A symbolic link created at the command line allows a linked object in the file system to point to an original object in a different location. In this way, symbolic links behave much like an alias does in the Mac OS X GUI, except that the linking and reference between files or folders is done at a lower level, and thus can be pointed directly to by various applications or user purposes. This can be useful in many situations for advanced Mac users, from providing easier access to a particular location, to offloading an application folder to another hard drive, and much more.

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Apple has released new beta versions of iOS 9, arriving as iOS 9 beta 5 for registered developers, and iOS 9 Public Beta 3 for users in the public beta program. Additionally, WatchOS 2 beta 5 is available for Apple Watch developers.

The revised iOS 9 beta build is versioned as 12A4325c for both the developer and public beta versions, and is available now for supported iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch hardware.

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Apple Watch is generally very stable and rarely needs to be rebooted or restarted, but sometimes it can become stuck, frozen, unresponsive, or a feature of Apple Watch may stop working as intended. Typically if those situations arise, you can get Apple Watch back to working order again by issuing a forced restart of the device.

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Apple has released the third beta version of OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 to users participating in the developer beta program. The new build arrives as 14F25a and presumably includes bug fixes and security enhancements.

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Apple has released the fourth public beta version of OS X 10.11 El Capitan to users participating in the Public Beta program.

The build arrives as 15A244d, matching the Developer Beta 6 which was released yesterday, and appears to include the same bug fixes and changes.

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Apple is known for choosing phenomenal imagery as wallpapers, and keeping with that long-running theme, they’ve added a beautiful new wallpaper to OS X El Capitan Developer Beta 6. If you like pictures of starry nights and amazing scenery, you’ll really enjoy this one.

Of course, not everyone is eligible to run the Developer Beta builds of OS X 10.11, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until the fall and the final version of OS X El Capitan to enjoy this gorgeous image as your desktop background.

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Apple has released the sixth beta build of OS X El Capitan for eligible Mac developers to test. The new build arrives versioned as 15A244d and marches the operating system further towards the wider public release, scheduled loosely for the fall.

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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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