Run a command on a schedule and verify that it has run

You can use Automator to create a "Calendar Event". You can use the Utilities > Run Shell Script action to run your desired script, and then use Utilities > Display Notification to show that the script ran.

When you save the workflow, it will show a dialog asking you to name the event, and will then automatically place an event in the calendar and act accordingly. You can then change that event's time and repeat frequency.


How can I undo "always allow" in keychain item

You should be able to clear out any white listed programs and then reset the default behavior from Keychain Access.

First select Fantastical (or any apps that are cleared) and then press the -
Second, choose Confirm and Ask as needed.
Third, select Attributes and make sure the changes are saved (you should probably have to authenticate as well at this step)
Go back to Access Control to verify the settings have been saved properly

If this doesn't work, you might need to repair that keychain containing that item, also using Keychain Access menu to open the Keychain First Aid tool.


How do remove administrative rights if the checkbox is disabled in Users&Groups

I just did it by using the command line way. I am not sure if this is recommended or not since I have no ideas why I can not do it in the GUI.

sudo dseditgroup -o edit -d admin -t user admin

The above command does the job.

PS: Because it's a second hand Macbook pro and it's the first MacOS I ever used. I thought admin was a built-in user which I could not simply use the above command. But it turns out I was wrong and admin is not a built-in account and I can simply run the command.

Btw, for your info, if you want to do this for other usernames:

sudo dseditgroup -o edit -d <username> -t user admin


Finder doesn't show "Open With" menu, just "Fetching..."

It might be time to rebuild your LaunchServices database.
You will need to reset any custom associations.

The simplest method to do this is using Onyx (freeware).

Maintenance tab/Rebuilding


OSX High Sierra: Bluetooth audio mutes when a video ends in browser?

Some of these issues seemed to go away when I updated the firmware on my Bose headphones to 1.3.4.


Can I create two different keyboard shortcuts for the same command?

Look into using the application "Keyboard Maestro" as a possible solution to your problem.


On the iPad there's no way of viewing your password but if you have a Mac running OS X Mavericks v10.9 or later and your iPad is running iOS 7.0.3 or later having your iCloud Keychain synced up with them both then you could see your password in your Mac's Keychain Access.

Follow this Apple FAQ about iCloud Keychain.


Increase font size in pop up dictionary window in OS X Sierra

In macOS High Sierra the location of the files has changed. And maybe also the structure too. The files are now under:
/System/Library/Assets/com_apple_MobileAsset_DictionaryServices_dictionaryOSX/

The directory structure has changed in more recent versions of OS X but the same approach linked to above works.


Random keyboard input on shutdown will power up Macbook Pro

The best way to shut down your Mac is to choose Shut Down from the Apple () menu.
Just as your Mac follows a startup process after it turns on, it follows a shutdown process before it turns off. That process includes automatically quitting all open apps and logging out of your macOS user account.
If your Mac doesn't shut down, try Force Quit to close any apps that aren't responding. If that doesn't work, press and hold the power button until the Mac turns off.

Ok, here are the 3 power button options

Press the power button (briefly) to turn (off or on) the Mac or wake from sleep. Also called the normal method.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds or longer without lifting to force your Mac to turn off. Also called brutal method. Do not use frequently. It will not wake up after by any keyboard combination until you press the power button.
Press and hold power button for 1.5 seconds to get the turn off dialog. This dialog will ask if you want to restart, shutdown or put the Mac to sleep, this is the same as you would do with click under the Apple Icon (top left)

Other stuff...
You have a app called FOLX 5 Downloader that is preventing your Mac to Sleep. Quit that program, if it is still running, Open Activity Monitor find it and Quit it. You can also find it under its PID number pid 6959

Here are some instructions how to deal with the T2 chip.


Use mnemonics/menu-shortcut keys with Windows apps running on Mac

I asked in support from Crossover and the answer is:

Use Command + letter

This does work. There is a separate problem then is that the movement keys using Command such as

Commandright arrow   for End

do not work. But I'll handle that separately.


How can I place a shortcut to a network folder in my sidebar?

Wow, it looks like I have found a workable solution to this.  Still a few strange bits which you can see in the new video I created, but the end result basically works.

Steps:

With the remote volume not mounted, open the Connect to Server dialog (Command-K in Finder)
Enter the network address of your remote volume.  If you have previously connected to it, it should be selectable in the dropdown menu on the right hand side.  The resulting address should look something like smb://Media%20Server._smb._tcp.local
Add the rest of the path to your desired folder, including the volume name.  In my case the volume was called Media1 and the folder was called backups, so the final result was smb://Media%20Server._smb._tcp.local/Media1/backups.  Click Connect.
Note that the resulting window displays the remote folder you wanted, but it is now mounted as if it were a volume rather than a folder.
Drag the icon in the titlebar of the window, to the sidebar.

Now you can mount and eject the remote folder directly from your sidebar.  There is still some strange behavior with occasional complaints when ejecting the volume, but they don't always happen and I'm wondering if they are caused by my being on Wifi on my Macbook.  Still in the end I seem to have a working solution after years of wrestling with this and never getting it to work reliably.


unfortunately I´m experiencing the same thing since yesterday.
I don´t even touch the mouse  but the mouse keeps moving in a 3 to 5 seconds interval.

Did you proceed with this problem?

What I found so far:
- It is not the mouse (Magic Mouse) nor Bluetooth. Switching off both doesn´t change anything.
- It´s not in my account. Switching to another account is not the cure.

I´m really embarrassed, but I solved the problem here.

Yesterday my mouse battery was empty and I connected an old microsoft mouse with a cord because I ran out of loaded batteries. After reloading batteries I continued using Magic Mouse. But I didn´t disconnect the cord mouse but put it into a box. And since than I had tis problem. Removing the cord mouse solved the problem.


Is the CT3309352 Crucial memory the same as CT2K4G3S1067M?

Here is the result of my conversation with Crucial. Given their quality and reliability as manufacturer and supplier, I personally am tempted to spend a little more and source the upgrade kit directly from them. If any problems then should be easy to have it fixed.

[Mark:  Hi Can you tell me if CT3309352 - Crucial and CT2K4G3S1067M are the same part numbers for a Crucial upgrade 8GB kit for the MacBook Pro mid 2009 13" or are these two similar but different units produced by Crucial?

Crucial Agent :  When you order by advanced search or by motherboard/system information online, you are shown the “external” part number CT3309352. The part number that you see on your module is the actual module base part number CT2K4G3S1067M. If you order by advanced search or motherboard/system information, the external part number is included in the packing list with your memory module. The modules are exactly the same. They are the same part. And will work in your MacBook Pro mid 2009 13".

Mark:  Thank you. So you are saying depending on the method of search, you will get two different numbers but they are a reference to the identical unit that will be compatible, with above MacBook Pro?

Crucial Agent:  For some systems yes. Some times you can look up just by the part number CT2K4G3S1067M and put it in to find it, but it is not always show any results when doing this. Normally only the servers show the actual part number. But this one is listed as compatible for your system and will work.]

So there you go this should help.
Cheers
Mark


Trying to reinstall OS X, asking for apple ID "temporarily not available"

Mavericks was the operating system, which isn't available in the app store. I was able to boot into internet recovery mode via command+option+r and reinstall the original operating system. From there I will be able to upgrade to the latest. Also, apparently the HD corruption happened because we shouldn't have tried to upgrade from Mavericks.


How to make an alias (Cmd-L) using command line?

mkalias is a binary available in a set of tools here. It can also be installed via Homebrew with brew install osxutils.

This is a SH shell script that calls AppleScript to create an alias.

I'm including the shell script here for future reference incase it goes missing from the nets.

#!/bin/sh

# make_alias
# This script takes two command-line arguments:
# 1) The name (relative or full path) of a source file or folder (directory)
# 2) The name (relative or full path) of a destination folder (directory)
# The script makes a Finder-style alias to the source file or folder
# and puts it in the specified destination folder.
#
# Cameron Hayne (macdev@hayne.net), December 2003
# Modified as suggested by Paul Russell (prussell@sonic.net), May 2006
#          to allow either file or folder as source
# Mofified to work with ".app" files, January 2007

scriptname=`basename $0`
if [ $# -lt 2 ]; then
    echo "Usage: $scriptname srcPath destPath"
    exit
fi

srcPath=$1
destPath=$2

if [ ! -e "$srcPath" ]; then
    echo "$scriptname: $srcPath: No such file or directory"
    exit
fi

# remove possible trailing slash from $srcPath
srcPath=${srcPath%/}

# set $srcType to "file" or "folder" as appropriate
if [ -d "$srcPath" ]; then
    if [ "${srcPath##*.}" == "app" ]; then
        srcType="file"
    else
        srcType="folder"
    fi
else
    srcType="file"
fi

# check if the $destPath directory exists
if [ ! -d "$destPath" ]; then
    echo "$scriptname: $destPath: No such directory"
    exit
fi

# check if we have permission to create a new file in the $destPath directory
if [ ! -w "$destPath" ]; then
    echo "$scriptname: No write permission in the directory $destPath"
    exit
fi

case $srcPath in
/*) fullSrcPath=$srcPath ;;
~*) fullSrcPath=$srcPath ;;
*)  fullSrcPath=`pwd`/$srcPath ;;
esac

case $destPath in
/*) fullDestPath=$destPath ;;
~*) fullDestPath=$destPath ;;
*)  fullDestPath=`pwd`/$destPath ;;
esac

/usr/bin/osascript > /dev/null <<EOT
tell application "Finder"
    set macSrcPath to POSIX file "$fullSrcPath" as text
    set macDestPath to POSIX file "$fullDestPath" as text
    make new alias file to $srcType macSrcPath at folder macDestPath
end tell
EOT


How can I deactivate iCloud to avoid "MobileMe Services Stopped Working" message?

Took me a few days, but found this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2992
That worked for me
Uninstalling the MobileMe Control Panel for Windows 7 and Vista
To uninstall the Control Panel, follow these steps:

Click the Start Menu.
Choose Control Panel from the Start Menu.
In Control Panel, choose Uninstall a Program, which is under the Programs section (If you are using Classic view in Windows Vista, open the Programs and Features Control Panel).
In the Programs and Features Control Panel, under the listing of Programs, select the MobileMe Control Panel.
In Windows 7, click Change. Then, click Remove from the pop-up window. In Windows Vista, click Uninstall.
Follow the onscreen directions to remove the MobileMe Control Panel.

