Fun Tricks With a MacBook
After you’ve used your MacBook for a while, you may be accustomed to running its basic native applications for such tasks as word processing, sending email and browsing the Web, and now you’re interested in what kinds of fun tricks you can do with the laptop. Apple sells two MacBook models as of the date of publication—the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, and both come with a variety of fun features that you can try out.
Other People Are Reading
-
Photo Booth Effects
-
Photo Booth is Apple’s native application for shooting pictures and videos with the MacBook’s built-in FaceTime camera. Click “Photo Booth” on the Dock of your MacBook. Click the “Effects” button at the bottom of the Photo Booth window. The window is now divided into nine frames, each with a different visual effect that you click to enable, such as Rollercoaster, which runs footage from the point of view of someone riding a rollercoaster behind your head, making the videos you shoot look like you are at an amusement park.
Different Language
-
If you want to compose a document but use a language other than English, you can take advantage of Apple’s built-in foreign languages. Click the Apple logo at the top left of the MacBook, then click “System Preferences” and then click “Keyboard.” Click the “Keyboard” tab and then click the check box next to “Show Keyboard and Character Viewer in Menu Bar.” A flag appears in the menu at the top of the screen. Click the flag and then click “Open Language and Text” to select a different language. Click the flag icon again and then click “Show Keyboard Viewer” to show an onscreen keyboard that shows you how your physical keyboard is now mapped for the other language’s characters.
-
Speech Recognition
-
Another fun trick you can do with your MacBook is to control it with your voice. Apple includes free speech recognition technology with every MacBook. Click the Apple logo, then click “System Preferences” and then click “Speech.” Click the “Speech Recognition” tab and then click the “Speakable Items” option to “On.” Click a category under “Select a Command Set” to see a list of commands you can say to your MacBook, such as “Close Window” or “Move Page Down.”
Make MacBook Talk
-
You can have fun making your MacBook talk to you. Apple includes the free VoiceOver utility on every MacBook, which you can use to have your laptop read text. For example, you can use VoiceOver to read from a word processing document in the native TextEdit application, or whatever appears on a page loaded in Apple’s native Safari Web browser. Click the Apple logo, then click “System Preferences” and then click “Universal Access.” Click the “Seeing” tab and then click the “VoiceOver” option to “On.” Click “Open VoiceOver Utility” to configure the sound of the VoiceOver voice and other options.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images
