SCO0173 - Mac Hints & Tips Montage - 03 [Extra! members only]

oct2008
Another Mac Montage this week! A couple of tips I use every week to create the show and associated supporting documents and graphics along with a great way to personalise your emails, together with a look at an OSX application.


This weeks tips in detail are:

Finding and capturing HiRes Icons in OS X: Now that Leopard supports huge 512x512 icons, application designers have gone to town, creating beautiful HiRes icons for all of your favourite applications. Not only that, but Apples own designers have created many, many beautiful HiRes icons for folders, software and even Apple hardware devices. This tip will show you how to find them on your system, copy them safely and create your own transparent png graphics for use in graphic projects and presentations - all for free. The tip also includes a handy little trick for capturing those gorgeous 512x512 icons from third party applications too! preview
Creating eMail Stationery Templates: Another new feature in Leopard was the inclusion of full colour HTML based email templates to brighten up your emails. Whilst, the pre-built templates are all very nice (!) wouldn't it be great to design your own personalised eMail templates for personal or business use? Well this tip shows you how to do just that! By examining an existing email template, this tip steps you through the structure of the template and shows your how to amend the template to suit your needs, then save it as a custom template. mail
Using The OS X Dictionary: he dictionary has been around for a while, but has been greatly expanded in Leopard to allow you direct access to a Thesaurus, and Apple dictionary and even direct access to Wikipedia. This tip also shows you a simple keyboard shortcut that allows you to look up words in any Cocoa app without having to load the full dictionary application - very cool! dictionary
Capturing Single Frames in Quicktime Movies: This simple tip shows you how to capture a single frame in a Quicktime movie and export it to png or jpeg format.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.
QT

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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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.





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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

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

SCO0139 - Apple TV Take 2 [Extra Only]

box
One of my favourite devices revisited this week - the Apple TV. Now revitalised with a brand new software update, this is the Apple TV Take 2.

As announced at this years Macworld, Apple have released a brand new software update for the Apple TV that turns it into an amazing entertainment hub for the Living Room. For the first time, the Apple TV no longer needs a Mac or PC and can function as a network connected media center. This weeks full Extra Members show takes you through some of the new features of this ground breaking device including:

  • Installing the Apple TV Software Update
  • The Revised Interface for Movies, TV Shows and Music
  • Podcasts On Demand
  • Viewing Photos via .Mac Web Galleries
  • Viewing Photos via Flickr
  • Adding Flickr Contacts
  • iTunes Automatic Sync
  • iTunes Custom Sync
  • AirTunes in the Apple TV

Discussions: Forum

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