IOS 6 Gets 200 New Features

There are a number of new accessibility options in iOS 6, and you don't necessarily need to be disabled to use them. For example, I accidentally dropped my iPhone 4 a few weeks ago and broke the Sleep button on top of the unit, and since then, I've been using the AssistiveTouch feature in the options to lock my phone's screen with software rather than hardware. That menu has received an update in the new OS, allowing direct access to Voice Control, Screenshot and the Multitasking menu, among other new and updated options.

iOS 6 also offers a new service called Guided Access, which allows you to lock down your phone to the use of one app, and then also enables you to circle off any part of the screen that you don't want usable. This could be great for children. For example, if they want to draw with your iPad's screen but you don't want them going into any other apps or deleting any other work you might have, you can use Guided Access to make sure they're only doing what you allow them to do.

iOS has drawn a lot of attention (and rightfully so) for making sure it's accessible to anyone, no matter how they are able to use it. However, these accessibility features can be usable for everyone. There's a lot of hidden functionality in these features, already included in the OS that you just installed.

Dropbox - For Teachers and Students

Since Dropbox itself is a free service, it's a pleasant surprise to see a simple, easy method for creating a new Dropbox account right off the bat if you don't happen to already have one. The app just asks for a name, e-mail address and password, prompts you to accept the terms of service, and creates the account. 
Once logged in, everything worked pretty smoothly. On first login, You are presented with a brief welcome document that highlights some of the features of the app. Backing out of the document will take you to your Dropbox, which quickly lists any of the files and folders you may have in there. The app features built-in document preview for several types of files, including PDFs, text documents, spreadsheets, pictures and videos. You can also tag files as a favorite by tapping the star at the bottom of the file viewer, which adds the item to the favorites panel and caches a copy locally on the device so that it's immediately available.
An unexpected feature is the ability to take pictures, video, or use existing media and upload them directly to the Dropbox. This could definitely be handy if you need to take a quick video and have it available on another machine without having to plug in your phone and wait for it to sync. Also unexpected, but incredibly welcome, is the massive amount of documentation that is available from inside the app's settings panel. In addition to giving you general details about your account, the settings panel offers a link to watch a video about how Dropbox works, take a tour of the features, or browse their complete online help library, without having to leave the app. As many apps fall short in this area, it's refreshing to see such detailed documention available, let alone right from the app.



Install Dropbox on every device you own. https://www.dropbox.com

iStudiez Pro for iPhone and iPad

iStudiez Pro for iPhone and iPad

iStudiez is an iPhone and iPad app that is perfect for keeping track of your class schedule, due dates, homework assignments, and more. As an important date approaches, iStudiez will send you notifications to remind you about the project or assignment that is due or when a class is going to start soon. iStudiez Pro will help you stay organized during the school year -- something that many students regularly struggle with.

The free version of iStudiez limits you to managing 1 semester, 3 courses, 5 classes per course, 7 assignments, 5 instructors, and 2 holiday periods.

$0.99 for the full version 

You can find it here

Apple TV in the Classroom

Do you have an iPad in your class? Do you have an iPhone? Do you want to stream content from your IOS device to a large screen or a projector? 
Apple TV is deeply integrated with Netflix as ever, and AirPlay is getting better all the time. The Apple TV also holds a lot of clues for what Apple's trying to do in the TV space, whether or not it ever decides to build an actual television.

The new Apple TV feels more like a refresh rather than a leap ahead, but Apple's clearly pushing on with its television strategy. So will the new version nudge out the set-top competition and earn a spot in your home theater stack? Is this model differentiated enough from the last iteration to warrant another $99 from last year’s buyers? And more importantly, is this really the way forward for media consumption on your biggest screen?

Do you want to connect your new Apple TV to your classroom projector? Then you need the Kanex ATV Pro $59.95.

You can get more information here

The "New" iTunes University

The "new" iTunes U


The new iTunes U gives you the ability to take notes while you’re watching lectures is something I think has been missing from iTunes U from day one. But it’s better late than never. With the latest release, you can take notes at the same time as watching or listening to lectures.


