Usefulness of the Apple Watch Series 5 to a Cyclist: does it have electric sensors instead of, or in addition to, optical heart-rate sensors?

I get far better readings from my watch during running and cycling than I did with either Garmin or Wahoo chest sensors. However, since 2017 I’ve not even tried a chest sensor, so perhaps they have improved faster than the Apple Watch sensor has.

The watch is less likely to slip for me with the Velcro band than the elastomer band, but even the elastomer band is more accurate than I need for 6 hour cycling workouts on bumpy gravel roads in windy conditions. It also does more - so I’d rather skip the chest band entirely for convenience and comfort. I did love the chest bands since the early 90’s due to them being the best I could get for exercise data collection.

All three vendors I list are superlative in my experience, as is Suunto, if you need excellent data on your heart rate while exercising. The watch sensors are more than adequate for me so I wanted to chime in with my experience.


How can I automatically focus Finder windows after CMD-TAB to one in a different space?

The same thing happens to me in 10.8.

If you hold option before releasing command in the application switcher, the Finder window (and not the window of the desktop) gets focus.

Holding option makes the application switcher "reopen" the application, so that if for example the application has no default windows (like a file browser window in Finder), a default window is reopened.

You could also consider using other methods than command-tab to focus Finder, like assign a keyboard shortcut for focusing Finder or use Alfred.


why is itunes not acknowledging my gift card credit?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201209

That should answer your question. ;)


Recovering files from Time Machine backup disk after wrong dd

Sounds like you started to overwrite the drive. The data is probably still recoverable, but, as Graham said, you don't want to do anything to the drive until you attempt to recover the files.

A few options:

While I haven't used it, PhotoRec looks like a good option, if you are comfortable with the command line. Despite the name, it can recover all sorts of file types. It only reads the disk, so your data should be safe even if it is unable to recover it.
For a graphical (and more expensive option), Disk Drill has gotten good reviews. It's pricey at $89, but you can use a free version to preview what it would be able to recover.
If you're in the market for a general disk protection utility, Tech Tool Pro 7 has a data recovery mode. Also, you can set it up to monitor your drives going forward, which would protect against future errors.
DrDD won't completely solve your problem, but it is a graphical way of copying the raw data off your Time Machine drive. I'm not 100% sure that the above programs will be able to read from the copy, but if they can, it would give you another margin of safety. It's also designed to protect your data on failing hard drives, so it should be safe to use in your case.

Hope this helps.


How to fix the iPad home screen being dark purple?

brightness

It sounds like you have your brightness turned down.

To change your screen brightness, tap Settings > Display & Brightness and drag the slider to the right or left.

See: support.apple.com brightness


Software differences beetween iPad 2, iPad Air and iPad mini (iBooks)

I don't believe there are any software differences at all between an iPad mini and an iPad 2 or iPad Air. Both iPad minis use the exact same display resolution as their larger counterparts (1024x768 non-retina, 2048x1536 retina), just on a physically smaller screen. The whole purpose of this is to ensure that all existing software works identically on both device sizes.

In fact, I don't think it's even possible for an app to "know" which size device it's running on, since there's no technical way to differentiate them. Apple's own iOS Simulator doesn't even list the iPad mini as a separate device to simulate: the only options are iPad (meaning 1024x768) and iPad Retina (meaning 2048x1536).


Tyler Brook, the article you link as a solution is for a computer type of device and not an iPhone or mobile version of the browser. The mobile version has a more limited menu.
 I have the same question and am hitting the same wall.
So far I have to email my self links to get the open pages to a non-mobile device(with a bigger screen for my old eyes ).

The iOS 13 update is testing a new function to do exactly what you seek.

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/bookmark-multiple-open-tabs-safari-ios/


How do I use karabiner to define two Shift+L to enter a key?

Ok, I figured it out, I just had to use a different command:

__DoublePressModifier__
KeyCode::SHIFT_L,
KeyCode::SHIFT_L,
KeyCode::SHIFT_L, KeyCode::BACKQUOTE


If I create a MacOS VM, would it have the effect of doubling the draw on system resources?

Not at all a downside. The VM does add a slight performance penalty, but at idle, you don't do double work. Also, you can always quit apps on the host or the guest os to free up resources. For isolating changes and tests, VM are great. Especially igpf they support snapshots and cloning setups to avoid tedious configuration steps.


How to block specific websites without using Parental Controls?

Actually you can do this but an intelligent and curious child might find what you have done and bypass your options. That said you could just edit the hosts file:

Open a terminal window and type the following

  cd /private/etc/

This puts you into the Unix underpinnings of the macOS system. Once there we will use the "Nano" text editor to modify the hosts file, like this

  sudo nano hosts

You will be prompted for a password. Use your account password there. If your system's hosts file has not been previously modified the Terminal window will change to look similar to this

Now what you will need to do is enter the info on the websites you want to block. Remember that you only need block the root domain. So if he goes to a website like teenchat.co.jp/violentvideogames/killerclowns. You only need the part up to the first shash like this: teenchat.co.jp

In the Terminal window type 127.0.0.1 teenchat.co.jp

127.0.0.1 refers to "localhost" or the computer you are currently on which does not have a web server on it followed by a space and the host name/URL of the web site you want to block

Continue adding entries just like this, 127.0.0.1, a space then the host name/URL of the site you want to block. Each one on a new line.
When you have entered all the sites you want to block hold ControlO and it will prompt for the fie to write out, just hit Return then ControlX to exit.

The words at the bottom indicate those commands and others with the Carat ^ symbol indicating the Control key.

Once Nano has saved your hosts file and exited, reboot your Mac. Those sites should now give you errors when you go to them.

If your child has an admin password he can easily undo this as the password you enter when you type any command starting with "sudo" will be the password of the current user. If that user is not an admin it won't work.


First, I would check the trash from within iPhoto to see if you can simply undelete the photos.
If that doesn't work, hopefully you have your Time Machine backup available. Go to your Photos folder in Finder, then from the Time Machine icon on your Menu Bar, select Enter Time Machine... Once active, you'll be able to find a recent copy of your iPhoto.Library package and restore it.
Good practices would also suggest that you move your existing iPhoto.Library to a safe location before you do the above  so that it is not overwritten until after you've verified the restore.


How to use external mouse and keyboard normally in bootcamp with windows 7?

I don't use Windows on my MacBook, but I think this is what you are looking for

http://realitypod.com/2010/08/solved-right-click-in-windows-xp-vista-7-running-on-macbook/


You NEED a SIM to activate the phone. After activation you can take the SIM out.


How to disable the Guest account in macOS Mojave using `dscl`?

Here is how to disable Guest user via command line

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow GuestEnabled -bool FALSE

Note, re-enabling it is quick, but you need extra help if you need to set this up without the first GUI step or MDM.

Enable Guest User in 10.14.x Via the Command Line (without a MDM)?


In iMovie 10, how do you trim the middle of background audio?

Now there’s a gap in the background audio which you achieved by deleting your selection, drag the audio on the right towards the left so that the right edge of the left audio meets the left edge of the right audio.


Automator Eject Action - OSStatus error -36

If you are going use AppleScript to get a list of disks you want ejected, then simply use, e.g.:

tell application "Finder" to eject cleanListOfDisks

Then there is no need to pass cleanListOfDisks to a Run Shell Script action to then pass it to a Eject Disk action.

Here is how I'd code the Run AppleScript action  and not use any other actions:

set listOfDisks to list disks
set doNotEjectDiskList to {"Macintosh HD", "VM", "home", "net", "Google Drive"}
set listOfDisksToEject to {}

repeat with thisDisk in listOfDisks
    if thisDisk is not in doNotEjectDiskList then
        copy contents of thisDisk to end of listOfDisksToEject
    end if
end repeat

tell application "Finder" to eject listOfDisksToEject


Mac OS unable to boot with CD after Ubuntu installed

Hint

Command-Option-O-F alone, immediately after the startup sound:

presents an Open Firmware prompt, only on Macs that use Open Firmware
does not reset NVRAM.

At an Open Firmware prompt you might enter a command such as reset-nvram – but it's not the usual approach.

Advice

Use Command-Option-P-R as instructed in Apple's article: About NVRAM and PRAM.

Additional advice

If the optical disc is loaded whilst the Mac is powered off, then C – pressed immediately after the startup sound, and held – should allow the Mac to boot from a compatible disc.

If the C key approach does not work – and if you have reset NVRAM/PRAM – then consider the possibility of a marginal optical drive and/or marginal disc.

Don't rush to reset the SMC.

Links

Apple's Transition from Open Firmware to Extensible Firmware Interface – MacTech | The journal of Apple technology. (2007)

What is firmware? – not a great article from Apple; it mentions Open Firmware but not EFI under a list of modern products that probably do not use use Open Firmware.

"To continue booting, type 'mac-boot' and press return" Message

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)


Why are images on retina display pixelated whereas videos are fine?

The videos remain sharp on the retina display because they're scaled down to half their original size (a 720p video is 1280x720, but displayed at 640x360 on YouTube).

Images on webpages are usually blurry because in order to display at the same physical size as on a non-retina display, they have to be scaled up 2x (unless the website provides 2x source images, like Apple.com does).


What is the InterCheck process that occasionally uses 96% CPU on my Mac?

It's a real-time scanning process by Sophos Anti-Virus that scans your computer's running processes in the background.

The parent process is launchd so that when you accidentally kill the Intercheck process, it gets restarted.


How do I invert the colors on my iPhone?

Go to Settings -> General -> Accessibility and set "White on Black" to Off.


Does the newer MacBook Pro need anti virus

Sounds like a salesman is trying to make money off you...

Macs have never been supplied with a built-in antivirus - they do have active prevention in such as Gatekeeper but no 'true' antivirus app.

They have traditionally not been the target of most viruses - Windows viruses won't run on Macs, of course - though there are some threats out there. Nothing is truly safe from predators.

Full 'protection' is available from antivirus companies, just the same as for Windows. Some free, some paid. None of them is a complete guarantee.
Some will slow the machine down more than others, just the same as on Windows.

There is no absolute authority on "which antivirus is best" for any platform, but the closest thing to an authority might be AV-TEST.org. Until recently they only had very generic reports on Mac AV, but they have now started taking the testing more seriously.

