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50 Things Every Mac Geek Should Know

Posted 03/04/2009 at 6:01:09am | by Mac|Life Staff

When your iPhone or iPod touch crashes or locks up, you need to reset it. To do this it, hold the Sleep/Wake button at the top right of the device and the Home button at the same time. Hold both buttons until you see the screen go black and the white Apple logo appear. When this happens, you can let go: The device is rebooting.

To reset an iPod with a clickwheel, press and hold the Menu and center buttons at the same time until the Apple logo appears, usually in 6 to 8 seconds.

You can return to a saved email draft on your iPhone at your leisure--just as you can in Mail on your Mac.

To save a message as a draft that you can come back to later for revisions or to send once you return to a Wi-Fi or 3G zone, tap Cancel as you’re drafting the email. Then tap Save. After a few minutes, you will be able to locate the message in a Drafts folder.

Once Apple’s syncing service worked through its kinks, it turned out to be quite reliable—and useful for keeping all of your info synced across your computers, iPhones, and so on. But if $99 a year seems like a lot to pay, check it out on Amazon.com, where it sells for $79.99. If you’re comfortable buying on eBay, there are amazing MobileMe discounts to be had. We found NIB (new in box) individual-user copies for as low as $45 and family Packs for as low as $74.99 (it normally costs $149).

tetris Ah, the geekiest of Mac geek knowledge—how to play a game in OS X’s text-only command-line utility. But, yes, it’s possible. Here’s how:

1. Launch Terminal.
2. Type emacs and press Return.
3. Press Escape, then type x.
4. Type tetris. That’s all there is to it.

OK, the graphics won’t impress, but if you’re really hurting for something to do…

desktop
Go to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver and under the Desktop tab, select Pictures, then check Change picture and select your desired interval.

Most Leopard users have their favorite Desktop backgrounds. Steve Jobs seemed to always prefer the Dew Drop image, while Phil Schiller rocked Aurora during his first keynote. But you don’t have to limit yourself to just one—and you don’t have to stick to Apple’s provided images. We like to use our Desktop as a kind of digital picture frame/slide show by setting our Desktop & Screen Saver System Preference to look in our Pictures folder and cycle through the images therein.

Here’s how to optimize Leopard’s Dock to save time and take better advantage of Leopard’s Stacks feature.

dock
To tell the Dock to only show certain items in the Recent Items stack, Control-click it and choose your poison.

ADD A RECENT ITEMS STACK

This stack comes in handy if you work in certain apps or docs in extended spurts rather than daily.

1. Fire up the Terminal.

2. Type defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add ‘{ “tile-data” = { “list-type” = 1; }; “tile-type” = “recents-tile”; }’ and press Return. Type killall Dock and press Return.

3. When the Dock restarts, Control-click the Recents stack and select what you want.

dock
Can you see me now? Zoom in to get a closer look at Dock icons by pressing Control-Shift.

GET A CLOSER LOOK AT DOCK ICONS

You already know that you can set the dock magnification in System Preferences > Dock, but if you normally keep your Dock icons pretty small to avoid eating up screen real estate, you can magnify them on the fly by pressing Shift-Control while mousing over them.

adium
One of Adium’s handiest features is the transcript viewer, which lets you view transcripts from all of your recent chats--especially handy for documenting business communications via IM.

ADIUM

The only thing iChat beats Adium on, in terms of features, is its ability to do both audio and video chat, in addition to text chat. That said, Adium kicks iChat’s booty by offering the following features that iChat lacks or lags on:

>   Ability to log in to multiple IM accounts (AIM, GoogleTalk, Yahoo, and so on) simultaneously.

>   More flexible status management.

>   Much more customizable interface.

>   Growl support (Growl lets Mac OS X applications unobtrusively notify you when certain events occur; see
growl.info for details).

fire
If you click the small arrow to the left of Firefox’s Search field, you can choose which search sites will appear by selecting the ones you want from the list or viewing more choices by clicking Get More Search Engines.

FIREFOX 3

Safari is OK as browsers go...but OK doesn’t cut it for Web browsers these days, considering how much time the average person spends online. Here are the reasons we cite when we go to the mat for Firefox over Safari:

>   ADD-ONS: Our favorite Firefox add-ons are Read It Later, LeechBlock, Delicious, and Toodledo, just to name a few. Go to Tools > Add-Ons and click Get Add-ons to discover your own must-haves.