Uninstalling the MobileMe Control Panel for Windows XP
To uninstall the Control Panel, follow these steps:

Click the Start Menu.
Choose Control Panels from the Start Menu.
In Control Panel, choose Remove a Program.
If you use Windows XP, choose Add/Remove Programs.
In the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel, under the listing of Programs, select the MobileMe Control Panel.
Click Uninstall, and follow the onscreen directions to remove the MobileMe Control Panel.


iTunes can't restore backup but I can find the specific file?

You can only restore a backup onto a version of iOS that is at least equal to the one that was used to create that backup. For instance if your old iPhone was running iOS 10.3.3, then you can only restore its backup onto another iPhone also running iOS 10.3.3, or iOS 11.

Replacement iPhones & iPads are often running a version of iOS that is several months old. You will need to update it to iOS 10.3.3 before iTunes will allow you to restore it from backup.


"Run First Aid from Recovery" while in Recovery

I think it means restart from Internet recovery. Because the disk containing the recovery partition you are running disk first aid from needs repair. So reboot while holding commandR. Give your ethernet or wifi password if needed.

This just happened to me.

edit to fix key sequence.


Missing fullscreen arrows in Mountain Lion

Are you using the same version of iTap? As this is a feature the application need to activate and implement.


That is a indicator that the Yosemite has a problem with the "boot" sector on your disk. It could be your disk needs repair.

You can confirm that opening your Console (in the utility folder) and type "Disk" in the filter window. If you now see many Disk I/O than that is the problem.

You can try using the disk repair in the Disk utility in your Utility folder.

If that did not help, you should reinstall Yosemite using (holding) the cmd+r after restart.

If the problem is still there, you need a new disk.


What is the procedure for replacing the battery on an iPhone?

iFixit has excellent text and video guides for replacing the battery on all models of the iPhone.  Here's their iPhone 4 battery replacement guide.


How to upgrade Homebrew itself (not softwares/formulas installed by it) on macOS 10.12.3?

To update homebrew itself, use:
brew update

To upgrade all packages installed using homebrew, then you have to use brew upgrade. You can check this FAQ from brew website for more details.


Which drive to I select to completely erase my system's hard drive?

One of these icons represents the hard drive (the one with gobbledygook as a name), whereas the other represents a partition inside that hard drive. Usually there's a single partition per drive, but some power users may have reasons to create more than one. If you fall into the default case of a single partition, and you intend on staying that way -- or just want to erase your personal data and don't care how the drive will look like so long as your data's not in there -- then just go ahead and format the partition (the one for which you can start the deletion process). All of your data will be gone; maybe there's also a recovery partition hidden from view, which won't be affected by this process, but it won't contain any of your personal data.


No - the functionality replaces the tap for scrolling with a tap to resume the call.

You might instead need to use spotlight to search for the contact rather than scrolling in the case you mention. Worst case is you can use the paging / "scrubbing" gesture to tap and then scroll vertically along the side of the contact application to rapidly scroll to the desired letter. For apps without this added functionalities, you must scroll or end the call and then obtain the information you need before resuming the conversation.


I purchased iTunes music and no longer want the subscription. How do I cancel my subscripition?

You can do this from your Account page in iTunes. Apple has a support page on this, see https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202039


MacBook Pro flashing folder, start up hard drive not showing in Disk Utility

What a coincidence, I just had this issue with my SSD (a month or two ago). I hope you have a backup (unlike stupid me) otherwise it will be an extreme P.I.T.A. This comes from experience involving talking to lots of Apple cutomer support representatives and many community members.

Disclaimer

I never was, and am not an Apple technician. Contact Apple support, and you might receive better instructions. My method involves lots of praying and does not contain any super-secret terminal codes. Sounds good? Let's jump right in!

!Caution!

Unplug you battery from your Mac while poking around its internals. Believe you me, I speak from experience.
Wall of text inbound.

Step 1: What is the Mac telling us?

Let's start off with the meaning of this sign. The folder with a question mark tells us that your Mac cannot find a startup folder. This can happen because of a few reasons. The next step will be pinpointing the issue.

Step 2: Determining the cause

We need to find what the issue is first to troubleshoot it. There's always the off chance that some SATA cable came loose, and you simply need to plug it back in. So make sure all the wires are plugged in firmly. There's also a chance the wire itself is damaged, so if you have a HDD enclosure try plugging the HDD into that and see if it gets recognized in disk utility. If you don't, you might want to purchase one or even buy a replacement SATA cable for your Mac. Another thing that may sound stupid but worth trying is - making sure your HDD is screwed in properly.

If you did all of that and your HDD still refuses to be recognized, we know that the problem is in the HDD itself. Here I can only think of 2 possibilities:

A damaged indexing component. In my case my volume header wasn't functioning normally. I fixed it via recovery.
A dead Hard Drive. I won't lie to you, this unfortunately seems to be your case. But never lose hope!

A word before we get our hands dirty: If you can boot into recovery (command + R) on your damaged disk, not over the internet or from another disk, there is almost no possibility of your disk being dead. Same goes for booting into safe mode (press shift on startup). So try these out first!

Step 3: Troubleshooting

You seem knowledgeable about basic recovery techniques such as: Changing the boot disk via the option key, booting into native recovery, booting from a recovery disk, booting into safe mode, etc. That's why I will not explain too much about the how to do things. Let me know if you need more detail.

By now I would assume that you have an HDD enclosure or some equivalent accessible to you. Here I can only tell you one thing: make sure you use one that is supposed to work with all HDDs, otherwise the voltage might be too low and that prevents the HDD from firing up. If you feel vibrations, that's a good sign. Now this may seem fruitless to keep checking if everything external is alright, but hear me out. In my case I first plugged my SSD in via the internal SATA cable. Did not work. I tried with an HDD enclosure lying around. Nada. I bought a new enclosure, to no avail. What was happening? The SATA cable was broken, the HDD enclosure lying around had too less voltage and the new enclosure was faulty. Anything is possible! By now the drive should have popped up in disk utility. If it has, use the verify option followed by the repair option. It usually works. If it doesn't tell me and I'll guide you through other troubleshooting techniques.

Your disk still isn't being recognized? Chances are, your HDD has failed due to defects or age. It may seem cruel to have gone through a huge answer and then end up with this conclusion, but nothing can be done here. Your best chance is to unplug your HDD ASAP, not use it and take it to a technician. If you're feeling brave and there is not much valuable data, you may try DIY data recovery (find steps for this online). If there is valuable data, screw the technician and search for a data recovery center with a good recovery rate and rush right to it. If this happens you should also check out @Allan's answer to that other question.

Other software like DiskWarrior also exist, which are more specialized than disk utility for recovery purposes. However, they still require the disk to be recognized. It basically means that if disk utility detects the disk but fails to fix it with the repair option, you can try out DiskWarrior.

Good luck!


Backup from iPhone on Linux without iTunes

Yes, you can use the libimobiledevice project to backup your iPhone.
The project website is: http://www.libimobiledevice.org
However, most Linux distributions have it available in their package managers for easy installation.
After you have libimobiledevice installed, run idevicebackup2 to take a backup of the short message and other data from the phone:
idevicebackup2 backup myfolder

where myfolder is a path to a folder, where you want to store the backup.
If you neeed to enter passwords, you'll want to run it as:
idevicebackup2 -i backup myfolder

where -i means to ask for passwords interactively.
To then browse the backup in a traditional file tree format run:
idevicebackup2 unback myfolder

or
idevicebackup2 -i unback myfolder

A thorough guide can be found at this  link.


Cannot maximize a window by simply clicking on the Photoshop CC app icon

I know you specifically asked for a system fix, but I'm going to suggest an alternative.  I can understand your frustration with the issue as I've worked with CS apps too.

With option-clicking ( ⌥ + left click ) the program icon in the dock, you toggle the entire app's windows on or off.  It leaves the current state of all open windows and their current position/size.

The click-and-hold method you're using would seem frustrating.  You can get to that quicker by just right-clicking the icon (or in case of a trackpad, 2-finger click), or you could just use the hotkey control + down ( ⌃↓ ).

To be clear, the command + M combo you're using will minimize just whatever window is focused, and the trick I mentioned earlier will not restore it - you will still have to get that back via either the Window menu or the other methods we've discussed.

Also you aren't referring to actually maximizing windows, but rather restoring them I believe.  Maximizing can occur on windows in Yosemite by option-clicking the '+' "full screen" button on a window.  There should also be a shortcut somewhere.


How do I change the output power on the OS X internet sharing wifi network?

I'm not aware of a good way to modify the radio broadcast power level on the built-in card on a Mac.  However, you may find that setting up a shared internet connection using bluetooth achieves your goal of limiting the range.

Regarding your second question, there have been previous inquiries about changing the WiFi encryption protocol on Mac Ad-Hoc networks from WEP with no results.


How can I view Image Dimensions in Finder List View?

I'm not sure about 10.6, but on 10.7 the dimensions are shown in information panels:


Distinguishing iPad with Retina Display and iPad2

The serial numbers (on the back in small print, near the bottom) will be different depending on the model. If you check this post you can write down the model number for the version you're buying, in case you're worried about getting scammed. The iPad 3 model numbers all begin with A14.


File Sharing Mac-PC results in Permission Changed and Locked Files

Thx douggro.

I've just finished solve my problem and you helped a lot. Os X Server was an easy solution. 20 minutes between download and success.

On Yosemite client I already created a groupe yesterday, that I basically called "Sharing".
With the file-sharing Options of OsX Server I had more options to set this groupe as I intended to do, and more particularly by spreading permissions to children files and folders.

OsXServer also allow you to create dedicated folder for groups which is a quite good solutions also. But didn't even needed it since the files-sharing options did really good !

So now my wife can access the server with dedicated rights, download stuff and PLEX catch newly arrived files, on the go !

Thx !


