Ready From Start Up

iBooks Author is available for download in the Mac App Store. After downloading the free application, you have the average agreements shown that you must agree to, then you are shown the Template Chooser, as shown above. This page is what you see every time you start up. You have a choice of six templates, all with an educational theme. Less emphasis is put on your previous projects, all confined to a drop down menu at the bottom left of the window. If you have an old iBooks Author project, for example a finished one, you can access it by going to Open an Existing File, and search for the book from there.

iBooks Author’s Interface

The application’s interface gives me many memories of other applications I have used on the Mac. iBooks Author just has that classic Mac app look that we know. This also means that navigation is easy to catch on. You have the top left area that allows you to add a page or section. You can then change the page orientation at the top, edit text, add graphics and graphs, add widgets, and even preview and publish the book by clicking one of the selections at the top. The far right section is where you can access more intricate editing, add photos and other media, as well as customize color and font.

The left side is where you can see the cover, add an introduction photo, and view Table of Contents. This is the point when things get a little confusing. Instead of seeing the Table of Contents of the whole book, you see it for the section. You also have a section for a glossary, showing the application’s emphasis on education. The bottom half of this side allows you to see the full layout of the book, per chapter and section. When focusing on interface, we notice that it’s quite easy to understand. Everything is based on drag and drop. There isn’t a loading time, for example, when I dragged a six minute long video. When you drag multiple photos, the application has blue alignment lines that allow you to align all photos together.

Additional Features

iBooks Author allows you to add widgets into your book. The widgets include photo galleries, videos, the ability to add interactive tests, a Keynote powerpoint, interactive and 3D images, as well as a custom widget through HTML. The widgets section is the feature that allows you to add components that distinguish classic paper textbooks from digital ones. There are many possibilities with using widgets. For example, photo galleries can make the text in your book come alive. Videos can offer a better way of showing the content than what text and even photos can. Interactive tests allow the reader to know if they correctly or incorrectly answered a question, in real time. You also can see interactive images as great for showing off a globe or maybe the anatomy of a body, where the reader can click certain sections and learn more. The possibilities are endless.

The Finished Product

After completing the book, you may want to preview the book on an iPad. Simply connect your iPad, launch the iBooks app, click Preview in the iBooks Author Mac app, select your device, and preview from there. Once done, you have three exporting options. The first option allows you to publish your book on iBookstore. This is where your book is available for mass download/purchase. You then have the ability to export through PDF. Lastly, the whole book can be saved in a text file.

Each option has their benefits and drawbacks. The benefits with iBookStore is that you can publish and sell your books quickly and started making money. The export to PDF option has your book available in a widely shareable format. On the other hand, publishing to the iBookstore means that your content is now partially in the hands of Apple, who get a cut in profits. This also means your book is under their regulations. The PDF option is nice, but you have an iBooks Author tag on each page. The text option is convenient, but interactive content won’t show up.

Our Conclusion

We all want or at least wanted as a child to be an author. iBooks Author has made it incredibly easy to do so. The ease of use will allow Apple to be the gateway for many aspiring authors, creating a new batch of educational content for all to enjoy. However, this ease does come with some drawbacks for the author. If you have read the user agreements (I bet you don’t), it stated clearly that you cannot make money from your book on any other site. This prevents you greatly. Very few well published books stay on just one site. Many are on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other sites. This won’t be possible through iBooks Author. However, if iBookstore is sufficient for you, then you will greatly enjoy the application’s ease of use and accessibility. Why aren’t these eTextbooks available on iPhone? Beyond me, maybe the extra screen real estate, however it won’t be far fetched to see this change soon.

iBooks Author for Mac: Download Link

The Hardware

To begin, you must obviously have an iPad to turn an iPad into a MacBook. At the moment, iPad 2 devices cost $499 for the entry model. This is close to being on-par with the average Windows PC that is available, while still being a little more than the average entry level netbooks on the market nowadays. This will give you a WiFi version. For 3G, you will have to cough up $629 for this model. Now, what if $499 is too much of a cost for you? No worries, you still have some options.

A great option to look into is Apple’s refurbished service. Many consumers cringe at the sight of the word, refurbished, but it is really not as bad as you may think. Refurbished, for those who don’t know, simply is when a gadget is returned to Apple and prepared for resell. This can range on the best side as a consumer wanting a different color iPad, and on the worst side, it being an iPad with a glitch that was fixed like new by Apple.

It’s important to remember that you aren’t really sacrificing anything with such a purchase. For $419 currently for a regular $499 iPad with WiFi and 16GB, you are saving some money. In addition, Apple has the previous model, the iPad, that garners even more deals. In addition, it’s important to remember that the iPad 3 is expected to at least be announced in the coming month. With reports of the possibility that Apple will keep the iPad 2 on the market at a lower price, you can find yourself with a better deal if you wait a bit longer.

The Cases: ZaggMate and ZaggFolio

The most important aspect of using your iPad as a Mac is to have the right casing. At the moment, the best company providing the most authentic iPad keyboard casing is Zagg. They have two models, the ZaggMate for the iPad 1 and the ZaggFolio for the iPad 2. Both models use Bluetooth to connect your iPad with the keyboard. The iPad itself is supported on a built-in stand, offering a laptop-feel angle. The case also has iPad specific keys and access to iPad controls like silence and volume rocker. If the $99 price tag is a little much for you, Apple also offers bluetooth keyboards for $49.99. These are the same keyboards used for iMacs, offering the exact feel as a desktop. However, you must purchase a case separately, which in the end will equal out the price.

The Applications

In addition to the hardware, you must also have the software for your iPad to match. The exact software you would need differs. Here is a nice list of almost every application on my Mac right now that has an iPad equivalent. I found a match for just about each application.

Skype for iPad

This is the obvious replacement of my Skype for Mac. All of the key features are still present with the iPad version. All you have to do is sign in with your Skype account and you can get a call started in no time. Individuals with the iPad 2 will be able to have a video conference with the iPad version of this application as well. You can hold calls with both other Skype for iPad users and Skype for Mac users (and Windows). If you want to make it into a mobile phone, a feature your laptop can’t do out of the box, then you can pay a bit more and enable landline calling with Skype. This is a Skype for Mac feature as well.

iMovie for iPad

I’m a bit surprised at how many people don’t know about iMovie for iOS, but it does exist. iMovie for iOS offers many of the same features that is on the Mac. All you have to do is drag and drop media into the timeline, tap and drag to extend or shorten clips. With an addition of photos and music, you can create a great project right on your iPad. Want to narrate a funny event? No problem, just tap to record audio, and then add it into your project. Once done, you can export your high definition project to YouTube and various other social networking websites.

Pages for iPad

Pages for iPad allows you to create beautiful documents for print and sharing on your iPad. Apple offer you with various beautiful templates to create a unique document. You can add text, change color, and even add some photos to brighten up the document. Interrupted while making your creation? No problem, iCloud will save everything you were doing and will allow you to continue when you can. You can also create charts within the application, allowing you to show the data in your paper in a much better way. Once done, you can export you document to various word processing programs, even including Word, or you can make it available online for viewing. At $9.99, this is a much economical option compared to Microsoft Office for Mac.

Keynote for iPad

Keynote is Pages for iPad’s friendly cousin. Where Pages excels in documents, Keynote impresses with slideshows and power points. You can create amazing presentations right from your iPad with Keynote for iPad. Just like with Pages, Keynote allows you to use various templates, add images and text, and even add other types of media into your project. You can have your project on an automatic loop or have it manually change slides. Your presentation can be exported afterwards to Powerpoint, as a PDF, and more. If you want a desktop quality presentation on your iPad, Keynote is for you.

Internet Service

The subject that differs the iPad from a laptop is the subject of Internet. The iPad has the option out of the box to either have a WiFi or 3G option. A majority of modern laptops only have the option of WiFi. Unless you have a data card, this is usually the only option you are presented with when on your laptop.

Some Advantages and Drawbacks

There are many advantages and disadvantages to having an iPad as a Mac alternative. Let’s begin with the drawbacks. One drawback is that if you do get the WiFi only version, which is more affordable in the short term, you don’t have the option to use a data card later on. This hinders use when away from a network. Individuals who do choose to go the 3G route may have the freedom of 3G, however Verizon charges are quite hefty and AT&T doesn’t offer many options for heavy data users like myself. Lastly, you don’t have much growth potential with an iPad. For example, if you want to add more programs, you have to be mindful of your current storage. Also, you can’t just plug in your USB drive and have it working in iPad.

