Take Control of Siri, 2nd Edition
Take Control of Siri, 2nd Edition

Author: Scholle McFarland

Publisher: alt concepts

Published: 2020-12-21

Total Pages: 123

ISBN-13: 1947282697

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Make the most of Apple’s digital assistant! Version 2.0, published December 22, 2020 When it comes to using your Apple devices, Siri is increasingly the hands-free, time-saving, and fun technology that ties everything together. Whether you want to ask a question, make a call, find your iPhone, or set a timer—not only can Siri do it, but it usually offers the fastest way. This book explores how to get the most out of Siri on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, Mac, and HomePod. Siri, Apple's voice-controlled digital assistant, has been around since 2011, when it debuted on the iPhone. But since then, it has become vastly more powerful and useful, and has spread across Apple's entire ecosystem—it now runs on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and HomePod. Siri can listen and speak in a wide range of languages and accents, perform a long list of helpful day-to-day tasks, and keep you entertained in the process. Although Siri is easy to use, it's so multitalented that you might easily overlook some of its best features. In this book, former Macworld editor Scholle McFarland takes you deep into Siri's capabilities. You'll learn tons of tips and tricks about making the most of Siri. Discover how Siri can increase your efficiency and productivity, lend a hand when you're in the car or out for a jog, and even make it simpler to play music or find movies and TV shows to watch. Among many other things, this book teaches you: • What hardware and software you need to use Siri • How to change Siri's language and voice • Ways to personalize Siri by telling it about yourself, your contacts, and more • The numerous ways to activate Siri (by touch or by voice) • How to use Siri with AirPods, wired earbuds, or third-party headphones • What to do if the wrong device answers your "Hey Siri" request • How to ask Siri about sports, math and conversions, time, food, health, movies, people, stocks, the weather, jokes, real-world sounds, and random facts • Tips for asking Siri follow-up questions • How to control music (on any device, with or without an Apple Music subscription) • Techniques for using Siri to get directions, set reminders and appointments, send messages and email, and take notes • Ways to use Siri to search for files on your Mac • What Siri can and can't do for you on an Apple TV or HomePod • How to make and use Shortcuts for use with Siri on an iOS/iPadOS device or Apple Watch • How to get your HomePod to recognize different people's voices • Everything you need to know about your privacy where Siri is involved Plus bonus videos! Since Siri is an audio-based, interactive tool, there are some things that are more readily demonstrated than written about. So Scholle has put together a series of videos that illustrate techniques from her book, allowing you to see and hear exactly what happens as you use Siri. Whether you're new to Siri or a seasoned pro, you're sure to find lots of tricks and suggestions in this book to improve your experience of using Siri.

Take Control of Shortcuts, 2nd Edition
Take Control of Shortcuts, 2nd Edition

Author: Rosemary Orchard

Publisher: alt concepts

Published: 2023-01-30

Total Pages: 147

ISBN-13: 1990783007

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Automate your iPhone, iPad, or Mac! Version 2.1, updated January 30, 2023 Automation is no longer just for advanced computer users! Apple's Shortcuts app lets anyone with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac automate day-to-day tasks, from the simple to the complex. This book is a complete introduction to Shortcuts, covering every aspect of building, installing, debugging, running, syncing, and sharing shortcuts. It also includes step-by-step recipes for creating numerous useful shortcuts yourself. Apple's Shortcuts app brings extensive automation capabilities to your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, using a drag-and-drop, fill-in-the-blanks interface much like Automator—but much more powerful. It lets you perform sequences of tasks, including ones that span various apps, with just a tap, a click, or a voice command—or even automatically when certain conditions are met. Shortcuts can save you time and effort, help you accomplish previously complicated tasks, and let you customize your device to better meet your needs. Apple finally brought Shortcuts to the Mac in macOS 12 Monterey. (The book now includes coverage of macOS Ventura, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16.) But for all its utility, Shortcuts is not self-explanatory, so it can be challenging to figure out its quirks and create effective, time-saving automations. That's where Take Control of Shortcuts comes in. Written by automation expert Rosemary Orchard, this book opens the world of automation to users at every level. With Rosemary's help, you'll learn how to: • Navigate the Shortcuts app: Understand the user interface (on each platform) and terminology, then install and run your first shortcut. • Run shortcuts: Discover many different ways to run a shortcut, from tapping or clicking an icon to using Personal or Home automations, Siri, and Apple Watch. • Build shortcuts: Start with simple, one-step shortcuts and work your way up to complex shortcuts with input, output, variables, conditionals, loops, and more. Debugging advice is also included. • Install and sync shortcuts: Download and install shortcuts others have written, sync your shortcuts across your devices, and share them with other people. Then, to both illustrate the main principles you've learned and give you practical tools to get you started, Rosemary walks you step by step through the creation of 25 sample shortcuts, most which you can also download and install using links in the book. Examples include: • Event templates • A daily overview • Converting and sharing images • Adding a song to a playlist • Logging expenses • Turning on lights automatically when you get home • Disabling rotation lock just for YouTube on an iPhone • Reminding you about upcoming deadlines 15 minutes after you arrive home • Automatically setting seasonal scenes for HomeKit lights The book also discusses how Shortcuts can use REST APIs to talk to various web services (with detailed examples), and numerous complementary apps that work in conjunction with Shortcuts. Whether you're completely new to automation or already have significant programming experience, you'll find plenty of useful information in this friendly, practical guide.

