Tip: Take screenshots with keyboard shortcuts (Mac)

Mac OS X offers a quick and application-free way of taking screenshots of just about anything.

Here's a rundown of the keyboard shortcuts.

• Command-Shift-3:
  Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it as a file on the desktop
• Command-Shift-4, then select an area:
  Take a screenshot of an area and save it as a file on the desktop
• Command-Shift-4, then space, then click a window:
  Take a screenshot of a window and save it as a file on the desktop

• Command-Control-Shift-3:
  Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it to the clipboard
• Command-Control-Shift-4, then select an area:
  Take a screenshot of an area and save it to the clipboard
• Command-Control-Shift-4, then space, then click a window:
  Take a screenshot of a window and save it to the clipboard
  

When a using the first set of shortcuts (with #4), the screenshot will be saved to the desktop as a PNG file.

If you need to do any extra cropping afterwards, simply open the images in Preview, crop, and re-save them.

Also check out the freeware application Backdrop for masking any desktop icons, desktop backgrond, or other clutter before taking the screenshot.

Tip: Save time with Firefox Bookmark Shortcuts

A little know feature of Firefox bookmarks can save you even clicking on them. You can assign custom text as keyboard shortcuts for Firefox Bookmarks.

Here's how:

After creating a bookmark, edit the properties of the bookmark (PC users right click, Mac users go to the Bookmarks Manager). Enter whatever custom letters you'd like into the "keyword" field. See in the screen shot above an example for using "ym" as a shortcut to Yahoo Mail. Now I simply type ym into the address bar and I instantly go to the Yahoo Mail login page.

The Save Mantra

You're working in Microsoft Word typing a multi-page document and it freezes. Yes, Word does have an auto-recovery feature, but that only works in some circumstances.

Here's the solution. The "Save Mantra". Save when start, save every 10 minutes, and save when you're finished. I guarantee if you get into this habit, it will save you many hassles and even headaches down the road.

Saving is not inconvenient, it's your friend. It's only a keystroke away. Control + S on a PC or Command + S on a Mac.

Look at it this way, it takes only seconds to save, but every time you don't remember to save you run the risk of loosing everything up the present that has not been saved. Nobody likes having to retype an essay because they forgot to save at the beginning. Even if the program crashes or freezes, you'll have everything from your last save.

Connect your Mac to a TV

How to Connect a Mac to a TV

You can connect your Mac to a TV for under $25, with the Apple's DVI to Video Adapter. This cable connects to the DVI port on the Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro and outputs to either S-Video or Composite (yellow video cable). I bought one directly from Apple for $19 + $4 shipping. Excellent deal if you ask me! I would have bought it on Amazon but it's $20 plus $5.78 shipping--Yikes!

If you're using an Intel iMac, MacBook, or PowerBook g4, you can get Apple's Mini-DVI to Video Adapter for $19 + $4 shipping also.

Both of the these video cables will only cover the video portion. They do not send the audio to the TV. If you don't already have one, you can pick up an 1/8" inch to RCA cable for about $5-10 at your local RadioShack, Target, etc. This cable will go from the headphone jack of your computer to the red/white audio jacks of a TV or stereo system. You can also get this Belkin audio cable on Amazon.


Free those Office, Lost, and Heroes episodes from your Mac, and get them in your living room where they were meant to be watched!

Macs handle zip files out of the box

Mac can both unzip Zip files and create them, without any additional software!! It appears that this feature was made available with the release of Tiger.

To open a zip file, simply double clip on it and you'll see a new folder appear in the finder within a few seconds with the name of the zip file. Dead simple. No extractors or unzippers needed, unless you're dealing with .RAR files.

To create a zip file, simply select a file, folder, or group of files and right click on them. In Tiger choose Create Archive of . . . In Leopard choose Compress "your-filename" from the context menu. In a few seconds you'll have the zip file, which you can rename if neccessary.

See: Apple Pro Tip of the Week - Making ZIP Files (Compressed Files) in One Click

Mac: View System Processes and Performance

How to view the System Processes and Performance on a Mac

Navigate to:
/Applications/Utilities folder/Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor on the Mac is the equivalent of the Task Manager in Windows

The Activity Monitor displays the system processes, CPU/memory usage.