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Five Sweet Tips To Help You Master iTunes On Mac OS X

May 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I have to be honest with you, I get confused a lot with how to use iTunes. And I use a mac everyday! My music and apps are a mess and it often takes me some time to step back and reacquaint myself with how to use iTunes effectively. Well — Cult of Mac has some great tips to help you get your iTunes in order and may actually become an expert user. Enjoy! – Rusty

iTunes has gone from a basic mp3 player based on SoundJam in 2000 to a full-fledged movie and music media player, digital media distribution center, and repository of all your iOS apps. That’s quite a lot of functionality for a music player.

iTunes is still a pretty decent media player, even if it feels rather bloated at times when your music and movie collection grows out of control. However, like anything else complex, it can be a little tricky to figure out how to use iTunes most effectively.

Here, then, are five simple yet helpful tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your iTunes experience.

Find and Delete Duplicate Songs From iTunes On Your Mac

duplicateitunes

One of the changes in iTunes 11, which debuted in November of last year, was the loss of a “find all duplicates” feature that was really handy for finding and deleting duplicate files in our rather voluminous iTunes libraries. Luckily, Apple re-included the feature in the latest version of iTunes 11, version 11.0.1. Here’s where to find it, and how to use it to help yourself clean up that iTunes library.

Make sure you have the latest copy of iTunes, of course–head into Software Update and let it do its thing. UPdate iTUnes to the latest version

Once you have iTunes launched, head up to the View menu and choose “Show Duplicate Items.” The iTunes media window should then update, showing you all the files that are considered duplicates. The list will include all versions of the files that seem to be the same, so be careful you don’t just Select All and Delete.

Which file should you dump? Well, if they’re exact duplicates, it won’t matter. The best way to figure out whether they are, in fact, twinsies, is to use the Information window, which can be brought up with a Command-click on each of the duplicated files, then hitting Command-I on your keyboard. Click over to the Info tab and then use the arrows in the lower left to flip through the info about each file. If you don’t notice any difference in bit rate or encoding, or whatever might change from one file to the next, you have perfect duplicates. Delete either one. If, however, you see that one file is at a lower encoding rate, or is perhaps a lower-quality recording, get rid of that one.

Update: One of our readers points out that there’s another way to make sure the duplicates are exactly the same: hit the Option key when selecting the Show Duplicate Items in the View menu. The option will change to Show Exact Duplicate Items, and you can use that to be super sure you’ve got the same files duplicating up the place. (Thanks, Technochick!)

Multiple Artists–Building A Better Smart Playlist

multipleart

Smart Playlists are fantastic, and they really do work to help you listen to the kind of music you’re in the mood for, using a variety of user-controlled criteria. You can create a Smart Playlist for any given Artist in your iTunes library fairly easily.

But what if you want a playlist that includes more than one Artist? Well, that’s pretty simple, too.

First up, launch iTunes. We’re using iTunes 11.0.2 for this tip, so if you’re using an earlier version, your options may (or may not) vary.

Once iTunes is launched, click on the iTunes menu, and choose New, then Smart Playlist. The dialog box that shows up will look familiar to anyone who’s created a mail rule/filter before. Fill in the first artist you want to include in your Smart Playlist (iTunes will try and autofill from the Artists in your collection), and then click on the plus button to the right. A second Artist field will show up. Fill in the second artist you want to add, and hit the plus button for every new artist you want to include in your playlist.

Then, above, where it says “Match all of the following rules,” click on the word “all” and change that to “any.” Feel free to limit the number of items or time, and allow for Live updating if you want the Smart Playlist to include new music you add after you’ve created it.

Click on the OK button in the lower right, and you’ll get to name the playlist in the sidebar, which just calls it “playlist” by default. Name it how you want, hit Return, and then you’ve got a playlist that includes music from any of the artists in your ruleset. Nifty, huh?

Via: Addictive Tips

See Full Article (Cult of Mac): Here

Filed Under: Featured, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Coca-Cola’s content strategy video to gain more customers

March 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

If you haven’t seen the content marketing strategy from Coca-Cola, then you should take a look. It will give you insight into how traditional marketing is being disrupted and changed by social media. As you well know, I make my living in a world of disruptive technology and this fits perfectly into the message that I hope my customers hear in education.

