Using GeekTool and lsof, you can display an automatically updated list of open network connections directly on a Mac OS X desktop. This is tip is a “safe” alternative to the previously mentioned open_ports utility. The problem with installing and using open_ports is that it is a third party script running as root, and for … Read More
You can watch all open network connections for both incoming and outgoing transfers using a free command line utility called open_ports.sh. Open_Ports is much more useful than using lsof to list open internet connectionsbecause it provides extensive network information in a very easy to read format, including what program or process is opening the connection, … Read More
Most lefties have adapted to the righty-centric world of computing, but this isn’t necessary on a Mac. The Apple Magic Mouse, Apple wireless mouse, wired mouses, trackpad, and even most 3rd party mice have a symmetrical shape, so those that are left handed just need to adjust a few settings in Mac OS X to … Read More
I’m going to walk through the process of making a bootable Mac OS X 10.7 Lion installation drive out of any USB flash drive key. This is similar to the process of making a bootable Lion installer DVD, but I prefer a USB flash drive because it’s faster, smaller, and I have a MacBook Air … Read More
The powerful textutil command for Mac offers an amazing capability to convert a text documents font family and text size, transforming the document with ease and precision right from the command line of Mac OS.
Two new reports suggest that the Mac OS X Lion release date is indeed set for next week, likely on Thursday, July 14th, and that a new Macbook Air will launch alongside Lion. The first report comes from 9to5mac, the origin of the suggested July 14th launch date, whose sources are saying that new retail … Read More
Mac OS X has a fancy way of refreshing your Dashboard widgets. It’s better watched than described or shown in pictures, so open up Dashboard, click on any widget, then hit Command+R and watch the widget disappear and reappear into a twirl. The larger and more colorful the widget the better the effect, and you … Read More
Pixel art of the 8-bit flashback NES variety is all the rage right now, be it in games like The Incident and Sword & Sworcery or just for avatars on the web. If you’re wondering how some of that beautiful pixel art is created and how you to do it yourself, here are some tips … Read More
If you just want a basic command line mp3 player, you could use afplay, but if that’s not enough for you, install ViTunes. The little VIM plugin gives you full access to iTunes directly from the command line text editor VIM, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just a boring old music player, it … Read More
Modern Mac OS releases from Mac OS X 10.7 & OS X 10.8 onward default to hiding the users Library directory, this is probably to keep people from accidentally deleting or damaging files that are necessary for OS X Lion & Mountain Lion to function properly. That is fine for novice users, but for some … Read More
DoublePane is a simple window manager for Mac OS X that is impressively useful. It works by resizing a selected window to fit precisely on one half of the screen – on the left or right – which then allows you to place another resized window directly next to it on the opposing half. This … Read More
If you have a MacBook Air, you also have that nice little USB restore key. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to use that as a normal USB drive if you wanted to? You can do it, but first you have to ‘unlock’ the USB restore key. Here’s where I think this is most … Read More
Want to make it a gamers weekend? Don’t miss the huge Steam sale going on now that has just about every game for at least 30% and up to 75% off. Everything offered on Steam is instantly downloadable so you can quickly get your gamer fix, some of the hot titles for Mac OS X … Read More
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion can run additional copies of itself in virtual machines on the same machine, this is the first time that Apple has allowed this feature outside of Mac OS X Server. This was discovered by MacRumors: Running separate instances of Mac OS X should be possible under virtualization solutions such as … Read More
The public release of Mac OS X Lion is imminent, possibly coming as soon as July 14th, according to the well-sourced 9to5Mac. This news comes immediately after Apple has released the Lion GM build for developers to download through the Dev Center. Releasing the GM build today will give time for any potential bug reports … Read More
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Golden Master has just been seeded for developers to download, the latest and possibly last dev release of Lion comes as build 11A511. A GM build typically means a public release is due out in the very near future, meaning the Mac OS X Lion release date may be a … Read More
Using the same trick to create a new image file based on clipboard contents, you can extract high resolution icons from any Mac OS X application. Preview is smart enough to extract just the icon and not try to copy the app file itself (like Windows would). Select any app in Mac OS X Finder … Read More
Do you need your computers IP address often? If so, IPMenulet is likely the quickest way to have the number handy all the time, it’s a free and simple menu item that displays your current external IP address in the Mac OS X menu bar, there’s no other frills or features.
