Except when it doesn't. Sometimes you will go to a web site that doesn't work with Safari. This is not Safari's fault. It is the result of sloppy web design, but that doesn't keep you from getting frustrated. It is particularly frustrating if you are trying to do something like pay a bill on-line and the site won't open. I went through this for almost a year with a major department store credit card. I'm happy to say they finally got their act together, but problems still exist.
A good solution is a browser called Firefox. Firefox is made by Mozilla and a lot of people feel it is superior to Safari or any other browser available. Personally, I think each of them has their strong points. I tend to use Safari the most because of habit I suppose and because all my favorites are already saved there.
I could always count on Firefox to get me into web site that would not accept Safari so you might want to download it and become familiar with it when you have a few minutes to spare. You will find that it is very similar in feel to Safari and it won't take you long to get comfortable with it.
You can find the latest version of it, for OS X 10.3 or greater here
And by-the-way. You can select the page, or select a blank page, that opens when you open your browser by choosing the general tab of the preferences of your browser and designating your home page. You must do this for each browser.
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( 0 / 0 )If you have any interest in learning to use Bento 2, the personal database application from FileMaker Pro, now is your chance. They just announced a free Holiday Pack along with a 30 free trial of the software.
The Holiday Pack consists of a theme for keeping up with your holiday cards, and another for keeping up with your gift giving and donations.
I just finished reviewing both and they are really cool. You can drag and drop your gift card list in if you have them in an Excel database already, or you can just enter them. The records will continue through 2012 (if you buy the software of course).
I just finished a review of the software itself which should show up on TMO in a few days (www.macobserver.com) if you have questions about it. There is a learning curve, but I really like the software.
You can get the free Holiday Pack.here.
Nancy
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( 2 / 1 )When you get a scanner, or a printer-copier-scanner, or some other combination of scanner whatever, you will probably get directions on how to transfer a scanner document from your scanner to your Mac.
The directions are going to vary depending on what brand you have purchased. They may well be complicated. They may well not work. I once wrote a column about having to download the print drivers for an HP printer-scanner-copier 52 times over a period of several months because it never would work properly with my Mac.
Try this when you have to scan. In most situations it will work for you. It will even work for your iPhone if you have it plugged in.
Of course, your scanner has to be turned on, connected to your computer, and your document has to be in the scanner tray.
Open Preview. Preview comes with your OS X and you can find it in your Applications folder.
Select File > Import Image. Preview will reach out to your scanner and cause the scanner to scan the document and make it appear on your desktop as illustrated in this image.
At this point the scan is not complete. You get to determine the quality of the finished product. Set the resolution. The options range from 75 dpi to 1200 dpi. If the finished product is going on the Internet 75 dpi is fine. If you are printing a high quality photograph you will want 1200.
You tell Preview where you want the finished scan to be sent. You name it. You tell it what format you want, and then when you have all that set you place your cursor at the top left point of your image and draw across the part you want included in the finished scan to the bottom right point.
Then click the scan button. Your scan will be saved where you want it in the format you want it, the size you want it. Every time.
I haven't had a single scanner headache in months. Preview does lots of other cool things as well, but this is my favorite.
Nancy
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( 3 / 6 )Sooner or later you will insert a CD or DVD into your computer that you won't be able to retrieve. This can happen because the disk is not clean or because the disk is corrupted. The normal way to eject them is to select "eject" from the File menu or to use the drag and drop technique to drag the disk icon to the trash.
When things go bad you may hear noises that indicate the computer is trying to eject the disk, but, although the noise continues, nothing productive happens. Sometimes, it sounds like a helicopter taking off.
The usual techniques for ejection don't work because the system doesn't recognize that a CD or DVD is in place. Not even Force Quit will help for the same reason. By the same token, simply restarting your computer doesn't even help. What's a person to do?
Fortunately, you actually have two options.
If you have one on your keyboard, you can press the F12 key.
You also can hold down the mouse button (left one on a two button mouse) while starting your computer.
Don't you just love your Mac?
Nancy
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( 3.2 / 6 )You can have iChat turned on, but be invisible to your Buddy list. That lets you know who is on, but protects you when you don't really want to be interrupted. Sometimes you are just too busy to stop and chat.
Open your Buddy List and find your own name at the top. You will probably see the word Available with a small arrow pointing down next to it. Click on that and scroll down to the bottom of the options and you will see an option for "Invisible". Click on it once and a check mark will appear.
As long as you leave it set that way, it will appear that you are not actively online in iChat.
To change it, just go back to that window and select one of the other options.
Nancy
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( 2.9 / 7 )
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