It depends. If you have an Apple Developer account ($99 per year), you can create either a ad hoc distribution profile or use a development certificate. For more information on that, view here. Although it is called beta testing, it serves your purpose.

Now if you don't have an Apple Developer account, you can use jailbroken devices and Jailcoder. To use this method, follow the steps below:

Jailbreak your iDevices. If you don't know which ones to use, google it.
Make sure you have Xcode (Here if you don't have it)
Download Jailcoder from here.
Go through the "Guided Patch"
Now develop your program. YOU CANNOT RUN IT ON AN IDEVICE YET!
Open Jailcoder and drag-n-drop your .xcodeproj file into the box.
Connect the jailbroken iDevice and configure Xcode as you would if you had a legit developer account (https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/ToolsLanguages/Conceptual/Xcode_Overview/RunYourApp/RunYourApp.html)
Click run

An older video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NAm1MOGabw. Ignore the fact that it says Xcode 4. It works on Xcode 5.


How to track down why Wi-Fi random disconnects on one particular network?

For starters you could try a simple ping to a popular outside URL, like yahoo.com or google.com, let it run like 10-15 times, maybe more, and see if the connection gets no response in any of the pings. That will show you your connection on that network isn't consistent.

There are also various Wi-Fi network optimization settings, so something that benefits them the most in crowded areas may not be working for your machine. If they are testing newer Wi-Fi frequencies, like AC or even some variant of N, you may not be the only person affected with a new MacBook on campus.


Removing shutdown and sleep button from the Apple menu on Mavericks

Not sure about Shut Down but you can disable Sleep using pmset:

sudo pmset -a disablesleep 1

This will gray out the Sleep menu item as well.

Source: OS X Server: How to prevent sleep


There is an Apple support article that gives a couple solutions here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1389

I've also seen people with this problem solve it by downloading and re-installing iTunes manually from here:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

I would try the 3 suggestions in the Apple article first (because they are easier) and then try the download and install.


Can I delete photos on the old phone after I transfered them to a new one?

Yes.

It looks like you're using iCloud to sync your pictures across your devices.  iCloud is a sync solution, meaning that it keeps all your data in sync across every device you're signed in with your Apple ID.

If you delete them from your old iPhone, you're actually deleting them from iCloud.

All you need to do is sign out of iCloud from your old iPhone 6.  This will remove all your synced data (not just photos, in case you are syncing other content).  If you plan on selling your device, you can then erase all the content and your pictures will still be in iCloud.


If someone changes their number and you never stopped sharing your location, would the new person with that number see your location?

That information is actually not passed through the network using the phone number as the identifier. It's run through iCloud and is tied to Apple ID. The new person with the same phone number won't see your location.


open image full screen with "open -a Preview"

Preview.app doesn't have command line options, but you could use AppleScript in Terminal:

open -a Preview somefile.png ; /usr/bin/osascript -e 'tell application "Preview"' -e "activate" -e 'tell application "System Events"' -e 'keystroke "f" using {control down, command down}' -e "end tell" -e "end tell"

Just replace somefile.png with the path/image you want; AppleScript invokes fullscreen.


How do I transfer videos I recorded on my iPhone 4 to my hard drive?

This Apple Support article details how to transfer content to your computer.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083

  Connect the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer. iPhoto
  should automatically launch into its import window with your device's
  images and videos listed.

  Select the images and videos you would like to import into iPhoto,
  then select the "Import Selected" option.


My recommendation for best practices would be to use Server.app ($20 on the App Store) to perform file sharing. The benefit of using Server.app is that it supports more advanced file sharing configuration. For example: you can set ACLs (Access Control Lists - a list of permissions) on different folders for the group access that you want in System Preference -> Sharing. However, by default those ACEs (Access Control Entry - a single permissions entry in an ACL) will not support permissions inheritance. Permissions inheritance keeps file permissions in the share point set correctly (so that the entire group continues to have read/write access). The absence of inheritance becomes problematic when one user of the group has written a file to the share, and another user attempts to modify it - by default, the ACL that specifies read/write at the root of the share will not have inherited permissions to descendant files/folders

The best way to manage the permissions on a share point is usually to do it by creating groups. That way, you can set the permissions on share points to allow group access to the folder/share. This makes it easy to provide users access to that share in the future, as you'd simply add them into the group. For example: most "normal" users (including the "admin" users) should be part of a group that's allowed access to the general-use shares (or all shares, as you've mentioned). Your "admin" users will be part of a group that has access to the other "restricted" share points. Setting each of those groups up as an entry (ACE) in Server.app -> File Sharing will allow permissions inheritance to occur.

If you really want to use the System Preferences -> File Sharing setup to serve files, I'd recommend using System Preferences -> Users & Groups to create groups to control access. However, be aware that you will likely run into permissions problems somewhere down the road.

Although you can use chmod on the command line to specify ACLs that do support inheritance, it's a little bit cumbersome for some users.


Yes, the iPhone X is currently available to purchase online and in Apple stores.

However, there's no guarantee that the store you visit will have the X in stock when you arrive.

You can try to order one thru the Apple US store site, select a pickup store, and then check the store stock (all thru the store site).  That's your best way of ensuring a store has stock when you place your order.


Specification of MagSafe power adapter coaxial cable?

Apple's Magsafe technology is patent-protected, and there's a good chance they used a custom-manufactured cable to make it even more difficult for 3rd parties to sell cheap relacements.

Ifixit has a page describing How to Repair a MagSafe connector which may be of use to you. Excellent close-up photos & detailed instructions.


The following was created, tested and works for me in macOS High Sierra.

Create the Automator service...

In Automator:

File > New, or press: ⌘N
Select Service and click the Choose button.
Configure the settings as shown in the first image below.
Add a Run AppleScript action.
Replace the default code with the example AppleScript code.
Save as e.g.: My Terminal Interrupt

Example AppleScript code:

tell application "System Events" to keystroke "c" using control down

Assigning the keyboard shortcut...

In System Preferences...

System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services add ⇧⌘C (press Shift-Command-C) to the My Terminal Interrupt service, as shown in the image below.

Note: A word about the shortcut you assign... ⇧⌘C is offered as a suggestion however, you'll need to select one that doesn't conflict with Terminal (or any other app that has focus if setting the service to any application) when pressed. This may require a strange combination or a four character combo. ⇧⌘C worked fo me in Terminal after changing the default for the Show Colors command, shown further below.

Terminal already uses ⇧⌘C for the Edit menu > Show Colors command, so you'll need to change that to e.g. ^⇧⌘C (Control-Shift-Command-C).

Changing the default keyboard shortcut...

System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts

Click the [+] button
Change Application: from All Applications to: Terminal
For Menu Title: type: Show Colors
For Keyboard Shortcut: type, e.g.: ^⇧⌘C
Click the Add button.

Now when in Terminal and I need to interrupt a running command, I press ⇧⌘C instead of ^C  (or ⌘.) to stop the process.


Quarantined root directory on primary drive?

Before doing anything else I would strongly recommend you backing up all your files and (after that) double checking for malware on your Mac.

You can remove the com.apple.quarantine attribute with xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /.
For a more in-depth explaination of the com.apple.quarantine extended attribute, see this answer.


This isn't just a Terminal thing, this is an OS X selection thing. Anywhere in OS X where auto-range selection works, it will select an IPv4 in that way. As far as I am aware, there is no way to customize this as it is part of the OS.


MacBook Pro - Only runs while MagSafe charger connected

It sounds very much like the battery has died.

What does the battery meter say in the menu bar, if you click it? Usually if the battery has already breathed its last, it will say "service battery" or even "replace battery immediately".


Recommendations for video editing + screen capturing software

Try ScreenFlow ($99)

It's a little pricey, but very powerful screen capture utility. You can do the effects/transitions inside, or export and edit it Final Cut or iMovie.

This is an example clip I did a while ago with ScreenFlow and Final Cut.


What's this CSSM Exception in my macOS 10.12.1 logs?

I have found these errors to relate to old keychain data references. I was able to stop most of these CSSM Exceptions from appearing by opening Keychain Access and deleting any empty keychains.

Agreed- my CSSM Exception errors went away when I got rid of some defunct Adobe Air keychain references. The references were particularly defunct, as I had recently deleted the files to which they referred, to get rid of a previous slew of log messages...!

Interestingly, Keychain Access did not immediately disappear the keychains when I asked it to delete them; I deleted them (I tried both "Reference only", and "Reference and Files" (even though I'd manually deleted the files...!)), and they remained visible. So I quit and reopened Keychain Access- and they were gone :-) And so were the CSSM log messages :-)


Any way to recover Yosemite download from AppStore?

In the App Store, Store => View my Account, In the Account Information window, the item Hidden Items => Hidden Purchases: Unhide any hidden, redownloadable Purchases.

Click Manage, You'll see a list hidden purchases which you can UNHIDE.


How can I revert my etc/postfix/main.cf file?

If you've manipulated your main.cf already, check your backups to recover it.

Otherwise simply copy the default file: main.cf.default:

sudo copy /etc/postfix/main.cf.default /etc/postfix/main.cf

and replace the last two lines with:

readme_directory = /usr/share/doc/postfix
inet_protocols = all
message_size_limit = 10485760
mailbox_size_limit = 0
biff = no
mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8, [::1]/128
smtpd_client_restrictions = permit_mynetworks permit_sasl_authenticated permit
recipient_delimiter = +
tls_random_source = dev:/dev/urandom
smtpd_tls_ciphers = medium
inet_interfaces = loopback-only


Filevault 2 enabled with recovery key linked to Apple ID, can I get the key?

Since you can still decrypt the drive. I suggest you disable filevault now then enable it again, to get a new code. This time don't save the code to the apple cloud but copy it and email it to yourself.