Take Control of Apple TV, 4th Edition
Take Control of Apple TV, 4th Edition

Author: Josh Centers

Publisher: alt concepts

Published: 2023-12-13

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 1990783449

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Everything you need to know about the Apple TV! Version 4.0, updated December 13, 2023 Whether you're considering an Apple TV, already own one, or have a smart TV or streaming device that supports AirPlay and/or the Apple TV app, you can more fully enjoy Apple’s ecosystem with this ultimate guide by editor Josh Centers. You'll learn about the best TVs and sound equipment to buy, how to maximize your Apple TV's picture quality, get the most out of the Apple TV app, control your media with AirPlay, and so much more!n Josh walks you through cables, ports, and setup, and explains how to use gestures and spoken commands with the Siri Remote—yes, you can talk to your TV! He helps you navigate and customize the Home screen, plus describes getting-started settings such as inputting your Apple ID and enabling parental controls. You'll learn how to use the TV app (whether on the Apple TV box itself, on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad; or on a third-party smart TV), and how you can best view home movies and TV shows. The book also looks at using an Apple TV to listen to your music or Apple Music, download and play podcasts from the Podcasts app, and browse your photos. In Take Control of Apple TV you'll also read about: • What's new in tvOS 17 • Which Apple TV model to buy—or whether you should get different hardware instead • Getting the most out of your the Siri Remote (either version) • Alternatives to the Siri Remote • Using Control Center on an Apple TV • Using a game controller with Apple TV • Controlling Apple TV with Shortcuts • Using AirPlay to beam the display of your Mac or iPhone screen to your TV • Making Mac or iOS/iPadOS audio play through your TV’s speakers • Making and receiving FaceTime calls on an Apple TV • Using SharePlay to watch shows with friends in other places • Running Home Sharing to play media from a local computer • Using one or more HomePods as speakers for your Apple TV • Using an Apple Watch to control your Apple TV • What you can do with Conference Room Display mode • How to tell whether an iOS/iPadOS app includes a free copy of its Apple TV version • How to reset or restore an Apple TV—useful for troubleshooting or for handing your device to a new owner

Take Control of Untangling Connections, 2nd Edition
Take Control of Untangling Connections, 2nd Edition

Author: Glenn Fleishman

Publisher: alt concepts

Published: 2023-12-08

Total Pages: 101

ISBN-13: 1990783457

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Reduce cable clutter and maximize peripheral performance Version 2.0, updated December 08, 2023 Frustrated with your peripheral cables? Tangled up in standards and compatibility? Don’t know your Thunderbolt 5 from your USB 3.1 Gen 2? Glenn Fleishman figuratively cuts through the mess of ports, cables, and protocols with Take Control of Untangling Connections. The book answers hundreds of questions and helps you troubleshoot common problems, such as identifying cable capabilities. You’ll learn how to buy the best cable, recognize and research ports, and understand the latest about USB4 2.0 and Thunderbolt 5. You get all the answers on how to connect USB, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, DisplayPort, HDMI, and audio at the fastest, best, or highest-fidelity method available.n We spend our lives plugging stuff into our computers, smartphones, tablets, and other hardware. Why is it so hard to make it all work as we expect? Glenn Fleishman knows the answer to this: standards don’t develop in lock step, and whenever anything is out of sync, we wind up with frustration. He also knows the questions! As a writer about all things Apple for decades, he has used multiple generations of interface and connection standards, and he reads hundreds of questions a months from readers wrestling with their gear. In Take Control of Untangling Connections, Glenn puts power (and video and data and more) back in your hands by helping you cut through cable clutter and confusion and find the right plug for the right jack—and the right cable. Glenn posted an 11-minute video on YouTube about cables and connectors to answer some common questions, and it also serves as a preview of the book: You’ll learn the answers to questions like: • How do I ensure I have the fastest connection between any combination of USB and Thunderbolt standards? • What’s the fastest computer-to-computer connection? • What's new with the latest standards—USB4 2.0 (80 Gbps), Thunderbolt 5, and DisplayPort 2.1? • Why is my USB-C cable handling data only at 480 Mbps? • How can I make sure my 1080p, 4K, 5K, 6K, or 8K display can show its maximum resolution? • Why can’t I connect more displays to my computer? • How do I know how many watts a given port can offer a device I plug into it? • I plugged my laptop (or tablet) into a USB-C port—it’s only charging at a trickle, but the port says it should offer up to 100 W. How can I fix this? • What’s the fastest generally available computer-to-Ethernet connection? • I have an unmarked cable with USB-C on one end and a Type-A connector on the other. How fast can it transmit data? • This cable isn’t marked, but it has USB-C at both ends. What kind of cable is it? • How can I test USB-C and USB Type-A cables to find out what they’re capable of? • What's the latest on USB-C’s march towards mandatory mobile device support? • What sort of adapter, dock, hub, or switch might I need to connect this thing to those things?