“The all-new iTunes U app enables students anywhere to tap into entire courses from the world's most prestigious universities,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Never before have educators been able to offer their full courses in such an innovative way, allowing anyone who’s interested in a particular topic to learn from anywhere in the world, not just the classroom.”

The app is FREE for iPhone and iPad, plus the older version is still available on a computer through the iTunes application.

What is Evernote and why do you need it?



Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere. Use Evernote to jot notes, create to-do lists, clip entire Web pages, manage passwords, and record audio. Everything added to Evernote is automatically synchronized across platforms and devices and made searchable. Evernote will even recognize printed or handwritten text in photos and images.

Download Evernote Here

Free Graphing Calculator for IOS

Free Graphing Calculator for Mobile Devices



This software works with both iPhone and iPad

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/free-graphing-calculator/id378009553?mt=8

New Tools for Teachers - Edmodo

Edmodo blends social networking and the classroom.

• Price Structure: Free
• Pros:
  • Robust, practical tool set for teachers and students
  • Facebook-like interface makes it very intuitive for most users
  • Strong privacy controls
  • Easy student account setup
  • Mobile apps available for those with smart phones
• Cons:
  • Can’t add assignments from within the Grade feature

Edmodo

Mac 101

Here is an excellent place to get answers to your Macintosh questions. Direct from the "Mothership."
Whether you want to learn how to get around your Mac desktop (or find out what a desktop is, for that matter); figure out how to connect your printer, iPod, digital camera, or other device; discover email and the Internet; learn how to do various tasks; learn how to use the software that came with your Mac; or even find out what to do when things don't go as planned; we have the answers.

How to Use GarageBand

Creating a Track

Step1

Open Garage Band and choose to create a new music project. Save it to your computer immediately. The project will open with one Software Instrument track set to a Grand Piano.

Step2

Add a musical track by selecting "New Track" in the Track menu. Select "Delete Track" if you want to remove a track, like the one that was there at the beginning.

Step3

Choose whether you want the track to be for software instruments or real instruments. Software instruments include those within Garage Band or directly connected to the computer. Real instruments are those recorded through a microphone.

Step4

Connect a microphone to the computer if you are using a real instrument track. Your computer may have a built-in microphone. If you do, the sound levels on the track's mixer will move when you speak.

Step5

Connect your instrument(s) to the computer or select Garage Band instruments if you are using a software instrument track. The list of instruments is on the Track Info window to the right of the screen.

Recording

Step1

Prepare a track for recording by clicking the circular button on the track's button panel. The horn button mutes the track, the headphones mute the other tracks, the padlock prevents editing and the arrow opens the track automation.

Step2

Click the circular button at the bottom of the Garage Band window to begin recording. The playback button will come on at the same time. Click the playback button to stop recording.

Step3

Use the playback button (the single forward arrow) to hear your recorded track. The double forward arrow moves the cursor up one measure, the double backwards arrow moves it back, and the backwards arrow with a line takes it to the beginning.

Step4

Open the Track Editor by clicking the scissors button. Drag the cursor when it looks like a cross to highlight the part of the track you want to edit.

Step5

Go to the Edit list to select the editing options you want, whether it's cutting, copying or splitting that track section. You can move the track across the measures when the cursor is two arrows and paste a copied track to an open space.

Step6

Copy your project to your iTunes program by going to "Send Project to iTunes" in the Share list. You will be given a choice of making it an MP3 file or an AAC file as well as choosing the quality.

Viewing Web Video & Digital Photos

PicLens allows you to turn your browser into a full-screen 3D viewing experience for online photos and videos. It works with Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari… and can be used on both OS X and Windows.

Using PicLens, you can easily browse through any number of videos or pictures. When you’re done looking at one, you can resume browsing until you find the next thing you’re interested in. You can also search for specific things, instead of by user accounts. You can, for instance, search for every photo with the tag of Dog that is found on Flickr.

You can also do Web searches! You can search for things on Amazon and even Google using PicLens. Clicking on the “Discover” tab lets you discover many new things. You can choose to read the latest news, watch movie trailers, and even learn about something new.

