How can I reproduce the Finder sort order without asking Finder to sort for me?

The exact sorting order used by Finder probably depends on the locale, but scripting languages like Ruby and Python have libraries for sorting strings naturally.

#!/usr/bin/env ruby -rubygems -KU

require 'natural_sort' # gem install naturalsort

input = "name-II-1
name-6
name-2
name-19".lines
# input = Dir["#{ENV['HOME']}/Documents/*"]

puts NaturalSort.naturalsort(input)


Macbook Pro can only startup with external hard drive connected

If disk utility does not show your internal disk anymore it is a Hardware, not a Software fault. Unless you are savvy enough to troubleshoot the hardware issue yourself you will have to take it to a repair center.

Most likely it is actually not the Hard Drive but the Hard Drive cable that is failing. It is a common issue with your model and you might be eligible for a free replacement (cable). Be sure to either contact Apple Care or go to an Authorized Repair Center and have them check the issue for you.


Putting display to sleep using windows keyboard

function-win-shift-f12 (if you have hotkeys turned off where function keys act as normal function keys)
otherwise,
win-shift-f12


You can use keyboard shortcut to get focus on menubar with ⌃ CTRL+F2. This will show menubar also in fullscreen apps.

Note: when You use Your F2 key for brightness control, You need to add fn to this shortcut to work properly.


iMessage and facetime not displaying my number

Ring your carrier.

They may have to reset your phone's profile, if the other SIM messed it up.  They can send the new data (connection profile) remotely, you just OK it when it arrives.

My carrier sometimes sends me a new phone profile after a major iOS update, or if they add new functionality etc. I can easily imagine swapping SIM cards could mess up the original profile.


My USB is basically gone after 'diskutil zeroDisk /dev/disk2'. What do I do?

There is so much going on with your operating system and in the comments, I would take the USB drive to another computer to test it. Then you can have possibly two follow on questions.
One to address erasing a USB or knowing it is flakey.
A second question where you ask how to get your Mac in a desired state. (Like how to erase install macOS.)


No. There is no option to change the background to an image, but you can set the color of the background to anything you like.

This involves changing the 'banner' image (rEFIt logo by default). The background color will be set to the color of the top-left part of the banner image.

Changing your banner image involves changing the rEFIt configuration file. Instructions for this can be found at http://refit.sourceforge.net/doc/c3s3_config.html. Hope this helps.


How to set a key to mimic clicking an app in the dock

This is the kind of task QuicKeys used to be very good at.

Press a button, return cursor to its start point.

It's still available [will run in nag-free demo mode for a month, then go to nagware unless you buy it] & has instructions to install under more recent macOSes, but idk whether it's still up to the task.


Turned off iCloud Photo Library and now can't see pictures after turning back on

Not sure what happened, but they appeared suddenly this morning. They were gone for over a week...and appeared today. Weird...


Can the AppleTV (Version 2) send output to only the optical output?

I've got an unjailbroken Apple TV (2nd gen) running Apple TV Software 5.2, and it does permit audio through the optical out, even when my TV is off or when the HDMI cable is disconnected.  I have my Apple TV connected to my LG TV via HDMI and to my Onkyo receiver via S/PDIF (TOSLINK) optical out.  I tried these scenarios:

Base case: Everything connected, TV on, AirPlay works and audio is transmitted from optical out to the receiver.  The TV also receives audio over the HDMI, though I usually keep the TV's volume muted. (FWIW, I was used the Music app on my iPad to initiate AirPlay audio.)
Next case: TV off and HDMI not connected (headless).  I unplugged my Apple TV's power cord, removed the HDMI cable, and then plugged the power cable (only) back in, forcing a reset.  After a few minutes, I was able to use AirPlay to stream audio to the Apple TV and could hear it from the receiver via the optical output.
Next case: TV off and HDMI is connected.  I unplugged my Apple TV's power cord, plugged the TV HDMI cable back in to the Apple TV, and then plugged the power cable back in, foricng a reset.  After a few minutes, I was able to use AirPlay to stream audio to the Apple TV and could hear it from the receiver via the optical output.
Next case: Unplugging/plugging the HDMI cable while AirPlay audio is streaming already.  I tried this out of curiosity to see how the Apple TV would behave, e.g. would it get stuck?  When I inserted/removed the HDMI cable, audio to the optical output stopped for a few seconds, then resumed.

As to why your Apple TV might not output audio to optical without the TV on, I have a couple of theories:

Some TV sets, when the HDMI is connected and the TV is off, could interfere with the device's normal operation.  I used to own another TV, and my cable company's set-top box would routinely complain that its HDMI output was "blocked" when that TV was off, and it wouldn't permit playback through other outputs unless I turned on the TV or disabled the HDMI.  If you can't get AirPlay to work when your TV is off,  try the headless / no HDMI case #2 above.
Were you perhaps trying to initiate AirPlay after your Apple TV was idle for a long time or else put into standby mode?  Wake the Apple TV first with the remote and then try initiating AirPlay.  (Notice in each case I tried above, I had power-cycled the Apple TV prior to changing the cable configuration, and such power-cycling guaranteed the Apple TV was awake.)
How is your receiver set up?  In my setup, I have my Apple TV's optical output going to a dedicated device input on the receiver (DIG 2), and the TV's HDMI pass-through to another device input (DIG 3/TV).  (My TV's HDMI pass-through doesn't pass anything through the HDMI cable when the TV is off, hence why I use the optical output in the first place ... that, and the TV seems to boost & distort the audio.)
Perhaps the issue is media/settings specific.  Do your Apple TV's audio settings enable Dolby Digital output, and your receiver, perhaps, isn't capable of interpreting the signal?  Try turning this option off.

Additional links at Apple that may be helpful:

Apple TV: HDMI audio stops working and related questions
Apple TV (2nd generation): No audio when using Apple TV and related questions


I'd be surprised if normal wear & tear would be able to do that in just 30 months or so. I only retired my similar keyboard after about 7 years, when I could no longer read the letters, I'd worn them off.

I'd try tapping the offending keys with greater than usual force, see if something crispy is stuck underneath. After that, I've heard of people having success actually running keyboards under the tap - so long as they are given plenty of time to thoroughly dry out afterwards, though I've never done it myself.
Wouldn't try it with a wireless keyboard, but wired might just be fine.


How to link /usr/local to user specific directory?

Yes, you can do it - but it is relatively involved.

Essentially you could chroot each user into his own directory and replicate the filesystem in there, except for the /usr/local directory, which would then be user-specific.

To access the system directories inside the chroot, you could use bindfs, osxfs or even a NFS mount.

Far easier to just let each user have a non-default homebrew and let them rebuild all their packages as needed. By definition, not sharing one folder implies duplicate storage and work but that’s likely far less hassle to set up.


macOS Catalina: execute bash script on boot with launchctl

/Users/mark/Documents/ is a protected user folder (as Downloads and Desktop).

Usually you can add applications to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access to enable access to these folders. Terminal is already added probably - the reason why no error is shown executing the script manually.

Change the destination of the log file in the shell script BatteryInfoOnBoot.sh to /Users/mark/Library/Logs/ and it will work.

Proof (Virtual machine - no battery inside ;-)):

user@host ~ % cat Library/Logs/battery-log.txt
~~~~~~~~~
Tue Dec  3 01:23:55 CET 2019
Current battery percentage:

Cycle count:

Capacity stats:

As an unwanted alternative (because even a-typical log files belong to ~/Library/Logs/ or /Library/Logs/) you can keep your original file as it is but you have to add /bin/launchctl to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access then.

Proof (still no battery inside):

user@host ~ % cat Documents/battery-log.txt
~~~~~~~~~
Tue Dec  3 01:32:30 CET 2019
Current battery percentage:

Cycle count:

Capacity stats:


Just pick "normal desktop pictures", the one you've picked is dynamic wallpaper, the new type of wallpaper that will change itself.


Mac Pro ATI 5770 with 3 monitors - what active adapters needed?

Confirmed: for this to work you need two (not just one) active adapters on the Mini DisplayPorts.  When shopping around, the adapters may also be referred to as Eyefinity compatible.  You don't have to buy genuine adapters - I am using two of the cheaper ones.


You can't import photos directly from Facebook in Keynote for iOS, but you can add photos from your Camera Roll. And the Facebook app for iOS lets you save photos to your Camera Roll -- open the photo in Facebook, then select 'Save Photo' from the top right menu.

You have to repeat this process for each photo you want to include in the presentation, but it's the only way I can think of.


Can't log out of someone else's find my iphone without their icloud password

Contact the pervious owner and ask them to log into iCloud themselves and release this phone.

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH2702

Failing that, ask if work has this device enrolled in an MDM or to contact Apple to validate via the serial number that the device is not owned by a consumer or different company. In that case, your IT department can bypass this activation lock. If work has an HR department, they can request / require the previous owner to follow Apple's steps to release the device. Legal could bill the past employee for the replacement cost.

How secure is Activation Lock on iOS 7 (and later)?

You probably need to just turn the device in or wait it out since bypassing the lock isn't viable.


How to export Calibre's library for Database Support?

Calibre is based around a SQLite database so you can do SQL work including adding tables on it directly - I think calibre only creates extra tables with books_ or custom_ as a prefix so your own tables would not be affected by it.

Extra fields can be added which appear in the GUI to be extra fields in the Book table but are actually each in tables with a 1-1 mapping to the Books table

To extract data any sql tool can be used including the command line sqlite which Apple includes in OS X .

There are plugins like Multi Column search that allow more complex searches to be done.


As you mentioned, smbutil lookup will resolve the name to an IP address:

$ smbutil lookup qx-2000
Got response from 10.0.1.21
IP address of qx-2000: 10.0.1.21

We can extract the IP address from this output:

$ smbutil lookup qx-2000 2>&1 | tail -n 1 | cut -d : -f 2
 10.0.1.21

Then we can use that in our argument to ping:

$ ping $(smbutil lookup qx-2000 2>&1 | tail -n 1 | cut -d : -f 2)
PING 10.0.1.21 (10.0.1.21): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 10.0.1.21: icmp_seq=0 ttl=128 time=4.823 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.21: icmp_seq=1 ttl=128 time=7.373 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.1.21: icmp_seq=2 ttl=128 time=4.820 ms
...


