A common complaint amongst MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro owners is the seemingly low “maximum” volume level of the built-in speakers. It’s frustrating, but there are a few ways to get around it. Although some may blame Apple’s hardware for the quiet speakers, it’s actually Mac OS X’s fault. Folks running Windows in Boot Camp might notice audio played from there is much louder at full blast than on the... 

Time Machine, the automated backup utility built into Mac OS X, is set to run every hour by default. Is this too often for you? Find out how you can change the backup interval, plus how to initiate backups only when you trigger them manually. For most people, hourly backups with Time Machine are just right for keeping their Mac’s precious files safe from disaster. But, as with all things related to technology, everyone has their own personal... 

Mac users: Have you ever wondered what all that system memory stuff in the Activity Monitor was all about? Understanding the terminology – free, wired, active, and inactive RAM – can help you decide if your Mac has enough memory. A quick peek at Mac OS X’s Activity Monitor to see how your system is performing can generate more questions than answers. The same thing goes for free Dashboard widgets like iStat Pro . That’s because the... 

The Mac Application Switcher is that handy list of open programs that comes up when you press Command+Tab on the keyboard. Add more functionality to this feature with a few keyboard shortcuts. For folks coming from the Windows world, Alt+Tab and Command+Tab are one in the same. It’s a quick way to see what programs are running and then jump from one open application to another without touching the mouse. The cool thing about the Mac version... 

Magic Mouse owners who are still running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard have been left out in the cold. Apple only officially supports momentum scrolling in 10.6, but a simple hack can bring 10.5 users up to speed too. For those of you who are wondering, momentum scrolling is the term used to describe the fancy fast/slow scrolling style seen on the iPhone. For example, when you…  Read More →

Expensive software like Photoshop is not necessary to resize large groups of pictures all at once. Mac OS X’s Preview application gets the job done just as easily for free! Resizing a bunch of images can be a tedious and time consuming task when done manually, one-by-one. Sometimes it’s just plain impossible. That is, after all, why automated tools exist for this kind of task. But instead of investing in specialized software, why not... 

Spotlight – Mac OS X’s fantastic system-wide search tool – helps find files, launch applications, make basic calculations, look up definitions, and more. Best of all, it can do all that without ever needing input from a mouse. Whether they realize it or not, Spotlight is every Mac user’s best friend. It works so effortlessly and adds so much functionality that many people simply can’t imagine living without it. If you’re... 

Since Apple software such as iTunes and iPhoto uses libraries to organize content, you may think you’re limited to just one per user account. It turns out these programs can actually manage multiple libraries at the same time. When most people think of putting more than one iTunes or iPhoto library on a Mac, they usually associate that with separate user accounts for each each person who uses the computer. That is certainly one way to go... 

While snooping around iPhoto ‘09 I recently discovered a few things I never really noticed before. Find out how to compare photo edits, filter items to be imported, and copy location information. I’m admittedly not an iPhoto expert. I mostly just organize my photos into Events and let them be – which is probably why I never came across these almost-hidden features until now. I’m glad I did, though, because they’re definitely... 

Users of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, specifically those running 10.6.2, are experiencing a widespread problem related to copying directories to Windows-formatted volumes in Finder. I recently got a new USB flash drive and ran into a serious issue as I was loading it with data. Some of the files I temporarily copied to my Mac’s Desktop from my old flash drive would not successfully copy to the new one. Both flash drives were formatted as FAT volumes... 

Although Macs are reliable machines, they are not exempt from hiccups. All you need to do is carry around a single USB flash drive to be ready for situations the require you to diagnose, repair, or experiment with Mac OS X. One of the maintenance tools every Mac user should have available in case of emergency is a bootable copy of Mac OS X on a removable device. A clean installation of the operating system can help pinpoint problems and will come... 

It was the most successful year in Apple’s history and MacYourself’s first full year on the web. To celebrate the conclusion of 2009, let’s take a look at the most-viewed articles this past year. You just may have missed a few gems! It’s always fun to look back at what has happened over the past year when a new one …  Read More →

Section: Computers , Netbooks With only a few hours left of 2009, Acer has decided to drop the details on its newest Aspire One netbook.  Read More →

Section: Communications , Cellphones , Mobile Windows Mobile owners have been the envy of other smartphone owners for one reason. Swype. The new technology for faster “typing” has been exclusively available on the Samsung Omnia 2 and has had me itching to get my hands on it. However, all of the Droid owners will now be able to give it a shot and see how their typing is effected by the new technology.  Read More →

Section: Video , Content , Portable Video , Peripherals , Storage Since 1888, National Geographic has visited many strange, interesting, and exciting places, people, and animals on our planet.  Read More →