Unique "Free" Software

You’ve likely seen hundreds, if not thousands, of “top 10″ lists of Mac OS X freeware floating around. Everybody seems recommend the same titles, which doesn’t make it easier for you to discover equally free, unique software. Popular titles are usually popular for a reason: they’re good. But obscure binaries can be just as nice to use.

1. MacOSaiX: From a source image, create mosaics easily with image searches from Google, Flickr, etc.
2. CosmicPainter: Spin art for your desktop (without the clean-up). Export still images and movie compositions, too!
3. QT Sync: Correct audio / video sync, ratio issues on-the-fly.
4. Sloth: There’s no easier way of discovering which files are open on your system at any given time (like, to the geekieth degree).
5. Tunatic: Identify a song simply by playing a sample of it into your microphone. Also available for Windows!
6. Bricksmith: Virtual Lego modeling. Try it, if only for the minifigure generator!
7. Mario Paint Composer: Eat your heart out, GarageBand. Also available for Windows!
8. RGB MusicLab: What does an image sound like? Find out by importing pixels and exporting sound bytes with the least amount of fuss and maximum amount of customization. Also available for Windows!

Not quite a list of 10 unique apps, but I’ve struggled to find items that aren’t listed “everywhere” else. Do you have any suggestions for me? Like, truly suggesting programs that “nobody” has heard about before?

Keep Up-To-Date!

Apple, unlike Microsoft, sends out Software Updates very often. They send out updates to their hardware and software regularly. Your Macbook must stay up-to-date at all times. These patches prevent poor performance and fix problems that have been discovered. All operating systems have flaws. OS X is no exception. The BPS has designed it’s OS X image to only allow updates when you are connected to the BPS Network! You must be connected to your school to receive an update. If you have not connected to the network for some time, you should do so at least once a week. Keep an eye on some of the sites that I have provided. When an update has been released, you will find out on several sites.

You can always check to see if there is a new update available by “clicking” on the black apple at the top left corner of the screen. Then select “software update.” Your computer will check to see if anything is available. If you connect at school on a daily basis, you will receive these updates automatically.

Your Second Dashboard

When Dashboard is activated, the user's desktop is dimmed and widgets appear in the foreground. Like application windows, they can be moved around, rearranged, deleted, and recreated (so that more than one of the same Widget is open at the same time, possibly with different settings). New widgets can be opened, via an icon bar on the bottom of the layer, by dragging a widget icon out into the layer. After loading, the widget is ready for use.
Dashboard uses a variety of graphical effects for displaying, opening, and using widgets. For instance, a 3-D flip effect is used to simulate the widget flipping around, by clicking on a small "i " icon in the right bottom corner, the user can change the preferences on the reverse side; other effects include crossfading and scaling from icon to body (when opening widgets),a "spin cycle effect" when a widget is focused and the user presses Command-R or a suck-in effect when they are closed.
Another nice feature in Dashboard is "Web Clip." Clip out any portion of a web page and turn it into a Dashboard widget. Just click the new Web Clip icon in Safari and select the portion of the page you want, then click Add to see your Dashboard spring to life with a brand-new widget. The widget is “live” and will update as its page of origin does. You can even customize your widget’s frame. You can only use Web Clip with Safari, Web Clip will not work with any other browser. You can find additional information about Dashboard here.

Apple Mac Wins in Popular Mechanics Test

The Verdict: Apple

Mac: In both the laptop and desktop showdowns, Apple’s computers were the winners. Oddly, the big difference didn’t come in our user ratings, where we expected the famously friendly Mac interface to shine. Our respondents liked the look and feel of both operating systems but had a slight preference toward OS X. In our speed trials, however, Leopard OS trounced Vista in all-important tasks such as boot-up, shutdown and program-launch times. We even tested Vista on the Macs using Apple’s platform-switching Boot Camp software—and found that both Apple computers ran Vista faster than our PCs did. Popular Mechanics
Read the full article here.

Are Schools Inhibiting 21st Century Learning?

