andy's nerd blog » mac os

Two useful tips from Finer Things in Mac

Andy Assareh — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:48:25 +0000

Spotlight can also find answers to math equations

Restore your last browsing session in Safari

Cinch

Andy Assareh — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:57:27 +0000

High quality utility for Leopard that allows you to easily resize windows to fullscreen or half-screen and back. Tried it for a week and now I’m hooked. Free version with periodic nag or $7 paid.

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2 Dock related tips I take for granted

Andy Assareh — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:42:55 +0000

Part of the reason I like to post tips and tricks to my blog is so I can refer to them later if I’m doing a fresh install or setting up someone else’s machine. But there are at least two tips I just thought of that I’ve never posted because they are automatic for me.

1. 2D Dock. I’ve just never been a fan of the 3D Dock introduced in Leopard. Here’s how to get it.

2. Recent Things Stack. There is a recent items option in the Apple menu but that requires two clicks. With this tip you can get there with one click. I typically keep it set to recent applications. Here’s how to get it.

Smart Folders in OS X

Andy Assareh — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:47:17 +0000

Nice walk-through on how to use Smart Folders in Mac OS.

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Restore default icons in Mac OS

Andy Assareh — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:52:13 +0000

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..

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App icons in Finder toolbar Not a huge deal but something I randomly discovered about the Finder...
AppleCare for Mac covers AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule Definitely had no idea about this… If you have AppleCare for your...

Dashboard Kickstart

Andy Assareh — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:47:21 +0000

Here’s a utility that auto-refreshes your Dashboard widgets on login and wake so that when you activate the Dashboard they appear instantly.

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Using email aliases in Mail.app

Andy Assareh — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:39:07 +0000

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.

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Fixing “Copy Address” in Snow Leopard Mail.app For some strange reason Apple changed the way Mail.app copies email addresses...
Searching in iPhone Mail app Another embarrasingly late and accidental discovery… I had no idea you could...
Missing attachment detector for Mail.app Very clever! when you hit send it scans your message and if...

DashNote

Andy Assareh — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:56:34 +0000

Really digging this Dashboard widget for SimpleNote. I prefer it over the web app. Looks nice too.

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A few MacBook Pro sleep tips

Andy Assareh — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:01:19 +0000

Make my MacBook Pro Hibernate

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.

MacBook Pro backlit keyboard in XP Nice little tool to get the backlit keyboard working in XP. Visit...
MacBook Air SuperDrive I’m the proud new owner of a MacBook Air SuperDrive, hacked to...

Force rebuild Spotlight index

Andy Assareh — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:59:51 +0000

Noticed some strangeness with Spotlight searching.. Just to be safe I wanted to force a rebuild of the index. Here’s how..

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Add Google Documents to Spotlight in Mac OS Been using this for a long time and it comes in handy...
Safari: force links to open in tabs Finally. Visit this Link ➚...