Ever get sick of those pesky offers of enabling Mac OS X 10.5’s time machine feature on removable disks? Simply type the following command into a terminal window and you’ll be kept in the present.
defaults write com.apple.TimeMachine DoNotOfferNewDisksForBackup -bool YES
Use NO to turn it back on later down the track.
Ever think that one of the Mac OS X icons is just really cool and could look good in a document? A whole bunch of icons both old school and new are stored in the CoreTypes.bundle that lives inside /System/Library/CoreServices/. Simply right click and select show package contents to navigate to the resources folder where you can copy any of the vast array of icons available.
To take a screenshot in Mac OS X Apple has built in some very simple key commands that will give you exactly what was displayed on your screen when the screenshot was taken.
The most basic key command is command + shift + 3. This will take a screenshot of the entire screen and store it as a file on your desktop. To take a screenshot of a select area of the screen, press 4 instead of 3. A less known key command to take a screenshot of a specific item - a window, icon, the dock, the menu bar - press space bar immediately after command + shift + 4. The icon will change from the cross hair for selecting an area, to a camera and the outline of the object the command will capture.
All of the aforementioned commands will create a file on your desktop. To copy the screenshot directly to the clipboard hold down control while performing the key commands.
Included is a list of the key commands and their function:
Macbillboard.com is a unique Apple fan site where users can submit and view photos that have been snapped of Apple billboards across the world. Billboards are a form of advertisement that surprisingly go undocumented in Apple fandom yet are an important part of Apple’s advertising and branding strategies.
I was particularly fond of a first generation iPod nano billboard that shows a whole lot of album art being squeezed into the tiny iPod.
Take some time to pop over to this great website to look at the variety of billboards or even better, if you have a photo, submit it!
Have you ever stepped away from your computer and wished you could lock it so that only you can use it again? The built-in hot corners feature in the screen saver system preference allows you to set up a hot corner that activates a password protected screen saver.
Moving the cursor to the start screen saver corner instantly launches the screen saver effectively ensuring no one can access your computer but you.
To enable password protection on the screen saver ensure require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver is enabled in the security system preference.
A major advancement of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger was the rapid search feature dubbed Spotlight. Once upon a time it was seen as the ultimate way to access files without browsing through folders and folders but a few years on are you actually using it like this? If you really don’t use Spotlight all that often why not turn it into an application launcher?
Hitting command+space brings up the search box where you can start to type the application’s name and hit enter when you’re happy with the result. iUseApple.com even suggests enhancing Spotlight’s results to display only applications by configuring it via System Preferences.
To enable certain functions hold down the following keys immediately after the chime.
Added new iPhone, iPod touch and pink iPod nano to the iPod specification database.
The Shirtless Apprentice is a weekly podcast delivering practical tips and advice covering a wide range of digital video activities. Beyond the quirky name the web series has some fantastic tips for both new comers and established people in digital video.
Each episode provides an informative look into different aspects of digital video such as how to set up lighting to syncronising timing on multiple cameras and provides a not too serious interlude that allows you to really soak in what the episode is telling you.
The Shirtless Apprentice is well worth a look for any existing or upcoming podcast producer or anyone who wants to have fun with video.
www.shirtlessapprentice.com
The advent of the Intel based Mac has changed Apple’s product lines drastically especially the type of products the company can create. The Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme, Xeon and Pentium M (used in the Apple TV) already provide a flexible base to create a wide range of products aimed at consumers through to professionals.
Apple’s product range already utilises a multitude of these technologies including their low end computer that is hard to upgrade and impossible to update the graphics, continues to produce the all in one computer that helped the company return to profitability but is difficult to upgrade and becomes a throw away item if you need a larger display and then there is the professional Mac Pro workstation that now has 8 cores across much of the line and is upgradable in every way. As it stands there is a huge gap in the product line between the Mac mini and the Mac Pro when you take the all in one out of the equation.
Is it time for Apple to reintroduce a cube-like computer that allows for a limited amount of expandability and caters for people who may want to hook up external displays? Intel’s processors are so varied that such a product would be easily created and could compliment the 24″ iMac and fit below the low end Mac Pro. The product would have to be positioned below the entry level Mac Pro but somewhere above the mid range iMac to ensure the product does not overlap the Mac mini and Mac Pro as to avoid a repeat where the G4 Cube was priced higher than the low end Power Mac.
Possible configurations could include a Core 2 Duo clocked at 2.4GHz similar to the 24″ iMac or a Core 2 Extreme version. The addition of upgradable PCIe graphics would enable the computer to drive Apple’s 30″ display and cater for upgrades in the future as previous cube owners have enjoyed. Priced at US$1599 and US$2099 the new cube would still reflect value for the iMac and it’s built-in display and the cube with it’s expandability. Using the Core 2 Extreme processor will keep the product separate from the Mac Pro, while offering customers a mid range option beyond those offered in Apple’s existing computer lines.
Apple has had some bad experiences from their previous forays into a mid range product with the failure of the G4 Cube, and the poor sales of the single processor Power Mac G5 but only because the products sweet spot has not been found. Creating a product that mirrors the 24″ iMac’s but adds expandability and maintains a relative price point could be the spot Apple needs to find in order to exploit another part of the personal computing market.
Suggested reading: Origin of the mid ranged Mac: the G4 Cube and Power Mac G5 SP
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Copyright 2008 Andrew Galka. All parts of this site are protected under Australian Copyright Law.
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