Langer M. Visual QuickStart Guide. Mac OS X 10. 4 Tiger / Address Book

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Visual QuickStart Guide. Mac OS X 10. 4 Tiger
Authors: Langer M.
Published year: 2003
Pages: 107-111/301

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Address Book

The Address Book widget works with the Address Book application to give you quick access to your contacts.

Tip

I tell you how to use the Address Book application in Chapter 8 .

To use the Address Book widget

Open the Address Book widget.

Enter a search word or phrase in the box at the bottom-right corner of the window. Address Book quickly displays the first card that matches what you entered.

If necessary, click one of the arrow buttons to scroll through the contacts until you find the one you want ( Figure 8 ).

Figure 8. The Address Book widget, displaying one of my contacts.

Tip

You can click the red button in the bottom of the Address Book widget's window to open the currently displayed contact in the Address Book application.

Calculator

The Calculator widget puts simple calculations at your fingertips.

To use the Calculator widget

Open the Calculator widget.

Use your keyboard to enter the formula you want to calculate.

or

Click the buttons on the Calculator's keypad to enter the formula you want to calculate.

The results appear in the Calculator window ( Figure 9 ).

Figure 9. For simple calculations, you can't beat the handy Calculator widget.

Tip

For more advanced calculations, be sure to check out the Calculator application, which I discuss in Chapter 8 .

Calendar

The Calendar widget gives you access to the events you manage with iCal.

Tip

I tell you about iCal in Chapter 8 .

To use the Calendar widget

Open the Calendar widget ( Figure 10 ).

Figure 10. The Calendar widget.

To view a specific month click the up and down arrows at the bottom of the calendar to scroll through the months.

Tip

Clicking the large date on the calendar collapses the calendar window to show just the current date ( Figure 11 ).

Figure 11. Click the large date to collapse or expand the calendar display.

Dictionary

The Dictionary widget offers a quick way to look up the definitions, pronunciations, and synonyms for a word.

Tip

You may also be interested in the Dictionary application, which I discuss in Chapter 8 .

To use the Dictionary widget

Open the Dictionary widget ( Figure 12 ).

Figure 12. The Dictionary widget looks like this when you first open it.

Enter a word in the box on the right end of the widget's window and press . The window expands to show the word's definition ( Figure 13 ).

Figure 13. The Dictionary can show you a word's definitions…

Click the right pointing arrow at the top of the Dictionary window to display the Thesaurus entry for the word ( Figure 14 ).

Figure 14. …or its synonyms.

Flight Tracker

Flight Tracker can provide you with information about airline flights all over the world, including arrival and departure times, en route progress, and delays.

Tips

Flight Tracker requires an Internet connection to gather information.
If you think Flight Tracker is useful, you might want to check out the Flights feature of Sherlock, which I discuss in Chapter 15 .

To use the Flight Tracker widget

1.	Open the Flight Tracker widget ( Figure 15 ). Figure 15. The Flight Tracker widget.
2.	Use the three drop-down lists on the left side of the widget window to choose an airline ( Figure 16 ), departure city, and arrival city. Figure 16. Use the drop-down lists to set search criteria for airline, departure city, and arrival city.
3.	Click the Find Flights button. Flight Tracker lists all of the flights that match your criteria ( Figure 17 ). Figure 17. Flight Tracker displays search results.
4.	To check the status of an en route flight, select the flight and click the Track Flight button. Flight Tracker displays a graphic of the route with information about the plane's location and speed ( Figure 18 ). Figure 18. Clicking the Track Flight button displays flight status information.