It’s been a while since I wrote any Mac tips. So many folks have given up their Mac computers and switched to iPads and iPhones, I wonder how valuable the tips are. I still use my desktop though, so maybe a few people are interested.

Like PCs, Macs have lots of shortcuts for getting things done. Also, Macs have a lot of features that PCs don’t, And vice versa, of course, but still. This is about Macs. When I  google Mac tips on my iPhone I first get a list of AI generated tips that are fairly useful. Here they are:
Here are some tech tips for Mac:

• Free up storage: Delete files from your Downloads folder, or erase junk mail and deleted items from the Mail app 
• Preview files: Click a file and press the spacebar to preview it without opening it 
• Get system information: Select Apple menu > About This Mac for basic information, or go to General settings for more details 
• Use the Tips app: This app can provide recommendations to help you get the most out of your Apple devices 
• Force quit an application: Hold down Option and right click on the application in the dock 
• Enable battery percentage: Go to Menu bar settings, then Clock, and then Date options 
• Take a screenshot: You can take full-page screenshots 
• Use Mission Control: This feature lets you see all open windows 
• Use multiple desktops: You can use multiple desktops for multitasking 
• Digitally sign documents: You can digitally sign your documents 

 

• Make a keyboard shortcut: You can create a keyboard shortcut 
• Open apps automatically: You can set certain apps to open automatically when you log in 

You can also contact Apple for technical support. 
This video has more tips and tricks for Mac:

 
Those are great, but AI generated stuff isn’t necessarily what a person wants or needs, though it was useful. Sometimes I prefer to be shown how to do things, and for that, I like YouTube videos. Whether it’s for how to remove the toilet flange in the floor of a 1967 Airstream or how to upgrade the hard drive in a Macbook Pro, YouTube seemingly has it all.
For that, I am grateful, and appear to be smarter than I am. Watch it HERE:

Several weeks back somebody wrote asking about how to lock rotation screen on an iPhone. I can’t seem to find the message now, so I’ll wing it. The ability for the screen to rotate on an iPhone is in the settings. Sometimes, you don’t want your screen to rotate, for whatever reason, and it’s a fairly simple setting.

Following is what I found when I googled it:

To stop an iPhone screen from rotating, you can use the Portrait Orientation Lock feature in the Control Center:

Open the Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen if your iPhone has Face ID, or swiping up from the bottom of the screen if your iPhone has a Home button.
Tap the Rotation Lock button, which looks like a lock with an arrow around it.

When the Screen Rotation lock icon is red on a white background, the lock is active
You can also double-tap the Home button to open the multitasking window, then tap the Portrait Orientation Lock button.

Some apps don't support rotation, so the screen might not rotate even if Portrait Orientation Lock is off.

Apple Computer
For those of you that like Apple Computers, I want to write about the new Mac Mini. I haven’t used a Mac Mini in years, but I loved it back then. It was powerful, very small, and still upgradable. The new Mac Mini is getting great reviews and the starting price at Best Buy looks to be $549. For a Mac, that’s a great price. I prefer a desktop to a laptop, but that’s just me. My current desktop is actually smaller than a Mac Mini, but it suits me fine and it’s been working great. It’s an ‘off brand’ called a TRIGKEY. There are many of them, and they are mostly cheaper and more powerful than the big names.

Back to the Mac Mini; I read a great review on it HERE. 

​It’s been in the news a lot, if you get nerdy news like me, and it’s been highly touted. 

By BD Bondy

​I liked Windows 10, but it’s getting time to move on. I’ve been on Windows 11 for a few years now. I don’t remember when it came out, but I switched soon after. I like it as much or more as I liked Win 10.

Apparently you can pay $30 to Microsoft for another year of security updates after the 2025 official retirement date for Win 10. But moving on seems like the right idea. I’ve written several articles on upgrading to Win 11. Even if your computer won’t officially upgrade, there are some options to work around that, however, I recommend getting a new(er) computer.

My favorite way to upgrade/Install Windows 11 is to wipe the hard drive first. In my opinion, it’s the best way to go. I also recommend using a web-based email program, as moving Outlook email can be a difficult and unhappy process. Programs may need to be re-installed, so you may need disks or sign-in info for that.​

​After you start on Windows 11, I suggest looking at the tutorial HERE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRrOXzmuM_8

By Brian Bondy

​A few weeks ago we switched from Starlink’s internet to T-Mobile's. We had Starlink for close to 2 years, I think. We never had any real problems with it, aside from it being down for twenty minutes one afternoon. Way better than Windstream, and quite a bit faster.

After several weeks on T-Mobile, I’d say that Starlink is better. While T-Mobile is fast, it does not seem to have the throughput that Starlink has. This is noticeable only occasionally, and it appears as a blurry picture on the TV, or a pause in the video feed.
​
This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. I haven’t noticed anything on my phone, so that’s good. All in all, for the $90 a month in savings over Starlink, I am going to stick with T-Mobile. I’m hoping that T-Mobile will improve over time. If it gets worse, I’ll switch back to Starlink. 

By Rick Rouse
Courtesy of Rick's Daily Tips

The amount of information available on the Internet with just a few clicks of the mouse boggles the mind.

If all that info was published in a single book it would probably be thick enough to reach all the way to the moon.

That's why Google and other Internet search engines are so important for helping us find the info we need in a timely manner.

But a single web page can hold a lot of information as well, and if you need to find something on a large, congested page it can be like finding a needle in a haystack. 

Luckily, there is a simple key combination that you can press to display a search box - sort of like your web browser's own personal Google.

It doesn't have all the nifty features and capabilities of Google built-in, but it will still allow you to find a specific word or phrase located anywhere on the currently displayed page in a jiffy.
Here's how to search the current web page for a specific word or phrase:

1 - Press the Ctrl+F key combination. You'll see a small search box pop up near the top of the screen.

2 - Type the word or phrase you wish to find in the search box. As you're typing, the first occurrence of that word or phrase will automatically be highlighted on the screen.
​
Clicking the words Previous or Next (or the up arrow or down arrow depending on the browser) will highlight the previous or next occurrence of the word or phrase on the page.
Why not press Ctrl+F right now and give it a try?