you do on your Mac.

1. Tap and hold your finger near the text you want to edit. An onscreen magnifying glass appears, showing you where the cursor is positioned

2. Drag the cursor to the desired point

3. Now you can type, delete, and edit your text

Selecting Text to Copy and Paste

1. Use the same technique for positioning the cursor, and this time, tap and release, revealing choices to Select, Select All, etc

2. To select only some text, drag the corner grab points to surround the text you want to work with

3. Tap the now selected text to choose to cut or copy

4. To put the text someplace else, tap where you want to put it and choose Paste

Shortcuts:

To select a single word, double-tap it

To select a paragraph, swipe across the paragraph with two fingers

or

quadruple-tap the paragraph

or

pinch/pull on the corner handles with two fingers to change the range of text

Undo the Last Thing Your Did

To undo the last thing you typed or edited, shake the iPad and then click Undo

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Make an Email Really Stand Out

The Flag feature of Apple Mail is great for marking important emails. And you can quickly find any flagged emails quickly with the built-in Search tool.But sometimes an email is REALLY important and you want it to really stand out in the long list of messages in your Inbox. So why not make it a color?

1. Click once on the email

2. From the Format menu, choose Show Colors

3. Choose a color. You can change how you see the different color choices by clicking on the icons at the top of the window. The icon on the far right will show a simple crayon box for simplicity.

4. Close the color window and the email will now be highlighted in that color.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Inserting a Picture in Mail

The new iOS6 is filled with great new features, including the ability to now add a photo into an email directly in Mail.

1. Create a new mail message

2. When you’re ready to insert a photo tap and hold in the message area

3. Choose Insert Photo or Video

4. Choose where the picture is (Camera Roll, Photo Library, an album, etc.)

5. Choose the photo

6. Tap USE

To send several photos at once, either repeat the above steps for each photo or:

1. Open the Photos app

2. Tap Camera Roll or Photo Library, depending on where the photos are

3. Tap Edit

4. Select the photos you want to email

5. Tap Share

6. Tap Mail

If Mail is not an option, you have too many photos selected. So cancel and unselect several photos then try again.

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Setting Margins in Microsoft Word

Many of my clients have been using Microsoft Word for years, yet they admit they don’t know how to properly set margins.

It’s NOT by sliding the triangles on the ruler!

Here’s a free video lesson that will show you how easy it is to properly change your margins.

This tip is just one of the many things you can learn in the newest course in Mac to School’s Virtual Classroom, Tips for Microsoft Word. To gain access to the entire course and all of the other great video lessons, join the classroom!

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Maps vs. Google Maps in iOS6

It’s true. The new Maps app in iOS6 DOES include turn by turn directions but it does NOT include mass transit or walking directions. BUT you can still use Google maps!

1. Open Safari

2. Go to maps.google.com

3. Tap the Share button and choose to save it as an icon to your home page

 

Reading Articles in Safari Just Got Easier

Have you found an interesting article to read, but you find all of the ads on the screen so distracting?

Safari has a built in READER feature that will open most articles in a new window with just the article. No distractions.

1. Find an article in a newspaper

2. Click on the word READER that appears at the far right side of the page’s address (this may not be available for all articles)

3. The article will open in a new window with just the text

4. Click READER again to get back to the full page in Safari

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Saving an Image You Find Online

If you’re surfing online and find a picture that you want to save or share with someone, it’s easy:

1. Find the image

2. Tap and hold on the image

3. Choose Save image (this may not work with a photo someone posts on Facebook)

4. The image will appear in your Camera Roll, where you can then email it or post it to Facebook.

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Email 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

Get Ready for the Summer Olympics

If you want to keep up with the latest news, games and scores during the upcoming Olympic Games in London, check out these Apps.

London 2012 Official Join In App: Developed and maintained by the official London Organizing Committee, the app includes current information on the Olympic Torch Relay plus news on all the cultural, city, and community celebrations happening now.

Once the games begin, the app will provide up-to-date coverage on each Olympic sport and each competition venue. In addition, for London visitors, the app provides full access to searchable maps, details of facilities, augmented reality views, and information about how to get the best out of your historic visit.

Universal Sports Network: This App will provide exclusive television coverage of this year’s games in the U.S. Plus, for the first time, free live coverage will be available for each sport no matter the time of day. Although separate iPhone/iPod touch and iPad apps for that purpose have yet to be released, this app is a suitable alternative for now.

