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How to make a magnetic iPhone Gorillapod for $25
Ever been inspired to mount your Gorillapod tripod on a metal surface, but can't find a suitable grip? If you are a creative photographer, then you should check out this Instructable that shows you how to modify an existing Gorillapod by adding some magnetic feet. The detailed directions were created for the standard Gorillapod model that's compatible with a camera, but you can use the same steps to modify the iPhone version. The process is not too difficult, requiring you to drill a small hole in the bottom of the tripod feet, fill the hole with a magnet and use epoxy to hold everything in place. A final coating of sugru helps to give the feet a smooth, professional-looking finish. If you are a savvy shopper, the cost of each magnetic Gorillapod can be quite reasonable with each unit requiring about $25, though you may have to shell out $40 to get everything you need. You will need a $16 Gorillapod, a $12 pack of ten rare earth magnets (1/2" x 3/8) and about $12 in sugru. After using three magnets and a touch of the sugru, there will be plenty of supplies leftover for future projects. It's a clever and relatively inexpensive modification that'll provide a novel way to hold your iPhone while you position it to get a unique angle shot. [Via PetaPixel]
Mac 101: How to create a time-saving printer pool in OS X
Yesterday I had a call from an old consulting client of mine, who was wondering if there was a way that she could set up a way of sending print jobs from a Mac to any printer in her office -- any printer that wasn't already tied up printing something else for another person. Her company does a lot of large documents, so the employees in the company are often tying up printers while doing test prints for clients. There is a way to easily do this without having a print server in the office, and it's called a printer pool. Setting up a printer pool from any Mac takes just a few seconds. Go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners, and you'll see a list of all of the available printers on your network. Next, select the printers you wish to have in a printer pool by command-clicking them. For example, you might want to have a printer pool for all of the high-resolution color printers on the network and another one for the fast black and white laser printers. Command-click all of the printers of a specific type that you want in a pool to select them, and then you'll see a button that not only lets you create a printer pool, but name it so that it's easily recognizable. Once you've created the printer pool, you can select it as a "printer" from any print dialog. What will happen is that your Mac will send the print job, determine which printer(s) are currently idle, and then do the printing on an available printer. It's an easy way to keep all your printers busy and your employees from waiting on an open printer.
iPhone 101: How to request a refund from the App Store for mistaken purchases
We've all done it -- you are browsing through the App Store and inadvertently purchase an app that you really didn't intend to buy. It's one of those costly fat finger moments that you wish you could take back. Thankfully, Apple provides a way to for you to request a refund in these circumstances. It's not an immediate return and the restoration of your funds is subject to Apple's approval, but it is nonetheless helpful when you've made a mistaken purchase. To request a refund for an app, you can find the original email and click the "Report a Problem" link to streamline the process as described in this Apple support document. If you don't have the email, you can find the purchase in iTunes and request a refund following the steps below: Open iTunes on your Mac or Windows machine and select "App Store" to open the main page for the App Store Open your iTunes account by selecting the "Account" link in the Quick Links section in the right sidebar (Alternatively, you can select "Store">"View Account" in the menu bar) Type in your iTunes password, if prompted, to open your account page Scroll down your account page until you see the "Purchase History" section Select the "View All" link to list all your purchases Select a purchase to view its details In the purchase details, select "Report a Problem" and follow the prompts to select the app Select the reason for your problem (Didn't mean to purchase this item, Meant to purchase a different item, etc) and hit "Submit" Apple will then review your request and either grant you the refund or deny your request. This policy is meant for the occasional mistake and is not be used as way to rid yourself of those regretful app purchases.
Creative use of Gmail addresses can help you tame your inbox
Gmail supports plenty of nifty email featues that you can use to take control your inbox. One trick takes less than a minute to implement and can save you hours in organization. As noted by Gizmodo and stretching all the way back to 2005 on Lifehacker, you can add a modifier, such as a period or a "+" sign, to the first half of your Gmail address and Gmail will process the mail just like your regular email address you can use both the period (.) and the plus sign (+) to amend or modify your address in different ways. With the plus sign, you can append an arbitrary string to your address (e.g. "johnsmith@gmail.com" would become "johnsmith+tuaw@gmail.com) without affecting how the mail is delivered. The period can be introduced anywhere within your email address, and will be ignored for the purposes of Gmail's mail routing. For example, email messages sent to john.smith@gmail.com will handled just like messages sent to johnsmith@gmail.com. You can put the period at any spot before the @ sign. (Note that some users report this doesn't work as expected with Google Apps accounts, only with consumer Gmail accounts. Your mileage may vary.) The power in this technique comes from Gmail's filtering options that allow you to sort emails based on the email address that is being used for the message. For example, you can use john.smith@gmail.com for all of your newsletters. When an email is sent to the john.smith@gmail.com address, you can configure a filter to forward it to specific folder, delete it or more. Setting up a filter is easy using these instructions on Google's website. Just make sure you type the correct email address into the "To" field as that is one that will be used for sorting the incoming email. You can use these modified emails with filters to sort incoming newsletters, keep track of giveaway entries, separate personal and work emails, organize online purchase receipts and more. Huffington Post has a few more savvy Gmail user tips. Post edited to correctly reflect the difference between the plus sign and period modifers.
