A mini-journal about my life with a Mac. Apple Computers Guide and Advice News and Updates blog with a 'spin'
Hi there! Here at the ACG&A website, we cover the general and basic aspects of the overall Mac experience, but there is always something going on when it comes to Apple Computers, whether it is:
- Apple News
- New models releases and rumors
- Models or Mac OS X upgrades
- Mac OS X News
- Time-sensitive offers
....and a lot of other stuff
So the Apple Computers Blog is here to keep you up to date with all the Apple news and updates that concern to us, the regular day by day Apple Computers user. That's our voice, our 'spin'.
And also, every time the site is updated or a new page or topic is added to it, you will see it here, that way you can get everything that is fresh and new -about both the site and Apple news- in just a glance.
And I am also an Apple Computers 'regular' user, like you, and I do the usual stuff everyday. But from time to time I learn something new from the net, friends or just by figuring out how to solve a problem that might happen to my Mac. So I'll share with you my experiences with it also so we can all learn along the way.
So just focus on the news and keep enjoying the site, of course all Apple news and updates may not appeal or concern to everyone, not that they are meant to either, but keep checking from time to time......if you do, I'm sure you will find something that speaks to you. Welcome to the Apple Computers blog.
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Jan 1, 2009, Some News and Happy Holidays!
Hi there, it's been a little dry on the news side as you must have noticed lately. That is because I am taking a short time off for the holidays to rest just a bit but mostly to keep up with some pressing matters that have to be done asap.
So for the next couple of weeks or so the news and updates to the site will be seldom. But worry not, if anything of importance happens I'll post it asap to keep you up-to-date.
And get ready since quite interesting things are about to happen, like MacWorld on January -with the possible introduction of a new iMac and maybe some other surprise- and the long-postponed creation of a FAQ and a Beginners Guide pages on the site.
See you around, keep checking the site or even better: You can subscribe to the Apple Computers Blog to know about anything new as soon as it hits the site.
Until next post folks and ... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Dec 19, 2008, New-to-Mac: Create an Encrypted Folder to Store Your Most Important Files
Hi there, this one is one of the most helpful tips I've learnt and I know it will be of great help for you too. In a few steps I'm going to show you how to create an encrypted password-protected folder that you can use to store any files you want to keep safe or hidden anywhere you want, that way not even someone with access to your account would be able to see them.
Ok, here's how to do it:
- Open Disk Utility -you can find it in your Applications folder- - Select 'New Image' - Name your folder on the 'Save as' field - On the 'Volume Size' field select the size of the folder -you can also choose to create the folder on a CD or DVD to store it somewhere else but you will need a disk in those situations- - On 'Encryption' select any of the two options according to how safe you want the folder to be -128-bit is enough for me- - Leave the rest of the fields as they are and click 'Create'. - Type and re-Type a password of your choice -there's even a password strength tool to show you how strong your password is- and don't forget to REMEMBER your password since it will be the only way to access your folder. - Uncheck the 'Remember in my keychain' field because if you leave the check the folder will open without asking for any password, then click OK and the folder will be created and mounted ready for you to place any file you want in it.
Be sure to remember the password you created since once you unmount the folder you will need the password every time you want to open it in the future.
There you are, quite useful don't you think?, hope you liked it!
See you next post..
Dec 14, 2008, New Apple Computer Facts and Rumors: What We Know About the Soon-To-Come Macs
A Collection of Rumors, Facts and Anything Related to the Coming of the New Macbooks
Well usually you needed a backup software -I recommend Super Duper big time-, an external hard drive and also as important, time and patience. But it turns out now you don't need the time and patience anymore -hell, you don't even need the hard drive either- since with BackBlaze, you can have everything backed up automatically online.
I've never been fond of these 'online backup' services, mainly because of the limited space and the time it took to upload files, but BackBlaze ditches both of these concerns offering unlimited storage space -pretty neat- andscheduled backups on idle-time -which means you can just leave your computer while the software does the backup on its own-, among some other features, all of that at $5 a month. It looks too good to be true, but it's the real deal.
