Connect your camera or camcorder

Digital cameras and camcorders allow you to capture memorable events. Learn how to import your photos and videos from your camera or camcorder.

Digital cameras
With iPhoto, you can organize, edit, and share your photos. Your friends and family may enjoy your vacation videos even more after you edit the footage in iMovie.

If your looking for more professional approach to editing and enhancing photos and videos, try Aperture for retouching photos or Final Cut Pro for video editing.

You have to import your photos and movies into your Mac first, which brings us to this lesson: Connect your camera or camcorder to your Mac.

Although many cameras can be connected to your computer without installing any software, check the documentation that came with your camera to see what your model requires; some manufacturers require or recommend that you install software to get the full benefits from your camera.


If you want to use iPhoto to view and edit your pictures

iPhoto makes it easy to download your camera's photos to your hard drive.

1. Make sure you have the latest iPhoto and OS X updates installed by checking the App Store (OS X Lion) or Software Update preferences.
2. Connect your camera to your Mac using the USB cable that came with your camera. Note: If your Mac has an SD card slot and your camera uses a compatible SD card, you can simply insert the card into your Mac instead of connecting the camera via a USB cable (then skip to step 4).
3. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now but check your camera manual if you're not sure how. The camera or more precisely, its media card, appears in the devices section of the Finder sidebar as a mounted volume.
4. Open iPhoto, if it does not open automatically.
5. iPhoto displays your camera or the name you gave your media card in the devices list of the iPhoto sidebar.
6. Type a name for your group of photos in the Event Name field, such as "Nevada Vacation" or "Company Party Photos."
7. Click Import Selected to only import selected photos from your camera, or click Import All to import all photos from your camera. iPhoto wlll import pictures and movies from your camera.
8. When prompted, click Delete Photos to delete them from your camera or SD card. Or, click Keep Photos to keep them on your cameras or SD card.
9. To disconnect the camera or SD card when finished, click the eject button next to the camera icon in the devices list. When the camera or card disappears from the list, you can safely disconnect it.

To transfer images from your camera using Image Capture

If you'd rather not download images into iPhoto,

you can use Image Capture to copy them anywhere on your hard drive

These steps will copy image files from your camera to wherever you wish on your hard drive, but not to iPhoto's library. You can later add them to iPhoto if you wish.

1. Connect your camera to your Mac using the USB cable that came with your camera. Note: If your Mac has an SD card slot and your camera uses a compatible SD card, you can simply insert the card into your Mac instead of connecting the camera via a USB cable (then skip to step 3).
2. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now by simply checking your camera's manual. The camera or more precisely, its media card appears on the desktop as a mounted volume.
3. Open Image Capture (located in Applications). Note: If iPhoto opens automatically, you can quit it.
4. Select the media card of your camera from the devices list, if it is not already selected.
5. At the bottom of the devices and shared list, you can choose to delete photos from your camera after importing them and you can choose which application opens when you reconnect your camera or card to your computer.
6. From the import To pop-up menu, choose where you want Image Capture to download your files.
7. If you want to import all the photos from your camera, click Import All. If you only want selected photos imported, choose the photos you want and then click Import. Tip: By pressing and holding down the Command key and clicking the photos you can select multiple photos. The photos you select will be highlighted (as shown in the figure above).
8. All photos that you import will have a green checkmark indicating they have been imported.
9. To disconnect the camera or SD card, click the eject button to the right of the media card in the devices list of Image Capture.

To manually download photos
Many cameras allow you to manually copy your images using the Finder. Use these steps to copy your camera's photo and movie files by simply dragging and dropping the files from the camera volume to your hard drive:

You can copy your camera's photo and movie files by simply dragging and dropping the files from the camera volume to your hard drive

1. Connect your camera to your Mac using the USB cable that came with your camera. Note: If your Mac has an SD card slot and your camera uses a compatible SD card, you can simply insert the card into your Mac instead of connecting the camera via a USB cable (then skip to step 3).
2. Turn on your camera. If your camera needs to be set to a certain mode to transfer photos, do so now. You may want to check your camera manual if you're not sure how. The camera or more precisely, its media card, appears in the devices section of the Finder sidebar as a mounted volume.
3. Double-click the volume to open it and open the DCIM folder, which holds your pictures.
4. Drag the image files or folder to your desktop or any folder on your hard drive to copy them. You can then open the files in any graphics application, and even import them into iPhoto if you want by dragging the files into the album section of the iPhoto sidebar.
5. To delete all photos from the media card in your camera, you can either drag the DCIM folder to the Trash and then empty the Trash, or delete the images using your camera's controls.
6. To disconnect the camera, drag the volume icon to the Trash, it turns into an Eject icon. When the icon disappears from the desktop, you can safely disconnect your camera.

Camcorders
Here's how to connect a camcorder to your computer and capture footage in iMovie.

