How can I trick programs to believe that a recorded video is what is captured from my MacBook Pro camera in realtime?

I would suggest installing OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) from this web site:
https://obsproject.com/
It allows you to create content in a variety of ways, including green screens, etc. In your case it is just a simply video you want playing.
If you have the very latest version of OBS a virtual camera plugin is included with the software. If you have an older version, you can download and install the same OBS Virtual Cam plugin from here:
https://github.com/johnboiles/obs-mac-virtualcam
When installed you'll have a VirtualCam option in the Tools menu in OBS, where you can start a virtual camera.
Finally in Google Meet select the virtual camera as your camera. Now the output from OBS is transmitted to meeting partners in Google Meet - and from OBS you can control whether the video is a pre-recorded file, your actual web camera, or something entirely else (like a still photo or similar).


The easiest way to determine what's going on here is to open a terminal and run

ps aux | grep sudo

On my machine there are many lines, all that include:

/usr/libexec/StartupItemContext /usr/bin/open -a /Library/Application Support/iStat Server/DiskTool.app

So, we know that it's from a start up item, specficially iStat Server.

As I don't use that app anymore, I'll uninstall it.


How do you disable Smart Invert or truly invert all of your screen colors?

I noticed the issue you were facing - it seems to happen on Safari. Have you thought about trying Firefox? It seems to not "Smart invert" on Firefox from what I can tell.

(I can't add a comment due to reputation).


how to have holidays of different countries shown on OS X default app?

Apple has a website with all supported calendars.  You can download and install dozens of different types of calendars on your Mac.

Simply find the calendar you want to use, download it, and then install it into your calendar. If you sync your calendar with iCloud, these dates will also be added there.  If you don't know how to do that, see this Apple Support site for directions on how to add calendars.

If you have any iOS calendars that sync to this calendar, they will also be updated with the new dates.


Bootcamp Windows does not wake from sleep

I'd really like to post this as a comment because it isn't really an answer - but I don't have the available rep.

I'm having the exact same issue (in terms of failing to wake from sleep). I'm here from Google - on a Mid 15 rMBP. It happens on both Windows and a Linux distribution (Ubuntu 16.04 LTS), but not on macOS. I am having a similar symptom. That is: the haptic feedback on the touchpad remains active. The device never wakes up, either on a keystroke, clicking the touchpad or pressing the power button.

I have attempted to reset both the SMC and PRAM to no avail. May I suggest attempting that and seeing how you go?

The only potential explanation I have come across is that the symptoms developed after I installed an OWC Aura aftermarket SSD. That said, I was not using boot camp immediately prior to installing the OWC SSD. I contacted OWC's support and they have had no reports. Do you by any chance use one of these? I haven't had the time to switch back to my OEM SSD.


Use curl to download images from website using wildcard?

You can use this bash code for the actual URL you provided in your comment.

for i in $(for j in {1..8}; do
    curl http://occipital.com/user/01ca-255/george-coghill/$j/;
  done \
  | sed -n 's,.*/viewer/\(......_flat\)_small\.jpg.*,http://occipital.com/images/viewer/\1.jpg,p'
); do
  curl -L -o "${i##*/}" "$i";
done

Feel free to write this command as one line; all line breaks were only added to increase legibility. You may copy or remove them, whatever you like.

What this code does:

Iterate over the 8 pages of your account gallery
Extract the image names from the preview images
Fetch all full-sized images using this list of names

If you want to only download files which don't exist, and don't know the number of gallery pages up front, you can adjust the code to this:

for i in $(
  j=1;
  while curl --max-redirs 0 -L -f \
      http://occipital.com/user/01ca-255/george-coghill/$((j++))/; do
    :;
  done \
  | sed -n 's,.*/viewer/\(......_flat\)_small\.jpg.*,http://occipital.com/images/viewer/\1.jpg,p'
); do
  [[ -f "${i##*/}" ]] || curl -L -o "${i##*/}" "$i";
done

The first code now increments the page number until a redirect or error occurs. The server will redirect you to the last existing page if you try to visit a page after the existing ones. The [[ -f … ]] || part will execute curl only if the corresponding file does not exist yet.


Get specific version macports dependencies

That looks like either a bug or a limitation with the deps command to me. A quick look in the MacPorts Guide, and port help deps doesn't specify any such limitation, though that's not very conclusive.

I'm not sure if you should be able to see dependencies for different versions, though I can definitely see different dependencies for different variants.

I have two versions of boost installed (note the different python variants, but same version):

% port installed boost
The following ports are currently installed:
  boost @1.54.0_0+no_single+no_static+python27 (active)
  boost @1.54.0_0+no_single+no_static+python33

And I can check their dependencies independently by referencing them as portname@version+variants (version & variants being optional):

% port deps boost @1.54.0_0+no_single+no_static+python27
Full Name: boost @1.54.0_0+no_single+no_static+python27
Library Dependencies: zlib, expat, bzip2, libiconv, icu, python27

% port deps boost @1.54.0_0+no_single+no_static+python33
Full Name: boost @1.54.0_0+no_single+no_static+python33
Library Dependencies: zlib, expat, bzip2, libiconv, icu, python33

But I also have two versions of glib2 and pango installed at present:

% port installed glib2 pango
The following ports are currently installed:
  glib2 @2.36.4_0
  glib2 @2.38.0_0 (active)
  pango @1.34.1_1+x11
  pango @1.36.0_0+x11 (active)

Yet, likewise, cannot see the deps of the inactive versions:

% port deps glib2 @2.36.4_0
Full Name: glib2 @2.38.0_1
Extract Dependencies: xz
Build Dependencies:   libxml2
Library Dependencies: gettext, libiconv, zlib, libffi, perl5

% port deps pango @1.34.1_1+x11
Full Name: pango @1.36.0_0+x11
Extract Dependencies: xz
Build Dependencies:   pkgconfig
Library Dependencies: glib2, cairo, gobject-introspection, harfbuzz, Xft2

Both show the newer (active) version rather than the older one, even with the --index argument to deps.


Apple eventually added the Persian keyboard and language to the list of the iPhone keyboards and preferred languages back in 2017. Now all iPhones with iOS 11+ can add Persian keyboard and or language in their iPhone Settings > General > Keyboards or .. > Language & Region.

Prior to iOS 11, Persian users could install the Arabic keyboard and long-press ک - ج - ب - ز - ي keys to input the Persian letters گ - چ - پ - ژ - ی.


Does FaceTime support 1-to-many connections (conference call) or only 1:1 video calls?

FaceTime is currently a one to one connection on both Mac OS X and iOS.


How to capture screen on iOS 10 by using AssistiveTouch?

In the assistive touch menu you've to select: device -> more -> screenshot.


I also upgraded to High Sierra and that fixed the issue for me. I have been trying for a week to find a solution.


macOS remove lkysearch virus from chrome

Ok, so this is how I removed the malware.

1) sudo rm -rf /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ElementarySignalSearchDaemon.plist

the content of plist was,

cat  /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ElementarySignalSearchDaemon.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
    <dict>
        <key>Label</key>
        <string>com.ElementarySignalSearchDaemon</string>
        <key>ProgramArguments</key>
        <array>
            <string>/Library/Application Support/com.ElementarySignalSearchDaemon/ElementarySignalSearch</string>
            <string>r</string>
        </array>
        <key>RunAtLoad</key>
        <true />
        <key>StartInterval</key>
        <integer>14400</integer>
    </dict>
</plist>

2) sudo rm -rf /Library/Application\ Support/com.ElementarySignalSearchDaemon/

3) restarting the chrome did not work, so edited the plist file and removed the occurrence of links in that file,

This is because chrome://policy had Mandatory level.

sudo vi /Library/Managed\ Preferences/prayagupd/com.google.Chrome.plist

4) remove suspicious profiles,


wish to change appleid on new iphone whilst keeping original id on old phone

Unless you wish to spend the next year swapping back & forth between IDs every time there's an update to something, best practise would be to treat it as though you were selling it & wipe it completely, then set it up afresh with a new ID.

See What to do before selling or giving away your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

To get back any apps [though not their data] that were previously used on that phone, investigate Family Sharing which will allow any apps or music purchases to be shared between all 'family' members.


Maximise window in OS X only using App Store extention

Get Divvy - Window Manager app for your specific use case.
It will let you maximize windows in the more traditional sense of taking all the screen space. It's solid, secure, reliable and can do many, many other things in addition to maximizing. There are many others on the store, but if you search this site for Divvy - you'll see it has wide acclaim and utility.
You could do worse than choosing Moom as well.

https://manytricks.com/moom/


iMac loses WiFi connectivity, doesn't show it

This little script will tell you when you are not connected to the Internet. If you want to Ping (and monitor) your router instead, change the Google.com to your Router address.

It will not solve your no connection problem that can have many other reasons. Like flaky connection to the router, like crowded channel, like a limitation by the IP provider on number of connections, and so on.

To help you solve that we need much more information on your set up and connection numbers.

repeat
    try
        do shell script "ping -c 5 google.com"
    on error
        display dialog "You are not connected to the internet"
    end try
end repeat

As for debugging, hold the alt key and click on your WiFi icon and select the Open Wireless diagnostics (at the bottom). Now you will have access to 2 tools to do some debugging.


The recently announced 12 inch sized retina screen MacBook (Early 2015) will be the first fanless MacBook to ship once it goes on sale.

The MacBook Air (11" & 13") and the MacBook Pro 13" have one fan, the MacBook Pro 15" has two.


It looks like there's an app that does what you want. Keyboard Maestro allows you to set one key to repeat, a configurable delay and a second key to configure to stop the automation.

http://leancrew.com/all-this/2016/03/dont-forget-simple-automation/

The link above is how to configure the app for paging through a 2,000 page long PDF and stop when a key is pressed, but you could easily adopt that workflow for your game I think.


How to Hide and show an app via a single shortcut?

This answer is a step by step explanation of what ankii proposed in a comment.

