Small details I like in OS X Leopard: Spotlight
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) introduced Dashboard. A, sort of, invisible layer that a user can activate to access small programs, utilities, or information quickly. I never use Dashboard much. I haven’t found anything that I really need such quick access to, except calculator.
My workflow is now changing in OS X Leopard though. In Leopard Apple introduced a new feature to Spotlight: the ability to perform quick math formulas.
This is making my use of the calculator widget almost a non-occurrence. Spotlight can perform most calculations with ease (addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.) but it doesn’t stop there; Spotlight can manage exponential and square root calculations, plus a whole lot more.
I just finished listening to a podcast from Victor Cajiao of the Typical Mac User. Victor spends about 30 minutes reviewing some of the great new features in Leopard’s Spotlight. It’s worth a listen if, like me, you’re a frequent user of Spotlight. You can grab the podcast here.
Small details I like in OS X Leopard: Quick Look in Mail
Quick Look is a new file preview function Apple integrated into OS X 10.5. It’s really handy when you’re navigating the Finder and want to quickly skim through a document or PDF. But one of the other great implementations of Quick Look in Leopard is its inclusion in Apple Mail.
When you receive an e-mail with one or more attachments, in addition to the option to save the attachments, Apple has added a small Quick Look button at the bottom of the message header.
Clicking this button will cause a pop-up window to display the attachment. If there’s more than one, you’ll have the option to cycle through each one, as well as play any recognized media formats.
OS X Leopard Tip: Changing the Computer Name
I’ve had some inquires about how to rename a computer in OS X 10.5 (Leopard), so here are some quick instructions.
Like most (but not all) system settings, the name of the computer is changed in the System Preferences application. This is available from the <root>/Applications folder and also, more easily, off the Apple menu.
From there select the Sharing pane located in the Internet & NetWork row.
In Sharing, the name of the computer is set at the top.
Screenshots are available after the jump.
Bible facts
Here are some interesting facts about the Bible that are good to know:
- There are 66 books in the Bible (39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament (“testament” is just a fancy word for contract)).
- The Bible was “penned” by over 40 individuals. By “penned” I mean that God is really the author; however, He used 40 people to write the words down on paper.
- Moses wrote the most Old Testament books (the first five) and Paul wrote the most New Testament books (13 in total).
- The middle chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117 (the middle of the Bible, based on verses, is Psalm 118:8).
- The longest book is Psalms, with Psalm 119 being the longest chapter.
- The shortest book is 2 John, and Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter.
- The Bible was written over the course of 1500+ years by people from all walks of life: from kings and priests to farmers and fishermen.
QuickVerse 2007 updated for 10.5
After a bit of a delay, QuickVerse 2007 has been updated for Apple’s latest OS, 10.5 Leopard. Previous to today’s update, QuickVerse was basically non-functional when used in Leopard (and, apparently, Tiger under 10.4.11) as the Webkit structure it relies on was overhauled by Apple.
Users can grab the 2.5MB update here.
Small details I like in OS X Leopard: Dictionary
In continuing the series on things I like about Leopard, one great new feature is the improvements Apple made to their Dictionary program. While Dictionary was always nice to have around, it wasn’t really as integrated into the OS as it could have been.
Thankfully, in Leopard this has changed. Not only can one type a word into spotlight and get a definition from Dictionary, but Dictionary itself now includes some new features; the one I like is that it can go on-line and search Wikipedia.
Small details I like in OS X Leopard: Renaming
Having recently upgraded my computer to Apple’s new operating system, 10.5 Leopard, I’m loving some of the great, new features Apple has incorporated. Spaces will definitely help me keep my screen more organized when I have to do video editing. While I haven’t tried Time Machine yet, I’m looking forward to seeing if it’s a viable replacement for one of my backup strategies (which from the various reports I’ve read, looks like it will be).
What I really like about Leopard is Apple’s attention to the small details. For instance, if I select a file and press Return I can rename it (this feature has been around for quite some time), but what’s new is that Leopard automatically only highlights the name of the file, and does not highlight the file extension. A small detail that makes using a computer just a little nicer.