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Every story has its heroes and villains, and the history of Apple Computer is no exception. The world's most lickable computer company has seen its share of good guys and bad guys during its 30-year history, and sometimes, the goodie is also the baddie.
Most of the Ruby on Rails documentation on deployment for Mac OS X glosses over key parts of the plumbing. In this article, Luke Burton walks you through a Rails installation on Mac OS X Server.
Have you ever wanted an easy way to backup all the important files in your home folder? Are you tired of sifting through the Library directory to find the folders you need to backup? Give BackityMac a try.
Pierre Igot writes: "This is a tip that I was completely unaware of, in spite of my years of experience with Mac OS X. So I figure there might be other Mac OS X users who might not be aware of it and might find it useful. In a Finder window in column view, the file/folder names are often truncated because the columns are not wide enough to display them in full." Here's a way to deal with this.
Chris Breen offers solutions to your most vexing Mac problems - he takes a look at how to deal with an insomniac Mac, doing diagnostics, a more reasonable Reason, the cure for missing Key Caps, an imageless Outlook and old-school drives.
Sven Semmler writes: "I recently switched from Mail.app, iCal and Address Book to Entourage. This has no hard consequences for me since Entourage now has Spotlight support for mails, contacts and events. It also automatically synchronizes the contacts with Address Book and the events and tasks with iCal." Check out this article for some tips from a fresh switcher.
Dan Frakes writes: "You read about them on message boards and Web sites, in chat rooms and email: Someone’s Mac is having problems, and a helpful soul writes, “Download XYZ and clean your caches.†Or a user wants to know how to tweak a specific setting in Mac OS X, and several people chime in with suggestions for obscurely named utilities such as Onyx, DoktorKleanor, and TinkerTool. There are many of these software titles out there for Mac OS X."
Codepoet writes: "Have you ever thought that having that emergency partition on your desktop was hackish and ugly? Or have you thought that it would be truly handy to have a boot DVD available via NetBoot for recovery purposes? Well, good news, Mac OS X can act as a NetBoot server just as well as Mac OS X Server itself can. All a Mac needs to NetBoot is a server running TFTP and either NFS or HTTP, and all are built in to a normal Mac OS X machine."
Using Apple's Xcode to develop websites with PHP unfortunately is a bit unpolished. There are of course other development tools more tailored towards PHP - also for the Mac. But Xcode is a very fine development tool, so why not try to make it a bit more comfortable also for PHP developers? ODPHPTools for Xcode are free and feature a PHP system function lookup as well as a PHP help lookup.
On The Job is an elegant and user friendly time tracking software. This long-awaited release is a free upgrade for existing On The Job customers while new customers can purchase the software from Stunt Software's online store for $24.95 USD.
A a 20 day free trial version can be obtained here (.dmg). On The Job requires OS X 10.3 or newer and is a Universal Binary.
Version 2.0 brings a host of much anticipated new features, including:
In order to make things more interesting, the people over at Stunt Software decided that every person that purchases a license for On The Job before the end of April will be automatically entered in a draw for a free iPod Nano. What are you waiting for? :)
The author of this video packs his 12" with a Tech 16X Dual Layer Superdrive upgrade for the Powerbook G4, upgrades the hard disk to 100GB, installs some third party speakers with added bass response, and adds some flavor to the apple logo on the lid. This video was created entirely in iMovie ’06 and documents the reassembly process at a 10-times speed increase. A high resolution version that has more detail is available for download as well, which is good since the small one is filled with effects and you don't see the whole thing.
Laptop bags have long been the Model Ts of the accessories world: practical, homely, and black. That’s changing. When it comes to toting your favorite Mac, basic black is way, way out. Bags now come in a riot of colors, fabrics, and shapes.
Kinkless GTD is a free set of Applescripts that work with OmniOutliner Pro to create a framework for implementing David Allen’s Getting Things Done task-management methodology.
Changes in version 0.83 include:
If you're not a fan of procrastination and you're eager to find out ways to beat it, do check out 43 Folders - a great resource that's full of good pointers.
You .mac subscription is coming to an end and you wonder whether you really need it. Maybe you're a new user that is thinking about what you could use it for. In any case, with some knowledge and inexpensive hardware you can make something similar to .mac by yourself. This article shows you how to build an alternative that retains the popular Disk, iSync (between computers), iCal sharing, and Backup features.
Mohit Muthanna writes: "Being a long-time UNIX user, I generally have a common set of tools that I work with while trying to troubleshoot system problems. More recently, I have been developing software that adds Apple's OS X to the list of supported operating systems; and unlike traditional UNIX variants, OS X does not support many of the tools that relate to loading, linking and executing programs."