First, open Script Editor and write an Apple Script to toggle the visibility of your application. The following code should work, just change the value of appName (currently set to Finder) to be the app you want.

set appName to "Finder"

tell application "System Events"
    if visible of application process appName is true then
        set visible of application process appName to false
    else
        set visible of application process appName to true
    end if
end tell

Save this Apple Script as an application (File -> Save -> File Format -> Application). I named it Toggle Visibility, but you can call it anything.

Next, open Automator and create a new Quick Action (previously a called a service). Change the values in the drop down menu so that "Workflow receives no input in any application" is displayed at the top.

Drag Launch Application from the list of options on the left (you can use the search bar to find it) into your workflow. Set the selected application to other, and find the Apple Script you saved as an application previously.

Go to File -> Save to save your Quick Action, and give it a name.

Finally, open System Preferences and go to Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Services, and scroll down to the General Tab. There, you should see the name of your Quick Action you just saved. Click the check box to enable it, and add a keyboard shortcut to activate it. Make sure the shortcut you added doesn't conflict with other shortcuts on your computer.


How can I get Gmail Chat to run in background on my iPhone?

Trillian for iPhone works great for this.  Supports push notifications and multiple other IM networks besides Google Chat.


No

  Not yet. It’s a whole new UI so my guess is that has to be redone at the second scale still. Dynamic text is there and improved, though. https://twitter.com/roelvangils/status/925696251651330050

https://twitter.com/reneritchie/status/925709868425793542

That makes sense to me because if a developer wants to support iPhone 6 sizes and larger then they already should have support for iPhone SE which is used when Display Zoom is turned on on an iPhone 6. There is no smaller version of the iPhone X with its notch and rounded corners, thus no Display Zoom. Next year we might have display zoom on iPhone X Plus.


Apple Repair Service Image of cracked bezel -or- what am I looking at?

As far as I can tell from the blurry picture, it seems you're looking at the display itself and the bezel that surrounds it. If you look at the lower, right corner, you'll see that the bezel is cracked.
Was the bezel cracked before you sent it in? - If so you had this pre-existing damage that you probably didn't declare.
If the bezel wasn't cracked when you sent it in, it was probably cracked during transportation. You should inform them of this to see if there's an insurance or similar that covers such an event.


Found the solution myself.

For some reason, after pairing, you still need to manually connect.

This functionality however is completely unavailable in the preferences window and can only be accessed using the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar.
Once there you simply have to select the paired device to stream your music to and choose connect.

After doing so the mac will automatically open iTunes so you can test your newly made connection.

Note: this can only be done on the mac, there is no way to request this type of connection from the PC.


OS X - build a bash function to send notifications via osascript / Applescript

Displaying Notifications
Notification Center offers another opportunity for providing feedback during script execution. Use the Standard Additions scripting addition’s display notification command to show notifications, such as status updates as files are processed.

To show a notification, provide the display notification command with a string to display. Optionally, provide values for the with title, subtitle, and sound name parameters to provide additional information and an audible alert when the notification appears, as shown in Listing 24-1 and Listing 24-2.

APPLESCRIPT

Open in Script Editor

Listing 24-1AppleScript: Displaying a notification

display notification "All graphics have been converted." with title "My Graphic Processing Script" subtitle "Processing is complete." sound name "Frog"

JAVASCRIPT

Open in Script Editor

Listing 24-2JavaScript: Displaying a notification

var app = Application.currentApplication()

app.includeStandardAdditions = true

app.displayNotification("All graphics have been converted.", {
    withTitle: "My Graphic Processing Script",
    subtitle: "Processing is complete.",
    soundName: "Frog"
})

NOTE

After using a script to display a notification, the script or Script Editor (if the script is run from within Script Editor) is added to the list of notifying apps in System Preferences > Notifications. There, you can configure options, such as whether to display notifications as alerts or banners.

Clicking the Show button in an alert-style notification opens the app that displayed the notification. For a script app, the action of opening the app again triggers the run handler of the script, potentially causing the script to begin processing a second time. Keep this in mind, and add code to your script to handle this scenario, if appropriate.

From:  https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/LanguagesUtilities/Conceptual/MacAutomationScriptingGuide/DisplayNotifications.html


Is it possible to restore a deactivated iPhone 4s?

Unless there's an active SIM in the phone or the IMEI is in use on a CDMA network (like Verizon or Sprint) then nothing will happen to it if you wipe/restore from a backup. It might say it's trying to activate but it actually won't. In the background, it'll attempt to "activate" but will just get a null response from whatever cell network it was trying to activate on. Feel free to use it like an iPod touch. If you DO want to use it as a phone, however, you just need to either put an active SIM in it or call up Verizon/Sprint (or whatever CDMA carrier) and give them the IMEI and follow their instructions to activate it on your plan/line/whatever.


What exactly does the Mountain Lion Migration Assistant transfer?

Apple has a very nice explanation of how Migration Assistant works, what steps and accessories you need and much more:

How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac

In a nutshell, Migration Assistant has three bins of data to move:

Applications (just the programs - no user data or settings transfer)
Users (the user data, settings, preferences, saved files and such - but no Applications. You could have all your Word docs, but no Word to edit them in this case)
Everything else that's not an App or a User. This gets oddball things like /Users/Shared files and folders that don't belong to one user, unix and command line tools like homebrew that get installed outside /Applications and /Users.

So with three check marks (let's assume you don't have multiple users), there are 7 combinations you could migrate - each leaving a different set of data on the destination Mac. (If Applications was A, Users was B, and Everything else C) You could combine them as follows: A, B, C, A+B, B+C, A+C, or A+B+C

I would say, you get to experiment when you get your new Mac. Run the migration you think is best, and then test it. If you don't like it, erase the destination Mac (booting into recovery mode, erasing the HD and re-install a clean OS might take 25 minutes on a fast network - the OS download is 4 Gb or so) and re-run the assistant.

For me, I would recommend both migrating from your Backup and then optionally re-migrating from the old Mac. It's important to test your backup - when was the last time you tested a restore to be sure you have a viable backup?

Everyone says "make sure you back up" but they really mean and might be better saying is, "make sure you can restore your backup and it has what you need!"

I would encourage you to configure your Time Machine on the old Mac to exclude any things you don't want moved to the new Mac, make a back up and write down the time of the back up. Then eject the backup drive and change the backup settings to back everything up again.

You could take that "latest" backup and Migrate it to the new Mac and test for a while (re-connecting the backup drive to the old Mac) to keep your "main" Mac backing up.

As you test the new mac for a day or so, you can decide it's time to move over. At that point, turn off Time Machine on the old Mac and connect the backup drive to the new Mac. It will offer to "inherit" the old backups and you can move forward. Worst case, you still have the backups to restore something needed and then can clear the old Mac for donation, sale or mothballing.


How To Enable Wireless Monitoring Macbook Pro

Use Terminal
You can use the airport utility.
It's located in a very obscure place, so I suggest creating a symbolic link to it:
ln -s /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport /usr/local/bin/airport

Now, you can put the WiFi (Airport) adapter into monitor mode:
sudo airport en1 sniff 6

This will sniff all packets on adapter en1 channel 6.  It will save a .cap file in /tmp/airportsniffXXXXXXXXX
You can view the output through Wireshark or issue the command tcpdump -r [filename].  For example, the following is the capture of my wireless adapter in monitor mode for a few seconds...
 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0 Mbit] CH: 1, PRIVACY
17:37:37.746644 35635598us tsft 1.0 Mb/s 2412 MHz 11g -82dB signal -82dB noise antenna 0 Probe Response (yoyo) [1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0 Mbit] CH: 1, PRIVACY
17:37:37.774068 35662623us tsft bad-fcs 1.0 Mb/s 2412 MHz 11g -82dB signal -82dB noise antenna 0 Probe Response (LORRAINE) [1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0* 36.0 54.0 Mbit] CH: 1, PRIVACY
17:37:37.782831 35671401us tsft bad-fcs 1.0 Mb/s 2412 MHz 11g -84dB signal -82dB noise antenna 0 Probe Response (LORRAINE) [1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0* 36.0 54.0 Mbit] CH: 1, PRIVACY
17:37:37.793357 35683064us tsft 1.0 Mb/s 2412 MHz 11g -63dB signal -82dB noise antenna 0 Beacon (Go Noles ) [1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0 Mbit] ESS CH: 1, PRIVACY
17:37:37.796149 35686928us tsft wep 1.0 Mb/s 2412 MHz 11g -62dB signal -82dB noise antenna 0 Data IV:4767c7 Pad 20 KeyID 1
17:37:37.816820 35706464us tsft 1.0 Mb/s 2412 MHz 11g -79dB signal -82dB noise antenna 0 Beacon (yoyo) [1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0 Mbit] ESS CH: 1, PRIVACY
17:37:37.898203 35787820us tsft 1.0 Mb/s 2412 MHz 11g -62dB signal -82dB noise antenna 0 Beacon (Go Noles ) [1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0 Mbit] ESS CH: 1, PRIVACY
17:37:37.919172 35808864us tsft 1.0 Mb/s 2412 MHz 11g -81dB signal -82dB noise antenna 0 Beacon (yoyo) [1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0 Mbit] ESS CH: 1, PRIVACY

Use a GUI

Launch Wireless Diagnostics.  Press CommandSpace and start typing "Wireless Diag...".  Press Return when Spotlight finds it.

Press ⌘7 (Window >> Monitor) to monitor the traffic on your Airport Adapter.

Press ⌘6 (Windows >> Sniff) to put the Airport card into "Sniff" mode.  Select your channel and start sniffing...

It will then start sniffing the network packets...When it's done, it will put a .wcap file on your desktop.  You can then use the file with Wireshark or with the tcpdump command.


Why do I sometimes see a downloading 'pie' icon when viewing photostream photos?

That device has only a thumbnail and is indicating the progress fetching a higher resolution image.

From Apple KB - My Photo Stream FAQ

  What resolution are My Photo Stream photos?

  On a Mac or PC, your photos are downloaded and stored in full resolution. On iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV, your photos are delivered in a device-optimized resolution that speeds downloads and saves storage space. Dimensions will vary, but an optimized version of a photo taken by a standard point-and-shoot camera will have a 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution when pushed to your devices. Panoramic photos can be up to 5400 pixels wide.


