Subscribe by email
Follow us on Twitter Subscribe to our RSS Feed

iMovie Themes

Enhance the look and feel of your movies with iMovie Themes
Read More >>

Refurbished Macs

Want a Mac but don't want to spend a fortune? Get great deals with Refurbished Macs
Read More >>

Google Wave on the iPhone

Check out how well Google Wave runs on the iPhone
Read More >>

Adding Apps and Folders to Your Dock

by Shaun

One of the big things that I love about my Mac is the fact that there is the dock feature.  It really allows me to customize my homepage and take advantage of not cluttering my screen.  If there is one thing that I hate is a cluttered home screen.  I dread seeing someone’s screen with all kinds of documents, folders, apps, etc, all over the screen.  In Snow Leopard, the dock offers a great way to minimize the clutter that is on your home screen.  It also gives you a way to access your files faster then trying to locate where they are in the file system.  Let me show you.

Add Folders to the Dock

First you want to locate a file folder that you may access all the time.  For example, maybe these are your documents.  For this example, I am using my “Website Stuff” folder.  It is a folder where I put everything and anything that is to do with my website.  It is a folder that I access all the time so it would be nice to have it in the dock to easily access it.

Now, if I want to put this folder into the dock, I have to put it on the right hand side of the dock.  On the other side of that dotted line that you see in the dock above.  Once I do this, the folder is now accessible from the dock.

And really, that is about it.  Pretty easy tip, but saves so much time.  As you can see, I have a few things there are on the dock that I have put there.  For example, I have my Applications Folder, and My Documents folder on there as well.  Don’t forget, when you do this, you have to put the folder on the right hand side.  You can also do the same thing with applications.  The only difference is that Applications go on the left hand side.

I hope this tip helps.  Let me know if you have any questions.

How To Jailbreak and Restore Your iPad

by Dan

Ever since the US government essentially made it legal to jailbreak devices like the iPhone and iPad there has been a lot of news and interest from individuals and Apple Product owners. Some have wondered what exactly this means for them as consumers and what they could now do with their mobile devices that they couldn’t previously do. Interestingly enough, the government believes that consumers should be able to do what they want with their devices once they own them. However, Apple was quick to explain that adjusting the core operating system and software on your iPhone and iPad would void the warranty.

But, Apple’s threat to void our warranty didn’t stop us from Jailbreaking our iPad to find out just how difficult it was and what extra benefits we’d receive.

Jailbreak Your iPad

Jailbreaking your iPad is almost as easy as Jailbreaking and restoring your iPhone 4. The one difference is that for the iPad you’ll need to download a piece of software and run it from your Mac, PC, or Linux computer. Below are instructions for Jailbreaking your iPad:

  1. First, be sure to sync and backup your iPad. You’ll need this for your restore later. To do so, connect it to iTunes, select the iPad in the device area with a right click and click backup.
  2. After your iPad has finished backing up, you’ll need to get the latest software to jailbreak your iPad. Browse to Spiritjb.com and download the package for Windows, Mac OS, or Linux.
  3. Once the file has finished downloading you’ll want to confirm that you have a firmware version on your iPad that can be jailbroken. DO NOT PROCEED WITH THE JAILBREAK if your device is above version 3.2. Apple released an update that stopped Jailbreaking efforts with version 3.2.1 (If you have this version of the iPad firmware installed you’ll need to wait until a jailbreak update is available for your firmware).
  4. iPad-3-2.png
  5. Open Spirit and click Jailbreak
  6. iPad-Jailbreak.png
  7. After Spirit finishes, you should find Cydia on your iPad. This is the application that will allow you to add apps and packages that were not approved in Apple’s iTunes store.

The process is that simple. Overall, jailbreaking your iPad seems to be something that may be beneficial to those that want to do a lot more with their touch computer than comes out of the box, but for 99% of users, the extra features and functionality is not needed. It seems that customizing the look and feel of the devices is one of the major benefits of a jailbroken iOS device.

If you’ve jailbroken you’re iPad and want to restore it to its previous settings then just follow the steps below.

Restore Your Jailbroken iPad

Restoring your iPad after jailbreaking it is easy.

