From the category archives:
Peripherals
Sync the versatile iPod touch
Sync the versatile iPod touch
Mac Tip #351, 13 August 2008
The iPod touch is a miniature computer you can use for web surfing, email, watching videos, listening to music, checking maps and all kinds of other activities.
It’s tiny:
- Height: 4.3 inches (110 mm)
- Width: 2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
- Depth: 0.31 inch (8 mm)
- Weight: 4.2 ounces (120 grams)
You interact with it by touching the screen directly — there’s no keyboard or mouse. If you need to enter text, such as a web address or to type an email an onscreen keyboard is displayed where you can tap out the letters and numbers you need.
See a gallery of photos of my iPod touch in use.
Like any other iPod you plug it into your computer and iTunes transfers across any music, videos, podcasts, audiobooks, photos, contacts and even bookmarks that you tell it to.
Plug in your iPod and wait a moment or two for iTunes to recognise it.
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Select the iPod in the list of Devices on the left hand side of the iTunes window. A summary of information about your iPod is displayed, including its capacity in Gigabytes, the software version and its serial number. Click the Serial Number label once to see instead the iPod touch’s Identifier number.
Click the tabs across the top of the window to access specific settings for Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Photos, Info and Applications. The Info tab allows you to choose settings for synchronising Contacts and Calendars, Mail Accounts, Safari Bookmarks and MobileMe.
The iPod should Sync automatically, but to force it to sync, especially if you’ve changed any settings, click the Sync button in the bottom right corner of the window.
Recent software updates have made it possible for iPod touch and iPhone owners to add applications through Apple’s App Store — some free, some not. A Tip coming soon will explain how that works.
Notes: other iPods don’t have all the features of an iPod touch, but otherwise synchronise in the same way. The iPhone should be very similar to the iPod touch, but unfortunately I don’t have one and can’t check exactly how it works.
If you can add useful information for other readers about synchronising an iPod or iPhone, please leave comments below.
Popularity: 7% [?]
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Clean up a Thumb Drive
Clean up a Thumb Drive
Mac Tip #350, 06 August 2008
Many people use thumb drives — those tiny ’sticks’ you plug into a USB port — for storing backups of important documents, and they’re great for that purpose: quick, easy, convenient. Copy files to the drive, drag files from the drive, add, delete — it all takes but a moment. In the screenshot my No Name thumb drive has a bunch of files on it.
Until, maybe, something goes wrong, as friend found recently when one file claimed to be corrupted, and the daily backups wouldn’t complete. This problem isn’t unique to thumb drives, by the way — it can happen any time to any storage medium.
In my friend’s case we did some troubleshooting and then decided to reformat the thumb drive. Here’s how to do that.
Start up Disk Utility. You should find it in the Applications - Utilities folder. The Disk Utility window opens and displays a list of disks in the left-hand column.
Plug in the thumb drive you’d like to reformat. It should also show up in the list of drives.
In the screenshot you can see a list of the internal hard drive and DVD drive on my Mac. My No Name thumb drive is listed, and I’ve selected it in the list. Click on the thumbnail images in this post to see larger versions.
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Click on the thumb drive in the list to select it.
Now take great care in the next step. When you reformat a drive it completely erases everything that’s on it. Make sure you select the correct disk and also make sure you have copies of any files on the thumb drive that you wish to keep.
After selecting the thumb drive in the list click on the Erase tab on the right hand side of the window.
Choose a Volume Format from the pop-up — try Mac OS extended (Journaled), and if you wish, give the thumb drive disk a name.
Double check that you will be erasing the correct disk and then click the Erase… button. An alert appears reminding you that all data will be erased and asking you to confirm that you wish to erase the drive. Click Erase to wipe everything or Cancel to abandon what you’re doing.
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My screenshot shows that I’ve selected a thumb drive called 964 MB Ut165 USB2FlashStorage Media and am about to click the Erase button on the alert.
After a few moments the disk is wiped clean. When I look at the disk in the Finder I see that no files remain. In my screenshot you can see the thumb drive now shows up in the left-hand column of Disk utility with the name I assigned it.
Security Options…
If you wish, click the Security Options… button before you erase the thumb drive. Choose from the different methods for erasing, depending on your purpose. If all you want to do is wipe a drive you’ve been using so you can start fresh choose Don’t Erase Data, or Zero Out Data. If you’re cleaning up a drive someone else gave you, to be sure there’s nothing nasty on it, or to give the drive to someone else, choose a more secure option such as 7-Pass or 5-Pass Erase. The more secure the option you choose the longer it will take to erase the drive.
By the way: if you want to reformat a memory card to be used in a cellphone or camera first check the manual and help files for that device. You may be best to reformat the card in the camera or cellphone itself so it uses the correct formatting options.
Popularity: 13% [?]
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Brighten up the Keyboard
Brighten up the Keyboard
Mac Tip #348, 23 July 2008
Sometimes I sit in the semi-dark with my MacBook Pro reading email or news feeds, maybe writing a MacTip. This is especially the case if it’s early morning, and I just don’t want to put on a harsh overhead or desk light.
Luckily the MacBook Pro has a very handy feature that I really miss on my MacBook (not Pro): an ambient light sensor to automatically adjust lights that shine through the keyboard, lighting up the keys.
A recent Tip explained the ambient light sensor that controls monitor brightness on certain models of Mac. The backlit keyboard works in the same kind of way. Brightness is controlled by physical keys in the row at the top of the keyboard.
If you have a Mac equipped with a backlit keyboard try this Tip.
Visit System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard and notice whether you must hold down the fn key in order to use the F keys across the top of the keyboard for the function printed on the key.
Also check the box labelled ‘Illuminate keyboard in low light conditions’ and adjust the slider for when the backlight should turn off if the computer is not being used.
Any light takes power — if you run on battery a lot turning off the keyboard backlight could squeeze a few extra seconds or minutes out of the battery.
Either take your Mac into a darkish room or cover up the sensor — it’s probably under the right side grille on the keyboard.
Now press the 3 keys that control keyboard backlighting. On my MacBook Pro those keys are F8, F9 and F10. The keys display a horizontal line only, with a nearby fringe of dots and a far away fringe of dots respectively.
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The two photos show the keys and the effect of the backlight.
F8 is like the Mute key for sound: it turns off the backlighting altogether. F9 decreases the brightness, while F10 increases brightness.
I find the keyboard backlight feature incredibly useful. How about you?
Popularity: 18% [?]
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is jointly authored by Miraz Jordan and Maria Langer.