Cannot turn on Bluetooth - Exhausted all options

Try resetting the NVRAM. After all else failed this worked for me.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204063

Option key + Command key + P key + R key
Shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately press and hold these four keys together: Option, Command, P, and R. You can release the keys after about 20 seconds, during which your Mac might appear to restart.
When your Mac finishes starting up, you might want to open System Preferences and adjust any settings that were reset, such as sound volume, display resolution, startup disk selection, or time zone.


Can you virtualize PowerPC versions of Mac OS X on Intel Macs?

The PowerPC and Intel Macs are totally different architectures, so you are correct, you could only really emulate a PowerPC install on an intel machine, versus virtualize Windows/Mac OS/Linux on a intel machine.

There are some PowerPC emulators, but the one I know of for OS X would be PearPC. I have used PearPC a very long time ago, and don't know how well these work on newer machines.

Up until Lion however, at least PowerPC software was emulated using Rosetta. This was dropped in Lion though.

If you really do need a PowerPC machine, for dedicated work, I would personally buy a used older machine from ebay, which would be rather inexpensive depending on what kind of power you need.

Note: Removed iEmulator because its made more for emulating windows or linux on a intel OR PPC mac.


Two MacBook Pros display my webpage differently

Try clearing the cache for Safari (Safari-> Empty Cache).

The next thing to make sure of is that you don't have any extensions or custom stylesheets.

Also, depending on your CSS, the size of the screen and window could affect positioning. Make sure you're using identically-sized viewports.

Otherwise, if both browsers (and OS's) are truly the same version, and you're pointed at the same website, they should look identical.

Have you tried using a different browser?

Also, please note that any questions about code (how to fix this would count) need to be posted on StackOverflow instead of here.


Does copying a migrated iPhotos library use extra space, given that iPhotos and Photos Libraries are hardlinked?

The short answer is, of course, yes, making a copy of a library makes a real copy including new copies of the underlying photos.

A neat test to show this and to identify which libraries are linked is given by nohillside in How can I verify that my Photos and iPhoto library are hard linking to the same disk data?: compare a photo from each library using

ls -li /path/from/old/app.jpg /path/from/new/app.jpg

This will show the inode number at the beginning of each line of output. If the files are linked, they will have the same inode.


How to use remote Mac Mini without local monitor able to see?

You'll need to purchase Apple Remote Desktop from the Mac App Store.  Once you have it downloaded and installed you can click on the "Curtain" button and that will allow you to VNC or screen share to the system, but anyone physically there won't be able to see what you are doing.

Alternatively, you could click the "Control" button and you'll be asked if you want to login to a new screen sharing session where either you Share the screen with someone physically there OR you are logging in as that user, but to a new viewing session only you can see.


It could help if you see kernel_task soaking CPU cycles.

From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203184

  Activity Monitor may show that a process named kernel_task is using a large percentage of your CPU, and during this time you may notice a lot of fan activity. This process helps manage temperature by making the CPU less available to processes that are using the CPU intensely. In other words, kernel_task responds to conditions that cause your CPU to become too hot. When the temperature decreases, kernel_task automatically reduces its activity.

So if your case is more than 10°F / 5°C warmer than the ambient temperature and you are seeing high CPU/kernel task usage, cooling the bottom case or increasing airflow significantly might actually speed up your Air.


Is it possible to cluster multiple Xservers in to one logical machine?

Yes and no.

It's certainly possible to create clusters out of disparate machines and use them in some co-ordinated fashion. But it's the realm of specialty software and specialty application programming.

Beowulf can take separate machines and have them act as one, large SMP machine with shared memory and all but programs need to be Beowulf compatible for this to work. There are lots of specifics to making Beowulf work well: you should use nearly identical machines and your machine interconnect fabric has to be really high speed and low latency (read: better than gigabit ethernet...like InfiniBand)

Xgrid (tutorials), an Apple-designed, job scheduling framework based on the BEEP framework is available for use and sits somewhere between Beowulf above and Condor/GE below. It's a process distribution framework along with a message passing interface for distributed process co-ordination. You have to run an XGrid head node and XGrid slaves in your pool and your code needs to be XGrid-aware and complied against the XGrid libraries for it to take advantage of an XGrid. From that article linked to above:

  Unfortunately, Xgrid is not yet the silver bullet that can magically take an existing program such as iMovie, cut it in slices and run in on all the macs it can find in the neighborhood.

The above statement is true for every technology I'm talking about in this answer I'm afraid.

Condor (and Oracle Grid Engine) can provide somewhat easy access to pools of machines for batch-based workloads -- you queue up jobs and these programs will take care of scheduling their execution on machines that you have joined to the pool as execution nodes -- but they don't share CPU power across machines (at least not without MPI interfaces in the software using them) and they don't share memory. The interconnect requirements aren't nearly as heavy as in Beowulf clustering and you can get away with heterogenous pools of machines as the schedulers will handle matchmaking based on job requirements.

There are some off-the-shelf Mac apps that will let you do clustering in an application-specific way. For example: Logic Pro 8 and Logic 9 let you run "Logic Nodes" in your network and you can offload audio processing to these nodes. How much and what specifically you can offload is very dependent on your network and your machines but it does work. There are options in the Logic installer to create a 'Logic Node' when you install the software and run Logic in slave mode on the instance so it can be found by a master Logic session running on another machine.

This sort of one-off speciality parallelization is pretty unique in consumer and pro-sumer level applications and far from the norm though.

It's worth noting that Apple used to sell something called the Xserve Cluster Node. The name is somewhat misleading here. It was a hardware configuration for the Xserve, without a graphics card or an optical drive, intended to be used in cluster deployments. But the configuration didn't include any additional clustering capabilities. You still needed something like above mentioned software to create a cluster for your workloads.


Black screen of death with question mark file

This is usually a sign that the Macbook can't detect your hard drive. So, something happened while you were working that caused your hard drive to either stop spinning, or just to not be recognized by your system anymore.

One option:
Unless you have experience taking apart Macbooks, and have the appropriate drive sled to offload data from your (possibly) failing drive, I'd highly recommend taking it into a Mac service place so that they can copy the data off your drive before it completely fails (if it hasn't already). That's your best bet for data recovery.  While they've got it apart, they can put in a new drive (I'd recommend an SSD upgrade if you have a spinning disk currently, since it'll speed your machine WAY up).

The other option is if you have another Mac and a thunderbolt (or firewire if this is an old mac) cable, you can try repeatedly rebooting while holding down the T-key. This boots into Firewire/Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode, which basically turns your laptop into an expensive external hard drive. When hard drives start to fail, occasionally you'll be able to reboot several times and they'll work again. Do that, and if/when it works, then plug into the other Mac and immediately copy off all of your most important files, followed by your less important files, since the drive could fail again at any time.

Hope this helps and you can recover your data!


Mac slow after clean install, what should I do?

The log shows you having problems with iCloud.

Here is one way to fix that.

Open the iCloud pane in System Preferences and uncheck the box marked iCloud Drive.

You'll be warned that your iCloud documents will be deleted. ->Confirm.

They won't be deleted from the server.

Check the box again and test.


After Big Sur 11.1 replaced beta, No Safari available

You should re-install macOS 11.1 using the installer found in the App Store. This should restore all system components:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-big-sur/id1526878132?mt=12


Is it possible to write to the Boot Camp disk in OS X?

It is possible.

You will first need MacFUSE and then NTFS-3G.

The User's Guide for NTFS-3G can be found here (PDF).


Using Windows Connection Manager based VPN on macOS

It seems a similar question (connecting to SSTP VPN) is answered here:
How to connect OS X Yosemite to a Windows based SSTP VPN?
and here:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40590806/windows-sstp-vpn-connect-from-mac/40590807#40590807
Especially on the last one, ppl seem to have succeeded in connecting.


How do iPads detect when a cover closes?

The Smart Cover has a magnet that interacts with the sleep sensor of an iPad. So whenever you close the Smart Cover, iPad will know when to sleep. The same theory for waking up.

Info from MacRumors


Mac crashes every time I try to run boot2docker

There's a problem with OS X Security Update 2015-003 and boot2docker/virtualbox as discussed here:

https://github.com/boot2docker/boot2docker/issues/800

The fix is to install the latest VirtualBox.


iPad connected to LG Ultrafine 4K Display

No, it will only charge the iPad.

Lightning doesn't have anything to do with HDMI. It's just a serial bus that cannot send any HDMI data without some help.

With Apple's Lightning Digital AV Adapter (which, in fact, is just small computer itself) you can output to an HDMI display. The native resolution is only 1600x900, however.


Concerned I may have accidentally dropped malware (or something) onto my system

It looks like you did your due diligence and there is no evidence of a real malware problem - it sounds like their installer just screwed up the permissions.

Fire up Terminal, and do an ls -l of your Applications folder, looking for the QMC2 folder. I'd be willing to be it did something like installing as root (I bet the package asked for your password, right?) and missed correcting the permissions.

Once you've found it, you can do a chown (your username) -R (QMC2 path) to set everything to your user.


OS X Lion - Finder: Difference of "Sort by", "Clean Up By" and "Arrange by"

Clean Up By is only available in icon view. If Arrange By is not set to None, it doesn't seem to do anything until you change Arrange By to None. If Arrange By is set to None and Sort By is set to Snap to Grid, it arranges icons so that they are aligned on a grid. If Arrange By is set to None and Sort By is set to anything else, it sorts icons and changes Sort By to None.

The Arrange By modes were added in Lion. They group items under sections like this in different view modes:

List views cannot be sorted by clicking the headings when items are arranged by some attribute.

When items are arranged by some attribute, Sort By affects the way items are sorted inside the categories in some cases, but in other cases it's disabled.

Sort By doesn't group items under sections. The Sort by mode is changed when for example clicking the list headings in list view. The Arrange By menus change to Sort By when holding option:


So you can reach them when holding the phone  with one hand.

Apple refers to this feature as reachability. This allows you to reach apps at the top of the screen with your thumb.

