Say hello to Kevin. Among my friends and many of you, he has become known as my “techie brother”.
I know I’m coming from a biased place as his little sister, but seriously. The man is a genius. But even cooler than that, he is incredibly generous with his time in helping countless people with their tech questions & needs. He is as passionate about technology and helping people understand and use it properly as I am passionate about helping people document life. And if you couldn’t tell, he’s all about Apple. He helped us make that switch many years ago. I like to call him an enabler. I’m a fan for life.
Photos taken with my iPhone, using the Instagram app (Earlybird filter + Tilt-Shift feature)
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We’re calling today Tech Friday because:
1. Kevin & his cute family have been with us all week (their Spring Break). The idea just sorta happened.
2. I mentioned this on facebook & invited you to ask Kevin your technology questions.
3. We aren’t creative enough in the moment to think of something more clever than “Tech Friday”.
Without further adieu, I give you Kevin.
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Initially, I thought it would be fun to try and tackle about 10 or so of your questions. After reading through the questions, however, I decided I would answer ALL of them! They were all just too good to pass up. Keep in mind that when troubleshooting some of these issues or answering your questions, it’s much easier to do so with two-way dialog (so I can ask follow-up questions). I apologize if I misunderstood your question.
Here we go…
Q: Oh, I have been so frustrated trying to change my blog’s profile pic on Facebook. I have a Pages account linked through my personal account. Can’t change my info either.
A: To change your Facebook profile image, log into your account, then go into your profile settings. From there, you will see an option to upload a new image.
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Q: How do I make my own ringtones for my iPhone from my iTunes music? Thanks!
A: Making ringtones for your iPhone is not only fun, but can help you to quickly determine who is calling (when you set ring tones for specific callers). To get started, you want to create a new Garageband project (Garageband comes free with new Macs as part of the iLife suite). With Garageband ready, drag the song you want to use as your ringtone from iTunes into Garageband as a new audio track.
Now that your audio track is ready to edit, you need to crop the audio where you want. When you are ready with your 30-second (or less) audio track, go to Share > Send Ringtone to iTunes. From there, sync your iPhone and set your ringtone. You can also make your own custom ringtones. The ringtone I have set for my daughter, for example, is a 30-second segment of her laughing… hysterically. It always puts a smile on my face when she calls.
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Q: I’m trying to figure out the best way for our family to be able to watch cable television shows, but without cable. I want to get rid of the cable bill! How can we watch current TV shows without having to wait for the season to end? All this technology stuff confuses me :{
A: First, let me start by saying I haven’t paid a cable TV bill for over a year… and I love it! Not only is it cheaper, but we watch exactly what WE want to watch, and on our schedule. I accomplish this by using a few different sources. First, I use Netflix for streaming older movies and TV shows via a computer or Apple TV (price: $8/month). Secondly, I use iTunes for current content (price: varies based in your usage). Thirdly, I purchased a $20 HD receiver from Wal-mart for all of our local channels… in HD (and no monthly fees). What does that leave out? Basically your real-time national news (i.e.: CNN) and live sporting events (i.e.: ESPN).
I really believe that we are witnessing the beginning of a massive transformation in the way that we consume video content. Traditional TV broadcasting will be a thing of the past over the next 3 – 5 years for most consumers, and everything will be online streaming.
For more detailed information, check out this blog entry here. Because this is a common question I get, I thought I would document it for all to see.
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Q: Monitor calibration – what is it and how do I do it without spending a fortune?
A: Monitor calibration is the process of ensuring that what you see on your monitor is exactly the same as someone else’s monitor (or printer). When you purchase a new monitor, the color saturation and hues will already be off balance (some more than others, depending on the quality of the screen). Most people either don’t notice or don’t care. However, if you are a heavy photo editor sending your photos to be printed at a lab, you may want to care. If your screen isn’t calibrated, the printed result will likely look different than what you see on your screen.
