HeySage

In this episode I show you how to place your DVD content onto your iPod or iPhone. The steps are relatively straight forward and easy to follow. There are two steps:

1. Rip your DVD via Handbrake
2. Transfer it to you iPod/iPhone

I believe the podcast speaks for itself so I won’t elaborate much more. Enjoy!!

[Update: I am no longer posting links to view the podcast on the site since most viewers are downloading from iTunes. If you would like me to post the movies on the site let me know]

Technorati Tags: How to put your content

In this episode I show you how to create slideshows on the fly within Apple Mail and Preview. As I typically do, I have incorporated some Quicksilver and keyboard shortcuts into the episode.

The concept is really quite simple. All you need to do is go to iTunes and play some music and then use the slideshow engine built into Mail and Preview. In the podcast I utilize Quicksilver and keyboard shortcuts with the hope of demonstrating additional ways to incorporate each into your workflow.

Send any comments to info@heysage.com

Technorati Tags: Slideshow, OS X, Mail.app, Preview, How to

I recently had a request to do a show on the basics of Quicksilver so, here it is. In this episode I show you a few of the innumerable uses of Quicksilver. Quicksilver is an unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data. The possibilities are endless. These are just a few of the ways that I use Quicksilver on a daily basis.

In this episode I show you how to use Quicksilver.app for the following:

1. Application Launcher
2. Bookmark Access
3. Moving/Copying Files
4. iTunes Control
5. Address Book Access
6. Add iCal Events/To Dos to iCal

Follow along closely because things go quickly!

Technorati Tags: Quicksilver 101, How to use Quicksilver, OS X Tutorials

In this episode I show you how to create and utilize smart playlists. You may be asking yourself, what exactly is a “smart” playlist? A smart playlist is a playlist that is constructed based on parameters that you set via drop down menus in iTunes’ smart playlist dialogue box. Here we go.

1. Launch iTunes
2. Press ⌘ ⌥ N (or go to file new smart playlist)
3. Configure the Parameters as would like
4. Click OK
5. Name the playlist by typing the name of your liking

You are set. You can always edit your list by right clicking (⌃ clicking) the playlist name in the left hand column.

It is certainly worth mentioning that most  applications have a smart folder feature. Thus, you can create smart albums in iPhoto, smart folders in finder etc. etc.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge that I know that the notes for this episode are short. I also did not do any audio enhancement in post as I usually do. The summer has been quite busy for me. Not only have I gotten married and gone on an amazing honeymoon, but I am in the middle of purchasing an orthodontic practice. Expect the standard notes and production quality to return in the near future.

Technorati Tags: Smart Playlist, iTunes

In this episode I review the features of OS X’s application switcher. I recently had an email question regarding the application switcher. I responded to the question via email but I thought that I would do a whole show on the application switcher. As usual you can watch the episode here if you would like. So, here we go!

The first question, what is the application switcher? The application switcher is a very simple way to navigate between open applications. To launch the application switcher simply hold the ⌘ key and press ⇥ (the tab key). Once you have done this, the application switcher will launch in the middle of the screen with the last application that you used highlighted (as opposed to the current application). Continue to hold the tab key to keep the application switcher visible. Once you let go of the command key the application that is highlighted will be selected.

Once the application switcher is visible you may select an open application several different ways.

1. While holding the ⌘ key, you can cycle forward through the open applications by repeatedly pressing, or holding down, the ⇥ key (tab).
2. You may cycle through applications in the opposite direction by adding ⇧ (shift) to the previous equation. So, holding down ⇧ ⌘ tab will cycle through open applications in the opposite direction.
3. Once the application switcher is open you may use your mouse to select any application. Press ⌘ ⇥ and then click on any application.

Another wonderful use of the application switcher is to hide and quite applications. For example, you may have a slew of applications open and you may want to quite out of several of them. To do so quickly and efficiently, launch the application switcher and select the application that you would like to quit (either tab until it is highlighted or place the mouse cursor over the application without clicking). Once the application is selected use the keyboard shortcut ⌘ Q to close down the application of your choice. Holding the ⌘ key and pressing ⇥ and then Q multiple times will quite all of your applications. You may use the same technique with the keyboard shortcut ⌘ H to hide any application that you choose.

A variant of this trick is ⌘ ~ (tild) to cycle through windows in an application. As with most things in OS X, you can cycle backwards through windows within an application by adding ⇧ to the equation.