Using the Universal Sports Network app, users can view exclusive pre-Olympic programming. In total, the free app provides more than 1,200 hours of original video content.

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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 or iKleen. Don’t get moisture in any openings and don’t use aerosol sprays, solvents, or abrasives.

Older Mighty 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 or iKleen. 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 or iKleen 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.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Hidden Volume Adjuster

Even faster than pushing the up and down button on the side of your device, you can adjust the volume right on the screen.

1. Double tap the Home button to reveal the bar that shows all of your recently opened Apps

2. Slide that bar all the way to the right until you can’t go any further and you’ll see the volume slider

3. On your iPad, you can also adjust the brightness here

4. Double tap the Home button when you’re done

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Customizing Notes

If you have an iPad or iPhone, you may already be using the Notes app and syncing them with your Mac.

But many folks don’t want to SEE their Notes in the Inbox with all of the email.

Of course, you can change this setting:

1. Under the Mail menu, choose Preferences

2. Click on Accounts

3. Click on your iCloud account, the one that is syncing your Notes between your Mac and your devices

4. Click on the Mailbox Behaviors tab

5. Remove the checkmark next to Show Notes in Inbox

6. Close and Save your changes

Now, to see your Notes, hover on the Reminders in the left column and choose Show and your Notes will be listed. Click the arrow to reveal them.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Customizing Notes

Did you know you can choose a font for your Notes?

1. Tap Settings

2. Scroll down to see Notes in the left column

3. Choose your font

4. This is also where you choose to sync your notes with your iCloud account or only save them on the device

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How to Install Adobe Flash Player

If you are no longer able to watch certain videos online you may need to download the newest version of Adobe Flash Player.

– First, go here and click to Download
– You’ll see a blue progress bar in the top right on the Safari window
– It will download it into the Downloads folder
– When it’s done downloading, QUIT Safari from the Safari menu (don’t just close it)
– Open the Downloads folder which you can find under the GO menu when you’re on the Desktop
– Double click the file called Adobe something.dmg
– It will create another file called Install Flash Player
– Double click THAT
– Follow the directions
– When it’s all done and working, you can take the installer AND the .dmg icon to the trash

The other kind of video that people get in emails requires Windows Media Player, which doesn’t work with Lion.

To install an alternative to this, go to www.mac2school.com/tips and scroll down for the tip about the VLC Player

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Setting Picture Frame Preferences

When your iPad is asleep and locked you can still view Photos. This is called Picture Frame mode. It’s different than the Slide Show mode when you are in your Photos.

To set your preferences for Picture Frame:

Tap Settings
Tap Picture Frame
Choose your Transition
Choose how long it shows each photo, whether to Zoom in on faces, and if you want them Shuffled, in a random order
Choose which photos and albums to show

 

iPhoto: Cropping Pictures for Printing

If you plan to print or order prints of your favorite photos, remember to first crop them to the desired size. Otherwise, the photo lab will crop them for you and you may be disappointed with the results.

To crop a picture in iPhoto:

1. In iPhoto, click once on the photo and click Edit from the toolbar at the bottom

2. Click on the crop tool

3. From the pull-down list of numbers, choose the size of the print you will be ordering. A rectangular box will appear on the photo.

4. Drag the corners to resize the rectangle to include what you want in the photo. You’ll notice that if you make it narrower it will also make it shorter–it is constraining the photo to the proportions of the size you selected.

5. You can reposition the rectangle by dragging in the middle of the rectangle.

6. You can also change it from a landscape to a portrait by choosing again from the size list–the last choices in the menu give you the option to make it tall (portrait) or wide (landscape).

7. When you have the desired area selected, click Done.

Now you have a proper photo of the desired size.

If you are ordering several different sizes of the same photo, duplicate the photo first (photos menu, choose duplicate) and crop each one to the desired size.

FOR MORE GREAT iPHOTO TIPS, check out the videos in The Virtual Classroom at http://www.mac2school.com/virtual-classroom-library/

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Month

Turning To-Do’s Into Ta Dones

The free App, I DONE THIS gets five stars when it comes to writing stuff down and staying motivated, whatever you do. You just tap the icon of the cute dog face and write about everything you got done that day.

It’s not another TO DO list that might leave you feeling overwhelmed or unaccomplished. I DONE THIS is all about recognizing what you HAVE done. You can scroll through all of the entries and feel a sense of big accomplishment.

