DECEMBER 2008 
RIGHT CLICKING ON A MAC
Right-clicking is incredibly useful. When you right click on a two button mouse, you get most of the available menu items for the item you clicked. If you do not have a two button mouse, simply press Command+Click on the keyboard. On a laptop, you can also tap the trackpad to enable right-clicking by entering System Preferences, selecting Keyboard & Mouse, and then clicking the Trackpad tab. Check the box labeled “Place two fingers on trackpad and click button for secondary click.” Now you can tap two fingers on the trackpad to right-click.
It is possible to know which groups a person is allocated to without opening each and every group. While in Address Book, place your cursor to select any entry in the second column (ie, the NAME column). Then click the Option key.
The groups that this person is part of will 'glow' in yellow. Very cool!!!
HOW TO KNOW WHICH GROUPS AN ADDRESS BOOK CONTACT IS IN
It is possible to know which groups a person is allocated to without opening each and every group. While in Address Book, place your cursor to select any entry in the second column (ie, the NAME column). Then click the Option key.
The groups that this person is part of will 'glow' in yellow. Very cool!!!
NOVEMBER 2008 SCREEN CORNERS
To use Active Screen Corners, first open System Preferences (by selecting it from the Apple Menu). Then, click the "Exposé & Spaces" icon.
In the Exposé tab, you'll see there are four corners that you can activate. To use an Active Screen Corner, just move your mouse all the way into that corner. To reverse the action, just move your mouse out of, and then back into, the same corner.
For each corner, there are several handy options:
All Windows shows you every open window in the current Space.
Application Windows shows you just the windows from the application you're using now.
Desktop temporarily hides your windows, and shows you your desktop.
Dashboard shows your Dashboard.
Spaces shows you all the Spaces you have configured (which you can do in the Spaces tab, if you haven't already).
Start Screen Saver will activate your screen saver.
Disable Screen Saver will prevent your screen saver from appearing. This can be helpful, for example, if you're monitoring a long file copy, or making a presentation.
Sleep Display puts your display to sleep
In the Exposé tab, you'll see there are four corners that you can activate. To use an Active Screen Corner, just move your mouse all the way into that corner. To reverse the action, just move your mouse out of, and then back into, the same corner.
For each corner, there are several handy options:
All Windows shows you every open window in the current Space.
Application Windows shows you just the windows from the application you're using now.
Desktop temporarily hides your windows, and shows you your desktop.
Dashboard shows your Dashboard.
Spaces shows you all the Spaces you have configured (which you can do in the Spaces tab, if you haven't already).
Start Screen Saver will activate your screen saver.
Disable Screen Saver will prevent your screen saver from appearing. This can be helpful, for example, if you're monitoring a long file copy, or making a presentation.
Sleep Display puts your display to sleep
SENDING HUGE EMAIL ATTACHMENTS
Most email servers have a limit to how large an attachment they’ll accept. Most limit an attachment size to 5MB (some even less), and if you email somebody a 6MB file, it’s probably going to get “kicked back” to you as undeliverable. Want to get around that? Use iChat instead. Once you have an iChat session started with someone, you can go under the Buddies menu and choose Send File. Navigate your way to the file you want to send, click OK, and the file will be sent to the person you’re chatting with (and a link to download your file will appear in their iChat window). No matter how big the file size is, it’ll get there.
OCTOBER 2008 
ADDING AN ALARM FOR ALL iCAL EVENTS
If you add alarms and reminders to your iCal events and are tired of putting in one day ("day before") or two days as the time period, iCal offers a feature to resolve this with a little math. Go into iCal's preference pane and look towards the bottom. Check the box that says "Add a default alarm to all new events and invitations." In the box below that, enter the minutes (15 by default).
To get an alarm the day before -- or two or three, etc. days before -- is to simply multiple 60*24 for a day, 60*48 for two days and so on. iCal will recognize that this is a day and by default make the reminder set to the day before.
To get an alarm the day before -- or two or three, etc. days before -- is to simply multiple 60*24 for a day, 60*48 for two days and so on. iCal will recognize that this is a day and by default make the reminder set to the day before.