This tip covers how to get Command and Option in the right place on an external PC keyboard, without stuffing them up on the built-in keyboard of a PowerBook. This is of great use to people who dock their laptop with a Windows keyboard, but don't like the "wrong" keyboard layout it produces and tire of constantly changing it back and forth in the system prefs. It would work with iBooks too.
Erica Sadun writes: "Apple's free developer tool collection contains many overlooked gems. These aren't limited to programming-specific utilities. Mac enthusiasts of all stripes and all experience levels can regularly find tools to help them enhance their day-to-day use of OS X applications. It's just a matter of knowing where to look. Take Quartz Composer, for example. It's a free utility that can bring new life and interest to your iMovie projects. In this article, you'll learn how to use your own pictures to create a simple but flashy animation." If you find this interesting I suggest you take a look at this article over at the Apple Developer Connection.
With an eye toward its core audience of non-professional photo enthusiasts, Adobe has made improvements to its fourth version of Photoshop Elements that make it easier than ever to edit, organize, and share digital photos. The Macworld review finds that despite its consumer-level price tag, Photoshop Elements 4.0 sports some new tools that gurus wish the full-blown Photoshop had.
In this interview at Forbes, Bruce Chizen, chief executive of Adobe said: "Acrobat is coming in the fourth quarter of 2006. Creative Suite 3 will be introduced in the second quarter of 2007. Acrobat will take advantage of the Macromedia assets. And you'll see a lot of activity in the CS3 launch. There will be a lot of integration between Macromedia products and Adobe products as part of those offerings. By the time we launch CS3, the value of the two companies will be clear."
All MacBook Pro and new iMac users can rejoice once more! I can't wait to see all the integration they wil do with these products.
This document discusses ten things that Apple did (beyond initial/fundamental OS design and implementation) to improve Mac OS X's performance. Some of these are simply good ideas and obvious candidates for implementation; some are guidelines or tools for developers to help them create high-performance applications, while some are proactive attempts at extracting performance from strategically chosen quarters.
The PHP Function Index (PHPfi) is a very fast documentation viewer to look up any PHP function. Its search offers realtime-filtering of the function list and it downloads and caches the user contributed notes from PHP.NET for instant lookup. Additionally its AppleScript interface lets you look up PHP functions easily from within your favorite editor. Best of all, if you don't earn money with PHP development then you don't have to pay for the software. In any case, check it out and consider making a donation if you find it useful.
John Siracusa writes: "Mac OS X 10.0 was released five years ago today, on March 24th, 2001. Mac OS X 10.0 was the end of many things. First and foremost, it was the end of one of the most drawn-out, heart-wrenching death spirals in the history of the technology sector. Historians (and Wall Street) may say that it was the iMac, with its fresh, daring industrial design, that marked the turning point for Apple. But that iMac was merely a stay of execution at best, and a last, desperate gasp at worst. By the turn of the century, Apple needed a new OS, and it needed one badly. No amount of translucent plastic was going to change that."
Scott Byer at the Living Photoshop blog writes about one of the most anticipated software releases at the moment - Adobe Creative Suite 3 - and explains why the transition to Intel is not easy as many believe. Finally some details on exactly why the process takes some time. This just shows how good can a blog be for a company to communicate with its customers.
Mohit Muthanna writes: "One significant productivity-enhancing feature that arrived with Tiger was Spotlight that has many advantages over traditional file-searching tools. It is a complete indexing and search framework that is tightly integrated into the OS. In addition to filenames and paths, it also indexes by file metadata and content and returns query results based on what's inside the file. Spotlight benefits can also be enjoyed on the command line, and this article explains how you can take full advantage of it from inside the OS X Terminal window."
Cyrus Farivar writes: "With a digital video camera and Apple’s iMovie HD, anyone with the inclination and the creativity can become a movie producer. But making the movies is only half the battle—you also have to find an audience. How? Create a video Podcast. Viewers sign up for your video feed once, and any new movies you create are downloaded to their computers automatically. It doesn’t get much easier than that."
Jacob Rus writes: "Apple’s Cocoa text system is a complicated beast, but also extremely flexible, and with a bit of work, it can be molded to match many working styles. This how-to covers the 2 major ways of customizing the text input system: Default key bindings, and for still more control, input managers. I’m writing this guide because nothing like it currently exists. There is incredible room for flexibility in customizing the Cocoa text environment, but most users—even power-users—have no idea of the available options."
Flicksilvr lets you grab photos from the Finder, iPhoto and elsewhere and send them directly to Flickr with some tags.