Any way to automatically lock *Me* out from *My Own* iPhone for a specific amount of time?

Well, I guess you don't want to be distracted by yourself constantly touching you phone right? That's what I need too.

My way to do this is totally not recommended, but that's the only way I have in mind. Get a passcode, do like 11 false attempt, and you can lock yourself out for 15 minutes or more. It's something extremely stupid to do, and I don't recommend doing that or anything similar.

Just in case some emergency happened, and you need to contact someone. You picked up your phone, and, ya. It's up to you.


Firmware umbrella may be able to kick the device out of recovery mode after the upgrade:

http://blog.firmwareumbrella.com/

Alternately, try to do the upgrade through iTunes as opposed to OTA.


Set Alias for Terminal Window in Applescript

What you really need to save are the tabs—those can be used again in a do script action (even if they are just one per window).

This script:

tell application "Terminal"
    activate
    set tab1 to (do script "echo foo")
    do script "echo bar" in tab1
    do script "echo baz" -- in new window
    do script "echo back again" in tab1
end tell

will produce this in one window:

$ echo foo
foo
$ echo bar
bar
$ echo back again
back again
$

and this in another:

$ echo baz
baz


Clicking on folder in iTerm2 opens in web browser instead of Finder

That feature is based on the current directory. For example command-clicking untitled\ folder works here:

$ cd Desktop; ls
untitled\ folder

But not here:

$ cd; ls Desktop
untitled\ folder


Logitech C910 webcam El Capitan compatability?

I had the same issue with a C920, it kinda works but doesn't quite 'fit' into the OS. Logitech didn't seem to offer any support for it at all.

I got round it using an intermediary app called Webcam Settings [$7.99/£5.99] which essentially turned it into a useful camera again.


What is the purpose of the numeral to the right of Sent in Apple Mail?

It means "unread".

Now that does not seem to make much sense, and I think it doesn't, but that is what it is. You can select a mail from your sent folder and mark it as unread, and the count will increase.


Big Sur won't automatically boot from external disk

One solution that worked for my desktop iMacs is to reset the PMU, which I accomplished on the iMac by powering off, unplugging from the wall point, and holding the power button for some seconds before replugging and powering up again.
Today I came across the same situation on my MacBook Air 2015—completely ignoring the Alt key and also ignoring the Startup Disk setting—so I reset the PMU on the MacBook Air by the conventional means. That fixed the issue, the Alt key worked to display the Startup Manager. I've noticed this behaviour coincides with a change to the startup sound, which now sounds more raucous and far less sweet. I presume that some recent update has tinkered with the firmware.


Does find my iPhone still work if I transfer my number to another device?

If you transfer the number to a new cellular data plan, and the phone is not connected to a wifi hotspot, your phone won't be able to report current GPS coordinates to Apple's Find My Phone servers. In short, I think the answer is no, but as @HLLB pointed out, your phone's battery will probably die before the phone number port is completed, so better get to digging!


Cannot see/accept/decline invitations from Exchange

This is not a great answer, but it's a workaround for now. I set up an account on Outlook.com. Invitations to or from that address work seamlessly, so both my wife and I can open each other's invitations, accept, decline, etc.

The downside is that this only works for events on my Outlook.com calendar. There's still no way to accept an invitation from her and put it on my iCloud calendar, and she still gets an attachment if I send an invitation from iCloud or some other account. So, I very much consider this a workaround, not a solution, and would appreciate any actual answers.


MacPorts: How do I make py32-scipy not depend on gcc48?

Unfortunately py32-scipy does depend on gcc4.8 as it depends on some c libraries which is a set of numerical routines that are optimised to run on your machine and so I think need to be compiled there.

Normally Macports does not compile but downloads precompiled binaries so you should not need to compile gcc48. So check the vlue of buildfromsource in /opt/local/etc/macports/macports.conf it should be ifneeded. It does do this for me on OSX 10.8 got gcc4.8.

Also check you have the latest ports (gcc48 and the std C++ libraries have caused much comment on the macports mailing lists so will have changed) by running sudo port selfupdate

You can give py32-scipy a variant to chnage the version of gcc used but that will still need a macports gcc compiler as Xcode 4 does not come with gcc but a program that looks like gcc but uses clang.


Mac Pro with permanently mounted Time Machine. Local snaps any benefit?

In short, no.

I've disabled local snapshots on both my work and home iMacs, both of which use a mirrored RAID for their TM drives. I also replace the Time Machine drive units from the RAID boxes every two years as they run 24/7. I use Guardian MAXimus from OWC*, which are easy to self service. Lastly, I make a quarterly DiskDupe backup of each machine to an inexpensive 246Gb external SSD (one each) and store them at the other location (work drive goes home & visa versa.)

For suspenders as well as a belt, I store my most crucial documents on iCloud, Dropbox AND Google drive.

This Apple Support document has interesting updates about how High Sierra uses local snapshots when compared to earlier versions of macOS.

Disclaimer: I've been a satisfied customer of MacSales (OWC) for decades. No financial or other connection.


Edit your hosts file:

sudo vi /etc/hosts

Add URLs you want to block. This should be sufficient:

# Block YouTube
127.0.0.1 youtube.com
127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com
127.0.0.1 youtu.be
127.0.0.1 www.youtu.be
127.0.0.1 youtube-nocookie.com
127.0.0.1 www.youtube-nocookie.com

Reset the Directory Service cache

dscacheutil -flushcache

Ping the the hosts for verification:

$ ping youtube.com
PING youtube.com (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.048 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.100 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.088 ms

$ ping youtu.be
PING youtu.be (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.049 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.151 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.082 ms

If you still can access the site, a reboot should help.

sudo reboot


How to boot into macOS directly in Boot Camp?

If you go to the Boot Camp Control Panel in Windows, you can select the boot drive in there. This will be in effect until you change it again from within macOS's Startup Disk system preference.


How to turn off calls, iMessage and texts, but stay on Wifi?

Put your phone in Airplane mode, then turn on Wifi. This disables the cell network, but enables wifi.

Messages will continue to work, but phone calls will not. If you have Wifi calling enabled, phone calls will continue to get through, depending on your service provider.

To disable Messages, simply go to the Messages section of Settings, and move the slider to the left.


MacBook with Lenovo C-Dock duplicates image on external monitors

The MacBook only supports dual displays including the built in display.  In other words, it will only support one external monitor.  Per the tech specs:

  Dual display and video mirroring: simultaneously supports full native
  resolution on the built-in display and up to 4096-by-2304 resolution
  at 60Hz on an external display, both at millions of colors

The Lenovo C-Dock doesn't enable your MacBook to supply more display bandwidth than Apple provides.  So, the mirroring you are seeing is expected behavior.

From the comments...

  ...I should specify that my MacBook is actually MacBook Pro (15-inch,
  2018). Would that make any difference?

Yes and no.

Yes in that the MacBook Pro (as opposed to the MacBook) can support more than 1 external monitor.  However, as you've already discovered, if you connect them separately, it works.  Unfortunately, you can't daisy chain monitors from a single port; you must use separate ones.  Use of the dock still doesn't increase the available video bandwidth of the Thunderbolt/DisplayPort port even if the machine itself has the capability.


Does a normal iTunes backup instead of the iCloud one save the wifi passwords?

Wi-Fi passwords on iOS are stored in the keychain, which is only part of an iTunes backup if encrypted backups are enabled. If you enable encrypted backups, a future backup of the device using iTunes will contain the Wi-Fi network password. Passwords cannot be added retroactively to backups. Backups to iCloud will always contain the keychain containing the Wi-Fi network password.

  Encrypted iTunes backups can include information that unencrypted iTunes backups don't: Wi-Fi settings

About encrypted backups in iTunes - Apple Support

To enable encrypted backups, check the checkbox on the device page in iTunes.


ITunes 12.8.1.2 does not recognize devices nor see backups

Appears to be issues relating to the new MobileDevice.framework on Yosemite (I'm aware that the problem is slightly different, but the issues seem related.) I'd recommend upgrading macOS  if you can (it's good practice anyways), and if not, downgrading iTunes or waiting to see if Apple releases a fix.


If others do have a keyboard with an eject key, you can just press Command ⌘+Option ⌥+Eject ⏏.

Other shortcuts:

Control ^+Shift ⇧+Eject ⏏ - Put displays to sleep
Command ⌘+Control ^+Eject ⏏ - Restart
Command ⌘+Control ^+Option ⌥+Eject ⏏ - Shut down

If others like the OP have a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro with a power key in place of an eject key, substituting the power key for eject should work in Mountain Lion and later versions of OS X, but not in Lion.

Since Mavericks, another option is to just press the power button or power key. It now puts a Mac to sleep instead of showing a dialog with different options.

If you don't have a keyboard with an eject or power key, you can use a private.xml like this with KeyRemap4MacBook:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
  <item>
    <name>test</name>
    <identifier>test</identifier>
    <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::S, VK_CONTROL, VK_OPTION, VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE, KeyCode::VK_CONSUMERKEY_EJECT, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L | ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L</autogen>
 </item>
</root>

Or create a workflow like this in Alfred:


Lion Preview window stuck as always on top

This happens to me in Lion as well, but only with big PDFs. Closing and reopening fixes it.


MacBook Air briefly wakes from sleep after 3 hours

It may be worth resetting your System Management Controller (SMC) to see if this resolves this behaviour.

To do this on your MacBook Air follow these steps:

Shut down your Mac
Keep the MagSafe adapter (power cable) plugged in.
Press at the same time shiftoptioncontrol (on the left side of the bult-in keyboard) and the power button
Let go
Turn your Mac back on with the power button.

