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December 22nd, 2009

Mac OS X: Using Your Laptop in "Clamshell Mode"

Using your MacBook or MacBook Pro with the lid closed. Really.

Continue reading Mac OS X: Using Your Laptop in "Clamshell Mode"

August 8th, 2009

Word 2004 Does Not Like Mac OS X 10.5.8

It may be time to update Office.

Continue reading Word 2004 Does Not Like Mac OS X 10.5.8

July 7th, 2009

PLEASE Report and Block Twitter Spammers

It’s getting completely out of control.

Continue reading PLEASE Report and Block Twitter Spammers

July 2nd, 2009

Why I Can’t Just Enjoy My New 13" MacBook Pro

It really is a business expense.

Continue reading Why I Can’t Just Enjoy My New 13" MacBook Pro

April 11th, 2009

Back to Basics with my 12" PowerBook

Who needs a netbook? I got this old clunker.

Continue reading Back to Basics with my 12" PowerBook

March 18th, 2009

My Geotagging Workflow

How I add GPS coordinates to my photos.

Continue reading My Geotagging Workflow

January 29th, 2009

In Defense of Microsoft Word

It does the whole job.

Continue reading In Defense of Microsoft Word

July 10th, 2008

Why I Downgraded to Word 2004

I said I’d never upgrade to 2008 and I lied. Then I paid for it.

Continue reading Why I Downgraded to Word 2004

April 15th, 2008

How to Add RAM to a MacBook Pro

It’s easier than you might think.

Continue reading How to Add RAM to a MacBook Pro

April 11th, 2008

One Back to My Mac Solution

I finally get it to work.

Continue reading One Back to My Mac Solution

March 3rd, 2008

Response to a Reader Plea

Please don’t expect so much from me!

Continue reading Response to a Reader Plea

December 22nd, 2007

MacBook/MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1 Now Available

Information from Software Update.

Continue reading MacBook/MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1 Now Available

December 19th, 2007

Downgrading from Leopard

Maybe you and your Mac just weren’t ready.

Continue reading Downgrading from Leopard

November 9th, 2007

Three Computers, Three Leopard Installs

I install Leopard on the last of my three Macs.

Today I did something I didn’t think I’d do: I installed Leopard on my 12″ PowerBook G4.

I wasn’t planning on it. I didn’t think the G4 was beefy enough to run Leopard. But when I checked the system requirements, I was pleased to

Continue reading Three Computers, Three Leopard Installs

August 18th, 2007

Changing the Order of Menu Icons in Mac OS X

Put them in any order you like.

Here’s a quick tip from my Tiger book that I didn’t remember until I stumbled on it today. More proof that writing a book about something doesn’t mean you remember everything in it.

You can change the order of the icon menus on the far right end

Continue reading Changing the Order of Menu Icons in Mac OS X

August 14th, 2007

Boot Camp and Partitioned Disks

“This startup disk is not supported.”

I just learned that Boot Camp cannot be installed on a Mac with a partitioned hard disk.

The error message I got was:

I wasted close to an hour trying to troubleshoot this problem before I found the answer hidden away in the documentation. (Duh-uh.)

From the

Continue reading Boot Camp and Partitioned Disks

August 13th, 2007

Choosing Your Mac OS Startup Disk on the Fly

For folks who have two operating systems installed on their computer.

My “test mule” these days is a MacBook Pro. (I use the term “test mule” to identify the computer I use to run software on when I’m writing books and articles.) In preparation for writing a book about Leopard while I still had

Continue reading Choosing Your Mac OS Startup Disk on the Fly

April 3rd, 2007

Excel Book Done

That’s book number 68.

I put the finishing touches on Microsoft Office Excel 2007: Visual QuickStart Guide. It’s my 68th book (I just counted) and right now, I feel as if I wrote them all yesterday.

Okay, so not that tired.

I had some trouble with this book. First, there was the beta

Continue reading Excel Book Done

March 13th, 2007

Creating a Slide Show for iDVD

A shortcut with good results.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been banging away at an iDVD project. The goal is to show still images from my helicopter tours and excursions as slide shows with music. I’m rather picky about these things and decided that I wanted to use the Ken Burns effect with

Continue reading Creating a Slide Show for iDVD

February 24th, 2007

Mouse Wars: Microsoft vs. Logitech

I try out two wireless mice and have a clear winner.

Continue reading Mouse Wars: Microsoft vs. Logitech

February 9th, 2007

I Need a New Mac

But what I really need is some advice.

As my sick dual G5′s hard disk churns away for the seventh straight day of data recovery efforts using TechTool Pro and I start work on my Leopard book, I have come to realize that I’m going to need a new desktop Mac before year-end. Probably

Continue reading I Need a New Mac