Does this mean my fusion drive has split?

Note that the article says "in the Finder". Disk Utility shows you more detailed information, because it's ... well... Disk Utility. The Fusion logical volume is stored within a "container" data structure. You may see more information if you have checked "Show All Devices" in the View menu.

A fusion drive is usually made of 1Tb mechanical drive with a 120Gb SSD. If your Fusion drive had "split", you would see two separate volumes on the Desktop.
(Oh, and you wouldn't have a working system, as both volumes would be unreadable and all your data would be lost!)


What is the angular velocity of the macOS beach ball?

The animation is 15 frames long with a delay of 0.033 seconds between frames.


I would start by checking the folders /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons. In these folders you will find a bunch of "plist" scripts that tell the system how and when to launch certain pieces of software.

I think you'll find one there that tells the system to launch this "alumni" software. Given that the software doesn't appear to exist on your system as reported by the errors in your logs, you are safe to delete the relevant plist file. Then reboot for the change to take effect.

Please be careful though not to delete any of the other plist files unless you are certain what they are.


Difference between MacBook Pro 13" Early 2011 MC700LL/A and current model 13" / 13" retina?

In my opinion, I'd get the newest Mac, especially if you get a warranty with it. The newer the computer, the more OS X updates it can handle. As far as graphics go, I'd go with the one that has better specs. If you do end up buying a new one, upgrade the RAM, and if you plan on working with video editing software, definitely get the i7 processor instead of an i5. I currently use a Mid 2012 MBP (Non retina) and it functions pretty well, however, there are times when rendering videos gives me the "Spinning Wheel of Death". The new one is going to be better, even if it's a little more. And as far as your statement about the "Macbook Pro hasn't changed much since 2012", the new ones are lighter but don't include disc slots, so keep that in mind. The new MBP is definitely an improvement, and although the looks haven't changed much, it'll (most likely) run smoother and gain more support for future updates.

EDIT
If you can (I haven't bough a new Mac in a while so I'm not sure you can do this with laptops), upgrade your graphics card to the Nvida (whatever model they have). It helps a lot with 3D animation and graphics.


I have a similar scenario in that I need to access a Linux system on my LAN from my MacBook Pro, so I use the free version of NoMachine. It's available for Windows, Linux and OS X.

You first have to hook up a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to get NoMachine installed and configured on the Mac and then connect at least once from the Windows system.  You could then shutdown the Mac mini, unplug monitor, keyboard, and mouse and then restart the Mac mini.  I'm assuming you also have it set to auto login.

It would need to be installed on both the Windows and Mac systems.


/etc/fstab doesn't exist by default, only if anything has previously needed it. fstab itself is merely a text file. If nothing has previously needed one, you can make it yourself.

The standard header appears to be a comment with vague instructions as to how the syntax works...

# fstab
#
# Identifier  mount point  fs type  options1
#

below that is your mount or ignore instruction, e.g.

UUID=C126C736-1585-3D12-9CF1-F95EFF0CF744 none hfs rw,noauto

or

LABEL=[drivename] none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse

There is far more information on fstab at https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man5/fstab.5.html than I could possibly précis here, or type man fstab in Terminal.


Can't find an option to turn off cellular data for an application on iPhone (iOS 14)

I can't stand this iPhone "feature", but for an app to appear in the list where you can turn cellular data on or off:

the app must be launched once with cellular data on;
sometimes it is not enough - you must not only launch the app, you must do something with it actively.

Though, it may be that for newer iPhones this is not longer the case.


Not sure if this still works, but give it a shot:

Hold down the Option key when clicking on the Purchased tab key in the Mac App Store app. That shortcut makes Lion reappear in the list (if you bought it there). Make a copy of the installer and put it on a USB key or DVD. You can also Google around to find out how to make a bootable copy as well.


I use Alfred for the Mac -- one of the most used tools I have. https://www.alfredapp.com

You will need the PowerPack for workflows. As a user I would recommend the lifetime update option. It keeps getting better and better.

There is an Alfred workflow created: https://github.com/obstschale/NSC/ that easily does number format conversion.


How to make a bootable usb with the Sierra installer from the App Store.
Change "MyVolume" to the name of your usb drive

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app


Is LCD digitizer different on iPad 2 for different languages?

No, all digitisers for a certain model of iPad are the same regardless of where the iPad was purchased. Input of Japanese characters is a software feature independent of the location where the digitiser was purchased.


MacBook Pro, Thunderbolt Display and overheating

i don't know why, but when i stopped using the mag safe from the thunderbolt display to power my MBP, and just used my normal power adapter, I quit having the overheating problem. I've taken my display to apple several times and they can't figure out why it keeps overheating and turning off.


The answer depends. If you are using an apple email (such as me.com, iCLoud.com, mac.com, etc) then that email address is by default an apple id, and I don't know of a way to edit it.

If you are using a 3rd party email address (such as hotmail, gmail, yahoo, your own domain etc) as your appleid, then you should first TURN OFF FindMyIPhone on your device if it is enabled.  (DO NOT change your primary Apple ID with FindMyIPhone enabled, it can be enabled again as soon as you are done with the changes.)

Next navigate to http://appleid.apple.com and choose the "manage" option, then log in.  An "Edit" button will appear next to your primary appleid.  (if the Edit button does not appear then you are using an apple generated email address such as me.com, iCloud.com, mac.com etc.)

Next on your phone go to the settings app, and log out and log back in for iCloud, iTunes and App Store, iMessage, Facetime, Game Center, and update email accounts if needed).

Once everything is working as expected be sure to turn FindMyIPhone back on.  (It is possible to get out of the mess you create attempting to do this with FindMyIPhone turned on--i did it-- but it is much simpler to just turn it off before starting and re-enable it at the end of the process).


2015 MacBook Pro 15” Cooling fans seem to be spinning in opposite direction?

Did a SMC reset and it seemed to fix to issue.


How do I copy the name of the song currently playing on an internet radio station in iTunes?

Use this AppleScript to copy the current stream title to the clipboard:

tell application "iTunes"
    set stream_title to (get current stream title)
end tell

set the clipboard to stream_title
display dialog stream_title & " copied to clipboard." -- delete line to omit dialog

To install it as iTunes script, copy & paste the above into the AppleScript Editor and save it under Library/iTunes/Scripts in your home folder, giving it a sensible name, such as Copy Stream Title to Clipboard. Create the Scripts folder if it doesn't exist. This will make iTunes grow a little script icon in it's menu bar where you can select the script.


Moving data from Mid-2010 iMac to Late 2015 iMac

Wired ethernet (gigabit on both ends) will be every bit as fast as Firewire to Thunderbolt and without the cost of the adapter.

Depending on how noisy your Wireless environment is, you might have a limiting factor in the speed of the old iMac hard drive that's lower than WiFi throughput, but wired ethernet is so much more reliable, I'd do that if you can.

If you decide to try a wireless set up, use the fast new Mac to create a WiFi network and join the old iMac so that all the radio speed is dedicated to the transfer if you wanted to go that way with more than 10 GB of files to transfer (presumably).


2FA codes not received on Messages in macOS

Sounds like you are receiving/sending iMessages on your Mac, but not SMS (used for 2FA).
In your iPhone settings, go to “Messages”, and setup “Text Message Forwarding” to your Mac.
More info on Apple Support.


Vertical colored lines on broken screen -- is it just my screen?

The glass and screen are fused together at the factory. Replacement kits, such as those sold by iFixit, include the glass, LCD/digitizer (screen), and other parts. Cell phone repair stores/kiosks use this same type of thing when repairing devices.

It's possible that additional parts inside the device were damaged, but it's also just as possible (and probably more likely) that the screen is simply too heavily damaged to display anything.

Also of note - Apple will fix a broken screen for $129 out of warranty, so keep that in mind when comparing prices if you move forward with repairs.


MacOS High Sierra Suddenly Bloated by About 40GB

I would recommend an app like OmniDiskSweeper https://www.omnigroup.com/more to help you. Have it search the entire drive, not just your home directory.


Backing up a large sparsebundle using Time Machine

The only time I've seen the error you report was when I stored a sparse disk bunds inside another sparse disk bundle and both were remotely mounted on a fairly slow network storage device such as a Time Capsule.

In those cases, I've often excluded the original image directory from the Time Machine backups, since it works in theory (and most of the time in practice), you can't get any benefits of browsing those files on a Time Machine backup.

I usually set up rsync or another incremental backup tool to copy those files on a schedule I like (perhaps automating it all with Lingon 3).

By restoring the file to a local drive, you'll know if the failure to mount is due to an actual corruption or just network indirection and time out.

Once it's copied to an attached or internal disk, you might also be able to use Disk Utility to patch up filesystem errors although with encrypted sparse disk bundles, that is often not successful.


Check out the Mono Project. It may be what you are looking for.

http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:OSX

MonoDevelop is a cross-platform IDE primarily designed for C# and other .NET languages. MonoDevelop enables developers to quickly write desktop and ASP.NET Web applications on Linux, Windows and Mac OSX. MonoDevelop makes it easy for developers to port .NET applications created with Visual Studio to Linux and Mac OSX maintaining a single code base for all platforms.


deleted select photos previously synced to my phone but not the whole folder

I would turn on iCloud sync of photos so you can use a computer to ohotos to be deleted or just delete them from a larger screen.

For me, using a computer via photos is even better, but you might not have a Mac but just about everyone can borrow a computer to organize things easier than tapping on an iPhone.


Making file associations launch a certain extension, but with a console program?

Yes, you need to wrap the console program in something that turns it into a Mac app, Automator being the easiest way.

Select 'New' in Automator's File menu and create an application. Application's in Automator automatically receive the selected files and folders.

You just need a single Automator action, "Run Shell Script". The body of the action is the console command. You then set it to pass input as arguments.

Once you save it you can use it in an "Open With" dialog but you will have to browse to it using the "Other" selection.


MacBook Pro with Retina display - three external displays under Boot Camp

I see no reason why you could not plug three external monitors into a Mac, whether it's running OS X, or Windows under bootcamp.

There are two Thunderbolt connectors and one HDMI connector, and they all work as video outputs - the driver should be able to handle a monitor plugged into each of these.

