Computing with Bifocals
by Nancy Carroll Gravley

Current Column

Simple Security Steps for Average Mac Users - July 29th, 2008

Beginner Web Design with Freeway Express - June 9th, 2008

Bento: An Easy to Use Database App - May 29th, 2008

Nancy Looks at a Couple of Outstanding Mac Products - March 31st, 2008

How Time Machine Saved the Day - February 26th, 2008

Nancy's Favorite Apple Utilities - January 11th, 2008

Cool Leopard Tips & New Version of Nancy's Tips Manual - December 14th, 2007

Nancy's Leopard Upgrade Advice & Tips for Mac Novices - November 14th, 2007

New Keyboards & Four Tips - October 29th, 2007

Four Ways To Quickly Find Your Applications - August 31st, 2007

A Laptop Protector for Your Laptop & Two Tips - August 10th, 2007

Nancy Explains The Genius Bar - July 20th, 2007

Tip Time: MacBrickout, Spotlight, Batch Processing, More - June 15th, 2007

pzizz - June 4th, 2007

Super TextTwist: A Truly Evil Game! - May 24th, 2007

Keep Your Laptop Cool: LapWorks Aluminum Desktop Stand - May 2nd, 2007

Reunion: The Real Mac Choice for Serious Genealogists - April 27th, 2007

The Bifocals Guide to Running Windows on Your Mac - March 23rd, 2007

iPhoto 6 Review, Part 2 - February 27th, 2007

iPhoto 6 Review - December 1st, 2006

Advice for Not Looking Stupid and Print Explosion 3.0 Review - October 31st, 2006

Why Can't I...? - September 29th, 2006

Of iPod Cases and System Preferences - September 1st, 2006

Of iPod Cases and System Preferences - August 30th, 2006

July 2005

Cool Tips, Kudos for Bob, & a Review - July 31st

June 2005

Two Apps for Reading and Browsing - June 23rd

May 2005

The Bifocals Guide to RSS - May 26th

April 2005

Protecting Your Files from Prying Eyes - April 14th

March 2005

Six Mac Software Download Sites - March 31st
The Lost Password - March 8th

January 2005

Mac Help Scenarios I & II - January 31st
16 Days Without My Mac!?! - January 27th

December 2005

Puzzles & Solitaire Forever! - December 30th

November 2005

Nancy's (Alternate) Holiday Gift Guide - November 30th
Teaching 400(+) People to Use a Mac - November 18th

October 2005

Nancy's Guide to iChat (and Adium) - October 14th

September 2005

The Letter Bag - September 30th

More OS X System Preferences - September 23rd

August 2005

Avoiding Phishing Scams! - August 26th
Tiger System Preferences - August 12th

July 2005

Keep Frequently Used Disks Organized with Disk-it - July 29th|
Playing Dominoes On Your Mac - July 27th
A Crossword Game for your Mac - July 1st

May 2005

Nancy's Tiger Thoughts for the Bifocal Crowd - May 31st

April 2005

A (Near)-Complete List of Mac Keyboard Shortcuts - April 22nd

March 2005

Reader Questions & New Tips - March 28th
Four Cool Web Sites - March 18th

January 2005

Fancy Footwork with TextEdit - January 28th
More Tips and Hints for OS X - January 21st

December 2004

MacFamilyTree: Recommended Genealogy Software - December 30th
Get a New Mac? Erase Your Old One! - December 29th

November 2004

Software to Put Under the Tree, Part II - November 23rd
Software to Put Under the Tree, Part I - November 10th
Reader Letters: Help, Arrogance, & Weirdness - November 3rd

October 2004

Mariner Write: Word Processing for the Rest of Us - October 11th

September 2004

Announcing Nancy's Hints & Tips Book - September 14th

August 2004

Working With Font Book in Panther - August 26th

July 2004

Hints & Tips For Mac Apps - July 28th
Back to School, New Software, & a New Apple Store - July 22nd
The Final Mac Stories, Including the 87 Year Old Mac User - July 20th

May 2004

More Mac Stories - May 28th
Nancy's Mac Story Contest Winners - May 11th

April 2004

Nancy's (Over 50) Contest & Some Tips - April 9th

Another Good Book, & A Bad Multifunction Printer - March 10th

February 2004

How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Knowing How -- Sorta - February 17th