If you don't like this, change the setting in that app under General > Accessibility - it's towards the bottom just under Home Button


I can't set a HTTP-Proxy on my wifi anymore

You should try to :

Click on "Forget this network", search for this wifi, enter the password and try to set your proxy again
Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network settings and try again


I'm assuming you are using Mac OS X, since you mention scutil. nslookup doesn't use the same mechanisms as the rest of the OS:

From man nslookup:

  Mac OS X NOTICE

  The nslookup command does not use the host name and address resolution or the DNS query routing mechanisms used by other processes running on Mac OS X.  The results of name
  or address queries printed by nslookup may differ from those found by other processes that use the Mac OS X native name and address resolution mechanisms.  The results of
        DNS queries may also differ from queries that use the Mac OS X DNS routing library.


The filesystem on the external storage device does not have a sense of Unix permissions. For example, the external drive may be formatted as one of the FAT variants of filesystems. When you copy the file from the external storage to the Mac's hard drive, it copies the permissions as they were found on the external drive.

Use the idea below or variants of it change the permissions back to something standard on a Unix filesystem. Below, change all files in ~/Pictures with the extension, png, to 0644 (owner = read write, group = read, others = read) and  directories to 0755 (owner = read write execute, group read execute, other = read execute). In context of directories, execute provides the ability to change directory (cd) into the given directory. These are typical, default permissions.

find ~/Pictures -type f -name '*.png' -exec chmod 0644 {} +
find ~/Pictures -type d -exec chmod 0755 {} +

The type option, above, takes an abbreviated file type argument; f specifies regular files, and d specifies directories. The -exec option specifies what to do with found files. In this case, we want to "change mode" (chmod or change permissions). The {} is a list of found files.
Use man find and man chmod for more information. Another nice resource for Unix commands is explainshell.com.

Some of the files may require the execute bit. For example, if you have a script that you want to execute directly, use something such as the following (owner = read write execute, group = read execute, others = read execute).

chmod 0755 script.sh

The permissions above are written in octal notation. Wikipedia has a nice summary of the meanings. After getting the permissions back to normal, the colors can provide the right visual hints again.


What are the physical dimensions of the SSD used in the MacBook Air?

Techrepublic says as part of their tear-down the part number is Samsung MZ-CPA1280/0A2. This part is available on Amazon JP where its dimensions are specified as "Size : 24.0 × 3.9 × 108.9mm"


Must I log in upon connecting to a computer via VNC?

No.

Basically VNC works by displaying a login session on your remote computer so if you don't allow any logins to the computer it has nothing to display.


FileVault password not working from standby

Seems the password is not the problem, but the keyboard is. After waking up from standby the keyboard and touchpad stutter, so some keys become missing when typing in the password.


Screen dark except when brightness is stepped off of zero

Yes. A loose cable, loose cable to LCD panel connection, bad inverter, failing backlight, power supply/voltage regulation issues inside the Mac all can cause what you observe as a symptom for brightness jumping and not working.

If you gently and slowly open and close the lid, most loose connections can be made better or worse. The powering it off and then seeing a little moment of light when you initially turn on the backlight circuit seems to indicate a power / inverter issue, but that could still be the bulb or bad luck/timing with a cable jostling, too.


Are the apps that I download from the OS X app store sandboxed?

Yes. Per the Mac App Store Review Guidelines:

2.31 Apps that are not sandboxed appropriately may be rejected

As of June 1, 2012, all apps submitted to the Mac App Store are required to have sandboxing implemented.


Adding a Second IP Address to an Existing Network Adapter

Yeah, it's pretty easy. Open System Preferences, go to Networking, then click the Plus sign under the left bar. Choose the interface, give a name to the adapter configuration you're creating, then press OK. You will have to provide manual configuration of IP address and DNS for the second entry -- DHCP won't work for it, because it shares the same MAC address as the original entry, so the router won't issue it another address. Click Apply when you're done, and enjoy. Your adapter now has two IP addresses.


How do I fullscreen browser content in Google Chrome?

View → Enter Full Screen (⌃⌘F), then View → Always show toolbar in full screen (⇧⌘F).


Can I use a USB Wi-Fi adapter to extend a Wi-Fi connection on my MacBook

Yes

You can share/extend a network from Wi-Fi to Wi=Fi as long as you have two network adapters. In fact I am doing it right now!

I suggest you share Wi-Fi from the USB network adapter to the Internal Network Adapter, and not the other way around as it might cause issues (see pictures).

I would also suggest Panda Wireless PAU09 N600 Dual Band. I have used it with no problems. It works with Mac (Drivers needed), PC (Drivers needed), and Linux.  It's dual band, allowing you to connect to 5Ghz networks.  It support Monitor Mode, Packet Injection, and AP mode. The range is pretty good, would say about the same as the internal network adapter. It currently supports High Sierra and below. Heres the drivers download page.

Additionally, you can look at my answer over here for how to use your Mac as a router and change lease time, DHCP settings, DNS settings, Port Forwarding, etc.

Note:  Parts of the solution provided there (^^) does not constantly work.

Some pictures:

Note:  I am in no way affiliated with Panda Wireless, or the product the I suggested. I do not gain from the purchase of the product. I am not promoting the product, just suggesting it as an adapter that I have found works.


Can't update my mail password on Macbook Air

It looks like you are trying to send out emails from your Gmail account using Apple's iCloud as SMTP server which is not correct. Here's what you can do:

Open Mail > Preferences > your Google account > in the dropdown menu select Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) > Edit SMTP Server List

Ensure that the settings match the following:

Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server - Requires SSL/TLS: smtp.gmail.com
Port: 465 or 587
Requires SSL: Yes
Requires authentication: Yes
Full Name or Display Name: [your name]
Account Name or User Name: your full Gmail address (username@gmail.com).
Password: your Gmail password

More info on Google Support Docs: Change SMTP settings to check Gmail on other clients


iMac sleeping even when set to never sleep

Do you perhaps have a schedule set to sleep the system? System Prefs > Energy Saver > Schedule button, or pmset -g sched (just sched).


How to connect to a specific BSSID via Terminal?

You can use

airport -A=ssid -BSSID=bssidname -password=password

To find out the BSSID

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/A/Resources/airport -s


Macbook Pro 2012 shutsdown suddenly at 25% battery

Every battery in a MacBook has a battery processor, which, from time to time, should be recalibrated. Like this:
1. Fully charge your Mac
2. Use it until it dies
3. Once dead, wait at least 5 hours, no less, then plug it in and charge it to 100%, without using it.

The battery percentage reading on your Mac should now be more accurate.

If this doesn't fix it, don't but a new MacBook or give away this one, your MacBook just needs a new battery.


In any folder or window (including Desktop) simply press :
CMD+J


I fixed this by simply updating to the latest iOS version.


My Macbook Pro is acting as if the SHIFT key were pressed when it absolutely isn't

In your case, when you reboot and if it has a shift button press then it should boot in SAFE mode. As you are not facing this, I am sure this is not a full hardware issue. So NVRAM reset should help because temporarily you are able to fix by a quick reboot.

Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac

NVRAM (nonvolatile random-access memory) is a small amount of memory that your Mac uses to store certain settings and access them quickly. PRAM (Parameter RAM) stores similar information, and the steps for resetting NVRAM and PRAM are the same.

Settings that can be stored in NVRAM include sound volume, display resolution, startup disk selection, time zone, and recent kernel panic information. The settings stored in NVRAM depend on your Mac and the devices that you're using with your Mac.

If you experience issues related to these settings or others, resetting NVRAM might help.

How to reset NVRAM:

Shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately press and hold these four keys together: Option, Command,P, and R. You can release the keys after about 20 seconds, during which your Mac might appear to restart.

More detail from the Offical Apple Support page


How to subscript/superscript single character in Text Edit?

The problem was that I had plain text turned on, instead of rich text . ( Format-Make Rich text ).
I don't know if plain text is the default option or not, but when you have plain text you can't use subscript/superscript single characters, it just applies the transformation to the whole line. Surprisingly, when you subscript something in rich text and then switch back to plain text, you get this popup:    Making a rich text document plain will lose all text styles (such as fonts and colors), images, attachments, and document properties.
I just don't get why these unsupported operations aren't greyed out when they don't work properly.


Spotlight keeps forgetting not to index BOOTCAMP partition

I believe you can add a file named:

.metadata_never_index

to the root of the volume you don't want indexed.


Is there a keyboard shortcut for 3 fingers slide?

That would be the

  Ctrl-Left or Right Arrow

to slide between full screen applications.


Mac Book Air mid-2012 completely disappeared disk

Your hard drive could be physically separated from the rest of the computer (i.e. the cable could have broken). This is thus not a software problem but a hardware problem. Your computer may need to be open then. You should take it in for repair.


How to to specify pronunciations for OS X Lion?

Open Applications > Services > VoiceOver Utility and go to Speech > Pronunciation. Add a subsitution for "Tony" and tell it to pronounce it as "toe nee".

Interestingly, my computer running 10.7.3 with the Alex voice pronounces Tony correctly. Because of this, I wasn't able to test this solution, so it may not work.


“All My Files” in Finder: How to list all files on mounted DASD instead of all local files?

Not using the All My Files option, but yes you can, using your own search criteria.

Open your volume in Finder
Search for Any Document:

Set the search location to the name of the drive:

Alternatively, for all files (not just Documents like All My Files) you can set the search criteria by size:

You can change the view to make it match the appearance of All My Files:


MacBook Pro later 2011 - HandOff and AirDrop not enabled

The MacBook Pro late 2011 has BT 2.1EDR, not 4.0. The version 4.3.0f10 is just a software version number. The bluetooth 4.0 was included in 2012 MBPs. The MacBook Air, Mac Mini and iMac got those in 2011. So, the answer is No, you can't use the tutorial to make HandOff work on your Mac.

It might work if the newer MBP bluetooth card is compatible with Late 2011 MBP. Check the Apple Support Forum thread below.