As the comment on the question mentions, Windows does not know how to handle retina displays all that well - but for external (non-retina) monitors it should not have any issues.


where is the tooltip gone for misspelled words in ios 10

The feature you're talking about is called spell check, and is different to the automatic spelling correction that occurs when you type.

It still exists in iOS 10.

To make sure that it is enabled:

Settings > General > Keyboard > Slide "Check Spelling to on"

If it is already enabled, I would recommend disabling it, restarting, re-enabling it and then restarting again to be sure.

Lastly, make sure you are using the default Apple keyboard by going

Settings > General > Keyboard  > Keyboards > Ensure "English UK" or "S" is checked.


In iOS Safari, why aren't the Facebook social plugin cookies blocked, in spite of the "from visited" option?

Facebook's 'social plugin' is iframed, and as far as the browser is concerned content in an iframe is on the domain that served the iframe, not the domain of the page that had the iframe in it.

So, to the 'social plugin', facebook's cookies are first-party cookies, not third-party ones.


If iMessage is off, and someone sends a message as iMessage, will she be able to receive it once she turn iMessage on?

No. The messages will only pull through from the point iMessage is turned on. Only in a situation where iMessage is turned on but the computer is unable to receive them (sleep, offline, etc) will it backload messages.


install windows 7 32-bit using boot-camp on snow-leopard

Thousands of tutorials can be found using Google or YouTube, for example:

http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/01/15/using-boot-camp-to-install-windows-7-on-your-mac-the-complete-walkthrough/

http://gizmodo.com/5387353/how-to-survive-boot-camp-and-run-win-7-on-a-mac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM2495dmO0I


What matters most is the the motherboard and its components are in a good state, anything around (battery, screen, cameras, etc) can be replaced without touching the encryption chain. If it is broken (solder, contacts, etc), then you'll need to rebuild the chain; which is possible (check with harddrive recovery companies); if components are broken, you still can recover the chain with specialized services (using microscopes, white room and microelectronics) to get the AES key (I think hard coded/stored in the SoC/CPU if not in a security chip), and then I think only the memory chip is needed (which does not store the key).
If you can show a photograph of the motherboard instead of the screen, one might be able to tell more about the actual situation.


launchd run command every minute of a specific hour

Edit start

You got it all correct except for enclosing your <dict> element inside an <array> element. Your script will run every minute from 21:00 to 21:59 with the following as your StartCalendarInterval key :

    <key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>Hour</key>
            <integer>21</integer>
        </dict>
    </array>

If you wanted your script to run every minute, every hour, every day, every year, the following would be the correct (but certainly not obvious)  syntax for that:

    <key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
    <array>
        <dict/>
    </array>

My original answer (below) would also work, but it's clearly much more tedious! OTOH, if one needed every other minute, or certain minutes, it might be useful.

Edit end

<key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>Minute</key>
            <integer>0</integer>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>Minute</key>
            <integer>1</integer>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>Minute</key>
            <integer>2</integer>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>Minute</key>
            <integer>3</integer>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>Minute</key>
            <integer>4</integer>
        </dict>

       ... ad nauseum ...

        <dict>
            <key>Minute</key>
            <integer>59</integer>
        </dict>

    </array>

To answer your question, "Why is this not running every minute?", it's only because you failed to enclose <dict> inside <array>.  FWIW, it seems very odd to me also, and WHY it's designed this way is an answer I'd like to hear myself. But then I guess Apple could use the defense that "just because the semantics are similar does not mean the syntax is."


How do I copy the location of a track to the "Comments" section in iTunes?

Because you copy the location to the Comments variable.

Here's how to put the location in the comment tag.

tell application "iTunes"
  tell track 1 of playlist "Test" to set comment to (its location as text)
  -- or set comment  of track 1 of playlist "Test" to (get location of track 1 of playlist "Test") as text
end tell


permanently turn off discrete graphics chip on macbook pro

I called apple, and even though the macbook was 5 years out of warranty, and the warranty extension program had finished end 2016, they still honoured the warranty.  So i got a new logic board for free.  Happy days. ;-)


After Updating to High Sierra, my bluetooth headphones have terrible sound quality

Facing exactly the same problem, repairing/rebooting won't work.

But after I switched the mic setting back to Internal Microphone the standard audio quality is back. I guess the audio quality is degraded while the mic is active.


Scaling external display text & UI components

I have found the MacBooks to be rather flakey when it comes to multiple monitors. However, I have found that if you hit the option key while selecting the scale radio button you get more options for the 4k monitors.

Also unplugging the HDMI cable seemed to reset the Mac to recognize that the monitor supported more resolutions.


Unix "ln -s" command not permitted in OSX El Capitan Beta3

This is the so called "rootless" mode in the new version of OS X. It effectively makes certain system directories read-only (even for admins). "/usr" is one of those protected directories (the only subdirectory that is excluded from this rule is "/usr/local")

One can disable this rootless mode with the following commands:

$ sudo nvram boot-args="rootless=0"
$ sudo reboot

But this is not recommended! The best practice is to install custom stuff to "/usr/local" only.

Update (27-Oct-15): 10.11 (El Capitan) Public Release

Please note that the above described workaround will not work with the public release of El Capitan anymore as Apple has changed things around.

The proper way to disable the "rootless" mode (aka System Integrity Protection, "SIP") is to boot temporarily into Recover Mode (hold Command+R during boot) and use the csrutil disable command (or csrutil enable to reenable) from the Terminal. The Terminal is reachable via the menu of the Installer that launches in Recovery Mode.


Can my web app use a UNIX socket on OS X Server?

It seems that the answer is No as OS X Server (3.2.1 as of today) comes with Apache 2.2 and from the Apache mod_proxy documents it seems that UDS support wasn't implemented in that release. I was reading a later version's documents.

Not wanting to recompile Apache on our production server, I will have to content myself with TCP ports - no real problem.


Anyone know of a single-pane Markdown editor for MacOS

Check out MacDown, it is free and although it has possibility to show edit both panes, you can close one pane using Shift + Cmd + H and then you can switch between edit and display mode using Shift + Cmd + E.

Hope it helps!


In which macOS version was the -json flag/switch added in system_profiler?

It was introduced in Catalina.

JSON wasn’t standardized until 2013 and Apple rarely implements new technology that hasn’t been standardized.  Looking at a man page from 10.9 (Mavericks) which was also released in 2013, the -json flag was not available.

It’s also not available in Mojave as the man page for that version doesn’t indicate the flag either.  I’ve tested it in Catalina and confirmed it exists there


How to jump between two volume levels quickly?

You can control the volume with AppleScript. For example:
set volume output volume 100
will set the volume to 100%
set volume output volume 5
will set it to 5%.
Via shell script, the commands would look like this:
osascript -e 'set volume output volume 100'
So that's part one: how to jump between 2 volume levels.
Part two is "How do I invoke those commands?"
I don't know any way to do it via the Touch Bar, but if I was committed to using that, I would look at BetterTouchTool.
My preferred solution would be a keyboard shortcut using Keyboard Maestro.
You could also use FastScripts.


I can't switch text messaging back from my email address to my phone number. iPhone 6 iOS 9.2

The loading wheel indicates that the servers that handle messaging on Apple's end are still busy processing your request.

It's kind of a busy day and you might have done everything correct - but if the servers are overloaded, you won't be able to use the activation / iMessage.

Some things to check:

http://apple.com/support/systemstatus
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201422

The second link is a great checklist - if you've done everything listed, it might be time to contact your cellular carrier and have them verify you can send/receive SMS. Once that's done, Apple's support is the next step to have them look into your account specifically if there isn't a general slowdown or outage. It does say that 24 hours can be the time needed for an activation to be processed. I presume they have engineers that look at all the failed activations and process or clear them manually or programatically - but I can't say that for certain.


You can drag the original into the save dialog to have it put you in the appropriate folder, and with the same file name as the file you dragged. Then you can just save and overwrite.


How do I install Windows on separate disk using GPT/EFI and BootCamp?

With respect to Microsoft Windows, 2012, through 2014 were translational years for Apple Macs. For the 2011 and older Macs, Windows is installed in BIOS/MBR mode using a Windows installer DVD. In 2012, Apple started to drop the optical drive from its Mac models. To allow Windows to be installed, the Boot Camp Assistant application copied the files from the Windows installer iso, to a USB flash drive. The "Boot Camp Support Software" was also included on the flash drive. To install older Windows versions, the "Boot Camp Support Software" files had to be manually copied to the flash drive.

Staring in 2015, Apple dropped the ability to install operating systems that require a BIOS/MBR boot method. This eliminated the possibility of installing Windows 7 on these Mac models. This change brought Macs update to date with the reset of the industry, which converted to EFI/GPT booting of Microsoft Windows in 2011. Also, with the release of El Capitan (OS X 10.11), the Boot Camp Assistant can now install Windows on certain Mac models without the use of a DVD or USB flash drive.

So where does this leave the transitional 2012 through 2014 model year Macs? I wish I had an absolute answer. Consider the following.

If one had Windows 7 installed in BIOS/MBR mode and upgraded to
Windows 10, then the result would be Windows 10 running in BIOS/MBR
mode using the "Boot Camp Support Software" intended for a Windows 7
installation. Some people have reported that running "Apple Software
Update" afterwards will result in the downloading and installing of
newer "Boot Camp Support Software".
Some people have installed Windows 8/8.1/10 from scratch on their
model Mac in BIOS/MBR mode with any problems, while others have
done the same on their model Mac in EFI/GPT mode without problems.
I do not remember anyone trying both methods. Usually, once one method
works, they quit trying.

So, it really depends on what the "Boot Camp Support Software" for you model Mac will allow. You have reported that the Boot Camp Assistant installed Windows 10 on your Mac using a BIOS/MBR boot method. So I assume this is what is right for your model Mac. However, if you have created the Windows 10 USB flash drive installer, then you could try both methods. Insert the flash drive and restart the Mac. Hold down the option key at startup. If an icon labeled "Windows" appears you can try a BIOS/MBR install. If a icon labeled "EFI Boot" appears, then you can try a EFI/GPT install.

In the end from the user perspective. it really does not matter which method is employed to boot Windows. Ubuntu is installed in EFI/GPT mode which works independent of either Windows boot method. I guess the Windows EFI/GPT method offers a fast boot option, but this can only be used when Windows is the sole operating system on a computer. You intend to include both OS X and Ubuntu Linux.

