A good friend sent me this link to Apple’s own Pro Tips Archive. This is the veritable mother-lode of OS X tips handy for veterans and switchers alike.
Continue readingGreat Link – Apple Pro Tips Archive
Rebuilding Your Mac from the Ground Up
Since posting about the fact that I was rebuilding my Mac, I’ve received a lot of emails from readers curious about how I did it. I’m actually surprised about the number of questions on this subject so I thought I’d explain the steps I took in a bit more detail for rebuilding your Mac from ground zero:
1. Clone the Drive.
I use SuperDuper but CarbonCopyCloner also works. No matter what, have at least one clone before you push the button to erase and install. This way you’ve always got the old system available once you start the process of rebuilding. This also gives you the option to simply copy over your old data to the fresh OS X install. That process only takes a few hours and usually is good enough to fix most problems but this post is about starting from zero so I’ll push forward.
2. Keep Your Passwords and Licenses Close By
There are a lot of ways to save your passwords. Some folks use Yojimbo, others use Excel sheets and some of the smarter ones just keep a text file or a mail archive. I do it through 1Password which is great for the rebuild because it is all in the keychain.
3. Erase and Install Leopard
Get the new operating system installed and run the software update utility. It probably will need to run a few times before everything is square but before long you’ll have a very clean copy of OS X on your Mac.
4. Load the Stuff that Pays the Bills
In my case that is Microsoft Office, iWork, and the Omni Applications. Once again there will be a series of software updates.
5. Load the Stuff that Makes You Smile
Just the essential fun stuff. One of the points here is not to go crazy. So for me the photo and music software got loaded along with the stuff required for me keep MacSparky running.
6. Get Productive
There are a few applications that just make everything easier. In my case that is Text Expander, Quicksilver, Default Folder X and a few other gems.
7. Load the stuff that Keeps Your Mac Running
I put on the essential utilities like MainMenu, OnyX and other things geek.
8. Sync It Up
For me this was SugarSync and .Mac Sync getting everything sorted out.
9. Stop
The key for me on a rebuild is not to go crazy. Put on the essentials and make everything else earn its way back onto your drive. I view it as audition time for my applications. You’ll be surprised how many applications don’t make the cut and you will quickly realize what the silent heroes are.
Finally, I would recommend you only do a ground zero build up when you absolutely have to. All of those little tweaks that you’ve spent years making will be gone and you really will spend a lot of time getting it back. I have had some hardware issues that required this rebuild and while it really isn’t that hard, it can be a pain.
What did I miss? Sound off in the comments.
Playing with HDR
Lately I’ve been trying out some new photographic techniques. One of them is HDR (High Dynamic Range photography) As I understand it, this is usually accomplished by combining multiple exposures at different stops and digitally combining the best parts. This allows you to get details in both shadows and bright spots. It is becoming much more common as you see these fantastic skyline pictures showing up all over the internet. For my first attempt I cheated a little bit. I took a single shot and adjusted the exposure in Aperture to make a high, medium, and low exposure version. I then exported the versions and did the HDR work on those three versions.
The original shot …
After HDR adjustments …
It certainly fixed the trees in the shadows but I actually prefer the non-HDR shot. This is probably due to operator error more than anything else. If things go according to plan, I am going to Hawaii this summer and I definitely want to get this figured out before that happens.
Continue readingText Expander Releases Version 2.1
Text Expander is one of my favorite applications. I use text snippets for everything from email to legal briefs to applescript code. If you do any sort of repetitive text entry, you owe it to yourself to give Text Expander a try.
The new version 2.1 includes several improvements. According to the developer version 2.1 adds the following:
– Allows single character abbreviations
– Improves performance and reliability for fast typists
– Remembers open groups in Preference pane
– Preserves format when creating snippets from selection or Clipboard
– Fixes problem expanding when there are multiple nested snippets
– Minor fixes and improvements
I’m most interested in increased reliability for fast typists. Occasionally, Text Expander stumbles when I type too fast which can be frustrating. I’m interested in what the users are using Text Expander or any of the other text snippet applications for. Sound off in the comments.
New iCal Enhancement: Today
Second Gear released a new application called “Today”. This one is for those iCal users envious of the Entourage “My Day” application bar. For comparison you can see the similarities below:
Entourage My Day
Today
I have limited experience with both applications but as an initial opinion, I think Today looks better but Entourage is more functional. I’d like to see Second Gear get Today off my dock and into the menu bar. It would be nice if I checked the preferences closer before complaining about a missing feature that is actually there. Furthermore, rather than scrolling side to side, I’d prefer you to be able to wheel down to subsequent days like we do on our iPhones. Regardless, I seriously doubt many people are going to choose a side in the Entourage vs iCal/Mail debate simply based on the daily summary application. I’m just glad the iCal folks who are looking for this now have an option. I may do a more in depth review later but for now, you can download a free trial of Today from the developer and a license runs $15.
Continue readingRebuilding the MacBook Pro
For a variety of reasons I’ve decided to take my MacBook Pro to ground zero. This morning I pushed the button on the OS X install disk and today I’ve been re-loading the essentials. I keep a lot of applications on this machine. I am, however, only going to load the applications I actually use as I rebuild it. That is right. My applications are on notice. They are going to have to *earn* their way back.
It will be interesting to see just how bloated my applications folder becomes in a few months. Stay tuned.