Mojave iCloud Keychain Copy & Paste Error

Engineer responded with something like "While third parties may support exporting from iCloud and previous versions may support it, current macOS versions doesn't support it by default. But it maybe supported in future.".
Based on how low level the error message is, I suspect that this feature was broken unintentionally and Apple is just too lazy to fix it. I interpret the engineer's statement as something to the effect of "Oops, we broke some really useful thing that some people used, and we are too lazy to fix it so I am just gonna say its not supported anymore, but give a cushion of 'we may support in the future' incase someone complains enough and we do decide to put it back in.".
Pretty annoyed tbh. It appears...
Due to Apples special encryption method used for iCloud keychains, it is nearly impossible for a third party to decrypt it, even with the password and due to whatever reason, Apple has stopped supported exporting to local keychain, which can be decrypted by third parties.
After looking more into it, the entire implementation seems to be open source. If anyone with the skill would like to take the time to figure out how to decrypt it, that'd be pretty cool. Here's the links:
https://opensource.apple.com/tarballs/Security/
https://opensource.apple.com/source/Security/


Apple wireless keyboard without num keypad

fn-delete (fn-⌫) should also be equivalent to forward delete (⌦).


App store is asking me to sign in with my old AccountID

If you have originally downloaded the apps while logged in with your old Apple ID, than to update it will ask old Apple ID and password. To fix this issue, delete the installed app, login with your current Apple ID and download the app again. This would solve the problem.


After some work I got it working. I went through all the steps in the video minus access group. I guess my problem was related with capturing the new basestation, after going over the setup of the second Basestation and rebooting everything works now! I corrected also some certification related problems. I used the excellent Admin Tool Radius to set alt up correctly, an incorrect setting might have been the cause of my troubles!

1) I would like to know what kind of RADIUS support does Server App provide?

It appears to provide full support.

2) Since adding a second Airport basestation does not work, I guess I will have to configure a RADIUS server outside of Server App, probably following this video: https://vimeo.com/53774350?

Still excellent tutorial, slightly outdated in macOS Sierra.

3) What happens to the Server App's Airport Basestation configuration I had active for the first Basestation? Can I still configure Services and mapping from Server App?

It works in our case

4) Should I just keep the Basestation activated in Server App, but deactivate the authentication requirement over WiFi and configure a separate RADIUS server?

It works in our case. No need to set up the Radiusserver again. My incomplete Radius Server was probably a certification related problem.

5) How about certificates: Server App already has a global certificate, can i use this instead of building a new one?

Radius will use the certificate used in the Server App. I used the excellent Admin Tool Radius to set it up.

6) Will the access group (which is mentioned in the video) be visible in Server App?

If you choose "show system accounts" under Server>View then it should show up. But there is no need to set an access group, since RADIUS will use Opendirectory.

So everything is working now. As I said I just went over the single steps again, the problem I had was probably related to the Certificate or a mistake in the Client setup.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the RADIUS logs into Console, since they do not appear there in macOS Sierra!


When plugged in, does the iPhone use the battery or the external source during heavy use?

When you're plugged in to a power source, the iPhone will not use the battery unless for some reason you are using more power than the charging source can provide.

Normally, unless some process is hitting the CPU and GPU and all radios (such as a GPS mapping app), even a computer USB port at 500 mA will both power your games/apps and charge your battery at the same time.

Even if your game takes more current than the charge is providing, using all the wall power will reduce the amount of battery being consumed which will certainly save your battery.

Of course, you should expect hundreds of full charge/discharges and as long as you are one a month draining the battery, you don't need to keep the electrons moving otherwise for good battery lifespan and health.


Send mail from OS X without email account

Yes, there's no problem in sending emails like that from OS X.

First, you'll need to configure postfix to relay emails. Once you've done that, you'll need to create the script that sends the email. I'm not sure what method you're using to send email on the Linux system, but something very similar should work on OS X, for example, using mailx.

Assuming that your upstream mail provider (the system your OS X system is relaying mail through, ie the mail relay) doesn't require authentication, you won't need to configure mail authentication.


Slow reboot after upgrading to OS X El Capitan

Here are few suggestions to troubleshoot the slow reboot issue:

After the system is booted, run:

sudo dmesg | less

and check for any errors.
Start up your Mac in safe mode (hold Shift after restart).
Start up your Mac in single-user mode (CMD-S) or verbose mode ( CMD-V).
Check for any suspicious messages in /var/log/system.log file during boot time. Or use the Console.app to check the logs during boot time.
Check the health of your battery using an app.
If you got any system crashes, please check for any shutdown causes.
Disable non-Apple kernel extensions (check by kextstat | grep -v com.apple).
Disable non-Apple services at startup (check by launchctl list | grep -v com.apple).
Make sure you don't use any custom boot arguments (check by nvram boot-args).
You can consider booting in verbose mode by: sudo nvram boot-args="-v".
Run Apple Hardware Test on your Mac (hold the D key during on reboot).
Book an appointment at Genius Bar and ask them to run the full hardware test using their macOS NetBoot Triage Image.


You can install Soundflower. It's a great utility that creates virtual input and output devices. So you could route QuickTime player, for example, as the input for the dictation.
http://cycling74.com/soundflower-landing-page/


Time Machine and File Storage on 1 External Drive Security

Short answer

Yes. The partition for time machine will be as safe from malware as if it were on a separate drive. However, you still should not use a partition for your Time Machine backup drive.

Long answer

At the risk of oversimplifying things, partitioning a drive basically means you're splitting your disk so that your operating system sees them as separate drives. So, if you partition the drive into two and use one for your macOS installation and one for your Time Machine backup, then they're both being seen as two totally distinct drives and in this sense the drive is being dealt with as if it were an external drive.

In fact, doing this can actually offer an additional level of protection against malware because malware will usually infect your boot volume, rather than other drives/partitions. Of course, there is no guarantee against malware, and this does not offer full prevention or provide a cure.

However, you should not partition your drive for Time Machine purposes!

By partitioning a drive so that one partition is being used for Time Machine you're effectively providing yourself a false sense of security. The idea of a fully working and  current backup is to ensure you have a way to restore your data in the event of data loss, and the best way to do this is to have a backup on a totally separate physical drive.

Below is a list of some reasons why using a partition is a bad idea:

Your Mac is stolen and therefore your backup is also gone - i.e. you have no way of restoring your data now!
Your main drive starts to fail and since the Time Machine partition is also on the same physical drive, your backup is also at risk - i.e. some or all of your backup data may become unreadable
Your Mac is damaged and with it your backup is most likely impacted as well.

As a minimum you should be using at least one external drive for Time Machine, preferably one that is 3x the size of your internal drive. External drives do not cost a lot of money and they also provide the added benefit of being able to be stored away from your Mac at times you will not be using it for a while. For example, if you go away for a week you can take your external drive with you, or store it somewhere else, so that if your house burns down or your Mac gets stolen, you have still have your backup.

My recommendation for individual users

Whenever I setup a backup regime I recommend the following approach:

Purchase two external drives of equal size and at least 3x the capacity of the computer being backed up
Label these drives differently (e.g. TM Backup HD 1 and TM Backup HD 2)
Set both of these external drives as Time Machine backup drives
As both drives are set up with TM they are alternated whenever both drives are available
Once the initial backups are done, physically remove one of the external drives and take it 'offsite'*
On the same day each week, swap the drives over
The net result is that both hard drives will have backups in the order of one week on, one week off (but between them there is a full set of backups).

* By offsite I mean your workplace, a shed in the back yard, a family member's/friend's place (assuming you trust them!). You could even store it in your car (but this would depend on your climate and where you 'garage' your car).

Basically, the idea is that your offsite drive is somewhere that protects your data in the event your house burns down or you get robbed. My strong suggestion would be in a locked drawer at your workplace (unless you work at home). Most people's workplaces are air-conditioned, secure, and convenient.

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT STORAGE

Regardless of the 'offsite' location you choose to keep your hard drive, there are some key factors to keep in mind:

Always keep the drive safe from large magnetic fields!
Ensure the location has a temperature range between 10 degrees celsius (50 degrees fahrenheit) and 43 degrees celsius (110 degrees fahrenheit). So, keeping it in a car would usually not be a good idea.


iPhone not working but iPad is working with chromecast

I'm afraid that I don't have an answer with something as hard so sort as this problem remotely, but I don't believe it is your phone.

I have recently started to have exactly the same issue.
Both my partners iPhone and mine, which we both used regularly to cast to the Chromecast are no longer able to do so, and we are using an older iPad, which does still works.

I had initially come to the same conclusion that my phone must have been the problem, but I can't see that both of our phones, which are different models would have broken at the same time.
I’ll be looking to do all updates in case a recent one has triggered this.
We also have a more recent version of a chromcast (the round version) in another room, and the phones still work fine with that one.


iMac 21.5 Core i3 mid 2010 optical bay swap SSD

You shouldn't get slower speeds because both SATA ports are SATA II (3Gb/s).

You can confirm this by going to About This Mac >> System Report.  Then, go down to SATA/SATA Express and select the chipset controlling your optical drive.

(I don't have an optical drive for this example, unfortunately, so mine shows my SSD, but the concept is the same)

Look for Link Speed and Negotiated Link Speed.  Link Speed is what the interface is capable of (SATA II/3Gb/s) and Negotiated Link Speed is what the connected device is capable of delivering (SATA I/1.5Gb/s for SuperDrive).

Provided that both of your SATA ports are SATA II, then the only factor that could slow down the performance would be the caddy; so ensure that you get one that's SATA II or SATA III.

Also, keep in mind that all new SSDs are all SATA III, but they are backward compatible so, even though they are capable of 6Gb/s, the most you'll get is 3Gb/s.


Can I apply my iPhone 3GS backup to my iPhone 4S?

To restore from backup

connect the iPhone to your computer
wait for it to appear in iTunes
right-click on the iPhone listed under Devices and select "Restore from backup..."
select the backup you want to restore (there may be several)

Restoring will only touch user-specific content and configurations.


Force a file to overwrite instead of appending

The application is in complete control of how it saves files (overwrite v. append). The answer is to pre-clean your destination before you start whatever work flow you are doing in Capture One. There are any number of ways to accomplish that.

use the rm command from the terminal
write a bash script that does something more complicated
write an applescript
create a new folder each time to point the application at
create a disk image via Disk Utility that you can clone and throw away when finished

These are just some of the ideas. I am sure there are other ways as well. Just need to find one that works for you.

A final thought, contact the makers of Capture One and make a case for why you would like them to change the software. Perhaps they will listen. :)

Good luck.


