Idea of the Day - A new idea each day. Some Don't Suck!

Our Latest Posts About: MacOS

We Need Better iCloud Sharing

Tuesday, August 15, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

We need a better way to share files with friends, family, and co-workers.

I love the way iCloud lets me share my files between all my devices. I can create a file on my iMac, and the same file automatically appears on all my other Macs, plus my iPhone, and iPad. It's like magic.

The only problem is, it's not easy sharing files with other people. You can share individual files, but there's no way to share an entire folder.

Windows and Mac Should Have More Than One Clipboard

Tuesday, April 18, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

I hate when I have to lose text on my Clipboard because I need to copy a file.

The Clipboard is one of the most frequently used features, yet it has one weakness, they use the same clipboard for everything. This means that whenever you want to copy a file, any text or images on your clipboard will be wiped out.

Generally, when you copy something, such as text or images, you can only paste it into programs that handle text and images. Most programs don't let you past files into them, and the operating system itself doesn't let you paste text, images or other data as a file, so why not have more than one clipboard?

Having multiple clipboards isn't really new, but neither Windows or MacOS have built-in support for such a feature. I think its about time they expanded the cli... [More]

Continue...Windows and Mac Should Have More Than One Clipboard...

Why iPad and Mac Should Never Merge

Monday, April 17, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

A lot of people would love to see iPad runs Mac Apps and vice versa. Here's why that's a bad idea.

One of the most talked about things in the Apple community is the potential for the Mac and iOS platforms to merge, After all, they both share the same foundation. It's easy for a Mac developer to port their Apps from the Mac to iOS, and vice versa, so why not make it official?

First, let me make one thing clear. There's absolutely no reason why a Mac shouldn't have the ability to run iOS Apps. After all, every App designed for iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, and even Apple Watch starts on a Mac. Mac developers create and test every App on a Mac using a simulator that can run every Mac App on the market. If Apple ever gets around to producing a touch screen Mac it would be a p... [More]

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Mac Function Key Lock

Wednesday, March 29, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

There needs to be a quicker way to toggle Mac Function Keys.

There's an option in the System Preferences on a Mac that lets you toggle between using the Function Keys as "Standard" Function Keys, or use them for the "Special" features printed on the keys such as brightness, LaunchPad, Pause/Play, and volume.

While this seams like a no-brainer, it's actually a pain in the neck for people like me who run Windows using VMWare or Parallels, because a lot of Windows Apps use them for things like Search, Refresh, and closing windows and Apps.

Rather than going back and forth into the System Preferences to change modes, I'd love to see a "Function Key Lock" that lets you toggle between the two on-the-fly. Rather than adding a key, a simple solution would be to double-tap the Fn k... [More]

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What's Missing From Recovery Console?

Thursday, March 23, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

The Recovery console is missing one critical feature, the ability to ACTUALLY recover YOUR files.

Windows PCs and Macs both have a feature that let you boot into a special Recovery Console, whenever your system has trouble. The idea behind the Recovery Console is to give the owner some options to fix their system.

Unfortunately, the Recovery Console doesn't always work, and you have no choice but to format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. When that happens, you'd better have a backup, because the Recovery Console doesn't have any options to backup and recover YOUR files. That's pretty stupid!

Reinstalling the operating can be scary, especially without a backup of your own files, so what Apple and Microsoft need is an additional option that lets you back... [More]

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Why is a Mac More Secure Than a Windows PC?

Friday, February 24, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

If most Mac owners don't use an Anti-Virus, why do they have fewer viruses?

Billions of dollars are spent each year on Anti-Viruses and other Internet Security programs, yet almost none of it is from Apple Mac owners. Based on that, you might think that Macs would be less secure, but that's not the case. Even without anti-virus software, they rarely have to deal with viruses, malware, spyware, ransomware, trojans, and all sorts of nasty security problems.

While I can name quite a few reasons, there is one particular feature of a Mac that stands out above every other reason. There is a built-in feature in Apple's MacOS that specifically prevents you from installing programs from unknown publishers. Here's how it works.

When you buy a new Mac, the default setting in the s... [More]

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A "Close All" Option

Wednesday, February 22, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Don't you wish there was a quick way to close all your programs and documents at once?