"Students continue to be on the leading edge in terms of adopting, modifying and re-using digital content and technology tools to enrich both their personal and educational lives. The students in many ways are far ahead of their teachers and parents not only in the sophistication of their technology use, but in the adoption of emerging technologies for learning purposes," said Project Tomorrow CEO Julie Evans, in a statements released to coincide with the survey release. "It is in our nation's best interest that we support and facilitate student usage of technology for learning."
-Read the full article here

Get More Attention

Comic life is a really easy way to turn your boring old digital photos into mini works of art. It's great for turning your holiday or family snaps into funny comic books that you can print, email or publish to the web using iWeb or .Mac. As well as its entertainment value, Comic Life can have a serious purpose in creating informative, easy to follow how to guides as well as being a great desktop publishing package. You'll find kids will love its flexibility and because it's so easy to use, Comic Life has carved out a special niche in the education market as a super educational tool for all ages. You can find a nice "demo" tutorial on just how Comic Life works at ScreenCastsOnline.com

Find Help for Your Class

EdHelper boasts a comprehensive collection of links to instructional materials in all subject areas. The site currently has more than 1,000 WebQuests, 6,200 lesson plans, and almost 7,000 other resources. This site was definitely created with the busy teacher in mind. It is a one-stop shopping plaza for lesson plans and activities for any subject from animals to technology. All the links are briefly annotated. Teachers are invited to submit their own lesson plans as well as use the teacher tools to create math and vocabulary work sheets. Currently, the worksheet generators are capable of creating eight different kinds of work sheets for classroom use. There is also a link to free Teacher's Toolbox software, ClassBuilder. Resources are categorized according to subject area, and an onsite search tool helps users find specific information quickly. There is also a collection of links to current educational news.

My Macintosh does Windows!

When Apple decided to switch to Intel chips in all of it’s hardware, they changed to level of acceptance towards Macintosh computers for ever. In the past sales quarter, Apple computers saw a 40% increase in sales over the previous year. Macintosh computers have increased their market share from less than 5%, just a few years ago to a predicted 15%. Many believe the major contributor to this rise is the move to Intel. Intel has given Macintosh computer the speed to match or surpass equally equipped Windows machines.

After the induction of the new Leopard Operating system (10.5.X), end users were presented with a platform that was easy to use, powerful, and fast. Apple introduced “Boot Camp” in April of 2006. Boot Camp allows the user to install Windows XP on any internal disk. On startup, the user would select which operating system they wanted to use. This feature gave “switchers” the comfort of installing their existing Windows software on their new Macs.

Although Boot Camp allows for full speed access to Windows, it requires the user to reboot the computer to switch between the two operating systems. This is not the most convenient way to work. Enter Parallels and later VMWare. The Intel Core 2 CPU family has virtualization built in. Virtualization allows a computer to emulate and operating system in a virtual space. The power of this new feature is that now the end user did not have to reboot their system to access the other operating system. Users only need to start Parallels and select which OS they wanted and it would boot in a window on their OSX desktop. The user could then use this OS in a window or switch to full screen. All the time OSX is waiting in the background. The speed of the virtual OS is not full speed. Your speed will depend on the application running. Office type application will appear to run at full speed. Graphic applications will show a slightly slower speed.

There are some drawbacks to using a virtual machine like Parallels. A system using virtualization must have ample ram to coexist on one computer. Parallels allows the user to adjust the of memory level for each virtual machine. Your Macbook’s Windows XP Professional has been assigned 768 megabytes of ram. When XP is running you will have about 1 ¼ gigabytes left. Windows XP lives in a folder in your document folder. This folder will automatically expand, as more space is required for XP.

Take a Snap shot while you running XP on your Macbook. Snap shot is a feature that will backup your current partition in case something bad happens. With Parallels Desktop 3.0’s Snapshot Manager, you can manage and view all of your snapshots in a tree pane that includes screen shots for each snapshot. Snapshot Manager enables you to revert back to previous snapshots, delete snapshots, and edit description information for each snapshot.