2012 Bluetooth LE card on 2011 MBP


I can't get dictation to work on my iMac

Have you booted in Safe mode and then rebooted normally?  Have you used Disk Utility to Repair Disk?  These are common quick fixes for a lot of nuisance problems.

Have you checked Sound preferences to make sure your mic is enabled?

Do you have the same problem in your bootable backup clone?

Has Dictation ever worked?  If so, what changed immediately before it stopped working?

Have you tried booting into Recovery mode and reinstalling the OS?


Is it better to purchase 1password from agilebits website or the app store?

There are benefits to both sides:

The Mac App Store's 1Password has iCloud syncing whereas the AgileBits store distribution method can't include iCloud syncing since an app must be distributed through the Mac App Store to use such Apple services.
The AgileBits store's 1Password is updated more frequently since the updates don't have to go through Apple's approval system. This also means you can get beta updates that aren't on the Mac App Store due to Apple's guidelines on beta distribution.


How can I read markdown files with QuickLook?

There is no setting in macOS to enable markdown support. However, Quick Look does allow for third party plugins to extend the base behavior. The QLMarkdown plugin is one such plugin that allows Markdown files to be read.

You can install it either by:

Download the QLMarkdown.qlgenerator in either ~/Library/QuickLook (current user) or /Library/QuickLook (all users).
Using Homebrew, run brew cask install qlmarkdown in the Terminal

After that, you should be able to view markdown files.

Getting it to work on macOS Catalina - Source

If you got the security warning as shown below, go to System Preferences / Security & Privacy / General and click Allow Anyway at the bottom.

Now try to Quicklook a markdown file again. If it still doesn't work, run the following commands in your terminal.

brew cask install qlmarkdown
xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/QLMarkdown.qlgenerator
qlmanage -r
qlmanage -r cache
killall Finder  # relaunch finder

It should hopefully work now.


Why is Spotlight contacting Yahoo i.e. Oath?

Under umbrella term: "spotlight suggestions"  some features like weather, flights, internet search results' preloading etc., might need Spotlight to connect to Yahoo. But the following sources suggest that it happens after the data is sent to Apple.

  To make suggestions and search results more relevant, some information
  is sent to Apple and not associated with you

  In some cases, such as when you use Siri Suggestions in Spotlight,
  Look Up or Safari, generalised topics of interest that Siri has
  learned may be sent to Apple to make your searches more relevant.

From: In-app disclaimer in System Preferences.

  Since the release of Yosemite, Spotlight sends all
  entered queries and location information to Apple by
  default.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(software)#Privacy_concerns

  Apple's support page informs users who want to opt out of Spotlight
  Suggestions, Bing or Location Services for Spotlight to go to their Mac's
  System Preferences and deselect the corresponding checkboxes.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150727152056/http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-clarifies-spotlight-suggestions-data-collection-practices/


Try disabling hardware acceleration: chrome://settings/?search=hardware

I had exactly same issue: Strange video glitch in Chrome browser and @jaume suggested that. Maybe it will help?


If you're talking about the icons on your home screen, as a user there is no option to remove the gloss. This is a developer feature. As a developer you uploaded a raw icon and (by default) apple would add the gloss. You could turn this off if you wanted to add your own gloss (to add your own other effects), or if you just didn't want the gloss at all.

I've noticed that since going to iOS7, that MOST of the apps that had gloss, no longer do have gloss, but the occasional one does. This is obviously because the developer chose to add the gloss themselves and set the flag to have apple NOT add it. In this case, apple can't remove it.

Seems like apple thought ahead in this regard and it was simply a matter of turning this off to remove all glossed effects to match their new iOS.

However, in the case that any developer added it manually, there will be no way for you to remove it short of changing the icon which just isn't possible.


What OS are you using? In newer versions notes has moved from mail to its own application "Notes". Though I don't know how they disappeared.


I took some time to research this.  It doesn't appear that you can disable 'Find My' using the Apple Parental Controls.

It seems strange to me that this isn't possible but I couldn't find any authoritative way to prevent changes in this app.

Using the regular Parental Controls on your child's iPad allows you to prevent changes to many system settings and apps so I would recommend doing that, at a minimum.  Also, there might be 3rd-party apps that provide more granular control, for a price, but that's a space that I don't know much about.


Charge MacBook 12" while connected with Google's USB-C to DisplayPort cable

Take a look at these two multiport adapters from Apple:

USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter (USB-C to USB-C/VGA/USB)
USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter (USB-C to USB-C/HDMI/USB)

There's no technical reason why third parties won't come out with adapters since all of this is standard. USB C charging, video formats, the connector type are all non-proprietary. Only time will tell if businesses invest in making these products, but Apple's two adapters work very well for the use case you describe.

Also keep an eye out for cables and monitors that send the required USB charging current over USB-C most higher quality displays should soon be able to charge your computer like Apple's previous generation displays now that the proprietary charge connection is gone from the MacBook (and others).


Migration assistant doesn't work with individual users data unless it's backed up by Time Machine AFAIK.

If you just copied the user folder over to the other drive, you should be able to create the new user and then copy the contents of the old user folder to the new one.

It sounds like there's something wrong with the external drive.  Try using Disk Utility to scan and fix it.  If that doesn't work, post back here with details of what happened.


Is there any way to open a recently closed tab in Safari in iOS?

Yes. Hold down on the + icon that you use to open a new tab in the upper right corner of Safari and you'll be presented with a list of recently closed tabs. Pick one to re-open.

As far as I know this is an iOS 5+ feature, iPad only.


I have that exact same motherboard I purchased less than a month ago. With default BIOS settings, you're right it doesn't work, but I got the 27" display to work fine without installing bootcamp drivers.

Make sure you've updated all your drivers and BIOS, especially Intel Graphics 4000 and install Virtu MVP in order to use a discrete graphics card with the thunderbolt interface for gaming/performance. Make the following adjustments to your BIOS (hold delete on boot to access BIOS settings.) Obviously, you might have to plug in a non-thunderbolt display to be able to change the settings.

Internal Graphics: Enabled
Init Display First: IGFX or PEG (not PCI)

I believe there's also a setting for Thunderbolt Bandwidth which I changed to 40, but I'm not certain if that's necessary to change to get it to work.


If you are still happy with the performance of your macbook pro, I would recommend replacing the battery and the trackpad (in case it was bent when it popped). The replacement parts are fairly cheap and easy to install.

Ifixit has repair guides and parts available and are quite a reputable supplier of non-oem replacement parts: (the links are for the 13" model)

battery replacement: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Battery+Replacement/5116

trackpad replacement: https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody-Mid-2009--Mid-2012-Trackpad/IF163-025-1

p.s. I have no affiliation with ifixt or the links provided above, I simply have happily used their services to fix an aging macbook pro (2010) in the past.


MacBook uploading data over the Internet on Wi-Fi connection

Activity Monitor
To see the number of sent packages you can use "Activity Monitor".
Open it and choose the "Network" tab. Click the "Sent Bytes" column to sort all applications by data sent.

Little Snitch
You can use a firewall software like "Little Snitch" to monitor any incoming and outgoing network connections. It can display a detailed traffic history which you can filter by application.
It is a paid software but you can use the trial for a few days and remove it afterwards.
Keep in mind that this requires you to install the software on the client's machine.


Not sure which device you are using. So I list some methods to reset your Apple ID.

On iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

You need to have iOS 10 or newer.
Select "Settings".
Select your account name, then Password & Security, and finally Change Password.
For iOS 10.2 or older iOS, it's the same but first, you must select "iCloud".

On Mac

Open the Apple menu, then "System Preferences", then click "iCloud".
Select "Account Details".
Click "Forgot Apple ID or password".
Click "Security", then "Reset Password". Before you can change your Apple ID password, you'll be asked to enter the password for your Mac.


Firstly, you can simplify your initial script—the one used to create the property list file—to this:

    set plistR to {theName:"name", creationDate:"date", serialNumber:"serial #", fullEmail:"@", IPAddress:"1.2.3.4"}

    tell application "System Events"
        set plistf to make new property list file ¬
            with properties {name:"~/Desktop/MY_DATA.plist"}

        set plistf's value to plistR
    end tell

Then changing a value is as simple as changing an item in the record plistR, and setting plistf's value to the new plistR:

    set plistR2 to {theName:"name2", creationDate:"date", serialNumber:"serial #", fullEmail:"@", IPAddress:"1.2.3.4"}

    tell application "System Events"
        set plistf to the property list file "~/Desktop/MY_DATA.plist"
        set plistf's value to plistR2
    end tell

If you don't want the hassle of writing out a whole new record declaration (imagine you had, say, 1000 items and only needed to change one), you can adjust a single plist item also like this:

    tell application "System Events"
        set plistf to property list file "~/Desktop/MY_DATA.plist"
        set the value of the property list item "theName" of plistf to "name3"
    end tell


By adding a table to Numbers, you can use Apple's replacement instead of a third party's. Numbers is free for anyone with an App Store account (which may require registration and a payment card - but no charge whatsoever).

Numbers is supported and designed to replace Excel for the majority of Mac users.


Block emails with "This message has no content"

iOS does not support custom Mail rules at the time of writing. You will need to set up a rule like this on the server which is delivering the mail to your device.


Which video/movie file format would be most convenient for inclusion into a Keynote or PowerPoint presentation?

I've tested AVI, MOV, and MP4 in Keynote and PowerPoint for Mac.  All three work fine in both applications.


`type -a` works even though `-a` not an option

If you type help type then you will see that type does have the -a option.


Can't tell if apache is running on Mavericks

Activity Monitor default view of the process list is 'My Processes':

Switch to 'All Processes' in the menubar to additionally see other users' - like root or _www - processes:

Check again in 'Activity Monitor'

If it's still not visible it's not running.

httpd not running is default for Mavericks client and server.


How to code-sign my python script / package packaged for mac using pyinstaller without using xcode?

You can code sign your distribution manually using the codesign tool. Apple's Code Signing Guide includes a section on manually signing code:

Signing Your Code Manually
… In the unusual case that you sign your code manually, or to interrogate an app for details about its signature, you use the codesign command line tool directly. See the codesign man page for a complete enumeration of the options this tool takes.