January 2003

Bookmarks, A Free Game, & A Database - January 22nd

Review: Old Fart's Guide To The Macintosh - December 22nd
It's All About The MUG, Zoom, & Rechargeable Batteries - December 15th

November 2003

Xmas Presents...For Yourself! - November 13th

October 2003

A Mouse With A Retractable Tail, Browser Tips, & Software Update - October 22nd

September 2003

Something Neat, Something Helpful, Something Weird, & Something New - September 26th

August 2003

Some Basic, Some Cool, & Some Handy Mac OS X Tips - August 19th

July 2003

The Bifocals Guide To The iTunes Music StoreJuly 2003 - July 25th

May 2003

Two Dandy OS X Apps, & Some Beginner OS X HintsMay 2003 - May 30th

April 2003

Getting Started With Mac OS X - April 18th

March 2003

Nancy's Basic Tips For Using Keynote - March 13th

January 2003

Impressions From My First Macworld - January 14th

December 2002

Getting Involved With A MUG - December 13th

November 2002

Hints & Strategies For Buying On eBay - November 15th
More Hints & Strategies For Selling On eBay, Part 2 - November 8th
Hints & Strategies For Selling On eBay - November 1st

October 2002

Things Nobody Remembered To Tell You - October 16th

August 2002

Basic Web Page Creation Tips - August 28th

July 2002

The Bifocal Guide To Mozilla Surfing - July 24th
A Compendium Of Information For New Users - July 11th

May 2002

Farewell To Kings: A Great Mac Card Game - May 29th
Creating Logos & Instant Messaging In OS X - May 22nd
Burning Files To CD, The Bifocals Way - May 15th

March 2002

iPhoto, The Bifocals Way - March 5th

January 2002

How I Got Burned Out Trying To Burn A CD - January 23rd

December 2001

What Happens When You Combine Gambling With A Board Game? Monopoly Casino - December 14th

November 2001

Games, Holiday Suggestions, & Learning A Basic The Hard Way - November 16th

October 2001

Another Mac Success Story - October 24th

September 2001

Nancy's Guide: How Do I Do That On A Mac/PC? - September 27th
A Day Late And A Dollar Short, But Running As Fast As I Can - September 13th

August 2001

Word Tips, Broadband Info, Removing Mac OS X, & More - August 31st
Nancy's Stats On Seniors & Their Macs - August 23rd

July 2001

Recommended Web Sites & The Further Adventures Of The Little Performa That Could - July 30th

June 2001

Cremation, Faulty E-mail, & Comics - Now How Is She Going To Pull All That Together? - June 20th

May 2001

Make Your Own Mah Jongg Tiles (Mac & Mac OS X) - May 16th
Commonly Used Terms Related To The Internet - Part II - May 9th
Commonly Used Terms Related To The Internet - Part I - May 2nd

April 2001

Nancy's Nifty Newbie JavaScript Web Tips - April 25th
Feedback On Reshaping The iMac Line & A Newbie Mac Radio Tip - April 18th
Reshaping The iMac For The Digital Hub - April 11th
Nancy's Mac Basics Quiz (& Cheat Sheet!) - April 5th

March 2001

OS X? What's That? Looking At OS X Through Bifocals - March 28th
My E-mail Is DOWN? The Apocalypse Has Begun... - March 21st
More Information About CD-R/W Disks & Some Browser Tips - March 14th
The In's & Out's & Do's & Don't's Of CD-R Media - March 7th

February 2001

Backing Up Computer Information - February 28th
A Mac Success Story - February 21st
Nancy's Guide To Mac Help Web Sites, Part II - February 14th
Nancy's Guide To Mac Help Web Sites, Part I - February 7th

January 2001

Mac Games For The Winter Blahs - January 31st
E-mail Basics, Part III: A Printable Guide For New Mac Users - January 24th
E-mail Basics, Part II: A Printable Guide For New Mac Users - January 11th
E-mail Basics: A Printable Guide For New Mac Users - January 3rd

December 2000

New Mac For Christmas? Printable Guide For New Mac Users - December 27th
Enough Mac (& Other) Holiday Links To Choke A Microsoft Exec - December 20th
Even More Shareware Games For You Or For Gifts - December 13th
Shareware Games Suggestions & More Tips For You - December 6th

