The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.tuaw.com The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) http://www.tuaw.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Mac 101: Back it Uphttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/05/09/mac-101-back-it-up/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/05/09/mac-101-back-it-up/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/05/09/mac-101-back-it-up/#commentsFiled under: , ,

If you're like me, you probably spend a great deal of time using your Mac. From checking email, working with photos, surfing the web and paying bills to writing posts just like this, my Mac serves me well in so many ways. Using it every day as I do, I tend to create a massive amount of files, photos, emails and all of the other items that go along with daily Mac use.

The items that are created, modified and used every day are very important. So, to make sure I have access to them and that nothing bad happens to them, they need to be backed up so they're safe no matter what. But even though I know these files, folders and more need to be backed up, how do I do it in the most simple, effective and least time-consuming way?

Fortunately, there are several solutions available to Mac users to help ensure that their precious data is preserved. Most are simple to use and all provide an automated backup solution that once set up, doesn't rely on the user to make sure it works -- it all happens automatically on a particular schedule.

But which solution to choose? Here are the three simplest, cheapest and most reliable backup solutions for your consideration:

Continue reading Mac 101: Back it Up

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]]>backupsuperdupertime machineTimeMachinetweet-thisChris Ullrich2008-05-09T09:00:00+00:00Afloat 2.0 returns window floating to Leopardhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/30/afloat-2-0-returns-window-floating-to-leopard/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/30/afloat-2-0-returns-window-floating-to-leopard/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/30/afloat-2-0-returns-window-floating-to-leopard/#commentsFiled under: , ,



Afloat from Infinite Labs was one of my favorite SIMBL plugins, until it was broken by Leopard. It adds some clever features to windows in Cocoa applications, including a mode where the window remains always visible, "floating" above all other windows, an overlay mode where the window floats but clicks fall through to the windows below, and adjustable transparency (including a very nifty mode in which a window will be translucent until you mouse over it and then it pops into an opaque mode).

Thankfully, Afloat 2.0 now works with Leopard. In fact, it works so well with Leopard that OS X 10.5 is now required to run Afloat. The free download includes the Infinite Labs PlugSuit SIMBL plugin manager, but it is not necessary to run Afloat if you already have SIMBL installed.

[via Infinite Loop]
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]]>afloatpluginsPlugSuitSIMBLMat Lu2008-04-30T10:00:00+00:00iQuarantine X cures minor Leopard annoyancehttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/24/iquarantine-x-cures-minor-leopard-annoyance/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/24/iquarantine-x-cures-minor-leopard-annoyance/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/24/iquarantine-x-cures-minor-leopard-annoyance/#commentsFiled under: ,

iQuarantine X is reported to be able to remove the "are you sure you want to open it?" warning from your Leopard system. The quarantine feature of Leopard (which alerts you the first time you run a downloaded program) isn't a big enough annoyance to me to dish out the $5 for the program, so I haven't tested it out. But reports from readers are that it does exactly what it says: no background scripts or launchd processes, just some lean code to make the annoying warnings disappear.

Given that a free demo of such a program would kind of defeat the purpose of charging, you have to pay the $5 charge to download iQuarantine X. If the quarantine feature bugs you more than giving up a few cups of coffee, have at it.

Thanks Bobtentpeg!

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]]>iQuarantine XIquarantineXLeopardQuarantineBrett Terpstra2008-04-24T15:00:00+00:00NYC Dept. of Education suspends Mac orders pending wireless issue fixhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/18/nyc-dept-of-education-suspends-mac-orders-pending-wireless-issu/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/18/nyc-dept-of-education-suspends-mac-orders-pending-wireless-issu/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/18/nyc-dept-of-education-suspends-mac-orders-pending-wireless-issu/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Apple Insider is reporting that the New York City Department of Education has put all shipments of Macs to schools on complete hold while they're apparently waiting for Apple to fix a Wifi connectivity issue with OS X (which should be fixed with the 10.5.3 update). And Apple is apparently scrambling to get it worked out -- they've sent an apologetic email to faculty and have asked schools to try and separate any orders of computers that won't need wireless (that will use a regular ethernet hookup) to ship now.

