From The Tips Box: iTunes Key Controls, Dual Monitors In Lion

Readers offer their best tips for preparing for replacing text, keeping from losing your keys, and fixing dual monitor issues in Mac OS X Lion.

About From The Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons – maybe they’re a bit too niche, maybe we couldn’t find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn’t fit it in – the tip didn’t make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favourites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.au.

Fix iTunes Shortcuts on Third Party Peripherals in iTunes 10.4

Photo by Ryaninc.

JabariSmith shares a solution to iTunes 10.4 breaking non-Apple keyboards:

The latest version of iTunes (10.4, and I have the 64-bit version) breaks compatibility with media-controlling peripherals. This means that if you have a keyboard or mouse that can control iTunes functions, it will no longer be able to do that. I know this from my own experience with my Logitech MX Revolution mouse, and there are a few sources online with commenters complaining about the problem.

I found a fix! It’s a little program called HKTunes, which is hosted on Google Code here. And, apparently, it has been featured on Lifehacker before.

Fix Dual Monitor Colour Issues in Mac OS X Lion

Peter lets us know a simple fix for colour calibration issues in Lion:

The problem: There seem to be issues with dual screens on Mac OS X Lion, where only the main screen will adopt the settings in the screen menu under the tab “Color”. At least, I had this issue where the settings (a calibrated description) just would not take on the secondary screen leaving it far too bright.

The fix: Select the option to mirror the main screen (Under the middle tab on the dialogue box on the main screen, or from the menubar drop down), and then deselect. The settings from the main screen should now be carried over to the secondary screen as well.

Cut an Avocado Mess-Free

Photo by Beatrice Murch.

Soaring shares a simple method for cutting up messy avocados:

Cutting up avocados for any recipe (specifically guacamole) into chunks can be messy and time consuming. My quick tip I recently learned solves that nicely.

1. Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit.
2. Hold half of the avocado cupped in your hand, the skin touching your skin.
3. Score the insides using a knife, the skin of the avocado will protect your hand as long as you don’t push extremely hard. I cut it up, down, and diagonally both ways.
4. You’re Done! Now just the insides out with a spoon holding it as before, or squeeze it all out for some fun.