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Ask TUAW: Apple pricing, which cat is which, and laptop batteries you can't replace
Welcome to Ask TUAW, your favorite weekly question-and-answer column. Now, we can never have too many questions, so please, go to the comments of this post and ask away. To get fabulous answers, we need your fabulous questions. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or ping us on Twitter. Now, off to the questions! David asks: Why doesn't Apple let me replace the battery myself in any of its current products?
Ask TUAW Video Edition: PDF and Scripting
Andrew asked us about how to have a folder convert documents to PDF format so that he can sync them to his Dropbox. Today's show goes into how to use Automator and AppleScript to do some scripting, and we're going to demonstrate an iPad app that will convert documents for you on your iPad. Some resources for you: Automator - Mac OS X Automation Automator AppleScript - Mac OS X Automation AppleScript Save2PDF - Main Company Page Any questions, please leave them in the comments or email us! Read on for the video.
Ask TUAW: iPhone US visitors, RAM upgrades, iPad buying advice
In case you didn't know, the 2011 edition of the Great American Pastime starts Thursday the 31st. I'll be watching MLB.tv on my AppleTV -- and my iPhone and my iPad. Baseball everywhere! Awesome. MLB's television broadcast rules black out home team games via MLBtv, unfortunately, so I can't watch my local team, but that's OK. I'll watch whatever game looks interesting at the moment. Enough of that! Welcome to Ask TUAW, your favorite weekly question-and-answer column. Now, we can never have too many questions, so please, go to the comments of this post and ask away. To get fabulous answers, we need your fabulous questions. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or ping us on Twitter. Now, off to the questions! Prem has a question about prepaid cell plans: I'm having a plan to be in the US for 3 months. While I'm there I'll bring my trusted iPhone 4 with me. However, I don't want to pay the roaming charge, so surely I'll need to find a SIM card and data plan there. What would you recommend me for the carrier and plan? I will be use about 1GB of data for each month.
Ask TUAW: Spring Has Sprung Edition
Hello all! Welcome to the 'Spring has Sprung' edition of Ask TUAW, your favorite question-and-answer column. Now that many of you have your iPad 2s/are in line to get them/hope to see them show up eventually, we'll be answering some questions (and not answering others, because sometimes even Ask TUAW doesn't know what's going to happen). We can never have too many questions, so if you have anything you'd like to know about your new iPad or the one you're going to buy as soon as they're back in stock, here's what you need to do: go to the comments of this post, think of all the Mac/iPad/iPhone questions that keep you awake at night and fire away. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. Ray writes with a question about data migration: I'm planning on buying the new 17-inch Macbook Pro soon, and I wonder if there's a way to transfer just my iTunes & iPhoto libraries to my new Mac without having to transfer everything else. I currently use a 2009 Aluminium Macbook (Intel Core 2 Duo) running v.10.6.6.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Migration Assistant
Today we discuss the Mac OS X Migration Assistant. Joe asks, "What's the best way to transfer my old data on my old MacBook to my new MacBook Pro without erasing new software on the MBP like the new iLife suite?" Well Joe, you and many other TUAW readers are going to learn about the Migration Assistant. The video's on the next page, and as always you can leave questions in the comments!
Ask TUAW: The iPad 2 is Here! Edition
The iPad 2 is finally here! In honor of Apple's super-gadget, we're having an iPad 2 edition of Ask TUAW again this week! Now, we can never have too many questions, so if you have anything you'd like to know about your new iPad or the one you're going to buy as soon as they're back in stock, here's what you need to do: go to the comments of this post, think of all the Mac/iPad/iPhone questions that keep you awake at night and fire away. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. Now, onward to questions! Angel writes: When Apple first released iMovie for the iPhone 4, I purchased the app right away. I am going to be purchasing an iPad 2 tomorrow and I just wanted to know, do I have to re-purchase iMovie on the iPad? Or are they two different versions that should be purchased separately? If I can just use the version I already purchased on my iPad as well, how would I get it on there? iMovie is universal for iPad/iPhone now. If you bought it earlier for your iPhone, you do not need to purchase it again to get an iPad version; both versions are bundled together in the same app. If you purchased iMovie before but no longer have it stored on any of your devices, just download it again from the App Store -- you will not be charged to re-download apps you've bought previously, unlike music.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: bulk emailing
Jerry writes to us this week asking how to send mass emails and have them personalized. Software shown this week: MaxBulk Mailer - retails for US$50-60 dollars Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments! The video is on the next page.
