My EtherealMind» osx

Rant: Screen Reading – Comparing Windows and MAC

Greg Ferro — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:13:20 +0000

In the last couple of years, I find that I rarely use physical books to read something new. I recently started a new role that requires me to use a Windows 7 laptop and I'm finding it unreadable. Either there is something wrong with Windows or Apple have done something exceptional with screen displays.

Productive Mac Software Bundle – Recommended

Greg Ferro — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:58:00 +0000

Some tips on a Mac Bundle

Network Diagrams: OmniGraffle Tip – Merging Shapes

Greg Ferro — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:04:09 +0000

In OmniGraffle, you often want to merge shapes together to create a single object, but you don't want to lose resolution and you want them to scale properly. Grouping doesn't help, but this does.

iTerm 2- Top Tab Tip – Show the Profile Name

Greg Ferro — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:43:15 +0000

Quick tip on configuring iTerm 2 to show the profile names in Tabs - because it annoyed me.

Internets of Interest:18 Aug 2011

bookmarks — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:24:10 +0000

Collection of useful, relevant or inane places on the the Internets for 18 Aug 2011:

OSX: Resize Multiple Font Sizes at Once

Greg Ferro — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:30:58 +0000

Resizing all selected text with different sizes byt he same amount. A tip for OSX users.

OSX: Shortcuts for Subnet Masks With TextExpander

Greg Ferro — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:46:26 +0000

I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing speed and accuracy. One way is to use specific keyboard shortcuts for tasks that are repetitive and prone to inaccuracy. So, using Cmd-C / Cmd-V for for Copy and Paste makes a whole load of good sense as it's faster & more accurate than using the mouse to click through multiple menus, and put the cursor where it needs to be. However, keyboard shortcuts are kind of limited. A more flexible approach is to use a program that can substitute short sets of text into much longer pieces. To do this, I use a program called TextExpander to keep a library of 'snippets' for expansion into a range of useful actions. For example, I have a text snippet etmd and whenever I type these four letters, it is automatically expanded to EtherealMind. The possibilities are endless, and I'm hoping to share a few different ideas and get feedback from you to help me build my collection of useful shortcuts.

OSX: Three Ways to Kill or Force Quit System Processes and Programs

Greg Ferro — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 11:23:50 +0000

Very occasionally I need to restart a process in OSX. Here some basic suggestions.

Bluetooth Hangs in OSX 10.6.6

Greg Ferro — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:06:48 +0000

Occasionally my Bluetooth gets all wrong. Here is quick and brutal fix for bluetooth hangs on OS X.

How to Disable Caps Lock in OSX

Greg Ferro — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:25:12 +0000

Ever wanted to disable the Caps Lock key in OSX. I do.

A Better Technique for Blogging ñ Markdown

Greg Ferro — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:40:15 +0000

This post looks at my favourite method for generating HTML for blogging using a combination of MultiMarkdown and NValt.

Uninstalling Flash on Mac OSX for Security

Greg Ferro — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:49:08 +0000

Adobe Flash has another zero day exploit and then I saw this post about removing Flash completely. Here how to do it and survive without Flash.

OSX: Disable Skype Splash Screen on Mac OSX

Greg Ferro — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 08:15:07 +0000

How to disable the loathsome splash screen when Skype starts

Mental Case on the iPad : Memorising and Refreshing Information

Greg Ferro — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:22:41 +0000

Mental Case for the iPad was released today, and I am well impressed. Looks great, feels great and improves my revision time.

OSX: Mac OSX Screencasts – Tips and Learning

Greg Ferro — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:15:26 +0000

Short note to share websites which offer very good quality Screencasts on Mac OSX and software. One free, and other for not much money.

OSX: SuperDuper – The Other Backup Software

Greg Ferro — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:50:21 +0000

SuperDuper is the other backup program for OSX. It's has one killer feature that Time Machine lacks.

OSX: Path Finder Review

Greg Ferro — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:53:28 +0000

It took me a while to get used to Path Finder. Now I can't imagine using the OSX Finder at all.

OSX: Spirited Away

Greg Ferro — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:30:52 +0000

Spirited Away will minimise unused programs to the Dock so that my screen remains uncluttered. Importantly, I remain focussed on the program I am working on.

OSX: Sizeup – Screen Layout Using the Keyboard

Greg Ferro — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:10:22 +0000

If you only buy one utility for Mac OS X, make it SizeUp. It's my absolute favourite, even ahead of TextExpander.

OSX: Bash Flash – Killing the Flash Plugin

Greg Ferro — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:10:24 +0000

The Adobe Flash player doesn't run well on OS X. This utility makes sure that it's easy to see if it is running and kill it immediately.

OSX: iStat Menus. System Status in the Tool Bar

Greg Ferro — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:26:17 +0000

iStat Menus places a whole bunch of system information in the Menu Bar. Everyone should have it.

OSX: Fuzzy Clock

Greg Ferro — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:49:48 +0000

Fuzzy Clock is a neat OS X utility for displaying the time in a more human way in your Menu Bar

Review: goSerial – Console Break for Network Devices on OSX

Greg Ferro — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:13:40 +0000

This is a quick look at the serial console program for Mac OSX called goSerial. There are not many serial consoles programs available and I wanted to review this for my own use.

Using Choosy for OSX. A Better Way to Use Multiple Browsers.

Greg Ferro — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:26:27 +0000

I use multiple web browsers all day. One for typical web, and another for network management. I need a way to easily select which one I want.

Internets of Interest:22 Feb 10

bookmarks — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:05:15 +0000

Collection of useful, relevant or inane places on the the Internets for 22 Feb 10: