You are here: Home / Archives for apple

A 6-Pack of Mac OS X Terminal Tricks.

March 4, 2010 By 1 Comment
A 6-Pack of Mac OS X Terminal Tricks.

I’ve been a proud Apple Switcher since 2006, but it took me a while to take all of my (not so) secret Windows knowledge and learn all new tips and tricks on the Mac. Being able to become as efficient in the world of Apple as I was with Windows didn’t take as long as I thought, but it did have its bumpy parts.

Because of that, and my natural tendency to share knowledge, I’ve compiled a list of fun tips and tricks in Terminal (i.e. command-line stuff) that I’ve learned over the last few years. By no means did I discover these on my own… they are a compilation of OSX tips that I’ve found online or from friends with much more Mac knowledge that I.

  1. Show all files, even system files, in Finder:

    1. Open Terminal and type “defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES“.

    2. Hold down the Option key and click on the Finder icon in the Dock and press Relaunch. You may have to wait a second or two for the relaunch option to display.

    This one is a life saver for me. I hate not being able to see all files, so this is a must in my Mac machines.

  2. Show full file paths in Finder:

    Open Terminal and type “defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES“.

    Another must-have! There are so many useful reasons to see the full file path in Finder, I don’t get why it’s not on by default.

  3. Change the default (PNG) file format for screenshots:

    Open Terminal and type “defaults write com.apple.screencapture type EXTENSION“, where EXTENSION can be any of the following: BMP, GIF, JPEG-2000, JPEG, PDF, PICT, PNG, PSD, SGI, TGA, or TIFF.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love PNGs, but sometimes you want a JPG and don’t want to crack open Photoshop or some other graphics tool to do it.

  4. Securely delete files from a drive:

    Open Terminal and type “diskutil secureErase freespace 3 /Volumes/DRIVE” where DRIVE is the drive you want to securely delete.

    If you’re not comfortable using the command line, perhaps you should skip this one… it can be a dangerous tool in the wrong hands.

  5. Create your own audio book with your Mac’s default voice synth:

    Open Terminal and type “say -o AUDIOBOOK.aiff -f FILE.txt“, where FILE.txt is the path to a text file you want read.

    My kids love this one because they think there’s a robot inside my MacBook Pro that is reading to them. :)

  6. Force Apple Mail to show plaintext vs. HTML email:

    Open Terminal and type “defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool TRUE“.

    I love HTML, but HTML email is, more often than not, a huge annoyance. I turn it off whenever possible.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these Mac OSX tips and tricks. If you have any that you feel are a must-have, or if you know of another way of doing any of the above, please let me know in the comments for this post.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/90949166@N00/ / CC BY 2.0
Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

Is the Apple iPad a Game Changer?

January 27, 2010 By 6 Comments
Is the Apple iPad a Game Changer?

I’ve got a new post on my Posterous site regarding the newly-announced Apple iPad with the initial details of the Apple iPad and some quick thoughts on it. The short version: The Apple iPad is everything I thought it would be and more. And at a lower price, too! I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting one since they look so damned useful.

The new iPad looks like the perfect mix of netbook size and laptop capability, and IMHO it’s got the potential to be a real game changer in several areas.

  • Netbooks:

    I’ve predicted the demise of netbooks before, and even if Apple haters completely ignore the iPad, I’m still convinced that the future of netbooks is coming. Soon.

  • Kindle:

    Is it even a question that Apple is positioning the iPad to be a Kindle killer? With the iBook app and current (or future) deals with publishers of books (and textbooks?), newspapers, and magazines, the iPad has much more to offer the digital bibliophile than the Kindle.

I wonder what the future of the Mac Air and the iPod Touch are, considering how the iPad sits between the two. Is there still room for either when the iPad is essentially Mac Air-Lite or an iPod Touch++? The Air and the Touch both have features the iPad doesn’t, but who knows what people will flock to? Time will tell.

Future enhancements like a camera, Flash capability, multi-tasking, phone capability, and maybe even a radio tuner would be great, but even as it is now this looks like a really smart jump in the right direction for ultra-portable computing. Apple has really knocked it out of the park with the launch of the iPad. I have to admit that I’m saddened that there’s no multi-tasking out the door and the display is only 4:3 instead of 16:9, but it’s only version 1.0 and I can live with that for now. And if the rumors of multi-tasking being in the iPhone 4 OS are true then hey… no worries.

Oh, and once they do get a camera on the iPad I can start padcasting. :)

I’ll be using the iPad as my home blogging tool and general Internet goofing around machine. I can write, update my blog, and whatnot on one small machine and that’s all I need it for. Personally I’m leaning toward the 64GB WiFi model, which is a steal at $699USD. Before the announcement today I didn’t think a 3G model would be available, but I figured the 32GB Apple iPad would be around $899, so I’m very pleasantly surprised by the price. (I can use the $200 I’ll be saving on the extra 32GB of storage and accessories like the cover and keyboard stand.) The least expensive model is the 16GB WiFi for only $499. Apple has really aggressively priced this to gain users. More info on iPad tech specs at the Apple site.

Image courtesy of the Apple iPad image gallery.
Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,