iPhone 101: Add labels to your On/Off toggles in iOS
iOS is filled with toggles that allow you to turn a feature on or off. In iOS 7, the state of a toggle is indicated by color with green meaning "on" and white meaning "off." If you need an additional visual cue either because of vision problems or personal preference, you have the option to turn on labels that add an On/Off indicator symbol to each switch as shown above. Accessibility Settings with On/Off Labels disabled(l) and enabled(r). This secondary visual cue is hidden in the Accessibility menu, and you can turn it on as follows: Open the Settings app in iOS Tap General > Accessibility Scroll to the option to "Turn on On/Off Labels Swipe or tap the toggle to turn it on, with green indicating that the feature is enabled View another toggle to confirm the addition of the labels iOS uses the standard power button label that is used on electronic devices -- a circle represents the "on" state and a line represents "off." Between the color and the label, you should have minimal difficulty in determining whether an option is enabled or disabled in the settings. Besides its functional purpose, the added labels also look nifty in each switch icon.
Mac 101: Use Spotlight to quickly solve math problems
OS X's search tool, Spotlight, does more than just file and web searches. The handy utility also can be used to do semi-complex math equations with the answers appearing within the results section of the app. To use Spotlight for math, just open the utility by selecting the magnifying glass icon on the right side of the menu bar or typing Command-Space on the keyboard. Type in your equation using the standard math symbols (+, -, *, /) and brackets. Spotlight automatically produces the answer in the results section, and you can easily copy it using Command-C. Spotlight supports constants like pi (type in pi) and advanced math functions such as square root (type sqrt), sine (sin), cosine (cos) and tangent (tan). If you use a function, you must type the function name and follow that with the number inside parentheses. For example, the square root of 49 would be entered as sqrt(49). If you need more than Spotlight's basic math, you also can hit enter after you type in your equation to launch the calculator. If you have any other Spotlight tips, please share them in the comments.
Quick and easy fix for Lightning port charging problems
Are you experiencing problems charging your iPhone or iPad using your Lightning cable? Before you toss away your cable or bring your phone into Apple for repair, you should take a moment and try this quick and easy fix that works for many people. For many people, the charging issue originates from the port itself, which has a tendency to collect dust, dirt and other debris. You cannot easily see inside the port, so you may be harboring a huge dust bunny and not even realize it. Not surprisingly, this dust will interfere with the connections between the cable and the port, making it difficult to charge the device. The lightning port is easy to clean as long as you careful and use the correct supplies. The first thing you need to obtain is a thin, non-conductive probe that you can use to scrape the dust and debris out of the port. Some people use tooth picks, but I found the GUM Soft flossers to work well as they are are rubbery and bend under pressure, lessening the chance you will damage your port during the cleaning process. To clean the port, just insert the dry flosser and gently swap out the debris. You can tap the phone on the edge of the table to remove any loose material that is not trapped by the bristles of the flosser. You also can use a small vacuum or some compressed air to remove dirt that is loosened by the swab, but doesn't fall out on its own. Some other people report success with an electronics contact cleaner, though I would recommend trying the dry method first. Once you've swabbed and vacuumed, your charging problems will likely disappear. If they persist, then you need to look closer at the condition of the cable (Is it frayed or kinked?) or the port itself (Did it ever get wet or damaged?). In these cases, your troubleshooting may require a quick trip to the Genius Bar for some professional assistance.