Note: Some Linux installers will not install in EFI/GPT mode to a hybrid GPT. To solve this problem, you may need to:

(Optional) Make a backup copy of your Protective MBR (PMBR).
Use the Boot Camp Assistant, Disk Utility or other application(s) to
create a hybrid GPT.
Install Windows. (Usually to partition 4)
Save a copy of the hybrid MBR.
Covert the MBR back to a Protective MBR (PMBR) or restore from backup.
Install Linux to new partitions without changing the existing partitions.
Restore the hybrid MBR from the backup.

Another solution, would be to install Linux first, leaving a space for Windows to be installed after Linux. In this case, format the Windows partition HFS before installing Linux and FAT before installing Windows.

If you intend to install Windows on a second disk, you may want to read the posts made to the question: "Problem Installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp".


AppleScript
You can set the signature yourself with AppleScript:
tell application "Mail"

    set myMessage to make outgoing message
    set subject of myMessage to "this is the subject"
    set content of myMessage to "this is the content."

    set message signature of myMessage to (signature named "Default Sig")

end tell

See AppleScript/Automate Mail Tasks for sample AppleScripts to create, combine, and send messages.
Graphic User Interface (GUI) Scripting
While less reliable, you could try scripting the GUI to select the signature.


Want to switch the SIM card from my iPhone 4 to 6s plus

If you used iCloud in your iPhone 4, it's most likely you will still have your contacts and photos in your 6S Plus if you'll use the same iCloud account. If purchased music from iTunes and apps from the App Store, you will still be able to have them on your new phone. However, chat message history depends on the app developer. Some have servers to save your messages in and make them available in case the app is installed in another phone/platform (like Skype), and some just save your messages locally (on your phone) which makes them unavailable to other installations of the app.


Can changing iPad motherboard to older version bypass iCloud lock?

For most intents and purposes, the motherboard is the iPad. The rest of it is just parts which surround the motherboard -- case, battery, screen, etc.

All of the device's storage is on the motherboard -- placing a new motherboard into the shell of another iPad will not give you access to data which was stored on the old iPad, because the storage was all on the motherboard you removed.

If your goal is simply to have a working device, you can continue, of course. But if you want to get access to the data you had on the old iPad, you'll want to look into other solutions.


Which app distribution method I must use for this app?

The iOS Enterprise agreement has the following clause:

  Distribute Provisioning Profiles only to Your Employees and only in conjunction with Your
  Internal Use Applications for the purpose of developing and testing Your Internal Use
  Applications;

In addition it states:

  Allow Your Customers to use Your Internal Use Applications
  on Deployme
  nt Devices
  , but only
  (i) on Your physical premises and/or on Your Permitted Entity’s physical premises, or (ii) in other
  locations, provided all such use is under the direct supervision and physical control of Your
  Employees or Permitted Users (e.g., a sal
  es presentation to a Customer)

Hence for your user base, it would would not be right to distribute apps with enterprise license. Distribute the app through the app store with some kind of authentication mechanism.

You have also host some kind of registration mechanism on your intranet, where the employees would generate user IDs and passwords for themselves and their families.


Printing Error - Stopped - The file '/private/var/spool/cups/tmp/...' could not be opened

There is a current problem with HP since they asked Apple to disable their software and then re-enable it.  You can change the driver to AirPrint and know it you need to apply updates and reinstall your print drivers if that works.
See my answer here for how to manually install a fix if you don’t want to let Apple software updates fix your HP.

HP Easy Scan - "HP Scanner 3" will damage your computer
https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software12/HP_Quick_Start/osx/Installations/Essentials/hp-printer-essentials-S-5_14_8_4.pkg


These are probably real Adobe files, but I'm deleting them because I didn't authorize their installation and they're useless daemons running at launch. The "ARM" ones are apparently for alerting you to updates of Adobe Reader... and who uses that anymore?

Another one is com.adobe.fpsaud, 32-bit junk that's still lingering around to warn you about Flash player updates. It prompts warnings from Mac OS about being "not optimized," because 32-bit support is deprecated.

One guy took the time to write up his exploration of these files and shows how to remove them here.


Cydia WiFi Hotspot for SSH Without SIM Card

I don't know of a package that will let you SSH from a hotspot coming from the phone, but I think you would have an easier time starting a hotspot on your iPad connecting the phone to the hotspot & SSHing from there.


Is there a way to make certain apps switch to my active screen? (Rather than other way)

You can't bring an app to the Space you're on in a single command.

You could use one of two workarounds...

Switch to the app, then grab its window title bar & switch back to the Space you wanted - the app will follow you.
Right click the app in the Dock & select Options > All Desktops.
The app will then always be on the current Space.


Your phone will not be able to access Sprint or Verizon networks, because it physically lacks the hardware to do so. The GSM radio in your phone cannot communicate with the CDMA signals that Sprint relies on.

Project Fi only works with T-Mobile and Sprint. From the list, we can rule out Verizon, Sprint and 310-830 (Sprint), so our only options are AT&T and T-Mobile. You can try connecting to AT&T if you like, it won't break anything - you'll be informed that you can't register to that network. Therefore, your only option here is T-Mobile (probably represented by Project Fi here). In your case, the Automatic toggle will always connect to T-Mobile because that's the only supported network.

Let's say you could connect to another network on that list, though. Let's say Project Fi supported both T-Mobile and AT&T. Leaving the Automatic toggle on would pick whichever of those networks had a higher signal.

So, to answer your TLDR:

The automatic toggle connects to the network that a) provides the best signal strength, and b) that you're able to use.
It won't work. You'll be given an error, or will receive no signal at all.


How do I copy (or clone or duplicate or make a template) user account?

I realise you are not looking to duplicate all of your files, but this method is quick and at the end you can just delete the files you don't want on the new account. To create a duplicate account based on the settings of your current account, try this:

Making a Time Machine backup of the current account.

  No extra disk for backing up? Go to Disk Utility and create a partition on your current disk. Assuming you have space (I will, since you are looking to add an additional user account), you can add a partition to your startup disk without losing any data (you can also remove it or change the size after you are done). Make this new partition your Time Machine backup disk.

Launch the Migration Assistant utility (search for it in Spotlight).
In Migration Assistant, indicate that you want to import settings from a Time Machine backup.
In Migration Assistant, select to import the user account from the backup.
Because the name is the same as your current account, Migration Assistant will prompt you to rename the account.
Continue the migration and your new user account will be made–a duplicate of the current account except for the username.

I'm doing this right now in Lion and it is working a treat. Good luck.


Should I be concerned if my charger is earthed (grounded) or not?

All Power Supplies must meet 4 critieria

1) Safety; for Hipot, leakage to earth and other things.
2) EMI compatibility
3) meet product requirements for  AC-DC or AC-RF mobile charger
4) Low Cost
Will they fail from a 6kV lightning transient?

possibly (especially in Florida) but not 2~3kV according to regional product power standards in an area protected with line lightning arrestors

Are you safe from secondary breakdown and getting zapped
yes if they are compliant and there are no manufacturing defects.
all manufacturers are only required to do 100% Hipot and leakage tests but not EMI tests

What about EMI?

It is well defined in most countries but with the flooded online aftermarket of 3rd party power adapters, it's a gray zone.

The 3rd party or aftermarket chargers like OEM's are self-regulated and are not tested with every target device as OEM's are required to do. So compatibility with load noise and switcher noise may vary if the step load rates happen to interfere under some load condition. So hypothetically it may become a source of EMI if not an OEM supply or may not have the smart communication signals over DC power to identify the match to the target device.

Radio and power line conducted interference requirements are well specified for consumer and commercial equipment.

Susceptibility has long been a corporate standard and then included in CE standards.  The RF standard levels  are shown in a graph below. But there are more tests for Hipot, leakage current to ground wire , ESD damage and sometimes a few more. ( coke spill test, drop test, temp rise test, short circuit test)

Beside converting AC to DC which usually generates a lot fast rise time current pulses, the purpose is to  minimize this "egress" going out and "ingress from power line transients (PLT) and lightning noise.

There are many methods to this AC-DC conversion.  Long ago bricks just pumped high pulse currents just after a bridge rectifier peak voltage that had to be sustained until the next half cycle. These were notorious for causing external mic buzz issues on some 3rd party desk mics for laptops and even towers with ATX 50kHz SMPS converters.  The converters didn't radiate that far but far enough to be picked up by an unbalanced desktop mic plugged into an ungrounded mobile laptop or even a grounded desktop. Usually ok, but some were caused a buzz.

This is due the common mode stray EMI coupling into an unbalanced high impedance mic( or radio or other elctronic device nearby) and the receiving cable converts the CM noise into a differential voltage due to unbalanced impedance on signal vs ground.

The most common solution is a 2 way Pi Filter , sometimes in two stages. The winding balance is critical and the Y caps to earth ground are plastic high quality and rated for lightning transients for breakdown safety.

Now you have notied that many mobiles with low power mobiles e.g. iPhones, iPads do not use 3 pronged plugs.  Instead they higher frequency Ac-DC converters where the CM noise can be absorbed in the lossy ferrite CM choke instead of being shunt from CM choke to earth ground.

Emission levels

An example of some 2 pronged AC-DC noise filters ( PLT protection not shown)

This does not mean ALL 2 pronged mobile chargers are compliant to conducted/radiated ingress/egress but many are such as Apple's.

So don't be worried. Just be aware of the requirements and possible EMI and susceptibility to damage or interference from lightning or power line transients and changes to local standards in your country.

Just beware of of the requirements and 3rd party chargers that have not been certified with your equipment.  It may be OK, so trust  but verify or don't trust.

Your choice.

edit

Content References: all from my experience as an EE since 1975 doing R&D, Test Eng , CMS and EMI testing.

Image references: https://interferencetechnology.com/practical-reasons-for-shifting-to-the-application-of-dielectric-independent-emi-filters-with-integral-surge-protection-in-product-designs/


Not sure if I understand correctly. If you put \ at the end and press enter, it is treated as continuation of the line and control goes to next line for you to type more. Only when you press enter on a line that doesn't end in \ is when the entire piece of code gets executed on the shell. So in a way \ could be you soft return.


