How-Tos

How to share reminders in OS X

In OS X Mountain Lion, Apple included a few of its iOS applications, one of which is the Reminders app for setting up and organizing to-do lists. Reminders used to be part of Apple's iCal feature, but has migrated to a separate app that interfaces with the Calendar for all your Apple devices and with Apple's iCloud service. This unified setup not only makes sharing reminders among devices easy, but also offers a platform for sharing reminders among different iCloud users.

While a little redundant with standard calendar events, reminders are convenient alternatives since they are maintained in … Read more

Disable alerts at a specific time on your Galaxy Note II

Author note: This feature is available on most of the stock Samsung Android devices running 4.1.1 and higher. Thanks to the those who helped clear this up and sorry for the confusion.

There are lots of apps in the Google Play Store that can help you schedule some quiet time from your phone. However, if you're an owner of a Samsung device that received a Jelly Bean update (or you recently bought a Galaxy Note II), you have this feature built in with Blocking mode.

The benefit of using a stock feature over an app is … Read more

Use voice commands from the Samsung Galaxy S3 lock screen

Perhaps you're not a fan of using patterns, PINs, or passwords to unlock your smartphone -- either it's too much hassle or you often forget what you picked. With the Samsung Galaxy S3 you can set up voice commands for doing things like unlocking the device, checking missed calls, or starting the camera. All you need to do is tap the power button and say one of your preset commands.

Here's how to set up your lock screen voice commands:

Step 1: Open the Settings menu and then head to the Security and lock screen option.

Step … Read more

How to invoke alerts from the OS X Terminal

When you run a script or command in the OS X terminal, it can be useful to have some indication for when it is completed, especially if the script is a lengthy process you might not wish to monitor at all times. Unfortunately when a script or command finishes running, the Terminal will drop you to the command line again, without any notice to you. However, if needed, you can set up the system to run commands so it does offer some notification.

System alerts The first option is to have the terminal invoke the system alert after the command … Read more

Mount network shares privately in OS X

In order to mount a shared network folder in OS X, in general you first open a Finder window, where you will see a list of systems that are broadcasting network services, and upon clicking them you can provide authentication information to connect and mount their available shares.

When you mount a shared folder in this manner, the system uses a global mount point (within the hidden /Volumes directory at the root of the boot drive) to access the shared folder. This mount point can be seen by selecting Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu and then … Read more

How to lock your screen in OS X

If you use your Mac in areas where it may be accessed by those other than yourself, then undoubtedly you might be concerned about its security. While using a cable lock for both desktop and laptop systems is a good recommendation, you also might set the system up to prevent unauthorized access if you need to quickly step away from it.

One way to ensure your data is safe is to simply log out of your computer every time you leave; however, this will quit your running applications and interrupt your workflow. In OS X Mountain Lion, Apple's autosave … Read more

Check defaults before altering hidden settings in OS X

OS X applications and services often contain a number of hidden settings that can be used to tweak your Mac's behavior to improve performance or provide an option that is not available by default. To manage these hidden options, you can use the "defaults" terminal command to edit the target preferences file associated with a service and manually adjust a variable's value.

Since the defaults command performs these edits in a single line in the Terminal, it is relatively easy to use and is often suggested as a way to edit property list (plist) files, which … Read more

Four ways to fix an unresponsive iPhone home button

No matter how anal you are about keeping your iPhone safe and intact, there is still a chance your home button will eventually suffer the effects of normal wear and tear.

The iPhone 5, which features a change to the anatomy of the home button, may solve this problem, but previous iPhone models are still susceptible to this common phenomenon.

If you're still within the provided one-year warranty and your phone doesn't show signs of accidental damage, head on over to Apple. As long as you're covered by warranty, the company will replace your phone or perform … Read more

How to increase the font size in iOS

The iPhone 5 may have a bigger screen, but text still looks pretty small to my aging eyes. In fact, it looks that way on all my iDevices.

That's because iOS relies on a fixed font size, and while a smattering of apps let you increase that size, there's no "font" option to be found in iOS settings.

Actually, there is, kind of, if you know where to look. It turns out you can enlarge the default iOS font a little bit or quite a bit, depending on your eyesight needs. Here's how:

1. Tap … Read more

Use the Calculator to reveal a Mac's firmware password

A firmware password on Mac systems locks the hardware to prevent booting to alternative modes that could bypass OS X security, but in order to access some of these modes you first have to disable the firmware password. While this can be done using Apple's Firmware Password Utility on the recovery drive or OS X installation disc, there may be times when you do not have access to this drive either because it is missing or corrupted, and therefore cannot use the password utility.

Unfortunately in these cases for newer Mac systems shipped in 2011 or later, you have … Read more