Depending on the complexity of the bundle being signed, the final command typically looks like:
codesign -s <identity> <absolute-bundle-path>

identity refers to the common name of the signing certificate. For distribution on computers you do not control, you will want to issue an Apple Developer ID using Apple's developer web site.
Notarizing
Once your bundle is code signed, you should ask Apple services to notarize it, see Notarizing macOS Software Before Distribution. This will remove the first run message from Apple warning about possible malware.
As with code signing, a command line approach exists using altool, see Customizing the Notarization Workflow.


Recomendations for simultaneous use interactive drawing application for iPADs

I think FlockDraw would be the best app for you. Although it is a web app, you could use it on an iPad by downloading a free Flash browser such as Puffin Web Browser.
List of Features:

draw online
unlimited people in a room
updates in real time
different colors
different shapes
eraser
ability to draw lines
one click saving
full screen mode
gallery to save and upload images
ability to type and draw
chat

In response to your limitations and requirements:
A: Only one person can draw at a time. - Two or more people can draw
B: Only one color can be in use at a time. - The large variety of colors allow for more than people to draw with different colors
C: You can't erase. - Eraser is provided.
D: Your canvas is limited to one screen - Well, each person can see the same screen so yes they are limited to it. If they wanted to, they could erase their canvas and start with a new one (Not sure what this is asking)
E: Interaction is limited to WiFi. - When you create a session, you are given an unique URL. You can share that URL and allow more than one person to join you session (This does not have to be through Wi-Fi)
F: Interaction is one way: It's essentially a presentation tool. Two people can draw at the same time.
1. Each of us can draw on our iPad at the same time, Whatever we draw appears on the other screen. Yes, drawing simultaneously is a feature.
2. Option for different colors. E.g. He draws in black, I draw in red. There are lots of colors to choose from
3. Ability for either person to erase/modify their work, with a toggle to switch between 'erase mine' vs 'erase evertything under the eraser' Sorry, don't think this is on here. There is only one eraser that has the ability to erase everything.
4. Ability to hit a one button save/mail screen. Yes, you can save the canvas.
5. Ability to scroll/magnify screen. Each iPad has a several viewport on the canvas. You may be able to; I haven't tried it on an iPad
6. Ability to snap and crop a picture and paste into screen. As you are on an iPad, this feature is included, but it may be harder to do on the iPad. But yes, there is a gallery.
7. Inexpensive. - It is completely free online
Note: There is an iPad/iPhone app, but I'm not sure that it is better than the web app. It also costs $2.99.


You can change the restriction settings by following the instructions in the Apple knowledge base article, Find My Friends: Set restrictions. It will let you passcode protect the changes, along with other options.


The sure fire way to get an update now is to use Apple Configurator 2

https://support.apple.com/apple-configurator
Connect over USB and update

OTA updates are staged and depend on caching / CDN and other things out of your control the first 7+ days of a major release in my experience. One way you could pick this apart is to use USB networking and capture the traffic between iOS and Apple’s update servers and perhaps see an error condition.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/network/recording_a_packet_trace

Charles Proxy is excellent for this sort of deep dive as well when networking isn’t working.

The above tools do not need Apple support or a paid developer account. The below option I believe is only available if you have a log in as a developer or Apple sends you the profile as part of a support engagement.

There is a software update debug log profile and if you instal one that’s properly signed by Apple, you can get text logs from your specific device to answer why it’s not updating or perhaps know when the checks happen or what might be blocking them:

https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/profiles-and-logs/?platform=ios&name=Update

The above documentation has a PDF guide and the Configuration Profile required to enable logging for this situation.


I'm assuming you have a copy of the El Capitan DMG, see here if you don't. I also assume that your flash drive is empty - if it's not, back up any files before you start as this will wipe everything from the drive.

Insert your flash drive in to your computer and run Command Prompt as administrator.
Type diskpart and hit Enter.
Type list disk and hit Enter.
Locate your flash drive in the list and identify what number it is, then type select disk X (replace X with the number of your flash drive). Hit Enter to execute the command.
Type clean and hit Enter.
Type convert GPT and hit Enter.
Type create partition primary and hit Enter.

Your flash drive is now clean and has a GPT format ready for use with a macOS disk image. Now you need to download and install TransMac (and use the trial).

Once TransMac is installed, follow these instructions:

Run TransMac as administrator.
Right-click your USB drive in the left pane and click Restore with Disk Image. Click Yes on the dialog box that opens.
Browse for your El Capitan DMG file and then click OK to write the image.
Now, wait - this process could take a long time.

Once the disk image is written and TransMac has completed the process, eject the disk and plug it in to your Mac.

To run the installer on your Mac, plug it in and hold down the Option key while you turn it on. Click the disk when prompted and run through the installer.


Can I get system sound along with QuickTime Player screen recording?

If you're OK with recording your mic audio and system audio pre-mixed, you could download the free utilities Soundflower and LineIn. Soundflower appears as both an input and output device, and echoes whatever it hears when you send it output to its input. This means that you can set your system output to Soundflower, as well as use LineIn to echo audio from your microphone to Soundflower, and use Soundflower as the audio input to your Quicktime recording.

There is one disadvantage to doing this though: because of latency, you don't want to hear yourself on a short delay as you're talking, which means that since you're piping both your computer's audio and your own audio into the same Soundflower device, you're not going to want to monitor it. Which, in turn, means you won't be able to hear the sounds your computer's making (but they will be recorded).

If you don't want them premixed, you can use the same setup minus the LineIn to record system audio on the QuickTime screen recording, and use a separate app like Audacity to record the audio from your microphone. You'll have to start the recordings separately and align them by hand in iMovie or whatever you're using to edit. If you're doing this and if you want to hear your system audio, open up SoundflowerBed and from the menu bar drop down select the audio device you want to send the Soundflower audio to.


MacBook Airs ship with either Toshiba or Samsung MLC SSD drives.

No SSD drives are fail-safe.

Lifespan of an SSD drive depends on what wear levelling techniques are employed by the manufacturer and the operating system and what exactly a user does with his/her computer. There is no reliable figure.

My own view with SSDs (as it has been with hard drives) is prepare for the worst and backup regularly. Take advantage of the manufacturer's warranty should a drive fail.


How do your rearrange the photo album icons in Photos for iPad?

First, there is no way to move the "Camera Roll" album and the "My Photostream" album. These two albums are always at the top and in that order.

To arrange any other albums, including the automatically created "Videos", and "Panoramas" just tap "Edit" in the upper right corner. You can now tap (hold) and drag these albums around as you desire. They drag and drop in the same way that your home-screen icons do. When you have adjusted them as you like, you can tap the done button.


Prevent Mavericks from generating new volume name for external drive

Question re-asked because of lack of input.
Got some clues. Found answer related on discussion of ntfs-3g (though problem was not related to ntfs mounting).
See https://github.com/osxfuse/osxfuse/issues/119


Well, there are actually a number of different things that COULD be wrong. For example, the Auxiliary (or AUX) cord could have been frayed on the inside, or someone might have chipped a bit of their own cord inside which you just didn't notice, or something else had your attention. You might not have pushed the cord in all the way, at the same time, some systems work better with the cord NOT pushed in all the way, in which case I suggest GENTLY and SLOWLY loosening the cord from the hole to see if the sound gets better.

The new nano might have come with a (thankfully rare) defect, so you can try taking it to a Genius bar, or if you call Apple about it, depending on the severity of the problem (and if they have nothing to do and are bored) they might charge you, and send you a new iPod in the mail, and wait for you to send yours back to them in the box, pending this return before they give back the money they charged as security (to make sure you didn't try to rob them). Now, if all of the above fail, there are 2 things that could be the problem. One problem could be that your car doesn't support the iOS on the new iPod, or the car just wasn't made for adapting to new iPod versions.


Find readable with Permissions as POSIX?

The double negation at the beginning makes this rather complex. Just using

gfind . -readable -type f -name '*.tex'

should work.

PS: Or find . -perm +0666 -type f -name '*.tex' for the default find.


New restored iPhone getting "iTunes couldnt not back up the iPhone because the backup session failed"

I'm working through the same issue and it seems to have something to do with the sim card. Is your sim card valid? meaning do you plan to actually activate it for voice and data and use it as a real phone? In my case, I already transferred the number to my iPhone 4 and just want to give it to my kids to use as if it were an iPod touch. So I took it to the mac store and the genius had a few suggestions but didn't help very much, He suggested using iTunes 9.x which you can still download.  I tried that on an old mac I had but it didn't help.  He even suggested jail breaking it which I'm technically capable of doing, but from what I've read I think it has to first be functioning and connect with iTunes before it can be broken so it's a chicken and egg thing.  So here is what I think is happening, (no solution yet though). When the first iPhone was originally released, you used to have to take it home and hook it up to iTunes to activate it.  They didn't do anything for it in the store or activate it on the spot. So your phone is currently in the same state after the restore. It's trying to go through the setup process, but the number registered on the sim card is already disabled or somehow marked as invalid and some kind of unexpected error occurs that prevents it from continuing with the setup process.

Now here is an interesting thing...  even though I couldn't restore it, I offered to loan it to a friend 2 months ago who lost his iPhone. He just wanted something to use while he waited for the 4S to be released.  He went to the ATT store and told him he lost his original iphone and wanted to use my first-gen instead. They didn't even look at the phone, but they gave him a valid sim card to take home. He was able to do the setup process at home and use it just fine. So I suspect something about having a proper sim that is willing to be activated with a real account helped him get running.  However one other difference is that he is using iTunes on windows, I'm all mac... (Tried this on 3 different machines so far.. powerbook running snow leopard, and an iMac running lion, both with the latest iTunes, And finally mac mini running iTunes 9.2.x).

Update: I had a bootcamp partition running XP. Used it to download iTunes 9.x for Windows.  Still encountered similar errors. (Sorry, don't have exact code).  I still plan to try simcard replacement to activate old phone with current account.


Where has my Podcast playlist on my iPhone Gone?

Delete the Podcasts app, and you'll be able to play them through the Music app again. Some people have had to reboot their devices to get them to show in Music; turn the iPhone off then on again.


