Mac users who are searching for specific file type and file format matches on their computer can make the job dramatically easier by issuing proper search operators to the Find functions in Mac OS X. File type search operators can be used directly in Spotlight and also in the Finder based search function, and they can be either very specific to a particular file format (for example, a JPEG), or more general to a file type (for example, a movie).

Let’s walk through some examples of how to use these to look for and match a variety of file types and file formats in Mac OS.

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If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have 36 empty Retina iMac boxes hanging around waiting to be put to use, why not grab some packaging tape and MacGyver yourself a giant human sized hamster wheel?

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This weeks featured Mac setup comes to us from University student Kevin H., who uses his MacBook Pro. Let’s get to it and learn a bit more about the hardware and software, and how it’s put to use.

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The TaiG jailbreak group has released a Mac version of their popular jailbreaking utility, allowing OS X users to jailbreak any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 8.4.

Jailbreaking allows users to run unofficial software and tweaks on iOS devices, but is generally only recommended for advanced users who understand the potential issues that may arise with jailbroken iOS devices. Additionally, Apple may void the warranty on such hardware.

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You almost certainly know that Siri can make phone calls from the iPhone with voice commands, but with new versions of iOS you have another great option; you can make calls that are automatically set to be on speaker mode.

This Siri speakerphone call trick is particularly useful with “Hey Siri” voice activation, since you can make calls entirely hands free from iPhone, from the desk, in the car, or even from across the room if need be.

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If you’re not using Apple Music or listening to the subscription service, with no plans to pay for it after the free trial period, you can choose to hide Apple Music from iTunes on a Mac and from the Music app on an iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Hiding Apple Music is perhaps most useful on the iOS side, where doing so will return the Music app tabs to what existed prior to the release of Apple Music, making it a bit easier for some users to browse existing song libraries containing local music.

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Mac developers choosing to run OS X Yosemite will find OS X 10.10.5 beta 2 available to download. The new build arrives as 14F19a and appears to focus primarily on bug fixes and improvements to the Mac operating system.

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If you need to release and renew DHCP from the command line on a Mac, the helpful ipconfig utility is able to do so quickly. Do keep in mind that for most Mac OS X users, renewing a DHCP lease from the Mac System Preferences is the best approach because it’s user friendly and just as effective, but the Terminal approach has benefits to advanced users and is able to be run through ssh and single user mode, making this a worthwhile bit of knowledge to share.

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The second beta version of iOS 8.4.1 has been released to users in the registered developer program. The 12H318 build arrives a few weeks after the first beta of iOS 8.4.1, and the public release of iOS 8.4

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Mac users participating in the OS X El Capitan Public Beta program will find the third beta version available to download. The new release appears to match the recent 5th developer beta of OS X 10.11, arriving as build 15A235e.

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Apple Music offers a three month free trial to experience and explore the service, but at the end of that Music trial you will be automatically renewed into a $9.99 per month subscription service. For many users, they’ll appreciate leading into a subscription after their 90 day trial period is up, but for some other users they may wish to prevent the Apple Music subscription from automatically renewing. Other users may have turned automatic renewal off, but wish to enable it so that they can seamlessly enjoy Apple Music the subscription service.

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At the command line, environmental variables are defined for the current shell and become inherited by any running command or process. They can determine anything from the default shell, the PATH, the users home directory, to the terminal emulation type, current working directory, where a history file is located, language and localization settings, and going further to include shell variables, which include everything from customizations to the bash prompt, colorized ls output, and changes to terminal appearance, to aliases, and much more.

Let’s walk through how to list environment and shell variables, and then how to set and add new environment variables at the command line of Mac OS X. We’ll cover this for both bash and zsh shells.

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Apple has started running three new Apple Watch ads in a campaign dubbed “Apps at a tap”. The new commercials focus on the variety of apps available on the wrist-worn device, with each commercial having a different emphasis; fitness apps, travel apps, and music apps.

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Apple has released the fifth developer beta of OS X El Capitan to users participating in the Mac Developer Beta program.

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If you use Time Machine to backup a Mac to an external drive, you may decide to manually delete old backups that are no longer needed. Yes, Time Machine does it’s own housekeeping, but sometimes users need to manually intervene. This can be for a variety of reasons, whether for simple removal of old backups, or if you eventually run into space limitations on a backup drive where Time Machine triggers an error saying “Time Machine could not complete the backup. This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires XX GB but only YY GB are available.”

Whatever the reason, you can easily delete old backups from a Time Machine drive to either free up space on that drive for a new backup, or just to perform some manual house keeping of a Time Machine drive.

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Have you ever wondered exactly what hardware was used to create the stunning visual effects, animation, and CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) you see in in movies, video games, and commercials? Well, this weeks Mac setup will show you. Much more than a single workstation, it’s an entire Mac-based animation studio in Sheffield, UK! From a group of maxed out Retina iMacs to an amazing Mac Mini render-farm, this office is a Mac fans dream.

Let’s get to it and learn about the production hardware and software used in a high-end animation studio.

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Apple recently built this microsite to accompany the “If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone” TV ad campaign, and much like other portions of the Apple online presence, there is some pretty nice abstract imagery included in the backgrounds. With a little digging, this means you can uncover those nice pictures and use them as wallpaper for your Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or whatever else you’re looking to make look a bit nicer.

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Given the complexity of some wi-fi network passwords combined with the general infrequency of entering them and that they’re typically saved on use, it’s not terribly unusual to forget what a specific routers wireless password is.

Fortunately, if you’re on a Mac, there are a few ways to go about finding those lost or forgotten wi-fi router login details.

Perhaps the easiest method is recovering forgotten wireless passwords with KeyChain Access in Mac OS X, but if you’re an advanced Mac user you may wish to retrieve the same data from the command line, and that’s what we’re going to demonstrate here.

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