In many Mac OS X apps, you can activate word completion by starting to type a word and then hitting either the F5 key or the Escape key. This will bring up a large menu of every word starting with the letter prefix you entered:

Word completion seems to only work in Apple crafted cocoa apps, so you’ll be able to use the feature in Safari, Pages, Keynote, TextEdit, iCal, etc, but in a browser like Chrome you’re out of luck.

This is really useful when you’re trying to remember how to spell a word, or if you’re trying to think of words that start with a particular prefix or letter (scrabble anyone?). If you’re wondering where the word list is coming from, it’s tied to your Mac OS X dictionary, which is also readily available via a keyboard shortcut.

I knew you could do this with the Escape key, but I just learned of F5. Thanks for the tip Ian!

If you’re still waiting around to find an iPad 2 in stock, you might want to consider ordering online through the Apple Store. Online shipping estimates for iPad 2 have now dropped down to 1-2 weeks for all models, including both colors and all sizes in Wi-Fi only, 3G, and CDMA. This is a significant change from the 3 weeks that was reported just a few days ago, as it indicates supply is easing slightly against iPad demand that remains through the roof.

If you’re impatient waiting a couple of weeks may seem like a long time, but as I continue to check availability of iPad 2 by calling around, I find that nearly all Apple Stores continue to sell out every morning. The only model that seems to stick around until the afternoon is the most expensive Verizon 64GB version, and by evening even that one is gone too. Sure, you can try finding one at Target or other resellers, but their supply continues to remain strained leaving the Apple Store to be the most reliable location to buy.

It’s not just the USA that has reduced shipping times, MacRumors reports that shipments to Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, UK, Germany, and the majority of Europe are also reported as 1-2 weeks from Apple’s online store.

Want to see where an iPhone has been? How about a detailed map of an iPhones movements, tracking hotspots of where it is physically located most often? Check out iPhoneTracker, a free app that does exactly that.

iPhoneTracker works by parsing through locally stored iPhone backup files and placing stored location data on a map.

You can download iPhoneTracker for free from the developer (Mac OS X only)

The image up top shows one of the detailed maps of iPhone movement the app produces, and you can see a movie generated based on tracking iPhone locations at the bottom of this post.

iPhone movement mapping & tracking not entirely accurate
The data isn’t 100% accurate and some pieces are missing or misplaced, using iPhoneTracker to look at my own iPhone movements, the app missed some significant activity (like flying across the country) and it even placed me in a few locations I’ve never been. The developer of the app explains some of this discrepancy:

As far as we can tell, the location is determined by triangulating against the nearest cell-phone towers. This isn’t as accurate as GPS, but presumably takes less power. In some cases it can get very confused and temporarily think you’re several miles from your actual location, but these tend to be intermittent glitches.

So it’s not entirely accurate, but it’s close. Now, there’s been a bit of hub-bub on the web about iPhone’s tracking your location and movements but I’m not sure why anyone is surprised by this. Remember, your iPhone (and iPad 3G) pings cell towers constantly and has a GPS unit in it, of course it’s going to track your physical movements. The real question is why exactly is this data being stored locally? Who knows, but I’d guess that any device with cellular triangulation or GPS keeps similar information. Some people are finding this location tracking creepy, but personally I think it’s interesting to look at.

Maps locally stored location data only
It’s worth mentioning that iPhoneTracker only works to check locally stored iPhone and iPad backup files, meaning you can’t use this app to remotely follow someone else. Yes, you could run this app on any Mac and it will map out that iPhone/iPad users location data, but that’s pretty invasive and you probably won’t make any friends doing so, and remember that the location data is not 100% accurate.

Prevent iPhone tracking by encryption
If you don’t want someone to be able to use this app to track your iPhone movements, all you need to do is encrypt your iPhone backups. This causes the backup file and your location data to become unreadable unless the backup is decrypted, which would require your password in iTunes. Encrypting your backups is a good idea in general, regardless of how you feel about location tracking.

As I mentioned earlier, the app also creates movies that can be played back showing iPhone movement on a map, here is one example from the apps developer showing a trip from Washington DC to NYC:
Read more »

If you’re troubleshooting some of the more difficult problems that you can have on a Mac, a good place to look are the System & Kernel Logs contained within Console app. Unfortunately there are times when you can’t access Console either because you are remotely troubleshooting, in Single User Mode, or even because the log files have grown so large that it actually starts crashing Console.app when it’s trying to load (this has happened to me more than once).

If you’re in this situation, or any other reason that you’d want to follow your Console system log from the command line, here’s all you need to type:

tail -f /var/log/system.log

You can do the same with the kernel log, which is great if you’re troubleshooting hardware and connectivity issues:

tail -f /var/log/kernel.log

The tail -f command allows the specified file to be read and printed to your screen in a live stream. There are plenty of other log files you can follow contained within /var/log but the above two are generally the most useful for troubleshooting purposes.

You could also combine these commands with GeekTool if you want to see system log activity directly on your Mac OS X desktop.