How to re-download OS X Lion from 10.6.8

When a new OS X is released, it isn't no longer possible to download the previous version(s).

Apple has however now with the release of OS X Mavericks (10.9) again opened up for re-download of Lion and Mountain Lion (if previously purchased) - or to purchase the two OS's for a price of $19.99 each.

OS X Lion (10.7)

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8)


How to make MacBook automatically connect to different wifi networks as desired?

OS X will connect to the Wi-Fi network with the strongest signal, although it won't switch immediately between networks to avoid disruption to the connection.

You can alleviate this by having the same SSID for both networks, which will cause OS X to see them as a single network and switch between them automatically.


Issues with the softwareupdated daemon after upgrading to Yosemite?

Disconnect from the network and reboot the Mac.

Then see if the process can clean itself up. Assuming it is under control, open system preferences and turn off all automatic checks under the app store pane.

At that point you can reconnect to the internet and see if things are solid before opening the App Store app again.


How do I rename a FAT SD Card using a MacBook Air?

sometimes there is a tiny tab on the SD adapter (or standard SD card) that prevents read/write to the card. Make sure this isn't set to "lock."

Otherwise: What version OS are you running? Can you write or delete files from the card?


I would like to use iMac as a display, but without loading an OS

If your main priority is just not to replace the HDD, why not install macOS onto a USB flash drive and use that purely so you can use the iMac in Target Display Mode?

To do this, follow these steps:

Boot your iMac from the USB flash drive
Ensure the other Mac is also booted up and logged into a user account
Connect the two Macs with a Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt cable
Press Command F2 on the keyboard of the iMac (i.e. The one you want to use as a display).

For more information you should read Use your iMac as a display with Target Display Mode


Can I still use the older Airport Utility 5.5.3 if I install the 6.0 version of Airport Utility?

Mavericks has made some changes which means that AirPort Utility 5.x will not work. Specifically, /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/A/Apple80211 has been updated and will break the older versions of AirPort Utility.

There are two ways to get around this:

Get an older version of Apple80211 and replace the one in Mavericks with it, then run the AirPort Utility binary through Terminal.
Use a modified version of AirPort Utility which includes the file in the app bundle.


Official apple Lion USB Thumb Drive licensing

This is a very good question, because the ability to link your purchase to your iTunes account it tied in within the actual purchase from the Mac App Store.  I have read, but cannot confirm, that when you purchase a new Mac that has the drive included, they will "credit" this against your iTunes account (or provide a facility to allow you to do this).

New Macs with the stick included are in an odd situation, because they come with the drive, but also come with the Recovery partition included as Firmware (not as a disk partition) that will allow you to re-install online.  The online install option required authentication to prove validity, so this would be useless if they did not make the connection somehow.  I think actually it's related to your system serial number, they know it was sold with Lion, so they will let you download even without a purchase history or Apple ID connection.

It should be noted that the Ts&Cs for the stick suggest that once you have installed via the retail thumb drive, you cannot then subsequently reinstall or recover using the recovery partition, in fact I believe that it does not create one.  Some suggest this is because there is no mechanism to link the thumb drive purchase to your Apple ID.

I think the best solution is to avoid the retail stick, purchase Lion through the MAS, and then burn your own install DVD/USB/HDD installer from the package that you download.  This get's it linked to your iTunes account and provides the license to do multiple installs, and provides you with both the means to do a full local restore without internet connectivity, as well as online recovery.

Whether this is technically against the license to install on your partners machine is hard so say, depends, I suppose you could own the machine, but just not use it as the primary user - there is no problem with his/her machine being subsequently used by a different iTunes ID.  The spirit if the MAS license is all your home PCs, which I take to mean all the ones in your home, not just the ones which legally belong to you.  Unlike purchases from the MAS the OS does not require you to have proof of purchase to install etc.

EDIT: Put it this way in summary, the multiple install license is a feature of the Mac App Store, and not specific to Lion.  Purchasing Lion outside of the MAS might not afford you the same rights, certainly it removes the right to do online restores.


App is stuck installing on my iPhone, how do I fix it?

You mentioned this device was upgraded from iOS 9. In my experience an iPhone that has been upgraded from previous OS that has not had a full restore on it in years is prone to reliability issues like this.

I typically do a restore at least one time per year (I experiment a lot and "cruft up" my phone).

Its a pain however its probably time for a full restore...  The phone will run like new afterwords.

Note: Back up all data before you preform this action, otherwise all data will be lost.


You can do that with third party apps such as SoundBooster from FroYoSoft or Boom3D from GlobalDelight.

They will allow you to control and optionally amplify the audio volume of each app separately.


How to make iPhoto library back into bundle

EDIT: Changed my answer.  :-)

I copied my iPhoto Library, and removed the extended attributes (a piece of metadata called com.apple.finderInfo). It then showed up as a folder rather than a proper iPhoto Library. I then fired up iPhoto holding option, and selected this folder as my iPhoto Library. It accepted it and changed the type, putting the metadata back, and all was well. I suspect this is what needs to happen in your case as well, it looks like as long as the files are there, iPhoto will do the work for you.

Old answer: I think you can rename it to 'iPhoto Library.bundle'.  It will then take the form of a bundle.  You can then remove the '.bundle' from the file name and it should (still) act bundle-like.

Not really sure though.

EDIT: or .app


Lion Terminal remembers sudo password after quitting

This is normal, and an inherent consequence of the way sudo handles its 5-minute don't-need-to-reauthenticate window.  When you authenticate to sudo, it records your account as having authenticated.  Because the authentication is tied to your account (not a Terminal session or something like that), it's still valid if you quit & reopen Terminal, log out & back in, or even switch to a different session type (e.g. console login vs. SSH session vs. cron job running as your user ID, etc). I'm not certain offhand if it survives a reboot -- if not, it's because there's a step in the system startup process that wipes the timestamp files.

BTW, you can clear your own timestamp file with sudo -K.


I figured out the problem. I wanted to post a solution in case anybody else sees this. There was a corrupted lease in our DHCP server that this Mac kept trying to request. As a result, the two (DHCP server & Mac) went into a loop until timeout.

Fixing the DHCP database the Mac acquired an address with no issues.


In theory Displayport 1.2 supports daisy-chaining and hubs, which would support this, provided you have a Mac that supports Displayport 1.2 (I think it's just 2011 Macs and later, but I couldn't find a definitive answer). However as far as I can tell, there aren't any monitors that support daisy-chaining available, nor are there any hubs expected until sometime in 2013.

At the moment you're restricted to the adapters that concatenate the two displays, rather than present them independently. An alternative might be a Displaylink adapter, which allows you to connect a monitor via USB. It does limit performance however, but how much this impacts you depends on what you're using it for.


What is the keyboard shortcut to focus this textfield in Xcode 4.1?

Its filter Navigator..

And Its shortcut is Command+option+j


How to get Gmail priority inbox sections on Mail?

In Mail.app 9.3 (and possibly earler versions—I've never tried) this can now be done fairly easily—more or less, anyway:

In the mailbox list, beside "Smart Mailboxes", click "Show" then click "+" to create a new smart mailbox.

For "Important", select messages that match all of the criteria "Message is in mailbox Inbox" and "Message is in mailbox Important".

For "Starred", create a new smart mailbox that matches all of "Message is in mailbox Inbox", "Message is not in mailbox Important" and "Message is flagged":

…or, if you're like me and instead have Gmail show "All Starred", you can use the "Flagged" mailbox.  This isn't quite the same as the (misnamed) "All Starred" section of Gmail's Priority Inbox view, which excludes starred items already shown in any of the sections further up the page (notably: threads which are both important and starred), so if you want to be really pedantic, create a new smart mailbox that matches "Message is Flagged" and "Message is not in mailbox Important" (and make sure that's the smart Important mailbox; select the regular Important mailbox and you'll unintentionally exclude important starred messages not in the inbox!)

For "Everything Else", create a new smart mailbox that matches all of "Message is in mailbox Inbox", "Message is not in mailbox Important" and "Message is not in mailbox Starred":

Finally, drag these new smart mailboxes to the favourites bar at the top of the window:

Caveats:

Mail.app will only show one of these mailboxes at a time, whereas Gmail's smart inbox will show up to four different sections all at the same time.
Because Gmail keeps track of labels and important status per-message (even though they are displayed as if they apply to the whole thread), you will occasionally see threads appearing in more than one of these smart mailboxes at the same time.
No guarantees about what happens to important status when you start dragging messages to other mailboxes!


You're getting that message because the repair_packages command no longer exists in Sierra. Repairing permissions, which is what they're trying to get your system to do, is automatically handled during software updates now. I'm not sure what the underlying issue they're trying to fix is, but repairing permissions on system files probably is not the issue anyway, especially on a clean install.

Apple's not going to be able to help you because Sierra doesn't have that utility. You'll need to go back to WebRoot and ask them how to resolve your issue on Sierra.

(For a company that claims to be selling internet security software, you'd think they'd be a little more versed in the OS for that software, especially before asking a user to run a command in Terminal!)


Is it possible to swap option and command keys for a specific keyboard?

You can change the functions of the modifier keys (Caps Lock, Control, Option, Command) in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys.

If you have more than one keyboard, the setting window allows you to select and set separate mapping for each one:


Can I transfer an app to somebody else without having them to pay for developer enrollment?

Yes, the receiving company will need an Apple Developer ID and membership of the Mac and/or iOS Developer Programs.

Part of the process of enrolling involves agreeing to Apple's terms of service and other legally binding agreements. Without agreeing to Apple's agreements, the receiving company will not be able to participate in Apple's App Store or Mac App Store.

It is possible to have applications associated with your Apple Developer ID but not participate in the App Stores. However, those applications will not be eligible for sale through Apple.


Is There An Alternative To Symbolic Links?

There are are a range of third party tools for synchronising files across two or more computers. You mention already using DropBox.

DropBox is designed to sync only one folder. Using symbolic links is a great work around but as you have experienced, the approach is likely to be fragile as it is not the focus of DropBox's developers.

