Monthly Archives: June 2014

Make use of file links in text and word documents

TextEditIconXMany text-handling applications like Word, Mail and TextEdit support features for embedding links, so you can direct someone to another document or resource. In the vast majority of cases, this is used as a pointer to a URL that opens in the default Web browser; however, there are alternative links you can use, where you can open other documents, and reveal them in Finder folders. Continue reading

Quickly sign any document with Preview

PreviewIconXIf you need to sign a form or other document in OS X, look no further than Apple’s Preview application. Letters, contracts, and other documents are progressively migrating to digital media as PDFs; however, you may still be required to stamp them with a personal signature. One approach for this is to print out the forms, sign them, and then scan them back in to your system; however, another approach is to paste an image of your signature on the document. Continue reading

Eight obscure but useful text-editing hotkeys in OS X

KeyboardIconXWhile you can use your Mac largely by clicking controls and menus with your mouse, if you take advantage of system and application hotkeys you can greatly increase your workflow efficiency. There are a number of classic hotkeys you can use to perform basic operations, such as quitting, closing windows, creating new documents, and cutting and pasting contents. You can even create your own custom hotkeys if needed; however, there are a few relatively hidden hotkeys Continue reading

How to speed up your old Mac

FinderIconXDo you have a Mac that is gaining a few years on it and is not performing the same as you remember when you first bought it? While you might not be able to pinpoint it, you might simply notice programs take longer to launch, or you now have to wait a few extra moments for other tasks to complete.

Sometimes such slowdowns are caused by errors Continue reading

Determine whether or not your Mac will support Handoff in Yosemite

BluetoothIconXApple’s upcoming OS X 10.10 “Yosemite” will come with a new feature called Handoff, which in conjunction with other Macs and iDevices running iOS 8, will allow you to seamlessly create content on one and then continue your work on another.

This feature will use Bluetooth to synchronize your workflows between computers; however, it will require Continue reading

How to kill a process via the Terminal

NewTerminalIconXWhen processes and applications hang in OS X, sometimes the only way to re-gain functionality is to force-quit them. For applications like Word or Safari, perhaps the simplest approach is to use Apple’s force-quit window, which can be invoked from the Apple menu, or by pressing the Option-Command-Escape hotkey. For background processes, scripts, and commands that generally run in the background, you will have to use alternative means. Continue reading

Use your Mac’s integrated graphics to save battery life

EnergySaverIconXApple’s higher-end MacBook Pro systems come with two graphics cards: an integrated one on the CPU and the other a dedicated graphics processor. While more powerful and useful for image manipulation, design, and gaming, the dedicated GPU requires greater energy and can greatly reduce your battery life when in use.

In most cases, OS X will by default switch between Continue reading

Tip: drag text to copy and make clippings

FinderIconXWhen you need to copy and paste text from a Web page, or from a Text or Word document, you usually click and drag your cursor over the desired text to select it, followed by pressing Command-C to copy it to the clipboard. From here the text can be repeatedly pasted; however, this routine is limited to one set of copied content. If you select another chunk of text and copy it to the clipboard, it will replace the text you initially copied. Continue reading

Tips for managing a stuffed e-mail inbox in Mail

MailIconXEven though you might have plenty of storage available in your e-mail account, after a while of using Mail in OS X, you might find your inbox crammed with thousands of old messages. While Mail should be able to handle all of these messages, sometimes you might find it easier to only have a few messages to sort through.

Unfortunately, the only true way to manage old mail Continue reading

Fix downloaded Adobe Flash installers and updates not opening

FlashIconXWhile the Web is progressively moving away from its dependency on Adobe Flash, the plugin is still quite popular and sometimes required to view Web content. Therefore you might find yourself needing to install it and then regularly update it; however, there may be times when you download Flash from Adobe’s site, but then cannot open the downloaded file. Continue reading