Make a new file in a folder
There’s a free app that lets you create a new Pages document, or any file, directly from your current folder with just one click.
How to stop the ‘Runtime error 53’ in Microsoft Word
To fix the persistent “File not found” error in Microsoft Word for Mac, locate the problematic add-in path via the Templates and Add-ins menu and remove the offending file from your Library. It’s the rare case where the best way to “find” a file is actually to delete it.
Easy sign-in to the Australian Tax Office website
There’s now a new option to use your Apple Passkey to log into myGov. To set it up go to the myGov page, then go to the top menu called ‘My Account’ and select the dropdown called ‘Account settings’.
Introduction to AI#4 – How to use.
When and how to use AI. General Knowledge I think this is where most beginners will be using AI. Instead of doing a Google search they can ask AI to find answers to questions, especially to distill large amounts of information. If you do this, do it with your eyes open, make sure you are…
Introduction to AI#3 What are some dangers of AI?
OK, there are some things to be aware of when you use AI. I’m not talking about AI taking over the world and controlling things, real as that threat may be, I’ll leave you to read about those elsewhere. I’m talking about the practical dangers to yourself as you begin to use AI. This is…
Introduction to AI #2 Why does AI sound so smart?
If AI, as I previously claimed, is just a very clever predictive text, then why does it sound so human like and smart? The answer is because it’s trained really well. You might have heard about companies like Meta and Google investing billions of dollars in AI farms, that use as much power as a…
Introduction to AI #1 What is AI?
This is the Australian Lyrebird. It mimics other birds. In this series of posts I explain how AI works. It’s a bit like a Lyrebird!
What is a ‘passkey’ for google and how do I use it?
Here’s how to set up passkey access to your Google account. This is a handy piece of integration between Google and Apple who don’t usually play nicely together!
It’s arrived – check all your messages in one app!
Beeper App for OSX and iOS allows you to check all your messaging accounts in the one place. It’s free for up to 5 accounts.
Help! What happened to my menubar in macOS 26.2? And how to fix it!
Here’s how to slightly improve the ugly new menubar in OSX 26.2
How to give Littlebird access to your iCloud Calendar
Littlebird, like many other apps, can sync with a Google calendar but not with iCloud. This is a shame. But I’m loving Littlebird and I wanted to give it access to my calendar. There were a few ways I tried to solve this. I’ll take you through them in case you’re having the same issue!
AI personal assistants that can monitor messaging and email
I am bamboozled by the amount of different communication channels I have. I’ve got a party coming up this week but where were the details? Was it a WhatsApp message, or did they send me an email or text? I want one app that can find exactly what I need.
Make a tutorial movie
screen.now is a very easy to use app that can record a window on your computer screen and save it as a movie. It’s like quicktime recorder, but can add simple effects like Zoom.
How to print a pdf booklet in OS X
Unfortunately there is no way in the Mac OSX print dialog to automatically create a booklet. There used to be a free app called ‘Create Booklet’ but the free version broke with the release of Mojave. You can do it manually but it is fairly complex and time consuming. This article outlines some different options.
Adding an Athom power switch to Home Assistant
Here’s a video on adding an Athom switch to Home Assistant. I love the Athom switches they are well made and reliable.
How to print to Fiji Xerox Docucentre from macOS 15 Sequoia
When downloading a driver for an old Fuji Xerox printer, DO NOT click on your model of printer or you will get a message like this: “Your selected product has reached end of service, and thus will no longer be supported by FUJIFILM Business Innovation.” INSTEAD, scroll down to the newest model driver.
How much difference does the USB cable make to my SSD speed?
There are 3 categories of USB-C cable: A charging cable, a data cable, and a thunderbolt cable. Here are some speed tests of an external Samsung T5 drive with 3
How to stop the annoying passkey dialog box if you are using a 3rd party password manager in OSX to manage Google passkeys.
If you are using a third-party password manager, for example 1password, bitwarden, Macpass etc, you may get this annoying dialogue box every time you try to log into Google: This only occurs when you have a passkey already set up in the Apple keychain. I’ve written an article about passkeys here, they are great. But…
How to link to a document in Apple Calendar
Apple Calendar doesn’t natively link to local files. Here a great hack to link to a document from within Apple Calendar so that you can access the document from your calendar.
High level planning in Apple Calendar
Inspired by Reach Australia Coaching, here’s a calendar workflow I developed to align your weekly schedule with your core values, focussing on responsibilities and outcomes rather than tasks.
Which iPod has the best quality audio?
This article discusses the reasons for the difference in quality of the sound output of the various models of Apple iPod.