ADDING COLOR TO YOUR MAIL EMAILS
Did you know that you can make your mail in your email message lists appear in color? It simplifies the search for like items or makes a priority item really stand out. You simply go to Apple's Mail program, add the color wheel to your toolbar (View -> Customize toolbar and drag the colorwheel icon to the toolbar location you want), highlight the message(s) you want color-coded, click on the color wheel and the color you want and voila, instant color coded messages!
SEPTEMBER 2008 
Shortcut for Quick Look
One of the greatest features of Leopard is Quick Look, which allows you to view a file without having to open its application. The usual way to use this is to right-click on the file and choose "Quick Look". The faster way is to click on the file and then hit the space bar. Quick and dirty!!! Like Mikey, try it, you'll like it!
In case you haven't tried it yet, press the question mark key (?) when you have the new iTunes visualizer open for more control options:
New iTunes 8 Visualizer
In case you haven't tried it yet, press the question mark key (?) when you have the new iTunes visualizer open for more control options:
? -- Toggle help screen
M -- Change mode
P -- Change palette
I -- Display track info
C -- Toggle auto-cycle (on by default)
F -- Toggle Freeze mode
N -- Toggle Nebula mode
L -- Toggle Camera Lock
M -- Change mode
P -- Change palette
I -- Display track info
C -- Toggle auto-cycle (on by default)
F -- Toggle Freeze mode
N -- Toggle Nebula mode
L -- Toggle Camera Lock
AUGUST 2008 
Getting Gmail into your Mail application
In Mail, go to Preferences/Accounts. Click the plus ( ) and type in your Gmail address and password. Make sure "Setup Automatically" is selected. Click "Create" and Mail will automatically set everything up. Yes, it is that easy. One of the many reasons to love your Mac. If for some reason this did not work, then follow these directions to set it up manually:
Open Apple Mail. Click ‘Mail,’ and select ‘Preferences…’
Open the ‘Accounts’ tab, and click the plus sign ( ) along the bottom to add a new account.
Enter ‘pop.gmail.com’ in the ‘Incoming Mail Server:’ field.
Enter your Gmail username (including ‘@gmail.com’) in the ‘User Name:’ field.
Enter your Gmail password in the ‘Password:’ field.
Select ‘Add Server…’ from the pop-up labeled ‘Outgoing Mail Server,’ and enter ’smtp.gmail.com’ in the ‘Outgoing Mail Server:’ field.
Enter ‘587′ in the ‘Server port:’ field.
Check the box next to ‘Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).’
Select ‘Password’ next to ‘Authentication:’ and enter your Gmail username (including ‘@gmail.com) and Gmail password.
Click ‘OK.’
Click ‘Advanced’ and check the box next to ‘Use SSL.’ (The port changes to ‘995.’)
Voila!!Open the ‘Accounts’ tab, and click the plus sign ( ) along the bottom to add a new account.
Enter ‘pop.gmail.com’ in the ‘Incoming Mail Server:’ field.
Enter your Gmail username (including ‘@gmail.com’) in the ‘User Name:’ field.
Enter your Gmail password in the ‘Password:’ field.
Select ‘Add Server…’ from the pop-up labeled ‘Outgoing Mail Server,’ and enter ’smtp.gmail.com’ in the ‘Outgoing Mail Server:’ field.
Enter ‘587′ in the ‘Server port:’ field.
Check the box next to ‘Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).’
Select ‘Password’ next to ‘Authentication:’ and enter your Gmail username (including ‘@gmail.com) and Gmail password.
Click ‘OK.’
Click ‘Advanced’ and check the box next to ‘Use SSL.’ (The port changes to ‘995.’)
JULY 2008 Expose your desktop with Exposé
Mac OS X offers a simple way to see what's on your desktop when you have a lot of windows open. It’s called Exposé, and here’s how you can use it.
Press the F9 key and Exposé instantly creates thumbnails of the open windows and displays them neatly on your screen. Click the window you want, and Exposé brings it to the front, switching automatically to the appropriate application.