Rob Griffiths offers the insiders’ tips you won’t get from Apple, including ways to drag and drop print jobs between printers, cycle random Mail signatures, build smarter iPhoto albums, control Exposé via voice and much more.
Apple has criticised a French law that could break the locks tying songs from the iTunes store to iPod players. In a statement Apple said that if the law were passed it would result in "state-sponsored piracy".
The law to open up all online music stores is due to go to France's upper house of parliament for final approval.
The Gmail Notifier for Mac has just been updated.
Version 1.8.2 will now notify you when a new version is available and automatically upgrade itself. It's an universal binary, so it will run natively on PowerPC and Intel Macs. It also has new icons.
The Java Native Interface (JNI) lets developers mix Java code with C or C++ source code. It provides access to platform-specific features that Java does not provide, so that Java applications on Mac OS X can take advantage of the wide range of powerful Apple-only technologies to provide the best possible user experience. Using the JNI, your Java application can access a user's Address Book, make Spotlight queries, take advantage of Core Image and Core Video, and leverage many other rich features unique to Mac OS X.
In Mac OS X, the root account is disabled by default. The first user account created is added to the admin group and that user can use the sudo command to execute other commands as root. The conventional wisdom is that sudo is the most secure way to run root commands, but a closer look reveals a picture that is not so clear.
Personal Information Managers (PIMs) rank high on most users' lists of software they use every day. If you're switching to a Mac, you might be worried about the availability of productivity software. Microsoft's Entourage for the Mac works a lot like Outlook on Windows, with only a few subtle differences. There are other games in town as well, in both the commercial and freeware category. Paul Ferrill looks at a number of options for anyone making the switch from the PC to the Mac.
This document describes how to setup a system for automatically backing up a Mac (OS X 10.2 or later) to an external drive using the freely available rsync utility. This applies to any kind of external drive including FireWire, USB and network drives. It does not apply to CD-R or DVD-R media. It also does not apply if you want to implement an incremental backup system.
Tom Negrino writes: "These days, e-mail is so essential to the way we work that even the slightest hiccup in the flow of messages can ruin your day. You don’t have to put up with a cluttered, creaking inbox or attachments you just can’t seem to send. Here’s how to deal with common pet peeves."
Every iBook G4 model prior to the mid-2005 model from Apple can be Build To Order (BTO) with internal bluetooth support. The problem starts if you did not BTO a bluetooth model when you purchased your iBook G4. First of all, Apple might not want to sell you the neccessary four parts needed in order to install bluetooth yourself. And if they do want to sell it to you, it usually cost over $80 in parts only. What would you say if I told you there is a way to add internal bluetooth support to your iBook G4 for under $10?
Ken Collins writes: "I will be first to admit that I am really just learning how to tap into the power of my shell environment and to be honest, I've spent way to many hours reading man pages and figuring out how to do some really neat things that help my automate my workflow and system administration. When you get right down to using a UNIX-based operating system, you cannot escape using the shell environment. This is a good thing, its your friend, and getting your feet wet sooner than later is a good idea."
Belkin's new TunePower for iPod video keeps your videos and tunes playing even when the internal battery is drained. Giving you up to six hours of additional video playtime, this rechargeable battery pack lets you finish your movie and catch up on the shows you missed last week.
TunePower will give you this extra time so you can watch your videos, making it ideal for long flights, hikes, or for anytime you do not have access to an AC outlet. Two sleeves are included to fit the 30GB and 60GB iPod video devices. It features a protective case design to prevent dirt, dust, or impact from damaging the connector.
An AC adapter is included for simultaneous charging and playing. The TunePower also features a small and compact design with a low-level power indicator so you can monitor when batteries are low. It is priced at $79.99.
Mathew Honan writes: "The iPod is a deeply personal device. The music, contacts, calendars and notes you store on it reveal much about your personality. From playcounts to playlists, our iPods can tell others what we enjoy, how we think and even who we are. But if you truly want to transform your iPod into an engine of extreme personal expression, why not customize it?"
While you're working in your Mac OS X environment, often you need to make an operation that requires a password (access e-mail, a password protected website, etc.) or you need administrator access to perform a certain task. As you use more services and access more systems, over time this entails the input of a multitude of passwords during your daily work.
One of the beauties that comes with Mac OS X is the Keychain that helps you manage your authorization needs as it acts as a depository of passwords. By using the Keychain you don't need to remember a myriad of passwords but rather just the Keychain password. Don't worry about losing your passwords either, since the Keychain can be backed up with ease.
All the information stored in the keychain is encrypted with the Triple Digital Encryption Standard (3DES).
