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Dr.MAC: Surfing Safari and Text Clippings

by Steve Woron

My friends at smalldog electronics had a couple nuggets I’d like to share with you:

Better Surfing With Safari

While I occasionally use Firefox, and I think it's great, Safari is my web browser of choice. Like most OS X applications, Safari has many features that are not obvious. Here are my top six:

1. Browse Safe. It is highly recommended that Safari users disable the option of "Open safe files" after downloading." That's because, in theory, you could download a malware program that might run if it opens automatically. While this is far-fetched in reality, it's still wise to disable the feature. It's easy to do. Launch Safari. Browse to Preferences > General. Un-check the box that says "Open safe files after downloading."

Safari is a safe web browser. It uses strong 128-bit encryption when accessing secure sites. It's also easy to block annoying pop-up windows; to do this, launch Safari, click on the word Safari in the upper-left hand corner of your screen, and choose "Block pop-up windows."

It's also very easy to hide your web browsing history when using Safari. This is useful while Christmas shopping online, or, say, cheating on your spouse.

Just select "Private Browsing" under the word Safari in the upper- left hand corner of your screen. No information about where you visit on the Web, personal information you enter or pages you visit are saved or cached. Apple says "It's as if you were never there."

2. Tabbed browsing. New users might not know about this feature, because it's not enabled by default. Tabs allow you to open multiple web pages in a single browser window - very convenient. To enable tabs, launch Safari, then browse Preferences > Tabs . Enable Tabbed Browsing. To open a link in a new tab, click "Command - T ."

Note that the command key is the key to left of the spacebar on most keyboards. Apple keyboards have an Apple icon printed on the Command key.

3. Bookmark Management. I love bookmarks - in fact, I'm probably too reliant on them. Some of the important websites I connect to have long, bizarre URLS, which I don't have memorized. Luckily, Apple makes it easy for me to export my bookmarks so I can easily back them up. Launch Safari, and browse to File > Export Bookmarks. Put this file on a flash key, external hard drive, or email them to yourself. You can also share your bookmarks by emailing them to other people.

To add a bookmark, click the "+" symbol at the top of Safari - or, simply click "command - D."

To organize bookmarks, click on the icon that looks like an open book at the top left side of Safari, or browse to Bookmarks > . Show All Bookmarks. Here you can rename bookmarks, create new bookmark folders (such Red Sox Links, Work Links, Mac Links, etc.) and delete bookmarks. You can also review your RSS feeds here. Which brings me too...

4. RSS Feeds. RSS is a way that websites summarize their content for fast browsing. With RSS, you get a list of headlines with a line or two about each article. You can quickly see if content on a website has been updated, before reading the entire page. If you go to a web page in Safari and a blue box reading "RSS" appears in the upper right corner of the address bar, the site has an RSS feed.

Click on the blue RSS button to see the RSS summary. To subscribe to a website's RSS feed, add the RSS page as a bookmark. The bookmark will tell you when content on that page is updated by showing the number of new items. Click on that RSS button, and you will get to preview all the new written content on that page - without actually reloading it.

5. Keyboard Short Cuts. Like most applications built into Tiger, Safari has lots of keyboard short cuts. Here are a few:

- Option - mouse-click on a link to download the linked page to your desktop.

- Ctrl-mouseclick (on laptops and Macs with a single button mouse) or right click (on Macs with a right-click mouse) on a link on a webpage, to get a drop down menu with options to open links in new windows, open links in new tabs (if tabs are enabled), download the linked file to your desktop, and also to copy the link.

- Command-I to email contents of a web page by OS X Mail

- Command-shift-D: to check spelling in a web-form.

6. Kid-Proof the Internet. Ok, so that's not really one of my top five favorite tips. However, many people ask about this so I've included it. The following comes straight from Apple:

"Start your kids' Web exploration off on the right foot with Safari Parental Controls. Specify exactly which websites your children access by bookmarking only those sites on the Safari Bookmarks Bar. With Safari Parental Controls enabled, your kids browse only the sites on the Bookmarks Bar. New web addresses typed into the address field or non-approved sites linked from approved sites will not load on Safari. Instead, an error message appears, giving your child the option to request approval on blocked pages."