>   BETTER SEARCHING: Sure, Safari has the Google search box up in the toolbar, but Firefox’s seemingly identical search box is a lot more powerful. Click the tiny arrow next to the Google icon to search other sites instead—Wikipedia, Amazon, IMDb, and tons more. Click Manage Search Engines to customize the list.

>   BETTER BOOKMARKING: Safari lets you name your bookmarks and decide where to keep them. Firefox lets you do that, plus add tags, keywords, and descriptions to help you find your bookmarks quickly or even launch them by just typing the keyword into the address bar.

>   SMART ADDRESS BAR: When you type something in Firefox’s Smart Address Bar, the app generates a list of possible results based on your history and bookmarks, and you can use the arrows to select one and press Return to launch it. This keeps you from having to click on your Bookmarks or History list to find sites.

>   MASTER PASSWORD: This keeps your saved passwords under another layer of security by requiring you to enter a master password once per session. Find it in Firefox > Preferences > Security > Use A Master Password.

COMMENTS: 45

TAGS: Safari, MacBook, QuickTime, Garageband, Terminal, iChat, iLife 09

COMMENTS

iChat can have Growl notifications!
Submitted by caw61 on Wed, 2009-03-04 08:29

It's true!

Through the use of Chax (Latest Version 2.2)

http://www.ksuther.com/chax/

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We danced in the streets
Submitted by Markweee on Thu, 2009-08-13 04:51

We danced in the streets when we heard the news. We figured a few
hundred apps would be released. We'd play a few games, send a few
tweets from the road, and make a few Facebook friends while waiting in
line at our favorite taqueria.

english degree AND online doctorate degree

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Always wanted to change
Submitted by Heribertos Ellers on Mon, 2009-10-05 15:01

Always wanted to change Safari so that new 'windows" open in a new tab
instead. Unfortunately "defaults write com.apple.Safari
TargetedClicksCreateTabs –bool TRUE" doesn't work. Returns "Unexpected
argument TRUE" Medifast and lipotrim diet plans

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Neato
Submitted by GamreMack on Thu, 2009-10-22 21:43

My only beef with macs is that they don't work on a lot of mmorpg games =[. I'm a big gamer so I need to have a windows pc nearby to play my MMOs. Free MMORPG

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Mousing Over Dock Icons
Submitted by soxboston on Wed, 2009-03-04 10:32

Shift-Command isn't the right shortcut for this function. Shift-Control will enlarge the dock icons.

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thanks for the heads up
Submitted by Roberto Baldwin on Wed, 2009-03-04 12:58

It's been fixed.
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Enlarge icons in Dock
Submitted by edwinblaw on Thu, 2009-03-12 14:11

Must not have the right touch. Couldn't get to work. Dock preferences is only thing I've found to change magnification. ????Ed The only love you can buy is that of a dog.

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Calculator
Submitted by Jamie on Wed, 2009-03-04 11:56

Actually, Spotlight does your calculations for you right in the Spotlight bar. Pressing return exits Spotlight and launches Calculator, sans the math you were just doing

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Saving PDF's
Submitted by thebendds on Wed, 2009-03-04 13:36

That screenshot for saving PDF's is misleading. It looks like that computer already has Acrobat on it, in which case, yes you could save a PDF like that.

If you don't have Acrobat, go to File > Print, select the PDF button (near the bottom left of the dialog) and click "Save as PDF."

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Safari has a master password, sort of.
Submitted by execute on Wed, 2009-03-04 16:23

In Keychain Access, edit Safari Forms AutoFill's access control to: 'Confirm before allowing access' and check 'Ask for Keychain password'.

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Snake & Tetris in Terminal
Submitted by Tree.Boar on Thu, 2009-03-05 06:36

I am following the instructions to the letter, yet Snake and Tetris don't seem to be working.(Running OSX v10.4.11)

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I was thinking about buying an airport extreme...
Submitted by thefox on Sat, 2009-03-07 15:20

...so I could use wifi with my 1st Gen. iPhone at home, but thanks to tip #29 my iMac is now a wifi hub, for FREE!!! WOW!!! I'm a macaddict for life thanks mac life.

