Matt Fisher is a 16 year old high school junior and Apple enthusiast who has been putting up tutorial videos on all things Macintosh since December of 2008. I just saw one that is so good I wanted to bring it to your attention.

Matt has created a video on hidden features in Snow Leopard and although we have covered some of these before, this you have to see. In four minutes and twenty-nine seconds Matt covers more content than most people can cover in an hour, and he does it with grace and total clarity.

Matt found hidden features in:

• Coverflow
• Spotlight
• Resizing of icons
• Preview viewing modes
• Hiding windows in dock icons
• More organized keyboard shortcuts
• Location based setting of time and date
• Showing the date in the menubar
• Stacks
• Text and symbol substitution
• The re-emergence of the trash 'put back' feature.

Take a look and I think you'll not only be impressed, but pick up a few things you didn't know.

Thanks go out to Mustafa Histoni for sending in this tip.

One of the most common ways to customize your tried-and-true desktop is by changing the wallpaper. While easy and effective, the wallpaper switcheroo is not the only trick up the sleeves of the customizers among us. For some, the most rewarding customization results from replacing icons.

There are many reasons to do this, including replacing system and application icons to create an overall aesthetic, easing the identification of a particular external hard drive by using its product image as an icon, or even replacing poorly-designed icons entirely (we're looking at you, Adobe).

We Love Icons aims to make it easy for icon lovers to discover new icons from around the web that are free for personal use. In their own words, designers Dan Wiersema and Nando Albuquerque started We Love Icons because, well... they love icons! The site itself is very well designed and easy to navigate; there is even an easy-to-spot option for filtering icons based on type: Mac-compatible, PNG file format, or Windows-compatible.

Further adding to the greatness of this site, the How-To page is a great resource for those new to the icon-customization game. There are links to external content on the history of icons, tutorials on changing icons, and even design-related icon articles. The How-To area also features an Apps section which lists several useful programs for replacing and creating icons. Each application list item includes a one-sentence summary, the application's platform (web, Mac, or Windows), and also the application's price.

Overall, I am impressed with the content of the site and the quality of its presentation. We Love Icons has secured a bookmark in my "Icons" folder right next to the link to InterfaceLIFT's icon section. Dear readers, I present this question to you: in my never-ending search for the best icons, do you have any favorites that you have either designed or found? Hit up the comments and share the love.

Our friends over at Pixelmator have released a new update, and while it's not quite as big as their point versions, it does add a few new features and a nice online guide to the program. The main new feature in-app is a noise filter that allows users to add random specks and pixels to an image, creating a little more realism and mess to whatever shapes they're working on. But the bigger addition is out-of-app: they've created an online Learning database with tutorials, tips, and lessons on how to make the most of the image-editing app. There's actually quite a bit of stuff there now, from text and video tutorials to even third-party tutorials submitted by users. If you are interested in learning more about how to use Pixelmator, definitely give it a look. They've also updated the user manual, too, so if you haven't seen that in a while, that's worth checking out as well.

There are also a few performance updates and bugfixes -- here's the list if you want to check it for something you're interested in. I still don't see my personal issue on there: it seems like whenever I switch between the Spaces on my Mac that hold iTunes and Pixelmator, the OS doesn't want to stay put -- it keeps jumping back to the iTunes Space while I'm trying to work on Pixelmator. Of course that might be an iTunes issue, but hopefully the Pixelmator team is looking into it.

Other than that, it's still a great app for editing and resizing images, and at $59, is definitely cheaper and simpler than investing in a big Photoshop suite. The 1.4.1 update will show up automatically for current users, and the app can be downloaded as a free trial from their site.

Here's a useful corner of Apple's enormous website. The "Find Out How" pages feature tutorials on things like Mac and wireless basics as well as web, music and MobileMe tips.

We've written about it before, but Apple has recently added tutorials for iLife '09 apps, including iPhoto and an iLife '09 overview. The tips are super handy, and even an old salt like me learned something new. For example, did you know you could publish to FTP with iWeb? I didn't (of course, I never use iWeb).

Of course, you can check out our own Mac 101 series as well. Here's to education!

Since Apple dropped the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) from the iPhone SDK, iPhone developers everywhere have started some awesome projects. From writing a book, to providing examples like Apps Amuck is doing, the development spectrum has exploded. The idea behind of Apps Amuck is to build on the iPhone app tutorials that Apple provides for developers. They are currently giving away one app per day for the next 31 days.

The tutorials they provide are small, one trick ponies that allow you to perform tasks like finding your location, building a fire, figuring out your IP address, and more. The site allows you to see a screenshot of the application, read a description, and download the source code to play around with. If you have a developer provisioning file (meaning you've been accepted into the developer program), you can even sync the applications over to your iPhone or iPod touch.

If you are not an iPhone developer and wish to play around with the applications, you will soon be able to download them from the iTunes App Store. For more information about the project, visit the Apps Amuck website.


Thanks for tip, Chris!

Users of any of Adobe's products (at least the current ones) will want to check out Adobe TV. With a smorgasbord of tutorials and informational videos on a broad range of topics, it has something for everyone.