Launch the application
The Keychain Access application can be found in Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access. Once you open it you'll realize just how much Apple makes things easy to understand in all of its software. The interface is very intuitive and you'll be working in it in no time. It will remind you of iTunes.
Managing several keychains
When in the Keychain Access program, you can manage more then one keychain. The default keychain named login is automatically unlocked every time you login into your account. By setting up more keychains you increase the security of your OS. This is especially useful if you use your Mac OS X on a laptop and it can be lost or stolen. In case you didn't shut it down but carry it around in Sleep mode with no password set to be entered on return from Sleep mode, you can basically give access to all the passwords that are associated with your account to a stranger. With multiple keychains your data is more secure as another password is needed to access that information.
Creating additional keychains is very simple, just go to the menu and use the File > New Keychain option and give it a new name. Keep in mind that you are as strong as your weakest link so when prompted to enter a password click on the little lock located at the end of the password field to launch Password Assistant to help you in the process.
Once this process is over, the keychain appears in the list and you're ready to start inserting information.
Adding passwords to the Keychain
This is what it's all about - adding and modifying passwords. It's very straightforward, just go to the menu and select File > New Password Item. A dialog appears in which you have to type the Keychain item name, the account name and the password you want to store.
If you're in a secure location where there's no one looking over your shoulder I suggest using the "Show Typing" option below the password field. It's one more way to be sure that what you're typing is correct. Once again, the little lock icon that launches the Password Assistant is present, use it often as it makes good passwords.
Modify Keychain settings
In order to increase your security you can choose to change some settings of your Keychain. You can choose to have it locked automatically after a certain period of time and also lock it automatically while in Sleep mode. If you're a user of the .Mac service you can have it synchronize with your .Mac account which is a great backup option.
Show status in menu bar
When you start integrating the Keychain into your daily work you'll want quicker access to the application. By going to the Keychain Access menu and selecting Preferences a dialog appears in which you can select to have the application show its status in the menu bar.
Once activated, the lock icon will be handy for all actions you want to take.
Secure notes
One more feature of the Keychain is the ability to store secure notes. This way you can write down important stuff that you want to keep private without having to use additional encryption software. Naturally, this is not intended for very large text files but useful nonetheless.
Creating notes is straightforward and it's done by using the File > New Secure Note option. You are greeted with a dialog where you input the name of the secure note and the text. After you're done writing you save the note and that's it. Pretty handy feature that keeps written data private without the need of additional software.
Final thoughts
With problems like identity theft becoming more dangerous, using an application like Keychain Access to add an additional layer of security to your computing experience is certainly a good idea. It will not only speed-up your work with passwords but also ensure your data stays private.
Apple has published a new version of a security update that the company had issued last Monday. The computer maker refers to the patch as Security Update 2006-002 v1.1. The company said in a knowledge base article that after installing the initial update, "Safari might have a blank icon that won't launch Safari."
Christopher Breen writes: "With the release of Apple’s iPod Hi-Fi, we have a better notion of what Apple considers to be a reasonable price for a higher-end portable powered music system — $350. Priced higher than other speaker systems, the iPod Hi-Fi pumps out richer (and louder) sound than these products. But what can you get for the same price as the iPod Hi-Fi? One answer is Audioengine’s $349 Audioengine 5, a pair of white, powered bookshelf speakers that lack some of the Hi-Fi’s niceties but offer rich sound and room-filling volume similar to Apple’s portable stereo."
Every item on your computer belongs to, or is owned by, an account. In addition to being owned by a particular user account, every item on your computer carries with it a set of permissions that control which user accounts can access it and what kind of access they have. Permissions control who can do what to which files, folders, and disks. In this excerpt from Take Control of Permissions in Mac OS X, Brian Tanaka details ways to ensure your permissions are in order.
Ray Robertson of Scripting Matters will be leading free seminars in New York City Thursday, March 23, at the Adobe Customer Briefing Center on 8 West 40th Street near 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Learn how to use AppleScript with the Adobe Creative Suite and see demonstrations of scripts for InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
Last year Robertson completed a very successful seminar tour of four cities in Europe with Apple, but this will be his first visit to the NYC area and a unique opportunity for area companies to see the full power of scripting automation in the publishing world.
"Adobe applications like InDesign have such tremendous support for AppleScript that what can be done is limited only by your imagination," said Robertson. "In this seminar, attendees will see why Fortune 500 companies are quietly using scripting to save millions every year. In many cases a six-week publication cycle can be reduced to a few hours by using AppleScript."
Attendees will receive a free CD with sample scripts for all applications covered in the class.
The free seminar is being offered at two times Thursday, March 23: 9 AM-12:00 noon, and 1:30-4:30 PM. To register, e-mail scriptNYC@scriptingmatters.com and indicate whether you will be attending the morning or afternoon session. Space is very limited, so early registration is recommended.
