2010-12-14
post/2313278709
One of the first things I do when setting up a Mac is change the following setting, which I expect very few people know about. It’s great if you like to keep a machine muted, or listen to music, or leave headphones plugged in when you’re not wearing them.
In System Preferences → Universal Access, go to the Hearing pane and switch on “Flash the screen when an alert sound occurs”. That’s it. Personally I also then turn down the alert volume, and also switch off the volume change notification sounds, which means I can listen to music without the computer interrupting, or leave headphones off and still find out that my bash prompt is “beeping” at me.
(I did mention this previously, but thought it worth being a bit more informative about how to do it.)
2010-12-13
Apple Settings Pro Tips
If you’ve ever been annoyed at the large gaps between volume settings on a Mac, help is at hand:
If your keyboard has volume keys, [to] change your volume by smaller increments, hold down the Shift and Option keys as you press [them].
This trick also works for brightness. Meanwhile, shift alone also does something: you can temporarily toggle the “Play feedback when volume is changed” setting.
One thing I haven’t found documentation for (although I’ve not looked particularly hard for it) is that holding option with a function key brings up its preference pane. For example, option + brightness opens Keyboard, while option + volume opens Sound and option + Exposé opens, well, Exposé.
[Edit] I’m told this works on 10.5 as well, while option + key works back to 10.3.
2010-10-21
iPhoto ‘11 and Letterpress Printing
iPhoto 11 prints letterpress cards
Which is kind of weird.
What i think they mean is that they have a bunch of pre-letterpresed cards, printed with a design which you can slot your photo into. Your photo is then digitally printed over the top of the letterpressed card. Not sure how they could scale it otherwise…
Anyone? Bueller?
If you watch the video of the keynote, about 22 minutes in is the introduction to the letterpress feature, including the video that’s embedded in iPhoto ‘11. That shows cards which take a photo as an insert on the inside.
Still, it’s an interesting choice of addition to the things you can print from the application.
2010-06-11
post/687206320
2010-06-09
post/679751537
2010-04-05
post/498855682
2010-02-24
post/408838220
2009-12-31
post/310186933
2009-12-07
Crunchpad manufacturer renames product JooJoo, promises launch this Friday at $499
nrbd:
Assuming this is necessary is a Bill Gates fallacy: assuming that the general public has the same demands and priorities as geeks like us.
I have an iPhone and a MacBook, and I recently sold my Dell Mini 9 netbook. I thought, as a geek, that there was a hole to be filled between Real Computer Tasks like coding and Photoshopping, and Tiny Mobile Tasks like checking Twitter and email and little games. There, in fact, is a hole there. It’s called go outside, and/or talk to real people in person.
I managed to figure out there was no “hole” that a netbook would fit in without buying one. Go me, I suppose.
There is one company I’m waiting for a tablet from: Apple. It’s not because I love everything they do, but because they won’t launch a product without describing a use case. It might be obscure and irrelevant to me (like the Apple TV), but at least it’s part of the sales pitch. Unsurprisingly, tech-led products like the JooJoo lack that entirely, which is why I wouldn’t buy one even if it was only $200.
