Mac OS X QuickTips #34

CreativeTechs QuickTips #34

Week of April 1, 2005

April Fools One: Turn your friend's Mac into Windows XP.

Today we offer up a special April Fools Day edition of CreativeTechs's QuickTips. Here are a couple non-lethal practical jokes for your co-workers. Please accept these in the spirit of the day.

Change your friend's Mac desktop to a Windows XP screen capture. Complete with Start Menu and My Computer icons. (Use the Desktop & Screen Saver preference panel in System Preferences.)

We've included the standard Windows XP desktop in a variety of resolutions:

Windows_800x600.jpg
Windows_1024x768.jpg
Windows_1280x768.jpg
Windows_1280x1024.jpg

A few additional techniques could enhance the effect:

A). Hide the dock: Choose Dock > Turn Hiding On from the Apple menu.

B). Remove the hard drive icons from the desktop: In the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences. Under the General tab, turn off the options in "Show these items on the Desktop."

[Source: No one at CreativeTechs takes credit for this one.]

Send this Tip to a Friend
Sign Up for Weekly Tips

April Fools Two: Invert Your Friend's Monitor.

Mac OS X's Universal Access preference pane (in System Preferences) offers a great number of prank possibilities. Most users are not aware of the features hidden in this control panel -- making it a good source for April Fools pranks.

Monitor Pranks ("Seeing" Tab):

Turn on "Switch to White on Black" and your friend's monitor become a negative image of itself.

Play with the "Enhance contrast" slider and turn the monitor into a posterized version of itself.

Keyboard Pranks ("Keyboard" Tab):

Turn on the "Slow Keys" feature and the keyboard becomes frustratingly unresponsive.

[Source: Again, CreativeTechs had nothing to do with this.]

Send this Tip to a Friend
Sign Up for Weekly Tips

Share tips and win music! Each week we're giving away a pair of $15 iTunes cards to a randomly chosen new Seattle-area subscriber PLUS the friend who referred them. Pass this newsletter along using the "Forward to a Friend!" link at the bottom and tell your friend to give you credit when they sign up! Last week's winners: xxx.

QuickTips is a free weekly e-newsletter from CreativeTechs, Inc. Each week we publish a fresh mix of left-brain and right-brain tips based on our real world experience supporting hundreds of creative teams in the greater Seattle area. For a complete archive of previous tips, visit www.creativetechs.com/tips

Your referrals wanted! CreativeTechs relies on word-of-mouth introductions. If you know a Seattle-area creative team who might benefit from our unique mix of computer support for creative professionals, please introduce us. We are never too busy for your referrals. Email help@creativetechs.com, or call us at 206-682-4315.