Use a video capture application, such as iMovie, to import footage

1. Connect your camcorder to your computer, using the FireWire or USB cable that came with it. Typically for FireWire, a 6-pin to 4-pin FireWire cable, plug the small end (4-pin) connector into your camera's FireWire port.
2. Turn on your camera and set it to PC Connect mode (this mode may have a different name on your camera).
3. Open iMovie.
4. If the Import window doesn't open, choose File > Import from Camera from the iMovie menu, or click the video camera button above the Event Library list. The Import window displays all the video clips on your camera.
5. You can use the playback controls in the iMovie interface to view your camera footage in the iMovie monitor pane.
6. To select all clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Automatic, and then click Import All. To import specific clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual. Deselect the clips you don't want to import, and click Import Checked. The first time you import from a video camera that records high-definition (HD) video, an HD Import Setting dialog appears. Even if you aren't importing high-definition, video now, select Large or Full, and then click OK.
7. From the Save to pop-up menu, choose a location to store the videos.
8. in the Create new Event field enter a event name and then click Import.

Playing music with AirPlay

How to use AirPlay
Just plug your stereo system or speakers into the audio port on your AirPort Express using an audio cable or have your AirPlay-enabled output devices connect to the same local network as your iTunes library.

When you open iTunes 10 or later on your Mac or PC, you'll see an AirPlay button at the bottom right-hand corner of the iTunes window.Clicking on the AirPlay button will let you control where you stream your content.


Add AirPlay to your current network
Simply connect your stereo system to the audio port on your AirPort Express using an audio cable and plug it into an electrical outlet. Once this is done, AirPlay wirelessly links to your existing network, letting you play your music in your room of choice with AirPlay-enabled output devices without moving anything or connecting anything else.

AirPlay-enabled output devices other than AirPort Express may connect to the network in other ways. Refer to the instructions from the manufacturer for more details.


Listening through multiple speakers
With AirPlay and iTunes 10 or later, you can listen to music through your computer speakers and multiple AirPlay outputs.

The maximum number of outputs are three to six in typical conditions. The number that works for you will depend on your environmental conditions (such as building composition and local radio interference), distance to the outputs, and available network capacity relative to your other usage.


Controlling multiple speakers
You can use the Multiple Speakers window to control the relative volume of your output devices.

The sound coming out of your AirPlay output device may sound louder or softer because of on the accoustic characteristics of the area in which it is placed. The sound being outputted may sound different even in comparison to the sound output from the same device placed in a different area.

If you set the softest output to most closely match the Master Volume, when you adjust the Master Volume, you have more precise control over that output.

You can adjust Master Volume in the Multiple Speakers window or by using the main volume control in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window:

Louder AirPlay outputs can be set to a lower volume to better control the extra power.


Controlling playback on the go
The Remote app allows you to control iTunes or Apple TV from your iOS device. If you are streaming from your iTunes library and step away from the computer, take your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch with you to control the iTunes library.

Check spelling and grammar

In many Mac OS X applications you can check spelling, or both spelling and grammar, in documents such as TextEdit files or email messages.

Note: Many applications have some, but not all, of the spelling and grammar options. For example, in some applications the Edit menu has a “Spelling” option instead of a “Spelling and Grammar” option.
If you don’t see either “Spelling” or “Spelling and Grammar” in the Edit menu, the application doesn’t provide the Mac OS X spell-checking feature. Check the application’s preferences or menus to see if it has its own spelling checker.

Accept or ignore suggested words
Mac OS X uses “text prediction” to assist you as you type, by showing you suggested words below the word you are typing.

1. To accept a suggested word, press the Space bar and continue typing. If multiple suggestions are shown, click the one you want to accept.
2. To ignore the suggested word, continue typing as usual.

Check the spelling of a single word
Select the word, and then choose Edit > “Spelling and Grammar” > “Show Spelling and Grammar.”


Check spelling in an entire document

1. With the document open, choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Check Document Now. The first error in your document is highlighted.
2. Either correct the word or leave it as is, and then press Command-semicolon (;) to see the next error.
3. To see suggested alternate spellings for a word, and get easy access to other spelling and grammar commands, hold down the Control key as you click an error.

Check spelling and make corrections as you type

1. Open the application you want to use and choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Check Spelling While Typing. When you mistype or misspell a word, it’s underlined in red.
2. If you want to correct misspellings as you type, choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Correct Spelling Automatically. Misspelled words are corrected if they don’t begin with a capital letter and don’t appear on a line of their own.

These steps enable spell check and auto-correction for the current document. Some applications, such as TextEdit, let you set a preference to enable the feature for all new documents. You can also enable this feature for all documents in applications that support this feature. To do so, select “Correct spelling automatically” in the Text pane of Language & Text preferences.


Check grammar along with spelling
With the document you want to check open, choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Check Grammar With Spelling, so there’s a checkmark next to it.

Misspelled words are underlined in red and grammar errors in green.