One app they don't test [lots of politics happened, not going to go into it] is Malwarebytes, which is a free 'on demand' scanner for Mac, i.e. it doesn't run constantly, only when you tell it to. It is possible to use it in conjunction with any other live-scan antivirus.
Otherwise, never have more than one AV installed on any machine - they fight each other.

Late edit: Malwarebytes v3 is now a full on-access scanner as well as on-demand.

Many many Mac users have no antivirus at all. Macs have long been believed to be, if not immune, then "not a target".
So, the final call is yours, but don't be sold something just because the salesman wants you to spend more money.
Think it over & do the research before you put your hand in your pocket.


Easily disable/enable all network connectivity

Damnit. I searched for a while but without using the keywords "airplane mode osx" which only came to me when I edited my question here.
Research using these words led to a very useful answer available here :
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20130325002258846

If you go to the Network pane of System Preferences, you'll see a
Location popup menu at the top of the window. Click on that menu and
choose Edit Locations. Click on the + icon to add a new location, then
enter a name, such as AirplaneMode. Click on Done.
Next, choose that location in the Location menu, and click on each
available network interface in the list at the left of the window.
Click on the Configure iPv4 menu, and choose Off. For Wi-Fi, just
click on the Turn Wi-Fi Off button. Click Apply, and this location
will block all network activity.
To activate the location, there are two ways. You can click on the
Apple menu, then Location, and choose the location. Or, if you wish to
do this from the command line, as the poster had requested, you can
run this command:
networksetup -switchtolocation AirplaneMode
Replace AirplaneMode with the name you've chosen for the location.

Note : If you've never used the Locations, it won't appear in the Apple menu ; it will appear the first time you make a switch, either using the command line or the Locations menu from the network pane in the settings.
Also, making this process easier could be done by adding two terminal files that execute each command separetely. That can be found here
Here is a summary of the steps found behind that link :

Create a simple shell script, like your example I've made a Hello
World application:
#!/bin/bash
networksetup -switchtolocation AirplaneMode

Save this file as HelloWorld.command. Give this file permission to be executed. chmod u+x HelloWorld.command should do that.

Open the directory where you saved this file in Finder.

Double click on the HelloWorld.command file.

Now all I need is a way to hit those shortcuts from the menu bar and I'm golden. I'll edit here if I find it, but I think I might have to develop it myself.


Is there an easy way to make Apple Watch chime or tap hourly or more?

By using the recurring event feature, you can manage them as less than 24 events. iCloud manages this efficiently. If you wish to delete one, you can delete all future events at one time.

Creating a recurring calendar event

Create a calendar event for your first Chime with these settings:

name: Chime
starts: 4:00
ends: 4:01
repeat: Every Day
alert: At time of event

Since there are 24 hours in the day, you will need to create 24 of them for each hour in a single day.

Uncheck that calendar in your Calendar app to hide it so you don't have to see it:

Perfect! Now your calendar still looks nice and clean.

Deleting a Chime

If you want to delete a chime, check the Chime calendar to make it visible again. Select an event and press the Delete key:

Click Delete All in the prompt:

Now your Chime is removed from all future days:


Network error since the macOS Catalina update

It's a DNS resolver problem inside the macOS. It's not picking up the DNS servers provided by the router or inputted manually in the
"network settings". The actual Internet connection is still there - you can confirm through running nslookup apple.com 8.8.8.8 through the Terminal.

The only way to solve this as of now is to reboot the Mac. Killing the mDNSResponder doesn't help.

I would also recommend contacting Apple Support through the chat, explain them this problem (and the solution). They will schedule a call with second line of support. You explain them the problem again and they will send a note to developers. I already sent my report in - more reports should expedite them releasing a fix.


Configuration profile reinstalls itself after I delete it

Good news is it's not a virus.

Bad news is it sounds like he's been trying to install some hacked/cracked apps! https://www.tweakboxapp.com

So you'll need to remove the TweakBox App (from home screen) and the TweakBox Profile (Settings > General > Profiles) that is installing it. Profiles can be shared between devices by iCloud so that's probably why he's seeing it on his laptop too.


It's only between Apple devices, for iPhones, you can share together by AirDrop application.
You can not share data over BT between PC & iPhone.
Please view this for more information Transfer files between your Mac and Bluetooth devices


I had a similar issue of unresponsive Ctrl+3 and Ctrl+4 keystrokes using OS X 10.8.4 and found a solution that worked for me using information from this answer.

Open ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist (I used XCode).
Update keys for the shortcuts which are giving you trouble by switching enabled to NO. I switched 120 and 121, which represent Ctrl+3 and Ctrl+4. I am not sure about Ctrl+5 or Ctrl+6.
Restart your computer.

Hope this helps!


Finder sidebarlist won't update after changing

NEVER manipulate directly any of the files in ~/Library/Preferences. All preferences are managed by a background process named cfprefsd (short for Core Foundation PREFerences Daemon), which slurps up and caches in RAM the files in ~/Library/Preferences. It used to be that you could often get away with manipulating preference files behind cfprefsd's back, so to speak, but cfprefsd has recently gotten very aggressive about how much it caches.

Instead of editing one of these files, ask cfprefsd for a copy, edit the copy, and then send the contents of the copy back to cfprefsd. Your interface to cfprefsd is the defaults shell command.

For example, to edit the preferences for the com.apple.sidebarlists domain:

defaults read com.apple.sidebarlists > ~/Desktop/sidebarlists.txt
... edit sidebarlists.txt to your heart's content
defaults write com.apple.sidebarlist "$(cat ~/Desktop/sidebarlist.txt)"

You will need to make Finder aware of the changes, so throw in

osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to quit'
sleep 0.2 # not always necessary
osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to activate'

Remember to play nicely with other programs. Killing isn't nice, so don't kill anything (especially not cfprefsd) that you don't absolutely need to kill. Don't jerk around with another program's persistent store while it's running. In particular, since cfprefsd is always running, NEVER directly alter the contents of ~/Library/Preferences/*.

If you need to delete a preferences file, the right way is with:

defaults delete its.domain.name

Let cfprefsd worry about getting rid of the file (or, as it is wont to do nowadays, rewriting an essentially empty file on top of it).

The filename ~/Desktop/sidbarlist.txt is, of course, only an example. Use a .plist extension instead of .txt if you prefer. The file will be in NextStep text plist format.

If you prefer some other property list format, use pllist -convert .... Or let the defaults command write it as a .plist file in a format of its choosing with

defaults write ~/Desktop/sidebarlists "$(defaults read com.apple.sidebarlists)"
... edit the file ...
defaults write com.apple.sidebarlists "$(defaults read ~/Desktop/sidebarlists)"

But the important thing is that you keep your copy, the one you edit or otherwise manipulate, out of ~/Library/Preferences. Let defaults worry about communicating with cfprefsd, and let cfprefsd worry about manipulating ~/Library/Preferences.


Purchased Logic Pro X not showing up in updates

This is due to your Apple ID. Make sure that you are signed in using the same ID that you used to purchase the download.


Mac mini can't connect to my corporate SMB server. Was working some days ago

SUCCESS!!

After 2 months of (moderate) misery I've finally found the reason SMB didn't work with my Sierra Mac Mini.

TL;DR The reason was this installed kext:

com.intel.kext.intelhaxm (6.0.1) 8FF2C637-0A5E-367E-B007-5B08655B1E8A <7 5 4 3 1>

You can check if you have it installed with the following command from an ordinary Terminal:

  kextstat | grep -iv apple

In case you have it (and in case you're also suffering SMB connectivity problems) you can uninstall it typing the following command, again, from an ordinary Terminal (no need to boot in Single-User mode):

  sudo /Library/Extensions/intelhaxm.kext/Contents/Resources/uninstall.sh

Follow the on-screen instructions, REBOOT, and you're done :)

Doing that you'll lose hardware acceleration inside your Android emulators, but they will work in software-rendering mode. Not brilliant, but it's something. You can reinstall HAXM in case you really need Hardware Acceleration for Android emulators again (but be prepared to lose SMB connectivity again (?)).

Long answer:

If you use your Sierra Mac to develop Android stuff you'll probably have installed the typical random needed modules (Android SDK's, emulators, drivers, etc...)
The thing is, "Intel HAXM accelerator" is one of the typical drivers you install if you want proper hardware acceleration of your emulators for Android developing.
Well, apparently, and believe it or not, that driver is not compatible with using SMB under macOS Sierra, at least with my MAC.

Sierra SMB subsystem and HAXM are apparently unrelated pieces of software, but it seems they are somehow incompatible between them. In case you have SMB problems you'll have to decide which of the two you really need more:

SMB or proper fast emulators for Android development.

I chose SMB  :)

Thanks EVERYONE in this question, answering, commenting, etc... specially Brett who, after many weeks, put me after the correct lead.


Remove non-existent AFP server from Finder sidebar?

You probably configured Avahi (a free zero-configuration networking implementation for Linux including multicast DNS/DNS-SD service discovery AKA Bonjour) manually to propagate the AFP-service running on your Linux server in the .local network.

Even after disabling the AFP service on the Linux server, the Linux server's Bonjour name will still be registered then and thus shown in the Mac's sidebar.

You can check this by entering dns-sd -B _afpovertcp._tcp in Terminal.app on the Mac.

So remove the manually created config file (here: /etc/avahi/services/afpd.service) and restart the avahi service (probably sudo service avahi-daemon restart) to get rid of the non-existing AFP server name in the Mac's sidebar.


how to force a factory reset of an iPhone?

I believe what you are referring to is a DFU restore. To do this, first, turn the phone off by holding the Power Button and shutting off the phone. Next, with the phone still off, hold down the Home Button, and plug the phone into your computer (while still holding the Home Button). What you should see is a message in iTunes that the phone is in restore mode with the option to Restore the phone, while the iPhone screen remains black. If the iPhone screen is not black, you are not in DFU mode, and you should try again.


Do you have a backup policy that covers the Worst Case Scenario?

I have one hard drive connected to my iMac for use with Time Machine. In addition to the Time Machine backup, I maintain a bootable clone of my iMac's hard drive using SuperDuper. The hard drive with the bootable backup is stored at my in-laws' house (you could just as easily store it at a friend's house or at work). The off-site clone is updated once a week.