Snapshots are excellent for:

• Bulletproofing your Windows virtual machine from viruses and spyware
• Creating a regularly scheduled backup to revert your virtual machine to any previous stable state
• Rolling back your virtual machine after a software update, system crash, or software testing

In an unpredictable world, Parallels Desktop 3.0’s Snapshots safeguards your data and creates a more reliable virtual machine so you can focus on more important things.

Another Video/Voice Option

Skype 2.0 for Mac supports free audio and video calls to any other Skype users, regardless of what platform they’re running Skype on. You can have conference calls with up to four people at a time for free and send files and photos to one another.
Skype enables users to not only call other Skype users but also make and receive calls to and from landline phones and cell phones. That service costs extra — you must register for a “SkypeIn” number to accept calls from the outside world, and purchase “SkypeOut” credits in order to make calls. The pay-to-play service also provides its own voicemail, so you can record messages when you can’t take calls, and forward your Skype calls to a landline or mobile number.

Skype does a great job with video, perhaps better than iChat. Remember, you can call or video chat, Skype to Skype anywhere in the world for free!

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a lightweight XML format designed for sharing headlines and other Web content. Think of it as a distributable "What's New" for your site. Originated by UserLand in 1997 and subsequently used by Netscape to fill channels for Netcenter, RSS has evolved into a popular means of sharing content between sites (including the BBC, CNET, CNN, Disney, Forbes, Motley Fool, Wired, Red Herring, Salon, Slashdot, ZDNet, and more). RSS solves myriad problems webmasters commonly face, such as increasing traffic, and gathering and distributing news. RSS can also be the basis for additional content distribution services.

There are several ways to receive RSS feeds. Your Mail application on your Macbook (Mail.app) can handle the job for you. Just go to file and select “add RSS feeds.” Your RSS feeds will now be available with your mail. An alternative way to receive RSS feeds is with a feed reader. NetNewsWire is a very popular application for this task. NNW was once a pay product, is now available for free. You can also subscribe to this site. The link for M4M is available and the bottom , or you can just click on the title of this story. In addition, Look in your URL window at the top of this page. You will see an orange icon at the right of the address. If you hover over that icon, you will see "subscribe to this page." Selecting this icon will give another option for capturing your news. Live Bookmarks. Live bookmarks will add a category to bookmark in your browser. You browser will periodically check for new additions to the pages that you have subscribed to. You can find a demonstration of RSS in Mail.app here. Enjoy your news!

Enhance Your Content in Class!

Take a look at the March 21st post “What is a Podcast.” Podcasts are a treasure chest overfilled with content. Apples have added a new feature in the iTunes Store. You will find iTunes University (iTunes U) now available to you. You will find content from over 50 colleges and universities that is provided “free” of charge. This content include both sound and video.
Apple describes iTunes U as “a free, hosted service for colleges and universities that provides easy access to your educational content, including lectures and interviews 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” The service is based in iTunes and is navigated and used just like the iTunes Music Store. In addition to the content provided from colleges, you are also offered material “Beyond Campus” from other sources. In “Beyond Campus,” you will find content from the Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, National Science Digital Library, Supreme Court Media, Public Broadcasting System, Smithsonian Global Sound, New York Public Library, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

iTunes U. will provide content to enhance your Language Arts, Physics, History, Mathematics, Dance, Law, Music, Political Science, Religion, Theatre, Ecology, Engineering, Economics and many other offerings in class. Please explore for yourself,

You will need to invest in a mini DVI to VGA Adapter. This device will set you back $19. Please pay close attention to the connector on your projector. The adapter is also available in the digital version as well, mini DVI to DVI. Check your manual if you are unsure of which version to get. Most projectors in the BPS require a VGA adapter.

This is a fantastic resource that is provided to you for free!

Presentation Alternative

Have you ever used Powerpoint? The problem with PowerPoint is that almost every presentation looks the same. PowerPoint is very powerful, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes you just want something different. Say you have to do a presentation and you want “pop.” You would have to work very hard to give PowerPoint a different look to your audience. Enter Keynote, Apple’s presentation program.

If you have ever seen Steve Jobs’ presentations or Al Gores’ “An Inconvenient Truth” presentation, you were looking at Keynote.