I use the Spyder (by Datacolor) to calibrate my screen. The process usually only takes a minute or two, and if you do a lot of printing at a lab, you may want to run the calibration once a month (air temperature and other natural changes can affect your screen’s color accuracy). I would also recommend finding a lab you like, and asking them for their color profile (in the form of a file). You can then use that color profile to ensure your computer screen and their printers are 100% in sync.
Your total out of pocket investment could be as little as $90 (for the Spyder Express).
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Q: I would be interested in knowing the kind of program that he uses to make the videos on your blog… the ones that play music behind you. And if he has any tips on that subject. 
A: I use a Mac, so there are two different video editing apps I use: iMovie (free with new Macs, part of iLife) and Final Cut Pro. I use iMovie when I need to do something quick and want to add some of their really cool built-in filters, etc. These projects are mostly for home use. For anything professional, I resort to using Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro is part of Apple’s Final Cut Studio, which sells for $999. Don’t rush out to buy it just yet, though. This past week, NAB (the National Association of Broadcasters) was held in Las Vegas. Apple unveiled their brand new Final Cut Studio X, which is a completely re-written suite of video editing apps. It will be available in June via the Mac App Store, and will sell for a jaw-dropping $299! This is the same software used to edit movies like “Lord of the Rings” and “The Social Network“.
For Windows users, I would check out Pinnacle Systems or Avid.
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Q: I want to know how I can get my very own brother like Kevin!
A: Unfortunately, there is only one of me to go around, but I do love helping people get the most out of technology. Feel free to stop by www.kevinallgaier.com any time to get help and to stay current on technology trends. You can also follow me on Twitter @kevinallgaier.
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Q: Can I hook my laptop up to my TV, so I can view videos, movies on the TV? Thanks!
A: Yes, but how depends on your laptop and TV. If your TV is new enough, it may have a VGA input on the back. If so, it’s nothing more than purchasing a cable to go from the VGA output on your laptop to the VGA input on your TV. If you don’t have VGA, then you may need to purchase some adapters. The best way to do this is to take an inventory of what video ports you have on your laptop and TV, then take that list to your local Best Buy or Radio Shack. Show them to a sales rep there, and they can help you find the right adapters.
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Q: What are your favorite apps for the iPhone? And, on a related question; what cool thing the iPhone have that most people are unaware of?
A: When I show people what my favorite apps are on my iPhone/iPad, they usually end up yawning. That’s because my favorite apps are pretty geeky. For example, I love using the GoToMyPC client on my iPad. This allows me to remotely control any of my traditional computers from anywhere. For the non-geek, I really love Camera+, Remote, Angry Birds, Tiny Wings, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Delta and Adobe Ideas. All great apps. I also use the built-in apps very heavily, like Calendar, Mail, etc.
As for hidden features, that’s a tough one because everyone uses their phone differently, some more advanced than others. A feature that I am guessing is NOT used as heavily as it should be is AirPlay. AirPlay allows you to share video and photos stored on your IPhone on your TV, via the ($99) Apple TV. Here’s an example: we took the kids out for a ride through the desert the other day, and I took photos and video along the way. As soon as we got back to the house, I was able to immediately display those on the big screen for the whole family to enjoy. Very powerful (and useful).
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Q: What video camera do you use for the blogs and how are you able to achieve such good lighting and audio? Is there an external microphone on your camera and if so, which one. Wow. I can’t wait for your response! Thanks.
A: For video that will ultimately be posted on the web, you don’t need any fancy equipment. Remember, the target screen will be relatively small compared to a TV or “the big screen”. I’ve actually created full videos that were shot 100% on my iPhone 4, and the quality is incredible. As you hinted at in your question, lighting and audio are also very important.
Most good lighting can actually be done naturally. You just have to pick the right place and the right time of day. Artificial lighting can be used if needed, but that can also be simple. You don’t need to invest a lot of money in expensive equipment. Sometimes a floor lamp sitting around your home is sufficient. Whatever you use for lighting, make sure it isn’t too harsh.