With this setup, I can recover individual files from Time Machine if necessary, but I have an off-site backup in case of a catastrophe (fire, burglary, etc.). Some people maintain a much more redundant backup scheme, but I think this provides adequate protection with relatively little effort.


Here is a link to an article that explains how to do this natively (without any 3rd party applications).

And here is an app - Typewriter Keyboard - that makes it sound authentically like a typewriter.

Hope this helps.


In a general sense, policy is how the employees handle your specific situation, but here is the legal description of what the hardware warranty policy is:

http://www.apple.com/legal/

As regards to any company, they may go above the policy when it's the commonplace or expected thing to do so it never hurts to ask nicely if some accommodation could be made in a specific case.

This line of thinking has helped me in the past. Think of a warranty as a guideline for who pays for a repair. Within a warranty (or AppleCare), it is Apple's responsibility to pay for most repairs except for intentional misuse or accident.

After the warranty period has passed, it's the consumer's responsibility to pay for most repairs except for the most unlikely event that there was a clear error on the manufacturer's part in making the product.

I have found Apple to be very understanding of honest mistakes when attempting a normal consumer activity (changing RAM, cleaning, etc..) and covering things that might be considered consumer damage.

In this case, you could ask Apple to cover your keyboard, but it seems you should instead ask for a repair quote and expect to pay for a repaired keyboard. I believe a USB keyboard replacement (entire new keyboard) is in the $29 dollar range but you could reach out to Apple and get a quote for your specific location and part number before deciding what to do.


MacBook Air Early 2014 responds to SMC reset but doesn't turn on

You probably have defective hardware. The SMC appears to work, so it's simply not allowing power-on due to a problem elsewhere in the computer.


Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes contains a script that should be useful for you. The Track Down Purchases script can sort your purchases into playlists separated by account name, which should make it easy for you to find and subsequently delete songs not on your account.


Tab changing in TextMate when working with LaTeX files?

In moments, this update was driving me crazy. Luckily, I remembered that the Mac OS lets you customize keyboard shortcuts. So, I opened system preferences > keyboard > keyboard shortcuts --- and restored my textmate tab navigation to how they were previously! Yay!


The difference is the HDD connectors. The iBook G4 uses an IDE (aka PATA) connector, whereas the MBP uses SATA. Unfortunately during a quick google search I wasn't able to find a SATA to IDE adapter that would fit inside the laptop case. It's probably worth looking for second-hand IDE hard drives or contacting someone at Apple to see if they have a better idea. If you want to buy a drive, try starting here: Ebay IDE laptop drives. Let me know if you have any questions or if I got any of my information wrong.


Unable to partition a SDXC card using Disk Utility

It will probably be supplied as MBR, so you need to Erase first.
Partition doesn't let you change the underlying Partition Map format, MBR->GUID


If you do have two-step verification enabled you can just go to the App passwords page to generate an app-specific password, although you shouldn't need it on recent versions of iOS / OS X.

If you are sure that two-step verification is turned off I suggest to verify your password. And if you're 100% sure it's correct try changing your password, or if turned off recently turning two-step verification back on.


How can I disable CPU throttling and CPU disabling?

This particular machine is a second generation Core i7, which includes Intel's Turbo Boost technology.

This is, essentially, a power management processor that has the ability to change the clock speed and disable/enable processor cores on the fly.  It requires no software intervention, the entire algorithm exists in silicon on the i7 processor itself.

While utilities to control it are starting to appear for windows, Apple doesn't provide a method to disable it, nevermind control it, and I have not yet found any utilities that would allow me to disable or control it on OS X.

So, at this point, the answer is that you cannot disable CPU throttling or power control under OS X for Turbo Boost capable processors - it's all automated inside the processor, and Apple doesn't have a public API to control it.


How to detect network change (unplugging/plugging cable)?

Save this script as an application and set it to run on startup. It will use some memory but the script is very light. You can delay even more. Mind that this routine will keep detecting the cable forever, so you must set other conditions inside your script to do what you need and stop until something changes.

on run {input}
    repeat
        set input to do shell script "ifconfig -a" as text
        set status to offset of "status:" in input
        set the_starting_point to status + 0
        set the_ending_point to status + 13
        set isCableConnected to characters the_starting_point thru the_ending_point of input as string
        if isCableConnected is "status: active" then
            display dialog "Ethernet On"
        else
            display dialog "Cable Unplugged"
        end if
        delay 1
    end repeat
end run


After further work on this, I found something that seems to work. I RTM'ed the man page of launchctl, and noticed the config-subcommand. So this is what I did:

sudo launchctl config user path "paths:I:want:GUI:apps:to:use"

Then reboot, as launchctl instructed me to do.

I had added a debug print statement to my gradle file:

println System.getenv("PATH")

After rebooting, build printed out the changed PATH including those parts that I added via config user path.


Did Apple introduce a white list of hard drives (for MacBook Pro A1278)?

No, there is no white list of acceptable replacements for storage disks held in firmware.
Apple doesn't make their own drives. Hard drives are made for Apple by Toshiba and Seagate, and the supplied drives are not 'custom built': they just meet a certain spec.
I've replaced the hard drive on hundreds of Macs and never had a problem of this sort.
You say that the SATA cable "looked in perfect condition" and you "tried to make sure that the problem was not the cable". You can't tell by looking at it if the cable is faulty. What did you do to test the cable?
I would definitely try replacing the SATA cable, as they are a well-known point of failure on those models. The fact that the drive works externally but not internally would suggest that.
(Though to be honest, I would recommend getting a 1TB SSD, as this would significantly improve your Mac's speed.)


How do to hibernate OS X in order to reboot to Windows 10

Nope. OS X only has sleep, no hibernate mode. If you want to save your work while dual-booting, try a virtual machine, like Parallels or VMWare Fusion.


Macbook Pro no longer connects to wireless network. All other devices do

I know you probably already tried this but in an effort to point to the problem being with your Macbook Pro can you connect to a network that is not yours?  (e.g. a friends or someone else's?)

Also, you've probably done this too but sometimes just a reboot may help.


The global undo guesture is to shake the device.


Will a 4K external monitor create a sharper display when connected to my MacBook Pro

The "sharpness" of a display is defined by its pixel density and measured in ppi (pixels per inch). So it is the combination of size and resolution that makes a display appear sharp.
Unless the 4K monitor is extremely large the pixel density will be higher then on your 1920 x 1080 pixel display.

You can check compatibility on Using 4K displays, 5K displays, and Ultra HD TVs with your Mac.

In your case, your Late 2013 MacBook Pro 15" supports 4K displays. However you also have to use a cable that supports the resolution accordingly. For example:

HDMI:

3840 x 2160 at 30Hz
4096 x 2160 at 24Hz


Yosemite disables audio output on external monitor change

Look at the What If I'm Running the Stable Version? of this article.

  So, open System Preferences,  go to the Sound menu and then look in the Output tab to see which device is used for output.

I confirmed that when I unplugged my HDMI monitor and plugged it back in, the monitor was selected by default, but when I then manually selected Headphones and then unplugged an reconnected my monitor again, this time Headphones stayed selected.


Reload menu bar from terminal (not SystemUIServer)

So I finally found a solution to this.

I compiled the following Objective-c code and call it through the terminal.

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{

  @autoreleasepool {
    LSSharedFileListRef recentDocsList = LSSharedFileListCreate(NULL, kLSSharedFileListRecentDocumentItems, NULL);
    LSSharedFileListRemoveAllItems(recentDocsList);
    NSLog(@"Cleared files!");
  }
   return 0;
}


Uninstall VMWare Fusion and VMWare Tools on boot camp partition

Uninstall the VMWare Tools in the VM using the uninstaller in Add/Remove Programs
Use the Fusion uninstaller on the installation DMG to remove VMWare Fusion
Follow this VMware KB article to clean up Fusion completely.

Sidenote: I can't find an official KB article for removing the tools, and those I do find all only mention Add/Remove. I am assuming it does a complete removal.


Section Tab Missing on Document Tool Bar

It was changed in Pages 10.
Mentioned here, but I found it to be tricky to get to, especially without much experience with this app. For one thing, you have to make sure thumbnails are visible with View -> Page Thumbnails.

Here you can see the thumbnails on the left. On the right hand side you can only see Format and Document.

Finally after clicking on the thumbnail, Section finally shows up. IT WILL DISAPPEAR when you click in the document body.


Trash and unread mail boxes show 700 non-visible emails

This is easy to sort.

Put the iPad in airplane mode and then power it down.

Then power it up and don't connect to any networks.

Open mail.app and see what the status it. It will warn you, perhaps several times with different wording, that you are offline. Remain offline and then get a read count. You should be able to mark messages as read and then decide when to connect to a network - hopefully a fast one to see that things then sync up.

As an alternative, power off the iPad and use webmail to get a feel that the mail service is working, then work on the iPad as above.


It's not by default. If you have installed Guest Additions, then you can do this:

Start the VM
Go to Machine > Settings in the file menu.
Go to the General tab, then Advanced.
Set the Shared Clipboard setting to Disabled, Guest to Host, Host to Guest or Bidirectional.


Macbook Air power saving with Thunderbolt to Gigabit adapter

I have no precise data; however, I do have a MacBook Air mid 2012 and I had to buy a Thunderbolt Gigabit adapter. What I can say is that it consumer substantially more than the WiFi chip. Fully charged, I can reach 5+ hours using the WiFi chip; when the Thunderbolt Gigabit adapter, it's enough if I get to 3.5 hours.

Honestly, this was an authentic shock to me, and I blamed the battery at first, thinking it was faulty and needed to be changed; however, using the WiFi, battery life gets back to 5+ hours, so I'm pretty sure this has to do with the Thunderbolt Gigabit adapter.

This is not a scientific test, but on average I use the Mac to surf on the internet, normal stuff. Anyway, I got this decrease in performance without changing my usage pattern.


Batch-download from iTunes Match to Mac in iTunes 11

Try this as a work around to an actual download all menu item.  Create a new playlist...add your entire library to the playlist.  Next to the playlist click the 'Download from iCloud' icon.