  1. Plug your iPad into your Mac or Windows Computer
  2. Open iTunes and select your iPad
  3. Click the restore button for the iPad in iTunes
  4. Restore-Jailbroken-iPad.png
  5. Confirm that you want to restore the iPad to start the restore process. After the factory settings are restored to your iPad, continue the restore process for your Apps, Contacts, Music, Calendar events, and Videos
  6. Enjoy your non-jailbroken iPad

I imagine that many who decide to jailbreak their iOS devices will find themselves restoring to the default Apple configurations shortly after trying out the “open” system. While the Jailbreaking process has been streamlined, Apps like Cydia are designed for technical users and developers. The high contrast to usability when compared to standard iOS interaction may just scare those away that are exploring a jailbroken and more “open” mobile device.

Blogging from the Road Part 2: Lessons that I Learned

by Shaun

Well, I am finally back from my ten day road trip that took me from Tacoma, WA to Las Vegas, NV, through Los Angeles, and back up to Tacoma.  It was a fun trip, saw a lot of cool things, and definitely learned a lot about the tech that I have and the tech that I don’t have.  I wanted to share with you a little about what I learned about my tech in the hopes of that it will give you some insight on how to use your tech the next time you go on a road trip, or trip in general.

The biggest thing I learned about was connectivity.  I had hoped to stay connected to the world through email, Twitter, Facebook, reading the news, etc.  Basically being on line as much as I could.  As I found out, being online was going to be few and far between.  To give you an idea of the tech that I had, I traveled with my iPad and my iPhone.  I was planning on relying on the WIFI from the camping sites we were staying at as well as the WIFI in Vegas.  Man, was I wrong about that.  The wifi in the camping sites we stayed in were free, but it was very spotty at best.  And being that this was my first time in Vegas, I didn’t realize you had to pay close to $15 per day for wifi access!!  Sorry, but that was a little too expensive for me.  So being that wifi was out of the picture most of the time, I had to rely on my iPhone and its 3G signal.

So what did I learn on this trip because of this?  Well, first off, I learned that if I wanted to constantly have online access, I needed a different solution.  There are a few that are out there.  The first was to get a device that I could get wifi access from.  These are called mifi’s.  Basically these are wireless modems that take the signal through cell phone towers and lets you access the 3G or 4G network, depending on the cell phone company.  Most of the cell phone companies sell some version of the mifi.  My other option was to obviously have a 3G iPad, but I don’t know if that would help.  More on this in a minute.  My 3rd option, which I will be trying on a short trip I am taking this weekend, is to have a VNC installed on my computer.  VNC stands for Virtual Network Connection.  Basically what you can do is that I can log into my computer from anywhere and access my computer and its programs as like I was actually using my computer.

My other lesson here is learning that AT&T really does not have a good 3G network.  As much as I love my iPhone and what it can do, I kept wondering to myself, “What if my iPhone was on Verizon’s network?”  Now, I cannot make any comparisons as I didn’t have a Verizon phone to compare the signal, but from what I have seen the in past, I am sure that a Verizon phone would have gotten better 3G reception.  This is a bittersweet lesson, as I know I am sacrificing cell phone service to get a great phone.  Call me an Apple snob, but I just love my iPhone and will sacrifice coverage for it.  But at the same time, it had me wishing more for a Verizon iPhone.  Some day…….

The last lesson I learned is that not all cables are the same.  Let me explain.  I knew we were going to have to charge both my wife’s and my iPad, as well as our iPhones.  We were going to just try and charge them in the car with a car charger.  I had a Griffin one from a couple years ago that I had been using for my iPhone 3G.  Thinking that it would work with all my devices I didn’t bother even checking.  Well, little did I know that it wouldn’t charge our iPads, only our iPhone 4′s.  Why do chargers and docks do this?  I wish they could be made so they can work with technology all the time and you don’t have to keep buying new chargers just because you have a new iPhone or iPad.

In a nutshell, the big lesson here is that knowing that I wanted to try to stay connected as possible, I should have done my research a little better before I had gone out.  Or at least go out better prepared.  A part of me would have loved to get a MIFI, but cannot justify paying the monthly contract for as little traveling as I do.  Overall, though, I did love the fact that I could travel with my iPad and iPhone and still somewhat get by without bringing the laptop.   Are there any tips you have for traveling with your tech?  Would love to hear them.

