Some server administrators set share drives to auto disconnect users after a set time of inactivity (ie fifteen minutes). As a user it’s super frustrating to connect to a server every time you need access. I’ve written an AppleScript that first checks to see if the share is mounted, if it is mounted [...]
Apple updated their PGP product security key as part of their two-year cycle. The new key is valid up through May 15, 2010 and will eventually be posted to their Protecting Security Information page. The announcement was made on their mailing list which you can subscribe to via mail or RSS.
How To Use The Key
Unlike the [...]
When you’re coding a huge project in Xcode, and you’ve written all of this awesome stuff, it’s almost done, and the big release is coming soon, that’s when the worst happens:
The hard drive that had all of your code on it dies suddenly
You didn’t have a backup in TimeMachine
Files become corrupted
You remove some important code, [...]
When it comes to harnessing your Mac’s power for video encoding, you’re left with two choices: digital or physical.
Digital
Handbrake is the go to source for creating digital copies of your video. With Handbrake you can pop in a DVD and select the appropriate preset. You can encode straight to iPod, iPhone or Apple TV. Handbrake [...]
We received three inches of snow last Thursday, but I wasn’t worried. We had plenty of white supplies (bread, milk, toilet paper) stocked up, so we didn’t have to venture to the grocery store. NetFlix said two DVDs would be delivered that afternoon. So before dinner, I ventured down to the mailbox to retrieve [...]
I never quite understood Apple’s decision to include RSS support in Safari, but not in Apple Mail. Other mail clients such as Thunderbird have offered this support for years, but I just couldn’t bring myself to use them. They had never offered the power Mail did, with built-in smart folders and the way it had [...]
Since iPhoto ‘08 came out back in August, I’ve had mixed feelings on its new features.
I’m not a huge fan of Events and there are lots of little things that just annoy me now. One of which is that the iPhoto library now exists as a “package” instead of a readily accessible set of folders. [...]
One of the new features in Leopard’s Mail is that it includes a few dozen stationery templates for you to easily choose from to jazz up your emails.
For the most part these templates are just plain ole’ fashioned HTML with a tiny bit of XML. So really the only requirements for editing or creating your [...]
There are some things you can do prior to installing that I sometimes recommend. Many of these things are not guaranteed to work (and some people actually say will do more harm than good). I, for one, don’t see an issue with the basics that some recommend: Start by repairing permissions: either run Disk Utility [...]
There’s something a little messed up when the most anticipated and intriguing application I’ve used on my new Intel-based MacBook Pro is one that lets me run Microsoft Windows, but it’s an absolute fact. 24 hours into my VMWare Fusion experience, I can easily say I’ve never been so excited to use Windows, to send [...]
Amazon recently launched a really great effort in the digital music arena called Amazon MP3. I’ve been a hardcore iTunes Store customer since it’s debut and haven’t really been tempted by other digital music stores. That is, until Amazon MP3 made its debut.
Yesterday Apple announced and released its much anticipated spreadsheet application called Numbers.
Numbers is described as “spreadsheets the Mac way,” with the application offering significantly more functionality past just simply charting information and numbers. It’s a solid mixture of information organization, number calculation, and page layout/design.
The interface for numbers if very intuitive and is very easy [...]
I had a broken Apple Pro keyboard to deal with at work today, and so, in accordance with one of my favorite mottoes - when in doubt, take something apart - I took it apart. This turned out to be a bit harder than I expected, so I took pictures and thought I would [...]
Let’s say you’re a budding musician or a podcaster who would like to have some music for your show but you don’t want to run into any potential copyright issues. I had this situation pop up when I had to get some music for my new vidcast, Complicate Life. Using someone else’s work [...]
If you’ve heard about Quicksilver but have been too timid to familiarize yourself with it, or to peek under the hood a bit, this screencast is for you!
Perhaps too often, we (as in the collective web) focus our attention on the cutting edge features of Quicksilver. Unfortunately that can make for a steep barrier [...]
A huge thanks goes to Dan Moren at MacUser for posting this tip. I was literally looking for this method over the weekend when I right clicked on an image file and Finder took FOOOREEEVER to show my [crapton of] ‘Open With…’ options.
Most commonly, as you add and delete applications from your Mac, [...]
I’ve written at great length about using Metadata to keep track of your files, even going so far as an alternative to folder hierarchies. But amongst the barriers to entry is the difficulty in actually tagging those files and subsequently keeping track of those tags that are being used.
While there are a [...]
A few months ago I started to mess around with a .htaccess file in connection with one of my websites. When I transferred the file from my web server to my desktop via FTP, the file never showed up. I tried again and again, but that dang file would never show up. [...]
With screencasts seeming to be all the rage - and having done a handful myself - I thought it might be useful to run down some of the high points of putting together a screencast that conveys a point in a clean and concise manner. It should be said that prior to any software [...]
So almost a year ago to the day (ok, off by a week), I posted an early screencast which showed the setup I use for Quicksilver. The intent then - as it is now - was to show all of you exactly which items are check-marked and how everything’s set, so in cast you [...]