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Quicken vs Quicken Essentials

You’ve probably heard that Intuit finally released a version of Quicken that will work with Lion. Even if you’ve already converted to Quicken Essentials, you can still switch back to the new Quicken.

Why would you want to?

~ Quicken 2007 has much more complete reporting capabilities.

~ Quicken 2007 includes automatic backups of your important data.

~ Quicken 2007 allows you to pay your bills right from within the program.

~ Quicken 2007 tracks investments and securities.

And more.

Here’s the link to download the newest Lion compatible version.

http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/quicken-2007-osx-lion.jsp

Be sure to read the conversion information too. Or call me and I’ll help you.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Month

Emailing More Than One Photo At a Time

To send more than one picture in an email:

1. Tap Photos

2. Don’t select a picture! Instead, tap the Share icon, the rectangle with the arrow in the top right corner

3. Now select your photos

4. Tap Share

5. Choose Email

You can also use this technique to Delete several photos at a time.

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Scroll Bar Secrets

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.

iPad and iPhone App of the Month

Paper Karma: Get a handle on Junk Mail

Paper Karma is a free app that helps eliminate all of the junk mail and catalogs that fill up your mailbox. Just snap a photo of the label on any piece of junkmail and send it to the folks at Paper Karma and your name will be removed from that mailing list.

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Updates! Updates! Updates!

It is so important to keep current with all of your computer software updates. Updates fix bugs, increase security and make things work better.

Updates for all Apple software will come through Software update, under the Apple menu.

In addition, if you have purchased software from the APP Store, you will receive notification there as well.

If you see a red number on the App store icon in the Dock, that means that there is an update waiting for you to install.

Click to open the App Store, then click on Updates in the top right of the menu bar.

For Microsoft Office, Quicken, QuickBooks, Firefox and all non-Apple products, you need to check within each of these Apps for an update. Look under the Help menu for a link to Check for Updates.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Month

Printing

Yes, of course you can print from your iPad and iPhone. You just need a wireless printer that is Airprint compatible.

For a complete list of printers that are Airprint compatible, click here.

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Tips and Secrets for Addressing Emails

Check out this free video that shows you secrets for addressing emails, clearing out incorrect or old addresses and so much more!

If you like this video, you’ll love the upcoming online class TAME YOUR EMAIL.
Click here for details.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Month

Four Ways to Conserve Your Battery

Under Settings:

1. Turn off Bluetooth if you are not connected to a wireless keyboard

2. Under General, choose Restrictions, turn off Ping, Apple’s social networking music service

3. Under the iPod setting, turn off the EQ

4. Under Location Services, wisely choose which Apps REALLY need to know where you are

 

Watching .wmv Files with Lion

If you are no longer able to watch jokes and movies that friends email to you, it’s because the Windows Media Player does not work with Lion. But these is an easy fix.

1. Click on this link to download the VLC player.

2. Click on the top VLC choice for 32/64 bit

3. It will download and appear wherever you have designated downloaded files to go. If it’s not on the Desktop, it’s probably in the Downloads folder.

4. To find the Downloads folder, from the Finder screen, click on the GO menu at the top

5. Click on Downloads and find the file titled “VLC-1.1.12.dmg”

6. Double click on the file and it will open

7. Drag the icon of the orange cone on top of the Applications folder in that window and it will copy it

8. When it’s done, close the window

9. Trash the two VLC files that are still in the Downloads folder

10. Now open an email that has a .wmv that you previously couldn’t open and it will work!

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Get a Map to a Contact’s Address

Here’s the fastest and easiest way to get a map and directions to a contact’s address:

1. Find the person

2. The fastest way to do this is not to search in the Address Book but to slide to the Spotlight screen LEFT of the Home Screen and type in who you are looking for.

3. Tap on their name and you are on their individual entry.

4. Tap on their street address and Maps will open, showing you their location

5. Tap directions

6. Enter the start location

7. Click Route and you’re ready to go!

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Photo Stream

One of the coolest features of iCloud is the new Photo Stream. Take a picture on your iPhone, iPad or import from your digital camera into your Mac and that photo can be available on all the other devices.

When turned on, Photo Stream stores up to 1000 photos at a time (for 30 days) on iCloud. The photos are automatically imported at full resolution into your iPhoto Library but you get to choose which ones you save onto your iPad or iPhone.