You can press the F10 key to create thumbnails of the open windows of your current application. Or F11 to move all open windows to the side, so you can see the files on your desktop.
Press the F9 key and Exposé instantly creates thumbnails of the open windows and displays them neatly on your screen. Click the window you want, and Exposé brings it to the front, switching automatically to the appropriate application.
You can press the F10 key to create thumbnails of the open windows of your current application. Or F11 to move all open windows to the side, so you can see the files on your desktop.
Use Spotlight for Quick Math Calculations
Spotlight can be used to perform simple calculations, such as 190*42. Just type it in, and it spits out the answer. For those who may be unfamiliar with keyboard mathematical symbols, here’s a quick rundown:
* is multiplication, / is division, ^ is to the power of (exponents), ! is factorial, and then of course there’s and - for addition and subtraction, respectively.
* is multiplication, / is division, ^ is to the power of (exponents), ! is factorial, and then of course there’s and - for addition and subtraction, respectively.
JUNE 2008 To Save a YouTube video
If you want to save a YouTube video (or other online video), go to the site using Safari. Then go to Window in the toolbar and click on Activity. Open the little arrow and double click on the largest file. That will download the video to your downloads folder.
MAY 2008 Apply action to many windows
Press Command-Option-W to immediately close all windows. Likewise, if you hold down the Option key while pressing the red, yellow and green buttons in the upper left hand corner of a Finder window, you apply the corresponding action to all open windows:
Option yellow minimizes all windows to the Dock
Option green maximizes all windows
Option red closes all windows
Keep your desktop neat and tidy by dismissing all open Finder windows in a snap.
For those of you who receive video links and are having a hard time opening them or watching them, I recommend you download two free plug-ins: Adobe’s Flashplayer 9 and Flip4Mac. Here are their website links: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash and http://www.flip4mac.com/wmv_download.htm
Option yellow minimizes all windows to the Dock
Option green maximizes all windows
Option red closes all windows
Keep your desktop neat and tidy by dismissing all open Finder windows in a snap.
Necessary video applications
For those of you who receive video links and are having a hard time opening them or watching them, I recommend you download two free plug-ins: Adobe’s Flashplayer 9 and Flip4Mac. Here are their website links: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash and http://www.flip4mac.com/wmv_download.htm
APRIL 2008 
Save Mail attachments directly to iPhoto
If you simply click the Save button, Mail will save all of that message’s attachments. But Mail can do more with attachments, as long as you know the secret: click and hold on the Save button, and a menu appears, listing each attached file’s name along with a Save As button. Select any individual file, and you’ll save just that attachment to disk. But the really nice feature is the final menu item—Add to iPhoto. That’s right; with one button click-and-hold, you can add all of a message’s attached images to iPhoto. There’s no selecting to be done here, however—choose this one, and all of the attached images are imported into iPhoto. Still, if you have relatives who are constantly sending updated kid pictures, this little menu can be a timesaver.
Spotlight where a file is....
The idea behind Spotlight is that it will find the file you want, and then open that file for you, so you can start working on it immediately. But what if you just want to know where the file is, and not necessarily open it? (For example, what if you just want to know where it is, so you can burn a backup copy to a CD?) To do that, once the results appear in the spotlight menu, just hold the Command key and then click on the file. This will close Spotlight and open the Finder window where your file is. Or if you want Spotlight open, just click on the file and press Command-R, which will open a Finder window with the file selected, leaving the spotlight dialog open.
Address Book: See Which Groups They’re In
If you have a contact that appears in more than one Group, you can instantly see which of your Groups this individual appears in by simply clicking on his or her contact and holding the Option key. When you do this, every Group that they appear within will become highlighted.
This is handy if you want to clean up your Groups by deleting extra instances of people who appear in multiple Groups.
MARCH 2008 Leopard's QuickLook is the cat's meow!