It is worth noting that in most instances where the ⇥ will move through fields, whether it be in Safari, AddressBook, or any other application, holding down the ⇧ key will allow you to move through fields in the opposite direction.

My last tip about the application switcher is geared towards the mouse lovers out there. If you have an apple mighty mouse you can program any button to launch the application switcher. I personally prefer the trackpad button but the side buttons work fairly well too. With mouse in hand this is extremely convenient. Once you press the trackpad button you can scroll through the applications with the scroll wheel. rthdfg

As always, send your feedback to info@heysage.com

Technorati Tags: Application Switcher, ⌘ ⇥

In this episode I show you how to create custom ringtones using GarageBand or Soundtrack Pro and them install them on your iPhone using iFuntastic. There is also a small section dedicated to text selection keyboard shortcuts. You may watch this episode here. Here we go!

Warning: Use this tutorial at your own risk. Changing system settings on your iPhone may cause problems with your iPhone. A restore should let you recover but there are no guarantees (I have used iFuntastic numerous times without any problem but that does not mean that you will not have any problems)

The first step is to create yourself a custom ringtone. This may be done by editing one of your favorite songs, creating your own song, or using system/application sounds (my preference).

In the podcast I used two sounds from Adium (a great IM client) and stitched them together. I show you how to do so using GarageBand or SoundTrack Pro (I prefer soundtrack pro if you have it).

Once you have created the ringtone and have converted into the AAC format you are ready to pursue iFuntastic. Download iFuntastic from either iPhoneAlley or Rapidshare. The links to either download site is here.

The steps are clearly outlined within the application but they are as follows:

1. Sync your iPhone
2. Launch iFuntastic. Select the prepare tab and then click on the Jail button.
3. Hold down the home key and power button until you see the caution sign.
4. Allow the iPhone to think for awhile (this is the part where I digress into the text selection keyboard shortcut tutorial).
5. Click the continue button to relaunch iTunes if necessary (it has always been necessary for me).
6. Then click on the Ringtones tab to add ringtones.
7. Simply drag and drop the m4v files to the right panel. Click the plus button so that it is highlighted and then click the update iPhone button at the bottom of the window.
8. At this point feel free to change the carrier logo or the home screen in the respective pane of the application.
9. Once you are finished you need to go to the finish tab and click on the jail button. From there power off the iPhone and then reboot it.
10. Click done and you are the proud owner of a customized iPhone.

In this episode I also briefly review some text selection keyboard shortcuts. They all involve different variations of ⌘ ⇧ and arrow keys. I will probably do a podcast on keyboard shortcuts in the near future.

I am trying to get this episode out quickly as I have just returned from my honeymoon and I have not put out an episode for awhile. I apologize in advance for any shortcomings (especially in production quality). If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me at info@hesage.com.

In this episode I am going to show you how to configure your gmail account to work in Apple Mail. This is an extremely convenient way to handle your mail. If you have multiple email accounts Apple Mail allows you to receive all of your email in one centralized inbox. In addition, if you configure Mail to send and receive email from your Gmail account, you can easily Sync the account to your iPhone via iTunes. This is quite convenient since typing on the iPhone, although surprisingly fast, can be painful and laborious. Here we Go!

You can watch this episode here.

The first step is to create a gmail account. You can do so by visiting Mail.Google.com. From here simply click on the Sign Up for Gmail Link. After setting up your account you must configure your account for the POP protocol. To do so, click on the settings link in the top right hand corner of the page and then choose the Forwarding and POP tab. From here be sure to enable POP (Enable POP for all email or Enable POP only for messages that arrives from now on) and choose what you would like Gmail to do when messages are accessed with POP. Once these two steps are completed click Save Changes.

Now launch Apple Mail (aka mail.app) and select File –> Preferences (⌘,). Under the accounts pane press the + button at the buttom left hand corner to add a new account. This will bring up the Account Configuration Pane. Choose POP from the account type and fill in the Account Description and Full Name fields. In the Email Address field add your complete Gmail address (e.g. yourname@gmail.com) and click Continue.

In the Incoming Mail Server dialog box enter pop.gmail.com in the incoming email server field. Then enter your Gmail address (e.g. yourname@gmail.com) in the User Name field and your password in the Password field. Click Continue.

