Backing up an iPhone is important because it allows you to recover all of your personal data, apps, and stuff, if you ever need to restore the iPhone, upgrade it, or replace it with a new phone, all of which is done by restoring from the backups that are made. By default your iPhone will automatically sync and create a backup itself, and this can be done one of two ways. The first backup method is handled by iTunes each time your iPhone is connected to your computer through USB. Otherwise, newer iPhones will automatically back up through iCloud if that feature has been enabled, and those iCloud backups happen anytime the device has been plugged into a power source and is on wi-fi.
While the automatic backups are extremely useful and you should always use at least one of them, be it iTunes or iCloud, you can also initiate an instant backup of an iPhone manually. These self-started backups can be made from either iTunes or iCloud very easily, here is how to do either. Read more »
One of the more interesting little known Dock modifications on the Mac is the ability to make hidden app icons appear as translucent and muted in the Dock to indicate their hidden status. If you look carefully at the screenshots of the Mac Dock in this article you’ll see the effect, as some of the icons are shown as translucent, and that is because they are hidden apps. It’s a subtle change, and this hidden optional setting can be enabled in Mac OS X by using the command line.
This tutorial will show you how you can make hidden apps show in the Dock as translucent icons to indicate their hidden status.
Enabling translucent icons of hidden apps is a great feature for Mac users who hide apps to clear off their desktop, as it makes it very easy to identify what apps are hidden and which aren’t, just by looking at the icons to see if they are transparent or not. If you hide apps with any regularity you will probably want to turn this on yourself, it only takes a moment.
When you launch a new Terminal window or tab in Mac OS X (and most linux distributions) you’ll be greeted with a little message, either some “last login” details, or maybe even a message from the admin from /etc/motd. The last login details are default in a new Mac OS X terminal session, whereas the Message Of The Day is from a custom adjustment set by the sysadmin or yourself.
If you’d like to change or remove that “Last Login” message, you can do so rather easily by turning to the command line and creating a modifier file. This will override whatever the login message is in Terminal app, effectively disabling it for the user account where it’s put in place.
There are several reasons why backups can take forever on an iPhone, so here are a few tips you can try that should increase the speed of your iPhone backups and restores. Yes, these tips work on Mac OS and Windows, and for iPod Touch too.
Fix slow iPhone backups by deleting photos
If you have a large camera roll on your iPhone, you might be really slowing down your iPhone backups. This is because the iPhone backup process will copy all your pictures regardless of whether or not there have been any changes made to them. The solution? Regularly backup your iPhone photo’s and then delete the originals from the iPhone.
Launch iPhoto (or Image Capture or whatever app you use to backup photos)
Copy ALL images from your iPhone to your computer
Ensure that you have backed up all your iPhone photos to the computer
Delete ALL of the originals from the iPhone / iPod Touch
Proceed to backup as usual through iTunes
Your backups should now go much faster. It is no coincidence that this tip is recommended by Apple Support, because it works.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was skeptical of this solution until I tried it myself; I had 1,728 photos saved in my iPhone camera roll. After I backed them all up into iPhoto and deleted all the originals from the phone, my iPhone backups speed improved dramatically – I went from a painfully slow four hour backup process to a more reasonable 45 minutes with this tip alone.
Delete old and unused apps from your iPhone
If you aren’t using an old app anymore, delete it, there’s not much reason to keep it around on your iPhone anymore. Deleting these ancient apps can help to speed up your iPhone backups too, since there is less data to transfer at each backup or restore.
Remove unused media from the iPhone
Old apps aren’t the only thing that can slow down backups, so can media. We already discussed deleting photos from your iPhone and the big improvement that makes in backup speed, but deleting other media can help too. If you find yourself never listening to some ancient albums, or watching those old TV shows you copied over 8 months ago, just go ahead and delete them from the iPhone. Deleting video files seems to be particularly effective.
