Guides & How-Tos

Mini-Tutorial: The dreaded spinning pinwheel; Avoiding unresponsiveness/slow-downs in Mac OS X

Patience may be a virtue, but in the case of Mac OS X's dreaded spinning pinwheel process indicator, even the most tranquil users can find themselves more than a tad anxious for the standard arrow cursor to re-appear and normal system operation to appear.

While virtually all users will experience a spinning pinwheel (and associated unresponsiveness from a specific application, a group of applications or the entire system) from time to time, there are a number of measures you can take to lessen the occurrence of these incidents and eliminate standstills.

Add more RAM The primary cause for overall … Read more

mac.column.ted: The Trouble with Troubleshooting Mac OS X

Ted Landau March 2005

Recently, a friend of mine requested help in solving a printing problem in Mac OS X. The road to the solution led me to reflect, yet again, on the nature of troubleshooting Apple's OS [Note: If you are a MacFixIt Pro member, check out my September 2004 column for a different take on this subject.] Mac OS X has a well-deserved reputation for being reliable. But, when things do go wrong, you may have to traverse some huge potholes to get to the solution. In many cases, even seasoned troubleshooters abandon any attempt to find … Read more

Mini-Tutorial: When software updates don't work (system cannot see or install updates)

"Grayed-Out" Software Update menu item Generally, Software Update can be universally accessed via the Apple menu. In some cases however -- sometimes after a major system update -- the Software Update menu item appears in a grey shade indicating that it cannot be selected

The most consistent workaround for this issue has been clearing of system caches -- a task easily accomplished with a tool like Panther Cache Cleaner.

Unable to apply updates Some users are presented with a permissions error referring to the directory: "/tmp/501/TemporaryItems/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate." when attempting to check for … Read more

Tutorial: Dealing with Wake-from-sleep issues

These fixes deal specifically with the two most common wake-from-sleep issues affecting Mac OS X systems -- a completely blank screen with the system unresponsive where a forced restart is usually the only option and a kernel panic where a restart is also required.

Both manifestations of these issues also exhibit the following symptoms:

The afflicted machine does not react to a network ping. The CD works normally and will accept media, but the system does not react appropriately. The battery continues to drain The machine does not "Wake for network administrator access"

Do not connect, disconnect external … Read more

mac.column.ted: Strangled in a Wireless World

Ted Landau

Ah, the bliss of living in today?s wireless world. With my AirPort Base Station, I have been freed from the tangle of Ethernet cords that used to emanate from my collection of networked computers and printers. Gone is the need to run Ethernet cables behind walls, so as to avoid unsightly cables along the floor. With my AirPort Express, I can even play songs from my Mac?s iTunes Library on my audio equipment in the next room ? without any wires connecting the devices. My Bluetooth-equipped Mac connects to a Bluetooth mouse completely untethered. My mobile phone ? … Read more

mac.column.ted: Pages vs. AppleWorks

Originally posted Wednesday, February 9th

Ted LandauFebruary 2005

I am a long-time hard-core AppleWorks user. Yes, I use Microsoft Office when I have to (which is actually fairly often; it?s pretty much required for the books and magazine articles I write). But I retain a fondness for AppleWorks and use it whenever I can.

My relationship with AppleWorks goes way back ? to when it first arrived on the scene as ClarisWorks. I was a reviewer for MacUser ? and was given the assignment of comparing a bunch of ?integrated software? packages. The competition included ClarisWorks, Microsoft Works, BeagleWorks, GreatWorks (from … Read more

Mini Tutorial: Open up! (When documents won't open)

Ted Landau

One of the most basic and common tasks for all Mac users is to open a document. In most cases, what you need to do barely requires explanation. You simply locate the document in the Finder and double-click it. The needed application, if not already open, launches and the document opens with it. End of story. Could there possibly be a need to write a tutorial on such a mundane subject?

Well, yes. For at least two reasons.

First, Mac OS X provides a rich array of alternative ways to open documents. Each way either best suits a … Read more

mac.column.ted: There's no escape: Advertising gone wild

Ted Landau January 2005

Years ago, while watching syndicated reruns of Star Trek, I was certain that some scenes were being cut from each episode. Sure enough, a few days later, an article in the newspaper confirmed this. The reason? Not censorship, but lack of time. More specifically, when the episodes first aired, the number of minutes devoted to commercials was several minutes less (per episode) than was presently the case. To make the reruns accommodate the increased commercial time, the station deleted a few scenes from each episode. This practice is now fairly common, and you will notice it … Read more

mac.column.ted: Printing digital photos and Canon's iP6000D [Also: Editing digital photos and Photoshop Elements 3.0]

Ted Landau December 2004

I've been taking digital photos for several years. And my biggest dilemma has remained the same: what to do with the pictures after I download them to the computer.

Most of my photos remain in my iPhoto collection, unedited and unprinted. Occasionally, I have used iPhoto's print service. It has worked well overall, but there are some downsides: I don't like how long it takes to upload the photos, it takes several days for the pictures to return and -- if a picture does not come out the way I expected -- I … Read more