How to unlink iPhone 5s from former staff member's Apple ID?

Did you try restoring the phone using recovery mode?
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201263

That should update the settings when it try and reactivate that its been removed from the former apple id.


How to create custom Automator tasks for distribution -- OS X 10.10

Using your example, "For example: run shell command (uptime) -> speak text -> copy to clipboard" and to answer your question, "Would it be at all possible to make a task called Uptime and use one task instead of three?", yes... Simply add one Run Shell Script Action  to your Automator Workflow and add the following code:

uptime | pbcopy
pbpaste | say

This pipes the output of uptime to the clipboard and then pipes the content of the clipboard to the say command.  The output of the uptime command is still on the clipboard to paste elsewhere, either by additional commands and or using the keyboard and or other normal methods of pasting from the clipboard.

Note: I'm assuming that when you say "use one task instead of three", you're actually referring to an Automator Action, e.g. Run Shell Script, not the number of commands written into that on Action.


Is there way to crop the output of a camera for a video chat?

Cameras either have or don't have these features.

Pan (side to side adjustment),
Tilt (crop & enlarge),
or Zoom (up & down adjustment)

This is shown as P/T/Z or PTZ on feature lists.
Apple's built in FaceTime camera has none of these sadly, you will have to look at the specs for any external camera you have to see if it does.
While there is some 3rd party apps that apply these after the fact, they do it by taking the video feed, adjusting it and pushing out a new virtual feed.
Since these will likely be suggested, be aware, these can be problematic. They can be buggy, they often ask for very deep control/access of your system, and some programs do not take virtual video input well. This is reflected in their universally poor ratings in the App Store. I have also found they are stubborn to uninstall and run insidiously in the background, so use at your own risk.


What happens when you make a free app paid?

That's up to Apple.  They decide what apps to feature.  The App Store gets thousands of new/updated apps every day and not every new app will be featured.  If your app provides some special service or interesting presentation, it's possible your app will be featured.


To the best of my knowledge there is no documented limit to the number of photos you could open at one time using Preview. Usually, when software has no hard-coded limit, the only limitation is that created by the amount of RAM available to the application.

In the case of Preview, the more RAM available the more it can take advantage of when opening images. In addition to RAM being a factor, the number of images Preview can open at once also depends on the image format and the individual image sizes.

You don't specify how much RAM you have and what else (if anything) you were running at the time, nor do you specify the exact model of MBP etc. However, I've been using Preview for over 16 years and can attest to the fact that in some cases it's only been able to open a few hundred images, while in other cases it's been able to open 1000s.

My suggestion would be to start with only opening a hundred at a time and if it handles that without problems, double it to 200 and so on. You'll soon establish what's comfortable in your scenario.

A final word

One thing to consider also is that if you happen to have a corrupted image file then this could cause problems. I've seen Preview (and other apps) normally capable of opening a large number of files, randomly crash because one of the files you're trying to open is damaged in some way. Likewise, similar problems can be experienced if you've inadvertently selected a file that isn't supported. While these issues aren't usually a problem as Preview would just present you with an error message, it can be a problem if Preview is processing a large number of images simultaneously and is also waiting for a response from the user.


Yes luckily there is, it is called fnd with the URL address https://fnd.io/


How to accept USB as audio input for New Macbook Pro Retina?

You just need a quality digital audio interface for your Mac.

The one I personally use and have had great success with has been the Behringer UCA202 Audio Interface   This installs with no drivers required El Capitan recognizes it as a USB audio input/output device.

I have used it with just the System audio as well as with Audacity and it works flawlessly.

Since you said that you use a phono plug, you will likely need a phono to RCA adapter like the one below. Fortunately, these are relatively inexpensive (around $5 USD)


If you manage to find the project file that you can sideload using Xcode on a Mac, you can get f.lux without jail breaking.


Can I use my Jawbone ICON to listen to Netflix on my iPhone4?

I've just got an ICON last weekend and it plays all audio output I've thrown at it (phone calls, podcasts, games). Netflix itself, I couldn't test since we don't have that here in Europe, but I don't see why it should be any different than the other apps.
What is important, though, is that A2DP support is installed on the ICON. In my case, it was out of the box, but apparently that's different with older ones. In that case, you apparently need to go to http://mytalk.jawbone.com and install a software update for your headset.


How can I install macOS on the second hard drive inside a computer?

Yes, you can. You should 1st check if you can read the windows disk. If so, make sure there is nothing on it you want. If you don't care what's on it skip that and go to disk utility. Using disk utility you can erase the windows disk and reformat it in a format you want. Then you can load the Mac System on the disk.


Can seller lock/erase my second-hand Mac with Find My Mac?

I can confirm (from second-hand bad experience & first-hand testing) that a complete disk erase & clean reinstall does not disable Find My Mac. You need to also either:

Reset the Mac's PRAM (aka NVRAM aka firmware settings). You can do this by holding Command-Option-P-R at startup, and holding them down until the computer has restarted & chimed three times (actually, it's reset by the second chime, but three is traditional).
Set up FMM with your iCloud account. Since the Mac can only be FFM'ed with one iCloud account, this'll replace any previous setup.


Sidecar: use tap gesture as "click" with a mouse

As of iPadOS 13.4.1, it is only possible to use your Apple Pencil as a cursor movement technique while using Sidecar. However, I have found it useful to connect my mouse to my Mac and assume that the mouse was connected to my iPad to move the Mac cursor.

You can find more detailed info about this here!


Highlight the result in Spotlight, then press ⌘↩. This will open the containing folder in Finder.

Alfred will also let you do this, with a bit more customisation:


This issue is caused by the League of Legend updater.

The bug has been reported few months ago in Riot forums, but they do not seem to care about it.

  Any time I download an update, it causes other applications on my Mac to have their icons go missing (most notable in the dock area). This has been happening on both High Sierra and Sierra before it for a long time.

However, you'll see on the forum that somebody posted a temporary fix which consists in running a shell script after each game update.

  To recap on the previous comment I made, this shell script seems to do the job, for the time being.
  I'm not going to note down how to run it since if you don't know, you probably shouldn't be running scripts from the internet.


How to deauthorize an iPhone without iTunes?

You should explicitly deauthorize it. The standard way is to use iTunes.

But if you do not want to install or use iTunes, you can get Apple Support to help you:

Go to the Apple iTunes Support page
Click on the Contact iTunes Store support link (click OK when it prompts you about redirecting you to another page)
This currently takes you to the What's happening with iTunes? page
Click the Account Management box to open up further options
Click the iTunes authorization or de-authorization link
Choose how you would like help - the current options are for Apple to call you or to schedule a call back from Apple or email Apple Support
Provide the details of the Apple ID and the device in the request for deauthorization


How do I play HTML5 videos with unsupported formats on iOS?

I'm not sure what video you're referring to, as there is no video in your link. But I assume there was a video there when you posted that didn't work.

iOS does only support video-streams in AVC h264, MPEG-4 and Motion JPEG, and only M4V, MP4 and MOV as containers/file extensions. Other apps are allowed to include their own codecs and can therefore play other formats, but most don't.
Mobile Safari does only utilize the native codecs and will only play those formats, and HLS-streams.

There is no official way to get Mobile Safari to play other types of videos, and most likely does Chrome as well. If you can get the direct link to the video you could try use VLC or CineX.


Upgrading from Windows 8 to 8.1 RTM on a Boot Camp partition

I am very happy to report, that, at least with 2012 15" Retina Macbook Pros (and I think a good chance with all other relevant Mac models), that there is a method to upgrade Windows 8 to 8.1 (even Enterprise, in my case) without the need for a DVD or USB drive.

You simply mount the ISO and run the setup file from the mounted disc, while following the steps I lay out below (and actually, I think that even just extracting the files from your MSDN ISO (or running the update from the Windows Store), would work as well!):

(Again, I have a 2012 15" Retina Macbook Pro, currently with OS X 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion), Bootcamp 5.0 (no rEFIt, just simple bootcamp setup), and until 30 minutes ago, Windows 8 x64 Enterprise EN-US.)

First preparation step, is to make sure, in both Win 8's Bootcamp Control Panel settings AND Mountain Lion's System Preferences, to set the Windows partition as the default boot drive. I checked thoroughly on both sides and rebooted a couple times to make sure Windows was what it would ALWAYS boot to no matter what I chose (via alt key) the last time.
To make sure you can do a seamless 'in-place' upgrade, keeping your 'Windows settings, personal files and apps', you need to make sure the 'target language' of your 8.1 ISO is the same as your Windows 8's 'host language', so if you have an EN-GB Windows 8 you should download the EN-GB 8.1 ISO if you want to do a full in-place upgrade instead of a clean or half-way reinstall. (However it may be possible to just change to EN-US from EN-GB by carefully changing ALL system language and regional and keyboard settings to EN-US and deleting all instances of EN-GB temporarily to make it a match - I cannot confirm this though.)
Simply mount your ISO and run its setup.exe to start the install process. To mount natively in Windows 8, right-click on ISO in Windows Explorer and 'Mount' is at the top of the context menu. If it is not, follow this guide to temporarily make the option visible in Windows Explorer.
The install process will take you through the upgrade, painlessly through about 5-6 reboots, and each time, because it has been carefully set and checked (on  both sides of Bootcamp) to ALWAYS boot into Windows partition by default, you are secure in Windows properly continuing through the install process every time. (I have installed Windows from extracted ISO folder on C drive before, so even non-mounting may work in this instance as well.)

Done.


Go to appleid.apple.com and add/change your email address there. However, I think you cannot set another email address anymore as the default one, other then the @me.com and @icloud.com


Mail signature changes font size when sent to Gmail

Here are the steps to make this work, even tried them on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion GM / Mail.app 5.0

Open Mail.app
Create a signature
Close Mail.app
Open Terminal and in Leopard/Snow Leopard go to ~/Library/Mail.app/Signatures, in Lion it's in ~/Library/Mail.app/V2/MailData/Signatures/
You'll find there a file with random digits such as: 4E725456-58C1-4FD7-8490-3048F994CC33.webarchive
Open that file in Safari, use View Source or Inspect to get the HTML content
Create a new file using your preferred editor, I used nano, and paste the html
Look for 'font-size = medium' and change it to the size you want, i changed it to 12px to match my Tahoma 12px mail font
(Optional) if you want to embed an image, call it using <img> to a remote, public location and remove all <object> </object>
Save the file as .html
Open that .html file in safari and save as .webarchive
cp the .webarchive you created to the location of the original .webarchive file while keeping the correct name (replace it)
Open Mail.app and check that the signature is the way you want it...