I really want to know what is proper the cpu temperature for my Mac book

I found two 13" MacBook Pro notebooks which offered a 3.1 GHz i5 CPU with 2 physical cores. Both have a 100°C  TJUNCTION rating for the CPU. (Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.):

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

Model Identifier - MacBookPro13,2
Intel® Core™ i5-6287U Processor
TJUNCTION  100°C

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

Model Identifier - MacBookPro14,2
Intel® Core™ i5-7287U Processor
TJUNCTION  100°C

So a temperature of 65-75°C is within normal operating range for the CPU.

If neither of these are the MacBook Pro model you have, then please provide the necessary information to properly identify the one you have.


Will the old version of Airport Utility still be usable if I upgrade to 6.0?

Yes, the old version will be removed when you download the new one.

Yes, you can download the old version and use both, side by side (according to this TUAW article).


How do I set the finder view to only list files and folder by name and not group by date modified?

Yes, at the top left of a Finder window, on the Toolbar, there are four icons for sorting files, and by default has the word View under them.
The second icon will show files in list view, and you can then click on the Name column to sort the files by name, as seen in the image below.


Does iChat screen sharing over the internet work in OS X Lion?

I also have the problem screensharing a Lion machine viewed on a Snow Leopard machine, but not the other way around. I stumbled on a fix. If you first start a video chat and then start screen sharing while the video chat is underway, it is able to connect. I was able to verify this several tries with it not working unless I first video chat.


Chrome glitching graphics on macbook pro

Since you're not experiencing this issue with Safari or Firefox, the first thing I'd try is turning off hardware acceleration in Google Chrome. To do this, follow these steps:

Launch Google Chrome
Go to Chrome > Preferences (or just press the command, keyboard shortcut
At the bottom of the page, click on Show advanced settings...
Look for the System subheading in the new settings that appear
Uncheck the Use hardware acceleration when available option
Restart Google Chrome

Let us know how you go.


'This Apple ID has not yet been used with the App Store' error

If you've just created a new Apple ID, and it is giving you the message "This Apple ID has not yet been used with the App Store", it is because you have to set your billing and shipping address in your account information.

Login to appleid, go to "Payment & Shipping" and set your address for both Billing and Shipping.


How can I get parallels 6 to run well on my MBP

I had the same issue. Moving the Parallels virtual machine to an external hard drive completely changed it for me, from terrible to tolerable.

I'm using an old laptop hard drive, 5,400rpm (so not even a fast one), and it works fine.

All you need to do is plug in the hard drive,drag the Parallels virtual machine to the hard drive, and double click to open (or go through the Open virtual machine dialogue in Parallels.


ndtrack prompt after macbook was upgraded from highsierra to mojave

This is actually a feature of of Mojave. It recognizes that the software you have installed on your Mac "ndtrack" will not work if you upgrade your Mac to (currently in beta) macOS Catalina.

You should seek out an updated version of ndtrack before you upgrade to macOS Catalina.

If you have no current intention of upgrading to macOS Catalina (the final version will likely be released in the Fall) then you can just ignore this warning. But this should be updated before you do that upgrade as it will no longer work after the upgrade.

Other than that you can ignore the warning.


Normal Fan Speed for an early 2011 MacBook Pro

Laptop fans are very small compared to their desktop counterparts, and require a much higher speed to displace a sufficient amount of air.

2,000 RPM is the MINIMUM speed for MacBook fans, with the max being 6,200 RPM.
Typical operating temperature of a MacBook CPU is between 35℃ and 85℃


Disk Utility fails with OSStatus error 22 during cloning/recovery operation

I came here because I was looking for solutions about the error you quote, but instead your actual questions at the end of your text are about something else. It would be nice if you'd change your question title accordingly.

To answer your questions about recovery partitions:

If you install, even temporarily, a newer macOS, you should get a newer recovery partition along with it. I, for instance, have a separate 10.14.6 recovery system on one of my Macs (however, I wonder how that came to be, as there's also a Recovery APFS volume insider the container where the Mojave system resides, so why would there also be a HFS+ partition with one?). Be aware that if you install a newer system on your current system disk, it might convert your current system volume from HFS to APFS. To prevent that, install it to a separate partition (though even then I'm not sure that Apple won't simply convert all volumes on the disk to APFS), or best install it to an external disk.
Converting it into APFS is not needed and inadvisible - it would not gain you anything. Basically, the Recovery system is just a small EFI-based loader that'll then load the BaseSystem image into a RAM disk and load the Recovery system from there.
I have copied entire HFS+-formatted recovery partitions to external USB disks, so I assume you could as well copy them onto a USB stick, as long as you format it with a GUID partition scheme first. The copy operation may be tricky, though - ideally, Disk Utility should let you do that with its Restore command - but it turns that that the new Disk Utility won't even show Recovery partitions any more, so that's not an option. The old Disk Utility from pre-10.11 systems may be able to, still.

Here's what still works in my testing on Mojave with Terminal commands to copy a HFS+ formatted Recovery partition to an USB thumb drive (with GUID partition scheme):

asr --source /dev/diskVsW --target /dev/diskXsY --erase

Where diskVsW and diskXsY are the identifiers for the source and dest Recovery partitions that you'll find with diskutil list.

You could also use hdiutil to create an image file of another Mac's recovery partition and then later restore that with Disk Utility.

Also keep in mind that modern Macs can always load a recovery system from the internet, so there's no need to keep one around for them.


iTunes Match, when turned on, actually suppresses the Store link for iTunes Plus in the iTunes app on a Mac or PC.  The option to upgrade no longer appears to Match subscribers.  There is no reason to upgrade.  My personal old-school drm-sullied iTunes songs are now available to me without DRM through Match now that I've subscribed and synced my library.


Should I restart after uninstalling software or drivers on a mac?

I'm going to just posit a general rule of thumb here -

If it needs you to restart it will tell you - or even make you.

More specifically,
If it doesn't need an uninstaller, then just trashing the app requires no further action.
If you use something like AppCleaner to also sweep up the prefs, there is still no further action required.

If it needs an uninstaller, the uninstaller will tell you if a restart will be required.

However, just to be on the safe side...
If you manually pull kexts etc out of the system using Terminal - restart is safest.

The rule of thumb works on a simple 'Did it change the system?'
If not, then no restart
If it did, then yes.


Why isn't my apple id letting me download songs?

You can use the email to get your password reset.

Go to Apple ID website

Use email authentication

  Select “Email authentication,” then select Next. Apple will send the
  email to your primary or rescue email address.


AppstoreConnect reports total estimate proceeds in euro

Sometimes patience is key. The USD changed into euro's automatically after a few hours.


Using family sharing, can a child account do in-app purchases without approval?

In app purchases do fall under the same rule, however if your Apple ID is signed into, say a family computer, he could approve it himself on that device.


How do I tell iOS 7 which address is my “home” address?

This should do the trick:

Edit your contact card on your phone (in the Contacts application);
Change the label of your old address to anything you want;
Set the label of your new address to "home"


Precommit.

Precommitment is a powerful strategy to control impulsivity. The point is to take a future choice away from yourself: an alcoholic will avoid bars, a drug addict will not carry cash, a person on a diet doesn't go to the grocery store hungry.

If you're addicted to StarCraft, then get rid of the game. Throw it away. Just like an alcoholic would pour his alcohol down the drain.

You can try technological solutions like using parental controls, but if you managed to get around an application like SelfControl. Why will anything else work? There is always a way.

For instance with parental controls, when you try to open StarCraft under a parental controlled account, Mac OS X simply asks you for an administrator password, all you need to do there is slip once.

Habits, good or bad, are like well-blazed trails through the jungle of your mind. When you try and blaze a new trail, certain parts of your brain rebel. They look behind you and say, "why not just take the old path, its a helluva a lot easier." And then, you simply fall back into your old ways. It doesn't matter to that part of you brain that the trail leads to ruin. All it wants is short-term gratification. To change these habits and fight against short-term thinking, you have to exercise willpower.

But willpower alone is rarely enough. People perceive willpower as some infinite resource, only waiting to be tapped, by those who can just bare down and reap their untapped inner potential; but that is just a load of horseshit. Willpower is not infinite but a finite measurable psychological quantity.

This is why precommitment is so important. Precommitment takes away choices, so you don't have to exercise willpower to avoid them.

I know you asked for technological solution, and I know I didn't give you one, but I hope I answered your question anyways.


APFS vs Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for Time Machine Backup on external HDD

Note this answer now depends on the version of OSX/macOS you have.
This answer is  for macOS Catalina and earlier versions - Big Sur now can use APFS - see  Apple's Types of disks you can use with Time Machine on Mac You can also use HFS+ as before.
You can't use APFS as a Time Machine target:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202784#format
Time Machine drives must be HFS+. That will likely change in the future but currently it is HFS+ only.


Reset the password for a user when Snow Leopard is running as a VM?

A quick solution to the problem is to simply make a new admin account with a password you know. The details are covered step by step in another answer, but here is the summary:

You should be able to mount the disk image of the mac using vmware tools and delete the /private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone file. Upon the next boot of the VM, you will be prompted to create a new admin user whereby you can choose a new unique short name (to avoid stomping on an existing account) and use that admin account to reset the other user's password.

If you truly need to enter single user mode from inside your virtual machine, simply remap the keys as described in this KB article from VMWare:

Switching Mac OS to Single User Mode


I ran into this same exact issue. My system log reflected:

/var/empty must be owned by root and not group or world-writable

Going to Disk Utility > Macintosh HD > Repair Disk Permissions reset the permissions of /var/empty and solved the problem for me.


iMac SSD upgrade – Firmware password lock

This Apple document tells you everything you need to know about Firmware passwords.

The essential points for you are:

Your Mac asks for the firmware password only when attempting to start up from a storage device other than the one selected in Startup Disk preferences, or when starting up from macOS Recovery.
If you can't remember your firmware password or passcode, schedule an in-person service appointment with an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. Bring your Mac to the appointment, and bring your original receipt or invoice as proof of purchase.

The Firmware password is not required for OS installation.

You will need to ask the original purchaser for their receipt or other proof of purchase.


Can't empty the trash after deleting user account

If someone runs into the same problem you need to disable Syestem Integrity Protection before deleting old user folders.
SIP was introduced with Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11 in 2015.