Unfortunately, there's no hint of exactly how many Macs we're talking about here, but if this is a substantial number of computers, and word gets out causing other organizations to delay shipments as well, Apple will feel more and more pressure to get the problem fixed ASAP. Bad news for the kids who want Macs in New York City (that's the DoE's seal on the right, in case you didn't recognize it), but good news for anyone else having this problem -- Apple's working hard on a fix.

Thanks, Rich!
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]]>10-5-210-5-3appleapple-insiderbugfixesdepartment-of-educationdoeissuekidsmacsschoolswirelessMike Schramm2008-04-18T13:30:00+00:00First commercial Hackintosh announced by Psystarhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/14/first-commercial-hackintosh-announced-by-psystar/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/14/first-commercial-hackintosh-announced-by-psystar/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/14/first-commercial-hackintosh-announced-by-psystar/#commentsFiled under: ,

As noted by some of our tipsters last night and published today on Ars and MacRumors, a company called Psystar (site currently down, for legal or technical reasons, who can say?) is offering to sell you a $399 "OpenMac" Core 2 Duo minitower that is ready to run Leopard, and for $554 you can get it with a retail copy of Mac OS X preinstalled. With specs blowing well past the base Mini configuration and the expandability of a tower config, such a machine would be appealing to hobbyists and developers... exactly the sort of folks who would be likely to roll their own.

The concept of the Hackintosh, while appealing from a technical standpoint and certainly a draw for the budget-minded, always seems to fall down for me when it comes to software updates (you can't), compatibility (it's not), and support (there ain't none). If a central value proposition of Mac OS X and the Macintosh ecosystem is that the OS and the hardware are designed in parallel to work as seamlessly as possible and provide an optimized user experience, then what does a homebrew clone get you but bragging rights and a degree of aggravation? Sure, getting an Asus eee booted into Leopard is pretty cool -- but having owned a legitimate Mac clone back in the Power Computing days, I can vouch for the fact that there's no substitute for the real thing.

Thanks Roberto
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]]>clonefrankenmachackintoshinteltweet-thisMichael Rose2008-04-14T12:00:00+00:00Lightroom 1.4.1 and Camera raw 4.4.1 releasedhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/11/lightroom-1-4-1-and-camera-raw-4-4-1-released/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/11/lightroom-1-4-1-and-camera-raw-4-4-1-released/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/11/lightroom-1-4-1-and-camera-raw-4-4-1-released/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Adobe has dropped updates for both Lightroom and Camera Raw. According to the Lightroom team's blog, the updates include all the changes of the previous releases, but also correct a few issues. Lightroom 1.4.1 will keep the EXIF time date field of images from being incorrectly modified, and has fixes for Olympus JPEG files and also DNG conversion. And the Camera Raw plugin update also fixes the EXIF problem as well as the Olympus JPEG features.

But that's more than you wanted to know, right? All you really need to know is that you can grab the update either on Adobe's site, or by hitting "Check for updates" under the Help menu for the Lightroom update and using the Adobe Update Manager for the Raw plugin update. Happy updating!

[Via Ars]
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]]>adobecamera-rawlightroomolympuspatchesupdatesMike Schramm2008-04-11T14:30:00+00:00Mac 101: get a floating clock on your screen saverhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/02/mac-101-a-floating-clock-on-your-screen-saver/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/02/mac-101-a-floating-clock-on-your-screen-saver/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/04/02/mac-101-a-floating-clock-on-your-screen-saver/#commentsFiled under: ,

Welcome, once again, to Mac 101, TUAW's continuing series focusing on tips and tricks useful to new Mac users. Mac veterans might learn a thing or two along the way, but these tips are aimed squarely at our new Mac friends.

Today's tip is all about knowing what time it is. If you're running Leopard you can have your Mac display the time when the screensaver is running.

Simply do the following:
  1. Launch System Preferences
  2. Click on 'Desktop & Screen Saver' in the 'Personal' row
  3. Choose 'Screen Saver'
You'll then see the options to the right. All you have to do is click 'Show with clock' and a clock appears on your screen saver. This clock can be overlaid onto any screen saver that is included with OS X, as well as those made by 3rd parties. Pretty neat, huh?

