Permanently Delete Email and Files Immediately (without going to Trash first)

Email management can sometimes be difficult and time-consuming. I ran into an instance a few days ago where I needed to clean up thousands of mail messages in order to reclaim that space. Ordinarily, this would require me to review each folder in my mailbox, select a range of emails then delete them. The problem is, that just moves them to another folder (the Trash folder), which means I have to do it all over again on order to make a real difference in reclaiming that space.

Fortunately, thereā€™s a simple keyboard combination that will help speed things up and significantly reduce the time that it takes to manage your email. This tip also applies to the deletion of files in Finder.

Posted on February 3, 2016 and filed under How To, Mac.

Maximizing Battery Life and Lifespan for Your iOS Device

ā€œBattery lifeā€ is the amount of time your device runs before it needs to be recharged (short-term power retention). ā€œBattery lifespanā€ is the amount of time your battery lasts until it needs to be replaced (battery longevity).

In this post, we'll cover 5 simple rules to ensuring you get the most battery life and battery lifespan out of your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Posted on January 29, 2016 and filed under How To, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Opinion.

The Basics of Dropbox and Beyond

There are a few key components to every computer. Storage (in the form of a hard drive or a speedy Solid State Disk) is one of those critical components. This is where our files (documents, audio, movies, pictures, etc) are stored long-term. We create a Word file and save it to our hard drive, for example. This method of storage is sufficient for most, but some of us (those who are serious about storage and want to take things to the next level), need something more. Something that allows us to easily share those files with others and have them available on any device.

To enhance our traditional ā€œlocal storageā€ (i.e.: hard drive or SSD), we may want to consider cloud storage. Simply put, this is storage that is primarily in the ā€œcloudā€, and secondarily (and optionally) on our local hard drive. A few current cloud storage solutions include Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Box (formerly box.net), Amazon S3, OpenStackā€¦ the list goes on and on and on. I canā€™t possibly describe the features for all the available services, so I will focus on one. Dropbox happens to be my cloud storage solution of choice (for many reasons), so we will focus on that for this post. While some of the concepts here will be applicable to all cloud storage services, the details will be specific to Dropbox.

Posted on January 28, 2016 and filed under How To, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iOS.

Maximizing Battery Life and Lifespan for Your Mac

ā€œBattery lifeā€ is the amount of time your device runs before it needs to be recharged (short-term power retention). ā€œBattery lifespanā€ is the amount of time your battery lasts until it needs to be replaced (battery longevity).

In this post, we'll cover 4 simple rules to ensuring you get the most battery life and battery lifespan out of your Mac.

Posted on January 26, 2016 and filed under Mac, Opinion.

Saving Files to Dropbox From Your iPhone or iPad

Dropbox is a great resource for saving, archiving and sharing files with family, friends and business colleagues. Accounts start at $0, so there's really no reason for everyone not to have one. I use my Dropbox account heavily on a daily basis and would recommend it to everyone.

Historically, the challenge with Dropbox is saving files to your account from your iPhone or iPad. Sure, it's easy to retrieve and view (and even edit) files from your Dropbox, but saving back to your account is as whole different story. That changed yesterday with the latest version of Dropbox for iOS. Saving files to your Dropbox account couldn't be easier now. Here's how it works.

Posted on January 25, 2016 and filed under How To, iOS, iPad, iPhone.

Let's Not Forget the Power of Bonjour and Messages

Texting others (and others texting you) is great, and the built-in Messages app in OS X makes this really convenient, allowing you to text from your computer (as if you were texting from your iPhone). In some cases, though, it may make sense (and it may even be a business requirement) to use a messaging system in a slightly different way that offers greater privacy and control.

I have a client that works in the medical industry and they were looking for a good way of messaging between office workers without using a text message-base system. The reason? Because they didnā€™t want messages to be sent or received from outside the office and they wanted to have much greater control for HIPAA compliance purposes. The essentially needed a closed message network (similar to a CCTV video system). With the click of a button, thereā€™s an easy solution with a lot of benefits. Hereā€™s how it works.

Posted on January 22, 2016 and filed under How To, Mac.

What to Do When the Start Button and Cortana Search Stops Working in Windows 10

Todayā€™s post is in response to a recent reader question: ā€œI use Windows 10 and for some reason, my Start menu and Cortana search field no longer work, which means I canā€™t really use my computer. Very frustrating. HELP!"

Windows 10 introduced a slew of new features when it was released last year. Two of those new features is an all-new Start menu and an integrated Cortana-based search engine. As with most technology, these new features can sometimes be a little buggy for the first year. In this case, it sounds like they are completely unusable. Thatā€™s the bad news. The good news is that it is a solvable problem (and pretty easy, once you know how to solve it).

Posted on January 21, 2016 and filed under How To.

