There is no Mac Users meeting this month—our next one will be January 27. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. A reminder, however, that TVCUC dues are due, in case you haven’t yet logged into TellicoLife to join for 2020.

Here a list of Catalina keyboard shortcuts for your viewing pleasure. I advocate using keyboard shortcuts when you can—they save time, stress on your wrists, etc. 

I found 3 articles in the November 2019 issue of Macworld that may be of interest to you. I have stored the PDF document to share Here.  The articles are as follows:

• Find your documents and desktop folder contents after disabling iCloud sync
• Can’t find and app on your Mac? Pinpoint it with System Information
• Get the best image export from Photos in MacOS

More information for your reading pleasure…

Using Your Own Photos Or Graphics As Desktop Backgrounds

You don’t have to settle for using Apple’s images as your desktop background. You can use any photo from your library or image you can obtain as a desktop background. You can also make your own graphics in an image editing app or Keynote to use as a background. You can combine photos and graphics to make an ideal background.

21 Actually Useful Finder Tips And Tricks

Learn some useful everyday tips, tricks and techniques to make it easier to manage your files and folders in the macOS Catalina Finder. See how you can use things like Undo, Copy and Paste, the Path Bar, keyboard shortcuts and more to navigate around in the Finder and work with your files.

Understanding Windows, Tabs, Full Screen And Split Screen Modes

When working in apps on documents you can choose to have one document open per window, or multiple documents in tabs in that same window. Windows can be floating, resizable objects on your desktop, or you can go into full screen mode to fill the screen with the window or split screen mode to share the screen with exactly two app windows. You can also combine windows, tabs, and screen modes to work in many different ways.

macOS Catalina: How to make your iPhone and iPad appear on the Desktop

The Finder needs a slight adjustment to make items appear.

How to delete photos, links, and attachments from conversations in Messages

You can delete items you don’t want to keep or that you want to remove from taking up storage.  

Tip: Use Grid View for Dock Downloads

If you keep a link to your Downloads folder in the Dock on the right, then Control+click (or right-click) it and set it to Grid view. This is the best view for this particular folder because you can drag and drop files in the folder directly from the Dock this way. 

The October meeting will be Monday, October 28, 3 p.m., Chota Rec Center Room D.  We’re going to talk about Catalina.

Following are some things that may be useful to you.

Use These 5 Techniques To Become a Mac Pro
Experienced Mac users know how to unleash the power of macOS and apps by using a variety of basic techniques. Learn how to master a new app by exploring the menu. Interact with objects using context menus. Customize your toolbars to reveal hidden buttons.

Find My: How to use Apple’s new all-in-one app to find friends and devices
Here’s everything you need to know about the new find-everything app.

AppleCare+: Everything you need to know about Apple’s extended warranty program
Apple sells extended warranties for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, iPod touch, and Apple TV. Here’s what they cost, what they cover, and answers to all your other questions too.10 New iPhone Features In iOS 13 To Try Out Right Away
Whether you just got a new iPhone 11, or you updated your old iPhone to iOS 13, you should take a look at these 10 new features. Several are settings you should turn on, such as low data mode for cellular, silence unknown callers and one that removes old Safari tabs automatically. You can also use video filters, swipe typing, new text gestures, Dark Mode and more.

For those of you wondering, it is okay to upgrade to Catalina. I suggest you review this (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475) first, however. Additionally, make sure you have at least 20 Gb of space available. You don’t need quite that much, but better safe than sorry.
 
Most likely the program Oct. 28 will be on Catalina—providing I can learn all the new stuff.

Support Choices
TVCUC First Level Support – Go to https://www.tvcuc.org/first-level-support/ and call the number listed or send an email to fls@tvcuc.org. Dave Crowden is the Apple/Mac FLS representative.
 
Ken Ray – Ken has retired from FLS. He did a wonderful service for all of you for many years, but he needs a rest! Ken still shows up for the FLS meetings on the 4th Tuesday of the month @ 3:15, but please try to not call him. 
Karen Brown – Karen is available at the FLS meeting on the 4th Tuesday, but otherwise she is not part of FLS. Karen is available to help, but charges $30/hour. She cannot help with hardware problems, but can for software issues for either Macs or iPads/iPhones. She does not charge if she can resolve a problem quickly over the phone.
Bill Markle – Bill is new to the Village, with a wealth of experience in troubleshooting and repairing Macs & PCs. His fee is $50/hour. You can reach him at (865) 230-8723 or helpdeskbill@gmail.com.AppleCare – (800) 275-2273 (you should all have this number in your Contacts list!)

Free Utility
Preps Mac Users for 64-Bit Catalina App-acolypse

As you’ve probably heard, Apple is finally eliminating support for 32-bit Mac Applications this fall. Want to learn more?

There is no August meeting, but there will be one Sept. 23, so make sure you have it on your calendar.

Dave Crowden has 2GB RAM that he removed from his Macbook Pro. If anyone wants it, drop him a message.

Following are a few items that may be of interest to you.

How To Customize the Mac Finder Sidebar
You can customize your Finder sidebar to include the folders and locations you most often use.  You can click on a sidebar item to go to that location, and also drag and drop items into those locations.  You can customize the sidebar in Finder, Preferences, and also by dragging and dropping items into and around in the sidebar.  Tags and Smart Folders can be used to make the sidebar even more useful.

How To Use Hidden Characters On Your Mac Keyboard
In addition to using the Emoji Viewer to type special characters, or holding a key to add accents, you can also learn some special keyboard combinations using the Keyboard Viewer.  These allow you to type some symbols like degrees, pi, the Apple symbol and accent marks using standard keystrokes with the help of the Option and Shift keys.  The Keyboard Viewer allows you to see exactly which key combinations match which characters.  This is dependent on the type of keyboard you own.

