Tips

The dishwasher vs. your dirty computer keyboard

There have been a number of reports in recent months claiming an easy way to clean your keyboard is to run it through the dishwasher. A few MacFixIt readers have asked questions about these reports, and have wondered if they should try it. Though we cannot recommend this method of cleaning for everyone, it may be a last resort for some keyboards. Even so, there are a few cautions you should be aware of in doing this, especially since without observing them you may end up with a clean but broken keyboard.… Read more

Tip: Accessing hidden Menu-Extra options

It is well-known that there are hidden menu options available in the OS X system and contextual menus, that can be used by holding various modifier keys while clicking the menus. If you need to find these functions, the easiest way is to browse through and press various combinations of modifier keys to reveal the hidden commands. While you may be aware of this for the system menus, similar options are also available in a number of menu extras. This feature is often overlooked, but can be exceptionally useful, especially when troubleshooting your Mac.… Read more

Tip: Beef up default system security in OS X

For any Mac, new or current, you can do several things to easily increase the security of your system. Apple has several options and system settings for enhancing security, most of which are available if you browse through the system preferences, but there are also other settings and practices that can help increase security.… Read more

Quick Tip: Get your photos organized on your Mac

So you have all your photos in iPhoto on your Mac, but you also have copies of many of those images around your hard drive. What do you do? Photo management can be tricky at first, but with a little bit of knowledge on how your Mac organizes images, you can tame the beast.… Read more

Control incoming calls: David's iPhone tip of the week

You cannot always answer your phone every time it rings, right? You might be in a meeting, paying for merchandise, pumping gas, or engaged in a conversation over coffee with a friend. Of course, all of these are just a short list of the many excuses you might have for not answering your phone. This week's tip will teach you two ways to control the way you answer incoming calls on your iPhone.

Send callers directly to voice mail

Press the power button, on the top of your iPhone, twice during an incoming call and the caller is sent … Read more

Concerns about losing website settings when resetting Safari

If you've run into odd behavior with Safari, one convenient way to empty caches and otherwise clear temporary data is to use the "Reset Safari" option in the "Safari" application menu. Despite the convenience of this feature, some people may wonder what will happen for each option, and what might happen to personal data.… Read more

How to personalize iPhone Voice Control

The iPhone's Voice Control features are fun and futuristic. Voice commands also offer commuters a practical way to dial phone numbers without taking their eyes off the road.

But Voice Control isn't perfect, and unique names or pronunciations in your Contacts list can easily foil the software.

Fortunately, the iPhone allows you to get under the hood a little to make Voice Control run more smoothly. By adding fields for phonetic spellings, nicknames, middle names, and more, you can personalize your contacts to work seamlessly with the iPhone's voice-dialing capabilities.

To learn how to bend the iPhone'… Read more

MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature from MacFixIt in which we answer questions e-mailed to us by our readers. We have been getting regular contacts and questions from our readers, and we hope to share our correspondence so everyone may benefit from and contribute to them. This week we have questions about MobileMe synchronization errors, video resolution problems at boot-up, finding RSS URLs in Mail, booting to Safe Mode in Boot Camp, and missing items on the Desktop.… Read more

Hidden iPhone keyboard symbols and more

The iPhone and iPod Touch keyboard is very versatile, and many of its keys offer access to lists of special symbols or more, while tapping and holding one of the following keys for at least one second:

.com when entering Web addresses in Mobile Safari to bring up options for .net, .edu and .org. . (period) when entering e-mail addresses in Mobile Mail to bring up the options for .net, .edu, .org and .com. " (double) or ' (single) quotes in the number and symbol keyboard to access alternative quotation characters. $ in the number and symbol keyboard to display alternative currency symbols. … Read more