How you connect and share with your customers has changed forever. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, it’s the way to grow your business.

- Rusty

Do you think Social Media has changed what you pay attention too and the products you buy? Leave me a comment in my comments section.

 

Filed Under: Business, Featured, Technology

Why I monitor my kids’ Social Media and why you should too!

March 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I recently read an article on Forbes called, “Don’t fear your kids’ technology use“ and it really hit home with me. Monitoring my kids are using social media activities has always been a hobby of mine because I believe that it’s every parents responsibility to monitor what their kids are doing on social media and give guidance on how to use it responsibly. If you’re afraid of how kids’ are using social media, then maybe it’s time you joined the community and started looking around.

Image via spotonlists.com

Image via spotonlists.com

My teenagers have been using social media for years, and typically, refrained from a lot of the horror stories that are keeping parents up at night. I’m not saying it’s been a smooth ride, but for the most part, they’ve been able to use it and not make me want to hide my face in public. I attribute a lot of their actions to discussing the expectations and best practices, but more importantly because they know “Big Brother” is watching.

Let’s face it, kids have seven ways to Sunday to stay connected to their friends today. And with the ever abundant app store bringing us new ways to share, it’s almost overwhelming to try and keep up. But keep up, we must!

Here are 5 reason’s “Why” I monitor my kids’ Social Media and why you should too!

  1. Monitor their actions – I hate to say it, but kids are stupid. Well, maybe not stupid but definitely not smart enough to make wise choices. They believe that what they do in this moment is “no harm, no foul”. Even when your kids know that you’re monitoring their lives, they still put stuff on-line, like no one’s watching. This is simply not the case. I watch, and if you want to find out what is going on, you should watch too.
  2. Follow them – Require that your kids let you follow them. That way they know you’re there, but more importantly, it doesn’t give them a sense of free reign. This is not just for Twitter, it’s for everything. Even the sites that you don’t know about and then happen to stumble across by mistake. It’s like letting the leash out a little at a time.  Don’t get me wrong, you’re not trying to keep them from using social media, you just want to give them guidance on how to use it best.
  3. Set the example – This one is a tough one, especially if you’re not a fan of social media, but you gotta do it. Get on-line, get yourself an account and take off! I’m not saying you have be the next social media expert but how can you give your kids guidance if you’ve never used it. There is a ton of information on-line for best practices for using social media and they’re just a click away. Go find it, repurpose it for your situation and help set the best example of the right way to represent themselves. Who knows, you may even enjoy it.
  4. Build community – My kids give me a hard time about this one. I tend to say a lot of dumb dad stuff on-line and they’re the first ones to see it. I think I’m very cool, but apparently, that’s in my own mind. Whether your not as cool as you think or are super cool in your kids eyes, social media can bring you closer to your kids. Social Media is about being social, and about a community, so why not use it as a way to stay connected to their everyday lives. You may actually have learn a lot about your kids personalities just by staying connected.
  5. Social Media last forever – Here’s where it gets serious. Social media goes viral in a millisecond and long standing opinions by others can be formed instantly. Even if you think that you can stop it by deleting your account, once it hits someone else’s device, it’s public. And there is nothing you can do about it. Not to mention that once it’s out, it’s permanent and open for every future employer, husband/wife or friend to see. Kids need to be careful of the opinions and images they share because that will become their social reputation. Just like you didn’t want to be that girl or that guy in school, neither do you on-line.

I hope you gained a little insight as to why I think it’s important to follow my kids on social media and why you should too. If you think I’m crazy, or spot on, I would love for you to leave a comment. One last thing as I go.

What are you doing to monitor your kids on-line?

Rusty Boozer is the founder of rustyboozer.com, a blog about living and working with purpose. He writes about Leadership, Technology, Education and how to add value to the lives of others. Follow him @rusbooz1

Filed Under: Featured, Leadership, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Mastering Evernote: Share Notes Via Email or URL

March 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I use Evernote for almost everything these days, including clipping websites to research these daily OS X Tips, writing grocery lists on my Mac and then using my iPhone at the store, and scanning important printed documents to organize digitally.

Did you know, however, that Evernote will also allow you to share notes? It’s fairly easy, and here’s how.

Image via Cult of Mac

Image via Cult of Mac

When you’ve written your note in Evernote, tagged it, and organized it into the proper notebook, you’re ready to share it.