These disadvantages make it ideal for the basic users, not so much for an advanced user. However, the advantages are that you save money in the short term and sometimes in the long term. If you want to forgo spending close to a grand on a laptop, this is a great alternative. In addition, some Internet companies that are out there can be a little more expensive than the 3G options for iPad, allowing you to cut the Internet bill. These advantages lead to this being a great money saving option.

Transferring Data and Memory

One of the hardest things about switching to a Mac, let alone any computer, is transferring all of the files from one computer to another. Regardless which OS you are using previously, you sure have ton of files that need to be transferred to your new Mac. The fastest and easiest way is to use an external hard drive. All you have to do is connect, transfer, connect to Mac, and transfer.

Once you connect the hard drive to your Mac, you can transfer files by simply dragging in dropping in the section known as “Finder”. This is the beating heart of your Mac. You can access all files, and specifically look up documents, photos, and more. Dragging the files from your hard drive to the respective folders is all you have to do.

Alternatively, you can sync your files with Dropbox. By installing the Dropbox app for Mac, you can get all your files in your new machine once it is synced with the online account.

Understanding the Software

Your files are finally all organized in your Mac computer, but you find yourself missing some of your favourite software that you’ve been using on Windows. Luckily there are a bunch of pre-installed software that serve as a great alternative for the Windows counterpart.

The group of applications at the bottom of your Mac is an area known as docks. You have applications like Mission Control, allowing you to see at a distance all of the active applications. You can also click F3 to access Mission Control. This feature is more helpful than I thought at first. You have Safari, which is the browser, iChat is the IM software, iCal as your calendar, Preview which allows you to view PDF and lightly crop and export photos, FaceTime which is also a chat application, and more. The App Store also allows you to download more applications seamlessly.

Keeping Your Dock Organized

When you first get your Mac out of the box, you’re surprised with the applications that are already available for you. However, once you get hold of Mac App Store, you’ll find yourself downloading way more programs. This can create a cluttered dock. You must remember that removing an application from the dock doesn’t delete the application from your hard drive. Remember not to take this tip as a way of showing you how to clear your hard drive. To remove an application from the dock, first quit the program, then drag it away from the dock and release. It’s quite simple and pretty quick.

If you want to add an application, it’s just as easy. If you are currently using the application, simply press with your two fingers, go to options, and click on “keep in dock”. You can also add applications you aren’t currently using by dragging and dropping them in the dock to their respective location. It’s super easy to learn, and even easier to do. So there’s no worry about getting this wrong, it’s almost foolproof. Now time to understand Mac OS.

Getting familiar with Mac OS keyboard

If you have noticed, the keyboard in Mac is not exactly the same as the one in Windows. There is the “Command” button that will essentially replace the functionality of “Control”. For example, “Command + H” hides an application, “Command + Q” quits it. Other keyboard shortcuts include: F1 and 2 regulates screen brightness, F3 brings you to Mission Control, F4 takes you to widgets, F7 – 9 are exclusively iTunes controls. If you try to press them when iTunes isn’t active, the program will automatically launch. F10 – 12 controls all volume.

Where is my Start menu?

When looking at your Mac screen, there are more differences. For example, there isn’t a start menu. All of your programs are in docks, the closest start menu cousin is the menu bar at the top. This area is where you can access controls, and click the Apple to check for updates, access preferences, and shutting down/sleeping/restarting your Mac. Unlike Windows, the menu bar is always there, so once you get acquainted with it, you’re set.

Your Mac, Secured

There’s no secret, Windows computers are more prone to viruses than Macs. This shouldn’t necessarily be your sole factor in getting a Mac. The only reason Macs aren’t as prone is due to the fact that Windows computers are more common. Macs also have many safeguards right out of the box to protect you. Aside from the fact that Mac viruses exist, they rarely, if ever, do damage on the level of Windows viruses. I personally don’t have any virus protection I personally downloaded myself and I have been fine for the years I’ve been a Mac user, but hacks and viruses still are on my mind.

One huge thing to help protect yourself is keeping up with those software updates. They usually aren’t excessive, you will get a dozen or so a year, but they are well worth it and take a very short time in updating. Some help with application performance and experience, but most are for your Mac security and protection. In the end, you should know that your Mac is there for your protection and Internet safety.

What more do you want to know about a Mac OS?

Interface Changes

Final Cut Pro X has been coined as a new system of its own rather than an update. For that reason, I’ll try not to use the word update too much in this article, but if I slip up, please forgive me. Contrary to the fact of it being a new system of movie editing, the interface seems like a Final Cut/iMovie combination with iMovie being dominant. With this being the case, Final Cut Pro X’s interface revolves mainly around the timeline, that little area in the lower mid-left region. This is where you will control most of what happens in the upper region, something very different from iMovie. This is very time efficient, but can be quite confusing when performing hard-core editing. One part of timeline that I really love is that if you drag any media into it, it will welcome the media with open arms. For example, when editing a video for YouTube, I dragged an older .mov clip in and the clip was added without any need of loading or processing.

Creating a New Movie

To create a new project, simply click with two fingers and click “New Project”. From there, you can name your project, set the default event, set video properties, and audio settings. This offers a lot of properties that you couldn’t preset in iMovie when creating a project. After creating the project, you are then forwarded to a blank timeline and an event filled with clips if you created an event already. From there, you can drag your clips in and create your movie. You have the option to adjust audio and video on the right hand side, add titles and effects from the bottom right, and more.

Speed and Processesing

Final Cut Pro X is a very fast video editing tool. As always, it depends on your hard drive space and speed, but from my tests, I can attest that it worked fine on a Macbook, Macbook Pro, and iMac. Without question, it also works without a hitch on a Mac Pro, but I didn’t have one available to test that for sure. So with good performance across the board, what is the reason behind this? The answer is in background tasks. Final Cut Pro X processes everything in the background, allowing you to get more things done faster. To be more informed of your background tasks, you can pay attention to the green circle with the percentage inside to know when a background task is complete. If it’s not, the percentage will reflect when it will be over. All in all, Final Cut Pro X presents you with true multitasking.

Options Galore

When editing your movie, you may find a title or an effect to be necessary for your project. Your options are now limitless with Final Cut Pro X. The system offers you with hundreds of effects for your video and audio. From boost of color to camcorder effect, there are a bunch of video and audio effects ready for you to use. You can click the camera to add photos from iPhoto, clicking the music allows you to add music from iTunes, audio effects, and more. Final Cut Pro X allows you to also add transitions, text, and more, just like with iMovie and the older Final Cut Pro, just with more options.

After the Fact

By now, your movie is finished and you’re ready to export. The best option with any Apple movie editor (iMovie, Final Cut, etc) is to click “Share -> Export Media”. With Final Cut Pro X, this will allow you to choose the best format to export in, you can also choose the last used settings for easier and faster exporting. A rule of thumb, the options may be overwhelming but for videographers who frequently share video online, you should export mainly in H.264. When exporting, you are brought to where you can choose where the movie will go after it’s exported, then the exporting begins.

Exporting took a very short time, usually about as long as the movie was. For example, my five minute video I edited last night took about four and a half to five minutes to export. Final Cut Pro X also has great organizational skills, including the ability to sort based on search keywords, remove shakiness, and to delete silent portions of your video. Don’t worry, all of these organizational adjustments are only implemented if you select them. So your silent film is safe.

Strengths and Faults

Final Cut Pro X is a great, fast video editing software. The background task feature allows you to truly multitask without a hitch. The familiar iMovie interface makes it appealing to former iMovie users who either were scared off from purchasing video editing software or would have gone to the now discontinued Final Cut Express. For many of those same reasons, we can now understand why the professionals in the video industry aren’t loving it so much. Final Cut Pro 7 for now seems like the best option for individuals in videography, like myself. Final Cut Pro X is too, shall I say it, watered down for the professionals out there.

To conclude, if you are new to Final Cut Pro X but not to Final Cut in general, don’t let the familiar design fool you. There are many navigations that have changed, so be patient and prepared to learn a couple of things.

Best of Communication

1. Facetime

Facetime has been available on iPhone for a very long time. This year, the service became available for all iDevices, including Macs. The application comes free with iLife, and 99 cents for those without it. The application is great and you don’t even need the application open to receive calls.

2. Echofon

Echofon is the best application on Mac for Twitter. The simple, yet high quality, application is available for iPhone as well. The application has multiple account support and full Twitter feature support. There is also a paid $19.99 version that is ad-free.

3. Skype

The Skype for Mac application allows you to communicate with friends and family on the other side of the world, or the other side of the street. Skype is the program that put VOIP chat on the market. Calling Skype to Skype is free, calling landlines are at a low cost. But Skype provides many promotions and sales that go toward landline calls.