Consider using another synchronising approach that can handle multiple shared folders across your Macs.

Unison File Synchronizer

A stalwart of the file-synchronization world, Unison is designed for keeping two or more computer's files in sync. It deals with edge cases and is aimed at those needing more than just a routine copy between computers.

  Unison is a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows. It allows
  two replicas of a collection of files and directories to be stored on
  different hosts (or different disks on the same host), modified
  separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in
  each replica to the other.

BitTorrent Sync

BitTorrent Sync is relatively new and claims to need no cloud and share no private information.

  Your information stays yours.

  Sync never stores your files on servers, so they stay safe from data
  breaches and prying eyes.

AeroFS

Another new comer is AeroFS. For private use a free plan is available. I am not sure how applicable this option will be, but it may offer more options, such as multiple shared folders, than currently offered by DropBox.

  Dropbox behind the corporate firewall.

  File Sync and Share, for the Enterprise, deployed behind your firewall

rsync

rsync is a command line tool included with OS X. You can use rsync to synchronise file systems with relative ease. Setting up rsync requires a scheduling tool such as launchd, cron, or Power Manager but once done it is extremely reliable.


I've looked into this question as well, and it appears that the "Data Added" attribute (kMDItemDateAdded) can be queried from mdls (but not xattr), but cannot be set. There is no option for it in the setattrlist function. The comments on this SO question go into a little (but not much) more detail. The "Date Added" value appears to be derived from some other seemingly inaccessible metadata value, not stored as an extended attribute.

I would guess the same applies for the "Last Used" date.


How can I boot in "Safe Mode" with rEFIt

The question on this page appears to be the same issue. Someone responded with a detailed solution, which might work for you as well.


Run AppleScript after waking from Sleep?

Yes indeed there is, and it is detailed in this, the Dragon Systems Software UK blog.

I do not believe it is possible without using some external software. The kernel notifies apps that register for registerSleepWakeInterest events, and AppleScript seems not to include the ability to register for this notification.

There's a code sample given in Apple's Kernel Programming Guide.

Bernard Baehr has even made source code for his application, SleepWatcher, available.


Why doesn't the red dot shut down the program?

Great question. This was one of my first confusions about the Finder when switching to Mac. Here's what I think:

On other operating systems, the program menu is contained in the active application window. As such, each window is in essence a full instance of the program. (There's not as much integration with Windows Explorer, as there is with Finder on Mac OS. It' a tiny difference, but it really alters user experience.(My proof is the fact that you're asking this question.)

By contrast, on Mac OS X, the menu bar in the Finder is where all Apps' menus go. All running programs are tied to the Finder in a different way than on other operating systems. On Mac, a program may have auxiliary windows and such. In other operating systems, you generally have similar "panels" in their own window.

Also, remember that the yellow and green buttons only effect the window that they're in, so it seems odd to group a control that effects the entire app with two that only effect one window. Therefore, the "red dot" only affects the active window.

One notable exception is the Mac App Store. In that case, you are one hundred percent correct. Clicking the red dot closes the entire app. Notice how the App Store has no auxiliary menus or panes? Closing that Window does indeed mean you're exiting the app.


Disable alert e-mails from Mail / Calendar

It is indeed Mac Calendar problem as author of the question suggested.

I faced the same issue and observed that I get these nasty "Alert - ..." emails only when Mac wakes up. I also did not get them before I started using my Mac.

To solve the problem on macOS 10.12.3:

Open Calendar app
Find your Google calendar on the list and right mouse click it
Select "Get Info" option from the context menu
Mark "Ignore alerts" checkbox in the popup window (see screenshot).


Can't transfer PDFs & eBooks from iMac to iPad 3 on iOS 6

OK I have absolutely no idea why, but today everything is working as expected.  On a lark I decided to fire up iTunes once more and see if I could get this to work, and the Books option is back, and all my books from iBooks, show up and will sync.  Go figure.


Apple's support page for Time Machine indicates in multiple places that you can restore individual files as well as perform a full system restoration.  The site specifically states that Time Machine "...remembers how your system looked on any given day—so you can revisit your Mac as it appeared in the past."  Additionally, the support page also mentions being able to restore your entire machine by first booting to the recovery partition.  All of this would seem to indicate that, yes, you will be able to restore your machine to a specific date when your machine worked perfectly.

That said on older machines for which Time Machine was not available, I have had success using Carbon Copy Cloner to make an exact clone of my system drive at specific dates and times.  This would provide myself with a fully bootable backup drive that I could immediately swap into a machine for a minimum of downtime should I experience a drive failure.  This method, however, is more for the advanced user who has a Mac that is more easily serviced than many of the currently available Macs.


Did the 64GB iPhone SE ever ship with iOS 10 installed?

According to EveryMac.com/EveryiPhone.com, the 64GB SE was sold (in the US because you didn't specify a different country) with iOS 9.3 preinstalled.

iOS 10 came out in September, 2016 and I believe all iPhones after that date came with 10 preinstalled, including the 64GB model.  I can shop the Best Buy near me and they've advertised a 64GB SE with iOS 10 preinstalled.  You'd need to ensure the one you're looking to purchase was distributed prior to September.

As a standard disclaimer, I would not recommend you stay with iOS 9.  Many security enhancements were issued, and continue to be issued, with the latest versions.  You leave yourself wide-open to being compromised with an older OS.


Prior to various iCloud services, you used iTunes to sync music to your iphone. If you burned from CDs, the music will be in iTunes on your Mac. The simplest solution is to plug in your new iphone to the Mac and let iTunes sync. This will allow you to copy all music in iTunes Mac to the new iPhone. (this also allows you to backup your phone to the mac)

Since iCloud you have the option of syncing your music library via iCloud. However, this is not a free service, you need to enable iCloud Music Library, and pay for the service.  You can get this via subscribing to Apple Music or paying for something called iTunes Match. Either of these services will allow you to stream all your music, or download to your phone from iCloud.


How to make MBP use USB Ethernet first and when disconnected, use WI-FI?

The problem is that you are on two different subnets with two different gateways.

What's happening is that you have an established connection with some endpoint going to a particular IP address.  Your internal network firewalls switches and routers all have this state mapped.

When you go from WiFi to your desktop USB connection, your Macbook wants to keep it's active connections, well, active.  So, it will continue to download over the connection with the active state.

As far as OS X and your applications know, you are on two totally different networks.  While the USB may take priority (for new connections), it can't override other connections with active states.

The easiest way to resolve this is to simply turn off WiFi when you get to your desk then turn it on when you leave.


OSX software update download stuck forever

Manual update just worked for me. Downloaded the update manually from:
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2010. Mounted macOSUpdCombo10.14.6.dmg and installed the update from the package.


Can I use Air Display on multiple iOS devices at the same time?

Question: "is it possible to use Air Display with more than one Ipad?”

Answer: "We only support one iPad at a time currently. We've talked about supporting multiple iPads at once and that may be something we support in the future. For now, we're sticking with one iPad. “

Source: Air Display Support Forum


I had a similar issue at one point.

Try clicking the save button on the top-right corner of the email and designate where to save the files. Then open the file through finder (instead of just clicking on the pdf within the email). This worked for me.


Is using the rm -P command safe on Macs with an SSD

...is using this command [rm -P] safe on Macs with an SSD, or can this cause damage since it is technically overwriting data on the SSD which causes wear leveling

It’s perfectly safe.  You couldn’t really write enough data for it to matter. It’s also completely unnecessary as whatever you’ve deleted is instantaneously “gone.”  The block isn’t really overwritten, it’s just that depending on the SSD, the drive will only return zeros or random garbage when a read command is made. It’s also marked as “unused” rather than “deleted” so it will likely be overwritten with legitimate data quickly.
Additional reading:

Limited Read and Writes on MacBook Air SSD
How to get the "securely erase" function of Disk Utility on El Capitan & Sierra
Can the data on an MacBook Pro SSD be recovered after formatting using Disk Utility


applepushserviced and ocspd takes a lot of memory, is killing them safe?

The OS handles unneeded processes automatically by swapping them out to disk while they are not running. You won't get significant amounts of memory back by killing them.

In addition at least ocspd is started automatically by OS X if needed. So even if you kill it, it will be started again as soon as Safari (or any other app) needs to verify certificates.


MacPro - Can the two network interfaces be assigned to?

Only if the application itself supports this.  If it does, it will have config files that allow you to specify either an IP address to bind to, or an interface name to bind to.

You would then find out your internal IP address by checking the Network control panel or the interface by checking ifconfig through the terminal.

As far as I know.


OS X cd command in /usr/bin instead of /bin

cd is a shell builtin, and has to be a builtin to work. If it were executed as a normal command, it'd run as a subprocess, change that subprocess's directory, and then exit... having no effect at all on the parent shell's directory.

As for su: the fondamental distinction between /bin and /usr/bin is that /usr/bin might be on a different filesystem from the root, and hence not be available early in the boot process; thus /bin (and /sbin) must contain all of the commands needed early in the boot process. On OS X, su apparently isn't needed during boot.


iOS 14 how to use "Open Wallet" and "Open Apple Card card" in automation and script

You cannot retrieve data directly using Shortcuts or Automation.
If you would like to retrieve data, you could use the "Open Apple Card card" process to open the card. Then, the user should export a statement and send it back to an Application or to be processed by a Shortcut.
The export options are CSV, OFX, QFX, and QBO - and they can be done on a month-by-month basis.


Does Skype running in the background use more battery life than other background running iPhone apps?

Apple limits what can run in the background to ensure battery life is not dramatically reduced. Skype will be constrained to the same restrictions that all other App Store apps must follow.

Given this, it is fair to assume Skype uses no more than any other Internet telephony app running in the background on your iPhone.

Fraser Speirs's article may be helpful in better understanding how background processes work on your iPhone.


Can an AppleTV wake a Snow Leopard Mac for playing back iTunes content?

You have to setup your mac to wake from sleep on the wifi. It all depends on the model of your machine whether its capable of doing this or not. You can read more about setting this up on your mac at the following KB article at Apple.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3774