To email your note to a collaborator, right click on the note, either with a two button mouse, or by using a two finger click on your trackpad, or Control-Click. A contextual menu will pop up. Hover over the Share menu item, and then select Email Note… If this is the first time you’ve done this, Evernote will ask for permission to access your Contacts. Give it the OK.

Then, a little email window will show up in Evernote, letting you fill in the To field. The Subject line will auto fill with the name of your note, and then you can leave a little note in the email body section, and click on the “CC me on this message” option if you want a copy of the email. Hit Send, and you’re good to go.

Full Article (Cult of Mac): Here

Filed Under: Featured, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

iBooks Author: 5 ways to reduce paper in the classroom

March 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Let’s face it, handouts are a time honored tradition that have been passed down from educator to educator for generations. The materials may have changed but not the process and surly not the form that the information takes. Let’s be honest, most materials that are passed out today still require vast amounts of printing and tons of paper.

So why is that the case? Because there hasn’t been an easy way to get content into an electronic form that educators can easily distribute to their students. Until now!

Image via Apple, Inc.

Image via Apple, Inc.

With iBooks Author educators can create digital content or iBooks, then distribute that content to each student electronically and drastically reduce the amount of paper in the classroom. Not to mention, potentially reducing the impact on the environment.

iBooks Author is Apple’s software that was released in January of 2012 for creating interactive textbooks and material for the iPad. It does require a Mac running Mac OS X Lion (OS X 10.7) operating system, but it’s free and very simple to use. It can be downloaded directly to your Mac from the Mac App Store onto your computer. The books can be read on any iOS device but will require iBooks to be installed on the device.

Here are 5 ways that you can use iBooks Author to create content that you can distribute to your students and reduce the amount of paper you use everyday.

Digital Syllabi. Using iBooks Author, you can drop any text or word processing file directly into the iBooks template and and it will automatically place the text into the file. This is a great way to not have to reinvent the wheel and will keep you from having to re-type the information into iBooks. You will then have the ability to edit and enhance the type any way you see fit. You can even make the information more dynamic by adding links that will automatically open the web browser and take them to the correct page.

External Reading Material. You can create your own external reading material by typing directly onto the page or attaching a web link and sending the reader straight to the web page for the material. It’s a great way  to attach multiple links to different pages for easy reading. All of this while staying on the iPad and not requiring them to use other devices.

Create a Review. iBooks Author is a great way to do quick checks by creating quick reviews for the students to use. The review can be a text file that you create or you can use the multiple choice widget that is provided in the application. All you do is drop the review widget onto the page and edit the information from the inspector. You can change the number of questions and have multiple images as part of the choices as well. Keep in mind that the widget does not have  a way to be taken back up and graded, but it’s a great way to check progress on a particular topic.

Create your own Textbook. While most faculty run at this suggestion, they are usually only thinking in terms of traditional textbooks. iBooks Author can create any interactive Textbook and those books can be as simple as 3 pages or as vast as 300 pages. Not to mention, you can create a textbook that has interactivity that will help your students stay engaged. Whether your creating a paper hand out or a full blown textbook, iBooks Author doesn’t care. It still acts the same.

Go Paperless. This is the best of reason of all. Not because it’s environmentally the right thing to do, that’s a good enough reason, but because all the updates to the iBooks can be pushed out to your students wirelessly. Every time you make an update, it automatically pushes a notification to your student and they can get the updated material. Magic! What a great way to update material and not have to reprint an entire book.

I think you can see that there are numerous was to use iBooks Author to reduce the amount of paper in the classroom. I hope that you will download the software and start creating your own interactive material soon. You’ll find it very easy to use and you’ll be on your way to creating engaging content in the classroom.

Have you tired iBook Author for creating interactive material?

Filed Under: Education, Featured, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Emma! – iPad vs. Paper

March 13, 2013 by 1 Comment

I love this commercial. It’s in French and I can’t understand a word of it except for “Emma”, I still thought it was funny enough to share, especially for a die-hard iPad guy like me. Thanks to my wonderful wife for giving me a hard time with it on Facebook.

Enjoy! – Rusty

See related articles here:

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Can the iPad Rescue a Struggling Education System?

March 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Matthew Stoltzfus could never get his students to see chemistry like he sees chemistry until he added a digital component to his lesson plan.