App for printing to Samba printers via iOS document sharing

Printers

I work at a school and we have a printing solution in place for iOS.  However, there is no way to print from an iOS device directly to a shared printer without a middle step unless the printer has built in support for AirPrint.

The printers at our school do not support AirPrint, so the solution that we have is as follows:

Printers are installed on the network (Existing Infrastructure)
iOS Devices would like to use the printers
Install desired printers to be used by iOS devices on a Mac and share the printers
Have an intermediate software to publish the printers, there is many out there but we use Papercut
Printers are now advertised in a Bonjour fashion
iOS devices can see the printers and print to them

The is just a general overview of how it work at my school, but the idea would be similar everywhere.

Document Sharing

The easiest way that I have found to share document on your network to iOS devices is via WebDav.  It is basically file sharing over HTTP.  You'll need some sort of Web Server to host the files and then setup a WebDav share.

Types of Web Servers could be as simple as a basic user level NAS that supports HTTP sharing (WebDav) or as complicated as having a Web Server that hosts Virtual Directories to network shares.

Once you have a WebDav server setup, the app I recommend is WebDav Navigator.  From this app you'll be able to see all the files on your Web Server that you have shared.  You can add authentication and permissions to fit your needs.

Put it all together

Once you have Printing and WebDav setup you can easily print documents from a network location, you may need a few additional apps on your iOS device. Here are some examples:

Print a PDF

Locate the PDF file in WebDav Navigator on your share.  Open the file, you may need to open with the Adobe Reader app, or another PDF reading app.  Print the PDF to your desired printer.

Print a Pages, Number, or Keynote

These 3 apps all have built in support for WebDav. Each app is much the same, so from the app itself - to save a file on WebDav Click on the share button --> Send a copy --> Choose file format --> Choose WebDav from the list --> Save it on your share

To get a Pages, Numbers, or Keynote file WebDav.  Go to the page where you can see all your Documents and Click the Plus button in the top left corner. You should see Copy From WebDav.  If you don't see it, click on the More button and you'll find it there.

Once you have the file in Pages, Numbers or Keynote, you will be able to print directly from the app to your desired printer.

Hope this helps

EDIT

Some more info about Papercut

First of all have a really good ready through the iOS setup from Papercut. It goes through step by step how to get Papercut to work on iOS devices.  The article is very good.

Papercut doesn't have an iOS app (However at our school we call it the Printing App).  It simply installs a Web Clip that links to the Papercut server.  Basically a similar site to their Web Print but shows each user their Printing Queues and print jobs that are waiting to be released etc.  Users have to be logged into this site before they will be able to print.

We also have multiple network zones.  Our are separated by vlans and you are right bonjour will not work across network zones.  The work around for up was to buy USB to Ethernet adapters / thunderbolt to Ethernet adapters and plug them into our Mac Mini. I have 5 networks on the Mac Mini all up and it works great for everyone.  As you can see this will quickly be a limitation if you have more than 6 network zones (4 USB slots, 1 thunderbolt, 1 native Ethernet - at least on my Mac Mini).  The next thing to look at would be an mDNS repeater that forwards bonjour traffic across networks.  Avahi is the main one that comes to mind but there is others.

Again, hope this helps


How to get the actual PDF icon rather than the stock one

Here is the two ways to apply an icon to a file.

  Note: To get a better view of any image shown below, click on the image or open the image in a new window.

Start with the Get Info windows for a PDF file and PNG file, as shown below.

To copy the current icon from the PNG file to the PDF file, click on the PNG file icon, as shown below.

Drag the icon and drop on the current icon for the PDF file, as shown below.

The result is shown below.

To change the PDF icon to be the preview image of the PNG file, create an image of what is shown in the Get Info window. To do this, use the Grab application to capture the selected part of the screen containing the preview. This will create the Grab window shown below. Look for the windows titled Untitled 2 - Edited.

To make this image the icon for the  PDF file, click on the image, as shown below.

Drag the image and drop on the current icon for the PDF file, as shown below.

The result is shown below.


how to fix the parallels so it won't make the cpu work in 100% and above(140%)

You could try using renice with the application/process, which allows you to adjust it's CPU priorty. There are several applications that can assist in doing this, or you can do it from the command line in Terminal.

In Terminal the syntax is:

# renice ## -p PID

where ## is priority (value from -20 to 20, -20 being HIGHEST). PID is the process ID of the application. (For more information # man renice)

So if I open Activity monitor and notice Parallels is process ID 1222 and want to lower it's burden on the CPU I would use something such as:

# renice +5 -p 1222

Several Applications (that I know of) also have the ability to do this too:

ATMonitor
QuickSilver
Appriority


(With great thanks to @Tetsujin for pointing me in the right direction)

Looking up details of the certificates, in browsers that allow doing that and in Keychain Access, showed that all the breakage was traceable to a "VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G5" which was untrusted; I haven't figured out why that was, and it wasn't prominently marked as such in KA.
Anyway, in KA I've set this cert to be "always trusted" on SSL, and everything is now loading well, though the other certs calling upon it are marked as "signed by an untrusted authority".


Macbook Pro Upgrade - 16GB RAM or 128GB SSD

RAM upgrade above 8GB if...

you do run Virtual Machines excessively because you need to allocate a lot of RAM to the virtual OS
Other than that, this will most likely not be necessary. Mac OS X operates very efficient with 8GB of RAM. If you do not run VMs, there will  be no increase in performance in most cases!

SSD upgrade if...

you want a snappier response throughout the system.
you run big programs such as Adobe or photo editing software that take long to load.
you need faster boot/shut down/sleep times.
if you carry your MBP around a lot. SSDs are very shock resistent. No mechanical parts move.
if you want a more quiet MBP.

SSDs also consume less power. But you won't notice it significantly.
Think of this:
In today's computers, the bottle-neck of processing is usually the hard drive. Processors generally need to wait for the hard drive's read/write operations which are a lot slower. Thus a faster hard drive is needed for a better overall performance in processing. RAM won't help if the needed amount is saturated.


I have a similar configuration. Two physical drives: one Mavericks, the other Mountain Lion as failsafe. When Yosemite comes out, I can leap Mountain Lion ahead.

In your primary OSX, exclude the /oldpartitionname/ (or, /oldpartitionname/Applications) from Spotlight.

Then reset "Open With" menu with Terminal:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

Your OSX will rebuild a new list of apps, within the newly defined scope.


Can macbook pro (2016) support two displays on single port?

As of today you Cannot.
We have a brand new Late 2016 Macbook Pro and 2 Apple/LG 21.5 USB-C 4K monitors. Daisy-chaining/MST does not work. We are using the monitors and nothing else with the original cables. Only way to get both to work is to connect each to individual USB-C ports on the MBP. Sad but true.


Final Cut Pro, read/write via External Hard Disk

The short answer is yes.

However, I would definitely suggest using at minimum, a USB 3 drive, but for best performance you will want a Thunderbolt drive.

To give you an idea of what the performance metrics of different interfaces are, I've compiled a quick summary:

SATA III (Internal Hard Drive) - 6Gpbs
USB 3.0 - 5Gbps
USB 2.0 - 480Mbps (or 0.48Gbps)
Thunderbolt - 10Gbps

So, while you can use pretty much any external drive, how well it performs is completely dependent on what architecture you use to connect it.  My recommendation is go with Thunderbolt.


If both of your devices are syncing to the same iCloud account, your "Blocked" contacts will sync across both devices.

This also holds true if you wipe either device and restore it with your iCloud contacts. I believe this is a contacts configuration so it comes with your contacts.

Blocked numbers on a device will block both SMS, iMessage, and calls, however last I knew if a voicemail is left it will still be received because that is a wireless company end receiver. Apple cannot block that feature as they aren't your provider.


If you've got a functioning OS on the SSD then you should be able to set this as the boot drive in System Prefs. Boot off it and then use Disk Utility to unmount the 1tb drive. Test everything with the 1tb drive unavailable. If everything works fine without it then you can remove what you want from the 1tb drive.


The Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generations) runs iOS under the hood, so it almost certainly (hard to be 100% sure without doing some substantial hacking) uses the system keychain, just like iOS on an iPhone or iPad.

I defer to someone with a more concrete knowledge of the iOS security layers, but my understanding is that like most other things on iOS, keychain access is sandboxed, so an app can only access the data that belongs to it. There are further security mechanisms in the keychain, but I don't know enough to speak about them with confidence. Based on the answers to this StackOverflow question, I think that it is possible to gain access to keychain data if you have physical access to the Apple TV, but it's not a trivial task.


Using wildcards in Find and Replace (Mac OS app)

macOS's built-in text find and replace, NSTextFinder shown below, does support wildcards available from clicking the search button and choosing Insert Pattern (⌃⌥⌘P).

Other third-party search dialogs may support regex search. For example, in Scrivener, which is developed by the same company as Scapple, you can perform a regular expression search — [0-9]{3} matches a digit 0-9 exactly 3 times.


Where are "import from iPhone" photos stored in the iPhone?

The Joe Friday Answer:

The picture was never recorded on your iPhone. That's the way the "Import" and Insert features work in Pages.
You can get your picture from the Pages document easily:

Open the document in the Preview app
control-click on the picture, then select Share, Add to Photos. From there, you can export if you wish.

The Long Answer:

As I understand your question:

You imported a picture you took on your iPhone to your Mac.
You inserted that picture into a document you created on your Mac using the Pages app.

Your question is ambiguous with respect to whether you "imported" the picture directly into the Pages app, or if you imported the picture from your phone to your Mac using some other (e.g. Photos) app.

You may ask, "Why do I say your question is ambiguous?" Part of the reason is your wording (though certainly this subject is arcane), but the main reason is that the Importfrom iPhone item in the Pages menu is only available when you have selected an image that already exists in your Pages document. If your insertion point (i-beam, whatever) is at a blank spot in the document, then the menu item is Insertfrom iPhone. At least, this is the behavior that I see - your experience may differ. And so, if one uses Pages only occasionally (as I do), one might wonder if you got this mixed up with the Import feature in Photos (which always uses the word Import. But in any case...

