Getting Your Mac Ready for Mavericks, the new OS

Mavericks, Apple’s new OS for Mac is packed with a new look and lots of new features.

As with any upgrade, you may want to wait until they iron out some of the bugs before you jump in. And before you rush to upgrade, you’ll want to make sure your Mac is ready for the new OS.

1. Confirm that your Mac will work with Mavericks

For a complete list of compatible Macs and software requirements, check out Apple’s www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/

2. Back up!

If you are not already using Time Machine to automatically back up your computer, now is the time to invest. Get an external hard drive, plug it in and follow the on-screen prompts.

3. Clean Up!

Mavericks requires 8GB of space on the hard drive for installation. For most computers this won’t be an issue, but MacBook Air users may be pressed for space.

Delete old files
Clear out the Downloads folder
Delete any apps that you never use
Archive your older photos to DVDs or another external drive

4. Run Disk Utility!

In the same way that you clean out your physical file drawers, throwing out old papers and then smooshing the file folders to create more space, you can have the Mac do a similar kind of cleaning up.

1. From the Desktop, click on the GO menu and choose Utilities, and then open Disk Utility
or, using Spotlight, type in Disk Utility and open in

2. In the left column, click on the icon of Macintosh HD, your internal hard drive

3. Click Repair Disk Permissions

It may take a while, even a long while, to complete the task.

If it reports errors that were fixed, Click Repair Disk Permissions again to run it again.

5. Confirm that your apps are Mavericks compatible!

While most software will still work with the new OS, you need to confirm this! Check out www.roaringapps.com for a complete compatibility list.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

In Case of Emergency

If you are in an accident and can’t communicate, officials will check your phone for an emergency contact person. To make it easy for them to find the correct person, add an entry in your Contacts for ICE (in case of emergency):
1. In Contacts, click the + to add a new person
2. Enter the person’s first and last name
3. In the Company field, type ICE
4. Click the box next to company to have Contacts list that person under the company name
5. Enter the appropriate contact information
6. Click Done
7. You’ll now have an entry in Contacts under the letter ‘I” for ICE

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Is Your Mac Running Slow?

Here are three quick remedies to increase the performance of your Mac:

1. Restart your computer at least once a week

2. Quit any Apps that are open that you don’t use regularly

3. Repair Permissions

In the same way that you clean out your physical file drawers, throwing out old papers and then smooshing the file folders to create more space, you can have the Mac do a similar kind of cleaning up.

1. From the Desktop, click on the GO menu and choose Utilities, and then open Disk Utility
or, using Spotlight, type in Disk Utility and open in

2. In the left column, click on the icon of Macintosh HD, your internal hard drive

3. Click Repair Disk Permissions

It may take a while, even a long while, to complete the task.

If it reports errors that were fixed, Click Repair Disk Permissions again to run it again.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

iCal Tip

If you are looking at your calendar in the Month mode and want to quickly see the Day view, turn your device sideways. (This may not work with iOS7 on the iPad)

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Saving Photos You Receive In An Email

There’s no need to keep an email just so that you have access to the pictures. Instead, save them right in to iPhoto.

1. Open the email.

2. In Lion and Mountain Lion Mail, first click Show Details.

3. Then click and hold down the SAVE button and choose Add to iPhoto.

4. iPhoto will open and the pictures will be added to your iPhoto Library.

5. Now you can delete the email.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Adding a Person’s Photo to Their Contact Info

It’s fun to have a person’s face appear when you are receiving an incoming call from them on your iPhone or a FaceTime call.

1. Find the person in your Contacts.

2. Tap Edit.

3. In the top left next to their name tap the circle that says Add Photo.

4. You can either take a picture of them or choose a photo from your Camera Roll.

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Facebook Security Settings

Facebook is THE social media program for connecting with friends and colleagues and meeting new people. People share photos, inspirational quotes, details about meetings. And many businesses are using Facebook to offer discounts and daily specials.