The content ranges from Photoshop tutorials from Layers Magazine to tips on dynamic media creation in Visual Communicator. Beginners and long-time users – be they web developers, graphic designers, video professionals, photographers, you name it – should be able to find something right up their alley... from down-to-earth Lightroom tutorials to the ridiculous (but informative) antics of Dr. Brown. The site is well organized and easy to navigate, and thankfully provides Youtube-style embed code for deep linking within the Flash site.

It sounds like the content will be updated regularly, keeping the collection current with Adobe's ever-growing lineup. Even if I often choose alternatives to Adobe's products in my workflow (don't worry, InDesign, you're safe for now...), I'm already gleaming useful information from Adobe TV. I find it a testament to Adobe's growth (and the power of acquisition) that the entire site is built with Adobe products, from video capture to final delivery. So, here's a toast to all-encompassing media production empires, so entrenched in the industry that they can afford to miss 64-bit boats and shirk interface conformity. Cheers!

My mom and dad just purchased their first Mac. Unfortunately, it turns out I'm not a great teacher because I get overexcited about advanced features and take the basics for granted when I try to explain things. Fortunately for me, my father shares my autodidactic personality (might be where I got it...) and has been taking the learning curve in stride. I've felt like there are a lot of things they need to know about my favorite platform, though, that I haven't been very good at communicating. I've been wishing there was an all-inclusive, step-by-step resource that could better convey all of the information I try to share in my not-so-good-for-switchers way.

Enter OS X Help, which debuted in January and has built up a nice catalog of articles for people just getting their first taste of OS X. The site features the tag "Insanely simple tutorials for the first time Macintosh user." I immediately thought, "son of a switcher! This could be the answer!" From hardware tips to an in-depth look at Safari and Finder, Scott Haneda and Caroline Merchiers have compiled a well-organized collection of brief introductions to Macintosh topics. The email to my parents is on its way.

[Ed. note: Brett's modesty forbids any mention of our own Mac 101 series for new and returning Mac users... but look there, it got mentioned anyway!]

It is a safe bet that many people received iPods this holiday season (I know a bunch of TUAW readers did), and a few of those people might be new to the whole iPod/iTunes combo. Apple has recently posted a number of video tutorials that cover iPod and iTunes basics. Now, if you're somewhat familiar with iTunes/iPods you won't learn much from these tutorials, but your Aunt Dora who is rocking her first iPod ever will find these videos very helpful (and you'll look like the good niece or nephew because you helped her with her new techno-bauble. Everybody wins!).

Sure, it isn't a 30 day demo, but these iLife '08 tutorials give you a very nice overview of what the various apps can and can't do (and how they do and don't do 'em). The short videos are very task oriented, as you would expect with tutorials, and best of all they are free.

Check them out, and see what iLife '08 has to offer.

Oh, and can someone explain to me why I need to go to a store and buy physical CD's to get iLife? Apple is one of the world's largest distributors of digital music, and I am pretty sure they can handle digital distribution of software as well. Ah, another mystery of the universe.

Uncluttering your life and Getting Things Done is a perennial favorite among us TUAW folks, and MurphyMac has posted a new video showing a novel way to take charge of your Mac desktop. Creating a custom desktop helps organize your workspace around your workflow. You build a background in your favorite image editor to match the size of your desk, adding organizing "wells" to store different file classes (like incoming, action items, items-to-file, and so forth). By setting this as your desktop, you instantly add a new level of order to your workspace and can take advantage of the structures you design into the background. It's not rocket science, but it's a great idea for adding structure while preserving the visibility you lose with a folder system.

Let's say you've made a few podcasts that you're proud of...mostly. There's always room for improvement, right? If you use GarageBand as your main podcasting tool, check out these tutorials at MacProVideo. Tips include using the right EQ settings for your voice, volume management and getting the most out of your remote Skype and other over-the-net sessions.

It's $29.50US for nearly two hours of video (you can view two demo videos at the website). Check it out, and bring your podcasts to the next level.

I love trying out new desktop icons from sites like the Iconfactory. In fact, my copy of Pixadex is bursting with nearly 3,000 icons. I guess it was inevitable that I'd eventually want to try to make my own.

Luckily, Macinstruct has posted a great tutorial on making icons for the Mac. It's fully illustrated and provides easy to follow, step-by-step instructions. Now I know what I'll be trying this weekend.

[Via Macsimum News]

The tireless folks on the iLife team at Apple have released a very nice set of video tutorials for each of the suite's applications. You can browse the videos by topic, and move through each step-by-step clip easily. It's a great place to start getting you hands dirty with the iApps. Check it out (and go create something!).

[Via Macworld UK]

One of my favorite Mac sites, PBFixit, has been renamed iFixit. iFixit provides parts and great step-by-step repair and upgrade tutorials for the Mac mini, Powerbook G3 (233-500mhz), iBook G3 (300mhz-900mhz) and iBook G4 (800mhz-1.42GHz), plus the titanium and aluminum PowerBooks. The tutorials are fully illustrated and, best of all, include pages that allow you to keep track of all the screws and parts you remove, in order.

iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens had this to say about the name change: "Why are we changing names? A few reasons. The first: iFixit sounds cooler. Secondly, Apple is discontinuing the PowerBook name and we want to stay relevant to all Mac owners. But most important, we want to keep our options open. Our team is working incredibly hard to improve our product line and develop the Fixit Guide series."

Check out iFixit if you haven't. They're a very good resource.