You can't actually customize the look of the clock, but if you're looking for some customization (or you're not running Leopard yet) check out the Big Time screen saver. It lets you change the look of the clock displayed, as well as set alarms though you can't overlay the Big Time clock screen saver onto other screen savers.

Read on to see what the clock looks like on the Arabesque screen saver.

Continue reading Mac 101: get a floating clock on your screen saver

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]]>clockleopardmac 101mac101screensavertweet-thisScott McNulty2008-04-02T14:30:00+00:00Leopard smites Vista in corporate satisfactionhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/27/leopard-smites-vista-in-satisfaction/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/27/leopard-smites-vista-in-satisfaction/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/27/leopard-smites-vista-in-satisfaction/#commentsFiled under: ,

ComputerWorld posts that ChangeWave Research has studied satisfaction levels for corporate users of Leopard and Windows Vista. As you might expect, the Leopard users are altogether more satisfied than Vista users -- up to 5 times more likely to report that they're "very satisfied" with their operating system -- but you might not have known the following:

  • Leopard reinforces tooth enamel and ensures brighter, happier smiles.
  • Leopard users are more likely to find attractive mates.
  • Vista users are subject to early hair loss.
  • Leopard helps eliminate embarrassing halitosis.
  • Vista users are five times likelier to be audited by the IRS.
  • Leopard washes your windows and leaves lemon-scented stacks of pre-folded laundry around your house.

Okay, well maybe not. Consult the ComputerWorld article for the (far less amusing) statistical results. One worthwhile number to note: while 7% of respondents said they'd be buying Apple laptops in the next 90 days, a hold-steady from the previous survey, the likelihood of most other laptop purchases went down since the last time they asked. A MacBook Air effect?

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]]>corporateleopardsatisfactionErica Sadun2008-03-27T15:35:00+00:00Security Update 2008-002 v1.1http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/26/security-update-2008-002-v1-1/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/26/security-update-2008-002-v1-1/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/26/security-update-2008-002-v1-1/#commentsFiled under: ,

Today, Apple released Security Update 2008-002 v1.1 for Leopard client and Leopard server. Software Update gives us the following information about the update:

Security Update 2008-002 is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X. Previous security updates have been incorporated into this security update.

You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading either the client or server installer package from the Apple Support downloads website.
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]]>LeopardSecurity UpdateSecurityUpdateCory Bohon2008-03-26T16:59:00+00:00Is your Airport Extreme suddenly Time Machine-happy?http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/19/is-your-airport-extreme-suddenly-time-machine-happy/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/19/is-your-airport-extreme-suddenly-time-machine-happy/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/19/is-your-airport-extreme-suddenly-time-machine-happy/#commentsFiled under: ,

Update 9 pm ET: Our comrade David Chartier from Ars Technica points out that the 7.1.3 firmware itself may not be necessary for the new functionality to work; he says he tested a 7.1 AEBS with a machine running Time Capsule & Airport 1.0, and Time Machine was able to see the remote disk. Other readers have reminded us that the disk must be formatted as HFS+ with journaling, and you may have to mount it in the Finder before Time Machine sees it. The freeware TimeMachineScheduler is disabled by this update, comments note.

Update 6:45 am Thursday: More comments point out that if you take a locally-connected Time Machine drive and attach it to an AEBS, you will be starting over with new backups (because the remote backups are stored on sparseimages, not as folders). Something to keep in mind if you already have a long backup history -- you might want to use a different drive.

Sometimes the fixes are subtle and quiet. Once TUAW reader Peder downloaded today's Airport updates and ran the utility, he noticed a new version of the Airport Extreme firmware queued up and ready (v7.3.1). When he installed and rebooted his AEBS -- which happened to have a USB hard drive hanging off of it... well, let him tell you:

After downloading the latest Airport-update I checked for updates for my AirPort Extreme. After upgrading to version 7.3.1, Time Machine recognised the attached USB-drive.

If this is a reproducible result -- this means you, everyone, go ahead and start testing this firmware! -- that means that the now-you-see-it, now-you-don't Time Machine to AirDisk feature of Leopard has finally arrived. Sure, the Time Capsule is a one-piece solution and quite economical, but for all the AEBS owners out there who have been waiting patiently, this would be a very nice bit of March madness indeed. [Response to "just-a-guy" below: Remember, this is the Airport EXTREME only; the Express doesn't support AirDisk at all.]

