Managing PDFs in Preview

If you're a mac user, you'll invariable end up at some point needing to modify your PDFs. Did you know that your mac's (OS X+) nifty Preview application can do it all for you?

Deleting a page in your PDF using Preview
1. Open the PDF file
2. Make sure you have selected View/Show Sidebar
3. Highlight the page you want to delete in your Sidebar
4. Click Command + Shift + Delete
5. Save your revised PDF

Merging PDF files using Preview
1. Open the first PDF file
2. Open Finder and the folder where all your PDF files are located and arrange your open PDF and Finder so you can see everything
3. Make sure your first PDF file is open and the Sidebar is showing
4. Drag the first of the PDF files from your Finder window to your Sidebar, hovering over the last page of your open PDF until a box surrounds the icon. A blue bar will show up under the page to show the new PDF you're dragging will be saved there.
4. Continue until all the files have been added in the correct order, you can drag and place.
5. Save your revised PDF file

New Favorite: InCase Neoprene Sleeve

I don't take my MacBook Pro out often, and usually only for a rare work or business travel appearance. However, when I do take my lil buddy out, I don't want it to slip out of my grasp or get knocked about.

So today, since I was already at the Apple store to visit the Genius bar, I went ahead and took a look at the neoprene cases they had on display.

I saw they had the plain black one from InCase--a brand I'm already acquainted with as I've bough a number of rubberized iPhone cases over the past three years from them.

image from InCase website

The InCase Neoprene Sleeve Plus case is simple black neoprene, but the surprise is the furry white lining that helps cushion your little aluminum cased jewel.

At $39.95 this is not bad at all, when you consider you pay the same price for a little rubber case for an iPhone (!).

image from InCase website

On the InCase website there are a number of solid colors as well as color combinations to choose from.

The zipper is uber smooth and the zipper pulls are rubberized to prevent slippage. They're also big enough to help both small hands and large hands get a sturdy fix on them to pull.

This is a great investment for my little MacBook, and it makes carrying it, a non-slipping good bet.

MacBook Pro vs. Sony Vaio, An Update

The Laptop Wars!! Hardly.

So I've now been using my MacBook Pro for about four months and I still really like it. The learning curve was short because I watched as many Apple videos and read as many Windows-to-Mac switch articles as possible.

I especially enjoy the portability. My Mac is 13 inches, so I can slide it into my work bag and that's it! The battery is far far better than the (2007) Sony Vaio, so I often don't even take my charger with me. On the other hand, for my Vaio, I had to purchase a replacement charging cord because the one I had, suddenly started sparking at a section where it somehow got cut, while I was on the sofa with Benny (my dog). Eek. Talking about waking up from hiberantion in January, that really got my motor running that day. Luckily, no injuries to sofa or otherwise were had.

But would I give up the Sony to switch to Mac? No. I prefer to have two laptops for different purposes.

My Sony has all my movies (and the huge letterbox screen to watch them with) and all my music collection. I also use it to synch my iPhone. My documents and photos are stored on Dropbox so I can access them anywhere. My Vaio also has my Dreamweaver CS4 and Photoshop 7. So I do most of my web programming homework or on-the-side experiments there.

My Mac is used as an Internet appliance (as is my iPhone mostly!) where I just learn the Mac way, download interesting software, then uninstall it after I get bored with it, and just keep on trucking on my merry Apple-tinted web 2.0 way.

I still don't understand why the industry standard in graphic design is using Macs. The quality of pixels and art/design/layout can be modified using the same standards either in a Windows machine or a Mac. The software is the same (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, InDesign etc.). I'm sure there has to be a reason besides the eye candy and encapsulation convenience of Mac products. I certainly don't feel like taking up a full-time job working on web programming or design (either on a Mac or Windows), because, well for one I have been there and done that and didn't like it, and secondly, I like the flexibility of playing with these projects when the muse strikes and then moving on to something else.

As it regards the new delectable iPad...I'm not so sure I need it. I like reading paper books, because screen reading causes me eye strain--and boy, after editing pages and pages at work during the day, the last thing I need is more eye strain. And I know everything looks delicious on the iPad, but I see it just fine on my two laptops and iPhone.

I'm not into photo album features because I do just fine with Flickr. I'm not into newspaper reading, because I use feeds and stream my info in multiple fashion online (and on apps on my iPhone). And I can listen to Pandora and mp3s on my iPhone or laptops just fine right now. I'm not really seeing the point just yet. And importantly, I have a beef with finger smudges on slippery products--that's why I am now on my second rubber/non-slip cover for my iPhone.

What do you think about the Windows vs. Mac fight? Are you getting an iPad?

Format your Mac's HD

Ever wondered if you could reformat your Mac's hard drive? Wonder no more! Wired shows you how under their "how to wiki."

Switching from Windows to Mac

At one point in every advanced computer user's lifetime comes the choice of whether to stick with the same old operating system or stretch-goal on out to new skillsets and challenges in one or more operating systems.

More popular than switching from Windows to Linux is a switch from Windows to Mac. I've been researching tutorials and introductions for those making "the switch" as it's often referred to. Here are some results that I found especially helpful:

• Switch 101 Windows vs. Mac navigation
• 50 reasons to switch from Mac to Windows (writer is heavily sponsored by Mac software mfrs)
• Mac 101
• Here's an important one: Migrating your files from Windows to your Mac

Just for fun, how Macs were reviewed/received in '84.

Will keep researching and updating whenever useful items come my way.

UPDATE: there's this awesome guide called The Mac Guide by makeuseof.com that I just found out about that you simply must read if you're a "switcher."