Quite Possibly the Perfect Discrete Recording App for Your Apple Watch

Every once in a while, I run across an app that makes it on my ā€œmust haveā€ list. Sometimes they are big apps, but usually they are really simple apps that really help to make my life easier and more productive. I ran across an app last week that has made it on that list.

When is the last time you were in a meeting or situation where you wanted to discretely record audio for later playback, but the setting was such that grabbing your iPhone, locating a recording app and placing the device on a table was just enough of a pain to convince you not to bother? I donā€™t find myself in that situation every day, but it does happen occasionally. This app is the perfect solution.

Posted on January 20, 2016 and filed under How To, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mac, Watch.

Why Virtualization is So Awesome

When I think of significant technological advancements, I think of things like wireless networking, VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), laptops, tablets and smart phones. These are all things that I canā€™t imagine being without at this point. Another technology that I would include in that short list would be virtualization. Not just in an enterprise datacenter, but on your personal computer... specifically a Mac.

Virtualization is a technology that allows you to run an Operating System within an Operating System. The secondary Operating System runs on virtual hardware, which is being provided it by the primary Operating System and the virtualization software. There are two main players when it comes to virtualization on a Mac: VMWare Fusion (my preference) and Parallels (also a great option).

Posted on January 19, 2016 and filed under How To, Mac, Opinion.

Easily Add Cinema-Quality Titles to Final Cut Pro Projects

Adding a nice title to a video can help introduce the video (not to mention help to make it look professional). The design element will vary, depending on what youā€™re looking for (simple 2D with no animation versus 3D with animation), but thatā€™s a personal preference and will be dictated (at least in part) by what you want the end-result to be.

In todayā€™s post, I will show you how super-easy it is to add a title to your Final Cur Pro project and even uncover some (seemingly) hidden features that will help to make your titles come alive.

Posted on January 18, 2016 and filed under Design, How To, Mac.

Looking for a Fantastic Notes App? Here You Go!

When it comes to taking and managing notes, there are a million app options out there to choose from. Evernote, OneNote and Notability are three of the most popular options available today. They each have their strengths and weaknesses (like everything), and offer a plethora of bells and whistles.

For those who are looking for something a little simpler, yet just as effective (in my opinion) with a clean and intuitive interface (not to mention free), this tip is for you! Read on.

Posted on January 15, 2016 and filed under Design, How To, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mac, Opinion.

How to Add a Spacer to Your Dock

The OS X Dock is a great way to quickly access the application that you use most frequently. You can drag new icons onto the Dock, drag icons off the Dock, change the size of the icons... even add a nice animated genie effect to accentuate the icon you're looking for as your run your mouse over the application icons.

About the only feature missing, in my opinion, from making the Dock completely customizable, is the ability to add a spacer between icons. Ok, I lied. Not only is it possible, but with the help of one simple Terminal command, it's super-easy to do!

Posted on January 14, 2016 and filed under Design, How To, Mac, Opinion.

The Right Way to Wrap Your MacBook Charging Cable

Once in a while, I run across a question asked by a reader (or two, or three) that seems like it may be obvious to most, if not all, but it apparently is not. Today's post is one of those.

Believe it or not, there is a right way, and a wrong way to wrap your MacBook charing cable for transporting. Using a series of photos (yes, that detailed), I will show you the right way to prepare for, and take care of, your MacBook charging cable.

Posted on January 12, 2016 and filed under How To, Opinion.

Easy Multicam Editing Using Final Cut Pro

Editing video in Final Cut Pro is super powerful yet somehow they still managed to keep it relatively easy-to-use. Case in pointā€¦ adding a filter to a clip. Find the filter you want to use, then drag-and-drop on clip you want to apply it to. Itā€™s that easy! Want to know another activity thatā€™s super easy to do in Final Cut that can make you look like a pro? Multicam editing.

Picture thisā€¦ you have kids playing at the park and happen to have 3 iPhones recording the same video at the same time, from 3 different angles (yes, it could happen). Using those 3 video clips and manually switching between the 3 is a major pain, but with Final Cut Pro, itā€™s simple. Hereā€™s how.

Posted on January 11, 2016 and filed under How To, Design, Mac.

Why and How to Use Footer Rows in Apple Numbers

Sorting information in a Numbers spreadsheet can be really powerful for visualizing your data in a specific way. However, if you're not careful, it could cause you some problems. Here's an example of what I mean.

Let's say we have a spreadsheet of names and test scores. After the last student's test score, we want to add a row that contains test score averages, so that at the end of the school year, we can build a trend line for each test. If we sort the columns after we create the "Average" row, the sorting will include that row, mixing everything up for us. Believe it or not, the fix for this is super-easy, and is applicable to moe than just a spreadsheet full of test scores.

Posted on January 6, 2016 and filed under Design, How To, Mac.