Macs

  Sunday, 23 July 2006

View iMovie projects in high speed mode via the keyboard < 12:06:01 AM>.

I discovered this by accident, and it's not listed in iMovie's keyboard shortcuts. Just press the [ or ] key to move backwards or forwards quickly in iMovie. It will pause if you hit the key again.

A useful feature, seemingly otherwise impossible in iMovie, and one that is strangely not advertised. Hope you find it useful!

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Parallels Desktop for the Mac < 12:05:18 AM>.

The short version of this discussion about Parallels can be summed up in a single word: amazing. Nothing is perfect, of course, and there is room for improvement as Parallels moves this product beyond version 1.0. However, if you have an Intel-based Mac and need or want to run Microsoft Windows, some version of Linux, or some other supported operating system, read on. Todd Ogasawara reports.

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Quick insertion of Apple-centric glyphs < 12:05:06 AM>.

Jacob Rus has created a list of multi-stroke keybindings that allow for the quick insertion of Apple-centric glyphs like ⌥⇧⌘V or ⌥→ or ⌫ or, when all else fails, ⎋.

If you write documentation for applications or give advice on how to do things in Mail.app or any other Apple app or just prefer ⌥⇧⌘V to Option-Shift-Command-V, this collection of keybindings is for you.

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So Del.icio.us! Intelligent Tagging for the Mac User < 12:05:01 AM>.

It's time to learn about del.icio.us, a glorious, minimalist, tag-tastic bookmarks database. It was designed to be a "large-scale outboard memory," with added sharing smarts. It works like this: you take all your digital stuff and throw it into your del.icio.us account. Thanks to tagging and searching, you can find your stuff easily later. And you can find other people's stuff, too. Giles Turnbull shows you how.

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Make Keyword Assistant work with newer iPhoto versions < 12:04:31 AM>.

Keyword Assistant (KA) for iPhoto received a 9/10 MacOSXHints rating back in August 2004 as a Pick of the Week. It's been a great productivity enhancer, until iPhoto was updated past 6.0.2 -- Ken Ferry has not updated KA since then, and he designed it to limit KA's features when an iPhoto version beyond 6.0.2 was installed.

This was terrible for me, since I depended so much on KA -- I emailed Ken several times to no avail -- and then browsing VersionTracker's comments one day, I noticed this suggestion by editcandy:

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Full screen for free < 12:03:42 AM>.

I don't mind Apple selling a verion of Quicktime but when they shelve features like full screen, it gets to be annoying and petty. Macworld has a great tip to get around the problem. A simple Applescript opens up the feature, it not only plays the video in full screen but it also gives you all the cool controls. If you have never run an Applescript before, here is how you do it:

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Create time lapse movies in iMovie < 12:03:26 AM>.

iMovie 6.0.2 seems to have a new time lapse feature built-in, something I hadn't seen or heard of before. To find it, just click on the arrow next to the 'switch to camera mode' toggle, and select Time Lapse from the drop down menu.You have the option of setting how often a frame should be saved, and whether or not the date and time should be shown.

[robg adds:You won't see the feature if you don't have your camera plugged in, somewhat obviously -- it works during video import.]

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  Thursday, 22 June 2006

Flock Beta 1 Review < 9:49:43 PM>.

In an effort to give new web browser Flock a proper chance, I’m using it all day instead of Firefox/Flickr/WordPress/Del.icio.us.

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A good review of a new browser which integrates with various tagging and blogging tools. Looks pretty interesting. I'll probably check it's further along in development.

< 12:41:10 PM>.

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  Monday, 12 June 2006

News: Google releases free Mac SketchUp < 11:31:14 PM>.

Google has released a free Mac version of SketchUp, the 3D visualization tool it acquired when it bought @Last Software last March.

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Guide to multi-cam editing inside FCP < 11:31:07 PM>.

Steve Martin over at kenstone.net has put together an in-depth guide that tackles the process of multi-camera editing in Apple's Final Cut Pro. The guide covers the basics of syncing up your cameras with the help of a time code generator or clapboard. Also covered is the process of capturing and setting up your footage for easy editing inside FCP. The guide covers a number of other common issues that come along with multi-cam editing and is a must read for anyone new to the process.

[Via HDforIndies]

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Use a Linksys router to extend an AirPort network < 11:30:54 PM>.

I had an old Linksys WRT54GS router that I wasn't using, and because of the way my house is set up, I needed to put my AirPort Extreme Base Station somewhat far from my home office. This was a problem for two reasons: first, I had a relatively weak signal in my office, and second, because I have a network attached storage system and an Ethernet-based printer in my office that I'd wanted to keep there. I knew that the AirPort Express would accommodate this setup, but since I already had the Linksys -- which doesn't have an audio out or a USB port, like the Express, but which does have four ethernet ports -- I thought it was worth trying.

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