You Gotta See This! For the iPhone

by Dan

The latest version of the iPhone included a number of upgrades to functionality, speed, and even cameras. While many have focused on the addition of a front facing camera to compliment the standard camera found on iPhones, others have looked closely at the new 5 megapixel still camera on the iPhone. Boinx Software is one such company.

With one of their latest iPhone apps, Boinx has released software that helps take advantage of the power of the iPhone’s camera. Their app, You Gotta See This!, is a camera app that is designed to help you quickly take interesting pictures that are instantly created into collages with an option for a number of different backgrounds. Pictures taken with the app are easily shared through Twitter, Facebook, or Email. The pictures can also be saved to your iPhone photo album and synced with your iPhoto library.

We’ve spent a few weeks with the app, and taken a number of pictures to see the results. We’re very impressed with the use of the app for taking panoramic type pictures and “action” pictures of our children running around. The App was a hit at our family vacation to the beach and we enjoyed the pictures You Gotta See This created of thunderstorms that rolled in during the evening. In fact, the images produced by You Gotta See This! remind me of the artistic work of a young artists selling his collages of famous Washington D.C. landmarks.

Taking full advantage of the application took a few tries with the camera and the way it shot and stored the images that were created but we were extremely pleased with the final results. I’ve personally found that the wider and longer the image shot process is the more impressive the collages were.

Overall, You Gotta See This! is a fun app that helps create interesting images and allows you to skip the process of creating the collages on your own. Its a great addition to traditional camera use on the phone and is great for sharing images quickly across your social network. It is available on the iTunes App Store for $1.99.

Street Fighter IV on the iPhone

by Dan

I’m not sure what Nintendo is thinking right now, but I suspect Sony is already scared. You see, Sony learned a difficult lesson when the iPod hit the market and started to dominate the mobile music devices. Sony had dominated through the 80s and 90s with their popular Walkman Devices for audio cassetes and portable compact disk players.

Apple took over with the iPods and it looks like they’re preparing to do so again with gaming devices. The iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad become more capable with each new hardware release and developers are starting to take advantage of these hardware updates.

One of Capcom’s latest iOS games, Street Fighter IV, shows just how much potential the iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch have as a gaming platform. I’m sure that Sony see’s this too and is starting to put a lot of money into building the best Sony Portable Gaming devices as possible. Nintendo should be doing the same.

Graphics

Street Fighter IV for the iPhone has stunning graphics. Capcom carefully implemented their beautiful static image graphics that are shown during loading screens that must have come from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game to give a rich and high quality visual experience.

The fighters also look great and their actions look smooth as they perform multiple hit combos and unleash powerful fireballs, upper-cuts, and sweep kicks on opponents. The stage or background graphics have been simplified to allow for the game engine to focus on the fighters themselves, but they are sufficient for a hand held device.

Overall, the graphics are some of the best I’ve seen on an iOS device and run great on the iPhone 4.

Controls

At first I thought the controls on a touch interface would be difficult to master, but Capcom has simplified the approach by removing low, medium, and strong punch and kick buttons and replaced them with the familiar Street Fighter IV actions of Punch, Kick, Special Move, and Fierce. Even executing Ultra and Special combos is as easy as pressing the gage images detailing how much power your fighter has gained in each area.

The controls are sensitive enough and simple to use that my 5 year old son can execute flawlessly. It took a few matches to adjust too, but overall the controls are spot on to something we’d expect for a Street Fighter game.

Multiplayer

Capcom included Multiplayer mode with SFIV. Its as simple as connecting the devices over bluetooth and starting a versus match. It would have been a mistake if they didn’t include the feature as the street fighter franchise is best when played against friends.

Conclusion

Overall, Street Fighter IV for the iPhone is an incredible game and perfect for the mobile platform. There are less characters to choose from and the game is simplified a bit, but it quickly allows for you to jump in and out of a fight. Perfect for use while waiting in lines or other short uses.

Check out Street Fighter IV for your iOS platform.

Mac Help

Maciverse is a site dedicated to Mac Help. We aim to provide Mac Help guides, tutorials, reviews, and information that can assist Mac owners get more from their computers, iPods, iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products. Visit Maciverse.com for helpful Mac tips and information.