At any given time, most of us have a lot programs, documents, and windows open at the same time. This can not only be distracting, but it can eat up a lot of resources, making your computer slower.

Sometimes the best solution is to shut everything down and restart, but that can be time consuming too. I think the best alternative would be for Microsoft and Apple to give people a quick option that simply says "Close All", that systematically closes every window, program, and document, just like it does when you select the Restart, Shutdown, or Power Down in Widows or MacOS, except that after closing everything, it keeps running. This saves the time waiting for it to re-boot.

The App Store is Missing a Critical Feature

Sunday, January 29, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why doesn't Apple's App Store have an option to sell upgrades to existing customers?

Selling upgraded versions to existing customers has always been one of the most important sources of revenue for App Developers, but for some reason, Apple still doesn't have an option for selling upgraded versions.

While this may not seem like a problem for consumers, it's a deal breaker for a lot of software developers because it means that they won't be able to tap into their existing customer base to sell upgrades. This is one reason many software companies bypass the Mac App Store entirely and look for other ways to market and distribute their software, which isn't easy.

Without this critical feature, some software companies are forced to introduce alternate versions of their Apps wit... [More]

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What is ScareWare?

Wednesday, October 26, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

ScareWare is one of the biggest problems in the computer industry, but so many people have no idea what it is... or what to do about it.

If you're surfing the web, and all of a sudden a window pops up telling you that you've got some sort of problem or a virus on your computer, and it suggests that you click a button to remove it right away, what do you do?

When many people see a message like that, they immediately click the button to "remove" the problem. Unfortunately, they don't realize that the message is a complete fake. You don't actually have a virus. It's just "ScareWare", but if you are fooled into thinking it's real, and actually click the button to "fix" the problem, you are actually installing the real virus.

In some cases, they claim to be giving you a free... [More]

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Adjustable Mac Startup Volume

Tuesday, August 23, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

I hate when I turn on my Mac and the volume of the startup sound is way too loud.

This has bugged me for years. Every now and then, I forget to lower my volume before I shut down and that means that it will play Apple's famous Mac Startup chime at full blast when I turn it on the next day. What a pain in the ass.

You would think that if they don't give you a way to turn that sound off, they would at least give you a way to adjust the volume to a preset default level.

Hard Drives With an Undo Option

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

When mistakes happen, wouldn't it be great to undo them?

As a tech guy, I get a lot of calls from people who managed to make a complete mess of their computers. Sometimes, it's because they accidentally moved or deleted an important folder, or in many cases, it's because they managed to download a virus that has the potential to render their computer useless.

In some cases, all I need to do is remove the virus, but in the case of Ransomware viruses, the only way to fix the problem is to completely erase it and restore from a backup that was made prior to the mess.

A while back, I posted an idea for Microsoft and Apple to put a rollback option into Windows and MacOS (OS X), but today's idea is to take it one step further, and build the rollback into the hard drive itself.... [More]

Continue...Hard Drives With an Undo Option...

The Apple Reminders App Should Let You Select Font Sizes

Wednesday, July 6, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

It drives me crazy that I can't read the text in the Reminders App.

I have a hard time reading the text in a lot of Apps, especially the Reminders App, which is funny because I have a 27 inch monitor. You'd think that with a monitor that large, the text would be as large as a house, but for some reason the text is super small, and you can't do a thing about it.

Changing font sizes should be a fundamental feature in any App that uses text, but for some reason the Reminders App still doesn't have an option to do it. This is a real pain in the neck for me, because I use the Reminders App every day to keep track of my ideas.

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Digital String on Your Finger... To Remind You You Left Something Behind...

Use Social Media to Listen To Your Customers, or They'll find Somebody Who Does.

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* Note: The ideas on "Idea of the Day" were posted without any formal research into existing inventions.

In some cases, patents may already exist for these ideas, in other cases, there may not be any existing patents and you are free to develop and explore the viability of developing and patenting the ideas.

The authors make no claim that any of the ideas are safe, practical, or suitable for any particular purpose. You are responsible for the results of trying, developing, patenting or using any of the ideas on this site.

For some people, our ideas are just an interesting read, but our goal is to encourage you to take action. If you see an idea that you like, do something with it... Take action.

- Joe

Idea Of The Day. A new Idea Each Day. Some Don't Suck.