May 13 2003
MacOS X Hacks
| Book Specs | |
| Author: | Rael Dornfest & Kevin Hemenway |
| Publisher: | O’Reilly |
| Price: | $17.47 – $24.95 |
| Length: | 380 pages without index |
Finally–a publisher that understands “hack” isn’t a bad word. This
book is just a collection of damn cool things. I’m the kind of guy who looks
for all
the sidenotes and tips in computer books because usually I don’t have time
to read 500+ pages of stuff I already half know. I just want the meat… The
nugget… The hacks… This book is simply a collection of the “good stuff”
that’s in other OS X books. What is amazing is that this book is nearly 400
pages (and it’s all the good stuff).
Here’s an example of a hack…
#45 Speakable Web Services
This hack shows how to make a script that you can trigger via spoken word,
and have the computer speak a response back… For example:
You: “Temp”
Computer: “95 Degrees”
It’s darn cool. In total there are a 100 hacks. Some of them I knew before
hand:
- # 61 Downliading files from the command line
- #43 Screensaver as a desktop
- #47 Prying the chrome off metal applications
- # 32 iSync via Bluetooth
But, there were lots that I didn’t know right off hand:
- #70 Secure tunneling with VPN or SSH
- #78 Setting up Domain Name Service
- #51 Settin shell environmental variables
If you’re
a power user, this book is invaluable. It’s been either on my desk, or
on the bookshelf right next to my desk ever since the UPS man came. I write
a weekly
power user column and I’m going to admit it here in public–this book
has made
my
job
easy. It
lists for $24.95 (worth every penny), but you can snag it at Amazon for $17.47.