Five settings every privacy-conscious iPhone owner should change
The iPhone is a useful tool to manage your work and play, but it isn't perfect when it comes to privacy. There are a handful of settings that privacy-conscious owners should change if they want to keep their data as safe as possible from prying eyes. Enable Find My iPhone Find My iPhone tracks your phone when it is lost or stolen and has the handy feature of locking or erasing your phone when it is lost of stolen. It also can be used to send an alert to the phone indicating that to others that it is lost or stolen. As a bonus, iOS 7 also includes activation lock that makes it impossible to erase, activate or disable the Find My iPhone feature without entering the iCloud password associated with the phone. This feature discourages thieves from stealing an iPhone by making it difficult for them to erase the previous owner's information. Disable Microphone Access For better or worse, iOS allows apps to access your microphone. If you don't want apps listening to your conversations, you can deactivate the feature on a per-app basis. These granular settings allow you to keep the feature enabled for apps like Shazam that require the mic and turn it off for others that don't need it. Open Settings > Privacy > Microphone to view a list of apps that have access to your device's microphone. Diable Safari Autofill Safari for iOS has an option to autofill web forms with your contact information, as well as stored passwords and credit card information. If you don't want your iPhone or iPad storing and using this information, then you can disable this feature by going to Settings > Safari > Passwords & Autofill and turning off all the options in this section. Use Private Browsing Mode Safari for iOS includes a Private Browsing mode that disables autofill and prevents websites from using cookies to track your browsing history. You can use private browsing by opening Safari on your iPhone or iPad and then tapping the "Show Pages" icon in the bottom right corner. You will then see a button for "Private" in the left hand corner. Tap this button to start a private browsing session. Disable Frequent Locations Frequent Locations is an iOS 7 feature that tracks where you go, when you go and how often you go there. This data identifies places that are important to you and allows Apple to provide you with personalized services based on your location. For example, the feature will place "Next Destination" information such as drive times in your notifications. To disable this location tracking, you will need to go deep into the Location Services settings in order to find the controls to disable this feature. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Frequent Locations. You may want to press the "Clear History" button to remove existing entries and then toggle off Frequent Locations. Enable Touch ID (bonus tip for iPhone 5s owners) Available only on the iPhone 5s, Touch ID takes the pain out of password entry by allowing you to scan a fingerprint instead of typing an alphanumeric code. You can enable Touch ID by opening the Settings > General > Touch ID & Passcode (on iOS 7.1 and up) or Passcode & Fingerprint (on iOS 7). Then start adding fingerprints to setup Touch ID.
Tips to help you optimize your Wi-Fi network
Dave Hamilton of Mac Observer talked this week with Alf Watt, former Apple engineer and creator of iStumbler WiFI utility, on the latest Mac Geek Gab podcast. The conversation focused on ways you can improve your WiFi connection in your home or office. Here are a few tips that you may find useful. 1. Use the same SSID name for all your available radios According to Watt, Apple devices will choose to connect to radios based on their order in your "Preferred Networks" list, regardless of their relative strength and throughput speed. If you name all your available networks with the same name, the device will then chose the SSID that'll gives the best throughput 2. Don't Use the Wide 40Mhz option for the 2.4GHz band Though many routers allow you to use the Wide 40Mhz channel on the 2.4GHz band, Apple has decided not to support these "Wide Channels" on this particular band. The option is not available on Apple routers, and Apple devices won't support these channels, so there is no reason to enable them for your iPhone, iPad or Mac. 3. Use the best antenna orientation for your router Place your router using the recommended orientation -- don't place it on its side if it only has feet for a horizontal position. Also, point your antennas straight up, flat out or both if you have two antennas on the router. You want to match the antenna orientation between devices -- so if you use a recent MacBook Pro, which has a horizontal antenna, you'll want to place your router's antenna along the horizon as well. You can read more about WiFi optimization on The Mac Observer and also listen to the entire podcast on Mac Geek Gab, episode #509.