Use advanced spelling and grammar options

1. With a document open, choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Show Spelling and Grammar.
2. To change the language, choose it from the pop-up menu. If you want to see more language options, choose Open Text Preferences.
3. To check grammar along with spelling, select the “Check grammar” checkbox.
4. If an error is found, do one of the following:
5. If one of the suggested alternatives is correct, select it and click Change.
6. If none of the alternatives is correct, retype the word or words and click Change.
7. If you don’t want to make a correction, click Ignore. The error is ignored if it occurs again in the current window, but is highlighted if it’s found in other windows.
8. If you don’t want the word to be treated as an error, click Learn to add it to your personal dictionary. (In some applications, you can Control-click the word and choose Learn Spelling from the shortcut menu.)
9. To review a definition of a suggested alternative, select it and click Define.
10. If no alternatives are listed, click Guess to see whether any possibilities appear.
11. To continue checking without making any changes, click Find Next.

If you accidentally add a misspelled word to the dictionary, type the misspelling in the Spelling and Grammar window and click Ignore, or Control-click the misspelling and choose Unlearn Spelling from the shortcut menu.

Check for errors missed by the spell checker
It’s a good idea to read through your document yourself, even if you use the spell checker. If you type “fine” instead of “find,” for example, it won’t show up as a misspelled word.

To easily identify such errors, highlight the text you want to check and choose Edit > Speech > Start Speaking.

Check external devices

If you are using an external networking device, such as a hub or a router, and are having trouble connecting to the Internet, there may be problems with your devices or cables.

1. Check that all the devices you are using are turned on and have started up completely.
2. Make sure all cables related to the modem are plugged in and firmly inserted. This includes the modem’s power cord, the cable from the modem to the wall jack, and the cable from the modem to your computer. To be sure a connector is properly inserted, disconnect and reconnect it. Be sure that cables have not been cut, chewed, or otherwise damaged.
3. If you are using an Ethernet hub, router, or gateway, make sure all cables and power supplies are properly connected. If you have more than one power supply available for a type of hub or router, try switching the power supplies. A defective power supply may affect network traffic.
4. Turn off the power on your DSL or cable modem for a few minutes, then turn it back on. Some service providers recommend that you unplug the modem’s power cord to turn off power to it. This is required if the modem does not have a power button. If the modem has a reset button, try pressing it before or after unplugging the modem and plugging it back in.
5. Check the indicator lights on the modem. Some DSL and cable modems have indicator lights that provide useful information about the modem’s connections. A “cable” light may indicate that the cable network is available, whereas a “PC” light may indicate that the modem recognizes the connection to your computer. If such a light remains off after you have checked your cables and turned the power off and on, check the documentation that came with the modem, or contact your Internet service provider (ISP).

If you use one or more devices, such as a DSL or cable modem and a router to connect your computer to the Internet, try turning off all the devices, waiting a few minutes, and then turning them back on in order. Turn on the device closest to the Internet connection first, let it restart completely, and then turn on the next device.

Restart an external device

If you have a network device, such as a hub or router, connected to your computer, and you are having problems, you might be able to correct the problem by restarting the device. See the documentation that came with the device if you don’t know how to restart it.

It often helps to wait a few minutes between turning off and restarting the device, and then wait until it has started up completely before trying to use it.

If you have multiple devices connected in a “daisy-chain” to your computer, it is important to turn off all the devices, and then restart them in sequence, starting from the device farthest from the computer. For example, if you have a DSL or cable modem connected to the Internet, a router connected to the modem, and your computer is connected to the router, turn off all of the devices. Wait a few minutes, and then restart the modem first. When it has started up completely, restart the router, and let it start up completely.

If restarting the devices doesn’t help, you may want to restart your computer. If the problem persists, use Network Diagnostics to help solve the connection problem.

1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, and then click Network.
2. Click “Assist me,” and then click Diagnostics.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions.

View slideshows within Finder

Open Finder and select any group of files or images that you have. Say you have 100 photos in your pictures folder. Go ahead and go to the finder menu and click edit > select all or you can just drag your mouse cursor to select all files.

From there you have a couple options to bring up the slideshow feature.

You can press spacebar for quick look and it will bring up this:

You can now use the arrows to scroll through the images or click the thumbnails to bring up thumbnail previews.

Now at this point you can press the fullscreen arrows on the right side. Doing this is the same as selecting all the images and going to finder menu and while holding down option select File > Slideshow. So if you want to bypass the quick look then you can just go right to the finder menu instead.

After clicking on full screen you will your first image in full screen mode and this toolbar at the bottom.

You can scroll left or right through images or press play for slideshow. You can click the thumbnail view or click import to iPhoto.

This is a very nifty feature especially if you have thousands of images on your hard drive and need to locate one.