You can participate as much or as little as you want to.

But it’s important to set your privacy settings and notifications so that YOU have control over who sees what and what you you see.

Here’s a free guide to help you set up your Facebook account to ensure privacy and connection with only the people you want to connect with.

If you’d like to Friend me on Facebook, I’m RuthRDavis.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Fast Access to Drafts

Often, you may start writing an email on your mobile device, but decide to finish it later. If you tap Cancel, you get the option to Save the email as a Draft.

To quickly access the draft to finish it, tap and hold the Compose icon (pen and paper) and it will show a list of all drafts that you created on your iPhone or iPad.

Sorry, drafts written on your Mac do NOT appear in this list.

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Fast Printing

Instead of opening up a document in order to print it, you can drag the icon of the document onto the printer icon in the Dock.

To get your printer into the Dock, open any document and print it. The printer icon will appear briefly in the Dock as it is printing. Click and hold the cursor on the icon and choose Options. Choose Keep in Dock.

Now, anytime you need to print something, just drag it onto the Printer icon.

iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Don’t Type Periods

Instead of actually typing a period at the end of a sentence, double-tap the space bar and it will put in a period and a space so you can just start typing the next sentence.

If this feature doesn’t work:

1. Tap Settings

2. Tap General

3. Tap Keyboard

4. Turn the “.” Shortcut ON

iOS 7 iPhone and iPad Tip of the Week

Essential Guide to iOS 7

I must admit, my first reaction to the new iOS7 was frustration and crankiness. I didn’t like the new colors and motion. I resented the change in swipe directions and the repositioning of buttons.

But then I had a change of heart.

Even though I still didn’t like the new look, my brain was learning new things, creating new neural pathways, which staves off dementia. So thanks, Apple, for giving my brain a workout!

If you have upgraded to OS7, you’ll want to check out Mac2School’s Essential Guide to iOS7.

Be sure to save it or print it for easy access–it’s packed with tips and shortcuts to help you get used to the new look and feel of the OS.

Get the Free iOS7 Guide here.

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Finding Words on Web Pages

Even though there is no visible Search tool, you can search any web page in Safari, even your FaceBook news feed.

1. From the Edit menu choose Find or hold down the Command key and type F

2. A search box appears in the top right of the toolbar

3. Type the text you’re looking for and press the Return key

4. It will tell you how many there are and the first match will be highlighted

5. Press the Return key again to move to the next match

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Don’t Bother Typing Periods

Instead of actually typing a period at the end of a sentence, double-tap the space bar and it will put in a period followed by a space so you can just start typing the next sentence.

If this feature doesn’t work:

1. Tap Settings

2. Tap General

3. Tap Keyboard

4. Turn the “.” Shortcut ON

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Opening Links in New Tabs in Safari

Searching on the internet usually means doing a Google search, clicking on each of the suggested sites, and clicking the back button to return to the list of Google’s suggested sites.

What if there were an easier way to see those pages without leaving the list of results?

Some folks use Tabs all of the time. Others prefer to open each new page and use the Back button to navigate. (You can set this preference under the Safari menu, Preferences.)

But Safari allows you to combine both ways to navigate.

Anytime you see a link in Safari and you want to open that link without leaving your current page:

Hold the Command key when you click it.

It won’t look like much different but if you look toward the top of that window below the Bookmarks Bar, you’ll see a new tab has been opened with the desired link.

The Back button is not active because you never left the original page. Instead, to close the current page, hover on the tab at the top of the page, below the Bookmarks Bar and click the X or to return to the original page, simply click on that Tab.

If you’re stuck and can’t get back to where you want to go, you can Quit Safari and all will return to normal.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Selecting Photos to Share or Delete

To select a single photo or more than one to share (or delete):

1. Tap the Photos icon on the Home screen

2. Tap Edit in the top right corner

3. Tap the photos you want to select and a check mark will appear on the photos

4. Tap Share (or Delete) from the bottom toolbar

5. Choose Email, FaceBook, etc

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Missing Folders in Mail

Where did all of my folders go?! Many clients are emailing me in a panic.

