30 July 2011

Ask GDS #3 - Impress Your Friends

So you're an average person with an average life, but worst of all, you have average skills....you can't do anything extreme, and you have come to me to learn...well you're in luck, all you have to do is Ask GDS! I have the perfect video tutorial for you! You can impress you friends even in class :D

23 July 2011

10 Things I Love About Mac OS X Lion

1. Gestures
Ever get annoyed about having to press a button on the keyboard or click an icon to get to your favourite location or quickly switch to another work-related application to fool your parents, teachers, colleagues, or even your boss into thinking you are doing work and not mucking around on games like "Shoot Your Boss in The Head!"? I do. Everyone does! Now, with the flick of 2 fingers on your magic mouse or trackpad, you can do this so easily, nobody will be able to notice you playing games. DISCLAIMER: This article is only for educational purposes only, and if you are fired or expelled, please don't blame me.


2. Full Screen Apps
Full screen apps are a way to get rid of all those other distractions like the dock, top navigation bar and other toolbars within an app. It helps you utilise the space on your screen, especially if you have an 11-Inch MacBook Air. What I also love about this feature is that a fullscreen app creates its own space, so you can extremely easily switch between fullscreen apps, the desktop, dashboard and any other spaces you may have, just with the flick of your fingers. This brings me onto my next point:

3. App Store

I believe this was their first step towards merging iOS and Mac OSX. No longer would you have to download apps from the internet, from unreliable locations, store product keys etc. No longer would you have to resort to a 3rd party app like Bogeda. You would have every Mac App centered in one location...the Mac App Store. This is also the place where Lion and future operating systems will be downloaded from. Soon, Apple Stores will not be selling CDs and software, because CDs are old technology :P ...they will only be selling hardware. Imagine a day where an Apple Store doesn't sell software! That would be great, and I know that is where Apple is heading.


4. Autocorrect
I know most of you guys out there with iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads have had some pretty nasty experiences with autocorrect in the past. For example, say you're texting your mum and you mean to say "Wanna do some craft tonight??? :D" (Teenagers like doing craft too :P) but autocorrect makes you say "Wanna do some sex tonight??? :D"...your mum won't be happy and you will probably blame autocorrect and rage on Twitter, and Facebook about how iPhones suck and Apple should remove autocorrect. Well you have got to remember that Autocorrect only corrects incorrect words to the words you use most. Your fault. I, on the other hand think that Autocorrect is a great tool that allows you to save time and energy, resulting in more efficient work. This is a great feature in Lion, and it was upgraded from just a red squiggly line under a word previously in Snow Leopard.

5. Mission Control
Coming in at Number 5 is Mission Control. I mean, who wouldn't love Mission Control? It has everything a person would want when switching applications. With the click of a button (or more likely the movement of a gesture), you can get there, and organise your windows just the way you like, for quick application switching. I love it because it has merged spaces, expose and the dashboard in one sleek environment.

6. Sleek Login Screen
I didn't really like the look of the login screen on Snow Leopard, and strived to change it. I did change it, but only got as far as changing the background. But then came along Lion and with that came an awesome Login Screen. It is extremely relaxing on the eyes, and can is great when you want to use the Mac in the night when everybody is sleeping and no light is on, because in Snow Leopard, even on the lowest brightness setting, when I was logging in, the display was death of my retina (Slight pun intended xD). Apple have once again thought of their users rather than themselves.

7. ???
I couldn't think of anything for Number 7, so you can just watch this video:




8. Better Message Boxes
Snow Leopard had semi-good message boxes, with rounded buttons. That was OK, but I reckon they could've done better, and they did with the release of Lion. The currently selected button flashes blue and flickers to let you know which one you would choose if you were to press enter. It just appeals to me more, so I thought I should put this in at number 8.


9. Launchpad
Launchpad doesn't have much use for me, but it might have a great use for others, so I am sticking this in at number 9. Some might say it's just a fancy pansy Applications folder. They are absolutely right! It is just a fancy pansy Applications folder, but there's more to it. It is just like an enlarged iPad (It's funny because when the iPad came out they called it an "Enlarged iPhone without calling"). It is yet another step Steve Jobs has made to merging Mac OSX and iOS. The scrolling is just like an iPad. The deletion of icons is just like an iPad. The moving of icons to different pages is just like an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. In fact, if you are using Lion right now with a Magic Mouse, bring up your Launchpad and hold your Magic Mouse just like an iPhone in landscape, and swipe like you would swipe between home screens on an iPhone. it's really easy, isn't it? Like this, all us Lion users should get used to the way this works, because some day iPhones might be used as mice, and phones at the same time! Funny idea, huh?

10. Built-In FaceTime
Last but not least, Built-In FaceTime. FaceTime is a key part of all of Apple's products, and it should be integrated into the OS. There's no point in just having it in the App Store, because many people won't know how to navigate to the App Store and get an app. To have it built into the operating system is a really good step by Apple, because more people can connect and more people will get to know about it. I congratulate Apple on this as well.

Tell me what you think about this in the comments below and don't forget to share it!

21 July 2011

Lion Has Been Released!

Earlier today, Lion was released. Oh yeah, most of you guys will probably have no clue what Lion is, so let me start explaining.