As for myself, I have a pretty healthy and -lets face it- almost paranoid habit of backing up my files regularly so I might argue that this is not that necessary for me, but to be honest, it's always nice to have an extra method of keeping your info secure, and the fact that it is on the cloud where no one can touch it just sweetens the deal for me.
Check it out and let me know your experience if you give it a try..
Dec 9, 2008, Controlling Your Music: Look Ma, No Hands!
Well, things have been a bit dry on the news front, nothing interesting -unless you consider some fake news about a 4GB iPhone from Walmart as interesting-, however I read about this little FuidTunes Application and I have to say it's very original.
What it does is to let you control your music in a way very similar to coverflow, but without touching your Mac, yes, you read that right, you just install the app and use your hands to swipe the air in front of your iSight camera and the app recognizes the movement, letting you scroll and play your tracks. Nice.
However, this is more like a beta app and I can not say it works in a stellar way, in fact under poor lighting conditions it works pretty bad, but least you can try it and have some fun, the experience is quite nice and best of all, it's free, you can't beat that!
Dec 4, 2008, The Macbook: A Complete Overview From An Everyday User's Point Of View
The Macbook is the best-priced apple laptop and sports some features not found on the rest of laptops on the market, find out which ones they are and if it is the ideal laptop for you.
Dec 4, 2008, New-to-Mac: 2x1, Do the Math Using Spotlight and Turn Off Your Mac Display with Your Keyboard
Hi there, today not one, but two short tips that I' sure will make your life at least a little bit easier.
- First:Whenever you want to look for the meaning of a word or do a math calculation, you don't even need to open neither the dictionary nor the calculator apps. All you have to do is open Spotlight -the magnifying glass on the top right of your screen you use to search- and the word or the calculation and you will have the definition of the word or the result of the math operation displayed on the results right away. Pretty slick huh?
- Second: If you need to turn off your display but you don't want to put your Mac to sleep, all you need to do is press the Shift-Control-Eject buttons at the same time. This one is great for saving power -and also for hiding you chat and Facebook windows in case you boss shows up ;-) -
Nice tricks aren't they?, now don't tell me you don't love your Mac at least little bit more.
Until next post
Dec 4, 2008, Sync iCal With Your Google Calendar
Yeah, you read that right, now thanks to a Google little app called 'Calaboration' you can sync you iCal calendar with your Google calendar.
This is a great initiative, allowing us to be up-to-date with our appointments, to-dos and all of that from a single place. I'm very glad for it, since now I don't have to update two calendars every time.
Another nice thing about it is that it only needs to be set up once, after that you only have to click a button to sync and update both calendars.
Check it out, and don't forget you need a Google account -like Gmail- to access your Google calendar.
This is just too funny. The Simpsons take on Apple, or Mapple as they call it, along with myPods, myPhones, a Brainiac Bar and even Steve 'Mobs'.
The funniest part, how the moment Steve Mobs says he has an announcement that will change people's lives, everybody starts forking out money from their wallets almost unconsciously.
Don't you feel like that everytime you go to an Apple Store? Enjoy
UPDATE: It seems our lovely friends from 20th century Fox didn't liked to see their Simpsons 'mApple' parody posted on Youtube so they took down all the links to it. There are some places on the net where you can download it however, if you know where to look.
Well but in the meantime, lets hope the videos will be up again soon. At least it was good while it lasted!
Dec 1, 2008, New-to-Mac: Double Click to Show Hidden Info
This one is pretty simple but very useful. Have you ever browsed your files using column view and noticed that you couldn't view the complete names of all files because some had really long names?
Well the only thing you need to do that is to double-click on the little tab at the bottom right of the column, just below the 'down' arrow, and just like that, the column will expand to the length of the longest file name in that column, and if you double click with the 'option' key pressed then all the columns in the window will expand to show the longest names of the files within each of them.
Hope you find it useful, see you next post
Nov 27, 2008, Mac Articles: Opinion On Different Mac-Related Subjects
Articles and Small Pieces of Opinion About Different Mac-Related Subjects
uTorrent, one of the most awaited torrent clients has finally launched it's Mac beta version. In case you don't know what torrents are and how to use them, it's a way to download any kind of content, form videos to software in a much faster and convenient way, you can find a far better explanation plus a beginner's guide right here at uTorrent's website
And once you are ready to try it by yourself, just click the link below.
