Fresh Apple: The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (4 сообщения)

rss2email.ru

На что подписаться? | Управление подпиской

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
http://www.tuaw.com
рекомендовать друзьям >>

Mac 101: Add Screen Sharing folder to Dock for quick access
Filed under: Mac 101
More Mac 101, our series of tips and tricks for novice Mac users.

This is really two tips in one. The first is a fairly basic one that new Mac users might not know: you can drag any folder to the right-hand side your dock (to the right of the faint-white lines which separate the Trash from applications). When you first set up an account, the Applications, Documents, and Downloads folders are already there.

The second is a "news to me" tip: did you know that when you connect via screensharing to different Macs, a file is created in your home directory at ~/Library/Application Support/Screen Sharing/?

These files can be used to reconnect to those machines simply by clicking on them. This means that you can launch Screen Sharing without having to switch to Finder, locate the machine, and then click the "Screen Share..." button. If you screen share to a different Mac, the .vncloc file will automatically be added to that folder. Just drag the folder of Screen Sharing shortcuts to your dock to make it into an easily-accessible Stack.

Using the Finder does have one advantage: if a computer is not available (if it's powered off or asleep) it will automatically disappear from the "Shared" section in Finder. The files in the Screen Sharing folder will still be there, so if you are having trouble connecting, you might check Finder to make sure that it still "sees" the computer you are trying to reach.

Henrik Nyh also suggested putting VNC shortcuts in a Stack in the dock, and he adds the notion of picking some suitable icons for them. Check out his rundown here.

TUAW Mac 101: Add Screen Sharing folder to Dock for quick access originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: Apple - Finder - TUAW - Macintosh - Mac OS
Переслать
Talkcast reminder: it's Mac Help night, live at 10 pm ET
Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts

Last week, we were joined by NPD & Engadget's own Ross Rubin for a fun-filled hour of tablet speculation, iPhone VoIP consideration and Talkshoe & Skype frustration. You can download the show, along with all past shows, from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes.

We'll be back live tonight with one of our every-so-often Mac Help hours; call in with your Mac OS X questions, concerns and headscratchers and we'll do our best to advise you, live and in real time (yes, this can go off the rails very easily -- that's part of the spectacle).

To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!

TUAW Talkcast reminder: it's Mac Help night, live at 10 pm ET originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: Apple - Mac OS X - IPhone - TalkShoe - TUAW
Переслать
Thundergod gets you out in the rain without getting wet
Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
I'm spending the weekend in Northern Arizona on a photo shoot. It's dry up here, but I took along a little iPhone/iPod touch app that put me in the center of several dramatic thunderstorms.

The app is called Thundergod [iTunes link]. With creative microphone technique, and a good set of headphones, you'd swear you were in a raging storm, or a rain forest, or one of 5 other environments, listening to nature at its most spectacular. You can listen and let your mind drift off, consider the state of the universe, or just fall asleep in a soft rain using the built in sleep timer.

I suspect the techniques used to make these recording are similar to the highly regarded binaural technique, using 2 microphones separated by the approximate distance between your ears. Then when you play back with good headphones, you are instantly transported to a hyper-realistic, almost holographic place that closely duplicates being in a real space with real sounds.

This effect doesn't work through speakers. It can sound nice, but it's not startling or compelling. With headphones the sound comes alive, and you can begin to have an emotional reaction to what you are hearing.

The app also allows for a special equalization curve if you are using earbuds like the ones Apple includes, and it is effective. This app as produced by Holographic Audio Theater, who gave us the free app Naturespace that shows off their recording and producing prowess. It's a good introduction to their technique.

Thundergod is not cheap. It's a U.S. $9.99 app, but of you look at the App Store reviews you'll be surprised how many purchasers thought the app was worth the money.

The sounds are not short repeating loops, but something like a long concert that has a beginning, a middle and a conclusion. I liked the 'Thor' environment the best, because it was the most dramatic and attention-grabbing. It's not for relaxation, but for stimulation. If relaxation is what you want, there are sonic environments included for that as well.

My suggestion is that you try the free intro app, and if you like it, then go ahead and get Thundergod. The effect can't really be described, but must be experienced.

TUAW Thundergod gets you out in the rain without getting wet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: iPhone - AppStore - Apple - IpodTouch - TUAW
Переслать
Monitor too bright? Put on some Shades
Filed under: Software, Odds and ends
This one goes out to all the night owls. As much as I love my iMac, I was surprised to see how little control it gave me over the screen's brightness. I often work on my iMac late at night in an otherwise darkened room, and even at the lowest brightness setting, the iMac is really, really bright. All of the Mac laptops I've used have the ability to dim the screen down to completely dark, but the iMac does not.

That's where Shades comes in. Shades is a free preference panel which gives you the ability to control the brightness of your Mac through the menu bar or a floating slider control, or even keyboard shortcuts/hot keys: for example, to increase brightness when Shades is running, I can simply use the option/alt key and the up arrow (or the down-arrow to dim). I can also enable or disable Shades entirely or open the menu bar controls, all via the keyboard.

Shades will let you set a minimum brightness level so you don't accidentally make the screen so dim you can't see anything (although if you have enabled the Hot Keys feature you can use the keyboard to increase the brightness even if you can't see the screen). I recommend setting a minimum brightness that's still visible, especially if you have set your Mac to require a password on waking from sleep.

Shades supports multiple monitors, giving you independent control over each one. While I think this is a good feature (each monitor can have its own setting) the keyboard commands only change the main monitor. You have to adjust the secondary monitor's brightness with a slider control, which is easily done through the menu bar. However, if you have two monitors and have both of their controls in the menu bar, there is no easy way to know which one is which. There is a workaround for this: go into the Shades preference panel and click the tab for one of the monitors and set the "Menu control" to "Shades Icon"; then go to the tab for the other monitor and set the "Menu control" to "Brightness Icon". Now you will have two distinct icons in the menu bar, making it easier to know which monitor's brightness you are adjusting.

You could also use the "Menu control" for one monitor and the "Slider control" (which floats on-screen) for the other. The ability to sync the brightness levels of both monitors would be nice, but this is a very minor complaint. My external monitor has no brightness controls whatsoever (and I know other monitors which make you hunt through a series of on-screen menus) so without Shades I would have no way of controlling its brightness level.

Most laptop users may not need Shades, but it does offer finer control than what the built-in controls offer. If you're an iMac user (or a Mac Pro user with a monitor with hard-to-access brightness controls) who works late at night, give Shades a look. When you're done, simply quit Shades and the monitor will return to its regular brightness level.

Shades runs on either PPC or Intel Macs, and requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or later.
TUAW Monitor too bright? Put on some Shades originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sponsored Topics: Mac OS X - Apple - Mac OS X v10.5 - iMac - TUAW
Переслать