CreativeTechs Tips

One of the more controversial choices in the new Apple iPad is the lack of support for Flash-based content.

So, what does the web look like without Flash? If you are curious, there are a number of utilities and scripts that allow you to disable Flash on your desktop browser. Here are a couple plugins:

Safari (Mac): ClickToFlash

Firefox (both): Flashblocker

Flash elements are replaced with a simple box – which I find does speed up much of my web browsing. When you want to view the Flash, just click on it to play as normal (and option that won’t be available on the iPad).

Source: I was turned onto ClickToFlash by consultant Kyle Pauley who owns and leads the Mac Support side of CreativeTechs in Seattle.

If you’ve ever spent too much time composing an email on your iPhone’s tiny keyboard you are going to LOVE this! Dragon Dictation is an amazing, free, dictation app for your iPhone.

Just launch the app, press the record button, and start talking. You can dictate anything from a short note to a longer soliloquy. Once the text is transcribed, you can send it as an email, text message, or copy to the clipboard. Clean up some missed words and add punctuation, and you are set!

Link: Dragon Dictation at App Store

I’ve been playing with this app over the last week, and I’m amazed at the accuracy of the speech-to-text conversion. There are typically a few errors, but they are easy to fix.

Tip: You can add punctuation to your text by saying ‘period’, ‘question mark’, or ‘exclamation mark’ as you talk. It’s a nice touch.

Source: I first ran across Dragon Dictation early last week on the always topical TUAW blog. Although I find myself wondering how long it will be before we have an app that combines this type of speech-to-text transcription with something like Google Translate.

Designing websites that take advantage of the iPhone web environment requires more than simply designing for a smaller screen size. The iPhone automatically scales websites when needed. iPhone readers use multi-touch gestures to zoom or move around the page. Flash isn’t supported, and neither are larger animated GIFs (a surprise to me).

Tucked away in Apple’s free iPhone Software Development Kit is a terrific iPhone Simulator you can use to test and preview your websites. In the full version of this tip we’ll show you where that iPhone Simulator application is hidden, and include a few tips on how to test various iPhone features.

Download Apple’s Free iPhone SDK

Note: You’ll have to register for a free developer account and agree to Apple’s terms. Read on and we’ll show you where the iPhone Simulator application is hidden, and include a few tips on how to test various iPhone features.

Read the Full Tip »

If you find yourself collaborating and sharing files with a small team, check out DropBox.com.

DropBox Easy File Sharing

Dropbox is a terrific application and web service that syncs a shared folder of files over the internet to multiple computers. After you install the application on several computers (using the same account), it creates a synced Dropbox folder on each hard drive. Any file you put inside that folder will be synced and available on each computer or through the Dropbox web interface.

Dropbox works on both Mac and Windows. You can get started with 2GB of shared space for free. Or upgrade to 50GB for $9.95/month or 100GB for $19.95.

Source: We use a free 2GB Dropbox account at CreativeTechs for sharing and working on a variety of classroom materials, including the small weekly class icons that we use to promote each week’s class schedule. It’s a handy tool.

This isn’t a tip. It’s a screenshot Kyle just sent me from one of the cooler projects we’ve been involved in so far this year. Kyle and Jordan prepared an entire network of computer images that a client took to China on a laptop drive. Kyle had to help them configure the network sufficiently over the phone so he could get in remotely and finish the office setup.

This is, from front to back, an RDC connection to a windows machine running in VMWare on another mac, which is running on a mac, when is screen shared from another mac, which is connected to via iChat Screen Sharing feature, and is in China.

Read the Full Tip »

If you do website design and development on a Mac, this is one of those tips you should love. Everyone else can skip this one (Don’t worry we’ll be back with something else for you next week).

PHP and MySQL features don’t come enabled on the built-in OS X web server. It’s possible to access those features with some command-line gymnastics. But we have a MUCH easier way.

MAMP is a free standalone web server you can download and run in minutes. Run this application and push “Start Servers” and you are running a test web server on your Mac with PHP and MySQL services already configured.

MAMP: One-click-solution for your personal webserver.

MAMP stands for: Macintosh, Apache, MySQL and PHP. These are the four main constituents you need to design and develop a full featured website or application on your Mac. Web developers, enjoy! Read the Full Tip »

Google recently released a new service that lets you perform searches for images that are visually similar to each other:

Google Labs: Similar Images Search

Start by searching for an image using a traditional search term (for example, search for apple). Once you find a result that is close to what you’re looking for, click on the "Similar Images" link and Google finds images it believes to be similar in appearance.

Source: This tip drawn from a mention on the terrific CreativeBits site.

I’ve been looking at various online tools to create an international calendar for our worldwide training program. I ran into this handy world clock map you can easily embed in a blog.

It doesn’t solve our immediate problem, but it was interesting enough that I wanted to try it out!

Make Mac Work is our sister blog focused on helping people who manage Macs in larger Enterprise environments. We’ve been working behind the scenes, and today we’re unveiling a clean new look to the site:

Jordan has updated most of the article archives for Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. For a sense of this site’s technical focus, browse through some of the essential articles:

» Deploy Portable Home Directories
» Master Open Directory
» Configure Network Installation
» Manage Account Preferences
» Control Software Update
» Bind to Active Directory

If you are an IT professional who is responsible for supporting Macs, this website is a resource you’ll want to bookmark. Read the Full Tip »

There are three basic tools I need as a modern technical consultant: A flash drive to keep software utilities handy; a small screwdriver to open the occasional computer case; and (most importantly) a steady supply of business cards for referrals and introductions as I talk with people during the day.

I’ve spent more time than I can justify pulling together a basic toolkit that’s with me all the time. Here for your enjoyment, costing less than $100, is my keychain toolkit:

LaCie 8GB iamakey USB Flash Drive. ($35)

Swiss Tech Screwz-All Keyring Tool. ($4.75)

MOO MiniCards & MiniCard Holder. ($19.95 per 100 cards)

I looked at a lot of different products before settling on these three. If you are curious, read on for some alternate flash drives and keychain screwdrivers you might also consider. Read the Full Tip »