In the Outgoing Mail Server pane enter smtp.gmail.com into the Outgoing Mail Server field. Check the Use Authentication box and type your User Name (yourname@gmail.com) and Password in their respective fields. Click Continue (this usually takes a little while- be patient). Click Continue and then Click Done (unless you would like to configure another account). You are finished!

Please send any questions or comments. If you have any requests please let me know.

Technorati Tags: Configure, Gmail, Apple Mail, “Gmail Apple Mail”

In this episode I will show you how to create custom icons for files, folders, applications or whatever you would like within OS X (difficulty = hard).

You may watch the this episode here or download it via iTunes

In the screencast I use a number of applications. Although I use two applications that are not free (illustrator and photoshop) this process can be done by using all freeware applications. You may use any image creation and/or manipulation application but you will need:

1. Icon Composer (a component of the apple developer tools which comes with you installation disc) and
2. Icns2Rsrc

Here we Go!

Photoshop Steps

1. Open a new document with the dimensions of 128X128. Create your image within that document. You must make sure that you are in an 8 bit RGB color space so that you can save your image as a CompuServe Gif.
2. Hit ⌘⇧S (File –> Save As) and select compuserve GIF from the drop down dialog box for format. Choose an appropriate name for you file and then click Save.
3. Click OK in the indexed Color dialog box and make sure that the Transparency box is checked (Transparency is not necessary but it sure does look a lot better!).
4. From the GIF Options dialog box, select normal.

Icon Composer (Macintosh HD/Developer/Applications/Utilities/Icon Composer)

1. Open Icon Composer
2. Drag and drop the GIF file that you just created into each of the boxes in the image composer.
3. For the lower resolution icon versions you will get an alert asking if you would like to use a scaled down version. Select the Use Scaled Version button.

4. This warning will be followed by another warning asking if you would like to extract the mask. If you want your transparency preserved choose extract Mask.

   It is worth noting that you could create different versions of your image for each of the Icon sizes and drag those into the Icon Composer. This works fine, the only downside is that it is more time consuming.

5. Choose File–>Save and choose an appropriate name and click Save.

Icns2Rsrc

1. Hit ⌘O or File Open
2. Navigate to the icns file that you just created via Icon Composer and click Open
3. In the Enregistrer Sous: dialog box Choose a name and a location to save your file to.

Finder

1. Choose the application, file, folder or whatever you would like to change the icon of and get Info. You can do this by clicking on the icon to highlight it and then hitting ⌘I. Select the .rsrc file that you just created and get info on that.
2. In the Get info dialog box for the rsrc file, select the icon in the top left corner. It will have a blue highlight once selected. Key ⌘C to copy the icon.
3. Go to the info pane for the file or folder that you would like to change the icon for and select the icon in the top left corner and hit ⌘V (paste).

That’s it. You are done!

Technorati Tags: Custom Icons in OS X, Icons, OS X

In this episode I show you some of the new features of the Safari 3.0 Beta as well as some of my favorite old features. This seems particularly relevant with the announcement of the Safari 3.0 Beta for Windows and OS X.4 at the World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

You may watch this episode small (low bandwidth) or large (high bandwidth).

In no particular here are some of my favorite features of Safari (2.0 and 3.0).

1. Like most modern web browsers, Safari offers Tabbed Browsing: You may create a new tab by hitting ⌘T (⌃T Windows) in Safari. You are then free to enter any URL or even use keyboard shortcuts to access bookmarks located in your bookmarks bar. For example ⌘1 will load the first bookmark in the book marks bar (as of now this does not work in windows).

   Other ways to create new tabs include: ⌘clicking (⌃clicking windows) on a link to open a new tab with the link you clicked, ⌘⇧clicking (⌃⇧clicking windows) a link to create and select a tab of the selected URL, and dragging links to the Tabs bar.

2. Using the tab key to select text fields: You can use the ⇥ key to select text fields and drop down menus in any web page. You can take this a step further by using ⌥ and ⇥ to select links any given web page (OS X only). Like the rest of OS X, ⇧⇥ will select text fields in the reverse direction and ⇧⌥⇥ (OS X only) will select links in the reverse order.
3. Using the space bar to select items from drop down menus (OS X only): As you tab through a site you may open drop down dialogue boxes by hitting the space bar. You may select any given element by typing in the first few letters of the item and you can select it by hitting the ⌅ (enter) key. From here you can ⇥ on to your next form element.
4. HTML mail via Safari and Mail.app (sorry windows users): You can send HTML easily via Safari and Mail. All you need to do is navigate to the desired HTML page in Safari and hit ⌘I. Mail will launch and the contents of the HTML doc will be loaded as your mail message. The page title will even populate the Subject header. This is very valuable and makes sending HTML messages a breeze. You can even launch HTML documents from your hard drive and mail the contents without posting the page to a web server.