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I can't find my subscription ID
Submitted by eegoldbar1@mac.com on Sat, 2009-03-07 18:43

I would like to know what tip#29 is-I'm just starting. Thanks!

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Tip no 4: terminal
Submitted by paulori on Sun, 2009-03-08 12:27

Always wanted to change Safari so that new 'windows" open in a new tab instead. Unfortunately "defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs –bool TRUE" doesn't work. Returns "Unexpected argument TRUE"

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Safari tabs
Submitted by edwinblaw on Thu, 2009-03-12 14:21

Just select Safari Preferences>tabs>check box, cmd click opens a link in a new tab. Or did you already know that :-? Ed The only love you can buy is that of a dog.

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I don't think you need to
Submitted by LeftClicker on Tue, 2009-03-17 16:11

I don't think you need to restart, but I'm using Mac OS X 10.5.6. Remember: QUIT any application before you mess around with its defaults in the Terminal!!!

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defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG NOT WORKING
Submitted by Vstoklosa on Wed, 2009-03-11 22:18

Am I supposed to restart after typing defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG into Terminal? This isn't working after several tries.

os x 5.6

RSVP, thanks.

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JPG
Submitted by david67nyc on Tue, 2009-10-27 19:13

YOu'll need to log out and back in to see the cahnges take effect. :)

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defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG NOT WORKING
Submitted by Vstoklosa on Wed, 2009-03-11 22:20

Are we supposed to be in Root when we apply those Terminal commands? Just wondered cause I think I saw another one not working for someone. Thanks.

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Ah Contraré the Apple ][+ VisiCalc Applesoft Tutorial RULED 1980
Submitted by pegasus5327 on Sun, 2009-03-15 01:14

Then Apple //e rev (a), Applied Engineerings 1MB Ramworks, Beagle Brothers Super Macro Works, and Appleworks ruled in 1982. Then in 1983 came the ||GS.
Don't feel offended the Wikipedia site is damn spitefully misleading.

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#28 Privatunes ???
Submitted by romain.tweedy@v... on Wed, 2009-03-18 08:43

Has anyone actually looked for this tool, Privatunes? The page was last updated in 2007 and the link to the tool takes you to a dead end.

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My home name
Submitted by ideb61 on Thu, 2009-03-26 12:50

I bought my lil powerbook from a place called Second Rotation on eBay.
It has their damn name on my home icon for my docs (the one with the house on it) and I can't figure out for the life of me how to get it to mine. I changed me as the only user on the computer.. I don't understand why it didn't revert to my name dchamberlain61 like my user name?
Help

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short name can't be changed.
Submitted by maclifesubscrib... on Sat, 2009-03-28 00:15

short name can't be changed. use the system disks you got with the machine and do a clean re-install of the OS so it's really yours. Also, even if you're the only user, make an admin account used only for admin stuff, and surf/work/live in a standard user acct.

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#13:=404
Submitted by maclifesubscrib... on Sat, 2009-03-28 00:24

In bash, there is no command dscacheutil.
this would have been great (the kids know about private browsing, but never touch the terminal)
but IT DOES NOT WORK!

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Declutter Desktop
Submitted by mountaineerman87 on Sun, 2009-03-29 17:12

i executed this in the terminal and now i want to turn it off because it is really annoying!!!!!!! if anyone knows how to do so please tell me!!!!

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Reverse Declutter Desktop
Submitted by gadgetman007 on Sat, 2009-04-25 08:32

"defaults delete com.apple.dock single-app" then "killall Dock"

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Safari Private Browsing
Submitted by MaxMarco on Thu, 2009-04-16 09:45

I type this in the terminal:
$ dscacheutil -cachedump -entries Host

My terminal sends me the following:
-bash: dscacheutil: command not found

When I send: man dscacheutil
It sez: No manual entry for dscacheutil

What's up with that? What am I doing wrong on my Powerbook G4 w/
OS X Version 10.4.11?

"There are two things, science and opinion. The former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance."Hippocrates 460-377 BCE

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missing top 10 item-write to ntfs
Submitted by F3R on Sun, 2009-05-03 04:21

Read and write to any ntfs drive by installing macFUSE and NTFS-3G. This one is HUGE compared to most of the items that made your list.