Importing vCards from a website into iOS’s Contacts.app

I expect you found my solution on Stack Overflow but if not you can see the source code and full description at http://www.mobicontact.info or on Stack Overflow

BTW - it involves wrapping the VCARD (.vcf) file inside a Calendar appointment (.ics) which IS handled by mobile Safari.  All the required user agent sniffing and PHP to auto create the calendar appointement is included.  Feel free to use the code, post a comment or up vote on Stack Overflow to spread the word.  Enjoy and good luck.


Connect Macbook Air to Macbook Pro in target disk mode

There is no way to use the target disk mode without Thunderbolt or FireWire cable. It wont work on USB or mini display ports.


What does the Thunderbolt Display offer besides a display?

The thunderbolt display actually has a number of additional peripherals in it:

Gigabit-Ethernet Network interface card.
Firewire 800 interface
4 USB ports on a PCIe-USB adapter
Webcam ("Facetime") camera (connected internally via USB to the USB-PCIe adapter)
Speakers and a microphone (ditto)
It also has a laptop charger (magjack) for convenience.

This is accomplished via the fact that thunderbolt can carry PCIe signals in addition to the normal display image, so the peripherals in the display act like they're built into the laptop.

  Thunderbolt combines PCI Express (PCIe) and DisplayPort (DP) into a serial data interface that can be carried over a single cable. Thunderbolt controller chips multiplex data lanes from these two sources for transmission via a duplex Thunderbolt lane then de-multiplex them for consumption from receiver chips.

There is actually the potential to even have an entire GPU in the external display, though no current devices implement the option.


iPhone 3g with IOS 4.2.1 cycles wifi, cannot connect

Eliminate the possibility of a software problem by (first backing up and then) restoring to a clean default OS install. It you still can't connect in that state, it's time for a visit to the Genius Bar or a call to AppleCare.


VMware Fusion vs. Parallels Desktop vs. Boot Camp

I recommend Parallels 7. I have run any number of games (Both Steam-based and not) this way. Call of Duty: Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3, Blacklight: Retribution, World of Tanks, Diablo III, World of Warcraft and others all run with no problems. It's not going to be as fast as running native code, but it's about as good as you can get. Run the VM in fullscreen (and make sure you're using the discrete graphics card if you're using gfxCardStatus!) for best results. Boot Camp obviously will give you the best performance, but I hate dual booting and refuse to do it. I have no experience with VMware Fusion.


After a bit more googling, I found what I was looking for:

https://github.com/jridgewell/Unlock

  Description

  Unlock allows the system to unlock and mount Core Storage encrypted
  volumes during boot. In other words, this allows you to log in as a
  user whose home directory is on an encrypted secondary disk without
  any problems.


Reason why applications aren't stored in the Home-Folder?

Apple's design is not at all a traditional or typical UNIX layout for user files, user preferences or application files and preferences so I would say this is just Apple.

They do document exactly how developers are supposed to design OS X apps to take advantage of the "canonical" locations where files and preferences should be stored so that each user can decide to install any application in one or several locations.

/Applications
/Another volume/Aplications
~/Applications
or anywhere else on the drive since on OS X - you don't need to place an application anywhere as long as the user can read from the folder - an app should run and store things in the proper pace (which is NOT in the application folder itself).

Here are three articles I would start with to learn more:

OS X File System Programming Guide
OS X File System Details
Apple OS File System Overview (iOS and OS X combined) Start Here and skip past the iOS part and go directly to Table 1-2 for OS X summary of important folders.


How to create a second partition on an external disk and is it safe?

Yes you can repartition without losing data. Using Disk Utility, perform a repair on your drive to make sure the drive is free of errors (even better, use Diskwarrior if you have a copy). Then unmount your drive but don't eject it. Select the drive in the left hand pane, then go to the Partition tab. On the Partition Layout section click on the "+" to create a new partition. Optionally you can specify the new partition size. When you're happy hit the Apply button and wait.

If you've absolutely critical data on the drive make sure you have a backup (which you should have anyway) but I've done this many times without an issue.


How does my iPod touch knows my location (if it doesn't have a GPS)?

GPS uses satellites to triangulate your position with great accuracy, however there are other ways to get a fix provided you can triangulate via other means.  Apple uses a database of WIFI networks with known locations to help ascertain your location in some instances (i.e. if you can see WIFI networks A B and E, then you must be approximately located at Z for example).  Also, using cellular information you can do a similar thing by noting which cells you are able to see and the relative signal strengths you are receiving from them.

EDIT: Also, it is possible with a lesser degree of accuracy to estimate your location just by using your IP address.  This can be tracked down to a certain extent and while likely not sufficient to be accurate by itself, when you combine this with all the other methods above you can start to get a picture with more accuracy.


How do I backup my iPhoto library to Dropbox or to an external disk?

Let me take a stab at actually answering the question.

First of all, do NOT use a FAT32 drive to back up your iPhoto library. The library frequently contains aliases/symlinks, and FAT doesn't support those, so they would either result in duplicate photos (in the best case) or break a bunch of your photos.

I don't think Dropbox has any limitation that would prevent it from backing up any/all normal files you'd store on Mac, which would include filename restrictions. Those would be a dealbreaker for any syncing cloud storage. So I think you can be confident there.

Dropbox seems to handle symlinks by turning them into duplicates. Other than that, people have been moving their libraries over to the Dropbox folder successfully. Here's a post to that effect – and in the comments are some common problems and solutions to this technique.

I've also (through a post on Apple's forums) found an app called Insync which utilises your Google Drive account. They claim to support symlinks … in fact a large part of the draw is that you can create symlinks to anywhere on your computer and direct them to the Insync folder (which then goes to Google Drive). In other words, you should be able to create a link to your iPhoto library and it will make a synced backup, rather than having to actually move the library to a synced folder.


iPhone app that allows simultaneous playing of music to multiple devices

Yes. You can use Airfoil, to stream music from your Mac using Airfoil for Mac to any iOS device with the Airfoil Speakers Touch app (free). It is as simple as turning on a speaker system, one button and you have the streaming audio from your Mac on your iOS device. I would highly recommend this!


How do I delete useless Apple Apps on OSX?

Being OS X El Capitan (10.11) has, from what I understand, the same System Integrity Protection as the current version, macOS High Sierra (10.13), I think the steps are the same. You can delete at least some of the applications. I haven't tried them all but I deleted Maps, Chess and DVD Player.

First, you need to boot into Recovery Mode. Hold CMD + R after the boot chime. From there you can go into the Terminal and type csrutil disable. Reboot. This disables System Integrity Protection and is not recommended to keep disabled. If you want to live on the edge though, go for it.

After booting back into OS X/macOS I was able to sudo rm -rf <Application Path> without any errors.

You can always re-enable SIP after you make your changes.

Note 1: I deleted iTunes once but a system update later put it back on.

Note 2: You cannot easily get deleted applications back because you cannot download them, to my knowledge.

Note 3: If you are just sick of looking at them in Finder, you can hide them by adding a hidden flag to the folder. SIP has to be disabled for this too. I used sudo chflags hidden /Applications/App\ Store.app/ to hide the App Store from Finder.

Note 4: Certain OS features may depend on apps being present so be wary of what you delete.


How can I send an email to a google contact group on my iOS devices?

Unfortunately, there's not a way of doing it with the native iOS app. Try using the Gmail app (which I personally prefer). If not, there's this little workaround: http://red66.com/2009/07/how-to-send-group-emails-from-your-iphone/

The gist of the workaround is to make one contact for the group and add a comma separated list of emails to the singular email field for the "group contact"

This doesn't allow you to leverage arbitrary groups and does require some manual setup, but once that's done you can email limited group sizes from iOS without needing a computer.


Apache works, 127.0.0.1 is accessible, but http://localhost/ is not

Also check to see that there is a loopback interface configured for 127.0.0.1; it should be lo0:

#ifconfig
lo0: flags=8049 mtu 16384
    options=3
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128

If there is no interface attached to the IP address, then the packets have nowhere to be delivered.


How do I use Mac's Preview application text speech feature?

There is a convenient way of making your Mac speak any selected text.

Open System Preferences.
Select Speech.
Select the Text to Speech tab if it is not already selected.
Check the box for Speak selected text when the key is pressed and provide a key combination of your choice.

You can now use the key combination to speak selected text system-wide.


The OS X equivalent of Windows services is Launchd. The OS X equivalent of services.msc on Windows is launchctl. The daemons managed by launchd can be on demand or can be triggered periodically (this is configurable in launchd.plist)

You can manage the daemons from the command line (from Terminal.app under /Applications/Utilities/) or by using a tool like Lingon.

From the command line:

List agents/jobs loaded using

launchctl list

Disable and enable an agent using (persists between boots)

launchctl enable <name> or launchctl disable <name>

Stop and start an agent immediately using

launchctl kickstart <name> or launchctl kill <name>

The next commands are deprecated commands, which you might see on the Internet:

Remove an agent/job using

launchctl remove <name>

Disable an agent/job for the currently booted session alone using

launchctl unload <name>

Load an agent/job manually using

launchctl load <name>

Additional references:

Daemons and Services Programming Guide
man launchctl in Terminal.app (or the online manual for launchctl)
man launchd in Terminal.app (or the online manual for launchd)
man launchd.plist in Terminal.app (or the online manual for launchd.plist)
launchd on Wikipedia


Try

tell application "System Events"
        key up {shift}
end tell

via osascript.


Here's your answer:
Apple discontinues 17 inch MacBook Pro

From the site:

  "But if you’re looking for a reason why Apple offed the 17-inch now, you need go no further than the 15-inch Retina display MacBook Pro. Not only does it offer the most cutting edge technology of any Apple laptop to date, but its 2880-by-1800 pixel display outstrips the 17-inch’s 1920-by-1200 resolution with room to spare. Add in the fact that the new MacBook Pro is thinner and lighter—to the tune of more than 2 pounds—and it seems pretty clear that the Retina display model is the new target for what a powerhouse portable should be."


