Category Archives: Mac OS X

Key Takeaways for Lawyers from Apple’s WWDC Keynote 2015

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wwdc 2015At Apple’s keynote presentation kicking off its World Wide Developer Conference last week, it unveiled some major improvements to its Watch OS, iOS and Mac OS platforms. Many of these changes are great legal technology that will benefit law practices. Here are a few key takeaways from Apple’s WWDC keynote 2015 address that attorneys have to look forward to:

OS X 10.11: El Capitan

The most beneficial feature of El Capitan, the new OS X for Mac computers, is that it will give people the ability to multi-task by splitting their screen. This will allow attorneys and other professionals to do two things at once, such as scan a new case and perform research at the same time.

iOS 9

Apple has added intelligence to its operating system with iOS 9 by giving it context sensitive features. For instance, if someone asks Siri, “remind me I have this” it will know that they’re talking about the meeting currently pulled up on their screen. Additionally, if an unknown number calls them, they may ask Siri to search their email for any matches.

Apple Watch 

Attorneys can now make the Apple Watch work for them in Watch OS 2 with the ability to make Face Time audio calls and respond to emails.

News

Attorneys can easily remain updated on law-related news stories with an app for the Mac called News. It will allow them to personalize their news stream and to automatically update whenever they open it. The app also includes graphics that will allow it to adapt to the news source’s aesthetics.

The Mac Lawyer Presenting at ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago, IL

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techshowBen Stevens (a/k/a The Mac Lawyer) will be presenting on several topics at the annual ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago, IL April 16 – 19, 2015. This marks the eighth consecutive year that Ben has been asked to speak at “the world’s largest legal technology conference.”

Ben’s presentations this year will cover the following topics:

  • VOIP is Ready for Prime Time (with Nerino Petro)
  • Moving to Mac – Putting Your PC in the Rearview Mirror (with Tom Lambotte)
  • Family Road Trip to Yosemite and iOS 8 (with Katie Floyd)

Because our firm understands the importance of technology, particularly for South Carolina family law attorneys, so our firm’s other attorneys, Jenny Stevens and Jonathan Lounsberry, will also be attending this conference. If you are in Chicago or at TECHSHOW, please stop us and say hello.

Can Your Mac Run Mac OS X Yosemite?

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mac os x yosemiteAs you are no doubt aware, Mac OS X Yosemite is now available, and many have already made the switch to take advantages of its new features (and it’s free). However, if you haven’t yet made the move, do you know if your Mac is actually able to run Yosemite?

The easy answer is that if your Mac is running Mavericks (Mac OS X 10.9), it is able to run Yosemite, as they both have the same system requirements. To make it easy, here’s Apple’s list of Macs that will support Yosemite:

  • iMac (Mid-2007 or later)
  • MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)
  • MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
  • Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)
  • Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
  • Xserve (Early 2009)

If you need help determining whether your Mac has the required 2GB of RAM or 8GB of available storage space for the installation, click here for Macworld’s step-by-step guide. As for me, I haven’t downloaded Yosemite yet (because I have been unusually busy at work), but I plan to do so in the next week or so.

Source: “Which Macs can run OS X Yosemite?” by Leah Yamshon, published at Macworld.com.

How to Dictate to Your Mac (for free)

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dictation-iconMost lawyers, particularly older ones, dictate as part of their daily life. Did you know that your Mac will allow you to dictate to it? Well, it’s true. Even better, it’s super easy and highly accurate (and free).

The ability to dictate to your Mac is built directly into OS X, and when enabled, you can dictate directly into any app that you can type in, which covers most programs, including Word, Pages, Mail, Chrome, Safari, etc. By default, dictation requires an internet connection, because it sends your spoken words to Apple’s servers to be translated into text.

To enable dictation, simply go to  > System Preferences > Dictation & Speech and make sure Dictation is turned “On”. You have the option here to use “enhanced dictation”, which enables you to dictate when you are offline, though it is not as accurate.

You can also select a shortcut key to turn the dictation on. By default, it’s Function + Function, but you have other options or can customize your own if you prefer. The internal microphone is the default input, but you can specify an external microphone at System Preferences > Sound > Input, which may come in handy if you work in a noisy environment.

So, if you want to dictate with your word processing program, you can either (a) go to Edit > Start Dictation or (b) press fn + fn and start talking. When you are finished, click “Done” (or press Return) and your words will appear on screen. Of course, you can include punctuation by saying “comma”, “period”, etc. as you go.

Dictation will highlight any words that it unsure whether it deciphered correctly, and you can then right-click on those words for alternatives and options or you can edit them yourself. You can learn more about dictation here.

How to Print Documents Without Opening Them

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printerDid you know that Mac OS X will allow you to print documents without opening them? It’s really easy, and (as with most things on a Mac) it works exactly the way that you would expect.

To print a document, select it in the Finder, and then press Command + P and it will print to your default printer using your default settings. You don’t have to do anything else except get your document off the printer.

If you want or need to print multiple documents, just hold down the command key and select on the desired documents before clicking Command + P. All of your desired documents will then print to your default printer easy as pie.

Does OS X + iOS = iAnywhere?