Regularly backup your iPhone
Allowing too much time to pass between backups can really increase the amount of time necessary to backup your iPhone. Try to keep regular backups of your iPhone, just get in a habit of making one full backup once or twice a month. I have noticed a direct correlation between the length of time a backup takes to complete and how often I perform full backups: the longer time that passes between backups the slower the backup will be.
I’m trying to install iPhone OS 4 and the backup and install is really slow, help!
Many users are reporting very slow backup and install processes for updating their iPhone and iPod touch to iPhone OS 4. If you are experiencing this problem, I would highly recommend letting the backup and install run during a time you will not be using the phone for several hours, ideally overnight. Just start the iPhone OS 4.0 install and backup process and let it run while you sleep, you will wake up to the new OS4 being installed and you will have made a recent backup, which will speed up future backups and installations as well.
My iPhone backups are still extremely slow, help!
If you’ve tried all these methods and your iPhone backups are still extremely slow (and by extremely slow I mean well over a few hours, I’ve heard reports of up to 9 hours… yikes!) then you can try the last resort: Restore your iPhone to it’s original factory settings. Remember that by doing this without a backup you will LOSE ALL DATA ON YOUR IPHONE including all media, music, apps, phone numbers, notes, everything, so be absolutely certain that you don’t mind restoring to factory default settings without a backup. This almost always resolves the slow backup problem, but if you don’t have anything to restore to then you will have a completely blank iPhone with nothing on it. There are some suggestions that restoring the iPhone is necessary when there has been a filesystem corruption, which can lead to extremely slow backup speeds and other strange behavior. Again, you will lose all your iPhone data so this is a last resort.
Alright iPhone developers, no more beta versions; version 4 of the iPhone/iPad SDK has been released on Apple’s Developer Center. The iPhone 4 SDK has been available in various iterations to those who are registered iPhone developers, but now anyone with an Apple dev login can download the Xcode & iPhone SDK 4 package for free. iPhone 4 SDK includes over 1500 new API’s for developers to tap into and create amazing experiences for touch devices that run iOS 4. Other highlights of iPhone 4 SDK include:
Multitasking – seven new multitasking services to allow apps to perform tasks in the background while other apps run
iAd – embed full-screen interactive ads directly within your applications, so users never have to leave the app
Game Center – developer preview of the GameKit API’s that will allow for multiplayer gameplay on Apple’s new social gaming network
Video Playback & Capture – full control over playback and capturing of videos and audio
Calendar Access – apps will now be able to create and edit events within the Calendar app
SMS within Apps – you can now embed the ability to compose and SMS messages within an app, just like Mail
Quick Look – just like Mac OS X Quick Look, apps can quickly see previews of documents with Quick Look API
Map Kit Improvements – developers can now draw overlays directly onto maps
Full Photo & Media Library Access – apps now can directly access user photo and video
Multitasking, folders, wallpapers, and more, oh my! The wait is over, version 4.0 of iOS is available as a free download for compatible iPhone and iPod Touch devices. For those who recently bought iPhone 4, the new OS will come pre-installed when it ships later this week.
Download iPhone OS 4.0
You can download iPhone OS 4 directly from iTunes. To install the update, all you need to do is connect your iPhone or iPod Touch to your computer with iTunes open. iTunes will notify you when OS 4.0 is available and you will be able to download the software and update your device. Remember that prior to installing iOS 4 on your iPhone / iPod you will need to have downloaded and installed iTunes 9.2 as a prerequisite.
If iTunes does not notify you automatically of the iPhone OS 4 update being available, just click on the ‘Update’ button under the ‘Summary’ tab after you have selected your iPhone within iTunes, this will start the update and download process as well.
It’s always a good idea to backup your iPhone before installing any updates.
If you’re having problems, advanced users can also download iPhone IPSW directly from Apple. This is not recommended for novice computer users.
iPhone OS 4.0 Compatibility
iPhone OS 4 (more accurately, iOS 4) is compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, and the 2nd and 3rd generation of iPod Touch devices. The feature set degrades on older devices, and the ability to multitask and change background pictures will not function on iPod Touch 2nd Gen or iPhone 3G, the original iPhone 2G doesn’t get the update at all.
