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Customize the Mac Finder Window Background

Jun 28, 2010 - 22 Comments

Did you know that you can customize the backgrounds of any Finder windows in Mac OS X? This is a nnice way to customize the appearance of your Mac a bit, and you can either choose images or colors, or go with the default setting of a simple white background. In the screenshot above, the … Read More

Disable the Internal Microphone on your Mac

Jun 25, 2010 - 36 Comments
Disable Microphone on Mac

All Macs have a microphone included in them, but if you want to disable the internal microphone on your Mac, you can do so through a variety of methods. We’ll cover the two easiest approaches to turning off the microphone; reducing the input volume so that no sound is picked up by the microphone, and … Read More

Opt out of iAd location and data tracking cookies

Jun 23, 2010 - 5 Comments

You can opt out of Apple’s new iAd location and data tracking service, which will use gathered data on you to serve targeted ads through Apple’s new iAds platform. To opt out of iAd cookies, visit http://oo.apple.com from the device you wish to opt out with. Note that you must be running the latest iOS … Read More

How to Backup your iPhone to iTunes

Jun 22, 2010 - 53 Comments

Backing up an iPhone is important because it allows you to recover all of your personal data, apps, and stuff, if you ever need to restore the iPhone, upgrade it, or replace it with a new phone, all of which is done by restoring from the backups that are made. By default your iPhone will … Read More

Make Hidden Application Icons Translucent in the Dock of Mac OS X

Jun 22, 2010 - 19 Comments
Finder icon on the Mac

One of the more interesting little known Dock modifications on the Mac is the ability to make hidden app icons appear as translucent and muted in the Dock to indicate their hidden status. If you look carefully at the screenshots of the Mac Dock in this article you’ll see the effect, as some of the … Read More

Remove the “Last login” Message from the Terminal

Jun 22, 2010 - 4 Comments
Mac Terminal icon

When you launch a new Terminal window or tab in Mac OS X (and most linux distributions) you’ll be greeted with a little message, either some “last login” details, or maybe even a message from the admin from /etc/motd. The last login details are default in a new Mac OS X terminal session, whereas the … Read More

Launch a file into its associated application via Quick Look preview

Jun 21, 2010 - 6 Comments

You can immediately launch any file into its associated application from Quick Look preview mode by holding down the command key and then pressing the down arrow key, so if you’re looking at a PSD file it will launch in Photoshop, a JPG into Preview, MP3 into iTunes, etc, directly from Quick Look! Thank you … Read More

Mac Media Center – Setup any Mac as a Media Center Easily

Jun 18, 2010 - 35 Comments

You can setup virtually any Mac as a home theater media center, all you need is the right tools. Yes, that means your MacBook Pro, MacBook, Mac Mini, iMac, even Mac Pro, can all turn into a media center, and it’s a lot easier than you might think. For the purpose of this article, we … Read More

How to Change a Mac Displays Contrast with Keystrokes & Software

Jun 17, 2010 - 9 Comments

It’s possible to adjust the display contrast at a software level in Mac OS X, which can have very dramatic effects, either good or bad, depending on your needs. Most Mac users don’t know this and many may not find it helpful, but used appropriately it can be a helpful Accessibility adjustment for many with … Read More

Toggle Display of Hidden Dotfile Files in Mac Save Windows

Jun 16, 2010 - 2 Comments

Did you know that you can quickly see or hide all the hidden files in a directory from any Mac Save window with a simple keystroke? This is very useful when you are saving a file to a directory that will appear as invisible, also known as a dotfile in OS X.

Remove or Disable “Sent from my iPhone” Email Signature

Jun 15, 2010 - 14 Comments

You can easily stop the “Sent from my iPhone” text from appearing on your outbound iPhone emails, or change it to be something else. Removing or customizing the signature applies to emails that are sent as replies or as new messages from the iPhone, and you can set it to whatever you want, or to … Read More

Use Mail to Track Flights in Mac OS X

Jun 11, 2010 - 1 Comment

One of the Mac Mail apps many talents is the ability to automatically detect when a flight number is present in an email, and then give you the option to view the flights status by using the flight tracking Dashboard widget in OS X. Yes seriously, the Mac eMail app can track flights! This doesn’t … Read More

Open a Containing Folder in Spotlight on Mac by Hold Down Command Key

Jun 10, 2010 - 4 Comments

Spotlight is amazing at finding files buried deep within your Mac, but what if you found the file you wanted, and you don’t know what folder it’s contained within on the Mac, or if it’s buried deep somewhere in Mac OS X? The answer is as easy as a keystroke, because with a simple key … Read More

Check AT&T iPhone Upgrade Eligibility

Jun 7, 2010 - 54 Comments

Have you ever wanted to know how you can check to see if your AT&T account is eligible for an iPhone upgrade? You can instantly check your AT&T iPhone upgrade eligibility by dialing a simple short code on your phone. This is super easy, here is how you can check your iPhone upgrade eligibility with … Read More

Enable Single Application Mode in Mac OS X

Jun 7, 2010 - 1 Comment
Single Application Mode in Mac OS X

Single Application Mode is an interesting feature of MacOS and Mac OS X that is often misunderstood, we’ll discuss what the feature is, how it works, and how to enable it on your Mac running nearly any version of Mac OS still in use, whether that’s macOS 12, 11, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, or newer.

Quickly Quit Programs Using the Application Switcher in OS X

Jun 4, 2010 - 2 Comments

The Mac OS X Application Switcher is a handy way to quickly cycle through open applications, but did you know you can quickly quit programs you aren’t using with the Application Switcher as well?

How to Change the Background Picture of Google

Jun 3, 2010 - 24 Comments

Google is rolling out a feature that allows you to change the background picture of Google.com to a user defined image. Here’s how to customize your Google.com landing page background image.

How to Use a Bluetooth Keyboard with iPad

Jun 3, 2010 - 18 Comments

Want to use an external Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad? You don’t have to use Apple’s official iPad keyboards, instead if you already own a Bluetooth keyboard the chances are good that it will be compatible with the iPad. If you’re looking to do a lot of typing on the iPad then it’s hard to … Read More

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