Have Another Apple

Photo Booth, whilst having no ‘useful’ purpose, can be a fun tool for kids and adults alike. With version 2.0.1 the program gives the user the ability to use different backgrounds; such as fish, the Eiffel Tower or one of your own pictures. These pictures however sometimes look distorted or have your original background start to appear in the photo.

Here are the five most common reasons for this:

1. Your background is too dark. Turn on a light or open the curtains, let the camera pick you up properly.

   More common problems found after the jump…
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 Leopard has a fancy new feature for Dashboard: Webclips. Webclips allows you to view many webpages at once, or parts of them, through dashboard. However, one feature that is missing is refreshing the webclips automatically. This requires you to update them manually, and here’s how:

Click once on the webclip you wish to update.

Press Command+R.

The webclip should now have updated.
 

 If you copy many pictures into Microsoft Word and don’t often use the default "In line with text" feature and prefer to insert/paste as in front of text or square, here are the steps.

Click Word - Properties.

From there, press edit.

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As a default, Microsoft Word for Mac adds automatic paragraphing, so when you press return, you will go to a new paragraph apposed to a new line.   This comes a unique, welcome feature for some users, but for others it is seen as a nuisance.  This article will explain how to turn off this feature.

In Word, press “Format” in the menu bar, followed by “Style”.

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Many users have now tried and used Office:Mac 2008 and one of the first features they will notice is that their documents in Word save as .docx as apposed to .doc. This can be a worry for new converts, especially if they are transferring their files to a Mac with Office 2004 or a Windows machine without Office 2007. You are able to change the document manually each time, however if you are willing to make this permanent, then the steps will be explained in this article.

1. Click Word in the Menubar, then preferences.
   

   More after the jump…
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As of recent I have received numerous e-mails about my previous blog article entitled "The Next Byte". If you have not read the article, please read: The Next Byte, part one.  This series of articles speaks of Apple’s history, and where they are likely to go in the future. History shapes all of us - and that does not exclude businesses such as Apple.

This article will cover two further areas from the previous article, judged by what was requested in the e-mails:

1. Apple Market Share
    
2. Pricing Scheme of Apple Products and Services

Continued after the jump…

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 Don’t like the default folder, documents and harddrive icons in Mac OS X? Neither do I. Here’s one option with how to change them.

First, you may want to find some snazzy icons from InterfaceLift to replace your current ones with.

Once you have found the one you like, you need to Copy (Command+C) the icon file, then right click on the icon you wish you change. Click ‘Get info’.

Following this, click on the folder icon in the top left, and paste (Command+V).

Enjoy.

 If your MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is not charging fully and only to 95-98%, there is a way to fix this problem.

One common view is to unplug your MagSafe adapter and let it drain to 10%, and recharge. While this works, you only need to let the battery drop below 90%. This will save you a whole battery cycle on your MacBook.

Enjoy.

• AppZapper allows you to completely remove all program files when uninstalling a program. This programs boasts being the "Uninstaller Apple Forgot". Read this article for more information. Price: US$12.95 with free upgrades for life.
•  Coda is a website coding program with WYSIWYG also built in. One-clickpublishing, one-window web development. Read this article for more information. Price: US$79.
• Pixelmator for quick and easy photo editing, and boasts a much cheaper price "for the rest of us" (compared to Photoshop). Read this article for more information. Price: US$59.
• Office:Mac 2008. Whilst Apple’s native Pages and NeoOffice do the trick, nothing compares to the compatibility and world-wide use of Microsoft Office: Price: AU$229+.
• Adobe Photoshop. For those who are serious in design. Price: US$649, upgrade US$199.
• Speed Download is a download manager for OS X with amazing speeds. Price: US$29.38.
  
• Awaken brightens your morning with the music of your choice - straight from your iTunes. Support for your Apple Remote. Price: US$12.95.
• Candybar allows you to change your Dock and Icons on Mac OS X. Price: US$29.
• Ecto is a desktop blog publishing client for Windows and Mac. Price: US$17.95.
• Transmit is a useful FTP client with support for iDisk and SSL. Price: US$29.95.

Part one with the freeware apps can be found here.

Please leave comments on these programs, and also your own suggestions.

Love your Mac? Every user has their own way of using a Mac due to it’s ability to offer features for a very diverse community. Whether you’re a student, web designer or using one for the sake of "using a Mac"; there are a bunch of useful applications that you can use. 

This article will be split into freeware and shareware programs, and is brought to you by Have Another Apple and Another Pointless Blog. Part one will contain the freeware apps.

Here’s the freeware list, in no particular order.

• iMovie HD 6. This is a much better video editor than iMovie 08 (which has received much criticism over it’s lack of functionality). Freeware for iLife ‘08 users.
• Skitch! allows you to create quick and easy screenshots and post them to the web. Although this is a native Mac app, it is soon to be released on Windows. Read this article for more information.
• InsomniaX is a useful application that allows you to close your Macbook lid without letting it go to sleep. Read this article for more information.
• NeoOffice is a great alternative for those not wishing to fork out the hard earned cash for Microsoft Office. Read this article for more information.
• Firefox and Thunderbird are very commonly used on Windows, and this statistic is no different on Mac OS X. Great alternative to those who have trouble adapting to Safari and Mail.
• Bootcamp allows you to run Windows on an Intel Mac. Built into leopard or an additional install for Tiger. Whilst you love your Mac, you just never know when you may need Windows. Price: free for Bootcamp, Windows cost extra.
• Skype allows you to make the most of your iSight camera to keep in touch with your loved ones. How do you hello?
• Vienna is a RSS reader for Mac OS X, with the ability for you to set how often you wish to be informed of new posts, with a number count in your dock.
• Transmission is a BitTorrent application for Mac OS X. Lightweight and OpenSource.**
• Handbrake is a DVD to MPEG4 converter for Mac OS X. Like Transmission, this is OpenSource.**

Check back soon for Part Two of this article, with the Top 10 Shareware programs for Mac OS X.

Please leave comments on these programs, and also your own suggestions.

** Please note that neither Have Another Apple or Another Pointless Blog support the use of these programs for illegal activity. Keep it legal