The updated iOS 4 for iPad has the same feature set but will be made available in the fall. If you are interested, you can read more about the popular iOS 4 features.
As you’ll soon be able to tell, I am annoyed with Adobe Update Manager, and thankfully I found a way to disable it completely. In case you didn’t know, Adobe Update Manager starts itself automatically on system launch and takes over your Mac while it sorts out whatever it does that I don’t want it to do, it’s the very definition of annoying.
Unfortunately, Adobe doesn’t make this easy for the novice user, but bear with me and follow the steps exactly and you’ll disable the Adobe update manager from launching on it’s own. Read more »
You can immediately launch any file into its associated application from Quick Look preview mode by holding down the command key and then pressing the down arrow key, so if you’re looking at a PSD file it will launch in Photoshop, a JPG into Preview, MP3 into iTunes, etc, directly from Quick Look!
Ok this post is really evolving so bare with us here. We originally posted a picture of the iPad in a Mac Plus and that was fun, but then a few readers wrote in with additional pictures and a video of an iPad in a Mac Classic, and finally a full on guide on how to create this great iPad case yourself.
Three 15″ Mac laptops: Unibody MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro, and a PowerBook G4. Pretty cool setup, although if it was me I’d probably sell off two of the machines and just get a nice external display on the newest unibody MBP.
You can setup virtually any Mac as a home theater media center, all you need is the right tools. Yes, that means your MacBook Pro, MacBook, Mac Mini, iMac, even Mac Pro, can all turn into a media center, and it’s a lot easier than you might think.
For the purpose of this article, we are going to assume you have an HDTV that supports HDMI input, and, preferably a Mac that supports HDMI output with audio (for Mac’s that don’t support direct HDMI output with audio, read on anyway there is a solution for you too). When you are finished with this article, you will be able to have a complete Mac Media Center hooked up to your TV, creating an awesome home theater, and you’ll be able to control the whole thing wirelessly from your couch.
Setting up a Mac Media Center
Here’s what you’ll need to setup a media center with your Mac:
Plex – Plex is arguably the best media center software solution and runs right on top of Mac OS X as an application. It’s got a beautiful interface, vast media support, and is free to download. What’s not to love?
Step 1) Get the proper Video Output Adapters
So first things first, get your cable situation squared away. Newer Mac’s support full HDMI out with audio and video carried over the same cable, but on many models you’ll still need an adapter. For instance, my MacBook Pro 2010 model only needs a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter and a standard HDMI cable, because it supports full HDMI output. The new 2010 Mac Mini supports direct HDMI output with no additional cables at all, so you’d only need an HDMI cable.
Your cable requirements are going to vary from machine to machine, so determine which output adapter is needed for your Mac.
Step 2) Download and Install Plex Media Center Software
Plex is really great media center software that runs right on top of Mac OS X.
Features of Plex Media Server include:
Easily catalogue, organize, and access all of your media files: movies, music, pictures, etc, directly within Plex
Automatically download movie, TV show, and album artwork, episode information, IMDB ratings, and more
Plays HD video content nearly flawlessly
Plug-in video support for Hulu, Netflix, Youtube, MTV, Vimeo, and more
Diverse codec support for various video and audio file types
Interface is completely skinable allowing you to change the appearance to another theme that fits your setup, TV, or preferences
Subtitle support for foreign language movies
Shoutcast stream support and awesome visualizers for music
Weather updates for whatever regions you specify (it will automatically detect one by default)
RSS feeds support
Works with the Apple Remote, Wireless Keyboard, or Wireless Mouse
Support for hardware accelerated H.264 video playback on Nvidia 9400M, GT320M, GT330M chipsets
As you can see Plex is full featured, and that’s exactly why we’re using it for our Mac Media Center. If there is an app that is easier to use and as full featured as Plex, I haven’t found it yet. Setting it up is an absolute breeze.