Here is a great link that describes exactly how to do this:

http://www.macwork.com/2006/05/01/parental-control/

Note than most kids over 13 will likely be able to figure out how to get around parental controls in Safari..

How To Use Text Clipping

Here's an old "trick" that many new Mac users are unaware of. This is an extremely fast and easy way to "grab" a chunk of text from any almost application (Safari, Firefox, Word, Mail, etc) and drop it onto your desktop as a "clipping." The text clipping can later be opened and read, or pasted into any word processor. This is handy for grabbing a quote off the internet, for example.

To do this, all you have to do is highlight the text you wish to "clip" by dragging your mouse over it, then click on this highlighted text and (without letting go), drag it to the desktop. Now, on the desktop, you'll have a new file containing the text clipping. You can use this text as you'd use any other text file.

Note that you can also drag this text directly into the word processor of your choice, or even into Mail. Once Mac users start using Text Clippings, it's a shortcut they people use on a daily basis. Give it a try!

By Ed, ed@Smalldog.com

Automating the Morning Email & Syncing an iPod

Q: My mornings are busy and rushed. I usually like to check my email for heading out for work. However it takes a while for the mac to boot and for Entourage to filter through the nights and mornings email spam. How do I get my mac to wake up in the morning and get my email before I wake up?

A: First you need to start the mac based on a time schedule. You may consider having it boot up automatically ten minutes before you would check your email. This will save you time having to start the machine and waiting for boot up and then waiting to start the email program (in this case: Microsoft’s Entourage).

This task is very simple to do. First begin by going to the the System Preferences pane under the blue Apple menu. From here select the Energy Saver icon that looks like a yellow light bulb. Now click on the Options button above. Click on the Schedule button. A small “sheet menu” will slide down. Select the “Start up or wake” line. From here select the time you would like the mac to boot up on it’s own. You can even select the days of the week you would like this to happen. (You may even option to have the mac shutdown at predetermined times).

For the startup (boot up) to work correctly, you obviously must make sure your computer’s clock time is correct. If it’s not, you need to visit the System Preferences again and choose Date and Time. Confirm the time. (Broadband users should click the network time server option for most accurate time keeping.) Be sure your correct time zone is selected. Also make sure you do your updates. Apple released time up dates for most OS X systems to adjust for the early clock changes in March. This update will also adjust for the fall time changes too.

The second part of the automated process is to get your email program to check for mail without you having to launch it. Make sure Entourage is in your dock. (if it’s not; drag the Entourage icon into the dock.) Now click and hold the mouse on the icon. A contextual menu will pop up. Select the Open at Login choice. That’s it. Keep in mind each time you start the mac the Entourage program will check for email whether it’s from an automated start or a restart.

Q: I want to upgrade my RAM but don’t know what type it takes. How do I find out and how do I know it’s max RAM limit?

A: First go to the Blue Apple menu and click About this Mac. From that screen Click More Info”. This takes you to the profiler screen.

What you want to do here is see how much RAM you already have and more importantly; where is it?

Most macs have multiple slots that are available to add memory. These open slots allow you to insert a memory “chip” about the size of a large stick of gum.

Anyway click on the Memory selection on the side. This will show you how many slots your mac has and what memory is already installed. If no RAM is installed in the slot it will say “Empty”. Otherwise you will have to remove a RAM chip and replace it with a larger one. So, this has shown you a snapshot of what your mac has and where it is.

Go to my favorite site www.versiontracker.com and search for MacTracker. Mactracker will show you the TYPE of RAM you need. There are many types. Just as your car takes a certain spark plug, your mac takes a certain of RAM chip (module).

Select your mac from the Mactracker application look to see the maximum amount of RAM it takes and more importantly the type of chip i.e. DDR SDRAM PC2600SU. Some macs take a very specific rare type of RAM and even if it says it will work with your mac, it won’t so save the receipt from where you purchase it. I’ve heard experienced problems where if a firmware upgrade is done, it doesn’t like the RAM already installed.

Installing the RAM can be simple to complicated depending on the mac. RAM is also very sensitive to static shock and can be easily rendered useless by mishandling.

Q:What does syncing an iPod mean?