Seeing the same results as Peder? By all means let us know. He was kind enough to send us a few screenshots, see below.

%Gallery-18775%
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]]>airportairport extremeAirportExtremetime machineTimeMachinetweet-thisMichael Rose2008-03-19T18:45:00+00:00Security Update 2008-002 issues may be cleared up by Rogue Amoeba fixhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/19/security-update-2008-002-issues-cleared-up-by-rogue-amoeba-fix/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/19/security-update-2008-002-issues-cleared-up-by-rogue-amoeba-fix/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/19/security-update-2008-002-issues-cleared-up-by-rogue-amoeba-fix/#commentsFiled under: ,


As many of you have reported, there are a few hiccups for some who have installed the latest Leopard security update. Two of the areas of concern are ssh (no connectivity or a crash) and printing (errors out, documents never finish spooling), with various fixes offered (reinstalling the 10.5.2 combo update, installing a standalone SSH build) and various degrees of success reported.

One emergent common thread for some of the problems is the presence of a Rogue Amoeba audio utility, and the gang in the petri dish have responded with a revised version of the Instant Hijack framework. The new 2.0.3 version aims to address a bug that has been latent since the introduction of Leopard's position-independent executables feature, where certain sensitive processes (like, say, ssh) could be run from a randomized memory address, avoiding attack vectors that depend on targeting a specific vulnerable spot within the code.

Up until the 2008-002 security patches, according to RA, the PIE feature wasn't used for anything yet -- after the update, surprise surprise, ssh is being moved around when it runs. Since Instant Hijack inspects newly launched processes to see if they have audio properties, it tries to look at the ssh instance in memory -- hey, wherdja go? Hence the problem.

If you have been experiencing ssh issues and have Rogue Amoeba apps installed, try the patch and let us know what happens.

[via Daring Fireball + Apple discussions]
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]]>audio hijackAudioHijackbugleopardrogue amoebaRogueAmoebasecuritysecurity updateSecurityUpdatesshtweet-thisMichael Rose2008-03-19T14:30:00+00:00Übersetzen Sie das, bitte (Translate this, please)http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/18/bersetzen-sie-das-bitte-translate-this-please/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/18/bersetzen-sie-das-bitte-translate-this-please/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/18/bersetzen-sie-das-bitte-translate-this-please/#commentsFiled under: ,

For German users and English-speaking users with German-language needs, Philipp Brauner has made available the dict.cc Dictionary Plugin for Leopard, which adds the dict.cc vocabulary compilation to the OS X Dictionary. dict.cc is a community generated and verified English-German dictionary. The large download size (125M) speaks to the expansiveness of this compendium.

The plugin not only enhances Dictionary.app, but other services that tie into the OS X Dictionary, including Spotlight and the Dictionary widget. It comes with a handy installer which makes the plugin easy to install for all users.

The plugin borrows from a previous project by Wolfgang Reszel which integrated the BeoLingus vocabulary in the same manner. The dict.cc plugin is open source and the dictionary data is licensed separately, but available for use. Whether you're an English speaker with a desire to dabble in Deutsch or German is your native tongue, it's worth the sizable download.

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]]>DeutschdictionaryGermanlanguageBrett Terpstra2008-03-18T12:00:00+00:00How Time Machine can decrease inhibitions, encourage risky behaviorhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/13/how-time-machine-can-decrease-inhibitions-encourage-risky-behav/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/13/how-time-machine-can-decrease-inhibitions-encourage-risky-behav/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/13/how-time-machine-can-decrease-inhibitions-encourage-risky-behav/#commentsFiled under:

Let me tell you something about people from Brooklyn: we are, by nature and environment, edgy risk-takers who live life like we're driving a Maserati down the PCH. Or a Camry up the BQE. Anyway, you don't want to mess with us -- and specifically, you don't want to mess with Mike Solomon, a creative director who's apparently got cojones the size of Jonathan Ive's awards cabinet.