November 2000

More Shortcuts & Other Reader Hints - November 29th
88 Keyboard Shortcuts & Commands, Part II - November 15th
Keyboard Shortcuts & Commands - November 8th
Date & Time & Other Helpful Hints - November 1st

October 2000

A Few More Tips For New Users - October 25th
Truck Driver: I Am Not Alone Because I Have My Mac Laptop - October 18th
Nancy's Guide To Internet/Web/Chat Abbreviations - October 12th
USB Peripherals & Adding A Forward Delete Key To Your iMac - October 6th

September 2000

Holiday Help, Lefty-Tips, & Cool Sites - September 27th
Images Through E-Mail, 22 Copies Of SimpleText, & Folders - September 20th
I Just Can't Help Myself - A Head Start on Holiday Ideas - September 13th
Reader Tips To Help Your Mac - September 6th

August 2000

Why Did My Computer Do That? - August 30th
ScrapIt Pro: A Handy Application For Your Mac - August 23rd
How A Group Of Strangers Sold A Mac At A Wedding - August 16th
Mike's Cards: A Great Mac Card Game - August 9th
Pay Attention Now, There Is Going To Be A Quiz - August 2nd

July 2000

Cool Sites For Hot Weather - July 26th
I Gave my Daughter An iMac, & All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt - July 19th
Letters - July 12th
How To Add Attachments To Your E-Mail Messages - July 6th

June 2000

Space: The Final Frontier & How You Can Help - June 28th
Odds, Ends, & Important Stuff - June 22nd
Things I Learned To Do The Hard Way (I Had To Ask My Daughter) - June 14h
iTools: A Great Tool For Beginners - June 7th

May 2000

More Spiffy Web Page Tips - May 31st
Take Your Right To A Mac For Granted? The Mac In Poland - May 24th
Make That Web Page Spectacular - May 17th
In The Land Of Macintosh - May 10th
Search Directory Tips & More On DVORAK Keyboards - May 3rd

May 2000

Mouse Tips, iMac Updates, & A Great Typing Program - April 26th
Yet More About Lefties & A Web Site For New Users - April 19th
Making Your Mac Desktop Look Bigger - April 12th
Making Your Mac Desktop Look Bigger - April 5th

April 2000

Downloads, Fonts, & Reader Comments - March 29th
Two Great Mac Success Stories - March 22nd
For Your Parents: How To Make Your Cursor Big - March 16th
A Must Have Application For Anyone Who Uses Images - March 8th
Tips, Short Cuts, And The Occasional Miracle - March 1st

February 2000

Having Fun With Sound - February 23rd
OneApp Slide Show Reviewed & More On Computer Eye Strain - February 17th
Working With Icons & Avoiding Physical And Eye Strain - February 9th
PDF Files & Online Tax Forms - February 1st

January 2000

More On Mac Chess, Parental Computers, And What Are Cookies? - January 26th
Tips For Getting Your Parents To Want To Use A Computer - January 19th
Chess And Your Macintosh - January 12th
Basic Computer Skills and Fun with MacBrickout! - January 5th

December 1999

A Capacious Catalog Of Computer Tips - December 29th
Goodbye, Old Friend - December 22nd
Giving Your Parents A Mac? Print This Out For Them! - December 15th
Useful Apps For Your Mac - December 8th
CopyPaste: A Godsend For Power Users & Novices Alike - December 1st

November 1999

More Tips For Mac Novices - November 24th
Update: The Septuagenarian Computer Novice And His iMac - November 17th
Computer Pioneers III: Kay, Gates, Jobs, & Woz - November 10th
Computer Pioneers II: Hewlett, Packard, and Cray - November 3rd

October 1999

A Guide To Computer Pioneers - October 27th
Nancy's Web Tips For The Holidays - October 20th
Tips For The Web - October 14th
Sending HTML Files Through E-mail- October 6th

September 1999

Looking at Hacking From Both Sides - September 29th
Using VersionMaster To Find Mac Programs - September 22nd
Building An Easy Web Page III, Adding Extras - September 15th
Building An Easy Web Page II, Basic HTML - September 8th
Building An Easy Web Page - September 2th

