Leopard Tips: Adding a 'Hotkey'

Making your own "Hotkeys"

Hotkeys are keyboard shortcuts that allow you to do something without having to use your mouse.  For example: cmd+c copies highlighted material.  Many hotkeys are already in place by default in Leopard.  But, what if you want to make your own hotkey?  Well here's how:

First, open your 'System Preferences' pane, and click on the 'Keyboard & Mouse' icon.

Second, click on the 'Keyboard Shortcuts' tab.  This shows the hotkeys available in Leopard.  Now, to make our own hotkey.  Click on the + symbol at the bottom left of the window.  This opens a pop-up window that asks for an Application, Menu Title, and Keyboard Shortcut.  In this walkthrough I will add a hotkey to Excel that allows me to insert a column into a spreadsheet by using cmd+shift+c.

In the Application drop-down menu, I will select Excel (though you should choose the application to which you would like to add your hotkey).  In the Menu Title text box I will enter Columns.  This comes from the Excel menu bar: Insert>Columns.  This is an important step.  For this entry box, you must enter exactly what the function in the application is.  If there is an ellipsis, you must enter that as well

 (for example: Cells ... ).

  Then, in the Keyboard Shortcut text box, I press cmd+shift+c at the same time.  Once all this is done, click 'add' and there you have it.  The hotkey should appear immediately in the drop-down menu in the chosen application. 

Review: AppTrap

One of the problems many Mac users face is uninstalling applications. Unlike windows, Mac OSX does not have a built-in 'uninstaller' program. The most common way to delete unwanted applications (which, if you like testing out new apps, you do frequently) is to drag them to the trash. However there are often other files associated with the unwanted application. These files are usually preferences or other such settings. By just dragging the application to the trash, you could be leaving other unwanted files on your computer.
But, worry no longer. There is a free "application" (it actually becomes a new pane in the system preferences menu) that allows you to delete those unwanted files. AppTrap is a program developed to delete the unwanted files associated with applications you want to delete. Once AppTrap is installed, whenever you drag an application to the trash a prompt will ask if you want to delete files associated with that application. I am constantly listening to podcasts and reading other blog sites, and I usually like to try all the free apps they mention. Whenever I test an application and decide I don't care for it enough to keep it around, AppTrap deletes the associated files and keeps my computer that much neater. I have not come across any issues while having used this application over the past few months. While there are other paid applications that offer greater functionality than AppTrapp, AppTrap is an excellent free application uninstaller.

AppTrap in the System Preferences Pane

AppTrap setup pane. Very simple. Very Straight
forward.

This is the prompt that shows up when you drag
the application to the trash.

Browser Review: Flock

There are quite a few web browsers for the Mac. I have recently installed and been using Flock. Flock is by far and away a the best browser if you are concerned with social networking and sharing media. There are many integrated features that allow you to create blog posts without visiting the site (which I am doing right now), update twitter, upload photos to flickr or photobucket, and many more. So far, everything that Flock has promised has worked well. The downside for me is that Flock does not support vox, the blog website that I use for my personal blog. Flock has said that they are planning on developing vox support, though no word on when that will show up. Although Flock is great for social networking, it will not replace safari or firefox as my main browser. The menu bar is a little too cluttered for general web surfing (though you can hide the "flock toolbar" by ctrl+clicking on the tool bar and unchecking flock toolbar). I find it distracting and a little bit of a real estate hog. Also, based on observation alone (no testing was done), Flock seems to be a little slower than safari. If you are curious about Flock, it is definitely worth a shot, however odds are it will not become your main browser unless your primary use for the web is social networking and/or checking out and uploading media.

The browser can be downloaded here: download flock

Blogged with the Flock Browser