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Random Newbie Questions
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Libid21
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Jul 4, 2010, 02:38 PM
 
I get random questions that pop up in my head once in a while and since I'm new, I might have a couple of these so I'm just going to update this thread whenever they come to mind...

I have 2 today:

1) I can't find the settings for the monitor. Every 1 minute or so, if you don't touch it, the monitor dims and then a minute later it blacks out. I think this is a screen saver but I can't find the settings anywhere. I heard that this was for saving battery life, so what do you guys recommend I change the settings to? What settings do you guys use I mean?

2) I have password set on '5 seconds' after it blacks out and I don't touch it but how do I make it so that it asks for a password immediately when you turn the computer on? Thanks.
     
mduell
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Jul 4, 2010, 03:03 PM
 
1) Apple menu->System Preferences->Energy Saver
2) Apple menu->System Preferences->Accounts
     
reader50
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Jul 4, 2010, 03:14 PM
 
Also check these places for settings ...

1) Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Desktop & Screen Saver -> Screen Saver
2) Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Security
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 5, 2010, 02:35 AM
 
What do you guys recommend for the energy saver?
     
TETENAL
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Jul 5, 2010, 05:15 AM
 
For the recommended settings press the "Restore Defaults" button.
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 5, 2010, 02:05 PM
 
That's the settings that you guys use?
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 5, 2010, 02:34 PM
 
Also... what is the keychain?
     
ghporter
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Jul 5, 2010, 02:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by Libid21 View Post
Also... what is the keychain?
Keychain is a password manager. It stores all saved passwords, locked under your profile's password. Enter a password in your wireless network device? Keychain saves it. Password for Amazon? Keychain (usually-this one seems to be browser dependent) saves it. Forget your email password? Kechain has it, and will provide it to you when you give it your profile password.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 5, 2010, 03:59 PM
 
Thanks.

What is the equivalent of Paint in Mac? What is the best app to use for photo editing?
     
ghporter
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Jul 5, 2010, 05:37 PM
 
I use GIMP for both "Paint" type uses and photo editing. But there are lots of free and pay apps for graphics work.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 5, 2010, 11:40 PM
 
-I seem to be having problems installing GIMP... Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Do I just drag and drop it to the applications folder? And i got it to work one time and it opened up a program called X11... not sure what that is.

-Also... looking at the packaging i noticed a disc in the Everything Else package. Am i supposed to insert that into my macbook before using it?

Thanks.
     
reader50
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Jul 6, 2010, 12:28 AM
 
GIMP is a port from the Linux world. Most versions run in the X11 windowing environment, which is common on the Linux side of the fence.

On the Mac, X11 needs to run along with the GIMP. The GIMP is the only program you're likely to run into that needs X11 today. OpenOffice used to require it, but OOo has since been ported to the native Mac window server.

Quit X11, then relaunch GIMP. X11 will start up again and GIMP will open again. This can take a bit of time on the first launch, but should go quickly thereafter.
     
angelmb
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Jul 6, 2010, 12:57 AM
 
Libid21, you could give Pixelmator a try.
     
Big Mac
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Jul 6, 2010, 01:18 AM
 

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
OreoCookie
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Jul 6, 2010, 02:15 AM
 
Another vote for Pixelmator
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TheoCryst
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Jul 6, 2010, 01:59 PM
 
Paintbrush! </shameless self-plug>

Any ramblings are entirely my own, and do not represent those of my employers, coworkers, friends, or species
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 6, 2010, 05:51 PM
 
I just want an app that is easy to use and able to resize and cut my pictures quickly.

Also, can you guys tell me what energy saver settings you guys are using please?

And should I insert that disc in the packet called 'Everything Else'? Because I don't know what that CD is for and I was just wondering if you guys think I should do it or not. Is it software or what?
     
besson3c
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Jul 6, 2010, 06:04 PM
 
If you are using Snow Leopard you can resize and crop your pictures using OS X's Preview app that is included w. OS X.
     
reader50
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Jul 6, 2010, 06:17 PM
 
Preview can do more than that in Leopard - besides resize and crop, we can flip, rotate, and do color adjustments. Sad to hear Apple pulled those features under SL.
     
