SCO0169 - Mac Hints & Tips Montage - 02 [Extra! members only]

oct2008
As promised, the second of an occasional series of various hints and tips on getting the most out of your mac. Instead of the show focussing on a single piece of software or subject, I mix it up with several unrelated hints and tips on various aspects of using a mac. Each tip is directly accessible via chapter marks so you can either watch all the tips in sequence or jump straight to the tip you'd like.

This week, the tips include:

Numbers and OS X: Easily set up OS X keyboard shortcuts to access your most commonly used menu items. I found a few frustrations in switching over from Excel in that my normal keyboard shortcuts were not available in Numbers. A few clicks later and I was able to replicate them in Numbers and boost my productivity at a stroke! The really neat thing is that you can use the same technique for creating your own customised keyboard shortcuts in all your favourite applications.
Numbers
Numbers: Another frustration was the absence of the Excel command for "Convert to Columns" to convert imported CSV files. Whenever I imported CSV (Comma Separated Variable) files, they didn't format properly! The answer was blindingly obvious and you'll kick yourself if this has been tripping you up too. All is revealed in this weeks show.
Numbers
Safari: Despite all the choices we have as mac users with a plethora of browsers, I still keep coming back to Safari as my browser of choice. It's fast, fully compliant and integrates fully with the iPhone. Safari also has some pretty nifty features on how it handles tabs, windows and bookmarks including integration with address book. This section alone gives half a dozen tips on getting the most out of Safari
safari
iTunes: Following on from the recent show covering iTunes 8, another feature is the inclusion of artwork for Genres in Album view. It can get a bit messy when you have none standard genres and no artwork. This tip shows you how to access a free utility to manage and update your iTunes genres artwork plus gives you access to some free genre artwork via Flickr.
itunes
OS X, Launchbar, Google Translate: This tip allows you to set up your mac to do virtually instant translation of foreign language text snippets. Frustrated by not being able to follow my non English speaking friends on Twitter, this tip shows you how to use Launchbar and the Google Translate service to quickly and easily translate virtually any language to any other language using a few simple keystrokes. Even if you're not a Launchbar user, you can still utilise copy and paste and the Google Translate service to accomplish this but not as impressively!
launchbar

Links:
iGenres
Genres Flickr Pool
Iconaholic blog
Radio Lingua Network
Cava and Twitts
Launchbar
Previous ScreenCastsOnline Launchbar Tutorials
Google Translate Service

Discussions: Forum
Extra! Members Version formats 1280x720 - Full HD Resolution
1280x720 - Full HD Resolution with overscan
960x540 - HD Resolution
640x480 - iPod and iPhone Resolution

All versions with embedded chapter markings and available via iTunes, Miro or by direct download from the Extra! members site
Free Version Formats This show is only available to ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members

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Free High Definition version of the show in iTunes or Free iPod version of the show in iTunes

Big White iPhone Trailer

Watch the trailer for this show from this web page by clicking on the video below.





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SCO0167 - iTunes 8 Update [Extra! members only]

itunes
A new full release of iTunes from Apple is covered this week - iTunes 8.

ITunes 8 includes three major new features plus a host of minor tweaks and fixes to increase the functionality and capability of what is rapidly becoming the dominant digital media organiser and playback application. In this weeks show I cover:
  • Switching off Inline Store Arrows
  • Grid View
  • Grouping and Sorting in Grid View
  • Obtaining Album Art from iTunes, Amazon and Google
  • Configuring Album View
  • Turning on Genius
  • The Genius Sidebar
  • Creating a Genius Playlist
  • Burning a Playlist to CD
  • iTunes 8 Visualiser
  • Importing and Re-importing CDs
  • Changes to the Podcast Section
The command to switch off the iTunes Store arrows is:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes show-store-arrow-links -bool FALSE

To switch them back on, just re enter the command in Terminal and replace FALSE with TRUE

Discussions: Forum
Extra! Members Version formats 1280x720 - Full HD Resolution
1280x720 - Full HD Resolution with overscan
960x540 - HD Resolution
640x480 - iPod and iPhone Resolution

All versions with embedded chapter markings and available via iTunes, Miro or by direct download from the Extra! members site
Free Version Formats This show is only available to ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members

Become a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! Member
Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

To View the Trailer for the Full Free Show
Subscribe to either the free versions of the shows in iTunes, and have this trailer plus subsequent free shows delivered to your computer each week by clicking the links below!
Free High Definition version of the show in iTunes or Free iPod version of the show in iTunes

Big White iPhone Trailer

Watch the trailer for this show from this web page by clicking on the video below.





Watch Now


SCO0157 - MobileMe Setup and iTunes 7.7 [Extra! Only]

mobileme logo
What a week for Apple! First iTunes 7.7, then the App Store, then MobileMe and finally the iPhone 3G. All in three days!

In the spirit of such an ambitious program, I thought I’d cover the rollout of MobileMe and what you needed to do to setup your Mac and iPhone using the MobileMe installer.

Leaving the show for the very last minute, I waited until Apple started the 6 hour migration task and then proceeded to cover the installer based on a pre-release of the utility. Little did I know that the 6 hour migration window scheduled by Apple would turn out to be so much longer. In fact over 24 hours later it still hadn’t finished or stabilised.

So this weeks show is really the first part of using MobileMe, and I’ve had to leave the web applications until they are generally available. I also took some time to look at the new iTunes release and the brand new App store in iTunes.

So a relatively short show this week but enough to help you out with your MobileMe migration.

Links:

Apples MobileMe Site


Discussions: Forum

Become a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! Member
Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

This weeks full show is only available to ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members.

To View the Trailer
Subscribe to either the free versions of the shows in iTunes, and have this show plus subsequent free shows delivered to your computer each week by clicking the links below!
Free High Definition version of the show in iTunes or Free iPod version of the show in iTunes

Watch a low resolution version of the trailer for this show from this web page by clicking on the video below.