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: 20% [?]
Fill forms quickly with the Tab key
Mac Tip #331, 26 March 2008
Sometimes you must fill in a form on a web page. Perhaps you carefully click in the first field and type your information, then click in the next one and type the next entry.
Then perhaps you have to click on and scroll a drop-down menu, such as when you must choose New Zealand from a list of countries.
Click, type, click, scroll, click, type. It’s all just endless clicking. But it doesn’t need to be.
Try the Tab key
Try the Tab key at the top left of your keyboard.
Tab normally moves the cursor from one form field to another, while Shift Tab moves it back in reverse order.
By using the Tab key you should be able to click in the first field and type, then press the Tab key, type again, and so on. If you make a mistake and need to go back to a previous field, press Shift Tab.
Experiment
Visit this example form to try out the Tab key.
While the form is live and will send emails to my address they will be filtered straight to the Trash, so you can play with the form all you like. Just don’t try to use the test form to send me any real messages.
Deal with drop-downs
Unlike the other form fields, the Subject in my test form is a drop-down. A drop-down is often used for State or Country in many forms.
You still don’t need to take your hands off the keyboard though. When you press Tab from the Email field in my test form the drop-down will be selected. Now either press a letter key (in this particular form try Q or S) or press the down arrow on the keyboard.
When I need to select New Zealand from a list of countries I press the letter N. That brings me to the first country that starts with N — often Namibia. Then I press the down arrow a few times to work down through other countries that start with N.
Once the correct item in the drop-down list is highlighted, press Return or Enter to confirm your choice.
A trick for fast typists
If you are trying to select a known word or phrase such as New Zealand from a drop-down, try typing not just the first letter, but the first few. But you need to be quick, or else you may end up selecting a word beginning with the last letter you typed.
I can usually manage to reach New Caledonia in a list of countries by typing new, though I have yet to be fast enough to type new z for New Zealand.
Next time you have to fill in a form, try the Tab key for extra speed and ease of use. But if you often fill in forms, such as user names and passwords, then there’s an even better way to make life easier. I’ll explain in a future tip.
Popularity: 31% [?]
