I’m a big fan of distraction free writing space, and so far WriteRoom has this market cornered pretty well on Mac OS X.
OmmWriter looks like a worthy contender though, it’s got a beautiful unobtrusive interface and is complete with a relaxing background and subtle peaceful sound effects… if that sounds a little cheesy it sort of is, but it’s actually pretty nice to write in!
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.DS_Store files store folder level metadata information (such as icon placement and background pictures) for Mac OS X to understand, this is fine and dandy and you’re likely to never even notice if you’re a bunch of Macs working together. Unfortunately, these .DS_Store files can be really pesky in a multi-platform network environment, they can basically just lead to unnecessary filesystem clutter that Windows & Linux users receive no benefit from.
Thankfully, you can prevent the DS_Store files from being created entirely by executing a simple command in the Terminal.
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I use the OS X Quick Look feature constantly for everything from quickly viewing pictures, movies, text files, and of course, source code. Source can be a pain to view in QuickLook because there’s no syntax highlighting by default though, but this excellent Mac plugin changes that.
A colleague of mine is a recent Mac switcher and he was complaining to me that virtual desktops are not included in Mac OS X, the irony is that they are, they just have the name Spaces (coming from a heavy Linux background, I guess the naming convention just threw him off). Virtual Desktops are a very common and popular feature in most Unix GUI’s, but as Mac OS X has included virtual desktops within Mac OS X too.
Instead of being called “Virtual Desktops” though, Apple named them “Spaces”, but the concept is identical, multiple virtual workspaces on one machine. Spaces in Mac OS X lets you have up to 16 different workspaces to work within, you can even designate specific applications to run just within a particular space, which is very handy for creating a tidy work environment.
Hey look it’s raining out of the snow! That’s something I don’t see everyday. But the Dashboard Weather widget in OS X has plenty of unique weather conditions that can be shown, and if you want to see them all you don’t need to wait until the seasons change.
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Typing the square root symbol in Mac OS X is just a matter of hitting ALT+V
√ – ALT+V
Note that these are Qwerty English specific instructions, other keyboard layouts and languages will likely vary.
Tye Campbell wrote to us with the following question: “Do you guys know how to take apart an iPhone? Specifically the 3G model, I can’t find any way to get to the display and I’d like to do my own screen replacement since mine is cracked but I have another one available to me from a water-damaged iPhone. I’m pretty patient and don’t mind learning, but I don’t even know where to begin, any tips or starting points?”
Good question! I had to take apart an iPhone 3GS recently to replace the back case, I used the guides offered by iFixIt, they are comprehensive and really walk you through accessing various parts of the iPhone including the display. The key is to have the right tools at your disposal before disassembly, otherwise you can end up in a really frustrating situation. Also be sure to track each individual iPhone part and where it comes from inside the device so that when you reassemble it you won’t have any extra pieces laying around! These guides will help you with selecting the right tools and staying organized during the iPhone repair, follow it carefully and you should have no problems. If you’re wondering how to take apart an iPhone, I would go this route:
Many Mac users are fond of the Mac startup sound that chimes on system boot, but there are definitely times when booting that you’d rather just be quiet, say a library or coffee shop. Thus, we’re going to show you how to mute that boot up sound on any Mac, MacBook model (Pro, Air), iMac, or Mac Pro, we’ll offer a temporary solution, and a few different permanent solutions to mute the sound as well.
Using the command line tool ‘opensnoop’ you can track any Mac applications (or system process) usage of the file system. This is a very handy tool for administrators and troubleshooting! The simplest way to use it is as follows:
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There are times when a user will need to to manually set an IP address in Mac OS X to one which will be compatible with a joined network, either wi-fi or ethernet.
Here will cover how to change a Mac IP address to a manual setting, and also how to pick an IP address which will not be conflicting with another machine on the same network.
I just came across a really useful QuickLook plugin called SuspiciousPackage that lets you inspect those .pkg package installer files that so many Mac apps and downloads come in. Using this plugin, you can determine if an admin password is required, how many install scripts are in the package file, where the installation locations of files is going to be, and if a restart is required.
Installation is simple and like any other QuickLook plugin. Download the SuspiciousPackage QuickLook plugin and drop it into ~/Library/QuickLook/ and you’ll be good to go (restart the Finder if necessary).
SuspiciousPackage home
Download SuspiciousPackage now
You can change the Mac OS X login screen background picture using a few different methods. We have covered this tip before but it was based around a few Terminal commands that might not be easy to follow for the average Mac user without command line experience. With that in mind, here are ways to change the Mac login wallpaper:
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You can convert many different image file formats in Mac OS X for free using the included Preview application, there’s no need to download additional tools or do anything overly complex.
As of any somewhat modern version of Mac OS X, the Mac Preview app supports the following file types and will convert between any of them: GIF, ICNS, JPEG, JPG, JPEG-2000, Microsoft BMP, Microsoft Icon, OpenEXR, PDF, Photoshop (PSD), PICT, PNG, SGI, TGA, TIFF. Some of those image formats will be hidden from your default view when saving, requiring the usage of the “Option” key when saving to reveal them. In any event, converting from one image type to another is simple.
Need a therapy session? Your Mac has you covered. Yes, you read that right. You can use your Mac as a psychotherapist from the Terminal, thanks to emacs the text editor. Say what? If you’re confused don’t be, it’s an easter egg that has long existed and it’s easy to access.
Mac OS X Server is infinitely better equipped, more stable, and just generally more pleasant than any of Windows offerings (yes I am biased, but it’s true), if you’re needing a server I highly recommend checking out Apple’s offering. Instead of shelling out the $499 for a copy though, you can get a free evaluation copy! If you’re a large corporation, small business, nonprofit organization, government agency, or educational institution, you can get a free and fully functional evaluation copy of Mac OS X Server directly from Apple. I just found out about this and I think it’s a pretty great thing for Apple to do, so if you qualify for a copy, check it out and you will be impressed.
If you’re ever wondering how long your Mac has been turned on and running for, you can discover exactly how long the computer has been on since last boot with two different methods available in OS X.
Let’s learn a bit more about discovering how long a Mac has been left turned on for, and also, theoretically at least, how long you could leave a Mac turned on for.
You can delete specific pages from a PDF file with the built-in Mac Preview app, available in all versions of OS X. This is really useful for paring down large PDF documents if you only need a few select pages, and learning how to delete specific pages from PDF files is bound to make any student or researchers life easier when emailing or printing documents.
Locker is a very simple Dashboard widget that does something Mac OS X should have included by default, it instantly locks your Mac desktop.