Let me know how you go.

Boot into Safe Mode

Since resetting the SMC didn't resolve this for you, I'd test to see if this still happens when booted into Safe Mode. To do this, follow these steps:

Fully shut down your Mac
Restart your Mac
Immediately press the Shift key and keep it down
Let go of the Shift key when you see the login window (NOTE: If you
have FileVault enabled you may need to log in twice).
Take a note of what happens (i.e. Close the lid and check again to see if it still wakes up 3hrs later)
Exit Safe Mode by restarting your Mac as normal

Run Apple Diagnostics

Now that we've established Safe Mode makes no difference and resetting the SMC didn't help, it's time to test your Apple hardware. Your model of MacBook Air uses Apple Diagnostics to do this. Follow these steps:

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.


You can sync your QuickVoice recordings with a PC or Mac using their software. Have a look at the QuickVoice website for information on the download and price, although it seems that you get a desktop version with the iOS version, which I didn't get so not sure where to get it.

This app does not use iCloud to sync, it uses its own cloud storage system.


AppleScript for counting messages in Inbox fails with "Can't get mailbox"

Your mistake is understandable in what you expect should be the syntax.

Each account has it's own mailbox named "INBOX"

In Mail the mailbox  inbox  is the reference to the top level inbox that shows contents of all other inboxes named "INBOX"

2 examples:

Example 1

tell application "Mail"
    set inboxes to first mailbox of every account whose name is "INBOX"
    set messageCount to 0
    repeat with i from 1 to number of items in inboxes

        set this_item to item i of inboxes
        if this_item is not missing value then
            set thisCount to (count of (messages of this_item))
            set messageCount to thisCount + messageCount
            log thisCount
        end if
    end repeat

end tell
log messageCount

Example 2

tell application "Mail"
    set messageCount to (count of (messages of inbox))
end tell

log messageCount

Both return and log the same total.

But example 1 also logs the individual count of each "INBOX"

A good place to start is to read through:  AppleScript Fundamentals


Spotlight calculator always scientific notation?

Looks like you'll need to force a result too big or small to be shown in decimal format.

So multiply everything by 1e100 to force scientific format, and then just subtract 100 from the exponent that appears:


Connecting to FTP, directory seems to be blank

Okay so to move files btwn host and guest (virtualbox) i was able to set up ftp on the host as noted above and access the host from the guest either via browser by doing:

ftp://username:password@192.168.1.119

Substituting username and password with my user/admin username and password.

OR (even better) simple from the command line:

$ ftp 192.168.1.119
Connected to 192.168.1.119.
220 192.168.1.119 FTP server (tnftpd 20100324+GSSAPI) ready.
Name (192.168.1.119:username): my_username
331 User my_username accepted, provide password.
Password:
User my_username logged in.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.

The the commands within the ftp interface are mostly quite similar to bash/unix commands.

ftp> cd Sites/mzoo
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> cd mglitch
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> ls
500 Illegal PORT command rejected
ftp: bind: Address already in use

Hey! What happened there? We have to go into passive mode:

ftp> passive
Passive mode on.
ftp> ls
227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,1,119,194,210)
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for '/bin/ls'.
total 1
-rw-r--r--   1 my_username  staff  12292 Jun 25 21:45 .DS_Store
rw-r--r--   1 my_username  staff    252 Jun  5 15:13 .htaccess

get will retrieve a single file and wget will get files matching request. for example:

ftp> lcd audio # changing to local directory "audio"
Local directory now /home/username/bla-bla-audio
ftp> mget *.mp3

Here's a list if basic ftp commands.

Command to turn off ftp on the host is:

sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ftp.plist


If your wall is more stable you could always get a wall mount for it. They cost around $30-$40 on Apple's site. For the money it would be worth a try, or move the iMac somewhere sturdier in your house possibly. If the integrated mount were to somehow fail, the shag carpet might help minimize any resulting damage.


significant eye sight drop from using Macbook Pro retina

For me it's glassy screen coat and huge brightness. Just lower the brightness and make smaller resolution also use night shift


What does it mean to give apps access to Documents folder on Mac?

The normal Unix permissions system gives the user an area of the disk for their files (the user domain). Apps and other processes launched by the user run 'as the user' and can read and write anywhere in the user domain, (but not in another user's domain, or in system areas.)
Similarly, processes run by other users can't read or write in your user account. (Note that System processes are often 'other users'.)
Catalina and Big Sur are even stricter, requiring the user's express permission for an app to read and write to the Documents folder. This essentially creates a white-list of apps that are allowed in the Documents folder. There are similar white-lists for your Desktop folder, Downloads, and network volumes and external drives.
This added security means that a malicious app, unwittingly launched by the user, can't access your files in the Documents folder, without your express permission. Thus, the Documents folder is safer than other folders on the disk.
Other folders in your user domain are not protected in this way, and can be read or written by any process that you launch.
It comes at the cost of a significant annoyance factor and user tendency to click "Yeah, yeah, yeah" whenever they see it, which somewhat reduces its efficacy.
Normally, we expect apps to be able to read and write our files. If MS Word couldn't read .docx files, and couldn't save them either, then the app would be useless.
You can reasonably expect commercial applications not to rifle through your correspondence in the hope of finding and transmitting something of use or value. The discovery of such a practice would lead to customers abandoning the app, and likely legal proceedings. (Unless you've agreed that the company can scan your data, as with Gmail and Google docs.)
The best way to secure your data is by encrypting your disk with FileVault, using strong passwords on the user account at login and wake from sleep, and by following good practice for safe computing, e.g. not downloading anything from dodgy sites, or when told 'you need to install Flash' etc.


Unable to increase partition size with subsequent blocking partition

iPartition

For all my partitioning, I use and recommend iPartition. It will allow you to resize partitions without deleting any data. It will automatically move partitions if necessary to allow resizing into free space that is located after the partition.

  iPartition’s ability to automatically rearrange your existing partitions when necessary, makes iPartition the easiest partitioning tool that you’ll ever use.


Why does dictation on my MacBook Pro record my words fine but not on my iMac?

If it's different between two machines, the most likely issue is the microphone. Are you using the built in Mic on the iMac? If so, try an external one. Also take into account any noise sources around your iMac such as fans, air conditioners, etc.

The other possibility is that you're just getting bad luck with the dictation service. Because it's dependent on Apple's servers, the results can be spotty if load happens to be very high. But if it's happening at different times of the day, chances are it's a microphone issue.


Can iPhone be used with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse?

A Bluetooth keyboard would work with your iPhone. I used an Apple one with my iPhone once. As of mouse I don’t think iOS has support for that (unless some individual app do support it, which almost all apps don’t).


Each person needs their own Game Center Account (and thus each needs a unique Apple ID).


How to highlight errors and warnings on iTerm terminal output?

iTerm supports coloring of console output based on a set of regular expressions. You can set them up in Preferences > Profiles > Advanced > Triggers > Edit.

Here is my current set of regexes:

(?i:.*error.*)                     // Yellow on Black
(?i:.*(warning|warn).*)            // Orange on Black
(?i:.*FATAL.*)                     // White on Red

You are welcome to improve it :)


Scrubbing chapters and not losing stop points on audiobooks on iPod nano

If it works the same as an iPhone, on the headphone cable press the volume down button (-) 3 times in quick succession and hold it down on the 3rd press. This goes into a rewind mode that rewinds as long as you hold the button down.

You can go into a fast forward mode in a similar manner with 2 presses and hold down.


Need help with iPod Classic hard drive diagnosis

To help explain what the numbers mean here is an extract from the Wikipedia S.M.A.R.T. article:

Reallocated Sectors Count (Reallocs):

  Count of reallocated sectors. When the hard drive finds a read/write/verification error, it marks that sector as "reallocated" and transfers data to a special reserved area (spare area). This process is also known as remapping, and reallocated sectors are called "remaps". The raw value normally represents a count of the bad sectors that have been found and remapped. Thus, the higher the attribute value, the more sectors the drive has had to reallocate. This allows a drive with bad sectors to continue operation; however, a drive which has had any reallocations at all is significantly more likely to fail in the near future. While primarily used as a metric of the life expectancy of the drive, this number also affects performance. As the count of reallocated sectors increases, the read/write speed tends to become worse because the drive head is forced to seek to the reserved area whenever a remap is accessed. If sequential access speed is critical, the remapped sectors can be manually marked as bad blocks in the file system in order to prevent their use.

Pending Sector Count:

  Count of "unstable" sectors (waiting to be remapped, because of unrecoverable read errors). If an unstable sector is subsequently read successfully, the sector is remapped and this value is decreased. Read errors on a sector will not remap the sector immediately (since the correct value cannot be read and so the value to remap is not known, and also it might become readable later); instead, the drive firmware remembers that the sector needs to be remapped, and will remap it the next time it's written. However some drives will not immediately remap such sectors when written; instead the drive will first attempt to write to the problem sector and if the write operation is successful then the sector will be marked good (in this case, the "Reallocation Event Count" (0xC4) will not be increased). This is a serious shortcoming, for if such a drive contains marginal sectors that consistently fail only after some time has passed following a successful write operation, then the drive will never remap these problem sectors.

Large numbers of Reallocs or Pending Sectors would suggest your drive is failing and that you may need to repair or replace your iPod.

Your Pending Sector Count is ok but your Reallocated Sectors Count is extremely high. Usually a sector holds 512 bytes. The 16376 reallocs mean that already 8 MB have been reallocated.

My 4 year old iPod Classic still has only 0 reallocs and 0 pending sectors.

Though i haven't been able to find any information about the number of sparse sectors on HDDs, I doubt that your iPod Classic has any more left. Probably you have some more (irreplaceable) bad blocks which renders your iPod unusable.


App that shows an image with transparency so you can see through the window?