Stoltzfus, a chemistry lecturer at Ohio State University, struggled for years to bring complex chemical equations to life on the blackboard, but always saw students’ eyes glaze over. Then he added animations and interactive media to his general chemistry curriculum. Suddenly, he saw students’ faces light up in understanding.

Image via Wired

Image via Wired

“When I see a chemical reaction on a piece of paper, I don’t see coefficients and symbols, I see a bucket of molecules reacting,” Stoltzfus said. “But I don’t think our students see that big bucket of molecules. We can give students a better idea of what’s happening at a molecular level with animations and interactive elements.”

And many such students are getting this multi-faceted education on tablets. Tablets are reinventing how students access and interact with educational material, and how teachers assess and monitor students’ performance at a time when many schools are understaffed and many classrooms overcrowded. Millions of grade school and university students worldwide are using iPads to visualize difficult concepts, revisit lectures on their own time and augment lessons with videos, interactive widgets and animations.

“In the shift to digital, it’s not just about replacing textbooks but inventing new ways of learning,” Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said. “Some of the education apps being developed for iPad are approaching learning in an entirely new way, and that’s exciting.”

Sallie Severns, founder and CEO of iOS app Answer Underground, told Wired that tablets’ simplicity, ease of use and the massive range of academically minded applications available are drawing teachers and educational technologists to the platform in droves.

Tablet-based learning is no longer the niche it was a year or two ago when we saw a handful of early adopters jump on board with iPad pilot studies in selected grades and classrooms. Schools and teachers are embracing the technology in a big way. A Pew study of 2,462 Advanced Placement and National Writing Project teachers nationwide found that 43 percent have students complete assignments using tablets in the classroom. A PBS LearningMedia study found 35 percent of K-12 teachers surveyed nationwide have a tablet or e-reader in their classroom, up from 20 percent a year ago.

See Full Article (Wired): Here

Filed Under: Education, Featured, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

Apple’s iTunes U content surpasses one billion downloads

February 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Apple today announced that iTunes U content downloads have topped one billion. iTunes U features the world’s largest online catalog of free educational content from top schools and prominent libraries, museums and organizations helping educators create courses including lectures, assignments, books, quizzes and more for iOS users around the world.

Image via Apple

Image via Apple

“It’s inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, in the press release. “With the incredible content offered on iTunes U, students can learn like never before―there are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn.”

More than 1,200 universities and colleges, and 1,200 K-12 schools and districts host over 2,500 public and thousands of private courses encompassing the arts, sciences, health and medicine, education, business and more. Leading universities including Duke, Yale, Cambridge, MIT and Oxford continue to extend their reach by enrolling more than 100,000 students in single iTunes U courses, with Stanford University and The Open University each surpassing 60 million content downloads.
Read more (MacDailyNews): Here

Filed Under: Education, Featured, Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

Tablet ownership skyrockets among college students

March 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The number of college students who say they own tablets has more than tripled since a survey taken last year, according to new poll results released today. The Pearson Foundation sponsored the second-annual survey, which asked 1,206 college students and 204 college-bound high-school seniors about their tablet ownership. The results suggest students increasingly prefer to use the devices for reading.

One-fourth of the college students surveyed said they owned a tablet, compared with just 7 percent last year. Sixty-three percent of college students believe tablets will replace textbooks in the next five years—a 15 percent increase over last year’s survey. More than a third said they intended to buy a tablet sometime in the next six months.

This year’s poll also found that the respondents preferred digital books over printed ones. It’s a reversal of last year’s results and goes against findings of other recent studies, which concluded that students tend to choose printed textbooks. The new survey found that nearly six in 10 students preferred digital books when reading for class, compared with one-third who said they preferred printed textbooks.

The new survey results arrive as several new tools have emerged this year to simplify digital publishing, including Apple’s self-publishing software and Inkling’s enterpriseplatform for large companies.

Harris Interactive, the same firm that conducted last year’s survey on behalf of the Pearson Foundation, conducted the poll in January. Figures for age, sex, household income and other factors were weighted to be representative of the U.S. population of college students.

See full Article (Chronicle of Higher Education): Here

Filed Under: Education, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

What Will The New iPad’s Release Mean For Your Business?