You can increase the size of the Mac OS X mouse and trackpad cursor by adjusting a setting in the Universal Access preference pane:

• From System Preferences, click on “Universal Access”
• Select the “Mouse & Trackpad” tab
• Near the bottom you’ll find “Cursor Size” with and adjustable slider, the screenshot demonstrates the cursor on it’s largest size
• Changes set and save automatically

This setting is intended for use with those with difficulty seeing the cursor, but it’s also a great feature to enable for young kids. Combine this tip with increasing the desktop icon size or even making Mac OS X look like iOS to further simplify the user interface.
Read more »

Apple’s next generation iPhone, presumably iPhone 5, will start shipping in September of this year, according to Reuters. No other information was provided, only that the new iPhone will begin production in July for a release some time in September.

Here is the tweet that Reuters sent out:

FLASH: Apple suppliers to start production of next-gen iPhone in July, Aug; begin shipping in Sept – sources

Yesterday, rumors surfaced that iPhone 5 will have the same design as iPhone 4, but feature A5 processors and an 8mp camera. That report also specified a Fall 2011 release for the device.

A couple videos (shown below) have surfaced from Vietnam that show off what appears to be a prototype iPhone 4 using a fancy Expose-like multitasking feature in an unreleased build of iOS. Here’s what’s worth noting from the videos:

• Expose-like multitasking feature looks great
• It’s a White iPhone 4 (these are due for release any day now)
• The white iPhone in the video has 64GB (!) capacity
• The phone is clearly labeled with XX’s over the build, capacity, and serial numbers, suggesting it’s a leaked prototype
• The iPhone in the video is running an unreleased build of iOS 4 (Build 8A216) – not iOS 5

Hopefully what we’re seeing is a glance into the future of iOS and iPhone. The Expose multitasking feature looks like an improvement over the existing multitasking functionality. Although the video shows this as a version of iOS 4, we all know Expose doesn’t actually exist in current iOS versions, so maybe we will see something like it in iOS 5. In terms of hardware, it would be great to have the choice of a 64GB iPhone (maybe that will be the White iPhone 4′s selling point?), especially since rumors suggest we’ll have to wait until Fall to see the iPhone 5.

Check out the videos below:
Read more »

Portal 2 for Mac is out, the game is a unique puzzle-shooter blend that is unlike nearly any other game on the market. The game includes single player and a new multiplayer cooperative mode that requires two players to work together in unique ways.

Valve describes Portal 2 as follows:

Portal 2 draws from the award-winning formula of innovative gameplay, story, and music that earned the original Portal over 70 industry accolades and created a cult following.

The single-player portion of Portal 2 introduces a cast of dynamic new characters, a host of fresh puzzle elements, and a much larger set of devious test chambers. Players will explore never-before-seen areas of the Aperture Science Labs and be reunited with GLaDOS, the occasionally murderous computer companion who guided them through the original game.

Portal 2 costs $49.99 and can be downloaded through Steam, Valves digital distribution client. If you don’t mind waiting a few days for free shipping, Amazon has Portal 2 for $44.99.

Portal 2 Mac System Requirements

The better your computer, the better the game will run. Here are the minimum specs:

• Mac OS X 10.6.7 or higher
• Intel Core Duo 2GHz or better
• 2GB of RAM or greater
• 7.6GB of available disk space
• ATI Radeon 2400 / NVIDIA 8600M / Intel HD 3000 – or higher

System requirements are great and all, but if you’re like me you want to see just how well Portal 2 runs on a Mac. Check out the video below which shows a MacBook Pro 15″ Core i7 running the game in Mac OS X 10.6.7 on highest settings, it looks amazing and sustains 60 FPS:
Read more »

Redsn0w 0.9.6rc14 has been released, it includes a fix for the iPhone 4 untether problem from the past redsn0w version. This new version can be run directly over iPhone 4 with rc13 and it will untether that jailbreak.

Compatibility: Redsn0w 0.9.6rc14 provides an untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.3.2 on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 GSM, iPod touch 3rd & 4th gen, and iPad 1. If you use ultrasn0w unlock, stay away from redsn0w for now.

Download Redsn0w 0.9.6rc14

As usual, Mac and Windows versions are out (download links have been updated to the newest version):

• Download Now (Mac)
• Downlaod Now (Windows)

If you require assistance, follow our guide to jailbreak iPhone iOS 4.3.2 using redsn0w, it’s geared towards the iPhone but the directions are the same for other iOS 4.3.2 compatible hardware.

If you encounter issues upgrading to iOS 4.3.2 using sauriks’ server, you can follow instructions from the Error 3194 fix for iTunes to remove gs.apple.com from your hosts file.

This version of redsn0w is not compatible with iPad 2 or iPhone 4 CDMA, if you use either device wait for another jailbreak solution.

You can quickly remove Mac OS X Finder window toolbar icons by holding down the Command key and then clicking on the icon you want to remove, continue to hold the click and drag the icon out of the toolbar, where you can release the click. The toolbar icon will disappear in a puff of smoke, just like dragging icons out of the Dock or menubar.

If you’re wondering why my Finder windows don’t have a sidebar, you can remove it with a keyboard shortcut.