Tech+Tips+and+Tricks

iPod as a USB Device
December 9, 2010

==Have you decided to upgrade to an iPod Touch or iPhone, and think that your former iPod is now obsolete? Then why not use it as a USB Storage Device! This is very simple: just connect your old iPod and drag and drop files into your iPod. Due to Apple's copyright laws, you are not able to drag and drop media files (i.e., music, movies, etc.), however you are able to drag and drop documents. Instructions: 1. Connect iPod to computer 2. iTunes will most likely open. You can Quit iTunes. 3. Drag files into iPod (it will appear as a drive on your desktop). 4. Eject iPod (Drag iPod to trash can). 5. Unplug iPod (wait until your device says "OK to disconnect"). == == P.S. To my knowledge, the newer iPods (iPod Touch and iPhone) no longer support this feature. ==

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Mac Shortcuts
December 20, 2010

Hi Everyone,

This weeks Tech Tip is a collection of Mac specific shortcuts that will hopefully save you some time and make it easier to manage multiple open windows.

I’ve tried to include a little something for everyone, so sometimes you will see some advanced features that you can enable under System Preferences. Please feel free to ignore that option if it does not interest you.

Zoom: Hold the control key down and use a two finger scroll to scroll towards the computer (away from you). You can then use a one finger scroll to zero into exactly what you want to highlight. This is great for illuminating hard to spell words or a website address. To un-zoom, simply hold down the control key again and scroll towards you (using two fingers on the trackpad).

Force Quit: Use this when the nefarious wheel won’t stop spinning. Hold the Apple (Command), Option, and Escape keys down at the same time. This will bring up a separate “Force Quit” window. Highlight the un-responsive application and choose Force Quit. Close the window once you have quit all of the un-responsive applications.

Screen Shot/Capture: This is the same as using the print screen key on a PC. This will take a picture or your screen and automatically save the image to your desktop (default saves it as a png file).

You have two different options: You can take a picture of your entire screen, or highlight what you want to capture.

To take a picture of your entire screen, hold down the Apple (Command), Shift, and number 3 keys. To highlight a section of your screen, hold down the Apple (Command), Shift, and number 4 keys. You will then be able to highlight exactly what you want to capture.

You can locate your images on your desktop (by default, they will be called Picture 1, Picture 2, etc.)

Scroll through Open Apps: Hold down the Apple (Command) and Tab keys at the same time. Click on the tab key to scroll from one app to the next (while still holding down the Apple/Command key). When you find the application that you would like to return to, simply let go of both the Apple and the Tab keys. You can also quit an open application by tabbing to the application that you want to quit. Let go of the tab key and hold down the Q key (while continuing to hold down the Apple key). This will quit the application.

“Right” click: If you are not using a mouse, you can simply hold down the control key and left click.

You can also configure System Preferences to allow you to place two fingers on the trackpad and then click. To set this up, choose Apple – System Preferences – Trackpad – For secondary clicks, place two fingers on the track pad then click the button.

Expose: Expose allows you to quickly locate an open window, hide all of your windows, or show the desktop.

If this is already configured under System Preferences, you will simply click on the corresponding key (F9, F10, F11, or F12). If it is not set up under System Preferences, you have two options: You can either set it up, or simply press the Function (fn) key while simultaneously pressing the corresponding key.

The following is a list of what each key does:

F9: All Windows F10: Application Windows F11: Show Desktop F12: Show Widgets

These keys may be different depending on what Operating System you are using (i.e., your computer may be set up to use F3 and F4 as part of Expose).

You can actually specify which keys you would like to use for Expose by choosing Apple – System Preferences – Expose & Spaces – Expose.

You can also set up “active screen corners” by following the same path. In essence, you can choose the same features by simply moving your mouse to a corner of your screen.

I know that this is a lot, but I think it has something for everyone, so I hope you find it helpful :o)

And, as always, please let me know if there is anything that you would like to work on. I’m always happy to help!

Happy Holidays! -Kim  