TheoCryst
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Jul 6, 2010, 06:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Preview can do more than that in Leopard - besides resize and crop, we can flip, rotate, and do color adjustments. Sad to hear Apple pulled those features under SL.
You can also do all those things in Snow Leopard -- nothing was removed between versions. (I don't know if you were being sarcastic or not, so I'm assuming not.)

Originally Posted by Libid21
Also, can you guys tell me what energy saver settings you guys are using please?
My settings vary across the four Macs I use (two laptops and a Mini at home, and a Mac Pro at work). Also, every Mac will have slightly different options; for example, my work tower has no options regarding battery.

That being said, none of the values you can set in this panel will actively harm your computer, so anything you set will be okay. Just ask yourself how you want to use your computer, and make the appropriate changes (do you want it to continue running when you walk away? Then don't have it automatically sleep very quickly, or at all). And of course, you can change these later, and as many times as you want, until you are happy with them.

Any ramblings are entirely my own, and do not represent those of my employers, coworkers, friends, or species
     
reader50
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Jul 6, 2010, 06:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by TheoCryst View Post
You can also do all those things in Snow Leopard -- nothing was removed between versions. (I don't know if you were being sarcastic or not, so I'm assuming not.)
I was being sarcastic. besson's post suggested either that Preview had no editing ability before Snow Leopard ... or that Preview was introduced with Snow Leopard. Just struck me as really weird wording.
     
besson3c
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Jul 6, 2010, 07:11 PM
 
Sorry, I thought those features were new to SL.
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 6, 2010, 07:42 PM
 
Preview doesn't seem to work on my Macbook Pro. I'm probably doing something wrong. I hit it on the dock and nothing pops up or anything.

And as for the battery energy saver issue, I don't use my laptop like a desktop (leave it on while I walk away) but I'd like it so that while I'm watching a movie, the screen doesn't dim and black out. In my situation, would it be smart to just adjust the energy saver when I'm watching a movie only?

And I'm still wondering what I should do with that disc in the 'Everything Else' pack that comes with the laptop. lol

Thanks a lot.
     
Big Mac
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Jul 6, 2010, 07:56 PM
 
Nothing will pop up by default if you just click Preview's icon (Preview is nonstandard in that respect). But if you click the icon in the Dock you'll see the menu bar change to Preview's menus and then you can select Open to open whatever file you're looking to use with it. You can also drag the file in question to Preview's icon in the Dock to have Preview open it that way.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 6, 2010, 08:35 PM
 
Thanks. Got that now.

Okay, how do I put the 'Pictures' folder in the dock without making it look like just any other folder? I noticed the three folders that were there by default. Applications, Documents, and Downloads. They all have some sort of 'icon' on their folder to make them look unique. I'm just wondering if I can move the Pictures folder on to the dock like that. Thanks.
     
reader50
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Jul 6, 2010, 08:44 PM
 
Just drag your Pictures folder to the Dock. Those folders aren't really in the Dock, what you see are aliases. The folders remain in their original "real" locations.
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 6, 2010, 08:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Just drag your Pictures folder to the Dock. Those folders aren't really in the Dock, what you see are aliases. The folders remain in their original "real" locations.
I know that. But I'm just asking if there's a way to move the folder so it has a little icon in the middle so I don't confuse it with any other folder in the dock.
     
Big Mac
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Jul 7, 2010, 01:08 AM
 
You can add a custom icon to a folder to distinguish it from others. See if Folder Icon Maker is what you need.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 7, 2010, 07:01 PM
 
What's the equivalent of a right click or a secondary click on my trackpad?
     