Desktop

Elements of the desktop

1. Apple menu () - Access Software Update, System Preferences, Sleep, Shut Down, and more.
2. Application menu - Contains menus for the application you're currently using. The name of the application appears in bold next to the Apple menu.
3. Menu bar - Contains the Apple menu, active application menu, status menus, menu bar extras and the Spotlight icon.
4. Status menu - Shows the status of your computer or gives you quick access to certain features—for example, you can quickly turn on Wi-Fi, turn off Bluetooth, or mute your computer's volume.
5. Spotlight icon - Click it to bring up the Spotlight search field, where you can search for anything on your Mac.
6. Desktop - This is where your applications' windows will appear. You can add more desktops using Spaces, see this article.
7. The Dock - Quick access to your most frequently used applications, folders, and files. With a single click the application, folder, or file opens.

Organize your desktop files and folder
If you download and create files on your desktop, it may become cluttered after some time. You can organize your desktop files by grouping them into folders on your desktop. Just select the items you want to group, Control-click one of the selected items, and then choose "New Folder with Selection" from the shortcut menu. Then enter a name for the folder. All of the selected files will be grouped in the new folder.

Customize your desktop
You can change the size of icons, arrange them in a grid, and set other preferences for items on your desktop by changing the view options on your desktop. To change your desktop view options, click the desktop, and then choose View > Show View Options from menu bar. You can try the different settings to see which ones you like—you will immediately see the effects of your changes.

Change your background
You can change the picture that's displayed on your Mac's desktop. You can choose one of the desktop pictures that comes with your Mac, a solid color, or one of your own pictures.

1. Click the Launchpad icon (or System Preferences icon for Mac OS X v10.6) in the Dock.
2. Click Desktop & Screen Saver, and then click Desktop.
3. Select the picture you want in the box on the right.

To select the kind of desktop picture you want to use, do one of the following:

1. To use an image that come with your Mac, select a folder under the Apple section.
2. To use a solid color, select "Solid Colors" under the Apple section.
3. To use your own picture, select the Picture folder under "Folders," if the picture you want is stored in your Pictures folder. If your image is in another folder, click the Add button (+), then find and select the folder that your picture is in. Then click Choose.

Change what's displayed on your desktop
You use Finder preferences to choose what type of items appear on your desktop.

Finder preferences window in OS X Lion

1. Click the desktop.
2. Choose Finder > Preferences, and then click General.
3. In the "Show these items on the desktop" section, select the items you want to appear on your desktop, such as hard disks and external disks.

TextEdit

TextEdit lets you create all kinds of text documents. It includes tools to format and layout your page, edit and stylize text, check spelling, create tables and lists, import graphics, work with HTML, and even add music and movie files. Here are some of the things you can do in TextEdit.

TextEdit does more than just let you edit text. Take a look at some of the things you can do to your documents.

Open TextEdit from the Dock, or in the Launchpad (for OS X Lion).

Start typing whatever you want in the window. If you want to change the text alignment from the default left alignment, highlight the text and click one of the four alignment buttons in the toolbar to align left, center, justify, or align right.

TextEdit automatically checks spelling as you type and will underline words that it thinks are misspelled with a red dotted line. If you need help with the correct spelling, highlight the word and from the Edit menu, choose Spelling and Grammar, then Show Spelling and Grammar from the submenu to open the Spelling window. The window displays its best guesses for what you were trying to spell. To correct your mistake, select the correct word and click Correct. TextEdit will also automatically correct your spelling as you type or present you with spelling options for the word you are trying to spell.

TextEdit has a built-in spell check and will automatically correct your spelling as you type.

To change the font, from the Format menu, choose Font > Show Fonts. In the resulting Font window, select a font typeface and size from the columns. You can also choose to add an underline, add a strike-through, change the text color, and add a text shadow from the pop-up menus at the top of the Font window.

To add a photo, music, or movie file, just drag the file from a Finder window to the document.

To create a list, choose a list style from the list pop-up menu. You can pick options like bullets, numbers, or lettered lists.

Begin typing your list. To end your list, choose None from the list pop-up menu.

Instead of manually entering bullet points, numbers, or letters, use the Lists pop-up menu to have TextEdit create the list formatting for you

To create a table, from the Format menu, choose Table. In the resulting Table window, enter the number of rows and columns you want, select the text alignment, choose the cell border thickness and color, and choose a background color. Your TextEdit document updates as you make changes.

Set Up Storage Devices

CD and DVD Burners
While all current Apple computers come with a built-in CD burner, you may want to connect an external one if you need to make direct CD copies, or you may decide to get a DVD burner, if your computer has a Combo Drive or a bigger storage medium is desired. Here's how to connect these types of devices to your Mac.

To backup GarageBand and music files, just drag the folders to the blank CD icon (or its open window), then click the burn icon or drag it to the Trash to burn the disc.

