tip-of-the-day
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Listen to FM radio on your iPod nano - Tip of the day
Want to listen to FM radio on your iPod nano? You need to plug in a head set. The iPod nano uses the attached cord as its antenna, allowing it to pick up radio signals. Say you want to dock the nano and play its radio back on speakers? You'll still need to attach a cord of some kind to the earplug jack. A standard 3.5mm audio cable will do the job for you. Look for one that's at least 8-inches long.
Typing the euro symbol - Tip of the day
Want to type the € euro symbol on your keyboard? How you this depends on your region. In the US, the secret combination is option+shift+2. For many (but not all) Europeans, it's Option-E. Apple's TA26547 knowledge base post contains a handy list of other region-specific solutions.
Restore Apple TV - Tip of the day
You can restore your Apple TV both on the unit itself and through iTunes. Choose Settings > General > Reset and click Restore to return your device to its factory-fresh state. If you can't make this happen directly, there's also iTunes. Make sure you have a micro USB cable on-hand (a lot of Bluetooth earpieces use this style for recharging, or you can buy one from a local computer store). Disconnect the HDMI cable and plug in the micro USB to your computer. Launch iTunes. You may need to disconnect power as well -- although TUAW's results on this vary. Once iTunes recognizes the unit, you can select it and click Restore. This downloads (if needed) and installs the latest firmware.
Apple TV DFU mode - Tip of the Day
Need to put your Apple TV into DFU mode? Hold down both Menu and Down button for about 6 seconds (until the device starts to reboot) and then switch immediately to Menu and Play buttons. If you are connected to iTunes via a micro USB cable, keep holding Menu and Play until iTunes says that it has found an Apple TV in recovery mode.
Recycle your iPhone - Tip of the Day
New to iPhone? Want to recycle your old non-Apple unit? Apple offers free recycling of your old mobile phone, a prepaid shipping label, and instructions. You can find more information at www.apple.com/recycling. If you recycle an Apple product, you'll receive an Apple Gift Card for your troubles -- although you're probably better off eBaying genuine Apple or selling it for parts.
Reset your Apple TV - Tip of the day
Apple TV acting wonky? If you're dealing with a blank screen or your unit no longer responds to the remote properly, a reset might help. Reset your unit by holding Menu and Down on the Apple remote until the Apple TV status light blinks rapidly. Once you see the blinking white light, release the buttons and wait for the unit to reset. You can also reset Apple TV by unplugging it for about a minute and then plugging it back in.
Make your own Lion recovery drive
Don't want to cough up $69.99 for a Lion USB stick? Make your own recovery drive instead. It won't contain a full Lion install, but it can save you if your hard drive goes south. Download a copy of the Lion Recovery Assistant and use it to build a recovery drive from your current Lion install. The assistant works with any thumb drive with at least 1GB of free space. Make sure to use a Sharpie to label the drive so it will be easily identifiable!
Create a guest account in OS X Lion
Want to let someone else use your Mac temporarily and have OS X Lion clean up their info and files afterwards? Open the Users & Groups pane in System Preferences, click on the Guest User, and check "Allow guests to log in to this computer." Guests can then log in without a password and their data is deleted when they log out.
How to auto-join hotspots in Lion
Lion makes it easy to join free Wi-Fi hotspots with landing pages, like those at Starbucks and McDonald's (often offered by AT&T in the US and BT OpenZone in the UK). Technology baked into OS X Lion eliminates the need to use a browser to pass a landing page that stands between you and the Internet. When you join such a network with Lion, a Finder window will open when Lion detects the landing page's request to accept the network's terms and conditions. You can accept the T&C right from the Finder window (which even offers backwards and forwards browsing buttons) and get connected, all without ever opening your browser. The process is even faster if you've joined that particular free AT&T or BT Openzone wireless network before. If so, your MacBook will automatically join it when you open its lid and the Finder window will pop-up automatically, allowing you to get past the landing page and get connected in one step. The no-browser way to access free Wi-Fi networks with landing pages is a small feature, sure, but its another one of those little touches that make Lion worthwhile and that makes a Mac a Mac.
