I want to integrate a formula in my spreadsheet (in Excel or Numbers) that calculates the number of days between 2 dates that I have in other cells on the spreadsheet.
How do I do that ?
Answer :
there are 2 formulas available to do this, choose the one that works best for you in Excel or Numbers :
formula =DUR2DAYS(enddate–startdate)+1
or
formula =DATEDIF(startdate,enddate, βDβ)+1
NOTE : the “+1” in both these formulas is only needed if you want the number of days including both startdate and enddate !
I just received a message with an animated picture in it, that I want to save on my Mac to maybe send it to someone else later on. I thought it would be an animated-GIF file, but it turns out to be a .webp-file when I save it to my Mac.
Is there a way to convert this .webp animation to an animated .gif ?
Answer :
Yes, and it is rather simple, just do this :
on your Mac, right-click on the icon of the .webp-file
in the popup-list that appears, choose “Get Info”
in the “Get Info” window that opens, goto “Name & Extension” and replace the “.webp” extension by “.gif”
and to make double-checking easier, uncheck “Hide Extension”
then, close the “Get Info” window (by clicking the X-marked red dot top left)
now, open the renamed file in Preview.app to check if it has multiple images inside
then, open the renamed file in your webbrowser to check if the animation runs smoothly
That’s it !
Note : this works if the original file inside the .webp-animation is an animated GIF, it’s not sure if this will work for any .webp-animation
I want to test the waters on some subject in a WhatsApp-group I’m in. Let’s say I want to know how everybody feels about doing something together or not. I’ve seen someone else post a polling questionnaire like that in another WhatsApp-group, and I want to do something similar…
How do I do that ?
Answer :
To create a poll (a questionnaire) in WhatsApp, do this :
make sure you have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on your iPhone
open WhatsApp and go to the group you want to post the poll in
click on the + (the Plus-sign) bottom left (next to the field where you normally type new messages)
in the popup list that opens, select “Poll”
in the “Create Poll” window that opens, at “Question” type the initial question for your poll/questionnaire
then, at “Options”, add the first multiple-choice answer you have in mind
then, just below, type the second multiple-choice answer
now, upon typing the second multiple-choice answer, you will see that an extra field will appear for an extra answer you have in mind
if you want to add a third (or fourth or fifth) multiple-choice answer, type it
so, when you have all multiple-choice answers typed, leave the bottom field empty (it will be marked with “Add” in grey)
now, if you want people to limit their response to only one answer/option, set the “Limit to only one choice” open (to the right) ; if not, leave it closed (to the left)
then click “Send” top right and your poll will be posted in your WhatApp-group
as soon als people start filling out your poll/questionaire, their face-icons/avatars will show up next the answer of their choice, so you can monitor the most and least popular answers
Question : I have to state the balance/amount (NL “saldo”) in my PayPal account for my yearly income tax, but if I look in my PayPal overview, I can only see the incoming and outgoing actions, not the balance (NL “saldo”) on January 1st and December 31st… I was hoping to find the answer to this on the PayPal website, in the FAQ, or somewhere online, but no-one seems to know the answer…
How do I do that ? Or is it impossible ?
Answer :
No, it can be done. It’s just a little complicated :
then login to your account using the “Login” button ; you will need the PayPal.app on your phone for 2-step-verification
on the page that opens, click on “Activity” in the top menu bar
on new the page that opens, next to the search bar, click the βdownloadβ-button [ the icon of a U-shape with an upward pointing arrow ]
on the new page that opens, click the triangle-shaped arrow-icon at the right side ( next to the “Custom” / “Adjusted” field )
on the new page that opens, click on “Tax Documents” in the bottom of the left menu bar
in the new page that opens, select the “Tax Year”
if there are any tax reports available, you will be able to download them here
but… if you get a message saying your account is not eligible for tax reports, and you still want to get the historic “balance” (NL “saldo”) in your account on specific dates, click on “Financial Reports” in the left menu bar
in the pull-down options that appear, click on “Financial Report”
then, in the new page that opens, at “Period” (NL “Datumbereik”), click on the Calendar-icon and select the year of your choosing from the pull-down list
then, click on the “Generate Report” button
when the report is displayed, click on “Download Report”
make sure you repeat these last steps for each currency you have had on your PayPal account, as you will have separate sub-accounts and therefore separate reports for each currency
after downloading, check the Report thoroughly and make sure that it contains the right “Period” (NL “Datumbereik”) and “Currency” [ WARNING : do NOT assume that you will always get the report that you asked for !! ]
I came across some group photos on Instagram that I am on but that I did not take and/or post myself. I would really like to save them to my Photos.app but I can’t figure out a way to do that…
How do I do that ?
Answer :
Yes, this is possible, but… DO NOT use any app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac that needs your Instagram login credentials to do that !! as by doing that, you are granting third party access to your Instagram and you are thereby making your Instagram account extreme vulnerable to hacking, fraud and identity swapping !!