Let it sync with your Apple Remote (it may want to install 3rd party drivers as a bug fix, no problem)
Using your keyboard (or Apple Remote), navigate and select your Video source destination (directory, hard drive, whatever)
Watch movies, TV shows, play music, whatever
Yes, it’s that easy, seriously. Plex will automatically pull your music library from iTunes too, so there’s practically no setup.
Here’s a screenshot of the media browser interface:
Step 3) Connect your Mac Media Center to your TV
This step is pretty straight forward, you just need to be sure you have the proper cables. For for the sake of this tutorial we’ll pretend we have a new 2010 Mac Mini, all this machine requires is an HDMI cable to connect from the Mini to an HDMI port on your TV.
Step 4) Enjoy your Mac Media Center!
Once you have Plex running and your Mac connected to the TV, that’s all you have to do! Now it’s time to sit back and enjoy your media center. You can also further customize Plex by downloading additional plugins, you can access these directly through the Plex application.
So that’s it. Now for some Questions and Answers…
How do I browse the web or play games on my Mac media center?
Just quit out of Plex and launch Safari or a game. Once your Mac is connected to your TV, the TV is basically a large external monitor for the Mac, so you can treat it as such and play virtually any game, browse the web, or anything else you’d otherwise use a Mac for.
Why just focus the media center on newer Macs with HDMI out?
The reason we recommend newer Mac’s that support full HDMI video/audio exporting is just ease of setup. In fact, you can setup the exact same media center on a Mac that doesn’t support full HDMI output, you’ll just need additional items. What can be done with just an HDMI cable on newer Mac’s requires additional cables to perform the same task on an older Mac; for example, an older Mac might need a mini-DVI to DVI adapter, than a DVI to HDMI adapter, plus the HDMI cable, plus an additional AUX cable to output audio. The exact requirements will depend on your Mac model but it’s not complicated as long as you know what you need. In other words, if you have an older Mac, don’t get discouraged, just get the right adapters and the rest of this guide works the same for your media center too!
My Mac doesn’t export HDMI, what can I do?
If your Mac doesn’t support direct HDMI output, you can use a DVI to HDMI adapter to still output to HDMI, just remember that you will need an additional cable to carry the audio signal from your audio output jack to audio input on the TV, since DVI does not transmit audio.
Additional Mac Media Center resources
Mac Mini Media Center – a guide exclusively for setting up a media center on your Mac Mini, complete with remote torrents support and a webserver
Rip DVD’s on your Mac – what media center is complete without media to watch? Rip your DVD’s and watch them from your Mac hard drive
Some pictures of the pictures in this article are from Flickr, others are screenshots from Plex. If you have any questions, feel free to chime in or email us!
How much RAM does iPhone 4 have? According to confirmed reports by MacRumors, iPhone 4 has 512MB of RAM which is twice the amount of memory in both the iPhone 3GS and iPad at 256MB. MacRumors goes on to suggest this is why the upcoming iMovie app will only run on iPhone 4 and not on past iPhone’s or even the iPad.
This is interesting to know because now iPhone 4 has the same A4 processor as the iPad, but twice as much memory and a significantly higher quality screen. Will the amount of memory on the devices effect how well they run iOS 4? We already know that older iPhone models will not get all the features of the new OS. And will iPad get a significant upgrade sometime this year to a retina display and more memory?
There’s nothing that kills productivity more than distractions, and while it’s hard to minimize some, there’s tools available to help prevent some digital distractions. Social networking sites, email, Twitter, Google News, there’s endless things that can distract your focus and waste your time if you don’t stop them.
SelfControl is a utility that aids in just that, using an adjustable predetermined amount of time, it blocks access to all outgoing and incoming mail servers and also lets you modify a list of websites to block. Have a deadline and can’t pull away from Facebook? No problem, set the website in SelfControl and set the timer.