Nov 26, 2008, Macbooks: The "Greenest" Family of Notebooks
It seem Apple is not only decided to make it's products more and more eco-friendly -as pointed out on my Macbook review- but they also are decided on letting the whole world know about it. That why in an astounding show of humbleness -irony intended- they made this Tv ad to do so:
The video is nice and explains all the new eco-vision that Apple is following in every area of their business without going into too much detail.
If you want to know a bit more about Apple's environmental policy you can check out their environmental page below. It's a nice read and might actually make you feel even better for having a Mac ;)
Nov 24, 2008, New-to-Mac: Drag 'n Drop for Faster Results
If you happen to find a snippet of text in any of your applications, like Text Edit, Word or Safari to name a few, and you want to send it via email or search for it on Google, forget about the old copy-paste routine, all you need to do is highlight the text you want, drag it to the application you want to use on the dock and drop it there.
So for example if you drop the text on Mail, a new Compose Message window will open with the text already pasted in the subject or if you drop the text in Safari, it will automatically do a Google search on the term you dropped and display the search results right away.
And don't forget to try using this tip with other Apple applications, it's a real time saver.
See you next post..
Nov 16, 2008, AppleCare Protection Plan: How it Works and it's Main Benefits and Disadvantages
A Brief Rundown On Some Of The Main Advantages And Disadvantages of an AppleCare Protection Plan
Nov 16, 2008, Get a Macbook Air for $1149 ! Is it Christmas Already?
Well it looks like. Because the guys at MacMall are offering the original Macbook Air -by original I mean the model released back at the beginning of the year- at just $1149 after mail-in rebate. It might not be the latest model or the fastest one, but the price is really tempting.
So if you have been waiting for a Macbook Air and you don't mind the sacrifice in speed, now is the perfect time..go for it as soon as you can!
Why?, because usually these sales don't last for long.
Nov 12, 2008, Reminder: Don't Forget to Backup Frequently
Hi there, things are getting back to normal again and now I have some more time to write some articles, update some pages of the site and create some more new ones also.
But first things first, a couple of days ago I came from a day-long trip and when I was unpacking I saw my external hard drive lying at the bottom of my bag and it all came to me in a flash!, I had forgotten to run a backup for the last two weeks!!! can you imagine? I know macs are safe and everything but you never know when it might drop, or get stolen, or anything, so be honest and ask these questions to yourself...
- How important is the information/media/mails that I have stored in my Mac?
- Does all that info deserved a backup copy?
- When was the last time I did a backup?
And after that just run to your Mac and do that backup.
Don't know how? Well that is not a problem, just check the link below, it will take you to a webpage were I show you the best -and free- software to do a backup and method to do it. You will find almost everything you need there and if you need anything else, just drop me a line.
Make sure to check it out and BackUp NOW! You will be grateful.
Nov 6, 2008, New-to-Mac: The Power of Your Mac's Dictionary is Just a (left) Click Away!
Well here we are in another weekly session of basic tips and this time I've got a nice one for you. I'm going to show you a way to use your Mac's built-in Dictionary at any moment with just a left-click, no need to open the whole Dictionary application itself anymore.
However by default Macs have the left-click option set to open the Dictionary App, and this is exactly what we need to change.
So follow me and you will have this feature enabled in a couple of steps, here we go:
- First, open the Dictionary App, you can find it in your Applications folder or just type Dictionary in Spotlight.
- Once opened, go to the menu at the top left corner of you screen and click on Dictionary --> Preferences.
- Now check the lower part of the dialog-box, where it says 'Contextual Menu', you check/select the lower option'Open Dictionary Panel'
After that just exit the application and try it on any Apple application like Safari, TextEdit, Mail, Pages...your choice, to do that, just highlight any word, left-click on it and choose 'Look up in Dictionary'.
You will see how much better and practical the new settings are, give it a try.