Ask TUAW: The iPad 2 Is Almost Here! Edition
The iPad 2 is almost here, and in honor of Apple's latest gadget, we're having an iPad 2 edition of Ask TUAW this week! We got a few interesting queries from last week's post, but this is going to get mighty boring without your questions about the iPad 2, which will be released on Friday! Here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think of those niggling questions that keep you awake at night thinking about your Mac, iPod, iPad 2, iPhone or AppleTV, and fire away. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. I'll be at my local Apple Store for the iPad 2 launch on Friday, will you? Onward to questions! Chris (and a number of others!) asks: I own a first generation AT&T 3G iPad and will be upgrading to the iPad 2. I am grandfathered into the unlimited data package for $30 a month. Can I transfer my data plan to my new iPad or are the data service "subscriptions" connected to a specific device? Yes, you can! AT&T confirmed with me that it will be possible to grandfather your unlimited data plan to the iPad 2, but it hasn't released the exact mechanism for this upgrade. Most likely it will involve removing your micro-SIM from your original iPad and slapping it into your brand new iPad 2. We've got a few more days for everyone to figure out how it's going to work though.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Syncing Music to iPad
This week, Cynthia has a question about syncing music to an iPad that she shares with her husband, who she claims wants to relive high school. Don't stop believin'! Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments! The video is on the next page.
Ask TUAW: Wait, is this a leap year? Edition
Just to clear that up, no there is no February 29 this year, but 2012 is another story. Welcome to this week's edition of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. We got a few interesting queries from last week's post, but this is going to get mighty boring without your questions! Here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think of those niggling questions that keep you awake at night thinking about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV and fire away. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. So, with that out of the way, on to the questions, including a followup from last week! In the previous edition, TeJay wanted to hook up multiple monitors to his MacBook. We offered a third-party solution to his problem, but it looks like Apple may have just introduced a much better option for owners of the latest 15" and 17" MacBook Pro's. The new Thunderbolt port offers daisy-chaining of up to six devices, including two high-resolution displays, according to the Australian Apple website. The 13" MacBook Pro, with its weaksauce Intel integrated graphics card can't handle two external monitors, however. Curiously, the US website doesn't mention this feature. Perhaps it only works down under? Now, queries!
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Time Machine over a network
This week, Jude writes in and asks about using a home theater Mac mini as a Time Machine location for his MacBook Pro. We show him how to do this with some tweaking to his MacBook Pro. In the video, we used this code to put into Terminal.app: sudo defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1 Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments! The video is on the next page. Update: The terminal command is if you are using machines that are pre-10.5.6. If you have machines that are 10.5.6 or later you can just connect via Apple File Share and not need the terminal command. If you are trying to backup to a device that isn't running Mac OS X (such as a NAS) then you will need the terminal command.
Ask TUAW: Presidents Day Edition
Hi everyone! Welcome to the Presidents Day Edition of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. We got a nice group of questions from last week's post, but we always need more! Here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think long and hard about which burning questions have been bothering you about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV and ask away! You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. When asking a question, it makes life a lot easier for the Ask TUAW team if you include what type of machine you're using, which version of Mac OS X you're running or, if you're asking an iPhone/iPod/iPad question, let us know which generation device and which version of iOS you have -- though, in general, you should always upgrade to the latest version if you can. Now, questions! Henry asks: I have a large iPhoto database of about 50,000 photos. Despite having a very beefy machine (2.8 GHz 8-Core with 32 GB RAM / 4 TB Disk and the 4870 GPU) to say it is slow to work in would be an understatement. It takes almost a minute to open, and is incredibly slow to scroll through. Working in it is unbelievably slow, while Aperture on the same machine is flawless and quick. How can I make this usable (considering I have already thrown huge hardware at it)? It seems to have ballooned to over 300,000 files with all the thumbnails, faces, etc.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Maintenance on your Mac
This week, Julie writes in about being a new Mac user (having come from the Windows world). She wants to know what kind of maintenance she needs to run to keep her Mac working. I give a few suggestions, but there are A LOT more we could give her. Applications mentioned in this video: DiskWarrior: US$99 for a great utility Onyx: a powerful system utility -- use with CAUTION! Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments! The video is on the next page.