Robertson will be returning to the NYC area May 8-12 to host AppleScript Pro Sessions with Shane Stanley.
The contest has been won - nearly $14k to narf2006 for submitting a working solution to dual-booting Windows XP and Mac OS X on an Intel-Powered mac. I don't really understand why someone would like to run XP on a Mac but it's still news.
On March 16, the US Patent & Trademark Office revealed Apple’s U.S. trademark/service mark application 78833929 for iPod Hi-Fi, originally filed on March 9, 2006.
Codepoet writes: "This is kind of crazy, but it works like a charm. I was trying to find a way to just encrypt and password-protect my mail without going and putting my account in FileVault (evil). I noticed that Mac OS X would mount a disk image to open a program it knew was once on that disk image and, well, I put two and two together: what if my mail was on an encrypted disk image that also held the only working copy of the Mail application?"
Matthew Russell shows you how to add better bookmarks to your audio books, add slideshows to your music files, create enhanced podcasts, and share your favorite mods with others - even if they're on protected audio.
Phil Zimmermann thinks Zfone is better than the other approaches to secure VoIP, because it achieves security without reliance on a PKI, key certification, trust models, certificate authorities, or key management complexity that bedevils the email encryption world.
Looking to add a Safari-style tabs implementation to your project? Look no further; all the heavy lifting has been done in PSMTabBarControl. The author calls them "Auto-binding" tabs which means that when a tab is created, it attempts to establish bindings to a controller object that you provide, and will automagically update a progress indicator, an object counter, an icon, and the tab title as changes occur. No glue code on your part if you follow the documented object pattern (which is also present in the demo app). Should you choose not to provide the object pattern, no problem - everything still works as expected.
Tim Gaden writes: "A web site offers you the opportunity to track the path of your emails using Google Maps. Paste in the headers of an email and it traces the jumps from server to server. If you choose your email carefully, it can also show you the location of a particular server."
The latest patch again addresses an issue in which Safari could automatically open a malicious file crafted to look like a safe file type. The update introduces additional checks to files that are downloaded to verify their identity.
I am one of those computer users that have hundreds of icons on the desktop and stuff lying all around my user folder. I often tend to complicate my life by not organizing files, so often my iBook gets clogged. In the process of finding cool tools to help me in my "spring cleaning", I came across a piece of software that should at least assist by finding duplicate files.
Tidy Up! is a software program that, from the technical point of view, looks like a graphical GUI that lies on a set of advanced search algorithms. Its main function is to find files and packages based on your search configuration. With Tidy Up! you can find duplicate files by various characteristics - file names, sizes, creation dates, users that created them, etc.
Appearance
The main screen is good for advanced users but a bit complicated for novice users. I liked having all the search configuration options open right away, but it could get a bit tough to succeed at setting up all the wanted criteria at once. On the left part of the window, user can setup disks and folders that should be included in the search. If you have a network folder shared from another computer, the software will also recognize it and add it to the options. This is quite interesting option as the software can be used from one centralized computer to scan files on the entire network.
On the other side of the window we have a drawer that, when opened, slides to the right and shows valuable extra information. When setting up the search, it contains the criteria descriptions and, for instance, after you do a search the drawer contains information and preview of specific files you highlight. I find this to be a really good option as the user can easily check the content of files he is about to delete.
Configure the search
As you can see on the screenshot below, the software developer was really thinking about every possible angle of searching. Besides toggling them on/off, each of the separate search criteria can be expanded and customized to the max. I really liked this approach, as the software can not only find actual duplicate names, but you can go even deeper in finding the same files that have different names or creation dates.
I had a couple of problems with the setting up of special parameters. The first thing is from a practical standpoint. For instance, if I would like to setup an item's extension, I need to write the following into the bracket: "doc". It would be much easier if I should write just doc without the quotation marks. It is the same while setting up item creator. In that screen the user must write the name inside two apostrophes (example: 'Berislav'). Quotation marks, apostrophes - developers should ditch them and let users enter just plain text.
While setting the item creator, I came across a bug. Apparently the software will give you an error if you write a user name whose character count is different than either 0 or 4. Typing in Bero was OK, but when I tried Berislav I was greeted with the following error “Item Creator - INVALID CRITERIA -,â€.
Besides my negative experience with these bugs, I was quite impressed to see a lot of predefined tasks for easier searching.
For repetitive tasks, the software has an ability to save scan lists including folders or disks, as well as custom search criteria.