How to access a folder which name is composed of more than 1 word via shell?

The answers in the linked article are correct (but maybe hard to find among all the other information there). Key problem is that bash (and any other shell) use whitespace to separate between words, so any space characters within names (and any situations where such characters might occur) need to be protected/escaped.

cd "folder with whitespace in name"
cd folder\ with\ whitespace\ in\ name

and (if you have the name of the folder in a variable)

FOLDER_NAME="folder with whitespace in name"
cd "$FOLDER_NAME"


Cannot paste images from clipboard to Facebook in Safari unlike Google Chrome

This bug was fixed in Safari Technology Preview 51—basically early access to the next version of Safari—where you can paste images into Facebook there just like in Chrome. Hopefully that is enough to solve your problem! Video: https://youtu.be/ITyIWMyoyRk

Though the feature was broken in some later Safari Technology Preview builds, it was fixed for the public release of Safari 11.1 included in macOS 10.13.4 which was released on 29th March 2018.

—original answer—

If I do this:

Right/context click on a Tumblr image
Choose "Copy Image Address"

Then both browsers paste the image URL into Facebook. No problems.

If I do this:

Right/context click on a Tumblr image
Choose "Copy Image"

Then I get slightly different behaviour in browsers when pasting into Facebook. Chrome pastes the URL of the image, Safari posts the URL of the post/page containing the image. That's because Safari is much more thorough with what it copies to the clipboard in this instance, as it includes more alternate representations than Chrome. However both browsers still show an image in Facebook. No problems.

  As an aside, you can inspect what is on the clipboard using Finder > Edit > Show Clipboard, which shows the default format. For a more in-depth look, use Apple's Clipboard Viewer which shows extended information about the different representations stored on the clipboard.

So I'm thinking that you are doing the Copy to clipboard in a different way? Maybe you can try using one of the above copy methods?


What does "mds: (Error) Volume: Could not find requested backup type:2 for volume " signify?

I have only seen that in relation to Time Machine timing out when preparing a network sparse disk image for backup.(and I've seen it on Snow Leopard and rarely on Lion - but lion is young)

mds is very tightly intertwined in the time machine process, so it could just be time machine asking mds to do some work.

You'll have to disable time machine and watch for other network mounts failing - separate the two and you'll have narrowed it down to one bad actor.


iPhone rings once and phone is open to caller

There is an "Auto-Answer Calls" setting in:

Settings > General > Accessibility > Call Audio Routing

Navigate there and turn it off if it is enabled.


How can I get an Applescript to copy the contents of a variable to the clipboard?

If you check Pashua's documentation, you will see that the result from showing the dialog is a record, with keys for the interface elements that you have declared.  To get specific items from the dialog, just get the value for the desired key.

The getDialogConfiguration handler just configures the dialog - the showDialog handler is what actually shows the dialog and returns a result, so that is where you would work with whatever parts of the result you are interested in.  Assuming you have the Pashua script and application in the same folder as the script, an example would be something like:

tell application "Finder" to set thisFolder to (container of (path to me)) as text -- get the folder path
try
    set thePath to alias (thisFolder & "Pashua.scpt")
    set pashuaBinding to load script thePath

    tell pashuaBinding
        try
            set dialogConfiguration to my getDialogConfiguration() -- configure the dialog
            set dialogResult to showDialog(dialogConfiguration, "") -- show the dialog
            set the clipboard to tf of dialogResult
        on error errmess number errnum
            display alert "Error " & errnum message "There was an error with the Pashua dialog:" & return & return & errmess
        end try
    end tell

on error errmess number errnum
    display alert "Error " & errnum message "There was an error setting up the Pashua script:" & return & return & errmess
end try

on getDialogConfiguration() -- return the configuration string
    return "
# Set window title
*.title = Page Settings

# Add a text field
tf.type = textfield
tf.label = Example textfield
tf.width = 310
"
end getDialogConfiguration


Is it possible to use an apple TV2 with standar tv (composite)

Unfortunately, according to Apple, the only connector the new Apple TV has is HDMI, which means, if you want to use it with your TV that doesn't have HDMI input, you'll need an adapter. Just google 'HDMI to composite adapter'

If you only want the audio, then .... you'll still probably need an adapter. HDMI cables carry both audio and video so you'll need to convert the signal to something your TV will accept to get any music playing.


Loosing WiFi router connection when moving from one router to another

This could be caused by any number of things. Your work may have access restrictions in place which prevent unauthorised devices from connecting. The first place to ask would be your companies IT staff.


Behavior of login shell vs. Linux, 'sh -c'

try

sudo -su validusername sh -c 'whoami'


Merge two disks to RAID 0 and keep my installation

Just use Time Machine.
Backup the whole laptop, reinstall like you want and then restore or import using the migration assistant in the utility folder on you mac.


Is iPad Pro's GPS supposed to be not as accurate as iPhone's GPS?

WiFi-only iPads do not include a GPS receiver; only the Wi-Fi + Cellular models do. That is why at times you can’t even get a GPS signal at all.

But when there are Wi-Fi signals around or when you have an Internet connection, your iPad can use that to figure out its location.

You don’t need a cellular signal in order to get a GPS lock. I’ve gone on plenty of hikes in the boonies with no cell signal, and ended up with a perfect map. The “assisted” part of "Assisted GPS” only uses cell tower triangulation to acquire a quicker GPS lock.

I don’t see a reason why Apple would disable the GPS radio unless you activated the iPad on a carrier network, so you should be able to use GPS on an iPad + cellular without a data plan.


EveryMac has a fabulous utility on their site to identify any Mac from its Serial Number or other identifying marks.

In this case, it looks like you have a Late 2006 iMac Core2Duo 2.6GHz 24"

If you don't have the original install disks, then your best bet would be to buy Snow Leopard directly from Apple. The latest OS the machine can run is Lion 10.7.5, but that is a download only. You'd need 10.6 first.


Does Numbers on the iPad pro allow you to sketch with the Apple Pencil?

Short answer No

The background that tables, graphs, images etc. rest above is just a workspace.

It's not a canvas. (Just to be complete I did try it with my Pencil in my iPad Pro)


Get the GPS coordinates of a photo in Mac Photos.app

I just tested exporting a file from Photos and it retained GPS information. Are you using Export > Export X Photo(s), or Export > Export Unmodified Originals for X Photo(s)? I used the latter.

To find the actual GPS coordinates there are many, many solutions, but I used the most-excellent command line ExifTool when testing to ensure the GPS information was still present after export.

$ exiftool -gpslatitude -gpslongitude ~/Desktop/IMG_9337.jpg
GPS Latitude                    : 41 deg 2' 14.99" N
GPS Longitude                   : 90 deg 8' 38.55" W

There are many things you can do with this, including scanning an entire directory and outputting their GPS coords to a file, outputting into HTML format, etc. The above command will give you a basic display of it, though.


How to fix dark screen after locking iphone 4 ios6?

The algorithm for auto-brightness was adjusted significantly in iOS 6.

Rather than before where you would see an immediate change on turning on auto-adjust, now it's a more gradual process, and you can actually see the slider moving as it makes updates.

Also, another change is that the auto-adjust now works on the lock screen, so at night you won't be blinded, and in the day you can actually see the screen in day light.

Personally, I found it very annoying for about 2 weeks, and now I've adjusted to it, I find it works much better than before. If I want to manually control the screen, pointing it at a bright light causes it to brighten significantly, etc.

Finally, some sites have suggested that you can "tune" or reset it by turning auto-adjust off, setting the brightness to minimum, then turning auto back on.

Worth noting, that as I'd had to get my flashlight replaced right when iOS 6 came out, I actually assumed it had broken the ambient light sensor and I took the phone to the apple store because the auto-adjust switch didn't work as it had previously. The geniuses had no explanation for the new behaviour. I had to google it myself, and plenty of other people have complained about it.


windows pdf highlight, underline, etc come with a square in mac preview?

This is a compatibility issue I think.
Same behavior happens when I copy something from MS Word 2013 to MS Word 365 (for Mac)
By the way, is it a macOS question or a Windows related question? If it's the latter, your question should not be here. :-)


iPhone 4 free case - replacing phone voids current order?

You likely will be able to order, and receive, another case. I had purchased a bumper for my iPhone 4 a few days after I got it, and yet the free case app let me order another case for free in addition to refunding my bumper purchase.


Can I get sound out of both iMac and attached Thunderbolt Display?

Yes, it's possible.

By creating an aggregate device, you can combine the audio interfaces of the dual Apple LED Cinema Displays into a single speaker.

Here's an overview of the process:

Open /Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup
Click + to add a new Multiple Output Device
Select one or more Display Audio devices
Adjust the volume slider for each Apple LED Cinema Display
Right click on the new "Multi-Output Device" and select "Use this device for sound output" and "Play alerts and sound effects through this device".

There is one caveat to this setup — you can't adjust the volume using either the keyboard shortcut or the speaker icon, as it appears disabled in the OS X Menu Bar†. you can Option + Click to toggle between audio output devices though.

Sunflower is an open source third-party app that will give you the volume control back, but since it's a kernel extension you should understand the implications before installing it.

Another software to use that isn't a kernel extension and can perfectly overcome the obstacle of not having control over your volume buttons is by using Sound Control. It actually gives you back your volume control buttons on your keyboard. Plus it has a 14 day free trial.


I accidentally caused one of my encrypted drives to start converting into a decrypted drive. How can I stop it?

Even though it is an external drive, the encryption system being used is still FileVault.

There's currently no method to cancel a decryption of the drive. You'll have to wait until the drive is fully decrypted, and then re-encrypt it.


Does Apple offer a page that lists all versions of published Boot Camp drivers?

Note: A version of this answer, which downloads and extracts the Boot Camp Support Software using a Windows machine, is given here.

There used to be an Apple webpage which provided a table containing information needed to obtain the correct Boot Camp Support Software (Windows Support Software) for the each version of Windows officially supported for a given Mac. The information was either a link to a webpage where the correct Boot Camp Support Software could be downloaded or the name of the DVD containing the desired software. Basically, the DVD was the Snow Leopard installation DVD. Currently, this webpage has be replaced with the Install Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp webpage.