To turn off SIP, one need to start into Recovery Mode.
Turn off the device, press and hold command + R, start the device, and wait until load screen.
In Recovery Mode, click Utilities and start the Terminal application.

Check the status rather SIP en- or disable:

csrutil status

To disable it:

csrutil disable

and to enable

csrutil enable.

Restart the device for changes to take effect.
Start your system as always (not into Recovery Mode).

It is recommended to enable SIP after you deleted the user folder.


Huge Apple Mail Logs (Connection Logging Enabled)

In the Window menu, there is the Connection Doctor, which has a checkbox, showing the toggle to enable / disable logging.

You can also see at a glance in the menubar of the main Mail window, if it is enabled:


Using AppleScript to open an application without the app stealing focus

(I removed the original script, but I couldn't come up with anything better than this either.)

set fw to front window
do shell script "open ~/Notes/todo.txt -Fa iA\\ Writer"
delay 0.1
tell application "System Events" to tell process "iA Writer"
    perform action "AXPress" of (button 1 where subrole is "AXFullScreenButton") of window 1
end tell
delay 1.5
activate fw

WriteRoom has an option to open documents in custom full screen windows. If it's selected, you could use something like open file.txt -Fjga WriteRoom.

If someone else just needs to open an application on the background, you can use open -jg or launch. launch sometimes opens a visible window if an application isn't open and open -jg if an application is open but has no windows.

set b to "com.apple.TextEdit"
tell application "System Events"
    if bundle identifier of processes contains b then
        launch application id b
    else
        do shell script "open -jgb " & b
    end if
end tell


MacOS Sierra how to properly disable iCloud Drive?

Always make a copy of your Documents & Desktop prior even thinking about disabling iCloud.

If you hit Keep a Copy button, what that button actually means is.

"I'll go ahead make new folders called Documents & Desktop, they'll be empty when you open them"

It'll retain majority of your files in ~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud Drive folder.

By Some files, I mean some of the files will contain references to the files on iCloud drive. You'll see them appear normally in Finder but you won't be able to view them.

For example
wall1.jpg in finder, if examined closely in Terminal is actually called .wall1.jpg.icloud  <-- any attempts to rename it from that file, will yield an empty jpg without any data in it.

One thing is certain, iCloud Drive / Backup relationship to your files is backwards.

Your laptop should be Master where iCloud acts like a 'backup'. In reality iCloud is master and your laptop might or might not have full content of those files.

As far as 'Updating' I'd imagine it'd probably be good idea to let that run, to minimize the odds of not having all of the local files 'fully present'


How to install iOS 5.1 Simulator if I’m not an iOS Developer Program member?

See Xcode 4.5 and iOS 5.1 Simulator for the solution to this problem:

  I headed over to the downloads page for Apple Developers to get the previous version of Xcode (which is 4.4.1). Downloaded the .dmg and mounted it. Right-clicked the Xcode.app to “Show Package Contents.”

  I quickly found what I was looking for in Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/SDKs and copied iPhoneSimulator5.1.sdk to the same location in my /Applications/Xcode.app.

The full blog post has some more info.


What's easiest way to share/collate fullres photos with family in 2019?

This is an answer, but not the answer either of us want: no, it's not possible to do what you're looking for.
My wife and I have our own Apple IDs. We want to be able to automatically see all of each other's photos since 99% of our photos are of the same events and the same subjects (our children). We don't want to have to manually move/share photos, which means that Family Sharing Album is no good (and it also has a max photos limit).
The only way we've been able to solve this problem so far is to not use iCloud Photos at all. Instead, we have a shared Google Photos account and we both have that set to automatically upload all our photos there.
If I want to look at photos I just use the Google Photos app, and I'll see all the photos both of us took at the same event. It's a shame I can't stick to iCloud photos for this, but c'est la vie!


How to entirely burn all 700MB of a CD while data is smaller?

Create the disk image first..  As a sparseimage or a dmg, etc…  Just make sure it is the final size of your desired media…  (presets are available in the "New" panel.
Mount it.. Put what you want on it…
Burn it.  If it's a 700MB image… It'll get burned on all 700 MB.

Peace.


iPhone 5 locked to Japanese network KDDI

You need to contact your new carrier & see if they will unlock it. If the phone is legitimate, not stolen, doesn't have a blocked IMEI etc...

I can't say for NZ & it appears every carrier treats it differently, but here's a guide on UK networks & how they deal with it - might at least prepare you for the long conversation you might need with your own carrier.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/iphone/how-unlock-your-iphone-3501427/

There is an alternative of getting some backstreet phone shop to do it for you - but they tend to make you think it's illegal & you pay accordingly for their 'expert' advice & 'confidential service'.


Does Facebook's "find friend" algorithm get data from the iOS app?

Nothing is allowed until you poke holes in the app sandbox. iOS requires apps to request permission to access data outside their sandbox.

Open the settings app and look at privacy on iOS to see what your iOS and app have negotiated.

Most people expose far more data to Facebook by entering their credentials in the Internet Accounts section of the iOS settings app. Check there as well.


MacBook boots up with less than one frame per second

Try also the SMC reset, doing it 2 or 3 times does not hurt:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295


How can I reset my password with "reset password"?

Typing reset password on the terminal will not reset the password.

reset is a command to initialise the terminal, and takes a terminal type as argument. Typing reset password will only generate an error:

$ reset password
reset: unknown terminal type password
Terminal type?

The command you are looking for is resetpassword (without space): see https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4101

boot in recovery mode (press command+R during boot)
open a terminal (Utilities, Terminal)
type resetpassword


Is there such thing as a 3rd generation 8GB iPod touch?

Here is the kb entry for the technical specification of the 3rd gen ipod touch. There are only 32 and 64 GB Models.


Keep Preview from autoresizing print output

quit the Preview App, enter the following into your Terminal application and then start Preview again. Problem solved!

defaults write com.apple.Preview PVImagePrintingScaleMode 0

to revert this setting, you can use the following command:

defaults delete com.apple.Preview PVImagePrintingScaleMode


Laravel new [project] not working despite PHP, Composer, everything working

If you install php@7.3 with brew it won't be symlinked to /usr/local/bin. Then the system's php still is in charge. Check this with which php!. The system's php misses the zip module. Check this with php -m.

To enable brew's php@7.3 add to your current PATH (probably in ~/.zshrc, ~/.zprofile or ~/.bash_profile):

export PATH="/usr/local/opt/php@7.3/bin:....

Relaunch the Terminal and check for the proper php bin with which php (should be /usr/local/opt/php@7.3/bin/php) and whether php -m lists the php zip module.

Then enter laravel new AdPro again.

Result:

user@host ~ % laravel new AdPro
Crafting application...
Loading composer repositories with package information
Installing dependencies (including require-dev) from lock file
Package operations: 92 installs, 0 updates, 0 removals
  - Installing doctrine/inflector (1.3.1): Downloading (100%)
...
...
> Illuminate\Foundation\ComposerScripts::postAutoloadDump
> @php artisan package:discover --ansi
Discovered Package: facade/ignition
Discovered Package: fideloper/proxy
Discovered Package: fruitcake/laravel-cors
Discovered Package: laravel/tinker
Discovered Package: nesbot/carbon
Discovered Package: nunomaduro/collision
Package manifest generated successfully.
Application ready! Build something amazing.


Specifying Terminal-only mapping in Karabiner

My bad. I had to enable AXNotifier in Karabiner, and allow it access in System Preferences->Security & Privacy->Accessibility. Hopefully the above will be helpful for others.

Sometimes posting a question helps resolving it by the very fact of posting it:)

UPDATE: Here is Karabiner's private.xml i'm currently using , in case someone would find it useful. It maps almost all of Ctrl+<Key> combinations, except for some that might still be useful (e.g. Cmd+Q, Cmd+N, Cmd+M).


How can I kill Finder if it's not responding?

Answer found here.

Open a terminal, and move the saved settings from Finder into a backup folder just in case:

mv ~/L*/S*/*finder.savedState Desktop

Then, you can Force Quit Finder as usual using Command + Option + Esc, or use this handy terminal command:

killall Finder

Then, assuming everything looks good, you can delete the finder.savedState folder which has appeared on your desktop.


Alternative to Cover Version visualizer in iTunes 12.6

Cover version works on iTunes! What you should do is to create a new directory ~/Library/iTunes/iTunes Plug-ins and put the Cover version file in there.

Quit iTunes
Go to Finder
Press Alt (OPTION) while selecting GO in the menu
Go to Library
Create iTunes directoy if it doesn't exist yet
Go into iTunes directory and create iTunes Plug-ins
Copy Cover Version in there and start iTunes
Now you can select Cover Version again (CMD +T)

I hope this will work for you ... I works for me in iTunes 12.7.2.58


Why is Image Capture showing two copies of every photo in my iPhone camera roll?

I just had this issue and found a solution on another site:

First, close Image Capture. Next, dismount the iPhone from the Mac by ejecting it with iTunes and unplug the cord from the iPhone. Then, just plug it back in and open up Image Capture again.

Worked for me - only one set of images.

Of course, this was after trying a couple other things... like turning off My Photo Stream (Settings>iCloud>iCloud>My Photo Stream: OFF) and turning off the "Keep Normal Photo" option (Settings>Photos & Camera>Keep Normal Photo: OFF), but I didn't notice any change immediately after doing these things  Only after unplugging and reconnecting the iPhone did the problem fix itself.  GOOD LUCK!


MySQL can't start: Symbol not found: _clock_gettime


How to move or export all Photos' library contents to a hierarchical by-date filesystem structure?

Photos Takeout app can export Year-wise, Album-wise and Date-wise folders from Photos for Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave and High Sierra, for libraries of up to 2 terabytes in size, while preserving folder hierarchy and metadata. It's not meant for iPhoto. [Disclosure: I do customer service at AIL, developer of this app.]


New MBP 13" can't connect to external monitor

I was able to get the external monitor to display when I used an HDMI to DVI cable.

HDMI output from MacBook, DVI input on the LG monitor.

I have and LG 27 inch monitor


SHA2 checksum for Sierra's InstallESD.dmg?

A comprehensive list of sha1 checksums of the InstallESD.dmg (or similar files) in various OS X/macOS installer apps is available here: Mac OSX Installers SHA1 Checksums.