Using the iPhone or iPod touch to introduce photography to children
If you're like me, you may have an older iPhone or iPod touch kicking around your desk drawer. Instead of letting that hardware sit unused, put the device into the hands of your children and use it to teach them the basics of photography. iOS devices are so easy to use that even the youngest, school-aged kids can take some fantastic photographs using these projects below and some tips from you. Look at each photo as a way to teach them about the effects of lighting, avoiding limp chops and more. You can find some other wonderful projects for both younger and older kids on the Click it Up a Notch blog. Photographing Dolls or Action Figures Have your child practice portrait photography using dolls or action figures as their subjects. You can dress them in an array of outfits, pose them and change their scenery with minimal effort. Best of all, the always-willing subjects will never complain that they are bored or too tired to pose. Photographing ABCs Give your child an extended photography project by having them shoot a photo of an object that starts with each letter of the alphabet. One of the biggest benefits of this project is that it helps put your child into a photographic frame of mind while they go about their day. As they go to the park or play inside, they will be keeping their eyes open for those items that they need for the project. This way of thinking is essential to photographers who are always on the lookout for that perfect moment or perfect shot to capture. As an added benefit, these alphabet photos can be stored or printed and used to teach pre-k children their ABCs. My older children love showing their own handiwork to their siblings. It's a great teaching opportunity and bonding moment as the older child introduces the letters and, inevitably, shares a story or two about the photo they took. Scavenger Hunt Make a list of 20 items and send your child off with their camera to find and photograph each one. Kids love scavenger hunts, which means the process of photography will be fun for them and not tedious. You want your child to learn to love photography and not turn it into chore. Story Writing Have you child take a photograph and then write a story about it. The narrative can describe the scene or it can be a fictional account that complements the photo. Older kids can be challenged to capture a series of photos and turn them into longer story or even a comic.
How to build a homemade version of the Adobe Ink stylus and Slide ruler for iPad
Earlier this year, Adobe introduced Ink & Slide, an iPad stylus and ruler combination that works with its new drawing and drafting app, Adobe Line. The accessory pair will set you back US$200, but you can build your own for a fraction of the cost. The easiest way to duplicate most of the functionality of the Adobe Ink is with a basic Q-tip and aluminum foil stylus (CNET video instructions), which will cost less than $10 to make. It'll allow you to draw on your iPad, but lacks the pressure-sensitivity that is available in the Adobe version. You'll have to decide if the pressure feature is worth the extra cost. The other half of the toolset is the Slide, a digital ruler that interacts with the Line app, allowing you to quickly draw lines and other shapes. The Slide has two capacitive points that interact with the iPad and relay information to the Line app. As shown in this DIY video from Great iGear (via PadGadget), you can duplicate the functionality of the Slide with two pieces of capacitive foam and a 4-inch screw from your local hardware store. If you don't mind the homemade look of the DIY tools, you can easily build them for less than $30 and in less than an hour.
Mac 101: Using QuickTime to record video of your Mac's screen
Sometimes you need to capture video of your Mac's screen, either to show someone a troublesome error or a quick how-to for a friend or family member. You can purchase a dedicated screencasting app like Camtasia, but for most casual users, QuickTime's screen record feature will fit the bill. To access QuickTime's recording feature, you'll need to open the QuickTime Player app and follow the instructions below: Prepare the app you want to record by opening it and getting the content in place. For example, opening the webpage tabs you want to record. Go to the QuickTime Player app and select File > New Screen Recording. Select the audio source by clicking on the downward-pointing arrow and select the option to record or ignore mouse clicks. Click the red record button and follow the instructions to record either the full screen or just a small selection. Start recording your screen and use the stop button in the menu bar (or Command-Control-Escape) to halt the recording when you are done. When you are done, you can trim the clip, upload it to YouTube or import it into iMovie for some post-processing.
This one proofreading tip for iOS and OS X will save you hours of headaches
Ever proofread an email and realize after you have sent it that it contains a glaring error? You know those errors -- these are the ones that you miss because your brain inserts the missing word or overlooks spelling errors such as "wiht" that really should be "with." The best way to avoid some of these common errors is to read your writing aloud so you can hear what you have written. If you are unable to talk aloud or feel silly doing so, you can take advantage of the text-to-speech feature available on your iPhone or Mac and let your device read to you instead. iOS Text-to-Speech To enable text to speech on your iPhone or iPad, you must turn on the feature in the settings by going to Settings > General > Accessibility. Select the "Speak Selection" option and adjust the other settings, such as speaking rate and languages, according to your preferences. When you are ready to check your written words, simply select a block of text like you are going to copy and paste it. Just tap and hold the text until a pop-up action menu appears and select "Speak" to listen to your written words. OS X Text-To-Speech Similar to iOS, OS X places the option for text to speech in the Settings menu. You can enable the speaking feature by following the steps below: Open the Apple menu and select System Preferences Click the Dictation & Speech panel, and then click the "Text to Speech" tab Select the "Speak selected text when the key is pressed" checkbox to turn on the text-to-speech option By default, speaking is started when you press Option-Esc. To choose a different key combination, click Change Key, press one or more modifier keys (Command, Shift, Option, or Control) together with another key, and then click OK. Once you have enabled text-to-speech and setup a key combo, you can select the target text in your favorite editor and use your hot keys to both start the dictation. Enter the key combination again if you want to stop the text-to-speech. Note that if you don't select a block of text for dictation, OS X will read all the available text items in the open window, including URLS, labels and other content. Image at top from flickr member Nic McPhee.