I sadly cannot explain this phenomenon. However, here is a hacky workaround that should resolve the issue:

Right click the app you do not want to open mp4 files, and select Show Package Contents.
Navigate to the Contents folder and locate the Info.plist file. Make a backup copy of this file, then open the original in TextEdit (or a similar program).†
Locate the section which resembles the below, and delete it. Save and close the file, and reboot your computer with "Reopen windows when logging back in" disabled.‡

<key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
<array>
    <string>mp4</string>
</array>

Replace mp4 with whatever file extension you don't want the program to open.

I've never used kid3, but this successfully prevented Fission from opening mp3 files by default, as opposed to QuickTime.

(I think you might need to bypass Gatekeeper the next time you open the app? Not sure.)

† If the file looks like gobblygook: close TextEdit, open the Terminal, type "plutil -convert xml1 " (without the quotes, but with a space at the end), drag Info.plist into the terminal window, and press enter. Info.plist should now appear correctly in TextEdit.

‡ A reboot is not strictly necessary, but serves as a quick and definite way to force macOS to recognize the change. If you don't reboot, you will have to wait some (undeterminable) amount of time for your change to take effect.


How to actually select the tab that you search for on safari

This is not an answer, but alternative approach(es).

One can use ⌘ + ⇧+/. This will open Safari Help and from that one can enter search word(s). There will be tabs list displayed with status/day (tabs currently open, Recently Closed, Earlier Today, by dates etc) and address. Everything what is available in Safari menus (history, recently open etc) will be displayed. This will work over all tabs, not only tabs in active window. Arrows + enter for navigation and selecting. This is text based and not visual search.

One can also use Window menu on Menu Bar. Last block there is all tabs open in Safari.

One can enable Alternate Control Methods in System Preferences > Accessibility > Pointer Control. Namely "Enable alternate pointer actions" and "Enable header pointer". Then set face expressions for "Left Click" and "Use a switch or facial expression to pause or resume".

If you reach the point displayed on your screenshot switch on head pointer with facial expression ("Raise Eyebrows" for example), move pointer with your head to the tab you want, use facial expression for Left Click ("Pucker Lips Outward" for example), pause head pointer with facial expression. It requires to have camera but it really fun to play with :-) - just raise eyebrows, look at desired tab, pucker lips outward, raise eyebrows.


mDNSResponder question - what is it doing in this specific case?

Without more information about what monitoring tool you're using and exactly what it's showing, it's hard to say for sure what's going on. But I can tell you a little bit. mDNSResponder has three main jobs on OS X:

Sending out multicast DNS (mDNS aka Bonjour) lookups to the local network on port 5353 (and listening for responses). These include both looking up names (e.g. "I'm trying to contact somethingorother.local; what's its IP address?") and looking up available services (e.g. "what computers on the local network provide AFP file sharing services?").
Listening for and responding to mDNS lookups that apply to it. For example, if its Bonjour name is xxxs-MacBook-Pro.local and it sees a request for xxxs-MacBook-Pro.local, it'll reply with its IP address(es). Similarly, if you have AFP file sharing turned on and it sees a request for AFP servers, it'll reply ("Me! I'm xxx's MacBook Pro and I provide AFP service on port 548!").
Sending out normal (unicast) DNS lookups on port 53 to some DNS server (and listening for responses). Names that end in ".local" get sent out via mDNS; everything else (e.g. "www.apple.com") gets sent via normal DNS to the server(s) configured in the network settings.

If you're seeing activity on port 53, that's normal DNS. I'm not sure why you're seeing it as an incoming connection (unless it's really a reply to request you sent out?), or why the source would be your own computer. For those, I'd need more detailed info about what you're seeing.


Possible to have WinKey + Number equivalent in Mac for faster app switching

I use command with tab.

Brings up a bar with the icons of running apps and you tab through to the one you want. Command Q and command W also work to close apps or windows.


Is it possible to track of battery consumption by all installed app on ios device?

There is a app called Carat that might be overkill but it is way better than just watching the consumption.

It actually recommends what to do to save battery life.

One drawback is, it will not imminently show what needs to be done.

It will take >24 hours of monitoring your usage and then make recommendations on which apps to kill and how much battery life you get.


Export Keynote slides with looped video clips to Quicktime movie

Interesting question. One would assume if you record the presentation of a Keynote, all visuals would be recorded. Turns out it’s not.

I tried myself, and any Quicktime loop is only exported once. Bug? In the meantime, you could modify your Quicktime move to play several times in a row.

You can do this in Quicktime Player 7 (everyone should have it), by selecting all (CMD-A), copying to the clipboard (CMD-C) and then pressing paste (CMD-V) several times in a row. Save the movie in place, it will be virtually the same file size. Hope this helps!


After reading a bit through the internet I found the 'safe mode', there I deleted some random files from the desktop, and changed the dock settings so it is always visible (I don't think these had any effect). Then I restarted and made sure the little checkbox next to '' is empty (probably this made the effect). When the computer started I could log in, but it is still weird, the desktop background image disappears and comes back, no dock, ... see my followup question.

The next time I logged in I moved all the apps to the trash, just in case.


How can I change the lock screen background image in Lion 10.7.4?

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/LoginUIKit.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Log inUICore.framework/Versions/A/Resources/appleLinen.png

This is the new location to change the login screen wallpaper but im still figuring out how to put it to the fullscreen.


Problem trying to install iftop via Homebrew

You can remedy things in your current shell by doing:

mkdir -p /usr/local/sbin
export PATH=${PATH}:/usr/local/sbin
brew link iftop

That'll get you past the warnings and let Homebrew install the iftop package. If the iftop package is installing things in to /usr/local/sbin that you're looking to run, you'll need to ensure this is on your $PATH when you open a shell. To do this, edit ~/.bash_profile and add the line:

export PATH=${PATH}:/usr/local/sbin

To the end of the file to prepend /usr/local/sbin to each new shell you open.


There are three URL types which can open Terminal from Safari:

ssh
telnet
x-man-page

Those informations can be found under CFBundleURLTypes key in: /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/Info.plist

So in order to open Terminal app, you can place link like:

telnet

ssh

man page

It does not prefill informations in Terminal for me.

Bonus:
This rule can be applied to any application that can open URLs.

Check URL types of the app with:

defaults read /absolute/path/to/Info.plist CFBundleURLTypes

for example:

defaults read /Applications/Utilities/Script\ Editor.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleURLTypes

This gives me applescript as URL type, so making link like:

Script Editor

Opens the Script Editor app.


Why won't Netflix play videos on my iPad?

I managed to resolve this by changing my DNS server to Google's 8.8.8.8.  Not ideal, but it worked.  Still, any ideas why this is happening?


An installed OS X can be specific to older models. People that administer Macs professionally call this situation "forked" and no one likes to be "forked" by surprise.

Boot the new Mac to the setup assistant (or if you have made an account there already consider making a new test user account and backing up everything on the new mac that you need to save). Then you can run the Migration Assistant and put the old Mac in Target Disk mode (TDM) instead of booting the old OS from the new Mac.

TDM works over USB-C, FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, you can connect them so that one of them appears as an external hard disk on the other. This is called “target disk mode.”

Connect the two computers with one of the above cable types.
Start up the computer to be used as a disk in target disk mode:

If the computer is off, start it up while holding down the T key.
If the computer is on, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Startup Disk, and then click Target Disk Mode.

When the computer has started up, a disk icon appears on the desktop of the other computer.

Transfer files by dragging them to and from the disk.
Eject the disk by dragging its icon to the Trash.
While you drag, the Trash icon changes to an Eject icon.
On the computer you used as a disk, push the power button to shut it down, and then disconnect the cable.

Source: Apple KB - https://support.apple.com/kb/PH10725


What's the difference between an iTunes Account, an iCloud Account, and an Apple ID?

An iCloud account, iTunes account and Apple ID are all the same thing. Apple just refers to them a bit inconsistently. You can (and typically should) have a single Apple ID for all of them, unless you specifically need to separate them out.

Account "Types"

iCloud Account

Typically refers to the Apple ID that is used for iCloud services, such as backup and syncing documents and settings between apps. This is set in Settings → iCloud → Account.

iTunes Account

The Apple ID that you use to purchase downloads from the iTunes, iBooks and App Stores and what syncs your iTunes Match songs, if you use that service. It's set in Settings → iTunes & App Stores → Apple ID.

It's important to note that your purchases are linked to your Apple ID (although music is now DRM-free), and are not transferrable to other Apple IDs. So you should be sure to make all your app, video and music purchases on a single Apple ID to save yourself future headaches.

iMessage

Your Apple ID is also used for iMessage. Set in Settings → Messages → Send & Receive.

Using Multiple Accounts

You can be signed in to different accounts for each of these services, which can be useful if, for example, you want to have a single family account for iTunes purchases, but keep your iCloud and iMessages separate.

Other Information

Apple has a few support pages that are helpful for untangling all the intricacies of the Apple ID:

Frequently asked questions about Apple ID
Where do I use an Apple ID?
Using your Apple ID for Apple services


How can I make Safari cmd+number shortcut switch tabs instead of opening the bookmark associated with that number?

In case you are coming from Chrome and want to use

cmd+[0-9] for switching tabs (instead of cycling through your preset top sites) take a look at:

github.com/rs/SafariTabSwitching

  Safari Tab Switching is a Safari SIMBL plugin which allow switching between tabs using Cmd+1-9.

Update:

Safari Version 9.0.2 (El Capitan) has native support for this:


Are there iphone apps or automation for taking photos and sharing low resolution versions?

Did you look at Simple Resize which seems to do what you are looking for.

On iOS 12 - the app Shortcuts by Apple can automate all of this now for you.

take a picture (preview or not)
resize it
save it to an album / share it to a shared album / save it to files (google / Dropbox / box / iCloud) / send it to an app

The last step can do just about anything you might want with images just taken and basically modify the camera to take reduced photos and optionally share them out as well if you don’t want to just have them taken.


Do iOS 6 maps include public transit information and routing?

As of right now, no, the new Maps app lacks transit directions. Instead, when you select Public Transit as your travel mode, it pops up a list of installed (or available from the App Store) apps that can provide local transit directions.

