Basics4Mac

Viewing an Ad Hoc Slide Show

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:30:00 -0400

Create a slideshow on the fly

Ad hoc slideshow settings
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In iPhoto, you can create an ad hoc slideshow comprised of any photos you have selected. If you don't select any photos, your entire iPhoto Library will become the slideshow. An ad hoc slideshow can be useful for reviewing photos full screen or testing them to see how they work together before creating a regular slideshow.

Gifting iTunes Store Content

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:30:00 -0400

Give the gift of music. Or video. Or...

Gift this Movie
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You can "gift" (give as a gift) most content from the iTunes store to another person. This includes not only music, but also movies, TV shows, audio books and iPod games. (Currently you cannot gift items from the App Store.)

Choosing a Quick Loading Home Page

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:30:00 -0400

Speed up your browsing

Fav4
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You can set your Safari Home Page to be anything you want. By Default, Safari is set to open the Apple home page for new Windows and Top Sites for new Tabs. Neither of these page loads very quickly. In fact, Top Sites loads verrrry slowly.

I recently found two options for Home Pages that load very quickly and still give you a "launching pad" to the websites you frequent most often.

Saving Important Messages

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:30:00 -0400

Create a folder for saved mail

Mail Folders

There are two schools of thought when it comes to storing read emails.

One method involves creating a system of mailbox folders for storing read email. The other method involves simply leaving everything in your Inbox and searching for it later. Which method you use probably depends on your personality and how organized your are.

Flagging Photos in iPhoto

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:30:00 -0400

A quick way to mark files

Flagged Photos
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Let's say that you have just imported a bunch of photos that you took on a trip. You are glancing through them and know that there are some you want to edit. You want a way to quickly and temporarily mark these photos so you can come back to them later.

Quickly Scroll Through Web Pages

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:30:00 -0400

You don't need the mouse for this one

Space Bar

I'm not a big fan of keyboard shortcuts. There are a million of them out there and my poor brain can only remember a few. But this keyboard shortcut is so easy to remember and so useful that you are really missing out if you aren't using it.

Using Help to Find Menu Items

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:30:00 -0400

Where is it?

Menu Item Help
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Sometimes there is a menu item that you know is there somewhere, but you just can't locate it.

The Help menu in most applications lets you type in the name of a menu item and it drops down a list of matches.

Joining video clips to make a composite movie in iPhoto

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:30:00 -0400

Make a Movie without using iMovie

Slideshow on YouTube

If you take video clips with your digital photo camera, the clips will import into iPhoto along with the still photos. You might like to join those clips together to make a longer movie to share but don't want to mess with iMovie.

iMovie is a great tool for turning video clips into a movie, but it does require some time and effort to learn. If you plan on making many movies, I suggest taking the time to learn it. However, there is an easy way to join video clips into a movie that uses the slideshow feature of iPhoto.

Keeping your Desktop Tidy

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:30:00 -0400

Organizing your temporary files

Desktop View Options
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Is your Desktop covered with icons? It is easy to save everything to your Desktop and before you know it you have a huge jumble of icons and you can't find anything.

Comparing Office Suites (Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation)

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:30:00 -0400

iWork, Microsoft Office and Google Docs

All Macs come with iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, iTunes and Garage Band) which covers much of the activity that Mac users do. Not included with the Mac is any sort of word processor, spreadsheet or presentation software. If you find that you need to write letters, create flyers, graph data, or create presentations, you need to purchase or install one of the many third-party options.

In this article I am going to look at three of the most popular options for "Office Suites" Each has their strengths and weaknesses. By matching your specific needs with the strengths and weaknesses of each suite, you can choose the one that is best for you.