If you "Imported" or "Inserted" directly from iPhone to the Pages document: The picture was never recorded on your iPhone. Sorry, but this is just the way the "Import" and Insert features work in Pages; apparently that's by design.
If you imported from your iPhone to your Mac using the Photos app, then there is most certainly an option to delete from the iPhone, or to retain the image on your iPhone. If this is what you did, then you have selected the option to delete it after the import! And AFAIK, you don't get a "do-over" for that; the picture is no longer on your iPhone.

And so, as to the location of your "missing" picture, it is in one of two places:

If you imported the picture from your iPhone to your Mac using Photos, you can find it in your Photos app on your Mac, or in "iCloud" if you use that option. You can also export it from there if you like, again using the Photos app.
It exists only in your Pages document. Again, not a big Pages user, but I'd guess there is some way to save or export the picture from the document. If you can't locate a better method, a couple of fall-back approaches are:

Do a screen capture of the photo in your Pages document (commandshift5).
Open the Pages document in the Preview app. From Preview, you can control-click on the picture, and then select Share, Add to Photos to add it back to the Photos app database - where you may have expected to find it in the first place!  :)


How make changing to the /etc/hosts file take effect?

The Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client is known to show this behavior. It will reset your /etc/hosts file on reboot to the contents of /etc/hosts.ac.

If you use this VPN client, you should make your modifications to both files.

See this hint for more info.

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20111011050950471


Is there any free/paid Windows emulator for Mac OS X?

Wine
You could try Wine and use the  Winebottler frontend for installing common Windows software.
With Wine isn't 100% compatible with all windows programs, so consider yourself lucky if all your applications work.
Virtualbox
Virtualbox is a PC virtualization software. You'll need to install Windows as a "Guest operating system", which requires a Windows license.
Virtualbox is compatible with all Windows software, but has limited support for hardware 3D acceleration.
Boot Camp
For 3D games you'll need to use Boot Camp.


You can try Disk Utility. Click Verify Disk to see if the disk is faulty.

My last HD failed after a year of use. The past month has made the computer really slow. Most HD manufacturer gives out a replacement if it fails within 3 years though.


Dangers of getting replacing iPhone 6S screen replaced at third party store

If you are implying that the service guy stole or will steal your iPhone parts, they won't. Because the products they do replace it with is actually the real deal, so your parts is not more genuine than the parts you can buy from eBay or Alibaba. The iPhone is made in China, and these China factories sell these items themselves online. I bought a few products from China and compared with the broken items and they were identical.

Apple will obviously overcharge you for the same product and service, because it's Apple :P The guy on the street can't charge as much otherwise he won't get any customers, he needs to stay in the market. If he has a shop in a shopping mall, he can obviously charge more. But the products are the same, they just make more profit.

To answer your question, the only way to see if somethings been replaced is to see if the quality is the same. Check if the camera is just as good, battery lasts long, etc. Or open the phone and take before and after photos?

If you don't trust anyone, just buy the display from eBay or Alibaba (or iFixit) and fix it yourself with this guide on how to replace the display. It's really simple actually.. :)


Yes - just delete the apps from your Library on iTunes and they won't show in the list of apps that could be synced.

The long version is click on Apps in the Library, then select one or more apps and press the delete key. Answer a few dialog questions to confirm you want to delete and move the file to trash (or not) and you are done. The next sync will remove that app from your iOS devices.

Do note, that if you don't sync for a while, the iTunes could see the apps on the device as new and needing a transfer back to your library, so be sure to sync sooner or just pay attention when a "items were found on your device" dialog pops up and asks you to transfer purchases back to the library.


Could downloading Tumblr videos damage/infect Mac?

Short answer yes but probably -- no.

You should definitely keep your videos. Don't delete them because you're concerned they could contain malicious data that could trigger errors in the video codec implementations that will lead to code execution on your computer. In fact waiting for some time will lower the likelihood of getting infected since any attack vectors will be invalidated in newer versions of codecs/applications. Keep your video players up to date. Don't use unsupported software which is not receiving updates.

If you like to still download and watch those cute movies and have a better conscience I would propose you install VirtualBox and a simple linux distribution for watching and downloading and have backups from your movies. Should that virtual system be infected by whatsoever thingie, just delete that virtual system and install a new one. Infecting a virtual system AND breaching the Hypervisor (the technique that drives virtual box, vmware et al.) is not very likely.

And remember to have BACKUPS! Then you are quite on the safe side. Let there be cat videos.

Adding to this, it may be also possible to share your media on your local network and watch it with guarded devices / OSs like an iPad running a non jailbroken recent system.

Some notes about downloads:

Downloading a file will not infect your system unless it is run or interpreted (like displaying a JPEG oder a Video or running javascript code). So browsing a site may infect your system, since the web-browser will interpret all kind of files not just the desired video. You could use a web scraper like jDownloader or something else to just download stuff from a given URL. My opinion is they do less interpretation. But who knows.


Copy audio files to iPhone without using iTunes?

Yes, it is possible however Apple seems to have gone to great lengths to try to prevent you from doing this. Especially if you meant without the use of any sort of app on the PC at all, as if it were simply a disk drive in explorer.

That, I believe, is not possilble/practical without first jailbreaking your phone. If you do not have iOS 8 and you have not jailbroken your phone, I would suggest that you do while you still are able to and while it is a simple "one-button" process. While Pangu recently released a jailbreak for iOS 8, it is reportedly still a bit buggy so I would wait a bit if you have iOS 8. You would jailbreak your iPhone by downloading the pangu app on your PC from http://en.pangu.io/

However, if you don't want to jailbreak but you don't want to use iTunes, there are a number of different "replacements" for iTunes. Many people even go so far as to completely remove iTunes from their system as well.

Media Monkey is a rather full-featured replacement for iTunes that can do a number of things that iTunes can or will not. I personally liked MM when I was using it a year or two ago. They support Android as well.  You can download it at http://www.mediamonkey.com/download/

Another option is called iFunbox. They recently revamped their software but luckily they deigned to keep the older version, calling it iFunbox classic. Here's a quote from their website about it."

  With iFunBox Classic included, you can still manage files on your iDevice with no jailbreak needed. Here's some basic features:

  • Safe ipa package installation and easy access to files and resources in app sandbox. Learn More
  • Use your device as portable USB disk with hi-speed transmission beyond 20MB/s on iPhone and iPad.
  • Import and export songs, videos, photos and ringtones with iFunBox quick toolbox.

You can find iFunbox at http://www.i-funbox.com/

Hope this helps.


macos: How would I find the top fastest growing files and directory

Easy and free is the How to free up storage space on your Mac guide

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206996

Make a screen shot of the two top images once a day for three days running or once a week, you can see growth and then know where to focus your cleanup efforts. DaisyDisk is nice, too but start for free is my advice.

If you like command line tools, ncdu is the ticket and https://brew.sh is a popular option to get it and other similar tools installed and patched over time.


How to specify group id for a user-defined group

You can still use Workgroup Manager on Mountain Lion.  You just have to download it and install it.
You can also do it using command line tools, but since you're used to Workgroup Manager, just use that.
Added May 2018:
In later versions of OS X, you can edit the group IDs directly from the System Preferences → Users & Groups control panel. Ctrl-click the group name and select "Advanced Options..." from the popup menu. That will display a form that lets you change the group ID (as well as the group name and the group UUID). Be careful though, as this just lets you change the mapping of number to name. Any resource associated with group ID 1025, for example, will still belong to group 1025, even if you change the group name associated with that ID. Which resources are associated with a group by ID, which by name, and which by UUID, I do not know.


dsenableroot -u $ADMIN_USERNAME -p $ADMIN_PASSWORD -r $ROOTSNEWPASSWORD

replace the variables with your admin username and password as well as the password you desire for root.  At that point, you could sudo as the admin user or just su - and use the root password you set to become root.

In the end, you'll want to either configure sudo to allow the commands you use often from your non-admin account or get used to typing the root password when needed.


No search results at all in the iOS App Store

Are you certain that there are no stray characters in the Search box? Try clicking the x at the far right of the Search box and repeating your search.


Go to System Preferences > Date and Time and uncheck Set date and time automatically. Close System Preferences, then reopen and re-check Set date and time automatically


Can't pair JBL Flip 3 to MacBook Pro 13" running macOS 10.12.5

First of all I would check with JBL Support for any known issues, updates, compatibility, etc.

On the MBP side of things you could try resetting both the macOS Bluetooth Device List and Bluetooth Controller and pairing your JBL Flip 3 first. However, this will reset all connected Bluetooth devices, including a keyboard and mouse.

In other words, this will remove all existing pairing information for Bluetooth devices, so each will need to be reconnected.

I have some steps you can follow, but I strongly suggest you read all of the steps first before commencing (or perhaps print out the instructions / view them on another device).

Before starting, ensure you have the Bluetooth icon showing in the menu bar. If it is not there, open System Preferences > Bluetooth and enable the option Show Bluetooth in Menu Bar.

Once done, follow these steps:

Hold down both the Shift and Option keys and at the same time click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar. Once the menu is showing, release the keys.
From the Bluetooth menu, choose Debug > Remove All Devices
Hold down both the Shift and Option keys again and at the same time click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar.
From the Bluetooth menu,  choose Debug > Reset the Bluetooth Module
Shutdown your Mac
Ensure your JBL Flip 3 is fully powered off
Restart your Mac
On your Mac, click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar
Select the Set Up Bluetooth Device option
Now ensure your JBL Flip 3 is in pairing mode (i.e. press the power button for at least 3 seconds until you see the blue flashing light)
Once the Setup Assistant finds the Flip 3, select it from the list and click on “Continue”.
Now pair your speaker
If you have any other Bluetooth devices, you can go ahead and pair them now (or you can do it later). However, the point is to pair the JBL Flip 3 first before any other Bluetooth devices!


How to dump the content of keychain from the shell?

There is Keychaindump tool written by Juuso Salonen which is a proof-of-concept tool for reading OS X keychain passwords as root.

