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Turn QuickTime Player into a Free DivX Player for Mac

Nov 28, 2010 - Leave a Comment

Your Mac includes a pretty good video player called QuickTime Player, but by default QuickTime won’t play some of the more unique codecs like DivX. You can enable full DivX support by downloading a free QuickTime Player plugin called Perian. Using QuickTime as a Free DiVX Player on the Mac Here’s how to get QuickTime … Read More

How to Use IPSW files

Nov 23, 2010 - 102 Comments
IPSW file

IPSW stands rather simply for iOS Software, and IPSW files are basically just individual firmware downloads for specific iOS devices. These files can be used to update iOS devices manually with the help of iTunes or Finder. If you’ve recently downloaded an iOS IPSW file, you might be curious how to use it to update … Read More

Flip Through a PDF in the Finder of OS X

Nov 22, 2010 - 1 Comment

This is a really cool trick that is not well known; many documents are a bit interactive in the Finder of Mac OS X, without ever having to open the file in another application, or even having to use Quick Look. In this case, a PDF file that is multiple pages long can be flipped … Read More

How to Block Facebook

Nov 21, 2010 - 32 Comments

Facebook is a great way to stay connected to people and has plenty of benefits, but that’s not why we’re here, we’re here to block access to Facebook. Why? Well, there are many reasons to block the site, companies often block the site to prevent employees from accessing it on company time, and parents may … Read More

Find your IP Address on a Mac

Nov 21, 2010 - 24 Comments

Knowing your Mac’s IP address is important for setting up a network or sharing files, here’s two different ways to find your IP address in Mac OS X; an easy way through the GUI and a more technical approach with the command line. These methods will be the same whether you are connected via ethernet … Read More

Add a Timestamp to iChat Messages with a Keyboard Shortcut

Nov 18, 2010 - 3 Comments

Want to time stamp a conversation or a message in the iChat messaging client? You can do that quickly with a keystroke on the iChat app in Mac OS X.

Enable IP Blocking when downloading torrents in Transmission

Nov 17, 2010 - 24 Comments

Transmission has a built-in IP blocklist for what are determined to be “bad peers” and it should be enabled if you use Transmission with any sort of regularity. The blocklist helps to insure a better experience with torrents and also helps to protect your privacy. How to enable the IP Blocklist for downloading torrents in … Read More

How to Use the Screen Recorder on a Mac

Nov 16, 2010 - 99 Comments

If you need to record screen activity on a Mac, you don’t need to download any additional software because the functionality is built directly into Mac OS X with the QuickTime app. Yes, the same QuickTime video player app that lets you watch videos also lets you record the screen of the Mac, and it’s … Read More

Fast Forward in QuickTime & Speed Reverse with Gestures

Nov 16, 2010 - 4 Comments

You can fast forward or quickly rewind any video playing in QuickTime Player in Mac OS X (or Windows if you go that direction) by using a trackpad or magic mouse. This is really easy to use but it’s best followed along and tried out yourself than just reading a tutorial, so launch QuickTime Player … Read More

How to Reset PRAM on a Mac

Nov 15, 2010 - 51 Comments
Finder icon on the Mac

Resetting your PRAM (or NVRAM) is a common troubleshooting technique when a Mac is misbehaving. We’ll cover how to reset PRAM on any Mac, as well as providing some additional information about PRAM and what it is to better help you understand when and why you’d want to reset it.

How to Get a Refund for an iPhone App

Nov 13, 2010 - 22 Comments

If you bought an iPhone app and it didn’t work on your device due to technical failures or limitations, or perhaps the app purchase was made in error by a child or someone else using your device, you may be eligible for a refund from Apple. Apple will selectively refund app purchases, though it’s not … Read More

Mute the Volume Adjustment Quack Sound on a Mac

Nov 12, 2010 - 6 Comments

You can mute the quack sound that your Mac makes when adjusting audio levels by adjusting a system preference setting. Yes, that means you can completely turn it off and stop the little quack / pop sound from happening anytime the volume changes. Here is what you will want to do in OS X:

Make a Mac Sing Songs

Nov 9, 2010 - 13 Comments
Finder icon on the Mac

I know you’ve always thought to yourself, wouldn’t it be great if my Mac could see me songs? Or wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could make someone elses Mac sing songs? Well, you’re going to be thrilled to discover that, yes, your Mac can actually sing, thanks to the text-to-speech engine and the intonation … Read More

How to Turn Bluetooth On or Off with the iPhone or iPad

Nov 8, 2010 - 8 Comments

Bluetooth is great since it allows for anyone to wirelessly sync hardware together. It’s typically turned off by default in iOS, so you’ll want to turn it on first if you intend to use the Bluetooth connectivity options. On the other hand, if you don’t use bluetooth on your iPhone or iPad there’s little reason … Read More

The Mac Menu Symbols & Keyboard Symbols Explained

Nov 7, 2010 - 14 Comments

If you’re new to the Mac or Apple platforms, learning the menu keyboard symbols that appear in the menus and on some keyboard keys, can be a little daunting. Nonetheless it’s not too complex, and knowing what the Apple keyboard symbols mean and what keys they stand for to access the function is essential for … Read More

How to Temporarily Turn Off iPhone Caller ID to Make a Blocked Call

Nov 3, 2010 - 5 Comments
iPhones

You may know that iPhone users can opt to turn off Caller Id on their iPhone to always make blocked calls from that number and phone, this means when your calls will show up as “blocked” to the recipients phone all the time. But you may not want to block every call all the time, … Read More

iTunes Visualizer Fun

Nov 3, 2010 - 2 Comments

The iTunes Visualizer is a neat feature of iTunes that’s been around forever, more recent incarnations of the app have brought a more attractive visualizer which is a bit more fun to play around with. In fact, there’s some hidden commands that you can access while in iTunes Visualizer that modify the appearance of what’s … Read More

Open and UnRar RAR Files on a Mac

Nov 1, 2010 - 17 Comments

If you need to open and expand rar files in Mac OS X, you can unrar files with two free utilities available for the Mac. Not only will either of these apps quickly open and decompress .rar files, but it also has the ability to restore corrupted and missing archives using par files. Archive restoration … Read More

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