MacBook Tricks
MacBooks, around since 2006, have always offered features that belie their entry-level price. One example of the MacBook's hidden power is its no-button track pad. You can click any side, vertically slide two fingers to scroll up and down, rotate images with fingertip swirls, flip through photos with three finger swipes and pinch your fingers together to zoom in and push them apart to zoom out. If a track pad can do that much, what other tricks might your MacBook have up its sleeve?
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The Terminal
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Unless you're a power user, you probably haven't had much experience with the terminal. It's a command line interface to your Mac's UNIX-based OS that allows you to give direct instructions to the operating system. Two awesome tricks the terminal can do is talk to you and let you play retro games. To hear your MacBook talk, type "Terminal" in the Spotlight field and press "return." Now type "say," followed by whatever phrase you want it to speak and press "return."
If you'd rather relive the past with a game of Pong, Tetris or Snake, open Terminal and type "emacs," then press "return." Press "esc" when the new screen appears and type "x" then "pong," "tetris" or "snake" and press "return" again. These games can prove a relaxing way to kill some time.
Screen Captures
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The "PrntScr" button on Windows PCs offers a handy function that MacBooks lack. You can, however, grab snapshots of your MacBook's screen by pressing the "command+shift+4" keys simultaneously. When you use this key combination, a square icon appears on your screen. You can drag the square across a desired area to capture and save it to your hard drive. It's a quick way to record images of whatever's on your desktop for tutorials and research.
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The Track Pad
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One difference between early MacBooks and PCs is that the PC track pad is clickable, whereas it isn't on MacBooks with track pad buttons. If your MacBook or MacBook Pro has a track pad button, the click option is off by default so you must turn it on in system preferences. To do that, open the "Keyboard & Mouse" screen, click the "Trackpad" tab and enable the "Clicking" and "For secondary clicks" options by checking the corresponding boxes. This makes your track pad left clickable with one finger tap and right clickable with two.
Cleanup
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Some MacBooks have a polycarbonate thermoplastic shell and if you own one, you've probably noticed that it's hard to keep it looking good. This is especially true if your MacBook happens to be white. Not only do you need to worry about stains from food and household products, but you also need to know that even perspiration from your hands can affect your MacBook's finish. One trick to keeping your laptop clean and shiny is the same substance that keeps your teeth clean on a daily basis. A good brand to try is Arm and Hammer baking soda toothpaste. Just rub a dab on any stains and wipe it off with a damp rag. You can also remove stains with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Washing your hands frequently is the best way to minimize the problem, however.
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