MacSparky One Year Blogaversary
It was a year ago that I had this crazy idea to start a Mac blog and posted my first entry to MacSparky in all of its iWeb splendor. Since that time, the site has moved to wordpress, and now its own server. There are some interesting stats for the first year.
* Roughly 80,000 hits;
* 384 Posts;
* Over 500 Comments.
It really is amazing considering that I only had 300 hits in the first two months and now it is extremely rare for me to get less than 300 hits in a single day. In the overall scheme of the Interweb, I’m barely a blip on the radar but I still can’t help but be impressed.
Now all those clicks really are amazing but by far the best part of MacSparky has been all of the new friendships I’ve made. Between readers, other bloggers and podcasters, developers and other folks in the Mac-o-sphere, I’ve made countless new friends and shared many laughs and good times. I’ll never forget that first day at MacWorld when some random stranger looked at my pass and his face lit up and he shook my hand, “Hey Macsparky! I read you all the time.” My ego was so inflated, it took considerable effort to get my head through the Moskone Center doors.
So it has already been a year and I look forward to many more. For me, the blogging, podcasting, and screencasting has been a great way to unwind from the day job and truly a joy. Thank you all for reading, watching, teasing, laughing, and joining in the first year of MacSparkky.
OS X Keyboard Shortcut to Add Link to Email
Having conquered the issue of printing to PDF with a keyboard shortcut, I decided to take on another little thing that frustrates me constantly. I often send links to friends and readers. In Mail.App, in order to get the “insert link” box you have to click the mouse three times.
Edit –> Link –> Add.
When you are in the middle of typing an email, this is a pain.
Once again, the Keyboard system preference pane to the rescue. Here are the steps…
1. Add a Keyboard Shortcut for Mail
2. Insert the Menu Title “Add…” Once again, for the ellipsis, make sure to use the key combination “option” + semicolon (;). I have no idea why this is so but don’t argue with results.
3. Type in your keyboard shortcut. I’m using shift + control + L
That is it. Next time you find yourself writing an email and want to add a link just type in your shortcut and forget about the mouse. Up pops the link window.
About Mac Clones
In what can only be interpreted as another sign of gaining market share, the movement to hack OS X onto PC boxes has gone commercial. Psystar promises to sell its “Open Computer” (earlier today it was “Open Mac” but I suspect some lawyers caused that to change) with better hardware at a cheaper price than Apple and even a version with OS X pre-installed.
To be honest, the idea of hacking OS X onto a windows box has about as much appeal to me as eating caviar in an outhouse. The reason I like the Apple echosystem is because it IS an echosystem where everything works together. Spending countless hours trying to keep OS X running on a machine it is not supposed to work on defeats the purpose. Psystar even explains that updates aren’t certain on their Mac clone.
From Psystar’s site ….
Can I run updates on my Open Computer?
The answer is yes and no. No because there are some updates that are decidedly non-safe. Yes because most updates are not non-safe.
What the writer lacks in grammar skills are more than made up for in creativity*
I understand how some argue that Apple shouldn’t keep OS X as an Apple hardware exclusive but after being stuck driving a PC for many years I say keep it locked down with padlocks and thick chains. I have my doubts whether Psystar will be allowed to stay in the Hacintosh business very long but it certainly will be interesting to see how it all develops.
*Credit for finding this gem actually goes to John Gruber.
Review – Big Bang Brain Games
I’m what you would call an “old school” gamer which means while I’m generally cannon fodder in Halo, put me on a 25 year old stand-up Tempest game and watch out! So I’ll admit I’m not the most up to date gamer out there but I’m also a parent. When I saw Freeverse’s Big Bang Brain Games I was immediately interested. This looked like something that would be fun for my family to do together.
So we installed Big Bang Brain Games on the iMac and took a crack at it. This software actually includes six games. They are all rendered with 3-D Graphics and have a whimsical sense of humor.
Sudoku is … well … Sudoko. It has over 50,000 puzzles included from “Easy Breazy” to “Diabolical.” I wanted to show my 11 year old some of my Sudoku strategies. Well that was my plan but before long she was showing pity and helping me out.
There is also a MineSweeper clone called NovaSweeper and one called Echo that reminds me of a game I used to play as a kid called Simon. You have these four colored spheres. Each emits a tone in sequence and you have to repeat them. As you get better, the spheres start spinning.
Remembrance gives you a deck of cards with various symbols behind them. You have to flip the cards and look for matches. I used to play this game as a kid with a deck of cards and we called it “concentration.” When I played this game with my kids in Big Bang Brain Games, my six year old beat me. Are we starting to see a trend here?
I thought Reaction was the most innovative game. You have a board full of molecules. The goal is to pop as many as possible with the fewest clicks. If you get it just right you create a chain reaction that clears the whole board. This was much more satisfying to me than it probably should have.
My favorite game, however, was Fallacy, which is a logic based riddle game where an argument is placed on the screen and you have to choose how it logically fails with choices such as “Hasty Generalization”, “Appeal to Fear”, and the “Gambler’s Fallacy.” Well I finally thought I had a game where I could win and then my wife showed up and beat me like an old rug. So I guess it really is back to Tempest for me.
The games tracks your “Brain Usage” which I found a bit intimidating and for those of you who like to brag, it can upload a page of your scores to .Mac. The 3D graphics are very attractive for what are, essentially, 2D games and the dialogue is fun and family friendly. You can download a free trial at freeverse.com. Check it out with your kids but prepare for humiliation.