Though the program looks and feels quite new, it really follows the same presentation paradigm established by PowerPoint so many years ago. First you choose (or create) a theme for your slide show, then you build it using text, graphics, sound, and video as you see fit (provided your trusty computer can handle the load). With your Mac hooked up to a TV or projector you can thrill audiences with your masterwork in person, or you can save it in some self-presenting format for streaming or downloading across networks or the Web.
Again, nothing groundbreaking here. But with Keynote, you’ll discover that you can do almost everything you did in PowerPoint with less effort, better results.
You have Keynote, why not try it.

Free Tutorials Online!

There is a popular teaching tool that is very popular training tool on the Macintosh. Sreencasting has become the rage. Visit the L4L Website for an examples of screencasts. There is also a free site that offers over 150 video tutorials dating back to 2005. ScreenCastsOnline is wonderful free resource that you can enjoy whenever you like.

You have a choice. You can watch the programs on the website or subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes, and watch them on your computer, or your iPod. ScreenCastsOnline offers additional programs for a fee, but there are plenty of free programs to keep you busy. Lets look at an example. Show 142 covers the Apple made word-processor Pages.

Pages is a very powerful word-processor. Pages can read and write Word documents (.doc, .docx Office 2007). Pages has been included in your L4L Macbook. Watch the Screencast and give Pages a try. If like Pages, you can change the association for .doc files to Pages. Then when you click on a document, Pages will load.

Digital Photos Made Simple

Your Macintosh comes with an easy to use photo application called iPhoto. You will find the icon on your dock at the bottom of your screen. When you first run iPhoto, it will ask if you want the application to open when you attach a camera. This is a good idea, unless you plan on using another application to store and modify your photos. When you connect your camera and upload your photos, photos will be stored in Events

Events are a very clean way to help organize your photos into more manageable groups. Basically, iPhoto takes the information from your photos and groups them together by the day the photos were taken. Once they are grouped together, you can “skim” through an event by moving your mouse across the event, giving you a quick glimpse at every photo in that event.

Usually this will put the “event” that you were at (i.e. - wedding, birthday party, etc.) all together in one collection of photos. If the automatic sorting doesn’t quite do the job (say the event lasted more than 1 day, or only part of the day’s photos were from a specific event), it is very easy for you to either add photos to an event (by simply dragging them into the event), or separating them (by selecting the first picture you want separated and simply clicking “split”).

There are also some fantastic new printing options that give you the power of a portraits studio right on your Mac. You can print mats, multi-picture layouts, and more with just a few clicks.

Looking Quickly

OS X has another handy feature you may have missed. This one is called Quick Look. If you have an iPod or use iTunes you may be familiar with “Cover Flow”. Quick Look does the cover flow trick with your file folders. Quick Look uses the “Preview” technology to display, play, and view. If you have a Quicktime compatible movie in a folder it will play it (if you press the space bar or click on the object and press the play button). If you have photos, it will display those as well. Do you have PDF files in a folder? Quick Look will display your PDF files without opening a program to read it. You can zoom in using the double arrows.
Guess what? Command and (+) will zoom in even further! Select the fourth button over "view" at the top of your folder window and give it a try.

Working With Files

The hardest task for a new Macintosh owner is figuring out how to work with your files. The right click comes in very handy for this task. There are a number of ways to achieve a "right" click. Tapping with both fingers on the touch pad will perform a right click. Mastering the two finger tap will take practice. Until then, you can hold down the (control key) and click. You will get a window with options.
When you right click on a file you will see a window similar to this one on the right. If you select "Get Info" you will get the information pane on the left. Take a close look at it. This pane contains tons of information about your file. For now, take a look at the Name & Extension section (if it is closed, open it by clicking on the arrow on the left). You will see the name of your file here. Now you can rename the file if you want. You can also hide and un-hide the extension. Next, look at the "Open with:" section. When you click on the double arrow on the right you can now select with application to open the file with. If you put a check in the box "Always open with," this application will open this kind of file until you change it.