Basic usage:

$ sudo ./keychaindump ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain

Example output:

$ sudo ./keychaindump
[*] Searching process 15 heap range 0x7fa809400000-0x7fa809500000
[*] Searching process 15 heap range 0x7fa809500000-0x7fa809600000
[*] Searching process 15 heap range 0x7fa809600000-0x7fa809700000
[*] Searching process 15 heap range 0x7fa80a900000-0x7fa80ac00000
[*] Found 17 master key candidates
[*] Trying to decrypt wrapping key in /Users/juusosalonen/Library/Keychains/login.keychain
[*] Trying master key candidate: b49ad51a672bd4be55a4eb4efdb90b242a5f262ba80a95df
[*] Trying master key candidate: 22b8aa80fa0700605f53994940fcfe9acc44eb1f4587f1ac
[*] Trying master key candidate: 1d7aa80fa0700f002005043210074b877579996d09b70000
[*] Trying master key candidate: 88edbaf22819a8eeb8e9b75120c0775de8a4d7da842d4a4a
[+] Found master key: 88edbaf22819a8eeb8e9b75120c0775de8a4d7da842d4a4a
[+] Found wrapping key: e9acc39947f1996df940fceb1f458ac74b877579f54409b7
xxxxxxx:192.168.1.1:xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx@gmail.com:login.facebook.com:xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx@gmail.com:smtp.google.com:xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx@gmail.com:imap.google.com:xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx:twitter.com:xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx@gmail.com:www.google.com:xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx:imap.gmail.com:xxxxxxx
...

Other tools:

CocoaBeans/KeychainDump at GitHub
dumpkeychain from EnCase App Central (Windows)

See also:

Breaking into the OS X keychain
Examining Mac OS X User & System Keychains
Convert OS X Keychain exported entries into logins for 1Password import at GitHub Gist


MacBook Pro 15" Early 2011, top right corner of the screen getting too hot

First the Sleep

use Pmset -g in Terminal to find out what is keeping it awake (publish here)

second the HOT ! as rule of thumb anything above 50 Dgr Celsius would be hot for us, anything above 60 Dgr Celsius we almost can not touch.

However, your computer can handle that with no problem.

If you want to do more try running the Apple Hardware test to see if it comes with anything.

Press D during startup  Start up in Apple Hardware Test (AHT).


Transferring iTunes library from an old HDD

You're looking in the wrong place. You will need to drill down into the old drive from the top… D drive (or whatever letter it has) Users\your old user name\ Music\iTunes. Copy or move to the same relative location in your new C drive.
Install iTunes afresh. It should then find it automatically.

You can't launch an app that wasn't installed on your current C drive, as it doesn't know where to look for additional libraries needed to run. Once you've installed it correctly on your new computer you should be fine.


This is not something I do myself, so I am not certain of the safety of it, however…

Right click the .pvm file & Open With - Parallels Mounter

This will give you access to the drive contents, including write access.


To use internet recovery you will have to format your boot drive using disk utility ⌘r. After you have formatted the drive you will be able to boot into internet recovery ⌘^r. That will allow you to downgrade back to lion. I hope that this helps.


Deleting files with applescript messes up Finder's CoverFlow

have a look:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/23487157#23487157

or

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5471251

Its an issue from Mavericks (Finder)


Unable to launch automations via NFC tags on iPhone 11

Turns out I was in Airplane mode, and the NFC chip is not enabled in the background when in Airplane mode.
The reason other NFC functions work (e.g. write, Apple Pay, etc) is because there is an explicit NFC foreground UI present, which turns on the chip even when in airplane mode.
Unfortunately, this means you cannot have an NFC tag turn off airplane mode, for example.


How to stop Time Machine backing up log files inside application containers?

I had a similar need and using a combination of this answer and this answer I came up with the following solution.

Create a property list (e.g. ~/Library/LaunchAgents/excludeLogFiles.plist) which will be loaded with launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/excludeLogFiles.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>excludeLogFiles</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/bin/zsh</string>
    <string>-c</string>
    <string>tmutil addexclusion /Users/user/Library/Containers/**/Data/Library/Logs</string>
  </array>
  <key>WatchPaths</key>
  <array>
    <string>/Users/user/Library/Containers</string>
  </array>
</dict>
</plist>

Instead of using EnableGlobbing, which hasn't been supported since OS X 10.10 (ref), the path gets expanded by the program calling /bin/zsh <args>.

A couple of things I found while experimenting:

The ** glob works with zsh but not bash
Using ~ should work in the path for ProgramArguments but I don't know if the same trick can be used for WatchPath. Hard-coding the user path might be necessary.


How can I programatically fill a flash drive with my latest photos from iPhoto?

I have written a script to do this for you. It is available here. It works with system Ruby (1.8.6 in Lion) with no external dependencies. This is how you use it (also included in the README):

  This script looks for an iPhoto '11 album data file in

~/Pictures/iPhoto Library/AlbumData.xml

  This is the standard place for iPhoto to store the album data file, so
  it's very likely you have it here if you have iPhoto.

  Recommended use for the script is to copy it to wherever you wish to
  backup the files to, then invoke it on the command line:

$ruby iphoto.rb

  This will scan the album data file, sort the photos by date, newest
  first, then copy them to the desired destination until the drive is
  full. Alternatively, you can manually specify the path you wish to
  copy to as an argument parameter, in case you want to store the script
  somewhere else:

$ruby iphoto.rb /Volumes/Backup

  This script was written with exactly one user in mind; that is why it
  has no other options.

  I have tested this on exactly one iPhoto library: mine. It works for me, but YMMV.
  The number in front of the files is the "DateAsTimerInterval" value from the album data file. I don't know how to convert it to a "real" date, but sorting by it does sort chronologically, so it's good enough for the purposes of this script.


16 gb RAM specs for mid 2012 macbook pro

A simple answer: PC3-12800 , or to be more specific, a DDR3-1600MHz 204 PIN SODIMM.

DMS Sells a 16GB kit, as does Crucial and OWC.


The next thing is to determine if all network downloads are broken on your Mac or just Apple downloads.

It's possible you have a bad external network route or the networking settings on the Mac are substantially different than the PC. It could also be as simple as the date / time are wrong on the Mac or some other thing that is breaking SSL/HTTPS/TLS or whatever secure connection the Mac is negotiating with the download server.

Is there a reason you aren't using the App Store to do the download? Perhaps bad speeds or remote / heavily filtered internet in your country?


Preview Fails to render zoom properly for large png

I would try to open the image in a brand new user account, you can set that up in System Preferences > Users & Groups or just use the Guest account. If you see different results here it must be something in your profile interfering with Preview.

But I'm betting the preview developers didn't account much for people opening 49MB, 32kx32k images. In the likely chance that this is a genuine glitch you could quickly report it at https://www.apple.com/feedback/ or sign up for a developer account & do a full bug report over at https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/.

In the short term I would recommend trying to use a different application to view this. A browser or photo editing application might be a good fit. For an image like this there is also a good chance that JPEG would more efficiently compress it & cause less issues, maybe look into converting it with Photoshop or similar.


Can I know if an email recipient downloaded a mail dropped file in Mail.app?

This information is not available without asking the recipient.


What is the minimum partition size for Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite?

I have run Mavericks/Yosemite on a 64 GB SD card and after a clean install, there was about 20-30 GB free.

I would say that you could install Yosemite on a 20 GB partition, but I would not recommend anything less than 30 GB.


Install the wakeonlan package using Homebrew:
$ brew install wakeonlan
(It's a Perl script for waking up computers via Wake-On-LAN magic packets.)
When installed, you can send a "magic packet" from your Terminal to any device using its IP (Internet Protocol) and MAC (Media Access Control) address.
Here's an example of a typical use:
$ wakeonlan -i 192.168.1.255 -p 1234 01:02:03:04:05:06
The scripts takes 2 arguments, the MAC address of the NIC, and an IP address.

Note: The IP address argument is tricky and isn't what you'd think.
For a NIC on your local subnet, use the broadcast-address of this subnet. (e.g. subnet 192.168.10.0 with netmask 255.255.255.0, use 192.168.10.255)

For example, I have a Synology NAS manually configured with the IP address of 10.0.1.100 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and a router address of 10.0.1.1.
The correct IP address to use is not that of the device, but instead the broadcast-address of the subnet.
Continuing on my example, I used the following command to successfully wake up my Synology:
$ wakeonlan -i 10.0.1.255 -p 7 01:02:03:04:05:06
(Naturally, substitute the actual values of your device and network for your situation.)
You can get more information from the wakeonlan man page, man makeonlan, or a quick glossary of commands from wakeonlan -h.


shimo l2tp vpn not connecting to racoon daemon

try

  sudo killall racoon

in Terminal and then run Shimo again


Can I safely delete three icloud drive (archive) folders that take almost 80GB of storage?

When you turn off iCloud syncing - everything that was in the location for syncing gets moved here.

When you have syncing enabled - the location where newly created (not yet saved to the cloud) files get written is:

~/Library/Mobile Documents

That location also keeps copies of cloud backed files present locally while you have space on the Mac. Over time, if you start running low on space, they get deleted from the local cache and only exist as stub files that cause the actual files to be downloaded from iCloud.

You have several versions of archive since you have turned off syncing several times. You can merge the contents of the folders or just delete as fits your needs.

I use Kaleidoscope app to compare folders / merge these but there are other tools that work if you don’t want to do it by hand.


What features in iOS 7 make a difference?

Within Messages.app, you can (finally!) check on the exact time every message was sent and received by swiping message bubbles to the left.

source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/18/4741412/the-best-hidden-features-in-ios-7


Moving an iMovie-11 'work in progress' moving from one system to another

Accessing DVD drives

Under System Preferences > Sharing you can share the DVD drive of B with A.

This should allow you to use the DVD burner on B as though it were a part of A, so you can just keep working on A.

Import / Export

You mention iLife, but not what program in iLife you are using, nor what you are doing with that program, so it is difficult to suggest an export/import method.

Moving 'Work in Progress'

Your question is about accessing a DVD drive, but your title is more generic.

If you want to move work in progress between two computers, you can use a variety of techniques, including, for example, DropBox, USB drives, shared folders over wireless or wired intranet or internet, etc.