As for audio, most consumer camcorders these days have a built-in audio line-in port, and I bet most people don’t even know they have it. It will look like a headphone jack. Head to your local Best Buy, show them your camcorder, and they will help you find an external mic that you can use to plug into that line-in jack. Once you add this, I guarantee your audio will see a huge improvement. No more surrounding noises!
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Q: What are your favorite photoshop actions? Favorite iPhone apps or features that love? How do you make specialty blog backgrounds?
A: The only PhotoShop actions I use are created by me to add a signature to image edits, etc. Everything else is built-in to PhotoShop (filters, effects, etc). As I mentioned before, I love to use Camera+ for iPhone. I’ve actually used this for shots from my dSLR as well. That’s because I think the filters are incredibly powerful. It’s not just limited to photos taken on your iPhone.
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Q: mmmwwwuuuaa <– That’s my version of ‘big kiss’. Becky, you truly are so kind and caring. Kevin is a peach. Mrs. A, your parenting skills beam through your children. Congratulations.
A: We have awesome parents, there’s no doubt about that!
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Q: 3 good reasons to switch to a Mac versus a PC?
A: I’ll do better than that… I’ll give you 5 (and even that is holding back). Before I do, I need to give you a little background. Five years ago, I was a die-hard Windows users. So much so that I actually wanted to work for Microsoft. Shortly after, I started to feel frustrated that they were dropping the ball on their products, and had stopped innovating. About that same time, Apple was making some noise, so I checked out their hardware and software. After using their laptop with OS X for 2 days, I was hooked. As a tech guy, I follow (and recommend) the best technology available. Five years ago, that was Microsoft. Today, it’s Apple. Who knows who it will be in five years.
Here are my top five reasons to switch to a Mac:
5) While the Mac is not immune to technical failures, they are very minimal compared to PCs (most of the problems that plague PCs are because of the Operating System… Windows)
4) To date, there are millions of viruses affecting PCs and zero affecting Macs
3) Apple is an industry leader in system integration, from the office to the living room
2) Using their software inspires me to do better work of my own
1) They are an absolute pleasure to use! My motto is, “I use a PC because I have to. I use a Mac because I want to”.
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Q: Candace, I can tell you he uses Final Cut Pro for the video editing. (My hubby’s a videographer so the screen shot Becky shared was all too familiar…) it’s a pretty extensive program that professionals also use, but there are more simple programs like iMovie that can still put out a great product. Hope that helps!
A: See question above. I bet your husband already knows about the new Final Cut Suite, and is super excited for it!
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Q: Does he by chance know of a good app for the iPad that recognizes handwriting and turns it into a document (Pages or Word)?! I would be forever grateful as it would help with taking notes at school!
A: Check out Penultimate. It’s a whopping $1.99. Although it won’t convert hand-written text to typed text (I don’t know of any that do because of the complexity involved), it’s a great note-taking app for iPad.
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Q: My Mac’s idisk is almost full so I think I need to move my photos to an external hard drive to free up space. How do I do that?
A: You have two options here. The first option happens to be the easiest, but it would also cost you a little cash. You can increase the amount of storage on your MobileMe account from the standard 20 GB to 40 GB or more. The additional capacity is an additional cost/year.
Option B would be to, as you suggest, move files from your iDisk to an external hard drive. The easiest way to do this is to turn on iDisk syncing on your Mac. You can do this in the MobileMe section of System Preferences. After you turn this on, you will see a new drive mounted on your desktop. This is your iDisk. Now, you can drag and drop to and from the iDisk, just like you would an external hard drive. Don’t forget to delete the files from iDisk once you have moved them off to an external hard drive.
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Q: Does he know if you can easily move your iTunes library from PC to Mac? Thinking of getting Mac but a big issue would be moving iTunes.
A: Yes, and I help people with this all the time. After you install iTunes on a computer, it auto-creates a special directory that store all of your iTunes content (music, videos, album, artwork, etc). On a Mac, this folder (called “iTunes”) is in your Music folder. On a PC, this folder is found under My Documents > My Music.