One other not about the window on the right. Notice the "move to trash" selection. This is the alternate way of deleting a file (other than dragging it to the trash). You can also empty the trash with a right click. Create a test file to play with. Enjoy.

What Does That Say?

If you find the text too small on your Macintosh screen, there is a simple solution. Hold down the Command Key and press plus (+). Keep pressing plus until you get the size you want. This trick works with web pages (Safari, Firefox, Opera, etc.) Mail, Word, and others. You can reduce the size by holding down the Command Key and pressing the minus (-) key.

Get a list of other Command key options: Command Key

Play Scrabble With the World

If you are a fan of Scrabble, fear not, there is a wonderful scrabble community that you can join for free. WordBiz is a free program that will allow you access to a world wide Scrabble community. The Internet Scrabble Club is open to Windows and Macintosh users. If you have Firefox installed on your Macbook, you can also play in the Firefox browser (not available for Safari). Once you have your user name and password, you just log in and play.

Commercial TV in Your Browser

Watch TV clips, TV episodes, Feature Films, Movie clips, Film trailers.

Hulu has a great selection of current & old TV shows, show clips, plus movies. Here are just a few of the shows available:

* The Office
* Simpsons
* Family Guy
* A-Team
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* Arrested Development
* Doogie Howser, M.D.
* Alfred Hitchcock Presents
* WKRP in Cincinnati
* Monk
* Dr. Steve-O
* Keeping Up with The Kardashians
* Weekend at Bernie’s
* Bulworth
* Andy Barker P.I.
* So You Think You Can Dance
* ‘Til Death
* Scrubs
* Bones
* My Name is Earl
The quality is good also. That is, compared to other streaming TV channels like ABC or the CW. It’s even getting HD quality content which will be even better.

Some Hulu features include:

* Share - Send an email to your friends about a certain show or clip.
* Embed - Put the show on your site.
* Details - What am I watching and when did it air?
* Feedback - Video issues? Report them.
* Fullscreen Playback
* Pop Out Window Playback
* Lower Lights - Makes the site background light gray instead of white.
* Rate - Rate the episode.
* Playlists - Keep track of what you watched. Even comes with RSS feeds and privacy settings.

The commercials are done right too. There are a few 30 second commercials every so often. Just like regular TV, only one, not 5 commercials at a time. Some advertisers are creating interactive and entertaining ads, others are just playing the same boring commercial over and over again.

Stacks in Your Dock

OS X allows the user to view folders placed in the dock in many different ways. Apple refers to this feature as Stacks. Any folder can be placed into the dock by dragging and dropping. the contents of these folders can be viewed in three ways.


Fan displays the folder contents as a leaning tower “fanning” away. Select fan for folders with few items.


Grid displays the folder contents as a grid on the screen. Grid is an effective way to view larger numbers of items in a folder at once. The Application folder can be used with grid.




List displays the folder contents in a list format. List is an effective way to view a very large folder.
Stacks have already been placed in your Macbook. Experiment with the settings to create the dock arrangement that you like the best.

Internet Television for Your Mac

Joost is a free video player that currently offers more than 20,000 TV shows, with more added daily. All of the content is free--all you need is a broadband Internet connection.

Use the Explore section to find channels, shows or videos. You can browse by category or check out what's new and popular. If you need instant gratification, use the search bar to find what you want.

Swiss Army Knife of Video Players

Every now and then you run across a video file that just won't play in Quicktime. There are many video players available for OSX. There is one video player that you should keep around, just in case you run into a video file that misbehaves. VLC (Video Lan Client) is a free video player that will play almost any video format. You can also view streaming video and damaged video files.

If you want to use VLC instead of Quicktime you must select "open with" with a right click on the file.

Too Many Spaces

With only 13.3" screen, you can run out of space pretty fast on a Macbook. The new Leopard operating system has a neat feature that gives you more space to store running programs. Spaces has the ability to add up to 15 more screens to your system. 16 total screens is overkill, but two or three more screens can help you get work done faster without the need to minimize and expand. Multiple screen has been around for some time. Users of Linux operating systems have had this feature built in for many years. Popular operating systems have not adopted this layering system until now.