Once SelfControl is started, it can’t be undone (even if you delete the application or restart!) so you are forced to do the task at hand. A bit extreme perhaps, but sometimes extreme distraction requires extreme intervention… check it out if you think this would benefit your workflow.
Even with SelfControls restrictions, I prefer it to the Freedom tool, which prevents distractions by disconnecting you from the Internet. Many people do work that requires them to be online, but they just need to thin out the distraction herd, and SelfControl does this.
It’s possible to adjust the display contrast at a software level in Mac OS X, which can have very dramatic effects, either good or bad, depending on your needs. Most Mac users don’t know this and many may not find it helpful, but used appropriately it can be a helpful Accessibility adjustment for many with vision difficulties.
Did you know that anyone can build an extension for Safari? It is no problem, anyone can do it and it’s actually easier than you might think. Read more »
Did you know that you can quickly see or hide all the hidden files in a directory from any Mac Save window with a simple keystroke? This is very useful when you are saving a file to a directory that will appear as invisible, also known as a dotfile in OS X.
You probably already know that AT&T has sold out all of it’s pre-orders for release date iPhone 4 deliveries, and now Apple has too. You can still pre-order iPhone 4 but the ship date displays ‘by July 2nd’ ‘by July 14th’ on Apple’s online store, meaning your only chance of getting iPhone 4 on release date is waiting in the lines that are sure to come.
The demand for iPhone 4 is truly remarkable, customers trying to get their hands on the device caused both AT&T and Apple’s Online Store to crash yesterday, and long lines formed worldwide even just for placing pre-orders.
Your Mac runs a series of maintenance scripts on it’s own to clear out various cache and log files. To see when the scripts were last run, type the following at the command line: ls -la /var/log/*.out
You will then see something like this: -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 283124 16 Jun 02:15 /var/log/daily.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1143 1 Jun 05:37 /var/log/monthly.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 2420 13 Jun 02:15 /var/log/weekly.out
If the scripts haven’t been run in a while and you feel like manually executing them, type the following: sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
or you can specify just a single script to run: sudo periodic weekly
Generally it’s unlikely you’ll need to run these scripts on your own.
Backing up an iPhone is important because it allows you to recover all of your personal data, apps, and stuff, if you ever need to restore the iPhone, upgrade it, or replace it with a new phone, all of which is done by restoring from the backups that are made. By default your iPhone will automatically sync and create a backup itself, and this can be done one of two ways. The first backup method is handled by iTunes each time your iPhone is connected to your computer through USB. Otherwise, newer iPhones will automatically back up through iCloud if that feature has been enabled, and those iCloud backups happen anytime the device has been plugged into a power source and is on wi-fi.
There are several reasons why backups can take forever on an iPhone, so here are a few tips you can try that should increase the speed of your iPhone backups and restores. Yes, these tips work on Mac OS and Windows, and for iPod Touch too.
Alright iPhone developers, no more beta versions; version 4 of the iPhone/iPad SDK has been released on Apple’s Developer Center. The iPhone 4 SDK has been available in various iterations to those who are registered iPhone developers, but now anyone with an Apple dev login can download the Xcode & iPhone SDK 4 package for free. iPhone 4 SDK includes over 1500 new API’s for developers to tap into and create amazing experiences for touch devices that run 
that accepts HDMI input
is perfect)
(and/or other appropriate cables if your Mac doesn’t support direct HDMI out)
and 
– these are optional but highly recommended if you want to browse the web and play games on your media center
and a standard HDMI cable, because it supports full HDMI output. The new 2010 Mac Mini supports direct HDMI output with no additional cables at all, so you’d only need an HDMI cable. 
How much RAM does iPhone 4 have? According to confirmed reports by 
It’s possible to adjust the display contrast at a software level in Mac OS X, which can have very dramatic effects, either good or bad, depending on your needs. Most Mac users don’t know this and many may not find it helpful, but used appropriately it can be a helpful Accessibility adjustment for many with vision difficulties. 