The sha2 checksum of the InstallESD.dmg of macOS Sierra 10.12.0 is indeed: 78a2701bb63a0dcb30862314d1a4598522cfe6a2dd2b096a4e30f256909a4446


Can't import Contacts from abbu, errors in Notifications, FaceTime

Unfortunately, once Yosemite was installed, even Finder wouldn't open. I had to travel to the nearest Apple Store where even the Mac Genius was pretty stumped. His best guess was the build of Mavericks was corrupt on the new laptop to begin with, or the build number was invalid for some reason. It's not clear why that didn't fix itself when Yosemite was installed.

In short, the only solution was to do a full backup, completely wipe the system (completely - there was no data on the SSD at that point), reinstall Mavericks, upgrade to Yosemite, then copy the files from the backup without restoring any settings or preferences, and then set up each program individually from scratch.


Can i browse the files on an external mac as an external HD?

There is no way to access the data on the iMac G4's internal drive without power. If you can boot the iMac into Target Disk mode (by holding down the T key at startup) then you can connect it to your MBP using the appropriate Firewire cable which will then let you access the drive as an external.


On iOS, do "Automatic Downloads" (incl. Music, Apps, Books, Updates) download on public or slow WiFi networks?

Yes, they will download even in slow Wi-Fi connections. There is no option to choose an Wi-Fi connection to do the automatic downloads. You can only disable the downloads on Cellular Data on Settings / iTunes & App Store / Use Cellular Data.


With Yosemite pop-over doesn't work when holding keys down anymore

Resume

Maybe it is disabled for some reason ?

defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

to enable copy paste following in your Terminal app located in the utility folder.

defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool true


Can I install OSX on a cracked screen macbook using target disk mode?

Yes I have tried this with both 10.5 and 10.6 and it works fine.
Or you can try the Remote Install Mac OS X feature in the utilities folder.


Why does AirPlay allow the iPhone 6s to go to sleep?

Turning off the LivePhoto wallpaper feature seems to fix the issue.


Turns out I didn't have powerline font.

You can get it from here

After download, double click to install and set as defalut font & non-ascii font


My iphone is empty and useless after ios update

The USB pointing to iTunes icon means you need to connect your iPhone to iTunes. I think if you don't have a wifi connection and can't get to any PC with iTunes then you will have to wait until you get either one of those. Maybe you can ask a friend to bring a laptop round or go to theirs. Or try and find a wifi without a password nearby somewhere. Also I think most McDonald's have free wifi. Not sure if this will work as I haven't set up a new iOS device since 4S but go back to wifi and click skip. Then try to use your carrier's cellular network to set it up. Hope this helps.


Looking at the man page for ping (man ping); under the -i wait option, we see that the default time between sending pings is 1 second:

  -i wait

  wait seconds between sending each packet.  The default is to wait for one second between each packet.

So, using the default of sending 1 packet every 1 second, the options -t and -c will produce the same output.

When we add in a fractional wait time of say, a half second, we should now get 12 packets sent within the 6 seconds:

$ sudo ping -i .5  -t 6 apple.stackexchange.com

PING apple.stackexchange.com (151.101.193.69): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=0 ttl=58 time=12.509 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=1 ttl=58 time=11.990 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=2 ttl=58 time=17.027 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=3 ttl=58 time=13.173 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=4 ttl=58 time=15.752 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=5 ttl=58 time=10.337 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=6 ttl=58 time=15.484 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=7 ttl=58 time=9.653 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=8 ttl=58 time=9.734 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=9 ttl=58 time=9.486 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=10 ttl=58 time=11.321 ms
64 bytes from 151.101.193.69: icmp_seq=11 ttl=58 time=9.549 ms

Twelve responses as expected.  Note, that you must run this as root;    per the man page for the -i wait option:

  The wait time may be fractional, but only the super-user may specify
  values less than 1 second.

Now, the -W option (capital "W", not lowercase) will be the equivalent to the Windows -w which specifies a wait time between receipt of the packets:

  -W waittime Time in milliseconds to wait for a reply for each packet sent. If a reply arrives later, the packet is not printed as replied,
  but considered as replied when calculating statistics.


What is this process, “usagetrackingagent”, and why is it showing under activity monitor on MacBook

It is running on my three Mojave laptops.

BSD System Manager's Manual                      USAGETRACKINGAGENT(8)

NAME

 UsageTrackingAgent -- Usage Tracking Agent

DESCRIPTION

 UsageTrackingAgent monitors and reports usage budgets set by Health, Parental Controls, or Device Management.

Obtained from: https://www.unix.com/man-page/mojave/8/UsageTrackingAgent/


[Apple] - Use Emergency SOS on your iPhone:

Press and hold the side button and one of the Volume buttons until the Emergency SOS slider appears.

This locks the screen and requires a pin:

If you use the Emergency SOS shortcut, you need to enter your passcode to re-enable Touch ID, even if you don't complete a call to emergency services.

If that doesn't work (iPhone 7 and earlier):

Rapidly press the side (or top) button five times.

Note that you may want to turn off "Auto Call", to avoid accidentally calling emergency services. This can be done in the "Emergency SOS" settings.


iOS 9.0.2 made my iPhone 5 stuck on "connect to itunes" screen

That image means that your phone is in recovery mode, basically it's asking you to hook it up to itunes so it can be reflashed.

That isn't something that normally comes up as part of an iOS upgrade, so i'm lead to believe that the upgrade was probably not successful.

Try rebooting the phone first. Hold down the volume down and home buttons until the screen blanks out. Does it come back or show the same message?

If it didn't work, and you're back to the same screen, you said that the phone wasn't recognized - try rebooting your machine first, then fire up iTunes. It should pop up a box saying that it's detected a phone in recovery mode:

If that doesn't work, the next thing to do is to put the phone in DFU (device firmware upgrade) mode. It presents to the computer as a different "kind" of device and may work around whatever's preventing the phone from appearing correctly to itunes.

If even that didn't work - something else has gone quite wrong, and you should contact Apple support.


How does FeaturePoints.com distribute its iOS app to the public without the App Store

They probably use the iOS Enterprise Developer program you mentioned. This happened before, for example with GBA4iOS. When this comes to Apple's attention they usually do something about it though.

http://readwrite.com/2013/07/17/apple-slams-the-door-on-super-mario#awesm=~oyiYU7RMNByRFi


How do I see where can a sandboxed Mac application write on my disk?

Any sandboxed app always has full access to anywhere in its own sandbox. Safari's sandbox is
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari


You could try booting from the Snow Leopard installation media and free up space from there.  It's been a little while since I've used a pre-Lion system, but IIRC, the main drive should be mounted and available from the installation environment.  Just don't actually run the installation!

If your friend is having problems booting, it's probably worth checking the disk with Disk Utility as well from the installation environment before writing to it.


Reinstall Mac OS X Mountain Lion before selling a Mac

If you happen to already have an installable copy of Lion or Mountain Lion,

back up your personal data
make a bootable thumb drive to install from
boot from the thumb drive
select Disk Utility
repartition and reformat your drive
there should be an arrow to skip the Apple ID entry and continue the install.

Either of the two ways should get you a virgin install.

The other way is to do a recovery boot by holding down COMMAND-R when powering on before your Mac chimes. It will be slow since all files load from Apple's servers. Follow the six steps above for a clean install.


How to remove blank icon from launchpad after uninstall app?

You may need to force launchpad to rebuild it's databases. In the Terminal run

rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db; defaults write com.apple.dock ResetLaunchPad -bool true; killall Dock;

NOTE: this method will re-arrange all of your launchpad icons. – Martin Zhai


How to remove bold from desktop font on OS X El Capitan

The only option available is changing font size (upon right clicking desktop), not the font or even its color. See this post Change color of desktop font (Yosemite)


A fast encryption for external hard drive

Mac OS Journaled Extended, Encrypted

I have external Time Machine drives formatted as Mac OS Journaled Extended, Encrypted. The encryption is fast enough not to be significant.

With this set-up, I have not experienced any problems or unacceptable back-up times. I too disconnect drives between back-ups.

Formatting and Mounting

Format the external drive using an encrypted format. This will ensure the whole disk is encrypted. Time Machine thus is no longer involved in the encryption process.

On connecting the drive, macOS will ask for the drive's passphrase. You can choose to remember the passphrase in your Keychain.

Encrypting

If Time Machine is handling the encryption, you will see a Sparse Disk Image Bundle in your external drive. This disk image file will be named after your computer.

If FileVault is handling the encryption, you will see a folder called Backups.backupdb in your external drive. This folder will contain a folder with the name of your computer.

You want the second, FileVault to transparently handle the encryption.


What iOS app displays ToDos/Reminders in the Notification Center?

Catch Notes or Memo Board are the only ones I know of that will stay after the alarm has passed.


OK, we are beating around the bushes here, so to make progress this is for your Information and not a answer to your problem.

The MTC26T42 is a Nvidia HD Audio, not a display!

Here is what you should look for (example for my Samsung TV) connected via Thunderbolt to HDMI-HDMI.

This is from the About this Mac (notice it says Television: Yes.)

This one is from the system preference -Display

And this is information from the ColorSync Utility.


Lion Mail "Show Format Bar' button missing

You have to customise the toolbar and add the format button.

Drag the format button to the bar:

And when you compose a new message, you can click on the format icon:

And the bar will appear.


You just need to go to the iTunes Store and App Store section in the Settings app and change the used Apple ID by tapping the Apple ID button.

Note that this capture is on a french iPad but button location are pretty much the same whatever the language used.


How to start OS X applications from the command line with optional arguments?

Normally you can find the actual executable in the Contents/MacOS folder of the Application bundle. For Chrome try it like so:

/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --disable-plugins


Running Leopard on a MacBook Pro that shipped with Snow Leopard

No, this will not work. You can have multiple versions of OS X on one machine, but you can only install newer versions than the one that came pre-installed. For example, if your machine came with 10.6.4, you can't run 10.6.3 or older.

When Apple releases new hardware, the drivers for that hardware get rolled into a special build of OS X that comes only on that model. They don't get added to OS X in general until the next point release. (That means that drivers for the hypothetical machine I'm talking about wouldn't be added until 10.6.5.)