A: This is a very simple concept. iTunes offers an option called Syncing. This option looks at the contents of the iTunes music library and looks at the contents of the iPod and compares them and keeps them the same. That is, if you delete a song from the iTunes Musci library, the next time you attach your iPod to the mac (or PC), it will delete the song from the iPod too. Also if you add a song to iTunes , the song will be added to your iPod when it’s connected next time.

You can also specify only certain playlists to be synced. You need NOT sync the entire contents of the iPod. In fact some iPods you won’t be able to since the iPod may not be large enough to hold the entire song collection of iTunes in your Hard drive.

You may also sync your ical and address book too. This is very handy especially if you tend to have your ipod on you a lot. Ipods you can’t sync the iCal and Addressbook are the iPods which have no display such as the iPod Shuffles.

Steve Woron is an artist and Mac technician and lives in Vernon CT. Contact him at (860) 871-9933.  He also has been doing desktop publishing for 19 years. He also builds websites for individuals and small companies...

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View Dr.Macs past articles:

#59 3/07 The Powerbook Battery
#58 2/07 Mysteries of the Startup Login and Authenticating Password
#57 1/07 Right Way to Backup and Reset Your iPod
#56 12/06 Mysteries of the Keychain (Passwords)
#55 11/06 Watermarking Buffy
#54 10/06 Photo Stitching
#53 9/06 Shutdown or Sleep? Mutli User quick switching. Blocking Web Smut.
#52 8/06 Another Drive Boot. Backing Up MAIL email. Hard Drive Diet.
#51 7/06 Check email on Vacation. Sending Huge Files Over the Web. DSL or Cable?
#50 6/06 The Unknown Menu. Double Trash Cans.
#49 5/06 Open Files Globally. Weird Word Documents. Appletalk Ethernet Problems.
#48 4/06 What's a Burn Folder? Easy Way to Send Digital Pics. Backing Up the Address Book.
#47 3/06 Add Wireless to iMac Flat Panel. Sharing Internet from Another Mac.
#46 2/06 The Intel Switch for Mac. Cleaning Up Unruly Text.
#45 1/06 VHS Movies to Tape Part 3
#44 12/05 VHS Movies to Tape Part 2
#43 11/05 VHS Movies to Tape Part 1
#42 10/05 Connecting a Mac and PC together. OS 10 By-Pass Control panels Startup
#41 9/05 Office for FREE. The Mac Mini. How to Tell if You Have a CD and/or DVD Burner...
#40 early 8/05 Tiger's Spotlight. How to Take Screenshots.
#39 late 7/05 Digital Photo Printing Services.
#37 late 6/05 Boot From another OS X Drive. No More Modems.
#36 early 6/05 Cleaning the Inside and Outside of the Mac. Phishing for Your Identity.
#35 5/05 OS X 10.4 Tiger Features
#34 4/05 (Not Available)
#33 3/05 Explorer Bookmarks. Explaining File Sizes.
#32 2/05 What's the Difference Between a Virus and Spyware and Possible Protection...?
#31 1/05 The Email Packrat and Rebuilding Your Email Database.
#30 12/05 How to Buy a Digital Camera (in 2005)
#29 11/04 Modem Dials on its Own. The Death of OS 9. Don't Defrag or Use Norton.
#28 10/04 Hard Drive Lifespans. Powerbook Won't Boot from Battery. Spoof Email.
#27 9/04 (Not Available)
#26 8/04 (Not Available)
#25 7/04 Copy your Bookmarks to OS X Safari or...
#24 6/04 Powerbook Wallstreet Display Problems. Building a Small Website.
#23 5/04 Backing Up Email in 9. What's a "~"? Free Software Depot. PhotoGrid.
#22 4/04 Sleeping and USB Waking Problems. iBook Recall.
#21 3/04 Language Bloating; Regain a Gig. What's 1904? Updating the OS.
#20 2/04 Cable vs. DSL Broadband
#19 12/03 Putting Your Old Mac to Use and Apple Firsts
#18 11/03 OS X 10.3 Panther Features
#17 10/03 Troubleshooting OS X 10.2 and Transferring Data Between Macs
#16 9/03 Big F Virus?