Bobbie Pastor found this handy information for you "mice-less" folks……it's an article on trackpad gestures. Look at Here's the Thing.
Clean Your Screen With -- ?
Maybe you noticed the article on cleaning your gadgets in the January issue of Popular Mechanics. But let's see what Apple says. Here's some specific info to read on cleaning your computer. It warns that liquid damage is not covered under the Apple product warranty or AppleCare protection plans. Here's how to clean keyboard, trackpad, mouse. A comment following this MacLife article mentions the Optical Cleaning Kit from CostCo. Anyone use this?
Find That Word Fast
Need a quick definition? Ruth Davis from Phoenix who spoke to PMUG awhile back gives this tip: Hold down the Command and Control keys and type the letter D. Move your mouse then on top of the word. The definition comes up as a pop-up menu. This works in Mail, Safari, Pages -- but not in Word, Firefox and other non-Apple products. Ruth sends out a "tip of the week" here.
Here's something to try. I use it with Pages, and my trusty little Belkin mouse gives other helps. Highlight a word, right-click and up comes a menu of choices: never hyphenate, cut, copy,paste, paste and match style, delete, select all, create new paragraph style from selection, spelling, proofreading, font, speech, and writing tools which lists Dictionary, Thesaurus, Search Spotlight, Google, Wikipedia, & Show Statistics.
What a Mouse!
Your wrist might appreciate this new kind of a mouse. Art Gorski alerts us so we can view the large pictures and read about a vertical mouse here. If you're interested be sure to scroll half-way down the page to see the warning about the mini-disc that comes with it, but is meant only for a PC.
Misbehaving Mouse
So used to a mouse in my hand, I added a small Belkin retractable cord mouse ($10.99) to my exterior keyboard for the MacBook Pro. Good, most of the time. When it misbehaves and forgets to move the cursor I tried various "remedies." What works is to merely unplug the little plug from the little connection cord that comes out of the exterior keyboard, and then plug it right back in.
Right Click, Left Click
Remember you can use right click and left click with your mouse. In System Preferences you can choose which is your primary mouse button. Jim Hamm reminds us about checking spelling and grammar in Mail, using your mouse on highlighted text. See also how it works in Microsoft Word and Pages.
Magic Mouse Review, 1 & 2
First, here's a review of Mac's Magic Mouse from John Carter. "I have been using the Magic Mouse now for a little over a week (should have bought one from Jim Hamm when I had the chance).
"I get frustrated with that mouse quite easily. I'm used to grazing my fingers over the mouse while reading stuff. Doing that on the Magic Mouse can change everything! Side to side sweeps of the finger pulls up a completely different page. Forward and back sweeps scrolls through pages in a wink of the eye. Just when I think I've mastered using the mouse and I try to click on something I discover that I'm right-clicking instead of left-clicking, or I've grazed my fingers over the mouse and I'm clicking somewhere else.
"Really frustrating! Don't recommend the Magic Mouse to anyone with the shakes - or dancing fingers like me! But I won't go back to the old mouse. Just looking at that sleek design next to my keyboard gives me warm feelings."
Now, here's a response from Jim Hamm. "John, are you talking about the new 'Magic' Mouse or the older Mighty (now Mac) Mouse? If it's the new Magic Mouse I think you'll get used to it. I love the scrolling action and use that feature constantly. I liked the old Mighty Mouse, too, but not near as well as the Magic Mouse. The scroll button on the old Mouse would get clogged up occasionally. The Magic Mouse does have a good look and smooth feel to it."
Magic Mouse Review
Apple's new Magic Mouse clicks and swipes and scrolls. Look at it here. Jim and Zee Hamm bought the new mouse and want to share their experience.
Jim refers to a good review of Apple's new Magic Mouse. He explains, "I pretty much agree with the writer's comments. Zee and I bought and are using the new Magic Mouse.
"Here are some of my comments. One item he didn't mention, and which I miss, is the ability to push the scroll button--like on the Mighty Mouse--and open Expose for all windows. I used that feature a lot. The other item not available is to be able to squeeze the two side buttons--again, like on the Mighty Mouse--to open Dashboard. I got around these two shortcomings--to me, anyway--by assigning a 'hot corner' for Expose to the upper left corner of the screen. I've got used to this now, and it works quick. For Dashboard, which I don't open all that often anyway, I just click the icon in the Dock.
"I was concerned the low profile might be irksome or fatiguing, but neither of which have occurred, at least for Zee or me. The mouse is easy to hold, glides effortlessly, and I really like how easy it is to scroll with the Magic Mouse. This is probably its nicest feature.
"And I also like that there is no button to get clogged up, which happened occasionally with the Mighty Mouse. The two-fingured swipe to go back and forth on open windows within a website takes some getting used to, but is handy once one gets the knack of it. You have to let go of the mouse and gently swipe two fingers across the mouse.
"Comparing the two mouses, side by side, is somewhat comparable to comparing, say, a Chevy to a new Lexus. Both work, but the state-of-the-art features in a Lexus are the coming thing. (Have you seen the Lexus ads?) The Mighty Mouse is an electro/mechanical design; the new Magic Mouse is pure electronic.
"Both Zee and I are happy we made the switch."