Search results
I have done some extensive setting up of search criteria, as I tried to find all the duplicate files I have on my iBook, as well as on a shared network drive. The software performed very fast, searched about 40 GB of files in five minutes or so (my notebook is the last generation iBook G4). I was really surprised to see that Tidy Up! worked great even when it listed more than 12,000 duplicate files. Don't be upset for my well being, majority of them were files that come with Mac OS X Tiger. Browsing of the files inside the list was a bit slower, but it worked.
When I checked the search results I found a little typo - it lists GIF files as GIFf. Never mind, this is just a small bug, but I wanted to mention it because I had a feeling that the software wasn’t thoroughly beta tested for this kind of low level bugs.
A nice aspect of the search result listing is that Tidy Up! Uses a set of colors for each specific folder or hard drive you searched. This way, skimming through the results is a bit easier as you know where the files were found. By clicking on each of the files, drawer opens on the right and shows you all the possible details regarding the file in question.
Exporting duplicated items
The software gives a couple of options on what to do with the duplicate files. For easier referencing, will split the options into two groups:
1) Information exporting
After a successful search, you can export the results in HTML or TXT. The software also offers possibility of setting up specific fields the report should contain, such as file path, creator, duration of media files etc.
2) File manipulation
The main point of Tidy Up! is to find duplicate files and do something with them. As you can see from the screenshot below, there are a couple of default ways of showing the results, so the result manipulation process can be done in just a couple of clicks.
Btw, I am using the term "manipulation" because besides deleting duplicate files, users can copy or move them to another place, as well as burn them on a CD-ROM (maybe also on a DVD-ROM, but because of my hardware specs I didn’t check this out). The burning is done directly from Tidy Up! and works well.
Final thoughts
Tidy Up! is a very powerful piece of software that has extensive searching capabilities for duplicate files. It can be used for removing those pesky duplicates, clearing up disk space, as well as removing potential copies of very important private files. Actually one of the things I used Tidy Up! was for the latter – I successfully found a copy of a sensitive file with a changed name that was located on one of the USB drives I use. With clever customization of search criteria you can do a lot of nice tricks. The searches are done very fast and quite effective.
Besides the bugs I mentioned, I also came across of some interface issues that could have been done much better. I am primary thinking of titles of some of the icons in the left part of the search result screen that were too long for the program window on my screen resolution (1024x768) and unnecessary alternate text that is shown when the mouse is hovering over search criteria in the centre of the initial search screen. These are just subjective issues and don’t influence the program’s functionality at all.
The software is available as an Universal binary and is priced at $30. The price seems a bit too high, but if you need specific functions this software provides, it shouldn’t be a problem. Tidy Up! is also available as shareware and can be downloaded from Hyperbolic Software.
In this article Dan Pourhadi outlines a series of problems he's experiencing with the MacBook Pro along with some tips on how to deal with them. A good read for anyone considering or already using a MacBook Pro. Another interesting entry at the Red Sweater Blog deals with the MacBook hissing nose so check it out.
Keith Robinson writes: "What you’ll find here will show you, regardless of what flavor of Mini you have, a bunch of cool ways to upgrade, hack and modify your little machine into the coolest computer in your home."
OS X FOSS portable applications are packaged so you can carry around with you on any portable device, USB thumb drive, iPod, portable hard drive, memory card, other portable device (or also on your internal hard disk).
What how do you keep your business to yourself when you're using the Wi-Fi at your corner coffee shop? It has to be unprotected for you to use it, unless you have to ask for the password at the counter, along with the key to the bathroom. Even in that case, you're sharing a network with people you don't know. Having your software firewall turned on is the obvious first step. Get more tips in this article.
The ColorBurn widget features a new color palette every day, along with its hexadecimal values for all you web geeks out there. If you're looking for some daily inspiration, some colors to steal, or simply another cool-looking widget to fill up your dashboard and impress your friends, here you go.
David Chartier writes: "Quicksilver's website says it is a "unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data." Basically, that means it's an easy way to search for just about anything on your Mac and *do* something with it - kinda like Spotlight except, as of this writing, Quicksilver can't really search inside of files like Spotlight can. Quicksilver rises above and beyond Spotlight in that it allows you to do far more with Mac OS X and the items you search for, as you'll soon find out."
Do you have access to a shell account on a unix server with some spare space? If so it's pretty easy to incrementally backup your files securely with SSH. While we're on the subject of backup, you might be interested in taking a look at an older article here on Non Stop Mac that discusses secure backup and storage using a disk image and an iPod.
Most people would prefer not to see the spinning beach ball when working in Photoshop. Although eliminating it is not always possible, you can go some way toward doing that by managing your resources wisely. To that end, it’s worth spending a few minutes fine-tuning Photoshop to squeeze the maximum performance out of it.