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FYI: I quickly benchmarked browsers on my 10.4 Mac Mini.
Submitted by roystonlodge on Tue, 2009-05-05 05:35

With so many browser choices out there, I did a quick-n-dirty benchmarking exercise using http://www.futuremark.com/peacekeeper.

Firefox didn't come out looking so hot, falling well behind Safari. But the standard version of Safari didn't come out on top either. The browser that performed the best was the development version of Safari, otherwise known as WebKit. Of course, you have to put up with the bugs inherent with using a development version of a piece of software.

iCab, Shiira, and Omniweb all performed moderately better than standard Safari. Opera, Flock and Firefox were virtually identical. Camino and Seamonkey sucked ass.

The results are on my personal blog as a nice, eye-pleasing graph: http://web.ncf.ca/ao668/2009/04/benchmarking-os-x-browsers.html

(My computer's a 1.25mhz Mac Mini with 512MB of RAM running OSX 10.4.11)

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*shakes head* I love all my
Submitted by Nekollx on Fri, 2009-05-29 12:37

*shakes head*
I love all my PCs, Mac, Linux, Windows, PSP, but if you going to make a "50 tips" can you leave out the fluff.

I mean to optimize my Pro Tower do i REALLY need to know Steve Jobs Birth Day? And then spreading the lie that its more secure just because no one bothers to hack it is disingenuous at best and a outright lie at worse.

the rest of the tips...pretty nice

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Funny how there are more
Submitted by mickhhp on Fri, 2009-10-09 14:28

Funny how there are more people who will never use or buy a Mac commenting here than anyone else. If you guys hate Macs so much, just block the category. Other than that, you're just making lots of noise, and not convincing anyone of anything. rent a car | bijuterii

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Great list...
Submitted by Adult-Toys on Mon, 2009-09-14 22:14

Though, a top 25 would probably have been just as beneficial.

Adult Toys

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that's what i'm talking
Submitted by Nekollx on Wed, 2009-09-23 14:21

that's what i'm talking about. It like doing a report on "50 tips aboout your isp you should know" then including "land speed of the north african swollow" Just the (useful) facts man

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level of geekitude
Submitted by virgilm on Sat, 2009-09-19 00:39

Your level of geekitude depends on how deeply you strive to connect with your Mac and OS X

VirgilM part of Add Links team.

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Sorry mate but...
Submitted by artnok on Sun, 2009-09-20 15:05

Open Spotlight is CTRL + Spacebar.
CMD + Spacebar is nuttin'.
And that's one of the things YOU SHOULD KNOW.

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awww
Submitted by BabyCots on Thu, 2009-09-24 09:40

Nice list, but according to the list im no mac geek :( Baby Cots

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Thanks for sharing this
Submitted by sparesr4sissies on Fri, 2009-09-25 05:29

Thanks for sharing this information. I love the history stuff.
Painted Pine Furniture

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Great list indeed.. thanks
Submitted by lora.a on Wed, 2009-10-14 20:27

Great list indeed.. thanks for the classic pictures...

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This is an awesome post,
Submitted by JJFlemming on Sun, 2009-11-08 13:15

This is an awesome post, completely agree with the points made about the iPod!

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thank you ar..is
Submitted by ammarvvip (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-11 08:35

thank you ar..is nice4657
شات صوتي, دردشه صوتيه, شات مصريه, شات دردشة دردشه دردشة موبايل شات دردشه

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thanks you ar..is
Submitted by ammarvvip (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-11 08:36

thanks you ar..is nicegge4
شات صوتي, دردشه صوتيه, شات مصريه, شات دردشة دردشه دردشة موبايل شات دردشه

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thanksss ar..is nice شات
Submitted by ammarvvip (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-11 08:37

thanksss ar..is nice
شات صوتي, دردشه صوتيه, شات مصريه, شات دردشة دردشه دردشة موبايل شات دردشه

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thank you
Submitted by ammarvvip (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-11 08:39

thank you fffffffffffff
شات صوتي, دردشه صوتيه, شات مصريه, شات دردشة دردشه دردشة موبايل شات دردشه

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THanks
Submitted by christmassms on Sat, 2009-11-14 05:00

Thanks for sharing the 50 things, I think every one can get benefit by using this service. Thanks web hosting reviews

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