-Q-
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Jul 7, 2010, 07:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by Libid21 View Post
What's the equivalent of a right click or a secondary click on my trackpad?
Tap the track pad with 2 fingers, or hold down the control key while clicking.

You may have to turn the first one on in System Preferences (called "Secondary Click").
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 8, 2010, 01:06 AM
 
OK here's a weird one... How come my battery life sas 90% left but says 2:11 (2 hours and 11 minutes) left? I thought it was supposed to be around 7-8 hr. battery life? I charged the battery first thing when I first opened it.
     
reader50
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Jul 8, 2010, 02:18 AM
 
The manufacturer estimate is based on light usage. ie - backlight set to minimum, avoid using the optical drive, processor set to lowest performance, light application usage. It shows 90% charge, but you are using 3x the juice Apple tested with.

The claimed battery life isn't too realistic. In practice, you can get 2/3 of the claimed time without too much inconvenience. Much less if you want to watch a movie.
     
TheoCryst
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Jul 8, 2010, 07:18 PM
 
You can also make the reading more accurate by fully charging the laptop, allowing it to die completely (keep using it unplugged until it simply shuts itself off), then fully charge it again. This applies for any device with a battery meter.

Any ramblings are entirely my own, and do not represent those of my employers, coworkers, friends, or species
     
Big Mac
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Jul 9, 2010, 01:38 AM
 
But don't get into a habit of doing that more than occasionally, or you'll shorten the life of your battery.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 10, 2010, 08:32 PM
 
What do you guys prefer to use? Safari or Firefox? And what are the major differences between the 2? I like FF because of their Ad-Block Plus. Blocks all popups and ads for me. Tried using Safari and couldn't find an add-on that was as effective.
     
mduell
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Jul 11, 2010, 02:19 AM
 
Firefox for the addons, speed, and quick searches/smart keywords.
     
reader50
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Jul 11, 2010, 02:51 AM
 
There is no need to choose. While you specify a default browser, you can have as many installed as you like. And there are a lot more than two to choose from.

Firefox
Safari
Opera
iCab
Camino
Stainless
OmniWeb
Chrome (intel only)
     
jmiddel
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Jul 11, 2010, 06:00 PM
 
That is the beauty of it. I love low key Camino for its GUI minimalism, Firefox for its bazaar of plugins (they have a heap of them just for web designers alone!) and its Personae GUI customization. The interface is big and clunky, though. Safari is always good, and Chrome is wickedly fast, but for some odd reason I feel reluctant to use it, and not because I'm a Slowsky Is there too` little interface? I have always wondered why Opera is of interest, I have it, updated, but don't quite get the appeal. So enjoy them all, and playing around can be part of the pleasure.

Perhaps we can share our favorite browser features to help folks choose browsers based on what they have to offer to each of us....
( Last edited by jmiddel; Jul 11, 2010 at 06:39 PM. )
     
besson3c
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Jul 11, 2010, 06:29 PM
 
Safari's new developer tools are very nice, they have replaced by beloved Firebug for the most part, although there is one thing that Firebug does I'd like back (console output of AJAX requests). Since I relied on Firebug so extensively I've now made Safari my primary browser.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Safari 5 Extension gallery once Apple opens it.
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 13, 2010, 10:13 PM
 
I can't seem to find the setting in the security options... How do I set a password so that when I turn my laptop on it immediately asks for hte password?
     
Cold Warrior
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Jul 13, 2010, 10:42 PM
 
Security > General tab > Require password afer ______.
     
ibook_steve
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Jul 14, 2010, 10:15 AM
 
I think what he wants is Accounts -> Login Options -> Automatic Login -> Off

Steve
Celebrating 10 years and 4000 posts on MacNN!
     
Libid21  (op)
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Jul 14, 2010, 04:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by ibook_steve View Post
I think what he wants is Accounts -> Login Options -> Automatic Login -> Off

Steve
Thank you. Yes, that's what I was looking for.
     
   
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