Photo Stream works over your wireless network, so you don’t have to worry about using up your data plan for transferring these large files.

And, if you want to edit a photo on your device that’s on Photo Stream, you’ll first be asked to make a copy to save into the Camera Roll on your iPad or iPhone, leaving the original on Photo Stream.

To turn on Photo Stream on your Mac:

1. First, upgrade to Lion and also the latest version of iPhoto ’11. Update your iPhone and iPad to the latest OS 5.1

2. Then, in iPhoto, under the iPhoto menu, choose Preferences.

3. Turn Photo Stream ON.

4. In iPhoto, in the left column, you’ll now see Photo Stream.

5. New photos from Photo Stream will automatically appear in your Photo Library

Remember, photos from your iPad and iPhone won’t appear in Photo Stream until those devices have reconnected to your wireless network.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Photo Stream on Your iPad and iPhone

To turn on Photo Stream on your iPad and iPhone:

1. First, upgrade to the latest OS 5.1

2. Then tap Settings

3. Tap iCloud.

4. Turn Photo Stream ON.

To copy a single photo from Photo Stream onto your device:

1. Tap Photos

2. Across the top tap Photo Stream

3. Tap the photo you want

4. Tap the rectangle with the arrow icon at the top right

5. Choose Save to Camera Roll

To copy several photos from Photo Stream onto your device:

1. Tap photos

2. Across the top tap Photo Stream

3. Tap the rectangle with the arrow icon at the top right

4. Tap the photos you want to copy to your device. A checkmark will appear on each picture

5. You can now either tap Save to put them in the Camera Roll or

6. Tap Add To… to create a new Album

7. Title the Album

8. The photos will now be in the Camera Roll AND in an album

Remember, photos from Photo Stream won’t appear on your device until you have reconnected to your wireless network.

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Hiding Pictures in iPhoto

If you have your Desktop Screen Saver set to use all the pictures in iPhoto, you may have certain pictures that you don’t want to include. Instead of creating a separate album specifically for the Screen Saver, you can hide selected photos.

In iPhoto, click on any picture you want to hide from view.
From the Photos menu, choose Hide Photo. An X will appear in the top right corner, indicating it is marked as Hidden.

If you don’t want to see Hidden photos when you are browsing through your Photo Library, under the View Menu, re-select Hidden Photos to remove the check mark. Now the photos you have marked to be hidden will actually BE hidden and they will not be included in any Screen Savers.

The picture is still in your Library, you just can’t see it.

To Unhide it, first, from the View menu, choose to show Hidden Pictures

Then select the photo that has the X on it and choose Unhide from the Photos menu

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

This Month’s Featured Apps

FLIPBOARD
Named one of TIME’S Top 50 Innovations, FLIPBOARD creates a personalized magazine of all the things you like to read. Choose from Entertainment, Style, Architecture, Crafts, People, Food and so much more.

BIG OVEN
Recommended by NPR’s Splendid Table, BIG OVEN contains more than 170,000 recipes, a menu planner, grocery list and more. You can add your own recipes and even add photos.

UNSTUCK
If you’re feeling stuck with a problem or decision, this app coaches you through challenges using different tools. It helps you hone in on WHY you’re stuck and what ACTIONS to take to get

All of these Apps are FREE and can be found by searching in the APP store on your iPhone or iPad.

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A Hidden Calculator

Sometimes you need to do a quick addition or multiplication. Instead of finding and opening the Calculator application, use Spotlight.

1. Open Spotlight by clicking on the magnifying glass in the top right corner of your screen

2. Use + for addition, – for subtraction, * for multiplication and / for division

3. The full equation with the answer will appear in the list next to Calculator

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 but instead of choosing Add a Bookmark

4. Tap Add to Home Screen

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No Holiday Music When You Shuffle

Now that the holidays are over, my guess is you’ve had your fill of holiday music. So how do you NOT include those merry tunes when you set your iTunes to Shuffle?

1. If you’ve created a Holiday Playlist, select it. Otherwise, find all of the music in your Library with the word Christmas

2. Click on one song

3. From the Edit menu choose Select All

4. Yes, you do want to change information about all songs selected

5. From the File menu choose Get Info

6. Click on the Option Tab

7. Check the box next to Skip When Shuffling

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Play Music From Your Computer on Your iPad and iPhone

If all of your music is stored on your computer, you can play tunes from that computer on your iPad or iPhone when you are at home, sharing that wireless network.

