Author: Christopher Breen

Reader Diane Fillian looks to the future but wants to take precautions. She writes:

iOS 8 is coming out next week and I’ve very interested in installing it on my iPad. Are there things I can do today to get ready for it?

We’ll be offering a complete iOS 8 installation guide in the next few days, but I’m happy to reveal the steps you should take before the next version arrives.

Back up your stuff

As you’d do before installing any new operating system, be sure that your data is backed up. You can do this either via iCloud or through iTunes on your computer. Let’s take a look at both options.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Reader Regina Laurent wishes to correct Siri’s pronunciation. She writes:

I like using Siri on my iPhone but she mispronounces my name as well as the names of some of my French friends. Is there anything I can do to teach her to speak properly?

You have a couple of options. The first is to deal directly with Siri (which I’ll refer to as “she” even though it can use a female or male voice).

When Siri mispronounces a name, reply “That’s not how you say that.” Siri will respond with “OK, how do you pronounce the name (firstname)?” where firstname is that contact’s first name. Say the first name and Siri offers you three pronunciation choices. Tap each sample and then tap Select next to the one closest to the pronunciation you prefer. If none of them are as close as you’d like, you can tap Tell Siri Again and she’ll take another stab at it.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Plenty of great questions slip through Mac 911’s mail slot, but the reply to some of them is so brief that they don’t merit a full-page entry. From time to time I issue a burst of answers to these very questions. Today is one of those days. Follow along as I address phone-less two-factor authentication, HipChat interface issues, iTunes’ “other” entry, and exported iPhoto metadata.

Two-factor authentication without an iPhone

After the celebrity photo scandal I’m more concerned about security. I understand that using two-factor authentication can make my data a bit more secure, but I don’t have an iPhone. Do I need one?

Initially you do need a device that can receive SMS messages. When you first set up two-factor authentication you’re required to provide Apple with a phone number for a device that can receive SMS messages. This becomes the first of possibly other verified devices. You can then add other devices tied to your Apple ID—an iPad or iPod touch, for example. The first device you entered will receive verification codes via SMS. Added devices will receive verification codes via Find My iPhones/iPad/iPod push notifications.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Today’s iOS devices include mono microphones that are good enough for general-purpose recording—making voice and video calls, capturing audio notes, and identifying tunes with Soundhound. But they’re not ideal for situations where you need higher-quality audio, such as when recording podcasts, lectures, or musical performances. In such situations, an external microphone is the way to go, and Zoom’s $125 iQ5 Professional Stereo Microphone captures good sounding stereo audio.

The design

The iQ5 is a Lightning-connector microphone, which means that it’s compatible with the iPhone 5 and later, the 5th-generation iPod touch, the 4th-generation and later iPad, and all iPad mini models. It comes from the same company that makes the well regarded H5 Four-Track Portable Recorder, and you can see the similarities in the design of the iQ5 as well as the free HandyRecorder app that works with it. However, unlike with the H5, which has two crossed microphones, the iQ5 bears a single perforated ball that contains the two microphone capsules. The ball sits atop the main unit, which hosts controls for adjusting mic gain and the width of the stereo field.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Reader Scott Coatsworth has an issue with disappearing shortcuts. He writes:

I need to transfer files from my Mac to another on our network, so I create shortcuts to the relevant folders on the other Mac in my Finder sidebar. Invariably—sometimes after a couple weeks, sometimes after only a day or two—all my shortcuts to the other Mac’s folders disappear and I have to go back and manually set them all up again.

Is there a way to stop my mac from deleting these shortcuts? Or is there an app that will manage them for me so I don’t have to go through this frustrating exercise every time?

This appears to be a bug in Mavericks. Until Apple deals with it you have to find another way to get the job done. One option is to create such a folder alias and leave it on the desktop or place it in the dock (or create a folder and plunk all such aliases into it). Before you can use an alias, you’ll have to ensure that the networked volume that hosts it is mounted on your Mac.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Reader Patty Hamilton is in the mood for travel but would like to remain connected. She writes:

My family and I are renting a house for a week’s vacation. I’ve been told that wireless Internet is provided but I’ve found some of these “free” connections can be so slow that they’re almost unusable. Any hints for using broadband on vacation?

The good news is that broadband speeds tend to be better for home and condo rentals than some motels and hotels because they’re plumbed with connections typical of the surrounding neighborhood rather than offering a shared, bulk connection. Hotels often use such a shared connection for dozens-to-hundreds of rooms with the result being slow going.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Reader Anthony Lanier wishes to have a cordial conversation with his IT department. He writes:

The division I work in uses Macs but we’ve recently been told that our computers and devices will soon be run by the company IT department, which is very Microsoft and Windows-centric. They’ve solicited our feedback before proceeding but I honestly don’t know what to suggest. Any ideas?

Before I embark on what may appear to be attacks on IT, let me say from the outset that working in IT is a thankless job. They hear from the people they’re trying to help only when those people have a problem, and much of the time they’re approached in anger. So first, be sympathetic to their work and next, be grateful that they care enough to ask for feedback. I’d suggest something along these lines.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

At the risk of giving away the secrets of musicians everywhere, there are bound volumes of (sometimes legal) musical scores called “fake books.” Rather than denoting every note and rest within a composition, they instead offer a “lead sheet” made up of a single melody line and chord headings. It’s then the musician’s job to devise an arrangement (read: fake their way through) based on this bare outline. The most well known of these fake books is the Real Book, which is full of jazz standards.