Is there a way to use punctuation in Siri dictation?

http://howto.cnet.com/how-to-make-siri-use-punctuation/8301-11310_39-20124379-285.html

To get Siri to use punctuation, you only need to speak the punctuation during the composition of your message. For example:

  Hi comma how are you question mark did you see the game last night
  exclamation point question mark.

Speaking that exact line to Siri would equate to the following message:

  Hi, how are you? Did you see the game last night!?


On a mac, how can I force-close a window of an app (NOT the app itself)?

To press a button in a dialog using a keyboard shortcut, press Command, followed by the first letter of the action you wish to trigger. The exception to this rule is if the action you wish to activate will delete a file or changes thereto, in which case the shortcut is Command-delete.

To force-close a window, you'd need to automate the correct series of key presses using AppleScript or something similar. The first key combination would likely be Command-W (though not even this is entirely universal). However, the dialog shortcuts vary by application—older versions of Microsoft Word don't comply with the Command-delete behavior (they use Command-D), while Automator's save sheets can often only be closed through mouse input. You would have to tailor this behavior to the specific applications in which you're interested. Such an AppleScript might look something like this (though be warned, triggering Command-delete without knowing the context is an easy way to accidentally delete files and large swathes of text):

tell application "System Events"
    keystroke "w" using {command down} -- Command-W
    delay 0.5 -- Wait for the dialog to appear
    key code 51 using {command down} -- Command-delete
end tell

To tie an AppleScript to a keyboard shortcut:

Open Automator (Applications > Utilities > Automator) and create a new Service (optionally, configure it just to run in the applications you want).
Add a "Run AppleScript" block in which you write your AppleScript.
Open System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.
Create a new shortcut, where the "Menu Title" is the title you gave your Service (again, you can tie this shortcut just to the applications to which your Service applies). The keyboard shortcut you enter here is the one you can use to trigger your "force close" behavior.

You could create multiple services, each one with the same keyboard shortcut but in different applications, corresponding to the unique behavior of each.


Analyze and store statistics for my Internet connectivity over time?

I maintain a script that chooses a random server that's known to respond to pings, and performs 100 pings (one second apart). I run this script by hand as a first indicator to determine if I'm having a connectivity or signal quality problem.

The ping command I use is ping -c 100 [server-hostname]

I chose hostnames for my script that were known to respond to ping at the time that I wrote the script, and I tried to keep the list geographically diverse (for example by using university web servers). But this sort of technique requires maintenance, because servers don't consistently allow ping (server configurations change over time), and things like hosted servers disrupt the geographic diversity issue.

I would think that Automator might be a better fit for this sort of task than Instruments, although if you're adept with scripting (shell, python, perl, etc), you could write a script to do it and use much less memory.

As for your situation, the source(s) of failure should dictate what kind of connectivity testing you do. The problem could be due to a piece of hardware within your home/office that needs to be periodically reset, or even replaced. The ping test I describe above doesn't necessarily isolate the source of the problem.

Edit: and to address analysis/graphing, you could perform a ping test at a regular interval (every # minutes), export the packet loss percentage data in a format such as comma-separated values, and use a spreadsheet program to graph the results.


RSYNC recursive over Time Machine Backups identify unique files

Modifying Time Machine back-ups directly is difficult. Time Machine uses hard links and other tricks to work. So probably best to try and reconstruct the contents on a new drive.

I would divide the problem into parts:

Fix the folder names
Merge the folder contents

Renaming

You can automate the renaming of files and folders matching specific patterns. See Rename multiple files by replacing a particular pattern in the filenames using a shell script for a collection of approaches.

You could also use AppleScript or Automator for this task, if you need more involved logic.

Merging

rsync is probably a good starting point for extracting the contents from the Time Machine drive:

which is the rsync command to «smartly» merge two folders?
Synchronizing folders with rsync

If rsync does not quite provide enough for your needs, consider unison.

unison is designed to keep folders synchronised, with the merging taking care to ensure the destination contains only the latest files. Unison can be used on local folders.


How to restore disabled iPad not visible in Finder on Catalina?

I gave up and recycled that $400 doorstop.
Thank you apple. But no thanks for bricking my 4 quids.


Extract wallpapers from macOS installation CDs or disk images without installation

I admit this answer may be a little presumptuous of me.

Assuming I'm reading between the lines correctly, if all you're wanting to do is grab a copy of the macOS desktop background image from an earlier version of macOS, these are readily available from many websites.

For example, you can download 5K versions of these images at Every Default macOS Wallpaper – in Glorious 5K Resolution.

NOTE: I am not affiliated in any way with the website above.

[UPDATE}

After discussion with the OP it was established that what they were after were all the original desktop background pictures from Mac OS X versions 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8 and 10.9.

On the off chance anyone else will want/need these, I have uploaded a .zip file containing all of these in their original unaltered state. After clicking on the link just click on the button representing the download option you want (slow v turbo).

NOTE: The file was uploaded to uploadfiles.io at the request of the OP. I have no affiliation with this service.


Generally speaking you can remove Mac OS menus like that by Command dragging the menu off the menu bar (EG hold the Command key, click the menu and drag it down)

Tetsujin's suggestion also holds merit as the settings applied in Onyx can be unapplied in Onyx by clearing the check box and then applying the change.


You could try to achieve this functionality with an application like "Afloat" as you mentioned already. But it seems to only work in El Capitan if you permanently turn off System Integrity Protection (SIP) which isn't recommended.

However, here is the link to the program: https://github.com/millenomi/afloat

How to turn off SIP: https://github.com/millenomi/afloat/issues/22


Best webcam to use with Skype and a Mac mini?

Most modern USB webcams support a generic interface called UVC (Universal Video Class). OSX supports most UVC drivers out-of-the-box (true for me in Snow Leopard) so sometimes there aren't even any third-party drivers to install. (In fact, most third-party webcam "drivers" only install useless add-ons that bloat your system.)

Logitech is very good at providing compliant UVC devices, so they're a good starting point.

I have a Logitech C525, and it works great at 720p with its built-in microphone, using both Skype and Facetime. No additional drivers required.. plug-and-play!

Older webcams that do not support UVC will require drivers of course. Furthermore, super-new UVC devices may require an extension that OSX doesn't yet handle, obviously drivers are inevitable.

If you want a list of UVC-supported devices, see the Linux UVC page. (Yes, I know Linux != OSX, but this list can be used as a starting point of other brands you can try.)


Does "Not Connected" state of Bluetooth/Wi-Fi drain my iPhone battery?

Short answer: Yes it does!

It would be wrong to say that Not Connected status does not drain the battery at all. However, the drain rate is significantly less as the device is not connected to any access point (for Wi-Fi) and Bluetooth radio doesn't consume much battery anyways.
In iOS 11, it is not possible to completely turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from the Control Centre. It could only be done from within the Settings app.

Quoting from the Apple Support document, Use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in Control Center with iOS 11

  About Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

  In iOS 11 and later, when you toggle the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth buttons in Control Center, your device will immediately disconnect from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth accessories. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will continue to be available, so you can use these important features:

  AirDrop
  AirPlay
  Apple Pencil
  Apple Watch
  Continuity features, like Handoff and Instant Hotspot
  Instant Hotspot
  Location Services

Thus, it is apparent that battery draining will still happen. However, the device disconnects from Wi-Fi access point and Bluetooth accessory.


Clear cached frameworks to reload OSX UI (graphics only)

If you're looking to re-label parts of OS X, the file you would want to modify is Localizable.strings. Within each language, or the current language of your OS, for instance, en.lproj/Localizable.strings for English, modify the necessary strings. It is necessary to only restart the app for it to take effect.

If you're looking to change the theme of OS X, there used to be various apps that could do it. For Yosemite, the only one I know of is Flavours 2. It includes various themes, and you can also make your own.

http://flavours.interacto.net

For menu bar icons, there are a few menu bar icon packs, like the following;

http://aaronolive.deviantart.com/art/Menu-bar-Icons-OS-X-Mavericks-10-9-x-406393600

though I'm not aware of any apps that work with Yosemite that allow you to change them automatically. You would need to find the correct folder to place the icons, like Yourapp.app/Resources/.


Turn on/off of the Airplane mode in the Settings.app or Control Center makes it fast to flush the DNS cache.


Mounted encrypted disk images are accessible by other users

Yes, it is normal.

You can use the procedure given here and use mount options based on label to protect your volume.

You can also use access rights to control what can be seen or not if the file system supports permissions (you can change the owner and access rights of the files according to your needs using Finder or command line).


Is there any free solution to convert a SWF video to an iPhone/iPad compatible format?

Because the video is buried inside a full SWF file you won't be able to convert it -- it's much like if you had a Mac app that happens to play a built-in video: you're effectively trying to convert the app to a video, two very different kinds of things.

Instead you'll need to extract the video. You can use a task-specific extrator, and since you asked for a free way to do it, I suggest the Flaex app. There are a couple of other paid extractors for the Mac including Flash Decompiler and SWF Decompiler. I don't have first-hand experience with any of the extractors so I can't specifically recommend one.

The other possible not-free way to extract the video is by opening the swf file with the full Adobe Flash Pro, or have someone do it for you. Note that Adobe provides a fully-functional 30-day trial, so at least in the short-term it's a free option as well.


As commented by @aglasser to fix the Cam not working simply:

Open Terminal.app; and
Run: sudo killall VDCAssistant

In order to resolve another similar issue with the built-in Microphone:

Open Terminal.app; and
Run: sudo killall coreaudio


transfer video file to iphone from macbook over shared internet connection

[Not a full answer; not re CLI]
I don’t know if the transfer is possible in a useful manner, but look at iExplorer from Macroplant & especially its feature to use device as USB drive. Whatever limitations exist to this (e.g., no root directory access) would suggest to me that those limitations are fundamental to iOS.


Changing desktop background in OS X 10.8 only changes it for the current desktop space

Seems like if you set the first desktop to the picture you want and then go to each space and right click on the desktop and select "Change Desktop Background" it changes that desktop's background to the background of Desktop 1.

YMMV: This in  10.8.1, pretty sure it wasn't like that before (in 10.8).