To move your entire library from a PC to a Mac, all you need to do is copy and paste the “iTunes” folder from the PC to the appropriate location on the Mac. Before doing this, be sure that iTunes is completely closed on both computers. Performing this copy across a home network can get somewhat complicated. If you are comfortable doing that, go for it. If not, an alternative is to copy the folder from PC to an external hard drive (via USB), then from the external hard drive to the Mac. When it asks if you want to overwrite the existing folder, choose yes. After it’s done copying, launch iTunes on the Mac, and you are good to go. Your entire iTunes library will look exactly as it did on your PC.
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Q: Are there any good maintenance tips everyone should do to keep their computers running efficiently? I’m interested in Windows. Thanks!
A: Great question. My personal laptop (MacBook Pro) runs like an absolute champ, and it’s because there are a few things I do routinely. The same can be done on a PC. First and foremost, you must ALWAYS be conscience of the software that is installed on your computer. If you ever install something that you aren’t sure of, you are just asking for trouble. Always know what you are installing. If you aren’t sure, always err on the side of caution.
On a PC, I strongly recommend running a disk defragmentation on your hard drive once a month. This can be found by going to Start > All Programs > Utilities. When you save files to your computer, it rarely writes the file in one place. Usually, the file is fragmented and saves to many parts of your hard drive. As a result, your system, will run slower as it tries to piece together all the files. Running a “defrag” (as I like to call it) analyzes your drive, and assembles the files in a more continuous fashion, making it quicker to access them when you need them.
On a Mac, I recommend running a “Repair Disk Permissions” every month. While Mac OS X doesn’t suffer from the same file fragmentation issues that plague Windows, it does suffer from the occasional file permission amnesia. What this utility does is analyzes every file on your system, and compares their access permissions with what they should be. If there is a deviation, it corrects the problem. Not performing this task on a regular basis can result in apps misbehaving in strange ways. To run this, go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Highlight your local hard drive, and click the “Repair Disk Permissions” button.
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Q: How do you use iCalendar and have it update in real time and across multiple devices like iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone? Thanks!
A: There are a couple ways of doing this. The first way is by using MobileMe. MobileMe is a service provided by Apple that includes email, web hosting, photo/video sharing, calendar, address book, etc. I consider MobileMe to be the mortar that holds everything together (with the iPad, iPhone and Macs being the bricks). Currently, the service will cost you $99/year (well worth it, if you ask me), but there are rumors going around that there will be a free version available very soon. Either way, you can sign up for a free 60-day full trial now. As long as you have your MobileMe account set up properly on each of your devices, syncing of your calendars, addresses and email will happen automatically (and usually within a few seconds of a modification).
If you don’t want to use MobileMe, you can use a free Google calendar to do the same thing. After you set up your account, you will want to add the new calendar to each of your devices. Is definitely a little more complicated to set this up initially, but the long-term affect is virtually the same as if you were using MobileMe.
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Q: Photo organization in iPhoto – how do you organize your photos, do you give each individual photo a name or do you just tag a group or event? Also how do you copy previous years of photos onto an external hard drive – Do you copy them there first and then delete from iPhoto??? Help please – I have way too many precious photos……
A: I try and keep my photo organization pretty simple. I’ve tried more complicated approaches in the past, but it just cost me more time than it was worth. Having said that, you need to organize your photos the way that makes sense for you. For me, I keep everything chronologically. That’s about it. If I’m trying to find a photo from a trip to San Francisco in March 2009, I go to that date range in iPhoto. Done.
In addition, I do create various albums for photos that I plan on sharing with others via my MobileMe account. Not only does it make it easier for me to filter out the shots I don’t want to publish, but adding additional photos is a matter of dragging and dropping, then syncing.
I usually keep about a year’s worth on my local hard drive, and archive the rest onto DVD and external hard drives. I use a system called Drobo, and if you are serious about long-term storage and not losing your photos, it may be worth a look for you as well. As a brief intro, a Drobo is a unit that contains multiple hard drives that act as one. When you save a file, it saves the files across multiple drives. That way, when a hard drive fails (and they do fail), your data is still protected. A Drobo system does get a little pricey, but I consider it the cost of insurance for protecting your keepsakes.