4. Sparrow

This was one of the first downloaded mail clients that I downloaded on my Mac. Sparrow provides a clean, streamline email client on your Mac. Creating, replying, and making attachments to emails are very easy to do. If you’re a Gmail user, Sparrow is a must.

Best of Entertainment

1. Angry Birds

Angry Bird made its debut on iOS, but now it’s available for Mac. If you don’t know what Angry Birds is, the game involves attacking the green pigs that have stolen your eggs. The pigs hide behind wooden planks and boxes, but it’s your mission to make them vanish.

2. Monopoly

There are a large number of classic games available on the Mac App Store. The newest release is Monopoly for Mac. The game, released on the 15^th of December, brings the original classic Monopoly game to your Mac. One drawback to this new game is its large file size, contributing to many crashing reports, but it’s just like the original board game with beautiful graphics.

3. Pac-man

Pac-Man for Mac brings the game that created child memories to a modern system. The Pac-Man application does come with a few drawbacks, including some glitches. But the game works great a majority of the time, available for endless game play – or at least until you get taken by one of the ghosts!

4. Flight Control HD

Flight Control HD is a hit on the iOS App Store, and now it’s available for Mac users alike. The main objective to Flight Control is as easy as, well, Angry Birds. You guide the planes to the runway. If they make it there without a plan crash, you move forward to the next level.

Best of Productivity

1. Evernote

The notebook application Evernote is the bin for all of your Internet discoveries. If you have a quick note you need to create, a to-do list, or class notes, Evernote is the perfect application to keep all of your notes in one place.

2. iProcrastinate

The free iProcrastinate application helps you to know what needs to get done, and how to get it finished. iProcrastinate partners with your iOS application, allowing you to have everything done on your iPhone, reflected on the Mac application.

3. Things

Things are the ultimate application for getting your tasks organized. Things for Mac act as your personal assistant, giving you an idea of what you have to get done for that day. You can add notes to yourself and sync all of this with your iCal for Mac and Things for iPhone.

4. Smartr

This is the ideal application for students. Smartr allows you to create and study flashcards that can also come with images. Smartr is also a smart application and can base what you are understanding and form a great study guide for you to master the information.

Best of Photography

1. iPhoto

Any Mac user with iLife knows what iPhoto is. The native Mac application allows you to edit photos in a snap. You also have the ability to organize photos based on events/folders. In addition, when you connect your iDevice, you have the ability to import photos from the device to iPhoto.

2. Snapheal

This is the newest photo application to hit the scene. This application puts erasing on the front burner, allowing you to edit out objects and individuals in the photo. Snapheal is a great Photoshop alternative for individuals who don’t understand or can’t afford the software.

3. Pixelmator

Detail oriented Mac photographers will appreciate Pixelmator. The application is made to add the finishing effects and touches to amazing photos. This is unlike other photo editing applications that are there to change the photo’s look. In addition, Pixelmator was also awarded “Best of Mac App Store 2011”.

4. Aperture

Aperture is an application brought out by Apple, made for Mac photographers. The software provides a ton of photography tools that work great with other Mac applications as well. Individuals interested in Aperture should remember that it isn’t supported on Windows.

Best of Music

1. SoundCloud

The popular artists of today all had to start from somewhere. SoundCloud is the platform for the new artists of today to get some of their music out there. SoundCloud is also a community of individuals interested in hearing these new artists. Plus, it’s free; so what more can you ask for?

2. Garage Band

All Mac users know about Garage Band. This consumer friendly music application allows you to create wonderful tunes and tracks straight in your Mac, free with iLife. Garage Band also partners with the other Mac apps in your system. So if you created a song in Garage Band for a movie you’re creating, it is easily accessible in iMovie as well.

3. Djay

Long gone are the days when being a DJ didn’t include a computer. The application Djay now allows you to integrate your iTunes library and mix tracks. Anyone who uses Djay can find himself or herself easily lost in the application. For $50, it’s worth the price tag.

4. Take Five

Music lovers always have that time when they must pause their song and attend some other responsibilities. But when we come back, we may sometimes forget to play the music again. Take Five automatically plays the song you were once listening to after five minutes once you pause the song.

Best of 2011…

swackett X

This year, for Mac applications, we chose swackett X as the top Mac app for 2011. The concept and UI were the two main points that brought me to this decision. The concept of basing the weather report on your attire is something that I can see grow even outside of Mac applications. They represent this with great-animated “peeps”. You can also purchase themes for $0.99 each.

The Interface

Initially, I felt the interface was too simple for me to make use of. However, as testing went on, I found the benefits to a simpler interface. Anxiety is an application that makes sure it doesn’t get in your way. Anxiety mainly occupies a small section of your task bar and a small box (only when opened). The Anxiety application’s main box can be activated by clicking the application icon or by clicking the small check circle in the task bar. When activated, a small box with all of your tasks are revealed. You can click the top, middle section to view each category. Settings are accessed at the bottom left.

How does it Work?

Anxiety is made for quick reference to your to-do list. The application is made to be kept on throughout the day as a way of accessing your tasks without launching iCal. When doing more date dependent tasks, iCal will be of use for you. However, for lists, Anxiety will help out. To add to Anxiety, you have two choices. First, you can control through iCal on the right sidebar. You can also add tasks directly in Anxiety. Here’s how:

1. First click the check or press “enter”.

2. Name the task and choose the category

Optional: Click the calendar on the right to make a new iCal calendar.

3. Then click “add” to apply it to iCal.

How to Download?

Anxiety is available for free to anyone interested in a download. However, Anxiety appreciates donations to keep the application up and running. The application is only available for Mac and you must have at least Leopard. Anxiety can be downloaded through their website directly. The application is downloaded as a .dmg file. When downloaded, the application can be used right out of the “box”. The settings allows you to customize appearance, start up settings, lists, and more.

Strengths and Flaws

To start, Anxiety is one of those love it or hate it applications. Those who love it will include individuals who are heavy on to-do lists while on their Mac and want a simple application. Anxiety, on the other hand, would be too simple for other individuals. In addition, individuals like myself, appreciate more mobile to-do applications for when on the go. This may turn some individuals away from the concept of Anxiety. All in all, Anxiety is a powerful application for those who will find use in it.

However, depending on your browsing habits and needs, you may wish to do a little tweaking in order to get the most out of Safari. Read on below to see how to do just that.

Safari Extensions

Let’s begin by taking a look at the most obvious tweaks you can make to Safari, the Extensions Gallery. While unveiled with much fanfare by Apple, the Extension Gallery has failed to gain the sheer volume of extensions which can be found on Chrome or Firefox, for example. Still, what it lacks in numbers, it more than makes up for in quality, as is highlighted by these three choices of extension:

1. AdBlock

As one might imagine from its name, the AdBlock extension prevents advertisements from cluttering up your web page. While Safari users have always had this option with third-party apps, AdBlock is the most stable, secure and slick implementation of advertisement blocking software on Safari to date. Just remember to add your favourite websites to the whitelist so they still get supported by their advertisers.

2. ClickToFlash

Click To Flash prevents any Adobe Flash from being loaded within Safari as default, instead offering a grey box to click on if desired. This may sound a little tiresome but once one has set a whitelist to allow exceptions for those rare occasions when Flash is actually desirable, it makes web browsing much quicker and more stable. An additional benefit of ClickToFlash is that it’ll make use of HMTL5 when possible, meaning that websites like Youtube can actually be used without the need for Flash at all.

3. Facebook Cleaner

If like me, you find Facebook annoying but necessary, Facebook Cleaner may well be useful. The extension prevents those prompts to “like this” which turn up on many websites and also cleans up your actual Facebook page when logged in, by blocking most of the more annoying features of the site.

Customise Toolbar

I love Safari’s minimalist stylings, but the toolbar which Apple see fit to ship the browser with is a little too minimalist for my own tastes and I like to see a Home button, in addition to a New Tab button. If you’d like to add these buttons or just tweak the current layout, simply right-click on the toolbar and select “Customize Toolbar”.

This done, you should be presented with the above screen, from which new icons can be dragged and dropped onto the toolbar.

Top Sites

The Top Sites feature in Safari can be very useful as it already is, but perhaps even more so if you take the time to set it up to your favorite websites. To do this, click on the small “Edit” button in the bottom left hand corner. It’s a somewhat laborious process to get everything just right, but once you have done so I believe it’s worthwhile and saves significant time.