Track packages automatically in Lion Mail
Mail in Lion has added a "data detector" for tracking packages. When you get an email with a tracking number in it, you can hover over the number and click the arrow to select Track Shipment... This should open a window in Mail that shows you shipping details for that package.
iTunes screensaver gains playback in Lion
You know that iTunes artwork screensaver in OS X? With Lion, you can finally play music with it. Go to System Preferences and choose Desktop & Screen Saver. Choose the iTunes Artwork screensaver, and make sure your display doesn't go to sleep before the saver becomes active. While the artwork tiles are flipping over, you can mouse over and click the play button (and pause the music as well). To exit, simply press Esc.
Setting your Apple ID in Lion
While it only affects a few functions now, like AirDrop, your Apple ID will be even more important when iCloud is available. To set your Apple ID in Lion (provided you have one), go to System Preferences and click on Users & Groups. There you will see your login information plus a button to set your Apple ID. If you don't already have an Apple ID or want to learn more about it, check out Apple's page on it here.
Turning off Autocorrect in Lion
Sick of Lion autocorrecting your slang and your friends' names to "real words?" Disable the autocorrect feature in System Preferences > Language & Text > Text > Correct spelling automatically. Still autocorrecting? You may need to log out and in or reboot for the updated preferences to stick.
Speed up Empty Trash
If you've got a bunch of locked files in your Trash, the 'really delete?' warnings can be a drag. You can speed up the Empty Trash process and bypass all the warnings (use with caution!) by holding down the Option key before choosing the command from the Finder menu. Notice that the ellipsis disappears from the command name, indicating that you won't be bothered (or checked with) again.
Quick-change your audio devices
The stealthy and powerful Option key strikes again. If you need to quickly switch between audio input or output choices, no need to open up System Preferences and click around. Just hold down Option and left-click on the Sound menu icon at the right side of the menu bar. You can adjust your input or outputs to suit.
Clearing old addresses from Mail's auto-complete list
If you find yourself inadvertently emailing friends or colleagues at the address they quit using years ago, chances are Mail.app's Previous Recipients list is at fault. It's easy enough to clear out the cruft; just go to Mail's Window menu and choose Previous Recipients. Select the addresses you want to get rid of (Cmd-click or shift-click to select more than one) and then click Remove From List. So long, bad addresses!
Mac screen brightness
To adjust the brightness on your Mac, go to System Preferences > Display and adjust the slider to your liking.
Inverting colors
To invert colors on your Mac's screen, go to System Preferences > Universal Access > and under the Seeing tab there's Display, with an option for White on black. This will invert all colors on the screen if you have issues with brightness or reading black-on-white text.
Tip of the Day 20100528
Did you know that you could use Command-A with text fields on the iPad? It's very handy when using an external Bluetooth keyboard. It selects all the text in the field and displays a touchable Cut - Copy - Paste menu, letting you easily replace the field text or copy it to the system pasteboard. Supported keyboard shortcuts include Cmd-C (Copy), -X (Cut), and -V (Paste). You can also use the arrow keys to navigate around text views, and access the iPad's brightness controls (F1 and F2), volume (F11 and F12), as well as audio playback (F7, F8, and F9). Although the keyboard can be used on the Mac for Expose (F3) and Dashboard (F4), these keys do not work on the iPad (yet).
The Daily Grind: Got a hot tip?
You may or may not have noticed, depending on whether or not you actually visit the site (hi RSS readers!) but we have a new Tip of the Day feature on the sidebar. Over to your right. Down a bit. There it is! We're going to be plumbing the depths of topical MMO information to bring back relevant goodies for you. We'll also jump right into the minutea from MMO events past, and dive into the depths of some of the evergreen content on Massively and sister sites Big Download/WoW Insider.We have lots of information at our fingertips and locked in our massive cortexes, but we want to know what you want to know. What tricks/games/events should we be sure to address in future tips? Do you have a unique bit of info you'd be willing to share with us? Drop either on us below in the comments. Remember, only YOU can prevent uninformed MMO players.