Afloat could be a good call:
http://infinite-labs.net/afloat


this is what I did:

uninstalled BTT
entered in Terminal mdfind -name bettertouchtool
entered in Terminal sudo rm -rf /whatever

went to /Library/Preferences

removed .GlobalPreferences.plist

went to ~/Library/Preferences

removed .GlobalPreferences.plist
removed com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad.plist
removed com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist

Finally I did a PRAM reset (Reboot, immediately hold alt/opt+cmd+P+R and hold these keys until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for a second time]

Frankly I got this by hit & trial, I didn't knew what to do, so I did all at once.  After it restarted my trackpad was back like again. Maybe someone can edit this answer to make it perfect. Thanks :)


You can set up a Proxy in OS X of your choosing and let Skype use it.

Skype works with HTTPS and SOCKS types of Proxy.

Alternatively without setting up a Proxy and in order to protect your privacy in Skype you can simply use the Skype feature to Hide your IP.

Open Skype- Preferences - Advanced.


How do I stop safari from displaying power use warning?

As far as I'm aware there is no way to stop this.

In earlier versions of Safari, disabling plugins would also disable how it managed its power usage, but:

It's unclear whether disabling plugins in newer versions still has this affect
I'm not sure doing this would necessarily stop the warnings themselves
It also means disabling any other plugins you may want to use

Regardless, if you'd like to give this a go:

Launch Safari
Press command, (or just go to Safari > Preferences...)
Select the Advanced tab
Untick the Internet plug-ins checkbox
Exit preferences


How can I repair missing referenced photos in Photos.app on MacOS Catalina?

I couldn't find anything in Automator so I decided to explore a copy of the SQLite database stored in the Photos Library.photoslibrary bundle managed by Photos.

The instructions apply to macOS Catalina and may not work for earlier/later macOS versions.

⚠ Warning: Never edit this database as it is managed by Photos.app.

I used the DB Browser for SQLite app for the job.

First copy the database to a working directory (assuming ~/PhotosDBCopy/):

Open a Terminal and type:

$ mkdir ~/PhotosDBCopy/
$ cp -pr ~/Pictures/Photos\ Library.photoslibrary/database/ ~/PhotosDBCopy/

Now launch the DB Browser for SQLite app and open the following database: ~/PhotosDBCopy/Photos.sqlite

The referenced images are listed in the ZFILESYSTEMBOOKMARK table. The original file paths are stored in the ZPATHRELATIVETOVOLUME column.

Close Photos.app.

Make sure you place the originals on your filesystem at the location given in the ZPATHRELATIVETOVOLUME column.

Once all photos have been placed in their initial folders (prior to moving them elsewhere), you can re-open Photos.app. The red line across the 'referenced' overlay icon will be gone for the referenced images, which means that Photos.app found the referenced originals on the filesystem.

You can now consolidate your Photos database. Upon completion, it is normally safe to delete again the recovered originals as they have now been copied into the Photos database (no more 'referenced" overlay icon on the photos).


KeyPassX says "Wrong signature" when opening a .kdbx (version 1.x) file

I discovered I could solve the problem by exporting the .kdbx file (2.x) to a .kdb file (1.x).

To do this, open the password file on a Windows computer using KeyPass 2.x. Select File -> Export, choose the file type as *.kdb and enter a filename. Then, you can open the new file on Mac OS X using KeyPassX.

Since my passwords don't change that often, I simply export a new copy for my Mac every time I modify the original on Windows.


Synching Mail Sent folder on new computer

Have you checked that the "Sent option" is correctly enabled in your devices?
In iMac:

Open Preferences > Account;
Select your account;
Press the "Mailbox behaviour" tab;
Make sure the "Store sent messages on the server" option is enabled. In this way, sent messages will be stored on the server, and will downloaded in all your devices.


Cannot restrict apps from accessing data in iOS 8

I found why I cannot change any option in this section. This happened because of the restrictions that where activated after the update to iOS 8. In order to solve it go to General->Restrictions->cellular data use-> Allow changes


iOS Mail & Gmail Account, How to flag on swipe?

You can only change what a right swipe does in iOS. You can change what the middle option on a left swipe is, but a full left swipe will still be delete/archive.

Check out settings -> mail, contacts and calendar -> swipe options.


Easiest way to migrate aliases from bash to zsh

If until now you've been using ~/.bash_profile for the loading the aliases, here are some of the ways you can migrate your aliases:

 1. Copy the contents:

The most assiduous and obvious way is to copy the contents of your ~/.bash_profile  to ~/.zshrc. It works particularly when you are moving on from bash to zsh for good.

 2. Pull out aliases and then source them:

Another *way is:

Create a new file that will contain the aliases (let's call it ~/.aliases);
Copy the contents of ~/.bash_profile to the new aliases file;
Modify the ~/.bash_profile and ~/.zshrc to source the new file.

Put the following in ~/.bash_profile:

if [ -f ~/.aliases ]; then
   . ~/.aliases
fi

and put the following in ~/.zshrc:

source $HOME/.aliases

This way the aliases will be available for both shells. More importantly, if you make changes to the aliases, the changes will cascade to both shells automatically.

* Taken from here


The suggestion to do a NVRAM reset seems to have fixed the naming problem that I had described.  After doing a NVRAM reset I could name the service as "Move_Mail_LV"--as desired.


Downscale a iMac 5K screenshot to 50% using commandline

Take a look at the 'sips' command:

man sips

It is much simpler than GUI-scripting Preview and it's part of OSX. So you don't have to install anything. Example:

full_w=$(/usr/bin/sips -g pixelWidth image.jpg | /usr/bin/grep -Eo "[[:digit:]]+")
full_h=$(/usr/bin/sips -g pixelHeight image.jpg | /usr/bin/grep -Eo "[[:digit:]]+")
half_w=$(/bin/expr full_w / 2)
half_h=$(/bin/expr full_h / 2)
sips -z half_h half_w image.jpg


Can you save your app progress between different apple devices?

Yes. You can transfer all data from your old iPad to your new one with a backup, either with iCloud or iTunes on your computer. There is probably not enough space to backup to iCloud, but if you back up to a computer with iTunes, and then plug your iPad Air into that computer, it will ask if you want to set it up from the backup of your old iPad.


Pretend to be specific Mac OS X version when running app

I know for one app that had a similar problem with we were able to get it to work by modifying /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

I would say that is NOT a recommended approach.  However, you may be able to do something tricky so that when your app environment reads that plist it gets a different version then the rest of the system.


iTunes on PandaBoard/Raspberry Pi or other single board computer

The primary obstacle to getting a full featured program like iTunes to work is running OS X on non Apple hardware and/or Windows on ARM.

I do run ubuntu on a Beagle Black and it is suitable for music streaming and light video streaming using open source packages. Nothing I have found works as well as an AppleTV and iTunes Match for music streaming, though. The black CPU is dual core, but severely resource constrained so it can generally walk or chew gum but not both.


Finally I've uninstall it. I think it may be good to answer my own question because it is not answered specifically for xonsh in all the Internet.
 First: Changing the default login shell
This is done just by running chsh -s /bin/bash in the command line.
See: How to uninstall zsh.
 Finally: Unistall xonsh
Now that you can use your previous terminal configuration you only need to uninstall it using the tool you used to install it (conda, pip, macports, homebrew...). In my case it was homebrew so I've run brew uninstall xonsh.
EDIT: as @BradPitcher writes in the comments  if you take these two steps in the wrong order, you may run into the error "Your shell is not in /etc/shells". You can workaround this problem by running sudo usermod -s /bin/bash.


Can removing the internal hard drive help me recover my data?

Yes indeed. Here is a kit that would get you a new drive and a sled to do data recovery on the old drive.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro-retina-display/2013-2014-2015

If you just need the sled, that’s cheaper. Or you could pay a recovery service to do all the work.

https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/

For DIY recovery, Data Rescue is amazing and great value for what it does.

https://www.prosofteng.com/


How can I simulate the process of marking a text (SMS or iMessage) as unread on my iPhone?

There's technically no way to mark a message as unread, but there's sort of a hacky workaround way to simulate it.

Hold down on the message you want to mark as unread and click "copy". Then start a new message, address it to yourself, paste in the message and send.

Since there's a slight delay, you can back out of the conversation, and you will have 1 unread message from yourself.


You may need to record the audio separately, then merge it with the screen capture. If nothing else, you can accomplish that in iMovie.


Impossible to watch videos on the NBC website

I actually was having the same problem, for me it turned out to be that my /etc/hosts file was blocking certain hosts and adservers that the nbc.com site wanted to reach. So I just renamed my hosts file and restarted mDnsResponder.


MacBook Pro Retina 2013 memory frequency limit

I am 99% sure that the 2013 MBP will not be compatible with faster RAM than 1600MHz, Apple spec sheets state this, with a memory type of DDR3L.

DDR3 is capable of being faster than 1600MHz; DDR4 has different latencies and clockspeeds to DDR3.

I think you're on a hiding to nothing trying to de-solder DDR3 RAM and solder in DDR4. You can try if you like, but I suspect you will just end up with an expensive (but shiny) tray.


How to change keyboard setting when app changes

Since you mentioned that you could use 3rd party apps you should have a look at Keyboard Maestro, allowing you to create macros and triggers. For example you could have Keyboard Maestro switch to the Dvorak keyboard whenever you are using Type Fu.

Here is how I would go about this:

Create a new Macro called "Switch to Dvorak".
Pick "Application" trigger and select Type Fu.
Select "Set keyboard Layout" Action.


force sips command to write output to stdout

The sips utility does not support outputting to stdout unfortunately, so you cannot directly pipe the resulting file into another program. And as you have already tested, it also does not support using /dev/stdout or a named pipe or similar, as it will recreate the file when outputting.
However, you can use ordinary shell scripting "tricks" to make a "one-liner" for combining the commands if you wish to do so:
 sips -s format png test.icns -o __$$ && base64 __$$ && rm __$$

Note that this is for Bash, and that it will create and delete a temporary file named __.
Also note that I have removed the -w0 parameter in your question from the base64 command. That is a parameter you would use on for example the Linux version of the base64 command, but the macOS command does not have such a parameter. Indeed that wrapping behaviour you request with that parameter is already on by default on macOS.