Tags: apple, kevin, technology
Wow! Thank you for such a great Q&A session! Great info, and you answered questions I didn’t even know I had!
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer such helpful questions. I have always wondered how everyone else organized photos in iPhoto as well, and I had an aha moment with your response, it just clicked. Thanks again to both of you.
WOW! This was great!! Thanks for sharing
Am I too late to ask a Question? I accidentally replaced my most recent iphoto library (from Jan of 2011 to now) with my old iphoto library somehow. (I had two because I downloaded the new ilife a few months ago). Is there anywhere to find it again? My hard-drive didn’t crash, and I have an external harddrive (but not sure if it backs things up automatically and I hadn’t backed things up myself for a few months, oops). The apple tech guy I called wasn’t much help.
I am sad because all my home videos from the past 3 months, of my 8 month old baby boy are now gone!!
Can you help?
Thanks, Jill
First, let’s find out if you are using Time Machine (I’m crossing my fingers that you are!!). Go into System Preferences and click on “Time Machine”. Is it switched on? If so, where is it backing up, and what is the last backup date?
Hi Kevin and Becky!! I currently use Microsoft Money for my business and have been doing some searching for something similar for MAC – anything that you know of?
Take a look at Quicken. It’s a great alternate to MS Money, and also works on both Windows and PC.
Thank you so much Kevin! Although I didn’t ask you any questions you answered about 3 questions that are very helpful to me. I am off to defragment my computer! I have never defragmented before becuase I never understood what it meant. Thank you again!
Wow, thank you SO MUCH for answering all the questions. I have learned so much. I am a PC girl and I have been wanting to be a MAC girl. I have an iPhone and a iPad and I absolutely love them. Just need to save some money to get my mac. Thanks again for all the tips!
Hi Kevin-
My question is about starting a blog. I have a new business and want to create a much wider and higher volume of traffic. I am not computer savy, so need something easy, creative, and one that will provide answers for any help I need. I also want this blog to reflect my personal style. I have been told about iweb, blogger, and wordpress. What would you suggest? BTW, I work on a MacBook. Thanks so much!
Wow! Love this post. I just got myself a MacBook Pro on Wednesday so this information has been fantastic! Extra bit of confidence to go and do the swapping over of files etc from my old laptop. I love the Mac! Oh and yes camera+ is an awesome app. I’ve been using it for a couple of months now & love it! Thanks so much for your time Kevin! Much appreciated over here in Australia!
Congrats on your new purchase, and you will LOVE using it! The biggest challenge that most new Mac users have is they tend to make it more complicated than it actually is. Once you realize that, it’s all down hill from there.
One suggestion for new Mac users… go download “Learn to Switch to Mac”. It’s a great program for teaching you the difference between Windows and Mac, and best of all… it’s only $1! You can download it here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learn-the-switch-to-mac/id412667520?mt=12
Hi Kevin, hope it is not to late to ask… I am wanting to purchase a laptop for my husband – home use, surf web, watch movies, upload pictures from camera, netflix, etc.. any suggestions? michelle
I think I replied to this on Becky’s Facebook page, but I will reply here as well. As you can imagine, I think Mac is the way to go. If you want portability, check out the MacBook line. The exact model (Air vs. Pro) would depend on specific requirements you have (size, weight, price, etc).
If I don’t have a mac, is there a way to make my own ringtone for my iphone? It looks like Garage Band is just for the mac.
AAAAAWWWWWEEEEEESSSSSOOOOOMMMMMEEEEE! I feel way smarter. : )
Hello Kevin and Becky,
I just wanted to say thank you. I switched to Mac last year and added the Macbook a few weeks ago so I loved this post. I learned something from every question. Thank you so much for the link to your own blog Kevin. I’ve wanted to digitize movies for a long time but didn’t know where to start with it. As I type this I have my third movie downloading, having already done two that worked perfectly. My kids will be so excited when they get home from school and I’m betting I’ll have a stack of movies to work on for their iPods. Thank you so much for putting the information out there in such an easy to understand way.