And, as of right now, no, there is no Google Maps app in the App Store (though you can still use Google Maps effectively from Mobile Safari).

There not much to do but conjecture as to why the Apple-made Maps app doesn't include transit. From Dan Moren's excellent iOS 6 review at MacWorld:

  This is an odd solution for Apple, which usually prides itself on
  providing a consistent experience. But I suspect that handling public
  transit directions simply wasn’t an option for Apple at this point,
  and if it came down to offering a third-party experience versus no
  feature at all, Apple opted to not leave its users completely
  high-and-dry.


My number is associated with iMessage on other phone, how to remove it?

Following the instructions on Apple's Deregister iMessage should help you resolve this issue.


Add the following line to your .emacs

(global-set-key “\M-!” nil)

and similarly for the rest of the shifted numbers.

(If you don’t have a .emacs, make a text file called that in your home directory.)

This will unbind whatever functions are attached to those key combinations, so they’ll get passed out of Emacs and off to the rest of the system.

However, if there’s any command there that you use, you’ll need to bind it to a different key combination. Even if you activate things with Escape then the key, that’s just an alias for Meta.

You can see what command is bound to a key with C-h k, then you can bind that function to another key in your .emacs

For instance, if I wanted to move query-replace-regexp, which I have on M-%, I might add these lines:

(global-set-key “\M-%” nil)
(global-set-key “\C-%" 'query-replace-regexp)

Your other option would be to change what key to use as Meta, but that would probably be a lot more trouble.


macOS Sierra boot problem related to Apple SD Card reader driver

I had the exact same issue. 2015 MacBook Pro 13", AppleCare.

It took three attempts for the Apple service agent to resolve the issue, over the space of one month.

The first time, they replaced the main logic board.

The second time, they replaced the whole top case, including trackpad and battery.

It was only after I found this post and brought it to their attention (including the fact that the SD card reader was showing as a fault when I ran system diagnostics) that on the third attempt they replaced the I/O board which contains the SD card reader and thankfully it worked.


No audio on Mac Pro after Yosemite upgrade

I had the same problem after upgrading to Yosemite and I've been looking for an answer on StackOverflow ever since. I found an answer which was not upvoted so it was harder to find unfortunately, but here is a way which solved my problem:

Open your terminal on your Mac and type in:

sudo killall coreaudiod

Press enter and you're done. It should work now.

Hope this helps.


Can I use any Sim to activate/set up iPhone 5s

Yes, there is a SIM card required to activate your iPhone. After activation you can use your iPhone without any SIM card (except some features off course). You could use a SIM card from your current phone, provided that it is a nano-SIM (i.e. the iPhone 5s SIM slot supports nano-SIMs).


Strange slow down and frozen like behaviour of Google Chrome Version 40.0.2214.115 (64-bit) on Yosemite

Here are some things you can do to try to restore performance within Chrome within your own account. You could try each one at a time and see if it makes a difference.

Extensions

Open the extensions tab from the Chrome's Window menu. Try disabling all the extensions and running Chrome again to see if performance has improved.

Saved Application State

Close Chrome. Look for Chrome's saved application state folder within your account. You should find it at /Users/YOURUSERNAME/Library/Saved Application State/com.google.Chrome.savedState. You can delete or rename the folder, it just keeps a record of which windows were open when you closed the application and what state they were in i.e. which sites you had open.

Cache folder

Delete the /Users/YOURUSERNAME/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome folder and try Chrome again. Chrome will automatically recreate this folder.

Application Support folder

This folder contains a lot of things like cookies, history, extensions, some cached files, etc. So I'd try renaming the /Users/YOURUSERNAME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome folder and trying again. Chrome will automatically create a new folder. If it makes no difference to performance, delete the new one and rename the old one back.

Preference list file

Within /Users/YOURUSERNAME/Library/Preferences you should find the Chrome preference file.

  com.google.chrome.plist

Just rename the file and try Chrome again. Chrome will create a new one. As with before, try with the new file, but if it makes no difference just delete the new one and rename the old one back.

Still not performing well?

You could try running sudo opensnoop | grep Chrome in a Terminal window and checking it when performance degrades. Perhaps it is trying and struggling to do something.

You could also try checking the Console.app for Chrome related error messages. Just open Console.app and type Chrome into the search field in the top-right corner of the window.

Good luck!


Resize and position windows using keyboard shortcuts

Have you considered Moom http://manytricks.com/moom/ or MercuryMover http://www.heliumfoot.com/mercurymover/ ?


How dangerous is it to hot-plug FireWire 400 devices?

The issue is not with M-Audio or with the firewire standard, but with a oxford bridge controller design flaw which makes the controller susceptible to power spikes.

The flawed chip was in a lot of computers in the late 2000s, which means that it was a good call for m-audio to issue the warning.  It wasn't their own butts they were covering, but it did mean a lot of down time and troubleshooting for their customers.

I learned this the hard way, as the firewire 400 port on my old macbook was fried by hot-swapping the pro-fire 2626.


Mail unexpectedly quits - MacBook Pro - macOS High Sierra

01 December 2020 - Problem solved by uninstalling the offending SPAM filter, sorry to have bothered you all.


I have seen the same thing happen to my hard drive since enrolling in iTunes Match. Fortunately there are a couple of options.

One option is to select any songs you'd like to down-convert, right-click (or ctrl-click) the selection, and choose "Create xxx Version". This will re-encode the tracks based on the encoding options you have set within iTunes Preferences. Feel free to adjust these settings to the quality of your choice. Once they have finished converting, you may remove the higher-quality local copies. iTunes in the Cloud will retain the higher-rate 256kbps version, but your computer will now have a lower-quality version to playback from.

You can also remove local copies of songs entirely, by selecting them and pressing "delete". The songs will remain in your iTunes library as stream-able tracks through iTunes Match. Before doing this, though, I highly recommend backing up your entire library of songs to an external hard drive for safekeeping.

Hopefully between a combination of these two options you can reclaim much of your lost space.


It seems to be a common issue with Yosemite, see e.g. a Mac Rumors thread.

In the last couple of days there also popped up several articles complaining about Apple’s current state of its software. You can find a good overview of the most common issues in this article (it’s also worth to skim over the comments as there are issues that aren’t discussed in the article).


Does upgrading your iMac's traditional HDD to SSD improve the graphics performance?

It depends by what you define as "increased performance."

An SSD will increase performance with respect to getting digital assets off the drive and into memory and the CPU.  If you were having lag due to slow read/write times, an SSD will help.

If you have framerate issues, an SSD will do nothing to help your situation.  If your GPU chokes on 30 fps, it will still choke on 30 fps after an SSD upgrade.

  I have already gone through this post (Would upgrading to SSD solve my
  performance issues?), but this guy has a MacBook so that doesn't
  answers my question!

Technically speaking, that iMac is closer to a MacBook Pro than an actual desktop because it's using the Intel® Core™ i5-4260U Processor which is a processor aimed at the mobile (laptop) segment.

The HD5000 video chipset is shared video memory so even with 8GB RAM, you actually only have 6.5GB max available to you.

There's no amount of RAIDing or setting up external GPUs that's going to overcome this performance deficit.  This is like trying to supercharge a moped with the expectation it will haul freight.

Your best option is to get the most powerful older Mac Pro with a proper GPU that you can afford rather than try and bodge a new iMac into something it really can't be.


iPhone 6s not displaying names on text messages

I tried the answer above but that didn't work for me. After some trial and error turning off contacts in iCloud and then turning them back on worked for me.

Go to settings > iCloud
Turn off "Contacts" option
It will ask you if you want to delete the contacts synced on the phone or keep them. I deleted them.
Verify that the contacts are gone. (Optional)
Go back to the iCloud settings and turn the contacts on.

This worked for me. Took about a minute for all contacts to resolve in Messages app. I am on iOS 10.2 and this happened when my phone turned off unexpectedly due to battery issues.


Where on my Mac are my iPod Touch photos stored?

The photos aren't automatically transferred when you sync in iTunes - you have to use iPhoto or Image Capture to get the photos on your computer.


Your crontab suggests that at 3 minutes past every hour from 04:00 through 22:00, invoke python to run /me/radio_alarm.py

If that's correct, and there are no other problems that we can't see*, the following correction should work:

03 04-22 * * * /usr/bin/python /me/radio_alarm.py

It is necessary to specify the complete path to python because the "cron user" does not have the same $PATH environment that you do under your user name.

* I assume that you have successfully run your script from the command line. If that is the case, you've probably cleared most of the potential errors below, but just in case here are the "usual suspects":

is your script marked as executable? (e.g. chmod 755 /me/radio_alarm.py)
does your script begin with an appropriate shebang entry? (e.g. #!/usr/bin/python)
is your script written for the same version of Python that you're invoking? (e.g. mac os has only Python2, unless you've installed Python3 as part of homebrew, etc.)

Finally, it never hurts to capture any stderr output while you're testing a new script. You can easily add an "error log" to your script as follows:

03 04-22 * * * /usr/bin/python /me/radio_alarm.py  > ~/cronjoblog 2>&1

This will redirect any error output from your script to the file cronjoblog in your user's home directory.

Hope that helps. Let us know if you have further issues or questions.


Why do I see "Cannot Use Thunderbolt Accessory"?

To slow charge your Mac Book Pro from your iMac, you can connect the USB-C Cable. Unfortunately It seems with recent updates is shows this error on both the MBP and iMac screen. However despite this happening, charging is still occurring.


Prevent Outlook meeting requests from auto-deleting

Another option is create a rule for messages of Kind "Meeting Request" to be copied to an "Invitations" folder in your inbox.

Steps that work on my version of Outlook.

Create an Invitations folder.
Highlight message that is a meeting invite
Click on the "Organize" toolbar
Click on the "Rules" icon
On the little menu that pops up, click "Create Rule..."
On the rules dialog, the first field will say "From". Change that to "Kind".
The next box will say "Encrypted" (as in Kind is Encrypted). Change that to "Meeting Request"
Use the minus sign to delete the sent to and subject rules (the next two rows)
Change "Do the Following" from "Move to Folder" to "Copy to Folder"
Change the folder name to "Invitations" or whatever you called it in step one
Uncheck the box "Do not apply other rules..."
Click ok


How to export the event log from the Console.app into a text file?