The triangles that used to appear next to ON MY MAC and iCLOUD and GMAIL that you could click on the reveal your folders are gone.

To see your folders, hover your mouse over ON MY MAC and iCLOUD and GMAIL where the folders used to be and you’ll see the word SHOW on the right side.

Click SHOW and all of your folders will appear.

Phew!

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Adding a Person’s Photo to their Contact Info

It’s fun to have a person’s face appear when you are receiving an incoming call from them on your iPhone or a FaceTime call on your iPad or iPhone.

1. Find the person in your Contacts

2. Tap Edit

3. In the top left next to their name tap the square that says Add Photo

4. You can either take a picture of them or choose a photo from your Camera Roll

5. Now, whenever they call or FaceTime, you’ll see their photo. FUN!

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Emptying the Cache in Safari

Safari’s Cache makes pages that you’ve previously loaded open faster. Often it’s because it’s opening an older version of that page. Sometimes refreshing or reloading a page will bring up the newer version, but sometimes it’s best to Empty the Cache.

In previous versions of Safari, it was easy and clear how to Empty the Cache. Under the Safari menu you choose Empty Cache.

With Lion and Mountain Lion and the newest versions of Safari, Empty Cache is no longer a choice under the Safari menu.

1. Under the Safari menu choose Preferences

2. Click on the Advanced icon

3. At the bottom of the window put a check next to Show develop menu in menu bar

4. Close Preferences

5. You’ll see you now have a new menu across the top called Develop

6. Under the Develop menu, about half way down, choose Empty Cache

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Bar Code and QR Code Scanning

A reader recently asked about bar code and Q scanning with her iPhone. There are several free apps that allow you to take a photo of a bar code or QR Code with your iPhone or iPad. Search the App Store for Bar Code Scanning to see the choices.

The codes reveal all kinds of information including:

– Prices from over 30 different online retailers including Amazon, Home Depot, Macy’s, Best Buy, Target, and more
– Local prices to find out if the product is sold near you (US only)
– Millions of customer reviews from Amazon & Best Buy
– Related deals & coupons
– Related accessories
– Nutritional information & ingredients (US only)

 

New Screen Savers in Mountain Lion

Mountain Lion users no longer have that wonderful Mosaic Screen Saver option. Instead, Apple has introduced more than a dozen new options for displaying your photos when you’re not actively using your Mac.

To set your Screen Saver:

1. From the Apple menu choose System Preferences

2. Click on the Desktop & Screen Saver icon

3. Click on the Screen Saver tab

4. In the left column, choose one of the styles. It will show a preview of what it will do

5. Next to Source, you can choose the most recently added photos or, to access a specific album or event in iPhoto, choose iPhoto Library

6. Click on the desired album or Event

There are also 43 stunning photographs of nature, the cosmos and others from National Geographic that you can choose as your Screen Saver from the source list.

BONUS TIP:

You can access these 43 additional photos in the Collections to use elsewhere.

1. From the Desktop click on the GO menu

2. Choose Go To Folder

3. Copy and paste this link:

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/Default Collections/

4. Scroll through the different folders

5. If you View by Column or Coverflow you can see a preview of each image

6. If you find one you like, drag it to the Desktop so you can easily move it to another folder for safe keeping or choose it for your Desktop Picture

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Numbers and Punctuation

If you press the 123 key, the keyboard layout switches to numbers and punctuation. Then you have to press ABC again to get back to the letter keyboard.

Here’s a shortcut:

Tap and HOLD the 123 key and slide to the number you need. When you release, the keyboard will automatically switch back to the letters.

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Back to Basics: Creating Folders

A reader who’s been using his Mac for years recently wrote and asked how to create a simple folder and place existing documents into it.