iPhone 101: How to view your Safari browsing history on your iPhone or iPad
Like most modern web browsers, Safari for iOS stores your browsing history so you can call up web pages that you previously visited on your iPhone or iPad. The feature is easy to access and works with any open Safari page on your device. Open Safari for iOS on your iPhone or iPad. Press and hold the back arrow button on the far left hand side of the bottom tool bar. Your browser history menu will appear on the screen. From here, you can tap on a link to open it. If you use iOS 7 and have multiple windows/tabs open, you can view each window's browser history by tapping the "multiple pages" icon in the bottom right of the tool bar and then selecting the target page to open it. When it is open, you can press and hold the back bottom to view the history of that particular session. This only works for open tabs that originate on your device. If you use iCloud, you may be able to see pages that are open on another iOS device or Mac. Opening an iPad window from your iPhone, for example, does not allow you to view the history of that iPad browsing session.
Mac 101: Use built-in OS X tools to spell and grammar check your documents
Though it is not touted as a flagship feature, OS X ships with several useful tools that spell and grammar check your documents as you write. These options are hidden in the system preferences and app menus, but they can be particularly useful once you discover them. The spell and grammar check feature in OS X can be used in two very different ways, depending on whether you prefer automatic or manual correction. For those who prefer correction on-the-fly, you can configure OS X to check and fix mistakes automatically as you write. For do-it-yourselfers, you also can perform a spell check manually using the Spelling and Grammar option available in the "Edit" menu in many apps. Automatic spell and grammar check option Set a system-wide option to correct spelling automatically in all apps that support it: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Text. Select the option to "Correct spelling automatically." All incorrect words are corrected as you type. You do have to remember to proof read as OS X can make mistakes in the autocorrection process. Manual spell and grammar check options Correct spelling as you type: Choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Correct Spelling Automatically (a checkmark shows it's on). Misspelled words are automatically corrected (unless they begin with a capital letter or appear alone on a line). This option can be used when you occasionally want auto-correction in an individual document and not system-wide. Check spelling as you type: Choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Check Spelling While Typing. Misspelled words are underlined in red. This option is useful when you want OS X to check the spelling as you type and highlight your mistaken words so you can go back and manually fix them. Check spelling in an entire document: Choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Check Document Now. The first error is highlighted. To show the next error, press Command-semicolon (;). To see suggested spellings for a word, Control-click it. Check the spelling of a word: Select the word, then choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Show Spelling and Grammar. Check both grammar and spelling: Choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Check Grammar With Spelling (a checkmark shows it's on). Misspelled words are underlined in red and grammar errors in green. Advanced options for spell and grammar check Accept or ignore suggested words: To accept a suggestion (shown when automatic correction is on), press the Space bar or click the one you want, then continue typing. To ignore a suggestion, just continue typing. Add a word to your personal dictionary: Control-click the word, then choose Learn Spelling. The word won't be flagged as misspelled in any document. Remove a word from your personal dictionary: Control-click the word, then choose Unlearn Spelling. See a suggestion's dictionary entry: Click Define. See alternatives: If no suggestions are listed, click Guess to show any possible alternatives Use a different language to check the document: Choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Show Spelling and Grammar. Then choose a language, or choose Open Text Preferences to see more options. Correct an error: Choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Show Spelling and Grammar. Retype the word, then click Change. Or double-click a suggestion in the list. Leave a word unchanged: Click Ignore. The word is ignored if it occurs again in the document, but is highlighted if it appears in other documents. (In some apps, you can Control-click the word in the document, then choose Ignore Spelling.) .
iPhone 101: Status bar symbols and what they mean
Similar to the Mac's menu bar, iOS has a status bar at the top of the screen that contains symbols with useful information about your iPhone or iPad. With just a quick glance, you can view which settings are enabled on your device, the strength of your cellular connection and more. Below you will find a table with the most common status symbols and their meanings.