Jodie
You are welcome, Jodie. Enjoy an IP-based home multimedia system! (that’s geek for a really cool, neighbors-will-be-jealous video system).
I would love to know Kevin’s thoughts: iphone 4 or wait for new release/version this summer? I am up for renewal and really want the iphone but part of me keeps holding off to see if there be any significant upgrades to the phone that I will wish I had waited for. Love to hear his thoughts & pseculations! Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions. It was a very informative post.
iPhone 4 is a great phone, but there are some subtle flaws. The antenna design is an issue for some, but not nearly as big a deal as the general population make it out to be. Honestly, the battery life on these things is amazing, not to mention all of the incredible features. I like the Android, but don’t like that the fit and finish isn’t where it needs to be.
The next iPhone will be the iPhone 5 (of course). Speculation is that it will NOT be released in June like the first 4 models have been, but rather later in the year (September or October). No one will now, however, until Apple makes an official announcement. I’d would say that if you are up for a new phone now, jump in.
Wow! This was awesome! You really answered a lot of questions I didn’t even know I had. Thank you! If I’m not too late to ask a question, I have a couple. I too converted to a mac a few years when my pc was overrun with viruses. All of my old music is still on my pc. A lot of the music is not from iTunes as I used to purchase some of it through places like Walmart. Even though my pc has viruses on it, would I still be able to transfer my music files to my mac? And how would I do that?
On a sidenote, I have all of my old music on my ipod which is synced to my pc. Is there a way for me to sync my ipod to my mac and not even have to bother with my virus-laden piece of hud?
Thank you so much!
Remember that viruses designed to attack a PC will NOT attack the same way on a Mac. That’s why Macs are not affected by viruses like Windows is. What I would do is perform a full system scan on your PC to clean it up the best you can. Once that is done, then move your iTunes directory from PC to Mac. That will take care of your iTunes library.
If you want to move media files from an iPod to iTunes, there is a great little utility called “Senuti” (iTunes spelled backwards). It’s designed as a recovery tool to get stuff back into iTunes.
Thank you! So, just so I”m clear I have two different music libraries, one on my mac and one on my old pc. So, if I follow your directions, will I lose the music in one or the other or will they merge together?
My ultimate goal would be to get all of my music from both of my libraries as well as my ipod (which is synced to my pc) and my husband’s ipod (which is synced to our mac) to merge into one library on my mac.
Just wanted to say thanks for answering my question, much appreciated.
Have an awesome “Tech Friday”.
I think EVERY day should be “Tech Day”!!!
Wow – that was all so interesting. Do we get this every Friday??? Hope, hope! Thanks.
Thanks for all the great info! Two questions – first, did you and your family live in Philly? I think we moved into the ward there about the time an Allgaier family moved out (1996ish?)
And second, my oldest is going away to college and we need to buy him a computer. My husband wants to get him an iPad but I wonder if that is sufficient for doing everything a college student needs to do. I’ve only ever played with them at the Apple store. I’m leaning towards an Apple laptop.
No, but an older brother did.
I think iPads are great, especially iPad 2. However, it may be difficult to live on just that alone. No optical drive, only a specific set of software can be installed, etc. If he can only have one machine, I would make it a MacBook Pro.
You mentioned that you use your camera+ filters on your dslr camera images. Is that as simple as uploading your photos into your iphone and then applying a filter to them or are you using a different method?
Step 1) Take photo on dSLR
Step 2) Import photo into iPhoto
Step 3) Sync that photo(s) with your iPhone
Step 4) Open and edit the photo in Camera+
I live in a rural area. I am too far from the neighborhood street (pasture in front of the house) to get a direct connection to the high speed cable internet service here. I had it measured and priced by the company to have them run the cable to our house. $3000! DSL is not available here. So…my only option is satelitte internet. Viewing videos and is virtually impossible. It “eats” up our FAP limit. There are different tears to the download and upload limit. What would you do (besides move…lol) if you lived here?
