Applications to improve and enhance workflow with OS X

In my experience there are numerous applications to improve and enhance the workflow in OS X.

Here is an example to clarify my point. Lets say you want to downscale a hundred photos for web use. If you do not know any method of doing this you will have to open each picture within your favorite picture editor and downscale the pictures one by one. However, there are a lot faster and easier way, if you use Automator, you will be able to change all the pictures automatically.

My point is that to every action you preform by hand, there is another option. Here is a list of applications that I use to ease my workflow that I use them all the time when Im using my mac. The list will be updated from time to time when I come across other useful applications. (more…)

Tags: Applications, OS X, System, Workflow
Posted in OS X | No Comments »

Eliminating the prejudices and misunderstandings

About four years ago, August 2005, my second laptop failed me for the third time and I had to go back to the shop to get it repaired. Between three and five weeks everytime I had to have the PC repaired and I was completely feed up with Windows, PC computers and shops promising fast, stabile computers running with no problems what so ever. How could any company with pride sell products that constantly failed or software with numerous errors. This certainly did not help my frustration.

At this time I started looking at Apple computers. The really looked good and I tried a MacBook at one of my buddies. He was all frantic about it. Talked about all the amazing stuff that was possible with this kind of machine. In my mind he sounded like some kind of preacher trying to commit me to his mac-religion. I asked him if I could sit down for a while and mess around with his mac. (more…)

Tags: Apple, MacBook Pro, Macboy, OS X, Windows
Posted in Apple, OS X | 1 Comment »

Tutorial: Share your iCal calendar for free

This tutorial will guide you through 3 parts to help you share your iCal calendar with others. Further more it will show how users are able to subscribe to your calendar using Mac OS X iCal. This is useful if you want to share your iCal calendar with a girl or boyfriend, your family or colleagues.

Part 1 – Setting up an account

To be able to share your calendar you will have to use something called a WebDAV server. I found a internet providing just that service. It is called iCal Exchange and is located on http://icalx.com and looks like this.

(more…)

Tags: Calendar, Exchange, Free, iCal, OS X, Publish, Share, Subscribe
Posted in Apple, OS X, Tutorials | 2 Comments »

Mac OS X Hotkeys

I have been using hotkeys for as long as I can remember because it is much faster than using the menus for the same action. Therefor I have assembled a list of hotkeys that I use, and I find very useful. I think it is a very good idea to get accustomed with these hotkeys, as they will help speed up your workflow, and minimize the risk of getting damages caused by the use of mouse. If you have been using hotkeys at a PC, then a lot of these will look similar, only by mac you use cmd instead of ctrl.

While booting your Mac:

• Hold C key to startup from CD-ROM (change password)
• Hold T key to startup in Target Disk Mode
• Hold N key to startup in Net
• Hold cmd + shift + R + P to reset video settings (the startup sound will sound twice)
• Hold Shift key to enter Safe Boot
• Hold Alt key will bring up the startup disk selection mode, and you can choose which harddisk, external harddisk or CD to start from. (Can be extremely helpful when preforming repairs and the like)

While using OS X / Finder:

• cmd + TAB = cycle through apps
• cmd + M or double-click Title Bar = minimize
• cmd + H = hide window
• cmd + delete = move to trash
• cmd + I = get info
• cmd + alt + ESC = force quit apps
• cmd + alt = launch build-in media browser -> Frontrow
• cmd + C = copy
• cmd + V = paste
• cmd + X = cut
• cmd + A = select all
• cmd + Z = undo
• cmd + Z + shift = redo
• cmd + Q = close app
• cmd + W = close window
• cmd + N = new Finder window
• cmd + E = ejects the mounted device or application
• cmd + up arrow = go to the folder that contains the current folder
• cmd + down arrow = launches highlighted app
• cmd + shift + A = apps
• cmd + shift + U = utilities

Arrow Keys:

• cmd + left = beginning of line
• cmd + right = end of line

Screen Capturing:

• cmd + shift + 3 = captures whole screen
• cmd + shift + 4 = captures selected region
• cmd + shift + 4, spacebar = captures window with camera icon

Tags: Finder, Hotkey, OS X
Posted in OS X | 2 Comments »

Show hidden files in Finder

As I have had to show hidden files in Finder so many times, I thought others might find it useful. The system files in Finder are hidden by default. However, it is useful to know how to show these files.

You have to locate the application “Terminal”. Now there are two ways to find this application. Either go to spotlight and type “Terminal”, and chose the application or locate Terminal in Applications/Utilities/ chose Terminal.

In the Terminal Type:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder

The first line, will tell Finder to show all files. To get this working, Finder must be restarted, hence the second line “killall Finder” will restart Finder and show all files, system files and non-system files.

To revert to the original state, simply type FALSE instead of TRUE, like this

In the Terminal Type:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder

This will revert Finder to the original state when it comes to the hidden files.

It is a very handy thing to be able to do!

Tags: Files, Finder, Hidden, OS X, Terminal
Posted in OS X, Tutorials | No Comments »