Create a playful cabling system with Legos and Sugru
The sugru community developed what has to be the cutest cable organization system ever created. The do-it-yourself solution pairs sugru with LEGO minifigures, which are sized perfectly for holding Apple charging and other similar cables. Sugru sticks to most materials, allowing you to attach the minifigs to your desk, car dashboard or anywhere else you need them. You can watch this video below and be inspired to create your own clever cabling system. It's about the best thing to come along since sliced bread.
Mac 101: How to add custom artwork to your iTunes songs and movies
A significant chunk of my iTunes library is comprised of CD rips and a few independent recordings from musician friends. As a result, a fair number of tracks lack the excellent artwork that graces iTunes. If you are in a similar situation, you can quickly add artwork to individual tracks or even several tracks with just a few clicks. This trick also works with video, too. Individual Tracks To add artwork to an individual clip, simply select the track in iTunes and use Command-i to open the inspector (or File > Get Info), which will show all the details of the track. You can change other details from this interface, but we are most interested in the "Artwork" tab as shown above. Select the Artwork tab and use the "Add" button to insert your custom artwork. You also can drag the artwork from Finder into the artwork area. Multiple Tracks You also can add artwork to several tracks at once by selecting a handful of tracks and then clicking on File > Get Info or Command-i to open the inspector. Click "yes" if you are warned about editing multiple files and then select "Info" to view the contents of the information pane. You then can drag the image to the Artwork area to assign new art to all those tracks at once. Other Details iTunes 11 supports adding JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and Photoshop files as artwork. The app will resize the images to proper size so you don't have to worry about sizing down the artwork before you add it to iTunes. You also can have iTunes do the artwork importing for you if the track is from a known album by a known artist. Just control-click the songs without artwork and choose "Get Album Artwork" from the pop-up menu. This automatic method pulls the art from a central database and is less reliable than the manual import described above as the song matching is not always accurate.
iPhone 101: Always show walking directions in iOS Maps
Occasionally, I will travel to Boston, where it is much easier to get around by foot than by car. Apple's default Maps application will provide you with walking directions, but you have to switch from the default driving directions to walking directions by tapping the "walking person" icon in the navigation section of the Maps app. I don't mind switching between directions on occasion, but if I walked around the city every day, I would get irritated by this extra tap that is needed to jump from driving to walking directions. You can save yourself save some time and possibly a bit of frustration by changing the default directions from driving to walking. To change the default directions, just open the iOS Settings app, scroll down and then tap on Maps. Scroll to the bottom of the Maps settings and look for "Preferred Directions." The default option is "Driving," but you can select "Walking" if you travel primarily by foot. The next time you fire up Maps to navigate from one location to another, the app will show the walking directions first. Sweet!
Mac 101: Send a message with a screen grab quickly through OS X Notification Center
OS X's Notification Center is great for receiving incoming alerts, but you also can use the panel to compose a quick message and send it via the Messages app. Even more useful is the ability to add a screen grab right along with your text, making it perfect for those "you gotta see this" moments. To use Notification Center to pen quick messages, you need to enable the feature by opening System Preferences > Notifications and then selecting the "Share Button" option in the left-hand column. Make sure the checkbox next to "Show share button in Notification Center" is selected as shown above. Once the share button option is enabled, you can open Notification Center by clicking on the icon in the top right-hand corner of the menu bar. You now should see a box at the top with the label "Messages" as shown below. If you don't see the Messages option, you may have to drag down on the Notifications pane, which is the same gesture you use to expose the "Do Not Disturb" option in OS X. When you see the Messages icon, you can click on it to open a small message composition box where you can enter the recipient's contact information and your message. The contact information is pulled from your OS X address book so you can easily type in a few letters of a person's name and OS X will list the compatible address book entries. Just click on the address book entry you want to use. Type in your message, and when you have finished composing it, you can send it along by clicking the "Send" button. One useful option in this quick messaging is the ability to add a screen grab to an outgoing message. Follow the steps above to create a new message, add a recipient and type in your text. Before you hit send, right-click (or control-click, or two-finger click on a trackpad) on the text entry box to open the contextual menu. At the bottom of this contextual menu is an option to "Capture Selection From Screen," which provides you with the ability to select a region of your screen that you want to embed into your message. To add the screen grab, just select the "Capture Selection From Screen" option, use the crosshairs to select the area you want to capture and wait a few seconds for OS X to do its thing. Depending on what you are capturing, you may have to size up the windows in advance so your content appears on the screen when notifications is open, Once you select the region of the screen you want to capture, the screen grab will appear in your message and you can send it along by pressing the send button.
