Reduce Dock Clutter in OS X by Minimizing Windows Into Their App Icons

Apr 20, 2013 - 6 Comments

If you minimize a lot of app windows while using a Mac you’ve probably noticed that the right side of the Dock in OS X quickly becomes cluttered with tons and tons of those minimized window thumbnails, and as they build up the size of the visible Dock slowly starts to shrink and adjust the size to accommodate them. Other than being cluttered, the reduced size becomes so small the thumbnails are largely useless anyway. Here are the minimized window previews we’re talking about, sitting alongside the Trash in the OS X Dock:

Minimized window thumbnails in the Dock of Mac OS X
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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS X, Tips & Tricks - 6 Comments

Got an Older Mac? MLPostFactor Installs OS X 10.8.3 on Old Unsupported Macs

Apr 20, 2013 - 14 Comments

Installing OS X Mountain Lion on older Macs with MLPostFactor Many older Macs lost out on the ability to run OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3!), but some hard working fellows have created a free third party tool called MLPostFactor that allows for the newest version of OS X to be installed on older, officially unsupported Macs. The process used to be quite complicated, but with MLPostFactor it’s easier than ever and can now be done by creating a partition, running the MLPF app, installing OS X as usual, then using the MLPostFactor app again to patch the ‘failed’ installation. Reboot and automagically OS X Mountain Lion will be running on the older Macs, breathing new life into older hardware.
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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS X, Tips & Tricks - 14 Comments

How to Find an iPhone’s Phone Number

Apr 20, 2013 - 4 Comments

Whether you just got a new phone number, changed a number from an old one, or you happened upon someone else’s iPhone and want to know the number of who it belongs to, you can easily retrieve an iPhone’s associated mobile number. The obvious solution might be to call another phone, but if the device has no service or the service has been disconnected, don’t despair. There are two super simple ways to find the number on the device itself – even if the phone no longer has any service and no sim card – but you can also get it from iTunes and sometimes even on the sim card itself.
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By Paul Horowitz - iPhone, Tips & Tricks - 4 Comments

Change the Default Alert Times for Birthdays & Events in iOS

Apr 19, 2013 - 1 Comment

Change Calendar default alert times Forgetting a birthday or an important event never feels good, and if you have a habit of either completely forgetting dates or not remembering until it’s too late, you can adjust the default alert times settings in iOS to better correspond to your needs and level of forgetfulness. You may have noticed that iOS has no standard alert time for events and birthdays, but through a settings change and give yourself one of four options: an alert on the day of the event at 9AM, an alert a day before the event, two days before the event, or a week before.
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By Paul Horowitz - iPad, iPhone, Tips & Tricks - 1 Comment

3 Simple Ways to Strip Styling & Formatting from Text in Mac OS X

Apr 18, 2013 - 16 Comments

Strip text styling and font formatting

Want to quickly remove text styles and font formatting from some text? Here are two three super fast ways to do just that, and they don’t require any third party downloads, both features are built right into Mac OS X. The first two methods will use an alternate copy & paste command that removes styling in the process, and the third trick will use TextEdit to strip all styling. Both solutions will work great if you want to remove or formatting when copying from the web to emails, and can save you the embarrassment of sharing hideous and unprofessional font styling with the world.
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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS X, Tips & Tricks - 16 Comments

6 Pro Tricks & Tips for Taking Better Screen Shots in Mac OS X

Apr 17, 2013 - 23 Comments

Tricks for Screen Shots in OS X Anyone who takes a lot of screenshots in Mac OS X knows the challenges associated with them; how quickly their desktop will fill up with various PNG files, sorting those into folders or just tossing them elsewhere, converting the screenshots to a different image format, copying them to the clipboard for pasting into another app, cropping down to size, or whatever else is required before the screen captures are in their final usable format.
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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS X, Tips & Tricks - 23 Comments

Find the Best Directions on iPhone by Comparing Alternate Routes in Maps Apps

Apr 17, 2013 - 1 Comment

Compare alternate routes in Maps apps for iPhone

If you’re hitting the road with your iPhone, you’ll probably be relying on either Apple Maps or Google Maps to help you get to your destination. But before you settle on an uncertain route, remember to check the default routes and compare alternate routes in both mapping apps to find the best directions, and don’t be surprised if both apps give you very different suggestions initially. If you haven’t done so yet grab Google Maps for iPhone before taking off, it’s better to have the app already on your iPhone before you hit the road so you don’t have to download it while driving.
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By Paul Horowitz - iPhone, Tips & Tricks - 1 Comment

Allow the Java Plug-In on a Per Website Basis with Java & Safari Updates for OS X

Apr 16, 2013 - 9 Comments

Java icon Two new updates are available for Mac users that aim to increase security and control over how the Java web plugin runs in the Safari web browser. Named as Java for OS X 2013-003 and Safari 6.0.4 (or Safari 5.1.9 for older versions of OS X), the updates are available right now through Software Update via the  Apple menu. The updates combine to roughly 110MB and requires Safari be quit before installing, though a reboot is not necessary, and should be considered must-have upgrades to existing software for those who use Safari and/or Java on the Mac.
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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS X, Security, Tips & Tricks - 9 Comments

Fixing the “Visual Voicemail Unavailable” Error on the iPhone

Apr 16, 2013 - Leave a Comment

Visual voicemail unavailable error

If you’ve ever encountered the “Visual Voicemail is currently unavailable” error on when going to check new voicemail on the iPhone, there are
two quick tricks that almost always fix the problem. So before calling the actual voicemail number like you’re some kind of cave dweller in the stone age of cell phones, try these speedy fixes first.
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By Paul Horowitz - iPhone - Leave a Comment

Launch Files & Applications on a Scheduled Date with Calendar for Mac OS X

Apr 15, 2013 - 4 Comments

Calendar app icon If you’ve ever wished you could schedule the opening of a specific file, or set an application to launch on a specific date, either on a one off basis or on a recurring scheduled event, you can actually do both right in Mac OS X with the help of none other than the default Calendar app. This is an astonishingly useful feature that is largely unknown, but it’s extremely easy to use. We’ll cover how to launch specific files on a schedule, or just an application. Just like a standard alert or event, you can create repeat schedules with these as well. If you’ve ever created a generic event or Reminder in OS X before, this is quite similar.
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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS X, Tips & Tricks - 4 Comments

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