The easiest way is to hook up an Airport Express with audio cables to your external multimedia player, or Apple TV. Then you can stream iTunes directly to either of these devices - the functionality is built-in to iOS 4 and works awesome!


Is "keyboard paint wear on screen" a real thing?

I would say three things.

The most likely cause of any discoloration would be hand grease that transfers via physical contact. That can happen when you have it closed and something is weighted (book or hand) holding the screen glass on the keyboard. Backpacks and briefcases also are excellent ways to compress the gap between glass and keyboards.
Wear is more likely over many commute sessions than one time “hot” contact, but I probability wouldn’t tell Your buyer they’re “dead wrong” if you want them to negotiate.
There is an anti glare coating that will wear due to cleaning with solvents and not water as well as with wear over time.

Totally your call on if you cleaned it - some people can’t care less about minor scratches and imperfections - others feel they need a brand new machine when they buy used. I have seen this to be very excessive where the $150 is basically you splitting the $300 repair to get new glass installed and others where you can’t even tell this unless you have special lighting, look carefully from an off angle.

Taking good cell phone photos of the display when lit and black would be a good thing before you send out the mac for inspection if you think the buyer might care about this. Also, you might ask the buyer - hey, how hot do you think the glass got for this? The physics here has nothing to do with heat and all to do with bending and friction and wear patterns.


Why does my iPhone still think I have 7gb of pictures on it even after I deleted all of them?

Make sure to look in the recently deleted album. They stay there for 30 days unless you go in there and delete them permanently.


My iPad is in English but apps are in Russian. Why?

I just had the same problem and I solved it. My iPhone apps were very often in German but my iPhone was in Swedish. The problem is: I believe that your iPad's secondary language is set to Russian (Apps display in the first language they find on your list for which they have a localization included). So I believe that if you change your secondary language you should have apps in your desired language. To change secondary language, go to Settings > General > International > Language and choose whatever language you want (presumably English in your case) as secondary language. Then, when the language is set, switch back to your original language and you shall be all set.


The latter half of your question, adjusting keyboard backlight from ambient light, can be achieved in System Preferences → Keyboard → Adjust keyboard brightness in low light.

This won't adjust the backlight if you manually adjust the screen brightness. If you don't use the ambient light sensor for the display, you can use some hook on the increase/decrease brightness keys to also press the backlight brightness keys at the same time, using an app such as Keyboard Maestro. Otherwise, you can use Keyboard Maestro with some loop to get the display brightness on regular intervals and set the backlight brightness appropriately.


In /Applications/Utilities/ run Terminal.app, then type this command:

syslog |grep -i "Wake reason"

What do you see?

The codes listed here might give you a clue as to what is going on: http://osxdaily.com/2010/07/17/why-mac-wakes-from-sleep/


Update and Jailbreak iPhone 4 IOS 4.3 to IOS 5.0

I was having same problem while updating iPhone 4 from 4.3.3 to iOS 5.0 and then i got the solution.
Updated my itunes but updating to ios 5.0 was not possible as apple is not signing 5.0 so i downloaded ios 5.0.1 and use sn0wbreeze to build custom ipsw put my iPhone in dfu mode and shift restore my iphone through itunes.
Bingo i was updated on i0s 5.0.1 with preserving baseband and then i used gevey ultra sim for unlock.
Hope this helps.


How can I get a timezone set automatically according to location service?

Launch System Preferences. Select "Date & Time", then open the "Time Zone" panel. (If necessary, authenticate as Administrator to unlock.) Click in the checkbox to turn on "Set time zone automatically using current location"


Open Finder window from current Terminal location?

Typing open . in Terminal will open the current working directory in a Finder window.


This is probably connected with a "reply to"-address provided with the email you received. For example, many companies use this when sending automatic generated e-mail from an address that doesn't receive e-mails. When you reply to such mail, your application checks if there is a "reply to"-address provided in the message's head, and if it is, it will choose that for your reply over the senders address. If your mail was not from a company but from a friend, this could be a bug or mistake in his mail application, maybe he provided such a reply-to-address to. Some applications do this when a feature to collect all mail in a single inbox is chosen. If none of these apply, you should check the authenticity of the sender's address, and maybe talk to him on the mail you received, as this could also be a sign of spam messages.


Detect application focus event using applescript

A simple solution, using AppleScripts immanent capacities

[I am a little ashamed to admit that due to an "unhappy localisation" I did not realise there is a perfectly suitable way to make AS-scripts repeat periodically. The English term "Stay Open Application" in its German version ominously re-translates to "Display after run-handler". ]
(I will leave parts of my workaround solution at the bottom, because of its own merit.)

This …

on idle
tell application "System Events"
    if frontmost of process "TextEdit" is true then ¬
        tell application "name_of_simulator" to activate
    return 2  -- this number tells System at what intervals to execute
end tell
end idle

… is really all you need.
Save this code in ScriptEditor, check "Stay Open" application (or similar) and run the app.
(Close ScriptEditor if you like.)

  "Working solution" to detect change of frontmost
  application
  [ … ]     AppleScript's
  problem is the "timing"…           <==
          WRONG !!!

  In order to display my current workspace's index in the right-side
  menu bar (as in older OSX versions: [2]) I use –and recommend!–
  Mat Ryer's app "BitBar" that lets you place any script in
  its plugins folder. Their names, e.g. "workspace.2s.sh", cleverly
  determine the interval between executions of the script:
  "2s" denoting every two seconds (minutes, hours, days…).

  #!/bin/bash _/¯ osascript /Users/userName/.config/bitbar/Workspace.app calls a script that
  compares my desktop picture to a stored list and so returns my
  workspace number.


Can't restore closed Safari tabs on Catalina!

At the top of the Safari page is a History Menu item. When you open that it should list the most recent sites you have visited. You may be able to recover them one at a time by clicking on each site. If no sites are listed I'd look for the plist file and edit it to see what is in it. I think TextEdit will open plist files. If not try Xcode.


ios https incommunicado: Installing PEM certificate

AirDrop profiles and certificates to iOS works in general.
If the file you send isn’t accepted you might have to prepare a proper configuration profile and sign that to embed arbitrary unsigned or self-signed certs.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209435


Boot Camp will not allow removing Windows 8 partition

Maybe there is a way to get this working but I and some technicians haven't found it. BootCamp got me hard headaches some times.

The fastest way would be to make a backup of your Macintosh HD (create a disk image) and partition the whole drive. Delete all partitions, apply, then create a new one and apply. Be sure to set the partition type to GUID.


Change font size for PDF Text comments in Preview

You have to use defaults write in a slightly differently way with Preview and other sandboxed apps.

Using defaults write com.apple.Preview ... modifies (or creates) a plist file in ~/Library/Preferences.

As pointed out, that's not where Preview saves (or looks for) its preference file, which is in a nested subfolder of ~/Library/Containers instead.

To modify the correct plist, use: defaults write -app Preview ...

You'll need to make sure you have the correct key, too. I have the following keys in my Preview plist:

"PVAnnotationFontSize_12" = 10;
"PVAnnotationFontSize_17" = 10;
"PVAnnotationFontSize_5" = "11.99199";
"PVAnnotationFontSize_6" = 10;

However, modifying those does not change the text size for either Annotations or Notes. Annotations seem to keep the last settings used. Notes don't seem to be editable in the UI.

Also, note that you don't need to use grep to read a specific plist key. E.g. defaults read com.apple.Preview PVAnnotationFontSize_5

EDIT: Having probed into the plist data and the text strings within the Preview app itself, I'm not convinced that there is an editable key for the font size or style in Preview's Notes.


Port 9000 apache returns access forbidden

To get vdebug (or any php debugger client) to work, you don't visit port 9000 in your browser. That's the port that vdebug and xdebug use to talk to each other. You just need to visit the URL as normal.

The process is this:

Start vdebug with F5 (default)
Visit the URL that you want to debug, but add the query parameter XDEBUG_SESSION_START=1 (e.g. http://localhost/~subhojit/phpwebsite?XDEBUG_SESSION_START=1)
Go back to vim - a connection will have been made if both xdebug and vdebug were configured correctly

Hope this helps.


Troubleshooting an iPhone 4 connected to wifi, but can't connect to the internet

Go to Settings, then Network. Select your network. Click the accessory button to see the network settings.

If you don't have an IP address, scroll down and tap "Renew Lease".

If you have an IP address that is a 168... number, it means you are not getting an IP address from the school's server. You'll need to contact their sysadmins.

Hope this helps.


Standalone Flash player app for swf -files

Did you already visit Adobe?

Adobe provides a standalone Flash Player: Flash Player Projector 16.0.
Additional also debugger versions are available as well as older versions.

Originally it was meant for Flex and Flash developers.

Example: Starting a flash game


The Finders function "All my Files" will show you all files that are saved on your hard drive.

If you delete them they are deleted. How ever, your email could download them again from the email server (like gmail) if you kept them there.


External Monitor is detected but displays black screen on MBP 15" 2017

While I'm not sure what you mean by a controller board (is it a video card or a dock?), Here's a few tips to try.

Test the cable against other cables and inputs. I recently had a mini display cable go bad when it wasn't that old.

Consider connecting the cable directly to the monitor if you are passing it through other devices (IF Thunderbolt > External HD > Monitor, INSTEAD Thunderbolt > Monitor).

You could try resetting the NVRAM which would help your mac relearn your monitor. (Command Option P R after a cold 'Shutdown'). Google this for your specific OS.

Typically, I find a black screen when the resolution of the mac is set too high for the monitor or the refresh rate is incorrect. Match what you know what your graphic card can handle to the limitation of the monitor. If the mac's display setting are vauge, there is a utility called SwitchResX that might be helpful. You can specify the resolution of your monitor and customize it with resolutions, color profiles and shortcuts. It's free to try with some nagware or feature limitations.