How to use Google Photos to back up your iPhone photos
It’s easy to get free protection from losing all your photos if your phone gets lost, stolen, or broken and with Google Photos.

Get the 21-app Mega Mac App bundle for just $10 
The Mega Mac App Bundle features 21 creative, multimedia, and productivity apps.

The following works with Gmail (or others) as well as iCloud.

Take Control Of Your Email With iCloud Plus Addressing
iCloud email allows you to freely add some text to your regular email address to create unqiue addresses that you can use on an as-needed basis.  So you can use a slightly different email address when you sign up for a service and easily identify if that service is sending you spam or seling your information.  You can also use this to organize legitimate email by filtering into groups that use the same address.  However, there are some downsides too.

Easily Trimming Video Files With QuickTime Player
If you want to trim some video from the beginning or end of a movie file, you don’t need to use a video editing app.  You can do it right in QuickTime Player.  Trimming is lossless and can be done with precision.  You can also cut sections out of the middle of your video and export a new copy.  You can trim in the Photos app as well, though the original full-length video is always available if you wish to revert.

Using the Mac Finder Go Menu
Many Mac users ignore the Go menu in the Finder, but there are some useful shortcuts there.  You can access some of the most most used folders on your drive with this menu and see keyboard shortcuts for them.  You can also access your Libray folder and Startup Disk through the Go menu if you know how.  The Go to Folder function lets you move around by typing, which is preferred by many pro users.

Karen Brown

There is no Mac User meeting in July, but here are some tips & tricks.

The attached article is from the July 2019 issue of Macworld Magazine.  It explains how to determine whether your software is 64- or 32-bit. When the new MacOS is released in the fall (10.15), 32-bit applications will no longer run.  There are lots of other good tips below, including 3 that were not in the TVCUC newsletter that came out this morning.  Hope you find some of this useful.

macOS Catalina: Everything you need to know

Frequently asked questions about Apple’s next operating system for the Macintosh.  Read more

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote productivity apps for iOS and macOS get major update

Apple’s new update for its iWork suite of apps includes text stylization options, expanded Apple Pencil support, and more.  Read more

The video below has lots of good information, but it reminded me that I could (and did) add money to my Apple ID account so I won’t get those piddling little 99¢ charges from Apple for a few months!

10 Tips To Get the Most From iCloud

Here are some useful tips for getting even more from your iCloud service. You can backup and sync photos from cameras using just your iPhone, create family Calendars and shared Notes, you can even add funds to your Apple account so you don’t have to pay a few dollars every month.  Read More…

Can’t download an app update? It might be time to update your Mac

If you’re using an older version of macOS, you may run into problems when trying to install the latest version of an app.  Read more

All the new ways iOS 13 protects your privacy

The best thing about iOS 13 may be all the new ways Apple is protecting you from unscrupulous data collection.  Read more 

Apple issues voluntary recall of 15-inch MacBook Pro

Laptops sold between September 2015 and February 2017 are affected.

Why You Should Use iCloud Email Rules And Not Mail Rules On Your Mac

Mail rules in the Mail app on your Mac are robust and powerful but they no longer work well in a world where we get email on multiple devices. Instead, use iCloud email rules, or filters you can set on your email server. These rules will be applied on the server before the messages get to yoru devices, so they will work properly and consistently.  Read More…

50 Mac Safari Shortcuts

Here are 50 shortcuts that will make it quicker and easier to navigate around web pages and tabs.  Learn how to use your keyboard to move around on a page, find information, and jump to different pages and tabs.  Also find out about ways to click on links with modifier keys to open them in different ways and how to drag tabs and downloads.  Read More…

Frequently Asked Questions About MacBook Batteries

Many MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air owners want to know how to properly use and maintain their batteries. But there is a lot of bad information online. Learn what to expect from your MacBook’s battery, what you should and shouldn’t do to prolong battery life, how to tell if there is a problem, how to get a replacement and how much it may cost.  Read More…

In the following tutorial, Gary talks about storing videos, and gives a short bit on using Image Capture, which we discussed at a meeting last fall.

Managing a Video Library On Your Mac

Instead of storing your videos in the Photos app with your pictures, consider storing them as files in a folder in the Finder.  You can place this folder on your iCloud Drive, on your local drive only, or on an external drive.  You can organize them using file names, subfolders, tags and comments.  You can use the Gallery view to look through your videos almost as if they were in a special video management app.  Read More…

Use Hide Instead Of Minimize On Your Mac

Many people overuse the minimize button to get applications and windows out of the way.  In most cases, it is more efficient to use the Hide command to simply hide the app. Hidden apps can be quickly and easy brough back and you won’t clutter your Dock with minimized windows.  Today using tabs in windows and autosave to easily quit and relaunch apps means you should rarely need the minimize button.  Read More…

I get lots of questions about what to do about a Mac that’s running out of space. Here Gary talks about how to find large files without having to resort to a 3^rd party program such as Clean My Mac.

How To Figure Out What Is Taking Up Space On Your Mac

When you Mac’s hard drive is almost full, you can investigate and figure out what is using the space by simply using the Finder.  There is no need to buy a third-party app to manage your hard drive. You start at the top and view all of your folders, digging down to see what is using the most space.  Then you’ll need to make some decisions about what to remove from yoru drive, being care to only remove files you don’t need.  Read More…

Karen Brown