1. Many CD and DVD burners don't require a driver to use. If yours does, install the driver that comes with your device, and then restart your computer.
2. If your burner isn't USB or FireWire bus powered, connect the device's power adapter.
3. Use the appropriate USB or FireWire cable to connect the device to the USB or FireWire port on your computer.
4. Turn on your CD or DVD burner and insert blank media.
5. A dialog appears, asking what you want to do if you haven't set an action for blank media in the CDs & DVDs pane of System Preferences. From the Action menu, choose Open Finder if you want to burn files to a CD or DVD, or choose Open iTunes if you want to create a music CD, and click OK.
6. To burn files to disc, drag files and folders onto the disc icon on the Desktop, and then drag the disc icon to the Trash to burn it. To create a music CD, create an iTunes playlist of your selected songs, and then click the Burn Disc button.

FireWire or USB External Drives
Most of these types of devices don't require you to install software to use them. Check the documentation that came with your drive to be sure. Some can also draw power from your computer through the attached FireWire or USB cable, so they don't need a power adapter. To connect an external drive to your Mac:

Once you connect an external USB or FireWire drive to your computer,

the drive appears on the Desktop as a mounted volume.

1. If your drive isn't USB or FireWire bus-powered, connect the device's power adapter.
2. Use the appropriate USB or FireWire cable to connect the device to the USB or FireWire port on your computer.
3. If your drive has a power switch, turn it on. Your drive should mount onto your Mac Desktop as a mounted volume icon.
4. To copy files to it, just drag and drop any file, folder, or application onto the volume icon. If you double-click the volume to open it, you can add folders (press Command-Shift-N) to help organize your content.
5. When you're finished, drag the volume icon to the Trash to unmount the device. You can now safely disconnect the drive.

USB Flash Drives
These devices can fit in the palm of your hand, but can pack upwards of a gigabyte or more of data on them. Also known as USB thumb drives, these storage devices are handy for shuttling files from computer to computer. And they're incredibly simple to use: Just plug one in to any USB port on your Mac and the device should show up on your Desktop as a mounted volume icon.

USB flash drives, including this iPod shuffle, appear on your

Desktop as a mounted volume once you plug it in.

To copy files onto it, just drag and drop files, folders, or applications onto the icon. Or open the volume by double-clicking it to better organize its contents (you can add a folder by pressing Command-Shift-N). When you're done, drag the icon to the Trash to unmount the drive, and then unplug it.

Other Storage Devices
Media card readers, tape drives, and other storage devices can also be easily connected to your Mac in the same manner as connecting a CD or DVD burner (see "CD and DVD Burners," steps 1-3, for connection instructions). If your storage device uses removable media, the icon that appears on your Desktop may take on the appearance of the media at hand. You will need to drag the icon to the Trash to eject it when you're done using it.

Get quick information with widgets

Dashboard contains a collection of handy “widgets”: small apps for a wide variety of tasks such as checking stock prices, finding local or global weather information, looking up words in the dictionary, and more. You can use Dashboard to get information and do common tasks quickly.

Some widgets are linked to larger apps. With the Address Book widget, for example, you can search for a name and address without opening the full Address Book app. Other widgets, such as Weather, provide information from the web without opening a web browser.

Dashboard is a full screen app that’s always available. To get there, just swipe up with three or four fingers, and then click Dashboard (first thumbnail on the far left next your desktop). Or press the Dashboard key on your keyboard. If your keyboard doesn’t have a Dashboard key, press F12 (Fn-F12 on portable keyboards).

How to disable Java web plug-in ?

To disable the Java web plug-in in Safari, follow these steps:

• In Safari, choose Safari > Preferences or press Command-comma (⌘-,)
• Click "Security".
• Uncheck (deselect) "Enable Java".
• Close the Safari preferences window.

Additional Information

• Click this link for information about how to disable the Java web plug-in in Chrome.
• Click this link for information about how to disable the Java web plug-in in Firefox.

Bring back the Dashboard "ripple"

In Lion, Dashboard has now been incorporated into Mission Control. The most striking consequence of this is that it is no longer a semi-transparent overlay that fades in over your desktop. Instead, it is now its own Space - the far left one. You can still access it by pressing the Dashboard key on your keyboard or by clicking it in your Dock, but now you can also get to it using the horizontal swipe gesture you use to slide between Spaces.

This means that Dashboard now slides in from the left of the screen when activated, and as there is nothing behind it, it has an opaque patterned background. As a result, Apple has decided to disable the fancy ripple effect that used to be shown when adding new widgets.

If you find that you can’t live without the ripple, don’t worry, you can bring it back by unticking just one checkbox. Open up System Preferences, and go to the Mission Control section.
Then simply untick the first checkbox - Show Dashboard as a Space.

This completely restores Dashboard to the way it was in Snow Leopard, including the fancy ripple effect. This also stops the horizontal swipe to activating Dashboard, but you can bring this back using other tools if you really want it.