What did Mike do that earns him the title of Mac Jock Extraordinare? Faced with a weekend on-site video editing project that would require 20 GB of space and only having 10 GB free on his laptop, he didn't bow to the conventional wisdom -- send a production assistant to Staples for a new 500GB drive, or weed out his Downloads folder. No, he decided the best way to free up the needed space was to out-and-out delete his 65 GB iTunes library, the media addict's equivalent of flushing your stash when the cops show up. Then, when he returned home later, he simply restored his library from Time Machine -- no muss, no fuss.

Mike, we salute you and your outside-the-box approach to capacity management. Next time, though, might we suggest a portable drive?

[via Macenstein]
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]]>brooklyncrazyitunesstoragetime machineTimeMachinetweet-thisyikesMichael Rose2008-03-13T11:00:00+00:00Security Update for Office 2008 now availablehttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/11/security-update-for-office-2008-now-available/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/11/security-update-for-office-2008-now-available/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/11/security-update-for-office-2008-now-available/#commentsFiled under: ,

If you happen to use Microsoft Office 2008 as your office suite of choice, Microsoft has an update for you. This security update, which brings the suite to version 12.0.1, features "several changes that improve security, stability, and performance" and includes "fixes for users of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard." Sync behavior in Entourage and a file corruption bug in PowerPoint are among the areas of improvement.

The update also features "fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of a computer's memory by using malicious code." That's good because we don't want that, do we?

To download this new update, head on over to the Microsoft Mac Business Unit site and go to the Downloads section. For a full explanation of what this update does, check out the Microsoft support article.

As with any update, be sure to let us know what happens if you decide to apply it.
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]]>leopardmicrosoft officeMicrosoftOfficesecuritytweet-thisChris Ullrich2008-03-11T14:46:00+00:00Time Machine works with USB external HDs on Time Capsulehttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/02/time-machine-works-with-usb-external-hds-on-time-capsule/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/02/time-machine-works-with-usb-external-hds-on-time-capsule/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/02/time-machine-works-with-usb-external-hds-on-time-capsule/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Over at Macworld, Glenn Fleishman has an initial hands-on report about Apple's new Time Capsule combination Airport Base Station and NAS, and he's confirmed something folks were wondering about: "you can also perform Time Machine backups to drives attached to the Time Capsule via USB." This is interesting, because Apple originally said that Time Machine backups would be possible to an AirDisk (that is, an USB external drive on the regular AirPort Extreme Base Station).

Just before Leopard shipped, that feature quietly disappeared, leaving some early-adopters who had counted on that capability in the lurch. The obvious questions now are whether there's any technical reason why Time Machine to AirDisk wouldn't work on the AEBS, and whether Apple is holding the feature back just to promote the Time Capsule. In any case, it's good to know that if you get a Time Capsule you're not limited to the internal storage, perhaps making the smaller 500GB model that much more attractive.
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]]>AEBSAirPort Extreme Base StationAirportExtremeBaseStationTime CapsuleTime MachineTime-CapsuleTime-MachineTimeCapsuleTimeMachineMat Lu2008-03-02T10:00:00+00:00Trick out your dock with Dock Libraryhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/28/trick-out-your-dock-with-dock-library/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/28/trick-out-your-dock-with-dock-library/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/28/trick-out-your-dock-with-dock-library/#commentsFiled under: ,



With the advent of Mac OS X Leopard, people seem to be taking the initiative to "hack" their dock and change the image that defines what it looks like. If you don't want to pay money for an application like Panic's CandyBar, then look no further than Dock Library. For freeware, Dock Library has a very simple, clean interface, it's almost Apple-like in it's appearance. Dock Library allows you to import dock styles downloaded from sites like LeopardDocks. Just click a dock style, click set dock, type your password, and your old dock will be replaced with the new one.

Dock Library is available from the developer's website as a free download (donations are accepted).
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]]>DockDock LibraryDockLibraryLeopardCory Bohon2008-02-28T07:00:00+00:00Unsanity rides again onto Leopardhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/27/unsanity-rides-again-onto-leopard/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/27/unsanity-rides-again-onto-leopard/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/27/unsanity-rides-again-onto-leopard/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

We just noted how some of the folks associated with unsanity were branching out onto the iPhone, and now unsanity itself is showing signs of life. In a couple of blog posts they've announced the return of their somewhat controversial Application Enhancer "haxie" technology with a Leopard compatible beta, APE 2.5b1. The APE plugins allow for unsupported functionality to be added to various parts of OS X, but have been blamed for causing problems. In any case, Leopard broke APE and along with it various popular utilities like WindowShade, FruitMenu and others.