It would seem that it could only be in one of two places (and perhaps a third in a stretch) if you recorded it with the built in camera app.

Photos -> Albums -> Videos (or Slo-mo)
Photos -> Albums -> Recently Deleted

As I'm sure you are aware, you can also see videos under "Photos" (left most tab), or under Albums -> Camera Roll. I suspect that you checked there, though.

If you tap and hold on a video, you can choose "hide". That will hide it from places other than under Albums so the first option above should still work even if you have inadvertently hidden the video.

There is also an extremely remote chance that it is in the Videos app. But, you'd have to have to specifically put it there using iTunes as a go-between, so again, it is highly unlikely.

By the way, my phone says that I have 119 videos and the camera app's videos album shows 119.


Can I send and receive iMessage on Mac without buying an iPhone?

I will answer my question myself.

This is easy to have a try. You can send an receive iMessage when you are online. To send a message, you only need to set the receiving address an Apple ID, or some phone numbers related to the ID. Of course, you network must be well enough to connect to apple.


Why are my events disappearing in iCal after upgrading to Lion and how can I fix it?

iOS 5 and iCloud should be coming out tomorrow.  There should be improvements in this area.  Hopefully this will help you.  I know it is not what you would want to hear, but I have seen disappearing content like you describe.  Especially with Exchange, and OS 10.6.x


No this is not a file alias (which is the same as a shortcut in windows) but an email alias. An email alias is an additional email address for an existing account.

You create an account with an address email@example.com and then a series of additional address for the very same account (the aliases).

You will have

one account
several addresses

It is the same principle as shortcuts and aliases for files but in another context.


I mistakenly disabled all services in Yosemite (10.10), now it can't boot

The command sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ will force-disable all launch daemons in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ and add respective entries in a disabled.plist. The command – entered accidentally – doesn't affect the "unforced" load state of a system daemon but overrides any existing state (loaded/unloaded). Removing the disabled.plist will restore an almost default system configuration – except those daemons or agents which have been forced to one of the two states in the initial configuration of the system or after the installation of a third-party app. This can be salvaged by either restoring the file from a backup or – partly – by copying a disabled.plist file from a similar system.

To get your system booting again you have to remove this special file in Recovery Mode.

Boot to Recovery Mode
Open Terminal in the menubar Utilities > Terminal
cd to /Volumes/NameOfMainSystemVolume/private/var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd
Replace NameOfMainSystemVolume by the name of your main volume (e.g. Macintosh\ HD)
list all files with ls -la. You will get a list containing ~20 files - all related to user IDs - and a large file disabled.plist (~10-15 KB)
remove the files with rm *.plist
Reboot, edit /private/var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.plist with sudo nano … and replace the existing content – probably some basic xml plist header and one or more daemon, which may have been added by the system while booting - by the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>com.apple.ManagedClientAgent.enrollagent</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.ftpd</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.rpmuxd</key>
    <false/>
    <key>com.apple.usbmuxd</key>
    <false/>
    <key>com.apple.mrt</key>
    <false/>
    <key>com.apple.stackshot</key>
    <false/>
    <key>org.ntp.ntpd</key>
    <false/>
    <key>com.apple.pacemaker</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

This should be the default content of the file in Yosemite. If you had installed additional 3rd-party apps, it probably contained more daemons previously. E.g I had to remove a Little Snitch and a XQuartz related system daemon to get a somehow "default" disabled.plist.


How do I determine how full a remote volume is?

To get those informations mount the shared volume(s), open Terminal.app, enter df and hit Enter.

You will get a result similar to that one:

Filesystem                              512-blocks       Used  Available Capacity  Mounted on
/dev/disk0s2                            1463469952  960523624  502434328    66%    /
devfs                                          743        743          0   100%    /dev
map -hosts                                       0          0          0   100%    /net
map auto_home                                    0          0          0   100%    /home
map -fstab                                       0          0          0   100%    /Network/Servers
/dev/disk1s2                            7813298080 7407284144  406013936    95%    /Volumes/TimeMachine
afp_5Z456sdchuia84afaufhjdsg-1.2d000004 7813093280 7196533600  616559680    93%    /Volumes/SharedVolume

If you enter df -h instead of df you will get "human-readable" sizes. Those numbers are in TiB/GiB/MiB instead of TB/GB/MB though. Finder shows the sizes in TB/GB/MB.

In the example /dev/disk0s2 is the internal system volume mounted to /,
/dev/disk1s2 is an external USB drive with a volume mounted to /TimeMachine
and afp_5Z456sdchuia84afaufhjdsg-1.2d000004 is an AFP-share mounted to SharedVolume. Your names may vary, especially the filesystem name (afp_....) of the shared volume on the remote Mac.

The volume in question is the last one starting with afp_ which is the shared volume mounted to your desktop containing the shared music library. Use the name of the mount point to determine the relevant share if you have several entries.

All numbers (except the "Capacity") are blocks à 512 Byte.
So in my example the shared volume ("SharedVolume") has a size of 4000,3 GB with 3684,6 GB occupied and 315,7 GB free. The used capacity is ~93%.


How can I get the iPhone Podcast app to resume playback after extended stop?

The behavior you describe is inconsistent. In my experience, sometimes the podcast will continue and sometimes the iOS device will switch to the music app. I believe (but haven't confirmed) that this depends on whether or not the podcast app, be it Apple's or third party, is still considered active by the system. When it occurs I just open my podcast app and playback of the the last podcast resumes (unless I was streaming it in which case I may have to hit play.)

Because this is a memory management issue there is no way to force the behavior you seek using a dedicated podcast app. However, if you uninstall Apple's Podcasts you can continue to download podcasts using iTunes and can move them over to your iOS device with a playlist. This solution is less than ideal—for example you can't download fresh podcasts directly to the device.

iOS 7 UPDATE: It is my understanding that under iOS 7 you no longer have the ability to listen to podcasts from within the Music app. Perhaps better memory management and multitasking will provide resumed playback more consistently, but it seems that a podcast client (or listening via Safari) will be required.


How do I view 2 apps as a multitasking Split View on an iPad Air 2 running iOS 9?

This is for sure an iPad Air 2, correct? It should have TouchID (a fingerprint sensor) on the front.

To verify the model, go to the settings app, General, About:

Model MH2P2LL/A is an iPad Air 2

Other ways to identify your iPad are at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201471


Trying to add cronjob results in ""LICENSE":0: bad minute"

You can't add a crontab entry by just running crontab <entry details>. In your case the shell expands the * with whatever filenames it finds in the current directory (which seems to be a file called LICENSE, replace crontab by echo to see what happened to the other *'s).

To add new entries to the crontab file run

export EDITOR=nano
crontab -e

add the line

* * * * * /Users/username/Downloads/reddit-notifications-master/notifyer.sh

directly to the file and save it, then exit the editor again. You can verify that it got added by running crontab -l.

Some additional things to consider:

Run chmod +x /Users/username/Downloads/reddit-notifications-master/notifyer.sh to make sure the script is executable
Run type python3 in your shell and use the full path you get within notifyer.sh to avoid issues with python3 not being in PATH
If notifyer.sh is only used to launch the Python script you don't need the script at all, you can just add

* * * * * /path/to/python3 Users/yogesh/Downloads/reddit-notifications-master/reddit_notifications.py

to your Crontab instead.


Are there any other dynamic iOS icons besides the calendar app?


"Show Password" in Keychain Access doesn't work

To get the password from your keychain . You can right click on that item of which you need the password and click on "copy the password to clipboard", then you will ask to enter the login password , after that you can paste the password where you want.

PFA:


Per your latest comment, you state that the code you have quoted works in practice, and your only problem is you want to get rid of the deprecated NSControlKeyMask.

Simply replace that word with NSEventModifierFlagControl and this is it.

The only thing Apple did is to change the name. In recent macOS NSControlKeyMask is even defined as simply being equal to NSEventModifierFlagControl. Both have the value 1 << 18 (i.e. the 18th bit is set to 1, rest is 0).


How to un-hide a file that has been hidden on Mac OS 8?

If you have Xcode installed you can try the SetFile command. The command below should unhide the hidden file.

SetFile -a v hiddenFilename


Is there the way to resolve RAM problems?

Did you buy the RAM from a provider that guarantees it for Macintosh systems? I've gotten RAM from a big box store that has met the exact specifications, but wouldn't work in my Mac Book Pro without crashing all of the time. I ended up returning that RAM and getting it for about the same price from a vendor that guarantees it will work in my specific system.

Apple specs say that this machine is capable of a maximum of 8GB of ram, but third parties have found, that with the right modules, 16GB works fine.

I'd recommend returning your current RAM modules and getting new ones from a Mac specialist. I don't think that the modules you have will ever work with your hardware.


Setting custom bullet styles at different indent levels in Pages 5.0

It seems like Apple eventually added this feature to Pages 5. The following works for me in Pages version 5.2.2 (1877):

In case you've changed the style of any Bullet & List style, an asterisk (*) appears after the name of the style:

If you open the drop down list, you'll see an update button:

You can either press the update button, or click on the arrow next to it and select 'Update stlye' from the popup menu (featuring other options like clear, rename or delete):


Recover Messages content after clean install of El Capitan

By using the items mentioned in my previous comments and creating a symlink to the /Users/myusername/Library/Messages/Archive folder from inside the container (the change in structure created by el capitan) then restarting the machine, I got the messages back.

Container Path: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat/Data/Library/Messages/Archive


What is creating a file with the name "1" in my user folder after I delete it repeatedly?

It's impossible (given the information in your question) to know what is making the file, but you can set a trap for it and see what process is writing to that file and hopefully which one re-creates it if you catch that moment in the filesystem logging.

You'll need to know a few things about the terminal to use the tool fs_usage and filter the results to match the exact path of the file.