Change Image in the Tile Game Widget

Amongst the widgets that come with Mac OS X is the Tile Game. You shift around the tiles to reveal a picture of a snow leopard (or a leopard or a tiger, depending on your version of Mac OS X). If you play the Tile Game often, you might find the image a bit boring.

Luckily, changing the image is easy. Start by finding an image in iPhoto or the Finder to replace it. To avoid stretching, go for an image that is roughly square. Now click on the image and hold. While holding down the mouse button, press F12, or whatever key you have assigned to load up Dashboard. Now simply drag and drop your image onto the Tile Game.

Annoyingly, the image will change back to the tiger if you close the widget. Permanently changing the image is a bit more complicated. It essentially involves replacing an image file hidden within the widget file. If you are familiar with delving into package files, this is quite straightforward.



To change this image, first we need to find the Tile Game widget. It is located in the Library folder inside Macintosh HD. Make sure you don't accidentally go to the Library inside your user folder. Inside the Library, look for the folder called Widgets. In here you'll find the Tile Game. To get inside the package, right-click (or Control-click) on the file, and choose “Show Package Contents” from the menu that appears.

The file we want to change is called game.png, and is located inside the Images folder. Just replace this image with your new one, making sure you give it exactly the same file nam

Run a widget without installing it

Normally when you download a widget and double-click it, you are presented with a dialog to install the widget. You can either cancel, and exit the installer, or click install, and the widget is moved to you widgets folder (Library/widgets).

However, in some situations you don't want to move the widget. For instance if you are trying out a widget and don't know if you want to keep it, or you are developing a widget and are just testing it out. To stop the widget being installed, hold down Command and Option while double-clicking it. Instead of an install button, you are presented with Run, which, funnily enough, allows you to run the widget without installing it.
Clicking this opens the widget up in dashboard, but it isn't moved to the widgets folder, instead running it from wherever you downloaded it to.

As a result the widget won't be in your dashboard bar, so it is a nifty trick if you want to save scrolling through loads of widgets (especially if you are a dashboard addict). This also means that once you have closed the widget, its gone for good, and you can't open it up from within the dashboard. Of course its still sitting in your downloads folder, so a quick Command-Option-Double-Click will have it open and running again.

Scheduled Startup and Shutdown

In the Energy Saver system preferences you will find a button labelled "Schedule." This allows you to schedule your mac to startup and shutdown at certain times, on certain days.

This is just about the only way to schedule things without buying other software or using iCal. Basically you can set your computer to come on in the morning on weekdays and go off in the evening for example.

I combine this with a locked screen saver. In the evening I start my "Big Clock" screensaver, then put my mac to sleep. In the morning it wakes up at a specified time, and loads the password dialog box. Then, when no password is typed in, it goes to the screen saver after 30 seconds. This means when I wake up in the morning I can look over and see the time in big bright letter next to me, without them on all night to wake me up.

You can also combine this with an applescript or automator actions to play music or load web pages every morning. After writing the script to do this, set a daily alarm in iCal that loads it every morning, but make sure to make it a minute later than the time your mac wakes up from sleep.

Tips for iCal in Lion

Set as Full Screen
iCal is one of only two apps that I regularly use Lion’s full screen mode with (the other being Terminal). This allows me to leave it always running in the background, out of the way. Whenever I need to check my schedule or reminders, a simple four-fingered swipe to the left will slide the desktop across to iCal running full screen in its own space. To set iCal as full screen, just click the full screen button in the top right corner of the window. You can even combine this with the multiple calendar windows tip to allow you to swipe between multiple full screen calendars that show the current day, week and month.

Remove the leather effect
The new look and feel of iCal was one of the most controversial changes when Lion first came out, provoking outrage amongst many UI purists. If the new look isn’t for you, there are a couple of simple tweaks that will change things back to normal. First, if you just want to remove the torn page effect from the bottom of the toolbar, the Big Bucket Development blog shows you how to achieve this by replacing a single image. Alternatively, if you want to get rid of the new look completely, MacNix has a simple method that can bring back the aluminium look in both iCal and Address Book.

It’s worth making a backup of iCal before trying either method, just in case you ever want to revert back to the new leather style.


Create a quick event
iCal now has a a great new way to add events that means you no longer have to spend ages filling out dates and times with fiddly controls. Instead, just click the + button in the toolbar or press Command-N to bring up the Quick Event popover. This allows you to type in the event details in a human-readable form — for example, “Movie at 7pm on Friday” or “Meeting at 3pm until 6pm” — and iCal will interpret what you mean and create an event.

Specify times in the event name

When creating events by double-clicking a day in month view, the new default behaviour is to create all-day events. If you want to create a normal event, just specify the time when typing in the event name. iCal seems to be quite flexible at interpreting what you mean - things like “Gym at 6” and “4pm Meeting” will both work.

You can also specify the length of all-day events in this way. Just type “Holiday until Saturday” or “Jim away until the 14th”.

