• November 2010

     

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    SAFARI: CUSTOMIZING THE TOOLBAR

    Safari’s Toolbar contains the minimal tools needed to surf the internet.

    To add, rearrange and remove icons from Safari’s Toolbar:
    1. In Safari under the View menu choose Customize Toolbar.
    2. Drag any desired icons from the window onto the Toolbar.
    3. You can also rearrange the icons in the Toolbar and remove the ones that you don’t use by dragging them off the Toolbar while you have the Customize Toolbar window open.

    Some Tools I like to add:
    Smaller/Bigger Big A, Little A because some pages are too small to read and so, adding this tools lets me make content bigger as needed.

    I also like to have a button to quickly get me back to my Home Page.

    MAIL: CHANGING THE BACKGROUND COLOR OF THE PAGE

    Yes, you can change the background color of your emails. With your cursor in the message area, click the Fonts button in the Toolbar. The fourth icon from the left that looks like a dog-eared page, is the tool for the Document Color. Click it and then choose a new color.

    To change the way you view your color choices, click on the different icons in the Color window. I prefer the crayon box, the tool at the far right.

    iPHONE RECEPTION ISSUES

    Cell phones send and receive signals from cell towers. As you drive around town, the signal connects to various towers, handshaking from one to the other. If you drive through an area without a tower (along the 51 through the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, for example) your phone loses connection from the system, if only for a brief minute, and even when it reconnects to the next tower, the signal may not be a 100% handshake. You may notice more dropped calls or voicemails that show up on your phone hours after the call.

    To resolve this issue, AT&T recommends turning off/on your iPhone after you drive through an area with no towers, and also turning your phone off and on at least every two weeks to re-establish full handshaking. Some people get into the habit of turning their phone off every day to ensure the best reception.

    To turn your iPhone off, push and hold the sleep button on the top of the phone until you see a screen with the option “slide to power off.” If you continue to have problems with delayed voicemails and dropped calls, contact AT&T.

     
  • September, 2010

     

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    ADDING FREQUENTLY USED ITEMS TO THE SIDEBAR

    The sidebar is the area on the left column of every window you open in the Finder. It shows Devices (like your Hard Drive and Time Machine Backup Drive), Shared Items and Places.
    Every Mac comes with the same Places listed: Desktop, Applications, your Home, Documents. Pictures, Movies, etc.
    These listed Places can be clicked as a shortcut to get to that item, either when you’re in the Finder, wanting to open something, or when you are Saving a document.
    If you frequently use other folders that you have created, why not add them to the sidebar for easier access?
    1. Locate the item you want to add to the Sidebar
    2. Drag it into the Sidebar. A faint horizontal line with a small circle on the left end will indicate where you are putting it
    The item will still be in its original location–the icon in the Sidebar is just a shortcut to get there.

    THE EASIEST WAY TO RENAME SOMETHING

    1. Locate the item you want to change and click ONCE on it. It will turn a dark blue, indicating the item is selected
    2. Instead of clicking in the words, press the Return key and the words will be highlighted in light blue
    3. Without clicking, type over the existing words. You can press the right or left arrow keys on the keyboard to quickly move to the beginning or end of the existing words.
    4. Press the Return key when you are done.

    RECENT ITEMS

    Your computer remembers the most recent applications and documents you have worked with.

    To quickly return to something you’ve recently used:

    1. Click on the Apple menu
    2. Choose Recent Items
    3. Follow the menu to reveal the list
    4. Click on the item you want to open
    If you have deleted a document, it may still appear in the list, but you will not be able to open it.

    COMPARING PHOTOS IN iPHOTO

    Often you will have two similar pictures and it’s hard to decide which one is better. Instead of looking at one, then the other, you can compare them, side by side.

    1. Click on the first photo

    2. Hold down the Command key and click on the other photo

    3. Click the Edit button in the bottom toolbar

    4. They will open in the Edit mode, side by side

    5. Now you can choose which one to keep or use in your project

    Slow iPhone 3G

    If you have a 3G or 3GS phone and you are experiencing a major slowing down since you upgraded to the new iOS4, try this:

    Turn Off Spotlight:

    1. In Settings, click General
    2. Click Home Button
    3. Remove the check Marks next to everything

    You should notice a major improvement in the speed of things now.

     
  • May, 2010

     

    Adding Signatures to Email

    A signature automatically appears at the bottom of your email. It can be your name, your contact information, even a favorite quote. You can create several different signatures and choose which one you want for a particular email.

    To create a signature:
    First, create a new email message so you have a place to type
    Type everything you want to appear, including choosing the font, size, color
    Highlight it all
    From the Edit menu, choose Copy

    Then, under the Mail menu, choose Preferences
    Click on the Signatures icon
    Click the “+” sign at the bottom of the middle column to create a new signature
    Title it
    In the right column, click the cursor, then, from the Edit menu, choose Paste
    Your typed text will appear
    To actually USE the signature, you have to now assign it to an email account.
    Drag that named signature from the middle column to on top of the email address in the left column that you want to use it with
    Click on that email address and, at the bottom, under Choose Signature, decide whether you always want that signature to appear or, if you choose None, then you can select the signature when you want to use it in a particular email

    Spring Cleaning in Your Inbox
    So many of us receive all kinds of emails from companies, newsletters from organizations, shopping specials from our favorite stores. They can quickly clutter our Inboxes and, often, we don’t even read them.
    Instead of just deleting them, take a moment to UNSUBSCRIBE. At the bottom of every business email you will find a link to change your settings, or Unsubscribe. Click the link, change your preferences and soon, your Inbox will be less cluttered with junk.

    Fun with Facebook
    Facebook is a free online service that allows you to find old friends, share your photos, connect with people with common interests. Facebook allows you to post public comments on your Wall and your friends then see your comments and can comment back. You can even send private notes to your Friends.

    Facebook is a great way to share good news, favorite websites and stay in touch with people.

    The key to using to Facebook is taking the time to set your Privacy Preferences so that the whole world doesn’t have access to your comments and posts.

    To set your Privacy Preferences, log in to your Facebook account

    Click on Account in the top right corner and choose Privacy Settings

    Click on each of the sections and choose WHO can see your information. I recommend only Friends, not even Friends of Friends.

    Also, it is recommended to limit the amount of personal information you share. To change your information, first click on Profile in the top right corner. Then, in the left column under your picture, click Edit Profile.

    If you want to include your birthday, it’s best to not include the year. You can make this choice from the pull down menu below where you enter your birthday.

    You may choose to include your high school if you want to be found by former classmates.

    Be sure to Save Your Changes when you’re done.


    FAVORITE iPHONE APP OF THE MONTH:

    LOSE IT!: If you looking for a way to keep track of what you eat, Lose It! is a great, free app that tracks your meals, your exercise, your weight goals. You enter your foods and the serving size and LOSE IT! keeps a log of the calories consumed. You also enter your exercise and it calculates the calories burned. You can track nutritional values as well. Then, with a click of a button you can see where you are in your daily food and exercise budget.

    And the data automatically uploads to the free LOSE IT! website so you can print spreadsheets of your weekly progress.


     
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