Mac tip: UN-minimize a window from the App Switcher

Yet another new one to me!  And such a useful little nugget too…  If you already have command-tab hardwired into your muscle memory then you may just love this tip for pulling minimized windows out of the Dock.  Directly from the Application Switcher (cmd + tab heads-up display).  Using only the keyboard.

By: joel brock | Tags: , , | Category: tech | 3 comments

Snippets make TextExpander amazing

TE_logoIf you re not familiar with TextExpander, it’s a utility which runs in the background on your computer all the time and does nothing, until you type out a predefined string of characters.  It then leaps into action, replacing those characters with a preset block [...]

Why not do something useful with caps lock?

typewriterI mean really.  We already suffer through the agony of QWERTY on a daily basis, and everyone knows that QWERTY was developed specifically for typewriters, so that the hammers wouldn’t jam so often.  Right?  Hammer-jam is not longer a menace, thanks to modern computers and their 3 remaining moving parts.  Caps lock as well is a dated holdover.  Remember SHIFT lock?  This used to be much more handy when headings and titles were typed in all caps.  Language and communication have evolved a bit since however, and now typing in all caps is tantamount to shouting.  The use of caps lock is so vile to some that now we have the “Caps Lock Theory” which developed over internet discussion forums and bulletin boards which states “that there is an inverse relationship between a person’s use of the caps lock and their knowledge of a particular subject.” [wikipedia] There is even an international effort to bribe keyboard and computer manufacturers to remove the key from their products!

Well why wait around for the big companies to catch up to your already superior evolutionary state?  You can do something useful with that dead key which just gets accidentally pressed and really only helps to totally confuse you when you try to log in somewhere and don’t realize that caps lock is on.

Read on and you will see: Continue reading Why not do something useful with caps lock?

iPhone: New iTunes Store Rating Feature?

IMG_0523Funny thing happened to me today while i was deleting an iPhone app.  I held down on the icon till they all started jiggling like ripe cherries then tapped the X to remove.  Then i see this…..

Never noticed that before….  Kinda neat.

NOTE:  The [...]

Delete Search Recommendations

delete_search_rec-before

BEFORE

delete_search_rec-after

AFTER

So y’know how everything you type in a search field gets stored and suggested back to you for ever and ever?  Have you ever wanted to remove one particular (possibly embarrassing/incriminating) search term from [...]

iTunes Tip: those arrows

iTunes_arrows_ACKThose arrows, those pesky arrows. You know the ones that appear next to every track in your library and the iTunes store?  And only serve the purpose of directing you to purchase things.  When they first appeared in iTunes you were left with the option [...]

The Bar Code Turns 35 Today

upc_barcodeAn historic event?  And now 35 years later the bar code is being reinvented as the DataBar, or GS1.  For the better?  The new DataBar standard seems rather half-assed to me.  If we are going to require the entire retail universe to comply with a [...]

Mac OS X Basic Training Session coming up – 6/29

beachballUse a Mac for work or play? Want to learn how to use it better? Who:

New / Beginner Mac users Recent “switchers” (just gave up your WIndows PC for a Mac) Long time Apple users looking to pick up new skillz Basically, if you [...]

UPDATE: Mac users take note: Disable Java in your browsers

If you were sufficiently spooked by the earlier post on OS Xs 18-wheeler-sized security hole then  you can unchlench your cheeks now and go download the latest Java for Mac OS X 10.5 (or 10.4) update 4 through Software Update (easily accessed through the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen).

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Real good software for real cheap!

panic_saleI shoulda posted this the moment i found it…  Great deals on some great software.  Transmit is the ultimate FTP client and one of my fave mac apps (although, truth be told, Expandrive does a lot of what i used to do in Transmit, but [...]