Mac

When Apple introduced the new MacBook in early 2015, with USB-C, the legendary MagSafe power connector had to go. Instead of innovating a replacement magnetic connector, Apple left the job to Griffin. It's called the BreakSafe, and it restores the MagSafe-like functionality to a MacBook. I was impressed. Almost, because it transports power only. The…

What this app does is a pretty thorough system scan, and it’ll report any problems it finds. To check it out, first download the program and launch it. Then it’ll ask you to choose which problem you’re having, if any. Pick from that menu, choose “Start EtreCheck,” and it’ll run. When the process is complete,…

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Episode #167 Are you familiar with The Pomodoro Technique®? If you’re not, you really should check it out. I use it every single day to help me focus on a task and remain focused on it for as long as necessary (in 25 minute chunks). Because I’m focused on a single task, I can do…

This is still a very good idea (for me), but in the process of writing the article, I glossed over some technical considerations that come into play. You should know about them. Here they are. 1. Supplier affirmation. I asked Other World Computing, the maker of the Envoy Pro EX that I already use, about…

Mac Geek Gab listener Dan Grondin sent us a tip. It involves the command line on your Mac, but thanks to the magic of copy-paste, it's still very easy to do. From Mr. Grondin: My life is full of joy since i learned how to reduce the time it take to see the dock popping…

The just-announced Griffin BreakSafe is a six-foot USB Type-C to Type-C cable that features a unique magnetic connection on one end. Users just need to plug the magnetic side of the cable into their MacBook; the 12.8mm-long Type-C plug will insert firmly into MacBook's port while the rest of the cable will magentically attach to…

Episode #156   A couple of weeks ago my Mac displayed an alert telling me that my Time Machine disk was damaged and that I should repair or replace it as soon as possible. The first thing I tried was Disk Utility’s First Aid feature, which has been part of OS X since time immemorial.…

The Apple Key, or the Command Key I was personally familiar with these and several others, but it turns out there are 15 total combinations, thanks to a KnowledgeBase article Apple posted. I'm betting many of you don't know them all, either, so here they are. The links below point to other support documents on…

First, we have to go back to IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, one of the first real-time messaging platforms for computers. Daniel Stenberg put together a great history of IRC if you're interested in the backstory, but the key thing is that it was for real-time texting, something we take for granted today. Designed and…

Example, the three year old who accompanied her mother to work and used her iPad to place a Facetime call to her grandmother because she was bored. Or the five year old who taught his father how to work his iPad. Or the two year old who knows how to switch the TV settings to…

When resting an iPad or MacBook/Air/Pro on a desk, having it inclined at a comfortable angle is desirable for many users. The ParcSlope from Twelve South is a beautifully made steel stand that achieves this. It's especially useful for drawing with an iPad Pro. Here's a closer look. The angle from horizontal is 18 degrees.…

As you can see, that situation’s been rectified now, both because I don’t save messages as much anymore and because I finally broke down and bought a larger iPhone. Go me! But at the time, I had tons of old conversations that I really wanted to keep for sentimental reasons. If you’ve got the same…

Hewlett-Packard Z27s 27-inch IPS UHD Display 1. Introduction I spent many years of working with very nice Apple displays, culminating in a 2010 iMac. However, things changed a few years ago when Apple elected to let its 27-inch Thunderbolt display, launched in July 2011, stagnate. That resulted in my search for a suitable display for a…

_________________________ Background. Occasionally for some reason, an app that uses the FaceTime camera may fail to properly close a system process that manages it. There has even been a report of this happening in OS X El Capitan for no apparent reason. There are several ways to do this, in increasing order of complexity. 1.…

Unfortunately, it's not just your iPhone that's being overworked by Facebook. Facebook runs rampant when its website is loaded in your Mac's web browser, too, using more RAM than just about every other app – and definitely every other web page – you have open. After only being open – and left in the background…

Episode #145   Where do you store all the little bits of information that don’t fit in the usual places like Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, and such? You know what I mean—all those little bits of text, images, movies, or sounds that you hope to refer to in the future (if you can find them). Little…

The new Apple MacBook comes with with a USB-C port precluding the use of any USB-A Flash drive without an adapter. Patriot Memory has solved that problem by launching a dual port USB-C, USB-A, combo Flash drive in 32 and 64 GB sizes at good price points. It's called the Stellar-C, and I liked it.…

Episode #139   I’m a big fan of keyboard shortcuts. When I teach new Mac users, one of the first things I tell ‘em is to memorize the keyboard shortcuts for actions they perform regularly like Cut (Command + X), Copy (Command + C), Paste (Command + V), and Print (Command + P). And don’t…

I don't blame Google or Microsoft for this — this is pre-release software, after all, and I understand and accept the risk of things like this happening — but, as I searched for a temporary Chrome replacement, it got me thinking about just how much I dislike Google's browser. Chrome for OS X has of…

Black hole depiction. Image credit: Shutterstock Of course, there is the computational science that real scientists do on Macs. That could include scientific visualization tools, either commercial or developed in-house, typical computational languages, such as Fortran or Python or a host of other technical software tools. However, all that work is beyond the scope of this…

Episode #138 A reader recently asked me how long he could expect his Mac to last. To be precise, here’s exactly what he said: I have a 15 in. MacBook Pro that I purchased in 2009 and love it…I do consulting, and run some small business matters with this computer and depend on it heavily.…

Full support for Windows 10 and OS X El Capitan: As expected, Fusion 8 offers complete support for Windows 10 as a guest operating system, and for the upcoming OS X El Capitan as both a host and guest operating system, which will let Mac owners test Apple’s latest OS without having to upgrade their…

There is something magical about the story I'm going to reference below. I hope it will shake you out of your doldrums and inspire you. What's up here?  You'll see down below. Image credit: Shutterstock Having worked in astrophysics, then the aerospace industry and finally the computer industry, I am well aware of all the…