Until the next post...
Nov 5, 2008, Start Planning Your Holiday Mac and iPod Shopping!
Apple just released a statement saying that their "Holiday Lineup is Set", which means there will be no more product releases or surprise upgrades until well past the Holiday season, so if you were waiting for such upgrades -like the iMac for example-, now you know it's safe to start planning that holiday shopping, it's never too early and with those beauties waiting for us at the Apple Stores -I mean the Macbooks and iPods, not the cute-and-friendly Genius girls- you never know when there might be a shortage.
On a different note, I know I still owe you the new Macbook reviews, it's been a crazy week -and it still is- but fear not, they will be up in a few days.
See you next post..
Nov 5, 2008, The Father of the iPod is Leaving..
Just a couple of quick notes today: Tony Fadell, considered by many the father of both the iPod and the iPhone, has stepped down from his position for personal reasons, in his place Mark Papermaster -former IBM top exec- will take over the position.
This is quite a blow for Apple, since both the iPod and the iPhone are stronger than ever and makes every Apple fan wonder what changes will this new Vice President of the iPod division will bring.
Only time will tell...
Nov 1, 2008, Protect Your Kids Taking Care of How They Experience Their Mac
"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to". If it's their party, or their Mac, they can do whatever they want with it, right? Right? Wrong.
I just came across this really useful article by Ars that will give you a basic -and quite funny I might add- rundown on how you can protect your kid's experience on their -or maybe your- Mac.
Oct 30, 2008, New-to-Mac: How To Quit Applications That do Not Respond
Yeah it happens, sometimes -but believe me it's very rare- programs crash and stop responding, no matter if you try with the cursor or with the keyboard they simply won't respond.
So what's the solution to this problem? Well, Macs have this option that lets you Force Quit any program you want at any time you want. And the best part: It does so without interrupting the rest of the programs you might have opened so you can rest at easy because any other things that you might be doing will not be affected.
To Quit any program click the Apple icon at the top left of the screen and choose 'Force Quit', then choose the program you want to Force Quit from the list shown and finally click 'Force Quit'
That's it, and as I told you before, rest assure that the rest of your work will be ok.
However, even if your Mac politely auto-saves your progress on some programs from time to time, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't save often to avoid loosing any unsaved work in case the program you're using crashes.
It's been a crazy week, but it should be over soon, see you next post..
Oct 28, 2008, Run Windows Programs on Your Mac for Free! Courtesy of Codeweavers
This is kind of odd but totally true. Infact so much so that I am downloading my copy right now!
In summary: The guys at Codeweavers put up some challenges for the president -yes, the president- one of which was to reduce gas prices, and if he could succeed at any of them they would offer their service and software for free, but only for one day.
So what happened? well gas prices went down so they are offering their software right now for free, but only for one day.
So go for it, the retail value of this software is around $40!
Oct 26, 2008, Old Habits Die Hard: Why You Should Give Your Mac a Rest From Time to Time
I read some time ago I don't remember where exactly that it was quite healthy to leave your Mac on sleep mode for a couple of days since Mac OS used the early morning hours to run some necessary processes. Well the thing is that I do this a LOT, in fact sometimes I leave my Macbook Pro on for days, knowing that as good as leaving it on might be, when you actually forget how long it's been on, nothing good can happen and so my Macbook Pro taught me a lesson yesterday when it froze and forced me to shut it down, of course in the most minimalist and elegant way, with a dark blue screen with the instructions to shut it down in different languages.
It looked both nice and sad at the same time, but I definitely felt -and still feel- guilty.
Lesson learned: Give your Mac a rest, save your bookmarks, webpages, do what you have to do with it and after that, give your Mac a most-deserved goodnight, even if it is only two or three times a week, it will be grateful.
Oct 23, 2008, New-to-Mac: How to Find a File's Location and Get There in One Click
Ok this is kind of simple but has also been very useful. All you need is to open Spotlight -which BTW for me is one of the best features on any OS EVER, simple, super fast and extremely effective- so...
Just click 'apple + spacebar' to launch the Spotlight search box and search for the file you need.