On my machine, my home folder is named mike, so you can adjust the |grep /Users/mike/1 command to match your user folder's name:

Open the terminal app and type pwd and press return. Then type the sudo command - this invokes the command as the super user (root) since it's tapping into the very lowest level of the system and bypasses the protections that all users have. If you don't like terminal commands, look into a tool like fseventer to see if you can determine what is creating that file.

mac:~ mike$ pwd
/Users/mike
mac:~ mike$ sudo fs_usage | grep /Users/mike/1
12:48:19  stat64            /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000076 W touch
12:48:19  open              /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000206 W touch
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000119   mds
12:48:19  lstat64           /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000012   mdworker
12:48:19  stat64            /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000004   mdworker
12:48:19  lstat64           /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000002   mdworker
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000041   mdworker
12:48:19  open              /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000025   mdworker
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000012   mdworker
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000078   mdworker
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1/.DS_Store                                                          0.000006   mdworker
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1/.DS_Store                                                          0.000003   mdworker
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1/.DS_Store                                                          0.000004   mdworker
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1/.DS_Store                                                          0.000003   mdworker
12:48:19  getattrlist       /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000024   mds
12:48:20  lstat64           /Users/mike/1                                                                    0.000028   fseventsd
^C

You see I typed control-C to exit the tool since fs_usage will wait forever, dumping the usage of all files until you tell it to quit.

Once you've set the trap, just wait for the screen to show the entries similar to mine where I used the touch command to create the file ~/1


How do I reset a locked Apple Watch in Airplane Mode?

Looks like there is a way to erase a locked Apple Watch.

Hold down the side button to see the options to power off the watch.
Force touch
Select 'Erase all content and settings'

I discovered you can force touch on the power off screen from this site:
http://www.barryschiffer.com/how-to-recover-an-apple-watch-stuck-in-a-crash-reboot-loop/

Official link - https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT204567

If this fails, service from Apple can restore and reset devices that are non responsive or even need hardware intervention or repair.


How can I set up an alternative X11 window manager in Mac OS X 10.6?

The Xmonad help page on HaskellWiki has brief instructions for getting Xmonad running on Snow Leopard. You may need to read through the instructions for older versions if some problems arise.


Upgrade bash without using the terminal to fix iterm issue dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/readline/lib/libreadline.6.dylib

This was what helped me, there may be more "correct" ways but if you just need to get it working, give it a go.
Step 1
Open the default Terminal app, then click on Preferences

You will see a path for "Shells open with"

Change the path to
/bin/bash

Close everything out and restart Terminal. Now it should be working, if not, sorry you might have an additional problem that I did not have. But proceed if you are good at this point.
Step 2
proceed to now update bash
brew install bash

Because I ran install I also had to unlink
brew unlink bash

then I ran the command again to install
brew install bash

At this point i started iTerm up again with no problem


OS X Internet Recovery doesn't see SSD drive

I had the same problem as you. After I erased via Disk Utility, I reset my Mac Air (what was i thinking, right LOL). Now it won't boot again. (Folder with question mark keeps blinking on a black screen). I waited for the Internet recovery to finish (waited half an hour or so). Disk Utility pops back up again. i click reinstall OS. it doesn't show an option on which drive i'm supposed to reinstall the OS to. Uh-oh. I looked at "erase", it senses the drive. it's there. i can verify and repair it under erase, but when i try reinstalling a new copy of the OS, no SSD option shows up (where i can install the OS).

WHAT WORKED FOR ME:

I found that my problem was that I did not give a name to my SSD when I erased it the first time. i erased the SSD again (when the internet recovery was finished, but THIS TIME, i made sure to write a name for the SSD i was erasing. when i started the reinstall option again after erasing was finished, my SSD showed up as an option.


Where can I download Filemerge - the app for comparing two tools and merging them?

FileMerge is part of Xcode 4.x by Apple which you can download from the Mac App Store.
The following is taken from the description:

Xcode is now distributed as an application, rather than as an installer. This change enables Xcode to be updated directly from the Mac App Store.

Includes SDKs for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and iOS 5
New code signing workflow supports signing OS X apps with Developer ID
Adds installation of command-line tools to the Downloads preference pane
Open Developer Tool menu launches Instruments, FileMerge, and other tools
ARC migration tool converts both retain/release and garbage collected code
Additional bug fixes and stability improvements

But FileMerge.app is now embedded inside the Xcode.app package and is not easily accessible as a standalone tool... Unless you do this:

Browse to /Applications/Xcode.app
Right-click -> Show package contents
Contents -> Applications
Right-click FileMerge.app -> Make Alias -> Enter password
Copy the Alias to somewhere, like /Applications
Delete the original Alias

Now you can use as a standalone tool, as before!


Where do these Terminal commands come from?

Well, these commands edit .plist files in your /Users/xyz/Library/Preferences folder.  So, if you look at these files, you can look at these files and base your Terminal commands after these.

These are XML-based files, so you can view them in a more readable format if you open them in Xcode, which is available in the Mac App Store.

In the Terminal, the format for these is "defaults write PLIST_FILE KEY -TYPE VALUE"
where the PLIST_FILE is the name of the file in the Preferences folder without the .plist, KEY is the key that you can see in Xcode, -TYPE is the type of key that you can find Xcode (and you can find if there is an abbreviation for that type by typing "defaults" into the terminal), and value is the value you wish to set the key at.

Here are some of the string types from the Terminal:

-string <string_value>
-data <hex_digits>
-int[eger] <integer_value>
-float  <floating-point_value>
-bool[ean] (true | false | yes | no)
-date <date_rep>
-array <value1> <value2> ...
-array-add <value1> <value2> ...
-dict <key1> <value1> <key2> <value2> ...
-dict-add <key1> <value1> ...


From the Settings on your iPhone 5 you can check for updates:

Select Settings [The app that looks like gears]
Tap General
Tap Software Update and follow the instructions.

Alternatively, and preferably, you should use iTunes on your Mac or PC to first back up your iPhone then install the updates.

Plug your iPhone into your Mac or PC using the USB Cable that came with your iPhone.  This is the cable you use to charge your iPhone with.
Follow the instructions presented in iTunes.


Can terminal be launched via keyboard shortcut: CTRL+ALT+T?

Keyboard Maestro

You can do this with Keyboard Maestro, using a macro such as this:

Alfred

You can set up a custom hotkey to launch an app using a workflow:

Go to the workflows tab, create a new workflow and add a hotkey and a 'launch apps' with Terminal selected as the app to launch.

KeyRemap4MacBook

You can use KeyRemap4MacBook with a private.xml such as this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
  <vkopenurldef>
    <name>KeyCode::VK_OPEN_URL_Terminal</name>
    <url>file:///Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app</url>
  </vkopenurldef>
  <item>
    <name>Activate Terminal with ⌘Space</name>
    <identifier>ActivateTerminalWithCmdSpace</identifier>
    <autogen>
      __KeyToKey__
      KeyCode::SPACE, VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE,
      KeyCode::VK_OPEN_URL_Terminal
    </autogen>
  </item>
</root>

Automator Service

You can create a service in Automator:

…then in System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts → Services you can assign a keyboard command to run it.


How can I have unlimited keyboard shortcuts?

I don't believe that macOS will let you add key sequences in System Preference -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts. However, you should be able to do it, but you will most likely have to manually add shortcuts in plist files.

I think the answer provided here, as well as this repository, will help you create custom keyboard shortcuts.

You can also check out Keyboard Maestro's FAQ on their workarounds to key sequence shortcuts.


It all depends on what is going on with the drive and unfortunately there is really no good way to tell.

I have been using Diskwarrior for YEARS and it is still my go-to disk repair tool. Drive Genius is pretty good too. I have both but always start with Diskwarrior.

These tools MIGHT be able to repair the volume issues, but it might be quicker, easier and cheaper (?) to just bite the bullet and do what the disk utility says: reformat and reinstall.


Error installing windows 7 on virtual box

Select a virtual machine by clicking its name in the VirtualBox window
Click the Machine menu at the top of the VirtualBox window, and click Settings
Click the Storage category in the Settings window
Right-click in the storage tree pane, and click Add Floppy Controller
Right-click the Floppy Controller device, and click Add Floppy Device
Click the Choose Disk button in the prompt window that appears
Navigate to the floppy disk image file (.IMG) on your computer and double-click it

If that doesn't work, try renaming the .IMG as .ISO and mount it.

If that too doesn't work, use VBoxManage's convertfromraw command as follows:

VBoxManage convertfromraw -format VDI [filename].img [filename].vdi

Mount the VDI as a disk.


In the options for each Action, there is a checkbox "Ignore this action's input", which means that nothing from the previous actions goes through.
Doing this on the "Get Specifed Items in Finder" action means that the folder path itself does not 'trickle down' to the Copy action.

The "Get Selected Finder Items" action is unnecessary, as the workflow already receives folders as an argument.


Remove account from Family Sharing and access purchased apps

I feel Apple has some corporate greed issues with their Family Sharing feature that they designed.  The system locks your credit card in, you can't remove it, which negatively impacts families budgets.  I will detail below.
First let me answer your questions:
In your first question, the latter part is true: purchases by person X will only be available to person X.  This is according to the Leave Family Sharing article on the Apple Support site.
Under the section:  What happens to your content when you stop sharing? it says

Any content that your family shared with you isn't automatically removed from your device. You can purchase it again or remove it to free up space on your device. If you downloaded an app from a family member’s purchase history and made In-App Purchases, you'll need to purchase the app yourself to access your In-App Purchases.
Any DRM-protected music, movies, TV shows, books, or apps that you previously downloaded from other family member's collections will no longer be usable, and other family members won't be able to use content downloaded from your collection.

In your second question - the answer is Yes - apps are shared within the Family.
However, I recommend you do not turn on Family Sharing for 2 reasons:

You have to enter a credit card to turn on Family Sharing.  Once you do this, your payment method cannot later be switched to None (i.e - you can't remove your credit card!) without turning off Family Sharing...oh how nice....