Creating a Chief Security Officer position may be viewed by some as an admission of weakness. Still, it would be a good way for Apple to inoculate itself against the perception - warranted or not - that Mac security may be eroding, and get ahead of the curve for any troubles that may be inevitable. That may not be the case, but in matters related to product marketing, it's the public perception, not the reality that really matters.
This article takes a look at RapidWeaver, Sandvox, and iWeb, in an attempt to fathom their differences and drive a wedge between their feature sets. Can one of them do it all? Or are they slightly different tools, each suited to building different kinds of websites?
Yes, Apple Remote Desktop offers more than just observation and management tools. Ryan Faas gives the skinny on how non-IT Mac users and professionals can use Remote Desktop's least-known features for teaching, presentations, and collaboration. These are, without a doubt, its most overlooked uses, yet they may be the most innovative (and they are certainly the ones that can have broad application for users in any number of professions).
Tim Gaden writes: "If you are very busy person or a hardcore ToDo list maker, you are going to love ToDo X. It is the fully-tooled-up Rolls Royce of To Do lists, with dedicated features that leave iCal’s comfy Corolla in the shade."
David Chartier writes: "Yesterday Quicksilver started acting a little goofy, and I wasn't surprised; I have just about every beta and extra turned on as I just can't stop exploring all the neat stuff this app can do. During my troubleshooting efforts I resorted to the simple trick of quitting Quicksilver and simply moving its preference file (located with other preference files in ~/Library/Preferences) to my desktop, forcing Quicksilver to re-create a clean new preference file. This fixed the issue, but it also forced me to dive back into my preferences to tweak, toggle and change some of the options I use to make Quicksilver do what I want."
Apple has introduced a 'multi-pass' for its iTunes video store that lets consumers automatically receive new episodes of a television series as they are published. The multi-pass costs $9.99 for 16 episodes, which amounts to four weeks of programming. This represents a 69 per cent discount over the regular fee of $1.99 per episode.
Tim Gaden writes: "MailTags 1.2 has been released. It brings integration with iCal To Dos, compatibility with Intel Macs and greater stability. It also addresses a number of small bugs like occasional crashes when applying rules and the “dreaded flickering project popupâ€."
When you buy a piece of hardware you get some kind of warranty. Now, there's a whole lot that can happen with your hardware, like launching it from the roof of your house, that is not covered by the warranty. Nevertheless, people try to convince the seller the incident was not their fault, however bizzarre and/or obvious it may be. An interesting article over at Mac Geekery discusses the problems that an Apple Store Genius has to deal with when people try to get something that was their fault fixed under the warranty. Great read!
This article is all about file content and what you can do with it from the Unix command line. Several projects are featured that will show you how to search the file system for specific content, view files, process them, and compress them.
JC writes: "I have talked up my Mac mini running OS X Server quite a bit in regards to how I use it as the center of my home entertainment center, but I never really touched on why I use OS X Server. The mini is a great little beast, and I use it heavily. Aside from running Front Row on it via a neat little hack, it also acts as my sandbox webserver, my torrent box, and my backup server."
The excellent RSS reader NewsMac Pro has evolved into version 1.2.4 which brings some cool updates. Everything is packed into an universal binary that will bring goodness to all new Mac hardware owners. The feature I've been waiting for, and that I noted when I reviewed NewsMac Pro, is finally here - Bloglines integration.
Tom Sanders writes: "The University of Wisconsin has ended its OS X hacking contest with no successful hacking attempts. Dave Schroeder, the competition's organiser and a systems administrator at the university, launched the challenge in response to a similar competition last month in which a blogger created user accounts for contestants on a Mac Mini and challenged them to hack into the system by defacing a website."
C.K. Sample, III writes: "I like the mini as a development box to run odd experiments on, so I placed my hands on a Mac mini Core Solo this weekend. I can sum up the experience in one easy to understand sentence: I'm considering taking it back before the Apple Store's 14 day return period expires."
Almost every picture has some details burried in the high resolution abyss. As much fun as it is to have all your photos on an iPod, most details are lost due to screen size and image resolution. SplittingImage joins the game and splits the high resolution image into several smaller tiles so you can scroll through your photo and zoom away!
Thom Holwerda writes: "This week saw the introduction of various new Apple products. Everybody has their own opinions on these new products. Another issue, however, which got considerable less attention, was that of pricing. And no, I'm not talking about expensive-or-not. I'm talking about price differences between the US and Europe. And quite frankly, it's pissing me off." I suggest you also take a look at the comments below the article, some are very interesting and give an insight on why the price difference might be as high as it is.
