MediaFork is a lot like HandBrake, which is fitting because it is based on it. It allows you to easily rip any DVD or DVD source folder to various movie files that can be played on your Mac, PC, and iPod. MediaFork was created because HandBrake development has stagnated, so it’s really taking off where … Read More
Bash is the default shell in Mac OS X and has been since 10.3, it’s generally considered to be the de facto shell standard in the unix world. That said, there are some people who prefer to use the tcsh shell, or perhaps you just want to break away from the norm. Changing the default … Read More
Want to make a portable USB flash drive OS X installer from Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard, or 10.6 Snow Leopard? You can do that! And no, we don’t mean portable as in a laptop, but portable as in a USB flash drive that can install OS X onto Macs.
Whether you’re a unix novice or veteran to the terminal, if you’re using the command line you’ll often find yourself looking up exactly how to use a specific command for either its understanding the commands full functionality or just to discover the proper syntax. Many of us will just google a command if we can’t … Read More
The popular Mac programming website CocoaDevCentral has put together two great online tutorials for learning Cocoa (Apple’s object-oriented programming environment). These tutorials are geared towards total programming newbies, and are a fun way to get your feet wet with Mac software development. On the software side, all you’ll need is Mac OS X 10.4 (or … Read More
Want to change the name of your Mac computer? You can change the identified computer name of a Mac easily from the Mac OS system settings. This not only changes the Macs computer name, but it also changes what the name of the Mac is as identified by other users on a network, and by … Read More
Spotlight is probably the greatest feature to hit the Mac OS in years, once you get used to using it, going to a PC without it feels hopelessly inadequate. I use Spotlight for everything from launching applications, retrieving pictures, searching for old emails, literally just about everything. If you aren’t using Spotlight, you’re missing out. … Read More
If you have a Mac with broadband, and you want to remotely administer your Mac or someone else’s, you should be using Apple’s Remote Desktop. Remote Desktop is basically just VNC with a fancier and more user friendly name, and it works great for its intended purpose. Setting up a VNC server enables you to … Read More
How many times have you left your Mac on, and later while you’re out and about you wish you would have turned the thing off or put it to sleep? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to put it to sleep remotely with a quick email or text message? You can, and it’s easier … Read More
Highlighting, cutting, and pasting is a part of virtually every computer users daily routine. We select the desired text by dragging horizontally across the screen, highlighting what we want to copy or edit. But say you want to highlight vertically, in a column of text, rather than choosing an entire line. Easily done thanks to … Read More
We all know how to launch applications from the GUI with a double-click on the icon or clicking on the app in the Dock, and there are numerous ways to do so, and they’re all relatively speedy. If you spend a decent amount of time with the command line though, it’s nice to be able … Read More
Regardless of your thoughts on Apple’s switch to the Intel architecture, we are now in a transition period where many apps are either PowerPC, Universal, or Intel only. While most new applications are at least Universal binaries, some are PowerPC, and running these through Rosetta on your Intel Mac can cause a performance decrease. So … Read More
Have you ever wanted to change the short username in Mac OS X? Dig around in the System Preferences and you’ll soon find it’s not as easy as just typing in a new name. Apple has some directions on how to do it, but the instructional document is painful just to look at, let alone … Read More
Whether you use the Terminal occasionally or regularly, you might find it appropriate to change the way it looks beyond the color scheme and transparency settings. How about changing the actual command line prompt? It’s quite easy, and can be a fun way to further customize your Macs appearance.
Anytime I find myself doing a repetitive task, it is crucial that I discover small tricks and workarounds to make my daily routine as efficient as possible. I have long been a Linux user, so naturally I lean towards opening up the Terminal and using the familiar bash shell environment that I have mastered on … Read More
Want to manually adjust the backlighting on your MacBook Pro keyboard? You can do that easier than you might think. With the push of a few buttons, you can turn the brightness of the keyboard backlighting up, or you can turn the brightness of the keyboard backlighting down (or even off). The secret is simply … Read More