Those of you who have OS 10.5, aka Leopard, have a terrific new tool ready to use without setting anything up. It is called Quick Look and it essentially gives you a full view of any file you have. Simply click on the file you want to take a quick peek at and then either press the spacebar key OR ⌘-Y. You will be amazed at what a big time saver this little gem is!
Get Maps instantly in Address Book
To get an instant map to any address, just control-click on the address field of a contact card (or right-click if you have a two-button mouse). Then select Map Of. This command opens Safari (if it’s not already open) and reveals the address in Google Maps.
This trick isn’t just confined to Address Book: Leopard can detect street addresses within Mail as well. When your cursor hovers over a street address in an email, a dotted rectangle surrounds it and a small gray triangle appears. Click on the triangle and select Show Map... to see the address in Google Maps.
FEBRUARY 2008 Surf Privately!
To keep you safe when you visit sites on a borrowed or public computer, Safari offers an option called Private Browsing. When it’s activated, Safari stops adding the sites you visited to History, removes items you’ve downloaded from the Downloads window, eliminates personal data from AutoFill, and doesn’t add your search terms to the pop-up menu in the Google search box.
It's easy to restore stuff in Mail, iPhoto, or any folder from TimeMachine: before clicking on TimeMachine in the Dock, make sure that the topmost window on your desktop is the one you want to restore to. For example, if you want to restore something to Mail, make sure Mail's main window is displayed on top of any other windows, with the mailbox you need to restore selected (for example, Inbox or any of your other mailboxes). When you start TimeMachine, it will startup showing Mail open to that mailbox and display a message telling you to click to restore that mailbox. Then all you need to do is slide TimeMachine back to the time when your message was still present and click to restore.
The same is true for any folder or album in iPhoto, or for any folder in your Home or other directories. Pretty cool. You can try this out without actually restoring to see how it works.
The same is true for any folder or album in iPhoto, or for any folder in your Home or other directories. Pretty cool. You can try this out without actually restoring to see how it works.
JANUARY 2008 Backup your Address Book
There are few things more annoying than losing your entire Address Book that you have carefully created over the past year or two. One way to backup your entire Address Book is to select everyone in the Name column (or just select the important names), then drag that block of names to the Desktop. This creates a vCard file that you can then store on another disk for safekeeping. You can also send this vCard to someone else on a Mac; she double-clicks on it and the addresses get automatically entered in her Address Book.
DECEMBER 2007 
Want to share photos between 2 Macs?
You have to go into both computers and activate sharing in the iPhoto Preferences, under the Sharing tab. Then go to firewall in system preferences and you will be given the option to disable firewall, which will allow for the transfer and import of pictures from one computer to another. When finished, you should reverse your steps and ultimately uncheck the sharing images box in the iPhoto preferences.
Converting a file to JPEG, TIFF, Photoshop, etc.
Want to change most any graphic into a Photoshop file? Just open the file in Preview, go under the File menu, and choose Save As…, where you can export your graphic in Photoshop format, or JPEG, PICT, BMP (for sharing files with PC users), PICT, Targa (for video), and more. If the format you’re saving in has options (such as quality and compression settings for JPEG and TIFF images), they will appear near the bottom of the dialog.
NOVEMBER 2007
Resizing Photos for Emailing
After you attach a photo to your email message (you can just drag-and-drop the image into the New Message window), in Mail, take a look in the bottom-right corner of your email message window, and you’ll see a pop-up menu where you can choose the Image Size you’d like to send. As soon as you choose a size (other than Actual Size), the image is immediately scaled down right within the email message window so you can see the exact size of the photo you’re sending.
OCTOBER 2007 iPods as photo storage
Use Preview to quickly browse photos
Browse a group of photos full-size quickly and easily with trusty Preview.app. Avoid the load of iPhoto and the tiny thumbnails of Finder: highlight all the photos you'd like to see (hold down the Shift or Command key as you click the files in Finder) and Ctrl click. From the context menu, choose Open With > Preview, and the images will open in a single Preview.app window simultaneously, with thumbnails in the drawer for quick navigation between them
MAY 2007 Sorting Images in Preview
One of the great things about Preview is that you can select multiple documents and they will all appear in the side Drawer. You can sort these documents by dragging them around, but there is a better way to sift through them than that. By Control clicking (or right-click on a 2 button mouse) on one of the images in the Drawer, a contextual menu will appear. You can then sort the images by Name, Path, Date, Size, Kind, or Keyword.
