Tag Archives: mac

Retro Skills: Clean Out Your Mouse

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Apple Macintosh Plus mice (left) Beige mouse (...

Image via Wikipedia

Over the years I’ve acquired quite a few valuable technical skills. Many of them are as useful today as they were back when i learned them.

The art of de-gunking a computer mouse is not one of those skills, sadly, and has not held its value.

For my kids’ sake (in the event that they should ever find themselves trapped in the past and the only way to get back to the future is to perform an intricate series of mouse clicks and the darn thing just isn’t responding), below are detailed instructions courtesy of an old 1990s Macintosh Classic factory manual I found several months back.

Mac Clean Mouse Part 1

Mac Clean Mouse Part 2

It’s amazing that so much care went into describing such a mundane and now obsolete process. That’s part of what made Apple’s culture the way it is today.

What’s the most irrelevant technical skill you mastered? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Wonder

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This weekend we helped my wife’s sister move into her new home. Instead of unloading boxes and furniture, however, we were brought in to clean the place up.

The previous occupants left a hideous mess which needed to be removed. Yet, within the debris something special caught my eye!

Macintosh Classic Logo (Pixelscreen)

I couldn’t believe it—a real honest to goodness, old school Macintosh Classic! Were my eyes deceived? Had the former tenants left in such a hurry that they’d neglected to retrieve their priceless treasure?

And then, I thought to myself…

“I wonder if this thing works!?!?”

At that moment, I knew I had an entry for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge.

So, I grabbed the Mac, it’s keyboard, mouse, and cables, hooked them up and plugged it in.

Macintosh Classic (Unorthodox Pop)

As I waited with gleeful anticipation for the familiar Macintosh startup chime I was greeted instead with what sounded like a dying dial–modem and the smell of burning plastic.

Unfortunately, there was a reason that this particular Macintosh had not been brought with its owners.

Old School Macintosh Classic (Found)

This Macintosh Classic has passed on. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. In short, it’s run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible.

No longer did I wonder whether or not this Mac would run. For I knew that this was an ex-Mac.

Want to participate in the challenge? Head on over to The Daily Post and follow the instructions below.

1. Each week, [they] provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2011″ or “postaweek2011″ tag.

3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

Now, take a picture that captures this week’s theme and post a link to it in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows

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When you hear the word windows do you first think of panes of glass or Operating Systems developed in Redmond, Washington?

Yeah, me too.

That’s why when I saw that the theme for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge was Windows I knew what I wanted to share.

First, I considered of the Old School Windows logo.

Windows 3.0 logo
Image via Wikipedia

…but I thought that would be too boring.

Next, I thought about the all-too-familiar “Blue Screen of Death“.

Windows XP Blue Screen of Death
Image via Wikipedia

…but I thought that would be too snarky.

So, I decided to be more creative. Using the Mac-native DOS emulator Boxer…

Boxer Splash Screen

I installed Windows 3.11 (just because I can).

Now, behold and tremble, oh ye people of the Internet, at the wonder and majesty of early 1990′s software running on the latest and greatest from Cupertino!

Notepad & Paintbrush on Mac

Of course, what could be more iconic than of Windows’ Klondike Solitaire?

Windows Solitaire on Mac

I blame Microsoft for the fact that a computer just doesn’t feel fully functional to me until it has an instance of solitaire running on it.

Want to participate in the challenge? Head on over to The Daily Post and follow the instructions below.

1. Each week, [they] provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2011″ or “postaweek2011″ tag.

3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

Now, take a picture that captures this week’s theme and post a link to it in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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Apple Quietly Fixes iTunes Search Aggravation

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A recent update to iTunes finally fixed a long-standing annoyance. For years if you wanted to search in the iTunes Music and AppStore (or your iTunes library itself) you had to hold the shortcut key combo of Option, Command, and F.

Old iTunes Search

This is a total break in UI consistency in how most apps on the Mac platform implement search. When Apple released the Mac AppStore earlier this year they got search right by using the same shortcut every other Mac app uses.

Mac AppStore Search

And now, finally, I can use the same shortcut to search iTunes that I use to search the Mac AppStore, a Web page in Chrome, a spreadsheet in Numbers, or even the draft of a blog post in MarsEdit. Simply hold the Command and F keys to go to the search field.

New iTunes Search

One of the first things I noticed after upgrading to the iCloud compatible iTunes was this fix in functionality. Although it may have appeared earlier, I’ve just noticed it with the recent upgrade to iTunes 10.5.

iTunes Music Store Search

This works whether you’re searching the iTunes Music Store …

iTunes AppStore Search

… the iTunes AppStore …

iTunes Search

… and in your iTunes Music Library, Videos, Apps, Books, etc.

Fixing the iTunes search shortcut may seem like a small change, but it’s so much more convenient to have a uniform shortcut across all apps on the OS.

Have you noticed any other recent changes for the better (or worse) in Lion, the latest version of the Mac OS X operating system? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

It’s OK to Ask (Your Mac) For Help

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Yes, I have a degree in IT. No, that doesn’t mean I automatically know how to use every single feature of every single computer program ever written (I wish!).