I have… Home 1.0 Mbps / 128 Kbps $59.99 200MB
These are the options:
Pro 1.2 Mbps / 200 Kbps $69.99 300 MB
ProPlus 1.6 Mbps / 250 Kbps $79.99 425 MB
Elite 2.0 Mbps / 300 Kbps $119.99 500 MB
ElitePlus 3.0 Mbps / 300 Kbps $189.99 500 MB
ElitePremium 5.0 Mbps / 300 Kbps $349.99 500 MB
Thank you so much! Here I sit with a MacBook and connections that don’t match!
Is it time to move? Just kidding.
Satellite Internet is ok, especially if it’s your only option. Your biggest bang for the buck will probably be the ProPlus 1.6 Mbps connection.
Thanks! I didn’t know enough about all that “techy” stuff to decide! So would using Netflix from your earlier post just not be an option for us?
Another thing I would like to know is…what is the best way for me to convert home movies on VCR tape to DVD or digital format?
Thanks for all of your information! And I have bookmarked your blog!
I’m able to watch Netflix over 3G on my iPhone, so you should be fine. You may run into the occasional buffering hiccup or poorer image quality, but in general, you should be fine.
As for transplanting your old VCR tapes to DVD (ultimately digital), your best bet is to probably find someone that would be able to do that for you (a service). Alternatively, you can purchase the equipment to do it yourself, but hassle-free equipment can get sort of pricey. Having a service do it for you virtually guarantees that it will be done right (as long as they know what they are doing).
Is it time to move? Just kidding.
Satellite Internet is ok, especially if it’s your only option. Your biggest bang for the buck will probably be the ProPlus 1.6 Mbps connection.
I am Mac shopping so this is perfect timing!
Did you upgrade to the hi-res screen and do you think anti-glare is good for photo editing?
Thank you for all the help this article was GREAT!
I honestly don’t think that going with the HD upgrade will give you a lot of benefit. The native resolution is pretty good as it is. As for the finish, I am a HUGE fan of matte, but oddly, really like the glossy on these MacBook Pros. It makes the colors pop. Another thing to keep in mind… if you DO opt for the matte screen, you will not have the black bezel around the screen. It’s the old-style silver.
Thanks Kevin! If I could bother you for one more question- the Apple rep highly suggested for the heavy graphics of digital scrapbooking to upgrade the low-end 15″macbook pro to the 7200 rpm hard drive- she said it would make the system run a lot faster. Would you agree? Thanks again for all your great advice.
Awesome post! I love my Mac, but know that I do not use it to its potential.
Kevin ~ do you have a feed address for your blog?
Thanks so much!
~Michelle
If it is not too late, I would like to ask Kevin how I merge two iTunes libraries into one. I had a shuffle then bought a nano and I don’t want to lose any of my songs, but some of the songs I had on one aren’t showing up on the other. Any ideas?
So you have your primary iTunes library, and an iPod with songs you need to keep? No sweat. Check out Senuti to recover the music on your iPod. http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/
i to appreciate all of your answers Kevin to questions some have had and i benefited from as well ,i apologize for the misinterpreted comment i posted on beckys facebook about a new mac problem that had arisen and directing my question to becky since past questions on brother may have not been seen and was left unanswered .it was not intended to be directed that way at all .
Kevin=Awe.Some.
Thanks.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I was looking at a way to back up photos other than on dvds and time machine when I’m on the road in my rv. Never occurred to me to look into a Mobil Me account. I was toying with the idea of getting a terrabyte portable hard drive but wasn’t sure how to do it. Thanks for the explanation. Never can have too many back up devices I always say. I second the idea of every Friday being tech Friday.
I just wanted to say a big thank you to Kevin for answering my question on photo storage. I will be looking into the Drobo system. Becky your brother is a gem!!