Ask TUAW's triumphant return from abroad
This, my friends, is the triumphant return of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. Unfortunately, a giant beaver ate all of the questions from prior editions of Ask TUAW, and we need more new questions! So, here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think long and hard about which burning questions have been bothering you about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV, and ask away! You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. Here are a few perennial favorites asked and answered: Q: Which MacBook Air should I buy? A: Get the 11" if you have another computer, or the 13" if it's your primary machine. Order the BTO memory upgrade, too; you can't upgrade the RAM after the fact. Q: What's the best way to sync my iPhone to multiple computers? A: The only way to win is not to play -- syncing to more than one computer is asking for trouble, honestly. Pick your most accessible machine with the best storage situation for your media and applications library, and sync to that one. If you need to shuffle content around or purchase apps on multiple machines, go with Apple's Home Sharing to keep things synchronized. So, head down to the comments at the end of this post, and do your best. When asking a question, it makes life a lot easier for the Ask TUAW team if you include what type of machine you're using, which version of Mac OS X you're running or, if you're asking an iPhone/iPod/iPad question, let us know which generation device and which version of iOS you have -- though, in general, you should always upgrade to the latest version if you can. We've got a few questions left in the can from last time, so let's get cracking. Dave asks: I am seeing terrible performance from Finder when trying to access a Windows share over a VPN. If I do an 'ls' or 'cd' command to get to the same files, everything is instantaneous. Is there some setting in Finder that will make it act more like the 'ls' done via Terminal? I have looked at a lot of Finder replacements and they all appear to have the same problem. Given this works great on Terminal, I'm a bit stumped at what Finder can be doing that would slow things down so dramatically.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Syncing music with Android Phones
This week, another Matt asks how to sync his iTunes music and videos to his new Android-based phone. In the video we show two very simple to use applications that can accomplish the task. Applications mentioned in this video: doubleTwist - free for wired sync, US$4.99 for wireless sync Salling Media Sync - $14.95 and available through the App Store Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments! The video is on the next page.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: working with Stacks
This week Matt asks how to have a dock stack with specific applications in it. In the video we show the three easy steps to make it happen. Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments! The video is on the next page. Update: as Brian pointed out - you can use Command and Option-Key (⌘⌥) together when dragging the application to your newly-made folder - it will automatically make the alias without the word "alias" in the title.
Ask TUAW video edition: Playing video formats
Hey everyone, it's week two of Ask TUAW's video edition. This week we help Nolan play a WMV file and discuss the options that are out there to play all sorts of video files. Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments! The video is on the next page. Mentioned in this video: QuickTime - Apple's Video Player Flip4Mac - a WMV component for QuickTime Perian - The "Swiss Army Knife" for QuickTime Video Lan Client - A great video player for Mac OS X Silverlight - Microsoft's video plug-in for web browsers Update I wanted to add another player that wasn't mentioned in the video MPlayer Extended. MPlayer Extended is an updated version of the old MPlayer OS X.
Ask TUAW video edition: Uninstalling Mac apps
Hey everyone, Ask TUAW has gone video to help you with all those questions you send in. Today we help Donna, who asks about removing installed apps from her Mac. Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments! The video is on the next page. Mentioned in this video: Adobe uninstaller (included in CS installations), but you can also try the CS5 Cleaner Tool if you're having issues with the Creative Suite. AppZapper Also, check out our Mac 101 on uninstalling (a couple of years old now) and how to uninstall System Preference panes.
Ask TUAW: Outlook 2011 attachment problems, Apple TV alternatives, deleting apps and more
Welcome back to another edition of Ask TUAW. Each week this column will feature questions from readers and answers by the TUAW team. If you have questions for the following week's column, drop them in the comments, and I will do my best to get to them. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). If you're asking an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad question, be sure to note which model and version of iOS you have. For this week we've got a new batch of questions about Microsoft Outlook attachments, Apple TV alternatives, keeping an iPad, getting an iPod touch, deleting applications and more. Lee asks: I'm using Outlook 2011 on my iMac and many times when I receive attachments in emails the attachments are Winmail.dat files and I can't open them. How can I fix this? Unfortunately, those 'winmail.dat' files are created when the sender's Exchange server or Outlook for Windows client encodes the file attachment; if they've got your contact flagged in Outlook as someone who can receive 'Rich Text' messages, you'll get the Outlook PC-only winmail file. Fortunately, there is the free TNEF's Enough utility; this tool will quickly and easily decode your inbound attachments. (For those who are using Mail.app, there's also the US$29.95 LetterOpener for Mail.app, which integrates winmail.dat handling and several other Outlook-savvy tools into a Mail plugin. There's a free iPhone/iPad app, too.) You can also contact those people sending you the attachments and ask them to change the format they use when sending email to you.
Ask TUAW: Canceling Mobile Me, iPhone backups, playing Windows media files and more
Welcome back to another edition of our weekly Q & A column Ask TUAW. Each week this column will appear with questions and answers. If you have questions for the following week's column, drop them in the comments, and I will do my best to get to them. I won't be able to answer them all every time, so please, be patient. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). If you're asking an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad question, be sure to note which model and version of iOS you have. For this week we've got a new batch of questions about how to cancel Mobile Me, getting Windows Media files to play on a Mac, backing up an iPhone and more. Rusty Cantor asks How do I cancel Mobile Me? I can't seem to figure it out. I'm 83 and this tech life is driving me nuts.