August 1999

Two More Auction Sites Reviewed - August 25th
Two Mac Success Stories From Real-Life - August 18th
Solitaire Games Reviewed and Venturing Into Auctions on the Net - August 11th
Macintosh Computers – The Great Equalizer - August 4th

July 1999

Review: Print Explosion 1.0, A Mac-Only Graphics App For Consumers - July 28th
I Got My Photos Back on a CD! Now What Do I Do? - July 21st
Mac Battery 101 And Other Basic Tips - July 14th
Mac Activities For A Hot Summer Afternoon - July 7th

June 1999

More About Slides and Help on Adjusting Memory - June 30th
More Great Game For Your 68K Mac - June 25th
A Man and His Machine - The Dilemma of a First Time User - June 16th
Games You Can Play On Your 68K Mac - June 9th
How To Create A Slide Show - June 2nd

May 1999

Computer Viruses and What To Do With Them - May 28th
Making Tool Bars And Launchers Work For You - May 19th
Beginners: How To Make Tables With ClarisWorks (AppleWorks) - May 12th
My Must-Have Tips For Your Mac - May 5th

April 1999

A Hunting We Will Go - April 28th
How Norton Utilities Saved My Mac/More Y2K - April 21st
Make Your Mac Work For You - April 14th
A Mac Y2K Primer For The Novice - April 7th

March 1999

Get A Fax Without A Fax/Modem - March 31st
A Guide To Making A Will Online - March 24th
A Beginner's Guide To Internet Mac Shopping, Part II - March 17th
A Beginner's Guide To Internet Mac Shopping, Part I - March 10th
Give This To Your Parents: Search Engine Searching Explained - March 3rd

February 1999

Start Up Sounds On Your Mac - February 24th
Apparently Some Of You Can Do Some Things Better Than Me - February 17th
Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better.. I Can Do Anything Better Than You...- February 10th
Pitfalls, Pratfalls, and Dumb Luck, Part II- February 3rd

January 1999

Pitfalls, Pratfalls, and Dumb Luck, Part I- January 27th
Floppy This! A Guide To A Virtual Floppy- January 20th
Keeping Up With Friends And Family- January 14th
How The PC Dragon Stole My Magic Mac Kingdom- January 6th

December 1998

Adding Pictures To Your Documents- December 30th
The Further Adventures of Stuffit and an Introduction to GraphicConverter- December 23rd
Making Stuffit A Little Less Stuffy- December 16th
What to Give, What to Give?- December 9th
Odds, Ends, and Accouterments- December 2nd

November 1998

AOL Vs. A Local ISP- November 25th
How to Use Your Mac to Facilitate an Old Fashioned Holiday- November 18th
How to Use Your Mac to Keep Up With Your Government- November 11th
Demo's, Shareware, and Freeware. Oh My!- November 4th

October 1998

Of Children And Experts- October 28th
Creating Family Trees- October 21st
Trivial Thoughts From Me-Worthy Thoughts From Readers- October 14th
Software For Fun And Profit- October 7th

September 1998

Searching On The Net And Other Mac Adventures- September 30th
The Top Ten Reasons I Like My Macintosh- September 23rd
Finding People On The Net (With Your Mac)- September 16th
My First Mac Was A Typewriter- September 9th

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Copies of Nancy's book Tips, Hints, and Solutions for Seasoned Beginners Using Apple Macintosh Computers With OS X are available in PDF download versions  for US$9.57 and in print version for $18.15 plus $4.00 shipping.   To view sample pages and get ordering information visit the September 14, 2004 column.

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Post your comments below.

Check out Nancy's complete index of all her columns for the most complete list of tips anywhere. The list is categorized and is a great reference when you are looking for help! A Capacious Catalog Of Computer Tips

Talking to a generation that remembers what the world was like before there was color, covers issues for people who don't care how their computer works, but rather what their computer and the internet can do for them.

Nancy has a Master's degree in Human Services Administration and prior to her retirement she worked for almost 30 years in field of mental health and mental retardation. She has been a Mac user for 11 years, and has recently developed an avocation of teaching basic computer skills in both group and one-to-one settings.

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Most Recent Computing With Bifocals Columns

• Of iPod Cases and System Preferences - August 30th
• Cool Tips, Kudos for Bob, & a Review - July 31st
• Two Apps for Reading and Browsing - June 23rd

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