You can send the logs as a plane text via mail.
Just press Cmd-Shift-T in Mail.app before sending e-mail (or choose Menu -> Format -> Make Plane Text).
This will clear all formatting in hole email and the recipient will receive the logs in proper format.

Cmd-A, Cmd-C in Console.app and Cmd-V in an empty text file as it was suggested by Seamus.

You can use Terminal.app and directly database were all the logs resides and even do not open Console.app

To see the logs for your app:

log show --predicate 'sender == "the_name_of_your_app"' --style compact

To see the logs for the specified time interval:

log show --predicate 'sender == "the_name_of_your_app"' --style compact --start '2020-10-07 16:55:00' --end '2020-10-07 16:59:00'

To save the logs for the specified time interval into a file to keep/send:

log show --predicate 'sender == "the_name_of_your_app"' --style compact --start '2020-10-07 16:55:00' --end '2020-10-07 16:59:00' > your_library.log

To see the logs in real time directly in Terminal:

log stream --predicate 'sender == "the_name_of_your_app"' --style compact

Press Ctrl-C to stop capturing process.


Yes.

Create a folder named "Applications" in your home folder.
Move the app from the standard applications folder to the applications folder in your home folder.

This way only you can see and use the app.


Can one still sort By Album By Year in any of the views in iTunes 11?

While in the albums view go to the view menu and select viewing options (command+j) and choose sort by year.

Here is a screenshot (in german but I hope you get the important points).


How do I trigger reachability in iPhone X?

iPhone X now supports Reachability

Just pull down on the bottom indicator to activate Reachability after turning it on. Also note that Reachability works with Control Center access so you don't have to reach that top of your phone to get to Control Center.

To turn on Reachability: Settings > General > Accessibility > Reachability

Source: Rene Ritchie's review.


It’s in the clipboard, so you can paste it using the normal paste action in any app.


What can I do when macOS does not boot an APFS volume anymore and I cannot unlock it?

Regarding the first attempt to simply use unlockVolume, please consider trying this variation instead:

diskutil apfs unlockVolume /dev/disk3s1 -user disk

Your attempt to unlock using the UUID failed, because you failed to enter the complete UUID. I don't know if you typed it in manually or used cut-n-paste, but you've missed the last letter "C" in the UUID - making it one character short.

I would try that command again with the full UUID - and remember that you're not supposed to enter your passphrase for the drive to unlock it with that UUID - instead you need to enter the personal recovery key. The personal recovery key was presented to you when you first enabled FileVault (I assume this drive was previously a boot drive) - and it takes the form of 24 upper cases alpha-numeric characters, grouped in 4 seperated by dashes. Something like AB1C-DEF2-G3HI-4JKL-MNO5-PQRS.

If the above fails, you can always erase everything on the drive completely, as you indicate this would be an acceptable option.

You can do that by opening Terminal.app and running the following command:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rdisk3 bs=1m

After it has finished, reboot the system so that it forgets the old partitioning information. Then you can use Disk Utility to add a partition table and format the drive.


Meaning of "send as sms when imessage is unavailable"?

This option means when a user with iMessage doesn't have an Internet connection or iMessage is disabled.

For example:
One day while chatting with a friend via iMessage your friend goes into a tunel and disconnects from the Internet, your iPhone detects that your friend is off-line. If the option "send as SMS when iMessage is unavailable" is enabled,
the messsage will be send as an SMS. If the option "send as SMS when iMessage is unavailable" is disabled, the message will only be sent as an iMessage when your friend comes back online.


iOS 8.1.2, how to make Music app stop using Bluetooth?

Dang, finally figured it out after days of frustration with this.  From the Airplay options when you swipe up from the bottom (whatever that little drawer thing is called), you can choose the BT speaker or iPad for the audio.  Doesn't seem to be any other place to select this from though so it was not obvious.


iPhone will suddenly shut down repeatedly unless charged

From your description of the problem, my best guess is that the battery needs replacing because it can't hold a charge reliably. That may be your next step to resolution. More serious may be damage to the iPhone circuitry itself from charging problems, drops/shocks, moisture incursion. Accurate HW failure diagnosis is difficult remotely. Somebody needs to open it up and find out what's wrong.

Apple has some good information here about iPhone batteries. You can read on this Apple Support page about how to get the battery serviced & recycled. Because the iPhone 5 is well out of warrantee, any 3rd-party iPhone repair should be able to replace the battery.

Good luck!


To my knowledge, each and every time your Mac will send a serial number to Apple, you are prompted to explain this and why it will be sent as well as whatever information is needed.

You can see this in action from the System Information app:

When you click the "Check my service..." item you will see this alert:

Similar notifications are presented when the App Store app needs to verify your specific Mac is entitled to Lion during a restore. The Console app (in the Utilities folder) can be configured to send your diagnostic information which includes the serial number as well as other information about the hard drive, software and error logs to Apple.

You can also ask Apple if they treat this information as personally identifiable from their main privacy page. From what I can tell, they go to great lengths to treat this as other sensitive information and go out of the way to not lump it with your personal account other than when you do that by asking for service from AppleCare or registering your Mac.


Pressing the control key with AppleScript

If you need to do something and hold it down, try something like this:

                tell application "System Events"
                    tell process "Photoshop"
                        option key down
                    end tell
                end tell
                DO OTHER STUFF HERE
                tell application "System Events"
                    tell process "Photoshop"
                        option key up
                    end tell
                end tell


Cannot Add New Apps to Mac Catalina Input Monitoring on Security & Privacy

It looks like there is no way to add new app if no other app asked for this permision - there is no list with +/- buttons. I've installed discord - and it appeared in the list - then I was able to add WacomTabletDriver and WacomTouchDriver from /Library/Application Support/Tablet/ to this Input Monitoring apps list...

However, you may just have to add other apps that requested control like photoshop.

How do I use a Wacom Intuos 3 with OS X Mojave (10.14.5)?

This is correct and Wacom is wrong. Apps have to ask formally for this entitlement in code, so Wacom needs to ship a fix so their application or driver asks for permission.

They are also correct for some people, once permission has been granted to software that asked properly, you can drag and drop, but that is either a bug or not how newer Apple software works.

Until it’s clear, update your Apple software if you feel the drag and drop is a bug that Apple will fix. Contact Wacom for an update or support when their instructions fail you.


Can I connect a Thunderbolt Display and a MacBook Retina 12" using usb-c to thunderbolt 2 adapter

Unfortunately, you cannot use your MacBook 12" with a Thunderbolt Display.

Per Apple Support, you need a Mac with a Thunderbolt connection in order to drive this display and the MacBook just doesn't have that capability

The Thunderbolt Display is more of a Thunderbolt hub with a display attached rather than a mini Display Port display with Thunderbolt compatability.

The port on the MacBook 12" (Early 2015) is USB C 3.1 only and no adapter will convert USB to TB.


I have a shared folder called "Foldername" that shows up on another computer as "Foldername-2"

The -# suffix is appended to an item in OS X when another item with an identical name already exists in that directory. Is there a chance you're enabling a shared folder that's named exactly the same as a folder that already exists in that directory?


How to schedule Mac software updates at a particular time in Yosemite?

How are you searching for it?  If in Spotlight, don't. The Software Update.app bundle is exactly where the reference states that is it!  Its fully qualified pathname is /System/Library/CoreServices/Software Update.app and you can see it in Finder by starting in the root of the Macintosh HD or if in iCal when selecting the file to open, make sure you start navigating to it from the root of the Macintosh HD (or whatever the name of your HD is).


You have "Close windows when quitting an app" checked on the machine that does not restore the terminal windows (your second machine).

This setting is in System Preferences -> General  not in your Terminal preferences.

Uncheck this box to get the desired behavior.  Understand however that this behavior can extend to other applications as well - it is not restricted to Terminal.app

As for the scroll bars, I suspect you will find that the Show Scroll Bars radio button in System Preferences -> General is not set the same on your two machines.


Button "Use as Defaults" are missing in View Options panel (Mountain Lion)

Here is the simple reason:

You are in this view and it does not have the Default, it is already default.

Switch to list view to set the defaults for it.


Not sure if this is the kind of information you are looking for but there is the System Information application.

You can launch it from Spotlight, or by clicking on the Apple symbol in the menubar and selecting "About the Mac" and then clicking "System Report...".

If you select USB from the list of hardware types on the left-hand side, you will get some information about the USB devices plugged into your Mac including VendorID, ProductID and Manufacturer.


The audiobook can be found in iBooks. For some reason the newly added audiobooks are listed at the bottom of the list after all of the random stuff that is in iCloud.

If you tap "All Books" at the top in the center you can select "Audiobooks" to see only audiobooks.


Terminal commands in Automator for Profile Manager maintenance

Google: bash script how to - A bash script is nothing more then a plain text file that starts with the appropriate shebang and has the commands you want to execute, one line at at time. Then made executable with chmod and if not placed in a directory in the PATH use ./filename to execute it.

The ./filename method requires it in the PWD in Terminal, otherwise use the fully qualified pathname. Placing it in a directory in the PATH is typically easiest to then subsequently execute as needed just by filename.

Example:

In Terminal:

touch cleartasks
open cleartasks

Add to opened file:

#!/bin/bash
sudo -u _devicemgr psql -U _devicemgr -d devicemgr_v2m0 -h /Library/Server/ProfileManager/Config/var/PostgreSQL -c "DELETE FROM library_item_tasks WHERE completed_at IS NOT NULL"
sudo -u _devicemgr psql -U _devicemgr -d devicemgr_v2m0 -h /Library/Server/ProfileManager/Config/var/PostgreSQL -c "DELETE FROM library_item_tasks WHERE completed_at IS NULL"

Save the file.

Back in Terminal, make it executable:

chmod u+x cleartasks

To execute:

./cleartasks


You need to look in General Settings. Scroll down to Accessibility. In there, you have a switch to turn White on Black on/off. That's the thing that reverses the colours on the iPhone.

Is your iPhone jailbroken?


Error while trying to open new Emacs.app after upgrade to Yosemite

While I don't know what exactly happened, turns out if you won't launch this from tmux -- you'll be just fine.

