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Average Joe's Tips

The Basics and More: System Preferences

 

Basics:

System Preferences is great because it allows you to control almost every setting on your Mac all in one spot. To start I am going to show you how to use System Preferences interface. To navigate around just click on the icons of what you want or you can search it in the top right hand corner. To track back just click the backward or forward buttons on the top left and to go to the main menu select Show All.

 

Advanced

The two panes that I use the most are Desktop and Screen Saver, and Mission Control. To use Desktop and Screen Saver’s settings you can navigate through it by going to the left where all the photos and screen savers on your computer will be. To select a background or screen saver just choose the desired photo or screen saver on the side. Sometimes it will bring you to a folder so you can sort from there.  Personally, I just put photos on a slideshow and choose a default screen saver because it is the easiest thing to do.

Mission control is very simple, yet effective because it allows you to use many different shortcuts. For Keyboard Shortcuts you can change how to access the shortcut by scrolling down the menu next to it. Another thing that is very useful is the Hot Corners section where it allows you to scroll to any given corner and it will do what you had designated it to do.

 

Conclusion

System Preferences is a great way to control settings on your Mac all in one place. It can be a very simple or complicated application depending on how you use it with many ways to customize and secure your Mac.

Stay connected at my new twitter handle to stay updated 24/7 @TRMGaveragejoes and @realmacgenius What do you think? Let us know in the comment section.

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News

No More New Apple Products

Is Apple really done inventing new devices? Apple has blown the world away for less then a decade and they don’t seem like their stopping anytime soon, or are they? Apple has created the devices such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. These products have gotten a lot of attention as of lately and the different things that each can do is incredible. The price for these products isn’t even in the minds of buyers when they buy the product. All they can think about is that they have the newest and greatest product out on the market. Apple has done such a great job marketing these products that everywhere you look; there will be an Apple logo somewhere.

In terms of greatness, Apple has just broken into the scenes of the electronic world. Apple was created in 1976, and they didn’t improve until the 2000’s. Apple was just a footnote in the technology world, another company trying to make a breakout but failing. It wasn’t until 1997 when Apple actually broke down and asked Microsoft to save them. Microsoft, their biggest competitor, if you can call it that, was saving Apple. Microsoft invested $150 million dollars into Apple which promised Microsoft, that they would offer Internet Explorer on their Macs and other incentives. Also in 1997 they promoted Steve Jobs from “advisor” to “interim CEO”. That was single handedly one of the best decisions Apple ever made.

So that was a little background in Apple’s history. So, to get back to my point to why Apple is done inventing new devices. Apple has fixed what was broken about the creation and consumption of content. Everything that Apple has created was to change digital media and the internet to fix what was broken. Then came the iPod, followed by the iPhone, iPad and so on. This is exactly why Apple will stop creating new platforms. Can anything Apple make in the next decade compare to what Apple has created in the past decade? Yes Apple can build on the products they have now, but how many iPhones and iPods can they make?

One of the things Apple will make is a TV set. Is making a TV set the same as inventing the TV though? The TV Apple may make is no going to be compare to he iPod, mainly because Apple didn’t invent the TV. Apple has created a line of products that create and consume the best experience for users. Since they have already succeeded in doing that, no further products are necessary to be made. Apple has succeeded in making products that were made already, but they perfected them. Tablets were made way before the iPad came, but they just weren’t good enough. Apple created a tablet that people enjoy having.

There are many arguments that can be made about this. There is definitely no correct answer but this is just an opinion based on what I think. I do believe that Apple will continue to grow as a company outside of their devices and such. They for sure won’t stop building on the devices they have now, but there is a valid argument that they may stop creating a new line of devices. Until another crisis comes for a better product, Apple will just have to wait.

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News

Apple’s New Campus

Want to know what the new campus for Apple looks like? Well look no further, the Cupertino city homepage has posted Apple’s proposal in full detail. It includes high-res drawings and pictures, renderings, floor plans, and conceptual landscapes.

From an aerial view, it looks circular:

From the drawing, it looks very open and there are many trees around it. From a picture above, the area has many buildings already there. It seems like Apple is going to knock out all of the buildings and replace it with trees. Apple plans to have a main building, a research building, parking structure, corporate fitness center, a corporate auditorium, and a courtyard that could expand:

The building looks like it will have three floors, but in the high-res photo it shows four. So predict about 3-4 floors which will be nice either way. The main building is almost all glass excluding the posts that have to hold the building up. It is a very nice open building that will have a sunny view anywhere you are walking inside the building. Here’s a look:

I think that the new building will be a great thing for Apple. The building is bigger and it is a very nice layout. Especially the way Apple works, it will be a great use for all the space that are given. How big the campus is, is unavailable until the whole layout is complete. Expanding is the only way Apple will grow as a company and a bigger campus will only boost Apple’s reputation.

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News

Apple becomes top smartphone seller, while competitor Samsung continues to gain traction

Based on the IDC, Apple is the top worldwide smartphone vendor with approximately 20.3 million units sold. Samsung, selling an estimated 17.3 million units, came in second place. Following behind Samsung is Nokia, Research in Motion, and HTC. The most eye-catching part of the quarterly report is the year to year growth. Compared to other smartphones, Samsung has the largest year to year growth of 380.6%. Apple’s year to year change in sales grew 141%. The reason of Samsung’s increasing popularity compared to Apple is that Apple only sells just the iPhone, while Samsung sells different smartphone models. Apple’s iPhone has iOS, while Samsung’s smartphones has Android, Bada, or Windows Phone 7. It appears that Apple and Samsung are going to continue to be tough competitors for the top spot.

Feel free to leave a comment or questions.

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News

iOS vs. Android: State Dominance

Based on Jumptap, a mobile ad network, Android is dominating the U.S. If you look at the July 2011 Mobile STAT, Android is leading with 38% of the market share in Jumptap Network. iOS is second place with 33% market share. Blackberry OS is third palce with 22% market share. Competitors such as Symbian and webOS have very little control over market share.

One advantage that iOS has is that since is that is has higher advertising interaction. iOS dominates CTR, Click-Through Rates. The average click-through average is .52%. iOS consistently surpasses the average with a .78%. Android is below the average with a .47%. The July 2011 Mobile STAT also showed mobile trends, such as a rise in click-through rates among consumers under 34, but a decline for older users.

Jumptap also made a diagram of the United States and pointed out which states are dominated by which Operating System. It appears that Android dominance is found in the South and Southwest, while iOS dominace is found in the Northeast and Midwest states.

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