Cyberduck is a very popular open source FTP and SFTP (SSH Secure File Transfer) browser with an easy to use interface, integration with external editors and support for many Mac OS X system technologies such as Spotlight, Bonjour, the Keychain and AppleScript. To make things even better, now there's a widget you can use with Cyberduck, get it here.
Automator Workflow Additions is a group of Automator Actions designed to enhance Workflows and overcome some of their limitations. At the heart of Automator Workflow Additions are three new Actions: Save Result, Open Result and Resave Result. These new Actions allow results from Files/Folders and URLs data type Actions to be saved, opened and/or resaved in any Workflow. The ability to save a result in one Workflow and open it in another creates new possibilities in automating your everyday tasks.
This page has some interesting photos on how to integrate an iPod nano into your work desk.
Codepoet writes: "While I classify this as a "Development" article, I mean this for anyone interested in getting more out of their drag-and-drop experience within Mac OS X. I'm going to talk a little about how DnD works behind the scenes because I've noticed that after implementing DnD in some of my programs that I've become a more pervasive user of it because I know what it's doing and what will react to it."
SlashLinks is a tool for automatically mirroring links from the popular social-bookmarking service del.icio.us to your personal or institutional website.
Posting, tagging, and management still occur within the del.icio.us interface, but design and layout can now be fully customized on your mirrored site.
SlashLinks also adds blog-like year/month/day archives (similar to Kottke.org's remaindered links) to the typical del.icio.us or flickr style tag browsing.
SlashLinks was motivated, in part, by the desire to keep the intuitive URL navigation provided by del.icio.us and common with blogs while allowing for design/layout customization to suit the user's taste.
Additionally, when republished on your own site, all of your links become accessible to search engines - effectively casting your vote for what other sites or pages deserve top placement in search results.
From the 7-page review: "All in all, the MacBook Pro is an extremely solid machine that makes me happy to be back in the Apple Pro notebook world after a six month hiatus in 12" iBook-land. The Intel switch has been an important step forward for Apple in general, but particularly for ensuring that its pro lines of hardware keep moving forward, technology-wise, and at a competitive rate."
US movie fans are being offered the chance to download Oscar-nominated short films from iTunes. Film buffs have traditionally had little chance to view short films that are up for Hollywood's biggest awards. But now all five nominees for the live action short film award have been put on iTunes for $1.99 each.
People love modding and I've seen some pretty weird transformations of all kinds of computer equipment. What this is all about it stripping a Mac mini out of its (lovely white) case and making it fit inside the old school Nintendo Entertainment System. Besides ranging high on the "geek factor" scale, this is also a good way to deterr burglars :)
The Griffin XpressCable is the perfect way to connect your AirPort Express to your home stereo. The XpressCable provides a completely digital connection for the highest-quality connection possible.
Using AirPort Express and iTunes, you can wirelessly transmit pristine digital audio from your Mac or PC to your stereo, so why use a tired old analog cable? Far superior to a traditional analog hook up, the Griffin XpressCable keeps your audio digital right up to the moment it enters your stereo. And since the XPressCable uses standard Toslink/Optical connectors, it's compatible with most home theater receivers, as well as the PowerMac G5 and the new iMac G5.
Apple released security update 2006-001 that patches twenty security holes in Mac OS X and bundled applications. This update can be downloaded and installed via Software Update preferences, or from Apple Downloads and is naturally recommended for all users.
Ruby on Rails lets you create great web applications backed by SQL databases. Read this article to learn why Mac OS X is the preferred platform for this dynamic new tool. It should come as no surprise that Mac OS X is a favored platform for Rails development. Rails and its supporting cast of web servers and databases thrive on the rich Mac OS X environment.
I've been enjoying using Backpack for a while now and I was waiting for someone to take the Backpack API for a spin and come up with a desktop program to work with the web application. The result is PackRat, a $24.95 app that lets you use your Backpack data when you can't be on the net. Before you hit the road just sync up with Backpack and your data is duplicated in PackRat's database. View it to your heart's content. View it in ways only a desktop application can. Looks very interesting and I wonder why 37Signals didn't make an app like this in the first place.
Encyclopodia is a free software project that brings the Wikipedia, which is one of the largest encyclopedias on the world, to the iPod. It has been successfully tested on a third-generation iPod and on an iPod mini, but it should also work on other iPod generations.
Robert Lemos interviews Kevin Finisterre, founder of security startup Digital Munition, who created the three recent versions of the InqTana worm to raise awareness of security in Apple's OS X. Finisterre discusses his reasons for creating the worms, the problems with Mac OS X security, and why he does not fear prosecution.