// thanks https://github.com/atom/atom/issues/3093


Cannot open Mail Preferences in Mountain Lion

Go to ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Preferences and move the file com.apple.mail.plist to the Desktop and restart Mail.

Other plist files exist in ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/ but I'd start with the above plist first. In this directory you could also manually remove the offending account (particularly if the mail is also stored online) and re-add it.


Pressing first letter of user account name does not select user in login window

Did Apple remove this feature for some reason?

No, this has not been removed. You should still be able to select users at the login window via the first letter of their user name, or via using the tab and arrow keys.

If not, is there a setting anywhere to switch this feature back on?

At the outset let me say this may not be the likely solution for you. However, I have seen this behaviour and thought it was worth mentioning in case it helps you or others.

If your Mac running El Capitan is a desktop Mac (i.e. iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Pro, etc) and it happens to be plugged into a UPS (i.e. an Uninterruptible Power Supply), then shut down your Mac and unplug it from the UPS. Now plug it into another AC power outlet and reboot it. Check to see how your login window behaves now?

If on the off chance this is your situation and your Mac now works as you'd like, an option that may help you is upgrading your OS to macOS Sierra. I say this only because macOS Sierra offers some native support for using a UPS and this may or may not rectify this issue.


How do I remove all traces of my Apple ID from a borrowed MBA?

Apps downloaded from the App Store are tied to the Apple ID they were purchased under, and can only be updated with that Apple ID. From what you're describing, you must've installed some apps (licensed to your Apple ID) on his Mac while you were using it.

The simplest solution is to figure out which apps are licensed to you, delete them from his Mac (you can simply use the Finder to drag them from the /Applications folder to the trash), and then (if appropriate) purchase/download them under his Apple ID.


Airpod pros active noise cancellation seems to activate with loud noises normal?

I experience this as well - pretty sure it’s a feature to protect our hearing.


Can I set the sender/reply-to address in iOS mail for an ActiveSync account?

Unfortunately, no; it's not possible to specify a "Send From" address with an Exchange ActiveSync account. An Exchange Activesync account will always use the primary email address associated with it as the address the message is sent from.


The App Store only opens "Updates" — How to fix?

Try this:

Double-click the Home button (press it twice quickly):

The Multitasking Screen appears. Locate the App Store and drag it off the screen by swiping up on it:

Press the Home button again.
Relaunch the App Store.


How can I boot a 2012 Mac Mini off of a USB thumbdrive with CentOS on it?

It appears that the Mac Mini version that I purchased cannot, as of the time of this post, accept an alternate operating system. Hacks and workarounds may exist, but they are not apparent.


On the ios inscript hindi devanagari keyboard how do I type a र् or "verama" character?

Just hold down the र key and you should get a popup menu with the eyelash version to select.


Is there any app to monitor how long has each app been actively used?

I believe RescueTime will do this. It will also break down your browser usage by site, which is useful too.


Is there any problem I should watch out for in running the Nix package manager alongside Homebrew?

My experience so far is that yes, you can run both. I also naïvely installed nix thinking I would use that instead of homebrew, but I soon ran into packages that were only found in homebrew. So I installed both and never had any conflicts. And there should be none, as they simply overlay scopes sequentially. If you evaluate nix after homebrew in your path, it will take precedence, and vice-versa. Their stores are completely separate.

However if you want to be super clean, you can do this:

$ <install homebrew>
$ brew tap caskroom/cask
$ brew cask install nix

Yes, nix is currently just another package within cask! Isn't that amazing?


Kernel Panic loop on iMac and no startup mode works

I would bring a second OS like recovery and erase it or bring this Mac in target disk mode to attempt a data transfer or erase/repair.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314
https://www.prosofteng.com/blog/using-target-disk-mode-to-recover-macintosh-hard-drive

It’s possible you have a hardware issue, but why not exhaust some extra steps before you attempt to erase the drive entirely and confirm it’s hardware or you just needed an erase?

When you follow the links above you can consider a data transfer and then do the erase. If no OS including internet recovery works, your kernel panics will be hardware to resolve and not software.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT200553


Thunderbolt Display's audio 'cracking, hissing' noises after El Capitan upgrade

I have the same issue since El Capitan upgrade (2012 MBA).  No other TB devices connected apart from the display.  A restart seems to help, for a short time, as does switching the audio output from the display to the internal speakers and back again.

Removing all USB peripherals plugged into the display seems to prevent it happening, but is not exactly a "solution".  Other devices are just a Apple USB keyboard, Logitech wired mouse, and a powered USB3 external HDD.

I thought it might be a grounding problem (no idea why the OS upgrade would affect this), but no amount of grounding the aluminum keyboard to the computer casing, or the display casing etc. seems to make a difference.

I am not aware of any core audio plugins installed - any way to find this out?


How do I enable a British English voice in Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation on iOS?

There are two steps involved:

Change your Siri voice settings to English (United Kingdom) - as of iOS 7.1.2 this is under Settings > General > Siri > Language and also Settings > General > International > Voice Control (they're both the same setting: change one and the other changes too).
Change your device Language setting to British English: it's under Settings > General > International > Language.

That second one was difficult to find because the default option is English - as opposed to English (United States) which always prompts me to check for an English (United Kingdom) version - and the list is not in alphabetical order: British English and Australian English are both there but way down at the bottom. And weirdly, devices bought in the UK come with most settings defaulting to British but not this one.

You'll know if your device is set to British English because the Cellular option in Settings becomes Mobile.

NB: If your device already has these settings and you still get an American accent, try changing the device language to US English, then back to UK English.


Is there a black&white option for color printer when using air print?

The built-in AirPrint doesn't allow this sort of functionality as of iOS 4, but if you get the HP ePrint app, you should be able to do B&W printing and manage other settings. This of course only works if you have an AirPrint/ePrint HP printer, it won't work with any other printer that you've hacked to set up with AirPrint.


Why can't I download certain tracks I purchased in iTunes?

Generally the iCloud symbol in your library means the file has yet to be downloaded, therefore it's absence also generally means that the file has been downloaded and is locally present. Try downloading the ones with iCloud symbols then doing your transfer.

If I am misinterpreting this and you can't transfer the files at all, whilst your iPad is connected there is a "Transfer Purchases" button under File > Devices in iTunes's menu bar to transfer files directly.


TLDR; Feature was removed

The OP followed my suggestion in idea #4 and followed up on the iterm2's forums on Google Group. He asked his question there: Open windows as "tab groups".

A dev answered his inquiry there:

  George Nachman

  Apr 17

  That was a bug which was out for a version or two a year ago when
  macOS added support for native tabs. It kind of sort of works but it
  has a lot of rough edges so it got disabled. Amusingly, Apple even
  tried to disable it for iTerm2 but it doesn't seem to have worked.

Idea #1 - iterm preferences

If you go into iterm2's preferences under the Profiles tab (red #1 below) is another group of tabs. If you select the Window sub-tab (red #2 below) there's a check box that sounds like what you're looking for.

Open Preference Dialog

Preference Dialog

Idea #2 - Panes

Upon further researching this I can only conclude that what you're referring to as "windows" in your example are in fact panes. Here's an example where I've setup 3 panes with tabs underneath them.

Panes show up when you either vertically or horizontally split a tab. They're mentioned here in the iterm2 documentation. They're accessible when you right click on a tab and then split it:

You can also create panes with the keyboard shortcuts:

(Vertically split) - ⌘ + D
(Horizontally split) - ⌘ + shift + D

Idea #3

I haven't been able to substantiate this but I wonder if Iterm2 was utilizing this property of the Dock in previous versions and then dropped it? When this option is set in the Dock to "Always" applications such as Finder and TextEdit will open new documents within a tab vs. a new window even when the "new window" option is selected within the application.

Option in Docker

Example of TextEdit tabs

Idea #4 - open a ticket with iterm2 upstream

If neither of the above shakes anything out you can always try opening a ticket with Iterm2 on their Gitlab page or ask this question in their support forums.

https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/issues
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/iterm2-discuss

There's also the Github which appears to be just code, no issues:

https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2

References

How to Set All Mac Apps to Prefer Tabs with New Document and Windows


Apple decided not to include X11 in Mountain Lion: Apple Support Article

But there is now a native version of GIMP for mountain lion which requires no X11:
Gimp Downloads

However, if you need to run the old version of GIMP you can download xquartz as mentioned in the apple support document linked above.

When you try to run GIMP again, you can find Xquartz in

/Applications/Utilities/XQuartz.app

Enjoy GIMP!


If you run sudo strings /usr/bin/sudo you get (among a lot of other things)

Sudo version %s
1.8.17p1
Configure options: %s
--with-password-timeout=0 --disable-setreuid --with-env-editor --with-pam
--with-libraries=bsm --with-noexec=no --sysconfdir=/private/etc
--without-lecture --enable-static-sudoers --with-rundir=/var/db/sudo

For insults to be included, --with-insults (or any of the other insult options mentioned in the INSTALL file) would need to be used when compiling sudo:

--with-insults
    Define this if you want to be insulted for typing an incorrect password
    just like the original sudo(8).  This is off by default.
    Sudoers option: insults

See How do I install sudo insults on Mac? for instructions on how to compile it yourself.


How should I give my old iPhone 3GS away to be used as an iPod touch?

A new SIM card is only necessary if you want to still use it as a phone.  You don't have to change the SIM card (but do leave the old one in place) if all it's going to be used for is an 'ipod touch' type experience.  Your cellular provider will have turned off that SIM when you activated your newer iPhone.

Take your old 3GS and go to 'Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.

This effectively makes it a new phone.  No apps will be present other than the default apps that are on all new iPhones.  There will be no record of your appleID on the phone.

Now if your niece wants to buy apps from the app store she'll need to set-up and use her own apple ID.

See also this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3399341


ITunes backups - how's the UID generated?

Given the length of the UID, I suspect the value is a cryptographic hash value. Hashes are often used to avoid collisions and can be recreated if the original input is known.

SHA1 is 40 characters when hex encoded.