Apple doesn't release drivers as standalone software, which effectively makes it impossible to install and older version of OS X than what your Mac shipped with. You'll find that if you put the install disc for an older version in the drive, it either won't boot or it will refuse to install.

However, you can go the other direction. If you have an old Mac running 10.5, you can use Disk Utility to make another partition (HFS+ Journaled), then boot the install DVD for 10.6 and install it to that partition. To switch between the two after installing, hold alt when you boot up. (You can also select the default boot partition through the Startup Drive pane in System Preferences within either OS X install.) Boot camp is not required for this. Boot camp is only required for installing non-Apple operating systems like Windows and Linux.


How to make windows of new folders open in my size?

I mostly use column view and have removed all folders except the home folder from favorites, so the root folder of most windows is ~ or /. When the default dimensions or view options for them change, I reset them by running this script with FastScripts.

tell application "Finder"
    if number of windows is 0 then return
    tell Finder window 1
        set toolbar visible to false
        set sidebar width to 0
        set statusbar visible to false
        set current view to column view
        set bounds to {474, 250, 1318, 750}
        tell its column view options
            set shows icon to false
        end tell
    end tell
end tell

FinderMinder watches what windows you open and changes their dimensions. The windows appear at the previous position for a split second though.


Associating skype contacts with address book

your mac uses your Address Book as its basis for your contacts (skype is reaching in your contact list to pull people up not the other way around). So your Address Book really is the place where you emerge all of your contacts because other applications can use it to pull up contacts so you dont have to manually transfer all of your contacts to an application that might require them.


There is no way to enable this. Safari extensions are restricted to accessing the extensions folder and nowhere else.

  If you need to access local resources, use safari.extension.baseURI + “relative path and filename”. You cannot access resources on the user’s hard drive outside of the extensions folder.

Source: Injecting Scripts - Safari Extensions Development Guide


2015 Macbook Pro El Capitan - wifi drops when CPU active

In addition to the tests you've already run, and since your mainly concerned about your MBP's hardware, I'd also run Apple Diagnostics.

Run Apple Diagnostics

Follow the steps below to run Apple Diagnostics:

Fully shut down your Mac
Restart your Mac
Immediately press the D key and keep it down until you see the Diagnostics screen appear
Wait for Diagnostics to finish (this typically only takes a few minutes)
Once complete, one of two things will appear on the screen:

a No issues found message
a brief description of any errors found plus further instructions

If the diagnostics test does find errors, take a note of what they are

Note: If pressing and holding the D key at Step 3 doesn't work, start again at Step 1 and, at Step 3 press and hold both the OptionD keys instead. This will try and run diagnostics from the internet instead, so you will need to allow more time for it to complete.

Regardless, take a note of what happens and let me know how you went.


Finder always opens as a small window on the top left corner of the screen

It may be that someone or something has changed the permissions on the .DS_Store file in that particular directory.  Changes you make to window geometry and such are stored in that file.  If you made changes while logged in as another account, then that account may be the owner of that file.
But if you type open /tmp in Terminal, and you get the same window geometry, it’s probably something different.


Will an iPad with more RAM experience fewer app suspensions?

Blame the apps, not the hardware is my overall message. The icons for some apps are larger in code size than the first version of Adobe Illustrator and the Google model of web apps and complicated iOS apps can bring down the newer iPad Pro. Look at their hesitance to update apps if you wonder how many components have to be reviewed for a quick update to list privacy concerns that most developers fixed in days.
I would put a few documents in Files storage and use the Apple apps to see how responsive the hardware is when the application saves state as the OS intends for the gloriously smooth multitasking experience you are right to expect on hardware faster in every respect than needed to juggle a dozen spreadsheets, documents and presentations. Try running apps in airplane mode so you get a sense of the actual hardware speed without network sync or delays (perhaps Google is sending telemetry or downloading parts of the app while you work rather than optimizing for your experience?).
In 2020, Apple is reminding developers they need to be detecting delays as short as 20ms in frame by frame animations - even one frame that’s late spoils our sense of delight.

https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/tech-talks/10855/

You are right to be absolutely brutal on developers that can’t handle an app suspend / resume cycle on an OS designed for power efficiency. The RAM constraint is there since it’s not needed if the app is designed and tested properly. Throwing more RAM at an app that doesn’t take advantage of hardware as capable as the iPad 2 isn’t effective. Worse, all RAM draws power so putting too much RAM in lowers battery life, for no gain in performance.
Even if you aren’t a developer, you can read Apple’s high level overview of what is needed to design a good app. Step one is design it to look great, step two is prepare for interruptions. Google missed or ignored step 2.

https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/system-capabilities/multitasking/

Be prepared for interruptions, and be ready to resume. Your app can be interrupted at any time. When an interruption occurs, your app should save the current state quickly and precisely so people can seamlessly continue where they left off when they return.

You can look at memory allocations in Xcode if you don’t agree with this overview, but to make an incredibly responsive app requires very little RAM on iPadOS. Well written apps will perform magnificently on older hardware - even 5+ year old devices have a lot of life in the for the correct app lineup.


Copy, Paste, Cut, Select-All Keyboard Shortcuts

Almost all of the keyboard shortcuts you've learned on Windows are the same on the Mac. The difference is which modifier key you use to invoke them.

On Windows, shortcuts are typically invoked with the Ctrl modifier key.

On the Mac, you use the  key, also known as the "command" key. It's in the same physical position as the Alt key on a Windows keyboard, but is nothing like the Alt key.

The Mac has its own Alt key, labeled Opt/Alt. Its primary use is a secondary modifier for keystrokes. Command-Option-S might be "Save As", for example, while Command-S is regular "Save".

The Ctrl key is there on a Mac keyboard, too, but it's hardly ever used for anything.

The relative layouts look something like this:

     PC:     Ctrl Windows Alt

     Mac:   Ctrl Opt/Alt

The problem is that you're most likely using a PC keyboard on your Mac. In that specific case, the Opt/Alt and  keys are reversed. You can change this in System Preferences, under Keyboard. Truly a huge pain in the rear for switchers. That layout looks like this, instead:

     PC keyboard on Mac:   Ctrl  Opt/Alt

Apple's website has some pretty good hints and tips for Windows switchers. Start here for answers to your specific question about keyboard shortcuts. Then go here and read everything!


It's easily done, but for safety you should always backup your data as there is a small chance that things can go wrong.  Check your Time Machine or equivalent is up to date, then open the Disk Utility application.

Select the disk from the list of mounted drives on the left that corresponds to your internal disk.  If you look at it's partitions you should see 2 that correspond (roughly, this is the size of the partition, not the filesystem, so don't expect the figures to be 100% exact) to your Mac and Linux areas.  To remove the linux one, it should be as simple as selecting it, and hitting delete.  This will leave a linux shaped hole and leave your Mac partition as it stands.  Next, you can expand the Mac area by dragging it's size in the reference diagram, or manually changing it's size by clicking on it and changing the value in the box.

When you click Apply (sorry, I am not at a Mac and cannot recall the exact wording) it will make the changes which could take some time depending on the size of the partitions.

Turn off any disk intensive applications including Time Machine for the duration of the operation, and note that you should not reboot or do anything that you may think likely to cause a crash etc (if you use any unstable programs) until it is complete.

EDIT: An encrypted MAC partition cannot be resized, this is a backup, recreate, and restore scenario.


Will I lose my game saves when I upgrade to iOS 5?

The short answer to your question is no. You will not lose your games. However, you must know how to save them and how to bring them back after upgrading to iOS 5. A friend of mine with an iPod Touch had the same concerns about his saved Angry Birds data. I walked him thru upgrading to iOS 5 and this is how we did it:

Using iTunes and an USB cable, we backed up the iPod Touch. Make sure you are running the latest version of iTunes (10.5 as of this writing).
We upgraded to iOS 5 from the Summary tab for his device.
Once iOS 5 starts, on the initial setup screens (in the iPod Touch itself), we told the iPod Touch to restore from a backup in iTunes.
We continued the rest of the set up as normal. We used his Apple ID to create an iCloud account. I highly recommend using iCloud.
Once you're done with the initial setup, you can go to your device in iTunes and check on "Use Wi-Fi syncing for this device". You can detach the USB cable for good--This is one of my favorite features of iOS 5.
In the iPod Touch, we went to Settings > iCloud > Backup and Storage to tell iCloud to backup this device. You can then manually trigger your first backup from that screen.
Once backup is completed, your device will show up on this same screen as backed up. You can tap on its name to go to another screen where you can individually set which apps you want to keep in and out of your iCloud backup. This is very handy when deciding how to use your iCloud storage space. Most apps take very little space on the server, but there may be some apps that not, so it is worth to take a peek. This screen tells you exactly how much each app is using. Make sure to add all of your games that have data that you wish to back up.

Next time you need to restore your device, iCloud will restore all of your saved games this way over the air, rather than having to restore from iTunes with a USB cable. Hope this helps.


What is a good OSX incremental backup software (not time machine)

Take a look at Crash Plan. It allows you to backup to a disk, machine on the network, or the cloud. It has options for how long to retain items and what to ignore.


How do I get my firmware version prior to running jailbreak on a new 3GS?

Recent versions of redsn0w auto-detect the version of iOS running on the connected device, so you can usually just jailbreak it without having to manually figure out the iOS version first. You can always get the latest version of redsn0w from the Dev Team Blog: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/tagged/redsn0w

Jailbreaking with redsn0w also "hacktivates" (unofficially activates) unactivated iPhones (although not the iPhone 4S yet), which is convenient for these kinds of situations. Some things don't work on hacktivated iPhones (push notifications, iMessage, FaceTime), and the battery may drain more than usual, but it's fine for a temporary solution when no official SIM cards are available.


/Library/Wallpaper is a symlink to the relevant location on the device.

The actual location is /var/stash/Wallpaper.xxxxxx/<iOSdevice> with xxxxxx being a generated string and <iOSdevice> being the type of iOS device (e.g. iPhone). The wallpapers are contained within this folder along with the thumbnails.


How can I use one AppleID for Contacts, Calendar etc, but an other for purchases?

