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Contents contributed and discussions participated by David McGavock

David McGavock

How to Use iPhoto Instead of Mac Photos App in OS X - 0 views

  • Though it’s certainly possible to run both iPhoto and Photos app on the same Mac, it’s best to not try to juggle using both the apps so as to not confuse or mess up an image library, users should really stick to one app or the other.
  • f you really want to use both, be sure to create different photo libraries for both apps so they do not overlap while both in use.
  • Most commonly, Mac users will encounter the following error message when trying to launch iPhoto on a Mac with Photos app: “In order to open “iPhoto.app”, you must update to the latest version. The version of iPhoto installed on this Mac is not compatible with OS X Yosemite. Download the latest version for free from the Mac App Store.” but when you click on “Search App Store”, you’ll get an error saying “Item Not Available”.
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    Some users who have updated to new versions of OS X with Photos app have discovered that Photos app does not meet their needs, and thus would like to continue using iPhoto on the Mac. This is possible, at least for the time being, but there can be some hiccups in getting iPhoto running again in OS X Yosemite with Photos app installed.
David McGavock

Recording Cassette Tapes into a Computer | explora - 0 views

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    "Using a Regular Cassette Player and a Macintosh Computer If you own or have access to a Macintosh computer and a plain old cassette player, the only piece of equipment you may need is a simple audio cable. Most Macintosh computers have a 3.5mm "line-level" input, which can be used to record a cassette directly into your computer. Unfortunately, MacBook Air computers, iPhones, iPads and iPods don't have a line-level input. Line-level inputs are very uncommon on Windows-based computers as well. Many Windows PCs feature a 3.5mm "mic-level" input, but cassette players never have a mic-level output, which makes this method a little too complicated for PC owners. However, you can record cassette tapes into any of these machines with an audio interface (skip ahead to the Using an Audio Interface to Connect a Tape Player to a Computer section for instructions). "
David McGavock

Mail terribly slow after upgrading to Yosemite | Apple Support Communities - 0 views

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    Another spin on slow email using "Mail"
David McGavock

How to fix Apple Mail by rebuilding and reindexing the Mailbox | Computerworld - 0 views

  • If your Apple Mail doesn't seem to be searchable and/or has become so slow it seems to hang your Mac -- or even displays incorrect email content, then it's time you attacked  the problem: it's time to rebuild and reindex your Mailbox.
  • Before we begin Delete messages inside your Deleted Items and Spam folders Delete messages you no longer need Update to the latest version of Mail
  • Step 1: Rebuild Rebuilding a Mailbox in Mail sound daunting but it really isn't. Launch Mail, select one of your mailboxes and click on the Mailbox menu. At the bottom of the pane choose the Rebuild option. If you have a large mailbox, you can expect the process to take a few hours. You must repeat this step for each one of your Mailboxes.
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  • Step 2: Reindex Manual reindexing of Mail messages is the only way to go if the  application has become so unresponsive it barely works at all, search is not functioning correctly or the app won't launch.
  • To get to your home Library folder, hold down the Option key, then in the Finder choose Go > Library. In ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData, delete any file that begins with “Envelope Index,” such as Envelope Index or Envelope Index-shm. (Before you actually delete the files, it makes sense to copy them to a folder on your desktop.)
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    Tips for rebuilding and reindexing Mailbox in Mail.
David McGavock

Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite features, updates, bugs and WiFi issues - News - Macworld UK - 0 views

  • Here's everything you need to know about Mac OS X Yosemite and the WiFi issues that are plaguing users, including a possible fix. Plus discover the new features that have arrived with OS X 10.10, the fixes that arrived (and didn't arrive) with 10.10.1, and what to expect from 10.10.2. by Karen Haslam | 02 Dec 14
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    Good example of the pitfalls and benefits of OS upgrades
David McGavock

How Mac experts deal with their contacts | Macworld - 0 views

  • Each of the five experts I spoke to uses iCloud for contact syncing; I’m the lone outlier who relies on Google’s syncing instead.
  • For organizing their contacts, every Mac expert I spoke to relies on Apple’s own Contacts apps on the Mac and iOS.
  • Cobook, which I only looked at on Sparks’s recommendation, can merge contact data from various places, including—for free—Facebook, Google, and Twitter.
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  • Cobook definitely takes fewer steps than using the Contacts app, and the changes you make sync quickly via whichever service you rely on.
  • Mail’s data detectors to work well most of the time—they make adding new contacts fairly convenient, at least compared to doing so by hand.”
  • “Make sure you keep a contact for yourself, with all your current email, address, and phone coordinates handy, so that you can quickly share it with others
  • Sparks, however, offered up some tips on his approach for keeping contacts organized. Chief among them is to make good use of the Notes field (which you can access in both Cobook and Contacts).
  • For quick searching, Sparks also employs what he calls “rudimentary tags” in the Notes field, like #referral or #holidaycard.
  • Apple’s own apps—like many others—are pretty good at handling contact data from multiple sources; so even as a Google-based contact-syncer, I’m able to use Apple’s apps (and now Cobook!) to manage my address book.
  • To make your contacts appear predictably, you need to know where you’re storing them.
  • avoid adding contacts via the Mac’s Contacts app when possible; it just takes too many clicks
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    Helpful tips from some power users for managing contacts.
David McGavock