We can rule out an OS X uuid and Window's GUID as the lengths are too short. Additionally values returned by uuid on the same hardware include identical segments – unlike a hash.


iPhone 5c does not alert imessages from email addresses

On the iPhone go to Settings --> Notifications --> Messages and make sure the following are all turned on, depending on what you want:

Allow Notifications
Show in Notification Center
Sounds --> <select sound>
Badge App Icon
Show on Lock Screen

Under Alert Style When Unlocked select either Banners or Alerts, depending on how you want to be alerted.

As mentioned by @bmike, your Do Not Disturb setting will affect if the alerts go thru or not.


How can I use a newly installed font as an input source?

You can not simply "type in another font" system-wide, since it is each application's responsibility to include support for fonts on its own. Installing a new font merely gives you the possibility to use it in applications, for example a plain-text application will never be able to handle fonts at all.

If what you want is to change the system font itself, then the answer is here: Can I change the font systemwide (10.8.3)


Is there a native/cocoa REST client for Mac OS X?

Here's one client:

http://code.google.com/p/cocoa-rest-client/


How to disable any and all eye-candy features on Mac OS X 10.6.8?

You can use applications such as Onyx or Tinkertool to minimize the amount of effects that are displayed on OS X. OS X does not have a built in function to disable graphics like Windows does.


The menu bar and application spinners are very indirect / poor ways to see if network traffic is flowing. They can indicate a dropped connection, stalled data connection if a request was made and not aknowledged.

You would do best to log in to your router and see a traffic graph. If that's not feasible, you can also open Activity Monitor on the Mac.

There is a network activity graph that shows packets per second and bandwidth in real time.

Basically - when someone says "no data is used when I search" the correct answer is - "great, go ahead and disconnect from WiFi while you search since you don't need data to do that". It's possible the data exchanged during search / navigation is low, but it's not going to be no data.


Family Sharing working on iOS 8 but not on Yosemite

The severs seem to get stuck sometimes when you set up Family Sharing.

Best way I've found to jog their elbow is just to download any new freebie app.


Shift scroll doesn't horizontally scroll with any external mouse

The issue was that I was using Mos to enable smooth scrolling on my Mac.

However, it removes the ability to scroll horizontally using the shift key by default. To reenable this behavior, go to Mos Settings > Advanced and then select "Shift" as the horizontal scrolling key. That should do it!


How do I open images in Preview at full size?


Why does AddressBookSourceSync request connections to myriad different servers?

It isn't actually connecting to those sites it is connecting to Akamai server that host content for several sites. If you click on the "Show details button" You'll see that the reverse DNS name is for an Akamai server.


How do I change Sourcetree icon shown in Dock?

If anyone is interested, the issue was Pride icon on SourceTree app. I've found the solution here: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Sourcetree-discussions/The-way-to-change-icon-for-Sourcetree-app/td-p/1110914

Go to https://github.com/alexzielenski/ThemeEngine
Switch to releases tab (I took the latest pre-release)
Download .zip and extract it
Open the Sourcetree.app with right click - show package contents and navigate to Contents/Resources
Copy Assets.car and sourcetree.icns to any folder
Run ThemeEngine from the zip in step 3
In ThemeEngine click "Open Document" and open the Assets.car
Find the icon named Pridetree
Open sourctree.icns with your preferred app - I used preview. Clicked on second icon pressed cmd + a to select whole image and pressed cmd + c to copy it.
Clicked on first image in Pridetree ThemeEngine and pressed cmd + v to paste it.
Repeat with second image.
Save the document
Replace Assets.car in the app Contents/Resources with modified Assets.car.

Do not forget to backup your files. Your are doing this on your own risk as I do not know if it actually breaks the EULA.


Guest user randomly created on my Mac, after setting up Find My Mac

With Find My Mac enabled, someone who found the computer could sign into the guest user, which could then be located via iCloud. The guest user is a feature of the operating system which allows people to temporarily use your computer but not save any files.

You can go into Users&Groups System Preferences and disable it, for more details see this article

Just make sure you don't sign into it and expect files you save to still be there after restarting the computer :)


Full expression friendly calculator app?

gcalctool is available in MacPorts

Download and install MacPorts
Perform the following action to install gcalctool from within a Terminal:

sudo port install gcalctool


What, if anything, has changed regarding retrieving an older version of an iOS app from a local backup?

iTunes 12.6.5.3 was the last version that had the ability to download apps.
On September 12, 2018 Apple released iTunes 12.7.0.166 which removed the built-in App Store browser and thus the supported ability to store downloaded copies of apps on the machine that iTunes is running on.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_iTunes
See also the article (and comments for) Apple Releases iTunes 12.7 With Major Changes, Including No Built-In App Store
If you want to do this today, you need to archive the older version of said app BEFORE you want to restore it. You can do this with a tool like iMazing, that allows you to maintain a local library of apps that are installed on an iOS device.
Caveat: You must download the app to the local library while it is still available from the MAS. There is no way to retrieve it from the iOS device.


How to hack into a deceased person's Mac that is still running?

If your friend have something like family documents which can prove the relationship between him and his passed one, then try to contact Apple for solution. They do solve sort of situations like this :)


What is the software different between Apple Lisa and first Macintosh?

I'm pretty sure Apple had a mouse for the Apple II line although I'm not sure if it overlapped with the Lisa and Mac.

The first Lisa had its own operating system which used an early version of Bill Atkinson's quickdraw routines, had overlapping windows, pull down menus although if memory serves it had a document model more like OpenDoc than what the Mac had a bit later.

After the Mac came out in 1984 the Lisa was rebranded "Macintosh XL" and it used an early version of the Macintosh OS until it was phased out.

In short, the Lisa was the bridge between the ideas that Jobs, Atkinson and others had seen at Xerox PARC and the Mac.

Here's an excellent history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_lisa


Is there a way to get Spotlight to search for xattr?

Based on this, yes but you are limited to using com.apple attributes. As for extending Spotlight to any xattrib tags, you could but you will need to develop an importer for Spotlight. There are plenty of metadata tags available, I would pick one to be used as a personal tag.

If committed to searching by custom xattrib, I would give up on Spotlight and use:

find . -xattrname foo


Can I use the LastResort font in a web page?

I suggest you use a different font which has the actual numbers of the characters and not just symbols like Last Resort.  Here is one, but it does not cover higher ranges of Unicode where many emoji are.  Another which seems to cover more characters is GNU Unifont.


Unable to login after accidentally powering down laptop as FileVault decryption of HDD was running

Sorry but I don't have good news for you. The "home solution" is to erase and reinstall with DU. The good news might be if you had up to date backup to restore your system from.


Safari doesn't remember tabs in Mountain Lion

Undo quitting of all applications
Apple has slightly changed the wording but the location for this setting is still the same as in Lion:
System Preferences → General → Close windows when quitting an application
Undo quitting for a specific application
This works only with Close windows when quitting an application disabled at the same time.
Type the following command in the Terminal. Then restart the specific application.
In general the syntax is:
defaults write com."producer"."program-name" ApplePersistenceIgnoreState YES

Thus, in your case (Safari.app) it is:
defaults write com.apple.Safari ApplePersistenceIgnoreState YES

You can undo this by using the parameter NO instead.
If you prefer a graphical interface, you can use TinkerTool. But the current version 4.9 only supports the toggling on a per app basis in Lion. I'll update this answer when TinkerTool adds this feature for Mountain Lion as well.


Is there a way to completely remove all data access, including WiFi, on iPhone 4?

All iOS devices come with built-in "Restrictions" settings as a form of Parental Control. By enabling Restrictions, you can restrict access to certain functionality of the device, including web browsing and other capabilities.

To enable Restrictions:

Open "Settings"
Navigate to and tap "General"
Scroll down and tap "Restrictions"
Tap "Enable Restrictions" and enter a passcode. Make sure this is a passcode that only you and your partner will know. It will be used to deactivate restrictions once she has earned your trust, or to temporarily enable certain functionality.
Toggle off any functionality that you do not want your daughter to have access to (and toggle it back on if you want to incrementally allow her access again)
Browse through the extra settings and decide which you wish to restrict access to (Facebook and Twitter can come in useful here).
When you are done, simply tap out or close "Settings"

While this isn't a perfect solution, you will be able to prevent her from browsing the web, using FaceTime or installing any apps this way until she has redeemed herself.

To further restrict her, you can do as @Buscar has suggested above and contact Sprint to limit her cellular data access, and I would recommend either changing your WiFi password to something she can't guess (and thus input to connect when you aren't looking) or, even better, block the iPhone's MAC address from your WiFi router. You can find the MAC address in "Settings" -> "General" -> "About".

Doing all of the above will essentially limit her to simply phone calls and texts (she will be access any media such as music or photos loaded on to the device, however).


How much space for Bootcamp WIndows OS only

Microsoft's minimum requirements for Windows 8 are 16GB for 32-bit and 20GB for 64-bit (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-8/system-requirements).  You may not plan to install anything else, but likely will like Acrobat, VLC and other utilities you will deploy over time to support day to day use of the OS.  Also with the typical updates of the OS, etc. space in the disk will fill up.  That said I would recommend you double the minimum requirements to ensure your disk has the room you need over the long term.  Another option would be to run Windows virtualized in something like Parallels.  I understand the benefits of Boot Camp...but the benefits of virtualization trump the performance hit for me.


How can I customize the Guest user Dock in Yosemite?

Right after posting this I thought of another approach. It's not perfect but it's the best I've come up with, and it mostly works.

After copying my desired configuration to /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Dock.plist, I ran chflags uchg /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Library/Preferences/. (I'm not sure why the flag needs to be set on the Preferences folder, rather than on the plist file itself, but that's the only way it works.) On logging into the Guest account, my customized Dock was intact! The only problem is that the user creation script still adds icons for Maps and iBooks, but that's not the end of the world.

If anybody else has any other ideas, I'd love to hear them. I want to believe there's a better solution, but at least I've got something that works now.


Convert bin/cue image to iso format on OS X?

A nice tool is bchunk (I have used it under linux) which is available in homebrew.

$ brew install bchunk
==> Downloading http://he.fi/bchunk/bchunk-1.2.0.tar.gz
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> make
/usr/local/Cellar/bchunk/1.2.0: 5 files, 56K, built in 2 seconds
Avatars-MBP:~ avatar$ bchunk a.bin a.cue test