Apple advice please?

Life Technology
21

[quote=“sulavaca”]
The next things I’m stuck on are where the bloody hell has the real “delete” button gone? I have a button called delete but it is in fact backspace. The keyboard is a mini type and doesn’t have the right numberpad half any longer.[/quote]

Find the function key. The type of delete you’re looking for is [fn + delete]

[quote]Other things I’m frustrated with are:

  1. in iPhoto I cannot seem to change the filenames of photos, only add comments, and I can also not export photos with comments.[/quote]

iPhoto is pretty good for photo management, IMHO. Here’s my workflow and you can take away from it what might work for you.

  1. Plug in camera via and import all photos. iPhoto automatically creates and separates photos into “Events”. This is done by date which is convenient if you haven’t uploaded any pics for a couple of days (or weeks even.)

  2. Events (drag mouse across to see all the photos, really nice feature)
    Apr 15, 2009 - camping (I add a keyword for quick reference)
    Apr 25, 2009 - Tom’s B-day
    May 04, 2009 - KTV w/ Ed

  3. Then I go into those Events to choose the best pics to email or upload to Facebook.

  4. Create a new Album. (Choose only your best photos, not the entire Event. At least for me, normally a lot of crap photos that I don’t care about. I organize the albums of my best photos like this:

2007
2008
2009
→ 01jan-new years
→ 02feb-valentine’s
→ 04apr-camping
→ 04apr-tom’s bday
→ 05may-Limey’s pics

[quote]
2) I cannot seem to figure out a way of changing file names of pictures unless I am viewing them on the desktop in tiny thumbnail mode which is frustrating when I can view them all very nicely in iPhoto but can’t change the fielenames there.[/quote]

Now we’re in the Album “05may-Limey’s pics”. In the bottom-left corner there is the Information window pane. This is where you will change the Title or add a Description. (I think that’s the Mac word for “Comments”.)

There are also good exporting options. If I want to send to a friend sometimes I’m too lazy to title every photo so I just export like this:

That will give the prefix so the photos go “camping-1” “camping-2”, “camping-3”, etc. But you can play with the export settings to get the correct file size and quality. And you can also export by Title if you’ve taken the time to add a title to each photo.

In Finder, I always use “View > Columns” [Cmd + 3] The Icon view is okay, but as you’ve noticed it doesn’t list the properties.

Another useful feature for ANY file type, just hit Return and you can automatically change the filename. Saves a lot of tedious mouse navigation. Click on the file, hit Return and bam you can change the name. :slight_smile:

[quote]I hope these are just teething problems.

I like the overal usability of the Mac, but the little old right mouse button options in windows I am missing.[/quote]

Apple would love for you to buy the Mighty Mouse, but as alidarbac mentioned, any USB mouse works just fine.

22

Thanks so much Rocky Raccoon. That’s a great help.

I found the right mouse button on the imac. It actually does have one built into the mouse, but it must be activated in the system preferences. I also figured out to search for pictures in iphoto, drag the photos to the desktop (which automatically only copy to the desktop) and then select with right mouse or as was suggested using the ‘control’ key and left click then choose ‘compress’
I’m happy again now having understood that it does work as well as windows. :sunglasses:

Thanks again for the help chaps.

Next Q. I forgot how to find the take screen shot screen combination.

23

[quote=“sulavaca”]
Next Q. I forgot how to find the take screen shot screen combination.[/quote]

For screenshots you can do:

Cmd + Shift + 3 = Full screenshot (Btw Cmd is the Apple key.)

but I prefer

Cmd + Shift + 4 = Crosshair screenshot (crosshairs pop up and you drag and select only the area you want to capture) All the tutorials that you see on the internet use this way because it’s faster.

Learning multikey shortcuts (on both a Mac and PC) can really improve your workflow. In some programs you can remap the default shortcuts. Lately I’ve been trying to remap all the most used shortcuts to my LEFT HAND only because then it isn’t necessary to look down at the keyboard or move the right hand from the mouse.

An example of a good multikey shortcut that I use a lot in Photshop is Cmd + Option + Shift + S = Save for Web. It might feel a bit strange to hit 4 keys at once, but after a while you get used to it. I compare it to learning a new chord on the guitar. It takes some adjustment but after a while muscle memory kicks in and then you become much faster.

Multikey shortcuts have made me pay closer attention to the little raised ridges on the F and J keys for better finger alignment. Of course I still have to look at the keyboard from time to time, but the raised ridges help the brain keep tabs on where the fingers should be.

24

My biggest frustration now turns out to be the one I least expected to encounter. Where the bloody hell can I get a Firewire adapter to allow connection between my older Firewire 400 connector Sony Handycam and my new iMac which requires a 800 Firewire plug?
So far I have covered two Apple shops, one very large 3C and the entire gwanghwa computer market. Sony neither sells a lead.

25

I was so tired and frustrated last year with my latest model “trendy” mac that I happily sold it. Has some dazzling features that I have to seek out extra for a PC, but not worth it.

Get a PC.

Still happy with my Apple iPhone though :slight_smile:

26

On the internet. You have the choice to either get a special cable 1394b 9 pin to 1394a 4 pin (mini) (rather expensive, expect 1k or more, search on Ruten (ruten.com.tw) for “1394b”), or get an adapter that plugs into your 4 pin mini jack and transforms it into a 6 pin regular jack, and for that get a cable with 1394b (9 pin) on one end and 1394a (6 pin) on the other.

I personally am pursuing the second path (new mini), got the adapter, still waiting for the cable to arrive…

27

On the internet. You have the choice to either get a special cable 1394b 9 pin to 1394a 4 pin (mini) (rather expensive, expect 1k or more, search on Ruten (ruten.com.tw) for “1394b”), or get an adapter that plugs into your 4 pin mini jack and transforms it into a 6 pin regular jack, and for that get a cable with 1394b (9 pin) on one end and 1394a (6 pin) on the other.

I personally am pursuing the second path (new mini), got the adapter, still waiting for the cable to arrive…[/quote]

Could this be what I need
goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?11090517583943

Thank you very much. It is very expensive though isn’t it?

They did have one of these in the computer market, but I couldn’t get the other end to change the old 400 into female: goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?11090511985651#pic

28

[quote=“sulavaca”]Could this be what I need
goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?11090517583943[/quote]
If you only want one cable and are willing to spend that money - yes. But the plugs are not even gold-plated, which is not nice here in Taiwan…

Yes, but not yet the most expensive one.

That is the kind of cable I am still waiting for. I already got an adapter, which is what you might still need in that case. It looks like this and fits onto the 6-pin end of the cable. It has a 6-pin jack (female) at the end you don’t see on the photo.

29

Does anyone know a good place & price that sells firewire enclosures for 2.5" hard drives? I’m running out of USB ports on my hub and would like to move my Time Machine drive to firewire.