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How to Check iPhone 4S Upgrade Eligibility Status on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint

Oct 5, 2011 - 7 Comments
Check your iPhone 4S Upgrade Eligibility Status

Want to upgrade to the latest and greatest iPhone? Assuming you qualify for a new contract, the price of the iPhone 4S is the same on all carriers, starting at $199 for the 16GB version. If you don’t qualify for a new contract, there’s a wide variation of potential prices and fees that will come … Read More

How to Install Fonts & Remove Fonts in Mac OS X

Oct 3, 2011 - 12 Comments
Installing new fonts in Mac OS X

Want to install a new font in Mac OS? Maybe you want to remove a font you no longer use? Managing fonts on the Mac is incredibly easy regardless of what system software version you are using. We’ll cover the process of installing new fonts, deleting unwanted fonts, and also restoring your default system fonts … Read More

Add a Separator & Time Stamp Between Terminal Commands to Increase Readability

Oct 3, 2011 - 21 Comments
Custom Terminal separator and timestamp for Bash

If you want to customize the Terminals appearance a bit beyond the prompt and a custom background, you can make the Terminal much more readable by using this nice trick to add a separator and timestamp between each executed command. This also bolds the current command text and anything that is available from tab completion.

Use the Magnifying Glass Tool in Preview to Zoom Into Image Detail on Mac

Oct 3, 2011 - 11 Comments
Magnifying glass tool in Preview

Preview in Mac OS includes a helpful magnification tool that follows the mouse cursor, allowing you to zoom into details on whatever picture is on screen.

Easily Generate CSS Background Gradient Code in Mac OS X

Oct 2, 2011 - 2 Comments
Instant CSS Gradients in Mac OS X

Web designers and developers are well aware that creating CSS gradients is somewhat of a painful process. Sure there are a variety of web-based generator tools that make it easier, but you’ll often be left to scout around for different versions to get different CSS & CSS3 code pieces which then require manual tweaks in … Read More

MacBook Air Creaking? Check for Loose Screws

Oct 1, 2011 - 9 Comments
Pentalobe screws in a MacBook Air

My MacBook Air 11″ has been creaking a lot lately when I pick it up, the noise has gradually increased and I finally discovered the reason why: loose screws. I’m not sure what caused the screws to become loose, but I do bring my MacBook Air almost everywhere with me so this could be a … Read More

Enable Remote Login to Start SSH Server in Mac OS X

Sep 30, 2011 - 18 Comments
Remote Login enables SSH and SFTP

Remote Login is a feature in Mac OS X’s Sharing preferences that allow remote users to connect to a Mac in a secure fashion by using the OpenSSH protocols. Essentially, Remote Login starts an SSH server on a Mac, which includes the ability to accept incoming SSH connections, and is the secure replacement for telnet. … Read More

Make an Invisible Folder and Hide Files in Plain Sight on Mac

Sep 30, 2011 - 29 Comments
Make an invisible folder in Mac OS X to hide files in plain sight

Want to hide some files in plain sight on a Mac? This walkthrough will detail how you can make an invisible folder on the Mac that features some unique properties; the invisible folder will be invisible to the eye when browsing in Finder, but the folder will not be invisible to the click. Instead, you’ll … Read More

Disable the “Backup of …” Pages & iWork Files from Showing in the Mac OS X Finder

Sep 29, 2011 - 6 Comments
Disable backup of Pages files in the Finder

The iWork suite under Mac OS X 10.7 includes a rather peculiar default option that backs up every files prior version that you are working on, as a separate file in the same folder. Instead of the backups only being accessible from Versions, this spills out into the Finder, where a file called “Document.pages” will … Read More

Start an FTP or SFTP Server in Mac OS X

Sep 29, 2011 - 30 Comments
FTP Server missing in OS X Lion, but you can enable it anyway

If you’ve visited the Sharing Preference panel in the newer versions of Mac OS X you may have noticed there is no longer the direct option to enable an FTP server to share files and folders. Well, at least there isn’t an obvious option, but the FTP and SFTP server function does still exist, the … Read More

Learn How to Use VIM with an Interactive Tutorial

Sep 29, 2011 - 6 Comments
VIM tutorial

VIM is a powerful command line text editor that is wildly popular with developers and system administrators that is accessible by typing ‘vim’ in the terminal. For those that haven’t used it before, it has a relatively steep learning curve, and the interface can be confusing until you figure out how it works and start … Read More

Disable Time Machine Local Backups in Mac OS X Lion

Sep 28, 2011 - 38 Comments
Time Machine local backups

Time Machine in Mac OS X Lion initiates a sometimes useful, sometimes not feature: local backups. Called snapshots, this seems to be kicked off when your primary Mac is a laptop and the Time Machine backup is an external drive, so OS X Lion compensates for the potentially unavailable external disk by keeping an additional … Read More

Check Download Speed from iTunes & the App Store

Sep 28, 2011 - 5 Comments
Check download speed from iTunes App Store

Want to check the download speed of something you’re getting from iTunes or the iOS App Store? No sweat, you can check not only the progress of the download, but also see the transfer speed of what is being downloaded from iTunes. From the sidebar of iTunes, click on Store, then go to “Downloads” This … Read More

Control What Apps Restore Windows in OS X Lion with RestoreMeNot

Sep 27, 2011 - 7 Comments
RestoreMeNot controls specific apps to restore or not in OS X Lion

OS X Lion’s Restore function is what causes app windows to re-open after you’ve relaunched an app, and people seem to either love it or hate it. Sure you can turn it off completely, but that’s a bit overkill if you only don’t want certain apps to restore their windows, and still want resume to … Read More

Reverse Horizontal Scrolling in Mac OS X

Sep 26, 2011 - 9 Comments
Reverse Horizontal Scrolling to be Natural in Mac OS X

Reverse scrolling, better known as ‘natural scrolling’ for OS X Lion users, is when the content on screen follows your finger movements, just like iOS. This is activated by default for vertical scrolling, but what about horizontal? Oddly enough, scrolling left and right maintains the old style scrolling behavior, moving the content away from your … Read More

“Show Package Contents” Unavailable? Extract .pkg Files Without Installing Them

Sep 26, 2011 - 6 Comments
Extract Package (.pkg) file contents without installing them in Mac OS X

Have you ever wanted to get a look at the contents of a package file on the Mac, but without installing it? You can do that with the help of an excellent command line. This continues on with our series of inspecting the contents of app installers, and in this case we’ll demonstrate how to … Read More

Show What Files Are To Be Installed & Where Files Will Go in Mac OS X

Sep 23, 2011 - 8 Comments
Show Files and Locations of Files to be Installed in Mac OS X

In nearly all Installer and Package apps, you have the option to view exactly what files will be installed and where the installer wants to place them on the Mac. This is an often overlooked feature of the OS X Installer, and it you’ve ever wondered what and where on earth that random .pkg wants … Read More

iOS-Like Dark Menu Bar for Mac OS X Lion

Sep 23, 2011 - 25 Comments
dark menu bar in Mac OS X

If you’ve been using Nocturne to get the black menubar in Mac OS X but don’t care for any of the features outside of the darker menu bar, check out MenuBarFilter. All it does is turn the Mac menu bar color into a dark black gradient, closely resembling iOS. Download MenubarFilter now or head to … Read More

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