I mention all this to give you some idea where iReal Pro (Mac App Store link) gets its name. (iReal Pro is available in versions for iOS, Android, and the Mac; I discuss the Mac version, which costs $20, here.)

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Reader Stephanie Johnson has a question regarding an old and new iPhone and the apps they hold. She writes:

I have a 64GB iPhone 5, and there’s a recall to fix a fault sleep/wake button. Apple says it will give you a 16GB loner for the few days it takes to repair. What’s the best way to create a temporary, scaled-down version of your phone to use on the loaner, while keeping your app organization structure intact when you revert to your original phone again?

As you’re assuredly aware, the difficulty you face is that your 64GB phone likely has more stuff stored on it than a smaller-capacity phone can handle so you can’t simply back up your current phone and then restore it to this new device. Although you could approach this by setting up the loaner phone with your Apple ID and retrieving just those apps you need, I’m going to suggest instead that you use a tethered iTunes connection as you can more easily get to your existing data and apps. The result will be a phone that has the apps and data you need in the short-term, but not a fully restored copy of your old phone.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Transcript

[Editor’s note: The MPAA and most media companies argue that you can’t legally copy or convert commercial DVDs or Blu-ray discs for any reason. We (and others) think that, if you own one of these discs, you should be able to override its copy protection to make a backup copy or to convert its content for viewing on other devices. Currently, the law isn’t entirely clear one way or the other. So our advice is: If you don’t own it, don’t do it. If you do own it, think before you rip.]

Over the years we’ve talked about creating backups and portable copies of the DVD media you own. But the world of disc-based media has shifted largely to Blu-ray. Once upon a time ripping Blu-ray discs wasn’t all that necessary because these discs came with digital copies available from the iTunes Store. Regrettably, the movie industry has moved to the Ultraviolet digital copy scheme which is neither convenient nor reliable, so it’s back to ripping we go.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous has a simple question about Mavericks and an older version of Apple’s AirPort Utility. That question reads:

Now that the older AirPort Utility doesn’t work in Mavericks, how do people administer their older AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express base stations?

I answered a question similar to this in regard to old base stations and Mountain Lion and that technique still works—provided you’re running Mountain Lion. With Mavericks, nuh uh.

One solution is to install Mountain Lion on another volume, boot from it, and then use the technique I just linked to. But yes, that’s kind of a pain. Fortunately there is another way.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

If you’re a musician who also owns a Mac, chances are that you’ve spent hours playing with (and playing into) GarageBand. And why would’t you? GarageBand 10 is free for the basic version and for a measly $5 you can expand its content to include 200 sounds, 2,000 loops, 15 drummers, and 40 guitar and piano Basic Lessons. It supports multi-instrument input (with a compatible audio interface), has a solid collection of virtual instruments, enough loops to piece together a track that grooves, amps and pedalboard effects for both guitar and bass players, and mixing tools capable enough to help you produce a great demo.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Reader Doug McGowan is interested in creating instructional slideshows. He writes:

I have some information that I’d like to present to a group via a slideshow that they’ll watch on their computers. I have the pictures I need in iPhoto but I can’t find a way to annotate them. Is it possible?

Not in an effective way. The Ken Burns and Classic slideshow themes let you display captions. And although you could do this by adding some text to each image’s Description field within its Info window and then choosing to display the description as a caption, iPhoto will cut off long strings of text rather than wrap them to a new line. Plus, there’s no way to add a background shape (a colored rectangle, for example) to help set off the text.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Macworld commenter Lisban Osorio has a multimedia problem that faces a few of us. He writes:

My copy of the Godfather II comes on two DVD discs. I’d like to play it on my Apple TV as one continues file. How can I do that?

First, you’ll have to rip each disc, a process we’ve described many times. The free HandBrake continues to be my tool of choice for such chores. I’d suggest that you rip them using HandBrake’s Apple TV 3 preset to get the best looking video.

Once you have the ripped versions of your two movies you must find a way to join them. Although you can do this in iMovie and QuickTime 7 Pro, the operation can take hours. To speed up the process I use MKVToolNix an open-source utility that converts video files into the MKV format. Among its talents is MKVMerge, which will combine multiple movie files and export them as a single MKV file.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Reader Catherine Yee would like easier access to her email. She writes:

Is there a way to make an alias of a mailbox on my iPhone and put it on the home screen so I can access that mailbox more easily? I sometimes need to look back at email I’ve sent and I hate digging through mailboxes within the Mail app to find it.

I like the way you think. It would be great if, like web clippings, you could place aliases of mailboxes on an iOS device’s home screen. But I’m afraid the answer to this one is “Not possible.”

However, it sounds to me like you’ve missed a helpful feature introduced with iOS 7. It’s this: Within Mail on a device running iOS 7 you can easily choose which mailboxes to view from within Mail’s Mailboxes screen.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here