Alright so you open up your MacBook Pro only to discover that the colors are looking off.  Hmm, that’s not good, right? If you’re like myself you not wanting a display that is looking shabby. What’s a Mac Diva to do? Don’t think negatively about the Mac your monitor most likely needs to be calibrated and lucky for you that is something that we can easily fix. How? We’ll use the Apple Calibration Tools that come with your Macbook Pro.  Are you ready?

How To Run Apple Calibration Tools

1. In Your MacBook Pro click on the located at the top left hand corner of the screen
2. Once the menu appears click on System Preferences



3. The color LCD screen will appear click on Color



4. You will be taken to the Display Calibrator Assistant Screen
5. Click Continue



6. You’ll get the select a target gama screen I chose 1.8 gama for regular calibration. If I was using images that I would display on the tv then I would check 2.2 Television Gama.
7. Click Continue



8. Great! Now it’s time to select a target white point. I work with a lot of graphics so I usually have it at D50 but for everyday use select Native.
9. Click continue



10. You will be able to give your new profile a name as you can see above I called mine “Opal’s Settings”
11. Click Continue



12. Alright you’ve made it to the Conclusion screen! Click on Done.

Guess what it takes a few seconds for me to run through this test. Initially when I first started using my MacBook Pro I faced a huge learning curve. I had to stop thinking that my Apple Mac should operate like my Windows PC sorry they aren’t they same. I had an open mind and learned a lot. Guess what? It’s been a little over a year and I’m still learning with my MacBook Pro. I’m enjoying the ride and I love my MacBook Pro.

Technorati Tags: Macbook Pro, Apple Calibration Tools, Macbook Pro Tutorial, Apple Mac

My buddy Thomas the Tech Evangelist sent me information on how I can turn my MacBook Pro’s iSight into a security camera. Thomas is a Microsoft man. His website is informative, and he presents the information in such a way that I’m never bored. Although the majority of my work is completed on Apple Mac’s these days, I can appreciate and respect what he writes about.

Also, I still have one working Windows PC in my home an HPdv6000t. I do have an older desktop PC but that is in the shed collecting dust. Sometime next year my four-year old daughter and I will be building a Windows PC. She’s very excited about that. I’ve built numerous Window’s PC’s over the years, and I want her to see its “guts”.

I prefer Mac’s, but it does not stop me from staying up-to-date with what is going on in Microsoft’s world. I’m not letting my Windows certifications (A+, Network +, MCSE) go to waste. One of the ways I accomplish this is by visiting Thomas’ virtual spot. I also subscribe to PC magazine, and I frequent a few Microsoft forums. My family/friends still call upon me to fix their Windows systems. I have to stay on top of things.

Anyway Thomas sent me LifeHacker’s article Hack Attack: Turn Your MacBook Pro’s iSight into a FTP Backed Up Security Camera a few weeks ago. I was very impressed with the article and decided that eventually I would try it out.

If I still worked outside of the home I would have installed it straight away; however, since I’m a business owner and work at home I really didn’t have to do it immediately. Why? My Macbook Pro does not go anywhere. Meetings I have with my clients are over the phone the few that I do have in person don’t require me to bring a PC. If I have a large file to carry, which is rare, I usually use a DVD and load it into my iPod.

Since I’ll be on vacation next month this morning I decided to have another look at the article. I’ll be taking some of my work with me so even though the place I will be staying is secure it’s good to be on the safe side, right? Also, I always like trying out some type of software.

To be honest I don’t use iSight. I know it is there. It’s a cool feature I just don’t use it. I did play around with it a little bit when I initially purchased my MacBook Pro last October. My co-workers really liked it and had fun taking silly shots of themselves but that was about it. It looks like now I actually have a use for it. :-)

Technorati Tags: Thomas-Technical Blogger, MacBook Pro, turning iSight into a security camera

Aperture 1.5

I purchased my Nikon D80 a little over a year ago. Over the years, I’ve used many photo management software by far my favorite is definitely Aperture 1.5. It’s made by Apple for the Mac so if you don’t own an Apple Mac you won’t be able to use this software.

Although I cannot remember exactly when I purchased this software. I think I’ve had it for under a year. Logging onto Apple forums and being a frequent visitor of the Apple website I eventually stumbled onto Aperture. I was impressed with the tutorials that I naturally saw on the Apple website so I went one step further and started reading the reviews. I was impressed.

I was very happy when I went back to the Apple website and discovered that I could try the full version out for thirty days! If your interested try Aperture free for thirty days. It’s labeled as a “pro application” and although I’m not a professional photographer I Read the rest of this entry »