Set Up Preferences

Opening up the Preferences window within Safari will show options for fixing many people’s pet peeves with Safari. One can prevent the app from opening downloaded files which Safari deems as “Safe” automatically and also stop that most contentious of features implemented in the latest version of Safari; auto-correction.

Conclusion

Besides the tips and tweaks mentioned above, making use of Safari’s additional features can be what sets it apart from other web browsers. It may not do as much as some competing browsers, but what Safari does do, it does very well indeed. Reading List can completely replace the need for a “temp” folder to come back to read articles later, while fullscreen browsing is finally brought to Apple’s browser for those users who are currently running OS X Lion.

Have you got any other tips for making the most of Safari? If so, please let us know about them in the comments.

The Interface

Snapheal’s software is so easy to use that it only requires a couple of minutes to be familiar with the most used controls. When you first launch Snapheal, you are asked to add a photo. You are presented with three options – load an image, drag and drop, and import.

The main screen has five modules to choose from. The first is erasing, the main feature of Snapheal. You also have clone and stamp. This helps after erasing when you want to smoothen out the remaining area. In addition, Snapheal offers the basic editing tools like rotate, retouch, adjust exposures, and cropping. The top region of the interface offers more importation options, saving, sharing, undoing and more.

The Heavy Jobs

The application fared very well with doing some complicating jobs. I was actually surprised at how the image was able to repair itself after being partially erased. Unlike my previous assumption, Snapheal doesn’t leave you with a hole or any image quality reduction; it tries to match the erased portion with the rest of the image. To erase a section of the image:

1. Paint over the area you want erased

2. Click the “Erase” Button.

3. Bear the waiting time…

Voila! Your Image is complete! We must remember that Snapheal is software, and not the human touch, so it isn’t invincible. We will cover more of Snapheal’s flaws later on.

Strengths

Even though Snapheal isn’t for the hard-core user, it does offer many options that can appeal to the advanced everyday user. This user may find some tasks too difficult for software like iPhoto, but not complicated enough for purchasing Photoshop. Photo editing with Snapheal is as easy as 1,2,3. First, highlight the area you want to erase, then click “Erase”, and there you go. The fun facts that Snapheal show you during the loading are also a nice touch. However, this nice feature is a distracter for a weakness that Snapheal has.

Weaknesses

One of the biggest weaknesses that Snapheal has is loading duration. It takes a very long time to load after erasing. Even after a small blemish removal, Snapheal can take a little too long. The fun facts may help pass time, but after reading a couple, the average user may get a little antsy. During testing, I at least tolerated the wait because of the end result, but there were many times when I considered clicking the “cancel processing” button. One tip I have for this flaw is to do each erasing bit by bit.

In addition, there were a couple of times when my edits seemed to make a black gaping hole in the image. Aside from other photo editing software where this is the norm, this wasn’t the case for Snapheal, so I was unpleasantly surprised to see this. Lastly, Snapheal crashed at least twice when I imported some DSLR images for editing. I expected this to happen with such a large image (in terms of file size), but it was still a flaw nonetheless.

Our Verdict

During testing, Snapheal seemed to fare pretty well. I was able to make both minor and major edits with ease, despite a horrid waiting time. The application also was able to watch according to the surrounding image, though there were a couple of times when glitches occurred. But these flaws are more than likely going to disappear once the developer is able to get all the kinks out now that it’s public. At a price of $15, Snapheal is definitely an economically friendly application. While the heavy user will get too frustrated with the application, the every day and semi-professional will find Snapheal the right fit on their Mac dock.

Giveaway

Now is the moment that you have been waiting for. Snapheal is officially in the Mac App Store today and we are glad to have 5 free license keys to give away to you.

Here’s what you need to do to participate:

Update: contest closed.

Tweet to Enter

All you have to do is click the link below and send out the resulting tweet (or just copy and paste), then leave a comment below with a link to your tweet. That’s it!

This giveaway begins now and ends Tuesday, 20th December 2011 at 2359hrs Pacific Time. The winners will be selected at random and announced via email.

Share and enjoy!

Snapheal for Mac (iTunes link)

MakeTechEasier would like to thank Macphun.com for their generosity while participating in this giveaway. Interested in sponsoring? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us.

Save a Tree

One of the largest advantages to any use of technology in education is the effect on the environment. The ability to reduce the book load and having a nice technological alternative to note taking can make education cheaper and more retroactive. On the subject of note taking, there are a multitude of applications available for easy and digital note taking (look in “iTunes for Education” for apps). When compared to standard notes, digital ones allow you to add more annotations, audio notes, and more. Missed a class? Getting the right notes for that day is much easier and productive. When focusing on notebooks, the iTunes store and iBooks offer tons of textbooks and supplements for various subjects.

Sparking Creativity

If or when you were a student, what was the first thing that came to mind for you to do? For most students, making a podcast or iMovie aren’t the first things that come to mind. However, Mac users and Apple users in general have readily available programs allowing them to go above and beyond what is required.  These programs are so easy to use that everyone from your four-year-old child to your 18-year-old college student will get the programs in no time. In addition, software like Microsoft Office for Mac can allow you to create beautiful posters, flyers, and programs.

Learning on the Go

Any student knows that learning doesn’t stop in the classroom. The average student is more vulnerable in their learning outside of school than in. In school, there are teachers and professors available to monitor and assess the student’s learning. However, at home, it’s up to the student how much or little they learn. This gives the student the opportunity to shape how they learn into more creative ways. The iPhone and iPod Touch offers you the ability to use a ton of educational and brain stimulating applications while at home and on the road. In addition, the iPad allows you to have a great mobile computing alterative and note-taking partner.

iTunes for Education

The main aspect that makes Apple a leader in modern education is the iTunes store. ITunes and the App Store reveal a whole new world of tools that can help in education. The iTunes store is more than just a place to purchase the latest hits; the store is abundant with very useful podcasts and college level lectures. You can watch lectures from the best of the best, including MIT, Yale, and more. The lessons and lectures available are all apart of the section of iTunes known as iTunes U. iTunes U podcasts update regularly on your iDevice, allowing you to easily follow the lesson. Who says you have to be in school to take advantage of this resource? For example, iTunes U can be the perfect language tutor before going on your next trip overseas. Below, we have listed some of the best education friendly programs for Mac/iDevices.

Oxford American Dictionary for iOS

The same famous dictionary is now available everywhere you go. The Oxford American Dictionary includes over a quarter of a million definitions that are continually updated when new words appear. The dictionary doesn’t require Internet, which means you can get definitions while on the go. Each word comes with audio and pronunciation.

Bamboo Paper for iPad

When creating digital notes, you are handed two options. The notes will either be scanned or typed. There are very few opportunities for creativity, until now. Bamboo Paper for iPad allows individuals to create their own digitally drawn notes, using various “ink” and “pen” variations. Notes can be shared by email and printed with AirPrint.

iStudiez Pro for iOS

iStudiez Pro offers individuals with the ability to have their school and home life coexist. The application allows you to view upcoming assignments and events on the calendar, with iCal support. You can also keep track of your classes and schedules with the GPA integration. iStudiez Pro makes school manageable.

Graphing Calculator for iPhone

Most individuals don’t walk around with their graphing calculators in toe, we won’t judge if you do. When you have that situation when you are in need of a graphing calculator that isn’t near, your iPhone is here to help. The Graphing Calculator allows you to get more substance in your calculating needs that the iPhone’s native scientific calculator doesn’t offer.

No Fear: Sparknotes for iOS

Sparknotes is a household name for many teenagers needing a modern interpretation to plays and stories including Macbeth and Scarlet Letter. No Fear Shakespeare is the iPhone’s only Sparknotes application. The application offers you with the best Shakespeare play available on Sparknotes. It is important to note that each one of the Shakespeare plays are $0.99 each; all 18 plays are available for $4.99. This isn’t mentioned directly on iTunes, but they are charged as in-app purchases.

Conclusion

As you can see, Apple devices offer a refreshing break from the normal routine of being a student or educator. The programs and opportunities offered to students with Apple products are endless. The creativity bone of any individual is strengthened with Macs, with programs like iMovie, Garage Band, and iPhoto. The iPod Touch, iPad, and iPhone allow students to want to study more, with programs in iTunes and the App Store that make studying fun. You can also look at note taking in a new light with various applications that add more substance to class notes. The opportunities don’t stop here; comment below on how Apple has helped you with learning.

