Calendar Trick

I tend to work with my calendar in Month view, so that I can get an overview of my work schedule and not overextend myself or overbook. But then, I want to be able to quickly go to a certain day to see the details.

To quickly switch from Month View to Day View so that I can see everything on a particular date, double click on the number of the date.

For more great ways to use Calendar, sign up for the upcoming THE ORGANIZED MAC class.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Secret Tools

Did you know that iOS 7 includes a handy compass? And a level?

The Compass app shows your current city and state next to the compass reading and it also displays full latitude and longitude coordinates below. And if you want to follow a particular bearing (for example, 17 degrees northwest), you can tap the compass face once to set it. As you move around, the compass draws a red arc on the inside of the circle, showing how far you’re deviating from your original course.

But did you know there’s also a handy level?

Open the Compass app, calibrate it as directed, then swipe to the left to reveal the level.

To use the level, place your iPad or iPhone flat on its back. Two overlapping white circles appear with a degree of measurement in the center. As you adjust the level, the circles change until they overlap perfectly for more than a few seconds. When it is level, the background will turn bright green.

Hold your device in landscape or portrait, and you access a rectangular level, dividing the screen into white and red rectangles. When the white rectangle reaches equilibrium with the red rectangle, the latter turns bright green.

If it’s not working correctly, quit the Compass app, re-open it and calibrate again.

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Safari Settings

A reader recently asked: “When I click on Safari, instead of just the Google page coming up, there is a page titled: Top Sites. How do I return to just the Google page?”

The newest version of Safari may have changed your default settings, including what shows when you first open Safari.

1. In Safari, under the Safari menu choose Preferences

2. Click the General tab

3. This is where you choose what you want to appear when you open Safari.
If you don’t use Top Sites, change to Homepage

4. This is also where you can set what the Homepage is

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Navigating in Safari

iOS 7 changed how you navigate with Safari. When a page opens, you can see the Address Bar at the top, but as you peruse the page, that bar disappears. So do the Forward and Back arrows, and the other icons at the bottom of the screen

So how do you get back to searching?

Tap the top area where you expect the Address Bar to be and it will re-appear. The tools at the bottom also return.

Tap it again to highlight the current address so you can type a new search in the box.

To return to a page you recently visited, tap the Pages icon at the bottom right.
Close any pages you’re done with by tapping the X

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Changing Passwords

Last week’s Heartbleed bug affected the security of many favorite websites. This Money Magazine article from April 11 suggests that you change your passwords on several top sites, including Gmail, Yahoo and Facebook.

You do not need to change any of your Apple passwords!

Your iCloud password and all of your passwords that are stored in Apple’s iCloud Keychain are secure.

As you visit sites where you have since changed a password, iCloud Keychain will ask if you want to save the new password. Say yes.

TIPS FOR CREATING A SECURE PASSWORD:

When choosing a new password, consider something more cryptic, even if it is hard to remember. Experts suggest choosing a sentence or phrase and taking the first letters of each word, combining capital and lowercase letters and also including some numbers.

For example, the phrase: take me to the beach this year
could be the password tM2tB14

And every time you type it, you’ll think about taking yourself to the beach.

Experts also recommend having four different user name and passwords… one for low level usage, like when you have to give an email address, one for your email accounts, one for high level things like banking and purchases, and one in the middle for everything else.

I recommend that you write everything down in a notebook. And if you need it online, at least save it in a password-protected document on a secure cloud server like iCloud.

If you’re looking for an online password solution, 1PASSWORD gets high marks from many of my clients. They’re offering a 20% off special here: https://agilebits.com/store

And remember, when you change your Gmail or Yahoo passwords on their websites, you’ll also have to change it in the Mail settings on your Mac, iPhone and iPad.

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Auto Typing with Text Expander

Users of Mavericks can now take advantage of a built-in text expander. If you type the same phrases, you can create shortcuts for this frequently uses text.

Let’s say you often type “Love you much” in your emails.

You can create a shortcut so that, when you type LYM it will automatically type the complete phrase.

1. From the Apple menu, open System Preferences

2. Click on the Keyboard icon

3. Click on the Text tab

4. Click the + at the bottom of the left column to create a new shortcut

5. Type the shortcut keys and the full text in the appropriate spaces

6. Close System Preferences

7. Open up Mail or a word processing document and try it!

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Auto Typing With Text Expander

Do you type the same phrases all of the time on your iPad or iPhone? You can create shortcuts for these frequently used sentences.

Let’s say you often type “Love you much” in your emails.

You can create a shortcut so that, when you type LYM it will automatically type the complete phrase.

1. Tap Settings

2. Tap General

3. Scroll all the way down to Keyboard

4. Scroll down to Shortcuts

5. Tap Add New Shortcut…

6. Type in the complete phrase, ie: Love you much!

7. Next to “Shortcut” type the letters you want to use for that phrase, ie: lym

8. Tap SAVE

9. Open up Mail and try it!

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Cookies, Explained

When you walk into any store these days, you are giving them permission to film you on their surveillance videos, to know that you’ve been in their store. Cookies do the same thing. They give the website owners information about you as a consumer.

If you turn off all cookies, you won’t be able to access most websites. But you can control who has access to your information.

1. In Safari, under the Safari menu, choose Preferences
2. Click on the Privacy icon
3. Next to Cookies and other website data, click on the Details button
4. You’ll see a list of every website that you’ve visited
5. Click on one or hold down the Command key to select more than one
6. Click to Remove
You can choose to Remove All, but then you may have to reenter information the next time you visit that website
7. Make it a habit to clear out cookies data regularly, especially from sites your no longer visit so that they are no longer gathering information about you

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Battery Life

To get the most battery life out of your iPad and iPhone, completely cycle it once a month.

1. Charge it to 100%
2. Drain it down to 0 (until it automatically shuts off)
3. Then charge it all the way to 100% again

Plugging the device into a power outlet will charge it faster than plugging it into your computer. Also, Apple branded chargers work must faster than thitd party brands.