behavior

Apr 27 2009

Emergency Repairs

applejack Emergency Repairs

Are you seeing some strange behavior on your Mac? Is your Mac not getting past the boot phase? Is it difficult to get to Disk First Aid? Have you lost your OS X install disk (shame on you!)? Then you had better hope you have AppleJack installed.

AppleJack is the Swiss-Army Knife of emergency Mac repairs. When trouble’s a-brewin’ and you can’t get to your favorite Disk Utility, just boot into Single User Mode (boot while holding command-s) and enter “applejack” (without the quotes). With AppleJack, you will be able to repair your disks, repair permissions, cleanup cache files, validate preference files, and remove swap files, technically without having to boot your computer. Remember, you need to have AppleJack installed BEFORE you have any serious problems with your Mac. Also, if you follow MacMerc’s guide to routine maintenance, you should never need to use AppleJack. Though, it’s still nice to have around, just in case.

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Apr 27 2009

Click Wisely

Brought to you by: James

If you’re in an environment that demands quick actions, nothing could improve your workflow more than simply clicking wisely.

If you have a one-button mouse, you probably won’t be using it to economize your workflow any time soon. That single button is referred to as “left click”, because it carries the functions of the left button on most two-button mice. Left click is used primarily for selection. Fortunately, few know that there are actually four different methods of selecting files via left click.

Click selects one file.

Click and Drag, when used away from a file, will create a rectangular “lasso” with which you can select multiple files.

Shift + Click selects all files between the first and last sift+click. This is useful for selection a large quantity of files that are already presented in an ordered fashion. For example, selecting the entire contents of folder filled with over a hundred objects.

Command + Click allows you to individually select multiple files. This is useful for selection a large quantity of files that are not presented in an ordered fashion. Every file that receives a command+click will be selected.

If you have a two-button mouse, then you’re in luck. Now you can truly experience an improved workflow by clicking wisely. The right mouse button, or “right click”, opens the horizon to more than you think. On most mice, right click will activate a contextual menu. This menu provides a set of actions that can be done on whatever object the mouse pointer is currently hovering over. Single button mouse users can emulate a right click by holding down the “control” button while clicking. Most mouse manufacturers also provide software that allows you to change the behavior of the right mouse button.

If you are fortunate enough to have mouse or trackball that has more than two buttons, then you’re on the home stretch to having an improved workflow. Many popular mouse manufacturers, such as Logitech and Kensington, provide mice and trackballs with far more than two buttons. These manufacturers also provide software that allows you to customize the function of each mouse button to your wildest imagination. One single click could launch an application, open a file, visit a website, or even activate a Photoshop action.

Now, buy a mouse or trackball with two or more buttons, and enjoy clicking wisely!

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Apr 27 2009

iShare my iCal

Productivity enthusiasts and pros herald the simple but powerful iCal. Now a seasoned Mac app, you’ll find heaps of complementary freeware to enhance your calendaring experience.

CalTalk

iCal has always synced via .Mac and WebDav, but what about directly Mac-to-Mac? CalTalk accomplishes this as a lightweight application just like iTunes share’s music. Run this app on both your Macs and you’ll be able to browse users and select calendars to sync. Best of all there is no uploading to a server.

Event Maker

This application works as the bridge between iCal and Mail. Run it with a message selected in Mail.app and you’ll be presented with options for adding the message to your calendar.

eventmaker iShare my iCal

Preferences set the applications default behavior and can make for quick creation of a new event. This free app is Tiger-only.

Mail2iCal Scripts

If you prefer to turn your messages into events (or todos) directly from Mail, then this AppleScript is for you.

Scalp

Unfortunate name for a good utility. This installer will allow you to publish your calendars using SFTP/FTP rather than WebDav.

scalp iShare my iCal

Once installed, all you have to do is substitute sftp:// for http:// in your server address in iCal.

We here at MacMerc hope you have a happy and well-planned new year. Oh, and mark of Friday’s for another year of great downloads.

Brian

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