Even though this might violate the unofficial “guy code” and the “geek protocol” I’m going to come out and admit to something.

It’s OK to ask for help.

Whoa, you have no idea how much better I feel now! That was really liberating.

Finding help on for Mac apps couldn’t be easier. You can use Google and pray that you type in something that gives you back something relevant or you can the Help Search function built in to every new Mac since late 2007.

If you don’t know how to use Google you’re probably also running Windows and I can’t help you (no one can). Sorry.

If you’re on a Mac, you’re in luck—I’ve got a great little shortcut to share with you.

Show Help

Let’s suppose I’m writing a message in Sparrow and want to copy some text from a Web page in Chrome, but also want it to have the same formatting as the rest of the email.

To find out how to do that hold the Shift, Command, and Forward Slash keys and then — BAM!!!!

Help Menu Search 1

The Help Menu Search comes up for Sparrow (or whatever the active application is). As soon as I start typing, suggested menu items start to appear.

Help Menu Search 2

The more text I type, the more refined the search results appear. I can use the keyboard arrows to select the desired result; how to paste text and match document formatting in this example.

Help Menu Search 3

The popular Webcomic XKCD has perfectly summed up how I go about helping when I’m asked how to do something on a computer with this handy, dandy flowchart.

XKCD Tech Support Flowchart
Image via XKCD

Where do you go for IT help when you don’t know what to do? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Faces

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13 years ago today we made the best and most important decision of our lives and today, I’d like to commemorate it with a photo.

Photo on 9-13-11 at 10.22 PM

Yup, that’s the face I fell in love with—although highly distorted courtesy of PhotoBooth—all those years ago.

I’m convinced that PhotoBooth is responsible for selling more Macs than Steve Jobs.

13 years, three kids, and three continents later and I feel like the adventure is still just beginning. Each day is better than the one before.

After 13 years we’re still laughing with each other at each other. Happy Anniversary, Sugie, I love you! You’re why the sauce is so awesome.

Want to participate in the challenge? Head on over to The Daily Post and follow the instructions below.

1. Each week, [they] provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2011″ or “postaweek2011″ tag.

3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

Now, take a picture that captures this week’s theme and post a link to it in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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Favorite Things: Flare for Mac

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Flare.app Logo

Image via Flare

I’ve got lots of skills (nunchuck skills, computer hacking skills, etc), but one skill I’m severely lacking is image editing. I’m really, really bad at Photoshop.

So, when I learned that Mac software developer and design firm Iconfactory had released Flare,a new image processing app, I was downright excited. In the time since I installed Flare, it has quickly become one of my favorite things.

In addition to being able to do all sorts of standard photo edits within Flare, the app ships with dozens of built-in presets (their equivalent to Photoshop Actions) which allow you to easily apply all kinds of slick edits and effects to your photos.

You can create your own custom presets or download more from the presets section of the Flare homepage for free.

The most popular Mac blogs have already written some terrific reviews about Flare, so I’ll refer to you TUAW, Mac.Appstorm, and MacStories if you’re looking for a comprehensive write up. Rather than tell you what Flare can do for your photos let me just show you.

All images below are from my flickr.

Old Spanish Fort at the Bahía de Juan Griego, Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela

Processed with Flare using the Old View preset.

Bahía de Juan Griego

La Portada, symbol of “El Norte” near Antofagasta, Chilé

Processed with Flare using the Postcard preset.

La Portada

Chilean Alpaca Shepherd near Laguna Chaxa, Chilé

Processed with Flare using the Dusty Film preset.

Chilean Alpacas

Flamingos Natural Reserve at Salar de Atacama, Laguna Chaxa, Chilé

Processed with Flare using the 35 mm Molga Color preset.

Salar de Atacama - Laguna Chaxa

Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), San Pedro de Atacama, Chilé at sunset

Processed with Flare using the Warm preset.

Valle de la Luna

Mai Khao Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Processed with Flare using the LOHO preset.

Mai Khao Beach

Chalong Temple, Phuket, Thailand

Processed with Flare using the Brownie preset.

Buddhist Monks Outside Chalong Temple

Phi Phi Islands off the coast of Phuket, Thailand

Processed with Flare using the Shoebox preset.

Phi Phi Islands

Private Beach at JW Marriott, Phuket, Thailand

Processed with Flare using the Mesochrome 160 preset.

JW Marriott Phuket

The Spot, Carpinteria State Beach, CA

Processed with Flare using the Molga preset.

The Spot

Salt Lake City Temple

Processed with Flare using the Driftwood preset.

SLC Temple

Maxwell Hawker Centre, Singapore

Processed with Flare using the B5-1 preset.

Maxwell Hawker Centre

Flare is currently available both from the Flare homepage and the Mac App Store for about $20. If you’re looking for a quick way to add slick effects to your photos it’s a steal.

If you decide to purchase Flare be sure to join the Made with Flare Flickr Group. It’s a great way to find inspiration as well as to showcase your own favorite creations. I also found 50 more Flare presets courtesy of group member Torley.

What apps or techniques do you use to take your photos to the next level? Sound off in the comments below.