BPS users will have to look for Spaces. Spaces was not placed in your Dock by default. You can startup spaces from your application folder or (command + space bar) and type spaces. Once activated you can select the number of rows and columns (in system preferences). The default is two rows and two columns. I find it easier to limit to one row and two or three columns to start. Once you have become used to the feature you can go wild. The best way to keep Spaces ready to use is to add it to your dock. When running, right click (control+click) and select "keep in dock."

Once Spaces has been activated and configured you can slide application to the side of your screen or click on Spaces in the dock and drag application where you want. Moving from one screen to the next can be done in two ways. Pressing (control) and either the left or right arrow key will switch your view to the next screen. You can also add a Spaces icon to the Menu Bar in Preferences. The Menu Bar Icon will allow movement with a click. Spaces allows you to change your mind and move applications from window to window whenever you like. Spaces preferences also allows you to specify which screen an application will load in (press + to add applications). This is a nice feature once you get used to using it. Spaces comes in handy with Parallels. You can run Windows XP full screen in one space and other applications in the rest. One caution, using several applications at once will reduce your memory resources. Try not to over do it.

Automatic Backups & Time Machine

Get yourself an external hard drive! A portable hard drive powered by the usb port is what you want. They travel very well with your computer, and you can find them at any retailer that sells electronics. Make sure that you purchase one that is larger than the 120 gigabyte hard drive in your Macbook. A 160 gigabyte version of the the Western Digital drive pictured will set you back $94. WD Passports are available in several colors.

Setting up Time Machine under Mac OS X Leopard includes plugging in a hard drive, opening Time Machine under System Preferences, and clicking the large virtual switch to 'On.' Users then select the drive they just plugged in and don't have to think about backups again. Time Machine silently and automatically tracks each version of every file, allowing users to metaphorically go back in time to retrieve any version of a document desired.

Apple's software performs incremental backups to ensure all changes are saved between backups, and includes a Time Machine menu in the System menu bar that allows users to see the backup status or elect to back up on the spot. Restoring requires users to select the desired files or folders and click restore, causing Leopard to place the files exactly where they were previously.

Google Calendar and iCal

I've been burned by Outlook failures too many times. For quite some time I did not use a calendaring program. If you are not in the business world, you can live without a calendar program. When a bought my first Macintosh I started to use iCal. I liked the simplicity of the program and the features it offered. The problem was that I was often on a Windows computer far away from my Mac. Then I learned about Google Calendar. The beauty of Google Calendar is that it can broadcast your information to other applications over the Internet. Now, I use Google Calendar as my primary calendar program. After I complete a scheduled task it automatically sends it to iCal. Google Calendar also sends be an email every day with my itinerary. To get started you must have a Gmail account. The accounts are free and it opens the door to many of the other free Google programs.

How to Delete Applications

If you are new to Macintosh, you may wonder how to delete programs from your computer. Deleting programs in Windows XP required you to go to the Control Panel. Then you found your application and deleted it. Pretty simple once you got the hang of it. Some users made the mistake of throwing the application into the Recycle Bin. They then discovered that this was a bad move. In some cases, remnants of the program would remain and in other cases XP started to act up. Windows programs often copy important files to several different parts of the operating system. If you just delete the program folder, there could be many files and settings that are left behind. OSX does not work this way. When you install a program, most of the time, you just drag it to the Applications folder. To delete a file, you can grab that same icon and drag it to the trash to remove it from your system. You can do this, but there will be files left behind. These files will not harm the function of your computer, but they will add up over time. There are applications available that will give you a clean sweep. I have been using AppZapper since the beginning. Using AppZapper is very simple. You grab that icon and drag it to the AppZapper window. You will then see all of the application files. When you click on Zap! all of the program will be sent to the trash can. AppZapper is not free. For $12.95, I think it is a good investment. There is a FREE program available that works in much the same way as AppZapper.
AppDelete is a free alternative. AppDelete is started by dropping an application onto the AppDelete icon. You can drop either the application or the folder that the application is in onto the icon. Once you do this you will get a confirmation window displaying the name of the application you dropped.