1. First, in iTunes, click on Preferences

2. Click on the Sharing Tab

3. Click to Share My Library on my Local Network, either the entire Library or just selected Playlists

4. You can choose to require a password to access your music or not

1. Then on your iPad or iPhone, click on Settings

2. Click on Music

3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen to the Home Sharing section and enter your Apple ID and Password

4. Go back Home and Tap on the Music App

5. Tap on the More icon at the bottom

6. Tap on the House icon that says Sharing

7. Tap on the name of your computer

8. Wait a moment while the Library loads

9. Now you can access all of the music by tapping on the Playlists, Artists, Songs, etc. at the bottom of the Music app screen

 

Are You Missing Emails?
Losing Emails You Thought You Saved?

Many of my clients are telling me that they aren’t getting emails. Or that when they delete one email, suddenly many are gone.

There is a feature in Apple Mail that automatically groups emails together that are related, part of the same “conversation.” In Snow Leopard, this is called THREADS. In Lion it’s called CONVERSATIONS.

Some people like to see all related emails grouped together. But for many of us, it’s an extra step that is causing confusion.

To turn this feature OFF, in Mail, click on the View menu and choose Organize by Thread or Organize by Conversation to remove the checkmark.

Now all of your emails will appear individually, in the order that they were received.

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Missing Emails?
Losing Emails You Thought You Saved?

This same Threading feature is available on your iPhone and iPad.

To turn it OFF

1. Click on Settings

2. Click on Mail, Contacts, Calendars

3. Scroll all the way down, almost to the bottom

4. Next to Organize By Thread, slide the switch to OFF

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Sharing Google Maps and Directions

If you’ve ever tried to send someone directions from Google maps using the Mail Link to this Page, you’ve probably discovered that the recipient gets a blank page.

To share a map or driving directions:

1. Map out the route on your computer

2. Under the File menu, chose Print

3. In the Print window, click on the PDF choice in the bottom left

4. Choose Mail PDF

5. A new email message will appear with an image of the map already attached.

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

With more than 200 new features in the new iOS 5, it was hard to choose just ONE to share. this is one of my new favorites.

Quick Scroll To The Top

When you reach the bottom of an article, or an email or the news feed in FaceBook, instead of scrolling all the way back to the top, just tap in the very top black horizontal menu space where the time and battery are displayed and you’ll zip right up to the top of the screen.

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Resizing dpi of Photos

If you’re an artist you may need to resize your photos to certain parameters for submissions.

iPhoto does not include a feature to do this but you can resize your images in Preview.

1. Drag the photo to the Desktop

2. Drag the photo from the Desktop on top of the Preview icon in the Dock. If you don’t have it there, from the Go menu, choose Applications, find Preview and drag it onto your Dock

3. In Preview, from the Tools menu choose Adjust Size

4. Make your desired changes, either in inches or pixels (dpi means dots or pixels per inch)

5. You’ll see that the file size changes as you make adjustments

6. Click OK when done

7. From the File menu, choose either Save As (Snow Leopard) or Duplicate (Lion)

8. Title the new version

9. Click Save

iPAD and iPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Setting Picture Frame Preferences

When your iPad is asleep and locked you can still view Photos. this is called Picture Frame mode. It’s different than the Slide Show mode when you are in your Photos

To set your preferences for Picture Frame:

1. Click Settings

2. Click Picture Frame

3. Choose your Transition

4. Choose how long it shows each photo, whether to Zoom in on faces, and if you want them Shuffled, in a random order

5. Choose which photos and albums to show

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Adjusting the Brightness

Does your computer screen seem dim? Does the screen get dark if you don’t touch it for a while?

One way to brighten the screen is by pressing the key on your keyboard above the number 2 with the picture of the sun on it.

To change the setting that automatically dims the screen:

1. Under the Apple menu, choose System Preferences

2. Click on Energy Saver. It looks like a light bulb

3. Adjust the time settings for the Display Sleep

4. Remove the check mark next to Automatically reduce brightness before display goes to sleep

IPAD and IPHONE TIP OF THE WEEK

Turn Off the Clicking Sound When You Type

If you find the clicking sound annoying or disruptive, it’s easy to turn off.

1. Tap the Settings icon

2. Tap General

3. Tap Sounds

4. Slide the button next to Keyboard Clicks to OFF

This is also where you can turn off the sounds for New Mail and more.