On the iPhone, open the App Store. Click the "person" icon on the top right. This will allow you to log out from your new Apple ID, and then login with your old Apple ID.

This will not overwrite any date, nor will it change which Apple ID is used for contacts, calendar, iCloud or anything like that. It will only change which Apple ID is used for purchases on the App Store (including downloading of free apps).


My macbook air wont let me erase my disk?

You cannot erase the currently-running volume. Shut the computer down, restart while holding the option key, and choose the Recovery HD.

Find Disk Utility in the menus and you will now be able to erase your internal storage.


Deleted photos won't be synced over Photo Stream. It's smart enough to recognise that you've deleted a photo and won't sync it.


How to Sum text values like numbers in Numbers?

I found some solution now.

SOLUTION 1

Use "COUNTIF" function to find the number of cells that match the given text values and then multiply with the reference numbers.

SOLUTION 2

Use Cell "Data Format"

Select some Cell
At the Format Panel > Cell > Data Format
Create a Custom Format.
Select type as "Number"
Add some Rule that you want to format number as text.
Done! You can sum text values like a number now.

You can also see this if you want to use a pop-up menu


After some frustration, I believe I have the answer.

vm_stat is only part of the picture, we also need:

  $ sysctl vm.page_pageable_internal_count

App Memory is then:

  page_pageable_internal_count - Pages Purgable (from vm_stat)

This Python script gets all of vm_stat, bits of sysctl, prints out it all prettily.  The last 6 lines give the same numbers as Activity Monitor.

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys
import subprocess
import re

f = 0.00000000093132257   # 1/(1024*1024*1024) Converts bytes to GB

# vm_stat (get all results)
vm = subprocess.Popen(['vm_stat'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE).communicate()[0]

vmLines = vm.split('\n')
sep = re.compile(':[\s]+')
vmStats = {}
for row in range(1,len(vmLines)-2):
    rowText = vmLines[row].strip()
    rowElements = sep.split(rowText)
    vmStats[(rowElements[0])] = int(rowElements[1].strip('\.')) * 4096

# sysctl  (just get a couple of numbers)
sy = subprocess.Popen(['sysctl','vm.page_pageable_internal_count'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE).communicate()[0]
p1 = sy.find(':')
page_pageable_internal_count = float(sy[p1+1:50]) * 4096
sy = subprocess.Popen(['sysctl','vm.swapusage'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE).communicate()[0]
p1 = sy.find('used')
p2 = sy.find('M',p1)
swapUsed = float(sy[p1+7:p2])   # This is Mbytes

appMemory = page_pageable_internal_count - vmStats["Pages purgeable"]

print 'Wired Memory:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages wired down"] * f )
print 'Active Memory:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages active"] * f )
print 'Inactive Memory:\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages inactive"] * f )
print 'Speculative:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages speculative"] * f )
print 'Throttled:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages throttled"] * f )
print 'Free Memory:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages free"] * f )

print 'Compressor:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages occupied by compressor"] * f )
print 'Total:\t\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( (vmStats["Pages free"] + vmStats["Pages wired down"] + vmStats["Pages active"] + vmStats["Pages inactive"] + vmStats["Pages speculative"] + vmStats["Pages throttled"] + vmStats["Pages occupied by compressor"]) * f )
print ''
print 'Compressed:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages stored in compressor"] * f )
print 'Purgeable:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages purgeable"] * f )
print 'File-backed:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["File-backed pages"] * f )
print 'Anonymous:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Anonymous pages"] * f )
print ''
print 'Pageable Internal:\t%9.3f GB' % (page_pageable_internal_count * f)
print ''

print 'App Memory:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( appMemory * f )
print 'Wired Memory:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( vmStats["Pages wired down"] * f )
print 'Compressor:\t\t%9.3f GB  %9.3f MB' % ( vmStats["Pages occupied by compressor"] * f ,vmStats["Pages occupied by compressor"] * 1/(1024*1024) )
print 'Memory Used:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( (appMemory + vmStats["Pages wired down"] + vmStats["Pages occupied by compressor"] ) * f )
print 'Cached Files:\t\t%9.3f GB' % ( (vmStats["File-backed pages"] + vmStats["Pages purgeable"]) * f )
print 'Swap Used:\t\t%9.3f GB  %9.3f MB' % ( swapUsed * 0.0009765625, swapUsed )

sys.exit(0);

The strange fudge factors are because a MB is 1024*1024 and a GB is 1024*1024*1024.  A GB is not 1000 times a MB!

I have had most of this script for some time.  The final piece of the puzzle was derived from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31469355/how-to-calculate-app-and-cache-memory-like-activity-monitor-in-objective-c-in-ma


Trying to increase the size of my hard drive, Error: -69771: The target disk is too small for this operation

I have to quit applications because there is not enough free memory

Free memory is not hard disk space, but rather RAM. You can resolve this by quitting apps that are using lots of memory. You can find which processes are using memory in Activity Monitor.

If you're still interested in making more disk space for other reasons…

a gap is required in your partition map which is missing or too small

This is the actual error. diskutil list shows an APFS container disk0s2 of 70 GB, and a HFS partition disk0s3 of 180 GB.
70 GB + 180 GB = 250 GB, which is the total size of your disk — there's no free space gap to resize your container into, it's as big as it can be.
You can remove your HFS partition disk0s3 (back up your data first), then expand your APFS container into the gap created by that operation.


Updated iMac to Yosemite 10.10.5 and USB keyboard stopped working

Try this, while it is very basic: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19094?locale=en_US
Also check what other USB are working (mouse, etc.)
Do a PRAM Reset
Restart >
Command + Option + P + R
holding the keys when the Apple sign doesnt appear yet on the screen,
it restarts and USB ports start working.

You can also try a SMC: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

I am using a new iMac with El capitan and preferred using my old USB keyboard instead of the elegant wirelerss one. No problems.


MacBook Pro experiencing random restarts and buggy behavior while running programs

"Could someone please advise me on additional steps to take?"

Check Activity Monitor (in /Applications/Utilities) to see if any processes are using excessive CPU% or Memory.

Make sure that all the software you use is up-to-date, and compatible with Big Sur.  (Very often, the cause of problems after upgrading the OS is because of old, incompatible software that is crashing or hanging -- particularly 'invisible' background processes.)

Create a new user account and test the problem there. If the problem goes away, you know that something in your old user account was causing it. It might be a Login Item, Launch Agent or other process that's programmed to launch, or settings/preferences that are incorrect or corrupt. Go back to the old user account and investigate. If the problem continues, then you know it's a System-level issue, not a user-level one.

Check the logs for messages about crashes, unexpected restarts, and other errors. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/console/cnsl1012/mac

It's also possible that problems like unexpected restarts are caused by hardware problems, such as battery, power supply or logic board issues.


I would suggest following Apple's guide on recovering an Apple-ID:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204921
In particular you want to visit this web site to start the process:
https://iforgot.apple.com/
If these are the steps you've already taken, and you still cannot gain access even after waiting the given period of time - I would call Apple Support to ask if they can recover your account for you based on some other means of authentication.


Two finger left and right swipe on trackpad does not work under Lion

Have you checked System Preferences? Go to System Preferences -> Trackpad -> More Gestures and look at the top option (swipe between pages). If it is off, turn it on.


Video file location of dynamic wallpaper preview in system preferences

It's not a separate video.
The preference pane loads the different components of the HEIC and fades between them.
Evidence:

Creating your own dynamic wallpaper only requires the HEIC and the animation plays in the preference pane fine without needing to also create a video.

Watching file events shows the following file loads when changing desktop background selection from The Beach to The Lake; no video file is loaded.
  501   1528 com.apple.preference.desktopscre  15 /System/Library/Desktop Pictures/The Beach.heic
  501   1528 com.apple.preference.desktopscre  15 /System/Library/Desktop Pictures/.thumbnails/The Beach.heic
  501   1528 com.apple.preference.desktopscre  15 /System/Library/Desktop Pictures/The Lake.heic
  501   1530 VTDecoderXPCService   4 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework/Resources/Info.plist
  501    398 Dock          34 /System/Library/Desktop Pictures/The Lake.heic
  501   1528 com.apple.preference.desktopscre  16 /System/Library/Frameworks/VideoToolbox.framework/Resources/default.metallib
  501   1528 com.apple.preference.desktopscre  16 /System/Library/Frameworks/VideoToolbox.framework/Resources/default.metallib
  501    398 Dock          34 /System/Library/Desktop Pictures/The Lake.heic


Unable to boot into Mac OSX after updating dual-boot Ubuntu, Partition Type FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF

Usually when the FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF error occurs, the partition starting and ending values are still correct. I assume this is true in your case. If I am correct, then you need to enter the following commands to change FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF to 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC.

diskutil unmountdisk disk0
gpt remove -i 2 disk0
diskutil unmountdisk disk0
gpt add -i 2 -b 409640 -s 1900925984 -t apfs disk0

The EFI partition (disk0s1) is used occasionally by macOS, so you need to keep this partition. However, Grub files were added to this partition when you installed Ubuntu. The commands below will remove any Grub files that may still exist on the EFI partition . You can enter these commands while booted to macOS.

sudo diskutil mount disk0s1
cd /Volumes/EFI/EFI
rm -rf BOOT
rm -rf ubuntu
cd ~
diskutil unmount disk0s1

To add the free space back to macOS, enter the command given below. You can enter this command while booted to macOS.

sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk0s2 0


iPhone 11 A2111 compatibility with LTE bands in Europe (Portugal)

The modem and antenna setup in recent iPhones can't handle all of the band options at once, so Apple has split its models into devices that work with certain bands needed in the US and Canada, and devices that work with bands needed elsewhere.

The hardware of the models is pretty much the same, except that they have different modems that cover different LTE bands. Therefore, the phone you buy overseas or from black markets might not work properly on your current carrier.

iPhone 11 A2111, 11 Pro A2160, and 11 Pro Max A2161 are the US/Canadian models. iPhone 11 A2221, 11 Pro A2215, and 11 Pro Max A2218 are the world models. iPhone 11 A2223, 11 Pro A2217, and 11 Pro Max A2220 are Chinese models.

Especially in Europe, the US models will get poorer coverage and speeds than the world models will.