A Lion is a beast in the wild, right? So when you hear the words "lion" and "released" in the same sentence, you are probably thinking some zoo keeper got the key to a lion's cage stolen by a monkey and the lion went on a rampage destroying stuff. Well you are right, but I am not really talking about that..........The lion is the king of the jungle, so Lion is the king of its jungle. Those observant ones will be thinking..."GDS should really start using capital letters correctly! Lion is not a proper noun...", well all I have to say is...good eye! You are right in saying that I should use capitals correctly, but Lion and lion are 2 different things, so no, I am doing the right thing. Thanks for the help anyways!

Let's take a step back from our clumsy old zookeeper and our friendly (hopefully) tamed lion, and talk a bit about computers. ~~~ When you press that beautiful round "on" button on your computer, you are telling lots of things to do lots of stuff. Although you are just exercising your finger muscles, you are also exercising your computer to do stuff. You are telling the hardware, which is the battery, and all that silicon placed inside that metal or plastic case, to do stuff, like run the OS. OS stands for Operating System, which is what actually runs your computer. The internet browser you are using right here, right now, is just a part of that wonderful (or not so wonderful) "OS" we are talking about here. So when you turn on your computer, the OS starts up, and comes up with a startup screen, then a login screen where you can put in your password and get into your computer and access all your homework, games, or other stuff (let's not go there...hehe). There are different types of OS, some pretty, some ugly, some fast, some slow, some customisable, some non-customisable. It depends. Windows, for example, is beautiful but slow. Mac OSX is fast, semi-pretty, but isn't very customisable. Linux, on the other hand, is all 3, but isn't that stable, and is for advanced users.

These different OS's are made by different companies. Microsoft makes Windows, Apple makes Mac OSX, and Linux is made by a range of different people. Now onto Lion. Lion is a brand new OS made by Apple, and it's really fast, and is a substantial upgrade from it's predecessor. So, what's the whole point of paying money to upgrade to this new technology if you aren't a tech fanboy or fangirl? It's features and usability. Snow Leopard is its predecessor (I know, Apple is the zookeeper of the tech world), and looks very different from Lion. Lion uses what are called "gestures". Gestures are movements of your fingers and hand, to toggle between applications, documents and the internet, without the hassle of menus and keyboard shortcuts. It's the way technology is heading. If you don't know what keyboard shortcuts are, they are when you press the keys on the keyboard in a certain order, you can get to an application or the internet quicker.

Lion has all these new features, 250 of them, and it would take forever to explain them all, but you hopefully get the picture. It's bigger and better, and only costs $31.99. This is what all the big commotion is about, and millions of people got it on the first day alone, so if you have a Mac (Apple Computer), think seriously about getting this, because it's where everything is heading. And remember, it's not an terrifying animal or anything to be scared about, but just another part of your amazing computer. So, the next time you are asked about a computer or an OS, just say "I know that, I'm an expert" and think about me, GDS, and this article that helped you with your knowledge about the computer world.

Bye!

17 July 2011

Ask GDS #2 - Learn Drums!

I am pretty experienced at the drums (go me! :D) so I am doing this next version of Ask GDS to show you how you can play a simple beat for your enjoyment, or even in a band! This beat is the core of all drumming you will ever play...so sit back and relax! :D


14 July 2011

Ask GDS #1 - Prepare Your Mac For Lion In 10 Easy Steps

You might have heard that Mac OSX Lion is coming out sometime soon, but did you ever think TOMORROW??? No, you probably didn't, but it is reported to be possibly coming out as early as tomorrow. Any normal Mac user would just go...."Oh cool it's Mac OSX Lion on the App Store! Let's go download it and install it!"....

WRONG! Ask GDS first!

Your computer will have all sorts of fragmented bits (Yes, Macs DO get fragmented...sometimes) and broken apps and whatnot. Some websites say you have to get these millions of programs and do a million things, and do heaps of manual stuff that will take ages, and a considerable amount of intelligence, but I say NO! This guide to prepare yourself Mac OSX Lion is aimed at dummies, and could even be of use to smart people because this method rules ALL :)

All your other guides have 5 and 6 steps that are each in depth and are many paragraphs long, but mine has  about 10 easy steps. So here goes:

1. Turn on your Mac
2. Plug in your External Hard Drive and dump all your stuff (e.g. Apps, Docs) in there.
3. Eject your External Hard Drive
4. Insert Snow Leopard CD and Shut Down
5. Turn on and hold the 'c' key until the Apple Logo comes up
6. Find Disk Utility and completely erase the hard drive (e.g. Macintosh HD)
7. Click Install Snow Leopard and wait
8. Turn on computer and create new user account
9. Run Software Update, from the Apple Menu on the top left and update everything.
10. Restart your computer and go to Mac App Store, Download Lion and Install

This is better than any other method because it involves completely wiping the hard drive and starting over, so you don't have to worry about those temporary files and other stuff clogging up your hard drive. Hope you enjoy installing Lion easily and worry-free using this guide! Bye!

4 July 2011

The Bird - The Movie Trailer

It is here. After all this hard work of filming and editing, more filming, and late nights over the last few days, I have finally put together this nice movie trailer that is leading up to the short movie I will be creating for an August release... :) So I reckon you should check out this YouTube embed down below, and remember to increase the quality to 720p in the options:
 

UPDATE: Yes, I cheated. I didn't actually release this video on the 4th of July like I said....I released it at 11pm on the 5th of July......for all of you that noticed :$ But all that matters is that the video is up......right......? :) CACAAAWWWW!!!