The Snow Leopard DVD contains legacy Boot Camp Support Software for XP SP2 and Vista installations. To access the Boot Camp Support Software on the Snow Leopard DVD, you need to be running Windows. I can no longer find the link where you could purchase a Snow Leopard DVD from Apple. However, a Snow Leopard ISO containing the Boot Camp Support Software can be downloaded. See this link for more information. Again, you will need to Windows to mount and access the Boot Camp Support Software.

The accepted answer to How to download Bootcamp drivers without Bootcamp assistant? explains how to download versions of the Boot Camp Support Software (Windows Support Software) for a particular Mac. However, the answer does not explain how to determine the differences between the available versions. Below is a script which automates steps 1 through 8 given in the answer.

#!/bin/bash
#
#

if [[ $0 != "$BASH_SOURCE" ]]; then
    bash "$BASH_SOURCE" "$@"
    return
fi

GetPkgUrl() {
    local "sucatalog=index-10.11-10.10-10.9-mountainlion-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog"
    while :; do
        case ${1:-} in
        --clean) rm -f *.sucatalog *.dist;;
        --legacy) sucatalog="index-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog";;
        "") return;;
        *) break
        esac
        shift
    done
    local 'sucatalogUrl=http://swscan.apple.com/content/catalogs/others/'"$sucatalog"
    local "language=English" "identifier=$1"
    shift
    if [[ ! -e $sucatalog ]]; then
        echo "fetching $sucatalogUrl"
        curl -O "$sucatalogUrl" 2>/dev/null
    fi
    local "matches=$(grep -e "BootCampESD.pkg" -e ".$language.dist" "$sucatalog")"
    local "pkgUrl" "dist" "distUrl"
    local -i "i" "count=0"
    local -a "dists=()" "pkgUrls=()"

    while read "pkgUrl"; do
        if [[ $pkgUrl == *BootCampESD.pkg* ]]; then
#           echo "$pkgUrl"
            read "distUrl"
            distUrl="${distUrl#*<string>}"
            distUrl="${distUrl%</string>*}"
#           echo "$distUrl"
            if [[ ! $distUrl == *"$language.dist"* ]]; then
                echo "Error: URL '$distUrl' did not contain the string '$language.dist'" >&2
                continue # exit "1"
            fi
            dist="${distUrl##*/}"
            dists+=("$dist")
            pkgUrl="${pkgUrl#*<string>}"
            pkgUrl="${pkgUrl%</string>*}"
            pkgUrls+=("$pkgUrl")
            if [[ ! -e "$dist" ]]; then
                echo "fetching $distUrl"
                curl -O "$distUrl" 2>/dev/null
            else
                : # echo "have $distUrl"
            fi
            count="count + 1"
        fi
    done <<< "$matches"
#   echo "found $count .dist files"

    echo
    echo "Matching URL's are listed below."
    for ((i=0; i<${#dists[@]}; ++i)); do
        dist="${dists[i]}"
        if grep "'$identifier'" "$dist" >/dev/null; then
            echo "${pkgUrls[i]}"
        fi
    done
    echo
}

GetPkgUrl "$@"

An anonymous edit was made to this answer, where the variable sucatalog was changed from index-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog to index-10.11-10.10-10.9-mountainlion-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog.

  Note: The --legacy option substitutes the original file name.

The identifier of my iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) is iMac12,1. Assuming the script has already been saved to the file getpkgurl, the following command can be used to get a list of available downloads.

  Note: The --clean option removes all previous downloaded files.

./getpkgurl --clean --legacy iMac12,1

  Note: A good reference for older Mac computer to identifier translations is given here.

The output from the command is given below.

fetching http://swscan.apple.com/content/catalogs/others/index-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/24/46/041-91737-A_KOBGOTCIEZ/0b9gnebg3ivdfsd79simxpr60vvx9sy31k/041-91737.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/26/37/041-91736-A_6XKJ6AQL4K/9qene91xdcr1ytzik312zjmbaxyujy0p7j/041-91736.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/24/21/041-88430-A_MH044N1M88/l1tfz2ccakcy7ko79ugzcw0naadra581o3/041-88430.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/62/58/041-98143-A_HN8B941A1T/nknv1gt3xcgylggwc11kl5e0j4296tjfo1/041-98143.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/63/48/041-88436-A_A9JD5TGYOC/9qwbctjgtpqblqv40gl7uwf625j5pe796i/041-88436.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/53/33/041-88396-A_YLDCG32JBG/ehs3p0jphqr5sfk0wh15gqxkua7nndzk8u/041-88396.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/28/47/041-88734-A_Q0SKN07BL0/7knxzec1xmojr5x5t7xnu5a4u6lslmlf9v/041-88734.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/25/38/041-88737-A_IXJZSM8OLV/fq3xy3duoq3xqp9o2sa8dkjtz5wvjaojhq/041-88737.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/09/31/041-88738-A_WMEMEM44HQ/hox9b0vuev029dtitorkp40rsgjdnww4qm/041-88738.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/53/06/041-88735-A_5MC8H30E1T/uzofvyg87dqhkn2qh1ipxy4f1uxduhitsb/041-88735.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/24/61/041-88748/z2zwt4m9xtxt5sf64w9v5bz760cohxc2jc/041-88748.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/36/49/041-98163/n3zau0xy5j0a121vnvud3jac2ahplizknu/BootCampESD.dst/041-98163.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/63/06/041-88804/p3d1dt0il8vi5w3wrzepvrs3992dtmkfwb/041-88804.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/57/55/041-88815/dmx4z5azm5wktzh9qh8kiyrbz874wj9h4d/041-88815.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/47/29/041-89072-A_HZY5QI4LGV/knck1r3qmsw9nliisjjm7vll0zv1u239eu/041-89072.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/32/09/041-89042-A_XVZ2U8XKG2/06ub1qfep6wv3g8bb68smwt3ac25xyng83/041-89042.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/52/10/061-26579-A_7RJL96VW4I/z662ygc05hfe7cukb3itfbc8i1j7boxu95/061-26579.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/35/46/041-87995-A_EWCD1K4CH1/2b5jaj1p2oxqlpzgwat4bdqjpjs8n3mxip/BootCampESD.dst/041-87995.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/23/15/041-91731-A_LBI7Q8UWOG/juk1ng0hm623gxh3jv4qxt190ga1h5p0lw/041-91731.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/35/26/041-88148-A_FV1FQ1MLRG/qyueop2fculv8o6ybt2oq266qo98pqphb9/041-88148.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/41/45/061-26565-A_30YFW2NOY7/mcryv1yqxl8bmiok36kl4tiycf3g72uda5/061-26565.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/04/44/041-84708/yq9w47gthzu8e8fqmad6hx0vs15fuk4540/041-84708.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/45/20/041-85204-A_24VIQ2D28M/3ln1dqstqacwzknssu2fyu3rqhf3y3b94n/BootCampESD.dst/041-85204.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/05/20/041-85201-A_6JI09ZIRDD/sma4jd483vqdug5bqoemfohvvahjd4rewx/BootCampESD.dst/041-85201.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/26/08/041-84821-A_AMCFPC3QDK/4fffs8qgdflw7pn1finqqd40gifh41mvs6/041-84821.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/57/55/041-84868-A_402D0DFI39/6uz8hhgtd4b87t00mrq0uihiop5ivumsbk/BootCampESD.dst/041-84868.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/29/62/041-84859-A_GGUOSJMIGN/sb1apxcjpp358ze2df6bzhwd49m2cqyzy5/BootCampESD.dst/041-84859.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/50/29/041-84869-A_EJ35WAWA75/obofx71e3kcf8aqzukdrzg7hqpv1p06hca/BootCampESD.dst/041-84869.English.dist
fetching http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/25/34/041-93123-A_M7QYPDZ8WH/dhg7w8ixxzaoay8anu1922grngi1sckdbn/041-93123.English.dist

Matching URL's are listed below.
http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/04/44/041-84708/yq9w47gthzu8e8fqmad6hx0vs15fuk4540/BootCampESD.pkg
http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/45/20/041-85204-A_24VIQ2D28M/3ln1dqstqacwzknssu2fyu3rqhf3y3b94n/BootCampESD.pkg
http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/26/08/041-84821-A_AMCFPC3QDK/4fffs8qgdflw7pn1finqqd40gifh41mvs6/BootCampESD.pkg
http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/57/55/041-84868-A_402D0DFI39/6uz8hhgtd4b87t00mrq0uihiop5ivumsbk/BootCampESD.pkg

The results show there are 4 possible URL's. Entering each URL in Safari will cause a version of the Boot Camp Support Software to download. The correct download would have to be determined by inspection.

  Note: By default, the .pkg installer places a .dmg file in the "/Library/Application Support/BootCamp" folder. The .dmg file contains the Windows Support Software.

This script was tested using GNU bash, version 3.2.57(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin17). The version of macOS was High Sierra 10.13.6.

  Hint: You can paste the function GetPkgUrl into a Terminal application window running BASH instead of creating a script file.


Can I or can't I develop on a jailbreak iPhone?

I've used my former lost jailbroken iPhone to develop, yes. But you'll need more than jailbreaking, though, granted, jailbreak is a must (except in very specific cases):

Actually the only very rare specific exception I know of is the Unity 3D's amazing Remote - but that does (currently) limit phone features that can be tested. No gyroscope for instance.
The regular way is hacking Xcode. Of course the limitation here is deploying: only with USB.
Another way could be something like TestFlight - while I'm not sure this can be done without a proper developer license, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a way to do it Over the Air.


The 2011 Mac MacBook Pros have an Apple specified (as you found) maximum amount of RAM as 8GB.  The "real world" tests all show that the 2011 MacBook Pros actually have a maximum amount of 16GB of RAM.  See below for several examples.  This has been somewhat common practice for Apple over the years, where there specs will show a maximum of X but the real world tests and reviews all confirm a maximum of Y.

Your initial 8GB DIMM was probably faulty.  Had it been functioning properly your Mac should have recognized all 16GB of memory.  There are no technical reasons or firmware restrictions that would keep your Mac from recognizing the full 16GB.

Other World Computing's RAM upgrade page for this machine

Crucial's RAM upgrade page for this machine

EveryMac's spec page for this machine showing official & unofficial RAM specs


MBP 2012 +, light projector, Home Theater system, HDMI spitter, no audio, puzzle?