March 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As with many Apple product launches, today’s release of the new iPad is mostly a consumer event. But that doesn’t mean that the launch won’t have an impact on businesses. In fact, on Monday morning a number of new iPads may be walking into workplaces around the world. And users may be lobbying their employers to purchase the new iPad – if they haven’t stared doing so already.

So, what questions should businesses or IT professionals be asking about the new iPad? More importantly, what are the answers to those questions?

Should businesses order new iPads immediately?

Probably not. In fact, orders for new iPads already show a delay of two to three weeks. More important, as with any new piece of technology, buying and supporting a new device on day one isn’t a good idea. A better approach is to wait to ensure there are no issues with the new iPad and then buy one or two models to conduct an initial test of the new iPad in your environment.

Also, if you are planning a large purchase, it’s probably a good idea to have a conversation with your Apple business sales rep (or your tech reseller if you don’t deal with Apple directly) about exactly what the options are and how quickly your organization can expect to receive new iPads in quantity.

If companies are buying the new iPad, should they go for the Wi-Fi or LTE models?

This is a tough one to answer because each company’s needs are different. Similarly, LTE availability is a factor. After all, if there’s limited 3G/4G service, the extra expense may not get you much bang for your buck. There’s also the question about how corporate-owned devices will fit into your overall mobile and telecom budget.

One advantage to choosing LTE iPads is that they may lead mobile professionals to avoid unsecured free Wi-Fi options, which has a certain data security value – although always requiring a VPN connection is actually a better security protocol. Another advantage for Verizon customers is the ability to tether other devices to an iPad’s LTE connection at no charge – essentially giving you an iPad and mobile hotspot in one device (this doesn’t apply to AT&T LTE iPads as AT&T doesn’t plan to enable this capability at this point).

That said, Wi-Fi iPads combined with 3G or 4G personal hotspot devices may be a more economical option for many companies, particularly when iPads are deployed to users with limited travel needs. In those situations, deploying Wi-Fi iPads to individuals and maintaining a pool of hotspots that various staff can check out when needed is likely to be a more economical choice.

If you are seriously considering or have already decided to buy LTE iPads, it’s probably a good idea to review your telecom or mobile expenses before negotiating the new iPad and its associated data needs into your mobile plans(s).

How much storage is enough for a company-owned iPad?

This is going to vary between companies and job functions. Many mobile professionals may have limited storage needs, but some professions will require an extensive collection of on-device data. Overall, for corporate-owned devices, the 16GB models will probably suffice. After all, it’s unlikely that such devices will store personal media collection (music, TV, movie, photos) and media files are what take up the most space on iOS devices.

Should business or IT leaders consider the iPad 2 as a less expensive alternative?

Absolutely – as noted in MacWorld’s initial review of the new iPad, the actual processor performance is similar to the iPad 2, though graphics performance was notably better. That isn’t to say that the retina display, camera, and graphics capabilities aren’t important. But from the perspective of a cost/benefit analysis, there isn’t a large generational leap between the business capabilities of theiPad 2 and the new iPad.

From a business perspective, the big advantage of the new iPad is its support for LTE. If LTE iPads are a consideration, then there’s no reason not to consider the iPad 2 as a less expensive alternative.

The one possible exception is when the iPad is used as a sales and marketing solution. In those situations, it may reflect better on your company to be able to show off the better screen quality of the newer device.

Does this mean companies need to consider a BYOD program?

BYOD is a major trend that is impacting virtually every industry. Regardless of the new iPad, most business should be exploring BYOD or similar trends like the COPE method promoted by Enterprise Mobility Forum. The new iPad may increase the pressure on a business to look at BYOD as an option, but the truth is that this is something every organization should already be considering. In companies that are avoiding BYOD and the consumerization of IT, there’s a good chance that employees are already using personal devices to some extent and just not telling management or IT that they’re doing it.

What management options are available for the new iPad?

The new iPad has the same mobile device management (MDM) capabilities as every other iOS 5 device. This includes the ability to manage with free tools like Apple Configurator and iPhone Configuration Utility as well as more advanced MDM products. There are also a number of options that allow companies to create a secure on-device data store for business use while allowing the remainder of the device to remain in an unmanaged state (useful for personally-owned devices). Products in that space include offerings from Good, Bitzer, and Quickoffice.

See Full Article (Cult of Mac): Here

Filed Under: Business, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,
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