Adjust the font size
It’s now possible to change the size of the text in the calendar view. Just choose Make Text Bigger or Make Text Smaller in the View menu or press Command-minus (-) or Command-plus (+).

Year view heat map
The new “year at a glance” view is fancy, if not altogether that useful. It allows you to see a “heat map” of how many events you have throughout the year, with busier days shown in red and quieter days show in yellow. Double-clicking any month will bring up the month view for that month.

Show more (or fewer) than seven days in week view
This is a “top sekret” feature that requires a quick trip to the Terminal before it can be accessed. Start by opening the Terminal app (located in Applications/Utilities) then paste in the following line and press return:

defaults write com.apple.iCal IncludeDebugMenu YES

Quit and re-open iCal, and you should see a new Debug menu in the menubar. In this menu, under the Top Sekret [sic] section you’ll find an option to set the number of days in week view to 7, 14, 21 or 28 days. You’ll need a pretty large screen for these options to be that useful.

It isn’t necessary to enable to debug menu to show fewer than seven days in week view. First make sure you aren’t in week view, then just hold down the Command and Option keys and them press and number between 2 and 6.

Open multiple calendar windows
This is another secret feature hidden in the debug menu (see above). Once the debug menu is enabled, it is possible to open up multiple iCal windows by selecting New Calendar Window or by pressing Command-L. This is great if you would live to have two different views open simultaneously — for example separate weeks, or a month view and a day view.

 

Rename Files and Folders

You can change the name of most files, folders, and disks in the Finder. You can’t rename your home folder (the one with your name on it).

Important: There are some things youshould not rename:

• Application folders and any items that came with your system (such as the Library folder).
• Filename extensions—the period followed by two or three letters you see at the end of some filenames (for example, .jpg). If you change an extension, you may no longer be able to open the file with the application that was used to create it.

1. Select the item you want to rename and press Return. Note: The items in the Finder window sidebarare aliases. To change the name of a sidebar item, locate theoriginal and rename it.
2. Type a new name for the item. You can use numbers and most symbols. You can’t include a colon (:) or start the name with a period (.). Some applications may not allow you to use a slash (/) in a filename.
3. Press Return.

If you change the name of an installed item (such as an application) and experience problems, change the name back. If this does not help, you may need to reinstall the software.

Applications, Files, and Folders

An application is a computer program that gives you the tools to accomplish specific tasks. For example, you're probably using the application Safari right now to read this webpage. Other applications include Mail, iTunes, Pages, TextEdit, and many more.


Accessing an application
To open an application, click the Launchpad icon in Dock or click the application's icon in Dock (if it's there). Depending on the application, it may display an interface window, palettes, tool bar, or other interface components, or it could display nothing at all until you open a file or create a new one.

Your Mac's applications can be accessed from the Launchpad icon in the Dock

To quit an application, choose Quit from the application menu or press Command-Q. Keep in mind that closing a window (by clicking the round, red button) will typically not quit the application.

Getting more applications
You can purchase and install applications for your Mac from App Store, which is included with OS X Lion and Mac OS X v10.6.6 and later. To start browsing software from App Store, click the App Store icon in the Dock. You can use the search field in the upper-right corner of the App Store window to search for applications.

 
You can use App Store to find, install, update, and view purchased applications

1. Featured - Click to browse new and noteworthy applications.
2. Top Charts - Click to browse the most popular applications.
3. Categories - Click to browse applications in specific categories, such as Photography. You can browse applications in a particular category by choosing an item from the All Categories pop-up menu in the Quick Links section. The Quick Links sections is located in the upper-right part of the window displayed when you click Categories.
4. Purchases - Click to browse applications you have purchased.
5. Updates - Click to browse updates to applications you have installed on your Mac.
6. Search Field - Enter a name or type of application your looking for and press Return.

To use App Store, you need to sign up for an Apple ID. If you already have an iTunes Store account or other Apple account, you can use that Apple ID.


Accessing files
To access your files on your Mac, you use Finder. Finder allows you to see all files and folders on your Mac and search for them using the search field in the top-right corner of the Finder window. Once you find a file you want to open, simply double-click the file, it will open in the application that supports its file format.

To close a file, just click the round, red button in the upper-left corner of its window. Keep in mind that closing a file will not necessarily quit the application too. To quit an application, choose Quit from the application menu or press Command-Q.


Folders
Folders on your Mac are used to organize your file and applications.

 
 File appearances may differ a little from each other depending on what type of file they are and what they contain

Your Documents folder (in the Finder sidebar under Favorites) will contain all documents that you create. The Finder sidebar includes several other folders, such as Movies, Music, and Pictures, to help keep all your files organized by type. The Applications folder contains all your applications and the Desktop folder contains all the stuff that's currently on your desktop.