The below solution has now been implemented. It did work.

Can now plug in a laptop, access internet, play video, and have sound play via home theatre system.

This technical information is key to why this set up does not work.

  HDMI-ARC uses two pins on the hdmi cable an unused one and the hot detect pin, it is not part of the normal data stream and does not use the normal pins.
  It's basically a coax spdif connection in reverse.

The confusion has arisen it would appear, when the home theatre box manual mentions ARC return feature associated with the HDMI port in a way suggestive of it being essentially a two way hdmi port.

It would seem ARC does not deliver audio data by the standard way of hdmi video/audio data streaming protocols, or even by the same internal physical pins.

A TV set will return ARC signal, as it is designed to use this different standard for the return audio.

Apparently, ARC is part of the hdmi standard though, as was commented on another site.

  ARC is part of the hdmi standard .... it was an addition to HDMI to allow a TV to return audio back to an AVR., to replace a spdif coax or optical cable.

This missing technical understanding re ARC explains why a suggested solution was to add to the hdmi cable from the laptop at the theater box end, an hdmi audio extractor box, with a audio fibre Toslink (for 5.1 surround sound) or RCA for stereo sound, input to those available audio input connections on the back of the home theater unit.

The situation has been confusing. It would seem reasonable to assume the connection functionality of the home theater box would be inclusive of plugging in a laptop device, one accessing the internet for various audio visual media. Hence, when not working, the natural assumption is that there was something wrong with the numerous setting options, which is where I began, or the functional capacity of the hdmi laptop port or laptop settings.

However, it seems not so. The danger of unconscious assumptions!

A second part of the problem is that it the hdmi splitter should be an hdmi switcher, so that the hdmi video data can be selected as coming from the theater box or the laptop.

Diagram of expected solution set up below.

Credit and thanks to the guys on the Whirlpool site, as well as those commenting here.


Does using a standing desk "count" when using the Apple Watch to close rings?

Since WATCH is worn on the wrist, if your wrist rests the same way while you’re standing as it does while you’re sitting, then that time is not going to count as “standing.”

Normally it is best to walk around with your arms swinging freely for WATCH to detect that you stood. That is why the Stand reminder tells you to move around. The current research also suggests that you need to move around to counteract the negative effects of sitting for too long.

My experience has been that at a minimum, you need to hold your arms down your sides for WATCH to detect that you are standing. That is not 100% reliable however, and it is best to take a quick walk (especially since you can no longer use your hand to type anyway).

Either way, if you keep your hands on your keyboard the entire time at your standing desk, WATCH will not detect that. Another good example is cooking/doing the dishes. You will get Stand reminders while performing those activities, which typically require standing.


How do I enable X-forwarding on OSX Lion?

X11 forwarding is disabled per default for OS X SSH servers. Do the following on the remote machine:

sudo vi /etc/sshd_config

Search for the following line and remove the # sign at the beginning, change the no to yes, so that you end up with this:

X11Forwarding yes

Then write the file and quit vim by hitting ESC and typing :wq and hitting return.

Now restart the sshd process by typing:

killall -SIGHUP sshd

This will kill your ssh session, but after that you should be able to use ssh -X as usual. You may get warnings because of missing X authority files.


How to put a long picture overlay on top without imovie making the image scroll

This could be due to a variety of issues and due to lack of details I don't exactly know what the problem is. So, instead I am going to answer your original question: How to put a picture in picture without any animations?

I am assuming both footage are on the timeline properly. I will refer to the top one as footage x and the bottom one as footage y.

Select footage x
Select the second icon from the left in your effects toolbar (when you hover it should say "Video Overlay Settings") (I say second because, although not shown in the picture, there is a wand enhancer icon before it.)

Make sure Picture in Picture is selected and the transition time is set to 0

Select the crop button in your effects toolbar

Ken Burns will most likely be selected and whats causing your issue. Switch this to Fit or if you need to Crop it set it to Crop to Fill
Select Footage Y and repeat steps 4-5

This should create a picture in picture effect without transitions or zoom-ins.

Images and References:

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22931?locale=en_US

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22921?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US


I don't believe there is a built in way to adjust brightness in Terminal.app.  However, several people have written programs which can do this.  You'd need to download the code/copy it and compile the program so you can run the utility from Terminal.  Here's an example on mattdanger.net


I haven't tried it but I would suggestion following :

Copy your automator service in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ShareKit.framework/Versions/A/PlugIns/
rename it Servicename.sharingservice
Now edit /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ShareKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/SHKServicesOrder.plist by adding your service. (CFBundleIdentifier in Info.plist + function name)


How can I download macOS Catalina on a 2011 Mac mini that doesn't support it?

You can use Dosdude1's Catalina patcher to download the official Catalina installer from Apple's servers.
Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of bodging macOS to work on unsupported platforms, especially for "production" machines.  However, if you're looking to tinker and this is something to experiment with to learn, I say have at it.  If you need the latest OS for work, get a machine that supports it.
Basically, what you're going to do is trick macOS and ultimately Apple's servers into believing that your machine is capable of running Catalina so it will download.
When you run the Patcher, make sure you uncheck "Auto-apply Post Install Patches" found in the Options menu."  This is because you're not installing Catalina onto this Mac; all you want to do is get the installer so you can create the USB Installer.
Once you will get to a screen where you can either browse for an installer or download a copy, select the download option.

Download the DMG, it will be approximately 7GB. From there, you can make your offline installer.  The Terminal command is as follows:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Catalina --nointeraction

If this worked out for you, I encourage you to buy him a coffee or a beer (or maybe even dinner) by sending a donation his way (I'm not affiliated, I just appreciate people's hard work).  You'll find the "donate" link on the software download page.


How can I improve the performance of an older iMac?

The only two things you can realistically do are change the HD to an SSD & upgrade the RAM.

Some iMacs have GPUs that can be upgraded [slightly] but that's not really going to gain you much.

A 1TB SSD can be bought these days for the price your 1TB HD would have cost back then, approx $£€ 100.
According to Everymac that model can take 32GB RAM. I'd recommend at least 16GB these days.

The SSD alone will put some spring back in its step. The RAM will let it breathe a bit better.


How can I customise the toolbar in the new iWork apps?

This has been fixed in Pages 5.0.1, Numbers 3.0.1 and Keynote 6.0.1.


An iPod, iPhone, and an iPad on 2 Apple IDs

You can install and use apps bought via different Apple IDs on the same device. In case of application updates you have to be logged in with the matching ID to load the update though.


How can I change the shape default in Preview app?

To remove the fill colour, click on the [orange] square and choose white colour, which is transparent behaviour.
The border colour can be changed by clicking on the [red] square and choose whatever you need.


My laptop (Yosemite) is now 'PPPoE' connected over wifi, what is this and what does it mean?

It was probably there before Yosemite but you did not see it.

Usually when your Internet service provider requires it it will be used.

  PPPoE stands for Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet. PPPoE has
  become a favorite technology of broadband Internet service providers,
  who use it to save time and money. DSL and cable modem subscribers, on
  the other hand, have reason to be less enthusiastic about PPPoE.

PPPoE Client Overview

  PPPoE combines two widely accepted standards, Ethernet and PPP, to
  provide an authenticated method of assigning IP addresses to client
  systems. PPPoE clients are typically personal computers connected to
  an ISP over a remote broadband connection, such as DSL or cable
  service. ISPs deploy PPPoE because it supports high-speed broadband
  access using their existing remote access infrastructure and because
  it is easier for customers to use.

  PPPoE provides a standard method of employing the authentication
  methods of the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) over an Ethernet network.
  When used by ISPs, PPPoE allows authenticated assignment of IP
  addresses. In this type of implementation, the PPPoE client and server
  are interconnected by Layer 2 bridging protocols running over a DSL or
  other broadband connection.

You can set up a new PPPoE or check the current set up.


Folder with a question mark on purchased Mac

Folder with the question mark usually means "no valid device to boot from".

Try to boot to recovery (if any exists) by keeping pressing command + r when turning on the Mac. You should be able to reinstall it there.

If still fails you may try Mac OS X internet recovery (cmd+option+r keeps pressed while pressing power button)

If still fails, get someone with a working Mac with App store to get you a Mac OS X El Capitan Installer following the steps listed here:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201372

Make sure the usb disk itself is a bootable instance (as in some cases it is blocked by hardware design).

When the bootable USB disk is plugged in, hold down the option when turning on to get a selectable boot device list and you should be able to see a disk to install to (if, not there is not any, it will be a hardware issue then -> go to Apple store or get someone else to fix).

After in recovery mode if seeing a disc to install to: feel free to erase the disk as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) (==HFS+) and install your instance with your Apple ID.


Just recently out I think, Braille Writer for OS X:

http://ethervision.net/blog/braille-writer-mac-apple

If you have an iOS device, you there is Braille Pad.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/braille-pad-pro/id544696675?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/braille-pad-student/id551373276?mt=8


Cleaning Milanese Loop band for Apple Watch

I'll expand on Apple's sparse support article.

Remove the band from Watch.
Take a clean cloth (I used a microfiber cloth) and dampen it with water.
Wipe down the band, stroking it gently and repeatedly.
Turn the band over to the other side and repeat step 3.

The grime should be gone from your band and deposited upon your cloth, as illustrated below.


Can I text from iPad with only an email address?

Off the top of my head, here are the settings that could affect that:

In Messages preferences, make sure that her email address is not only listed for both Send and Receive, but is also checked.
Make sure the checked email address is her iCloud address that was created when you/she set up iCloud (her_name@icloud.com).
At the top of the Messages prefs, make sure Messages is turned on.

On your side, if you're using a contact card to Message her, make sure you're using the "message" button, and not "mail". (Less likely, I know, but worth mentioning.)

Also, keep in mind that she can only send iCloud Messages with this setup. She'll need an iPhone if she wants to also use SMS.  (Apple uses the phone as the SMS gateway for other iDevices and Macs.)  So if you're sending SMS messages to her from a non-Apple phone (or if you've set your iPhone to only send SMS), she won't see it in Messages.

That may not be comprehensive, but that's the stuff I can think of that I've seen muck up Messages before.  The "off switch" for Messages is probably the most common one.