So lets turn off Family Sharing, should be easy enough.  Well, not if you have a child on your Family Sharing that is under 13.  You can't turn off Family Sharing if there is a child on your account under 13.  So now you are stuck verifying your credit card all the time, because you can't ever remove it.

The Family Sharing hurts families budgets because, kids are kids and get the password and make purchases and rack up the bill.  So you want to remove the credit card, but you are restricted by Apple, because a credit card is a requirement for Family Sharing.  And you can't turn off family sharing if you have a child under 13. So you are stuck.
It shouldn't be this hard to remove the credit card, yet it is.  Shame on Apple - it feels like they have you and your credit card trapped in their system.


Chrome's location setting constantly disabled

Not a solution, but perhaps a path to one....
Many people (including me) have this problem.
In another forum, a user (Sizmo_68) inspired me to wonder:
What if the abhorrent security preferences in macOS are remembering the version number (or similar) of each app that has location (or other preferences) enabled?  Then, when the app gets updated...poof, new version, and ... it no longer matches what's in the security database, so: no longer enabled.
If that's the case, we're out of luck until Apple admits the problem and fixes it.
As one other user pointed out, it's clearly a macOS problem (not a Chrome problem), because by implementation apps can't change the security preferences :)


Do MacBook Pro displays degrade over time?

I have had a MacBook Pro since early 2007, and the display is as bright and crisp as the day I bought it. I've also had an iBook G4 since early 2005 and there's no problem with its display, either.

I doubt you'll have any problems for quite awhile if at all, as newer models tend to have better displays then older models.


Shrew Soft VPN on Mac not letting me SSH to servers inside the VPN

You're referencing the SSH server with the name "prismweb5" - that name will likely only work if you have "search domains" setup for the network interface that you're using. The search domain would be appended to the hostname that you're referencing above, so if your search domain is "example.com", the FQDN would be prismweb5.example.com.

It's also possible that the DNS name "prismweb5" cannot be resolved from outside of the network. This setup may be referred to as "split-DNS", and the private name "prismweb5" may not be something that can be looked up on your 'normal' DNS servers (those provided by your home ISP).

A workaround for this would potentially be to set the DNS server that is at the remote office as the primary DNS server for the network interface (Ethernet, Wi-Fi) that you're using to connect. This will allow your machine to perform lookups of 'internal' names. I'm not sure about Shrewsoft, but many VPN clients allow DNS server settings to be changed to specific servers when the VPN connects.

Alternately, you can avoid using DNS names to connect to the server, and simply use the IP address to connect. However, this would require that you know what the IP address of the server "prismweb5" is (or be able to perform a lookup to retrieve that address).

If you are still not able to connect to the server using the IP address, see if your machine can ping that IP address (assuming prismweb5's IP is 192.168.1.5):

ping 192.168.1.5

If the machine is responding to pings, you should be able to connect to it...However, if you're not seeing IMCP (ping) responses, it's possible that your machine doesn't know the route to that computer (i.e., the VPN interface.) See what 'route' reports for that IP:

route get 192.168.1.5

The route should report an interface that is being used to connect to that device. Often, you'll see something like "ppp0" or "gif0" (or some other interface, other than en0/en1)

If the route for that device is not showing the correct interface, it may help to show all routes on the machine using netstat:

netstat -nr

The output of netstat may include an IP range/Destination for your remote network (e.g., 192.168/16), and may show the interface that should be used (Netif) on the right.


How can I change my Python 2.7 to 3.5? (I've already changed my bash_profile)

You can't change python 2.7 to 3.5 or anything like that. It sounds like you want to use a certain version and you have two versions loaded. You should set up virtual environments and define one for each version of python you have installed. Then you can activate whichever version you want to use. There are instructions all over the internet on how to define and build virtual environments. A few are here and here. Find one you like. If you're using the Anaconda distribution of python this is all made easy and is well documeted on the Anaconda web page. Other methods are pretty simple as well.


Yes.
It is possible from the Preferences > General menu of Calendar to activate the display of event times within the week view too:

Show event times


Toggle Ink's WriteAnywhere with AppleScript

With this script you can toggle the Write Anywhere setting on and off, however it opens the System Preferences in the background:

tell application "System Preferences"
    reveal (pane id "com.apple.preference.ink")
end tell
tell application "System Events"
            tell application process "System Preferences"
                click checkbox "Allow me to Ink in any application" of group 1 of tab group 1 of window "Ink"
            end tell
end tell

I use it for toggling WriteAnywhere from the "Radial Menu" of my Wacom tablet.


How to prevent accidental deletion or move of folders/files in Mac?

You might want to set yourself up a Standard User Account in System Preferences. Or maybe better is removing some of the multi-touch abilities in your System Preferences (such as disabling Tap to Click, Look up, or any setting you don't find particularly to your liking)

Setting up a Standard User (System Preferences > Users & Groups > "+" ) allows you to add a new person to your computer who doesn't have access to everything like a normal Administrator does.

In computer terms the hierarchy is Guest, then Standard, then Administrator, then Root. The Root is the computer itself and can do anything and everything it wants. Admins have similar flexibility with files and folders that belong to them but anything out of their reach requires a password. Standard accounts and Guests can do much with an Admins name and password, Guest files are typically deleted after logging out so what they do isn't meant to last. Consider these tips with a grain of salt and let us know if you need further help.


Creating a Service with automator, caffeinate

If you're trying the check to see if caffeinate is running and terminate it if it is, or start it if it isn't, then I'd use:

#!/bin/bash

if [[ $(pgrep caffeinate) == "" ]]; then
    caffeinate -d &
else
    pkill caffeinate
fi


You could configure some of them in ~/Library/Keybindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict. See hcs.harvard.edu/~jrus/Site/cocoa-text.html and this sample file: Emacs Opt Bindings.dict.

Another option would be to use KeyRemap4MacBook. It supports over 1000 preconfigured keybindings, including an "Emacs Mode" section.


Keyboard shortcuts - make OS X like Windows?

KeyRemap4MacBook can change key combinations like control+c to command+c everywhere:

You can add your own settings in private.xml. See the source for the keycode constants and predefined settings.

You can change text editing shortcuts by creating a DefaultKeyBinding.dict. See TextMate Blog » Key bindings for switchers and Windows%20Bindings.dict.

Related questions:

Is there any way in mountain lion to change copy paste shortcut keys?
Efficient key bindings using both Mac and Linux


You have two main options. Depending on what you want exactly and how much of your current user information/settings you want to migrate.

Manually

This is the method I prefer. i believe that when doing a clean install the point is to get rid of all the extra junk that is just sitting on your computer. To do this you need to manually backup your stuff data. Just go through all your folders and copy the stuff to an external HD. (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, Pictures, Public, Sites, Bookmarks, Adress Book, Mail, etc).
You leave all your settings/preferences behind. This makes for a real clean install.

Using backup utility

I would suggest using CarbonCopyCloner. It's free and works on Tiger. With this clone your current hard drive and after doing a clean install Lion will ask you if you want to import your stuff from a previous installation and you can select the clone you just made. Keep in mind that this will also copy back all the preferences/settings and junk you might have accumulated. Thus in my perspective defeating the point of a clean install.

Combination

This is probably the best option. Make a clone with CCC and then instead of having Lion automatically bring back your data, do it yourself manually. This way you will have everything saved from the clone and you will be able to bring back only the important data you want and not any overhead.


How to force macOS Music.app to sync to cloud?

In Music: File -> Library -> Update Cloud Library


Is there a way to prevent recent applications from moving to the far left when switching with Command-Tab?

https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/documentation/5/applicationswitcher.html

I googled around and found the free Keyboard Maestro software. Using it you can customize your application switcher. You can hide specific applications from appearing in the switcher by going to Keyboard Maestro Preferences -> Excluded. In the switcher, pressing E will toggle hide/unhide apps.


Wifi gets disconnected when connecting to VPN via Cisco AnyConnect Client

I had several clients that this problem.  Cisco AnyConnect can fail to connect if your router is misconfigured. The only way this was cured was by contacting the Internet Service Provider and having them reconfigure the router from their end to enable VPN connections to succeed.


How to sync EXIF data and date information from iPhoto to original files and flickr

ExifTool is a perl script that will give you great power in altering Exif data in images: http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

It's also available through homebrew (http://brew.sh):

$ brew install exiftool

If you are at all okay with working in the terminal it is fairly easy to use (and very powerful if you are dealing with lots of images). There are instructions on the main exifTool page specifically for time/date shifting.


Curl from Pastebin messes with carriage returns

For reasons that pass understanding pastebin.com raw mode uses Windows line endings - carriage return followed by linefeed - rather than plain linefeed that is used by all right thinking operating systems.

So you need to remove the carriage returns. The easiest way to do this is using tr.

curl https://pastebin.com/raw/qg0r3wt | tr -d '\r' > .profile

That will save the contents of the pastebin qg0r3wt into the file .profile with carriage returns removed.


I'd like to know this as well.
You didn't say what you tried, but to keep your iPad from going to sleep, go to Settings -> Display & Brightness -> Auto-Lock and change the time to "Never."
[EDIT:] Actually, this doesn't work. I've also tried "Refresh Background Apps," and that didn't work, either.


Accuracy of Apple Watch Heart Rate Sensor?

If you are concerned, you need to see a doctor.

That being said, dreaming and nightmares during normal REM sleep increase your blood pressure and heart rate. REM sleep lasts, on average, for about 20% of your total sleep time.

To calibrate your watch, you could always purchase a relatively inexpensive heart rate monitor to see if both devices sense the increase, and how accurate they are in comparison.


Need help adjusting AppleScript automation for converting .pages to .docx?