Resetting an AirPort base station FAQ - 0 views

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    Great description of all generations of base station.
David McGavock

Installing Mavericks: What you need to know | Macworld - 0 views

  • Before proceeding, be sure to read my article on getting your Mac ready for Mavericks, which covers system requirements and recommendations, as well as a number of tasks you should perform before upgrading in order to help the process go smoothly.
  • If downtime isn’t an option for you, you might consider holding off for the inevitable OS X 10.9.1.
  • After you provide your Apple ID and password, Mavericks will begin downloading. Specifically, the 5.3GB installer application, called Install OS X Mavericks.app, will be saved to your main Applications folder
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  • Alternatively, once you’ve downloaded the Mavericks installer to one computer, you can copy it—over your local network or by using a flash drive, external hard drive, or other media—to your other Macs.
  • Keeping the installer on hand Before proceeding with installation, here’s an important tip: If you run the installer from its default location in the Applications folder, the installation process deletes the installer, presumably to free up the 5.3GB of drive space it occupies. So if, as explained above, you plan to use the installer on other Macs, if you want to create a bootable installer drive, or if you just want to keep the installer on hand, before installing, you should copy the installer to another drive—or at least move it out of the Applications folder.
  • Once you’ve downloaded the Mavericks installer, here are the simple steps involved in installing the new OS:
  • Your Mac will next go through the initial-setup process, and there are few tasks you’ll want to perform when you boot into Mavericks for the first time.
  • as with Mountain Lion and Lion, upgrading to OS X 10.9 presents challenges for a few groups of people.
  • Can you jump directly from 10.5 to 10.9? Apple’s official policy is that you need to purchase and install Snow Leopard (currently $20 for a single-user license or $30 for a family pack) and then upgrade to Mavericks.
  • the Mavericks installer is strict about requiring OS X 10.6.8:
  • If your Internet connection is slow, it will take a long time—perhaps days—to download the 5.3GB Mavericks installer.
  • Organizations will use the same purchasing procedure as always to buy OS X, but they’ll be given one Mavericks redemption code for each purchase contract. After using that code to download the Mavericks installer from the Mac App Store, that copy of the installer can be used on any and all Macs covered by the contract.
  • As with Mountain Lion and Lion, my experience has been that for the typical Mac user with a broadband connection, the process of purchasing, obtaining, and installing OS X continues to be easy and pain-free.
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    "Before Lion (OS X 10.7) debuted in 2011, installing the latest major version of Mac OS X meant buying a disc and slipping it into your Mac's optical drive. But Lion changed all that by making OS X available for direct download, and Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) and Mavericks (OS X 10.9) have inherited this distribution method. More specifically, the latest version of OS X is available only as a download from Apple's Mac App Store-and this time around, it's free. This makes it easier and more convenient to upgrade your OS than having to buy and use a DVD or thumb drive, but it also raises a number of questions, and it presents upgrade obstacles for some users. As I've done the past few years, I've compiled this guide to getting and installing Apple's latest OS. Before proceeding, be sure to read my article on getting your Mac ready for Mavericks, which covers system requirements and recommendations, as well as a number of tasks you should perform before upgrading in order to help the process go smoothly. "
David McGavock

Apple - Accessibility - OS X - 0 views

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    "Every Mac comes standard with assistive technologies that help people with disabilities enjoy the power and simplicity of OS X. It includes features like an advanced screen reader, FaceTime, and literacy tools that help those with a wide range of abilities get more from their Mac."
David McGavock