So it might work but not up to the expectancy level. I wouldn't suggest going with A2111 as Apple has provided the list of supporting bands. You can look for iPhone 11 A2221.

https://www.apple.com/lae/iphone/LTE/#iphone-11


iOS Safari Repeatedly Opens "Virus Detected" Emails

Basically, this is a website that repeatedly spawns email templates by repeatedly opening a new tab with a mailto: link, causing iOS to open email templates repeatedly. This is a known vulnerability in iOS, fixed in iOS 10.2.

To fix the issue without updating your software, go to Settings -> Safari -> Clear Website and History Data. Alternatively, on an iPhone 6S (or newer) with 3D Touch, you can force-press on the Safari icon, open a New Tab, then immediately press down and hold the tab switcher icon, and hit Close All Tabs.

Learn more about this issue.

Note: This is fixed in iOS 10.2 (which, sadly, your iPad 2 can't update to), which prevents websites from opening mailto: links until the user specifically approves it.


How to open a fixed URL + what's in the clipboard via a script & bind it to a shortcut?

The following example AppleScript code will do as you asked:

set the clipboard to "questions/392514/i-want-to-write-a-script-to-open-a-fixed-url-whats-in-the-clipboard-ex-open"

set myURL to "https://apple.stackexchange.com/" & (the clipboard)

tell application "Safari" to ¬
    tell its first window to ¬
        set its current tab to ¬
            (make new tab with properties {URL:myURL})

If you run the example AppleScript code, as is, it will open to your question.

The first line of code is just there for testing purposes as well as the "https://apple.stackexchange.com/" part of myURL. Change it to what you want and comment out or delete the first line to use it normally.

To incorporate that into something more robust to account for the current state of Safari, the following example AppleScript code handles the typical different scenarios:

set the clipboard to "questions/392514/i-want-to-write-a-script-to-open-a-fixed-url-whats-in-the-clipboard-ex-open"

set myURL to "https://apple.stackexchange.com/" & (the clipboard)

tell application "Safari"
    activate
    if (count documents) is equal to 0 then
        make new document
        repeat until exists its first window
            delay 0.01
        end repeat
        set URL of its current tab of its first window to myURL
    else
        set firstTabURL to URL of its first tab of its first window
        if {"favorites://", "topsites://", missing value} contains firstTabURL then
            set URL of its current tab of its first window to myURL
        else
            tell its first window to ¬
                set its current tab to ¬
                    (make new tab with properties {URL:myURL})
        end if
    end if
end tell

Again, the first line of code is just there for testing purposes as well as the "https://apple.stackexchange.com/" part of myURL. Change it to what you want and comment out or delete the first line to use it normally.

Note: The example AppleScript code  was tested on macOS High Sierra.

Note: The example AppleScript code is just that and does not contain any error handling as may be appropriate. The onus is upon the user to add any error handling as may be appropriate, needed or wanted. Have a look at the try statement and error statement in the AppleScript Language Guide. See also, Working with Errors. Additionally, the use of the delay command may be necessary between events where appropriate, e.g. delay 0.5, with the value of the delay set appropriately.


I'm actually one of the 'studs' from the StUDS Collective that designed The Wedgie. The challenge you brought up is one we've wrestled with trying to find a good solution for without over-complicating the design of the tray. I use the tray daily, but don't use 'tap to click' so it's less of an issue for me, but here are a couple of low tech solutions we've come up with.

Turn the trackpad around backwards and use the "better touch tool" mentioned above to invert all of the functions on the trackpad. This makes the top edge recessed enough that it avoids contact with your palm. I also regularly use this configuration for charging the trackpad without removing it from the tray.

We've also developed a little silicone bumper that helps with the problem too. This is still something we're playing with so it's not listed for sale anywhere.


The Mac won't do key combinations across keyboards, even with an Apple external and a MacBook Pro internal.

I know of no utility to allow this, either.


Did you try the YouTube iOS app? You may need to change a few settings first, but I believe the YouTube app supports full quality videos - including 4K. Apple's built-in uploader from the share menu doesn't work that well.

In the YouTube iOS app, click your user image, then on the window that slides up, select Settings. Scroll down to uploads and confirm that full quality is selected for upload quality. Press the X on the top left to return to the main part of the app.

You may now press the camera button (next to the search button) on the top bar. It will ask for appropriate permissions. Try uploading from there and see if it works for you.

(I just tested this method and can confirm HD+ resolutions - also, I just noticed that this was a really necro'd post.)


Yes it is possible but it will not be easy. You will probably need to jailbreak your iPad and follow similar procedures when installing Android.


Where on the file system are my photos imported to?

If you're using the Photos application then your imported pictures can be found at:

~/Pictures/Photos Library

This is a special folder. If you double click on it in Finder it'll open the Photos application instead of showing you the contents of the folder. To see the contents, right click on the folder in Finder and select Show Package Contents from the menu.

Once you're inside the special folder the unaltered master photos are in the Masters sub-directory sorted in to year and then month then day sub-folders.

If you're trying to find the path to the location from a Terminal command line it's:

~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary


For recording the screen as a video, this site seems to sum up the ways nicely:

http://www.apptamin.com/blog/capture-iphone-ipad-screen-video/

Hope it helps.


Can I locate my iPhone 4 using Find my iPhone if the setting is disabled on the device?

No, Find my iPhone requires that the relevant service (namely iCloud → Find my iPhone) is enabled so that the device can be tracked and communicated with. If this service is disabled on the device, the device can't be tracked by you using iCloud.


close iTunes

via terminal.app

sudo killall bookstoreagent
sudo tar -czf /Applications/iBooks.tar.gz /Applications/iBooks.app
sudo rm -fr /Applications/iBooks.app

keeps you a working backup, just in case you need it back:

cd /Applications
sudo tar -xzf /Applications/iBooks.tar.gz

there is no need to alter any other files, nor to play with LaunchAgents or Daemons. Once the App is gone, iTunes gains back the books functionality. I read some evil suggestions on the interwebs.


iMac shows frozen at bootup, but computer running normally in background

You can try to follow the steps described in HT1492:

Shut down your Mac if it is on.
Press the power button to start the computer.
Immediately press and hold Cmd-v for verbose mode.

This should give you some insight into where in the boot process the problem occurs. As you can still access the iMac via SSH it might be possible to fix it.

But as single-user boot seems to work without problems you might be better of with having a look at TS2570.


iPhone Google Reader client with updating home-screen badge for unread item count?

No Google Reader App that I have used/seen has had an option to do this.  It would require the app to be running in the background and checking, which Apple doesn't technically allow in the case that we are speaking of. This mostly has to do with how Apple gives certain privileges to Apps when multitasking.  It may be something that gets expanded on in the future but I have not seen any apps at the moment that will do what you asking.

I use the Reeder on both my iPad and iPhone and it has an unread counter home-screen badge but it won't update it will my phone is sitting idle.

I know it probably wasn't the answer you were looking for but I hope it helps.  Until Apple allows for better multitasking features to be available to developers, we won't see any apps that do this without extreme work arounds by developers or jail-breaking.

I don't recommend jail-breaking your iDevice but other will probably mention that it might be possible to do it through that kind of means, but that is your choice to go down that route.


iPhone 4 disabled after several failed password attempts?

The only way if you don't have a backup (on pc/mac or iCloud) is to recover data with a third-party software before you attempt to restore with iTunes.
This one is well reviewed (but not cheap).


Why does my MBP say it was restarted "because of a problem"?

I had the same annoying issue on OSX Mavericks (10.9.2), and resetting the NVRAM / PRAM as per Andrew Ferrier's answer didn't resolve it.

Instead, I opened a Terminal window and found a week old Kernel .panic file in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

I simply renamed it to .panic.old with the following command:

sudo mv Kernel_[rest_of_filename].panic Kernel_[rest_of_filename].panic.old

After a reboot I no longer get the annoying message!


OS X give focus to a window after showing

Found solution myself. In system settings on the Mission Control tab the second option of the top group must be checked. I don't know exactly how it is in English, it shall be something like 'Switch to space with application windows when switching to an application' or something like that.

I used this as a tip, it says about the third checkbox, but in my case the second one has solved my trouble.


Is there a way to make a portable iOS backup?

I'm going to posit this as an answer.
Though I've never tested it 'in anger' it does work after a migration, so might work on a simple 'file copy'…

Your iTunes 'iDevice' backup is stored in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
so in theory, carrying that to another Mac ought to allow a restore.

The untested part of my theory is whether or not the iCloud sign-in & encryption factors are also contained within that structure. The sign-in, presumably will just ask you to confirm with your ID & password, then check against Apple's servers, but the encryption [assuming you use it to preserve your passwords etc in the backup] is another factor.

All I could suggest would be to test before it becomes critical - if you have another computer to test with, or even on a new, 'blank' Mac account, before you go away.
If it failed at that point, you'd have your 'real' backup at hand.

As the saying goes, a backup strategy is only as good as your ability to restore it.


Is there a (non-jailbroken) iPhone app that works like Android Lock?

No, there's no official, Apple-approved replacement for the lock screen. If you really want to use Android Lock, you must jailbreak and then install it via Cydia.

Un-jailbroken phones can only do what Apple allows, which is to run one app at a time. Android Lock is different because what it does is to modify the basic system of the phone, which Apple doesn't allow. And that is the reason why such apps or modifications are only available on jailbroken phones (through Cydia, the jailbroken appstore).


How to access a newly mounted DMG from VMWare Fusion (Windows 8.1)?

I don't think this is possible without some special software in the windows vm. The dmg  is analogous to the windows .exe.  In the same way a Mac can not run an .exe, a windows box can not open a dmg.  That being said a software solution like transmac installed in the vm may offer the functionality you seek.

No personal experience with transmac myself.

http://www.acutesystems.com/scrtm.htm

Trasmac features:

-Open Mac format disk drives, flash drives, CD/DVD/Blu-ray media, high density diskettes, dmg and sparseimage files.

-Copy files to Mac disks and dmg images.

-Format for Mac and restore disks and flash drives.

-Create, compress and expand (convert to iso) dmg files.

-Built in burner functionality to burn ISO and dmg files directly to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray.

-Read Mac multisession and hybrid CDs.

Good luck.