Power User Monday Tip of the Week

Silence the Embarrassing Pops

I'm sure this has happened to most of you. One day, you're giving a presentation to an important audience. It could be a PowerPoint or graphics portfolio presentation for a future employer or client. It could also be a presentation of the Return of the King: Extended Edition for your family. Either way, this presentation is taking place on your Mac (probably a PowerBook or iBook) and being run through an external system (probably speakers or a projector). Before starting your presentation, you know that you need to lower the volume on your Mac. But, what you don't know is that the talented (and challenged) technical staff in charge of setting up your presentation rig, have left all external speakers on their maximum volume. You press the volume lowering key on your keyboard, and an enormously loud popping sound blows every speaker, and renders your entire audience deaf (either momentarily or permanently).

Ok, maybe that hasn't happened to you, but it's happened to me and almost everyone I know. Don't worry, the solution is simple. Just hold down the shift key while pressing your volume keys. Look Ma, no more popping sound!

Bonus Tips:
Try holding down the shift key while doing other tasks in Mac OS X, like minimizing a window, for example.

"And should your alert volume still be set to maximum, leaving acceptable sound but a deafening beep, hold down the option key and press any volume key to bring up the System Preferences->Sound panel. (This works with other keys, like screen and key brightness on powerbooks, as well.)" ~ Anonymous

"Try turning off 'Play feedback when volume keys are pressed' in the Sound preference pane. Then you have to press shift to *hear* the silly pops." ~ CCS   


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