So if you're the type to throw caution to the wind and have been waiting to get your APE haxies back, the betas of APE, Smart Crash Reports, FontCard, Menu Master, Silk, FruitMenu, and WindowShade are available for download (scroll down) from unsanity.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
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]]>APEFontCardFruitMenuMenu MasterMenuMasterSilkSmart Crash ReportsSmartCrashReportsunsanityWindowShadeMat Lu2008-02-27T11:00:00+00:00New eBook explains Leopard's permissionshttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/25/new-ebook-explains-leopards-permissions/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/25/new-ebook-explains-leopards-permissions/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/25/new-ebook-explains-leopards-permissions/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Despite John Gruber's longstanding assertion that "Repair Disk Permissions is voodoo," Brian Tanaka has published "Take Control of Permissions in Leopard" for the Take Control series of eBooks. It's part troubleshooting (how to delete stuck files, for example), part tips and tricks (the best ways to keep files private) and part theory. It's only $10US for 87 pages of very useful information.

For example, you might learn that repairing permissions with Disk Utility won't change the permissions to any of your user-centric files -- it's meant to restore [Apple's] application and system file preferences permissions to their as-delivered condition. Even if you do think that Repair Permissions is nonsense, it'll be nonsense you fully understand.

[Update: John Welch pointed out the typo in the 2nd paragraph; of course, Repair Permissions changes permissions, not preferences.]

[Via MacMinute]
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]]>brian TanakaBrianTanakaleopardrepair permissionsRepairPermissionstake controlTakeControlunixDave Caolo2008-02-25T17:00:00+00:00Sunday night talkcast: Mac OS X gripefest + Ask TUAWhttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/23/sunday-night-talkcast-mac-os-x-gripefest-ask-tuaw/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/23/sunday-night-talkcast-mac-os-x-gripefest-ask-tuaw/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/23/sunday-night-talkcast-mac-os-x-gripefest-ask-tuaw/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Last week's talkcast featured the dulcet tones of guest host Christina Warren and a passel of MacBook Air owners sharing their experiences with the newest laptop in the Apple lineup. Download direct, listen in your browser or subscribe to the TalkShoe feed in iTunes.

Join us again on Sunday night for our next live show, 10 pm ET, where Mat Lu and yours truly will be taking a break from the Oscars telecast (if you're DVRing it, be sure to say so -- we don't want to spoil anything!) to take your questions, gripes and wishlist items for Mac OS X. Got display problems or wireless issues? We want to hear about it. Everything running smooth as silk? We want to hear about that too, but be warned that the people with problems may be very annoyed with you.

Continue reading Sunday night talkcast: Mac OS X gripefest + Ask TUAW

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]]>ask-tuawleopardpodcasttalkcasttweet-thisMichael Rose2008-02-23T17:30:00+00:00How to create your own Toast DVD menu stylehttp://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/23/how-to-create-your-own-toast-dvd-menu-style/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/23/how-to-create-your-own-toast-dvd-menu-style/http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/23/how-to-create-your-own-toast-dvd-menu-style/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

A while back reader Michael Coyle was nice enough to send us this write-up on how to customize Leopard's Guest account, and just recently he sent along another guide that you might not need right away, but will come in handy when you really need it. He's got an in-depth look at how to create a custom menu style when authoring a DVD in Toast Titanium 8.

As he says, the default styles that come with the application are a little less than formal, so if you want to create a professional menu for the DVD that fits your needs, this will show you how. As far as I can tell, the style is just a Photoshop file with various layers for the DVD to use as a menu (selected, frames for videos and the border around them, and so on); so the trick is finding the right layers to edit and leaving everything else alone (so nothing breaks).

If you've got some DVD authoring in your future, and plan to use Toast to get it all done, there you go.
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]]>authoringdvdeditinghow-tolayersphotoshopstylestipstoasttricksMike Schramm2008-02-23T08:00:00+00:00