Once the results appear, and before you click on your file, here's what to do:
- If you want to know the location of the file, just hover the cursor over the file and the path to it should how on a yellow box. So for example if I want to know where the song 'Long Ride Home' is, this is what I would see once I hover my cursor over it's name on the search results: Alvaro/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Patty Griffin/Long Ride Home.mp3
- Now, if you want to actually go to the file's location just press and hold the apple key while clicking on the file and you will be immediately taken to the folder where it is.
So that's it for now, hope you are all now a bit more Mac-wise ;)
See you next post
Oct 23, 2008, Three Apple Ads Make Fun of Microsoft's Marketing Campaign
Hi there, it's been a pretty busy week for me but I got some 'chilling' time and can finally post a couple of articles....so lets start with these funny Apple ads....well these came out a couple of days ago but they are totally worth mentioning, so just head to Apple's Website and have some fun checking them, I think they're all pretty bold specially the one called 'Bean Counter'.
Oct 18, 2008, Did You Just Bought One of the Old Macbooks some Days Ago?
Because if you just did and are thinking you are too late to get your hands on the newly released models, you might still have a shot. I read about something of the sort happening to someone and the thing is that if you got your Macbook in the last 14 days all you need to do is return it and pay a re-stocking fee and you are all set! And I read that you can even get the re-stocking fee cutted-down a bit if you press a little for it.
Hope it helps, see you next post folks..
Oct 15, 2008, The New Macbooks and Macbook Pros are Here !!
Finally, yesterday Apple unveiled it's new line of Apple Laptops, both the new Macbook and the new Macbook Pro now sport new looks -custom-carved aluminum casing-, sleeker profiles, better displays and -not joking- an all new-to-the-industry glass trackpad.
These look really good, --and are the most environmentally-friendly laptops on the market today BTW- but I think they have it's drawbacks also, so check back in the next couple of days for my thoughts on the new Macbook and Macbook Pro, in the meantime, you can get some info, more detailed specifications and pricing options by checking Apple's website through the link below.
Oct 11, 2008, So it Looks Like We Finally Know What 'the Brick' is...
What at first many hoped was going to be the first appearance of the much anticipated Mac Tablet turned out to be something completely different but equally compelling...
Oct 8, 2008, Macbook Pro CloseOut Deals: Get your Hands on One of the Most Powerful Macs at a Most Inexpensive Price
By now we all know new Macbooks are coming, however even if this means that you should wait for them to be unveiled and released to get the 'latest-and-greatest', not all of us might want that. In fact, for those looking for extremely good deals and bargains this is the best moment.
That is why at MacMall, and for a limited time only, you will find Apple Macbook Pros -which models are not even half a year old- at unexpectedly inexpensive prices -try to say that fast three time in a row ;)-
Of course these babies come new in sealed box, but there is a problem, as with all such good offers, it will only last until these guys get rid of their stock, so if you don't mind having a model with a 2.4 or 2.2 Ghz processor that might not be the latest but comes new and is more than enough for your everyday chores and more, then this offer is a no-brainer.
And if you can't make up your mind just yet, check my recently updated Apple Macbook Pro review to see why this machines are waaaaay so good and this prices just makes them even better.
Oct 7, 2008, New-to-Mac: Personalize Your Email Messages with Only 3 Clicks
This one is way cool and an excellent way to give your messages your own voice and look. And can you believe I completely forgot about it until I got a very nice and great looking email a couple of weeks ago -thanks for the unexpected help Mo'- and is as simple as using Stationery on your emails.
Here's the 3-step process to make your mails shine with personality:
1 - In Mail, click 'New Message' 2 - In the New Message window click 'Show Stationery' 3 - Select a Category and click on the Design you like the most.
That's it! You now have a personalized message that you can use not only to express yourself in an original way but also to show off your Mac's capabilities to your Windows-user friends -since it would take some skill and 20 times more work for them to do that on their PCs, as if life weren't hard enough for them already- ;)
And if you want to take it further you can select some of the Photo designs and add your own photos to make your emails really unique. Invitations, congrats, thanks or simply saying hi, the possibilities are HUGE!
