Articles by Matt Cone
Matt Cone is a technical writer at Fastly. He has experience creating documentation for organizations like Linode and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Matt’s first book, Master Your Mac, was published by No Starch Press. To get in touch with Matt, visit https://www.mattcone.com.
How to Specify Default AirPort Networks
May 9, 2007
Do you ever turn on your Mac, only to find that it connects to another wireless network - one other than your own? Do you have to manually connect to your own home or business wireless network every time you start your computer? Sometimes this can be a problem, but in a few easy steps you can fix your WiFi woes once and for all by configuring AirPort to work exactly the way you want it to.
Indispensable Tips for New Mac Users
May 8, 2007
You’ve just made the leap from Windows to the Macintosh. Great, but now what? Everything is going well. There’s no useless Windows key, and the controls for all the windows are on the left. It took a little while to get used to those minor differences, but in the end you realized that the differences are just that - minor. So what’s so great about Macs? Sure, the Aqua interface is pretty and has none of those pesky Windows error messages, but it’s just a computer.
Joost: Free Internet TV on Your Mac
May 4, 2007
Watch out, iTunes. There’s a new interactive content provider in town and, unlike the other competitors that came and went, this one looks like it’s here to stay. Joost (pronounced “juiced”) is a free Internet television broadcasting service that sports a sexy interface. This next-generation Mac application lets you watch certain prerecorded television shows whenever and wherever you want. Sure, you’ve been able to watch television shows on your Mac for years with applications like BitTorrent.
How to Use iDVD Themes in iMovie
May 3, 2007
iMovie is an awesome video editing application that comes free with every Mac - that part we’ve figured out. You’ve probably already edited with it and figured out that it is capable of a lot. But what if you want more than what the program already offers? What if you feel that the five themes provided in iMovie won’t benefit your video project? Let’s look at the current themes in iMovie.
How to Play Mac Games Without CDs/DVDs
May 1, 2007
So you just bought a bunch of Mac games, huh? We have a bit of bad news for you… Thanks to software piracy protection, you’ll need to carry around all of the CDs and DVDs your games came on. You see, because software developers don’t want people sharing games for free online, they’ve built in special protective features – one of which requires you to have the game’s CD or DVD in your Mac to play.
Basic Mac Troubleshooting
April 30, 2007
If you listen to The Tech Guy, the syndicated radio show in which Leo Laporte offers advice on how to fix computer problems, you may find yourself in the following situation. “Leo said to create a new user account and see if the problem still persists…” But how exactly do you do that? Good question. This tutorial will explain some basic Mac troubleshooting techniques and how to accomplish them. Restart This is one of the simplest things you can do to cure your Mac’s ills, and we recommend doing it before performing any other troubleshooting tasks.
How to Save QuickTime Movies Without QuickTime Pro
April 27, 2007
QuickTime is a great application, but if you don’t upgrade to QuickTime Pro, you won’t be able to save QuickTime movies you find on the Internet. Or will you? If you aren’t willing to shell out thirty dollars for Quicktime Pro and you want to download video clips to your computer, here’s a quick and dirty way of doing so. Just note that this will only work with videos and not streaming or protected content.
How to Turn Your Mac Into a Web Server
April 26, 2007
Mac OS X is built on Darwin – a Unix-like, open source operating system developed by Apple and built on FreeBSD. This means that Mac users have access to free built-in server applications, like the Apache web server. With Apache and the DynDNS service, you can turn your Mac into a powerful web server. Anyone will be able to access the website stored on your Mac! The best part is that you can host a website on your Mac for free.
Customize Your Mac's Icons
April 24, 2007
Using custom icons has always been an easy way to spice up your Mac – even prior to Mac OS X! In our opinion, Mac OS X finally made icons beautiful. It’s so easy change your icons that we’re always surprised when fellow Mac users marvel at our icons. Here’s what our user folder looks like: Kinda snazzy, right? The first step to custom icons is to download some. I usually get mine for free at InterFace.
Better Internet Printing With Mac OS X Services
April 20, 2007
One of the more frustrating aspects of the Internet is printing those darn webpages! Sure, some websites have helpful “Print” links that take you to pages specially formatted for printing, but many sites don’t provide such help. (Yes, Macinstruct is guilty as charged!) If you’ve ever tried to print a webpage and had half the page chopped off, this tip is for you. Enter Services – one of the least known features of Mac OS X.