Due to going back to work full time this past month (covering a kindergarten maternity leave) and my weekends are busy with my son’s middle school play (Cinderella) I missed the above post and I am so disappointed. I am a Mac user- I use the term loosely because I am not at all a “techie” person. My husband is an AVID PC user and he doesn’t like Macs at all. Here is our situation…I had a used MacBook and LOVED IT! We downloaded music onto my son’s Nanno, my shuffle and my daughter’s ipod. In January I bought the MacBook Pro and LOVE IT…but…we can’t download music from itunes on this computer b/c our ipods are all synced with my old computer. Hubby spent 2 hours yesterday trying to switch our itunes and sync to my new computer (he googled it) and it was not 100% successful. Are we missing something? He was so frustrated. I need a brother like Kevin!!! Thanks for sharing Becky!
What a super sweet brother you have!
Hello Kevin *waves*. You are awesome. Will you be my brother too? I have a MacBook running on 10.4, so not really old or anything, but love it all the same. It always bothered me that I couldn’t do a de-frag but now I can do “repair disk” instead….. Yay! I file my photos the same way you do, although I am lax at backing them up…
What is Time Machine though? And why can’t I find it on my MacBook? Is it just too old? Thank you so much. Jude.x
Thank you, THANK YOU!!! for posting this blog. I consider myself fairly tech savvy as a photographer, but I learned a lot from this post-especially about ringtones. I’ve been a mac user for just over a year and used garageband for the first time (blush). And I was just wondering about the maintenance thing since my system just turned 1-awww my baby is growing up:) Thanks for all the helpful advice!
Ok, Kevin…btw, I loved reading all the questions/answers. However, I didn’t see one about using an iPhone insde houses and I’d like to hear what you know or can suggest.
I’ve been told it is b/c of the tech shield on our roof that I’m unable to use my iPhone insde our home. It literally drives me nuts. I can search the web, b/c we have wireless. But using the phone and texting is impossible.
I hear there are signal boosters available but they range in price from very little to a whole lot! Is there a clear solution to my problem? Both hubby and I have the iPhone.
Thanks,
Heidi in Houston
I don’t know if this is where I should ask for this week’s version, but here it is:
We’ve had our MacBook Pro for almost 5 years and have exclusively used the AirPort with it with no problems. Just got a 27″ iMac this past weekend and after I hooked it up, we are finding our network to be so slow. I mean painfully slow to the point where we can’t really have both computers on the internet (which was the whole point of getting a second computer!). Any suggestions? Thanks!
I loved this post “tech friday!” I learned how to make my own ringtones for my Iphone and I have one question, although this was great, it doesn’t let me us the ringtones I made to use as a text notification, is there a way that I can get my text notifications custom as well?
thank you!
hi kevin !!!
1. i’ve had my Mac for 4 years now.. and had to replace the power supply part and I feel like ever since I got my MAC back from the apple store, it has been a lot slower like an older PC would be. I even upgraded to iLife’11 too. Is there something I can do to clear this up or ??
2. for my itouch *3rd gen*, can i make my background into a picture instead of a plain black one ??
or is it for the newer itouch ?
thanks, kevin ! you totally rock !!!
How much do I love this??? Let me count the ways…
I wonder if Kevin will answer yet ANOTHER question…
It has to do with the IP-based home multimedia system (I speak ‘geek’ more than I can implement ‘geek’
). I have Tivo in the mix at my place – does that change the setup or should I ditch that all together. I would prefer NOT to since I paid for a Lifetime Membership up front. Also, does an HD receiver allow us to watch channels like Nick Toons? My kids are tweens and can’t live without iCarly, Pokemon and the Last Airbender.
Thanks SO much for all your help!
Hello! I have an iPad 1 (hoping to get the iPad 2 soon!) and I would like to put some movies that I already own onto my iPad so that I can watch them on a plane. How would I do this? The Apple store wasn’t very helpful so I’m hoping you could by my “Genius Bar”. Thanks!
We recently switched to no cable and use an Xbox to instantly watch Hulu Plus and Netflix shows. BUT there is also access to sports on replay or live, via ESPN 3 on the XBOX. I can’t begin to explain how excited my husband was to find this feature!
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