Image credit: BigStockPhoto

We’re a family that puts great importance on our music, and because of that, we have every musical device that’s able loaded up with our favorite music. My daughter and I both have MacBooks that we’re using, and my husband has a Hewlett Packard laptop. When my husband got a new iPod, he decided he wanted to take over control of his music on his laptop instead of having me do it on my laptop. Since an iPod can’t be synced with Windows and Mac at the same time, the dilemma became how to get the music from the MacBook onto the HP, then onto to iPod. Sure, there’s old-fashioned ways, such as making CDs to transfer, but in this electronic age, it’s not necessary. iTunes Match did it all for me.

iTunes Match does have a hefty price tag on it for $24.99 a year.  That’s what kept me from signing up when it was first released with iTunes version 10.5.1. However, for our uses of music, it became worth it. To sign up for iTunes Match, open iTunes on your computer and find the link on the left side underneath iTunes Store.

iTunes Match begins by gathering information about your library. It needs to know exactly what you have on there. Depending on how much you do have on there, it can take a while. While you can link up to ten computers and iOS devices to iTunes Match, you can only have it upload one library at a time.

iTunes now matches up the songs you have on your computer with ones in the iTunes Store. Since not everything is available in the store, it won’t find everything in this step.

For all those songs it couldn’t match up, iTunes Match now uploads them into the cloud. This was the selling point for me with the service. My husband was putting stacks of CDs into iTunes on his computer. I wanted access to that too, yet didn’t want to spend the hours combing over it all. For the CDs he uploaded that just came through as “Track 01,” “Track 02,” etc., it wasn’t very helpful. iTunes Match couldn’t match that to anything in the store and just put it in the cloud that same way. I’ll have to go through at some point and identify and edit those to fix it. Again, the time for this step will vary depending on your own library. My library had over 2000 songs in it and the whole process took hours.

Once iTunes Match has finished uploading artwork and songs and has matched everything to the best of its ability, you’re free to either add another computer or link up your iOS devices. Initiate it on a second computer the same way you did for the first one, except click “Add This Computer.”

To initiate iTunes Match on your iOS 5 devices, go to the Settings app, and choose Music. change the option for iTunes Match to being on. It will ask for your password and warn your about replacing your library. The service will remove your library and replace it with what you just uploaded to the cloud. For me, I have music I don’t keep on my devices as it’s things I no longer want or things I downloaded for someone else. However, once you have enabled iTunes Match on your device, it gives you an option to only show your downloaded items on your device. It’s still avaiable to you in the cloud, but you don’t have to sort through it.

For the purposes of this article, I chose the option to have the cloud visible in my iTunes library on my iPad. The items that are not in my library on my iPad, but are in the cloud, have a little cloud icon next to them. The coveted library my husband was looking for is now in the cloud. We had changed the album name to “Jeff’s Mix” to keep the songs together, and had replaced album artwork with special pictures of the family. I’m not even sure where those pictures are anymore to redo it. However, that adjusted playlist is now in the cloud, with the pictures. It was on my MacBook, and now with iTunes match, we can download it to our devices, and my husband can download it to his computer, and then put it on his iPod.

With the music stored in the cloud, you have a choice of playing it from the cloud, or downloading it to your device or computer. If you want to download it, tap the cloud icon next to the song or album you want downloaded. It seems to take a little longer this way then downloading it from iTunes straight up.

The advantage to downloading the songs and not playing them off the cloud is that you then have the option of using other music apps. I prefer to play my music using the SoundHound app, and after I downloaded the song off the cloud, it then appeared in this app as well. I also added the service to my iPhone, making all of the music we have ever downloaded in iTunes, or have uploaded to these two libraries, available on all iOS devices and both computers. Doing the same to my daughter’s computer will improve all this even more.

With a Mac safely in Target Disk Mode, its hard drive contents can be read from another computer and it is essentially reduced to the role of external hard drive, from which it can be booted from, and an operating system can even be installed. Read on below for some tips on getting started with Target Disk Mode.

Getting Started

In order to use Target Disk Mode with two Mac’s, we’ll need a Firewire cable of the type 6 pin to 6 pin. With this Firewire cable ready, switch off both Mac’s and first connect the Firewire cable to the target Mac – this is the Mac which has the hard drive which we wish to read from, or write to.

Next, power on the target Mac while holding down the ‘T’ key. After a few moments, a blue screen should appear with a yellow Firewire icon – this denotes that the machine in question is in Target Disk Mode. Now plug the other end of the Firewire cable into your host Mac and power it on. Once OS X is loaded, you should be able to access your files on the target Mac and copy any needed data.

Booting From The Target Mac

If you wish to actually boot into the target Mac’s OS X, connect the two machines as outlined above, stopping short of powering on the host Mac. Once you’re ready and the target Mac is safely in Firewire Target Disk Mode, power on the host Mac and hold down the ‘alt’ or option key.

After some time, you should be presented with a boot screen, from which you may select your target Mac’s hard drive to boot from. This may not always work, depending on the compatibility of the two machines in question.

Installing OS X In The Target Mac

It can be very useful to place a Mac in Target Disk Mode if you wish to install an operating system without using the disc drive. For example, I wanted to install OS X Tiger on an old iBook Clamshell but could not because the iBook’s optical drive was broken.

By connecting the iBook Clamshell to another iBook with Firewire Target Disk Mode, I was able to use the second iBook’s optical drive to install OS X Tiger into the desired machine. This method can even be followed to install unsupported versions of OS X onto the target machine, provided the host machine supports it – just install OS X as normal, making sure to select the target Mac as the destination drive.

Conclusion

Whether wanting to retrieve data, boot an old computer or install an operating system, Firewire Target Disk Mode can be a very useful tool for Mac users who own more than one machine. Firewire cables are very inexpensive and can be left ready should the need arise.

Mail, iChat, and FaceTime

Communication during the holiday season is essential. Our Mac’s native communication options allow us to share and connect with loved ones we are away from during the holiday season. The mail option on your Mac is perfect for sharing photos and home movies with loved ones and friends who are away. Have a card you want to virtually share with them? Scan the card and email it to them as a photo.

The iChat feature allows the loved one to be there with you without actually physically being with you.  With support for services like Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger, you have a multitude of options to stay in touch. Want to contact a family member with a Mac? FaceTime is your best option. With the OS X Lion update, all Macs have FaceTime, changing it from a downloadable app to integrated software. FaceTime works even while closed, allowing you to never miss that call on Christmas morning.

iPhoto and iMovie

Some individuals are surprised at the amount of features in iPhoto that they never use. Many of these features help replace the need to go to your local photo-developing store, in return saving you a lot of money. Remember the family portrait around the Thanksgiving table with a card made directly in iPhoto. You are guaranteed with quality cards and stationary with premium paper being Apple’s standard when printing your prints. There are a ton of options available for amazing and eye popping designs for your next holiday card. All cards range from $0.99 – $2.99 per iPhoto created card. Along with cards, you can also create photo books starting at $20. Your holiday memories will follow you wherever you go with Photo Steam, iPhoto photos appearing on any iDevice connected with iCloud.

Your Mac allows you to make wonderful family home videos that capture your holiday celebrations and dinners. To begin, simply connect your camera to your Mac computer. Then, launch iMovie and click the camera icon. Your video should appear, ready for importing. From there, you have a choice of effects, trailers, and more. Once you’re finished with editing your home video, you can export it and share it with friends on Facebook. With the option of exporting to HD, you can even upload to YouTube to share you funny holiday moment with the world.

Address Book and iCal

When organizing your next holiday get together, take advantage of the Address Book feature of your Mac. The feature is revamped in OS X Lion, allowing you to gather a lot more information and using the information in other locations. Contacts linked with profiles and emails automatically launch the appropriate program. For example, if you want to remind your Aunt to bring the green bean casserole, you can click on her email to launch Mail automatically. The same occurs with linked instant messaging accounts and social networking websites. In addition, if you want to start a FaceTime call with an email linked in your contacts, you can click the email to launch FaceTime.

ICal allow you to keep track of all of the holiday events going on for you this year. Each event can be color-coded and labeled, allowing you to differentiate quickly which event is which without having to read a word. Extending on the convenience factor, iCal allows you to add events quickly by clicking the + button at the top. You can type the event in a phrase, automatically adding the event into your calendar. Your iCal will be the essential tool in keeping up with the holiday social activities in your life. In addition, you can link iCal with your iDevice to keep track of important events while on the go.

Microsoft Office 2011

While not software that comes with your Mac out of the box, Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 is an essential application for any Mac user. The software comes with word, PowerPoint, and excel. Outlook is an option for the Home and Business edition users. During the holidays, Microsoft Office will come in handy a lot more than you think. When downloaded, Microsoft Office has a Project Gallery. When browsing, the gallery allows you to select if you want to create a card, flyer, menu, and more. When selected, Microsoft Office automatically sets the interface according to what you are doing.