Take Control of Your Digital Legacy, 2nd Edition
Take Control of Your Digital Legacy, 2nd Edition

Author: Joe Kissell

Publisher: alt concepts

Published: 2024-02-02

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13: 1990783295

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Preserve your data for posterity! Version 2.0.1, updated February 2, 2024 How do you want to be remembered? A will takes care of your physical possessions, but what about your digital life—photos, email, files, online accounts, and so on? If you want to pass your electronic ephemera on as part of your digital legacy, turn to tech expert Joe Kissell for advice on dealing with large quantities of data, file formats, media types, the need for a “digital executor,” and more.n We all have digital data that's important to us now, but a lot of it could also be important to our children, friends, and relatives long after we're gone. But you have to take concrete steps now to make sure that data is preserved in the right way and handled according to your wishes. It’s not all about posterity either, since following Joe’s advice will also help loved ones access your key accounts and important info if you’re temporarily incapacitated, which can happen at any time. The book will help you with these essential tasks: • Identify your key digital assets: online accounts, photos, audio files, videos, passwords, documents, email, and more. • Plan for each type of digital asset based on your priorities for today, for shortly after you are no longer around, and for posterity. Joe explains the ideal file formats to use, how to deal with social media sites, the best ways to digitize paper documents and photos, and strategies for sharing passwords with family members, among much else. • Communicate your wishes in a “digital will” and designate someone to be its “digital executor.” The book includes a template document that you can develop into a personalized digital will. • Preserve your data for the future. You’ll consider types of archival storage media, cloud-based storage services, backups, and what instructions to provide about maintaining your data as file formats and storage media types evolve. Whether you just want to ensure that your heirs get copies of your favorite family photos and a few key documents or you want to catalog and preserve tens of thousands of digital items, this book helps you make smart decisions about your digital legacy. Questions answered include: • What strategies can I use for sorting and preserving email and instant messages? • How can I ensure that my email account(s) will be available to those wrapping up my estate? • What if I have digital data that should be destroyed when I die? • What should I do with my huge photo collection (both digital and paper)? • How should I pass on control of my Apple, Google, and Microsoft accounts? • How can I make my passwords and passkeys available to those who will need them—but keep them private for now? • What should I think about when handing down purchased audio and video files? • What should happen to my Facebook account when I’m no longer around? • What choices are available for keeping my digital archive available and backed up? • How long should I expect archival media to last? • Should I write an autobituary? • Are online digital legacy services any good? • How will organizing all this stuff benefit me while I’m alive?

Take Control of Your Digital Storage, 2nd Edition
Take Control of Your Digital Storage, 2nd Edition

