If you like keeping a diary, I have some good news that will save your typing fingers. How about making a video diary?

On the Macbook Pro and iMac is a program called QuickTime player. You can find it by clicking on the Finder Icon on the bottom Dock and choosing Applications. Scroll on down and open it up. At the top, click on File and New Movie Recording. Click on the red Record button and start recording. When finished, just click on the red Record button again. At the top, click on File and Save. You can save the file as a date or any name.

To make it easier, you can place a QuickTime Player icon on the lower Dock. Here’s how you can do it: click on Finder on the bottom Dock and click on Applications. Scroll on down to the QuickTime Player App and right-click on it. A menu pops up. Now choose Make Alias. All of a sudden, you see QuickTime Player and QuickTime Player Alias. Now left-click on the QuickTime Player Alias and drag it down to the Dock. There, you now have a fast way to start up your daily diary.

Here is another valuable trick. Let’s say you want to save an important e-mail and make this a file that can be printed later. There are four ways to do it, so here goes. First, open up the important e-mail. At the top of your screen, click on File and Save As. A box opens up on the bottom displaying the word FORMAT. Click on the Up and Down arrows and choose between Raw, Rich and Plain. Choose any one. Now let’s find a nice place to save it to. How about clicking on the left side and choosing on the Desktop? Ok, now click on Save. Check your Desktop later, and there it is.

I have a better way to save it so it looks exactly like the original e-mail. The other three methods that you could have used to save display some gibberish stuff that nobody understands when printed out. So, with your important e-mail opened, click on File and then scroll down to Export as PDF and choose it. If you want to place it on the Desktop, go ahead and click on it and then Save.

Why not compare both files and see which format you like? On the Desktop, choose either one you saved and open it up. The best option for saving is a PDF file, in which all the text and graphics look perfect. You can now print it as many times as you want.

Did you know by pressing the side volume button five times, then dragging the Emergency SOS slider over, it calls 911? For the iPhone X, you need to press the Power button five times then slide the SOS bar over across the screen.

Here’s a good one: you can use the QuickLook option to view a file without opening it up first.

Let’s try clicking on the Finder icon on the bottom Dock, then clicking on the Photos Folder. Click on any photo. Now hit the space bar. The photo pops up in full view. You can do the same for a document file, too. Clicking the space bar again closes the file or photo. You can hold down the Shift key and click on multiple photos, then hit the Space bar and scroll through the selected photos by using the arrow keys.

This way beats selecting the photo and then having the Preview App open it up, displaying the photo and then having to close it after viewing it.

Quicklook is faster without having to exit a program, so use it and you’ll like it.

Send your computer-related questions to mauimist8669@yahoo.com.