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iAnywhere? (photo credit: c|net)

Could Apple be working on an operating system to combine OS X and iOS? Mark Moskowitz, a market analyst at J.P. Morgan, predicts that it is and he’s dubbed it iAnywhere. He predicts that within the next 12 to 18 months, this system will allow an iOS device (like an iPhone or iPad) to be docked to a specially configured secondary display and run as a full-blown computer.

The upside for Apple, according to Moskowitz, is “this category would be a leapfrog event, potentially jumpstarting iPhone and iPad growth as well as peripherals and cloud-based software and services sales.” However, Apple executives Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi explicitly said that convergence between iOS and OS X was “absolutely a non-goal” for the company and that the two operating systems would remain distinctly “different in those things that are critical to their essence.”

Of course, other PC manufacturers have flirted with the dual operating system concept, but never with successful results. Whether iAnywhere becomes a reality will remain to be seen, but if the statements from Apple’s executives are to be believed, I wouldn’t bet on it happening any time soon (if at all).

Source: “Analyst Predicts ‘iAnywhere’ OS X and iOS Combo Platform Despite Apple’s Public Dismissal” by Juli Clover, published at MacRumors.

How to Silently Change the Volume on Your Mac

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Silence Your MacI love my MacBook Air, but I hate the popping sound that it makes when changing the volume. Does this sound familiar? You’re in a meeting and it’s relatively quiet. Suddenly, you realize that you forgot to turn your volume down. You push F11 to lower it, but the pop pop popping sound lets everyone know what you’re doing. Not fun.

You can silently change the volume on your Mac, and the fix is super fast and super simple. Press Option + F11 to bring up the Sound System Preference pane. On the “Sound Effects” tab, uncheck the box beside “Play feedback when volume is changed.” The image below shows the now silent box. Now, you can raise and lower your volume “pop-free”.

Silence Your Mac

Dock Tips and Tricks for Your Mac

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dock

The Dock is a helpful feature of Mac OS X. It faithfully holds your programs at the ready for you to use. Did you know that there are several Dock tricks and tips that can make it even more useful?

Move to the Side

dock right

By default, the Dock is located at the bottom of the screen where it takes up quite a bit of real estate on your screen – especially if you’re using a laptop. You can reclaim some screen space by relocating the Dock to the left or right side of your screen. To do so, simply click the Apple menu > Dock > Position on Right (or Left). I find this particularly helpful on my 11″ MacBook Air, and my preference is to have it located on the right.

Hide the Dock

Too much of anything is bad for you. You can hide the Dock when it’s not in use to gain even more screen space. With this feature activated, the Dock will only appears when you move the arrow to its side of the screen. You can hide the Dock in either of the following ways: (1) Apple menu > Dock > Turn Hiding On, or (2) Go to System Preferences > Dock > Click the “Automatically hide and show the Dock” checkbox. I like this feature a lot, as it provides me with more working space.

dock magnification

Dock Magnification

Wouldn’t it be great to make the Dock as small as possible but still be able to see (and easily access) the programs parked on it? With the Magnification option, you can do just that, and you can control how big or small the magnification should grow to, and how big or small the Dock should appear in its normal state.

From the Apple menu, choose Dock, then Dock Preferences (or open System Preferences and click Dock) to open the preferences. Here, you can move the Magnification slider to control how big the icons will grow. You can also adjust the size of the Dock to make it larger or smaller. I keep my (hidden) Dock fairly large and keep the magnification maxed out.

Lock Screen Security Tips for Attorneys

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lock screen securityThere are some basic steps that every attorney should take to secure their Mac laptops. First and foremost, require that a login password be entered whenever your computer starts or wakes from sleep. If you fail to do so, your data will be accessible to anyone who happens upon your computer.

However, what if a Good Samaritan finds your lost computer, only to find that it is locked, leaving them unable to determine who it belongs to or how to contact that person. I recommend using the steps below to provide a way to reach you even when your screen is locked:

  1. Go to “System Preferences”
  2. Click on “Security & Privacy”
  3. Check “Show a message when the screen is locked”
  4. Click “Set Lock Message…” and enter your desired text

As you can see in the image at right (click on it to enlarge), the Lock Message on my MacBook Air says “If found, please return to Ben Stevens (864) XXX-XXXX (reward offered)”. I list my cell number in this message, as I always have my iPhone with me. Also, when people lose their computers, it’s most often while traveling, so a home or office number is less helpful.

By following these simple steps, your Mac laptop can protect your data while providing a way to contact you if it is ever lost. Obviously, I hope you never need to use these lock screen security tips, but if you do, I hope they will come in handy.

Force Quit Basics for Attorneys

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force quitSometimes applications misbehave, and this post will explain several Force Quit basics for attorneys to deal with them when this occurs. This feature is built into OS X, and there are several ways to access this option. In this post, I will discuss the most commonly used ones, which I hope you will find helpful.

The most common method is to select  > Force Quit…, which brings up a list of all applications that are currently running. You then click on the one you want to end, click Force Quit, and poof it’s gone. If you hold down the Shift key when clicking the  menu, the option changes to Force Quit [Current Application] and you can end it directly instead of having to navigate to it.

If you want to avoid having to navigate to the  menu, you can hit Command + Option + Escape to bring up the simple “Force Quit Applications” window, from which you can select the desired app and end it. However, my favorite way to Force Quit is to do so from the Dock, by using Option + Right Click (two finger tap on your trackpad) to bring up the “Force Quit” option.