7 features Apple killed off in iTunes 11 | Apple - CNET News - 1 views

  • But some of that march towards simplicity has come at the expense of some old features. Few of the deep-sixed features seem like logical deletions, and others are already bringing ire from longtime users who expected to see them on the other side of the update.
  • Apple completely nixed Cover Flow in iTunes 11 in favor of its new album view, which will expand out an album to show you the songs within when you click on it.
  • In iTunes 10.7 and earlier, Apple offered a built-in tool that would sniff out duplicates and put them on a single page. It wasn't great, but it was something, and free. In iTunes 11, the feature is missing in action.
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  • iTunes DJ was a neat feature that would let you put together a never-ending playlist in a pinch.
  • 4. Gapless playback editor As the name suggests, the gapless playback feature plays songs back to back, without any break -- something that's useful for tracks meant to be in immediate succession. One of the best examples: Pink Floyd's "The Wall." Curiously enough, gapless playback in iTunes 11 still works just fine. You just can't tweak any of your existing music to make use of the feature from the options editor.
  • 5. Multiple windows In an effort to simplify iTunes' user interface, Apple also stripped out one of the features power users loved: the option to break out functions into their own windows.
  • 6. The other sidebar Apple merely hid the source list sidebar, but you can still get that one back. What we're talking about is the feature that would give you genius recommendations based on any song you were currently on, often polling the iTunes Store for music you might not even have.
  • 7. Quick volume control, song progress in mini player Apple's mini player now does quite a bit more than it used to, such as providing search and displaying album art. Even so, it's missing a few handy things such as the volume knob and progress indicator that would show you how far along in a song you were
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    But some of that march towards simplicity has come at the expense of some old features. Few of the deep-sixed features seem like logical deletions, and others are already bringing ire from longtime users who expected to see them on the other side of the update.
David McGavock

Mac Basics: Applications, files, and folders (OS X Lion) - 0 views

  • Mac Basics: Applications, files, and folders (OS X Lion)
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    Basic of basics but good for a beginner to orient themselves
David McGavock

iPhoto - The Difference Between An Event And An Album | No Problem Mac | Call 310-621-5679 - 1 views

  • Events store your original images. If you delete a photo from an event… it’s gone. Albums are created from copies of images pulled from events. Photos can be added or deleted from an album with no impact on the original image.
  • Make a habit of cleaning up events each time you import new images from your camera or iPhone.
  • Albums are a simply another method of enjoying your images. They work exactly the same way as a playlist.
    • David McGavock
       
      Similarity with iTunes
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  • Nothing that you do with an album has any impact on the original image.
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    Difference between Events and Albums
David McGavock

iTunes 101: Multiple Devices, One iTunes Account - Tech News and Analysis - 0 views

  • iTunes is limited to authorizing only five computers with each iTunes account
  • if you have created five different user accounts on the same computer, and have authorized iTunes for each user account on that one computer with the same iTunes Account, then you have reached your maximum number of authorizations.
  • once you have iTunes configured with a single  iTunes Account, there does not appear to be a limit to the number of iPods, iPhones, and iPads one can sync to a single iTunes library.
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  • you may notice some strange behavior when you sync your iOS devices: apps seem to disappear and appear at random with each sync.
  • apps that were purchased on one device are being lost, while apps purchased on a different devices are being added.
  •  transferring purchases before each sync, and disabling the automatic synchronizing of new apps on each iOS device.
  • “Automatically Sync New Apps” option in the apps tab of your iOS device info screen in iTunes applies to any app in your  iTunes library that has been added to your iTunes library since your last sync. If you are managing several iOS devices from one account, it is a good idea to disable this feature
  • three layers of where the iTunes Account is configured.
  • first is the iTunes installation you use to sync your device.
  • second is the iTunes Account configured on the device itself.
  • Changing which iTunes Account is used on the device to be something other than the iTunes Account you sync with may cause problems when the sync operation transfers purchases from the device to the iTunes installation on your Mac
  • plan on using the same iTunes Account on both your computer and your device to avoid those problems.
  • You may even want to consider creating a separate playlist folder for each iOS device you sync to.
  • Another layer of iTunes media management has to do with remote playback of your iTunes library, which is accessible on multiple devices via Home Sharing.
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    Tips on managing your computers, iOS devices using a single Apple ID.
David McGavock

How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac - 0 views

  • Migrating from OS X Tiger v10.4 or earlier to OS X Mountain Lion v10.8 or later using Migration Assistant is not supported;
  • Do not let either computer go to sleep while you are attempting to migrate. To disable sleep:  Choose System Preferences from the Apple () menu.  Choose Energy Saver from the View menu. Adjust the "Computer sleep:" slider to Never.
  • If you purchased content from the iTunes Store--and won't continue to use your Apple ID with iTunes on the old computer--you should deauthorize your old computer.
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  • There are several ways to transfer information from one computer to another with Migration Assistant: FireWire or ThunderBolt (if your Mac has these ports) Wireless (Wi-Fi) or Ethernet (if your Mac has an Ethernet port or adapter) Time Machine backup or other disk
  • On the source Mac, open System Preferences, click Sharing, and make sure there is a name in the Computer Name field.
  • Restart the source (original) Mac while pressing and holding the "T" key. Open Migration Assistant (located in /Applications/Utilities/) on the target Mac, then click Continue.
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    "Migrating from OS X Tiger v10.4 or earlier to OS X Mountain Lion v10.8 or later using Migration Assistant is not supported;"
David McGavock

OSX - Customize Finder - Status Bar Path Bar and Toolbar - YouTube - 0 views

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    A tour of the finder. Some tips on how to customize the finder. 6 minutes long.
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