Author: Jeff Carlson

Publisher: alt concepts

Published: 2022-07-07

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 1990783066

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The Mac user’s guide to mass storage Version 2.3, updated July 7, 2023 This book demystifies storage on the Mac, from mechanical hard drives to solid-state disks, and covering topics such as network-attached storage (NAS), cloud storage, repairing and managing disks, encryption, filesystems (including APFS), and managing data. As the amount of data we store continues to grow, figuring out where to put it and how to access it becomes more complicated. It’s not just that we need to find space for our increasingly large collections of photos, videos, music, and apps—we want it to be available whenever we need it, and be sure that it’s safe from hackers and thieves. Every Mac includes internal storage in the form of a hard drive, SSD, or Fusion drive. But you may also have one or more external devices (such as hard drives, flash drives, SD cards, or RAID devices), not to mention network-attached storage (NAS) devices or cloud storage (like Dropbox or iCloud Drive). Making sense of all your options, managing your stored data, choosing new devices or services when you're running out of space, or even just figuring out what's where can drive anyone to distraction. Fortunately, Jeff Carlson has a book with all the answers! After decades of working with Macs and accumulating massive collections of photos and videos, Jeff has pulled together a wide-ranging book about Mac storage that contains just the help you're looking for. Among many other topics, this book covers: • How to choose a new (internal or external) hard drive, SSD, or hybrid drive • Determining how much storage space you need • What you need to know about APFS, Apple’s new filesystem • How to use APFS snapshots (a.k.a. Time Machine local snapshots) • Formatting and partitioning disks using Disk Utility • How to repair a misbehaving disk • RAIDs: what they are and how different types compare • How to tell when a hard drive is about to fail, and what to do about it • What to do with a hard drive when it has outlived its usefulness • When to use a flash drive or SD card • How to create and use disk images • Deciding among local, network, and cloud storage for various types of files • What a personal cloud is and why you might consider using one • Strategies for freeing up extra disk space NAS devices get special coverage, including: • Why you might want a NAS • How to choose a NAS—and when it's a better idea than an external hard drive • Using a NAS with your Mac for a wide variety of purposes • Special considerations when using a NAS for digital photos Jeff also digs into details about numerous storage-related technologies: • How to tell if your third-party SSD needs to have TRIM enabled (and what to do if the answer is yes) • How to create a software RAID using Disk Utility or SoftRAID • What you need to know about filesystems—and how to choose among APFS, Mac OS Extended, FAT, and ExFAT • Why and how to encrypt a disk using FileVault or the Finder • Using iCloud Drive's Optimized Mac Storage feature If you've ever been stumped at the difference between a volume and a partition, need help figuring out whether to buy a big external hard drive or a NAS for extra storage, or wonder whether Apple's new APFS filesystem is right for your needs, this book will tell you what you need to know.

Take Control of Managing Your Files, 2nd Edition
Take Control of Managing Your Files, 2nd Edition

Author: Jeff Carlson

Publisher: alt concepts

Published: 2023-05-23

Total Pages: 113

ISBN-13: 1990783279

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Take the pain out of dealing with files and folders Version 2.0, updated May 23, 2023 Your Apple devices contain an overwhelming number of files and folders, and as these items accumulate, they create more work for you. Does your file management system involve throwing everything on the desktop and then pawing through it laboriously when you need to find something? Do you even have a system? There’s a better way. This book helps you organize, search, and clean up the files on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, providing practical steps and realistic strategies to save time, reduce clutter, and decrease stress.n Apple users have fantastic tools at their disposal for using, creating, and editing files of all kinds, but few of us have any real strategy for naming, organizing, or tagging those files—making them increasingly difficult to find later on. In this book, veteran technology author Jeff Carlson helps you make sense of what could be millions of files on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad so that you can spend less time hunting for things and more time doing useful work (or having fun). Jeff starts by helping you set appropriate file management goals and develop overall strategies that fit your needs and preferences. Then he gets into the details of how to use the Finder (on a Mac), the Files app (in iOS and iPadOS), and third-party tools to make sense of your files and folders and easily find what you're looking for. This book covers topics such as: • How to keep important items in sync among your devices • Choosing when to use internal storage vs. external storage (such as an external hard drive, a NAS, or the cloud) • Whether and how to use iCloud Drive to sync your files, including Desktop and Documents folders • How to create shortcuts to your favorite files and folders • Understanding how the macOS folder hierarchy works • The best ways to use the desktop • What you should consider when creating a folder hierarchy • Why and how to use tags to categorize files • How you can automatically sort, rename, and file items on your Mac • Ways you can collaborate with others on the same files and folders • When to consider third-party information management apps (such as DEVONthink) • How to find files and folders with Spotlight in macOS, iOS, and iPadOS • Alternative search tools you might want to consider • How to work your way through a long backlog of unsorted (or poorly sorted) files • Techniques for encrypting sensitive files (and other data) • Ways to free up storage space If you're struggling with file management, this book will help you get a grip on the process—and get your devices to do more of the hard work for you.

Talking to Siri
Talking to Siri

Author: Erica Sadun

Publisher: Que Publishing

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0789749734

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Presents tips and techniques for using Siri voice technology, covering checking stocks and weather forecasts, enunciation, connecting with friends and family, playing music, dictation, and problem solving capabilities.

The Language of Letting Go
The Language of Letting Go

Author: Melody Beattie

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2009-12-12

Total Pages: 596

ISBN-13: 1592857973

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Written for those of us who struggle with codependency, these daily meditations offer growth and renewal, and remind us that the best thing we can do is take responsibility for our own self-care. Melody Beattie integrates her own life experiences and fundamental recovery reflections in this unique daily meditation book written especially for those of us who struggle with the issue of codependency.Problems are made to be solved, Melody reminds us, and the best thing we can do is take responsibility for our own pain and self-care. In this daily inspirational book, Melody provides us with a thought to guide us through the day and she encourages us to remember that each day is an opportunity for growth and renewal.