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Convert Flash SWF to HTML5 with Google’s Swiffy Tool

Jun 28, 2011 - 2 Comments
SWF to HTML5

Swiffy is a new experimental tool from Google that easily converts SWF Flash files to HTML5, making Flash-only content accessible to hardware like the iPhone and iPad in just a few seconds. This should be a really useful utility for designers and it’s well worth a bookmark if you work with HTML5 and Flash content … Read More

Monitor System Activity in the Mac OS X Menu Bar for Free with iStat Menu 2

Jun 24, 2011 - 12 Comments

You can display and monitor virtually all essential system activity directly from your Mac OS X menu bar using a great utility called iStat Menu:

Check Battery Cycle Count on a Mac

Jun 23, 2011 - 17 Comments
Battery Cycle Count

If you have a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, you can check the battery cycle count. This lets you see how many charge and drain cycles have been used on the battery, and gives you an idea of overall battery health. This functionality exists in all versions of macOS and Mac OS X, and … Read More

Explaining the Mac OS X Lion Clean Install

Jun 21, 2011 - 66 Comments
Clean Mac OS X Lion Install

Updated 2/21/2012: Here are quick instructions on how to perform a clean Mac OS X Lion installation. Read beyond these steps for some background on the initial confusion surrounding OS X Lion clean install practices. Download OS X Lion from the Mac App Store and make a bootable OS X Lion installer from a USB … Read More

Uninstall Mac Applications

Jun 20, 2011 - 58 Comments
Uninstall a Mac App

Uninstalling applications from Mac OS X is probably the easiest method of removing apps from any operating system, and it’s far easier on a Mac than anything you’ll encounter in the Windows world. Deleting apps is so simple that some new Mac users are left wondering what else they’re supposed to do, I have received … Read More

Summon Dictionary & Wikipedia for Words in Mac OS X with Three-Finger Tap

Jun 20, 2011 - 15 Comments
Dictionary in web browser on Mac

Did you know you can instantly access a dictionary, thesaurus, or Wikipedia entry for a word or phrase, from nearly anywhere in Mac OS X? All you need to do is remember a super easy three-finger tap trick.

Move Steam Games & Save Files to a New Hard Drive

Jun 18, 2011 - 8 Comments
Authorize a new computer with Steam to transfer saved game files

Have a Steam game library along with some save game files? Maybe you’d like to move those games and the gaming library to another hard drive or even another computer? Did you just get a new Mac? Maybe you upgraded your hard drive and went with a clean Mac OS X install, but you want … Read More

Enable iTunes Automatic Downloads of Music, Apps, and Books via iCloud

Jun 17, 2011 - 17 Comments
Enable iTunes Automatic Downloads

The latest version of iTunes includes the great “Automatic Downloads” ability which automatically syncs your new app, music, and book purchases to all of your other iOS devices. This is the first part of iCloud that is available free to iTunes users, but most users won’t see the benefit because it’s not enabled by default. … Read More

Set Mac Desktop Background Wallpaper from any Image in Safari

Jun 16, 2011 - 12 Comments
set Mac OS X desktop background wallpaper picture from Safari

You can set any image on the web as your Mac desktop background wallpaper directly from Safari. This means you don’t even need to download the picture to your computer to set it as the desktop background, you can just find a picture on the web and immediately use it as the wallpaper on the … Read More

Redeem an iTunes Gift Card

Jun 15, 2011 - 21 Comments
Redeem iTunes Gift Card

Did you get an iTunes gift card or three? My cousin just did too, but they didn’t want to buy music with the balance, they wanted iPhone apps, so naturally as the family Apple guy I get a text asking what to do. Here’s the thing to remember with iTunes gift cards: they can be … Read More

Get Detailed WiFi Info From the Menu Bar in Mac OS X

Jun 15, 2011 - 13 Comments
Option-click Wi-Fi menu extended details in Mac OS X

You can retrieve extended wireless connectivity data and details from anywhere within Mac OS X by using a nifty trick that toggles the Wi-Fi menu bar item to display additional specifics about any wireless router. To do this, hold down the Option key and then click on the WiFi menu icon found on the Mac.

Maximize Screen Space with the Tiny iTunes Micro Player

Jun 13, 2011 - 4 Comments
iTunes Micro Player

If you want iTunes to take up the absolute least amount of screen space, yet still be able to control music and volume, use the iTunes Micro Player (Yea I just named it that, I don’t know what the official name is). First minimize iTunes so that it’s in the standard mini-player mode, but then … Read More

Create a New Terminal Window from a Tab

Jun 11, 2011 - 2 Comments
New Terminal Window from Tab

Want to create a new Terminal window from a tab on the Mac? It can be done, but how it works may depend on what Mac OS system software version you are using and therefore what version of the Terminal app is in play. In Mac OS X, the Terminal app reacts differently than Safari … Read More

Find an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad UDID

Jun 10, 2011 - 10 Comments
iPhone UDID

All iOS devices come with a Unique Device Identifier number, known as a UDID. The UDID is kind of like a serial number for that device, except that it’s even longer at 40 characters. By far the most simple way to retrieve your iPhone, iPad, or iPod‘s identifier number is through iTunes itself.

How to Create & Burn a Bootable Mac OS X Lion Install DVD

Jun 8, 2011 - 120 Comments
Make your own OS X Lion Bootable Installation DVD

Apple announced that Lion would be released exclusively through the Mac App Store for $30. This is great because the App Store policy allows a single purchase to install on all your Macs, but what if you don’t have broadband access on all your Macs, or what if you just want a bootable installation disc? … Read More

Enable “Click to Play” for Plug-ins & Flash in Google Chrome Web Browser

Jun 3, 2011 - 6 Comments
Click to Play plugins like Flash in Google Chrome browser

Rather than disabling Flash completely in Chrome, an excellent option is to enable a hidden “Click to Play” feature that prevents that plugin and all others from automatically loading. With Click To Play turned on, if you want Flash or another browse plug-in to run and load, you simply click on it to play or … Read More

Get DNS Server IP Addresses from the Command Line in Mac OS X

Jun 3, 2011 - 6 Comments

You can quickly retrieve active DNS server IP addresses on any Mac by using the networksetup utility. This is done from the command line, so launch the Terminal app and type one of the following command strings, dependent on the version of OS X that is running on the Mac.

How to Check if your Mac Malware Definitions List is Updated

Jun 2, 2011 - 10 Comments
Check if your Macs Malware Definition List is Updated

The malware protecting Mac OS X Security Update will automatically download and update it’s malware definitions list from Apple, but if you’re like me you probably want to know how to manually check if the malware list is updated or not. We’ll show you where the malware list is located on Mac, and how to … Read More

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