Type an em-dash on an iPhone
Typography and punctuation geeks rejoice! It's easy to type an em-dash on the iPhone's or iPod touch's virtual keyboard. To do so, tap the .?123 key to switch to the numeric keypad. Then touch and hold on the Hyphen key to reveal a pop-up strip showing an em-dash. Slide to the em-dash and release your finger.
Note that this basic trick works with many other keys on the virtual keyboard.
Written by
Tonya Engst
Recent TidBITS Talk Discussions
- Alternatives to MobileMe for syncing calendars between iPad/Mac (1 message)
- Free anti-virus for the Mac (20 messages)
- iTunes 10 syncing iPod Touch 4.1 (2 messages)
- Thoughts about Ping (16 messages)
Published in TidBITS 757.
Subscribe to our weekly email edition.
- Security Update 2004-12-02 Released
- Squeezebox Adds New Display, Features, Colors
- EyeHome 1.5.1 Improves Interface, Media Support
- USPS Click-N-Ship Now Mac-Compatible
- Digital Photography: Correction & Follow-up
- DealBITS Drawing: Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack Pro
- iTunes Music Store Opens in Canada
- Panorama V for Victory
- Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Spam
- Choosing Backup Software
- Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/06-Dec-04
Apple Starts .Mac Affiliate Program
Apple has just launched the .Mac affiliate program: if someone signs up for .Mac by following a link on your site, you receive $15. It's that simple.
<http://www.mac.com/1/affiliates/>
Affiliate programs have been powerful tools for drawing in new customers for subscription and e-commerce retail stores because the goal in those cases is lifetime customer value. It makes sense to pay relatively large commissions to referrers who produce single-year subscribers, who, in turn, are more likely to become multi-year subscribers. In other words, paying $15 to gain $200, $300, or $400 in eventual revenue doesn't seem silly.
Apple has certainly done the testing and run the numbers on this program. A $15 bounty for a new .Mac subscriber means there's a large universe of potential .Mac customers that Apple can't reach through its other advertising techniques; they must also be seeing a fairly high non-cancellation rate among referred .Mac subscribers.
Affiliate programs also have the benefit of stamping the imprimatur of the site that refers (the affiliate) to the site that pays (the advertiser). If a Mac Web site started showing a .Mac affiliate banner, it says to me that the site thinks referring people to .Mac and having them sign up makes sense for its readers.
![](/file/11593/db.tidbits.com.tar/db.tidbits.com/images/badges/data-rescue-center.png)
hard drive recovery, data migration, and photo archiving options,
all at affordable and fair prices for individuals and businesses.
Get a FREE estimate today at <http://www.thedatarescuecenter.com/>