Author: Bob Levitus

I am now accepting a limited number of new consulting clients… If you need help with your backup strategy or execution (or anything else on your Mac or iDevice), I’m happy to say I’m once again accepting new consulting clients. I’m pretty stoked because several of you have asked about it and I’ve had to turn you down. But, now that I’ve finished writing Working Smarter for Mac Users (in production; watch for it this March in fine eBook Stores everywhere) I…

Pre-Order Working Smarter for Mac Users Today and Save Up to $20 I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve finished the writing portion of Working Smarter for Mac Users. All I’ve got left is a final edit and production. So, if all goes well it, should be available in the iBook Store, Amazon.com (Kindle Store), and elsewhere by the end of February. In celebration (I don’t know about you, but I’m celebrating!), I’ve got a special deal for you: From now until the day it…

I began 2017 with a pair of columns reminding users that their hard drives are going to fail—absolutely and positively—and that the question isn’t if they’re going to fail, it’s when they’re going to fail. And, I urged them to back up their data or risk losing it forever. If you haven’t seen the columns already, you really should; you can  find them here:   Resolve to Back Up Your Mac in 2017 (Dec 28, 2016 ) & Backups on a Budget (Jan 04, 2017). Go…

I’ve always been obsessed with finding the fastest, easiest, or most elegant way of doing something, so many of my favorite Mac (and iOS) apps are simple, inexpensive utilities that help me do one thing better, faster, or more elegantly. I added a dynamic duo of such utilities to my Mac productivity arsenal earlier this year; today I wouldn’t want to use my Mac without them.    MOOM = MOVE AND ZOOM WINDOWS MOUSELESSLY Moom is a $9.99 app that manages windows…

It’s traditional that I write at least two gift guide columns toward the end of each year and this year was no exception. In fact, this year I recommended more cool products in my three gift columns than ever before. Rather than sending you all over the Internet to read them, I’ve summarized or pasted all of the salient details (and more—including pictures!) below. So, without further ado, here are this year’s picks for the best gifts to get for…

I hate to break it to you, but with the introduction of new MacBook Pros last week came news that the beloved Mac startup chime has died of unknown causes at age 32. I was, of course, heartbroken. So, I made a little video with famous startup chimes and chimes of death/doom as a kind of memorial for the deceased: Special thanks to the nice folks at MacTracker; I couldn’t have done this without them.

I’m about to embark on my annual tour of Mac user groups in the great Northeast: Monday, November 7: Virginia Macintosh Users Group (VMUG) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, November 8: Princeton Macintosh Users Group (PMUG) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, November 12: Main Line Macintosh Users Group (MLMUG) at 9 a.m. All meetings are free of charge; click the links for details. At each meeting I’ll be showing a few ways to work smarter on your Mac; demonstrating a few of my favorite things; and revealing the best things…

macOS 10.12 Sierra comes out tomorrow; please don’t install it until you read this: Dr. Mac’s Rants & Raves (Dr. Mac’s Rants & Raves Episode 187 for The Mac Observer) Or, if you can’t read the whole thing (it’s only a few hundred words) for whatever reason, here’s the thrilling conclusion: If you like to live dangerously, go ahead and install Sierra and iOS 10 the minute they come out. I will, but remember, I’m a trained professional. So, before you do…

This is an update of a previous blog post about setting up free dictation on your Mac. It’s slightly different in macOS Sierra than in previous versions of macOS, so please enjoy this delightful little ditty I like to call: How to become a Mac Dictator (Sierra edition) Have you always wanted to become a dictator? Not that kind! I meant the kind who dictates text to their Mac rather than typing. If you don’t like to type, or you…

Pokemon Go is a Huge Security Risk by Adam Reeve is well worth reading if you are even thinking about playing the new Pokemon Go iOS app. If you choose to play, at least the way it’s currently set up, Pokemon Go will have full access to ALL OF YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT INFO. Which is to say the makers of Pokemon Go can:  Read all your email Send email as you Access all your Google drive documents (including deleting them) Look at your…

I’m trying something new and will be hosting my first “Ask me anything,” a live streaming event, on Sunday July 3 at 7PM Central. You can post questions here in advance (your best bet):  Click here to visit the Ask Me Anything page Or wait and ask them during the event (not such a good bet). Click here to join the live event (Sunday July 3 at 7PM Central) Here’s the official trailer: I hope to see you there Sunday night!

This is an excerpt from my upcoming e-book, Working Smarter for Mac Users. It’s about setting up free dictation on your Mac, and while the book’s still in beta (coming this fall), this piece is pretty much done. So please enjoy this delightful little ditty I like to call: Who Wants to Be a Dictator? Have you always wanted to become a dictator? Not that kind! I meant the kind who talks to their Mac instead of typing. If you don’t like…

This entry is all about the Toolbar and Sidebar in Finder windows, but don’t worry—I won’t bore you a feature-by-feature description of every Toolbar and Sidebar feature. Instead, I’ve written a delightful little ditty about making the Sidebar and Toolbar work smarter, a tantalizing little tale I call: Why the Hell Haven’t You Customized Your Toolbar and Sidebar??? I’m teaching a class on Mac basics at University of Texas Informal Classes and It freaks me out that not a single…

Has This Happened to You? Your iPhone SPONTANEOUSLY MADE A PHONE CALL FOR NO APPARENT REASON? Friends say, “I’m returning your call,” EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW YOU DIDN’T CALL THEM? You see phone numbers in your Recent Calls list BUT YOU KNOW YOU DIDN’T DIAL THEM?   If any of these has happened to you, I’m pretty sure I know why. And, I’m also pretty sure I know how you can develop a habit to prevent it from ever happening again.   …

I made this for Working Smarter for Mac Users, my upcoming e-book. But I like you too much to make you wait months to see my 13 second masterpiece. So, if you want to learn how to move many files into a folder with one click, here’s my 13-second tutorial:   If you liked it, I’d appreciate it if you’d say something in the comments. If you didn’t like it, I’d still appreciate it if you’d say something in the comments. Thanks!

I made this for Working Smarter for Mac Users, my upcoming e-book. But I like you too much to make you wait months to see my 15 second masterpiece. So, if you want to learn how to batch rename files (for free), watch this:   If you liked it, I’d appreciate it if you’d say something in the comments. If you didn’t like it, I’d still appreciate it if you’d say something in the comments. Thanks!

Check it out… I just finished a column about my trip to Germany, featuring my close encounters with a pair of world leaders, the famous river surfers of Munich, and IBM Watson, up close and personal It’s at The Mac Observer (of course). Click here to read it.

I’m back from my trip to Germany and just finished posting all the pix and videos I shot there. If you’re interested, you’ll find them—all 400 or so of them—here.  Or, browse the embedded gallery below if you prefer. (Tip: Use the Next and Previous buttons on the right and left edges of the image if you want to browse without leaving this page. If you click anywhere else on the image, the Flickr gallery will open in a new window…

My desktop was a mess. I had more than two dozen icons strewn about, and as often as not opened or dragged the wrong item, or dragged two or more items when I meant to only grab one. I’ve also dragged extra files or folders to the Trash unknowingly along with items I actually wanted to drag to the Trash.     Here’s what it looked like before I cleaned it up:  So I decided I’d create a folder on my Desktop to…

I’ll make this brief… If you’re as fascinated by the new Apple “spaceship” campus as I am, here’s a cool new drone video:  And here’s a link to the official Apple Campus 2 information page on the City of Cupertino web site. That’s all, folks (at least for now).