Short Answer: No

Longer Answer:
Apple does not support and even don't know how to merge 2 Apple IDs/Account. But on your local iPhone you can hold all the Data if you only switch the iMessage ID afaik. iMessages are only hold for 14 Days in the Apple Account and are not/nerver longer stored at Apple (claims Apple)

So moving iMessages to another account without Dataloss - No
Keep old Messages on the same Phone (or Backup) - Yes


Can I run multiple instances of Skype on one computer?

multiple copies of Skype can only run under separate user accounts, making for some unfortunate but not critical overhead. create another user account on your Mac, either business or personal. then from the other one, open Terminal and do:

$ su - [your other username]
$ /Applications/Skype.app/Contents/MacOS/Skype &

after which you can close the terminal.

edit: after running this after a bit, i should note that you will run into fun issues like separate clipboards, links opening in separate browsers, and possibly other multi-user issues which i havent run into yet.


Asaik the DNS settings closest to the input device  prevail,  so if your router is 8.8.8.8 and your computer is 208.62.222.222 then you will be using 208.....


iPhone asking for Apple ID for a former roommate

I suppose you restored your iPhone 6 from a backup of your older phone. If I understand the issue well enough, the phone keeps asking you for your friend password because you have an app that is his. If this app is on your computer in iTunes, there is a solution.

In the iTunes' list view of your Apps, right-click on an app, "Get info" (or just press cmd ⌘+I), and, depending on your OS version, either go to the Summary or the File tab. The Apple ID of the buyer, as well as his name, will appear, and you just have to go through your files (pressing cmd ⌘+P and cmd ⌘+N) until you find the culprit.

Unfortunately, iTunes cannot sort apps by buyer. However, you could sort Apps by "Date Added" in the list view to make the whole process much easier.


To keep wireless printing available, you need to stop your Mac from sleeping.

To disable sleep on Mac OS X:

Launch System Preferences.app from the Applications folder.
Select Energy Saver
Move the Computer sleep: slider to Never.


Use the column order in Finder List view for all folders

View → Show View Options (⌘J) and choose Use as Defaults. This uses the settings of your current Finder window as the defaults in the future.

For folders you've opened in the past, they will continue to open with the settings they had last. Each folder's settings are stored in a .DS_Store file in the folder. Remove the file from the folder and Finder will use the defaults next time (and recreate the .DS_Store file with the new settings).


How to stop finder copying files to a second hard disk

As far as I am concerned, there is no way to change the default behaviour.

Keyboard
Make your selection in Finder and hit CMD+C.
Open the target folder and hit CMD+Alt+V and Finder will move the files to your desired location.

Mouse
Hold CMD while you drop your selection to the target folder. Mac OSX will then move the files instead of copying.

Personally, I prefer using the keyboard when moving around large selections.


What is the difference in resolution and quality between SCART, VGA, and HDMI?

First: The maximum resolution of your TV is important. Your TV have probably a resolution of 1920 * 1080 Pixel (FullHD).

  A (Mini) Display Port can display about 3840×2400 Pixel

  VGA is an older standard, an was created for an Analog connection
  between devices.
  HDMI was created for a Digital connection.

So, the HDMI option is the best, because HDMI fully supports FullHD resolution.

VGA could probably be display FullHD or HD Ready (1280x720 Pixel), but it's not recommended.

So, the best decision is to buy an Mini Display Port - to - HDMI Adapter.

It is hard to give a detailed information of the cababilities of each Video-Output, because there are many differnt version of each one out there.


How to completely disassociate iMessage from my device?

Go into Settings -> Messages and halfway down choose Send and Receive.
Tap your AppleID on the top of the page, sign out, and let the new guy sign his or her self in.


Why do alternate web browsers want access to "Chrome Safe Storage" in my Keychain?

There's probably a couple of things going on here:

Vivaldi - In terms of Vivaldi this is something that's been happening for at least a couple of years, although it's not always triggered. You may want to read What is the Chrome Safe Storage discussion at Vivaldi's forums.
More generally - There seems to be an issue recently where a number of apps are requesting access to Chrome Safe Storage. It's not just happening with browsers, but other apps too. I first noticed this in mid-July on an iMac running a 3rd party video downloader/converter. I'm not sure what changed, but some of these app developers have had to issue updates to remove this behaviour.

In terms of the info that's stored there - it's basically a secure location to store credentials such as passwords for sites you visit.

The advantages and disadvantages will differ depending on the app:

in the case of browsers it will mean things like having to manually log in to sites you want to visit. Obviously the benefit is not having to do this.
in the case of other apps (such as the video downloader/converter I mention above), the user whose iMac had this issue could only convert videos, but not download them. (Note: In their case an update fixed this).

Further reading

The following may be of interest:

Google Chrome wants to use your confidential information stored in...your keychain
Bug 178358 - A pop up message "Google Chrome wants to use your confidential information stored in your keychain"


AirDrop no-response from MacBook to iPhone

Bugs has been fixed after I quit Proxifer completely


Enable Parental Controls but allow Google Drive and game playing

Not a complete answer but might help someone else looking for a solution for Steam.

I had no end of trouble if Steam was installed in /Applications, even if there was no restrictions on which applications could be run.

However, if Steam was installed in the user's Desktop (or somwhere else in their home directory) then after initial approvals on first run it ran without subsequent parental invovement. I had no restrictions on executing applications, I suspect it may have different had there been any restrictions in place.


Why does 'set -x' cause the terminal to dump garbage

What you're seeing here is some fancy behind-the-scenes scriptery that Apple added in OS X 10.11 to set the Terminal window title based on the current working directory. Since set -x shows what commands are being executed by bash, it also winds up showing all this normally-behind-the-scenes stuff (in painful detail). It's fairly easy to disable it, though:

unset PROMPT_COMMAND

... and then you can debug in peace, but your window title bar won't update any more. If you're done debugging and want to re-enable title bar updates, just reset the variable:

PROMPT_COMMAND=update_terminal_cwd


How should I set up my coding environment for PHP, mySQL, and JavaScript development?

I have about 7 years of experience coding in a Windows environment before I got my first mac early this year.  So I know exactly what you're talking about.  I was very used to the combination of Visual Studio for c++ and .net, Notepad++ for .bat and other scripting and lightweight tasks, and the occasional bit of Eclipse for java.

When I first started using my Mac, I was frustrated by what I saw to be a lack of equivalent software for OS X.  I tried different IDEs and text editing solutions (Eclipse, Aptana, Textmate, Smultron, Fraise, etc), but like you said, nothing really 'clicked'.

However, at some point I stopped looking for replacements and started using the tools that were commonly used on *nix machines.  Particularly vim.  I've found that once my expectation of finding software equivalents to everything I had used on Windows dropped away, my horizons broadened.  I feel like my interest in coding has been renewed because I'm learning a completely different way to work and think about the process.  I'm using the command line way more than I ever have in the past, and this has translated into new techniques even in my Windows development (like using powershell and command line versions of tools rather than the gui).

I was in a huge programming rut before I started using my mac, but I'm finding that being forced to look at my process and tools in a different way is really bringing out talents and interests I didn't know I had before.  I'm coding in python and c++ rather than javascript and c#, in one of the oldest editors in existence, and I'm loving it.


What is the icon on the desktop after I install an application?

This is the downloaded disk image. Many applications downloaded from the internet will come as an internet ready disk image, which means that it mounts and opens when the downloaded file is opened.

A disk image is a mountable image of any volume. Disk images can be images of physical volumes or virtual disks. Like a zip, dmg disk images can be compressed (and usuall are, especially internet ready disk images such as the disk images used to install software from the internet) or can be read/write like an actual disk. They are mounted in the same mount point as physical disks, but are virtual. When unmounting, the disk is ejected and the mount point deleted like a physical disk. As the disk image is a disk, it will be shown on the desktop if you have the relevant option selected in Finder preferences:

Copy the app to your /Applications folder (or wherever else you desire) then eject the disk image by right-clicking and selecting Eject (or through Finder). The mounted disk image is the .dmg that you downloaded, therefore can be deleted by deleting this disk image after unmounting.


Internet recovery of 2015 MacBook Pro fails due to unavailability of Yosemite

You are correct - the issue you have is that Yosemite is not in your Purchased history.

With your MBP and its history, you should have three options open to you:

commandR to reinstall the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac, without upgrading to a later version
optioncommandR to upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac
shiftoptioncommandR to reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the version closest to it that is still available1

1 That third option is a new option only available when macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or above has been installed.

Obviously we can't be 100% sure what version of macOS was pre-installed when new, but it most likely would have been Yosemite 10.10.2.

I would try rebooting your MBP again using each of the above combinations one by one to test what happens, as it may be you can successfully reinstall macOS with one of them.

Let me know how you go.


Mails sent from my work gmail come back in my personal gmail

Ah, so this turns out to be a feature interaction issue.

Gmail always sends mail out with the address of the login of the SMTP account that sent it.

Mail will try multiple SMTP servers to send a mail if the first one fails.

So what was happening is that the settings for the SMTP on the work account were wrong, and the login failed. Mail silently failed over to the next server on the list, my home account. That login used my home address, so Gmail silently changed the name on the message.

Interesting.


How can I put a Lion installer on a Flash Drive?

Your best bet is to follow the instructions on this page.

Things you'll need:

Flash drive bigger than 4 GB (8 GB+ would be best)
InstallESD.dmg (extracted from the OS X Lion App, if you've saved it prior to the upgrade)

There's an alternate method mentioned here.

Note: If you don't have the  Lion Install App, follow the instructions on this page to download it again.


"Verify Contact Information" in Apple Pay

The support link doesn’t spell this out well, but in my experience this has always been about the billing address no zip code / postal code or other oddities where the data you enter for Apple doesn’t translate perfectly to the seller via API.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204506

You want to add your phone number like a courier service (FedEx) would ring for delivery issues. Examine any odd characters in your address or postal code (in the US, Apple wanted zip+4 but I had to get them to remove it since many vendors couldn’t handle a - or more than 5 digits.
Sometimes you can add the info as a one time override right before paying. I’ve found that unreliable and fixing my info with Apple was more reliable of a fix.


Shortcut to open the Goto window in file open/save dialogues WITH the equivalent to path added

You just have to delete the automatically added / in the beginning. The Go To box works from the current directory in the background.

For example if I open my home folder and press /, the Go To box opens with a / already there. If I want to work from the current directory (./), i.e., home, I just have to delete that /.

Now, if I type ./Desktop and press enter, or just Desktop and press enter, the result would be the same.