If you browse the internet a lot, it can be very helpful to customize the layout of your browser. In this video tip I will show you a few quick tips to help customize Safari. In the menu bar, click View, Customize Toolbar. You will see all of the available buttons that you can use in the Safari web browser interface. These buttons can drastically speed up your most common browsing tasks. For example you can add an icon for mailing a link the current web page, a quick print button, a homepage button, zoom in an out on the webpage, and many more. Additionally, you can enable the status bar. It tells you if the webpage is still loading. It also displays link details when you hover with the cursor. I hope this video tip helps save you time and adds more convenience to your computer experience.

Time Machine is an excellent backup tool built into Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard.  If you are not using it, then you should!  It’s really simple to set up and very convenient for backing up your entire Mac.  Restoring files is very simple too.  There is one problem I have with Time Machine, the 1 hour backup interval.  I have a Mac Pro, my Time Machine drive is internal.  The drive wakes up every hour and backs up whatever has changed since the last.  I find this annoying.  My default two drives are SSD drives which make zero noise.  The Time Machine drive is a 1.5TB HDD.  Every hour the backup drive wakes up, spins, backs up data for about 5-20 minutes.  While Time Machine is running, it also slows down the computer.  I found a really great free application that lets you customize the Time Machine backup schedule, TimeMachineEditor.

TimeMachineEditor has two methods for setting up custom backups on your Mac.  You can set up by Hour Interval or Calendar Interval.  I use the Hour Interval option.  With this option all I did was change the backup interval from 1 hour to 2 hours.  My problem was immediately solved!  You can type in any number you want for the hour interval.  If you use TimeMachineEditor please note that for this software to work, you need to disable Time Machine in your System Preferences.  You need to do this so that your Mac no longer backs up every hour.  TimeMachineEditor will now handle your custom schedule.

Finally, there is a Calendar Interval set up (the above screenshot).  You can add multiple intervals by Hour, Day, Week, and Month.  I have not yet used these controls as the simple Hour Interval has greatly improved my computing experience while running Time Machine.  I can see this Calendar Interval setup to be very helpful for a lot of other users though.  It lets the user completely customize their backup schedule.  If you miss a Calendar Interval backup, it will backup next time you restart your computer.  What are you waiting for?  Download TimeMachineEditor today!

Quiet Computer Mice without the Click, Click, Click

Have you ever been completely annoyed by the mouse clicking of a friend, family member, or co-worker?  Maybe it was even your own clicking if you spend long hours computing.  Problem solved, QuietMouse.  I have been using the wireless and USB versions for many months now testing them to give you this review.  Their mice work on both Windows and Macintosh computers.

Quietsmooth USB Review

This is the standard sized mouse that you are all familiar with.  The size and comfort will come as no surprise to you.  It is a little on the light side, which isn’t necessarily a drawback.  There is a click feel, but very minimal click noise.  Compared to a typical mouse, you will be amazed when you start clicking on this mouse because there is barely any noise.  The clicking you will have to take a few sessions to get used to.  There still is a click feel as mentioned before, but it feels a little different from a typical mouse.  The scroll wheel does have some noise but it is faint compared to any standard mouse.  The scrolling is smooth and precise.  Keep in mind though, with the cable on the mouse, it will generate noise when moving the mouse.  This can’t really be avoided.  Try it on your USB mouse, you can hear the cord dragging can’t you?  You can solve this by using the wireless version.  Just thought I would mention it for those of you who are looking for a completely “silent” solution.

I tested this mouse on a Mac computer with dual monitors running 1920x1200 each, and it worked very well.  I used a combination of web surfing apps, mail, and even professional apps like Final Cut Studio and Photoshop.  In all applications the mouse held up and performed just as well as any mouse I have tried before.  I didn’t get the chance to experiment with gaming but the mouse does have 800 DPI tracking which should suffice when gaming.

Overall, this USB mouse is very quiet and it truly is something that you need to try to believe.  This USB version specifically can be great for someone who works at a desk all of the time, or if you don’t want to use batteries (which the wireless requires), or if you have larger hands (will discuss below).

Quietsmooth Wireless Review

The wireless version is spectacular.  It requires one AA battery.  It has a tiny USB receiver that plugs into the computer.  It is wireless which doesn’t require any cables.  The mouse is heavier than the USB version which I see as a good thing, it feels great in the hand.  It’s a solid mouse, very well constructed.  It has an excellent click feel, just like any typical mouse out there.  It is also virtually silent, it is even more quiet than the USB version.  The scroll wheel is also more quiet that the USB version.  All-in-all, the wireless version I feel is the most impressive.  It has a switch for 800/1600 DPI resolution which should track better for games or those who have larger resolution displays.  We tested this mouse on the same Mac computer as mentioned above for the USB version.  It performed just as well, if not better than the USB version.

There were only two issues I encountered with the wireless mouse.  First, it is smaller than the USB mouse which is great for on-the-go and portable computing.  This is not that great though for long hours of computing at a desk.  You can get adjusted I’m sure.  If you have large or even average sized hands, this mouse may feel uncomfortable after long hours of computing.  You will be the best judge of this.  How?  If you have felt discomfort from a smaller sized mouse in the past, the feeling will probably transfer over to this mouse.  If you have felt comfortable with smaller sized mice, this is perfect for you!  Regardless, if you have smaller hands, you will love this mouse!

Second, we used this mouse on a Mac Pro.  For some reason when booting the computer, the disc drives both ejected.  This doesn’t occur when the USB receiver is unplugged.  It is a hardware/software incompatibility with the Mac.  I read about this online and there is a small number of usb/firewire devices that this happens to as well.  For example, some external hard drives or usb drawing tablets have caused the same issues for some users.  It is only a small annoyance, it only occurs when you boot the computer.

The Bottom Line

If the clicking noise of the typical computer mouse is annoying to you or someone near you when computing, you have to buy a QuietSmooth Mouse.  I haven’t seen anything else out there on the market.  I would encourage you to spread the word to libraries, offices, dorms, etc.  Which mouse is best for you?  I would first recommend the Wireless because it is really “that great”.  If you have larger hands or small mice have been uncomfortable for you in the past, then go for the USB version.  Comfort is one of the most important considerations when computing, especially for long hours.  One last tip that some of you might find helpful.  When trying to operate even more quietly, you should check out a mousepad like the Bahama Pad Company Micro-fiber Mouse Pad.  It isn’t a hard surface but more of a soft feel, which doesn’t cause the mouse to generate a “scrape” or “slide” noise when moving the mouse on the mouse pad!

Very simply put, Xmarks synchronizes your bookmarks across multiple web browsers on Mac, Windows, and Linux.  I originally found Xmarks when looking for a solution to sync my MobileMe/Safari bookmarks with Google Chrome browser on Mac.  I previously wrote about my positive experience using Chrome on Mac versus Safari.  Chrome is now my default browser on Mac.  How do I sync my bookmarks from Safari/MobileMe to Chrome?  Xmarks does the trick, for free.

I had to get the bookmarks to sync because I needed MobileMe syncing my bookmarks to my iPhone/iPad with any changes also in Chrome.  Xmarks stores your bookmarks online.  After you install Xmarks on your computers/browsers, you have access to view and modify your bookmarks right in the browser.  Any changes will then be synchronized to your other browsers in the background.  Your bookmarks can be accessed on all browsers just as you would have before!