The features, including the ability to make menus and flyers, can make your holiday a lot more creative. Menus, for example, used to be an aspect of the holiday dinner that cost users a couple of bucks. However, with Microsoft Office, you have the ability to make menus and other holiday fares for free. In addition, you can even start on the family wish list with Microsoft Excel. Microsoft Office allows you to share between other Microsoft Office users. This allows you to send family members a document where they can add their desired list for the year, adding to the wish list. This makes holiday shopping a breeze, somewhat!

Conclusion

As you can see, your Mac is a lot more useful than watching funny YouTube videos and web surfing. Your Mac can come in handy during the holiday season when saving time and money. Along with the features above, your Mac can also help with other features, including finding and playing the best holiday tunes with iTunes, making your own holiday mixes with Garage band, and taking advantage of the vast variety of apps in the Mac App Store. This holiday season, whether you’re making a holiday movie or creating a family scrapbook, your best-cost efficient solution might be the thing you are reading this article on right now.

Unfortunately, development was suddenly dropped for Quicksilver and as the project stagnated, its popularity faded. However, a new software team has taken over recently and injects the keyboard launcher with a new vigour, promising regular updates and new features. Let’s take a renewed look at Quicksilver and see if it can still offer users a compelling reason to make it a key part of their OS X computing experience.

Setting Up Quicksilver

To get up and running with Quicksilver, first head over to the Quicksilver download page and choose the relevant release for your Mac – Quicksilver is supported on all iterations of OS X from Panther onwards.

Once installed, the first-run of Quicksilver is relatively painless and one must choose which plugins to activate. If you’re not sure which plugins you would like yet, you can always return later but a few which I’d recommend are the iTunes, Safari, Mail and Address Book plugins.

Finally, Quicksilver must be allotted a keyboard shortcut. I choose to use the default Spotlight shortcut and move Spotlight to Option & Spacebar, but any such combination should suffice.

Searching and Launching

Hitting Quicksilver’s keyboard prompt will bring up the above pane and, like Spotlight, as you begin to type, search results will be thrown up. Where it differs from Spotlight however, is that Quicksilver allows you to control key aspects of OS X right from Quicksilver’s interface – with the correct combination, users can email a contact, listen to iTunes and more.

Triggers

By configuring Quicksilver’s Triggers feature, you may assign certain combinations of keys to specific tasks. This may not sound all that revolutionary in itself but Quicksilver allows some really great tweaking which brings this feature alive. For example, I have the following combinations set to open specific applications and bookmarks:

Applications

Ctrl + M = Mail
Ctrl + P = Pages
Ctrl + S = Safari

Bookmarks

Ctrl + Shift + G = Google Search
Ctrl + Shift + S = Soundcloud
Ctrl + Shift + M = Make Tech Easier

In order to set up some similar Triggers of your own, navigate to Quicksilver’s preferences and click on the “Triggers” pane. It should look something like the above screenshot, albeit without all my own Triggers inserted.

To add a custom Trigger, click on the + icon located on the bottom taskbar and then “HotKey” and a search prompt shall appear. Begin typing what you would like to set as a trigger (for example “Saf” will quickly bring up Safari) and then if you’re happy with it, hit Save.

Next we need to assign a keyboard combination to our Trigger, so make sure that your previously made Trigger is highlighted and click on the small information pane icon, which is located toward the bottom of the screen and looks like a small ‘i’. You should see something similar to that shown below:

As you can see, for the command to open the URL for Make Tech Easier, I have allotted the keyboard combination:

Control + Command + Shift + M

Pressing these keys anywhere while Safari is activated will launch a new window with Make Tech Easier in it. Other commands can be added in a similar manner.

More Basic Quicksilver Commands

To send an email quickly while using Quicksilver, one can launch QS’s interface as normal and type in the name of the person you would like to email. I’d like to email my friend Hannah so after typing in “han”, her name was brought up and then a hit of the tab key took me to the right hand column. From there, just select “Compose Email”.

In the same way, iTunes can be controlled from Quicksilver. Once again bringing up iTunes, hit tab and then move down to select Pause/Play, Skip Track, etc.

Final Thoughts

I’ve really only covered the very basics of Quicksilver here but hopefully it’ll be enough to pique your interest and in future articles I’ll set out some of the more complex tasks you can carry out at lightning speed with the tips of your fingers.

If you like the idea of a launcher like Quicksilver but find it too complex, another similar application is Alfred. The core application of Alfred is free to use but a Powerpack must be purchased in order to unlock its full potential. That said, once the Powerpack is indeed bought, Alfred is a powerful, flexible and perhaps easier to use application than Quicksilver.

Still, sometimes it’s fun to look back and play some retro console classics and if one desires, it’s perfectly possible to use your Mac to achieve this, with NES, SNES and even N64 games all attainable with good graphic and speed performance. Read on after the break to see how.

ROMS

Since we’re going to be emulating games on our Macs, there’ll be no need for cartridges, nor any way to use them if we had them. Therefore, one must attain ROMS, or files which contain the games. The legality of this is somewhat questionable and opinions vary as to it being piracy or not but most consider emulation fairly harmless. A quick internet search for “the old computer” will usually throw up a website which contains the required results.

1. NES

The Nintendo Entertainment System was launched in the US in the mid-1980′s and proved to be an iconic 8-bit classic, with worldwide success and many unofficial clones launched in Soviet Eastern Europe. To emulate NES games, we have a few choices in Mac OS X, but after trying most of them out, I’m going recommend you go with Nestopia.

Simply follow the link and navigate to the relevant Mac OS X download to install Nestopia – it’s a free download. That done, you can grab your ROMS and direct the app toward them via the built-in menu.

2. SNES

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was the 16 bit follow-up to the NES and was no less successful than its predecessor. With such classic titles as Starfox, Super Mario World and Pilot Wings all finding a home on the SNES, there’s little wonder that its games are still being played today.

To get started playing SNES games on our Mac, we need to grab a copy of SNES9X, which is also free. Download and install SNES9X as normal and then launch the app.

SNES9X contains more options but is still very simple to configure and all you should need to do is navigate the menu to “File -> Open ROM Image” and select your ROM.

3. Nintendo 64

Coming a decade later than Nintendo’s original 8 bit console, the Nintendo 64 was, appropriately, 64 bit and featured significant graphical improvements over its predecessors. For this reason, it takes a little more resources to emulate Nintendo 64 adequately but there’s still plenty of games which run just fine on a Mac.

For our N64 emulation, I’m going to recommend Sixtyforce which has managed to handle the games I’ve tested on my MacBook Pro without many glitches. Sixtyforce is free to use but there is a charge to unlock all the app’s functionality. ROMS are loaded in the same way as SNES9X and Nestopia, accessible via a menu.

Conclusion

The process of running emulated retro games on your Mac really isn’t too difficult at all and probably the biggest challenge is sourcing all the game ROMS you wish to play. If desired, a joypad can be plugged into your Mac to complete the experience. In addition, there’s even an app which turns your iPhone into a NES style controller – I’ve tested this out and found it to be surprisingly usable.

iDraw has the tools you will want and need and has them arranged in a way that is basic and organized well. The Properties window is where you control the aspects of the canvas, coordinates and size of an object, how it will be aligned and arranged, the path and spacing. These functions are also found within the menu and sometimes at the top of the window as well.

The objects are created with the help of the tools located on the left of the canvas. I was asked to create a logo for a DJ service, and it was easily accomplished with these tools and shapes. I simply drew it with rectangles, polygons, circles and lines. While in an app with more options, such as Adobe Illustrator, I’d be creating the complex shapes by cutting and moving the index points, it’s created here with the eraser tool. The earpieces of the headphones started as circles, and I simply “erased” to make the flat edges on either side.

The look of all the objects and text is controlled in the Appearance window. The line weight and sharpness of ends is controlled here, and the brush size and shape can be set within this window as well. For shapes, the fill color is set here, albeit with limited color choices and no options for CMYK or RGB. Additionally, shapes can be set to be filled with gradients and images as well.

Text is handled in the Appearance window as well. Font, Size, and Alignment is handled in this window. After your text is set the way you want it, you can use the option to Convert Text to Path to treat your text as objects allowing you to do things such as fill the text with an image. The functions are limited here as far as the text. I was not able to set the text to a path or objects other than a basic text box. To accomplish the curved text, I put each character in a separate text box, then rotated each one separately, the same way I would have in the early days of graphic design before such options were made available. Text could also be set in a text program and saved as an image and imported in if more distinct text styles are required.