This AppleScript code will take the currently selected files in the front most Finder window, looping through each item one at a time, and only if the file is a “.pages” document, a duplicate will be exported as a Microsoft Word document.
You can play around with the code if you would prefer to have the option to choose the output folder where the exported files will be saved to.  Otherwise, the exported files will be saved to the same folder as the original files.
tell application "Finder" to set inputFiles to selection as alias list

repeat with i from 1 to count of inputFiles
    set thisFile to item i of inputFiles
    tell application "Finder"
        set fileName to name of thisFile
        set nameExtension to name extension of thisFile
        tell current application to set theOffset ¬
            to offset of nameExtension in fileName
        set baseName to text (theOffset - 1) thru 1 of fileName
        set outputFolder to container of thisFile as text
    end tell
    if nameExtension is "pages" then
        tell application "Pages"
            set myDoc to open thisFile
            export myDoc to file ((outputFolder & baseName) ¬
                & "docx" as text) as Microsoft Word
            close myDoc saving no
        end tell
    end if
end repeat

Caution:  this code will overwrite any existing .docx files with the same name that currently may exist


Is there any iphone call history downloader for windows which actually works?

https://privacy.apple.com

Sign in and download the "other data" category.

Why does Apple store my call history?

When you’re signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID on multiple devices, your call history is stored and synced to allow you to return calls from any of your devices. Apple doesn’t access or use this information for any other purpose. You can turn off this feature by turning off iCloud Drive in iCloud settings.

https://support.apple.com/HT208502
This page maintains the personal data downloads of an Apple ID. Whatever is ever recorded or synced with Apple servers can be requested after sign in, the download link is sent to Apple ID email. Account deactivation and deletion is also possible here.
There are some exceptions:

End to End encrypted data, like iMessages.
Items like books, music that you purchased, but you don't own.


When I click the Appstore button in Passbook I receive the error: "Cannot connect to the iTunes store"

Gotta Be Mobile provides a great article detailing the issue with Passbook and a fix. I've reposted the fix from the article below:

  First, head to the Settings in your iPhone.
  Click on General.
  Next, head to Date and Time which is down the list.
  Once you’re in there, you’ll want to change Set Automatically to Off.
  Go to Set Date & Time.
  Click on Today’s Date. Once you do that, you’ll be given the option to change the date.
  Move the year one year forward one year.
  This will prevent the error from happening. If you wish to change the date back to the real date, simply set Set Automatically to On and
  everything will return to normal.
  Head into Passbook and click the App Store button

Something about moving the date up might be expiring a certificate or just the adjustment of time back to correct seems to make passbook behave better.


Is the message "You must change your passcode within 60 minutes" valid / non-malware?

This message is the case when either:

Your device is enrolled under MDM and after deployment it will display something like image below.(https://www.apple.com/iphone/business/it/management.html)
Your passcode is too obvious and needs to be changed
Microsoft Exchange can force a passcode on your iPhone.

Obvious codes start with the following numbers:

196*
197*
198*
199*
200*
201*

But also include:

1234
0000 (or any 4 same number combination)
0001 or 0010 or 0100 or 1000 (or any number with this pattern)
1379
2580
2468


What does the 's' character mean in iPhone 5s and 6s series

The iPhone 5s "s" apparently stands for security (they added touch ID), but the "s" in iPhone 6s is still largely debated, though some have speculated that it might be for sensitivity (as per the new 3D Touch features)

However, apple has never really released any official information regarding what the s stands for in any models other than the 3GS and 4s.

But really, I don't think apple plans what the s stands for, it is just a symbol to show that this model has improvements upon its predecessor, but is not altogether different.


Opening apache conf file with write permissions

The reason these applications can't write to that files is to do with application sandboxing feature of OS X, which you can read about here if you are interested.

One GUI application that can write to these files is TextWrangler which you can download for free here. There is also a version of TextWrangler in the Mac App Store (MAS) but it doesn't have the ability to write to system files by default (MAS guidelines don't allow applications with those abilities), but you can find an update here that will update the MAS version of TextWrangler so that it can.

Alternatively you can use command line tools to edit these files. For example sudo nano https.conf works okay, and nano is relatively user friendly.


Google Exchange service and missing calendar events

I do need to know if you have it set to sync "All Events" in: Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Sync ""All Events"


Yes, files can be transferred from a NTFS drive to a Mac.  Apple provides documentation on the process. This is a relatively straightforward process.

The bigger challenge is not reading files from a different disk operating system, but rather proprietary formats used by particular programs. Common formats like jpeg, html, etc. will pose no problem, and programs like Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop are available on both platforms. Files from Microsoft Publisher, however, or other more obscure Windows programs can be ported to the Mac, but you may find yourself without a program on the Mac that can read or edit those particular files.


WhatsApp haven't restored all the media files

I solved this by importing all the old iPhone data to the new iPhone.

This seems to be a better solution than manually moving WhatsApp.


I ended up burning that user.

There was definitely something something in ~/Library that caused this. I fiddled a bit with deleting more stuff out of ~/Library but didn't narrow down exactly to which setting/app caused it. Finally when ~/Library was half empty, the user started to work. I moved ~/Documents, Downloads, Desktop over to a new account, burned the afflicted and renamed new user back to old name. At least now I know where to start digging next time it occurs.


How do people hack iPhone games so easily?

iOS applications store their data in files that are available from a computer in two easily-accessible ways:

Inside an iTunes backup
Via a MobileDevice-framework-based tool such as iExplorer

In my experience, game save data is stored in a fairly ordinary property list file that is manipulable via the plutil tool.  The data can be restored and replaced without any code knowledge.  From there it's a simple matter of how much the app trusts its save data.

For an example of how this can be used not just for high scores, but to cheat at a game, see the Nimble Quest iOS Trainer, which is itself MobileDevice-framework-based.

(The MobileDevice framework is an Apple private framework created for iOS device access, which has been reverse-engineered to enable the creation of iOS device tools not available from Apple.)


On the Mac side, you can create a DMG file with Disk Utility. Once started you can either select "New Image" to create a an empty one or use ⇧⌘N to create an image based on a folder.

To copy the audio files to iTunes, it's probably easiest to just move/copy them to ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Automatically Add to iTunes (may be called differently, just look at the folder first) and let iTunes (which must be running) do the rest.


Transfer accounts from Mac or iPhone to new iPad?

Not exactly sure what you mean: if you use the same Apple ID on both devices and you have enabled iCloud storage for keychain, mail, whatever else on the iPhone - assuming that it’s holding all the data you want on the iPad - you’re done.


There have been many reports of older devices that run iOS 7 that get significantly less battery life. iPhone 5s and 5c aren't affected. iPhone 5 gets hit a little. iPhone 4S gets affected more. iPhone 4 would be getting hit the most! As for what will help, turn off location services and turn down screen brightness are good starts. Good luck!


what is the style of command line editing used by the terminal emulator?

OS X ships with bash and you will want to set -o vi to get vi-style commands. A very popular choice is zsh and the many customization packages like oh-my-zsh. Neither she'll is fully in either style by default.

For emacs style, it's similar - see this great post for more details:

  You switch between the two modes in bash, zsh or ksh with set -o vi or set -o emacs, and with bindkey -e or bindkey -v in tcsh or zsh.


Make Preview automatically reload PDF without switching to it

I have never had problems with Skim not being able to keep up, but I use latex-makefile which generates temporary PDFs under other names until the very last pass. Perhaps you could try using that and see if it works, or adjusting your own Makefile similarly?


Layout broken across all websites in Safari


How do I reset/change my security questions on my Apple Id

You can't see the link as you only get a few attempts at getting the answers correct.

Apple Support Document

  If you can't reset your security questions

  Contact Apple Support in either of these circumstances:

    You don't see the link to send a reset email, which means you don't have a rescue address.

    You see the link to send a reset email, but you don't have access to email at the rescue address.

  A temporary support PIN isn't usually required, but Apple may ask you to generate a PIN if your identity needs to be verified.


Go to System Preferences -> Users and Groups.

On the left sidebar click on your user name and then Login Items.

In that window you can configure which apps to run automatically at startup (click on + and - at the bottom to add or remove apps).

Please note: many of these apps (such as Creative Cloud or Dropbox) have their own switch. Just check their Preferences to activate/deactivate those apps at startup.

For Dropbox, see screenshot attached: as you can see i have the option "Start Dropbox on system startup" unmarked and (as you may expect) it does not run automatically every time i switch my Mac on.


Slow Wi-Fi internet connection with Mac Mini

Virgin claim the Mini is not able to pick up 5g signal because of its specification. Is this true?

No, this is not true. Both the Late-2012 iMac and Late 2012 Mac Mini have the same specifications in terms of Wi-Fi.

  Do we have to buy a new computer to replace the Mini?

No. If it was me, I would share the internet connection from the iMac to the Mac Mini via an ethernet cable. This should be easy enough since they're on the same desk.

To do this:

Connect the iMac and Mac Mini via an ethernet cable
On the iMac:

go to System Preferences > Sharing
in the service pane on the left, highlight Internet Sharing
in the Share Your Connection From drop-down select Wi-Fi
in the To computers from list tick the Ethernet port
in the service pane on the left, tick the Internet Sharing checkbox

To ensure the Mac Mini is using this connection instead of the 2g one, you can either switch Wi-Fi off or choose to change the preference order of your connections in the Network preferences pane so that Ethernet is listed ahead of Wi-Fi.

Once you've set this up, you should have a fairly good connection on the Mac Mini.

In terms of why the iMac is getting the 5g signal and the Mac Mini isn't, it could be as simple as the iMac causing some sort of obstruction (especially if the iMac is the one closer to the Wi-Fi router).

However, I have found more often than not many devices will connect to a 2g network in preference to a 5g network. While 5g provides a faster connection, it isn't as robust as a 2g connection. So, if distance is an issue (not likely in your case) or if there are physical obstructions impacting the signal, a 2g network is often better.


Can *all* files on an AirPort Extreme be encrypted with FileVault?

Yes, just create an encrypted disk image on the Airport Extreme. That has nothing do do with it being an Airport, or having Time Capsule functionality; you can do it on any disk that you can mount. It's not technically FileVault, but it is 128- or 256-bit AES encryption.