APRIL 2007
Dropping Text on the Dock for Fast Results
Dropping Text on the Dock for Fast Results
Let’s say you’re reading an article online, and you read a sentence that you want to email to a friend. Don’t do the copy-and-paste thing. Instead, just highlight the text and drag-and-drop it right on the Mail icon in the Dock. It will open Mail and put that sentence into a new mail message. This tip also works in other Cocoa applications like TextEdit, Stickies, and Safari. For example, if you’re reading a story and want to do a Google search on something you’ve read, just highlight the text and drag-and-drop it on the Safari icon in the Dock. It will launch Safari and display the Google Search Results. 
MARCH 2007 Resizing Photos for Emailing
After you attach a photo to your email message in Apple's Mail program (you can just drag-and-drop the image into the New Message window), take a look in the bottom-right corner of your email message window, and you’ll see a pop-up menu where you can choose the Image Size you’d like to send. As soon as you choose a size (other than Actual Size), the image is immediately scaled down right within the email message window so you can see the exact size of the photo you’re sending.
FEBRUARY 2007 
Easy way to copy a website
Just click on the address on the header and drag and drop it onto your desktop. It will then be available at any time for you to click on that desktop link and open when you double click. Easiest is to drag the little icon that appears at the very beginning of the website address.
Scanning a negative is better than a photo 
Did you know that you will get a better image quality if you scanned the negative of your photo rather than the photo itself? The reason is that the photo degrades quicker and the processor probably tweaked the final result. So, scan your negatives! Note that there are a lot of scanners that scan negatives and slides as well as prints for under $200?
JANUARY 2007
Simplify Your Dock
Simplify Your Dock
Many people clutter their Docks with applications, but aren't aware that you can reduce this clutter by instead placing folders containing application aliases in the Dock. You can then access any of those applications by holding your mouse button on the folder icon in the Dock. Try this: create a new folder in a handy location, then fill it full of aliases to applications you often use. Or make several folders to categorize your applications. Drag those folders to your Dock.
You can then access any of those applications by just holding your mouse button down on its folder in the Dock. A list of the aliases in that folder will appear, from which you can choose an application to launch. (You can also drag a document onto one of those icons to open it.) When you're happy with your Dock folders, remove the old application icons from your Dock by just dragging them off of it.
You can then access any of those applications by just holding your mouse button down on its folder in the Dock. A list of the aliases in that folder will appear, from which you can choose an application to launch. (You can also drag a document onto one of those icons to open it.) When you're happy with your Dock folders, remove the old application icons from your Dock by just dragging them off of it.
Easily Email a Website Link
In Safari 2.0 (included in Tiger), when you find a web page you want to share with someone, you can easily send its URL to them in an email message. While Safari is displaying the Web page, press Command/Shift/I (or choose File > Mail Link To This Page). Your default email application will launch and create a new message that contains the URL and has the Web page's title in its subject field. Just address the message and add your own personalized note if you like. DECEMBER 2006How to regain some hard disk space
1.) Download a great, free little program called MONOLINGUAL which removes all those unnecessary language resources which take up a lot of disk storage on your hard drives. Click on the link and all is explained. I save over 2GB by just keeping English, French and Spanish languages.
2.) If you do not use GarageBand (one of the iLife programs), go to /Library/Application Support and trash the GarageBand folder, which contains many gigabytes of loops and songs.
3.) There are probably a lot of applications that you will never use. Just drag them from the Applications folder to the Trash. M
2.) If you do not use GarageBand (one of the iLife programs), go to /Library/Application Support and trash the GarageBand folder, which contains many gigabytes of loops and songs.
3.) There are probably a lot of applications that you will never use. Just drag them from the Applications folder to the Trash. M
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