Once again, a simple and intuitive solution to a problem that had been nagging me for a while. If you’ve ever changed the icons of folders in your user directory and wondered how to get them back to the originals, there is a drop dead easy way… Just Get Info, click the icon and hit backspace!
Post #4 claims an AppleCare “Genius” didn’t even know this. Why am I not surprised..
Impressive that after over 6 years of using Mac OS I’m still discovering useful new tricks. If you use Mail.app and want to easily send mail using different email “aliases” (from addresses) this link describes the simplest way to do it.
I agree, for my usage I prefer using hibernate (aka safe sleep) over plain sleep. I tend to sleep it for long periods and don’t like losing battery life. And since I have a super fast SSD, I hardly notice any difference in the time it takes to wake.
Why I always disable “Wake On Lid Open” on my MacBooks
I also made this change. I prefer to have more control because there are times when I may open the lid (say to clean it) and not want it to wake straightaway.
I’m not done yet though. I’m still on the lookout for a way to use the MacBook Pro in clamshell mode (with the lid closed) without a real keyboard or mouse connected. Often when traveling and what not I’ll connect it to an HDTV to watch a movie and will use my iPhone to control it. But since there is no real keyboard or mouse attached (only VNC) normal Mac OS clamshell mode doesn’t engage. I’ve tried InsomniaX but haven’t been able to get it to work. And it appears that project is now dead.
And last but not least it would be nice to disable USB wake as well. As in, when I unplug my iPhone on my way out the door in the morning it would be nice if my computer didn’t wake up.
Noticed some strangeness with Spotlight searching.. Just to be safe I wanted to force a rebuild of the index. Here’s how..
Second time in two months that I’ve had a problem with my Trash folder. When trying to delete a file I see a prompt saying something like are you sure you want to delete this file immediately. Repairing permissions didn’t fix the problem either time. Found these steps that describe how to delete and recreate the Trash folder.
This is probably one of my biggest nub moments of all time… I just accidentally discovered a crucial capability of Mac OS Leopard’s Time Machine that I’m sure everyone but me already knew. You can restore individual directories. I always assumed it was an all or nothing proposition, that you had to restore your entire disk, and as a result I thought it was mostly pointless. Turns out I was horribly wrong. All you have to do is open a Finder window and navigate to the directory you want to restore, then launch Time Machine. Oops.
I tried to remove MySQL 5.4.3 beta and revert to the release version and had a heck of time doing so. The stupid installer kept insisting that I had a newer version installed even after I’d done all of commands listed on this page. After a bit more digging I turned up a comment at the bottom of this page which says that you must also remove any *mysql* preference files from /private/var/db/receipts
Finally, problem solved.
Wake on wireless works and it is teh uber… Requires a mid-2008 and on Mac and an AirPort Extreme Base Station or Time Capsule. This is why my next media center node is most likely going to be a Mac Mini.
Not a huge deal but something I randomly discovered about the Finder the other day…you can add application icons to the Finder toolbar for super quick access to your frequently used apps.. My favorite use is to drag and drop a file onto the icon to launch the app and open the file. If you use a few different text or photo editors it can come in really handy. Here’s what it looks like:
To do this just right-click the Finder toolbar and select Customize Toolbar, then drag your desired applications to the toolbar and organize.
If you are in a file open or save dialog box in Mac OS, you can drag a file from the finder and drop it into the dialog box to navigate directly to that file. Just found out about this and it’s a nice time saver!
I'm Andy Assareh. By day I'm a systems engineer working on the Boeing 787 program. By night I'm a troublemaking fiancé, son and big brother. In this blog you'll find a variety of technology links and tips that I find useful, along with other randomness. Feel free to share by leaving a comment!
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