As with all things Mac, there are several ways to accomplish this task.

If you are using Snow Leopard or earlier versions of the Mac OS:

1. First click on the Desktop (or be in the folder where you want this new folder to go)

2. From the File menu choose New Folder or Right Click on the Desktop and choose New Folder

3. An Untitled Folder will appear with the words highlighted

4. Without clicking or moving the mouse, type a name for this new folder and press the Return key when you’re done

5. Now you can drag files and documents on top of this folder to put them in it

If you are using Lion or Mountain Lion, you could do it this way or,

1. Highlight the documents you want to put into a new folder

2. From the File menu choose New Folder With Selection or Right Click on one of the selected files and choose New Folder With Selection

3. Title the folder and press the REturn key when you’re done

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Format Text in Email

Did you know that you can bold, italicize and even underline text in Mail? And you can indent paragraphs too.

1. Select the text you want to change

2. Tap the right arrow at the far right of the Cut, Copy, Paste menu

3. Tap BIU to change the format or Quote Level if you want to indent

4. Tap your desired format choice

5. Tap on the page to get out of the menu

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Setting Reminders in iCal

iCal is great for keeping track of appointments, birthdays, and other important dates. One of the features in iCal is that you can set a reminder so that you are alerted minutes or even days before the event.

To set an alert:

1. Double-click on the event

2. Choose Edit

3. Next to the word Alert click on the menu choice

4. Choose whether you want to be reminded with an onscreen message, email, etc.

5. If you’ve chosen Message, choose when and at what time

6. You can change the number of days by clicking on the number showing and typing

7. If you’ve chosen to receive an email notification, choose which email address to receive it (if you have more than one) and when

8. Be sure to click DONE for your settings to take effect

Learn more about iCal with The Virtual Classroom video lessons. Check them out at
http://www.mac2school.com/virtual-ical-lion/ for Lion and Mountain Lion
or http://www.mac2school.com/virtual-ical-snow/ for Snow Leopard.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Add a Web Page to the Home Screen

If you have a few favorite websites that you always go to on Safari, why not make them be icons on your home page for faster, easier access?

This is especially helpful if you are a Kindle reader, since the Kindle app no longer includes a button to go the the Kindle Store.

1. Open Safari
2. Go to the desired website
3. Click the “+” to Add a Bookmark but instead of choosing Add a Bookmark
4. Tap Add to Home Screen

Now that site is just a tap away.

To Add the Kindle store:

1. Go to Amazon.com
2. Search for Kindle ebooks
3. Click the “+” to Add a Bookmark
4. Instead of choosing Add a Bookmark, tap Add to Home Screen

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Claim More Desk Space: Move The Deck

The Dock is that strip on the bottom of your Desktop with all of the icons on it. It’s a handy tool for quickly opening all of your favorite programs.

Most computer screens are wider than they are tall, and the Dock takes up precious screen space. Some people solve this issue by Hiding the Dock.

If you like to see your Dock, but still want more screen space, consider moving it to the side.

Under the Apple menu, choose Dock.

Slide the mouse over and choose Position on Right or Left.

It may take a day or two to get used to the new location, but I think you’ll really appreciate the full screen space.

For more great tips about the Dock, the Desktop and more efficient ways to use the Finder, check out the ALL ABOUT THE FINDER video lessons in the Virtual Classroom.

iPad and iPhone Tip of the Week

Selecting More Than One Photo

It’s pretty simple to email one photo:

1. Tap the Photos icon on the Home screen

2. Tap the Photo

3. Tap the arrow icon in the top right corner

4. Select Email Photo

To select more than one photo at a time to email (or delete):

1. Tap the Photos icon on the Home screen

2. Tap the arrow icon in the top right corner

3. Now tap the photos you want to send and a check mark will appear on the photos

4. Tap Share in the top left corner

5. Choose Email