Instagram has made it impossible to save pictures from within the Instagram.app (either on iPhone, iPad or Mac) so the only ‘good’ way to do this is via the website. To do so, do this :
on your Mac, open the Photos.app
then, open Safari and in the top menu bar goto Safari > Settings > Advanced
in the “Advanced” window, make sure that there is a checkmark at “Show Develop menu in menu bar”
scroll through the pictures and select one that you want to download / save to Photos.app
now, in the top menu bar goto Develop > Show Page Source
the underwater screen will now appear in the bottom half of the browser window
inside the underwater screen, in the menu on the left, click on the folder named “Images”
now, in the main past of the underwater screen you will see just the pictures of your Instagram page
scroll through these pictures and when you find a picture that you want to download drag&drop it to Photos.app’s main screen and it will be imported to your Photos.app (note that you could also drag&drop the image to your Desktop or any folder in the Finder to save the picture to your Mac)
repeat this drag&drop action for every picture you want to download
when done, close Safari
now, goto the Photos.app and in the menu list on the left, click on “Imports”
then, on the main part of the Photos window, all recently imported pictures will appear
scroll down to the very bottom and you will see the pictures you have imported from Instagram
from here on, you can use the downloaded Instagram pictures however you like…
I had a Philips HUE lamp that went rogue after 4 years of working without any problems, so I had to replace it with a new one. Installation was easy (as always) : it was immediately recognised by my HUE Bridge and there is no problem when I use it with the HUE.app (I am not using the HUE(Bluetooth).app since I have an HUE Bridge). Even the HUE Remote that controls to the group of lights that the old HUE lamp is in, immediately integrated the replacement HUE lamp.
But when I want to control my HUE lights from my Google Home devices and apps, all lights are still controlled properly, but not the newly replaced HUE lamp… I can’t control it from Google Home… What is wrong ?
Answer :
After connecting the new Philips HUE lamp to the HUE Bridge and the HUE.app, you need to also reconnect it to Google Home manually… Philips HUE doesn’t automatically update in Google Home (or the other way around)… To get things working in Google Home, do this :
make sure that the new HUE lamp is working properly with the HUE.app and all HUE Remotes as intended
then, make sure the group of lights that the new/repaced HUE lamp is in is turned on (so all lights of the group should be burning)
now, open the GoogleHome.app on your iPhone (or iPad)
when the “Home” page opens, click on the “Settings” button (the one with the sprocket/gear-icon)
in the “Home settings” page that opens, scroll down to the bottom and click on “Works with Google”
in the “Add Devices” page that opens, you will see a “Linked” chapter and a “Add new” chapter below ; since you already have your HUE lights set up in Google Home previously, you can click on “Philips HUE” in the “Linked” chapter
in the small popup menu that opens, click on “Check for new devices”
when the auth.meethue.com online login page opens, login to your Philips HUE account using your eMail address and your password
in the “Grant permission” webpage that opens, scroll down to the bottom and click on the blue “Grant permission” button
now the “Add Devices” page in the Googlehome.app opens, and at the bottom a message saying “Philips HUE is linked” will show
then, the “Choose device” page will automatically open where you see all your HUE lights and devices that are currently not connected to Google Home, so select the HUE lamp’s icon tile that you have replaced and click “Next”
in the “Connect Home” page that opens, drag&drop the HUE lamp’s icon tile onto the correct HOME icon tile (usually the HOME location that you have setup in Google Home) [ note that you can only connect the lamp to one home ] then click “Next”
in the “Connect Groups” page that opens, drag&drop the HUE lamp’s icon tile onto each and every GROUP icon tile (of lights and devices) you want the HUE lamp to be in, one after the other
when done, click “Next” and the GoogleHome.app will update
when done, back in the “Home” page, scroll down to the proper group and test what happens when you turn the group of lights off and back on
if everything works properly, you’re done
if you run into a problem (now or maybe later on), try this :
turn on all HUE lights
turn off all running GoogleHome.apps on all devices you have and unplug all Google Home speakers, Google Home displays and Nest Hubs
after at least 30 seconds, plug all Google Home speakers/displays and Nest Hubs back in and wait for them to restart
now, test if the group of HUE lights that includes the replaced HUE lamp works as intended when using one of the restarted Google Home speakers/displays or Nest Hubs (if it works on one Google Home device, it will work on all the one that have been restarted)
also test if the group of HUE lights that includes the replaced HUE lamp works as intended when using the GoogleHome.app on your iPhone (or iPad)
now, everything should work as intended (in the very unlikely event that it does not, redo all of the above)
A friend told me I could speed up my interaction with my iPhone by doing things like swiping with multiple fingers at the same time…
How do I do that ?
Answer :
The 2-finger gestures that you can use on your iPhone :
the basics : put 2 fingers on the screen next to each other, then spread them (‘pinch’ gesture) to zoom in on a picture or map
the basics : put 2 fingers on the screen apart of each other, then bring them together (‘reverse pinch’ gesture) to zoom out on a picture or map
the extras : when the onscreen keyboard is shown, long-press the spacebar (with one finger) to get a cursor that you can move though the text (‘trackpad-mode’), then add a second finger and with 2 fingers you can now select parts of the text
the extras : when in a list (like in Mail.app or Notes.app) use 2 fingers to tap one item, then drag down (or up) to select multiple items together – if needed you can still deselect individual items using only one finger
The 3-finger gestures that you can use on your iPhone :
the basics : put 3 fingers on the screen and swipe to the left to undo any action you just did
the basics : put 3 fingers on the screen and swipe to the right to redo anything (especially if you just did an undo action)
the extras : after having selected a text, put 3 fingers on the screen and spread them (‘reverse pinch’ gesture) to copy the selected text
the extras : after having copied some text (when it’s in the invisible clipboard), put 3 spread-out fingers on the screen and move them together (‘pinch’ gesture) to paste the text into your document
the extras : when in any text app, tap 3 fingers on the screen to bring up a menu that enables you to copy & paste
that’s just a few of the very handy gestures that you can use… enjoy π
MacManus.nl 