Mac 101: Keyboard text selection
I use these all the time... especially holding Option or Command while using the arrows to move the cursor around.
To select text you hold down the SHIFT key and then use the arrow keys or HOME, END, PAGEUP, and PAGEDOWN. The left/right arrow keys (plus SHIFT) will increase the selection one character in that direction, if you hold down the OPTION (⌥) key the left/right arrows will select an entire word in that direction, and if you hold down the ⌘ key the left/right arrows will select to the beginning or end of the line. The up/down arrow keys (plus SHIFT) will select a full line up or down; with the OPTION key held down the up/down arrows will select a paragraph. The HOME key (plus SHIFT) will select all the text to the beginning of the document and the END key (plus SHIFT) will select all the text to the end of the document. Finally, the PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN keys (plus SHIFT) will select a full "page" up or down.
Mac 101: Keyboard text selection - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).
You only need to hold Shift if you want to select text. Without holding shift, the aforementioned key commands will just move the cursor around. You probably don't realize how much time you waste trying to point with that Trackpad on your MacBook.
Google Reader unread count zero for once
I know this isn't really something worth blogging about, but I'm pretty excited to have finally gotten my Google Reader unread items count down to zero. I don't think this has ever happened since I first started using it... I originally signed up for just too many feeds. Anyway, here's a picture of my achievement...
Productivity On My Phone
I use a Treo 700w. It runs Windows Mobile 5. It’s not as powerful as I would like (I can only run 3-4 things at once), but I can still do a whole lot with it.
More and more sites are getting Mobile interfaces. For example, I can use Gmail, Facebook, Google Reader, Flickr and soon YouTube from Pocket Internet Explorer on my phone (many more sites too). And the phone can do mobile web browsing well.
Here are some of my other Mobile Web Favorites:
google.com/ig/mobile (iGoogle, my startpage. Access to gmail, google reader, search),
di.fm/mobile (Electronic internet radio stations),
m.facebook.com (Can message all your friends, see their pics… etc.)
m.twitter.com (For twittering…)
I also use a few applications on my phone:
Google Maps! (Amazing. Even works with that Bluetooth GPS thing I bought recently.)
Skype (Sound comes out the wrong speaker, but works great for speakerphone)
USB Modem (lets me connect to the internet with my mac laptop)
KeyLight (saves a lot of battery power by toggling off keyboard backlight LEDs)
Shozu (GeoTag your pics! neat new app that interfaces with many personal media sites YouTube, Flickr etc to upload your pics/videos etc. and can attach GPS location to your pics)
There are a lot of fun things to play with on my phone, but it can really feel productive when you’re responding to emails and reading your news subscriptions. I’m excited about the future of mobile phones, especially with that cool new iPhone from Apple. In the meantime, I know there’s lots more to do with my phone… what have I missed?
Update: I have an iPhone now. =D