When the project is completed, it can be exported into a variety of formats including JPG, GIF, PNG, SVG, and others. Saving as a JPG allows for you to set the quality of the image as well as an option for including the background and a grid. Those who are unsure with all these options are helped along with short explanations onscreen of each different exporting option.

Every image manipulation option from other apps isn’t included in iDraw, but if that more extensive creativity is needed, it would be best to spend the money and get a more expensive app such as Adobe Illustrator. However, for more simple image manipulation, the much cheaper iDraw will certainly suffice.

Here’s some great lightweight media related applications and a program to help schedule your life too, all of which have much of the functionality of their heavyweight counterparts, often at a much more affordable price.

Pixelmator

Pixelmator is a lightweight graphics editor which is beautifully designed, easy to use and works on older Mac hardware, even those machines which are powered by the now abandoned PowerPC architecture. As a blogger, I often need to do basic image manipulation and resizing, exporting to different formats and similar tasks. However, I have terrible Photoshop skills and don’t wish to spend time learning to become better as graphics don’t interest me a great deal.

Happily, Pixelmator fits the bill as Photoshop for many users like myself and gives the tools of image manipulation to even the most graphically challenged or inexperienced amongst us.

Vox

Despite the hate which it often generates with some users, I personally don’t have a problem with iTunes and its overall performance. Having said that, I sometimes only want a lightweight, easy music player which will handle any format I throw at it and not require the management of a library.

Vox does this extremely well, has a beautifully minimalist interface, EQ and playlist controls in addition to some other tweaks available under the hood – and all for free!

Taskpaper

There are no end of GTD, or “getting things done” applications available for OS X and one of the most lightweight is Hog Bay Software’s Taskpaper. Lightweight and minimal often translates as simple and intuitive but Taskpaper does have something of a learning curve – to be sure, this should be a quick learning curve to the more technically minded, but those who wish something more intuitive might be better looking elsewhere for their time management needs.

Reaper

GarageBand is included free with every new Mac but for those who wish for something more lightweight and flexible, Reaper is an excellent choice of DAW. With several versions available for Windows and Mac OS X, Reaper also actively supports the PowerPC architecture – ensuring that even the oldest Macs should still be able to create and edit audio tracks.

Reaper is free to use, with an inexpensive product activation encouraged, though not demanded, as it will continue to run indefinitely.

Conclusion

Whatever type of application you’re looking for, there’s almost always a lightweight, low-cost option available for purchase or download – though due to the nature of independent software developers and their limited press coverage, it’s not always easy to find them.

Have you got any favourite lightweight applications? Please let us know about them in the comments!

However, this does not necessarily mean that you must do without all of OS X Lion’s best features, as much of the functionality of Apple’s latest big cat can be added to Snow Leopard with the tweaking of options, third-party applications and hacks.

AirDrop

OS X has always had good networking abilities but AirDrop certainly made sharing files over two Mac’s a lot more intuitive and streamlined. However, many Mac users have found upon installing Lion that they are not compatible with AirDrop. For these users and for Snow Leopard users too, the popular and free DropCopy application for Mac and IOS makes sharing files a breeze.

Wallpaper

OS X Lion comes with an updated selection of wallpapers. If you would like to make use of these wallpapers on a Mac not running Lion, just head to this Deviant Art page.

Swipe Between Spaces

When dual-booting OS X Lion and Snow Leopard, I found that the one feature I missed in Snow Leopard the most was the ability to swipe left or right to move between Spaces. Luckily, providing your trackpad supports the multitouch gestures needed, this can be achieved in Snow Leopard with the free application, Better Touch Tool.

First set up Spaces so that it has four columns, as shown in the above screenshot. Select the drop down menu to ensure that “To Switch Between Spaces” does not correspond to a keyboard shortcut for the time being.

Install Better Touch Tool and it should appear in your Menu Bar. Navigate to Better Touch Tool’s preferences and select the “Trackpad/Magic Trackpad” pane, ensuring that “Global” is also selected on the left, as we want to make this new gesture system-wide.

Now, select “Add New Gesture” and “Four Finger Swipe Left” then in the “Custom Keyboard Shortcut” enter control and right at the same time so it looks like the above screenshot, repeating the process for the left swipe gesture.

Next bring up OS X’s System Preferences and access the Trackpad preferences and change the option for “Three Fingers” to dragging.

Navigate to the Spaces preference pane in System Preferences and click on “To switch between spaces” – select the control key option so that it looks like the screenshot below. Finally, you may need to head to your trackpad options and untick the box “Swipe Left/Right to switch applications”.

Now you should be able to move between Spaces just by swiping left or right with four fingers!

Reverse Scrolling

In OS X Lion, Apple brought in reverse scrolling to make touchpad input more iOS-like. If you’d like to try out reverse scrolling on a Mac running Snow Leopard, there’s a few choices but for this guide, I’ll stick with Better Touch Tool.

Launch Better Touch Tool’s preferences once again and click on the “Basic Settings” pane. Head over to the top right of the screen to click on the box next to “Inverse Scrolling (Lion Like)” to complete the change. If you later decide that reverse/inverse scrolling is not to your taste, just head back to Better Touch Tool’s preferences and untick the box to return to default.

Remove Application Indicators From Dock

OS X Lion allows the user to remove the Dock indicators which show whether an application is running. This is meant to encourage a more “worry free” approach so that the user just uses each application as needed without worrying about whether it is running or not.

While Snow Leopard doesn’t have a simple option to remove the indicators, it can be achieved with a little light hacking:

Navigate to “/System/Library/Core Services/” in Finder and find the icon named “Dock”.

Right click on “Dock” and select “Show Package Contents” then double click to open “Contents” and “Resources”.

Make a search in Resources via Finder for files which contain “indicator” in their filename (as shown above) and copy them somewhere safe. With your backup copy in place, now move all the original “indicator” files to the Trash.

Launch Terminal and copy/paste the following command to restart the Dock and see your changes take effect:

killall Dock

To return your Dock back to normal, simply replace the filenames which contain “indicator” and repeat the killall command in the Terminal.

Launchpad

One of the more debated additions to OS X Lion is Launchpad, which brings iOS-style launching of applications – some love it, some hate it. If you’d like to get an idea of your feelings on the matter while staying in Snow Leopard, Araelium Group’s QuickPick application brings much of the functionality and look of Launchpad to OS X Snow Leopard.

iChat

iChat now enables all your contacts lists to be merged into one window, whatever account they’re on, helping to cut down on much needed screen space. There’s no hack or workaround that I’m aware of to pull this off on Snow Leopard with iChat, but Adium can. Adium is much more flexible than iChat for messaging but be aware that it does not allow video or voice calls – just text.

Conclusion

While the above tips and tricks can’t quite offer all the benefits of OS X Lion, they should at least serve to give your Mac some interesting new features to make use of and perhaps help you decide whether to stick with Snow Leopard a little while longer.

These new low-profile keyboards look great and have the benefit of no annoying noise, but there’s a minority of users who miss the physical feedback of a mechanical keyboard and some can even suffer RSI when typing heavily on the new style. For these users, Canadian keyboard manufacturer Matias offers the Tactile Pro 3 – a keyboard which promises to faithfully replicate the feel of classic keyboards like the original Apple Extended Keyboard, but with modern benefits, such as three USB ports.

Following In The Footsteps Of A Classic

The Apple Extended Keyboard was originally produced in the early 1990′s and is widely regarded as Apple’s finest ever keyboard. They are still in use by enthusiasts today and it’s possible to pick up an older model on the internet but this comes with complications as not only will you need a USB adaptor, but way the keyboard is designed means that it’ll also need its own power source.

Sourcing a mint condition Apple Extended Keyboard can be difficult and so many turn to the Tactile Pro 3 instead. The Tactile Pro 3 is a keyboard which is similarly styled but comes with modern benefits too – such as three USB ports and a great layout which includes all the lesser used symbols one could need, accessible at the press of an Option key, making typing out even obscure characters simple.

All this convenience and retro styling does come at significant cost however, the Matias Tactile Pro 3 is priced at an eyebrow raising $149.99.

First Impressions

The Tactile Pro 3 comes in well designed packaging and feels suitably heavy and expensive. It definitely does not follow Apple’s smooth aluminium minimalist look of recent years, rather harking back to a time when white plastic ruled supreme. Indeed, the keyboard looks great sat on my desk next to an iBook and eMac.

