I spend a lot of time in my office (you know, 4 walls, a ceiling and a network connection), but I spend almost as much time on the road. The challenge, as you can imagine, is that while I’m on the road, I need to have everything (and I mean everything) with me as though I were in the fixed office. The includes hardware, software, data, communication… everything. In today’s post, I thought I would take you on a tour of my travel bag. This bag is akin to the “football” for the President of the United States. It goes (almost) everywhere that I go. With that in mind, let’s take a look!
Posts filed under Design
An Introduction to Apple Freeform
Looking for an easier way to collaborate with colleagues and a better way to brainstorm ideas and get your thoughts written down and organized? Well look no further! Freeform is one of the latest pieces of software Apple has built right into macOS, and one we highly recommend checking out!
An Introduction to A.I.
Unless you’ve been totally off the grid for the last 6 months or so, you know that A.I. (artificial intelligence) is coming in hot and heavy! Not only is it coming in strong, but it’s only going to become more prevalent in our daily lives.
Animoji Performs "Bohemian Rhapsody"
The new iPhone X packs a serious punch when it comes to technology!! And with all great technology comes fun, right? If you can't have fun with tech, then you're doing something wrong (is it ok if I coin that phrase?).
When Apple introduced Animoji (animated emoji) on Stage at WWDC earlier this year, I immediately knew that I had to use this technology to create a music video for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". That song screams for Anomoji to perform in their place, right?
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you "Bohemian Rhapsody", performed by Animoji!
How did I make it? It required a little bit of creativity, Apple's new iPhone X and Final Cut Pro.
iOS 11 is NOW AVAILABLE!
Starting today, iPhone and iPad customers around the world will be able to update their devices to iOS 11, a major update to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system and the biggest software release ever for iPad. iOS 11 brings augmented reality to hundreds of millions of iOS devices and new professional capabilities improve images in Photos and Camera. Siri is more natural and useful and a redesigned App Store makes it easier to discover apps and games.
Apple's WWDC 2016 Keynote Event
Apple kicked off their annual WWDC event with their greatly-anticipated keynote, held in the historic Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA (the remainder of the conference will be held at the Moscone Conference Center in downtown San Francisco).
Markup Attachments Right On Your iPhone or iPad
One of the coolest, most powerful (and sadly the least used) new features in iOS 9 is the Markup tool in Mail. This feature allows you to quickly add signatures, lines, arrows, magnification circles and text boxes to any PDF or image file with the tap of a button. Once the changes are made, another tap allows you to easily send that file via the Mail app.
This is a great tool for signing contracts, marking up documents, annotating images and more. So why aren't more people using it? Quite frankly, because I think that most people don't know that it exists! So that's why I wrote this post. To educate and encourage you to use this tool. So let's dive in!
Change the Way People See You On FaceTime and Skype
FaceTime, GoToMeeting and Skype are great tools that help us to stay in touch with those that we care about... family, friends, colleagues, etc. The fact that we can, with the click of a button, instantly see someone else regardless of their location is a modern miracle!
With that in mind, today's post will focus (no pun intended, sort of) on the camera element of these calls. Most laptops today come with a built-in HD webcam above the display of your laptop. If not, or if you use a desktop as your primary system, there are plenty of options to add an after-market HD webcam (I prefer the Logitech HD Pro C920 camera). Even with the best cameras on the market, there may be a need to make adjustments to that camera that the built-in software can't offer.
Pro-level Image Editing Without Breaking the Bank
There are certain apps that I use al the time. I mean ALL the time. Mail, Calendar, Safari, etc are some of the ones that you would expect, but one that you may not expect (for someone who does what I do) is PhotoShop. It's an incredibly powerful (and versatile) image-editing tool that allows you to do some really amazing things. The problem is, it can be expensive. It can be hard to justify the cost when the average user wouldn't use more than 20% of what it can do.
There are a lot of PhotoShop alternatives available on the market, but there's really only one that I would (highly) recommend for Mac users...
Create a Screencast of Your iPhone or iPad
I love teaching people, including showing off new tricks and ways to improve their efficiency on their iPhone. There is a huge amount of power contained within these devices, and quick training sessions can help to unleash that power for the end-user. The problem is that it can be challenging to do this when you are remote. You can only go so far with, "Tell me what you see on your phone now".
In today's tech tip, I am going to show you an easy way to create a video screencast of your iPhone. Creating screencasts is a great way to really convey what it is you are trying to show off. Just like a screen recording of your laptop, a screencast of your iPhone is a video recording of exactly what you see on your iPhone's screen. This is super handy for training opportunities and helpful when showing off your favorite apps. Powerful? Oh yeah!
How to Create Your Own TrueType Font in Minutes
Having your own personalized font is more than just cool or fun, it can be useful. Many years ago, I had a professional typeface designer create my own font for me, and I called it "Kevin's Hand". I still use it all the time for filling out forms, writing personalized notes and more. While super-useful to have, to cost a pretty penny to create (around $400, if I remember correctly).
What would you say if I told you that you can create your own custom font in a matter of minutes using your iPad, and that it would cost you less than $10? I know, right?! And what if I told you that this font could be used on your iPhone, iPad and even your Mac? It's all true. Read more to find out how.
Display Apple Watch Faces on Your Mac
If you are fortunate enough to own and use an Apple Watch, you know how beautiful the watch faces are. Whether you prefer a simple, elegant design or something a little more functional, the quality and functionality is near-perfect.
I've been looking high and low for an equally impressive watch face for my Mac in the form of a screensaver, but my searching has been in vein... until now.
Night Shift: What It Is and How It Works
When Apple released iOS 9.3 on March 21, it included a slew of new features. One feature in particular has caught the eye of many people, literally. The feature is called "NIght Shift" and is pretty interesting.
So what is Night Shift and how does it work? Studies have shown that too much "blue light" in the evening is detrimental to our circadian rhythm. In other words, our bodies are designed to consume less blue light as we wind down for bed time, not more. Staring at a bright computer display (laptop, iPhone, iPad... you name it) doesn't allow for that natural process to take place. Instead, the excess blue light tricks out bodies into thinking it's still day time. Hence, the disruption to our circadian rhythm. Night Shift solves that problem (well, as much as it can) and here's how.
Save Time and Look Professional with Printed Envelopes
Maybe it’s because I spend a LOT of time on a keyboard, or maybe it’s because I’m lazy, but I don’t enjoy handwriting. Not just longer documents like letters, but even short notes. That also includes envelopes (like USPS envelopes).
Many years ago, I decided to come up with a solution to this problem. Since then, I used it for myself and never really talked about it until the other day, I mentioned this simple idea to a friend, and he was blown away by it. It’s certainly not Earth-shattering, but it’s convenient and can help to add a touch of professionalism (great for small businesses).
Customized Print Settings Made Simple and Effective
Printing on plain paper is pretty straight forward. We invoke the “Print” dialog (by going to File > Print… or using the Command+P keyboard shortcut), adjust the quantity and click “Print”. That’s it.
When we print to speciality paper (glossy, cardstock, etc.), it’s usually advantageous for us to adjust those settings slightly to accommodate those paper types. Adjusting for cardstock, for example, will adjust the rollers and print heads slightly to allow for the thicker paper to pass through. Believe it or not, as subtle as these adjustments are, it does make a difference in print quality. Manually adjusting these settings once in a while isn’t too bad, but if you find yourself printing to specialty paper often, this post is for you!
