macOS

_______________________ We have reached an impasse. Everything with Apple must be easy and comfortable. Yet the very idea of backing up hundreds of gigabytes (or terabytes) of data is out of sync with the capabilities of HFS+ and the software technologies provided. As a result, it's easier to brush this issue under the rug than…

The first option there, “Get Info,” will open a separate, detailed window for the event you right-clicked on. The neat thing about that window is that it won’t go away until you click the “X” at the upper-left corner to dismiss it; this is useful if you want to compare events from different months, for…

Of course, if you know the password for the other accounts on your machine, you can just log in and see all of each person’s files. If you don’t, though, navigating to Macintosh HD/Users/[someone else’s username] will look something like this: All those red minus signs mean “hey, bub, stay outta here,” and double-clicking any…

I don’t necessarily recommend that everyone start doing this, as I’m a big fan of having separate passwords for everything (and using 1Password to manage them). That said, if you’re helping someone who’s less tech-savvy (or if you have difficulty tracking your own passwords), this could be a way to simplify things. To get started,…

_____________________ Application Packages First, I need to backtrack for a minute. As OS X users, we're familiar with the fact that applications are actually complex folders in disguise—packages in developer lingo. OS X recognizes application packages and knows how to give them their unique icon. There is a contextual menu item, “Show Package Contents” that…

_____________________ The Finder in OS X is a good app, and it keeps getting better. However, over the years, I found that Cocoatech's Path Finder, a fully capable Finder replacement, has more power, is more convenient and more fun to use. It's a powerhouse app that I'm grateful for and couldn't live without. This isn't…

To optimize the workflow I wanted to be able to save a PDF directly from Mail to Evernote, name it with a custom name (so as to be in sync with our agenda) and automatically file it in the “MGG” notebook so that it syncs between John and me. Evernote makes it pretty easy to…

For the sites you like and trust (such as TMO, right? RIGHT?), this is a good thing, as you’ll be notified whenever they have new material for you to check out. But if you want to control the sites that have asked so far (or if you would just like to turn this feature off completely),…

Apple Kills Yosemite Network Bugs with Mavericks Code Network-related issues cropped up for many Mac users as soon as they installed OS X Yosemite 10.10, and have persisted through every update so far. Rolling back to mDNSResponder most likely means Apple hasn't been able to find a way to resolve the issues introduced with discoveryd.…

First, if you want to move a file back one folder in your navigation, just pick it up and hover over the Back button in the upper-left corner of your Finder window. When you do so, the window will jump back one step, and then you can drop your file into its new location. Note,…

Full Word Processing First off, there is a serious set of formatting controls tucked away in the menu bar, but you may need to turn it on. In the image below, I have a TextEdit document setup to be a “Plain Text” file. Note the Serif font and the lack of any kind of formatting…

Modems and Routers Let's start at the beginning: there a wire (cable or DSL or fiber or what have you) coming from the street to your house, and that wire connects to a modem. That modem can have a router built-in, or you might have a separate router, for instance an AirPort base station. Routers…

The good news is that it works. Using the following methods, he has been able accumulate hundreds of thousands of Gold—one of the main currencies in Game of War—without spending real money on Gold Packages. The sacrifice was that every building that did not help train troops or research had to go, and that means…

An active iCloud account is required. Attachments don't count against your iCloud storage. Attachments expire after 30 days. You can't send a folder full of attachments; you have to compress the folder first. A single message and all attachments can't be more than 5GB. Whatever your attachment may be, you still have to wait for…

You decide which plugins to install, then Spotlight can do even more for you. There are a wide variety of plugins available such as Discogs for performing specific searches, one for sending an email right from that Spotlight entry window, and even one to send things straight to your OmniFocus Inbox. Once you download the free Flashlight…

____________________ First up, a gentle warning. One should not, in general, willy-nilly remove an OS X process (a software program) just because you don't recognize it or don't know what it does. OS X is complicated and has many essential processes that shouldn't be tampered with. However, let's say that you just installed an OS…

First off, you can set up multiple locations in your network settings to adjust what networks are used, or what priority they’re used. If you go to System Preferences > Network, you’ll see that it says “Automatic” at the top: Network Preferences. Check out that Location menu! Where it says “Automatic” is a menu, so…

Here’s how to lock down your Mac while you’re on public Wi-Fi: First, Launch System Preferences and go to Security & Privacy > Firewall. Make sure Firewall is on. If it isn’t, you’ll need to click the lock in the lower left and enter the admin password to enable it. When it’s on, then go…

Where was I going with that? Oh, yeah. iPhoto. So, since I’ve had iPhoto for what seems like forever, I’ve gotten used to its quirks. Among those is the fact that when you delete an image from its library, that item remains in the program’s separate trash folder until you empty it. THEN it goes…

Here’s how you’ll get to it. Open Mail, of course, and then click the gear icon in the lower-left corner. Choose “Get Account Info” from the menu that’ll appear. In the subsequent window, you’ll see a drop-down menu at the top. By default, the account that’ll be chosen will be from whatever server-side mailbox you…

Episode #117   I gave a presentation last week at the Chicago Apple User Group, and during the question and answer session someone asked about all the little icons in my menu bar. As I began to explain I had an epiphany: Many of my favorite apps and utilities include a menu bar “widget” to…

AP may have jumped the gun on Apple's OS X 10.10.3 release news Apple has released several public beta updates leading up to the official rollout of OS X 10.10.3 and the new Photos app. Photos replaces iPhoto as the Mac's standard photo management app. It also replaces Apple's pro-level photo manager and editor, Aperture,…

For those of you who use the Messages program on your Mac, though, you should know that there’s a way to get your dates and times there, too. (Unfortunately, dragging on your trackpad won’t do a darned thing.) You can see what that info is by simply hovering your cursor over any text within Messages—a…

Get ready for privacy violation lawsuits against Google in the UK The Court of Appeal said in its ruling, These claims raise serious issues which merit a trial. They concern what is alleged to have been the secret and blanket tracking and collation of information, often of an extremely private nature… about and associated with…