The inclusion of all the extra characters is welcome but gives the keyboard a slightly busy look which may not appeal to minimalists. Each key is placed in a very intuitive layout and the Caps Lock glows satisfyingly white when pressed. The three USB ports’ placement is well considered too and helps cut down on desktop clutter, powering a mouse and syncing an iPhone with ease, while the keyboard’s own USB lead is very long and heavy duty – it should prove up to the task of traversing even the most awkward desk layout.

Ghostbuster

Retro-styling only goes so far and so it’s probably the engineering behind the Matias Tactile Pro 3 which is its most compelling selling point. Matias have researched and designed the keyboard’s mechanism to work in the exact same way as the Apple Extended Keyboard which it emulates, making use of the same Alpine-style switches and it can read the signal from several keys at once, removing the possibility of ghosting when used by even the fastest touch typist. Unfortunately I’ve never had the opportunity to use the Apple Extended Keyboard so cannot compare the Tactile Pro 3 to the original, but opinion seems to agree that it’s as close as one can get to the real thing.

The action of the keys feels just perfect – typing requires some weight behind it but not so much as to need undue force and each key snaps with a satisfying sound. When compared to typical modern keyboards, the Tactile Pro 3 is definitely much louder and could drive some to distraction if used in a shared office environment.

Is The Matias Tactile Pro 3 Worth The Cost?

I write for a living and suffer from quite painful RSI as a result of my typing thousands of words a week. In the short time I’ve been using the Tactile Pro 3, I’ve found it significantly eases my wrist pain when typing and is more conducive to good typing technique – there’s a real and noticeable benefit in using the Tactile Pro 3 over my usual Apple keyboards and the ones on my MacBook Pro and iBook, so much so in fact, that I’m now loathe to use those built-in notebook keyboards.

Though expensive compared to even the most high-end Apple wireless keyboards, the Tactile Pro 3 feels like a quality product and seems built to last. If you would like a clicky keyboard or enjoy retro styling, or if you’re a heavy computer user and type many words as part of your job, then you may well find that the Tactile Pro 3 is good value for money.

The Matias Tactile Pro is configured for Mac, though I believe the company offers corresponding Windows keys and drivers as an option. Visit the Matias website for more information.

What’s iCloud and Why Should I Care?

One reason some have called iCloud a separate entity from iOS 5 is because it’s not just one service or feature. iCloud is the name for Apple’s group of wireless features. iCloud isn’t just about storage, the main focus of this article, it also allows you to wirelessly sync and update your iOS device. Along with wireless sync, you can have your multimedia and documents backed up as well as all of your iTunes purchases (apps and songs alike). May I also mention, Find my Friends is a part of iCloud too. So iCloud also deals with location as well. If you own an iOS device, you will be affected in some way by iCloud.

I’m hooked, how do I sign up?

New users can sign up on their iOS device. MobileMe users will have to transfer to iCloud manually from the website. During sign up, you’ll be asked to enter your Apple ID. It’s important to make sure you use your own ID, this will be the login that will hold the key to your digital life. If you want to do away with your MobileMe account all together, you can sign up this way as well. You’ll be given a @me.com email as well. If you don’t have an iOS device just yet, no worries, just go to iCloud.com (a website I came to by accident a couple of days before launch) and sign up from there. Make sure you see the Apple Inc security certificate of authenticity in the address bar. This is a security precaution just in case others create a similar website to try to get your info. But don’t worry, Apple has reserved several domains to prevent this, so if you mistype a letter, you’ll be safe and redirected to iCloud.com.

Can iCloud Really Hold Everything?

iCloud can backup your mail, contacts, and calendar data. The reminders app, iPhone notes, and Safari bookmarks also are stored in iCloud. When you configure for iCloud to hold this data or not, it will automatically push the new data to iCloud each time you make a change. Photos are shared automatically with iCloud with Photostream. The feature allows you to retrieve either the first 1000 or the recent 30 days of photos, which for many users, it’s not a lot. Documents are also held in iCloud, but sadly it only works with the iWork suite. Microsoft Office for Mac users, like myself, is out of luck… for now at least.

What if I Previously Had Mobile Me?

If you previously used MobileMe, then the change is sort of bittersweet. iCloud is a free service, but you are using three features that some users may find useful. iWeb, iDisk, and Gallery will be replaced once your MobileMe account expires or until 30^th June, 2012. If you have a family account, forget about that notion from now on. The free, untied service means that you don’t have to worry about having your family in one account. If you want to leave the whole MobileMe confusion behind you, just create an iCloud account as if you were a new user. This is also the solution to many complicating situations, including those never exposed to an Apple ID.

Points to Ponder

The push for a free storage service comes with its costs. If 5GB is not enough for you, you can add 10GB of storage for $20/year, an extra 20GB for $40/year, and spend $100/year for 50 extra gigabytes of storage. All you have to do is go to Storage and Backup in the iCloud settings of your iOS device, and “Buy more Storage”. It’s as simple as purchasing more data on an iPad, just need your login credentials.

Is it a service you’d feel the need to check out? 5GB is a great start for getting your feet in the water of a more digital life. In addition, being able to have your data available anywhere seems to be liberating in a sense. We’ll have to see if users take hold of iCloud as the storage of the future, some individuals feel security issues might deter them. While others find Apple to put safety first and will never compromise the privacy of its users. We won’t know until we try it.

This tutorial will discuss some of the best and most popular beginner-friendly Terminal tricks and tips to be found on the Internet.

Disclaimer

Usually it takes destructive behaviour or terrible luck to ruin your Mac’s OS X installation beyond repair, but using the Terminal could potentially bypass such safety and enable a user to cause themselves serious headaches, or even (in extreme cases) a completely ruined operating system. This is very unlikely and as long as you steer clear from “sudo” commands which require you to enter your password, you should be perfectly safe. However, I strongly advise you to back up your Mac fully and proceed at your own risk!

Some tips may only work for a particular OS, though I’ve taken care to only select Terminal commands which should mostly work on Leopard, Snow Leopard and Lion.

Show Hidden Files

Though OS X doesn’t really place much emphasis on hidden files and folders, some files and folders are hidden by default. This is usually for good reason and deleting the wrong thing can cause issues, but if you wish to show the hidden files, then enter the following code:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles true

To undo this command, replace true with false.

Enable 2D Dock

If you’ve ever moved your Dock to the left or right of screen (depending on which OS X version you’re running), you may have seen the 2D Dock shown above. If you’d like to enable the 2D Dock in all positions, enter the following into Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES

Now restart your Dock to make the changes take effect by entering

killall Dock

To put your Dock back to normal, replace the “YES”‘ in the above code to “NO” and restart the Dock once again by entering the above killall command.

Disable Dashboard

I’ve never been a big fan of the Dashboard as it’s something of a RAM hog and I like it to be completely disabled in case I accidentally launch it. If you would like to do so too, enter this into Terminal and hit return:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

Once again restart Dock to make the changes take effect.

killall Dock

To undo this command and bring back Dashboard, just change “YES” to “NO” and restart your Dock by entering the killall command once again (note: the killall command can actually be inserted into the same line of code to save time, I’m making it separate here to give you a sense of what exactly is happening).

Show The Library Folder In OS X Lion

OS X Lion comes with the Library folder hidden by default but this can make troubleshooting any issues with your Mac, deleting the cache or just plain “tinkering” very difficult. In order to bring back the Library folder permanently, enter this command into Terminal:

chflags nohidden ~/Library/

Hide Desktop Icons

A nice clean Desktop looks great but sometimes it’s not practical to keep all your files organised. If you’d like to hide all the icons on your Desktop through a Terminal command, enter the following:

defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool false

Then our friend the killall command once again

killall Finder

When you wish to bring your Desktop clutter back, copy and paste the following:

defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool true

Then enter the killall command.

Launch An Application

In order to launch applications from the Terminal, just follow this template, replacing Twitter with the name of whichever program you’d like to launch:

open -a Twitter

Kill A Process

If you need to quickly kill a process or application, type the following into Terminal, replacing Twitter with whichever process you’d like to kill.

killall Twitter

Open A Finder Window In Current Directory

To quickly open a Finder window in whichever directory you’re currently in, enter the following into Terminal

open .

Change Grab’s Default Image Format

OS X’s built-in screenshot utility Grab is very useful but if you’d like it to save files as JPG, enter the following into Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg

(note: You can also change jpg to png if preferred).

Conclusion

I hope that you’ve found some usefulness from these Terminal commands and that it encourages you to learn more about the power which can be unlocked from within the command-line. You can usually find an application which takes care of each of the commands posted above, but that’s a lot less informative and a lot less fun!

For the command-line veterans amongst our readers; if you’ve got any Terminal commands or tips which I’ve missed (and I’m sure there are several), please let us know about them in the comments below.