New Features in Safari 3.0

1. The ability to rearrange tabs: It is nice to be able to finally do this. All you need to do is click on the tab and drag it to your desired location in the tabs bar.
2. The ability to ⌘click and ⌘⇧click bookmarks that reside in folders in the bookmarks bar to open the link in a new tab: This feature has been in firefox for some time now and it is a much needed addition to the 3.0 beta (once again, sorry windows users, this feature does not appear to work within the windows version).
3. Moving tabs to new windows and vice versa: To make a new window from any tab all you need to do is click the tab and drag it down. A thumbnail of the page will appear. On both windows and OS X you can hold the shift key while letting go of the left mouse button to slow down the animation process. This is a great introduction for windows users to the eye candy that has been known to mac users for some time.
4. Resizable Text Input Fields: As of version 3.0 you can resize text input boxes within Safari. This can be quite helpful if you are planning on composing a length comment. To resize a text box just click the bottom right hand corner and drag it to you hearts content.
5. ⌃click (right click) the page header to navigate directories on the web site’s server: This can be very helpful if you get lost in a complex web site. Simply right click (⌃click) the page title at the top of the browser to view the directories of the site you are visiting.
6. Web Inspector: As of version 3.0 you can right click (⌃click) a link and select inspect element to bring up the web inspector. This tool allows you to view the node, style, metrcs and properties of the selected element. This is a wonderful tool for anybody that dabbles in web development or design. For this feature to appear you must have the Debug menu activated. You can activate the debug menu by typing the following command into the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1

Hopefully you gain something from this Safari overview. I have tried every browser out there and continually return to Safari. If you have not given it a try I encourage you to do so!

Technorati Tags: Safari 3.0, Safari Beta, Safari 101

In this episode I show you how to create custom alarms in OS X. In this example I extract an .m4a audio file from an adium sound package, convert it to an .aif, and then place the file in the proper directory. To wrap it up I make an iCal event with the sound as an alarm.

You can watch this episode here.

One of the my favorite things about OS X is the ability to customize things. With that in mind, I really enjoy using custom alarms. I have many alarms that I have accumulated over the years and I really enjoy them. I find them much more satisfying than the standard 10 or so alarms that ship with OS X (basso, submarine, etc.). Keep in mind that these alarms can be used in any application that uses alarms or system wide.

So before we get started lets discuss what exactly a custom alarm is. Well, all it is, is a .aif audio file. That means that you can create a custom alarm be converting any audio file into an .aif and placing it into the proper directory (~/library/sounds). Here are the steps.

1. Find a sound file and convert it to an .aif. In this example I use Quicktime Pro but it could easily be done using iTunes. To convert the non .aif file into a .aif using Quicktime simply open the file with Quicktime and chose file–>Export (⌘E), select Sound to AIF from the drop down menu in the export dialog box and then click Save (⌅).

   In iTunes (the default application for .m4a files) you need to go into preferences (iTunes –> Preferences or ⌘,) and select the advanced tab. Then select the importing tab and select AIFF encoder from the Import Using drop down menu and click OK. Then select the song or sound of choice and click advanced from the iTunes menu and then select convert to AIFF.

2. Now you need to take the audio file and place it into the sounds directory (~/library/sounds) in the library folder. To do so, in the Finder, go to your home folder (⌘⇧H) and double click the library folder. Then open the sounds folder (if it does not exist create the Sounds folder within the library directory) and place the new file into that folder.

3. All that is left to do is close any application that you would like to use the alarm in and reopen it. From this point on the alarm will be available in any application.

It is worth noting that there are a lot of really cool sounds within the package contents of various applications. To find them,

1. Right click (⌃click) the application or folder or whatever and choose show package contents.
2. Open the resources folder.
3. Look for sounds. There is usually a sound folder within the resources folder The sounds may be buried within another application which requires you to show the package contents. Just look around you will find them. By doing this you can use any sound from and application be it Skype, Adium, or any app of your choosing.

If you have any questions, comments, or a request please feel free to contact me at info@heysage.com.

Technorati Tags: How to create custom alarms in OS X