And everything with just a couple of clicks.
Hope you find it helpful but most important, have fun with your Mac!
See you next post..
Oct 5, 2008, My Experience With The AppleCare Protection Plan for Macbook Pro: Help With Mail
A Simple Real-Life Example of How an AppleCare Protection Plan Can Take Your Mac's Safety to a Whole New Level of Protection
Sep 30, 2008, New-to-Mac: Quick Preview Almost any File With Just the Press of a Key
This is the first on what I hope will become a small collection of tips and how-to's for the first-time Mac users, we all were there at some point and the Mac OS has so many little-known details that can make the experience totally different. So, I hope you find them helpful. In the near future I'll post all of them in a separate web-page as they come. For now, just on the blog. Here we go..
The first tip for the new Mac user is a very small and simple one, but I find it so practical that I still use it on a daily basis. Whenever you want to preview a file to see what it has or what it is about, you don't need to open it, what is more, you don't even need to open a window to see a preview.
The only thing you need to do is just to select the file and then press the space bar.
That will show you almost any file, and in case it is not available for preview or if it is a folder, it will show you information from that file such as size and modification date.
This works great with documents, movies, songs and photos, since you don't need to open the necessary application to see them however, you can only see the files, if you want to modify them in any way, you will need to do so from it's application.
Sep 25, 2008, Fake Macbook Pro Pic
A German site posted a pic of what many people thought was the new Macbook Pro, however...
Sep 20, 2008, Microsoft Ad Campaign Images Were Made on a Mac
Well I think the title speaks for itself but if you want to know some details here they are:
In the last few weeks Microsoft has been running a series of ads to fight-back the bad word-of-mouth that Vista has earned while at the same time trying to create a different image for themselves and to 'combat' the 'Get a Mac' ad series that have been running for quite some time now.
Well it turns out that some of the images they used on their PressPass site display the following when you look at their creation properties: "Adobe Photoshop C3 Macintosh". Suddenly the phrase 'shooting yourself on the foot' has a whole new meaning.
Your can check the article by clicking the link below.
Sep 18, 2008, Update Your Leopard OS to the Latest Mac OS 10.5.5 Version
Just a quick note to let you know that the latest update to Mac OS has just been released, so it's time to click that 'Software Update' menu option and get the latest and most complete revision of Leopard. The update includes lots of bug fixes and many security improvements.
To Update just click the Apple icon on the top left of your screen and choose 'Software Update'. BTW you may want to save anything you are doing before since the update requires you to restart your Mac.
Ps. Consider this a Tip, a Side-note or an Order, it doesn't matter as long as you do it: Always check for updates, at least twice a week, Apple constantly releases improvements on their software and you don't want to miss those. See you later.
Sep 14, 2008, Interested in Really Cheap New iPods? Get Them Now While You Can!
Now that the Lets Rock! Apple event is gone and that everybody is talking about the New iPod Nano and iPod Touch, Apple has still to get rid of some previous-generation iPod stock, and that means good news for you!
That's why from now and until stock lasts Apple is selling the previous generation of all it's iPod models at significant discounts at their Apple refurbished store, we've already talked about the huge value of quality refurbished products, and coming from Apple itself this is as good as it gets.
So if latest-n-greatest is not that important for you, now you can get that iPod Touch (1st generation), iPod nano (3rd generation) or other iPods at really affordable prices.
Check this extremely time-sensitive deal below and make sure to take advantage of it. Ah! and spread the voice!
Sep 8, 2008, Apple Special Event to Take Place Tomorrow
Tomorrow Apple will hold a special event where it is expected to announce the revamp of the entire iPod line, with new models for the iPod nano and iPod Touch at least, along with iTunes 8 and some price drops, but you can never be totally sure with Steve Jobs -Apple's CEO- and his uncanny ability to wow audiences with surprise announcements.
Well, at least tomorrow the wait will be over. I'll keep you posted, but if you want to keep track of every single bit of information about this event, the site below is the perfect place to go. It is a bit too technical for me, but they will keep news of the event updated to-the-minute.
