Friday, June 26, 2009

PC or Mac: For Busy People. The LAST Calendar You’ll Ever Need.



Are you like me and get blamed for scheduled events you were told about weeks or even months ago? “I told you about Tyler’s triangle practice and Catlin’s underwater basket-weaving class 3 weeks ago. Don’t you LISTEN to me?”

I’m thinking , “Not till I have to..”

I could argue that she never told me, but in 20 years, I’ve never won that battle. So. I have a new weapon in my arsenal; Google Calendar. Sanity saved. Have you ever wanted to share a schedule with your wife, girlfriend, co-worker or ex? Well, now you can. This is not a Mac product but I thought it relevant enough to write about.

Google has been the heavy weight of web search engines and they seem to get everything right when they do it and Google Calendar is no exception.

Google writes, “Simplify. Organize. (And relax.) Organizing your schedule shouldn't be a burden. That's why we've created Google Calendar – our free online shareable calendar service. With Google Calendar, it's easy to keep track of all your life's important events – birthdays, reunions, little league games, doctor's appointments – all in one place.

Using Google Calendar, you can add events and invitations effortlessly, share with friends and family (or keep things to yourself), and search across the web for events you might enjoy. It's organizing made easy.

Features

Calendar Sharing: Set up a calendar for your company softball team, and share it with the whole roster. (Your shortstop will never forget about practice again.) Or share with friends and family so you can view each other's schedules side by side.

Invitations: Create event invitations, send them to friends, and keep track of people's responses and comments, all in one place. Your friends can receive your invitation and post responses even if they don't use Google Calendar themselves.

Quick Add: Click anywhere on your calendar where an event belongs (or use the Quick Add link), and start typing. Google Calendar understands whole phrases like "Brunch with mom at Java Cafe 11am on Saturday," and will pop new events right into your agenda.

Gmail Integration: Add your friend's Super Bowl party to your calendar without ever leaving your Gmail inbox. Gmail now recognizes events mentioned in emails.

Search: Find the date of the Baxter family BBQ (you knew it was sometime this summer). Or, search public calendars to discover new events you're interested in and add them to your own calendar.

Mobile Access: Receive event reminders and notifications on your mobile phone.

Event Publishing: Share your organization's events with the world. Learn more with our Event Publisher Guide.

Cost: Free.”

This suite is a great way to share your schedule with family, friends, girlfriends and especially your spouse. No more excuses about “not knowing”. You can make your calendar as public or as private as you want, allow others to only view and/or edit it.

Someone has brought to my attention Google documents which work on the same principal as the Calendar. Sharing documents isn’t usually a big concern for most people, however being able to access it anywhere and always seeing the correct version can be very handy. There’s also the issue of losing the document which can’t happen if it exists online. Hmm something to consider.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

MacBook Pro Just Shutsdown


Steve, 
I am enjoying my new screen very much. But the computer has been having a problem since I had it done and it is increasing in frequency. It just shuts itself off randomly. When I turn it back on it sometimes does it again. I can't find any similarity of when it happens. not too hot or near end of battery. Any ideas on what is going on? kate


Hi Kate,
I had this issue with mine also, then the fan started making a loud (!!!) noise on startup. It was so loud, I could not hear the TV.! I called Apple and they replaced the entire logic board for free (out of warranty). If you haven’t had yours replaced, call Apple before they stop the “voluntary recall”. Tell them the fan is making a loud sound and wont stop and you’re having this shutdown problem. (it has nothing to do with the LCD replacement.)


Also see:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2006/07/4689.ars

http://www.fixya.com/support/t710869-macbook_pro_just_shuts_down

Thursday, June 4, 2009

iPhoto Crashing Issues and Problems


Q: I’m having problems with iPhoto crashing and freezing. What can be done?

A: iPhoto includes a feature that allows you to rebuild the currently selected iPhoto library. Sometimes rebuilding the library resolves issues such as the library appearing to be unreadable, missing photos, or other issues related to reading the iPhoto library structure.

Note: This article is for iPhoto versions 5 and earlier. For iPhoto 6 and later read on...

Important: You should back up your existing iPhoto Library folder before using the rebuild feature. A backup allows you to restore the iPhoto Library should anything unexpected happen during the rebuild (such as an unexpected shutdown) that prevents the library from rebuilding correctly.

Before performing a rebuild, you should install any iPhoto updates you find by using Software Update. If a software update resolves your issue, then you don't need to rebuild. It's also a good idea to search apple.com/support for your specific iPhoto symptom before performing a rebuild, just in case there is a more specific or relevant solution.

To rebuild iPhoto 5 and earlier you will need at least enough free disk space equal to your current iPhoto library.

Follow these steps to rebuild the iPhoto library:

Quit iPhoto if it is open.

For iPhoto 2, hold down the Shift and Option keys on the keyboard.

For iPhoto 4 and iPhoto 5, hold down the Command and Option keys on the keyboard.

Open iPhoto.

Keep the keys held down until you are prompted to rebuild the library.

Name and save the library.

iPhoto will begin to rebuild the iPhoto library. This can take several minutes, depending on its size.



Note: iPhoto 5.0.2 and later include an additional dialog that appears when you start to rebuild the library.

Use these guidelines for these dialog options:

Select the option(s) for thumbnails if only the thumbnails are appearing in unexpected ways (grey or blank).

Select the "Rebuild the iPhoto Library database" option if iPhoto unexpectedly quits when launched or does not get past loading photos.

Select the option to recover orphaned photos if photos appear to be missing from the iPhoto library.

If there was an issue with album data or with the iPhoto library file itself, then some of the albums may appear blank after rebuilding the library. Look in the main library in the source list of the iPhoto -- the photos are likely still there. If so, drag the photos to their corresponding albums to add them back to the library.

iPhoto 6 and later: Rebuilding the iPhoto library

Important: You should back up your existing iPhoto Library folder before using the rebuild feature. A backup allows you to restore the iPhoto Library if anything unexpected happens during the rebuild (such as a power failure) that prevents the library from rebuilding correctly.

To rebuild the iPhoto library:

Quit iPhoto if it is open.

Hold down the Command and Option keys on the keyboard.

Open iPhoto.

Keep the keys held down until you are prompted to rebuild the library.

A dialog will appear with rebuild options. Select the options you want to use.

Click Rebuild to begin the rebuild process. This may take a few minutes to

complete.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

MacBook Pro Just Shutsdown

Steve,

I am enjoying my new screen very much. But the MacBook pro has been having a problem since I had it done and it is increasing in frequency. It just shuts itself off randomly. When I turn it back on it sometimes does it again. I can't find any similarity of when it happens. not too hot or near end of battery. Any ideas on what is going on? kate

 

Hi Kate,

I had this issue with mine also, then the fan started making a loud (!!!) noise on startup. It was so loud, I could not hear the TV.! I called Apple and they replaced the entire logic board for free (out of warranty). If you haven't had yours replaced, call Apple before they stop the "voluntary recall". Tell them the fan is making a loud sound and wont stop and you're having this shutdown problem. (it has nothing to do with the LCD replacement.)

Also see: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2006/07/4689.ars

http://www.fixya.com/support/t710869-macbook_pro_just_shuts_down