Organizing files and folders
If you want to add more folders to set up an organizational scheme, here's how to create a new folder:

1. Make the Finder active (click the desktop, click inside any Finder window, or click the Finder icon in the Dock).
2. From the File menu, choose New Folder; a new "untitled folder" icon appears in the active Finder window.
3. Name your folder by simply typing a name in the highlighted text box next to the folder icon.

Or, you can simply press the Shift-Command-N key combination.

To organize your files and folders, drag any file, folder, or application that you want into your new folder, or drag the folder into any other folder to establish an organized hierarchy.

Dual Boot OS X 10.7 & OS X 10.8

OS X Mountain Lion is Apple’s latest Mac operating system that is complete with a bunch of new features that iOS users will find familiar. It’s looking like a great addition to the Mac OS family, but for the time being it’s still in Developer Preview, has a fair amount of bugs, and isn’t quite ready for prime time. For those who want to explore and develop for OS X Mountain Lion without losing their primary – and stable – OS X Lion installation, the best thing to do is create a dual boot set up. This lets you have both Mac OS X 10.7 and OS X 10.8 on the same Mac, which you can easily switch between with a reboot.

Before beginning, do the following:

• Check system requirements to insure OS X Mountain Lion compatibility
• Download OS X Mountain Lion from the App Store
• Back up the Mac within OS X Lion using Time Machine

If you already made an OS X Mountain Lion boot installer, you can use that, or you can partition directly from Disk Utility in Lion. It shouldn’t matter although OS X Lion can be pickier with partitioning the boot drive than prior versions of Mac OS X. After you have backed up your Mac, you can proceed.


Set Up Dual Boot for OS X Lion & Install OS X Mountain Lion
We’ll walk through partitioning, installing, and booting either version of Mac OS X:

• Open Disk Utility, click on hard drive and then click on “partition”
• Click the + icon to add a new partition, make it at least 14GB and name it something obvious like “Mountain Lion”, then click “Apply”

• Confirm the creation of the partition (see note below if you have problems here)
• Launch the OS X Mountain Lion Preview installer (or mount the InstallESD.dmg file) and open the “Install OS X Mountain Lion Preview 1.app” to begin installation
• Click through to install, and select the newly made partition “Mountain Lion”

• Let installation commence, the Mac will reboot and installing OS X Mountain Lion will begin

You’re done! After installation is complete, you will be greeted by the familiar OS X welcome and set up screen.

Choosing which OS X version to boot
Hold down Option during reboot to bring up the boot loader. You’ll find four drives; one for OS X 10.7, one for OS X 10.8, and a recovery partition for each OS X version. This is why it was important to name the OS X Mountain Lion partition something obvious.

Select “Mountain Lion” and boot as usual. Boot disk settings can also be adjusted through System Preferences’s Startup Disk panel at any point in either Mac OS X 10.7 or OS X 10.8.

Competing Recovery Partitions
Having two active recovery partitions can cause issues if you attempt to restore from one or the other, and it’s recommended to not use either to restore the OS in the current dual boot setup. If you are going to remove either the OS X Lion or OS X Mountain Lion partitions, don’t forget to remove the Recovery partition accompanying that version of Mac OS X. If not, you could inadvertently restore the wrong OS, or encounter boot problems if you delete the wrong OS and find the recovery partition to be incompatible with the remaining version of OS X.

Note about partitioning in OS X 10.7
OS X Lion is pickier than past versions of Mac OS X when partitioning the boot drive. If you run into problems partitioning the active boot drive, reboot into Recovery Mode (Command+R at boot) and use Disk Utility from there to create the partition, then reboot again into OS X Lion and continue with installation.

Clear Versions History & Auto-Save Cache Data

Mac OS X 10.7 and later include the Versions feature and Auto-Save ability, this lets users restore back to previous editions of a file by creating a constant sequence of saved file states while they are being worked on. All around, Versions and auto-save are useful, but they can also leave traces of sensitive documents and files you may not wish to keep around. Other than the privacy implications, this same technique can resolve some erroneous behavior with Versions as well. The simplest solution to these issues is to manually delete the Versions saved states cache directory.

The Versions cache directory is stored within the root of a Mac OS X installation here:

/.DocumentRevisions-V100/

The safest way to remove this folder will be multiple steps, so launch the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/) and type the following:

cd /

To be certain you’re about to remove the proper directory, verify the directory name:

ls -l .DocumentRevisions-V100

Delete the directory and its contents with rm:

sudo rm -rf .DocumentRevisions-V100

Doing this one-time will not disable the feature, it will just remove all existing history of files that have been managed by Versions.

After a file has been processed automatically by Versions again, the directory will be rebuilt. Because this is involves editing system files and using the potentially catastrophic ‘rm -rf’ command, you shouldn’t use this tip unless you know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

Also, be aware that deleting the directory can cause some temporary issues with existing files that are locked or have saved states, even if file locking is turned off. Typically this will be in the form of an error message when using the file the first time, but it shouldn’t cause any serious issues.